Welcome readers,
writers, authors, and bloggers!
We're glad you're here!
It's the First Wednesday of the month; when we celebrate IWSG Day in the form of a blog hop featuring members and guests of
the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Founded by author Alex Cavanaugh (Thank
you, Captain!) and fostered by like-minded associates, IWSG is a comfortable
place to share views and literary news from our perspective writing desks as we
record our journeys. Check out the July newsletter here.
Our awesome co-hosts
this month are: PJ Colando, Kim Lajevardi, Gwen Gardner, Pat Garcia, and Natalie Aguirre! Feel free to hop around and say hello to
everyone!
The optional question for this month
is: 99% of my story ideas come from dreams. Where do yours
predominantly come from?
I'm reminded of a quote (I'll paraphrase for
brevity) by Orson Scott:
"Everybody walks
past a thousand story ideas every day,"
A few cool and unusual things happened on my way to a job
fair a few weeks ago; I received a great compliment and a strange prompt. There
was also a promise of rain. Thankfully, the praise came first, or I might have
disregarded the prompt to describe my own funeral from the attendees' point of
view. This is going to be so much fun!
I wrote the first 300 words in a parking lot! Later, it took
me longer to decipher my own handwriting than it did to write those words in my
excited state ;-) But the seed was planted and already growing. *In my defense,
Agatha Christie also had terrible handwriting and had to dictate much of her
work ;-)
The compliment was also just the encouragement I needed to
revisit, revise, and at last release
a story (I've left blowing in the wind) to the capable hands of an editor, who
by now must think I've given up and torched the manuscript. Not so. I've just
been…distracted.
So, what do you do when focusing is easier said than done?
Has anyone heard of the "Pomodoro
Technique"? Setting specified writing sessions – or Pomodoro, which is
Italian for tomato - sounds like
something that just might work for me. One
tomato, two tomatoes, three tomatoes, four…It all adds up.
Hemingway's tip for keeping the creativity flowing between
sessions was to stop right in the middle of a scene you can't wait to get back
to. That way, your next session is already in progress, and you're not facing
the dreaded blank what-do-I-write-now page.
Fun Fact:
Author Roald Dahl was a taste-tester for Cadbury Chocolate.
"Hold the
vision, trust the process.”
Glad all that came together to spur you to write the story. I have lousy handwriting as well.
ReplyDeleteHi, Alex
DeleteSo am I ;-)
Parking lot writing! Love it. Also loved the quotes.
ReplyDeleteHi Lee!
DeleteYes, parked is always safer ;-)
Love the quote. It's so true. And I have terrible handwriting too.
ReplyDeleteHi Natalie!
DeleteTrusting the process is sometimes easier said than done. But it works.
P.S. Thank you for co-hosting!
DeleteWoot for inspiration! Like the quotes, but I could never do writing Hemmingway's way. It'd be an endless source of frustration. But then, I don't often struggle with writing when it comes time. It's more a problem of finding time.
ReplyDeleteHi Loni!
DeleteI'm thinking Hemingway's idea may just work for me. Won't know till I try ;-)
I practice the Hemingway method. Sometimes it's by conscious effort and I try to remember where/how the story will flow next when I get back to it the next day. Or I get stuck and have no idea what comes next. So decide to leave the story alone right there and let it germinate overnight. And return where I left off the next day.
ReplyDeleteHi Lidy!
DeleteFeeling lost and walking away is exactly what I think happened to the story I'm currently "dusting off" Going back to the last paragraph or page must be much easier - and far more productive than having to practically start all over. At least, I aim to find out ;-)
My handwriting isn't great either. That's why I tend to print LOL. Good for you on your 300 words in a parking lot. Those are the best!
ReplyDeleteHi Gwen,
DeleteI'm glad I thought I needed something constructive to do - instead of writing - which led to the chance meeting and prompt that led me back to it ;-)
Thank you for co-hosting!
Congrats on the parking lot 300!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kim. And thanks for co-hosting!
DeleteI learned awhile ago that my own handwriting when I'm rushing to get an idea done is...well, unreadable. I've taken to typing them into inotes. LOL. Good luck in your writing adventures!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Miffie. Best to you as well ;-)
DeleteReally enjoyed learning how creativity is sparked for you . . . even by walking by a parking lot! Hope you will share that story one day! Re writing the next day, I sometimes list possible scenes for each section of the book, kind of a very rough outline. Then I can just jump around as the muse inspires me. Hope that helps! As Rick Bylina would say, Write on!
ReplyDeleteHi Beth!
DeleteAnd to think a compliment and a prompt would be all it took:-) I like your idea of a rough outline. Thanks for the tip!
Hi, I believe that too. We passed by a thousand stories everyday and don't realize it. All the best.
ReplyDeleteShalom shalom
If we're able to catch just a few, we'll keep the glimmers of creativity glowing.
DeleteThanks, Pat.
I rarely make hand-written story notes anymore. There's a certain charm to them, I think. I've traded efficiency for charm, although my efficiency levels vary.
ReplyDeleteSome good advice in this post. I'm not familiar with that Pomodoro concept, but I'm totally behind that Orson Scott quote. I am continually bombarded with story and other ideas that mostly fall by the wayside because I don't write them down. Sometimes I'll record song ideas on my phone, but even those come and go out of my head so quickly that they are mostly lost in the recesses of my mind. I guess they might emerge again someday, but who knows.
ReplyDeleteLee
Hi, Lee!
DeleteRecording ideas on your phone is brilliant! I should look into that. Instead, you can find me in random parking lots, scribbling apparent gibberish that only I can decipher later ;-) It usually starts out as a single sentence I just have to jot down. Next thing I know, the cars parked beside me are different.
Please read my post
ReplyDelete>>... I've just been…distracted.
ReplyDelete"I'm shocked! Shocked to find that drinking is going on in here!"
dIEDRE, I had no idea that you drank like I do.
>>... Hemingway's tip for keeping the creativity flowing between sessions was to stop right... *THERE*!
Unfortunately, Hemingway is one of the most overrated writers of all time. So I protly wouldn't follow any advice of his'n. (He'd protly even criticize someone for using the words "protly" and "his'n".)
For the first time in my life, recently I read F. Scott Fitzgerald's book 'THE GREAT GATSBY', which I borrowed from my local library. Really?! This is considered a serious contender for the title 'The Great American Novel'? No. No. A thousand times - NO! I dream better stuffs than that at least 3 or 4 nights per week!
>>... the prompt to describe my own funeral from the attendees' point of view.
Oh, that's easy! The minister walks up to the lectern and says...
"Thank God he's gone. Let us bow our heads..."
>>... One tomato, two tomatoes, three tomatoes, four…
Actually, in my time, I dated a few more tomatoes than *that*. ;-D
~ D-FensDogG
Ha! Living life to the brim, my friend?
DeleteWould that the distractions I refer to be as trivial as you suggest, Stephen T. Someone very dear to me is facing life-altering medical challenges.
“Here’s to alcohol; the rose colored glasses of life.” F. Scott Fitzgerald
Thanks for staggering by ;-)