I was a classical composition major in university who came from a self-taught jazz background. Sometimes I think about the differences between writing fiction and writing music.
Category: Thoughts about Writing
bookmark_borderWriting with flow
Ah, the holiday season. This year, in spite of not traveling for Christmas, I took more time off work than usual and, combined with not losing hours driving or sitting in the airport/airplane, I’ve had more free time.
bookmark_borderFeeling the rough edges of a first draft
Writing has many different feels.
Sometimes your head is really in the scene, you’re part of the story, and the words are just descriptions of what you experience as you live the story.
bookmark_borderSequel finished
So, another NaNoWriMo has come and gone. Win number three, with plenty of days to spare.
After the plot difficulties and working to find the answers that I mentioned in the previous post, things came together. I fought my way through to a reasonable plot. Then, once I came to the point where I had “all the holes plugged” in my middle so that the ending would work, I tried to get to the ending too fast. After some time struggling with this I realized that I needed to take some time and to fill things out. After that point things progressed pretty smoothly.
bookmark_borderThe plot is taking over the novel!
As I write, we’re at day 14 of NaNoWriMo. My pace is fine, but there has been quite a bit of frustration for me.
bookmark_borderPrepping NaNo 2012: How traits present, and Listing moments
As I write, the date is September 24, 2012, and I have just spent the last hour burning with material for NaNoWriMo 2012. Ideas are just popping out and I’m throwing them down in a private blog post for future reference.
Continue reading “Prepping NaNo 2012: How traits present, and Listing moments”
bookmark_borderJust writing moments; Doing the 3 Day Novel
Over the September long weekend I did the 3 Day Novel. I don’t want to write about that experience so much (though if you write fiction and have never tried it, give it a go!) but I went through a new, for me, writing experience in the process.
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bookmark_borderUsing alternatives for ‘said’
When you’re writing, do you use ‘said’ over and over, or do you go for variety by looking for alternatives?
bookmark_borderShout out: Listthings
I have to give a shoutout to a great free website called Listthings.
bookmark_border“and the waiter asked if we needed a refill …”
A writing craft technique has appeared on my radar.
When building a scene you need characters and a setting. Plot is nice too. But often in a scene, especially one with heavy or important dialogue, the characters and dialogue will take over. As a writer you get into the scene, feeling the emotions, focusing on the back and forth, pulling the characters’ backstories and agendas over your own head like a bank robber with his nylon stocking, living the role.
Continue reading ““and the waiter asked if we needed a refill …””