Category: On Writing

When I don’t know what to write, it’s like being lost in a forest. There’s no clear path, no markers for me to follow. I see countless possibilities, all of which look indistinguishable from one another. When I think I’ve found the right one, it takes on a nebulous form, appearing like the rest. None of them calls out to me. In this forest of stories and ideas, it’s like none of them are right for me.

To be on the right path, I need to stand still and think about what’s important to me, what I value the most. Then when I filter out the ideas and narrow it down to one, I know where to begin. The sunlight beams down through the leaves, the branches, revealing the path like the yellow brick road. And then I know where to go, what direction to take.

Being in the right mindset is a must for writing. When we’re not in the right mindset, other things can get in the way. Thoughts about work, the news, or what needs to get done around the house.

To get in the right mindset, we need to tune everything else out. We need to be present in a mind-reality where the most important thing is our imagination. Once we’re there, the words can flow and bring our ideas to life.

A change of scenery can make all the difference in writing. It can boost our enthusiasm for a story, or for writing itself.

By a change of scenery, I don’t mean a different geography in the plot. I mean stepping away from where we usually write at, or from the room we write in. We might be struggling with writer’s block and not know what to write about or we might feel unmotivated about it. It’s as if we’re out of fuel. There’s no drive to write. No motivation to pick up a pen or type on the computer.

Being in a different environment can help with that. Whether it is writing outdoors, writing in the car, or writing in a different room, it can bring clarity or help us focus. It’s as if the change of scenery changed our mindset, gave us a new perspective.

A change of scenery can also take us away from distractions. It can break the cycle of feeling lost.

There are times when we shift from one idea to the next. One idea grabs us, then another one seems to be even better. We jump from one idea to next, wondering if a new one will come to mind and be better than all the rest.

And in this time of shifting between ideas, we’re spinning our wheels. We aren’t really planning either, since we haven’t selected an idea to work on. It’s kind of like we’re changing our minds constantly, uncertain of what to do. We’re stuck in the same position, spinning in circles, choosing which way to go.

But once we’ve decided on an idea, it’s like deciding on where to go on a trip (or a road trip). We can pick all the stops and sites we want to go to (the chapters), and plan everything out from start to finish until we return home (the plot).

Finding your niche in writing is kind of like finding the right place for you. It takes a bit of searching and researching until you feel comfortable with it.

There are so many combinations of characters, plots and genres in writing that the possibilities seem endless. It would be nice to write something (or be accomplished) in so many of them, but we can only focus on so many during our lifetime. We tend to write about what we know or what we’re interested in, but at a certain point, we’d like to explore more.

It’s good to write in different genres, characters and plots to expand our knowledge and expertise. It’s the only way we can learn what we’re truly capable of, and what we are most passionate about. Finding our niche will take time, but once we find the one that suits us, we can run with it.

When there is a long absence from writing, returning to it can be refreshing. It’s as if we’re seeing it from a new lens. There’s so much to say and communicate that we weren’t aware of before.

I often go through phases where I’m primarily focused on one thing, such as reading, writing, or making art. This tunnel vision has helped me to stay focused, be productive, and to complete my goals. But there is a lifespan to whatever that tunnel vision is focused on. It can’t go on forever. At some point, I’ll need to take a break to work on something else.

With writing, after a long hiatus, it’s as if there’s a ton of stuff that’s been on my mind that I need to get out. Ideas that have been gestating, waiting to be manifested in stories or posts. These new ideas make writing fun and exciting again. Writing doesn’t feel like a chore or a routine anymore, but a new adventure.

Whether a story is written in the past tense or the present tense, it gives the flow of the story a particular momentum. For example, a sentence such as, “Susan runs down the street to catch the bus,” has a different flow to it than “Susan ran down the street to catch the bus.” The former has more drive and energy to it, since it reads as if we’re experiencing the moment with the character.

But there are drawbacks to the present tense. The present tense cannot read like a recollection of a scene. It reads more like a play-by-play account of what is happening, kind of like a sport’s commentator describing a play as it is happening. As a result, the narration cannot be told in hindsight, which would allow the reader to know what would happen later. Rather, the advantage with present tense is that we, the reader, are discovering/learning about the events at the same time the characters are.

Past tense writing has more of an autobiographical effect to it, where the scenes are described like memories or musings. The tension happens not from the action that is taking place, but because of what we’re about to discover as the plot progresses.

Both present tense and past tense can be used effectively depending on the narrative of the story. I usually write in the past tense since I prefer to tell a story that has already happened, rather than one that is happening in the moment.

One exciting aspect about writing is sprinkling in details. Usually on the first draft, the story is bare-bones with just the main ideas laid out. It not until the second or third draft when the details get sprinkled in. They could be about the character’s appearance, personality, history, or about the environment they’re living in.

The details give authenticity to the characters and the world, making them believable and coherent. The details must be important, however. They cannot be random, such as the character’s shoe size or the brandname clothes they wear. They must be details that are pertinent to the narrative, or details that reveal something about the character’s thoughts, actions, or motives.

One example could be a character who is heroic and brave, yet, they are afraid of their own mortality. Another could be someone who is on the verge of bankruptcy, yet, they present themselves as confident and successful. Knowing these details give us an insight into who the characters are. We know what they’re going through, what their struggles are.

Details are especially important for science fiction and fantasy stories, which are layered with descriptions about the scenery as well as how things function in a futuristic or magical world. When we read stories that are layered with details, they expand our imagination, as well as bring us closer to being in those worlds.

How many words should authors write each day?

This is one of those things where the answer is open ended. Some authors have their own criteria for how many words should be written each day. They might have a certain number, but in the end, is it for us?

In our own case, we must factor in our circumstances. How many hours in the day do we have to write? Do we have other obligations that limit our time to write? Are we writing at night after a long day of work? All of these factors play an important part in our writing goals.

When writing short stories, I usually have a word count goal. It might be 1,000 words, 2,000 words, 3,000 words, etc. It depends on what my writing goal is. Is my focus right now on writing a novel, a novella, or a lot of short stories?

Regardless of what my goal is, here is my experience with word count. If I am writing a story and the word count exceeds my word count limit, then I won’t trim it down if the story is better off being longer. Likewise, I won’t expand on a story if it is better off being shorter than what the word count limit is.

I’m more focused on whether the story is good or not based on what is there. When we edit it a story, we find out what the story needs: what parts need to be changed, removed, or expanded. We might even discover that it needs to be rewritten altogether.

In the end, word count, and even chapter count, are just goals that help motivate me to write. They’re there so that I don’t ignore my writing goals and leave writing in the dust. Besides, writing is the most important thing.

I was writing a short story and had planned for it to end on a cliffhanger. Once I finished the story, I went back to edit it, but then realized that the story needed to continue–that there was a lot more potential for the plot and the characters.

So I added a couple of sentences to the ending to see how that would work, but I still wasn’t satisfied with it. I added another scene, but felt like it had to keep going. Before I knew it, I was writing several scenes and exploring the characters more thoroughly.

I continued writing the story until I reached a satisfying conclusion. It was an unusual process, since I had planned for it to end on a cliffhanger. Yet, here was a story which shouldn’t have been limited by one.

Some stories can end on a cliffhanger because their strength lies in the climax of the story. But other stories need time to evolve, and need more depth and history to the characters, as well as development to the plot. Essentially, each story needs to have its own kind of ending.