Whenever I talk Writing or or how to write, I am going to put it under Writer Rambles.
I am not an expert on writing. But that is kind of the point. I am learning and want to share my experience with other writers.
What creative process do you use when you write?
I have been mulling this topic over in my head for a few days and wanted to make a blog post about it. See if anyone else has words of wisdom to add or their own experiences to share.
If you are involved in the publishing world at all, you will be familiar with the terms 'pantser' or 'plotter'. These refer to how you plan your writing, or if you even plan at all.
Pantser means that you fly by the seat of your pants. You create on the fly allowing your creative mind to write out and design a plot and story from your subconscious.
Plotter takes the fate of their characters and weaves everything into order before actually writing anything down. Notes and outlines are at hand when they begin their writing.
I have done both methods and actually recommend them both. Free flow writing allows you to just unwind and get your creativity flowing before you delve into the world and plot you have planned out. You open your mind up to the world you are writing about when you give yourself the chance to let go of the one you live in. Free flow gets all the bits and pieces out of the way so you can concentrate on the story you are currently working on.
How do you use these methods to get your creative juices flowing?
We all run in to a point where we get stuck. Usually around 30k seems to be the common point for your brain to go "Whoa! Hold up here little lady, what the hell is this crap?" or in the case of my current WIP (Work In Progress) "HAHAHAHA! You can't write a Rescue Scene. WTF were you thinking?"
How do you get yourself 'unstuck'?
So far I have had to just muscle through it. This is a good point to pull up the Pants and free write. Don't spend time worrying about writing specifically for your WIP. Maybe your brain needs a distraction to get through it. Open a new file and just write from the characters POV (Point Of View) or maybe pick a side character that only shows up in one paragraph at the end of the opening scene. Write about the baraista who serves your Protagonist their coffee every morning. You will soon find yourself ready to write the words that were giving you such a hard time before.
First Draft (Duck), Second Draft (Duck), Beta Readers (Goose).
I am including this in Creative Process because it is part of creating a living story. Cleaning up a draft through rewriting is a very important stage of taking a good story to an AMAZING story.
For first draft just get the story written. Worry about the fine tuning and details in later drafts. It is totally up to you how many drafts you want to go through before you feel it is ready to send out for publication.
For example; I am almost finished with my first draft of Beast Within. The plot has come together really nicely but the characters are flat in some places and there is more telling than showing. (Something else talked about a lot in the publishing community. I will probably write another blog post just about that.) When I am finished with first draft, I will go back and flesh out the characters. Make sure the emotion and environment ring true to the reader. Then send it out for people to read and give me feedback on what works and what I need to think about changing. (If you are interested in being a alpha or beta reader, sign up for my newsletter under Contact and send me an email through the link on the Home page letting me know)
Keep in mind that you are the writer and feedback is just a readers opinion. If they suggest you change something but you feel that it is a needed aspect of the story, Keep It. You are the artist.
A bad review from a beta reader is not Death to your book. It is a chance to see what might be wrong and fix it before it gets sent out to the masses.
Music is Life.
Every writer I know listens to music as they write. I don't know of any off the top of my head that don't. Every culture in our small world makes music. It is one of the first things mankind did creatively. Music is the heartbeat of our world. Why do you think we sent music out as first contact?!
Music can also influence your mood and emotions, allowing you to reach places you need to in order to bring the scene you are writing to life.
I hope my rambles help new writers see that they are not the only ones going through this thing called Writing a Novel. I look forward to hearing about your creative processes.
Howl at the moon and make some magic,
Iniriba
I am not an expert on writing. But that is kind of the point. I am learning and want to share my experience with other writers.
What creative process do you use when you write?
I have been mulling this topic over in my head for a few days and wanted to make a blog post about it. See if anyone else has words of wisdom to add or their own experiences to share.
If you are involved in the publishing world at all, you will be familiar with the terms 'pantser' or 'plotter'. These refer to how you plan your writing, or if you even plan at all.
Pantser means that you fly by the seat of your pants. You create on the fly allowing your creative mind to write out and design a plot and story from your subconscious.
Plotter takes the fate of their characters and weaves everything into order before actually writing anything down. Notes and outlines are at hand when they begin their writing.
I have done both methods and actually recommend them both. Free flow writing allows you to just unwind and get your creativity flowing before you delve into the world and plot you have planned out. You open your mind up to the world you are writing about when you give yourself the chance to let go of the one you live in. Free flow gets all the bits and pieces out of the way so you can concentrate on the story you are currently working on.
How do you use these methods to get your creative juices flowing?
We all run in to a point where we get stuck. Usually around 30k seems to be the common point for your brain to go "Whoa! Hold up here little lady, what the hell is this crap?" or in the case of my current WIP (Work In Progress) "HAHAHAHA! You can't write a Rescue Scene. WTF were you thinking?"
How do you get yourself 'unstuck'?
So far I have had to just muscle through it. This is a good point to pull up the Pants and free write. Don't spend time worrying about writing specifically for your WIP. Maybe your brain needs a distraction to get through it. Open a new file and just write from the characters POV (Point Of View) or maybe pick a side character that only shows up in one paragraph at the end of the opening scene. Write about the baraista who serves your Protagonist their coffee every morning. You will soon find yourself ready to write the words that were giving you such a hard time before.
First Draft (Duck), Second Draft (Duck), Beta Readers (Goose).
I am including this in Creative Process because it is part of creating a living story. Cleaning up a draft through rewriting is a very important stage of taking a good story to an AMAZING story.
For first draft just get the story written. Worry about the fine tuning and details in later drafts. It is totally up to you how many drafts you want to go through before you feel it is ready to send out for publication.
For example; I am almost finished with my first draft of Beast Within. The plot has come together really nicely but the characters are flat in some places and there is more telling than showing. (Something else talked about a lot in the publishing community. I will probably write another blog post just about that.) When I am finished with first draft, I will go back and flesh out the characters. Make sure the emotion and environment ring true to the reader. Then send it out for people to read and give me feedback on what works and what I need to think about changing. (If you are interested in being a alpha or beta reader, sign up for my newsletter under Contact and send me an email through the link on the Home page letting me know)
Keep in mind that you are the writer and feedback is just a readers opinion. If they suggest you change something but you feel that it is a needed aspect of the story, Keep It. You are the artist.
A bad review from a beta reader is not Death to your book. It is a chance to see what might be wrong and fix it before it gets sent out to the masses.
Music is Life.
Every writer I know listens to music as they write. I don't know of any off the top of my head that don't. Every culture in our small world makes music. It is one of the first things mankind did creatively. Music is the heartbeat of our world. Why do you think we sent music out as first contact?!
Music can also influence your mood and emotions, allowing you to reach places you need to in order to bring the scene you are writing to life.
I hope my rambles help new writers see that they are not the only ones going through this thing called Writing a Novel. I look forward to hearing about your creative processes.
Howl at the moon and make some magic,
Iniriba