Writer's Thoughts

I realized today that it's been quite a while since I'd posted about writing and my adventures within that world. So here it is! What is destined to be a long-winded post by someone who's in love with writing and yet can't master it even with the greatest minds as help.

By greatest minds, I mean these fella's. http://www.writingclasses.com/Products/GothamPubsDetail.php/publicationID/1


I convinced my mother to buy me this book back in high school and only unearthed it a week ago. It's a great book and by far my favorite writing guide. It covers all the basics of writing fiction and has so many little interesting tidbits that push me toward creating a great work of art. Granted, as I progress through my writing I become more skilled than I was ten years ago when I first started. I can notice the difference that took place over 2 years. Book 5 is scattered. It's crammed full of ideas and plots, many of which don't make much sense. I'm not editing it right now (just reading for recreation) because I know by the time I finish the two books before it the plot will be turned around again. But when I jump back to Book 2, my most recent, I can see the difference. It's focused, guided, and follows the logical path of creative writing.

I guess I have a lot to do but that's the fun in writing; you never really finish writing books when they aren't published. Anyway, I wanted to do even better on Book 3 than I did on Book 2 so I whipped out this guide to help me polish my writing. I've gone through page after page after page of notes, plots, outlines, and random facts/events I want to include in the next few books. My new favorite activity is character development. I've realized how important it is to know every detail about a character before you start writing. I've worked on my characters' histories, family trees, childhood, schooling, goals, ideals, morals, speaking habits, ticks, quirks, dialects, favorite foods, everything! I even did an activity where I placed two random characters in a situation where they were changing a tire just so I could see what would transpire between them.

I don't know why people avoid writing so much. I find such a thrill in the whole idea of creating something so amazing that I love it more than anything. I have to admit that if I never get published (something I desperately want to do one day) I would be okay with it, because I just love writing for the sake of writing.

I have yet to actually start Book 3 because of all these exercises and how busy my schedule is getting as I near the end of the semester. There are a few times each day, though, where I allow my thoughts to wander and I find myself back in the world of my novels, hearing the dialogue as if I were standing there, and developing plots as they unfold on the page. I definitely love writing. Once life calms down and school returns to normal I'm jumping right into those pages again :)