How do I get myself writing?
I have a few specific questions I'd like to see answered, too.
1. Do you have any tricks for coming up with/keeping ideas for subject matter?
2. How do you decide which idea to actually pen a story from?
3. Have you noticed a key amount of time in turn around from when you get the idea to when you need to write it out? Basically, do ideas go stale.
I know a lot of this is HIGHLY subjective, so I will appreciate well-thought out, detailed answers that address my questions and cite something more than a "right" answer.
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M$14 Answers
Coming up with subject matter specifically: Do all the old stuff. Meaning, look over all your old experiences, and find the stories to tell. Sometimes this counts as "research" for back story for characters you use much later. Maybe from ages 9 to 11 you were a fanatical stamp collector, right up until puberty kicked into high gear. Maybe you don't even have your albums anymore, but see what you remember, why it was important to you, what your friends remember from it. Keep a journal or database of ALL these experiences, in as much detail as you have time for. You'll find hundreds of stories in your own experiences, some that turn into books, some that turn into one page wonders.
Then do all the new stuff. Take free/cheap classes in your community for stuff you never knew you wanted to know about (welding? yoga? cheese-making?). Travel (depending on your circumstances and commitments, backpack/work your way through anywhere, I spent 5 months in Europe for $2,000). Attend lectures, galleries, book readings, anything to keep new and varied information. If you're drawn to something, the research to turn it into a story makes it much easier with some grounding experience.
Write them down. That seems simple, but it's actually a huge change in habit and real inconvenience to you and the people around you. You are on your way to a party with your significant other, you see a woman walking down the street in the rain, something about it strikes you... You pull over, get out the pad of paper and pencil you have learned are as important to you as your your wallet/keys/pacemaker, and write the idea down, all while significant other is screaming at you (that's from experience, but it also shows the point).
Another thing I use (your mileage may vary) is drawing. If you learn to draw, just to sketch quickly but accurately, you may be able to capture the most important details in an even faster manner than writing them. This is a little less removed than having to translate your ideas into words at the time (see screaming significant other). Also, drawing sometimes gives you more leeway, a sketchbook is a surprisingly versatile pass to places/times you might not get away with using lined paper and an implement designed for writing. I came at this backward, since I nearly went to art school before deciding to pursue education and work in English and writing.
2. How do you decide which idea to actually pen a story from?
Write them all. Give them all a fair shake, whatever your productivity curve is. If you usually spent two weeks on a story, spend two days trying to write an idea. If it's not coming, file it away, never throw it away. Your subconscious is amazing, and it may be that a week, month or decade later the story's ending will come to you. But you're sunk if you threw away the beginning or spark you'd hashed out, and now all you have are some details without a soul.
Eventually you get to know the feeling of what matters to you, what has a story to tell, but that's like every other Zen master kung-fu movie, years of practice and training.
3. Have you noticed a key amount of time in turn around from when you get the idea to when you need to write it out? Basically, do ideas go stale.
Depends on you, and on the idea. If you had a brilliant idea at 15 about the trials that adolescents go through, but don't do anything about it then, chances are you won't be able to write it at 45, even if you have decent notes. But I've recovered "timeless" ideas and threads of stories from a decade or more.
The advantage of my advice from number 2 is that you give an idea its chance within a couple hours or days at the most. If its not coming, you don't force it, but you don't waste the effort either.
My own experiences.
Advice from University of Iowa Dey House resident authors and instructors.
Writing colleagues, since we all constantly ask ourselves the same questions.
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M$
1. Do you have any tricks for coming up with/keeping ideas for subject matter?
Brainstorming is my tactic. Right down a list of subjects that you are interested in. Start out in alphabetical order. For instance, "I like apples," "I like baseball," "I like candy," etc. Once you have this down, you can come up with ideas that you like, and then you can write about them. Then you've just got to do it! Just do it!
2. How do you decide which idea to actually pen a story from?
Follow your passion, follow your heart, and what you really like to write about. If you're interested in the subject, the writing will just come to you. If you like baseball, write about baseball!
3. Have you noticed a key amount of time in turn around from when you get the idea to when you need to write it out? Basically, do ideas go stale.
Good ideas and passionate ideas never go stale. Even if you think the idea has already been done before, you can make it happen!
If you're interested in writing a novel, you may want to try the snowflake method. This has helped many people get started with writing.
http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php
In order to write well, it's important to read. Reading is just as important, if not more important than writing, for any writer.
Here are some great tips for writing at Daily Writing Tips, and it's a good place to start writing:
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/how-to-start-writing-when-you-dont-feel-like-it/
My Thoughts.
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M$
2. Anything can be a story. pick a topic, and write. You'll find that practice is more important then concept. Think of some of the greatest novels written: old man catching whale. old man catching marlin. Some french stranger who never grows attached to people. A guy on an island of little people. An old miser who hates people and christmas. Any idea can be good as long as you can capture in words how you want to make a reader feel.
3. To be honest, I believe the most important aspect is not to lose momentum. You decide you are going to write. You pick a day to start, and then tell yourself that you are going to spend one hour every day writing for 3weeks/1 month/2 months. Eventually you will have momentum that will prevent your ideas from going stale.
Don't forget to dream
hope that helps
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M$
Observation is an excellent method for finding ideas and a great skill for a writer to have. There are so many levels on which a writer can observe: the world around you, the community around you, what's happening with your friends and family.
Go on line every day and read online newspaper headlines. You don't need to read the stories per say, see what inspires you about the headlines. Create a character from a headline. Who are they?
Walk down a street you walk down every day and see it through a writer's eyes. What can you notice that you've never noticed before. How do you experience the five senses on this street? Are the people familiar? Strangers? Write a paragraph about the first time you walked down this street. What's the same and what has changed?
Carry a note book with you where ever you go so that the instant you have an idea, you get into the habit of writing it down. Never wait till you get home, the idea will have changed or be gone by then.
Not every idea works when it is fleshed out. Sometimes you figure this out quickly, because the idea doesn't turn into character, conflict and story. That's how you know an idea has legs: when you can relate the idea to specific characters, conflict, and story elements.
No I don't think ideas ever go stale. If you're busy working on a project, never stop writing down ideas for later. That's one of the thing that distinguishes a writer for life as opposed to someone who just has one novel, or one play or one story in them: they've got an idea in the wings...
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M$1. Do you have any tricks for coming up with/keeping ideas for subject matter?
Sure. Look to your own life and experiences. Most writers write their best material from personal experience, no matter how long in the past it ocurred. If you don´t have any, look at the world outside - a good writer is an observer of reality. Soak up everything, and always carry a notebook with you (small enought to keep in your pocket with a pen).
2. How do you decide which idea to actually pen a story from?
The best idea almost never turns out to be the best story. This is subjective, but I usually play out the story development in my head, to see if things could work out with each idea, and then choose the one it's most likely to be great.
3. Have you noticed a key amount of time in turn around from when you get
the idea to when you need to write it out? Basically, do ideas go stale.
Yeah, for me at least. Lots of ideas get turned down and just to the trash bin. Face it, not all ideas will turn out to be great stories. You need to be selective and most ideas do go stale. But, on the other hand, you could have 1 or 2 that lay around for months, or even years. Again, very subjective.
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M$
I start an 'ideas' document where I write down anything I want to use -- could be a line of dialog, a concept, a plot twist, a snippet of scene -- whatever. Half of these I recognize are dreck and don't use, some of the other half get used.
I also generally do not write the first scene and keep going until the last scene. Usually, I write like 'chapter 6' first -- something near the beginning, but more in the middle. I like to get a sketch of what the book is like when things are in full swing, then go back in fill in the rest. In my first novel 'The Pocket and the Pendant', the very first thing I wrote was Chapter 5: The Books of Jonathan Roseblood Cyranus. Why? Because three of the four major characters had met by then and this was the first big challenge they had to confront as a team -- this exposed personalities (who was the Kirk-type damn the torpedoes personality? who was the brainiac? who was the intuitive? etc.)
2. How do you decide which idea to actually pen a story from?
On my first book, I had several ideas initially that I really liked. I then decided that all of them should be strung together into one story.
On my second book, I had one idea I knew was Storyline A. I did not know Storyline B yet, but had an idea for a separate book that I really liked. Then one day, I woke up and figured out how I could make that story work as Storyline B.
For my third book, I actually thought it was book 1 of another series at first (and actually wrote 60K words of this book) before junking it and recycling the best bits for the third book of the Max Quick series.
So to sum up: I seem to think all my ideas are separate books at first, but always end up fusing them into a single narrative. For whatever reason, this works for me.
3. Have you noticed a key amount of time in turn around from when you get the idea to when you need to write it out? Basically, do ideas go stale.
No. I've had ideas in mind for years.
But what you have to watch out for is if someone else has a similar idea and they beat you to the punch. That can get dicey. I've had it happen to me.
For example, there a lot of parallels / imagery between Heroes and the first Max Quick book
- Both use an eclipse as a big thematic / recurrent image
- Both have heroes that deal with stopped time
- Both have the plot device of Books that predict the future
My book was published in 2004 ; Heroes went on air in 2006. Although very different stories, there was enough similar that I kind of went, ummm, what? when I saw it. Now, I don't think they copied my book or even knew about it -- it's more that these things seem to have a zeitgeist about them.
It's odd, but with novels I've seen several people hit on 'the same idea' at the same time frequently -- as well as in the Internet business. Whomever executes the best / fastest wins in both, so it is good not to sit on it TOO long.
Hope this helps -- and good luck!
experience: i've written two novels
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M$
I'm not even half joking. Too many writers think that the sequence is - come up with great idea, write it all out perfectly, then shop it around. That's fine for your personal novel that's locked up in your head. But if you want to hone your art and pay the bills, it goes a little something like this instead -- come up with an idea that might sell, pitch it and get somebody interested in buying it, then write it. Then, repeat.
Just personal experience. When I was laid off a few years ago I had nothing to lose so I wrote to a magazine editor and said, "How about an article on one of these topics?" He said yes and it ended up as a series. After that I had the confidence to pitch other magazines. I ended up doing maybe a dozen or so before going back to work full time. Had I tried to write first and pitch later I would never have done it.
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M$
To clarify for you and others, I am specifically talking about "creative writing." Sorry about neglecting to mention that.
I think your idea is really interesting, but I'm curious if you think there is any way to execute it with creative writing. To my knowledge, it is difficult to find a publisher for a short story or novel, so it would be even more difficult to "pitch than write" until you are established.
Now, for more creative writing I would disagree- even great ideas go stale over time. I suspect if one were to look in the drawers and notebooks of writers across the years it would come as no surprise to discover unfinished manuscrupts, titles and ideas jotted down on paper then saved but never acted upon plus a host of other half finished, semi=baked ideas. I certainly have a collection.
Having said all that...there are times when writers block wins. My brain gets tired and creativity seems to dry up...not to mention, boredom.
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M$From an author of creative filmscripts, cdroms, websites, lectures, plays, I learned to keep a writing journal and a separate work journal. They do it for everything they do like a diary simultaneously back and forth as life inspires creative thought and creative ideas written down inspires life and work. They taught me that the intellectual history of a thoughtful and reflective being is part of who you are, it helps you learn and remember, they have been keeping meticulously hand written notes most of their life all dated and will then will the notebooks and their creative works from their lifetime to an academic institution writers archives in an already agreed upon library/archives leaving money in their will for staffing in perpetuity to research their papers and sort them and publish from them as a document of their work, life and age. That being said I have not been able to duplicate that dedication but do use the double writing method when working on a specific project of work writing at which time I find the creative writing as a balance sparks out from that and they cross pollinate each other and hope to extend journal writing beyond brief times because it is so valuable. You could learn some of this if you are a longer term creative thinker from places like: seek a library or archives and find out if they have a special collection of an author, the more well known and great a creative writer the better. Then borrow a copy of a manuscript of a draft they have and "feel" how they have worked and thought and progressed in tiny steps meticulously and see how they keep their notebooks and journals. I did this at a local university library and although staff hover over you because no one cares and looks at the papers from the general public usually it is worth the experience to inspire, you can see how every single word was carefully crafted, how every thought changed and edits were better, how much effort and writing went into a book and their written intellectual life. Maybe also you can learn this from books, here may be some:
Keeping a journal/notebook for creative writing is now taught in the grades 3-8 curriculum but they said you can
use this through high school as well. If you missed that when you went to school, here it is.
Notebook Know-How: Strategies For The Writer's Notebook
http://www.amazon.com/Notebook-Know-How-Strategies-Writers/dp/1571104135/
Guide Quotes: Discovering & Journaling Your Insights
http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Quotes-Discovering-Journaling-Insights/dp/1440451028/
So, You Want to Write!: How to Get Your Book Out of Your Head and Onto the Paper in 7 Days
"So, You Want to Write' teaches you how to write your book using examples and exercises. Totally interactive, the reader participates in learning how to prepare to write, creates a writer's Identity and their own powerful Writer's Power Tools?. The book offers solutions for procrastination and strategies for dealing with "writer's block." The reader learns how to "Schedule Your Success" and get the book out of their head on to the paper.
Because of this amazing woman, Ann Mcindoo, I wrote 2 and a half books in one weekend. One of those books is now published. So, You Want to Write!, tells you exactly how to write a book and to stop procrastinating. Ann believes we all have a book inside us waiting to be told.
This book tells you how to get your story out of your head and turn it into a real book! Ann has written one of the best books on writing instruction I've ever read.
http://www.amazon.com/So-You-Want-Write-Paper/dp/1601940033/
The Writer's Mentor: A Guide to Putting Passion on Paper (one review is below)
Having bought dozens of writing books, I give this one my highest marks. The author is excellent at describing how writing is more than a single act performed at a computer or with a pen--it is a way of life. Writing happens during the day while we're washing dishes or making peanut butter sandwiches, and during the night while we dream. Writing is about combining bits and pieces of the Self of the writer with bits and pieces of others' lives.
The Writer's Mentor inspires me to write in a manner that helps me understand myself and my relationship with the world. My purpose for writing is to help others do the same. This is one book I'll keep on my desk (and maybe by my bed).
http://www.amazon.com/Writers-Mentor-Guide-Putting-Passion/dp/1573245704/
I would go into large public or university libraries and sit and read the writing magazines and buy and read inspiring books that would help me out of tough spots and help me understand how to solve writing problems when I got stuck because I did not know other writers at the time. I later found writers associations locally and found the craft knowledge and inspiration of attending a monthly lecture/meeting helpful no matter if all that was available was romance writing :) Local colleges, universities, high schools in adult education even often offer courses that can help you learn the craft of writing. As a continuing education student in another area for credit I would try to fit in something non credit like helping a local free community theater group with play reading and rehearsals to understand dialog and what works in scenes, taking a film or television acting course to understand writing your own scenes and how writing gets blocked out three dimensionally and how the actors and director correct writing mistakes of the playwright who has not learned their craft properly. I would attend film screenings of non hollywood independent films and volunteer in small productions to understand movement, time, ,place and how to write for real people so that what you write is three dimensional. So many ways to learn, all part of this multimedia world - making creative websites or a blog that may be for your eyes only - everything helps you not be flat and two dimensional like your paper. :)
Some Mahalo resource pages covering many writing topics if you dont have a large writing section in your local library:
Writing - for writing links http://www.mahalo.com/Writing
How to Write a Short Story http://www.mahalo.co/How_to_Write_a_Short_Story
All How To Pages About Writing http://www.mahalo.com/Category:Writing_How_Tos
How do I get myself writing?
Do you remember how you how you wrote your paper at school?
If there was no deadline, no schedule - you probably would still be writing them.
That you never really finished writing but handed in a small start of something larger is interesting.
You must be a very thorough, thoughtful, detailed and complex writer.
Do you think maybe you are having problems starting partly because you don't want to be limited to a short story? maybe nothing shorter than a novel can really express what you want to say.
Well, then try to break it down into smaller parts. Eg. each short story will become a chapter and altogther you will have a book - is that better? :)
My essays also tended to stretch on and on, but at times I was able to control them with plans - points covered, wordcount per section etc.
I met a writer - someone who has written all their working life.
They have written textbooks, authored interactive multimedia cdroms, filmscripts, plays, educational websites, course lectures, shot photography collections for gallery showings etc.
I have tried to incorporate as I can from their example because it works and most of it is "creative" writing also.
They keep a journal - an ordinary notebook - they date each entry - they jot down ideas - they jot down what they are doing on many projects - but there is a twist.
They always have two journals. One is a creative journal in which they never limit themselves - no editing - they jot down ideas - thoughts - impressions.
The work journal contains their projects, to do lists they cross off when done that they move things forward if not done, deadlines, what they are doing etc.
Sometimes they will split a book and write work on the right and on the backs of pages on the left they will put their creative writing ideas and progress.
They keep their journals forever and probably will donate them to some archive in old age because it chronicles their life and creative life.
Maybe such a detailed approach would work for you, you use it together with a calendar that has larger entries for each day and they plan and schedule work.
Then they also schedule in their relaxation time, their creative breaks, movies, coffee shop visits where they may sit and write etc.
So, that method, with dated journal notebooks frees up your entire creative and other writing working life up to you to use material from at any time.
You never run out of ideas, when dry you go back to things you wrote where you did not censor or edit them but let them flow and you will never have
enough time to fully use all your creative ideas in a lifetime but that is ok, you only use what is best at the time.
Does that help? There are piles of books on journaling showing all kinds of benefits.
I will try to find and list a few below. I forget what I read, but I did read a few long ago. I don't use this method all the time, but the principles
are there in my work - invaluable. If working on something else on the computer I may get a great idea and jot it down in a notebook or in a jotting program
on the computer. You can backup such notes by sending them to yourself or using a free storage site or blog set to personal - you read only but use more than
one place as then it won't get lost.
1. Do you have any tricks for coming up with/keeping ideas for subject matter?
- I write the title, if I can a short description of a sentence or few then that sparks ideas for the rest to follow right away or at another time
- I use a journal - any notebook will do but a nicer journal blank book or hardcover lined book from a dollar store, office supply or bookstore can be more inspiring
- When doing any other kind of writing always keep the separate creative journal book - or creative half of your project journal book handy and use it
- Keep some paper always handy and jot down ideas with no editing - when you awake, watching tv, on transit (if not driving), etc.
- Take a cheap notebook/pages in ring binder when you travel or move around so as not to lose your main journal book
2. How do you decide which idea to actually pen a story from?
- write the one that wants to get written - that you feel you want to work on and can handle - that you know enough about to carry through
3. Have you noticed a key amount of time in turn around from when you get the idea to when you need to write it out? Basically, do ideas go stale.
- I learned from a writer of creative material - not short stories/books, film, multi-media, websites, photography that ideas can be used from any timeline in your creative life. But you will forget about it, so try to keep a journal where you do not censor, edit, cut, let it free flow and you will have ideas for life. Then as a retired author your notebooks can be donated along with your publications and drafts to future researchers in an archive.
- Is this a hobby or are you trying to earn your living at it? What is your skill level? are you educated in creating writing and know and practiced your craft for many years? it depends.
- One thing an academic writer taught me about writing - if you cannot do it now there may be something you need to do first.
Eg. I took writing workshops, courses in college, free tutorials on the web, read books, attended writers association meetings to hear real authors speak etc.
- so when I finally did finish a short story for a great plot idea, thinking myself all educated and knowledgeable, it looked great. Then some months later I read it and realized that I had written it for adults and the quality of the writing was so simplistic and thin that it might only pass as a young adult reader story for those who have literacy problems and are still learning how to properly read.
- so there is how long will it take to finish a short story, and how long will it take to finish a short story at the skill level that you desire? It could be years in between the two with years of practice, learning, editing and rewriting.
- to become a better writer you need to keep writing - period.
- creative writing that is really creative is not something that obeys your wishes to be a great writer.
- if you knew how much work it might take you might never do it and maybe will decide it is not for you anyways.
- everything you learn about writing helps, all writing helps, nothing is lost.
- take a theater class or improv class and learn to act and improvise dialogue - there is dialog in creative writing
- write a non-fiction story that you can sell to a magazine, or work on a non fiction book at the same time to hone your craft.
- learn your non-fiction writing craft here are some resources I suggested to another writer:
http://www.mahalo.com/answers/writing/im-a-freelance-writer-and-im-pretty-good-but-i-stink-at-marketing-myself-how-can-i-learn-to
Still can't get started writing? Here are some ideas in another Mahalo Answers post:
http://www.mahalo.com/answers/blogs/best-cure-for-writers-block
I learned in a program I took that there is no such thing as a block - that you can
express yourself fully - just sit on that chair until you do something if it takes all
long weekend. Went to a school retreat to discuss careers and they sat us down and we
were going to sit all weekend until we talked but no one would force us to discuss.
It did not take half an hour and we all chatted about everything and anything no limits
all weekend and it was fabulous! In the journal where you keep your free flowing ideas -
do not censor in any way. Set aside time to write and sit till you do something - you dont
need to force it but to give it permission to flow out :) then use the journal and do
busy work and paperwork little things or review or plan on days you are not in the mood to write
creatively - then work on your craft - edit bits, rewrite, etc. You need some good books
on how to write well and do some writing type things well. You will find your favorites. To learn about theatre, acting, film perhaps this book would help:
On Writing: A Process Reader (Paperback)
by Wendy Bishop (Author) "Think about "scenes" of writing that you have read in books or seen in movies or on TV..."
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Process-Reader-Wendy-Bishop/dp/0072379391/
Not attending workshops, conferences or courses maybe you can learn some of that from here:
Keywords in Creative Writing (Paperback)
by David Starkey Wendy Bishop
Wendy Bishop and David Starkey have created a remarkable resource volume for creative writing students and other writers just getting started. In two- to ten-page discussions, these authors introduce forty-one central concepts in the fields of creative writing and writing instruction, with discussions that are accessible yet grounded in scholarship and years of experience. Keywords in Creative Writing provides a brief but comprehensive introduction to the field of creative writing through its landmark terms, exploring concerns as abstract as postmodernism and identity politics alongside very practical interests of beginning writers, like contests, agents, and royalties. This approach makes the book ideal for the college classroom as well as the writer's bookshelf, and unique in the field, combining the pragmatic accessibility of popular writer's handbooks, with a wider, more scholarly vision of theory and research.
http://www.amazon.com/Keywords-Creative-Writing-Starkey-Bishop/dp/087421629X/
Creative Commons by Wolfgang Staudt
http://www.amazon.com/Notebook-Know-How-Strategies-Writers/dp/1571104135/
http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Quotes-Discovering-Journaling-Insights/dp/14404...
http://www.amazon.com/So-You-Want-Write-Paper/dp/1601940033/
http://www.amazon.com/Writers-Mentor-Guide-Putting-Passion/dp/1573245704/
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Process-Reader-Wendy-Bishop/dp/0072379391/
http://www.amazon.com/Keywords-Creative-Writing-Starkey-Bishop/dp/087421629...
http://www.mahalo.com/Writing
http://www.mahalo.co/How_to_Write_a_Short_Story
http://www.mahalo.com/Category:Writing_How_Tos
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Good clarifying questions at the start! I agree I didn't say enough - I wasn't sure what people needed and I think there's a word limit for the question. :P
Let me answer your questions, for the good of all who dare to attempt MY question:
Beginner, middle, expert? - Beginner as a writer of fiction, although I have a degree in English and have had poems and articles published.
Learn by doing, experience, reading, writing, imagination? - If I understand this question correctly, I learn by doing (which is the same as experience, to my knowledge), via reading, and via discovery by writing. I don't think I've necessarily "learned" from my imagination, since my ideas don't create facts just because they're cool, but I do use that, too!
See life visually, aurally, concretely, abstractly, practically? - Again, slightly tricky to answer, but I'm a practical and abstract thinker. A pragmatic idealist academic, if you will.
Have talents in arts, music, philosophy, storytelling, speech, argument, fantasy, sciences, etc.? - This seems less relevant to my question; it's probably enough to say "look to your experiences and write what you know," if that's the direction of this question, and if it's too see if I'm likely to have talent, that's not relevant to my question, either. ;)
You want to know how others learned..why, so you can learn the same way, so you can skip learning that way, so you can experience mentorship, so you can be taught using lessons? --I don't want to know how others have learned, I want ideas for how to get started and create a new habit. I want inspiration and motivation. I want to use that part of my brain that has to get kicked into a "thinking about how to get myself writing" gear, which is built in to reading the responses to this question and deciding what works for me and what doesn't. In part, even the act of posting this question helps me "get myself writing," because it is a form of commitment to starting to write.
Overall, I have some really bad habits of avoiding actually writing stories, and I want ideas that will help me create new and more productive habits.
I hope that helps! I'd love to hear your thoughts now that you have more information.
Here are some replies to your comments below. I could be way off for you as an online forum is not like the real thing so skip anything that does not apply.
Learn by doing, experience, reading, writing, imagination? - If I understand this question correctly, I learn by doing (which is the same as experience, to my knowledge), via reading, and via discovery by writing. I don't think I've necessarily "learned" from my imagination, since my ideas don't create facts just because they're cool, but I do use that, too!
Well if you learn by doing and writing then you are a fine candidate for something active like learning about creative writing from the inside such as working on a play as a volunteer in a community theatre - assistant stage manager would be a good role as you would help with all practical aspects of the production and also help with the readings as you learn by reading and give suggestions to the director for rewrites. If you only learn from doing/experience and not reading then skip rehearsing the readings with the actors and focus on directing and producing the play (or a film production as a volunteer with a local independent film company in similar roles)
I have done these things - it works amazingly well for learning. If you had just said reading, then there are just play reading groups that you can find where they don't perform a play but read the roles - sometimes local libraries or community theatre will run such things regularly or once in a while. These also work well for learning especially if they do not limit the role by gender but let you read them all in turn. It really is none of my business what anyone chooses to do, what I was suggesting was that based on your tendencies you may find better methods to learn to be a better writer that are outside of just writing, and/or you may find other creative genres of creative writing that suit your talents in such a way that you are destined to be great in them if you try them. I just never see anywhere a discussion about how best to learn creative writing among all the genres or a discussion about how to choose the best genre suited to your skills and abilities. It would be a shame to miss something so obvious if it was really important is all I am saying - but maybe it is not relevant to you, I don't know that. So, therefore all the questions.
See life visually, aurally, concretely, abstractly, practically? - Again, slightly tricky to answer, but I'm a practical and abstract thinker. A pragmatic idealist academic, if you will.
If you had said aurally in that you learn from speaking or hearing speaking I would have suggested borrowing books on tape from the library if visually also then perhaps borrowing dvds from the library. Since you had said practical and abstract along with learning by doing above I wonder if you had considered working on a play of someone else perhaps first and then your own perhaps with the same group. There are a number of community theatres that are not funded that produce plays, also some local community, semi-professional and professional theatres run various programs for encouraging prospective playwrights. What I am wondering is whether you might benefit with the applied aspect of collaborative work, the interaction with others, the practical aspects of the assistant stage manager to work with the props, think about and plan and place them, to block out scenes, once you are working on your own play the collaborative aspect of getting input from the readers as to how they react to the roles and the
suggestions that they give you. I don't know, just saying. If a collaborative creative process is not in the books for you, then I would say skip theatre and film problably. Having seen a prospective playwright work with a community group and fight to keep their vision unchanged and not altered throughout the whole process, then when the reviews of the play came in to disregard all feedback from the reviewers who had expertise in playwrighting and repeat their mistakes again ensuring they would never become a great playwright makes me think that there are certain niche features of each creative genre. And I see people knock themselves out on one genre with no success lifelong, when in fact perhaps if they moved over into another genre of creative writing it would work great I think. So, the stage manager was entirely practical but loved creative writing and had a great time leading and running productions but since they did not have any abstract sensibilities I suspect that if they wrote plays it might not work out so well as I understand really great plays seem to need some abstract component in them somewhere at least found at the interpretation stage or the audience would get too mired in detail and bored. The playwright mentioned above did not have an abstract component it seemed and did not seem to grasp the meaning of the criticism taking it as an aggression against their artistic vision, when in fact the plot and characters were missing overall cohesion and consistency and it seemed like when the story got too boring someone died or attacked someone else to mix things up so the person did not seem to have had a training in the basic fundamentals of playwriting and plot and character development.
Have talents in arts, music, philosophy, storytelling, speech, argument, fantasy, sciences, etc.? - "This seems less relevant to my question; it's probably enough to say "look to your experiences and write what you know," if that's the direction of this question, and if it's too see if I'm likely to have talent, that's not relevant to my question, either. ;) "
If someone had special talent in storytelling and argument - skipping any religious plot there - I would suggest you simply must take a look at The Screwtape Letters. If you had special talent in speech I might suggest a serious look at theatre or film which are strong in the speaking component of creative writing. If science, then I would suggest reading some of the early works of Spider Robinson before he got a computer to edit his works and had to type everything over and over each page from scratch on a typewriter because by his own admission at a conference he never wrote so well afterwards because he realized that you can edit really easily and he never seems to have focussed like that on every single word again as they had to fit into the pages precisely or you had to retype the whole series of them. There are a lot of science fiction and fantasy conferences annually and it is often possible to have conversations with or listen to very talented authors share their experiences - much more interesting than mine. If you had talents in dance and music and liked sciences some of the early works by Spider Robinson's wife Jeannie Robinson about dancing in zero gravity are truly astounding - forget the book titles. Whenever I am aiming at doing something I like to find and read and keep one or more good samples of what I am trying to do or at least a reference book or more or links that will answer questions I may have. I like to have it handy, I used yellow stickies and write in my books or hilight things if I think it is important for next time. Then you can see how you are progressing and what things you have learned or go back and reread the same spots again if needed. Strunk and White? I don't know what you use... A good thesaurus: by keyword, related term, etc. Good dictionary. So you don't have to have extra distractions to get up and find these things when needed. Bookmark good reference web pages etc.
I looked on the web but could not find anything, maybe I am spelling it wrong. For example I wonder how Susan Sondheim would have rated in those areas, a university professor who taught me a film course absolutely worshipped the ground she walked on as a film critic. We read a lot of her writing, indeed it was remarkable. I could never aspire to it, and I believe that she died so she is missed, who else will reach her abilities. I just wanted to mention, that someone like her, and another critic I met once who dearly loved creative writing and would I think have given an arm to do it never found an ability to do it and yet became the most nurturing and developmental critic of the arts in the area helping many generations of playwrights make it and become great. So, it is worth mentioning that just creative writing is not the end of the road if you love creative writing, as it would be a tragedy to miss such individuals who make such a difference to others.
"I don't want to know how others have learned, I want ideas for how to get started and create a new habit. I want inspiration and motivation. I want to use that part of my brain that has to get kicked into a "thinking about how to get myself writing" gear, which is built in to reading the responses to this question and deciding what works for me and what doesn't. In part, even the act of posting this question helps me "get myself writing," because it is a form of commitment to starting to write.
Here are some things that have motivated and inspired me."
Playreading with a local group at a library where a retired professional actress in their eighties read alongside a twelve year old girl wanting to be an actress and a middle aged man who thought they would be a great playwright and someone learning English etc. then having coffee with the group afterwards just talking about the play and how they all saw their roles.
Volunteering at a local community theatre and watching my knowledge change from not being able to follow the text at all - always getting lost to promotion to assistant stage manager where people thought I could have a career in stage production.
Attending writing workshops and conferences to hear about the experiences of others who wrote/produced/directed/acted in films, plays, books, stories, websites, multimedia.
Taking active roles in community theatre/films/television such as assistant production, rehearsing, being a walk on, preparing sets, arranging props and costume, keying music and sound effects, lights, running camera, writing scenes and my own monologues then performing them etc.
Reading about writing and arts, writing about writing like this answer and helping others with their reading of arts and culture like this answer:
http://www.mahalo.com/answers/arts-and-design/where-can-i-find-intelligent-reads-on-both-internet-and-print
http://www.mahalo.com/answers/books-and-authors/whats-the-best-science-fiction-novel-ever-published
I used to think that "creative writing" was a separate part that I would just do for a set time and then not do it otherwise. For me what has worked better is integrating the best of creative writing into everything else as best I can. That is, in something that is being written for a workplace instead of creating and presenting bulleted facts and graphs if it fits I may include a point made by using case example or story since that is also becoming more accepted in the business world as having special effectiveness as a means of clear communication. I may be on a committee and volunteer to do something that requires some artwork or creative writing to convince folks to do something such as attend an event or donate for a cause. Rather than answer someone with just get over it or go into a long explanation when someone asks for help or advice I may suggest additional reading material or some creative form to view or listen to depending on what their preferences are knowing that not everyone learns best by listening to others talk - in fact that does not seem to work very well at all in many cases.
In a room where you don't have access to others cheering you on, just a blank screen and perhaps some music - when working on some writing project or creative writing project I often surround myself with relevant objects, inspiration - a single flower, a plant, a poster, a hat, a coffee mug, sticky notes with inspiring sayings, lots of office supplies that may be needed, a screen saver that inspires, a computer wallpaper that inspires, pictures, perhaps music that inspires, or earplugs/headphones from a construction shop that cuts out all decibels of sound interference, reference books on the topic, my notebooks/journal to keep track of it, perhaps open a window to sunlight and a scene or a poster with nature, make some coffee or tea, etc. as the mood requires.
If writing complex things or getting stuck then having space to pace and think, booking treats and distractions if all goes well eg. movie, tv show, coffee shop, etc. can work.
If feeling isolated working on whatever it is by myself I will search it on Twitter and see that a whole world out there may be doing the same. For example this is the search using the words short story writing http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%22short+story%22+writing
Overall, I have some really bad habits of avoiding actually writing stories, and I want ideas that will help me create new and more productive habits.
This one, I don't see that as necessarily a writing question at all, it could just as easily be not wanting to start any of millions of things.
This Mahalo page could be a good start: http://www.mahalo.com/Procrastination
or this one: http://www.mahalo.com/Productivity
This is my very favourite one, I look at it and laugh each time I read it and it gets me going:
http://www.structuredprocrastination.com/
If you look at that a bit differently - some of my most successful attempts at writing creative writing were done when I was doing some serious writing and went back and forth between them. That is, you are writing a non-fiction article or report or factual writing and you feel like you want to procrastinate and not do that, what a wonderful way to switch to the creative writing and do that for a while, then when you want to procrastinate and not do that switch back to the serious work that you had to get done anyways. That principle in the link I gave you about the procrastinating professor - it is that kind of thing. Where you don't have to make yourself do anything in a conflict kind of situation but you decide to do something and do it, and perhaps skip between things when one is doing and do the other. You would be surprised once you solve some tough section in another writing project, going back to the creative writing project - you are all "warmed up" and the problems you had had in starting have vanished! As you achieve more and learn and do more, it affects everything as you learn by doing and become more productive in everything so everything progresses whereas if you only focus on making yourself do something that is essentially a creative process and you are not in a creative mood you may feel like you lose confidence in your ability whereas it may just be the wrong timing for that task but perfect for non fiction writing. IF you become an excellent non fiction writer I bet it will help your creative writing enormously.
Perhaps it is worth asking, could the reason you hesitate to write short stories be because you would enjoy some other genre more?
Would you rush to write a scene with enthusiasm if you knew that on a particular day you were going to go to the local community theatre and they were going to have a series of play readings and they were going to do a sit down and then perhaps a blocked out runthrough of your scene in the play along with a sit down session where you share your vision of the play and participants suggest lines and plots and motivations and phrases and sentences of dialogue for you and you knew that they were going to be producing the play in six months as a new playrights short plays series?
Would you make room in your day and wait in anticipation of the time you can find to finish your filmscript if you know that you have to submit it by X date for a competition for new filmmakers, or if you were taking a film writing workshop where you were go bring your work and an established filmmaker would give you personal feedback on your script?
Would you live to see the moment you had a spare moment to finish that song knowing that the local music recording studio where you have volunteered has a band that has gotten to know you and they promised to give your new song a runthrough and give yhou feedback? and or/ the record producer?
Would you enjoy writing an epidose for a television show that you like after you found out which shows accept scripts, how to write them, and your query letter got a positive response?
Would you enjoy writing biographies of local poets for a book that the publisher has expressed interest from your query letter to the right book market as you found out using the two books I recommended for non fiction writing above?
So, then, if one or more or something else in some other writing area is going on, and you have a natural momentum in the writing field, do you think that it would be
so hard to sit down and write a short story? or do you think all the above is only for hyper people and would be more of a distraction. I am not saying that I need to see an answer, I am just posing questions
that may be of interest that may give you different or better answers to what you were looking for in case you did not know you were looking for such things.
I hope something in all of that that helps! Any more comments? thoughts? not sure if this system allows more in one place, perhaps you can start with a new question if you are looking for anything in particular and everyone can pitch in.
1. Subjects: the best bet, is to look for trends - I use Google.com's Blog Search, News, and Trends to look for subject ideas.
2. First of all, you need to answer this question: Are you writing for yourself or for your audience? If the former, you need to choose the one that YOU think you could write for more than 1000 words or even endlessly :) If the latter, you need to chose the one that YOUR READER might find interesting - breaking news, hot trends, how-tos, and tips are always great.
3. Ideas do go stale. What I do, is actually to write on several articles at once, so that if I have some ideas 'popping' out of my mind, I can start an article right away. Regarding turnaround time, I usually write a 500 words article in 30 minutes. Many writer could go more, faster, but considering English as my second language, 30 minutes of 500 words quality articles or blog posts is fast enough, I guess :)
My own writing experience.
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Once you have refocused your approach to idea of writing, the next objective should be to complete an internal analysis of who you are - determine your strengths and weaknesses and understand what your true interests are. Writing a novel is not suited to my style of writing and attention span. I find much more pleasure in creating several short stories. In that I don't lose interest it's much easier to complete a story and, when re-read, feel that the product doesn't lose the reader at the same point in the story that I was losing interest as the writer. You may find the opposite to be true but either way, it's important to know your limitations so that you tailor your craft to best suiting your strengths.
Understanding your true interests drives to the heart of your first specific question regarding coming up with ideas. If you're interests include backpacking and traveling while have no desire to ever own a pet, writing about puppies is much less likely to produce compelling literature than a piece on thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. Write about what you know. Your end-product will be much deeper and engaging to your audience. If you have an interest in a subject that you don't know much about go learn more about the subject. Ideas will flourish as your level of knowledge on the subject increases.
Whenever you have an idea make sure to write it down. When I am in the process of beginning a new piece what I will do is review my list, select three or four that I'm most drawn to, and create an outline for what I see my writing becoming for each of those final ideas. The process of outlining will not only help you stay focused when you select the idea on which to write, it will also help you gauge your true interest in each idea. The outline that comes easiest to you and which you find yourself most drawn to should be the idea you choose to "pen your story."
Finally, keep your ideas, even the ones you've previously rejected. I firmly believe that ideas do not go bad. Our interests change which cause our feeling toward a particular idea to change in turn but that doesn't make the idea stale - you just aren't engaged with that idea at this moment. Just as our interests have changed they will continue to change in the future. I've pulled out several old ideas and turned them into great stories well after the idea for came to me, and, at times, even subsequent to me hating the idea.
Best of luck on your work. Enjoy the process!
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Thanks for your thoughtful response. I really do feel like I need to just start actually writing, and that's clear enough, so I suppose my questions are more to come up with ideas of how I can "establish[...] patterns and practices conducive to production." I also appreciated your thoughts on how to pick which length to write -- part of why I've never written anything submitt-able is because I've mostly written for school, and tried things with too much scope so they weren't ever finished. (The school deadline passed, the teachers loved it even though it was hardly the start, I stayed a complacent non-writer.)
I also think the point many have made about how important it is to write things down is a good one, and you all seem to echo that ideas can, in a way, go stale: if you don't write it down/capture it well enough, good luck finding that "spark" (as bardseyes said) again.
It's going to be tough picking a best answer, and I hope I get even more insightful ones here!
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SpringNote - Founded on the wiki mantra, SprintNote is free, intuitive, enormously utilitarian, and even delivers an iPhone application to extend the experience. Because we all know that some of the best thoughts come when you least expect them - like when you’re walking a city street, without a notebook or desktop PC in view.
Evernote - This is a fantastic note management application that sports numerous access points, including the standard website, desktop applications for Mac and PC users, and even an iPhone-compatible application. All Evernote downloads can synchronize with a user’s account in the cloud.
Google Notebook - With desktop and mobile browser access, Google Notebook is simple, but powerful. Jot your ideas down quickly, wherever you might be, and have easy access when you get to your main terminal at home or at the office.
Zoho Notebook - Similar to Google’s application, Zoho Notebook puts emphasis on convenient information aggregation and collaboration. Need to run a concept by your editor for a manuscript or essay? This is a great way to do it. Wonderfully enough, login is provided for Zoho account owners as well as Google and Yahoo usernames.
mashable
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Great clarifying question. I wish I could still edit my question to fix this and the "creative writing" clarification.
It's not writer's block, it's more like a lifetime block to actually writing my ideas down because "I'll be better at writing them later." Now, I know you only get better by actually writing, and so I'm looking for inspiration/advice to help me get started.
This won't be a day job, more of a hobby/evening job. I normally work 50+ hours a week, so it'll be fit in with that.