My brother is moving in with his wife and selling his home and most of his possessions (he has a ton of crap!) in a week-long yard sale this coming week. I've offered to help him and will be staying down there from Tuesday til probably Sat or Sun. It's a couple of hours away. The fun part is.....he has no internet. Ugh! I never sleep more than a few hours, plus will be having down time between everything. My plan during this time is to get the rest of my WIP at least typed up instead of this series of vague scenes floating around in my brain. I really have trouble writing outlines, though. The beginning is usually pretty good, but as I become more and more involved in the story, I become more and more engrossed in making it perfect. Then I'm at a point where I can't move on until I've decided between did he move closer to him or did he walk closer, etc. How do you discipline yourself to keep this outline short and then go back and fluff it up later? I'm really struggling with this right now. No matter how good my intentions are, I get too involved in the story and want what's on the screen in front of me to say everything exactly how it needs to be said. I would love to at least have the whole book laid out by the end of this oh-so-fun week, then once I'm back home, start from Chapter One and word it up. Any suggestions will be much appreciated! Thanks!!
I'm in the same boat. I will have an idea and work it out to the point I can start an outline to work out the major plots ect... But then I want to get going on it and toss aside the outline to get don some words. in the end I will sit at my computer and stare at the words saying "I hate you" partially to the words, partially to my reflection in the screen.
Outline the start and beginning and then the key points that get you from A to B. I always like to write down the bones of my ending, so I keep the focus on where I want to end up. I start with a A3 page and draw a timeline. Then, I break it down into key points and have arrows from the timeline to explanatory bubbles. Then I can work out my chapters and a brief overview of what happens in each. That gets me a to a similar place as EdFromNY, but in a slightly different way.
I will try all of this this week. Thanks. I just really have a hard time stopping at a word or sentence or paragraph or........ I really don't know what the ending is yet, but I do know what the big something will be that leads up to the ending. I'm hoping this outline writing will help me with that. Plus, I just don't think I'll have a huge amount of time in big chunks to actually accomplish anything more. Thanks for the advice!
Maybe you're not an outliner. I keep trying to do outlines, but I find if I outline, I'm bored when it comes time to write it - I've already SEEN this movie, brain! So, yeah, I lose focus, run out of steam, etc. Maybe you'd do better if you just wrote the story and figured it out as you went. Outlines are useful for some people, but they're far from mandatory.
I am NOT an outliner by nature. Never have been, probably never will be. What I do instead, is think about individual scenes. In each scene, there should be an immediate goal for the characters to either accomplish or get thwarted. Directly under the insertion point on my word processor, I do a few lines of outline relating to the scene. They are brief sentences which move down as I type, and they are always in view so I can see exactly what needs to accomplish. It usually looks something like this: Mc does so and so So and so happens So and so does this Antagonist does this This happens as a result Hope this helps.
That might work better. I do have most major events or at least the reasonings for them in my mind. I don't want to go a whole week without working on it and know I won't have hours straight of free time like I seem to usually need. But something like that I could probably do in 15 or 20 minutes at a pop. And maybe doing this I can also fill in the gaps between the events in the same way. Thanks!!!
I've noticed I have a lot of trouble starting to write in the mornings. I sit down and pull up my novel and then I get distracted and A) mess around on this site for a while or B) get distracted by the news and go read articles for a bit or C) think about everything and anything that has nothing to do with my story. So tell me about your process. Do you ease into it? Do you just jump in and start writing? Do you swear by a tea/energy drink/food item/herbal remedy that helps you focus or improves your concentration? How do you pick up from where you left off and get into the zone?
As counterintuitive as it may sound, I try not to finish the day before with clear closure in the writing. Like, I know that if yesterday I satisfactorily finished off a chapter, I'm going to have a hard time finding where to start today. It's better if I leave yesterday's chapter unfinished because then I'm not starting cold, I have writing to finish off, for which I already have a good idea of where it's going to go, and that lead-in, that warmup, is what lets me continue on.
This. Choreographer Twyla Tharp, who's written books on creativity and productivity, says you must always have something left in the tank at the end of the day. The analogy she used was, imagine if a choreographer went to the dance studio the next day and all the dancers had to stand around waiting for the choreographer to come up with an idea because there was nothing in the tank. All those people getting paid, and expensive studio time, for nothing. It's easier said than done because once you get on a roll it can be hard to stop, but when I remember to do it the writing goes so much better the next day.
Well, I at least try to get into a good state of mind. Take a cold shower (with the exception that I've been taking hot showers recently because I'm sick), get dressed, have some food, go to a café and listen to some podcasts or music in my car on the way there. Get myself a nice, hot, black tea. Then sit down and usually proceed to do all the things you said you do, lol. Well actually, that's not quite true. I pull out my EVO planner and review how yesterday went, and what today's going to look like, which takes a little more than 20 minutes. It's also got some journaling practices in there, like writing what things you're grateful for and that sort of thing. *Then* I pull out my laptop and stare at the screen, procrastinate, etc.
Currently reviewing my notebook in the hopes of jump-starting my brain. Problem is, I wrote a VERY satisfying chapter ending when I last left off, and, though I know where my next scene should start, I'm hesitating. First, because it's one of the MAJOR scenes in my novel, second because after this major scene comes the major, MAJOR end battle scene. I need more coffee.
I would also add...Are you writing during the most productive time of day for you? I write best at night. My brain is more alert at night, it's quiet, and everything flows better for me. Technically I can write at any time of day, but my best stuff is always written at night, and it's so much easier. Not everyone has the luxury of working with their natural body clock, but if you can do it, it makes a hell of a difference. ETA: Reviewing the previous day's work is definitely a help. I always start by editing the previous day's stuff. Also, protein and coffee before writing. Protein is brain food.
Good question... I'm also easy distracted and slow to get started. I try it both ways, but more often I'll ease into it—or set the mood, if you prefer. This I do with music—I never write without it—generally calm and melodious stuff, either without vocals or subdued and non-intrusive ones; it can be any genre or style as long as it fits the feel I'm going for in whatever piece I'm writing. Sometimes I'll change to a totally different style of music for certain scenes, such as something wild or bombastic for action, but I try not do get too derailed by playlist micromanagement, I lose focus easily enough as is... And once in a blue moon I'll look at pictures beforehand—again, suitable for the piece I'm working on—to load up on cool and relevant imagery. I might even get out my sketchpad and do some quick doodles. I sometimes meditate before I get started, but that's something I do anyway, and when it lines up with a writing session it's coincidental more often than not. I tend to backtrack a bit if it's an ongoing project, to remember where I was at, but I'll get lost in editing if I'm not careful. For that reason I tend to re-read only those parts I know are polished to a respectable degree, this also to remind myself what sort of overall standard I expect of the finished story. I can't function in any capacity, let alone write anything worth a damn, without my caffeine. I'm sort of a junkie. I need it to focus. Then again it's easy to overdo it and get too jittery to sit still. I need to hit, and maintain, the spot where I'm focused and relaxed. That shit ain't easy. Traditionally, I've relied heavily on nicotine to get in the zone. I'm trying to slowly phase that out of my life, but it's still a struggle to write for any length of time without it, the cravings still get to me and steal my attention, but I am getting better. I'm not an outliner, very much a discovery writer, but I find that thinking ahead does help me push on with the story. It's good motivation to have an upcoming scene you just can't wait to get at, and I try not to write anything out of order (though sometimes I just can't help myself) other than just the most laconic of notes. I would be doing this anyway, it's part of my process, but its value as a carrot cannot be understated. So these are my rituals and habits. I sometimes do the thing where I break off in the middle of a scene or sentence (stopping mid-word is just bad form, if you ask me) so as to have that impetus to resume. Mostly, though, I'm compelled to leave a clean break, but when it works, it works.
Oh gosh, if I am something in my head that needs to get written down I have to do it. If I don't it escapes and then if I try to recapture it well it's just not the same. Everyone has different times where they are at their most creative. I do understand getting distracted by other things that need to get done. Been there and still doing that. I don't think you can pick one way to write, you must create your own habits or answer your own needs.
I've noticed that, too. Or more precisely: I write more beautiful during the night, prose turns pretty when it's quiet. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that the day is reserved for the 'real' stuff in life: jobs, bills, insurances, phone calls, chores, money, car repairs, lists, calenders, appointments. All that seems far away when it's dark (which is also why I love fall and winter) and that most likely affects my brain, leaving more space for the unreal: dreams, imagination, vision, in short: the stuff that fuels authors. I definitely write much better after sunset.
I write best in the mornings. I mean EARLY. Like now. (04.13 hours) When I was still working I would get up at 4am-ish and start writing. I had to be at work at 8, so that gave me a few uninterrupted hours when nobody else was around or likely to phone or appear at the door—and nobody had yet spoken to me that day. However, at the end of that morning session I had to stop—like it or not—and get ready for work. Perhaps that had the effect @Wreybies noted, of never finishing a chapter at the end of a sitting, but always needing to start in the middle again next time. I never left the writing because I wanted to. I always left because circumstances forced me to. At the time that felt really frustrating, but thinking back, it might have been key. Leaving before I wanted to. I've not been anywhere near that productive since I retired.
For me it's before sunrise, but same general conditions. I also love the dark, where nobody is likely to pester me with 'stuff.'
I could never write in the morning; even at my day job, everyone knows not to ask me to do anything mentally taxing until around 10am. I usually write in the late afternoon and evening, maybe early afternoon if it's the weekend. Since I don't write every day, I spend a lot of time "preparing" by mentally visualizing scenes, especially if I know I'm going to have time to write later that day. That way when I sit down I'm more or less transcribing a video loop that's been running in my head on and off all day.
I'm a morning writer too like @jannert . I like to get up and write as early as I can. There's something about the early morning hours before most people are even up and there's nothing else on my schedule for a few hours. I didn't use to be a morning person. In fact I would have said the opposite. But when I started writing in the mornings, my writing seemed to get better and I got more done. But more than time of day I think having some sort of schedule or routine helps. I start me days writing so now it's just become part of how I start my days. I don't stare at a blank page or struggle to come up with things. I just write. Sometimes I write at different times, but for the most part I stick to my routine and I think it helps a lot. I like to write in long stretches sometimes so that's usually how I spend my Sundays. But it was when I started writing early in the morning and sticking with it that I came to realize I've got this.
My system is quite simple. I grab a small cup of coffee, then look at some videos on youtube while drinking the coffee. After that, I pour myself a new, bigger cup, shut off the computer, and move on to the laptop. I don't have the wifi activated on it often, so I get rid of all the distractions. The first cup of coffee helps me wake up, and I relax with youtube videos from my favorite youtubers. When I'm ready to start writing, all I have is a big cup of coffee and the laptop. Then I just write. As for the "finish the chapter or not", that has never been an issue for me. I always write until I feel I'm done, and don't care if it's at the end of a chapter or not. There is always more to write, so coming back the next day is never really a problem. That said, I do think about the story a lot, so I usually always have an idea where to take it after I'm done writing for the day. To me, writing isn't just a job. It's a way of life. I always feel happy when I get to write. Some people don't understand how I can write for hours without getting tired, or write when i'm on vacation. But to me, writing is very relaxing and fun. I don't need a vacation from wrting. Writing is my vacation.
I can so relate to this! It doesn't even matter if I go to bed early...My brain clock is perpetually set for 10AM. One year I tried altering my schedule to non-vampire hours and spent that year in an unproductive fog. My coffee schedule is similar to @LadyErica 's. First cup is to wake up, second cup is to start to work, or else while I'm drinking orange juice, which comes after coffee. That's when I do edits and "business" tasks.
I have a different routine, but I so relate to your second paragraph. Writing, for me, is fun and an escape ...not a chore! I was delighted to discover it. (I also thought it was an inexpensive pleasure pursuit—till I started doing research ...and buying bookcases to accomodate the research materials ...but that's another tale. )
