In a New York Times article ( http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/books/24type.html?ref=todayspaper), novelist Henry Roth’s writing process is described this way: “He’d work on a scene or character as long as it interested him and then jump to something else, not necessarily chronologically.” How do you write? Chronologically? As it comes to you? Or do you use a different system?
Category: Writing process (general)
Welcoming tangents
When I sit down to write about a particular topic, it isn’t uncommon for me to end up writing about several other topics, as well. For instance, I might sit down to write about the day I got caught in a white-out in the Rocky Mountains, only to find myself writing about how, the day before, I received an e-mail from an old friend, followed by a passage on how the nosy clerk at the post office was driving me nuts.
I used to consider those unplanned topics as unnecessary tangents, as side roads to nowhere, but no longer.
I now realize that some of my most interesting and meaningful writing arrives unplanned.
Do you ever find yourself wondering off topic while writing? If you do, how do you respond? Do you ignore the tangents? Save them? Do you find them useful or not?
Writing process: How to create a compelling relationship
Literary agent Nathan Bransford recommends John Green’s young-adult novel Looking for Alaska as a good example of how to write about a relationship. Read more here: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/04/john-green-and-dynamic-character.html
60 writing tips
Click on link below for writing tips from some of the biggies:
http://bighow.com/news/the-art-of-great-writing-60-writing-tips-from-6-alltime-great-writers
Writing prompt: Metaphor and simile
A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes something by saying it is something else. (“His eyes were brown stones.”) A simile is a figure of speech that includes the words “like” or “as.” (She was as tired as an accountant on April 16.)
More examples:
1. His relationship was a sinking boat. (metaphor)
His relationship felt like a sinking boat. (simile)
2. Chocolate was her only friend. (metaphor)
To her, chocolate was as comforting as a best friend. (simile)
3. Her voice was fingernails on a chalkboard. (metaphor)
Her voice sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard. (simile)
Writing prompt: Use a metaphor or simile to describe your job or home. Is your job an anchor? Does your house or apartment feel like a warm cave?
Writing process: Recounting life
“Writers do not live one life, they live two. There is the living and then there is the writing. There is the second tasting, the delayed reaction.” — Anaïs Nin
Script-writing group
Portland writer Don Clarkson is looking for a script-writing group (for writers interested in writing for stage and/or screen). If you know of such a group or would like to form one, you can reach Don at donclarkson@comcast.net.
Why write
There are a lot of reasons to write. Some people write to entertain or inform, while others write to gain fame or fortune. Writing also can function as a form of therapy, as documentation, self-expression or art.
Writing prompt: Come up with five reasons why you write. For each reason, think of a relevant writing project.
Getting ideas
I’m driving (well, weaving) down the road as I search with my fingers for a blank 3-by-5-inch index card from the pile I keep tucked between the front seats. I’ve just gotten another idea for an article — or essay or blog — and want to write it down before I forget.
I frequently get writing ideas while driving, but I also get them while running on the treadmill or using an exercise bike. From what other writers have told me, repetitive movements (walking, knitting, etc.) seem to generate ideas.
When do you get your ideas? While jogging? While washing the dishes?
What do you do with an idea once you get it? Write it down? Record it on a digital recorder? Forget it?
Prose, poems and patience
Earlier this week, I stopped by the Blackbird Wineshop to listen to four writers read from their work. They talked about everything from the “intimate isolation” of family reunions to the “decorative gelatins” found at dinner parties. One writer read a first-person poem in which a character says “I held myself in my own arms.” Another writer described himself as a “patient person.” His book, he told us while holding it up, took him 26 years to write.
Nancy Woods 