"Just start writing" - Writers Forum

The Backward OX · 03-30-2008, 05:45 AM

More than a few people have said “just start writing”, in response to questions about how to write, then go on to say “go back and re-write later, etc, etc”.

Would that advice hold good if before you commenced you didn’t have some idea of what you were going to write? In other words, you simply wrote any old thing that came into your head at the same time your fingers moved over the keys?

Put another way, have you done this?

RomanticRose · 03-30-2008, 06:31 AM

Yes. It's called free writing. A time honored technique to loosen up the creative muscles.

Free-Writing

Free Writing

Joe Moore · 03-30-2008, 06:31 AM

"Just start writing" is a good exercise, but not the ultimate answer. It does work, and I’ve used it from time to time when I’m stuck. But just like any task, whether it’s building a house, taking a trip, or painting a picture, you must have some sort of plan or direction in your head. And the clearer the plan, the easier it is to achieve it.

Imagine loading up your family and all your luggage into the car, backing out of the driveway, and then asking the question, “So where do you guys want to go on vacation?” You could “just start driving”, and I’ve actually been of a few trips like that. You never know where you’ll wind up—in a really cool place or nowhere. But the odds are always against you when you use that method.

Take the time and discipline to create some sort of a plan, a “trip map” of your story. It doesn’t need to be very detailed, just the general goals and objectives of the characters so you know “why” you’re writing along with what. It’s a lot easier to write if you know where you’re going. After all, if you don't know where you're going, how will you know when you've arrived? The objective is to wind up with a story that takes the reader to a really cool place, not one that’s filled with frustration because about a 100 pages in, you wound up lost on a dead-end road. Good luck.

Just Jim · 03-30-2008, 06:56 AM

It doesn't really work like going on a vacation, because on vacation you're planning to go some place already created. In writing you can go someplace nobody's ever been.

I think it was Olly compared it to building a shed, but that's wrong too, because you can't build a shed top down, but you can build a story that way. And it's arguably easier to take a story apart and reassemble it.

What happens to me is, an idea pops into my head. It might be a memory from 20 years ago, or something someone says that starts it. I just play with it in my head until I get a few ideas.

Then I capture as much as I know on paper (computer). That's when I try to figure out where it's going. If I can't see a story, I file it in a "beginnings" folder, for future use.

But sometimes you just can't think of anything to write about. That's when you free-write. This morning feels like one of those. My dog is laying by the door, and I think I'll write about what he's dreaming.

CodeRed · 03-30-2008, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Backward Ox

have you done this?

Yes, but not towards any specific goal other than to continue the habit of writing something - anything - daily.

When I first bought the computer (six months ago now), I hadn't written a word other than in my journal for a long time. So, I just opened the word program and wrote anything and everything that came to mind, and I made sure that I did it on a daily basis. Gradually, I began to get more creative ideas and moved away from what was essentially my daily rant, and began writing stories again.

HarryG · 03-30-2008, 12:11 PM

I think that the posters who have suggested that you should just start writing assume that your story is ready to be written, and I doubt if you could 'free-write' a whole novel, although it's good exercise for your free time.

Supposing your story concerns an unsolved murder which is re-investigated years later by a young reporter who stumbles on some new and terrifying evidence. Once you have gathered sufficient material and have estimated the length of your project, and your writing abilities are up to it, why wait?

You can, of course, prevaricate on all sorts of fine tuning, but it will only delay your book unnecessarily.

(What if that young reporter discovers that his own father is the killer? Is he going to grass him up?). Would you?

Ilasir Maroa · 03-30-2008, 12:37 PM

I have on occasion, thought up an idea, and started writing with no real planning whatsoever, beyond what popped into my head as I went. The first time, I ended up with a complete story, from beginning to end. It totaled 200 hand-written pages. Now, it was rather awful, had some plot-holes, some bad charcterization...etc. But it was a story that went in order, dealt with the characters and the story, and overall you could see how it got from start to finish. I am currently in the process of revision and editing. It's hard work. But I currently have two or three stories with fairly detailed "road-maps" as it were, and a fair amount of background; and only one has progressed beyond the first two chapters. Now, personally, I prefer the first over the next three.

Foxee · 03-30-2008, 01:47 PM

Yep, I've done free writing and it's fun. Occasionally it even produces the seeds of a story.

You seem to be asking the same question over and over Ox, maybe slightly differently each time but essentially the same question.

Writing is a little bit like going off of a high dive. You can prepare for it different ways, you can walk off, jump off, scream and fall off...but no matter how you do it there will be that moment when your feet leave the diving board and you're committed.

You need to get to that point.

In some of your other threads we've talked about the preparation...where/how to find ideas, the idea of turning off your inner critic, etc. Now, experiment with ways to start.

There are plenty and I'm sure others can add to this list of three ways:

Ask yourself 'what if?' Maybe your idea came from a news story, a writing prompt, or a dream. Doesn't matter. Daydream about it, essentially asking yourself 'what if this happened? what if that happened? what else might play into it? Why?' When you find that you're beginning to tell a story about it, get butt in seat and fingers on keyboard and jump off the high dive.

Outline. Okay, I don't like this one but lots of people do. Figure out the bones of your story...what are steps a. b. c. and d. from beginning to end. Then get butt in seat, fingers on keyboard, jump.

Get into your character's skin. Who are they? What is the gist of their personality, their lifestyle? Are their parents alive or dead? What's their middle name and do they hate it? Once you know them a little bit* give them a problem, adversity, write how they solve it and give them more adversity. Good stories are made up of conflict so keep them off-balance and solving problems.

*Don't get so into finding out about them that you neglect to write the story...just get the gist. You'll get to know them as you go. Remember, butt in seat, fingers on keyboard...jump.

RomanticRose · 03-30-2008, 03:14 PM

^What she said!

lilacstarflower · 03-30-2008, 03:21 PM

I've never tried free writing - I prefer to try and flesh out a plan for a story I already have rather than write something on the spot. Maybe I'm a weak writer but that idea scares me a little. I have, on occasion, thought up one line of dialog that I really liked and free written a whole conversation between two characters from it. Most of the time it is meaningful to the story but not sure I could sit down at my computer and start punching keys to create something that, for me, would be a random series of descriptions and dialog with no fixed path

I might actually try it someday and see what I come up with

Katastrof · 03-30-2008, 06:13 PM

I love freewriting. Most of my stories spring forth from little more than a paragraph. I don't meticulously plan or spend hours researching the correct formula; I just shoot for the moon and hope for the best. Once an idea springs into my head, I'll just sit down and write as much as I can and then get back to it alittle while later, sometimes with a bit more planning.

Ox, I agree with Foxee. You are waiting for someone to tell you everything you need to know about writing before you dive into it. But the thing is, you then more when you write on your own, then you do from people telling you how to write.

It's like driving; you can read the manual until you start bleeding from the ears, but until you step on that accelerator, you know jack shit about how to do it. You have to know a little bit before you get behind the wheel granted(like signs, regulations and scenarios), but you don't know how to move that machine until you get behind it, and even then, you have keep driving it to get good at it.

I hope you drive or else that analogy is worth nothing...

Stephanie Prince · 03-30-2008, 08:10 PM

RE. freewriting: I find that writing is like surfing- although I like the metaphor of the diving board presented. Your stream of consciousness thoughts are pouring, like a set of waves. You can just sit there enjoying the passing waves and then say: "I should have caught that one, I should have surfed this one..." and so on. The fact is that creative thoughts run thru your head and then move on, unless you ride that wave presented by putting it on paper. Later on you read it again and either trash it, or exclaim: "Wow, this is pretty good, did I write this!?"

The Backward OX · 03-30-2008, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katastrof

I love freewriting. Most of my stories spring forth from little more than a paragraph. I don't meticulously plan or spend hours researching the correct formula; I just shoot for the moon and hope for the best. Once an idea springs into my head, I'll just sit down and write as much as I can and then get back to it alittle while later, sometimes with a bit more planning.

Ox, I agree with Foxee. You are waiting for someone to tell you everything you need to know about writing before you dive into it. But the thing is, you then more when you write on your own, then you do from people telling you how to write.

It's like driving; you can read the manual until you start bleeding from the ears, but until you step on that accelerator, you know jack shit about how to do it. You have to know a little bit before you get behind the wheel granted(like signs, regulations and scenarios), but you don't know how to move that machine until you get behind it, and even then, you have keep driving it to get good at it.

I hope you drive or else that analogy is worth nothing...

Oh yeah, I drive.

And yeah, it’s a good analogy. I learnt to drive, at age twelve, by doing. I eventually became so interested in driving I became a professional driver – and learnt the ropes by doing.

But this writing business – I dunno . . .

Perhaps it’s a bit to do with the fact that these days I’m just a tad more in touch with my own mortality than I was when I learnt to drive. That was back in the days when cars had wooden floors, and drivers had to give way to horse riders, and indicated change of direction by using their arm, and when stuff like hydraulic brakes and self-starters and a rear light you could switch on from inside the car were novelties. Plenty of posters here are only a year or two older than my oldest grandchild.

In other words I could shuffle off any time now. But you’d possibly have to be in my shoes to know what that feels like . . . . .

archer88iv · 03-31-2008, 10:40 AM

I get a little bit of that feeling every time I'm staring at some big deadline. Always fun, right? It's not quite the same, of course.

One thing you might keep in mind is that, regardless of all this advice of one sort or another, it won't actually *hurt* to plan out the story. Worst case scenario, you'll overdo it and get bored with it and move on to another story, right? But at least you'll know not to do it again.

If, on the other hand, the plan works well, go ahead and write it. You might wind up with a finished story that looks nothing at all like the plan, but you'll wind up with a story, won'tcha?

Foxee · 03-31-2008, 10:58 AM

Ox, I'm confused. Did you just say you can't sit down and write a story because you might die? And I thought my excuses for procrastinating were good!