Not so long ago, I scrolled through Facebook doing the procrastination thing and came across a link on writing, and since I was procrastinating, I watched it. And then I shared it with my daughter and watched it again. Next, I went to Amazon and bought the book that the link video was based on.
Now, I’m telling you about it.
But first… When I started writing years ago, I didn’t do the outline thing. I wrote, then fixed what I’d written, then wrote some more. Yes, it took me a bit longer to get words on the page, but when I had them there, they were good words. I made up for the time spent getting them written and right by not having to revise near as much as most of my writer friends.
Then, after hearing how I needed to outline, how I needed to get words on the page and worry about fixing them later, how a blank page can’t be fixed, and all the other such lines, I started outlining. And, it took some of the fun out of writing since when I started I knew exactly what was going to happen. Boring!
Then I found the above-mentioned link. Which I’ll share in a moment. But, it was something I’d learned so many years ago at my first writer’s conference.
It was in Lousiana. The speaker was Deborah LeBlanc. (If you haven’t read her books, you need to.) She said something to the effect of why spend so much time revising and revising…why not do it right the first time. I loved that because that was what I was doing. And it worked for me.
Now, I’m telling you about it.
But first… When I started writing years ago, I didn’t do the outline thing. I wrote, then fixed what I’d written, then wrote some more. Yes, it took me a bit longer to get words on the page, but when I had them there, they were good words. I made up for the time spent getting them written and right by not having to revise near as much as most of my writer friends.
Then, after hearing how I needed to outline, how I needed to get words on the page and worry about fixing them later, how a blank page can’t be fixed, and all the other such lines, I started outlining. And, it took some of the fun out of writing since when I started I knew exactly what was going to happen. Boring!
Then I found the above-mentioned link. Which I’ll share in a moment. But, it was something I’d learned so many years ago at my first writer’s conference.
It was in Lousiana. The speaker was Deborah LeBlanc. (If you haven’t read her books, you need to.) She said something to the effect of why spend so much time revising and revising…why not do it right the first time. I loved that because that was what I was doing. And it worked for me.
But then, I got sidetracked.
Thankfully, I found Dean Wesley Smith and his Writing into the Dark method. This VIDEO explains it, and his BOOK goes into more detail.
Basically…write. Let your creative brain take control and play. When you come to a spot when you don’t know what’s next, go back about 500 words or so and reread/tweak them. Time you get back to where you stopped; you’ll be ready to move forward again. Of course, this is the simplified version so check out the video and get his book. You’ll be back thanking me later. 😊
Thankfully, I found Dean Wesley Smith and his Writing into the Dark method. This VIDEO explains it, and his BOOK goes into more detail.
Basically…write. Let your creative brain take control and play. When you come to a spot when you don’t know what’s next, go back about 500 words or so and reread/tweak them. Time you get back to where you stopped; you’ll be ready to move forward again. Of course, this is the simplified version so check out the video and get his book. You’ll be back thanking me later. 😊
And you know what’s even more fun? Writing into the dark, in the dark. I love to write in bed after everyone is asleep. Hubby is snoring next to me; I have a dog either beside me on the floor or at the foot of the bed. It’s quiet, there are no distractions, other than hubby snoring, and my creative brain is in charge.
Discovering where the story is going as I get there is so much more fun. Naturally, during the day, I ponder scenes and such, run bits of dialogue around for size, but the main plotting is done as I write. It feels good.
You should give it a try. Especially in the dark!
Happy writing…
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Discovering where the story is going as I get there is so much more fun. Naturally, during the day, I ponder scenes and such, run bits of dialogue around for size, but the main plotting is done as I write. It feels good.
You should give it a try. Especially in the dark!
Happy writing…
Sign up now for my newsletter and get a free, short Halloween story.