I think it’s one of those wonderful moments when you just feel relieved and excited because you’re finally having idea’s for your story again and you’re finally writing after a certain period of … nothing.
I just got out of a long period of nothingness and today, finally, found my inspiration again.
With me when I’m inspiration-less it’s usually that I’m too busy in my head to actually write or that I literally don’t have enough hours in the day to make time to write.
Yes you should make time every day to write, but at days when I’m really, really busy with things I don’t want to do—I get in a “Now that I don’t have to do anything, I’m not going to do anything” mood where I only watch TV or read in the few spare hours I have.
Today is my first free day. Well actually yesterday but I had to go shopping for a dress for prom (Which I found and it’s gorgeous so I’m in a really happy mood). And today I sat down at my laptop and wrote about ten pages. I had been really stuck for a while and finally found all the answers I was still missing for my story.
Let me give you a tip right away: Never throw away something you’ve written. And keep a drawer or if you scribble thoughts on every piece of paper you find, like I do, keep a huge box (or several) in which you keep your writing. The best thing would be to have one notebook for all your ideas and notes.
I had been writing about a character and how I would introduce him. I searched for hours but couldn’t find that piece of paper because I wrote it down weeks ago and my room is a mess. I really can’t stand it when I lose something that I wrote, because I want to know exactly what I had written down. That’s one of the main reasons that I got stuck. But I finally got over it today and found a new idea to introduce him and created a whole new character profile for him that was probably better than the old one. Do you also have music that inspires you to write? When I’m writing a particular scene I like to have music that suits the scene on in the background. When I’m writing a battle scene I listen to music like “the Hall of the Mountain King” from Edvard Grieg. Music that make you feel on edge and perhaps even a little nervous. Music that can make you picture yourself in danger. I love listening to soundtracks from movies because they give you a certain feeling while listening to them. Film makers know what they’re doing and the music always suits the scene. It gives more depth to the scene and basically tells the watcher what he or she has to feel while watching that scene. Take a random movie, take a random scene and focus on the music. Writers have to do that with words, with description. You have to use certain words that make readers feel certain things.
For instance:
* Her feet dragged on the ground. The air was hot and her feet were sweating in her sneakers. With painfully slow steps she finally made it towards the ice-cream stall.
* Her feet tapped the ground in a fast rhythm. The air was hot and on her feet she wore colorful flip flops. She practically skipped towards the ice-cream stall.
In the first scene you get the idea that it is terribly warm and that the character is drowsy and melting from the heat. It’s not pleasant. In the second scene you imagine a cheerful girl on a warm summer day getting a delicious ice cream. Same scene, different words, different feelings. If you have a certain feeling while writing a scene, your readers will most likely have them too.
Lastly I want to give a tip to those of you who don’t want to listen to music while writing, but hate to be constantly interrupted by people talking to them or asking them things. I have periods that I want to listen to music while writing and periods that I don’t. But either way I almost always wear headphones.
The first time I did that the CD I had been listening had simply stopped and I hadn’t noticed because I was too busy writing. But I noticed that people didn’t talk unnecessary to me and I could write undisturbed. Plus I like the warmth of the head phones, especially in the winter. It might only work at my home, because perhaps people disturb you even though they think you’re listening music. But it worked for me so you could try it. Or you could just go to your room or somewhere quiet and hope no one disturbs you. Alright that was a little about my writing. I was just so excited to get started again that I had to share it with you guys. Right now it’s getting late so I’m going to read some more in… one of the ten books I’m reading (I always read at least 5 books at a time. I think I got it from my dad, because he does that as well) and then go to bed.
Happy Easter everybody and make sure to eat yourself sick from lots and lots of chocolate eggs!
Keep writing,
Xx LordKiwii
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Lol, I certanly will eat myself sick from easter eggs! Always have, always will... I always find that music helps me write better, especially when I was writing my last book (well, it was a story really). I grew so addicted to the Beatles album Revolver that I couldn't write my book without listening to the music! :D
ReplyDeleteI have a massive folder on my desk at home where I keep old letters I wrote, stories and every diary entry I have ever written. Its funny because if I ever get stuck writing, all I have to do is read one of the things in my folder and vala! I can write again. Strange or what? :D
Hi! I just saw your blog a couple of days ago, and I think it's really helpful! I jsut have one question for you: How do you write a book? Everytime I try, and I'm still trying, my story is too short to be a book. I could make it a children's book, but I don't think that a murder/love story is appropriate. Every book that I read is 300 pages or more, and I'm stuck with 100 page stories. I doubt anybody would publish anything that short into an actual book, which is what I want.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you prefer to do things like this with email or over the blog, but my email is erd2398@ymail.com.
Thanks! Hope to hear from you soon, one way or another.
-Erica