Are You Tired And Unmotivated? Check This Out!

For the low, low price of nothing at all, I bring you the Ultimate Guide to Getting Over Writer's Block and Procrastination (UGGOWBP)!

It's fun! It's sparkly! And it's not guaranteed to help you in any way, but, hey, we'll try!

Drumroll, please...

Close enough.

Step One
Stop staring at that blank page. It's not going to move. It's not going to fill itself with beautiful, crappy writing. And that blinking bar (also know as the insertion point) will just drive you into a deeper form of insanity.

That's right. Stand up. Walk out that door. Continue walking for... I don't know... An hour. Or until people start staring at you because you haven't bothered to change out of your pajamas. 

Step Two

While walking, acknowledge this simple fact–

Writing is hard!! And not all people are cut out for it. You, however, are a mighty warrior who will fill all sheets of paper with drama and tension and death. Ok. Maybe not death. 

Step Three

Once you've returned home, shut the computer off. Yes, you heard what I said. SHUT IT OFF. NOW.

Good. 

Now pick up a pen/cil and some paper. That's right. We're going old school.

Step Four
Write. About anything, anyone, anywhere. Write about a memory of yours or a distant land. Write about a girl you've never met. Good, bad, disgusting, I don't care. Just write something. You don't have to finish it. You don't even have to like it. Challenge yourself to write one page, then two, then three.

If you still have Writer's Block at this point, return to Step One. If you still have Procrastination, well, you probably haven't made it this far yet. 

Step Five

Now that you have successfully reached Step Five, repeat Step Four for a couple of days until all is right in your world. At that point, you may return to the computer and fill that blank sheet of paper with joy and sadness. Should Writer's Block ever strike again, just return to step one. 

Now, may the force be ever in your favor, Mr. Potter. 

Love, 

Gandalf

That's pretty much it. I hope UGGOWBP really helped you because I know it helped me! Just follow these steps and you'll go from this:

To this:

In very little time!

The Best of Writing,

~Snowie

P.S. Sorry for the long vacation. I guess I needed a break. I couldn't think of anything to write about.

MuseSober

Ever been MuseDrunk? If you are a hardcore artist, I am guessing that you probably have been. MuseDrunk is a term I just came up with about thirty seconds ago.

Ever heard of the term Love Drunk? MuseDrunk is basically the exact same thing. Love Drunk means you are completely and utterly consumed by love; whereas MuseDrunk means you are completely and utterly consumed by inspiration. When ever you write, draw, paint or sketch, all of the stars align. The picture is perfect, and the cat survives another day.

As it so happens, smack-dab in the middle of November, I am MuseSober. More accurately, I am LoveSober. I was doing fine, typing along at a fingers flying to Hell with no return speed when I hit a bump. That bump grew even larger when I realized the importance of that bump. The bump was my second of three subplots.

Dun... Dun... Dunnnn......

It was.... The love story. GROOOOAAAAANNN. In the eight chapter, Noah and Gail finally realized that they really like each other, and so they kiss. About halfway through this heartbreaking kiss, James (Who was punched by Noah just five minutes prior) interrupts, and Jeff gets really, really mad because he's loved Gail since kindergarden. Now, no one is happy, and Noah has a broken hand.

I've written this scene about three times, and the mood never feels quite perfect. I've run out of ideas and all of the feels.

How is your NaNoWriMo going?

~A MuseSober Snowie

P.S. My midterm NaNoWriMo report will still be coming on, well, tomorrow if you are interested in that. 

Writing Plots and Subplots

???

Writing plots, subplots, suspense, problems, and a majority of other things are just some of the things that I have trouble with. Every writer goes through that time where they discover that they really aren't that good, despite what they think, were told, or use to think. Some writers can get though this slowed learning curve and eventually become great writers. Others put down their pens and never pick them up again. That story is for a whole other post.

I think I've gone through a learning curve where I realized that, no, I am not better than anyone else and if I want to be better, I have to work for it. I figured that I had to start somewhere and that somewhere is plots and subplots. Plots and subplots are perhaps, at least to me, the most complicated thing about novels. There can be anywhere from one plot to one plot and an infinity of subplots. For me, keeping track of all those layers is a hard task and finding a way to make sure they all are ended or resolved by the end of the book is nearly impossible.

So I did some research. And I found one thing to help me.

The ABC Tracker

The ABC tracker by C.S. Lakin is really easy and helps make things much less complicated. 'A' is the main plot, the over-arcing plot. Usually the main plot, or Plot A, is the protagonist's main goal. In Harry Plotter, the main plot was Harry and Voldemort battling to the death. Most of the time, a story with just plot A is really boring. You don't just want to see Harry battle Voldemort. You want to live through all of the adventure and tension it takes to get to that battle. Plot B is the first subplot. Plot B should strengthen A and make Plot A interesting. This subplot is the second most important subplot in your story. A Plot B of Harry Potter could be Harry finding and destroying the Horcruxes.  From there is goes on in order of letter C, D, E...Z, AA, AB, AC, and into infinity.

Links 
Plot Outlines By Darcy Pattison
Fiction Factor
The Bookshelf Muse- Where I got the idea from C.S. Lakin. I tried the ABC Tracker and I liked it, so I wanted to blog about it.

~Snowfire

Writing Challenge One

00900 by brujo

Tomorrow (or everyday if you would like) pick a character from any of your stories. As you go through your day, keep them in mind. Every time you have a situation or problem to react to or solve, try and imagine what your character would do. Not only will this help understand and build your character more, but it will also help to write out your story in your own writing voice. This challenge is also helpful in editing and revising when a scene doesn't feel write or a character is out of character. Try this exercise if you have writer's block or if you can't figure out how your character would react.


DFTBA!

Snowie 

Stuck... Or just Procrastination.

Today's topic of discussion for the 4+ people who read this blog (no, I am not counting myself) is..... Procrastination!

Real Time Example: I really should be doing math right now, but instead I am working on a blog about procrastination.


Oh, the irony.

The dictionary defines procrastination as:

to defer action; delay: to procrastinate until an opportunity is lost. -Dictionary.com

So, what happens when you procrastinate? Well, usually you pull an all nighter to get it done if it's a project for school or work or something. Other times it slowly gets done over the next 1 day - 75+ years. It's like me and 90% of my writing. 90% of it usually never gets finished while the other 10% (Night Stalker, Arya Poisonhold, The 13th Games, school assignments, ect.) does get done.

So after you pulled off that all nighter to get what ever it is that you are doing done what does it look like? Sloppy. Terrible. Poor. Severely lacking anything excellent. And often forgetting key elements. When you hand in that project, you fail or get fired. And if it's bad enough, the teachers will hate you forever and kick you out of school because there is no way you will ever get your dream job at Mickey D's.

Do you see what I am saying? Procrastination is bad. BAD!

And, it is very much like Writer's Block.

See! I did that all by myself in about 20 minutes... Now, I will stop procrastinating and get my math lesson done.

A Few Updates...

I am starting revision on the Night Stalker and continuing revision on The Thirteenth Games.

I am working on a 51 Things do Learn and Do in One Summer.

And, I am looking for tips or good websites on revision, editing, proofreading, and publication. Revision is a mouthful. With track and school it's hard to even get my head around the whole revising book plot, characters.... It's just so much to take in. I'll post my plan on Wednesday. You guys will help with it won't you?


Bonsoir ou bonjour où que vous soyez. Quoi qu'il en soit, je suis parti. Au revoir!

Snowie

Change the World! Do something! Don't Procrastinate!