"I'm going to write something this week", take 2, day 1

[missroserose]

1089 words. Enough to fill a couple-three pages, depending on the format. And it's not porn, for once.

I have an idea I like and a main character with a voice of her own. True, both feel a bit derivative, but the only way to develop them past that is to keep going.

I'm keeping up a mantra - "Edit later. Edit later. Edit later." It's working okay so far. I know a lot of what I've written is crap, but it doesn't feel like it's all crap, if that makes sense. There's a good story here. I just have to get it all out, and then clear away the extraneous debris. (Or not, but if there's one thing I learned from O Lovely Glowworm, it's that editing is important. :)

Fingers crossed for day 2.

Comments

[tygenco-x.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall the Jim Butcher had been quoted as saying something like "just write the damn book" in reference to actually getting things put down on paper.
I've been writing things down a lot lately, random story ideas that manage to assemble some decent characters but I have little to no cohesive plot to put them in. Regardless, the characters are interesting enough, so I'm sure plot will eventually follow. I hope.

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Generally speaking, that's the best way to go about writing a book, especially if you're like me (us?) and have trouble turning off that inner editor who's constantly telling you how awful all of this is. Hence events like NaNoWriMo, that are focused on just getting words on the page regardless of quality.

Also, I find that doubly funny, since Jim Butcher is one of the sources I was thinking of when I said my story felt derivative. But The Dresden Files isn't exactly sparklingly original, either, and it's great fun, so I'm not going to worry about that too heavily.

A thought - I particularly like character-based stories, where the plot is less the meat of the story as it is a MacGuffin to see how the characters all react to it. Maybe as an exercise, you could take a couple of your characters and toss them together in some sort of situation - anything from being stuck in a broken elevator to being chased by supernatural beings - and see how they bounce off each other? What parts of their personalities come out under pressure? You might be surprised at how interesting that can be.

[tygenco-x.livejournal.com]

Been doing things like that, scenarios, trying to see what works.
And I've got one of those little voices, it goes on and on about anything I ever draw.

On the note of people I know who write, my friend SamuraiKo put up a piece that she recently finished. Yes it's NSFW but it's still well done (I think): http://samurai-ko.livejournal.com/187779.html

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Cool, I'll give it a look when I'm not supposed to be cleaning up the kitchen and making dinner. :)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Even if it's not porn, I'm pleased. And yeah, you start out derivative. God knows I am. That's what you do, even if you're Dostoyevski or Hemingway. And yeah, you write crap. That's what you do, even if you're...
Write! I will nag you about it!

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm hoping that my "you're writing crap" voice will be mollified somewhat by the fact that my goal is to write pulp, which really isn't more than a step or two above, and therefore hopefully more attainable than writing an amazingly perfect novel that makes all the critics gasp at its brilliance.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Also mollified by knowing that it's going to be *good* pulp before you're done, and it will be enjoyable to read. (:

[alexmegami]

Yay!

Edit later!