On Writing and The Creative Process

[AroundTheWorld]

How do you get those creative juices flowing?
Do you use the snowflake method?
Have a great resource for a plotline, character development, etc.

This is the place to share your info.

 

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[umagobushi]

This worked well for me and got me out of my dead brain staring at blank word document FAST.

I learned from Jason Fladien that he sets a time amount ie 1 hour and what does is just sit and forcefully write ANYTHING that comes to his brain nonstop... just keep writing for x time period. Just writing out his thoughts as he thinks them until they move onto the topic. Forget about edits and things making sense or chronological order as those can be taken care of after your WRITING time is over.

For example:
nothing..nothing.. okay something.. no back to nothing.. okay I need to write about x project. what do I need to write,. someting creative. about what the sun? thinking about greek mythology.

However if you have an idea/vision of what you actually want vs what I just did above, it would move in that direction much easier.

After your uncensored writing you can edit. setup categories/chapters sections whatever.

next writing session you can continue expanding.

 

[yveskleinsky]

I have a handful of tips I use to get me going.

- I find I do my best writing after I read a writer whose voice or style that I like (normally I'll read for 5-20 minutes to get me in the mood.)
- Write about what interests you. I love this forum because there is so much brain and idea food delivered daily. Nom.Nom.Nom.
- A funny tip I heard once, that really works if you have writers block or the words just aren't flowing, is to write about your last sexual experience in as much detail as you can.
- Along the same lines, I've also heard of the exercise of taking an ordinary object and then trying to make it sensual. Like a glass of water. I don't know what it is about sex and writers block but it works--even if you are trying to write about non-sexual themes.
- I set a timer and write as much as I can on a topic for x number of minutes (normally 5 or 10 min.)
- I also often use the timer technique to work on certain chapters at a time. So I'll set the timer for 20-30 minutes and focus just on the task at hand.
- I set goals before I sit down to write, because I need to see progress--and I often don't, so I tend to get discouraged easily.
- Mindmapping.
- Some of the erotica that I have written over the years, I use people that I already know as characters (or take bits and pieces of different people I already know and combine them into one person--makes things SO much easier that way. I envy writers who just pull a whole story line with character and plot out of thin air.
- If I'm having writers block, I take a break and outline more.
- If the words aren't flowing, I go and read something that will evoke an emotion in me--something that I either feel passionate about or pissed about.
- I use my Bose noise cancelling headphones. Best $200 or so bucks I've ever spent. They don't block out all the noise, but I find I can concentrate significantly better.
- When you sit down to write, shoot for a rough, rough draft. Something really awful. Don't worry about making it pretty. Make it a schizophrenic mess to where you'd worry what another person would think if they saw it. Going about creating a shitty first draft takes the pressure off. ...I heard a great quote the other day, that great books aren't written, they are rewritten. So true.

I would love to hear from creative people about how they go about plot line, structure and character development/character sketches. I couldn't be much worse at this if I tried.

Some other areas I struggle with are keeping all my writings organzied and keeping the idea "small". Most of my book ideas start off as great little books, but then grow into these huge projects. Ideas on how to reign myself in? Anyone have other writing tips? I'd love to begin putting out some books here in the near future, and I'd love to hear from those who have been on this learning curve a lot longer than I have.

 

[RogueInnovation]

For fiction, I draw from deep emotion/intuition that I have to express to make progress personally.

One of my greatist characters was created because he was my greatist fear of who I might become. I created him to ensure I would not become him.

Right now, if I have a goal, I write characters who are role models, or humbled teachers, who can illustrate parts of the path I am "too busy" to explore or live.

So to write the character I choose a path not taken, and emotion not lived, a reality that might have been real, and then I close my eyes, and I feel the characters life.

I do not "make them up", I try to truly understand them, and find confirmations in events that help me show who they are.

Example: (I'll make a character right now)
- The path not taken is that he is a full on rebel entrepenuer, he takes anger and pursuit to the extreme. He is humble, he does reflect but he never stops feeling the pain, never stops pushing, never finds his place. (this sets his pathos)
- His background and life, are probably that he had to run away from something, so he learnt that if you stop, there is no soft place to land. Maybe, there were times he needed help, and instead of getting it, the ground broke from beneath him, he got horribly injured, and had to do the unspeakable to return from it.
- Where is he going in life, why is he doing it? Maybe he did find help, but in the unlikeliest of places, and maybe he is fighting for that person (maybe it was a dying or neglected person that helped him, and he wants to help them before they are gone, and is under that time limit).

Who is this character, I think it would be nice if he was a really open and charming guy before all that happened. But then, stuff hit the fan... And he could no longer be that guy anymore.

That character development process just there allows me to see his story.
He will eventually overcome something no one else will, the person that helped him will die, he will have to find his old self again, and all that pain and struggle he will do something breathtaking with.

Then I just need to find out who does he meet and what do they learn from having met him, and why the audience will love this guy and his story.
Maybe he is the archetypical enemy of someone at the end, (someones boss or something else) and it helps them understand that journey when they see him change into a good guy again and maybe save someone in a way you would have not expected (that went far beyond the call of decency).

That is generally how I create characters, but furthermore, I try to make my characters so close to me that I remember them daily/weekly, and that they help me deal with real situations in life. So if this guy was to become a real character for a book, I would think continuously about what I need to learn in business from him, and I would have to find him an irreplaceable, undeniable use that helps me better face life.

Maybe he would be used to help people get over hate and bitterness, and the story would evolve around the ways we all are judgemental, and show an eventual story of how to become a giving person.

When you get that last part down, thats when the characters really shine.