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Tue, Jul 1, 2025

9:45am EDT

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Writing Blog Number 2

by S 🤦

Rated: 18+ · Book · Personal · #2311764

This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC

This will be a blog for my writing, maybe with (too much) personal thrown in. I am hoping it will be a little more interactive, with me answering questions, helping out and whatnot. If it falls this year (2024), then I may stop the whole blogging thing, but that's all a "wait and see" scenario.

An index of topics can be found here: "Writing Blog No.2 Index"

Feel free to comment and interact.

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Beholden

a day ago
In response to "20250630 Letting ”The Idea Tap” Flow"

It does indeed answer the question - thank you. Lots to ponder on, including things that I've done in the past and allowed to fall away. Must really get into the habit of writing down ideas when they come and not trusting my memory.

AmyJo-Downhill slide begins!

a day ago
In response to "20250630 Letting ”The Idea Tap” Flow"

Well said! Thanks for some new to me ideas. I like the sitting down to write anything. Thank you for sharing.

Beholden

Jun 25, 2025 at 6:39am
In response to "20250625 Blog Entries"

I remain impressed with your sheer production. For instance, your recent series of stories using Beatle song titles was outrageously productive, a seemingly endless stream of creativity and invention. And here am I, tortured by my inability to think up one measly story per week.

So my question concerns this only: how does one open the faucet of ideas so that they become a steady source of new and interesting stories?

1 Like

WakeUpAndLive

Jun 25, 2025 at 2:06am
In response to "20250625 Blog Entries"

Oh, WordMaster, you'll always be a teach no matter what. Don't be a stranger.

1 Like

Spud

Jun 20, 2025 at 12:27pm
In response to "20250620 Writing Westerns"

Good advice, I thought the whole "Garry Cooper with breasts and a pretty face" bit was hilarious. Though even in the South West, the US had gender roles in the mid to late 19th century that made the idea of a female caucasian protagonist unrealistic. I guess it's what readers expect though.

Also it boggles my brain that trains aren't allowed as transportation. They were—and still are in my childhood hometown—a big part of the West. Yes they were steam instead of diesel but they were very much a part of the West. The Jessie James Gang, notorious outlaws, robbed trains exclusively. Not to mention that trains were used to transport loads of things back and forth from the region.

Also, historically, most of the "Cowboys" either called themselves vaqueros and were in Mexico, were black or indigenous. Also at least a few individuals migrated from the Antebellum South to start over after the Civil War. There were also a good number of German immigrants.

Anyways, I've been rambling. I just am flabbergasted by what readers expect of their Westerns.

S 🤦

Jun 18, 2025 at 4:01am
In response to "20250618 I vs Me"

Dave Ryan - not just the UK. I hear commentators for our football say it all the time. And in US TV shows and movies!

The myself thing is something I use when writing to indicate a pompous ass... But it annoys me as well. I am with you all the way here.

1 Like

Dave Ryan

Jun 18, 2025 at 3:57am
In response to "20250618 I vs Me"

My pet peeve is one that is becoming ubiquitous in the UK:

"Me and my wife went on holiday to Greece."
"Me and Joe went to the football."

It sets my teeth on edge, and it's bloody everywhere. It seems to be on its way to becoming accepted usage.

There's another one that grates. When I was still working, there was an annual conference by a software vendor I used to attend.The main presenter there used to drive me nuts, as she seemed to have it in her head that it sounded sophisticated to use "myself" at every turn.

"Myself and my colleagues will be available after the presentation to answer any questions."
"If you have any questions, feel free to ask James or myself."

I'd be sitting there with white-knuckles, desperately trying to resist the urge to scream.

Jeff

Jun 16, 2025 at 1:21am
In response to "20250616 Graphic Novels"

I've always loved graphic novels as an artistic medium (and the medium of comics by and large). Like filmmaking, it's a chance to marry words with visuals in a unique and compelling way.

Kåre เลียม Enga

Jun 11, 2025 at 10:23am
In response to "20250611 Types Of Writer"

I'm an Irish setter gone grey!

Imma gonna finish my vampire stories... and I never do. I let people down because I'm not disciplined... like an Irish setter. Being an idol to some stresses me out. But, I suffer from low self-esteem and a hug is more than nice. I'm definitely serious but realized that perfection, the enemy of the good, was killing me. My writing started as a sort of dam-burst and became a bad habit as I never threw out a thought (which is hyperbole) and writing morphed into therapy and part of that meant sharing as I'd kept too much in for too long. In some ways I'm an introvert who can't shut up. I tend to ignore a lot of criticism or take it as mortal attack. Balance and remaining calm are challenges and aspirations, just not my reality. All this said...

WDC allows me to share myself.

🌖 HuntersMoon

Jun 6, 2025 at 10:46am
In response to "20250606 Jargon"

Kåre เลียม Enga - I grew up in L.A. There it was DWO. Driving while Oriental. I imagine that "jargon" has been used to call out any number of groups.

S 🤦 - You reminded me of term from my youth. HONEY BUCKET. When I lived in Japan, the locals would collect their waste and use it as fertilizer for the rice fields. "The Honey Bucket"

June 30, 2025 at 12:03am

#1092526

20250630 Letting ”The Idea Tap” Flow

Letting ”The Idea Tap” Flow

From Beholden: So my question concerns this only: how does one open the faucet of ideas so that they become a steady source of new and interesting stories?
This came about because I have a habit of writing a lot (in this case, during the course of the "The Beatles Musical Extravaganza"

).

So… how do I write so much? I have had to think about it. In my current state of mental health fluctuation I have been stupidly self-aware, so here goes.

First, everything is an idea. If it is out of the ordinary, I write it down. It might be one word, might be sentence or question, might be a paragraph. Are all of them going to be used? Probably not, but you need them.

Second, I’ve mentioned in a previous post that I use “what if?” questions. And when it comes to something like The Beatles, listening to the songs, a lot of these questions occurred to me… and I wrote them all down.

Now that I’ve written that, that is all well and good, but how do these ideas appear in the first place?

One, I relax. I put myself in a situation where the only distractions are ones I have chosen – music normally. I turn the phone and Internet off and (again, unless I choose it) away from people. If there is a stressor (worry about work, about relationships, about anything), then I do not produce as much, so relaxation is very much the first key.

Second, I do not sit down to write something – I sit down to write anything. I let the ideas come to me, use old ideas I have written down, or get inspiration from external sources (rewrites of scenes of books, films, TV shows, song lyrics, other people’s poems – all of these are fair game) and let them fester and come out however they want. I do not try to channel them into a form. They start as free-form concepts.

I am not a planner, so it is common that one of these free-form concepts will just continue on and, voilà, I’ve written something.

Now, here is where a lot of writers get hung up, and it comes down to two things:
1) I do not care about quality, &
2) I do not sit down to write in specifics.

Quality first. A lot of writers will look at what they are writing, decide it isn’t any good, give up and go to something else. On the other hand, I don’t care. I’ve written whole novels that I will never show anyone because they are rubbish. That is because the idea needs to get out. This does three things. First, it gets you into the habit of just writing. Second, it stops that blockage in the mind of an idea unrealised stopping everything else from coming out. Third, it might be able to be rewritten better. As such, I do not care about how good a work is until it’s finished. I just get it out of my system

As an aside, if a work bogs down and does not work I throw on a makeshift ending before going onto the next thing. Again, this gives an ending and so stops blockage.

Next, writing specifics. I do not sit down to write a poem, short story, novella, novel. I just write. Even in a short story, it might be a drabble, flash, standard short, long short. Doesn’t matter. I do not dictate to my writing how long something has to be in the case of prose. I just write until it is finished. As for poetry, I nearly always start writing prose, but if it suggests itself as a series of rhymes, poem it is. This only comes from being relaxed enough to let the mind wander everywhere.

Finally, I never have just one thing going at a time. If something in a story is not working, I distract my mind from it by going to one of the other things I am working on. That means I always have something to write, and writer’s block is not an issue because one story might stumble, but the other 3 don’t.

I hope that answers the question.

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