Fiction writing is eight-tenths magic. The craft skills that we use when revising account for another tenth. The last tenth is comprised of equal parts serendipity, caffeinated beverages, and staying away from the Internet whilst creating.
What do I mean by magic? It’s when you sit down to write, sometimes with a plan, sometimes not, and all of a sudden the words explode out of your fingertips. You don’t know where they are coming from. You don’t want to think about any of this too much because the magic has a lot in common with ghosts. Never look at a ghost directly. Always keep your eyes averted.
Just keep typing.
It can be very hard to get into the zone where the words flow like that. Making sure that you write every day helps. So does understanding that emotions are an underpinning to all human behavior and activity.
Yesterday’s prompt sparked a lot of emotional reactions from many of you. Awesome. Strong emotions kindle magic easily. If you use today’s prompt, you are going to build on that magic.
Today’s quote
“Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity.”
Gustave Flaubert
Today’s Prompt: Yesterday you let rip with strong emotions as you fantasized and wrote about what you would love to say to the toxic person in your life. Today you are going to build on that dialog.
Craft a scene based on what you wrote yesterday. Fill in the setting and the narrative action. Remember to put in sounds and smells. What else – other people? Interruptions? If the scene feels dull, add a twist. Make yourself or the toxic person do something completely unexpected half-way through the scene.
Scribble… scribble… scribble…
OK done. Now I want a piece of pie.
::gives pie::
You totally just had a Dean moment… (this guy from this show I watch)… I don’t suppose it was apple pie that you wanted, was it?
I squeezed today’s writing in between walking the pooches and taking my older son to a doctor’s appointment. Fifteen minutes feels so doable, but it’s enough to remind me that I can write. That I must write.
Thank you.
Exactly!
Thanks for hosting WFMAD again this year. This year has been challenging and I’ve had trouble finding time to write. In July I realized a major factor holding me back was a change in my routine. WFMAD arrived just as I was trying to find a new “routine” or way to fit in my writing time. It was perfect timing for me.
The pen has quickened itself to my hand and the writing is flowing with great ease. I cannot thank you enough for these prompts. Amazing.
I sort of did this already when I wrote yesterday’s WFMAD. I picked up where I left off. 🙂 http://www.clarklori.com/?p=223
Done. After my late night writing, I thought I’d try to get this done first today. Words didn’t flow as easy today. Got my scene setting, but that was about all. Sigh.
Try not to judge yourself or the way the words flowed. Be proud and content that you made the time to write. That’s all that matters right now.
It’s only Day 3. Am I too optimistic or merely foolish to try to tackle something difficult? I will be writing about what I have learned while writing the first draft of my YA novel so that when I begin my revision I’ll have a better framework.
Will find out after I write.
(The cannons are going nuts at the end of the 1812 Overture right now. I’ll take that as a positive, celebratory sign. )
Cannons are definitely a good sign. I hope you had fun.
Today my fifteen minutes ended up being an hour and twenty, but I wanted to write that scene. I might even use it in my creative thesis, at least a version of it. It felt good to get it out.
Finished! Was great to think about this, write it down. I know it’s rough draft, get-yourself-writing stuff, so I’m not judging it. I swear. Even though there’s much that would need to be done…not thinking about it. I’m proud that I’ve gotten myself to write each day, and I will continue to do so. This is great for getting myself into a routine of writing. What I wrote about is definitely too close to me emotionally right now, but it was fun to make certain things happen. Looking forward to tomorrow! Oh, and the “un” after my name somehow happened accidentally – but I figure it’s easy to tell the difference between the Heathers!
I thought that this prompt was going to be incredibly harder than yesterday. I don’t know why. I guess that I just couldn’t decide on a place or anything, but the second I started my timer, it’s like I knew exactly what to write. I squeezed this prompt in late tonight, because of my busy day, but I yet again could not stop writing. Every time I tried to stop, I thought of something else that would go good in the story.
Gosh, this prompt makes me sound so mean though. I would never have the guts to do what I did in my story, though sometimes I wish I was brave enough to. No matter how mean it came off. Honestly, just writing it down on paper helped me out a lot, now I really don’t have this anger as bottled up anymore. This writing challenge was such a good idea and I am so glad that I started doing it.