Bringing the Peripheral Back to the Forefront: A New Daily Fiction Writing Goal
I am making a shift in my writing habits. Since I have recommitted--once again--to writing more frequently, I figured I would rather put that time and energy into fiction.
It started a few days ago when, instead of writing a new blog post, I revisited the all but abandoned story I started for NaNoWriMo. I was fun getting back into it, and I liked the stuff I had previously written...love it when that happens.
I credit the Life Line for re-sparking my focus on writing (yet again). Writing begets more writing. And returning to my story got my gears spinning and writing juices flowing. I started carrying around a notebook to jot down ideas. And that night I dove into a book I bought a long time ago but never really cracked open: The 101 Habits of Successful Novelists. It's way better than I anticipated. Excellent advice from writing on a multitude of writing-related issues. It was also inspiring. The anecdotes about single parents who were able to create time to write in particular helped me to feel less woe as me and more I can totally do this!
**Aside: I also found a related PDF: The 25 Habits of Highly Successful Writers--now downloaded and saved (Google Drive win!)**
So far, I've continued with the trend, and I set a daily writing goal of 300 words--totally manageable--that will result in a novel manuscript in a year or less (I will often go well past that minimum, but especially during the busy work week, that achievable goal will allow me to keep in the story and keep at it). Breaking a novle down into achievable chunks is key and way less intimidating.
I also starting addressing where I always get stuck with my stories: structure. I needed an outline. At some point, I just have chunks of stories that become muddled and directionless.
This morning, I sketched the start of an outline, and it was pretty awesome and even kinda powerful. It was not at all and did not hamper the creative process, which accounted for my long held anti-outline stance. For me, it served to facilitate and expand the creative process. It forced me to think much more about characters and settings and scenes. As I dove more into the story outline, bits of scenes and dialogue surfaced, which I jotted down as I went. I worked through some interesting problems and issues too. Story outline win!
I wrote it all by hand. Another new discovery--or rather rediscovery. For me, writing with a pen and and paper allows for more creativity. More accurately, a different kind of creativity than typing on a keyboard.
Organization is another issue I have struggles with, especially if I am composing on paper. It is all too easy to let your story become scattered. Especially for me. I am inherently disorganized. But I use a lot of tools to compensate for this. Why not apply the same to my stories? I fished out an old three ring binder and viola, instant organization.
Such a hindsight no-brainer. It is, of course, wrong, inaccurate, and unfair to blame my ex for, well, lots of things...and yet, so much at least seems more clear with her out of the picture. Well, less out of the picture anyway. She will probably always be a part of my life.
I also realized I do enjoy writing these blog and just getting my thoughts out there, even if no one reads it. It feels productive. And it's just good writing practice. I can dredge through all the monkey mind crap.
And...I just like writing and writing about writing. I always have. A shame I allowed it to become such a peripheral part of my life for so long.
It started a few days ago when, instead of writing a new blog post, I revisited the all but abandoned story I started for NaNoWriMo. I was fun getting back into it, and I liked the stuff I had previously written...love it when that happens.
I credit the Life Line for re-sparking my focus on writing (yet again). Writing begets more writing. And returning to my story got my gears spinning and writing juices flowing. I started carrying around a notebook to jot down ideas. And that night I dove into a book I bought a long time ago but never really cracked open: The 101 Habits of Successful Novelists. It's way better than I anticipated. Excellent advice from writing on a multitude of writing-related issues. It was also inspiring. The anecdotes about single parents who were able to create time to write in particular helped me to feel less woe as me and more I can totally do this!
**Aside: I also found a related PDF: The 25 Habits of Highly Successful Writers--now downloaded and saved (Google Drive win!)**
So far, I've continued with the trend, and I set a daily writing goal of 300 words--totally manageable--that will result in a novel manuscript in a year or less (I will often go well past that minimum, but especially during the busy work week, that achievable goal will allow me to keep in the story and keep at it). Breaking a novle down into achievable chunks is key and way less intimidating.
I also starting addressing where I always get stuck with my stories: structure. I needed an outline. At some point, I just have chunks of stories that become muddled and directionless.
This morning, I sketched the start of an outline, and it was pretty awesome and even kinda powerful. It was not at all and did not hamper the creative process, which accounted for my long held anti-outline stance. For me, it served to facilitate and expand the creative process. It forced me to think much more about characters and settings and scenes. As I dove more into the story outline, bits of scenes and dialogue surfaced, which I jotted down as I went. I worked through some interesting problems and issues too. Story outline win!
I wrote it all by hand. Another new discovery--or rather rediscovery. For me, writing with a pen and and paper allows for more creativity. More accurately, a different kind of creativity than typing on a keyboard.
Organization is another issue I have struggles with, especially if I am composing on paper. It is all too easy to let your story become scattered. Especially for me. I am inherently disorganized. But I use a lot of tools to compensate for this. Why not apply the same to my stories? I fished out an old three ring binder and viola, instant organization.
Such a hindsight no-brainer. It is, of course, wrong, inaccurate, and unfair to blame my ex for, well, lots of things...and yet, so much at least seems more clear with her out of the picture. Well, less out of the picture anyway. She will probably always be a part of my life.
I also realized I do enjoy writing these blog and just getting my thoughts out there, even if no one reads it. It feels productive. And it's just good writing practice. I can dredge through all the monkey mind crap.
And...I just like writing and writing about writing. I always have. A shame I allowed it to become such a peripheral part of my life for so long.
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