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Post by ZandraJoi on Sept 23, 2023 10:32:26 GMT -5
How do you keep your mind occupied to keep writing? This is for those who WANT to write. Whether it’s for a book & they are staring at a blank page with their mind going blank as well. Or for those who are keeping a journal entry. I never stop learning & growing. I like learning new things so I tend to come up with ideas.
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Senkusha
Astronaut
Posts: 264
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Post by Senkusha on Nov 23, 2023 13:25:01 GMT -5
I'm going to interpret this as a dealing with Writers Block. Something that I've recently got hit hard by, in fact, probably just didn't have enough Energy to contemplate about writing. But, after taking a break, and allowing myself to relax, yes relax, I got my Spark back!
So, I have a diary app on my phone that I use to keep various thought fragments organized. I find this really handy whenever I get struck with an interesting idea, but I may not have time to sit and contemplate it right then and there. And it's great because I can just speak into my phone the idea I have, and it will transcribe it into text for me. I can then go back to each initial thought as I dream up more ideas, and then refine the idea into something that's more ready for an outline.
When I do finally get around to doing the outline, I usually only start with three points. The beginning, how I want the story to begin, usually with a note about the Trigger that launches the whole story or plot. The ending, how do I want the story to resolve, like do I want a specific feeling or emotion, or some action to be completed? Finally, I'll usually have at least one middle point. Something that happens within the story that is extremely flexible. Sometimes I'll have upwards of ten of these points, but they are really just floating around. I've found through my writing experience, that the characters usually end up writing the story for me, and so if I don't want to fight the natural flow of the story with what evolves organically as I'm writing, I've learned to be very flexible on these middle points. Oftentimes, the story that I had originally planned, and the one that gets written are two different stories, while the beginning and end usually remain fairly constant.
I also take my time developing the characters that are in the story, especially the main character, and I tend to favor writing in the First Person perspective. I love feeling that emotional connection seeing and feeling everything through the main character's eyes (and apparently, many of the people whom have read my fiction enjoy it too.
Beyond the initial problem I've had with Writers Block, of just not having the motivation or energy to sit and write, I will usually pick up a book and flip it open to a random page, read a sentence, and use that one sentence as an "exercise" prompt, and I will write a one or two page mini story about what happens with that sentence, create a scene, an improvise a quick character sketch, just to get the creative juices flowing. This is a technique I learned in one of the several Creative Writing classes that I've attended over the years. A few times, these mini exercise turned into a full multi-chapter story!
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Post by ZandraJoi on Nov 24, 2023 10:51:09 GMT -5
Senkusha, I can relate to a lot of what you wrote here. I too let the characters take the wheel so to speak. The flow may go another way entirely that is better in the end.
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