Week 3 of FUF (see May 4 post), and I finally have some good progress to report!
This week, I met with a fellow writer for tea. It was such a relief and delight to talk about writing with a serious writer! I think that was the inspiration I need to tackle the Mystery Novel. (I have 2 novels going on, one literary mainstream and now the mystery.)
I completed the following tasks:
*named my characters
*decided on the murder mystery and setting
*wrote some dialogue and characterization
*started an outline
What I've learned? When you're uninspired, burned out, or not sure where to start, talk to a fellow writer or group of serious writers. You catch the fever.
Lots of great stuff from FUFers too, this week, but today's tip comes from Dark Orpheus:
Neil Gaiman, offering his opinion on actually getting your first draft written:
As for thinking time versus writing time, well, that's up to you. But -- and I wish it were otherwise -- books don't get written by thinking about them, they get written by writing them. And that's when you make discoveries about what you're writing. That's when you get the happy accidents.
Happy writing everyone!
10 comments:
I love this idea! I'm pushing myself to sign up...
And great progress this week. I hope to catch a bit more of the fever this weekend!
That's a great reminder; talking to writers helps! I don't have a novel going at present, but this week I actually looked over the draft I created during last year's "3 Day Novel" competition, and I did a writing exercise that turned into a surprisingly interesting piece. So it's a start.
YES! *Raises a glass of iced tea in LitKit's direction*
I do like the sound of this. And now -- more words....
xoxo, L
PS: Great link! Thanks.
You have a community! Well, you had tea with a fellow writer. Good for you.
You started an outline. Good for you. Er - I have no idea of the outline for my story yet. Hah.
Hmm, we're now the FUFers? :)
splendiforous smorgasbordial smattering
If you had a tattoo it should/could read ‘born to alliterate’.
Stay on groovin' safari,
Tor
Good for you! I find that talking with other writers and/or intellectual creative types really gets my juices flowing. I have several projects I'm committed to at the moment, and I'm just bursting with creative energy (if only it weren't for the paying work I have to do right now). lol
Thanks for the note about talking with folks . . . I did the same on Thursday, and it was great. . . and Gaiman's tip - he's right, but of course, I wish he wasn't . . . it's so much easier to think. . . at least sometimes.
Yay! Well done to you, LK! Soon you'll be absolutely unstoppable!
Sounds like a great week. Good work!
a community of writers is so important be/c writing is so solitary. i've actually found a couple of good writing groups in the various cities i've lived in through meetup.com.
keep writing! :)
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