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Topic: Your Writing Process
| Author | Message |
| GGG | Posted – 12/28/2007 12:40:16 PM | show profile For college papers, it was cheesy Doritos, a can of Slice, and the hum of the dorms. For all my articles, it's been a cup of coffee and a little classical music. But now that I've started my book, I can't seem to find a cozy writing process that let's me bang out anything beyond a page or two. Sigh. So, out of sheer curiosity, I'd love to hear about other people's writing process. Sticky notes and Eminem? Total silence and a blank pad of paper? Special brain-jogging snacks? Share! |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 12/28/2007 1:29:42 PM | show profile It doesn't really matter to me. Usually, I go work at Starbucks. Sometimes at the library. Sometimes at my kitchen table. Sometimes I drink coffee, sometimes I don't. I don't have a process, as much as just put my butt in a chair and stay there until the work gets done. |
| jcpatterson | Posted – 12/28/2007 4:38:25 PM | show profile Agreed, it is butt-in-the-chair that is the critical part of the process. I can work at any time of day, in my office, in an airport, in silence or in noise. Now, if you want to know preferences, I prefer to write in my office with regular walks into my garden for fresh tomatoes to nibble, and I like to listen to steel drum bands or Latin music. |
| foodlit | Posted – 12/28/2007 4:59:13 PM | show profile What's working for me, as I work on a novel that I will finish this time...is to not bite off more than I can chew. Which is what I used to do. I'd force myself to write 10 pages a day and would dread sitting down to do it because it was such a daunting amount. So, I wasn't writing regularly or well...and 4 different times I gave up at the 100 page mark. Apparently it's quite normal to think whatever you are writing is horrible at that point...I didn't know that so I'd abandon projects. Now I have many multi-pubbed friends who laugh and say it happens to them every time...key is to keep writing anyway and finish. That you can fix all the bad parts in the revision process. So, what's working now? For me, it's writing every day and having a goal that is doable. Right now it's 3 pages a day. It takes me about an hour to do, and I do it in pen, then edit it a little when I type it into the word doc. I have to keep reminding myself to not worry about it not being perfect...which is really hard to do. But I'm doing it. I'm not plotting, and what's really fun for me now is that by writing every day, I'm 'in' the story. My mind is always working on it, so when I sit down to write, even if I'm stuck for a moment, a few minutes later, it's there, and I'm writing something...and I just tell myself that it's ok if it doesn't work, and that seems to relax the internal editor who wants to fix everything. So, part of the fun is finding out what happens each day. It keeps the story new and fun. But, everyone's process is different. Outlining may be better for you. I've tried it, and it loses the excitement for me, but for other people it helps them move through the first draft more quickly. Most important change I made was to write every day, consistently and to have a low page count. I'm thinking about upping it in a few weeks because I average 3-4 pages a day now, and it adds up quickly. Good Luck, Pam |
| Village Gal | Posted – 12/29/2007 10:24:41 AM | show profile I agree. There is no magic process. I sit down at the computer and start writing or revising pages. While writing my memoir and developing another book proposal, it helped me to have a high powered weeklywriting group. That pushed me to bring in a chapters for feedback and their output spurred me on. Are you in a group? |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 12/29/2007 12:30:33 PM | show profile I found the Norman Mailer statement true about writing a novel -- if your first novel runs 100,000 words published, you'll end up writing at least 1,000,000 words before you get there. I generally end up keeping only about 5 percent of the first draft. --What's working for me, as I work on a novel that I will finish this time...is to not bite off more than I can chew. Which is what I used to do. I'd force myself to write 10 pages a day and would dread sitting down to do it because it was such a daunting amount. So, I wasn't writing regularly or well...and 4 different times I gave up at the 100 page mark. Apparently it's quite normal to think whatever you are writing is horrible at that point...I didn't know that so I'd abandon projects. Now I have many multi-pubbed friends who laugh and say it happens to them every time...key is to keep writing anyway and finish. That you can fix all the bad parts in the revision process.00 |
| worldofnatasha | Posted – 12/29/2007 5:30:50 PM | show profile when I get completely blocked, I set a kitchen timer for 5 minutes and decide I'm going to write as much as I can until it dings. anything more than 5 minutes seems too daunting (isn't that crazy? but anyone can stand writing for just five...) I guess in an ideal world, when the timer went off I'd be caught up enough in it that I keep writing, but usually I don't -- I'll just stop. but at least I got a page, or a paragraph, or SOMETHING down in those 5 minutes, and then an hour later, I set the timer again. sometimes I'll get 10 pages written in a day using my timer method. (incidentally, this is the only way I can bring myself to clean my house too!) |
| writesonwater | Posted – 12/29/2007 9:22:16 PM | show profile I love the wee hours -- no phone calls, no hovering family. Even the dog is asleep. I can easily get lost in the writing -- in a good way -- under those conditions. Also, getting out to the lake does the same for me. I do prefer isolation, I guess. I would LOVE a trusted writing group -- i don't seem to live close enough to a writing center for that. |
| killingtime | Posted – 12/30/2007 2:04:55 PM | show profile writing process 1. think time, let reporting facts bake into some narrative direction 2. working hed/dek: to serve as reminder of thesis/point 3. lede: break the ice. refine focus, firms up idea of direction/sections to follow. 4. outline. 5. fill in outline = first draft. maybe rewrite lede 6. read over/send to editor/keep fingers crossed. 7. post editor comments rewrite. repeat 7 til get it right, or close to right. |
| melinyc | Posted – 12/30/2007 6:35:32 PM | show profile Your Writing Process I listen to the same single song on my ipod, over and over. After a few plays, I don't really hear it anymore, but there is a familiar repetition in the background that allows me to focus and write very quickly, especially when on deadline. I don't think this technique applies to metal, but other genres will probably do. |
| durhamskywriter | Posted – 1/2/2008 3:18:17 PM | show profile my writing process when i sit down to write a news story i usually have the radio on, usually NPR, or if it's a latenight weekend, WGN chicago (via internet). sometimes i turn the TV on for background noise --usually news headlines or disney channel. if the story is really, really tough i turn everything off and work in total silence. then i get comfy, start typing, and then stop when i'm done. :) pat Durham NC |
| jkdscribe | Posted – 1/2/2008 11:22:45 PM | show profile I'm with foodlit on the smaller goals. For awhile, when I was busy with other things, I set myself an extremely low word count of 500. On bad days I'd get to the 500 and practically run away from the computer, on good days I would of course allow myself to go over and on most days did. I probably hit the word count I would have liked to by not HAVING to do it. And even if I had a week of bad days I had a few thousand words to show for it--which is a few thousand more than I would have had if I hadn't taken the best writing advice there is: "APPLY ASS TO CHAIR" Mostly I like working at home with a cup of tea. Sometimes I go to a cafe, often ones in book stores |
| GGG | Posted – 1/3/2008 4:35:27 PM | show profile Discipline. I was afraid of that. :-) But I think I'll take the advice and set small, daily goals. Lately, my writing has resembled a rubber ball in an empty room...going everywhere and nowhere at once. It doesn't help that my inner critic gnaws at me when I read my way through Barnes & Noble, realizing how perfectly polished most books are. My mantra lately: first drafts are messy, first drafts are messy, FIRST drafts are MESSSSYYYY. There. That helps. |
