Putting Pen-to-Paper; how to get yourself to actually write something.

[ListenToLife]

So, I'm a massive procrastinator. Most of you will probably know this by now, if you know me. But lately it has been getting worse...or better, I should say. With life being all busy and stuff, I generally have no time to write, and even when I do I dont seem to be able to get my ideas on to paper.

So here's my question; how should I go about putting my thoughts down onto the electrical paper? How do I get what's in my head down onto the pages of this forum; because I use to write a lot, and now it's just gone.

[Not-so-Radiant Arin]

Here's an excerpt from "How to Write and Sell your First Whatever" from Oscar Collier called "Gearing up and Writing it". I'll only go over the necessary details.

[quote]This chapter could also be called "Where to write, when to write, and how much to write each day."

The first question that you should ask yourself is, "How much am I expected to write each day?"

[b]THE DAILY QUOTA - THREE PAGES[/b]

From what I have been told by many writers, three pages a day is a sensible quota. It is an amount which should keep you from panicking, because it's not asking too much. You can sit down and write three double-spaced pages-I know people who write letters longer than that.

It would be foolish to pooh-pooh the small amount and say "Oh, I can write five pages a day. Or six. [i]That's [/i]my quota. [u]Writers who set themselves too high a quota have been known to throw up their hands and drop the whole project. [/u]They become disappointed with themselves. With three pages, you will be proud of your steady progress and work more or less serenely, knowing that in just ninety days - three months - you will have the first draft of an average-sized book.

[u]Of course, if certain days you feel really creative and want to write more pages, go to it. But don't think this lets you off the next day from doing your three solid pages. [/u]

[b]WHEN SHOULD YOU WRITE - WHAT TIME OF DAY?[/b]

[u]Everyone has a time of day when he/she feels most alert. That's the time you should write.[/u] It doesn't matter when, as long as you go to it every day in the same place and at the same time so that it becomes as routine as getting up and putting on your clothes.[/quote]

So now, you've basically got two of the most important aspects down on paper right now. But when do you start writing?

[quote]
[b]ARE YOU READY NOW?[/b]

[u]Okay, you feel you are ready now.[/u]

[u]You have your plot, your characters, your ream of paper, your favorite place to work, and you know the time of day or night when you feel most alert. That magic moment is now approaching. Now do you sit down and start writing? [/u]

[u]No. Not for another minute or two. Or five, if that's what it takes. Because you still haven't decided exactly what you are going to write that day - what part of your novel.[/u]

[u]Sit down with your cup of coffee [/u](I don't recommend doing this due in part that coffee is the worst diarrhetic out there) [u]and your looseleaf notebook, or pace around with it, glancing at it and imagining the scene you are going to jump into, the dialogue of the characters you are going to have, or the description of the place where the murder of love scene or act of heroism is going to happen.[/u]

[u]Aha, you've found the segment that fits your mood this day? Good.[/u]

[b]PSYCHING UP[/b]

The rest of the first - and even tenth-time novelists say, "Oh God, how did I ever get into this? Who told me I can write - I'll fix him." The good news is that if the book makes the best-seller list (not important at the moment) eventually and you are making the grand tour to promote it, you will forget the pain and pacing of "book-birth" and be spouting all about the joys of writing.

[u]The problem is, you can't wait for inspiration. I know people who have spent a lifetime waiting for inspiration.[/u]

So, what can you do to get started? Plenty. You are going to psyche yourself up before each session. If I were doing it, I would tell myself something like this:

(I'm going to get just three pages done today. It's not much. Just three pages. I can hardly wait. I love the plot. I know exactly what I'm going to say in my first line today and after that, I'll just keep going. The rest of the three pages will come to me. I'll look at the notebook and I'll just keep writing. All I have to do is expand what it says on that page. I can hardly wait to get started. Here we go...)

[b]THE MOMENT OF TRUTH - HOW DO YOU WRITE THOSE THREE PAGES A DAY?[/b]

[u]You sit down. You don't doodle. You don't dawdle.[/u]

[u]You put your fingers on the typewriter or comptuer keyboard and you go.[/u]

[u]You do not stop until you have finished your three pages.[/u]

[u]You don't get up to look up a word; just put a question mark in the margin so you'll know where to find it later.[/u]

[u]You don't go to the bathroom [/u](this is why I don't particularly like the fact when he says to sit down with coffee, he kind of contradicts himself a bit) [u]unless kidney stones would result.[/u]

[u]Turn off your phone.[/u]

[u]You don't jump up and pace around trying to decide who says this or who says that or who reacts this way or that. Put both ways down and put a question mark in the margin so you can ponder on it and decide later.[/u]

[u]You just keep writing in a straight line shot at the plot you thought it through.[/u]

[u]If your characters won't speak up, do it for them, muttering out loud if you like, writing the dialogue as best as you can.[/u]

[u]You work a long time and suddenly you feel out of the mood. You want to quit for the day and make up for it tomorrow. Don't. Keep going. It's only [i]three [/i]pages.[/u]

The main thing is to keep your rhythm of work going.[/quote]

This book is like your writing technique bible, and it has helped me with my writing a lot. If there is something that still puzzles you, feel free to PM me. One of the things that I will tell you, however, is you have to find your own method of inspiration and what motivates you; people can't force motivation on you.

[Kōsuke Ueki]

O_O

Okay, Beginning said a lot more than I would say, so I think he's the guy to go to.

[ListenToLife]

That's actually incredibly helpful. Thanks. I might see if I can buy that book.

(And I guess I should cut down on the coffee then. >.> Dammit. But I think you mean Diuretic; not Diarrhetic. Diarrhetic is much worse; like one of the worst kinds of diarrhea or something. )

[Not-so-Radiant Arin]

Hmm, you're correct on that. Regardless, I hope this helps.

[Wahrheit]

Outline EVERYTHING. If it's just a story, figure out exactly what you want to say, in what format, in how many parts. From there figure out what should happen in each part. Just make big general plans, and then get more specific as you feel comfortable. From there it's just putting more sentences to each bit.

Same thing for essays. I always outline essays.

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Now that I think about, there is one thing I can help you with. If something comes into your mind, go with the flow and don't stop for any reason.

[ListenToLife]

The problem isn't what to write or anything like that. I can generally write stuff. It's actually getting down and writing it; how to start something is my problem.

[Dr. Cakey]

There's always National Novel Writing Month. Granted it only comes around once a year, but it was extremely helpful in forcing me to put words onto paper. And now I can get 50% off on a ton of random crap!

[Wahrheit]

[quote name='DaWeirdGuy' timestamp='1354649928' post='6085160']
The problem isn't what to write or anything like that. I can generally write stuff. It's actually getting down and writing it; how to start something is my problem.
[/quote]

OUTLINE ALL THE THINGS.

It works.