CLBB Writers Group Monthly Tread: Getting Started & Sticking With It

[tamawrite]

Here we are, educational thread #1. Since our goal is to hold each other accountable to getting words on the page, I thought our first discussion should cover how exactly one should go about doing it.

You've all heard the phrase "Writer's write," right?

Not "Writers think about stories all the time" or "Writers come up with great article ideas while on vacation." No. Writers WRITE. Which means actually putting the story on paper. Black and white words have to replace our ideas -- concrete sentences must substitute for fantasy and planning.

Any writer will tell you that what hits the paper rarely matches what's in the writer's mind. Frustrating? Sure, but think about it: what starts in your head contans all sorts of images flying in opposite directions. Putting it on paper forces logic to form. Maybe not in the first draft, but eventually.

Crafting a story isn't about getting down what is in your head, not exactly. It's about putting images in your reader's head in a way that helps the reader fill in the details, that gives him or her a gift of deeper understanding of himself or herself.

Ever wonder why all cultures in all times tell stories? A popular theory with which I agree says that story gives meaning to a series of lifelike events. Real life is illogical, confusing, nonsensical. Stories shape events into a coherent whole and give them meaning.

Anyway, how do you actually DO it? It's hard! Life gets in the way, fear gets in the way, laziness gets in the way, sick kids and barfing dogs and office deadlines get in the way. Yet if we want to be writers, we have to get the words on the page somehow.

My solution requires great discipline but is extremely effective for me. I've completed 2 novels using this schedule (and almost nothing when I'm not on this schedule!) I rise at 3:30 am and write for two hours, five days a week. Then I exercise for an hour before getting ready for work. After work, I cook dinner, pay bills, play on the CLBB or read, then go to bed early. No excuses. Ever. I take weekends off or spend them revising, because for me revising is the easy and fun part.

My system works because I've trained myself to roll out of bed IMMEDIATELY when the alarm goes off, thinking my own little mantra: "Don't think, don't think, don't think" until I'm dressed in my workout clothes and in front of my computer. Otherwise, it's all too easy to come up with a good reason to stay in bed.

That said, I don't think you need to write for two hours daily to produce 2000 words per week. I average 900 words per day, and I write pretty slowly when I'm on a first draft. Not everyone will be able to follow a schedule like mine, obviously -- spouses and children might object, or maybe mornings aren't for you.

I do find, though, that having a consistant "No excuses and don't bother me unless there's blood" writing time is essential to success. Almost every writer I've met agrees on this point. Most writers also require a specific writing place, whether it be a corner cafe or a spare bedroom. (My first writing place was a desk built into a coat closet. The door closed an inch behind my chair and there I sat, in a dark caccoon, creating. I often think about making another closet like that!) Also common among writers is a preference for particular "tools of the trade." I prefer a cheap spiral bound notebook and cheap Bic mechanical pencil, or my keyboard. Some writers like fancy journals and calligraphy pens -- personally, I find such things create too much fear of error.

Two time Newberry Award winner Chris Curtis wrote his first novel in 15-minute increments during his workday on an automobile assembly line. He'd work hard and fast for 15 minutes while his partner rested, then write for 15 minutes while his partner worked. Back and forth, all day long.

Pat Picaralli (crime/PI writer I know) gets up early to write 1000 words a day, every day, even if they suck. Once his 1000 words are done, he will not allow himself to write another word until the next day, no matter how involved or excited about the work he is. I mean, he will stop mid-sentence on the thousandth word. Whatever works!

As I see it, the keys to success are commitment, consistency, and a dash of selfishness. My favorite quote is from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote:

The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight
But they, while their companions slept
Were toiling upward in the night.

What say you?

[Varaile]

Beautifully written! And, Yes! Yes! and Yes!

I enjoy hearing what works for other people but you're right - "Writers write." Period.

I have a GF with whom I used to swap manuscripts. She would write something, then spend oodles and oodles of time re-writing. This would need to be changed, and then that would need to be changed, and the story never ended, bits of it just. kept. changing. :eek:

Some of my best writing was accomplished when I had to go out of town every other week. I was stuck in a hotel, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of winter. It was just me and my room and an occasional train rumbling by. I made myself a promise (based on what I was seeing in my GF's writing) that I wouldn't edit until it was all down on paper.

Success! Then I had a really, really (un)fortunate mishap. My computer crashed wiping out my entire manuscript. No. I hadn't bothered to back up to a floppy. :mad: I had to re-enter my entire manuscript (a huge bugger, believe me) but at the same time it was a fantastic opportunity to really edit the whole thing from beginning to end.

Now for my second manuscript, I haven't been as lucky to be called out of town every other week for 9 months. In fact, this is where that thing called life started getting in the way. I was in a dance troupe for 5 years - rehersals, making costumes, running around trying to find stuff to make costumes, shows. And there was my bookgroup. And there was work. And there was new recipes to be created. And then came two dogs. And then came yoga. And let's not forget about DH...

It all comes down to just sitting down and writing. Be it the computer, the journal, the lined notebook. Words need to be sprawling across the page with regularity.

Perhaps this should be our motto as Tamawrite summed it up so well: ...the keys to success are commitment, consistency, and a dash of selfishness.

Let the writing begin! :D now where did I put my favorite pen...

[tamawrite]

She would write something, then spend oodles and oodles of time re-writing. This would need to be changed, and then that would need to be changed, and the story never ended, bits of it just. kept. changing. :eek:

I made myself a promise (based on what I was seeing in my GF's writing) that I wouldn't edit until it was all down on paper.


I absolutely agree with you. I'm a firm believer in not editing until I have a finished draft. That's not to say that I don't occasionally go back and re-read yesterday's work to get me focused, and I might change a word or two at that time, but NO major reworking happens until my first draft is done.

[tamawrite]

bumping for Monday morning :)

[Peggy]

Tamara - Thanks for starting us out with such an inspirational essay! (Very well written, BTW! :D ) 3:30am??? :eek: I truly admire your commitment and discipline. I'm afraid that I could never manage that schedule but think it is wonderful that it works for you.

I find that the best time for me to write is in the morning after I get my DD to school. I try to write every morning for 30 minutes to 1 hour. I have started working with the book The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I bought it years ago but never discipline myself enough to go through the 12-week program. I am in the middle of week one and so far have written my morning pages every day and have been working on the weekly exercises too. I realize it is only week one :o but I am proud that I am staying with it so far.

I don't have a special place to write yet. Sometimes I write in the window seat in the library, sometimes on the couch or on the kitchen table. I agree that it takes a bit of "selfishness" to be able to write. I find it hard to ignore the dishes that need to be done or the laundry waiting in the washer but I force myself to stay focused and try to ignore the distractions.

As far as tools, I use spiral bound notebooks and just a regular ballpoint pen.

Other books I have been using over the past few months are Writing Down the Bones by Nataline Goldberg and Writing from the Heart by Leslea Newman. I would be interested to know of any other books that you alol have found helpful or inspirational.

Peggy

[tamawrite]

*blushing* Thanks, ladies. :)

Peggy, my all-time favorite book for writers is "Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass. I warn you, though, it's very demanding and I'd only suggest reading it if you're already a pretty confident writer--which I am, but this book still makes me doubt myself! Don asks powerful questions to help writers develop powerful plots.

Another good one for reading ONLY once you have finished draft is "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers," aka SEFW among its fans. This book will teach you marvellous polishing skills but might make you paranoid as you're getting down a first draft.

If you write historical fiction, I highly recommend the "Everyday Life in the..." series. I use these extensively when I'm writing historical because they cover minute details you can't find elsewhere, such as what buttons were made of in the Middle Ages and whether canned food was available during the Civil War.

Another great series is the "How Done It" series, which covers such topics as how bodies decay (in graphic detail perfect for murder/crime writers.)

Nonfiction writers, feel free to add more -- obviously, my experience is elsewhere.

[trish_ks]

Does anyone else struggle with their first sentence? I know what I'm writing about, but I've put countless first sentences down and I hate them all!
Advice? Sympathy? Anyone?

[tamawrite]

Does anyone else struggle with their first sentence? I know what I'm writing about, but I've put countless first sentences down and I hate them all!
Advice? Sympathy? Anyone?

Skip it. Seriously! Start in the middle of the story, then go back and write the beginning. Or say to yourself, "This is a lousy first sentence but I'm not going to keep it anyway." Then, write whatever lousy first sentence comes to mind and replace it when you're ready.

This reminds me of some of the best novel-writing advice I ever received. You know the "muddle in the middle" of a story where you feel like you have to fabricate scenes to connect the beginning to the end? And it's really, really boring? Skip the middle! (Duh.) It's all beginning until the end.

[jking323]

I agree with the "edit when it's done" approach, but because I know the other way doesn't work very well. I'm a bad grammar/spelling pet peevist (I'm not sure if that's a word or not, but artistic license, right?), so I can't...leave...it...alone. I end up obsessing about the words I have on the page, and an hour later I'm still trying to finish the first paragraph. When I finish, I have one very spotless paragraph...which says approximately nothing about the scene I was working on. It's incredibly frustrating, and doesn't make me want to sit down again the next day and do it again. I have to make a conscious effort to simply...write. Even if it ends up looking like stream-of-consciousness (a genre I hate, by the way; sorry James Joyce fans), the information is still there in a more coherent and permanent form than it was in my head.

I think I would probably write best in the morning, but alas mine and DW's work schedules do not allow this. And I am NOT getting up at 3:30 AM. I was a bit of a nightowl in college, maybe I can resurrect that.

[tamawrite]

I have to make a conscious effort to simply...write. Even if it ends up looking like stream-of-consciousness (a genre I hate, by the way; sorry James Joyce fans), the information is still there in a more coherent and permanent form than it was in my head.

And I am NOT getting up at 3:30 AM. I was a bit of a nightowl in college, maybe I can resurrect that.

Where IS your sense of adventure!? :D Nah, I know many writers who write into the night. A few of them do so because they feel they must have alcohol to write well -- not something I'd advise, though I drink as much as the next person. (SoCo, anyone?) Most, however, choose to write late because their families are in bed, it's quiet, the day is done...

That theory doesn't work for me at all. I get too focused on practicalities like paying bills and planning menus, and it's nearly impossible for me to focus on my fiction after a busy day.

I don't care for stream-of-consciousness, either -- but it can certainly be an effective way to put a first draft on the page. I've also heard of people who write without looking at the screen so they can't go back and fix things...and fix more things...and more...

Of course, you have to be a pretty decent typist for that method to work.

[VictoriaL]

This is all so helpful. I haven't written anything submission-worthy in years, and am having difficulty just coming up with an idea.

I'm not much of a night owl anymore, so I will have to do my writing during the day. I am fortunate to work with my husband, and can set my own schedule, but since we are both working from home it will be difficult to tell him to just leave me alone for a while. No questions, no phone calls, just me with my laptop at the kitchen table or some other area far away from our home office.

Is any one else in a similar situation? If so, how do you deal with it? I know that he will be asking me, often, to "take a quick look at this" or "I need to know, now, if....". I had considered running off to Panera with my laptop, but I can't resist the lure of the cinnamon rolls... ;)

[Varaile]

I have found, that when DH is home, he needs to be occupied with something (a movie, TV or the internet) and then I can write in peace (well, almost...I have two active dogs).

Unless it's a quiet weekend, I really don't expect to have more than an hour or so to write in the evenings. And I also don't expect to be able to write every evening either, as I attend 3 yoga classes a week, all in the evenings.

I've just come to expect the little interuptions that come with writing at home - and in some ways, welcome them, as they give me a chance to step away from the manuscript for a moment and perhaps come at it from a fresh perspective.

[jking323]

I've just come to expect the little interuptions that come with writing at home - and in some ways, welcome them, as they give me a chance to step away from the manuscript for a moment and perhaps come at it from a fresh perspective.

Varaile makes an excellent point here. Sometimes you need to just leave it the h#ll alone for a while. If you get stuck on a particular plot point, or with tricky description, or if something just...isn't...working, it's usually best to just give up on it for a while and come back later. It's true not only with writing, but with tricky math problems or anything else. (It is not, however, usually a very good approach to cooking. Whatever you left probably won't just sit there till you get back--it will likely burst into flames and really ruin dinner.)

If you get too frustrated, you won't want to come back, so know your limit. Go off and work on another piece, or balance your checkbook, or go to bed. Then look at it again the next day and realize where you went wrong.

[tamawrite]

Sometimes you need to just leave it the h#ll alone for a while. If you get stuck on a particular plot point, or with tricky description, or if something just...isn't...working, it's usually best to just give up on it for a while and come back later.

Agreed. One way I've found to deal with this and still stick to a commitment of writing a certain number of words or for X hours per day is to switch scenes. If I can't make Scene A work, fine. I'll try a different scene, usually from a different character's POV (point of view.)

I get tiny breaks in my 2-hour session by refilling my coffee mug. :D

[VictoriaL]

I was able to get 3 hours of uninterrupted quiet this afternoon when DH left for a meeting! My problem is, if I have a good train of thought going, it doesn't take much to become "derailed". I can totally lose what I want to write if I hear a door slam... I hate being like this, but it has been the same since I was in college.
concentrate, concentrate, concentrate... :rolleyes:

[tamawrite]

This is all so helpful. I haven't written anything submission-worthy in years, and am having difficulty just coming up with an idea.



...which brings up a good sub-topic.

Where do you get your ideas?

I almost always get mine in the form of "what if's," often while reading history books or even newspapers. What if a woman disguised herself as a man and joined the Confederate infantry? (My as-yet-unpublished novel Callie Reb.) What if a girl thought what she wanted most was to ride in horse shows, and a friend's terrible injury showed her that loyalty mattered more? (My also-unpublished YA novel Jump the Stars.) What if, what if? I get WAY more ideas than I can write about by reading non-fiction -- my latest favorite is whole books on such topics as Parkinsons disease, Islamic terrorists, and horse training.

Some writers have great success with writing exercises. Google will give you plenty of phrases to spin off, such as "No one has ever loved me as much as I love them," which could easily birthe the soul of your future novel's main character.

What else?

[tamawrite]

bumping. Thanks, gremlins. :rolleyes:

[VictoriaL]

I lately got an idea by watching a movie on tv. It apparently had been a book because, at the end, there were so many questions unanswered. So I started thinking about changes in the plot that would have made the whole movie so much better. Yes, I'm a critic and a scriptwriter!!! ;)

I also get ideas from the minor characters in books.

I'm interested to see how everyone else replies. Good topic (again) Tamara!!

[jking323]

Now that you've made me think about it (curse you, Tamara), I don't really know where I get my ideas. They generally just appear there in my head. I know I'm not just manufacturing these things--surely they're subliminal messages from movies, books, and commercials I've seen that manifest themselves in the form of plot ideas. I will say that the historical fiction novel on which I'm currently not getting anywhere was inspired by the view from a bridge I used to cross every day on my way to work, so there's something, I guess. I'm not sure that's helpful to anyone in any kind of practical way ("Yeah, the best way to come up with new ideas is to drive around looking for scenery.")