Writing Group

NaNoWriMo is over and has been for 13 days. Since then, my daily writing habits have wavered, coming and going in the face of holiday (which means Christmas, for me) activities. I met with my NaNo-buddy that lives near by, and we started talking about the old days when we felt compelled by the deadline to write and write. We did not write much, having had limited time to catch up on real life with each other. But, in the midst of talking about what we had been up to, the lament about not writing spurred me on to make the suggestion that we have a writing group. Which made me think that my friend and I might need a push in the right direction, namely, we might need an accountability group for writing.

Unlike AA, this group would hold people accountable for doing a behavior rather than not doing a behavior. Namely, I came up with a provisional idea.

The rule of my writing group: write five pages (or a chapter) a week and then let the group read it. Since there are two of us, that means we will be reading each other's work.

The second rule: each person is required to make the best criticism and the best compliment they can about the piece of writing.

Writing, Thinking, Walking

I thoroughly enjoy writing, but I have come to know that writing is hard work in a way that I have previously not known. When I am trying to write for fun and still write something well thought out, and additionally trying to live my life, I can get overwhelmed.

Going back through the archived Writing Excuses podcasts, I stumbled on the suggestion of one of the authors that taking a walk was how he cleared his mind and generated ideas.

This struck me as odd.

I have been making my mind work on the complications of writing my current story, have been thinking about principles of writing and how to do so. But I have not necessarily been allowing my mind to work on writing.

By "allowing my mind to work on writing," I mean that I have not given it downtime in which it can allow ideas to bounce around in a secondary space in my mind. Taking a walk sounded like a good idea.

I did not do it, because the sky grew overcast and flurries started falling, one by one. However, I feel that the free association is something that I could use.

While walking, I do not know if the author carried a pen and a notepad with. In my case, I believe I will. In case any stunning insight strikes.

The point here is that I have thought about how to write and have a sense of what the essential elements of fiction writing are. I have even written and seen these elements come together in some form.

While working on my second project, there is a time to plan and think through what is happening, who people are, and what I am going to do with the plot. There is also a time to let my mind wander in search of unrefined ideas that I can bring in and use.

Without a problem to solve, my mind will not be working on anything--hence the need for structure. But, with characters and a basic plot established, my mind has material to work with.

Part of what I need is time. Another part is variety of activity. Which is what I think the walk was supposed to accomplish.

Anyway, I guess I could better tend to this blog.

Perhaps I will make that one of my projects.