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In this issue:
Pick up your tools, Meg!
Writing Prompt
WWT Tool Kit Craft Card
Pick up your tools, Meg!
I’m going to be doing a challenge soon, and I’m getting ready. So, for future Meg’s reference (and yours, if it’s helpful), here are my tools:
Structure Books. I like H.R. D’Costa’s. There’s lots of examples, tips, and very little fluff. And I like that there are four meaty books, one for each part of a story. If I get stuck, there’s usually something in there that’ll jog either my memory or my creativity. Often both. Either way, I’ll get writing again.
Series. This is the only guy I know of who talks about series. But if you’re not outlining, it can be nice to remind yourself what the story stuff is doing. You don’t have to know what it’s going to look like; you just need to know how to form each piece as it comes. And sometimes even when you know what it’s supposed to look like, it can still be nice to remind yourself how it comes to look that way (if that makes sense).
Brainstormer. List all the possibilities. If you’re writing into the dark and have no idea where you’re going—hence why you’re using the brainstormer—you don’t have to worry so much about not picking a top-drawer idea. If you don’t know what’s going to happen, neither will the reader, no matter which idea you pick.
Pen and Paper. Pen and paper doesn’t always mean outlining. (Yeah, Meg. It doesn’t always mean outlining. 🤨)
Mind maps are good. What’s in play and how is it all connected? Or how might it all come to be connected?
Lists are good. What needs resolution?
Series are good. Especially character series. Who’s in the story? What’s their story question?
Brainstorming is good. What’s possible?
Pictures. You don’t have to rely on your memory or your imagination to set a scene. If it’s not coming quickly or deeply enough, then Google the place. Google the kind of person. Click over to images. Describe one of the pictures. No one’s gonna know.
Coin Flip. When you have options but you’re not making any moves, flip a coin. Heads you do option A. Tails you do option B. If it comes up tails and you’re disappointed, great, now you know you prefer option A. So quit stalling and do option A.
Excitement. Where is it? What’s exciting about the story? Why are you excited to write it? This can help you make decisions and keep you inspired to lay down the words.
Anxiety Reset. When you feel antsy anxiety, don’t just stop writing. Figure out what you just thought that caused the feeling.
Has it been four hours and you’re usually done by now and so something in you thinks you need to quit for the day? (‘Need’? Really?) So what if you thought that. If you want to keep going, keep going.
Has some part of you decided this is an “important” part of the story and therefore needs… something special? (Like what?) How is it any more important? All the parts need to be there. If you’re saying you need to use your tools for this part’s structure needs, then go use them. But location in the story doesn’t mean you write it any differently. It’s still one word, one sentence, one scene at a time.
If you need a break, fine, but make sure you need one and you’re not just letting stupid shit hijack your writing time.
Write Clean. It's official. I finished my writing-into-the-dark story (76k words) in 2 months.2 I’m still not done with my revision, and I wrote that story five years ago and re-started the revision . . . I don’t remember when. But well before two months ago. I’ve learned that I can plot or pants;3 what’s key for me is that I write clean. Even the moments in the revision project that were written clean in the zero draft are fine, sometimes even good, and going mostly whole cloth into the current draft. Sadly, the zero draft had far more messy moments than clean moments, but—now she knows.
Writing Prompt
Character: KING
Light Attribute: Enlightened, benevolent leadership. Benefiting those in your charge.
Shadow Attributes: Excessive feelings of entitlement. Rulership without restraint.Setting: A library.
Object: A globe, a helmet, a seed.
Emotion: REGRETFUL. Remorseful, sorry, repentant.
WWT Tool Kit Craft Card
As mentioned before, I’m making a deck of craft cards to quickly remind myself of techniques while also having a convenient place to keep track of elements like character, conflict, and theme specific to each story. This week’s card is tools for the dark.
Thank you for reading!
I hope this helped you, and I hope your writing goes well this week.
Keep at it,
Megan
WritesWithTools
site: writeswithtools.com
ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/writeswithtools
wishlist: http://tinyurl.com/WWTWishList
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I didn’t make note of the official start date, but it’s around there. Eight or nine weeks, including all my angsty days off. 🤪
Though interestingly the choice seems to produce vastly different stories. I plan to do both ways going forward to continue to refine my process, so we’ll see if that holds true.