So yesterday in my post, I said something about a writer's notebook, and how I would talk more about it later on. Basically, a Writer's Notebook is a place for a future author to keep and organize their ideas and thoughts, planning out books and short stories, and saving random plot ideas for later on. I tend to use the regular, basic 70 page, single subject notebooks that students use in school. It really depends upon the particular person, though. Some people are quite fond of finding a specific kind of specialized notebook, and only use that kind. Ever. (Normally these are quite expensive ones, such as moleskin notebooks.) Some people like a bound composition book, as it gives it a permanent feel. And, still others, enjoy sketchbooks, diaries, and notepads. Some people even use the computer. So firstly, find a format that works for you. The reason I'm so fond of 70 page notebooks is because of the spiral binding. At least that's one reason. I can simply flip to a page, wrapping some of the pages behind. I don't have to worry about my surface not lying flat (a composition notebook), or anything else. I work on both sides of the pages.
Next you decide what kind of pen you want to use. I know this sounds kind of pathetic and weird, but really, find a pen that works for you. Try out as many different kinds as you can find until you locate the one that's perfect for you. I have two personal favorites. Number one on my list are blue Papermate pens. The old kind that are all blue casing. The ink flows perfectly, especially when it's been used a lot, and, best of all, the ink is blue! Can't go wrong with that one. At least not in my opinion. My second choice, if I was forced to are Bic Roundstik. They work very well, even though the ink is black. :D. Personally, I just think that the blue ink makes it a little more interesting. For Christmas this year, my parents bought me a 60 pack of the blue Papermates - you know; the huge boxes that they normally get for offices. And I'm one person. Haha.
After that, I would recommend leaving three or four pages at the very beginning of the notebook empty, for a Table of Contents. That way you can find exactly what you need, exactly WHEN you need it. It feels amazing to be so organized, even if it isn't as good as a book TOC. Now we come to the actual CONTENT of the notebook. Different people put different things in their notebooks, but I'll list a few of the things that I have in mine. First off, and probably most importantly, I have seed ideas. I talked a lot about seed ideas in my last post; how they are the basic idea that eventually turns into a plot. In my notebook, I don't label it as seed ideas; though you could if you so desired. Instead, I label them as Random Ideas I, Random Ideas II, etc. So far, I'm thinking I've got somewhere around 10 pages full of these little tidbits. You can also include: name ideas (first and last; I have a page for each), brainstorming sessions, freewriting sessions, random words, prompts, quotes, lyrics, conversations, and whatever else your mind can think up that may be useful in your all too near writing future. So, until next time, write on!!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
The Seed Idea
When you are writing something - a novel, a short story, a poem; even a paper for school, you have to have an idea. I tend to refer to them as a seed idea, as that is basically what they are. They start out as a tiny idea, and then, as you work with them more and more, you start to discover that they are actually more than they seem. They start to sprout into new ideas; sub-plots and, sometimes, you even mix two or more seed ideas together to make an entirely new, exciting plot. You develop it, and brainstorm ideas for it, discovering what it was actually meant to be in the first place. After a while, you start to find that you have discovered an entire idea for a book - and you begin to outline a bit, creating your own magical story; arranging all of the elements into a full, developed plan. That's the bud. After a little longer of simply watching the "plant" grow, you start to work on it. You write the actual story, using the outline "bud" as your blueprint. When the first draft is completed, that is the bloom.
But, as often happens with flowers, the first bloom is not as big and beautiful as the flower actually gets. Each day, that first bloom gets larger, and more full, as more petals grow. That represents the editing process. After all of the edits are complete, and the finished manuscript is polished to it's perfection; you start to realize that, just like a flower, it has bloomed. So that's why I refer to them as seed ideas. A lot of other explanations are given, each by their own author. Each and every person has their own description of these simple ideas; and we all know that some are just a bit more complex than others. For example, a very simple idea is that a boy and girl fall in love and eventually, after a few struggles, they live happily ever after. You see how simple that idea is. But it's also a very common one. The more complex ideas are often more unique, and come from the imagination, not what other people think.
For me, these ideas start coming to me when I'm in the midst of something else. Reading, watching television, riding in the car, browsing the internet, and, most of all, when I'm writing my own work. A lot of times I'll come up with seed ideas that I think might relate to my book, though only slightly. Sometimes I end up using these in my current manuscript, though, normally, I end up writing it down in my Writer's Notebook for later use in another story. I realize that I haven't exactly explained what a writer's notebook is yet, even though it is the title of my blog. I promise that I'll touch on that soon. But, basically, it's just a notebook that I write in every day, putting down my ideas and thoughts, for use in books later on. But get this straight. It is NOT a journal, nor a diary. I'll explain that in more depth another day.
One more thing though, before I leave. I once read something about writing, that said that to create a great book, you must combine the mundane and the extraordinary. Right now, I'm calling a can of worms on that (I'll write about that later), but I feel like it fits perfectly right here. At least a really simplified example. Basically, when you combine what seems normal (a high school kid) and then add something extraordinary (his teacher, is say, a ghost, or something similar) it adds an interesting touch. I realize that this is a very old example, and, it has been done a whole lot, especially in manga comics, but that was the example that was simply on the top of my head at this very moment. So, until next time, write on!!
But, as often happens with flowers, the first bloom is not as big and beautiful as the flower actually gets. Each day, that first bloom gets larger, and more full, as more petals grow. That represents the editing process. After all of the edits are complete, and the finished manuscript is polished to it's perfection; you start to realize that, just like a flower, it has bloomed. So that's why I refer to them as seed ideas. A lot of other explanations are given, each by their own author. Each and every person has their own description of these simple ideas; and we all know that some are just a bit more complex than others. For example, a very simple idea is that a boy and girl fall in love and eventually, after a few struggles, they live happily ever after. You see how simple that idea is. But it's also a very common one. The more complex ideas are often more unique, and come from the imagination, not what other people think.
For me, these ideas start coming to me when I'm in the midst of something else. Reading, watching television, riding in the car, browsing the internet, and, most of all, when I'm writing my own work. A lot of times I'll come up with seed ideas that I think might relate to my book, though only slightly. Sometimes I end up using these in my current manuscript, though, normally, I end up writing it down in my Writer's Notebook for later use in another story. I realize that I haven't exactly explained what a writer's notebook is yet, even though it is the title of my blog. I promise that I'll touch on that soon. But, basically, it's just a notebook that I write in every day, putting down my ideas and thoughts, for use in books later on. But get this straight. It is NOT a journal, nor a diary. I'll explain that in more depth another day.
One more thing though, before I leave. I once read something about writing, that said that to create a great book, you must combine the mundane and the extraordinary. Right now, I'm calling a can of worms on that (I'll write about that later), but I feel like it fits perfectly right here. At least a really simplified example. Basically, when you combine what seems normal (a high school kid) and then add something extraordinary (his teacher, is say, a ghost, or something similar) it adds an interesting touch. I realize that this is a very old example, and, it has been done a whole lot, especially in manga comics, but that was the example that was simply on the top of my head at this very moment. So, until next time, write on!!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The Power of Words
I've been thinking a lot lately about words. I've been writing a lot - blog posts, journal entries, fiction stories; but I realize that none of that could be possible without words. Words have great power in all aspects of life - both the written word and the spoken word. When you write down words on paper, in the form of a fiction story, you are simply trying to explain the feelings and emotions that you have for your story right then and there. And you are also trying to progress the story in as few words as possible. Words are powerful things. They help us through life; if we couldn't talk and converse with each other, I'm thinking that the world would be a very hard place to live it. Nobody would ever know what the other wanted, or if help was needed. Or even appreciated.
Also, in writing, I've found that there's not only the problem of getting the right words out. There's also the struggle of finding a format for them that gives them the correct "tone". You know, the way that they would be spoken if it was real life, or even a movie. I know that when I write stuff, and people read a line with the wrong tone, it kind of frustrates me. Mostly because I know that I worked so hard to portray the emotions. That's another thing. Emotions. That is actually what the tone of a piece of work is. Depending on how you're feeling that day, you'll speak differently than you would when you're feeling something else. When I'm reading a book; out loud especially, I try to think of how that character would be feeling at that time, and then change my voice accordingly.
I'm not really sure if it makes that big of a difference to others, but, in my opinion, it helps me, because I know that I'm letting the emotion of the author show through. I'm encouraging the writer of the story, even though they will probably never know if I do so. I think that it has something to do with being an author myself, and knowing how it feels when your book is wrongly read. I don't know. If you're an author, you probably know what I mean. So, anyways, until we meet again, go write something!!
Also, in writing, I've found that there's not only the problem of getting the right words out. There's also the struggle of finding a format for them that gives them the correct "tone". You know, the way that they would be spoken if it was real life, or even a movie. I know that when I write stuff, and people read a line with the wrong tone, it kind of frustrates me. Mostly because I know that I worked so hard to portray the emotions. That's another thing. Emotions. That is actually what the tone of a piece of work is. Depending on how you're feeling that day, you'll speak differently than you would when you're feeling something else. When I'm reading a book; out loud especially, I try to think of how that character would be feeling at that time, and then change my voice accordingly.
I'm not really sure if it makes that big of a difference to others, but, in my opinion, it helps me, because I know that I'm letting the emotion of the author show through. I'm encouraging the writer of the story, even though they will probably never know if I do so. I think that it has something to do with being an author myself, and knowing how it feels when your book is wrongly read. I don't know. If you're an author, you probably know what I mean. So, anyways, until we meet again, go write something!!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Addicted to Reading
I've been thinking lately about a couple of things, and I've discovered that reading, when you do it often enough, and you get into a certain book, it's almost a compulsive obsession. It's kind of a strange compulsion to have at first, but, when you get used to it, it's actually pretty fun to play around with. I'm on a goal to write a million words by October (since I started my year in November of last year), and, also, to read 100 books this year. I've actually only started on my first book (The Hobbit), but I've also figured out a few more that I'm hoping to read. For example, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (since The Hobbit is the prologue to that), the whole Narnia series, and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I've been wanting to read the latter for a while, and it was sort of MIA when it was actually Christmas season. It is a hilarious book, and I would highly recommend it.
So, getting back to the actual update of my actual writing process, I've been doing fairly good, I think - I wrote part of another chapter on Double Trouble, and, even though it's going pretty slowly, I'm thinking that it is going to be a fun book to write once it's fully outlined. I think that also may be part of my problem. Not all of my book is outlined - actually not much of it at all was; probably only a chapter; when I actually started to write it, just because I was so eager to. I know that I probably shouldn't have, and it probably wasn't the smartest idea in the world, but I'm still going to go with it - you know what I mean? Sometimes, you just know that something's a good idea, even when it might not seem like it at the time. Take this example for instance; if I hadn't started writing it, I wouldn't be able to get my 3k words a day for my Milwordy. And, even though it is going very slowly, it gives me words.
I think that the main idea of Milwordy is actually a really neat one and actually pretty encouraging. You see, there is this famous writing quote that says that that 'the first million words are practice." Might as well get them over with as soon as possible. :P. I don't know why, but that's the way that my mind just happens to work. I start to relate things to others, and then I want to look at things about that subject. That's why I love the whole idea of Wikidpad. I don't think that I've talked about that yet, but, quite frankly, I highly recommend it. It's a free program that you download and put on your desktop - it's almost like Wikipedia, only simplified greatly. Basically you just make your own wiki. I've been putting all of my writing information (book names, characters, locations, systems of magic, etc.) in it. So yeah. Well, anyways, until next time, go write something!!
So, getting back to the actual update of my actual writing process, I've been doing fairly good, I think - I wrote part of another chapter on Double Trouble, and, even though it's going pretty slowly, I'm thinking that it is going to be a fun book to write once it's fully outlined. I think that also may be part of my problem. Not all of my book is outlined - actually not much of it at all was; probably only a chapter; when I actually started to write it, just because I was so eager to. I know that I probably shouldn't have, and it probably wasn't the smartest idea in the world, but I'm still going to go with it - you know what I mean? Sometimes, you just know that something's a good idea, even when it might not seem like it at the time. Take this example for instance; if I hadn't started writing it, I wouldn't be able to get my 3k words a day for my Milwordy. And, even though it is going very slowly, it gives me words.
I think that the main idea of Milwordy is actually a really neat one and actually pretty encouraging. You see, there is this famous writing quote that says that that 'the first million words are practice." Might as well get them over with as soon as possible. :P. I don't know why, but that's the way that my mind just happens to work. I start to relate things to others, and then I want to look at things about that subject. That's why I love the whole idea of Wikidpad. I don't think that I've talked about that yet, but, quite frankly, I highly recommend it. It's a free program that you download and put on your desktop - it's almost like Wikipedia, only simplified greatly. Basically you just make your own wiki. I've been putting all of my writing information (book names, characters, locations, systems of magic, etc.) in it. So yeah. Well, anyways, until next time, go write something!!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Double Trouble
Like I mentioned on the last post, I had started the outlining/planning stage of a new novel, trying to up my word count for Milwordy (the challenge to get a million words written in a year. Last night I was doing the math and I realized that I only have to do 3k words a day to be able to get my Milwordy. That's not bad, since I can get those words done in a little less than an hour and a half using Write or Die. I actually started trying to figure out what my style of planning/outlining was by going online and simply looking up a ton of ideas. I tried snowflake outlining, but that sort of got old pretty quick.
I also tried a basic, everyday phase outline. That worked (I was using it on my Blue Flames novel) until I got tired of writing out all of those separate stages and sort went on a fly by the seat of my pants type of thing instead. I liked that, but I don't think that I could do it for the whole novel. I'm also thinking that I could do a snowflake outline if I wanted to, and I decided that it's probably the current novel that I'm working on that's totally not working for that type of outline. And also my personality. The snowflake method has you expand your plot slowly but still steadily - my personality makes me want to describe everything in great detail the first time around. Unless I do a really, really, REALLY simplified version.
Taking those notes into consideration, I think I finally found what works for me. Or at least for my current novel. What I did for this novel (Double Trouble I think it's going to be called) is made a list of 10 plot points - you know, major parts of the story that can actually be greatly expanded. That's what I did - found 10 parts of the story I thought would be interesting enough to be able to expand to at least 5k. (I did the math and figured out that each plot point would have to be around 5k words when finished to make a 50k novel, which is the minimum accepted length.)
That wasn't it, though. I then went into a separate document and expanded each plot point, though only slightly. It wasn't too hard, and I have a full page summary of my novel. That gives me a bit more detail to put into my scenes when I'm doing my work in Ywriter, which I'm also having a lot of fun exploring. Ywriter is a free program that actually allows you to write notes, keep characters, locations, items, chapters and scenes all in order, as well as outlining, doing the actual writing, and editing, all in the same program! Check it out. So, until next time, have fun and go write something!!
I also tried a basic, everyday phase outline. That worked (I was using it on my Blue Flames novel) until I got tired of writing out all of those separate stages and sort went on a fly by the seat of my pants type of thing instead. I liked that, but I don't think that I could do it for the whole novel. I'm also thinking that I could do a snowflake outline if I wanted to, and I decided that it's probably the current novel that I'm working on that's totally not working for that type of outline. And also my personality. The snowflake method has you expand your plot slowly but still steadily - my personality makes me want to describe everything in great detail the first time around. Unless I do a really, really, REALLY simplified version.
Taking those notes into consideration, I think I finally found what works for me. Or at least for my current novel. What I did for this novel (Double Trouble I think it's going to be called) is made a list of 10 plot points - you know, major parts of the story that can actually be greatly expanded. That's what I did - found 10 parts of the story I thought would be interesting enough to be able to expand to at least 5k. (I did the math and figured out that each plot point would have to be around 5k words when finished to make a 50k novel, which is the minimum accepted length.)
That wasn't it, though. I then went into a separate document and expanded each plot point, though only slightly. It wasn't too hard, and I have a full page summary of my novel. That gives me a bit more detail to put into my scenes when I'm doing my work in Ywriter, which I'm also having a lot of fun exploring. Ywriter is a free program that actually allows you to write notes, keep characters, locations, items, chapters and scenes all in order, as well as outlining, doing the actual writing, and editing, all in the same program! Check it out. So, until next time, have fun and go write something!!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
One Word at a Time
A lot of times when we are writing, the time comes when we have trouble getting anything out. Any words that do manage to get on the page feel forced and unreal, and we delete whole sentences and paragraphs in order to get it just right. I'm sure that this has happened to you before; I can't even tell you how many times it's happened to me. The cure to this is to simply think of the next plausible sentence and then write it out. Repeat. A single word at a time. Even if it doesn't sound so good at first, don't worry about it. That's what editing is for. You get to polish up the sentences and make it sound better. And, even though it may be a little tough at first to simply ignore all of those horrible parts, you'll thank me later. You won't have wasted all of your time deleting and rewriting parts of the book.
There are some people that do that, and they actually refer to it as editing as the go along. You can do that if you wish, but that personally is not my style. It messes me up, and it takes so much longer to finish the actual first draft. And then you still have to go back in and edit it again. It personally doesn't work for me. Anyways, until we meet again, go write something.
There are some people that do that, and they actually refer to it as editing as the go along. You can do that if you wish, but that personally is not my style. It messes me up, and it takes so much longer to finish the actual first draft. And then you still have to go back in and edit it again. It personally doesn't work for me. Anyways, until we meet again, go write something.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
100k Words!!
Hey everybody, I'm back, and yesterday I was crunching some numbers, and, since November of 2010, when I seriously started writing, I've written over 100k words!! That does include things like outlines, plotting, and simply freewriting that I've been doing quite a bit of lately, but, still, that's pretty impressive, at least in my opinion. I'm actually doing this challenge (we'll see if I succeed or not) to write a million words in a year. I started my year in November, so I actually have around 900k left to go. We'll see.
In order for that to actually work right, I have to do somewhere around 4k a day, considering that I took somewhere around a month off (December), I have quite a bit of catching up to do. I was excited though, when I found out that I actually had done 100k - I'm getting there. I'm literally a tenth of the way there when you do the math. However, if you really want to know how many words I have, I think I'm somewhere around 107k.
I don't have many more updates on the editing of my book - I did somewhere around 5 pages of my book, I'll go and crunch the numbers probably after I get off of here. I'm also starting several reading challenges, because I've found that I haven't been reading as much as I've wanted to in the past. I'm currently working on The Hobbit (I started this morning), and finally managed to work my way to the action. I found the first two chapters only a bit tedious, but, now that I'm getting to the good part, it's one of the most exciting books I've read.
One last thing, I've been working on an outline for a new book that I'm working on after the plotting is done, even though I'm starting to get a little bored of it already :( . I think what's making me so frustrated with the thing is that I'm having a bit of a problem with the MCs not using magic. And it's a fantasy. In my previous one, magic was used a lot, and it was really fun to write. I don't know. Well, anyways, go write something!
In order for that to actually work right, I have to do somewhere around 4k a day, considering that I took somewhere around a month off (December), I have quite a bit of catching up to do. I was excited though, when I found out that I actually had done 100k - I'm getting there. I'm literally a tenth of the way there when you do the math. However, if you really want to know how many words I have, I think I'm somewhere around 107k.
I don't have many more updates on the editing of my book - I did somewhere around 5 pages of my book, I'll go and crunch the numbers probably after I get off of here. I'm also starting several reading challenges, because I've found that I haven't been reading as much as I've wanted to in the past. I'm currently working on The Hobbit (I started this morning), and finally managed to work my way to the action. I found the first two chapters only a bit tedious, but, now that I'm getting to the good part, it's one of the most exciting books I've read.
One last thing, I've been working on an outline for a new book that I'm working on after the plotting is done, even though I'm starting to get a little bored of it already :( . I think what's making me so frustrated with the thing is that I'm having a bit of a problem with the MCs not using magic. And it's a fantasy. In my previous one, magic was used a lot, and it was really fun to write. I don't know. Well, anyways, go write something!
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