Writing tips: Never finish anything. And on not plotting.
Having got back into writing in the last week, I noticed when I finished a chapter there was a sense of completion and uncertainty about what chapter to do next (each chapter is mostly independent of the previous so I can do that)
But even if I was writing straight through from beginning to end, I’d encounter the same problem.
So what I do now is always leave my desk with an unfinished chapter. This has a two fold benefit:
1) It’s easier to get started the next day - no fiddling around trying to decide what to do.
2) Between writes, my conscious and subconscious are focused on the unfinished chapter, so when I come back to write, I have many ideas that have been nurtured.
I took that one step further yesterday, and began three separate chapters. Now I’ve got no excuse!
On plotting
Generally speaking, I subscribe to the Stephen King line of thinking on writing. Situation comes first and don’t plot. Which is handy because I never could grasp plotting stories when I was younger - and still can’t now. As Mr King says in his book, On Writing, “Life is not plotted, so why should your books?”. Situation is like a seed - you plant it and see what grows.
Another piece of advice I heard I really liked was by cartoonist Chris Browne (who draws ‘Hagar the Horrible”) which he’d got from Charles Schultz of “Charlie Brown” fame and went something like “Don’t tell your characters what to say. Let them tell you.” Now that’s gold and applies equally to writing. I let my characters tell the story. I just transcribe it.
Hope 2006 is a spectacular one for your writing efforts.
Disclaimer: Do what works best for you. This is what works best for me
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