Any writers out there????

[Chicabee19]

I've decided to try and write an "FBI thriller". I have most of the details worked out... now I just have to put them together in coherent, and interesting, sentences.

 

[SpottedCrow]

I did the NaNoWriMo this past November.
THAT is a good kickstart to the writing workings.

 

[Wifezilla]

My Examiner column
http://www.examiner.com/x-798-Denve...ars-diet-plans--Resolve-not-to-get-ripped-off
Hubby's Examiner column
http://www.examiner.com/x-1087-Denver-News-Examiner~y2008m12d26-Predictions-for-2009

 

[Jajika]

Quote:
Do it....Really. Dive in.

I have a lead for you: A friend of mine from my writer's club has a great book called Block Buster Plots. She has a very workable way to help people plot their stories. I used it for my book and I write non-fiction...or "creative" non-fiction. It made a huge difference once I had the tools to actually figure out where things belonged.

Her name is Martha Alderson. She is very, very available. You can check her Web site, "Block Buster Plots." If you send her an E-mail, tell her I referred you..

 

[Jajika]

Quote:
Your kidding!!!!! You both write for the San Francisco Examiner???? At least that is what I saw when I clicked on your links?

How cool is that? Do you realize how rare and special it is today to actually have a newspaper job?

I was trying to get my old job back after I was laid off from High Tech in 2003. Lucky, lucky you two....

So, you live in Denver but write for the San Francisco version, but it gets syndicated? Geeezzzz

I'm going to be interviewed by someone from the Examiner in a week or so. I don't know the name of the reporter yet.

Thanks for sharing this. I have to subscribe now..

 

[Jajika]

Quote:
How far did you get with your kick-start and what is NaNoWriMo??

I can sort of guess, but not really.

I know there is some program called a novel in a month. A friend of mine has a course she calls a novel in one year.

I like the concept because it makes you write...and realize that you just need to get the words down and not worry that they are not perfect. You have to have something to work from...

Have you read, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott? It is wonderful. It is all about the pain and pleasure of writing. You can surely identify..any writer can. And, you realize you are not alone in your frustration.

 

[Wifezilla]

We are DENVER Examiners. It may show San Fran at the top if that is your location. There is a different edition for each major area.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Jajika, I am going to recommend your book to a friend of mine. She is a history Ph.D. student and in love with ANYTHING involving Ford.

 

[ji]

No Wifezilla NO!
You are SEATTLE Examiner!

Ha, I'm glad you explained this. I thought Jajika was nipping at the eggnog a bit too much maybe, or myself perhaps.
So you can tell by this that I am near Seattle.

I have taken writing classes at a community college here in my humble small town that are fantastic. They did not make a 'writer' out of me but did much to deepen my joy at the attempt. Joy at the attempt that I came by through very painfull work.

I struggled HORRIBLY in school with what must be a writing disability of some sort. I couldn't write a 'paper' to save my life. I went through many late nights-before-its-due hell sessions
slogging out a C- peice of work that dissapointed all.

I even stole sentences from resource material which hurt me more as I am not basically a dishonest person.

After graduating high school I went to community college to study forestry. It was there that I had a writing instructor who was the
first to help me. He taught me nothing.

What he did do was express the same amazement that I felt deep down inside that I couldn't write. He acknowleged that I was truly trying, that I was not stupid and that it was surprising that someone who loved to READ so much would be completely incapable of stringing a few sentences together. God bless him where ever he is now.

Another great shift in conciousness for me occured as I was driving aimlessly in the beautiful mountains south of SanDiego at 2 AM in 1985. Yes 1985. I don't usually remember dates very well but I bought a new truck that year that I still drive... but I digress.

The shift. I was listening to my radio as I wound my way through the dark hills and I found some NPR broadcast of an interview with Annie Dillard. I couldn't believe it. Mentally , physically, I was in the middle of no where and here was an interview with someone whose writing I just adored.

You know what she said that caused my shift? Of course not. So I will tell you. The interviewer asked if her wonderful prose came out in just the form we read it in.

Well, Ms Dillard was agast - 'Good lord no!' (or some simular exclamation) She went on to describe her process as sitting down to write and making a HUGE mess until she knew she was done.

Then, and only then, she would allow herself to look critically at her work. And she would change things. Not just a little but like major surgery. Hacking and slashing and stitching things back together untill she started to get the form that her 'critic' knew was good.

This was a revolution in my understanding of the writing process. I could never have imagined Annie Dillard making a mess of any writing of any kind any where at any time. And yet it was so.

So I'm enjoying immensly this thread and all the interesting contributions so far. I'm keeping an eye on you people.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

Ok how did I miss this post??! Chemo-brain stikes again!!

I write. For me it has to just happen, just jump out the on the paper. It's nothing that is planned. It's a kind of therapy. I haven't written anything in a few years, nothing has come to me that has had to get out. Surprise even with all that has been going on this year with the cancer.

I write poems:
http://www.geocities.com/wolfwindspirit/poems.html

and I also write Native American Tales
http://www.geocities.com/jerzgrlc/STORIES.html
Mine are at the bottom of the page.

Hope you like