newwriter19

i heard that i might need thesaures's and dictionaries and stuff like that

aspiring

yes, you also might need ideas and talent and stuff like that.

*sigh*

FrankBlissett

Helpful at times, but not needed. If you're writing on a computer, usually your word-processor's spell-check and thesaures will do. Be careful about useing the spell-check as a crutch though - sometimes it recommends the WRONG word. Also, you can always add a note to your rough draft that will tell [NOT TELL, ONE THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE SPEECH] where you want changes. You'll usually go through and edit the work anyway.

Online, Dictionary.com is a good source for such info.

-Frank

newwriter19

ahh thanks for that

SilkFX

For what it's worth: I have a Roget's Thesaurus that I barely use. In fact it's only been in the last year or so that I've given myself permission to use it (as well as online thesauri).

In my attempt to literally follow the rule of "get it down on the page" I have been putting in blanks that I end up filling in later. Because I write first drafts longhand, I use a different-color pen for those blanks. Most of them involve minor character names (I've been having a hell of a time with those lately) but occasionally I'll have something like this (and this is a very basic example):

"She wore an overcoat the color of ___________..." not milk chocolate but not cafe au lait either, something in the middle

Later on I'll see what I can come up with. If I can't find something suitable on my own, I'll turn to the thesaurus.

Like I said before...first drafts are allowed to be shitty...

__________________
you can't you can never be sure
you die without knowing
whether anything you wrote was any good
if you have to be sure don't write

newwriter19

the novel i'm writing is based on real high school life that i went through, with the names of the other people im going to use can i use their real names or do i have to change them?

mammamaia

you MUST change them!... if you don't, you can be sued for all you'll ever have in your entire life... you also will have to change the location and enough of the events that no one can recognize who you're writing about... and you'll also have to use a pen name, so no one can guess, based on knowing you...

aside from all that, are you sure you have a story to tell that anyone else is going to want to read?... publishers won't pay good money for books that don't appeal to enough readers, and most people's own life stories aren't that interesting to strangers... that said, if you do have a story to tell that is funny enough or different enough for some reason, and you can write it well enough to hook a publisher, you might get to see it in print some day...

but you'll have to be very careful not to 'expose' any real people...

love and hugs, maia

__________________
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newwriter19

thanks for that info mia

Slugfly

I don't know if the topic has changed (skipped page 2, sorry) but this brings to mind another thread that was here a month or so ago (can't be arsed to search, sorry). The thread was about "writing when inspired vs. writing on a schedule." You have to force yourself to write, otherwise you keep sliding into atrophy. The more you write the easier it will be to feel inspired.

If you want to write, you have to sit down and write. I know, I too have great problems with inspiration sometimes. But the thing is to just write through it... keep going... If it's crap or you have to leave stuff blank then make margin notes (or bold in brackets if you use Word) for the redraft. Everything is about the redraft. My book is riddled with bold intrusions... sometimes the same intrusion ad nauseum: there is a particular building in my story that the main character uses as a landmark and I couldn't be bothered to spend a half hour thinking about the function of the city district and therefore the purpose of the building and therefore a descriptive name, so my notes in bold every few paragraphs over several pages goes something like: "Slug, find a name for this building" - "I still dont' know what this building is called" - "WTF is this building? Find a name!" - "AARRRG WTF IS THIS BUILDING". :p I'm not worried though, I'll get it in the redraft.

newwriter19

thanks for that info, i really find rewriting what ive written annoying but sometimes it helps and other times it gets me nowhere and even when im only writing notes i look back on them and say why did i write this lol

__________________
If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison

wisdomthruwords

I get my motivation when i travel or change the environment around me. And i dont mean that in have to go to far away places. Enough that i just get onto the train, go to the other side of the city and spend half a day there. Or the worse i can do is to switch to the travel & living channels!

I love to be in new places, and observe the things around me. Maybe because i am into non-fiction, motivational stories. But, thats what i do if i feel that i am hitting the writer's block . You have to know what can help you refresh your mind so that you can have a fresh go...

Peace

newwriter19

yeah i get ides sometimes when i'm on the bus or in the car but lately its just been writers block and with me saying writers block i really mean it's been months since ive written anything

__________________
If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison

newwriter19

it has still been a few months and i started writing but i only got like 2 pages done and thought it was shit so i deleted it and am now back to square one ' finding motivation'

__________________
If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison

Rob

You made the mistake of stopping because it was shit. Of course it was shit. It was just two pages. Many of us write two pages of shit to start with. But don't let the fear of writing shit put you off completing the work. First, you have to write it. Then, you have to revise it. It's what your story looks like when it's finished that counts, not what it looks like after two pages.

Even if it's shit when you finish, we all wrote shit to begin with, and many of us still do. With practice we'll improve and stop writing shit, but practice includes finishing what we're writing.

My advice, write a story. Finish it. Revise it. Then, no matter how you feel about it, post it here for others to comment on. Yes, it'll hurt if the comments are negative, but we've all had that, it's normal. And the comments will help you to see how to improve some of the things that make it shit. In your next story, you get a chance to avoid some of those mistakes. By this, you'll improve in increments with each story. The first 50 stories you write will be shit, but they'll show improvement.

Did you ever learn to ride a bike? Did you fall off to begin with? Did you get back on or stop trying? If you stop trying, you'll never learn. If you keep climbing back on, one day you'll stop falling off.

You're not depending on writing for making a living, you're learning. Expect to make mistakes.

Cheers,
Omni

Emerson Darkness

Let me get this straight...

You have characters, but you want an articulate and cool beginning like all the pros have, so you write two pages in a couple of months that end up being unsatisfactory?

Listen to what people are telling you here. When you begin writing, you are a beginner. There is nothing wrong with writing like one. You'll improve, stick with your characters. The story won't come if it doesn't come through them.

If your story is based off of real life events then you shouldn't have too much problem. You know the story, keep your characters in it and get the pen going!

That having been said, I wish you the best on this project.

If you feel you need to stray from certain real events to add more flare, then make something happen that you think would fit, but scrap the articulate beginnings idea. You don't need it. Not right now at least.