Fiction Scribe

Last week I kept the poetry challenge going. However, since I only got two entries, I don’t have to put up any poetry this week. I will keep the challenge going, though, in case anyone would like to join in.

This week I’m wondering if the writing challenges are really helping you. If they’re not, please feel free to say so and I’ll stop wasting both our time. If you think prompts better help you overall, then stop by Write Anyway and feel free to link your responses to the prompts in the comments section. I’ll link to your response.

I’ve been struggling with my novel. Truly and utterly struggling. So this week is going to be a challenge that suits my current procrastination.

For an hour every day (change the time as needed - I know not everyone can do an hour a day) I am going to sit down with no distractions beyond noise. (I tend to write better with music or television in the background.) No computer. Certainly no internet. I’ll buy sushi so I can’t use cooking as a distraction.

Basically, for one hour every day, I will sit my butt down on the couch and get some writing done.

Finally.

I need to get out of this cycle of procrastination and avoidance. I’m not sure exactly why I’m avoiding it like I do, but maybe this will help me to figure out. I hope it will help you, too, if you’re having a similar problem.

Just an update…

I have two people who have submitted poems for this week’s Weekly Writing Challenge, which means we’re close to having me post up some of my poetry.

If you’d like to take part in forcing me to post my poetry up on Fiction Scribe, check this post out to see how you can.

Last week I challenged you to write some poetry. Any style you like, just as long as you write one poem per day. There was a bit more to the challenge in that…

There’s a bit more to the challenge, too. If three readers post up one or more of their poems from this week’s challenge, I’ll post up one of my poems. If five readers post up one or more of their poems from this week’s challenge, I’ll post up two of mine. If ten readers post up one or more of their poems, I’ll post up five poems - one for each day next week Monday through Friday.

I’ve decided to extend that invitation. You can still post your poems in this week’s or last week’s writing challenge comments.

I’d love to read some of your poetry, so the challenge of writing a poem every day is also extended.

Last week I challenged you to write in a different genre.

This was hard for me to do because I like to incorporate a lot of different elements into my stories, elements which are traditionally romance, sci-fi, and so on. I have, however, tried my hand at a little autobiographical work. It turned out to be a lot of fun for the most part (bad memories are never a lot of fun) and I got a lot of writing done. It’s a rough draft at this point, of course, but it still felt good to do as much typing as I did.

This week’s challenge is something a little different again. Instead of free writing, note taking, or even a minimum page or word count…

I’m challenging you to write a poem.

It can be any kind - rhyming, haiku, ballad - you like, just as long as you write one poem a day for the rest of the week.

There’s a bit more to the challenge, too. If three readers post up one or more of their poems from this week’s challenge, I’ll post up one of my poems. If five readers post up one or more of their poems from this week’s challenge, I’ll post up two of mine. If ten readers post up one or more of their poems, I’ll post up five poems - one for each day next week Monday through Friday.

Sound good to you? We’ll see. Poems must be posted on this post. If you would like your poem put in the Scribe newsletter for October, let me know along with your poem.

Last week I challenged you to free write about your story for five to ten minutes before you started writing.

How did it go? Did taking notes/free writing before help you?

I’ll admit I didn’t free write every day because I choose to pick up writing right where I left off before because I knew what was going to happen next, and I wanted to get to the next scene. I still hold to writing notes whenever an idea strikes me because I’m very forgetful.

This week’s challenge might not work for you if you like to write one thing at a time. However, if you’re not working on something or need a break from something, I think you’ll like it.

Write in a different genre.

Write for at least ten minutes a day. You can write any length story (or poem, if you like). The big rule is that you have to write in a genre different than what you usually write in. Do you write modern romance? Try science fiction. Do you write fantasy? Try a crime thriller. Or horror. Or suspense.

This challenge is to help you expand your horizons. I’m not expecting you to fall in love with a genre, but an author who can incorporate the best of many genres into one book will appeal to a lot more readers.

Good writing. Let me know how it goes.

How did your week of locations go? My week of different writing locations had me writing…

*On the couch
*In bed
*At my husband’s desk
*At the mall food court
*In the library

Overall, it was a good experience and one that taught me if I want to get work done, I should be sitting in the library or at my husband’s desk. (”What about your desk, Fiction Scribe?” You don’t want to know… Maybe I’ll post pictures.)

This week, your challenge for every day is to free write for five to ten minutes before you write. (Because yes, I’m assuming you write every day. ) Also, I’m not talking about your regular free write about your day, your girlfriend, or your daisies. I challenge you to free write about your story. About possibilities or about absolutely ridiculous things - it’s your choice.

Good luck and have fun.

I’ve tried the couch.

I’ve tried the bedroom.

I’ve even taken over the husband’s desk and tried writing there.

However, I must say, my most productive writing session came when I went to the library.

I’m actually rather surprised by that, given I’m not overly fond of my local library. I don’t hate it by any means, but it’s a bit big and cold compared to what I was used to back in the States. That didn’t seem to stop me today, though, as I got more notes done, more things figured out so the world I created actually works, and the new (third *ahem*) beginning written.

With all the other stuff I did today combined in, I’m rather proud of myself.

How are your projects going? Did the ‘thrill’ of the first two challenges wear off and you aren’t interested in them or do you think I’m going to say the bathroom doesn’t count as a location? (It does, by the way.)

All in all, how is it going?

Day two of the writing location challenge brought me to the bedroom.

The bedroom is, admittedly, a nice place to write. I put pillows under my knees, got comfortable with the blankets wrapped around me… Just remember if your bedroom is cold (it is winter here), then you might want to invest in some gloves.

As I said, the bedroom was a nice, quiet, relaxing place to write. I burned some candles, was comfortable, and got some writing done.

I didn’t get as much writing done as I wanted to (again) because I found myself wanting to go to sleep. It’s only natural given I was writing in the bedroom at night, I wasn’t about to crawl in bed in the middle of the day.

I suspect if I write in the bedroom, it will have to be during an evening I’m not so tired.

Have you written in any unusual spots this week? Have you discovered you like any spots better than your usual spot?

I really like this challenge, so I’m more inclined to write about it even though with the time differences and such. (As far as I know, I still have no ‘post to the future’.)

My space for day one was the couch. I didn’t get as much writing done as I would have liked to because I didn’t sit down on the couch to write until near the husband coming home, favorite shows on, dinner needs to be put on rush, but I figured out a big piece of my story that was frustrating to no end. This is a piece I needed to figure out before I could go on because the entire way the planets work depended on me figuring it out.

Lovely, yes?

Writing on the couch was, admittedly, a bit distracting because of the television, dinner, the husband, the computer, etc. It was also hard because I don’t have anything akin to a television tray, and I like to have my writing about how far away it is at any given table, no further.

All in all, I’ve learned I shouldn’t write on the couch unless it’s something I’m really stuck into (versus just notes).

Where did you write on day one? Did you have an easier or harder time writing?

We all want to be somewhere else sometimes. Someone else. Living a different life in a different place.

Write me a paragraph about where/who you’d rather be right now.

Okay, I’ll admit it.

I didn’t get my one page done today. The day (the States Thursday morning is the Oz Thursday night.) The day consisted of pretty much all driving, and I don’t feel well. I do, however, have grand plans for getting a lot of writing done tomorrow.

How are your projects going? Are you finding the one page more or less difficult than the twenty minutes?

DAY ONE

Another day of resisting getting my writing done. Actually, it wasn’t so much resisting as opting to do work on my new gig. (No, I’m not leaving Fiction Scribe.) I did, however, get my one page done, and it was for one of my main character scene rewrites.

Finally, I know.

She’s fleshing out as less wishy-washy and more spunky. She has issues, fears, annoyances… She isn’t complete yet, but she’s as complete as I like my characters to start off as at the beginning of a novel.

Overall, this writing challenge has been interesting in the getting me to write every day. It definitely helps in that with everything going on, I’ve gotten used to setting things down for days at a time. By the time I come back to it, I need time to go over notes again, reread what I wrote, etc. This way, less of my time is spent doing that and more of my time is spent doing the actual writing I need to get done.

Congratulations, all! We’ve made it through the first writing challenge whether or not we all actually wrote twenty minutes a day or not.

I’d like to thank everyone who participated and/or commented. I like talking to other writers about their work.

This week might be harder or easier than last week, depending who you are. It’ll be easier for me because I’m a fast writer if I get in the right groove.

My challenge to you is to write one page a day this week. On paper or on the screen - it doesn’t matter as long as a page gets done by the end of the day. (On paper, that means front and back.) You don’t have to do it all at once by any means, and I don’t care what size your notebook is. The point of this exercise is accomplishing one page, whatever that happens to be for you.

When you do this, try not to go back and edit too much. Try to start writing and keep writing (consecutively or not) until you get a page.

Good luck!

Another edition of the Fiction Scribe newsletter has gone out. It’s the last issue of that exact style, so those of you who received it, enjoy!

If you’d like to sign up for the Fiction Scribe newsletter (and read about your opportunity to have your site, your work, or both featured in it) look to the right and click on the “contact me” button to send me your email address.

Don’t forget - if you’ve missed past issues, I’m happy send them to you!

Day seven.

Day seven has brought out the stubborn procrastinator in me. I did not want to write. The flat is a mess due to furniture moving and getting ready to set up wireless, I have job hunting to do, cleaning to do, cooking to do…

The list goes on. It always does when you don’t want to write, doesn’t it?

Reworking my main character’s scenes has proven a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. But, using Susan’s character development sheet helped me to think more about her as a person.

The trouble all along has been that I know the woman she will be at the end of the novel. However, I need to know who she was before all of that happened. In essence, who is the “girl” who turned into the woman I know she’ll be?

It’s an interesting thing to ponder, given I’ve never had this problem before. Then again, I’ve never had so much of a book written in my head before starting before either.

All in all, the twenty minutes a day has been good for me, and I will continue to work on this project for the next challenges in weeks to come.

How has your week of twenty minutes a day gone? Did you get every day? What was it like for you to make yourself sit down and do this challenge? Will you continue on next week with the new challenge…?