I’ve wanted to write for decades. I’m just a perfectionist and said that I wouldn’t start until I had the idea for the whole book. Well, that’s not working out so well!
Decades ago I walked into a bookstore, and while cruising the aisles saw that a favorite author had a new book. I looked at the cover and refrained from swearing. The picture was almost exactly like the idea I had for the environment - a pivotal force in what’s happening. So I was thrilled (that it seemed like a good idea) and dejected (because I waited to long to write about it).
I took a writing class once. The teacher had students comment on each others writing, but I didn’t get ideas about how to get over writer’s block and come up with ideas.
Some friends talked about doing a Group-Writing project and I was excited. I wrote three pages of an idea as a sample. The group fizzled on the project and I couldn’t think how to continue my story.
That takes some of the pressure off that I put on myself. But I still actually need to get going…
I just have some environment and no characters. When I try to add some they seem like characters I’m plagiarizing from elsewhere and I feel that’s cheating. I don’t know how to get over that.
And I thought I was the only one!
Where do I even start?! It all seems so overwhelming!
Y’all know about Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, right? And what the title means?
Her brother (I think) had to write a paper on birds and he was overwhelmed by the number of birds there are. Someone (maybe their dad?) said, “Just write it bird by bird.”
Anne says take an index card and cut out a one-inch window in the card. Only write what you can see (metaphorically speaking) through that tiny hole.
I’m liking Scrivener okay, especially the note card bulletin board thing. But what I REALLY miss from MSWord is right-click access to a thesaurus. I use that constantly when I’m writing. No such feature in Scrivener.
I might have to keep a blank Word page open to the side so I can type in a word when I need a synonym and use the thesaurus that way.
MS Word’s thesaurus didn’t have enough words for me, so I made thesaurus.com my friend. I usually have Pandora open while I’m writing, so I just open another tab to the thesaurus as well.
I dunno about the Windows version of Scrivener, but in Mac if you highlight a word and right click you can select ‘‘look up’’ and get a dictionary definition and a thesaurus in one little pop up.
I came straight home from work, had dinner, and after Big Bang Theory sat down and wrote another 1100 words. I’m pretty sure I can flesh this chapter out, but for now, it’s a good start.
Another 837 words today. I don’t think I’ll hit 50,000, but NaNoWriMo is giving me a goal to shoot for.
So to update, a failed Shadow Witch is making a dangerous addictive drug and our main character’s brother is collecting money from the shop (protection? Profit? Tax revenues? We don’t know yet) and the king of Port Caspia is turning a blind eye to the trade, because MONEY.
A little late to the party, but I’m dusting off the Ball of Bad Plotz once more. If you get stuck and want a nudge–a name, a MacGuffin, a plot idea, even a bit of prophetic doggerel–say the word, and I’ll start tossing ideas your way. (Quality expressly not guaranteed. Consult the Ball at your own risk. :D)
Today I’m about 300 words short of 10,000. I cheated a little by incorporating a scene I wrote for a workshop and MAKING it fit my story. I’m God and I can do that. This is like a patchwork quilt made of apples, bicycle tires, bagels, and kittens. But I’m going to stitch/glue it together or die trying.
I accidentally killed off a person who I was planning on using later. It started off as a “why isn’t this elevator working” to “oh, it’s because there was a head in the doors”. I had to do something though as I had the main protag emptying the dishwasher. (I was able to write myself out of that corner by having his boss find out that he was hired for a different position that was recently filled by one of her employees who just disappeared.) So maybe I am throwing myself under the bus to see if I can roll out the other side before the tires get me? I don’t know, but it is fun.
Hey, that sounds familiar, both for the word count, (I’m a few hundred words behind you at 13,239,) and the impulsive plot twist. Nobody actually died in mine, but I had a robot murder attempt, which has tipped the villain’s hand somewhat, (especially that she’s capable of and willing to disable robot safety programming,) and forced my characters to address the issue of “How can we live with any kind of safety in this thoroughly roboticized environment if the robots might attack us at any moment?”
I’m joining in for the first time officially this year. I had a half-baked idea that’s been rattling around in my head for a while so I thought I’d let it out and see where it went. Currently, nowhere fast.
I’ve spent the last 6 days moving, so I’m officially behind anybody who’s started. Word count is the same today as on the 1st. I shall now go and count a few more words…
