Sunday, June 20, 2004
Writer's Block and Focus Prompts
Writing Book I’m reading:
Crafting Prose by Don Richard Cox and Elizabeth Giddens
Chapter one: Advice for Writers
Writer’s Block:
2 remedies:
Lower your standards for writing
Let your ideas brew for a while (but not too long)
Sometimes you have to write poorly in order to write better later on. Sometimes you have to take a break and get distance from what you are writing and come back to it fresher later on.
One should lower his standards until there is no felt threshold to go over in writing. It’s easy to write. You just shouldn’t have standards that inhibit you from writing.
--William Stafford
It’s a matter of letting go. You have to work hard, you have to punch a clock, you have to put in your time. But somehow there’s a trick of letting go to let the best writing take place.
--Walker Percy
Focus: Suggestions for Writing:
Analogy for writing: I think of writing, kind of like creating a garment from fabric. First, you measure out all the fabric needed. There will be much more material there than actually needed,(like a first draft) and the excess will be cut away when you place your pattern onto the material and cut out the exact amount needed (cutting away excess words and useless info). Then you sew the pieces together and the fabric starts to take on the shape of what you are making (put what you have written into the most logical and readable order). It might be wearable at this stage but you are not finished yet. You take the sewn up fabric and add in the details that make it more attractive to wear, like zippers, buttons, lace, etc. (The final polishing, adding in similes, pretty sounding passages, anything that “decorates” the work).
When does writing come easy for you? When I am writing about something I know very well, or something I feel very passionately about. Sometimes I just feel “inspired” by a certain story that I’ve had in my mind for a while and suddenly the missing piece for that story comes to me. It usually seems perfect and just makes the story “work.” I get excited and can’t stop writing.
When is writing difficult for you? I suffer from a chronic illness and sometimes I’m in pain or extremely fatigued. When I feel this way, it’s impossible for me to concentrate. It’s also hard for me to write when there are many distractions. Like when the kids are wanting things and interrupting me every few minutes. I try to get a lot of writing done early in the mornings on weekends and stuff.
Comments-[ comments.]
Crafting Prose by Don Richard Cox and Elizabeth Giddens
Chapter one: Advice for Writers
Writer’s Block:
2 remedies:
Lower your standards for writing
Let your ideas brew for a while (but not too long)
Sometimes you have to write poorly in order to write better later on. Sometimes you have to take a break and get distance from what you are writing and come back to it fresher later on.
One should lower his standards until there is no felt threshold to go over in writing. It’s easy to write. You just shouldn’t have standards that inhibit you from writing.
--William Stafford
It’s a matter of letting go. You have to work hard, you have to punch a clock, you have to put in your time. But somehow there’s a trick of letting go to let the best writing take place.
--Walker Percy
Focus: Suggestions for Writing:
Analogy for writing: I think of writing, kind of like creating a garment from fabric. First, you measure out all the fabric needed. There will be much more material there than actually needed,(like a first draft) and the excess will be cut away when you place your pattern onto the material and cut out the exact amount needed (cutting away excess words and useless info). Then you sew the pieces together and the fabric starts to take on the shape of what you are making (put what you have written into the most logical and readable order). It might be wearable at this stage but you are not finished yet. You take the sewn up fabric and add in the details that make it more attractive to wear, like zippers, buttons, lace, etc. (The final polishing, adding in similes, pretty sounding passages, anything that “decorates” the work).
When does writing come easy for you? When I am writing about something I know very well, or something I feel very passionately about. Sometimes I just feel “inspired” by a certain story that I’ve had in my mind for a while and suddenly the missing piece for that story comes to me. It usually seems perfect and just makes the story “work.” I get excited and can’t stop writing.
When is writing difficult for you? I suffer from a chronic illness and sometimes I’m in pain or extremely fatigued. When I feel this way, it’s impossible for me to concentrate. It’s also hard for me to write when there are many distractions. Like when the kids are wanting things and interrupting me every few minutes. I try to get a lot of writing done early in the mornings on weekends and stuff.
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