tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post8838970100149796504..comments2024-03-27T23:59:01.850-07:00Comments on Writing About Writing (And Occasionally Some Writing): The Mailbox: A Trio of SilliesChris Brecheenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07819138776404280633noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-85034201878821218812014-02-11T04:51:06.358-08:002014-02-11T04:51:06.358-08:00One minor character (who is becoming steadily less...One minor character (who is becoming steadily less minor, but hey...) kept changing between being Mike or Martin. I'd write one scene with one name, and then have him appearing in another with the other name.<br /><br />Eventually I just did a search & replace throughout to bring them all into line! I did try keeping notes of characters on files, but I realised it was becoming too much of a distraction, so now I've got a few half-finished lists lying around my dropbox that have completely different names, but tend to scroll back through the story to find out what I called people (if I need to).<br /><br />I think that I'm not going to be anything more than "having fun at it" until the kids are older - I have 1 teenager, 2 under-fives and work full-time. I'm beginning to accept that I just need to enjoy the writing I'm doing just now, and not allow being stressed about "not doing enough" to prevent me from doing any at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-29382357340664371222014-02-10T17:17:08.197-08:002014-02-10T17:17:08.197-08:00You're quite welcome!
A lot of very famous ...You're quite welcome! <br /><br />A lot of very famous writers got their break from some kind of part time situation. They may have gone on to be obsessive junkies, but they started writing on the subway or weekends or something while they paid the bills with something else.Chris Brecheenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07819138776404280633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-78389439196058960202014-02-10T17:09:34.513-08:002014-02-10T17:09:34.513-08:00(Terra here) Thank you!
I'm just adding chara...(Terra here) Thank you!<br /><br />I'm just adding characters as I need to. I have a MS Word document called "characters" and I write down their names and anything I need to keep track of (like hair color or birthdate) and leave it at that. I have about 1 page of characters. It works for me. Previously I bought Scrivener (the software) but it's so complex and such a time sink that I was never able to actually *write* anything in it due to all the futzing around. Now I just use one file for the story, one file for the characters, and one file for each country the book is set in (for things like "when is the rainy season??") and leave it at that. Paring down on the nonessentials has helped devote the majority of my time to actually WRITING the story. Yay! But I like to hear what other people do.<br /><br />I have been fending off Unsupportive Boyfriend and Netflix by watching TV with the laptop on my lap. It's not the best solution, but I did get about 20 pages written that way. But I think Unsupportive Boyfriend (who is really awesome, actually, and isn't actually used to Terra-as-writer yet) is figuring it out. He doesn't mind if I write all the time or talk incessantly about what I'm writing. (I hope.)<br /><br /> I was interested by what you wrote about obsession, addiction, and junkies. I actually stopped writing for a long time because I prefer to write 8-12 hours a day, and I couldn't fit college and work and stuff into that schedule. Right now I'm teaching myself how to write in 1-3 hour chunks, so I can get back to writing and actually develop some skill in it. But I'm discovering that, since I started writing, when I'm not writing I feel the urge to write. It's seriously like jonesing for a cigarette. I think about my book when I wake up and before I go to bed. I think about it when I'm watching my kids do work. It's actually interfering with my day job (teaching middle school), which isn't good for the kids. And on top of that, I try to read at least an hour every day, because my writing actually suffers if I don't.<br /><br />I spent a lot of time in my 20s talking myself into not writing. I said I didn't have the time. I said it was pointless to write anything at all if I didn't intend to publish it. Etc. But I'm finding that I actually DO have a lot of time if I can be satisfied with writing in smaller chunks and that ANY writing is good, whether or not it's intended for publication (though that remains the goal). I wish I hadn't talked myself out of being a writer way back when.<br /><br />Thanks for responding to my questions. Terranoreply@blogger.com