A Writer’s Work…

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…how does yours get done?

We all have different work habits. Especially as writers. Are you a hammock writer? A couch potato writer? a Pelleton writer?

Do you write in frenzied binges and spend your other time roaming the beach or the neighborhood looking for inspiration?

How many projects can you (or do you) work on at once? How’s that workin’ out for you?

While working on at least two novels, I also managed to contribute a story to each of these anthologies– one at a time, of course.

I may have felt a little swamped.

I seem to have 2 modes of writing–or doing any major task. In Mode 1 I am keenly focused and dedicated to finishing said task . I won’t do anything else, day after day, until the job is done.

~ OR ~

In Mode 2 I work for a spell on each of my projects, raising them up together level by level until they are all completed.

It seems to be one or the other. I keep at it until the mode of the moment just breaks down; then I switch. Somehow I manage to get things done.

Participating in National Novel Writing Month taught me how to write at top speed and meet word count targets. Putting out a rough draft became a downhill, no brakes, free-wheeling bicycle run where the objective was to land at the bottom without crashing.

Writing for local newspapers and magazines taught me to write well while still meeting deadlines, an even more useful skill. It paid better, too.

As a freelancer writing fiction, I’ve had to learn to create deadlines for myself. It’s the only way I try hard enough to write within any kind of time frame. Alas, these deadlines remain soft, because, as we all know–life intervenes with the best of plans and it does no one any good to bemoan the interference of an emergency with our personally assigned “FINISHED!” line. Still, it is the setting of a deadline that reinforces our determination.

Another skill I am still cultivating has to do with revisions. When someone critiques part of a manuscript I’ve written, I try to implement the changes that work as soon as possible. I create a sub-folder in the folder that holds my manuscript file and deposit the critiqued, marked-up manuscript copy there. I go through and make the changes, then replace the old version with the new in the wip manuscript file. In effect, this marks off a mini-deadline, a benchmark by which I can track my progress and encourage myself to keep moving.

The current deadline for my primary wip is the end of the year. There are deadlines on other projects due between now and then, but that one is calling my name, alternately daring and begging me to meet it.

TIME FOR YOU ALL TO SHARE

1) How do you keep yourself motivated to produce? What are your tricks? How well Do they work?

2) What other quirky writing habit/method/process do you use?

Please share your response in the comments below.

TIP ~ INKAS ~ #4

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A quick reminder to followers, and an introduction for new readers, INKAS are a way I created to list the essentials of certain types of writing.

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There are roughly 20 different INKAS, and I’ve been introducing them one by one for writers who are unclear about the differences amongst them. (What are INKAS? …..  TIP ~ INKAS ~ #1) Collectively, for me, Story refers to any tale told – orally or in writing – and told in any form. It can be a true story, it can be done as prose, poetry, or in song. But breaking Story down into its different forms is necessary so that writers put the correct “ingredients” together, and also know when to break the rules a little. That’s how cooking works. You follow the recipe until you understand that type of cooking, then you experiment with other ingredients. Sometimes the cake rises, and sometimes it falls, but you’ve become a cook – or even a chef – who knows what they’re doing.

Here are links to the previous posts about specific INKAS.

Short Story …..TIP ~ INKAS ~ #1.1

Children’s Story & Children’s Story with Illustrations ….. TIP ~ INKAS ~ #2

Poetry …..  TIP ~ INKAS ~ #3

Today I want to talk about INKA #4:  Song Lyrics

songwritingINKA

Like poetry, songs express our innermost thoughts and feelings; they just do it with musical accompaniment. And sometimes the music is all there is.

Songs can tell a story or  describe a single moment hidden a person’s soul. However, song lyrics can’t be written same way as a poem. Song lyrics must go with the music, coordinating rhythm and mood so that the song makes emotional sense. Not to say a poem can’t become a song. It’s often a good place to start. But there are other considerations.

The various styles of music – country, jazz, opera, popular, show tunes – use different styles of lyrics in their songs. Some jazz songs have no specific lyrics at all but rely on improvised sounds from the performer, referred to as ‘scat’, that may or may not have included actual words. Modern hip hop combines vocal sounds – or beats – with  lyrics that are spoken rather than sung, rap. These lyrics are vastly different in both content and style from other styles.

There are even further breakdowns within the main genres. County includes bluegrass. Jazz includes blues and Motown. Opera encompasses a lighter version, operetta, and a more modern style, rock opera. Music keeps evolving, too. A writer wanting to write lyrics for a particular style needs to study that style for length, emotion, pace, and even the types of vocabulary most often used.

It only makes sense. I’ve belabored the point a bit, because it seems to be what new writers forget. If you want your writing to succeed in a given genre (musical or otherwise) you must first get to know that genre inside and out. Then, when you can’t get the sound of it out of your head, sit down to write.

Time for a commercial:      “Do You Know Where YOUR Story Is?”

Is it a germ of an idea? Is it a rough draft or work-in-progress? Is it on its way to a publisher? Writers need to keep track of their work, and knowing where you are in the process is part of it.

I’ve started a free newsletter on Substack  that will cover all aspects of Story – where it begins, where it goes, and how it gets there. Topics will delve into the purpose and value of writing groups, and the newsletter will feature guest posts from members of Off the Page & Under the Radar. the writing group I’m part of.  In addition, there will be samples of our writing, maybe even a serialized story for your entertainment.   Please take a look at “Do You Know Where YOUR Story Is?” today.