|  Lokito | Oct 20, 2007 1:01pm | Despite all that I've read about the key to writing being, well, writing, I just can't seem to get myself to start writing anything. I have lots of ideas, some of which I have written down, but I can't start. I've always had this problem, especially with academic writing. The only reason I ever forced myself to start an academic paper was because I simply had to in order to get it done before dawn. :) And once I get going, I can write very steadily.
I don't have that pressure on my side when it comes to personal writing, though. I like writing, and enjoy it, but I'm held back by the mysterious force that stops me from doing many things I enjoy. So, what recommendation do you have for a person who is very unlikely to be able to get going on a project without being motivated/pressured by an outside influence? |
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Sponsor |  rumisong | Oct 20, 2007 5:17pm | "what recommendation do you have for a person who is very unlikely to be able to get going on a project without being motivated/pressured by an outside influence?"
maybe to accept the need for an outside influence?
what if thats just who you are? why try to "force" yourself to be different than who you are?
in other words, ask someone to ask you something about yourself ... of course the question has to be sincere, or it will be meaningless to both of you - but if you have or can find a friend who cares to help (and gets a little bit about the roots of procrastination) then the sincere want to help may result in a dialogue between you that could kick start some decent writing ... |
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|  KathyGab | Oct 23, 2007 10:13pm | | Rumisong has a good suggestion. Something my son has done with a friend is writing a story together back and forth. That's fun. Also, I wonder if you'd think about joining NaNoWriMo? If you let it, that'd definitely kick start you. I really enjoyed writing a novel last November, and I'm going to do it again this year. Would you think about joining me? If you go over to nanowrimo.org, look me up. I'm DukTape on there. If it looks like a fun thing to you, we can egg each other on. |
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| | Lokito | Oct 23, 2007 10:37pm | I don't doubt my ability - in fact, I like to think I'm talented (won this when I was ___, and did this and some of that, etc.). I have all kinds of ideas, and I can develop them extensively without ever writing anything down. I just have this stupid inability to sit down and write for any length of time.
I think the problem for me is the format. For instance, when I write school essays, I delay and delay and delay, but once I start writing, I write very quickly and in a manner that doesn't require much editing (sometimes I don't need to edit at all, if I don't make any typos or grammatical errors). I've never written a *real*, involved story before, which is the problem. I've written short stories, but nothing layered or particularly complex. As of late, I've been picturing in my mind many of my stories as short screenplays. I get caught up on not knowing where to start, and never get anything down. Like I said, it's the format. When a literary form is unfamiliar to me, I just can't start, because I'm too busy analyzing things or trying to figure out how to say what I'm trying to say, instead of taking things one step at a time.
Meh, I'm just a bunch of hot air. I have trouble starting things, particularly anything to do with writing (despite already having ideas and material). I also have to work alone, which can be a difficulty. I just need some simple advice on how to *consistently* get a story started when I want to, without agonizing over it for literary eons.
Also, that site doesn't load for me, so I'm not sure what you're talking about. |
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| | emjayprice | Oct 24, 2007 7:07am | Preparation is the key to writing an in-depth story like a novel/screenplay. Before you even begin to write a novel you must have two things set out straight in your mind.
Firstly, if your novel is based in the 'real world' then you must understand and know the subject of your genre intimately e.g. if you were writing a novel about a battle in the second world war then you must know exactly what battalions and weapons were used. Get that wrong, even the description of insignia and all those enthusiasts will berate your work.
Before you even begin to write a novel you must do your investigative work first. Unless you're going to write fantasy/sci-fi you must get your background facts right. Even then for this genre you must follow the rules you have formed at the beginning of your novel.
Secondly, long before you think of writing a novel you have to put a brief synopsis together. Characters must be created and made flesh in your thoughts. Each voice must sound different i.e. not different versions of your own self. Questions must be asked and answered. Who are your main characters? What drives them along throughout the story?
Then you have to have a plot of course. That does help! You must find a structure for your novel. Once you've decided upon genre and where and when to set your story, then you have to decide on a loose model for the novel. Where do the characters and plotline start at the novel? Where are they in the middle and where does it all end? Not to mention the weaving in of sub-plots and minor characters. It is best if you know all of this before you start writing a novel. By the time you get to the writing part, it's all about piecing the prose together and making the odd tweak.
You mention that you don't need to edit? That is the biggest and most important part of writing a novel. You will ALWAYS need to do a rewrite! Once you have done the planning you need to get the story written down in print. It does not matter if it's a little rough at the edges or some threads don't work. Just get the 'thing' on paper so that the idea does not stagnate.
Read it and discover what has worked and what hasn't. Even the greatest literary novelists of our day perform 20 to 30 rewrites, sometimes as many as 60! The honing and shaping of the final piece is the most difficult.
If you've already done a thorough preparation but you still cannot start, there are a couple of tricks you can use. The most difficult thing when piecing a novel together is when and how to introduce your characters and how to describe them, while at the same time not giving your reader a sensory overload or getting your story bogged down in description.
There are two easy ways around this. The simplest is to start on Chapter 2 and start your writing by moving the plot along. Once you're comfortable writing you can return to start the first chapter anytime afterwards. Alternatively, you could begin the novel as if it were the middle plot of the storyline and then guide yourself and the reader back to the beginning in a past tense style.
Whatever you decide I wish you well and luck in your adventures of writing a novel/screenplay. |
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|  dasillynn | Nov 8, 2007 11:12pm | FIND A PRESSURE: Call someone and ask them to be your accountability partner if nothing else.
I haven't written anything longer than 15 pages, but I believe the best place to start is where ever your mind focuses first. Sometimes I start 3 to 4 paragraphs in, then go back and fill in a beginning. Sometimes I am more motivated to write a middle section first.
I always give myself permission to be out of order, and usually better ideas come from it.
Also, I find that if I am slow to start, I do better by free writing until it transforms into a flow. I cut out and revise parts of the free write... most of it, but it still helps in launching.
Also, STOP THINKING AND JUST GET THAT PEN TO THE PAPER; FORCE IT!!! IT DOESN'T HAVE TO MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL UNTIL YOU REVISE. |
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| | Lokito | Nov 13, 2007 12:44pm | | Thanks for the advice. I've managed to get something down in the past week, which is a start. |
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Sponsor | | Journey | Nov 25, 2007 7:44pm | Kurt Vonnegut
Eight rules for writing fiction:
1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
-- Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons 1999), 9-10. |
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| | ghineman | Nov 28, 2007 7:31pm | When I was a writing instructor, one of the things I put much emphasis on was that writing is a process, not an act. If you have ideas, don't let finding the perfect beginning ever get in your way. Write the ideas. Once you start, the hard part is over.
When you feel you've finally got it all out, then the editing process begins. This where you can make it pretty and go after that perfect beginning. After all, you might find out that your perfect beginning is actually in the middle of your story. If you don't start writing, however, you'll never know. |
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|  |  2785660 | Dec 18, 2007 8:19am | | I liked Journey's suggestions. =) |
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Writing/Writers → Discussion