The thing I find about writing is it's so very easy to look at something and think "Wow, that would make a great story." For some people it's so simple: you see something and write it down in your little moleskin notebook and write more later.
Then there's the rest of us. The rest of us say "Yeah, I could write." And never actually do. You need to push yourself a little more.
"But Kathleen, I don't know what to write about?"
Yeah, well neither do I. Truth is, for me some days my fingers twitch because of how much creative energy is flowing through me and demands be drawn out in some way. I'll try to hold it in for NANOWRIMO or some special occasion and then I almost explode because I can't get it out.
That's kind of what this blog is for. To help spill the words out onto the page in some other way that's not me owning several Decomposition Notebooks and saying "I'm a writer." Which I definitely am.
Of course, sometimes I realize it's been a bit of a dry month (or year, in my case) and I need something to push me to be creative. Maybe it's coming up with some weird new food or drink and then scribbling down on the napkin of what emotions I felt the entire journey through that food.
Other times, yeah I sit down and write something that sounds actually somewhat decent. Perhaps I can't get a certain line out of my head. Because of these lines, I write them in a little Google Doc and move on. That way, later on, I can look back and think "Oh that line fits perfectly with this particular poem or story or song or whatever."
One line being: Watch me mash up strawberries and snort them so my soul could be as sweet.
Where that came from, I have no idea but I liked it and I wrote it down in a little document named "Lines that sorta are" where that title came from is another mystery, but I like it.
Speaking of being grammatically incorrect, never feel that you absolutely have to sound super scholarly. Let's face it, it's so rare that you meet someone on the street that says words that sound like they eat word of the day calendars for breakfast. Feel free to write whatever you want just don't think about it. An example I have is that I often have a character tell another "You did a good." I've been told multiple times that "No, you can't write that, it doesn't make sense." That's the point. I thought it sounded perfect, because the line "You did a good job" is too formal for two people discussing buying the right produce.
There's also the whole thing about saying "Jane and me" instead of "me and Jane." I am actually surprised when people say something in proper grammar. Of course, I don't write how I text. It usually depends on who I'm texting and so many other variables. I've caught myself saying 'so' at the end of a sentence and then just leaving it. It's just how I write. Can't help it.
With this blog though, I will try my darnedest to actually sound like I know what I'm doing. Even if I'm only 19 years old and have no idea what I'm doing. But who actually knows where this'll take me. Maybe I'll write once a month and forget about it constantly or just make it into a habit to at least write a short thing that I find interesting.
Back to the topic.
Write out of order.
I know, it sounds so simple but it's so much easier, trust me.
If some events happen in a story but you don't know what goes in between. Write the events you know will happen and then go from there. Fill in the remaining space with random things that you know will go in-between. Also, just go with the flow. It doesn't matter if you know how these two characters meet or not. We never found out how Doc Brown and Marty became best friends but that never mattered, now did it?
For character design, I am just as clueless as you probably are because whenever I have a female main character, I usually just picture myself as them and just tweak it a little. Yes, I write a LOT of Mary Sues at the beginning. But then you just keep tweaking them.
Does it matter they're a female or male?
Does it matter if they have brown hair or bright blue and red hair?
Does it even matter if they are human?
No? Write about that character as a completely different appearance and see which you like better. Perhaps you want them to have tiger stripes tattoos and huge tusks and spikes down their backs. Go. Write about it.
Another suggestion for looking for new character designs: Go outside and watch other people. Take notes. Maybe you like how a girl's tattoo matches her earrings, maybe they don't match at all. But they are actual people. It is extremely rare that anyone acts the same as anyone else too so go write about how you think they act.
For example, one time I was walking to the University's library and I saw a guy with big curly hair, a plaid shirt, and one blue and one pink converse shoes, playing a guitar. I could not get him out of my mind so I wrote about it and have used him in several writings. If you are out there, thank you for helping my writing a tad bit diverse.
Also, it really doesn't matter how you write. I despise people who tell people "Just write." No. It's not that easy. You need to be in the right mindset. You cannot force yourself to write. It's not that simple. For a while I used to force myself to write at least once a day. It sounds great! No problem! Until I reread some of my old work and read so many plot holes and things that didn't even match up with the previous chapter. It definitely doesn't work for me, maybe it works for you though. Try it once and see how that goes.
Sometimes you sit down and you write and you feel super accomplished, reread it and realize it is absolute garbage. Don't completely trash it. Reread it later. Maybe the idea was great, but the way you wrote it was wrong.
"But Kathleen, I still have no idea what to write."
Go find something that will bring you some spark of inspiration.
It doesn't always work though: Mainly because the prompt already has a beginning, a middle, and an end. What's the point in adding more if there's no questions to be answered.
That being said, ask questions. Write fanfiction. It doesn't matter. Some of my best work is based off universes that weren't made by me, I still think me writing some drabble about Supernatural in my free time was the best thing I had ever come up with. It helped me stay creative, even if it really just SUCKS.
Back to the writing prompt thing: I am one of those weird people who are constantly on pinterest. Pinterest is very helpful if you want to look for different variations of the same thing. Buuuuuttttt, sometimes you still find yourself stuck. I have a board of just writing prompts. I really like the ones that are simple dialogue prompts. Write a bit of drabble in which one of your characters say that line. I would not recommend using them in an actual book though, you never know who came up with that line and who will just let it go.
Currently, I feel like this simple blog post was very successful. Maybe a few years down the line and say "I cannot believe that's how I used to think writing was like." Well this is how it works for me, I don't necessarily believe it's the best method but it does work. Maybe I'll even write some more later because wow I am coming up with so many tricks.
See You later! (Wow I need to come up with a catchphrase)
-Kathleen
Then there's the rest of us. The rest of us say "Yeah, I could write." And never actually do. You need to push yourself a little more.
"But Kathleen, I don't know what to write about?"
Yeah, well neither do I. Truth is, for me some days my fingers twitch because of how much creative energy is flowing through me and demands be drawn out in some way. I'll try to hold it in for NANOWRIMO or some special occasion and then I almost explode because I can't get it out.
That's kind of what this blog is for. To help spill the words out onto the page in some other way that's not me owning several Decomposition Notebooks and saying "I'm a writer." Which I definitely am.
Of course, sometimes I realize it's been a bit of a dry month (or year, in my case) and I need something to push me to be creative. Maybe it's coming up with some weird new food or drink and then scribbling down on the napkin of what emotions I felt the entire journey through that food.
Other times, yeah I sit down and write something that sounds actually somewhat decent. Perhaps I can't get a certain line out of my head. Because of these lines, I write them in a little Google Doc and move on. That way, later on, I can look back and think "Oh that line fits perfectly with this particular poem or story or song or whatever."
One line being: Watch me mash up strawberries and snort them so my soul could be as sweet.
Where that came from, I have no idea but I liked it and I wrote it down in a little document named "Lines that sorta are" where that title came from is another mystery, but I like it.
Speaking of being grammatically incorrect, never feel that you absolutely have to sound super scholarly. Let's face it, it's so rare that you meet someone on the street that says words that sound like they eat word of the day calendars for breakfast. Feel free to write whatever you want just don't think about it. An example I have is that I often have a character tell another "You did a good." I've been told multiple times that "No, you can't write that, it doesn't make sense." That's the point. I thought it sounded perfect, because the line "You did a good job" is too formal for two people discussing buying the right produce.
There's also the whole thing about saying "Jane and me" instead of "me and Jane." I am actually surprised when people say something in proper grammar. Of course, I don't write how I text. It usually depends on who I'm texting and so many other variables. I've caught myself saying 'so' at the end of a sentence and then just leaving it. It's just how I write. Can't help it.
With this blog though, I will try my darnedest to actually sound like I know what I'm doing. Even if I'm only 19 years old and have no idea what I'm doing. But who actually knows where this'll take me. Maybe I'll write once a month and forget about it constantly or just make it into a habit to at least write a short thing that I find interesting.
Back to the topic.
Write out of order.
I know, it sounds so simple but it's so much easier, trust me.
If some events happen in a story but you don't know what goes in between. Write the events you know will happen and then go from there. Fill in the remaining space with random things that you know will go in-between. Also, just go with the flow. It doesn't matter if you know how these two characters meet or not. We never found out how Doc Brown and Marty became best friends but that never mattered, now did it?
For character design, I am just as clueless as you probably are because whenever I have a female main character, I usually just picture myself as them and just tweak it a little. Yes, I write a LOT of Mary Sues at the beginning. But then you just keep tweaking them.
Does it matter they're a female or male?
Does it matter if they have brown hair or bright blue and red hair?
Does it even matter if they are human?
No? Write about that character as a completely different appearance and see which you like better. Perhaps you want them to have tiger stripes tattoos and huge tusks and spikes down their backs. Go. Write about it.
Another suggestion for looking for new character designs: Go outside and watch other people. Take notes. Maybe you like how a girl's tattoo matches her earrings, maybe they don't match at all. But they are actual people. It is extremely rare that anyone acts the same as anyone else too so go write about how you think they act.
For example, one time I was walking to the University's library and I saw a guy with big curly hair, a plaid shirt, and one blue and one pink converse shoes, playing a guitar. I could not get him out of my mind so I wrote about it and have used him in several writings. If you are out there, thank you for helping my writing a tad bit diverse.
Also, it really doesn't matter how you write. I despise people who tell people "Just write." No. It's not that easy. You need to be in the right mindset. You cannot force yourself to write. It's not that simple. For a while I used to force myself to write at least once a day. It sounds great! No problem! Until I reread some of my old work and read so many plot holes and things that didn't even match up with the previous chapter. It definitely doesn't work for me, maybe it works for you though. Try it once and see how that goes.
Sometimes you sit down and you write and you feel super accomplished, reread it and realize it is absolute garbage. Don't completely trash it. Reread it later. Maybe the idea was great, but the way you wrote it was wrong.
"But Kathleen, I still have no idea what to write."
Go find something that will bring you some spark of inspiration.
It doesn't always work though: Mainly because the prompt already has a beginning, a middle, and an end. What's the point in adding more if there's no questions to be answered.
That being said, ask questions. Write fanfiction. It doesn't matter. Some of my best work is based off universes that weren't made by me, I still think me writing some drabble about Supernatural in my free time was the best thing I had ever come up with. It helped me stay creative, even if it really just SUCKS.
Back to the writing prompt thing: I am one of those weird people who are constantly on pinterest. Pinterest is very helpful if you want to look for different variations of the same thing. Buuuuuttttt, sometimes you still find yourself stuck. I have a board of just writing prompts. I really like the ones that are simple dialogue prompts. Write a bit of drabble in which one of your characters say that line. I would not recommend using them in an actual book though, you never know who came up with that line and who will just let it go.
Currently, I feel like this simple blog post was very successful. Maybe a few years down the line and say "I cannot believe that's how I used to think writing was like." Well this is how it works for me, I don't necessarily believe it's the best method but it does work. Maybe I'll even write some more later because wow I am coming up with so many tricks.
See You later! (Wow I need to come up with a catchphrase)
-Kathleen
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