Writing a scene?

I had a few scenes I sort of dreaded because I found them boring. But, then I just cut them because if they were boring me, they'd bore the reader.

 

Hi all, brand - new here, I'm NOT a writer. I was an English Major in college, so have of course done my share of dabbling with poetry and short stories.

The past week or so, I have this idea that has blossomed. I have worked out the ENTIRE thing in my head, chapter by chapter. EVERY character. Every free moment I've had where I have my brain to myself, in the shower, waiting for the bus, etc., I've been writing it in my mind.
Now I have to go back and do it on paper.

So, how weird is this?

 

Hi all, brand - new here, I'm NOT a writer. I was an English Major in college, so have of course done my share of dabbling with poetry and short stories.

The past week or so, I have this idea that has blossomed. I have worked out the ENTIRE thing in my head, chapter by chapter. EVERY character. Every free moment I've had where I have my brain to myself, in the shower, waiting for the bus, etc., I've been writing it in my mind.
Now I have to go back and do it on paper.

So, how weird is this?

 

Nothing weird about that at all. But you are asking this on a writing forum after all. That's like going into a mental hospital with underpants on your head, asking the patients "how sane am I?"

What you're describing is inspiration and an idea for a story.

If you get it all written down, then you can call yourself a writer ... and all the damnation that entails!

 

Not weird at all. Time to get writing.

 

ok then, good to know!
I feel like a female Walter Mitty sometimes, getting lost in my imagination to go through daily life...this time it got away from me, and expanded into this huge idea. It sort of became its own entity, and dragged me along for the ride! I actually imagined myself as a charachter IN the story and it just all played out from there.
I never actually thought about the actual writing process other than what was required in college, so what I was doing with this idea seemed a little like madness. But I love where it is going!

 

Not weird. I've got a whole cineplex of book scenes rolling in my head. The hard part is translating the images into words.

 

These are what a writer does. The important thing is that what you want to write

 

As stated above, those moments standing at the bus stop or in a queue waiting to pay for your groceries are times to be cherished when you, as a writer can secretly formulate your plot for your meisterwerk.
Not weird at all, enjoy it and good luck.

 

I do it all the time. I'm finding it much harder to put it on paper though. I tell the whole story to myself in my head, and then kind of get bored actually re-writing it in some sort of concrete form. It's almost like "been there, done that." I'm now trying to write down stories as they come to me instead of pre-writing the whole thing in my head and then putting it down on paper later.

Anyway, good luck!

 

This is VERY weird.

 

it depends on the moment, if i have nothing to write with, ill let myself daydream and talk to one of the characters in my current project, see what they think of everything that has happened... though sometimes they will butt rudely in while im writing to let me know things

 

Writing in your head is easy. Putting it into words is hard. Not weird at all.

 

Welcome to the forum, @JosephMarch. As an English major, you already should have a reservoir of knowledge of different writing styles and approaches. Use that.

There are really two parts of the problem of getting your story on paper. You've already apparently gotten one part resolved - you have a good understanding of the story you want to tell. The second part is the one that a lot of folks here struggle with - how to present that story to the reader. So before, during and after you set that story down, check back to your favorite authors and see how they presented their stories, what really engaged you as a reader and then look and see how you engage your readers by comparison.

One other thing - don't be surprised if, when you are actually writing, your characters begin to change (and the story with them) in subtle ways. As we write, new ideas occur to us, our characters evolve and we often find ourselves going in unexpected directions. That's a good thing, but it can be troublesome if you've locked yourself into a particular plan. In my current project, I had decided on a particular chapter structure. I was about halfway through the first draft when I began to get the nagging feeling that I was going to have to change it, but I pressed on. By the time I was 3/4 of the way through, I knew it for sure. I kept the planned structure in place for the first draft (but ignored some aspects of it and will address it once I begin the review and editing process.

Good luck.

 

Outsider is right, in my opinion. The time you spend thinking your way through a story is never wasted. And it's SUCH a rush to watch your story—the one that exists only in your head—come to life when you do start writing it. Omigosh.

 

you need to ask a moderator to merge your 3 duplicate threads into one...

 

so sorry for the multiple threads...as I explained it was my first (and second, apparently) post ever and I didn't realize it posted twice. I tried to delete one when I realized but I guess that isn't an option?
And I only see TWO duplicate threads. Are there three?

 

I do this all the time because my writing almost always starts around one scene or character and builds from there. I recently started carrying a small notebook around with me so I could write down ideas since a lot of them seemed to slip from my mind (damn you concussion).

 

what i meant was there are 3 altogether... sorry i confused you with 'duplicate'...

 

I do a lot of my drafts away from the computer, just thinking up stuff for the thinking part. Trouble is finding the useful bits, and it still takes several tries to get it written down right.

 

That's exactly how I started. Then I had to get it down.
440,000 words later...

So now you have to do the easy part.

 

Not at all weird.

 

It's called developing and outlining a novel. Most of us do it on paper, but if you can keep it in your head then fine.

It would be unnatural, though, if, now that you have the outline, you didn't turn it into a novel proper by sitting down and starting to write.

Good luck with it.

 

I have a thought, an idea, in my head trying desperately to free itself in words. I am trying to exercise my writing, but the problem is I don't have a clue how to do it. It's not a short story; it doesn't seem to be a poem, just a short scene that's begging to be written before being forgotten. Right now I have it in poem form, but I always seem to think poems have a deeper meaning, not just telling a story or describing a scene. What are some other methods or styles one can utilize to get their thoughts on paper?

This is what it is so far in rough form:

Old Cowboys

Worst drought in a hundred years
Yup
They kicked their thousand dollar boots in the dust
1897, I think it was
Their eyes squinted and skin leathered by the sun
What’s it been, three months?
Almost four
They never look at each other, just the horizon
Having the same conversation every day
They’ve met at the same spot for years
Never really saying anything at all

 

Some people like to write monologues which is basically what this is.