 For Authors: June 20, 2007 Issue [#1781] |
  For Authors
This week: Edited by: Melissa is fashionably late!  
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Author: one that originates or creates.
But how do you start your task of creation? This newsletter will discuss the writing process!
My name is Melissa is fashionably late! and I am your guest editor for this week! |
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It has been a long day, and you've been looking forward to sitting down and writing for hours now. The time has finally come: all of the kids are in bed, the house has been cleaned, it's nice and quiet. You sit down to write, and find yourself stuck.
What do you write about? Where do you start? You've had a character in your head all day and you want to introduce her to the world, but you have no clue where to put her, what's her story, or what her life is like.
This is generally the problem that I have when I actually sit down to write. In fact, I had the very same problem with writing this newsletter. Where do I start? What do I say? I already knew what I wanted to write about, it was just a matter of introducing you all to my topic.
Here are a few hints that I've picked up along the way that have helped my writing process:
 Don't start at the beginning.
This may sound a little silly, but a lot of us have a mindset that you have to start at the beginning and finish when you get to the end. I mean, that's how we read books, isn't it? Who picks up a 300-page novel and starts at page 150? But it really doesn't matter if you start writing from the last page and work your way to the first, or if you start writing at page 20, then page 60, then page 90, then page 1. The only thing your readers will see is how you've arranged it when you've finished.
Don't get stuck trying to make it perfect from the start.
Again, this should seem obvious, but there's many times I've caught myself rewriting the same paragraph multiple times. Instead of moving on with the story, I get caught up in a single detail and my entire creative process will come to a screaching halt until I've made that paragraph perfect. It completely interrupts my creative flow and then I have a hard time picking up where I left off. The best thing to remember is that while you're writing something, it is in draft and can be edited later. It doesn't have to be perfect from the get-go.
If you're really stuck, try freewriting.
Sometimes, you lose track of where you want your story to go, or you just come to a block in the road of what to do next. What you originally planned to happen to your character might not seem like such a good idea as it did two days ago when you originally started. In this case, I'll usually just sit and write out everything I think, hoping that maybe one of my thoughts will trigger where I need to go next. Sometimes, even writing out your grocery list will inspire you.
Walk away and come back tomorrow.
If you're frustrated because you're trying too hard and nothing's coming out, then maybe you just need to take a break. Walk away from the computer, the pencil and pad, or whatever else you may use for your writing tool, and take a few minutes to gather yourself. Sometimes the biggest creative block of all is because we're trying too hard to push ourselves.
I hope that some of these tips were helpful to you! I've done my best to share my secrets, now what are some of yours? |
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