#writersprocess

[scriptwriters-network]

The Story Forge: Supercharge Your Work With These Story-Building Secrets with Speaker Jordan Morris 

TOMORROW - 8/19

Learn how to elevate your work with this new and innovative development process that will teach you the secrets of an impactful character arc, how to effectively deploy theme, structure organically, and create a powerful triangle of conflict between three central characters.

For More Information.

[loudsilence99]

I need a community

So *technically* I’ve had tumblr for a really long time.  I’m a millennial.  If it’s a form of social media, I’ve probably had it at some point.  I’ve not really used it, though, because I am prematurely a grandma and tend to be a late adopter of many trends, including technology.  I didn’t wear skinny jeans until 2011 (now you can pry them from my cold dead millennial hands) and I didn’t get a smart phone until I was 24.  I’ve never really “gotten” tumblr.  And honestly?  I still don’t.  But here I am.  

I have been writing fanfiction since I was 12.  I have written (though not necessarily published) for many different fandoms:  Lord of the Rings, X-Files, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Twilight, Law and Order: SVU, and now, my latest obsession, Shadow and Bone.  

And now my need for community... 

I am a good decade older than most of the other writers in the fandom.  There is a part of me that cringes while reading a WIP and seeing “next chapter will be delayed since I have exams!” because I am so far away from that phase of life, I’m now the one *giving* the exams (granted to 12-year-olds and not college students, but still).  Because I work with children and I don’t want kids or parents to necessarily find my smutty Grishaverse works and associate them with me as a professional, using my “real” social media and my real name is not an option.  

But now, here I am with the (mostly) Gen-Zers.  Why?  I need a community.  I need a space to talk about not just the fandom itself but my process as a writer.  Some might see writing fanfiction as a “waste” because there’s no way for me to profit from this, but I enjoy it.  I love playing with these characters and shaping the story the way I think it should’ve been and asking the question “what if?”  I want others to see my process and help me struggle through things when it gets difficult.  

And it does get difficult.  

Which is why I have a terrible history of abandoning works.  But I’m not doing that any longer.  I am learning to do better and I actually finished and published “Stags and Sacrifice” at 75k words.  

And now I’m 40kish words into my newest work and it has been... challenging.  So... welcome to my brain.  Welcome to my metanalysis of my own writing process and occasional pleas for feedback.  Welcome to the spoilers for my upcoming WIPs.  I hope you’ll help me out

[angelauniversalsky]

When you want to be exceptional you question everything you do from how you write to the way you edit. And when you finally think you have perfected your story, poem, or quote completely, you often question, "Could it be better?" #writerscommunity #writersreality #authenticliving #authenticself #learningtotrustyourself #gowithyourgutfeeling #intuition #michigangirl #michiganpoets #Michiganauthors #writersprocess #Writerslift #Writersquestioneverything #releaseselfdoubt #findyourinnerstrength #keepediting #Keepyourdreamalive #believeinyou #Pushharder #Nevergiveup #neverstopwriting #Neverstoplearning #traversecitymichigan #cadillacmichigan #realpeople #realauthors #authorssupportauthors #saturdaynight #Keepthefaith #breathedeep https://www.instagram.com/p/CGdvG5Ejrx3/?igshid=16dvmltyei1r5

[lasantera]

"Every midwife knows that not until a mother’s womb softens from the pain of labour will a way unfold and the infant find that opening to be born. Oh friend! There is treasure in your heart, it is heavy with child. Listen. All the awakened ones, like trusted midwives are saying, welcome this pain. It opens the dark passage of Grace.” —Rumi As I get ready for today’s FREE INTRO to Writing from the Womb I wanted to share love from some of my students. Turn on notifications. I go live at 1:00PM EST (New York), 10:00AM California. 💜 WFW is a workshop series designed to push writers to connect to the heart of their story. WFW focuses on your writing goals, setting clear intentions and hard deadlines. Using writing prompts and lectures on craft Alicia gently pushes you to dive deeper, dig, and really live inside of your story. The womb is a sacred place. The womb is the place where we conceive and give birth to an idea, a dream, a song or a story. The womb is where the heart of our story resides and where we hold our truth and together we will write from this place. It is her privilege to be your Writing Midwife! For writers at all levels / Cross genres (This workshop is inclusive of all genders and open to the public) Workshops are made possible by Dominican Writers. REGISTRATION LINK IN BIO 👆🏾 Dominican Writers Workshops @dominicanwriters #writingcommunity #writing #writersofinstagram #writerslife #writingfromthewomb #sankofasistercircle #sankofawriters #wocwriters #poetsandwriters #writerslife #writersworkshop #writingchallenge #writers #writingmidwife #Writerspractice #Writersprocess #poetryworkshop #Whyiwrite #writersofinstagram #Poetsofinstagram #dominicanwriter #dominicanwriters #inspirationalquotes #creativewriting #literature #fiction #poetry #writingfromthewomb #sankofasisterhood #nyclwg #latinawriter #blackwriters https://www.instagram.com/p/CFpQe-6jyBt/?igshid=wyi7opm18zha

[self-taughtscreenwriting]

(Sooo who uses structure and who doesn’t!? Out of those that do and don’t I would love to know who has more writing problems! ?📝🤔. . There are insanely needed and amazing pro’s tonusung structure, but there are a few con’s as well. It going to go into the good, because there are so many and the resonate so deep into the #writersprocess.. the bad on the other hand can be counted on one hand. Are you ready!!!! Ok, this is one of the worst pets of Structure and I don’t mention it to deter from using templates and diagrams. I share so that you can skip over and keep raging on your #wip : #1 Do not fall into the trap of finding a structure element that seems to work for you, but then writing to fit and fill the structure. That is no good.. stifles creativity.. ushers in #writersblock , etc. you MUST write for you.. your audience, and/or your Story. I’m a structure addict and I have a few diagrams of my own that I will be giving out, but will never just fill slots and Story thoughts and think you will get closer to being done faster or that it’ll make a more compelling Story. It will not and you will have done your self a huge disservice. #writerslunchtimetips 😳🗝📝. . “Isn’t this stuff just the neatest!!” -Blake Snyder . #Repost @scriptabovetheline @thescreengang @finishlinescriptcomp @page_awards @writers_burn_out @capterniedavis ・・・ "Screenplays are structure, and that’s all they are. The quality of writing—which is crucial in almost every other form of literature—is not what makes a screenplay work. Structure isn’t anything else but telling the story, starting as late as possible, starting each scene as late as possible. You don’t want to begin with “Once upon a time,” because the audience gets antsy." William Goldman 🧨📝💥 https://www.instagram.com/p/B1O_bMgg45y/?igshid=16k8c1fz3rn1s

[lebuc-reblogs]

Novelicious@noveliciouss ·Mar 29 "There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors." ~Jim Morrison #writing #amwriting #writersprocess #film

[mckennadeanromance]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by McKenna Dean/M.K. Dean (@mckennadeanromance)

I almost NEVER make videos, but I had to share with you this terrific planner for writers from @thewriteservices! Start 2020 off with a PLAN so it can be your most successful year as an author yet! On Lulu: http://bit.ly/2020authorsplannerbluecoil #writerslife #writersofig #writingcommunity #writersprocess #writingplanner #writinglife #writingsociety #writers_den #writers_together #authorlife #authoress #authorscommunity #authorssupportingauthors #authorgram #indieauthors #indieauthor #authorplanner #authorplanners #authorsplanner #authorjournal #2020authorsplanner #audreyhughey #selflessselfpromosunday With @julie_embleton https://www.instagram.com/p/B6p7o2UA_DM/?igshid=vp4q33oaby9k

[katsjourneyblog]

Whoever said writing a book is easy has never seen my workspace. #katsjourney #candiman #editing #arcing #writersprocess #thanksLeigh (at Austin, Texas)

[sneakyvarmint]

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A post shared by Libby Ward (@sneakyvarmint)

How my work is going today. #writer #writerslife #writersprocess

[scriptwriters-network]

The Story Forge: Supercharge Your Work With These Story-Building Secrets with Speaker Jordan Morris 

This Saturday - 8/19

Learn how to elevate your work with this new and innovative development process that will teach you the secrets of an impactful character arc, how to effectively deploy theme, structure organically, and create a powerful triangle of conflict between three central characters.

For More Information.

[loudsilence99]

Figuring out POV

One of the things I've really struggled with in "The Last Queen of Ravka" (LQR) is picking and sticking with a point of view. At first, I planned to write this story in a Third-Person Limited POV with the narrator only knowing the thoughts of Alina. I got about two chapters in before deciding that writing in First Person from Alina's perspective made more sense and played more to my strengths as a writer (I'm really good at voicing my characters, if that makes sense).

Rewrite #1 to change the established point of view was fairly simple. Most of the narration worked very well from Alina's perspective and I merely had to replace the nouns/pronouns. It was tedious, but fairly swift.

And then I got to just shy of the approximate halfway point and realized it wasn't working.

Alina took on a life of her own at around chapter six, demanding some important conversations take place significantly earlier in the story than I had planned. Seriously. Give her a little agency and suddenly she's subtly calling out Aleksander on his bullshit.

Aleksander's behavior was coming across as extremely out of character, however. I realized if it was appearing this way to me, the writer, it would certainly come across to readers. The problem was that the mental/emotional journey he was having in my head wasn't coming across on the page with only hearing Alina's perspective. I considered having Aleksander actual say some of his thoughts out loud, but in my mind, Aleksander communicates like an emotionally stunted twelve-year-old. That is, not at all.

And then came Rewrite #2. I realized that for the story I am telling to work, I needed to actually write certain things from Aleksander's perspective. Once I--and readers--could see his thought process and emotional journey, his actions began to make sense, even if he is a (fairly) soft and snuggly Darkling by canon standards.

Problem: structure.

I made this realization while writing Chapter 7 (now tentatively chapter 8; more on that in a minute). This is just shy of the anticipated halfway point. I was at least able to write THAT chapter from Aleksander's perspective and realized this was exactly what the story needed. I know many authors--especially those writing fanfiction--will just write a random chapter or two with a new narrator. I even see this in many novels, and I think this works well when writing a third-person limited narrative where narrator shifts aren't as jarring. But I am writing in first-person.

Not to bag on people who write random chapters from a different perspective, but structure IS important. Following a set structure increases comprehensibility for the reader and shows a certain amount of forethought and planning that creates for more sophisticated writing. And, as tempting as it is to say "it's just fanfiction!" and throw technique out the window, I am treating this as if it were a novel I plan to shop to publishers. So. I needed to figure out how to established the first-person alternating POV.

The first two chapters really needed to remain from Alina's perspective. Changing the POV in the original chapter two also didn't allow enough room for exposition regarding Aleksander's intentions and mental state anyway. I decided to insert a chapter between these two, essentially moving everything back a chapter. For the rest of the work, I need to figure out which chapters can be reasonably be rewritten from Aleksander's perspective (changing nouns and pronouns is certainly a large part of this process but there is much more than this to establishing a character's perspective) and where I would need to insert new content. Chapter Four blessedly lends itself to being from Aleksander's perspective, allowing chapter five to remain as is. So tentatively, the story is shaping up like this:

Chapter One- Alina Chapter Two- Aleksander Chapter Three- Alina Chapter Four- Aleksander Chapter Five- Alina

From there... well, I need to take a long hard look at chapter six and make some decisions. Theoretically, the easiest thing to do would be to rewrite this from Dear Darkle's POV as chapter 8 is already written that way. But, will this be the best thing for the story?

I'm currently in the middle of fixing chapter four, so I guess we know what I'll be looking at after that...

[angelauniversalsky]

As I work on proof#2 of edits for my adult novel, I have to remind myself that all of my goals have been completed by small steps, not one giant step all at once. It can get overwhelming working 40 hours a week, housework, maintaining relationships, and writing, but with balance, I remind myself that I've made it work. ✌♥🌈 -AKC #persistence #perserverance #persistanyway #takethechallenge #sundaythoughts #believeinyou #stepbystep #creategoals #Keepreaching #keepwritingyourstory #Keepgoing #positiveenergy #daybyday #determination #drivenbypassion #wordsofencouragement #wordsofaffirmation #wordsarepowerful #traversecitymichigan #cadillacmichigan #writerscommunity #writersprocess #michiganauthor #michigangirl #workinprogress #workhard #smallstepseveryday https://www.instagram.com/p/CHWrLBojcra/?igshid=tm0uob8gs0po

[lasantera]

It’s publishing season. Let’s close 2020 strong. Writing from the Womb is back! Special rate for returning WFW students available. WFW is a workshop series designed to push writers to connect to the heart of their story. WFW focuses on your writing goals, setting clear intentions and hard deadlines. Using writing prompts and lectures on craft Alicia gently pushes you to dive deeper, dig, and really live inside of your story. The womb is a sacred place. The womb is the place where we conceive and give birth to an idea, a dream, a song or a story. The womb is where the heart of our story resides and where we hold our truth and together we will write from this place. It is her privilege to be your Writing Midwife! For writers at all levels / Cross genres (This workshop is inclusive of all genders and open to the public) Workshops are made possible by Dominican Writers. REGISTRATION LINK IN BIO 👆🏾 Dominican Writers Workshops @dominicanwriters #writingcommunity #writing #writersofinstagram #writerslife #writingfromthewomb #sankofasistercircle #sankofawriters #wocwriters #poetsandwriters #writerslife #writersworkshop #writingchallenge #writers #writingmidwife #Writerspractice #Writersprocess #poetryworkshop #Whyiwrite #writersofinstagram #Poetsofinstagram #dominicanwriter #dominicanwriters #inspirationalquotes #creativewriting #literature #fiction #poetry #writingfromthewomb #sankofasisterhood #nyclwg #latinawriter #blackwriters https://www.instagram.com/p/CFH92GvpAGb/?igshid=zanx4ysdqrsa

[kevtaylorjr]

So I tell a friend, 'I'm almost done with my first draft! I'm so excited!' They respond, 'That's great! You're almost done with the hard part.' I say back, 'Well, the editing of the first draft is pretty hard, too.' And they say, 'Well, after that.' And I say, 'And the subsequent winnowing and honing of the rest of the thing is no picnic either.' And they ask, 'Well, what's the easy part?' So I respond, 'Coming up with the idea, maybe? Everything up to and including writing "The End" is torturously difficult. But that's why it's so great, right?'

[scriptwriters-network]

The Story Forge: Supercharge Your Work With These Story-Building Secrets with Speaker Jordan Morris on 8/19

Learn how to elevate your work with this new and innovative development process that will teach you the secrets of an impactful character arc, how to effectively deploy theme, structure organically, and create a powerful triangle of conflict between three central characters.

For More Information.

[scriptwriters-network]

The Story Forge: Supercharge Your Work With These Story-Building Secrets with Speaker Jordan Morris on 8/19

Learn how to elevate your work with this new and innovative development process that will teach you the secrets of an impactful character arc, how to effectively deploy theme, structure organically, and create a powerful triangle of conflict between three central characters.

For More Information.