Making Writing Fun

For some reason last year I lost the ability to sit still and write for hours on end so I have been trying over the past few months or so to write in bursts.
I write until I find myself starting to go back and edit the day's work [okay, the last hour's work]. Then I stop and shut up shop for half an hour or so, put the laundry on or go for a walk around the block... anything that takes me away from a computer screen [surfing over to Mythic Scribes does not count as time away from the computer!!!].
If it is a walk I've opted for I usually bump in to a neighbour and their dog [everyone outside seems to have a dog...] and we chat for five minutes.
Half an hour is usually just enough time for me to clear what was in my brain and start thinking about what I want to happen next [and not get sucked back in to exactly how to say it first time round].
I seem to be getting a lot more written and getting in to the story faster. Also it means that I'm getting used to working when I can and not having to plan DAYS of writing. It makes organising life easier...
I normally stop and walk away after a few of these mini session with my head buzzing about what happens next.
and maybe, just maybe, walking is actually good for you after all...

 

I'm incredibly lucky being a commuter. When I get on the train in the morning for my one hour journey, I flip open the lap top and I am instantly in the world of whatever story I'm working on. Very frequently I suddenly realise I've reached my station and fly into a panic to get my laptop away and negotiate my way to the door...put my work brain on.

I cherish that hour every morning. Because it is limited I use the time really well and really look forward to it, every time.

Writing is fun when you only have very limited time to do it.

And when I have lots of time?

Go for a run to get the endorphins flowing...have a shower...pour large glass of wine...get stuck in.

 

Hi,

For me writing is fun because I'm actually discovering the story as I write it. I'm a complete pantster. So I have no plot in mind when I write. Not even a major outline. And as for the mini plots and scenes I don't know what they are either until I write them. So it's a completely creative process without the need to write within confines of plot etc.

That may be a part of why I hate editing. When I'm doing that there's nothing new to learn / read. (Of course the other part is that editing sucks!)

Cheers, Greg.

 

A what now? Is that like...flying by the seat of your pants?

I totally feel you with editing being hard. The creative vision gets lost (at least for me) amidst the "fixing" it. This also why I don't like outlining. When I'm writing from an outline, I feel so boxed in. Right now, I am expanding was what a synopsis into actual writing--and it has NOT been fun. I feel like the writing is crappy. So, to keep myself from being totally bummed out, I am writing in 10-minute bursts and doing something fun in between. Yesterday it was gladiator duel on PS move.

 

Seriously, you have to find a way to make editing fun.

My own way is to identify passages which don't quite work and then either delete them or turn them into gold. Both are important. If a scene isn't part of the story spine, it has to go. If it is part of the story spine but doesn't quite work, it has to be fixed.

I've been writing long enough to really enjoy that process.

 

Writing is always an unpredictable mix of fun and stress for me, but either way, I just enjoy writing something. Three things I do to make writing fun... I have a Tumblr blog for breathtaking pictures I find that are relating to what I'm writing (looking at them always gets me excited), music (the majestic, grab-your-sword-and-FIIIIGHT! kind), and isolation (can't have little sisters peeking over your shoulder and pointing out every spelling mistake, now can we?).

I'm a mix of planning and pantsing. I plan on sticky notes, bright yellow ones that are literally scattered ALL OVER my room. The thrill of entering another world is what makes it fun for me.

 

I have always been somewhat of a loner, so the characters are my friends and I regularly hang out in fantasy land somewhere. Ha ha. What makes writing fun for me is the creation of a story. Writing is a journey, and that's what life is, right? I also love to come on these forums and share in the experience with other writers. But I especially love to write my stories and send them off to be read. Knowing that I'm writing something which will entertain others and hopefully reach them emotionally all makes writing fun for me. I also like editing because making the story more readable is always a plus.

 

Hi,

Thanks T Allen. You put that so well. My own description would be that its someone who sits at the keyboard with absolutely no clue what he's going to type and then loses himself completely in the creative process. I write what my fingers tell me to do! So writing for me becomes a constant "aha" process. That's what's fun about writing for me. Which is why editing isn't. There are no "aha" moments. Instead it's writing to a script and I have no moments of discovery within it.

Cheers, Greg.

 

One of the major ways I make writing fun for myself is by making the most of each day. What I mean by that is I do as much as I can when it comes to learning. I try to learn at-least something each day, and it may not even be anything related to what I'm currently writing. Yet, with each knew thing I learn a spark is started. A spark that slowly ignites into an infernal that makes me just want to slap it onto the page.

However, just because I want to put it on the page doesn't mean I do. If the idea can't fit into the story I am currently writing then I store it away on a piece of paper/phone. Setting it up in such a way that I see it at-least once a day which keeps that flame burning. That flame in turn gives me my drive to finish what I currently am doing.

Though, to make sure I actually still have interest in the current story I always look it over. Trying to spark new ideas that could, realistically, be added into it. That not only fit within the stories context, but also serve the plot and the world in some way. That gets me even more excited to finish what I currently have.

On-top of that, though, is world building. It helps me understand the world itself, and in some cases, like recently, I figure out that something should be replaced by something else. I find it exhilarating in creating all these stories that some-how link with one another in some way. Making it so past events have a foot mark in the future ones for example.

As what ever happened during X makes me think about the ripple effect into the future. Then once I realize the most intriguing and plot advancing impact I seize it. Implement it into the story if it is applicable, and get excited to either go back to add it, come revision time, or get to the chapter that the impact comes into play.

That is the core of what makes writing fun for myself.

 

Never underestimate the power of a good monkey wrench thrown into the story.

For me, the most fun I have in anything comes from problem solving. Writing is problem solving on a massive scale. Everything in the story is a problem, needing to be solved, and if it isn't...what's it doing in the story anyways? Even the world building (the just becauses) and the back end work of character development/creation is problem solving. My job is to make sense of why it's there and how it became that way and why it's now relevant to the larger story problem.

Two series come to mind as excellent ways to illustrate making the writing (and reading) process fun: Sookie Stackhouse and Anita Blake. (I know I don't typically like Urban fantasy, but of the genre, these are the two I like.) I can see where Laurell K. Hamilton must have gone, it needs something else in here to make the story even better, oh here's a monkey wrench to wreck Anita's plans. I can see where Charlaine Harris said, oh things are going too well for Sookie, let's make things worse for her.

I suppose this is just a rehash of the "what's the worst thing that you can do to your characters. Alright now go do that." writing advice, but it does work.

Although there have been many times where I get an idea mid-writing sprint, that are not necessarily bad news for my characters, but do pose interesting dilemmas and choices and problem solving opportunities for them.