"But I CAN'T Write!"

I know it's been over a year since I posted my first (and last) post here, but I recently had a conversation with a writer friend that made me want to post. I don't think anyone reads this, but that's all right.

It started with this statement:

"I have no ideas and no way to put the ideas I do have together to form something."

Right off, she has a contradiction. Some part of her mind has her convinced she has no ideas, yet she says that there ARE some ideas...she just can't string them together. In my opinion, if you're anything more conscious than a vegetable or someone in a coma, you have ideas and plenty of them! (Take, for instance, the thought that just popped into your head--maybe vegetables DO have ideas. What would the world be like then?) And if that parenthetical note applied to you, good! The first step to writing a GREAT story is a fantastic question...one that you can answer in a fantastically unique way. That's all stories are: question, answer.

So, the cure for the "no idea" syndrome?

A: "All I can say to that is write down ANYTHING that pops into your head. EVER. Stupid or cliche or boring or just plain dumb. Or awesome, don't neglect the awesome ideas, should they come! Don't wait for a good story to start writing. Just write SOMETHING every day! Easer said than done, you point out? Well, yes. Writing is HARD. But would it be truly worth it if it WERE easy? I don't think so.

My opinion is, if you really love writing, you will write even when life sucks and writing sucks. You will write even when you don't want to write. When every word that comes out is total CRAP and you feel awful, you will still write because you cannot live without it. Good ideas come to those who persist in forcing them to come. Sit down and read a really good book. Go on an adventure. Day dream for fifteen minutes. Entertain your muse, give it every opportunity you possibly can to get a good idea. Do that every day for a week. Sit in front of a blank piece of paper if you have to, but force yourself to think about stories, characters, words. Even if you end up with a blank piece of paper, you will have opened yourself up to ideas and eventually, a truly great on will come.It will. Start with an idea you really like, even if you don't think it's very good. Or, if you want, take a concept from a favorite author and twist it, change it, ask different questions. "What ifs" are especially good for this! Or, take a character you enjoyed and tell more of their story. Maybe change the name and circumstances of his/her life. It will amaze you how quickly you can transform a character into someone entirely different with a few situational or personality alterations. No matter how many times a story is told, it changes with each telling and becomes a different story. And you never know what even that kind of creativity will lead you to. Just do something, ANYTHING, to jump start ideas.

Well, I'll hop off my soap box now. For the moment. But I hope you, mysterious reader (or future self) were able to take something from this quaint speech. Write every day. Write when you don't want to write. Write what you enjoy. Never allow yourself to believe you have run out of ideas; that's PREPOSTEROUS. I won't hear otherwise. Now stop reading and go write!

Writers are Crazy

It's true...and it's required if you want to write dang good fiction. Forcing yourself to write a novel takes insanity of great proportions. You have voices in your head. You spend much of your time staring out the window, and not to mention two words: writer's block. Yes, writers are crazy; they suffer from a mental malady that causes their peers to sit several rows away in theaters and other public places. Why do we do it? Why are we so insane? Not only does it help with the creative process, but it's also great fun.

I won't pretend I'm an expert on writing, but I do have some idea as to how it's done, and I'd like to share that with others. This is my blog about writing. In it I will explore the aspects of creating entertaining, believable, lovable characters; I will write about thickening plot, describing characters and scenes, writer's block, and much more. I hope those who read will enjoy.

"It's none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way." -Ernest Hemingway