The Writing Process – Page 2

2 January, 20193 January, 2019

Psychedelic Writing?

Despite the last-minute notice, seven of us turned up to celebrate the New Year with a drink at Yelf’s last night. Good to see Geoff, who’s back from his six weeks of travelling to the Caribbean and the Canaries – he should have lots of new experiences to explore in his writing, although I’m not entirely sure how whizzing down a hillside in a giant basket on skis will help with writing a crime novel set at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway…

We were talking about (among other topics) psychedelia and mind-expanding drugs, and how they changed the type of music and lyrics the Beatles produced, and unfortunately, I jumped into the conversation when they mentioned Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and kind of derailed what Jonathan was saying. The point he was trying to make is that, as writers, if we expand our minds and try new techniques and different genres, we may find we produce more satisfying writing.

As far as actual drugs go, though, I think we’re all with Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory: “There’s only one mind-expanding drug that this man enjoys, and that’s called School.” I could certainly get addicted to education!

We had the chance to get to know Lucy, a bright and bubbly new member who joined our Facebook group a few weeks ago and came to check us out. Now she’s realised we’re all as friendly as she is, we’ll hope to see her at our next meeting. We’ve had more enquiries since the New Year (all those resolutions kicking in?), so a couple of other writers may be joining us then, too.

See you on Tuesday 15th. It’ll be interesting to see who’s found time for writing over Christmas!

1 January, 201911 December, 2018

New Year, new writing resolutions?

At the end of our last meeting, instead of setting a writing assignment, I asked you to come up with your writing resolutions for 2019.

Maybe there’s one thing you’d like to accomplish next year, or perhaps you have a list of ten targets you’ll set yourself – that’s up to you. In case you haven’t got round to thinking about it yet, here are some examples:

Achievement targets:

I will write (or finish) my novel and self-publish it by the end of 2019.

I will try NaNoWriMo this year.

I will self-publish a book of my best poems.

I will send my book to ten agents and try to get it published.

I will write a poem every week.

I will start writing that idea I’ve been thinking about for ages.

New habits:

I will write 100 words every day (or 1000 words every week, or whatever.)

I will plan my structure before I start writing.

I won’t let myself edit my book any more until I finish the first draft.

I will set aside a regular time for writing and stick to it.

Improved skills:

I will develop my characters better so they don’t all sound like the same person.

I will try out some new styles or genres.

I will improve my opening paragraphs.

I will read four books on writing and try to incorporate what I learn in my writing.

Whatever you choose for your resolutions, it’s important to decide on changes which are achievable for you in your current situation.

Happy New Year!

See you all at the next Island Writers meeting on Tuesday 15th January 2019, 7pm-9pm at Ryde Library.

25 November, 2018

Moodling, NaNoWriMo and why creative writing really hurts

Moodling.

It’s a delicious, roll-around-the-mouth word, and I offer profuse thanks to Yvie, one of our new Island Writers members, for adding it to my vocabulary!

So, what is moodling? Put simply, it means mulling over ideas and jotting down anything which comes to mind. Unlike brainstorming, this relaxed thought process frees the mind to come up with unfocused inspirations on a range of topics – we can worry about what to use them for later.

But after years of moodling, Yvie has decided to use some of the many ideas she’s generated and take up the huge challenge of NaNoWriMo – the National Novel Writing Month. The idea is to write a 50,000-word novel during the month of November.

Excuse me – write a whole novel in just 30 days?

Yup. That’s the challenge. 1667 words, every day for a whole month. Gulp. And only about 10% – 15% of participants make it – but even for the majority who don’t quite succeed in finishing during the time limit, it’s a fabulous spur to achieve a major chunk of that novel they’ve been moodling over for years.

Yvie’s latest blog update says she’s already written 20,000 words, so she has a good chance of making it past the halfway mark, at least. That’s a lot more than I’ve written all year!

Over 400,000 writers tried their hand at NaNoWriMo last year. So, why don’t they all keep on target? (Apart from, of course, that it’s nearly impossible?)

Yvie’s found one answer: creative writing hurts. Writing – good writing – is an emotional affair. Creating a novel based on past experiences can mean reliving heart-wrenching emotions we thought we’d locked away forever. Some days it feels like peeling off your skin to let outsiders look underneath. Fortunately, if you love writing, it’s worth it.

So we can only wish her luck – and leave some supportive words on her blog to help her along.

Want to try NaNoWriMo?

With just a few days to go until the end of November, we’re too late to join Yvie this time, but if you’d like to try completing a writing project in one month and you don’t want to wait until next November, check out Camp NanoWriMo – it looks fun!

Meanwhile, I intend to moodle as often as possible. Preferably while munching my way through a tub of Cadbury’s Roses. That’s the kind of emotional experience I can really go for.

30 October, 201830 October, 2018

Are you ready to write?

You finally get some time for creative writing, but…

Your pot of pens has mysteriously emptied itself, apart from the annoying green biro that doesn’t work.

Your desk is buried under a mound of papers you’ve been meaning to file, a few things you meant to list on Ebay, some letters and bills to deal with, a couple of empty coffee mugs and a random collection of household items which were left there ‘for now’.

The zip is broken on your laptop bag, so you haven’t brought it with you today.

You want to print some pages off to edit, but you’ve run out of ink. And paper.

You could write on the bus to work, but you can’t find the special hardback notebook you usually use.

Having a dedicated writing space in your home strengthens the feeling that you are a writer – creative writing has a high priority in your life. It doesn’t matter if your writing things are kept on a desk, or on a shelf, or in a drawer, a briefcase or a bag. As long as you’re always prepared to get started on your writing immediately, you won’t waste that precious creative time trying to fix the printer cable or searching for a pen.

Of course, having writing equipment ready may not be the only preparation to do. If it’s been a couple of years since you looked at your half-finished novel, you may need to reread the whole thing first if you can hardly remember your characters or plot.

There’s just one more week until Island Writers starts. Are you ready to get writing?