Rabid Space Dog

This is the first of series of posts that I’ve been working on for a while. I was hoping to make them a lot tighter, but I think it defeats the spirit of writing about writing. Expect this kind of “call” post once a week, followed on the weekend by a more in-depth “respond” post detailing more about the situation in my specific case of writing a short story.

You’ve got your idea for a book, short story, screenplay, video game, tv show, novella, etc. Not just any idea, but an amazing idea. Probably something that touches the human condition while simultaneously making the reader laugh/cry/pass-out in joy. You’re excited. You are ready to take this idea to town, literally and figuratively. The common mentality out there is to just sit down and write it, but that’s only half-correct. Here’s some things to do before you start that all-important first sentence:

1) Write your idea down. Anywhere. Just write it down and look at it. Make sure it’s written on something you can save, look back on, and edit later on. Don’t hold back, either. No matter what happens, you can always look back on this to not only remember your idea, but remember why you were so enthusiastic about it in the first place.

2) Outline your idea. Some people might think this is silly to mention, but others might completely forget to do an outline. Think of it like the human body. Before you can all the pretty stuff, you need a skeleton to tell you where all the pieces will go and hang off of. Just remember, no matter how big or how small, YOU MUST ALWAYS OUTLINE!

3) Think about all the possible things that will get in the way of your writing, and then figure out how to solve them ahead of time. Are you easily distracted? Do you need to be around people? Do you need lots of coffee? Most importantly, how will you find the time and keep yourself motivated? My biggest problems are time and motivation, and from even the most professional writers I’ve talked to, that still seems to be the case. Some people have dedicated times for writing, where they will forsake even the beckoning eyes of their significant other to write. Other people set specific, yet not unrealistic deadlines. There’s not one catch-all way that works for everyone, so my advice is to do everything. Set a deadline, then carve out writing time in your schedule, then find someone to hold you to it in one form or another.

4) Whatever goals you set, make them known externally. Tell your friends you want to have 10 pages done in a month. Post it on your blog. Find another person who writes and tell them your goal. Have them tell you theirs, and set a meeting where the two of you can meet up to read each other’s work.

5) Get yourself in the zone. Some people think this means some kind of state-of-mind where all you do is write your masterpiece. That can be good, but it sets your expectations very high. This can be a problem when you write that first all-important sentence, or when you get stuck trying to figure out what happens at the end of the first chapter. The real zone is a place where, to modify slightly how Orson Scott-Card puts it, you can simultaneously think that you are writing the greatest novel in human history while you think that you are going to write the worst piece of trash to ever see words strung together. This may seem odd, probably even daunting, but it comes back to realistic expectations. If you think you’re going to write the Great American Novel right away, anything short of that is going to be a let-down. But, especially for your first draft, you should expect to write something kind of crappy, which leads directly to the last item I’ve come up with that helps me write:

6) Don’t think of your first draft as “writing.” When working at my last job, I told a husband-wife team of screenwriters that I didn’t ever consider my first draft to part of the actual “I’m sitting down and writing a story” writing process. I think they were about ready to pass out as they thought about it, but when the breathing resumed a few minutes later, they told me it was a really clever idea. I’ve told a lot of other established writers I’ve worked with that idea, and they liked it too. Especially when you’re starting out and the wonderful weight of all your ideas is just ready to burst through and you’re just dying to get it all out there in just the right way, this is the most important thing to keep in mind. You’re not yet writing your story when you string that first set of words together. You’re writing a reeeeeeally detailed outline. You’re not going to show this to someone, you’re doing this to get the story down on paper. What’s great about this is that it also gives you some freedom. Holes in logic, awkward writing, and another problems you might encounter don’t have to be fixed before you move on to the next chapter or act. All you’re doing is writing to get it down, and the next draft is what you’ll start to show to people.

So, there you go. Try it out. And, to keep to my own tips, I’m posting now that I’m going to write two more chapters (I’ve already done the first) of a novella I have started in the next two weeks, and I’m going to share it with at least three people and any willing readers of this blog. You’ll hear more about the process in the next couple days.

I just finished giving a friend notes on his short story, something that I enjoy doing almost as much as writing my own stories. It helps that it’s a cool story to read as well. In a fun sequence of events, as I was finishing up the notes, I came across a post by Amanda the Aspiring TV Writer that recaps the same rules I was given and try to live by when both giving and receiving notes.

Most importantly, she hits on the most important aspects of criticism of creative work; don’t take it personally, and try to be nice, regardless of what end you are on:

. Sometimes notes can be crushing. We all have those times where you think you’ve written the best scene of your life only to find out that it wasn’t funny and nobody understood it and it was way too long. But it happens. Remember that there’s a reason why you were passionate about this idea to write it down - it’s just going to take work to make it the best it can be. Also, people often only make mention of the bad things, the things they think you should change. Negative notes don’t mean that your script is crappy.

Definitely take a look!