I’ve been told recently that I write too slowly. I will admit, my process is meticulous. I follow in the footsteps of Tom Robbins (swoon)* in which I try to make the most perfect sentence possible before moving on to the next one. There’s all kinds of research that happens and word-associations and trials and retrials. I realize that this flies in the face of most writing process advice, which is to just get as much down on paper and then edit afterwards, but I have to admit, that’s just not the way it comes out for me.
Lately, I’ve been trying to exercise my “sprinting” muscles a little bit more and one way of doing this is with oneword. It’s lovely for speed-thinking and writing and a nice little way to start a story.
So, here’s my challenge. Go on oneword, write for the sixty seconds that they give you and use something you write in those sixty seconds as the start or end of a story.
Ready? Go!
*It has recently come to my attention that for years I’ve been fostering a schoolgirl crush on a 77-year-old man. I am not sure how I feel about it, but Switters would be proud.
Good to know about this website. Very cool. Thanks for sharing.
This stands out as being highly encouraging towards 77-year-old men – except they will ask with some trepidation how many years you have to go to reach the age of consent!
I do sprints from time to time and they can be very helpful to get moving. Sometimes something great comes out of them too.
I know some writers use the same kind of process as you do but for me I free flow everything so I don’t lose the idea/character/flow of the story line. Then once I have written as much as I can I go back to edit.
How are your magazine submissions going? Do you write a different short-story for each and every one? How much time do you give to each individual submission?
Yeah, I finished my magazine submissions for now. I’ll be doing another round in December, but for now I am concentrating on NaNoWriMo. I don’t write a different story for each one. Most magazines accept simultaneous submissions. I usually give about an hour to each submission, it’s enough time to spend some time getting familiar with the magazine, modifying my cover letter and sending stuff in. I talk about all this in my posts on how I did the Submission Bonanza! I wrote a full how-to guide in August. Check it out (:
So good I printed it. Are you seeking to get a book published?
I loved your snow globe piece.
And, as an old timer, you have my permission to have a crush on anyone you choose.
Terry
[…] to this great post over at a lovely and inspiring blog for writers, Lightning Droplets, I am now aware of this great […]
I love the way you write. You have a truly magical connection with words.
Feels good to find you here in this virtual space!
Take care
~Deepa
Whatever works for you is how you are meant to write. For myself, I my best work comes rapidly. If I slow down that old internal critic gets in the way and sometimes, she takes over completely! It is the old adage once again. If it isn’t broke…
All of this being said, I believe I must always challenge myself. 🙂
There is so much on the Internet that is poorly written that it is a real pleasure to come across a blog with such well written content. I admire your determination to publish your material; it is well worthy of publication so keep it up.
I just signed up for oneword…thank you for the info 🙂
Thanks for the tip and the link, it seems like a cool experiment in writing! 🙂
Tom Robbins is a god. Love the Switters joke 😀
[…] at 17,165 words on one piece (I did write a few other things in November). You might know from my Write Fast post that I am not a fast writer, but in November, I averaged over 500 words a day. This is about […]
[…] Write Fast […]
[…] at 17,165 words on one piece (I did write a few other things in November). You might know from my Write Fast post that I am not a fast writer, but in November, I averaged over 500 words a day. This is about […]
[…] Write Fast […]