Good Writting Habits

[MindsMirror]

We were just reading this 5 Things Only Serious Writer Do and found we could only agree with a couple of them.


We almost never write anything down on paper. Although we type things into documents that never see the light of day.

We find if very unproductive to work on something that is demotivating us. We'd rather work on something else that might be inspiring at the time. Sure this leaves lots of irons in the fire, but avoids feelings about blockage or spinning our wheels...

Is this just another example of general advice that is not for everyone?

-MM

 

[NotWise]

I don't think I qualify as a "serious writer" in the context he's using. I'm also not sure why I'd believe him, but his five points seem reasonable.

If you intend to make money from your writing, then you almost certainly have to plod through the story even when you feel demotivated. You have to get the work down. You have to make the deadline.

I don't think his point about putting words on paper meant to write things by hand. Typing it into your computer is fine. I think his point was that you shouldn't mull the words over in your head. You should write them down. You aren't getting anywhere until you do.

 

[BuckyDuckman]

Like a lot of artistic advice, I think it serves us best to grab hold of what works for us and throw away the rest. For example, many successful writers do extensive outlines and character profiles. Others "just wing it."

I'm in the "just wing it" camp, with a HUGE caveat, I'm not afraid to back up and throw away thousands of words because I wrote myself into a corner. One who does outlines might not have that problem. For me, discovery is part of the fun of writing. My characters are revealed to me much the same as my reader discovers them, line-by-line.

TLDR: Keep the advice that works for you and your muse.

 

[carsonshepherd]

I'm fascinated with the quote "the best writing is rewriting." - EB white

I have gone back to writing everything longhand. This is essential to my creativity, as there's no internet in the background to distract me or make me doubt myself. With no deadlines anymore, I'm liberated to write what I want, when I want, for the only audience i care about anymore, myself.

I still show up almost every day, because my motivation is internal. External motivation kills the fun for me.

When I did write for an audience and pay, I hated that slog between bursts of creativity.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I suppose I could be überbitchy and suggest to start off by buying a dictionary, but I make enough errors myself that that would be silly.

One point I do agree with is writing by actually writing. I don't think it matters much whether it's with ink or a computer. I have a bare-bones idea of where I want a story to go, but it's not until I am abusing my keyboard that anything productive happens.

Carsonshepherd, years ago I had a friend who belonged to a group of poets who I suppose one could call 'purists'. Not only did they write with quill and ink, but they actually made the paper they published on and, moreover, printed it all by hand and bound the books themselves. Amazing commitment; he said it changed the entire experience. I'm not that hard-core.

 

[MindsMirror]

I suppose I could be überbitchy and suggest to start off by buying a dictionary, but I make enough errors myself that that would be silly.

That's one of the reasons we don't "write" anything down. Neither of us has legible handwriting or spelling ability. LibreOffice handles all of that for us.

As for writing everyday / showing up, it doesn't seem to work for us. Showing up and writing garbage just to write something is very demotivating. It is much better to conspire together when the ideas are flowing. The result makes us happier and reinforces the inspiration to write.

-MM

 

[ElectricBlue]

Is this just another example of general advice that is not for everyone?

Probably for professional writers, they're good tips.

As an amateur, I find not having a self-imposed deadline to be the best thing ever. If something is struggling to emerge, I've learned it means my sub-conscious is still cooking - it also gives my little "side projects" their time in the sun. Everything I've published this last year have been side projects, while the main game wanders towards the finish line. Nearly there...

 

[carsonshepherd]

Carsonshepherd, years ago I had a friend who belonged to a group of poets who I suppose one could call 'purists'. Not only did they write with quill and ink, but they actually made the paper they published on and, moreover, printed it all by hand and bound the books themselves. Amazing commitment; he said it changed the entire experience. I'm not that hard-core.

Whoa. Me either. A legal pad and mechanical pencil suffice.

 

[SamScribble]

One of the most useful ‘how to write’ listicles I have seen had just three steps:

1. Write a sentence that will make your reader want to read the next sentence
2. Follow that with another sentence that will make your reader want to read the next sentence
3. Repeat Step 2 as often as it takes for you to reach ‘the end’

And you could do worse than to combine that with the sage observation of a woman (whose name I have, regrettably, forgotten) who led a Cambridge short story writing workshop that I attended 30-something years ago: ‘Good writers only write when they are ready write. And really good writers make sure that they are ready to write at 9am each morning, Monday to Friday. Sometimes Monday to Sunday.’

 

[Jada59]

I like the part about thinking on paper. Although I rarely use paper these days, I think on the computer. Words just come to me and I begin typing. After I've written a certain amount, I will go back through and make any needed changes or corrections. For a short story I will do this 4-5 times. Then I read it through twice more. Then the next day I will read it again. Reason being, if I'm writing an erotic story, I tend to get aroused and that's when I make mistakes.

I mainly write now just for pleasure. But there have been times when I've been hired or asked to write something specific. If it is something formal or technical, then I might use a piece of paper and pen or at least a different page on my computer to write down specific details or facts because I want to make sure it's correct.

And of course if I am writing for someone else, I will make sure to meet the deadline. Otherwise, I just write when I feel like it.

 

[beachbum1958]

I like to write out a series of storyboard notes sequencing the main points of the story, and then stick them in order on a white-board so I can regain my thread if I get sidetracked or let the story take a turn that paints me into a corner, which I let happen with depressing regularity; I spend a lot of my writing time backtracking and rewriting. Overall, I find that, for me, anyway, it's best to plan the story, plot it out on paper, and stick to the plot guidelines I've already decided upon.

As far as actually writing the story, once upon a time, following my return form Afghanistan, I stayed at home full-time, so I had the leisure to write and rewrite and rework as often as I felt I had to. Not any more, though; now I run a busy Accident & Emergency unit and Orthopaedic/trauma unit, my wife runs the cardiovascular surgical unit, and we both run the ICU, so time to write is limited as we're both always either in the operating theatre, juggling the limited staffing resource we have, or tied up in our secondary roles, which is providing primary health-care to a rural region roughly the size of New York State. Leaving stories hanging irks me mightily; I hate it when other authors do it, but now I find myself increasingly guilty of doing the exact same thing; the French work a 35-hour week, I'm still looking for a 35-hour day...

 

[Alice_Rosaleen]

From what I read, "think on paper" isn't saying not to type, it's saying not to work a story out in your head. Start writing and more ideas will flow.

 

[Etaski]

Huh...that's, uh...

Well, I could never have thought of all those thoughts on the spot if someone asked me, but they are the things I learned to do when it really mattered to me. I am a "serious writer" only in that I can't stop myself at this time, but all of those things describe my experience in the last 6 years, whether I planned it or not.

I always show up in my chair. I always write when I schedule my time to write, I don't wait for my muse. I always put pressure to meet a deadline I impose on myself.

I get bored, and sometimes it's a slog but I keep going--and yes, often when I go back to reread it later, I can't tell when I was ripping through the word count and when it was like wading in peanut butter. I know it's part of the process, I've figured out things to do to get the thought-energy going, but I only "think on paper." I work out what I'm trying to say in the writing, and I recognize a particular feeling when I've seriously got it "wrong" and I need to redo it.

All of those quotes from other writers...they don't mean anything static. I would have seen them one way several years ago, but now I see them another way. It's not advice to follow, I don't think. It's an experience that rises from doing and changing overtime.

They want to call it "only serious writers," but I don't know what the fuck that means. I just have goals and I want to accomplish them, even if it takes a decade with setbacks and everything always taking longer than I think it will. Other people call me crazy, not professional. Some see the stress as unhealthy, and yet I've never felt more content, even with the stress.

So, it's all in the eye, as they say.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Hmmm...writing stuff on paper, I usually lose the paper so that's no good.

I have used outlines and still have had to back up because the characters wrote themselves into a corner somewhere they aren't even supposed to be.

Mostly, I work them out in my head or I type a synopsis out that will spark the memory when I'm ready to write that particular story.

Mostly I just write(type). I may have to revise what I type, but mostly I like what I have typed and stick with it..for the most part.

I "see" most of my stories like a movie or TV show in my head. I just write what I see and/or hear.

 

[FEELINGLUCKYPUNK]

Keep It Simple, Schlong-breath