Does anyone write ?

[johnno]

Just a post to see whether anyone had attempted to write a piece of work and how did it go ? did you publish it ?

[sial72]

Do you mean related to anxiety or just in general?

[johnno]

Just in general :)

[fishman65]

I write poetry and a few have been about anxiety. The only trouble is that my anxiety-less readers just don't get them.

[Rennie1989]

I have written a novel in the drama genre and am currently writing the sequel to it. I also write blogs on mental health, the link is in my signature.

[johnno]

I wouldn't mind having a look at your poetry fish-man.


Ah, good to hear Rennie. I was asking because I'm at the start of writing a novel now. I was just wondering how you plan it all out/if you do and also do you get frustrated too ? lol

Have you published your novel ? How many words did you write ?

[Rennie1989]

The word count was 115,000 words, which I think translates into a big-ish book. I couldn't tell you how many pages that would be because it varies on font size. I want to read it through one last time before submitting it to literary agents because I have not been able to let go of it yet.

I believe the most important thing to plan are your characters. You need to know them better than most people you know in real life. You want to know the obvious things like height, build, likes, dislikes and so on but you should also plan what their fears are, what their bedroom looks like, what their bins have in them - these plan details like personality traits (laziness, perfectionist, etc). You want them to be as human as possible, avoid Mary-Sue's (the most 'perfect' or 'unperfect' character) because readers cannot connect to them. You want characters that have a mixture of strengths and weaknesses.

I have only planned storylines if I'm trying to weave plots and sub-plots together. Novels generally have a major plot and several sub-plots whereas short stories tend to have only one plot. I bought a whiteboard so I could plan plots, it enables me to scribble, draw lines, rub things out all within eyesight from my laptop.

I say to first time writers to not get bogged down on planning. If you have a scene in mind then just write it, forget planning it. And don't write in chronological order, I rarely start with chapter one, start writing what you have the inspiration to write, whether if it's that big climax or a conversation between characters.

A word of warning. Your first draft will never be your finished product. You will end up writing two or three other drafts before you've settled on something you like. This means that, yes, you will get frustrated and you will start hating your work, but it's the same in all areas of art, including writing. You will find yourself leaving it alone for a month before going back to it again, and that's OK.

And lastly, most importantly, write your novel for YOU, not for your friends or readers, it's your work and it is very personal to you, so enjoy writing :)

[Sam123]

The word count was 115,000 words, which I think translates into a big-ish book

:ohmy: wow. I loved to write as a child, if it were about something i really loved. Never seemed to have the patience to continue with the same story though, always resulted in 3-4 stories on the go.

[johnno]

Crikey that is a long novel :P
Yes I find that I'm just going along with it and just planning as I go if that makes sense ? If I struggle to continue the story I sit and think about it, mull over what I've already wrote and then write down how I can proceed, if I haven't already began writing again by then.

It definitely isn't easy, it is so satisfying when it flows and the words are like melodies to the mind but a nightmare when you stumble. I had a close shave today. I accidentally pulled the lead out of my laptop and my the laptop powered off. I thought my work had been wiped but luckily when I switched it back on it give me the option to recall all the work back, thank god! I would have been gutted.

I tend to start writing for me but then when I'm writing I start to think how a reader would perceive it. I try not to too much though just when I think it is necessary.

Cheers for the words of advice though, how long have you been working on the book already then ?

[Rennie1989]

' it is so satisfying when it flows and the words are like melodies to the mind but a nightmare when you stumble'

This and a thousand times yes!!

I would definitely advice to back up your work. Save it on USB sticks (more than one), send it to your email, save it on other laptops etc. Do what it takes.

This story line is a decade old but only in the last two years have I been able to write it in a way that does it justice. It's taken a long time writing it this time because of working full time, college, general married life etc. I have also had episodes of depression which have made it a struggle to write but, once I come out the other end, my writing has been fantastic (not blowing my own trumpet, of course!).

[johnno]

Yes, it just makes it a hundred times more draining when you suffer with anxiety and depression.

Yes I need to get some backup for my laptop like because I think it is on its way out to be honest :/ needs a new fan for a start.

Good to hear, well it sounds like you have your life in order and you are moving in the right direction :) You must be quite busy though ? what are you studying ?

Ah so do you not suffer as much anymore ?

[Sam123]

Good advice there Dave

[johnno]

Hi Davit I've noticed that you tend to write in an informative manner in most of your posts. I would prefer if you would engage with the conversation rather than use the conversation to bring about an abstract explanation of 'how things ought to be' on the assumption that I either need it or want it.
I know many incredible authors that write in first-person, Hunter S Thompson is a magnificent author who used this in many of his books and it worked well, it allowed you to become the character.
There isn't rules ultimately but there are rules that can help some people, and that is the key, 'some'! If you look at all the great, well known authors, none of them seem to agree on how best to write.
I would rather you share your experience of your writing rather than you sharing some generic advice that you have possibly gathered from reading from other writers. I have read many a writers accounts on how best to write, I can appreciate many of them but I don't enjoy it when people repeat what others have said when they haven't give any reason for me to believe they have stepped their toe in the water.

[johnno]

I asked if anyone had attempted any writing of their own and how it went. So I didn't ask a question that could be correlated to your answer. It isn't necessarily a matter of 'the' answer but more to do with your aphoristic attitude which seems to indicate you want no involvement in a discussion and just use it as a mean of expressing knowledge or information, for whatever reason.
I don't say this to insult you, I just want to be clear that I wasn't really asking to hear advice. I've heard countless amounts of advice on writing and none of which I wholly agree with. I was just wanting to open up a discussion :)

[MyNameIsTerry]

I'm confused, Rennie seemed to say the same? :shrug:

Yeah, making sure you have your word processor programmes set to "auto cache" is very very important. The amount of times I've seen people in offices lose their work due to a crash and even my own at times, well it was very frustrating to say the least! If you want to say money you could probably upload it to one of these free cloud or webshare sites or even several. Some programs like Norton or Office seem to give out clouds thesedays and I've got a cloud & share facility for so much space with Google just for having my email with them.

[Davit]

I was thinking of putting a couple page exert from a storey because I don't think many have lived on a shore of a big lake among the cree but I can see the ravens picking it apart so I won't.

Terry, PM is starting to feel like a nice cozy cabin. And there is always Email. I'm getting good at deleting single posts, Back to my movie.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I would like to see it. I recall Blue Moon saying she was interested too, so by all means post it, Davit.

[johnno]

Aye I need to sort out a backup soon especially when I start writing alot more it would be devastating to lose so much hard work.

Davit I would love to see your work and I wouldn't be insulting to your work at all. I'm hardly in a position to judge but just merely out of interest at other people's work :)
I go to a poetry group and it is always great to hear other people's written work.

[Rennie1989]

Right, back on track we go!

(I didn't see Davit's posts before he deleted them)

How is the writing coming along, Johnno?

[johnno]

I haven't done any today but last night before I went to sleep I wrote a few topics in which to structure the first chapter. Just been sorting out CV today. Applying for an apprenticeship at 27 feels really weird lol

[Rennie1989]

That's a good start :) I've started reading my novel for the last time before dishing it out to family and agents. Last time, I promise you all!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Interesting thread here for you, Johnno:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=170736

[mezzaninedoor]

I write poetry, which I perform from time to time at festivals and open mic, when my head is on the right way

I have a BLOG that I wrote for, very rarely though,
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12267884-tony

[mezzaninedoor]

got that link completely wrong, this is my BLOG :-

http://tonyamis.blogspot.com/