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A Kick Out Of Writing

Yettie One

Entry posted by Yettie One

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It has been a while since I have done any writing, I have been working on a variety of other things for my job, my company, my responsibilities, and of course doing a lot of ground work on my brand new work, the story I hope one day blows people away. :P

 

Ah heck I can but dream. :) but to be honest I do like the idea, and the guy that is helping me with the research for the book is really amazing, and has some wild stories to tell. He's made a small fortune as an escort and is such a nice person beneath it all, it was not what I expected to find at all.

 

So maybe my book takes on a slightly different version of its central character as a result.

Hmmmm Interesting times. :P

 

But anyway, that is not the purpose of this blog tonight.

 

I finally parked my butt down and decided I must make an effort on working on my Mayan End of World Anthology entry.

 

When I first saw the topic I was inspired. I don't know why, because if I am really honest I am not into all the hollywood catastrophic end of the world stuff.

 

But still, I figured I'd give it a good crack of the whip, and so tonight sat down to give it a spin. Well I am rather pleased with myself, even if I dare to say so myself. I didn't really know how I was going to work the story, I only had a mild concept of the tangent that my story would follow, and really wasn't sure how I would develop the central characters that I wanted to fit into the story.

 

But I just sat and let the words flow, and wow did they flow. It must have been a lack of writing time or some sub conscious desire to get back into the writing world or whatever, but wow, it just appeared on the paper, and that is something that has NEVER happened to me before.

 

I am normally fairly methodical in my writing in that I formulate a beginning and an end. I work on the plot then develop the main character. Then it is just a matter of adding the meat to the bones and filling out the plan, but this time around there was none of that. I found it really interesting too, as I found a kind of freedom in writing this way. The story grew with my excitement, and while I am not completely satisfied yet, the main theme is solid. :)

 

It got me wondering how other people attack their writing. Is it common to just sit and write freely and let the story take you along its own path, or if more like me you tend to follow a conciousness line of preparation before tackling the story?

 

I guess it would largely depend on the story line. A short story that doesn't have to worry about continuity and content too much would be much easier to just write freely, but a novel or long story really does need some kind of planning, even if it is just a trail of who is who in the scheme of things.

 

I know there are loads of seasoned veterans here who write a lot of stuff, and I am sure that everyone has their own tricks that work for them, but I find that I really do have to push to get through a long work. I mean I only have one work up on here in terms of a long story so far, and it was one that I just put up as I went along, it's not reworked, edited or anything. I mainly put it up as a test to see if I could actually get through a whole long story, and much as expected, I hit a hurdle where I discovered that I had lost myself in the middle of the plot where I had not really prepared the track of the story so well.

 

I found I hit a place where I struggled to move the story from where it stood to where it needed to go to fit with the route the plot takes.

So dead end!

I guess it is something that I can always come back to, but it did make me wake up and realise that I really should finish something before I start posting it.

So let me ask you, for those of you that are massive fans of reading, do you prefer to read something complete, or do you quite enjoy being kept waiting for the next instalment of a story?

And also to all you writers out there, when you come across a block in a story, how do you get past it?

 

Thought for today - "Carry out a random act of kindness, without expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that some day someone may do the same for you." - Princess Diana

 

Song for today - Payphone by Maroon 5

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K.C.

K.C. 6,421

Posted

Congrats on writing, Rob! I haven't written anything for the Mayan Anthology sad.png I don't know if I will. I have so many other projects I'm working on right now. I'm not a 'seasoned veteran' nor am I anyone of importance but I do write smile.png

 

For me, I have to have my story plotted out. I know my characters before I even start typing the first words. On longer stories I give myself some space to weave the storylines from one point to the next but in shorter stories I tend to keep everything tight and fast moving with little room for waltzing throught the tulips as a distraction, but that's just me! biggrin.png

 

As far as posting, I don't start posting until I have atleast half the story done, so I have back-up chapters to post as I'm writing and finishing. Some chapters take longer than others and I would hate to get to a point where I don't have anything ready to go and I'm rushing and producing non-par quality or giving readers nothing at all.

 

Completed vs ongoing stories- It depends on what is going on in my life. I love to sit down and read a story in one shot but if I check out a new story and get super exccited I will come back for the updates, but be warned, I am a pain in the ass when I have to wait!!! tongue.png I bug authors who I have to wait for with kind but proding nudges, LOL! ((More damn it!)) angry.pnglmaosmiley.gif

 

Writing blocks or when a story goes astray are hard. I've only had 1 GA story that I had to remove because I got about 5 chapters in and the plot went south. Everything felt wrong and awkward and I couldn't recover it. I've sat it aside and hope to come back to it one day. Just last week I wrote a short story that my beta/editor told me the beginning was great, the middle alright but the ending was awful! So I shredded it and started over from the start and let the story lead me on a brand new path, that I think turned out soooo much better.

 

Hope this helps you with your writing. This is just a glimps into how my crazy mind works when I'm trying to write!

 

biggrin.png Kc

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CassieQ

CassieQ 21,211

Posted

I love hearing about when people enjoy writing. It is such a rush when the words start to come.

 

I like both long and short stories, but there is always a little trepidation when I start reading an ongoing work, because I am afraid that the writer will stop updating and just leave me hanging. Luckily, I don't find that happening too often on this site. But waiting for updates does drive me crazy sometimes :P

 

I'm not a seasoned veteran either, but I do like to write. I know that I would never post a long story until I have it complete. I made a mistake one time of posting something before I had the ending worked out and it was miserable trying to finish it. Some people find that having chapters posted help motivate them to write, for me it is the complete opposite. If I feel pressured to write because people are waiting for updates, then it feels like an obligation and sucks the fun out of it. If it's not fun to write, then that is when it gets really hard.

 

I usually have a vague idea of how a story is going to end and even less of an idea of how to get there, but if it is a short story, I'll dive in with no more of an idea then that. It makes it fun if I don't know how exactly things will happen and decide to figure it out on the way. Usually I just let my characters figure it out. They know what they are doing better than I do! :D

 

If it is a long story, I will sometimes use a basic outline, just to help keep me on track and help me make sure I don't wander into a gaping plot hole or such, but I always try to make sure I never have everything 100% planned out. Where's the fun in that?

 

The only time I've come across blocks have been one of two reasons. Either I had been hammering away at the story too long and needed to take a break. When that happens, I will usually tinker with some other story, and then come back to it. The other reason is usually because I am trying to make my characters do something that they don't like. I remember a point in a story line where my character was supposed to start doing something that was completely against his nature and no matter what I tried, I couldn't get it to work and was just stuck. Then one morning, I was sitting in my car before going into work, which was where I would normally write down pieces of the story that I thought up during the drive into town. I was pissed off, because I had been hammering my head against that scene for weeks and was fuming (not a good state to be in when I was going to be facing patients in 15 minutes :P). And then it just came to me, out of the blue, that I was taking the story in the wrong direction. I knew that, but I had been ignoring it because it would mean going back and deleting or revising over 10,000 words of writing I already had down. I might have hit my head against the steering wheel in frustration, I can't remember. :P But when I went back and made the necessary changes and let the plot follow it's natural course, the words came back. Incredible.

 

Anyhow, that is my strange little advice. I don't know it is is helpful, but I know it works for me (but I am a weirdo.) :D Good luck with your writing.

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joann414

joann414 4,135

Posted

I don't have to tell you. To me, you are a very natural writer, no matter what you are writing. Can't wait to see what you are writing on the Mayan Anthology. I am sure it will be great. Hugs, and inspirtation

 

Jo ann

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lilansui

lilansui 16,432

Posted

I'm with Joann, you are a very natural writer. Reading your shorts, especially the one with the race car driver, you do very well. I can't wait to read your story for the Mayan anthology!

 

1. Installment vs. full story-

 

It depends on how much I love the story. If I truly love it, I wait for the writer to finish, because once I hit the middle and there is no more chapters, it feels like I've been left hanging. So, I wait, until the writer is almost at the end of writing for those kinds of stories. Other stories I love the feeling of reading them like a show, anticipating the next week to read the new installment. I don't know, it goes both ways. I think it really has to do with the nature and mystery of the story, and will I go crazy if I can't have anymore soon. smile.png

 

2. Writer's block-

 

I put aside the story and start another one or concentrate on other things. I find if I try to keep working on the story I can't get right, things go very wrong. So, I put it aside, do all kinds of other things, like blogging, reading, research, pretty much procrastinating. A few days later, I come back read through what I already have and an idea usually pops in. Lately, I've gotten an editor for one of my stories, and I'll send him the draft of a chapter. I ask him 'is it crap?' His comments push me through the block most times, like a challenge. Love him for it. smile.png So, that's my way, very procrastinate-oriented. You know sometimes I put myself on a deadline to post a chapter, and will spend like two hours on it on the deadline day. Things flow very well when I have time constraints. smile.png

 

Enough about my thoughts, I can't wait to read your story, Yettie. !!

 

P.S. I actually love, love, love Maroon 5. Payphone is a great song.

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