The quote of the day reminds me of short writer's block I had yesterday:
"This feels like pulling teeth. I do not want to describe the room. I cannot imagine the room, it's all me shoving details onto the page. The room has no impact on the character, it just has cool stuff."
Then 5 seconds later I thought: "Do I need the character to go into the room? I can just have the other character fetch the needed item from the room?"
That helped. I was trying to force the characters to follow an outline I had in my head and that was clogging up the writing process. Also I was probably dehydrated because my thoughts become more dramatic when I'm stressed.
I normally start with character, setting, and problem, then follow from there. In this case it's a genre I'm less experienced and comfortable in which is why the critical voice snuck in.
I'm back to creative voice and the story is flowing better.
I sometimes also try to follow "an outline in my head", and it also blocks me. I start to understand that besides when I write, the story doesn't go on. I should write the story for improvement.
It's like building a fire! You need heat, fuel and oxygen. If you are missing one of those, you don't get a fire.
Fuel is the setting, Heat is the problem, Oxygen is the character! (My brain is weird today! lol But, it makes total sense to me right now.)
Not enough or the wrong kind of fuel (Setting descriptions), and it burns real fast and gone. Or it just smolders unless you can add a LOT more oxygen (the character carries the story) or heat (the problem carries the story).
Not enough oxygen (character input), and the fire fizzles and smokes. Boring, flat cardboard. (Okay, that one isn't the best metaphor)
Not enough heat, and the story is just a bunch of navel gazing. No action, no progression.
And the Critical Voice is a great fire-fighter! Dump sand or water on that fire! Take away some of that fuel! Throw a blanket on it! Or even, add way more wood, or too much oxygen, or use a blow-torch!
Now I need to go use some of this creativity on my writing, because my wood stack has been wet all week, my lighter is almost out of fluid, and there has been a really thick fog surrounding the firepit.
(Hey Harvey! See what I did there? I gave it a shot and wrote whatever came! (Okay, it wasn't a scene, it was a lecture, but it was creative writing!))
Whew. A lot of good stuff in this one. And a good reason for me to write fiction first before reading anything else in the morning. And yes, I'm two weeks in on writing fiction first thing every day. Not my whole word count, but before anything else--well, except coffee--coffee gets to participate in the writing.
The quote of the day reminds me of short writer's block I had yesterday:
"This feels like pulling teeth. I do not want to describe the room. I cannot imagine the room, it's all me shoving details onto the page. The room has no impact on the character, it just has cool stuff."
Then 5 seconds later I thought: "Do I need the character to go into the room? I can just have the other character fetch the needed item from the room?"
That helped. I was trying to force the characters to follow an outline I had in my head and that was clogging up the writing process. Also I was probably dehydrated because my thoughts become more dramatic when I'm stressed.
Yup. It can happen. I think the key is "follow" the characters around, don't "lead" them around.
I normally start with character, setting, and problem, then follow from there. In this case it's a genre I'm less experienced and comfortable in which is why the critical voice snuck in.
I'm back to creative voice and the story is flowing better.
Yup. It always does. :-)
I sometimes also try to follow "an outline in my head", and it also blocks me. I start to understand that besides when I write, the story doesn't go on. I should write the story for improvement.
It's gotten easier to notice blocks and why they happen with experience. Blogs like Harvey's help a lot with diagnosing problems.
It's like building a fire! You need heat, fuel and oxygen. If you are missing one of those, you don't get a fire.
Fuel is the setting, Heat is the problem, Oxygen is the character! (My brain is weird today! lol But, it makes total sense to me right now.)
Not enough or the wrong kind of fuel (Setting descriptions), and it burns real fast and gone. Or it just smolders unless you can add a LOT more oxygen (the character carries the story) or heat (the problem carries the story).
Not enough oxygen (character input), and the fire fizzles and smokes. Boring, flat cardboard. (Okay, that one isn't the best metaphor)
Not enough heat, and the story is just a bunch of navel gazing. No action, no progression.
And the Critical Voice is a great fire-fighter! Dump sand or water on that fire! Take away some of that fuel! Throw a blanket on it! Or even, add way more wood, or too much oxygen, or use a blow-torch!
Now I need to go use some of this creativity on my writing, because my wood stack has been wet all week, my lighter is almost out of fluid, and there has been a really thick fog surrounding the firepit.
(Hey Harvey! See what I did there? I gave it a shot and wrote whatever came! (Okay, it wasn't a scene, it was a lecture, but it was creative writing!))
I like it! Critical voice IS a great firefighter and quite good at disguise too. Practice and vigilance to stay ahead of it.
"Practice and vigilance to stay ahead of it." Perfectly said.
Great challenges, I take them.
Whew. A lot of good stuff in this one. And a good reason for me to write fiction first before reading anything else in the morning. And yes, I'm two weeks in on writing fiction first thing every day. Not my whole word count, but before anything else--well, except coffee--coffee gets to participate in the writing.
IS there writing without coffee? [Laughingly shakes head] I Don't Think So. :-)
Not in this house...
Thanks for including me UH!