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seventhfracture · 2 years

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I got this question from a gorgeous friend on Twitter;

And I’ve done another post about how I update consistently (here) which is the pseudo part 1 of this post. But let’s address the elephant in the room here; Van, how do I write a lot of words fast?

Let’s unpack.

Routine

For the record I do work a full-time job. Roughly 40hrs a week. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. I work 48 weeks a year. However, I write 361-ish days a year. The simplest trick to getting words down is scratching out time to write.

Part of making this easy for yourself is establishing a routine. If something has a place in your day it’s often easier to get done. It becomes semi mechanical. You stop thinking so much about starting and just focus on the doing.

Weekdays and weekends I tend to eat dinner fairly early. And, after cooking and eating, I usually feel dirty so I shower. The meal with my gf and the shower are anchoring points. They happen during the week and the weekend. They don’t move. They give me a chance to be social and to unwind my mind to a more playful frame of mind. The food also helps me refuel for doing a little more. So, after I shower, I sit down at my computer and I write. I write every night from 7pm to 9pm. This is also when I tend to post my updates; at the start of my writing time.

Sometimes ‘writing’ time becomes ‘writing admin’ time. I think it’s important to respond to as many reviews as possible so I try to take time to reply. I also post 3xs a week (4 with collabs) so I need to edit chapters that are going up. This is fine. The important thing is that my brain is trained to know that at this time, every day, we do creative writing or tasks associated with my creative writing. (I would exclude reading from this. Reading is very valuable. You need to consume content to make content, but consuming content is not the same mind frame as making content.)

I can’t tell you what’s going to work for you. Maybe you don’t have a full-time job but maybe you do have kids. Maybe you’re doing a degree. I have friends who work in the industry writing all day in magazines or for video game developers. After 8hrs of writing they find it hard to work on their own projects at the end of the day. This routine works for me. Specifically because of my lifestyle, my habits and the fact that after 8hrs of spreadsheets I’m aching to play. The important note here is that you need a routine. It will help you focus.

What about inspiration? Throw it out. I write because I physically can’t not write. And, no, I don’t have inspiration every day. Hell, some people would argue I’m not inspired any days. You just show up and you put words on the paper. Sometimes that’s going to suck but if you keep showing up your brain, your muse, your inspiration, your whatever will start to show up too. If you sit around waiting to be inspired you might start things but you’ll never finish them.

Inner Critic

For all first drafts the inner critic has to be hogtied. Golden rule. First drafts are play. You are telling yourself the story. It is in effect a practice run and, during a practice run, you are allowed to make any mistake in the book. The point is just to get words on paper. We can clean them up later, but you can’t edit a blank page.

I know this is hard. Some of us have very sharp voices in our brains looking for any chance to self-flagellate. And it’s easy to be insecure. Especially if you’ve failed before. But if you want to want to write and especially if you want to get something written fast you need to turn off your inner critic.

First drafts always suck. Don’t expect them to be great. You’re not baking a cake. Second drafts are baking. First drafts are just buying the ingredients. You wouldn’t look at a pile of ingredients and go “what a shitty cake!” because you haven’t started baking.

But I want to make art! We all want to make things that are meaningful. But if you’re second guessing every dialogue tag, googling 14th century archery or putting ‘growled’ into a thesaurus you’re only going to slow yourself down. And, in my experience, people who set out trying to make really life changing art first instead of just expressing themselves and having fun make shit writing, let alone shit art.

Roadmap

You do not need to plot your story. Let’s be clear. I do not plot. I know a lot of very talented people, who I respect, who don’t plot. But you need something.

Well, two things.

First, you need a goalpost. This can be your premise; “two characters are stuck in a box and one of them has a knife.” And maybe wrapped up in that you have a specific scene you want to hit. That’s a goalpost.

Second, you need an anchor. I never stop a writing session at the end of a scene. Sometimes I don’t even end the sentence. Being in the middle of something gives you a solid jumping off point when you come back next time. You’d be surprised how many times I ended a scene thinking “I’ll write X tomorrow” and then tomorrow arrived and I’d fucking forgotten where I was going. Or, worse, I’d lost the vibe.

Practical Exercises

Okay, Van, this is fine. But how do I turn off my inner critic? How do I start?

Timers: An easy way to shut up your inner critic is to put your body into crisis solving mode. When you need to stop someone from bleeding you don’t criticise how you’re applying the bandages. You just grab what you’ve got and apply pressure to the wound.

Writing is like that.

Set a timer. Start small. 5 minutes sort of small. And tell yourself to write as much as you can in that time. This means no editing as you go, no stopping, no picking a different song on your playlist… just write!

Did you do it?

Good, how many words did you get? Great, now set another 5 minute timer and beat that word total. Go!

Rinse, repeat.

When you train yourself to focus on the doing, not the editing, your brain will start to do so automatically. Your brain will get less itchy about editing and better about working on what it needs to do. You’ll be able to set longer timers and hit bigger goals.

This will also improve your speed and your productivity.

Word goals: Goals are great. They help us track progress and they help us improve. They help weight lifters get stronger and build muscle. You are building muscle.

Your goal is pretty irrelevant in practice. Some published novelists try to hit 200 words a day, some hit 12 pages, some settle for 10 words even if they don’t know what order they’re in. That’s fine. They don’t even have to be good words. They just have to be on the page.

Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) happens every November. The standard goal for participants is 50K. Which is a good sized novella and a solid fanfic. That averages out to 1,666 words a day. Nanowrimo feels this is achievable for most people who want to write creatively, at least for 30 days. 30 days, conveniently, is also how long some people thing it takes to establish a habit. If you need a number start at 1,666. I do nanowrimo every year. I tweeted it last year. There are a whole community of people who participate and support each other. But it also doesn’t need to be November for you to try this.

A warning: It is important to specify here that I write for fun. First, and foremost, writing is my reward. It’s play. I love doing it. I’m a hobbyist. I don’t get paid a cent for the stuff I write. But I don’t care because I love it.

You should always be having fun. Whatever fun looks like for you.

If you are not having fun, then stop.

You have a lot of wonderful things to give to the world. You have a number of creative gifts. And there are a plethora of ways to express yourself. This doesn’t have to be your thing and if it’s not that doesn’t mean you’ve failed. You’re just finding your groove. But writing- art- should not be work unless you are specifically getting paid for it.

Have fun!

Resources Some books I’d recommend on writing, and writing fast;

Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott Writing Down to the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg Consider This, by Chuck Palahniuk On Writing, by Stephen King

#writing #creative writing #how to #fanfic #how i do it anyway

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seventhfracture · 2 years

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I was asked recently to write the blurb for a collaboration “because you’re good at those” and that got me thinking in greater detail about how to write blurbs. Because, right now, the blurbs I write are largely instinctive. I know how to throw the pitch together. Mainly because I get a lot of practice trying to explain my WIPs in 100 words or less to people I am talking to for advice/guidance/etc.

But what’s the basic science of a blurb that will get someone in the door?

Formula

Most basic blurbs have three key components: 1 who is the main character? 2 what problem are they solving? 3 what are the stakes?

Now you can write appealing blurbs using just one or two of these elements, but they flow together, as a trio, in a very pleasing way if you can master the chemistry of getting them all on the page in under 150 words. This also tells the reader a lot of information to make an informed choice and helps get them excited.

Now you don’t want to summarise the whole story. If I know from the label how your 38K novella is going to end why do I need to pick it up? But you want to orientate. In some cases a good blurb will carry people through a chapter of set up without complaint. Even if the set up is boring. If I know that at the end of chapter 1 your main character is going to realize she’s in a time loop. I’ll be much more forgiving about having to read 200 words about her brushing her teeth.

I’m going to walk you through a couple of my blurbs. Just to break this down.

Most of my blurbs start with the narrator’s name as the very first word. This blurb establishes in the first sentence that this is L’s story and tells us some key things about him. He’s eccentric and he’s rich.

Alright so character’s done. Next, we move immediately into the ‘problem’ or premise of the story. L, our main character, has acquired a mermaid. Neat.

Finally, we’ve got to establish some stakes. Now I don’t outright say here that Kira is a threat to L’s life. But it’s heavily implied that Kira is physically dangerous, and that L’s life is at risk if he isn’t careful. I also imply there’s an element of deception between the “has even more brains than teeth”. This flags both “brains” and “teeth” as risks. That said these stakes are clearly small scale and personal. We’re not going to be dealing with the fate of England. We’re dealing with L’s fate exclusively.

This tells the reader a lot about the nature of the story. In only three sentences. It’s clear, its succinct, and if you’ve read the fic you know that the label pretty accurately describes exactly what’s inside. It’s a promise and that promise is fulfilled.

Here we get a little wordier, but the rules are the same. I start off by providing some context for the anime fans. “After thirteen months Kira”—so now we know this is Light’s story. This is also a basic alteration from the canon in because we’ve said Kira has been “totally unhindered” which most fans will immediately realize means; Light has not met L in this timeline. So we’ve established Light is narrating and we’ve given anime fans some anchoring points. We also establish, in the first sentence that the problem is “Light and Ryuk draw the unwanted attention of the Shinigami King”. That’s a big problem and it implies some world changing stakes.

Honestly, I probably should’ve stopped at the first sentence.

The rest of the blurb is pure enticement. I am giving the reader some temptations. I make it clear L is the Shinigami King in this AU, that there’s going to be some roommate shenanigans and that Light is going to try and figure out how to kill a god. This is because I know my audience and I know some of these tropes are appealing to people in the community. It’s Christmas lights. It says “here’s some reasons you might want to read this”

Again, first sentence introduces our narrator and lead; L. Second sentence is problem; sentient, dangerous, AI. Third sentence, with the context of the previous two, implies that L and Tokyo-3 are both in danger form Kira.

It’s pure formula.

However, this kind of thing also works with smut fics—

L’s name is the first word here. And we’re talking from L’s perspective so clearly he’s the narrator. Then in the next sentence, in conjunction with the tags, we outline the problem and the stakes; L is getting handsy while he thinks Light is asleep, but Light is awake. Whatever will happen? Short, sweet but it begs the question and people will want an answer.

And this is a pure smut fic!

But the logic of how you set up a blurb remains the same.

What’s on the can

Now this formula we’ve been discussing is solid. But you’ll notice that, at times, I don’t say things explicitly. I imply them. But my audience clearly know what I am implying and I trust that they know that.

So how much can you imply? And how do you know what you can safely imply?

Know your genre.

Whether you are writing fanfiction, original stories, romance, sci-fi or horror there is baggage that accompanies each and every one of those tags. As a fanfic writer I get to assume that my audience knows the canon. We start with that baseline understanding. Therefore, I can assume they’ll know when I’m deviating or not.

Likewise someone who reads a lot of romance knows romance tropes and common set ups. So if I say “Light didn’t expect the Shinigami King to move in with him” a seasoned romance reader knows that’s prime set up for a roommates storyline, maybe even some fake dating.

Now while you don’t want to summarize in your blurb you also don’t want to mislead. Your blurb should be a clear indication of the content of your story. This is so the people who will enjoy it can find it and read it. You don’t want to trick the wrong people into reading your story because, chances are, they’ll be unhappy.

Be honest, and know your genre.

Alternatives:

I mentioned above that you can write a good blurb with just one or two of the formula components. So what are some viable alternatives to the kind of classic blurb we’ve been discussing?

The Hook Alone

This single sentence is doing all the leg work of a 150 word blurb. I haven’t even said who’s narrating. But I’ve posed a question that will get any Death Note fan itching in their seat. They will instantly know what I’m referring to. It’s simple, it’s concise, but it opens a massive can of worms. And I can be this concise because I know my audience and my genre.

The Snippet

Now these snippets are both from early in the first chapters. And I didn’t just pick them randomly to convey the vibe or the atmosphere of the story. These snippets convey the entire premise of the story. Both stories. That’s why I chose them.

In the “Prime Suspect” example I’ve conveyed the same things I would in any classic blurb- 1. Character: L is narrating 2. Problem: Light has lost his memories but chosen to confess to being Kira 3. Stakes: If they don’t stop Kira’s plan lives will be lost

Again, these snippets come preloaded with a lot of information that fanfic readers and fans of the Death Note series will be familiar with. Knowing that means I don’t have to waste time explaining every detail. And knowing that helps me know what I can convey and imply in a single snippet. But I did have to be selective about what snippet I chose.

Snippets are great for fanfics. But there’s no reason why a snippet approach or a hook approach wouldn’t work for an original short story either. You would just have to be aware of what your audience implicitly understands and use that to your advantage.

To Avoid

Ideally your blurbs should always be short and succinct. They should be easy to follow. But there are a couple of mistakes I see people make that you should avoid.

“I suck at writing summaries” This doesn’t engender confidence in your writing abilities for an audience. But it also doesn’t give the reader’s much to go on in terms of what they might like about your stories.

I saw a great post about how people notice 100% of the mistakes we draw their attention too. Chances are people won’t know you feel uneasy about writing blurbs unless you tell them. And, secretly, everyone finds them hard. Just give it your best shot. Any blurb will be better than saying “I suck at summaries, please read anyway”.

Don’t Insult Your Readers I shouldn’t even have to say this, but I have seen it. Things like “If you appreciate real stories, not just porn, you’ll like this” or “to put it simply for anyone slow…”

These tell me that you’re a jackass. And I’m instantly turned off anything you make. Insulting someone is not a good strategy to get them to listen to you or engage with your content. It often invites people to be a lot harsher towards you than you necessarily deserve because you’ve started the interaction in an aggressive tone.

To be honest, ploys like this are often a glaring red flag for me that the author is insecure and lacks confidence. If you feel you have to insult me before I’ve even read the first chapter of your story that tells me, regardless of actual quality, that you don’t think your story is any good. Have a little more faith in yourself!

#writing #creative writing #how to #how i do it anyway #blurbs #summaries #summary

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