Couple of thoughts. Sometimes this happens to me, and I'll humor myself, get out a new document and start writing. Often, my mind starts wandering back to the original WIP. I used to think that the best was to trains one's mind to become completely absorbed in one novel--all your creative ideas work toward crafting that one story. However, as I begin to understand the fragility of any unpublished novel and their chances at finding an agent, I'm starting to think that maximum output of words is what you want, regardless of story. If you can keep producing coherent text that can go somewhere, regardless of which novel...maybe that's ultimately better.
Thanks for your thoughts. I know you have novel-writing experience. This isn't actually the first novel I've written, but I've never had a novel published and it's been a long time since I've set out to write another with any seriousness. But I feel like this is the time for me to try this again. Sometimes I think it's going well, and sometimes I think I really shouldn't waste anymore time on this. Is that normal? I will say I totally agree with you that novel writing and short story writing are very different. Actually, they are so different that it took me a few tries with my opening chapter. This is not a collection of linked short stories. This is a novel. And I do know the difference, but I kept writing short stories and not an opening chapter. It certainly wasn't easy for me. And since posting this I have made a five-word outline. It might sound ridiculous, but these five words are helping me focus on the direction I want to move in with this even if I don't really know where I'm going with it or what the story is fully yet. I guess my whole fear with this is that I'm having a hard time always believing that this particular novel is what I should be putting my time and energy into. It seems like every few days I really think this novel is stupid. Then a few days later I come back at it and it's not so bad. Good? Good enough so that I haven't given up on it. Still, commitment scares the shit out of me. I'm not sure I'll write more novels after this one. I don't know. I don't think I need an idea folder. I certainly don't have the time nor want to actually write all these ideas and nothing I have for other ideas is, I'm sure, as planned out or thought through as your ideas. I think you are a novelist. I'm just taking another stab at this to see if I can produce a publishable book. Depending on how long it takes me to actually write this novel and how well I do with any publishing efforts that follow... Truth: Today I feel like a complete fraud.
Two novels at the same time does seem very hard. It's kind of funny because something I thought was a completely separate idea has kind of meshed with the one I'm working with. Who knows? Maybe more of these loose ideas are part of the novel I am currently trying to write.
I think when it comes to writing sometimes it's hard to know how could an idea really is until it's down on paper. Does that sort of thing happen with you or anyone else who keeps track of ideas?
Yeah, I'm not out to do any research with this novel. I'm really just focused on language and story and character development. I guess my only research I'm doing is to really really great novels and a lot of them to really get a feel for the form.
I think the commitment thing is a big problem. I'm trying to see how quickly I can do this. I am not rushing anything, but I also don't want to spend more than a year writing any one book. I didn't want it to take more than a summer, but I think I was too ambitious with that. I am editing as I go, rewriting and reworking things. I want to see how long the whole process takes me. Do you guys know how long it takes you to write (including any revision) a novel?
This is kind of what I'm thinking I should do. See how many of these ideas can fit together in one book. Of course, it's altering everything, but I am a little surprised at how many ideas might not be a separate story.
I'm still pretty close to start still. I've got 50 something pages down. I'm kind of estimating that's about 20 percent.
It's usually not an instinct to want to move to something new. Usually, it's your mind making excuses because it's not as easy as you thing. Move onto the next idea and you'll have the same "instinct." Until eventually all you'll have is a lot of unfinished, half baked ideas. Stick to one and finish.
Hi, I'm new to the forum, English is not my native language so excuses my grammar and structure. I write short comedy stories and about 30min podcast episodes once a week. My question is about ideas flow and creative process. I 'm fairly new to writing , I've been writing for about 2 years part time, short comedy - funny stories about life. My writing process: I never plan to write, I never know what and when I'll write . I'd be just driving and ideas would start to flow automatically . I never force myself to write, I only write when ideas start to flow by them self . It almost looks as if I was cheating. When it happens I can write non stop , as long as the ideas are automatically flowing. I can also see in detail all the scenes and characters in my brain as if I was watching a movie. It almost feels as if a movie started in my head and my job was only write down what I see and feel. It takes absolutely no conscious effort on my part , or so it seems from my prospective and I like it that way. The problem is that if I just sit down with intention to write something new and original and can't produce anything good. When I submit my forced writing stories they are not liked generally. I'm trying to figure out How to start that automatic writing process in my brain at will. Is it common for screen -writers and writers to experience that auto flow - movie in your head process, where you just write down quickly what you see almost without thinking ? I can however work on the scenes that I have already started without that auto-flow state of mind and keep developing them , but any new stories are impossible for me without that auto-flow . Thank you , Tomas,
I've seen advice that you sit down to write at a specific time and place every day, and stick with it, doing nothing but either writing or trying to write, for some specific period of time. So, for example, at your desk every day from 6pm to 7pm. The idea is that after youv developed the habit, it will train your mind that that is the time to unfold the ideas.
You might find this thread helpful. https://www.writingforums.org/threads/inspiration-doesnt-happen-everyday.154510/ Or maybe not? Anyway, rather than repeat myself, see if there's anything in my reply that might help get you going. A creative journal that you write in every day at the same time perhaps? Good luck! ETA: For myself, to get the creative flow going, I tend to digest a lot of creativity that's exactly opposite of what I do. Example: Writing involves so much sitting, so I watch a lot of ballet videos. A lot of my actor friends go to concerts. That sort of thing.
Thanks , I'll try to write at specific time . But regarding that inspiration burst. When the story starts to unfold in my brain so quickly that I can't even keep up to write it down. Totally automatically without any conscious effort at all. Does it happen to every writer from time to time? When it happens to me , I would often write around 10 pages or so in about 30min and then nothing ,,,silence..I can't make anything up , I just have to wait for another wave.
Sounds a bit like the Elizabeth Gilbert quote about Ruth Stone on this Wikipedia page. (I suspect that the length of that quote is a copyright violation, but not my problem!) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Stone I suspect that you will eventually have to become willing to make stuff up, though. I realize that it may feel incredibly slow and impossible, but you can't really count on inspiration.
"ETA: For myself, to get the creative flow going, I tend to digest a lot of creativity that's exactly opposite of what I do. Example: Writing involves so much sitting, so I watch a lot of ballet videos. A lot of my actor friends go to concerts. That sort of thing." It works similar way for me as well. Many times when I listen to the news and then some opinion or event starts the ideas flowing. It always happens when I'm doing something completely unrelated to writing, but sometimes it happens 10-20 times a day for a week or two and then 2-3 weeks nothing , not one idea , not eve one line.
I was having trouble with that in my current WIP. Something Twyla Tharp says in her book The Creative Habit solved it for me: Stop while you still have something left in the tank, so you can pick it up easily the next session. She explains that as a choreographer, she never ended a session with her dancers exhausted, because she needed them fresh and energetic the next morning. She said before she figured out that she needed something left in the tank too, every morning started out with her not knowing where to begin, and her dancers standing around waiting for her inspiration to strike. It is hard to stop when you're on a roll. I used to write myself to exhaustion because I never knew when inspiration would hit. Learning to stop while I still have something left in the tank is a very new skill for me. And, let's face it, Hollywood tends to encourage working to exhaustion. Those 16 and 18 and 20 hour sessions in the recording studio or on set and all night writing sessions are considered the norm. Eff that. Leave something in the tank. Make notes, use a voice recorder to record some ideas of where you want to go next, or whatever you need to do, but stop. ETA: Doing this, for me, makes writing less of a rolleroaster process and more of a smoother, more even road.
Ruth Stone process is little different, but interesting as well. I can force myself to make stuff up , but the resultt is not that good or original. It almost feels as if that "burst of ideas" was coming from a completely different part of my brain. I often laugh when I'm in process of writing it down , because it is so new to me. When I just try to make stuff up , I hardly ever laugh and I just feel like it's below average.
@Tomas99, it feels "forced" because while you're new at it, you are forcing yourself to do it. Keep at it, and it won't always feel that way, and the stuff you write "on demand" will get better. I promise. It's like building any other skill. It takes practice. You may think, "what's the point of practicing something that's hard when my old way produces better results?" (That used to be my thinking.) The answer is, building a skill simply adds to your bag o' tricks. It also forces you to trust your writing skill, rather than relying on the elusive magic every time. But yes, as a creative person, the elusive magic is seductive. Do I write better when all the planets align and the magic happens and the winds carry the words to me in the air exactly in the right order when the sky is the most beautiful shade of purple and I'm in the perfect zone...? (I kid, but you know exactly what I mean.) Hell yes! But it's also nice to know that I don't have to wait for that moment every time. Trust your skills, man.
Hello fellow writers! I am here because I am currently trying to write a Young Adult Romance novel, it's about a girl named Rose whose very extroverted except when it comes to her two best friends. The boy she is dating is the most popular guy in school, but he's abusive behind the scenes; he hurts her when no one is around to witness. I'm sure that most of you can figure out where the rest of this is going. I am writing this post because I am trying to figure out what kind of events to add to the story to make/keep it interesting. For Example: Have someone be killed Add a Supernatural/Paranormal twist to it somehow... This is all that I've come up with for ideas, I'd love to hear what your thoughts are. I'd really appreciate your help. Thank you, Courtney
If it’s a romance novel, who is the love interest? As in, who does the girl end up with at the end of the book?
