Tag Archives: creativity

Return to the Nightly Blackout

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Time Line for A Heresy in FlamesAs I sit down to write this, I have seven minutes until blackout. Okay, that sounds bad. I’m fine. I’m sober. I actually just drinking a coke and will switch that for tea in a bit.

However, after some recent chiding, both from friends and that wall in the photo above, I decided it was time to get back off my ass and get to editing. Again.

If you recall, I’d started the Blue Pen (story, flow, pacing) edits of my novel ages ago. Then life got busy, or editing got hard or whatever excuse I want to come up with. Damn, that was two minutes? Okay, so, long story short, I stopped. And I stopped for a long time, like the better part of a year.

But I’m back now. And I’m cruising through the Blue Pen edits as quickly as I can. That way I can get through the Red Pen edits and then start shopping this book about.

And writing the next.

But, in order to do that, I’ve imposed a strict communications blackout each night. Two hours of solid editing. No Googling. No Twitter. No text messages or phone calls. Just me, that massive timeline above, and Scrivener.

Okay, three minutes. Time to start the tea.

Oh, before I go. I’ve got a title. It’s no longer Project Kingdom. The book is now called “A Heresy In Flames.”

A Writer’s Tool Chest

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In my article at ProWritingTips.com, I laid out five basic reasons for writing an outline before launching into fiction writing. While these particular tips were tailored for fiction, they were in no way meant to be a definitive guide to outlining. I left out a great deal of detail like how long or in depth an outline should be. Honestly, the article was selfishly tailored towards novels, as my novel is my highest priority.

The wonder that is fiction is drawn from the lack of exact solutions. There is no surefire, one-size-fits-all solution to writing fiction. Attempting to create one would at best leave the creative process hobbled and stifled, and at worst would kill it outright. The bit about a hundred monkeys with a hundred typewriters is pure hogwash.

But, writers do use tools. There are different tools for different projects. There are different tools for different points within the same project. Typically, the writer isn’t even limited to just one tool at any given moment.

The solution that I’ve found works best for me, is to keep myself open to as many tools as possible. After all, my primary goal is to become the best that I can at writing. I have a desire, so strong that it borders on sin, to craft stories in which the reader cannot turn away from. It’s an addiction, and if I can find a better high, I’m likely going to look at it. And I’m likely going to look at it here, or at ProWritingTips.

However, when addressing the topic of tools, the sheer selection means that any instruction on the art of writing will invariable A) leave something out, B) list a method that isn’t exactly applicable with a writer’s current situation, and C) list a method which has several alternatives.

With option B, there isn’t much I can do for you. However, with options A and C, I urge you to speak up. We are, after all, a community. I’m just doing my part to add tools to your writer’s tool chest.

Defending Your Insomnia

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Found this little bit of news via Laura (of Olive Street Films). For those of us who are far more creative at night, and who naturally fall into a sleep pattern that has us turning in around 4am and waking up around noon, this will seem like a bit of vindication.

Apparently “night owls” are more creative. Granted, the sample size was small (only 120 people) so, it’s not completely sound. But given my own plethora of anecdotal evidence, I’m going to go ahead and say there’s merit here.

“Do your best work at night? Take solace as new research suggests that night owls are more likely to be creative thinkers.

Scientists can’t yet fully explain why evening types appear to be more creative, but they suggest it could be an adaptation to living outside the norm.”

Read the rest.

This also might explain just why I had so much trouble sleeping last night. I started ’09 off with a creative bender.

Anyone else have a favorite time to create?

[Eds Note - I did note that the news article is a few years old, but I'm running with it.]