I've blogged before about how I like to write my stories out long-hand first. I tried that in at least one of my first five attempts at writing the sequel to The Talented, so on the sixth time around I didn't bother breaking out the ol' pen and paper. And so far, the scenes I've written using the Snowflake Model on the computer seem to be good.
But this weekend, I headed up north for a vacation with my family, and as part of this I left my computer behind. But, as you fellow writers and other creative people might predict, the creative bug hit me while I was up there, computerless.
So I went old school. I grabbed a pen and some paper, and I sat and wrote. I had left off after finishing scene two, so even though I didn't have my previous work in front of me, I'd done enough planning to know what came next, and I was able to pick it up there. I wrote scene three while sitting on the couch in front of the fire, surrounded by family and friends, and it was nice.
Relaxing.
Healing.
I was able to enjoy the process, and knowing that I enjoy it has helped make me excited about it again. I'll be typing up those pages that I wrote later today, and I have a good feeling about them. I feel like they will be worth typing up, and that this time around, the book I'm working on will be worth writing.
So anyone out there feeling despair about their work, don't give up. Try a different planning method, as I've detailed the past two weeks, and if that doesn't work, try a different execution method.
Go old school if you write your first drafts on a computer. Go "new school" and type as you write if you're typically a write-first, type later writer. Record yourself on your phone while driving and type it all up or write it all down when you get home if you come up with brilliant ideas while running errands.
Try something different. Different planning; different execution; different outlook.
And find the fun. That's why we do it.
But this weekend, I headed up north for a vacation with my family, and as part of this I left my computer behind. But, as you fellow writers and other creative people might predict, the creative bug hit me while I was up there, computerless.
So I went old school. I grabbed a pen and some paper, and I sat and wrote. I had left off after finishing scene two, so even though I didn't have my previous work in front of me, I'd done enough planning to know what came next, and I was able to pick it up there. I wrote scene three while sitting on the couch in front of the fire, surrounded by family and friends, and it was nice.
Relaxing.
Healing.
I was able to enjoy the process, and knowing that I enjoy it has helped make me excited about it again. I'll be typing up those pages that I wrote later today, and I have a good feeling about them. I feel like they will be worth typing up, and that this time around, the book I'm working on will be worth writing.
So anyone out there feeling despair about their work, don't give up. Try a different planning method, as I've detailed the past two weeks, and if that doesn't work, try a different execution method.
Go old school if you write your first drafts on a computer. Go "new school" and type as you write if you're typically a write-first, type later writer. Record yourself on your phone while driving and type it all up or write it all down when you get home if you come up with brilliant ideas while running errands.
Try something different. Different planning; different execution; different outlook.
And find the fun. That's why we do it.
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