So you've had a busy month, months, or even a year and you had ZERO time to write. How do you get back into it again after such a long time?
Writing is just like going to work or school on a Monday or after a long holiday. You are dragging that enertia, that sluggishness with you and the first day is like major Writersblockitis.
Note
Writersblockitis: A sickness/disease that only writers get. Symptoms are, writersblock, enertia, a drive but no creativity, easily distracted, and if any story comes out it sounds awful.
So what should you do?
There are several ways to conquer Writersblockitis. I will introduce ways I have conquered it especially at times when I had a deadline like NaNoWriMo but keep in mind that not every single way is going to work for you. I will also introduce suggestions from other writers so it's not just my preferences.
1. Just write even if it sounds stupid.
Even if it sounds like a five-year-old wrote it, write anyway. Sooner or later after several stories of "Pickles the Dog Meets A Duck!" your brain will start going into its creative zone again and you'll find yourself back in your momentum. Then you can expertly go back and edit out that storybook you have shoved in the middle of your grand masterpiece.
2. Google Wallpaper
I know you're probably like "Wha da heck???" but
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
What Literary Agents say NOT to do in a story: I am guilty
THIS WEBSITE
“The [adjective] [adjective] sun rose in the [adjective] [adjective] sky, shedding its [adjective] light across the [adjective] [adjective] [adjective] land.”
– Chip MacGregor, MacGregor Literary
LOL. This is so true! I think I might do it sometimes because I just want to show off my creative writing skills...eeps! GUILTY.
“Characters that are moving around doing little things, but essentially nothing. Washing dishes & thinking, staring out the window & thinking, tying shoes, thinking.”
– Dan Lazar, Writers House
I keep laughing at these cuz it is so true and I really need to go back into my story to make sure nothing is tedious but I would like to say
“The [adjective] [adjective] sun rose in the [adjective] [adjective] sky, shedding its [adjective] light across the [adjective] [adjective] [adjective] land.”
– Chip MacGregor, MacGregor Literary
LOL. This is so true! I think I might do it sometimes because I just want to show off my creative writing skills...eeps! GUILTY.
“Characters that are moving around doing little things, but essentially nothing. Washing dishes & thinking, staring out the window & thinking, tying shoes, thinking.”
– Dan Lazar, Writers House
I keep laughing at these cuz it is so true and I really need to go back into my story to make sure nothing is tedious but I would like to say
How Many Characters is Too Many?
I have wondered just as you have. After how many characters will my reader flip and have to be sent to a psychiatric hospital? *blowing things up here yep*
The most I tampered with is two MCs and let me tell you even two is hard. Especially if they are of the same gender.
I read a book called, "These Things Hidden" by Heather Gudenkauf (which will make you want to cry if you read it...in other words, it was a good book) and she switches between same-gender characters constantly and I do remember that at first it was hard to understand why there were so many and to remember who was who and how they were related or not related. She switched between four different characters.
Four. And I have heard from other writers that FIVE is probably the limit. Six is pushing it and seven is a no-no.
But
The most I tampered with is two MCs and let me tell you even two is hard. Especially if they are of the same gender.
I read a book called, "These Things Hidden" by Heather Gudenkauf (which will make you want to cry if you read it...in other words, it was a good book) and she switches between same-gender characters constantly and I do remember that at first it was hard to understand why there were so many and to remember who was who and how they were related or not related. She switched between four different characters.
Four. And I have heard from other writers that FIVE is probably the limit. Six is pushing it and seven is a no-no.
But
How to: Colors of Things and Feeling the Five Senses
Moved from the original post on my other blog, World Problems and Randomness.
Which explains the bluntness and the sarcasm and the frankness.
===========================================================
Colors of Things:
Eye color, hair color, the color of clothes, accessories, and anything else your character owns
Okay that's it! I'm gonna talk about this.
"His grey eyes made contact with my blue ones"
This is a sentence from someone's writing piece (I am not stealing because it is something someone partially posted on Whisper) but I have seen lots of people do this (I'm not calling you idiots. I do it, too. And I stop myself but sometimes...well *looks sheepish*).
Imagine a moment when someone is looking into your eyes. Do you think "His brown eyes made contact with my brown ones?" NO! We do not normally think about the color of our eyes. The color of the eyes of your character has little value. The color of your character's ANYTHING frankly has little value.
UNLESS...
Which explains the bluntness and the sarcasm and the frankness.
===========================================================
Colors of Things:
Eye color, hair color, the color of clothes, accessories, and anything else your character owns
Okay that's it! I'm gonna talk about this.
"His grey eyes made contact with my blue ones"
This is a sentence from someone's writing piece (I am not stealing because it is something someone partially posted on Whisper) but I have seen lots of people do this (I'm not calling you idiots. I do it, too. And I stop myself but sometimes...well *looks sheepish*).
Imagine a moment when someone is looking into your eyes. Do you think "His brown eyes made contact with my brown ones?" NO! We do not normally think about the color of our eyes. The color of the eyes of your character has little value. The color of your character's ANYTHING frankly has little value.
UNLESS...
Types of Chapter Names
When you write a story, usually chapter names become a problem BECAUSE they kinda represent that chapter. I have found these types of chapter names and maybe they can give you an idea on how to do your own. But keep in mind these are only ones that I have seen or done.
The number chapters
like, Chapter One or Chapter 1 or Chapter I or Ch. 1
The numbers without the chapters
like, One, or 1, or I
Then there are the humorous chapters
like In Which She Hit Her Head, Tomorrow's Last Day of School or some other witty chapter name that makes you smile in the beginning. These are made-up chapters so they probably won't make you smile.
The Summary Chapters
The number chapters
like, Chapter One or Chapter 1 or Chapter I or Ch. 1
The numbers without the chapters
like, One, or 1, or I
Then there are the humorous chapters
like In Which She Hit Her Head, Tomorrow's Last Day of School or some other witty chapter name that makes you smile in the beginning. These are made-up chapters so they probably won't make you smile.
The Summary Chapters
Writers Unite!
This blog is for writers and writers only. I focus on fiction and especially fantasy/adventure but I do give advice for other genres cuz this authoress reads a LOT!
Why do I consider myself an authoress? Because I have been writing for over 8 years and published (sort of, well, if university creative writing magazines count) and I have been to three different creative writing classes in university for a whole semester and I think I have a pretty good grip on how to write. I have also been blogging for about 3 years now and my main blog World Problems and Randomness has over 200 posts now (July, 2016).
Currently, I'm working on a fantasy/adventure novel. It's got over 60,000 words now! Woo! :D
If that "woo" offended anyone, then please, by all means, translate it into your own exclamation-of-utter-joy-and-excitement cry.
I wish I could give you a pitch but I've just started looking into the publishing world and it looks pretty daunting but I'm going to try to take it step by step and if I find anything good to share with you I will :)
You can check out my other blogs World Problems and Randomness where I talk about everything else besides writing advice and there is a label Creative Writing: Fiction which is not about advice but about my personal stuff and I posted some stories there, too...I might move it here someday but not today :) Or, you can visit my art blog Magic Cover Shop or you can look at my informative blog about Save the Wildlife which isn't so active because information on wild animals doesn't update every single day.
So anyway, hope you can get something out of this blog and there might be a chance I will learn things with you sometimes.
Happy Writing fellow writers! :D
Why do I consider myself an authoress? Because I have been writing for over 8 years and published (sort of, well, if university creative writing magazines count) and I have been to three different creative writing classes in university for a whole semester and I think I have a pretty good grip on how to write. I have also been blogging for about 3 years now and my main blog World Problems and Randomness has over 200 posts now (July, 2016).
Currently, I'm working on a fantasy/adventure novel. It's got over 60,000 words now! Woo! :D
If that "woo" offended anyone, then please, by all means, translate it into your own exclamation-of-utter-joy-and-excitement cry.
I wish I could give you a pitch but I've just started looking into the publishing world and it looks pretty daunting but I'm going to try to take it step by step and if I find anything good to share with you I will :)
You can check out my other blogs World Problems and Randomness where I talk about everything else besides writing advice and there is a label Creative Writing: Fiction which is not about advice but about my personal stuff and I posted some stories there, too...I might move it here someday but not today :) Or, you can visit my art blog Magic Cover Shop or you can look at my informative blog about Save the Wildlife which isn't so active because information on wild animals doesn't update every single day.
So anyway, hope you can get something out of this blog and there might be a chance I will learn things with you sometimes.
Happy Writing fellow writers! :D
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