Things I've Learned About My Writing Self

-
  • I am in a much happier mood when I am writing consistantly. Last week I reached 10k on my WIP.  That was nothing short of a miracle for me. Even when my husband kept me up most of the night with his coughing from being sick, the next day he commented on what a great mood I was in considering my lack of sleep.

  • Ear plugs! I've been using ear plugs for the past few months to help me sleep better. They're fantastic and I actually sleep deeply now (thanks to a low dose of melatonin, too). But the other day my husband was nice enough to take our four year old into the "movie theater" (basement) as my son calls it and play Guitar Hero with him. For some reason I like to sit at our dining room table to write, instead of my office two floors up. But the dining room is right above the movie theater. So I popped in my ear plugs and pumped our over four thousand words yesterday. When I have complete and utter silence, I crank it out.

  • Outlines are my friend. I don't do extremely detailed ones, but I filled out ten scene cards so I have an idea of where I'm going. I'm not at all strict about sticking to the cards, but it gives me a little boost in the right direction. And if  anything changes as I write, well, I wrote the scene cards in pencil for a reason:)

  • My fourth and final thing I've learned over the last week is to power through my story. I've always been the writer who goes over and over a sentence trying to make it perfect. I could have an hour to myself to write and I'd only get one paragraph done. It was a perfect paragraph, but still... . With my new wip I've been writing without going back over what I've written. This also means I don't want any feedback on it until I finish my first draft and go through at least one rewrite. I know it's mostly crap right now, but it's the really good kind of crap that has an actual plot! 

Comments

Shannon O'Donnell said…
Those are all great lessons. I always sleep with a box fan on - I love the white noise, plus it covers other noises. :-)
October 12, 2010 at 2:31 PM
Pat Tillett said…
You really had a productive day! I pumped out an entire paragraph yesterday...whoo whoo!
I need to go somewhere by myself for a month and see what happens...
October 12, 2010 at 4:16 PM
Melanie Hooyenga said…
Good for you! Those are great things to have learned about yourself. I love that we seem to outline in much the same manner.
October 12, 2010 at 6:41 PM
Sharon K. Mayhew said…
WTG! I think I'll have to try ear plugs. I sleep with a sleeping mask, but absolute silence sounds really nice too...
October 13, 2010 at 12:18 PM
Kimberley Griffiths Little said…
I started wearing ear plugs for sleeping, too, a few years ago. I've always been a really light sleeper and still am, but now I can't sleep at all without them! ;-)

I'm a writer who needs silence, too, and I love to fast draft. My biggest output for one day - my record - is 8,000 words. Course I was on deadline and HIGHLY MOTIVATED!
October 26, 2010 at 9:30 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Name is Lisa and I Write Crap

-
Image
I used to be so afraid of writing something horrible, that I wouldn't write anything at all. I'd have a half-hour or so to myself and instead of getting as much down as I could, I'd type, delete, retype and delete again. I had to have perfect sentences formed from perfect ideas. It didn't work. It took me years to finally learn to just write anything. Even if it's crap (and it usually is first time around). But I'm finally OK with writing a crappy first draft. If it's still crap when I'm done, well, that's another problem all together. I used to think, What if I died tomorrow and my family found this notebook full of god-awful first drafts? They'd think I was a terrible writer! If I can write only awesome sentences, they'll realize what talent I had and be sorry they didn't take more interest in my amazing stories... or something like that. Anyway, now when I start writing a story (whether it's a novel or a screenplay) I just ...
Read more

Yet Another Embarrassing Confession (you would think I'd have run out by now)

-
The absolute worst part about being a writer for me is grammar and punctuation. With every post I put up, every email I send and every story I write, I am waiting for someone to come back to me and say, "Seriously? How can a writer not know where to put commas?" Commas are my enemy. I have no clue where they go. I try to put them where I think would be a natural pause in a sentence, but I know I'm usually wrong. I basically toss them up in the air willy-nilly and let them land where they want. Can you recommend a grammar/punctuation book that is easy to understand? (I never took a "real" English class in high school, so I'm starting fresh). The Elements of Style is too...sterile for me. I need something I can easily grasp onto. I'd greatly appreciate any, suggestions. (<< that comma was a joke. See, at least I can joke about my ignorance)
Read more

Out of the Closet in 1st Grade

-
I went to #30 school for first grade. Every morning I walked by myself down Otis Street to the school. There were always a bunch of kids outside the door waiting to get in. The older mature (10 years old) security guards wore their safety belts guarding the doors. No one was getting past them until it was time to go in. One morning when I got to the doors there was no one there. Not one kid was outside. I was super late. Or so I thought. I ran through the doors and down to my first grade classroom. It was completely empty. I wasn't late, I was early. Instead of going back outside to wait for other kids to show up, like a normal person, I decided to climb into the coat closet and sit on the floor and wait. I don't know how long I waited in the dark on the floor, but eventually I heard kids coming into the room. I nonchalantly slid the closet door open, stepped out, hung up my coat and sat down. If I looked suspicious, no one ever said anything.
Read more