Thursday, March 17, 2011

Writing Persistently

So I recently came across this video on Youtube and I thought it was great. I've always been a fan of Ray Bradbury,but I had no idea how he started off!



I think there's something to be said for the fact that he wrote an entire short story every week, and after three years of doing just that, he got better and better, until he was selling stories almost every week. It speaks to the effectiveness of persistence.

I want to do something like this, but I feel like it necessitates far more self control than it did before the days of the internet, if I'm not just going to write out the story. With a typewriter, there are no distractions save those of real life. With a computer, having internet access and a latent addiction to all things social media make it really,really hard to focus. So I think that achieving a feat like Bradbury's would be extremely impressive, and a sign of great prioritizing.

It's what is my biggest struggle, because unless I have a deadline, I often put things off. It's one of the reasons NaNoWriMo and taking a poetry class worked for me as a way of getting the creative flow running. It forces me to do something.

But this inspired me, I have to say. Even if I have ten million distractions and absolutely no obligation to finish anything, why not write a story a week? There's nothing holding me back. I mean, sure, there will be homework and lots of reading, but when isn't there? It's not really a solid excuse, is it? Later there will be work, adult obligations, and all that fun stuff. And I only have a year before all of those responsibilities start piling up on me. So I'm going to try and start. I'm going to try to at least write one story every two weeks, if not one every week. Let's see where it takes me!

How about you guys? Do you think that writing a story every/every other week is something that could work for you?

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Starting from Scratch

You know that exhilarating feeling you get when you realize you've just found the last of the missing mental puzzle pieces you were looking for to complete your story?

I just got that feeling yesterday.

I've been working on this novel for over two years now, if you count planning and outlining along with the actual writing itself, and it's come so far from where I started it's not even funny. Ironically, due to this new revelation, I have to scrap pretty much everything I've written so far, but one thing is for sure- I have a better grasp on my characters thanks to writing those pages.

It's a little tough, knowing that I have to start all over again in terms of writing, since I'd come so far and I'd even started planning my second act, like I mentioned in an earlier entry. But I think it's going to be worth it in the end. What I have now in terms of planning is so much stronger, and the plot is now much more closely tied to the ballet and Shakespearean roots it's derived from.

I hope that this good feeling lasts! (Because let's be honest here- my euphoria is also related to the fact that I am halfway done with my finals for winter quarter)