I've always had a hard time staying focused on one thing at a time and staying interested in anything I'm writing. Does anyone have any advice on staying interested?
Please and thank you? :)
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| helenaxfrank | Staying focused... |
    0 / 50,000 Joined: Oct 10, 2009
Location: Arkansas Posts:
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Oct 10, 2009 - 19 35 |
I've always had a hard time staying focused on one thing at a time and staying interested in anything I'm writing. Does anyone have any advice on staying interested? |
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71,335 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2009 - 05 19
I've had that problem a lot. My solution is to keep character journals and write in them as if I'm the character. This helps me get to know my character and develop a passion for their stories. It keeps me interested. :)
----------Lois Eighmy
http://lmeighmy.livejournal.com
http://lmeighmy.blogspot.com
47,821 / 50,000
Oct 11, 2009 - 16 24
Are you asking, "How in a general sense do I maintain enthusiasm when I am writing something," or "How in the name of chocolatey goodness am I going to keep interested for a whole month enough to drudge on through 50,000 words about the same thin plot?"
If it's a general question, there are lots of tips'n'tricks; if it's kind of a nano-oriented question, the answers would be more specific to this one-month adventure. Like, if you are worried that you will get bogged down when character 1 has to move from A to B and you have NO IDEA how she'll get there, so you want to start another novel, or that kind of thing. Or, maybe you are concerned that you'll get 20,000 words into it and realize you are almost done and how does one add subplots (I had a happy occurrence with that during Script Frenzy)? Or both: how to keep excited and on track in general and also any things that worked for wrimos during Novembers past.
If you have time to give a more specific question, the answers might be more helpful.
I'm glad you are signed up for nano and hope you have a great time! Keep in mind that if you do Young Writers' Project, you can set your own limit (but set it high enough to be a challenge) instead of 50K. And DO keep asking questions; make NanoBuddies and call on them for advice and cheer them on too.
Welcome to the fabulous journey!
----------^o^ ^o^ ^o^
Reality is for people who can't handle writing fiction.
"It is perfectly okay to write garbage -- as long as you edit brilliantly." ~ C. J. Cherryh, quoted in _The I Love To Write Book_ by Mary-Lane Kamberg
0 / 50,000
Oct 14, 2009 - 17 21
Thank you both, really.
The character journals are really a great idea and I'm so going to try it.
And, Gammy-the-slug, I meant staying interested in my characters and the plot I'm doing. Sorry I wasn't clear about that. =/
71,335 / 50,000
Oct 15, 2009 - 05 30
Awesome! :) I hope it helps you.
----------Lois Eighmy
http://lmeighmy.livejournal.com
http://lmeighmy.blogspot.com
47,821 / 50,000
Oct 15, 2009 - 07 08
I heard a writer speak recently, and she said to write down 5 things your character would never do. Then pick one or two and see what would make him/her do it. It keeps the plot interesting and makes you develop insight into the character.
And we all (almost) feel like drudges at about 22K wordcount. THEN you rely on your nanobuddies to cheer you on. Srsly! That's part of the "fun" of nanowrimo: sticking it out and making it through the mud before it turns to quicksand. (geologically impossible, but you get the idea)
To keep interest in your story, try to end each chapter or day's work with a cliffhanger: paint your characters into a corner and then wonder how you'll get them out of there. Or look through a book, website, magazine, etc and pick several totally random quotes; see how you can insert them in the novel.
Some Wrimos like to work an anagram of "nanowrimo" into the story: either "Mr. Ian Woon" or any other combination of those letters. It takes your mind off the muddle for a while and gives you ideas of how to approach things differently. Examples included Min O'Rowan - a Scots character who makes up her own pseudo-Scots phrases, such as:
winor moan, meaning the howl of a western wind, or
wron' maino, meaning the left hand unfairly used in thumb wrestling
Roman Wino - somebody's internet username (of course!)
Raw Noomin - a rare gastronomic delicacy, probaby involving a very ethnic type of pasta
Namoin Row - the street on which someone lives, or an apartment complex. You figure out how to work these into your story, and poof, suddenly you are interested again b/c you are playing a game with yourself.
I also highly recommend Jurgen Wolff's blog "Time To Write." He recently had a couple of blog posts about keeping your writing fresh. Quoting him from http://timetowrite.blogs.com/weblog
recently attended a four-day improvisation workshop taught by the godfather of impro, Keith Johnstone (if you have not read his book, Impro, order it immediately, I guarantee you will gain something from it even if you have no interest in impro as such). One of the exercises we did was to construct a story one sentence at a time. First we did it without any particular instructions, then we tried it with the instruction to start each sentence after the first one with "Yes, and..."
To give you an example, the first person might say, "On my way here, I saw a very unusual sight." The next person might say, "Yes, and it was a homeless person playing the piano." The next one might add, "Yes, and it was right in the middle of Leicester Square!" and so forth.
The "Yes, and..." tends to keep the story on track. Instead of fighting what has come before, the story flows.
-- and --
The next time you need a new idea, try this:
1. First, come up with three ideas (no judging) in your usual location.
2. Then go to a different room in your home or place of work (e.g., the kitchen) and come up with three more ideas.
3. Then leave the building and have three more. If you have time, go to a coffee shop, otherwise just walk around the building once.
4. Then walk up some flights of stairs or up and down if there aren't many, until you feel a bit out of breath. Then generate three more ideas.
The odds are very great that these twelve ideas will be wider-ranging and more creative than if you'd just stayed in your usual location. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
Hope it's not too much info; if so, save it and chew on it later when you feel bored with your novel.
Good luck!
----------^o^ ^o^ ^o^
Reality is for people who can't handle writing fiction.
"It is perfectly okay to write garbage -- as long as you edit brilliantly." ~ C. J. Cherryh, quoted in _The I Love To Write Book_ by Mary-Lane Kamberg
8,071 / 50,000
Oct 15, 2009 - 07 48
Fabulous post, Gammy!
I have what my buddy Delilah Devlin calls WADD--writers attention deficit disorder. The next story always seems to clamor for attention while working on the current one! Unlike her, I have trouble working on more than one story at a time.
One of my best ploys to keep things on track is a change of venue. I go to the coffee shop (IMHO, best one in Little Rock is The Coffee Beanery). I sit in the corner and write. Since I buy coffee--usually several--and lunch, they don't seem to mind me taking up space. Without the distractions at home from critters, laundry, housework, and worst of all, the TV, I can concentrate better.
In August, I was trying to hit a submissions call deadline. I wrote 17k words in three days at The Beanery! I planned to go there today but I can't deal with driving in the freakin' rain one more time! LOL And you see what I'm doing? Posting on NaNo and I just blogged about my recent trip to a writers/readers convention. I need to focus now. I have evil day job stuff tomorrow and Monday, writers' group meeting on Saturday and I travel again next Wednesday. This time for a writers' conference. Distractions are a biyotch!
Another option is timed writing. I join up with some friends on AIM and we time our sessions--45 min of writing, 15 min of chat then back to writing. With the immediate accountability, it helps push the focus on what's in front of you. And the competition can make for some great strides in word count. I'll be more than happy to do timed writing with anyone interested during NaNo! Or before and after NaNo! LOL My AIM name is shaylakersten. If you see me online, ping me. I'm probably writing!
Later, folks!
Shayla
----------Shayla Kersten
www.shaylakersten.com
Sexy Little Numbers (In Heat), Black Lace, Available now!
Fighting For Eternity, Ellora's Cave, Available now!
For Olympus' Sake, Ellora's Cave, Available now!
47,821 / 50,000
Oct 16, 2009 - 04 28
One addendum to Shayla's suggestion to get away:
Don't know if you are able to drive or have access to bus routes, but if you need Time Away From Distractions (which may be the problem that people think of as "bored with characters/story" because they get so distracted that it seems too big a muddle to put aright), most branches of Central Arkansas Library System http://www.cals.lib.ar.us/about/locations/index.html have small study rooms for which one can sign up. I go there with my laptop once in a while; if you don't have a laptop, you may still be able to use one of their computers to word process (bring your thumb drive to save the novel) or use one of their laptops in a study room. If desperate, you could sit at one of the many tables and write longhand. (I spent quite a bit of time at Ark Children's Hosp therapy room, writing in a Spider-man notebook while my granddaugther had multiple therapy sessions. It can be done.)
{side note: Ray Bradbury was often distracted as his daughters played outside the shed in which his typewriter was located. Realizing the temptation to play with his beloved kids was overcoming his work ethic, he went to the local library and used their typewriters. He had to put in coins to use them, and nowadays refers to _Fahrenheit 451_ as "the novel I wrote a dime at a time."}
Our meetings will be held at McMath library on John Barrow, so if you wanted to get a head start, you could show up and see if a room and/or computer is availble and work until the other loony Wrimos show up.
I love the buddy atmosphere of NaNoWriMo, and hope it will contribute to your successful noveling adventure.
----------^o^ ^o^ ^o^
Reality is for people who can't handle writing fiction.
"It is perfectly okay to write garbage -- as long as you edit brilliantly." ~ C. J. Cherryh, quoted in _The I Love To Write Book_ by Mary-Lane Kamberg