Writer's Net

I've been blogging about how to write in a more literary fashion.  However, this piece of advice is for any writer, whether they care about literary writing or not.  I was once told about the metaphor of the literary net.  When you're looking for something to fill your empty page, look around your world.  Recently, I was pruning a tree and thinking of coming up with a new story idea.  My net opened, and a story fell in.  I then went inside and wrote a piece of sci fi flash fiction from the point of view of the villain, who treated humans with as much care as she would dead branches on a tree.

One time, I had my writer's net open as I stood at a bus stop.  Three people in a row stopped by and either talked to me or gave me something like an extra bus token.  That led to another story idea.  A writer's net is a state of mind.  If you're mentally searching for a unique thought process, explanation, or history behind something you see in your world, you'll find an idea.

You can also flip to a random page and find a line.  Use some piece of that or an idea there as a jumping off point for a story.  Say you find, "The lions were watching."  Write a story about omniscient lions overseeing a world or anthropomorphic lions on a world of anthropomorphic animals or something like that. Ask yourself the question, "Why are the lions watching?  What are they watching?"  If you're using a literary piece, you can allude to it in your story.

Search your world for story ideas, for something strange or interesting going on around you.  Then start asking yourself what could really be happening in another world and why.  Live life like a writer, and you'll find an endless supply of subjects on which to write.

Heart Drafting

I've been writing about how to make one's writing more literary.  One of the best pieces of advice I've ever heard on how to write came from the movie "Finding Forrester," a movie about and for writers.  “You write your first draft with your heart, and you rewrite with your head.”  This isn't specifically about writing in a literary fashion but can be used by any writer.  When I started college, every paragraph was hard-fought because I did my research as I went along.  If I wanted a quotation, I'd look it up.  

After hearing this advice, I learned that, yes, I can and should do research first if research is needed.  If I'm writing historical fiction, I should first immerse myself in the time period.  If I'm writing about World War II, the French Revolution, the American Civil War, or anything else that requires research, I should first become an expert.  If I'm writing fiction, I should have a pretty good grasp on my content, have maps, plotting of magical or other rules needed to create my world, etc.  But then, I should put all of that aside and just write.  I may need to refer to an outline I've already done to make sure I don't paint myself into a corner if I'm an outliner.  If I'm a pantser, I should make sure I know roughly where I'm headed.  But once I get writing, I shouldn't delay the writing process by making sure one word or phrase or grammatical turn is just right or that I know the exact wording of my literary allusion, or I'm going to get stalled.  My writing may feel stilted, but more importantly, I may never get it done because I'm doing the editing as I go along.  

If I want the writing to flow, I should just let it flow.  I need to send my internal editor outside.  I should NOT do spell check as I go along.  If I have delays or distractions, sure, I can reread what I've most recently written to get back into the flow.  But otherwise, I need to let it flow.  Write that first draft with my heart.  Then and only then can I let Mr. Internal editor, my notes, my research, my spell checker, my grammarian, etc. back in the room.  Writing like this is fun and joyful.  I highly recommend you try it, even if it's just in a free write.  If you want to write, just write.