A novel idea

[Samiwashere]

Hello, my name is Sami and I am a writer.

However, five months ago I underwent a strange development in my life: I started writing for a living

While I enjoy copywriting, the issue with spending 7 hours a day writing for that cash money is that when I finally get free time I don’t feel like writing! I have so many ideas buzzing away in my head and scattered in my notes app amidst my groceries lists and things I wrote down while half asleep at 3 am.

So, I thought of a way to try and motivate myself and, maybe, motivate some of you too:

This thread will serve as a (completely optional) weekly journal for people to update on their writing progress without the anxiety that can come with sharing everything that you wrote. It’s a means to motivate you to write so you can get excited to share with the class every Sunday and we can hold each other accountable. HOWEVER it should never feel like a chore or cause anxiety if you don’t get round to doing anything. I will be attempting to do it every week, but there is no pressure for anyone else to.

The very loose suggested structure of journal posts are as follows:

1. A brief summary of what you wrote: If you’re writing something long form, did you focus on character development? Plot development? World building? But we’re not all working on novels; tell us if you’re writing a short story, a monologue, poetry etc...
2. A short excerpt from what you wrote this week that you feel good about.
3. Any observations about the creative writing process or tips that came in handy this week.
4. Weekly word count

BONUS: If you listened to music while you wrote, what song really got your creative juices flowing this week.

As with anything, it is completely up to you what you do and don’t included.

I am posting this midweek so there’s still time for people to start thinking and get in the groove. I will be posting my first journal entry on Sunday and I hope some of you will join me!

Happy tales​

 

[Scroll120]

I remember I used to write a short novel back in highschool into notebooks. I filled about, 2 and a half before I sadly lost it. Probably my worst mistake ever losing that notebook, yeah it wasn’t amazing writing hut sure was something I’d really like to read.

I’ve been going in and out of weiting short stories or doing world building, with drawing maps and writing lore, but something always came up. Mosr of the time, if you found any of my notebooks and flipped to the end of it, you would find a lot of it in there, just scattered.

I’ll try to post some of it.

 

[AbsentUser]

I need to get back into writing again too... I had some fun, but I lose motivation easily enough

 

[Sir Saltington]

Been a while since I've written any actual short stories; most of the time I just write random lines or vignettes of ideas I have. Although, lately I've been writing poetry for a character I have so I might start posting some of the poems that don't fit the character but still work out. We'll just have to see...

 

[Samiwashere]

Journal Entry 1 - Week 1

1. This week I worked on a little bit of world building for the introduction to a fantasy novel that I’ve had on the back burner for a few months.

2. “Men who had once fought beside each other quickly turned their blades. Tension settled thick like a smog, creeping through alleyways and slipping in through open windows. But sometimes, when the night was still and quiet, you could still hear the echoes of chanting on the breeze.”

3. I recently started using an app called Novelist to help me organise character biographies/themes/scenes etc.. it’s a great tool for brainstorming when you get a random idea you’d like to include or for keeping track of details in general.

4. 600 words since Wednesday

Looking forward to reading some of your entries!

 

[Reedie]

I am very late on this but:

1. I tried writing some character backstory for a character of mine from a modern/near-future setting, sort of cyberpunk-y in a way.

2. I'm not sure if I feel good about any of the writing, but I did like this bit: "The clattering was loud. Too loud, but I already pushed off, no room to turn back now. I was down the ladder in a flash, almost to the crate - my winning prize - before a rusted door swung open to my left, nearly catching my face in its path."

3. Not really but I do realize that I need to go back a day later and re-read some of my stuff more. I find so many mistakes.

4. Lots of half-starts, somewhere around 1500-2000 words this week.
--


My inspiration for this particular bit of story was Dirty Little Animals from Arcane:

 

[Sir Saltington]

I uh, I did some writing too:

1. Wrote a short story for my new character because of things that happened in rp. Only got the rough draft finished.
2. There were a couple good moments in the story, but I think this one was pretty good.

His breathing is deep as he enters a trance, his body conducting a flowing dance with his spear, or at least, he does his best. Some of his movements are jagged, others do not hold the right tempo, and some still are just plain wrong. Yet Gaelwyn does not notice any of this as his gaze focuses inward, and he begins to ask himself questions:
Why do I fight?

3. As for tips? Write it all out until you're finished, THEN you can go back and edit. Worked out much better this time.
4. Word count: 900 on the dot. All since Monday.

 

[Samiwashere]

Hello hello, it’s Sunday again!

Journal Entry 2 - Week 2

1. I continued for a little bit with my novel and a bit of character introduction, but if I’m being honest that’s the part of writing that intimidates me the most so I took a breather. I also wrote a short piece for Laisa where I toyed with third person present tense.

2.”Beyond the graveyard is nothing but deep, black void. She stares into it, knowing and unknowing all at once.”

3. If you’re not feeling super confident about a section that you’re writing, I recommend giving it a day and then coming back. You’d be surprised what a moment away from your writing can do to your perspective. (This was not beneficial when I had to write short stories to weekly deadlines in uni)

4. Word count: 800

5. I listened to the entire Six Lethargies album by Keaton Henson, but this one is my fave. Very atmospheric.

Looking forward to reading some more journal entries!

 

[Samiwashere]

I no longer write for a living : )

Thinking about starting this up again to help me get through writing my novel. If it seems like people are interested, we’ll aim for journal entries on Wednesday next week.

Remember, no pressure!