So tell me how do I get started writing again? I've taken months off to try and rejuvenate myself, yet still I can think of nothing to write. I'm talking fiction. I've written a lot of flash fiction, a bunch of short stories, one complete novel, and substantial portions of other novels, yet I seem burned out. I want to get back to it, but my mind seems to not want to go in that direction.
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"Oh be wise, what can I say more?" Check out my blog at smaugsmusings.blogspot.com
What do you enjoy writing about Smaug? Read a few books that you really enjoy. Go to the Library... or jump on wikipedia and just do a little research about a subject you know a little about. Do you have any problems in your life? Craft a story around that, solve the problem in your mind, then add a few twists, like what if you start by framing the story in such a way that the bad guy is the good guy, and the good guy is the bad guy? Do you have children? Are there things you'd like to tell them but can't?
Tell it in a story... or better yet, SHOW it in a story through the actions that the characters take... Or maybe you'd just like your life to be better? How would it be better? Ask yourself those questions then play with a story in the which those things happen... then make everything go completely wrong... because those things really don't matter...
Do you have a favorite song? Why is it your favorite? Is there a way to write a story about it? Are there messages that have been forgotten in this generation that need to be retold?
Ask lots of questions. And if that doesn't work, ask someone you trust all the above questions... maybe they'll have ideas for you... and something will just click... something will matter to you. Do you have any relatives that have had "interesting lives"? Why not use your block as an excuse to learn more about that interesting life, and then just fictionalize things... or you might find you like writing biographical work. Who knows?
(I'd answer those questions for you, but I'm a writer, and well... I want to write those stories myself, dang it!!)
More than anything just write consistently, everyday... do something... oh yeah, and it wouldn't hurt to pray and ask God if there's something he'd like you to write about...
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
If I want to pick up writing something that I haven't worked on in a few days (or weeks sometimes), I read what I had read previously. It gets my mind back into that world. If you have a new concept that you'd like to work on, think of a story you know and adapt it to that. I just wrote a short story where I used story elements from Nephi & co going to get the brass plates. I changed all the characters, items involved, and took any religion out of it. But it's useful to use a template like that. Read Pres. Monson's conference talks, and you'll get plenty of story templates.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
BTW, real authors liberally steal from existing concepts. A really famous military science fiction author, David Drake, uses Latin, Greek, and Scandinavian writings for his story ideas. And you can tell, for instance, when you're reading a story that he based on the Odyssey, that he stole liberally from that tale.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
When I pass a sign that is worded funny, I write it down.
When I experience a stupid or brilliant remark, I write it down.
When I dream, I really right it down.
Eventually, I tumble over something that keeps pouring out and I find it hard to stop writing. (this happened recently and I can't believe I didn't think of writing about this before!!!)
Or, I begin to combine the things I have written.
There is a moment in "Becoming Jane" where she hears an interesting phrase and she excuses herself to go write it down, right then. I'm a little like that.
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"My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle."
Great advice, Ros. I do that too--I've had a notebook with me since I was about 12 years old, mostly drawing my own comics and such... but as I took to writing, I found it just natural to change what I did with the notebook that was always with me... in a way it's a security blanket for me. :) Especially when there's a theme or something that pops out at me... I'll just scribble a note to myself... and hope I can come back to it, someday... They also say it's really great to do if you're trying to master your "realistic dialog", just write down word for word how people say things...
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
