Friday, January 24, 2014

No Distractions



Series: "How do you write novels?"


“I want to write. I have all these stories in my head, but I don’t know how to get them out.”



If you’re in this area, struggling to get going, then keep reading. I have some good starting points for you. If you’re a writer and you want to know what to say when people come to you with things like this, maybe I can help with that, too.

As most of you know, I recently published my first book, “Telekinetic: Book I of the Advanced Saga.” What some of you don’t know is that the Advanced saga will be between five and six books long, and that the first four have already been completed (and that I only started writing in the fall of 2009). What even less of you know is that I’ve also written two other full-length novels, one of which is also being turned into a series of six.
I don’t say this to brag. I say this to show you that I know what I’m doing, that I know how writing works. I’m laying these cards on the table, so you know what kind of writer I am. I’m human, I have limitations, but my favorite thing in the world to do is write.  
And I’m the type to sit down and write, and keep going until my work is done.
But I understand that not all of you are like that.
            I have several friends who are also writers, and I know that our processes are different. Some people write in little bursts, here and there throughout the day. Others, like me, need to sit down and write for two hours just to make brain space for the rest of the day.
            The following series, “How do you write novels?”, has been split into several pieces. I’ve come up with ten main points (thus far) that I believe all writers can agree with. No matter what kind of writer you are, no matter what type of work you’re writing, these are things that we all need to keep in mind.
So let’s begin.

“How do you write novels?”


My answer is also one of my favorite Gaiman quotes: “You sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after the other.” That’s all there is to it, really. Of course, it’s also much more difficult than that. If you’ve tried to write, or you are a writer, I’m sure you already know that.
However, here I’ve come up with a few tricks that I’ve learned along the way, to make the process simpler: 

1.      No distractions, no excuses. 


The thing with the internet is that though it has this amazing ability to provide inspiration and factual knowledge that may become useful within our pieces, it does so by distracting us from our ultimate goal. I make a point of turning off my internet for a few hours every day. 
Time needs to be set aside for writing, especially if it’s something you’re serious about. Even if you’re just a casual writer, you need to be aware that writing takes time—time free of internet, television, and other people. Music is the one exception, but with strict guidelines (I’ll cover that point later).

If you keep making excuses why not to write, then you’ll never write at all. The point is to sit down and do it. I don’t care if your grammar is atrocious and you keep forgetting which “your” to use—that can all be edited later. If you can just get the point, the story, the meat of your work, down onto paper, then you’ve done something most people don’t have the courage to do.


For the next several weeks, every Friday I’ll get online and post another point, another thing you need to remember when it comes to writing, and how to get yourself going.

Thanks for reading! Leave comments if you have any questions or want me to go into more detail with something.

{Rani Divine}

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