As to what is writing, you decide. New writing of course, editing, blog posts, news letters, Even E-mails and BBS posts can be writing if they are wordy and pertain to writing or story.
I had surgery on my knee a couple weeks ago. I am surprised at how uncomfortable such a "minor" surgery can be. I decided that I will not have cosmetic surgery such as tummy tucks or face lifts. This is no fun.
No, I have not written. When I had the time, I was nowhere near in the mood. Now, there is a lot of outside stuff looking at me and I have not had a chance to think story.
So, as to the question of Did You Write?
I have to admit, no I did not.
Posts: 1008 | Registered: Feb 2006
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Yes, I've written. I finished writing/editing the second draft of a short story last night. I need to take a break from it before I continue on to draft three, but in the meantime I plan to turn my eye to new (and old) projects.
As far as new projects go: I've had a song stuck in my head all day ('The Day that Never Comes' by Metallica). I feel like I could get a short story out of the thoughts and emotions it evokes in my mind. It's just a matter of moving beyond the 'could'. I already have a character in mind; it's the plotline that's eluding me.
As far as old projects go: I have about a quarter of the first draft of a sci-fi novel that's been languishing on my hard drive for three to five years. It means a great deal to me. I've had the characters for the story in my head for fifteen years, although they've evolved a lot in that time. The problem I ran into is that the characters' growth outpaced the growth of the plotline. When I realized I was no longer satisfied with the depth of the plot, I quit writing it. I've decided the story is worth continuing. I want to finish that first draft and then take the time to whip it into shape.
Posts: 745 | Registered: May 2015
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Worked on one of my "writer's block" stories to loosen up...then started working on revisions of my (short) novel...but then July 4th, I had a sleepless night (afternoon, actually), and eventually got up and started writing, and in two hours had a complete short story, which I started revising the next day.
Then (and possibly not unconnected) I came down with a wicked cold and that's put everything on hold till the congestion clears a little.
Have I mentioned that June 30th was the fortieth anniversary of my career as a would-be writer? I date it from the day I seriously started writing a story I seriously intended to send out to market. (I seriously didn't do that---it was too short according to the market listings of the day---but the next one went out, and the one after that...) I know the date because I kept careful notes.
Posts: 8809 | Registered: Aug 2005
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-I've been editing the 4th draft of a short story. I might just win the Guinness record for World Slowest Editor.
-I aligned most of the story elements for my next short story and verified that yes, I do have a story and not a character sketch or some other thing.
Posts: 93 | Registered: Dec 2014
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Jotted down what was originally going to be 1 page of short-hand notes into 9 pages of details and back story. None of it will probably show up directly in the story, but as set building goes, it was highly satisfying to flesh out all the characters, places, equipment, and city-states. Now if only I could figure out how to write realistic dialogue.
Posts: 30 | Registered: Jun 2015
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quote:Originally posted by wcoditwgth: Now if only I could figure out how to write realistic dialogue.
I may actually be able to help with this! Dialogue is my friend. There are a few things to keep in mind when writing realistic dialogue:
People don't generally monologue at each other. There's generally one sentence, maybe two or three, before they give the other person a chance to respond. Obviously, if they're telling a story that's an exception to the rule, but generally speaking conversation is all about the back and forth.
Most spoken sentences are relatively short and to the point unless the speaker likes the sound of their own voice. I tend to go for 15 words or less per sentence in most cases. That's not even a conscious decision--it's just the way things flow best with most of the characters I write for.
People's speech patterns aren't grammatically correct. Seriously, just sit down in a restaurant and listen to how people talk to each other. Fragments, awkward word choices, and 'umm' rule the day. Some of that can be mitigated in fiction, but keeping that in mind can help with realism. Dialogue doesn't polish the same way prose does. If you want it to feel realistic, don't over-think it.
People rarely say what they mean. We get socialized out of it. Little white lies like "I'm fine" happen every day. Body language is often more important than what the characters say, and the most telling thing about dialogue is actually what goes unsaid.
Practice makes perfect. A fun exercise might be to write a short story that's literally all dialogue. I've seen it done before, and it can be really fun when done properly.
posted
Look for a Dialogue and Thought Discourse Mastery Class lesson in the "Writing Class" forum soon. Topics include types and combinations of dialogue and thought: echo, non sequitur, squabble, colloquy, question and answer; action and said and thought attribution tags, stream of consciousness as speech or thought, free or attribution-tagged direct or indirect discourse, and scene mode features and sequence modalities to accompany dialogue and thought discourse.
Posts: 6037 | Registered: Jun 2008
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Just remember this: Dialogue is a language all on its own. It may resemble English, but it aint. All dialogue MUST have a purpose and the best dialogue is an argument.
The most dynamic dialogue is when each character is misunderstanding what the others problem is. The actor's workshop method where each actor is ad-libbing from a slightly different script.
Phil. (Ooooops! Sorry for the small thread-hijacking that just occurred.)
Posts: 1937 | Registered: Sep 2012
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went through therapy for my leg on Tuesday. I got home and did about a page of development of an interrogator who uses therapy techniques to get information out of people. Cool idea but no story to go with it. I also was not sure if this was a good guy or a bad guy, and I assumed he worked on super heroes or special agents. I thought he might be a shape changer, shifting between men and women in appearance to not be known. I had a whole slew of other questions I needed to answer and could not at the time. that's my writing for the month.
Posts: 1008 | Registered: Feb 2006
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Use what James Blish recommended for turning an idea like that into a story, rstegman. Who suffers the most from the situation?
I'd think you might want to explore how the interrogator feels about what he/she is doing, and why he/she is doing it.
In fact, the whole idea could be the basis for a writing challenge because I'm positive every writer would come up with a different approach to the above question.
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