Tag: Write

Posted in Writing

Writer’s Block

Posted on by L. M. Montes

What do you write when you don’t know what to write? You can know what your story is about, but you aren’t able to put words on paper. Why? This article will seek to answer this question and give you ways to find your words again.

You’re sitting at your computer, and your typing away. The words are flowing and your mind is driven. You get to the end of the scene/chapter and you feel a sense of exhilaration because you’ve accomplished something. You’ve made progress. You’re in that writer’s zone. Eager to move on with the next scene/chapter, you move to the next screen and type the scene/chapter number, hit enter and stop. Your brain says, ‘huh’? So you sit there thinking about what you should write next. You can’t think of anything. Ideas may come but you push them aside because you feel they aren’t good enough, or perfect enough. This is the left side of your brain getting in the way of progress. Don’t let it do that. Forge ahead. Write anyway even if it isn’t perfect.

Reasons For the Block and How to Get Passed Them

  1. As mentioned above, the left side of your brain, the analytical side, gets in the way. It can be difficult to shut this part of your head down, but you need to do it. This has happened to me on a number of occasions. What I did was write anyway, even if what I wrote wasn’t any good. Later you can go back and change it, and who knows, this may spur on more and better ideas. Brainstorming also works, and sometimes you just need to work on the development of the story itself. I keep a binder with tabbed sections for various literary items, such as Character, Setting, World Building, Brainstorming, just to name a few. Writing in your binder, or whatever you keep, can create ideas as well. Read the following book by Henriette Anne Klauser called Writing on Both Sides of the Brain: Breakthrough Techniques for People Who Write. This book helped me tremendously. See link below.
    https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Both-Sides-Brain-Breakthrough-ebook/dp/B08537CTS1/ref=sr_1_2?crid=6XIUORJS0SZE&dchild=1&keywords=writing+on+both+sides+of+the+brain&qid=1600447565&s=digital-text&sprefix=Writing+on+both+si%2Cdigital-text%2C222&sr=1-2
  2. Indecision. Maybe you have 2 or 3 or more possible ideas regarding what should come next, but you don’t know which one to choose. This is a great time to stop writing and start evaluating. Yes, I said it. You’ll have to use the left side of your brain here. Write each idea down on a note card and place them in front of you. Think about what you’ve written thus far and decide which idea will move your story forward to where you want it to go. Does this mean you have to scrap the other ideas you don’t use? No, not at all. Save them for later.
  3. You finished your thought process. This is huge. Another author told me she doesn’t ever get writer’s block. When I asked her why, she said she doesn’t stop writing at the end of a scene/chapter. She stops writing for the day in the middle of a scene where it is easy to pick up on the movement of the story the next day. So she doesn’t allow her thought process for the story to stop when she stops. I hope this makes sense. There is just one problem with this though. You will come to the end of that scene/chapter eventually, which means you might get hit with reasons 1 and 2 above.
  4. Ordering of story information. Stories are written with the three act structure in mind. Act I: Backstory, Act II: The Chase/The Attach, Act III: Resolution. Certain types of information belong ONLY in their perspective acts. Put the wrong type of information into the wrong act, and your story will be thrown way off. The result of this can lead to writer’s block. How do you combat this? There is a book I HIGHLY recommend. See below. I’ve provided the link in case you are interested in purchasing.

Story Engineering by Larry Brooks
https://www.amazon.com/Story-Engineering-Larry-Brooks-ebook-dp-B004J35J8W/dp/B004J35J8W/ref=mt_other?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1600447148

In the end your story will work out. It’s not the road you travel, it’s how you travel along that road that matters. You’ll get there.

Posted in Writing

Uniqueness

Posted on by L. M. Montes

What do you bring to your writing? This question has an answer, but it might not be known to us right away. It’s something we may need to think about. I believe it’s subconscious, and on that level something goes into our writing that we aren’t aware of. I call this our unique inner signature…. a writing signature.

Now you might call this style. And you’re right. It is our style. It’s a writing style DNA. About a year and a half ago, I took a class called Keys to Effective Editing. In this class the instructor discussed how, when you’re editing someone else’s work, you have to be careful not to alter the meaning/style of the author. In other words, don’t make it your own. In a nutshell, when you are editing someone else’s writing, edit with great care.

As a beginning writer, you might not know your style, or uniqueness, yet. It’s something that you grow into. The word flow might not be there yet. Not to worry, it will come with time and practice. Something you could try is to write down what makes you, you. Spoiler alert, this may take some thought on your part. We are good at critiquing others, but when it comes to ourselves, it isn’t as easy. To save time, ask someone else what makes you unique. Ask someone to critique your writing style. This is how I learned more about myself as a writer because it allowed me to reflect on their words, then look at my writing, and then grow from there. You can too.

Posted in Fiction, Writing

The Writer’s Way

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Is there one correct way to write a novel? I say no…….there isn’t. Are there elements of a novel that must be used? Yes…….there is. How do these two entities go together? It’s simple. You take the required elements and use them in a way that suits you and your writing style. Everybody is different, so the way in which we go about writing our book will be different. If you don’t know how you yourself would write a novel, then learn the different methods that have worked for other writers, try them out and go with what suits you. It’s a learning process and might take you a while to figure out what works for you. But it might not take you long at all.

A very important aspect to know is whether or not you are a “pantser” (you make the story up as you go along with no planning) or an out-liner/planner. Now, I’ve come to discover that you can be a little of both. I’m a little of both. I didn’t know this of course until I tried each style and found it difficult to use just one. The one I use at the time I’m writing depends on the part of the story I’m writing. When I get stuck, then I go to planning and thinking, which gets the wheels turning again. Then I’m back to pantsing.

Another important part to note is setting. People like pictures. When we were little, we started out reading picture books and many of our children’s books have pictures. Gradually as we get older, the pictures in the books become less and less. Eventually, all we have are words and it’s up to us to create the pictures in our minds as we’re reading. BUT the author plays a huge role in this part because they are the ones who are creating the pictures for us to see. They’re just not doing it with pictures, instead they’re doing it with words. HOW they do this is up to them. It’s their style of creating that contributes to creating the settings depicted in their novels. You will figure this out as well. I can’t tell you how, but I can give you ideas about how I go about do it. But that’s for another blog post.

Lastly, I wanted to touch on the creation of characters. I know how I do it, but I only figured out how to do this by reading how others did it, and used what worked for me. I combined that with a few of my own ideas. So much goes into the creating of a character. We are complex individuals and so are your characters. They have to be complex if they’re going to be believable. In my mind: who a character is on the inside + who a character is on the outside (actions and what they say) = a believable and complex character. See my earlier blog post from May 12 entitled Character Building for more information on this topic.

In the end, it’s YOUR story. Make it yours. Write it YOUR way, but by all means learn from others. Through it all, you will find your style and what works for you.

Thank You So Much For Stopping By My Blog. Please Share This Blog/Blog Posts. I Welcome Everyone.

Posted in Writing

Finding Time

Posted on by L. M. Montes

Time is out there. The thing of it is this, where do we find it? There are days, sometimes too many of them in a row, when we have no time to do everything we want or need to do. Are we spreading ourselves too thin? Are we choosing less important tasks over more important ones? Are we spending too much time on something that doesn’t need it? Maybe. Whatever then answer is, learn to focus yourself. Pace yourself. There are times when things slow down and we have all the time in the world. This is when the waters are the calmest. We can wade and relax. Meditate if need be. We should be doing this in the rough times too because it helps in gaining focus.

I think it has much to do with the “Oh no!” effect. This is when everything in your life comes rushing at you at one time. Your schedule changes. Everyone wants something. How should times like that be handled? In my estimation it’s different for everyone simply because we are all different. What I do is focus first and foremost on the most important events that need to get done. Then go from there. Sometimes we just need to say no to somethings. Others will live on if you are not the one doing whatever it is you were asked to do. If you’re a writer, write. Let that be your most important task. Fit it in even if you only get 500 words done. At least you’d be doing it.