BellaOnline Forums Career Fiction Writing What Did You Write Today?

Lisa, you are making impressive progress! Especially because beginnings seem to be harder than anything else. Once you get that beginning going, even if you decide to completely rewrite it later, it brings momentum and that makes everything easier. I am also very intrigued by how you're going around your local region, experiencing things, and then working that into the plot. Elleise, I hear you about being afraid to start a writing project. I think it goes back to beginnings again and how hard it is to get started. Once the momentum gets going, it gets easier. Congrats on doing your project! As for me, I just read through the beginning of a paranormal romance I have started, and the interactions between the two main characters seem a little flat. So I'm going to rewrite and concentrate on what they would really say to each other upon first meeting. For me, dialog is the easiest way to climb into a story and get it moving. Maybe because I talk a lot in real life. :D

Karen -

Definitely there are times that our minds can resist writing. Part of what helps is to set up a welcoming atmosphere. Create a writing area which is warm and encouraging. That way, when you sit there, you are drawn to writing.

Val -

It is so true that just taking the first step is often a challenge. That is part of why projects like NaNoWriMo are so wonderful. They give people that starting point. "YOU WILL START TODAY!!" So they take a deep breath and just do it. And then it gets easier and easier!

It is great that you're working on a paranormal romance! That sounds intriguing. Could you share a little of what it's about?

I was away from the house Saturday night, so I'm a day behind in writing up my chapter-a-day book. I'm at 83 pages, 21k words. Tonight I'll need to write two chapters to catch up. So I'll write up Sunday's happenings, and then I'll write up today (Monday's) happenings as I normally would.

I'm nearing the half-way point!

It's very true what you say, Lisa. The more you write, the easier it gets because of momentum and practice. Congrats on nearing the halfway point of your mystery! I mentioned this forum thread in my first newsletter because I think it's very valuable for other writers to see what you're accomplishing here, just within the space of a month. And I would love to tell you about my paranormal romance -- thank you for asking! I got the idea from re-reading some Tony Hillerman mysteries and getting fascinating by the somewhat bleak Navajo concept of no defined afterlife other than a brief, evil ghost that causes trouble before it dissipates. Then I wondered, what if I wrote something with a Navajo main character and he starts to see ghosts and realizes that this belief is absolutely true?

Dear Val -

That is a fascinating storyline! I'm very interested in Native American cultures, so I'd be quite intrigued by it. On the down side, I have all sorts of challenges reading or watching horror stuff, so I might not be able to get through it, especially with nasty ghosts. So we'll have to see .

I've now caught back up with my August nanowrimo project. I'm currently at 103 pages, 27,000 words. I got to incorporate Sunday's meteor shower, too. So that was nice!

So today (Tuesday) I'll be writing Chapter 13, at the end of the day.

Thank you, Lisa! I'm glad it came across sounding like it has potential. I have had synopses and blurbs on my mind lately, and it occurred to me that paranormal or horror novels are at the biggest disadvantage when summarized because they depend upon the writing generating a suspenseful atmosphere. When reduced to a few sentences, the basic idea can sound kind of goofy! :D Meanwhile, I'm right there with you on the Native American cultures. Every culture in the world addresses the big question of the afterlife, and most range from offering simple comfort to putting on a hard sell for this or that religion. But the Navajo have the bleakest view on death and the afterlife that I've ever run across, unlike the neighboring Pueblo cultures (which have otherwise influenced their culture in many ways). I wish I knew more about how and why the Navajo came to see it that way.

Also -- big congrats on moving forward with your project! Am I calculating that right? That between yesterday afternoon and this morning, you wrote 6,000 more words? That's amazing!

I didn't write last night, because I was finishing up voting for the upcoming Mused issue. So I was reading through non-fiction and poetry.

So I'm still at 116 pages, 31,000 words. I should be working on it some more tonight, depending on how much energy I have. My son is over visiting, meaning we had pizza, meaning I am now very sleepy. Carbs definitely sap my energy. It makes me want to just sit on the couch and stare at the tv, which isn't good.