Wednesday, June 6, 2012

IWSG: Intimidation

With every project I start there is the intimidation factor.  Usually I ask myself whether or not I'll get it done in time.  But this time it's a different intimidation.  I'm in the works of starting a new book.  I've written one book but that was rushed and I had to be historically accurate.  I'm in love with fantasy books and this book is going to be all about fantasy.  But when I open that journal I stare at this blank paper just waiting to be filled with anything I can conjure up.  The blank pages intimidate me because all my ideas are forgotten and I start having trouble articulating everything.  This is a fear of mine every time I sit down and write.  Where do I start?!  I'm that type of person who can't keep quiet the 343450 ideas that float throughout my head.  I guess I get too excited to start that I jump from one scene to another without describing it properly.  Writing a new book is intimidating when it should be enjoyable.  Gah I'm stuck!  

6 comments:

  1. what I do when I have like bijillion idea jumping around in my head, I write a paragraph of each scene in loose papers, I write all of them, in what ever order they come out in my brain, and when I'm satisfied or my brain finally calm down I read them up and question my muse witch one is staying which one give me more ideas, and just jolt notes around. When I'm satisfied with what I got that's when I can start writing the novel. Because then I got my mind straight up.

    It may give you an idea on how to straight up your mind and still write all your ideas on paper to use for later reference.

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  2. You can do it!!! Even if you scene jump, it's ok. I think it's important to just get the idea on paper - in a notebook, word, via sound recorder, something. Get it out there, daydream about it, and write more down. Sometimes when I'm feeling like that, I give myself five timed minutes to daydream and gather my thoughts and then set the timer for 10 minutes of constant writing . . .you know the kind of free range stuff that's just messy, but gets the page less blank. Then after all of that, I can write. I also take my wildly jumping ideas and put the ones that don't fit in another notebook or word document for later use. In fact, I have three docs open right now . . . ready for blog post ideas, writing ideas, and even homeschooling ideas.

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  3. I find once I actually get a few words down, it gets easier, and then my mind calms down and the imagination can start working. Just let yourself write out your ideas, even if the writing is terrible; you can always go back and edit it later!

    Allison (Geek Banter)

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  4. Love the suggestions! I'm definitely going to try these and see how far I get! Thank you all!

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  5. It takes practice to get all of the words down, especially when we're afraid of failure or afraid of success.

    I like to begin a story with a perfect first sentence, one that is striking and inviting and hooks the reader. Since I put so much pressure on myself to make that first sentence perfect, once I write it down, the rest of the story doesn't intimidate me so much.

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  6. Here's some advice. Write down EVERY idea that comes to you. (I do this on mu iPhone.) Then using those notes, write an outline. This way, you have a road map showing exactly where you are going and how you're gonna get there.

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