Veronica Bane's Blog - Posts Tagged "november-goals"
November goals and writing from life.
Hello all! I feel like it has been forever since I last checked in. October really was a blur. I'm excited for November to be a bit calmer so that I can generate more material, do more reading, and do more living.
November Goals
1. Finish current WIP by November 10.
2. Read (at least) five new novels.
3. Get started on holiday shopping early.
4. Finish knitting a scarf.
5. Start work on new piece and write at least 10,000 words by the end of November.
6. Enjoy the time I get to spend with my family and friends. I want to treasure the moments I'm given.
I want to talk a bit more about that last goal. As writers, we're often encouraged to lock ourselves away, to guard our work, and to shun companionship. Someone recently joked to me on Twitter because I call myself "the happy writer" in my bio. This person said, "A happy writer? You're not tortured? You sure you're doing it right?" I'm fully aware that it was light-hearted, but it got me thinking about why we have this view of writers as isolated and depressed.
In order to write, you need to live. You need to go walk through the city to see how the lights look when they're dying, you need to taste the different spices in a dish, you need to feel how the leaves this time of year crackle beneath your fingertips. How can you write about life if you don't go experience it? Characters need memories, and these memories should be vivid. You cannot know everything; science fiction writers have often written about planets they have never seen with great detail. But the details you can pull from this life can serve you well: pay attention the next time it rains and see how the water traverses your skin, and when you write about the rain on your made-up planet, use those details to guide you.
Of course, some experiences we go through are tragic and terrible. Some writers have been haunted by these, and their ability to so accurately recount these memories makes the moments visceral for their readers. Some have lived "tortured" lives. But there are many other writers who are so adept at capturing moments that they can take a small tragedy in their own life and use it to inform the greater tragedies that they write for their characters. I wrote my response on Twitter: "My characters are tortured, but I don't need to be."
No matter whether you're writing sad stories or happy stories or the stuff in-between, research can take you only so far. There must be life in you for there to be life in your writing. So, for this November, I will be writing down the sights, tastes, smells, and more that I notice during family dinners (awkward or otherwise), late night walks, and more. I'll bring some back to you all, and I hope you'll report back, too.
Until next time,
V
November Goals
1. Finish current WIP by November 10.
2. Read (at least) five new novels.
3. Get started on holiday shopping early.
4. Finish knitting a scarf.
5. Start work on new piece and write at least 10,000 words by the end of November.
6. Enjoy the time I get to spend with my family and friends. I want to treasure the moments I'm given.
I want to talk a bit more about that last goal. As writers, we're often encouraged to lock ourselves away, to guard our work, and to shun companionship. Someone recently joked to me on Twitter because I call myself "the happy writer" in my bio. This person said, "A happy writer? You're not tortured? You sure you're doing it right?" I'm fully aware that it was light-hearted, but it got me thinking about why we have this view of writers as isolated and depressed.
In order to write, you need to live. You need to go walk through the city to see how the lights look when they're dying, you need to taste the different spices in a dish, you need to feel how the leaves this time of year crackle beneath your fingertips. How can you write about life if you don't go experience it? Characters need memories, and these memories should be vivid. You cannot know everything; science fiction writers have often written about planets they have never seen with great detail. But the details you can pull from this life can serve you well: pay attention the next time it rains and see how the water traverses your skin, and when you write about the rain on your made-up planet, use those details to guide you.
Of course, some experiences we go through are tragic and terrible. Some writers have been haunted by these, and their ability to so accurately recount these memories makes the moments visceral for their readers. Some have lived "tortured" lives. But there are many other writers who are so adept at capturing moments that they can take a small tragedy in their own life and use it to inform the greater tragedies that they write for their characters. I wrote my response on Twitter: "My characters are tortured, but I don't need to be."
No matter whether you're writing sad stories or happy stories or the stuff in-between, research can take you only so far. There must be life in you for there to be life in your writing. So, for this November, I will be writing down the sights, tastes, smells, and more that I notice during family dinners (awkward or otherwise), late night walks, and more. I'll bring some back to you all, and I hope you'll report back, too.
Until next time,
V
