Skip to main content

It starts...


So there I was, minding my own business, when all of the sudden I said, "I want to write a novel." Sounds simple enough. I mean, I have read a LOT of books and I like stories. If I put my mind to it, I could come up with a good story, then all I have to do is write it down, right? No.  I am, it seems, a student of all I do. I can't just start doing. I have to study it first, research it throrughly, become knowledgeable about what I am wanting to do. I need to learn how to write. But it is more than that, I need to learn to write gigantic stories. At least gigantic compared to the 10-12 page research papers that I had written in college. I need to learn the how....

So I start my research and find that a lot of writers state that if you want to be successful as a writer, you have to write...a lot. When you are not writing, read, A lot. Ok, I can do that. so far, so good.

I started by reading while considering what I want to write about. I can't just start writing. I have to have a plan. Hell, I don't even go to the bathroom without a plan, because the jobs not done till the paperwork is filed. But I digress. I don't have a protagonist, I don't have a story plot. I don't have an antagonist. All I have is a vague feeling of atmosphere that I wanted to convey  and a desire to do it in the urban fantasy genre.

So I will read for a bit first then we will see what happens. But what will I read? I just finished a series by my favorite author, and was greatly inspired. That series and the world that the story takes place in is probably the reason the switch got flipped in my brain to change me from a computer geek, a year from a degree in Network Security, to starting over to an English degree so that I will know more about literature and writing and the process.

This brings up another point. there are things that I am learning here that I had no idea about. It isn't that I was naive enough to think that these things did not exist, but it was never something that I looked for, therefore I never noticed it. I have recently learned terms like world building, magic systems, character development, story arc, etc.

This has brought me to the realization that I am SOOOOOO SCREWED!

So, I have started this blog as sort of a journal, outlining my development as a writer and as a student of fantasy literature. I have so much to learn.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

One of These Days You Are Going to Pay for All Those Times You've Been Right

There are a great many blogs and forums and such that I belong to. The writers quote of the day, or the moment or the minute are the things which I, and I assume, so many others use to delude ourselves into thinking that we are writers. If that is the case, what do we write? I personally have written a couple of stories, nothing of novel length to date though. I made the decision about a year ago that I was going to be a writer. By Gods, I have a story. At least I think I do. I must....I mean I like stories and I am as creative as the next person, right? I want to tell that story. At least I would want to if I knew what the damned thing was about. You know, the one where the guy goes and does the thing against all odds that is an allegory for the terrible something that we all face? Yeah, that one. OK, so I don't know what the hell I am doing. But I do know that I want to be a writer when I grow up. I struggle with what to write. I have a thousand great ideas. I come up...
2 comments
Read more

David Mamet's Master Class Memo to the Writers of The Unit | Movieline

I went searching and found a goldmine! I am reading Jim Butcher's livejournal. You can find it here . In it he sets out to basically teach N00bs like myself, for all intents and purposes, how to write. It is extremely insightful and well written, I highly recommend it. Anywho, in the comments, someone mentioned method acting in relation to a style of writing where the author claims not to be in the drivers seat, so to speak, and the characters tell them what to write. In the conversation contained within the comments, there was a link to some writing advice by the wiritng staff Executive Producer of a show that I really liked called "The Unit". David Mamet wrote a memo to the producers and some of the stuff in there was really thought provoking to me. I will probably write about this more later, but one thing stuck with me. He suggested a writing exercise where you pretend the characters couldn't speak and "write a silent movie." I will have to think abou...
Post a Comment
Read more

So Much to Learn

I am frustrated. I need to write, I need to read, and I am angry that I can't cannot do both simultaneously. I need to learn more, I need to learn faster. I am very patient with some things, but this is a struggle for me. My problem is that that I take forever to come up with a course of action. I want to do the right thing. I evaluate and re-evaluate, weigh the pros and cons and then choose. Right, wrong, or indifferent once the choice is made, I have to run with it. I have the course, there is no reason not to get it done. I have so much to learn. I read some of the writers forums and really like the majority. I was reading one this evening about the copy edit process and the hostilities that some writers feel when dealing with a copy editor. I SO wish I had that problem. That would mean that I was getting published. I'll take it. Problems like that do not seem so bad to me, but it is a matter of perspective. I cannot imagine the difference in perspective from working...
Post a Comment
Read more