Ransom Noble's Blog, page 24

A Way to Beat Writer's Block

Ever heard of plinky.com?

Every day plinky sends out a prompt or challenge. Today's is "What's guaranteed to make your roll your eyes?"

It's an interesting idea. Some of them are more writerly compared to the personal one above. "Fictionalize a real argument you've had. Write only in dialogue."

Some verge on the silly: "Write a haiku about the last meal you ate."

For someone struggling with ideas to write about, it might help. (I know someone's going to point me in that direction for my lack of e...

Character Interview

An interview is sometimes a good way to get involved with a new character. It might not start ideas for new characters (at least, I don't use it that way), but it can really solidify an idea of the person in your head and on paper.

There are sheets out there to use to generate ideas for characters; some of them include everything under the sun from where she was born to why she went to eighth grade wearing pink shoes. While it's awesome to know all this information, not all of it should be...

Why Do You Do What You Do?

I vaguely remember when I was five – I wanted to be a bus driver. It was one of those passing fancies. I don't remember if it was driving the big vehicle around the town or picking up and dropping off all the people, but that was what I wanted to do. For at least a week.

There were random other thoughts between that time and when I started thinking seriously about The Future. When do we think we're old enough to decide what we really want to do For A Living? And why do we think we have to...

A Guide to Life

Sometimes I pick up books with titles spouting wisdom, like "everything a girl needs to know in her 20s" or "how to run a modern household." Some of the information is always new, and some of it I know. I just find it interesting to read.

I suppose part of the reason why is to gain perspective into what others might want, to use as a character (possibly) or to use the information in a story. Of course, that would mean restricting it to the real world, but all sorts of items can be adapted to o...

A Question of Character

A writer friend of mine attended a weekend conference in Iowa City about character. He wrote to me about some of the activities, and suddenly one of the ideas I'd been working flared into something I had to work on right away.

So one of the plots I've been toying with now has a character. I may not be exactly sure what she looks like or what her name is, but I did see part of her world. It also brought me into her mind for awhile, which was more of what I needed to get connected to her.

Because...

Blueberry Girl, by Neil Gaiman

Blueberry Girl was a gift to my daughter by a friend of mine. It was written by Neil Gaiman, and illustrated by Charles Vess.

It's a beautiful book with full-color illustrations. A little repetition keeps her attention and large words (I hope) spark her vocabulary.

I know she's only one, but she listens to everything. She says more words every day, and though they're not completely clear, she's getting more expressive.

I haven't let her pick this one up and carry it around the house yet. It's...

Description

How do you know when it's too much or too little?

I usually err on the side of 'not enough'. I work while I revise to make certain the world, the character, and the actions are shown enough for the reader to make sense of it. Sometimes I keep too much of it in my head in the first draft.

There are exercises to work on description, but they don't change what I do as I write. I'm getting better at finding the line where the descriptions are needed, but I never want to put in too many.

I've never b...

And Add an Inch

It's odd advice that I received from a non-writer friend of mine, but it's very pointed and helpful. I need a little bit of extra on one part of the short story, but not a lot. She guesstimated it would add an inch to the story (which is less than 1000 words).

I find it very interesting to get advice that way. It was more specific than I thought it would be, and it's great.

It'll be submitted in no time. Sometimes it's better to get an opinion from someone other than another writer. [Though...

What do you do?

What do you do when the words won't come?

The ideas swim in my head like koi in the pond at the zoo, but when I try to string a sentence together, nothing's coming out just yet. Not even blog posts- as you can see by my absence.

I'm curious what others do to beat the block. Lately I'm researching and taking a lot of notes.

A Working Schedule

Schedules don't have to be bad things. Work has to be done, and it's better to do it when you're fresh – or at least when you're ready to do it.

When I sit down to write, it's when my daughter goes down to nap. I suppose it doesn't really matter what time of day it is, it's just very difficult to concentrate on my book when she's awake.

I hear a lot of advice saying to write before she gets up, but I don't normally get up before she does. I often keep at it after she's asleep, but that's only b...