Brainstorming Tip: Keep the Writing Flowing

I hate being stuck. Sometimes, I get to a point in my story where nothing is happening. The words I'm writing aren't advancing the story. The story itself seems like the worst thing I've ever written. And the plot has worked itself into a giant tangled mess before I've even gotten to the good parts.

A lot of the writing advice I read says that when this happens, the best thing is to put the story aside for a while and do something else. For me, that can lead to even more time away from the story. You know the saying: "Out of sight, out of mind." After all, there is Christmas baking to do.

Instead of taking a break, I like to think of being stuck as a sign that I need to go back and do some more thinking. There's a reason the writing isn't flowing. It's probably because I took a wrong turn somewhere, and wrote something that sabotaged my story.

What often works for me is to revisit my outline or short summary and rewrite it. First I read through it, finding places where I can ask "Why?" This reminds me of my character's goals and what she wants. Or gets me thinking about different ways to continue on the story path.

The more writing I do, the more important it's becoming to make sure the story is all about what my character wants and how she's going to get it.

Goal Update:

In case you're wondering, here's what I accomplished during November:

1) I came up with 30 ideas for PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month), and ended up writing a picture book draft for one idea that wouldn't let go

2) I wrote 10,000 words in my "mini-NaNo" where I was focusing on my new project (Novel # 5). I'm pleased with how much I accomplished, even though I know I'll need to do some serious rewriting.

How did you do? Did you get something accomplished in November?

Dealing With Weak Story Ideas

I've been enjoying PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) and getting a good start on filling my notebook with ideas. But I know some of the ideas I've jotted down aren't strong enough to carry an entire story.

I usually write them down anyway. I often find that some of my stories result from ideas that connect or resurface again later, maybe in a different, more interesting way. Often, ideas that come back again and again in my notebook are the ones that I end up developing into a story.

In fact, taking two apparently unrelated ideas (neither of which is strong enough to be a story on its own) and trying to see how to bring them together is a fun, creativity boosting idea that might result in something interesting.

So, my writing tip for today is to write down all your ideas, no matter how lame they seem at the time. You never know when they'll be useful. What do you do with ideas that are just not strong enough to stand alone as a story?

In case you're interested, here's my November writing goal update:

PiBoIdMo:  Although I try to come up with a new idea every day, some days I'm on a roll and get several, while other days I end up with nothing. I figure it will all average out in the end.

Mini-NaNoWriMo:  I haven't made much progress with my Mini-NaNoWriMo this week and I'm trying not to let that get me down. I've been doing many other (non-writing) important things. But I'm still enthusiastic and planning to continue to try to keep my focus on writing.

November is Writing Month

I'm not usually too fond of November. It's cold, dreary and follows fun-filled October (otherwise known as the Month of Treats in our household because of all the desserts, with Thanksgiving, 2 birthdays and Halloween). But this year I'm excited about November, because of my writing goals. I'm sure I'm being overly optimistic about what I can accomplish, given all the craziness in my life right now, but I've decided to work on two different writing goals:

1) I'm doing a mini NaNoWriMo, where I focus on writing a new story and try to get as much writing as I can done each day, with no pressure to complete a novel. I'm not going to sign up for anything but I will keep track of my progress so I can see how much I'm getting done.


2) Since I get lots of story ideas while I'm teaching, I'm going to also try PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month). The goal is to think up a new picture book idea every day. For me, that mostly means being more vigilant about writing down the ideas I already get, so I decided to sign up for it.

I love the idea of having a notebook that contains nothing but ideas. My usual writing notebook is filled with so much more, sometimes ideas for new projects get lost in there.

How am I doing? So far, so good. I've started writing my novel, even though there's something important I haven't worked out yet, and it scares me a little that I don't know where it's going. And I already have 2 picture book ideas in my notebook.

What are your writing goals for November? Have you made a start on them?

NaNoWriMo is Coming

I often think of participating in National Novel Writing Month, but with a family to look after and a day job, the thought of writing an entire novel in a month is overwhelming. The quickest I’ve ever written a novel draft is three months.

I tend to be a slow and careful writer, so it's hard for me to "just write" and ignore my perfectionistic tendencies. I love the idea of having a month where one writing project is high priority, with the goal of getting a good chunk of a novel written. I'd also like to see if I can speed up my drafting process and get some of the story out, so my revising work can be even more purposeful, since I'll know more about my characters and where they're going. So, I’m thinking of doing a “mini nano” for myself, where I try to get as much done as I can, without any pressure to finish a novel.

Have you ever done Nanowrimo? Do you have any tips?