As regular readers will know, I have lately been grappling with story structure and getting something of a complete plan of my novel down. But there is a mysterious hole at the end; a nether region of uncertain, shifting shapes. This, dear reader, is my ending. Read more…
This week, I have mostly been reading about story structure. Read more…
I’ve written before about how it’s important to have a plan for your writing. Since then my overrall plan has gone by the wayside, so I may have to review my policy on that. But today I want to talk about plans for each thing you write.
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Keeping a writing routine is hard. On the face of it, it’s easy – decide you want to do something and then do it. Then do it again, then again, then again. But in practice, it’s something quite different. Read more…
It’s hard for me to see whether I am improving in my writing. I don’t mean ability. That can wait for a bit. At the moment it’s about volume. Honestly, I’m so poor with the amount of time I spend writing, that any time doing it is considered good at the moment. But then, without regularly churning out work, how can I judge that I’m getting better? When does a little bit become a little bit more? Read more…
One thing that goes hand in hand with planning your goals and how you will spend your time is reviewing. How do you know if you’re still on track if you don’t review where you’re at? Read more…
One piece of advice you get a lot from courses, or writing books is keep a journal. It’s right up there with, “show, don’t tell” as one of those creative writing mantras that gets flogged to death. But I’ve never understood what makes a good journal, or even what might be an appropriate journal for me.
One aspect of writing I really enjoy is note-taking.
In the early stages of a project it feels really creative to get some ideas down and start shaping the thing that’s lurking in your mind. And it’s most joyous when it is as instant as possible. It allows me space to think, generate more ideas and importantly, not forget any! (How many times have you been writing a paragraph where an idea to include in the next paragraph comes to you, only for you to forget it by the time you’re ready to write it?)
One fantastic piece of software I use for this is Freemind. Read more…
Okay, so if you want to make something happen, you’ve got to have a plan. Right?