Carn, write!

Earlier this month I thought I'd finally broken the writing drought, but it looks like I spoke too soon. I started a new story back then and promptly got stuck! After some brainstorming I've found a few possible directions to take it, so hopefully I can salvage it.

When I was doing the 100 words a day thing last year, if I got stuck or a particular opening paragraph didn't seem to lead anywhere, I'd just write something else. This gave me tonnes of story openings, and occasionally one of these would grow into a complete story. The good thing about this approach was that it took the pressure off to a certain extent and allowed time for ideas to stew. Quite often I'd have a flash of inspiration after a few days of writing something completely different, and I'd go back and finish one of these 'stuck' stories.

It seems pondering this story day-in, day-out isn't going to yield much progress, so perhaps it's time to go back to the seat-of-the-pants approach that worked so well last year? Alternatively I could try writing a story per week, which would tend to lead to more finished stories. That worked quite well, for a time, in 2004.

In any case, I should probably try to spend less time thinking about writing and more time doing. A few less posts proclaiming the return of the Muse might help, too ;)

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In other news, I finally got a replacement for my ancient (circa 2000) laptop on Wednesday. The old one has been on its last legs for years, with a busted screen hinge and flaky behaviour that led me to save my work every 5 seconds. I pretty much gave up on the thing late last year and I've been using the desktop PC since.

The new laptop is a Sony Vaio SZ-120P and I'm very pleased with it so far. It seems to be quicker than our desktop, it's very light, and it looks cool, too. I've pretty much got it at the point where I've loaded on everything I need for writing, so I should be all set.

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What I'm Reading:
Cell, Stephen King
Dogs in the Moonlight, Jay Lake
Plot & Structure, James Scott Bell
Beowulf, translated by C. W. Kennedy (audiobook)




	Carn, write! a writing journal Home Get Email Updates WEBSITE PROJECTS LINKS JOURNALSCAN Email Me Admin Password Remember Me 514595 Curiosities served Share on Facebook				2006-03-24 11:56 PM Musings & Vaio Previous Entry :: Next Entry Mood: Happy Read/Post Comments (1) Earlier this month I thought I'd finally broken the writing drought, but it looks like I spoke too soon. I started a new story back then and promptly got stuck! After some brainstorming I've found a few possible directions to take it, so hopefully I can salvage it. When I was doing the 100 words a day thing last year, if I got stuck or a particular opening paragraph didn't seem to lead anywhere, I'd just write something else. This gave me tonnes of story openings, and occasionally one of these would grow into a complete story. The good thing about this approach was that it took the pressure off to a certain extent and allowed time for ideas to stew. Quite often I'd have a flash of inspiration after a few days of writing something completely different, and I'd go back and finish one of these 'stuck' stories. It seems pondering this story day-in, day-out isn't going to yield much progress, so perhaps it's time to go back to the seat-of-the-pants approach that worked so well last year? Alternatively I could try writing a story per week, which would tend to lead to more finished stories. That worked quite well, for a time, in 2004. In any case, I should probably try to spend less time thinking about writing and more time doing. A few less posts proclaiming the return of the Muse might help, too ;) -----<>----- In other news, I finally got a replacement for my ancient (circa 2000) laptop on Wednesday. The old one has been on its last legs for years, with a busted screen hinge and flaky behaviour that led me to save my work every 5 seconds. I pretty much gave up on the thing late last year and I've been using the desktop PC since. The new laptop is a Sony Vaio SZ-120P and I'm very pleased with it so far. It seems to be quicker than our desktop, it's very light, and it looks cool, too. I've pretty much got it at the point where I've loaded on everything I need for writing, so I should be all set. -----<>----- What I'm Reading: Cell, Stephen King Dogs in the Moonlight, Jay Lake Plot & Structure, James Scott Bell Beowulf, translated by C. W. Kennedy (audiobook) Read/Post Comments (1) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top