Welcome to the Writer's Club!

Here we can discuss or share different techniques we use when writing fiction or nonfiction works. I will start with a few questions that you may want to answer to help other aspiring writers enhance ideas or methods used today. If you personally have questions then don't be afraid to ask them as this forum is intended to help enhance our writing skills.
We can also mention what we have written already or what type of genres we prefer to write.

1. Do you ever get writer's block? If so what methods do you know of to eliminate this dilemma.

2. Do you write a chapter outline or create character sheets before writing a story? If so what is your methods in doing this? If not then explain why.

3. When you write your first draft, do you worry about sentence structures, usage, punctuation, and grammar, or are you more into just getting the story on paper first?

4. When is the best time of the day to write? Do you take breaks or do you write many hours nonstop?

5. Can you recommend helpful websites that offer great information on writing?


I am hoping the Writer's Club Forum stays alive by you visiting here regularly and adding also small example stories or even information.

thanks

John

Hey, John!

As an author myself, I would just like to say I think this topic is a great idea for those of us who enjoy writing.

Now, I will try to answer your questions....!



I do run into this occasionally, but it usually isn't the "block" so much as it is an issue with a particular plot point. For instance, I'm working on a story now involving a piece of advanced, but poorly-understood technology which just happens to be in the custody of a secret government agency. One of the "conflict" issues was that there were two characters within the agency who each felt he/she was better qualified to do the actual testing on the item in question. It gets complicated, but it took me about two weeks to figure out how I wanted to resolve that little dilemma.

I have found that there is absolutely no point in trying to write if I'm not "ready." The result is always garbage. I just have to wait until it's ready to flow.



I have character bios and outlines for the main people. I usually don't do chapter outlines because I have a very general idea of what I want from each chapter (or sometimes a group of chapters) but I like to leave a lot of room because I find my storylines tend to find their own directions most of the time.

Occasionally, in scenes involving a lot of characters, I will make a diagram showing where everyone is sitting within the room, that sort of thing. That just helps me keep the imagery organized. I don't want Halliburton Finch behind the desk on page 214 and suddenly at the window on 215 unless I've mentioned that he moved. I'm kind of anal about the whole continuity issue.



I'm kind of anal about that stuff, too. Most of my first drafts tend to be hand-written, with all kinds of scratchouts and crossouts and little marginal notes and asterisks and arrows all over the place. The sentence structure and spelling, etc., is usually pretty good right from the beginning though. But I usually do some grammatical cleanup when I type it.



I have no real preference or pattern. Sometimes in the morning, sometimes late afternoon or early evening. If it's really flowing, I can go for hours, and have done as many as 17 pages in a day. My average is probably more like 6 or 7.



Actually, I've never even been to any!



Well, my book "Moving Day" has been purchased and read by several of the members of this site, and seems to be receiving favorable reviews....!

As far as samples go:

Here's a link to Chapter 18 of "Moving Day":

http://www.justsayhi.com/topic/show/14382

And this is one of my short stories, which will be published in my second book, "Moving Parts," which is completed and is now being formatted. I believe it will be out in September:

http://www.justsayhi.com/topic/show/13800

Very good stories! I would like to purchase them immediately for my personal collection. When they are available on amazon.com or barnesandnobles.com please make sure to inform us so we can order them right away.

Now is this top secret technology a nonfiction based on a true story or is it a work of fiction?

I think it is interesting topic and I can relate to the same problem I undergo many times when writing fiction. I wanted to intergrate Ancient Egyptian civilization into my story and found out that the whole civilization has hundreds of books to study from! So here I am stuck studying Egyptian Mythology to ensure that my story will make any sense later on. In the long run I finished perhaps 14 chapters of the book. It now sits in a box collecting dust.


Is it common that writers don't finish projects or lay them aside to work on new ones.

What do you think of electronic books? Do you think in a centuries time we will only read from the computer and not have hardback or for that matter softcover books available anymore?

Do you think bookstores will be equipped with computers that only offer ebooks in the future?

I'm not a writer. But I am beginning a novel. I've been reading books on how to write novels as well as looking over some novels. Ironically I'm not an avid novel reader. I've read a few novels in my life, but very few.

I might also add that I'm not truly interested in becoming a writer. The only reason that I'm currently writing a novel is because I have a story to tell. I'm not writing it for the purpose of becoming a writer. However it looks like I will need to become a writer for the purpose of writing the novel.

I'll try to answer your questions within the scope of my current non-experience.

1. Do you ever get writer's block? If so what methods do you know of to eliminate this dilemma.

I haven't yet. Although I have written songs in the past though, and I have gotten writer's blocks with songs. In fact, I'm currently in the middle of writing a song which I haven't figured out completely yet. In fact, I haven't even figure out precisely what I want to say in that song yet. Sometimes I'll be inspired to write a song without knowing where it going. The same thing happens with poetry.

However, I would never start writing a novel if I haven't yet figured out where it's going.

2. Do you write a chapter outline or create character sheets before writing a story? If so what is your methods in doing this? If not then explain why.

My novel is a complete story in my mind. I know precisely what the story is about from beginning to end. For this reason, I was able to write an outline for the story before I began writing chapters, and I found it very helpful to do this.

I first broke the story down into seven parts. Each part being a major turning point in the story.

I then focused on each part, breaking them down into chapters. I gave each chapter a clever title based on the concept the chapter needed to convey. I ended up with approximate 6 chapters per PART.

Having done that, I could see much better what it would take to actually write the story. Each chapter contains significant points that must be made. The whole idea now, behind writing each chapter, is to simply make the points that need to be made in each chapter.

Having done this outline, I could see the whole story from a bird's-eye view. I then realized that Part two and Part three could be combined and told together even more effectively than they could be told separately.

So this reduced the book from 7 parts to 6 parts. And now the whole outline contains 30 chapters. All of which I feel are significant and required.

This doesn't mean that I can't change them. It simply means that I'm very happy with the outline thus far.

I might add also that whilst doing this I realized that instead of killing one of my character halfway through the novel, it would be much better to put her into a coma and have her come back out of the coma later to enhance the ending of the novel and drive home the main plot even better than I had first imagined.

So just creating this outline gave me a wonderful insight on how to make the whole story much better. This also had a backlash of requiring that I create a new character at the very beginning of the book to fulfill this new twist at the end.

So having created this table-of-contents of chapters was extremely helpful, and ended up giving me a great insight to enhance the whole story.

~~~

As I say, I am only just beginning to write, and this is my first novel ever. I started in with Chapter One. I have several points that need to be made in this first chapter. So I have divided that chapters further into scenes. Of course the end-readers will never know about this level of division because it is only for my purposes as the author.

So far I have only written the first scene of the first chapter. The last scene of the first chapter is an extreme drama. I already have it all in my mind. But getting it down on paper takes time.

3. When you write your first draft, do you worry about sentence structures, usage, punctuation, and grammar, or are you more into just getting the story on paper first?

Absolutely. I write like as if I'm writing the finished book. Clearly it won't be. But I still write it as if it is the finished version.

I'm in no rush to jot it all down on paper because I know what the story is. It's not going anywhere. The whole story is in mind, as well as in the chapter outlines. It's not going to fade away. There's no rush to jot it all down.

At least not yet. Maybe as I'm writing I'll find places where I'm on a roll so-to-speak and I'll want to just jot things down without worrying about how they sound to a reader. But for now, I see no reason why I shouldn't write cleanly the first time. Why write sloppy just so I have to go back and rewrite it? I could never see the point to that. Why not just write it correctly the first time?

Even then I glean over it anyway.

In fact, what I find is that as I write sometimes I'll lose my momentum (you might call that a form of writer's block I suppose). I just think of it as losing momentum in the moment.

What I do then, is go back a few paragraphs and re-read them to regain the momentum of the scene. When I do that I will glean the text. If I read a sentence and think to myself, "That didn't flow well", I'll rewrite it on the fly to flow better. This doesn't break my momentum, in fact, I feel that it often gives me even more momentum.

When I do that, and then when I get back to where the momentum had stopped, the next sentence seems obvious. And the smoother the flow, the more obvious the next sentence seems to be. It almost writes itself. It just pops out as the obvious next thing to write.

4. When is the best time of the day to write? Do you take breaks or do you write many hours nonstop?

I write anytime the mood strikes. I write for hours on end. Yet in spite of all that writing I'm only 10 pages into my novel. However those 10 pages have been gleaned over quite a bit as I had to regain momentum many times, and when I go back to regain momentum, I automatically glean things to make them flow better. Maybe that's why I was losing momentum in the first place?

I'm not sure if this writing style will be successful as I'm just starting out. But so far I'm happy with how it's starting out. I also feel that it's important to feel good about the start. I can almost put these ten pages behind me thinking of them as being completely finished, and using them as momentum to move forward.

If I just jotted things down always thinking that I need to go back and rewrite, then I would feel like I'm spinning my wheels. I would feel like I'm not really making progress, because I would know that all of the previous pages are garbage and need to be rewritten.

This way, I feel good about the previous pages as being FINISHED.

That doesn't meant that I can't go back and glean them some more. It just means that I've already cleaned them up considerably and theoretically I could leave them as is if I had to.

I need to feel that I'm leaving a trail of "Finshed Work" behind me. Otherwise I'd feel like I'm just working on an unfinished rough draft and that I'd have to go back and rewrite the whole thing, and I'd lose incentive almost instantly then.

But that's just me. I'm like that with everything I do.

I'm not going to change who I am to become a writer.

I need to see REAL PROGRESS, not just rough drafts.

I think it is a great concept what you have going on there! Perhaps you would like to share a few pages of the story on here to have other writers elaborate on it if you like.

I think everybody has their methods of writing. In the long run what counts is that you feel comfortable with how you write your story.

I personally just type and type and let it out of my mind. Of course I am no expert author or anything, but I feel that if you have a vision or a imagination of how the story should be told, you just release it out of you. I don't worry about the sentence structure at the moment. Of course I try hard at the same time to write the story without mistakes. In the long run I tend to go back and change much of it. I tend to shorten sentences or add two together. It sometimes gets so tangled up, I have to rewrite the whole thing! That shows how terribe a writer I am at times!

Sometimes I even just let it marinade! lol
I just take a break from the story and come back to it a few months later! It is if you are nurturing a baby or something.

I know some writers just get it right the first time! Grammar, sentence structure, usage, and punctuation in one shot!

In the long run I think what we worry about is if the book is a page turner. We want it to flow easily and without effort snares you more and more into the story.


Have you ever read a book you couldn't put down. You end up reading and reading until the very early morning hours! If so which books were they?

The Clan of The Cave Bear did that for me. I couldn't put the book down. It was a thick book too, and I think I read it almost non-stop other than to sleep and eat.

I think that was written buy Jean Auel? (SP?)

I loved that story. But I think it was the story as much as the writing that held my interest. I love caveman stories. Or in this case a cavewoman story.

When I was a kid I used to read the Tom Swift books. I thought they were very well written. But again, it was the story that drew me in. A young inventor that I could totally identify with. I mean, reading about Tom Swift was like reading about myself, only with more toys.

I'm not sure who will want to read my novel when it's done. But I think if people like it, it will be because of the story, not because of my writing.

My only goal is to write it well enough that people will forgive my bad writing long enough to actually enjoy the story.

If the novel turns out to be a big hit, I won't take that to mean that I'm a good writer. I'll just take it to mean that I didn't ruin the story with terrible writing.

Hello, I am Raine Les. You have , perhaps come across me on the poetry/prose forum. My experience in expression has not been discovered or published in the usual way. I share on this venue. My passion in writing is a cathartic process brought about from deep personal trials. In October of 2006, the words just started forming.

I write something almost everyday. I look forward to spending this time, at any time, any place it feels. My hope is to hand write it in my own book to give to my children. I am forming ideas as to how I will share those pieces I have. To share is a compulsion. I feel someone, somewhere feels what I have felt and needs to be understood or validated. If I can gift that to someone, I feel blessed.

I find experienced expressionists to question, ask for feedback and criticism. That also, is part of this process for growth. You will find snipits, starts and completed pieces all over the place. It is not unusual to find me working on several works at a time.

You could very well find me at a coffee shop observing and writing. It is not beyond me to hand someone a poem I just wrote. I have so much to learn. I look forward to understanding anyone that shares on this forum. There are so many words, so many thoughts and so many minutes to write them. When I sew clothes, I do it all in my head as I sleep. When I awaken and start the actual process, it goes very well, quickly I create the garment. Many times, that is a similar process for the writings.

I appreciate this opportunity to share, thank you.
sadieLu

Yes I have had a few fantasy authors who have kept me up all night and morning. When it comes to fiction I enjoy fantasy authors such as David Eddings, Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore, Margarett Weis and Tracy Hickmann.

Biographies keep me up also such as reading up on Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Furst von Bismarck, Napolean, Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr.

My first books I remember reading the complete story (and bear with me I am younger) were Peter Pan and the Jungle Book before they became cartoons! They were hardcover books I received as a gift and they fascinated me at a very young age.

and my all time favorite lately are books from Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Talking about great stories and superb writings!

I think as long as you enjoy your project you will complete the novel to the point where many people will enjoy it also. I think most writers have the problem completing a novel. I mean that is just half of the effort. Then you have to find a editor, agent, and then if no agent a publisher without the help of the agent. The publisher wants guidelines from you and the list goes on and on.

Of course there are self publishing methods yet many don't recommend it. Self publishing really involves you to do everything with your work on your own. You also have to fork over a investment that covers the costs of getting your personal book created, advertisement, and so forth. Although if you look hard there are really cheap ways to go around alot of this if you want. For example distributing your personal banners on different websites is free.

Ebooks seem to be a popular motive and a growing industry also.

I personally don't find anything wrong about writing on impulse! I mean to write how you feel at the moment can enhance imagination at the moment. It is a great method also. I think of course it is easier to do when it comes to fiction works. A non fiction work probably requires some research first unless you are writing based on a story you experienced personally.

Absolutely. Wasn't that basically what Henry David Thoreau was all about?

Poetry and personal preceptions of everyday life?

Absolutely! He wrote and wrote nonstop everyday! He had so many titles you can almost compare him to Benjamin Franklin's brilliance at the time. What fascinates me is that he also became a land surveyor and continued to write increasingly detailed natural history observations about the 26 square mile (67 km²) township in his journal, which was a two-million word document he worked on for 24 years!

He had to have written on impulse each day!

I have been asked if I have read the masters. Some of my writing has flavors of the river poets, I've been told. Honestly, I am not avid, yet, when I read,it is in snipits and then several books of differing complexities.

That's because you're not writing to impress. You're just revealing your soul. That what true poets do.

1. I've lived with writer's block for the last couple of years...waiting it out, but right now I couldn't write a decent piece of fiction if you held a gun to my head.

2. Chapter outline, making it as detailed as possible, and revising things later.

3. I have the bad habit of writing the first chapter, then obsessively critiquing and rewriting said chapter to the point that I just give up and the book never gets done...on to the next idea!

4. Best time to write is anywhere between midnight and 8 am. In extreme cases, I might head out for some stims by 8, then return home and continue working into the afternoon.

5. Don't really go to writing web sites.

"Moving Day" is available on Amazon -- they listed it in April. There have been some reviews posted here, even!



Total fiction. There's a piece of equipment called a "tectonic accelerator" in "Moving Day," which is designed to increase the rate of tectonic plate movement from 2 inches a year to 2 inches a day. Doesn't sound like much, but it could be catastrophic if it existed in the real world.

The other piece of equipment, the one I mentioned in the earlier post, is a sort of metal ball that causes old memories to come back to people who touch it. The trick is, the more you use it, the farther back the memories go. Even to a point before you were born. The ball first appears in a story called "Lest We Forget" in the second book, and then plays a prominent role in the third one.



My first one required me to study the planet Neptune and its moons, as well as primitive cave paintings, time travel theories, and a bunch of other stuff I have probably forgotten by now!



Yeah, I have a few of those myself. The seed of "Moving Day" was originally a completely different story, which I still have as a first draft. It occurs to me that, with slight modifications, I could rework it and use it as another part of the whole storyline.



I think the electronic book will be big in the future, but for me, there is nothing like holding the tangible book, pages and all, in my hands!



I would not be at all surprised.

I can think of three reasons that may have given you this writer's block and especially if it has been going for two years!

1. Lack of interest with the topic you are writing
2. Stuck because you need to research on the subject first
3. You have a busy schedule that doesn't allow you to settle down and write.

What is the book about? Maybe I can help you spark interest into the story again.

If you have a chapter outline you can always skip the prologue and try writing the story first. I know of a few who do the prologue last! Their reason is that they find it better to write the whole story and then gather the entire situation and compose a prologue that will appeal to the reader. For many this is backwards thinking, but for these particular writers it works.

Thank you for clarifying that the book is on Amazon.com I am going there now as we speak to order the book.

Yes I feel even with fiction one needs to even research to help create a believable story. In the long run one needs to somehow capture the readers in the end.

I to like the feel of a hard cover book myself, but can see at the rate this world is changing that it might be inevitable that we will be reading ebooks only in the near future. I hope I am wrong with this though!


If you had the chance to write the "one book" that could change the world for better. What would it be titled and what would it be about?

1. Do you ever get writer's block? If so what methods do you know of to eliminate this dilemma.

I don't get writers block all that often per say because my mind is always moving and creating new stories. The problem that I seem to have that keeps me from writing through non stop is that whenever I get those new ideas in my head I tend to go back to what I already wrote, and either try to fix it to make the new idea work or rewrite the section entirely. So I can go days without making more than two pages worth of progress.



2.) Do you write a chapter outline or create character sheets before writing a story? If so what is your methods in doing this? If not then explain why.

I don't write outlines no, I just let things come out most of the time. Although I do make character sheets on occasion. I normally write fantasy so the character sheets help me a lot for remembering who has what traits and abilities.


3. When you write your first draft, do you worry about sentence structures, usage, punctuation, and grammar, or are you more into just getting the story on paper first?

This is going back to number one for me where I try to just to stream of consciousness writing but my mind doesn't like to let me move on until I am satisfied with what I previsouly. So I personally am more concerned about getting the story on paper but it doesn't always work that way.

4. When is the best time of the day to write? Do you take breaks or do you write many hours nonstop?

The best time of day to write is whenever you have an idea. I even keep a notebook next to my bed so that if I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea or dream I can jot it down and go back to it in the morning. I have written a few short stories based on dreams I have had. It's a good inspiration. Although if you are serious about writing it is always good to carry some sort of pen and paper with you because you never know when an idea will hit. Either during breakfast or maybe during a boring meeting at work you are zoning out in.

5. Can you recommend helpful websites that offer great information on writing?

Websites I can't help with but the advice I can offer is go with what interests you. If you like fantasy write fantasy, if you like horror, write horror. You can always branch out and expand your genres but your best stories will always come from what you are passionate about.

hello all im blue
as for writers block i struggle with it sometimes. but not often. i have found that i can not writed a story i must stick to poetry and prose. i do not use any normal outline or stanzas it just flows the way of the sea. i find that as im falling asleep is the best time to write even if it is only in my head.

peace n love

Here is a good link for anyone who would like to add knowledge about writing or even getting published.

http://www.writersmarket.com/

Also if you have a story to share then don't hesitate to post it on here. It is always better to get a opinion from another fellow writer don't you think?