Let’s start this episode with Writing.

The physical act of typing/writing words on the screen/page.

I have a real weakness here. I’m a perfectionist. I will sit for ages re-arranging the words and punctuation in a sentence until I’m happy with it.

 

SIDE NOTE:

Was it Marcel Proust who spent a whole day rolling around the floor because he couldn’t find the right word?

 

Anyway, I often think of earlier writers who didn’t have the luxury of cut and paste or the Brilliant DELETE BUTTON.

Do you know how utterly Spoilt we are? Tippy tappy. Delete. Delete. More tippy tappy…ad infinitum.

What if we had a limited amount of paper and a limited amount of ink and (when the imagination goes *BOOM*) waiting weeks to get the library to send us the one and only book in our country. You know. that book we so desperately need to check whatever/whatever.

All hail the INTERNET.

The Internet 

Software!

I love, love writing software. And have tried just about every single model out there – paid and free. Oh, goody, says I. This programme will…make me write better/faster/cleverer/cleaner/in a more organised way/fill in the blank. It is so seductive. Throw the cheap pen and notebook away. Software programme ZYX will make the writing easier for you when you pay us ££$$££.

I’m not knocking the software. Truly. It has helped me in many a way and may well help you too. BUT..

I do have a problem with writing software.

You saw that coming, didn’t you?

Structure

Hands up all you’all who have heard of: The Three Act Structure. The Snowflake Method. The Hero’s Journey. Plot Points. Pinch Points. Grids. Climax. Rising action. Maslow’s Hierachy of Needs. The Wavey thing whose title I can’t remember right now.

I recommend that we learn all about these and everything else we can grab hold of.

Why?

Because…The one and only way to find out how YOUR brain works best when it comes to writing a book, is to read, listen to, inhale and absorb everything that has ever been written about writing. Watch youtube. Listen to podcasts. Read the books. Whatever genre you write in, find the authors who have How To books available. Do as much as you can to learn about writing.

And then FORGET IT ALL!

Forget it all?

OK. Maybe that is the wrong thing to say. But it caught your attention, yes?

Don’t forget it all. Park it. Take it into the back of your head and let every word stew for a while.

No word ever read is ever wasted.

We have this outrageously complicated but incredible organ in our bodies called the BRAIN. We may not know (or in my case – haven’t a clue) how the brain does its thing, but it does it and we need to trust whatever this it is.

Yes, the brain has attitude. It won’t give you what you want, exactly when you want it, but. Hey, go with that.

SIDE NOTE:

Every night Robert Louis Stevenson went to bed and gave all of his story problems over to the Brownies – Scottish Little People or Fairies. He absolutely trusted his brain (or the Brownies) to give him answers. Jekyll and Hyde anyone?

 

KNOW the RULES before you even think about attempting to BREAK the RULES.

All the writing software available today has been devised, programmed and sold by other people. No matter how brilliant these people are – they do not know how YOUR BRAIN works. Most of us don’t even know how our brain works. And if you do – Whay-hay. You lucky @£^%

I have done all of the above and it has taught me – COUNTLESS TIMES – that my brain has its own unique structure. After years of thinking that I must be some kind of freak because I couldn’t get on with/master/understand most of this wonderful software, I finally decided to DO IT MY WAY.

Do it Your Way

I still take notes long-hand. It works for me. I know about the Three Act Structure. It works for me. Beginning. Middle. End. Yes! But telling me that fiction has to have 28 chapters. Each chapter has to be no more than 5 pages long. The Mentor has to show up at XYZ time. That does not work for me.

SIDE NOTE: 

The Hero’s Journey way of writing is a wonderful thing but…it was first constructed from the outside in. The Odyssey was not written using this structure. This structure was fitted around the story. Just a little thought!

 

Episode 3 coming soon.

(Good Grief. This was meant to be a single post but I seem to have lots of opinions here.)