I’ve been feeling a bit morose about my writing lately. I’ve been doing it religiously–even when I’m so sick (now) that I can barely keep my protagonists straight from my antagonists–five minutes a day, always. But I find myself opening Scrivener, finding an appealing section of my outline to embellish, and jumping in. The problem … Continue reading »
What’s Up, Abe?
For this weeks post, I thought I’d share some of the changes I’ve made in my process, as well as just generally muse about what I’ve learned as a writer in the past month. Since August 12th–when I started tracking my word count and progress–I’ve written at least 5 minutes every day. For those who’re … Continue reading »
The Point
…Is to keep writing. I’ll admit: having started school (a Master’s in Computer Science; My Bachelor’s is in Economics), continued working part-time, and attempting to be a decent husband and father (to a seven-month old precious little girl), I’ve had a very difficult time keeping up with my writerly responsibilities. It’s difficult to find the … Continue reading »
Writing is Acting
In really entertaining fiction, the writer gives the reader a vivid picture of events as they occur through what his characters see, feel, and think. Creating this vivid fictional experience is exceptionally difficult–so difficult in fact that many commercially successful novels succeed in spite of lacking this riveting “deep perspective” experience to the reader. I’m … Continue reading »
All The Things I’ve Tried
I have tried many many different tactics to get myself to write and develop a meaningful story. Think about trying some of the following, if–like me–you’re new to the game and looking for inspiration: 1) Write at LEAST five minutes a day, every day, no matter what. Trust me, you can do this one. 2) … Continue reading »
Real Characters
We in fantasy are renowned for our use of stereotypes. Granted, there are exceptions, but many fantasy works feature stock characters. These stock characters are often the primary element of a story which detracts from its impact and entertainment value. You know the ones I’m talking about: beautiful, handsome, daring, infinitely resilient, endlessly whiny, destined … Continue reading »
Getting to the heart of it (Part 1)
As I’ve been wrestling with the beginning of my WIP, I’ve been trying various strategies for discovering other characters and situations which must organically exist in my story. One of my first efforts was to get in deep with the characters in knew about. This worked, but only insofar as I learned a lot about … Continue reading »
But I don’t have time to write… (part 2)
My last plan didn’t work so well. As anticipated, when life is already rocking and rolling in the morning, it’s difficult–nay, impossible–for me to buckle down and write, even when the opportunity presents itself. But you’re only beat when you cease to try, try again. My initial mistake was in shooting too high. Yes, 2000+ … Continue reading »
Judo for Writers
Another excellent suggestion from Immediate Writing: judo for writers. This technique is one that lends itself to the Five Minute Rule. Remember, the rules is:always, always, always do at least five minutes of writing a day–even when you’re ill, busy, don’t feel like it, are traveling, dog dies, etc. Sometimes, perhaps even often we writers … Continue reading »
Where Do Stories Come From?
At some point, every writer feels the lull… A time where they feel bereft of ideas for stories. Some want to write, but not having a perfusion of ideas, never start. I’ve been in both positions and here’s what I’ve found. If you don’t have stories spring upon you fully formed never fear, I don’t … Continue reading »
