Here is another part our look at behind the scenes of how I write. Maybe you’ll find something useful to try with your own writing.
– What do you write on? Laptop or paper?
Neither. I actually started out writing my first book on paper and then typing everything on the computer. I’ve tried composing on the computer but my brain just doesn’t work well with a glowing white screen in front of me. I told my mom I wished there was such a thing as a typewriter I could type on and then transfer to the computer. Low and behold, only about a week after I had said that, I discovered NEO. I am going to do an entire post about this best writing friend of mine as there is not room to do it here. But in a nutshell, NEO is exactly what I wanted. I can compose anywhere I want, transfer my stories later to the computer while I’m off doing something else and it saves my eyes from staring at the computer and a lot of time since I don’t have to write everything twice.
– Is there a special ritual you have before or after you write?
Not really. I make sure I have everything I need and then get to work. If I haven’t exercised at all that day, I will usually try to do something to get my blood flowing for a few minutes before I actually write. And after I write I go to bed. I guess I’m not much of a “ritual” person.
– What is always near the place you write?
My water bottle, a calculator (to keep track of how many words I’ve written during each of my writing times), my notebook, “The Emotion Thesaurus” (more on this later) and I try to keep my whits about me when I write, though sometimes I wonder.
– Do you have a reward system for your word count?
I don’t actually have a reward system, but I do have a weekly goal of 5,000 words. It’s been a little while since I’ve actually reached that goal for several weeks in a row, but it’s been helpful to have it to strive for. I do keep a calendar with me and each day I write down the number of words I wrote. I’ve found this to be very helpful is making me write “just another hundred words.” Some times when I’ve exceeded my goal, I’ll let myself have the pleasure of spending 30 minutes before bed reading instead of writing.
– Is there anything about your writing process that others might not know about?
Well, the thing that I do which is probably different than most writers, is I usually write by thousand words. Not all the time on short stories, but most of my novels have been written in 1,000 word sections which I edit as I go. For me, it is much easier to get a few thousand words written and handed over to my editor at one time and then make the corrections then it is to hand over an entire novel and have to then go back and make major changes and have to spend days and days editing and correcting and rewriting. This is what works best for me though others may not think so.
What about you?
Do you have any tips and tricks you use? Do you keep track of your word count? How do you write?
I’d love to hear about your writing.
Thanks for another great post!!! I'm particularly interested in hearing more about NEO and "The Emotion Thesaurus". I also like your editing ideas. 😉
I love watching my word count. It's very stimulating, especially when the count goes UP after editing. 😉
My writing habits are usually just using a small laptop wherever I can find a good place, but I've started using our treehouse sometimes now that the weather is better. 😉
Do you have any tips on writing action?
I'm going to try to do a few posts soon telling all about NEO and giving some of my favorite writing resources including "The Emotion Thesaurus" so stay tuned.
As for writing action (this sounds like a good idea for another post), one of the best things to do is read. Read books that have the sort of action you want to write. Put yourself in one of the characters shoes and think about what is going on. What do you see? Feel? Hear? Smell? Is your heart pounding with excitement, terror, or suspense? It's hard to write it if you don't feel it.
I'll save further advice for a longer post, but hopefully this will help for now.
Thanks so much for the great tips!! I'm going to pick up some of my favorite action books and study them now. 😉
I love these behind the scenes posts you've been doing, Rebekah! They're so much fun! 🙂
NEO sounds so interesting! Can't wait to hear all about it 😀
What do you usually do when you're out of ideas or feel stuck/can't write anymore? Is there a special stimulant that you use? 🙂
Stay tuned for a post all about NEO. 🙂
You see, I haven't patented my "stimulant" yet, so I can't sell it to you. 😉 But here's somethings I'll do when I'm stuck. I might start writing some random conversation or start of a story until I either get stuck on that, or I feel inspired to write something else. The other thing I like to do is grab a calendar and start writing a description about the picture. I love writing descriptions, so that's fun for me. I'll try to do a full post later will ideas of how to get "unstuck." Hope these will help for now.