I'm taking the plunge. I've joined Merilee Faber's Creativity Workshop, thanks to urging from a friend.
To be honest, I said no at first. This is wayyyy outside my comfort zone, and being an anxious person, I don't like to stress it too much. This sort of thing scares the pants off of me, and I didn't want to have to be 'responsible' for making a deadline. But...again, to be honest, it might be just what I need. Or maybe I'll fail miserably! Hey, who knows! ;D At least I'm trying!
Issues and Interests:
1: Procrastination:
I'm horrible at the whole "I don't -feel- like writing tonight, so I'll write tomorrow instead" and then tomorrow comes and I repeat the same thing. Soon, a week of non-writing goes by and wham, I've gotten nothing accomplished. I need to get into the habit of writing 500 to 1,000 words a night, every night, only allowing myself to be off the hook if something comes up (like a friend staying over, etc, staying somewhere where there's no computer, etc).
2: Ideas:
I'm typically not good at coming up with ideas unless I'm hit with inspiration and, quite frankly, that doesn't happen too often. I have some sort of mental block with them, especially when it comes to thinking up ideas under a deadline/on demand -- I panic, blank out, shut down. So one of my goals is to figure out how to come up with ideas on a whim of "I need an idea, Muse: Hand it over." And get an idea, or a sliver of something I can work with!
3: Non-Fantasy:
To put it bluntly, unless there's some sort of magickal element in my story, I usually lose focus and let it die off. Don't get me wrong: I adore 'normal' novels. I've even come up with plenty of mainstream YA ideas, but the minute I try to write something non-fantasy, I freeze up, my juices stop pouring, and then I give up. I'd like to write a short story without a hint of fantasy and actually -finish- it.
4: Perfectionism:
AKA allowing myself to have a fairly crappy first draft. I'm so paranoid about having it 'good enough' in the first draft that I work myself up and just quit writing it. It never gets to the second draft.
4.5: Writing With Distractions:
I can't write unless there is total silence. No music, no background noise, no talking. It has to be quiet. (I blame my Sensory Integration!) But the only time I get quiet (and therefore get to write) is when everyone is in bed, 11pm+ sometimes as late as 12 or 1am and that just won't do if I ever want to seriously publish my work. I need to practise writing with more and more distractions, until I can tune them out and just write. I feel this will be easier if I can tackle #4, Perfectionism.
5: Completing The Story:
I have a bad habit of getting geared up for a story, plotting it out, writing half of it and lose steam and just...quit. I don't push through, because that would be difficult. I just skip to the next great idea and bounce through half of THAT story... I need to focus on finishing things and completing the story, not just shorts but my novels, too.
6: Witty/Smartass Characters:
I always adore the intelligent/witty/sometimes smartass characters in novels, however, I usually cannot write them. Perhaps it's because I'm blond and flaky and a rather submissive person. Perhaps it's because I dislike studying a certain type and just write what's easiest. For this goal: in at least one of my stories, I want my MC or secondary character to be one of these things.
7: Softer/Gentler Women // Macho/Manly Men
My girls are usually strong-willed, stubborn and (with the exception of Remie, who was an emotional roller-coaster) unemotional. My boys are typically submissive and friendly without much ego. I need to develop different types of characters, definitely; a broader spectrum of personalities. Perhaps a softer/sensitive woman, or a macho/manly-man (even if manly-men can be, in my book, uncouth.) I'd also like to try my hand at someone flamboyant.
8: Using New Words:
Maybe it might help to go through the thesaurus, open up a random page, and write down some new words I might use in a story. I love the thesaurus anyways, so why not?
Posted by
Kodilynn Calhoun
6 comments:
All good ideas! Now think about each one, and choose three that you can develop into concrete goals.
Don't worry about #2; the whole workshop will be filled with strategies for generating ideas.
-bounce- You know you appreciate me suckering you into this. Haha! Nice job on the goals. -snugs- And see, you're already on track. You'll be fine.
I'm totally with you on 2 and 3. But I really like 6 - I tend not to put too much thought into what my characters are going to be like, and just let them spill out onto the page, and witty characters never seem to want to get spilled! Perhaps something for me to think about too :)
I said no at first too. But then, like you, I questioned whether the reason I immediately declined was the very reason why I shouldn't. So, good luck to both of us in reaching our goals.
Btw, I was born and raised in Indiana. :-)
I like number 8 - using new words, I have the same problem, and I do use the thesaurus on my computer, but when I am writing, I tend to get a mind blank. Very frustrating.
Good luck with formulating these into achievable goals. You can do it!
Your macho men/soft women point is pretty cool. I love reading about really strong, self confident men and women who embody masculinity and femininity, but I've never successfully written a character like that.
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