Ok - Nanowrimo is starting next week and many of you have been asking about the "right way to do it". Dingdingdingdingding there is no "right way".
What works for you? Does an outline help you focus on the story? Go for it! Does automatic free writing work for you? Go for it! Do you write better in a coffee shop surrounded by strangers? That's where you should be. Do you write better in a dark room with soundproofing and blinders on your eyes and ear plugs?(Could I make this up? Jonathan Franzen said he needed something of the sort while writing The Corrections)If that's the case, do it.
You might find that different pieces or parts of the story require different internal or external stimulation. You might be the type (pardon the pun) who writes for 24 hours straight and then collapses. You might be the type who writes for an hour and leaves the thought hanging so you can begin again the next day. WHATEVER WORKS!
Some of you wrote that you find Dorothea Brande's Becoming a Writer is a bit too pure and artsy and internal and touchy-feely. Try Stephen King's book On Writing. It's down to earth, fantastic, real and really gets you going whether or not you're one of his rabid readers.
And for those of you who have asked me whether or not I'll ever compile all the workshops and writing into a book on creativity and writing. Thanks for asking - it's in the works but no idea when it will be ready... and that's a workshop for another day.....
Enjoy the day,
RK
Showing posts with label Dorothea Brande. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dorothea Brande. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Barnes and Noble Writing Workshop - Rescheduled for November 12th + Nanowrimo Info
As I mentioned, tonight's Barnes and Noble Writing Workshop has been cancelled due to foot breakage. The next one is on Monday, November 12th at 7:00pm.
I was going to talk about Nanowrimo and many of you have been asking about it since I posted on it last week. NaNoWriMo is an annual (November) novel writing project. It's a great way to kick-start your writing, break through some blocks, practice some automatic writing, try out new styles or a new genre and all around have some very intense and creative fun.
I've gotten some emails and questions asking for suggestions. Here's the rub. Every one of you has a different style of writing, a different writing process, different reasons for writing, different subject matter that you're writing and lots of other differences. What you have in common are the tools of your creative endeavor. Words. Even the way you go about putting them down is different. I work with writers who use pen and paper, some dictate to someone or to a tape or podcast, some type on old favorite typewriters or computers, some on newfangled PDAs or even their phones.
The challenge is to assist YOU whoever you are, in getting what you want to say on the page. In articulating your thoughts, emotions, ideas and anything else and getting it from inside to the outside. Ok. That means you've got some thinking to do about the who, what, where, when and whys of your material and process. Having said that - I can answer generally here - Susannah H. posted a comment and question about it last week.
Susannah, thanks for the kind words and comment. The first thing I would do is check out Nanowrimo and register. As for getting ready. A great book that I recommend is Becoming A Writer by Dorothea Brande. It's great for beginning writers as well as experienced writers and it's the kind of book you can go back to over and over.
It was written in 1934 and isn't a how-to or about the ins and outs of fiction or other forms of writing. It really is about becoming a writer. Harnessing the inner and getting it out there. It has a beautiful purity about the process and writing, in my opinion because it was written in 1934 when writing and reading were so culturally different than they are now. Especially since the advent of personal technology and the immediacy of writing and electronic publishing that it has brought with it.
Brand's book is a great place to begin. Please email or comment with more questions - I'm not sure what kind of writing you do or how you go about getting it on the page. It's easier to make recommendations if I have more info.
As for Nanowrimo if you decide to do it - have fun! I'm doing it this year and looking forward to the insane pace of it and to see if I can accomplish what I'd like to.
Enjoy the day,
RK
I was going to talk about Nanowrimo and many of you have been asking about it since I posted on it last week. NaNoWriMo is an annual (November) novel writing project. It's a great way to kick-start your writing, break through some blocks, practice some automatic writing, try out new styles or a new genre and all around have some very intense and creative fun.
I've gotten some emails and questions asking for suggestions. Here's the rub. Every one of you has a different style of writing, a different writing process, different reasons for writing, different subject matter that you're writing and lots of other differences. What you have in common are the tools of your creative endeavor. Words. Even the way you go about putting them down is different. I work with writers who use pen and paper, some dictate to someone or to a tape or podcast, some type on old favorite typewriters or computers, some on newfangled PDAs or even their phones.
The challenge is to assist YOU whoever you are, in getting what you want to say on the page. In articulating your thoughts, emotions, ideas and anything else and getting it from inside to the outside. Ok. That means you've got some thinking to do about the who, what, where, when and whys of your material and process. Having said that - I can answer generally here - Susannah H. posted a comment and question about it last week.
Susannah, thanks for the kind words and comment. The first thing I would do is check out Nanowrimo and register. As for getting ready. A great book that I recommend is Becoming A Writer by Dorothea Brande. It's great for beginning writers as well as experienced writers and it's the kind of book you can go back to over and over.
It was written in 1934 and isn't a how-to or about the ins and outs of fiction or other forms of writing. It really is about becoming a writer. Harnessing the inner and getting it out there. It has a beautiful purity about the process and writing, in my opinion because it was written in 1934 when writing and reading were so culturally different than they are now. Especially since the advent of personal technology and the immediacy of writing and electronic publishing that it has brought with it.
Brand's book is a great place to begin. Please email or comment with more questions - I'm not sure what kind of writing you do or how you go about getting it on the page. It's easier to make recommendations if I have more info.
As for Nanowrimo if you decide to do it - have fun! I'm doing it this year and looking forward to the insane pace of it and to see if I can accomplish what I'd like to.
Enjoy the day,
RK
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