Yesterday I wrote about the inevitability of politics/ideology in writing. I didn’t explain how people wind up living there. At some point for may writers, the theme or ideology becomes the overriding factor of story creation. As I explained, I have a general idea of what I’m trying to tackle in my writing–the concept of how people confront their own truths being challenged and confront realizing their truths may be false. All of that is well and good and good breeding ground for story, but it isn’t an idea. This is fundamental to story–you have to have an interesting bit of whatever to write about. When I wrote my last novel I started on absolute empty. I did not have an idea or a character or anything, and I was lucky enough to collaborate with people to at least get a where to work with. Once I had that, the rest unraveled itself.
For me idea formation can be the toughest part. I used to come up with ideas out of nowhere, and while now it does happen more and more, it happens at the most inopportune times—while I am driving. On a bus. in the shower. mid sentence of a conversation, etc…. My new strategy is carrying a notebook to write these things down–a portable version of my old-fashioned idea archive. The trick, of course, is going back to the notebook enough that the seed of an idea can be fertilized into a thing worth writing.
If you are stuck on ideas then the key to restoration is threefold:
- Walk around your land. Observe people and situations and write down what is happening and what you imagine to be happening.
- Read and listen to one piece of fiction from your past you really enjoyed. I go back to the Dark Tower every decade or so.
- Stare at a blank page for three minutes exactly. Them write like mad for three minutes. Turn page. Repeat.
Some Thoughts:
- When I went into the woods I was writing without the internet, which led to me forgetting to post those blogs. They’ve since been posted and all relevant renumbering handled.
- If I can remember to do this, I am going to talk about unraveling plot and character for the reader tomorrow.