This MONTHLY challenge is for those who want to work on writing new ideas and who would like to maintain a continuous creativity flow with your writing.
Creatively writing short films are a great way to get started/or extend the passion in your career as a writer. A good short film can further help you develop your style and vision using story, drama, dialog, and imagery.
So, I’ve been thinking about exactly what my process is since NaNoWriMo is here--two weeks in...god I’m late.
And I realized that I use a LOT of different things interchangeably. It seems (and probably is) rather chaotic, but with how my noggin works, I need to be able to have options so I can continue working and not just come to a stand-still.
I use both pen & paper as well as my laptop. One gets priority over the other, depending on how fast my brain is processing things, and what part of the process I am in.
IE-if I’m early on, I’m likely working with a pen and paper since I write slower than I type and am not moving too fast for my brain to think of new things. However, if later in the process, I’m likely on my laptop click-clacking away to get things down as fast as possible to meet/beat word count.
But, since my process is…odd I figured I’d go over what I use to plan/write my works of fiction, in case there’s anything that interests ya’ll.
PEN & PAPER
· NOTEBOOKS hi, I’m Frenchie and I hoard notebooks. I am extremely particular on how they’re kept, and if it’s a nicer one, and no perforations to remove pages, I will REFUSE to use it because I don’t want to ‘waste’ the notebook. I get antsy if I have more than one ‘subject’ or story in a notebook. Hell, I have a 600 page one that’s JUST for character profiles. Either way, I realized, bulk + cheap is the way to go.
· PENS if I don’t have a good easy flowin’ gel pen, then I tend to press too hard and aggravate my carpal tunnel. So, I’m somewhat of a pen nerd. Right now, for bulk black and white writing my favorite is the Sharpie SGel in the 1.0 size, or if not in reach a Pilot G2 Gel Pen. Both are intense, fast drying (important for us lefties!) and rarely fuck up while you’re trying to work.
· HILIGHTERS I like to color code when I’m working in my planners/writing so I know who’s speaking. If I’m not wanting to switch between colored pens, I go back after I’m done and highlight. With what? Mildliners. The Zebra Mildliners more specifically. They’re in a shit ton of colors (I bought them all), so I can use as many differentiating colors as I want.
· OFFICE STUFF post-its, my written to-do list (its got sloths on it <3 ) and anything that isn’t a spiral notebook or a pen. If I’m somewhere in my house away from my ‘office’, I will use a list app on my phone to get the job done if inspiration strikes or the rogue receipt if necessary.
· LAP DESK(s) yes, plural, because I have one for working in my bedroom (which I do on occasion) that doesn’t fit on my couch, so I had to get a cheaper one for my couch. My expensive one is hard plastic that has folding legs, a book stand, tablet holder, and a drawer with cupholder. It’s nice, and tall and works well if I have the room to bring it out. My cheaper on (still $30) is plastic with cats and books on it, a beanbag bottom, but DOES have a cupholder. <3 It is worth ten times its weight in gold.
LAPTOP APPS
· NOTEPAD yes, regular Notepad. Again, the informal nature of it takes my worries about being perfect (though the delete key is a thing) and tosses them out the window. I use Notepad for writing down things from generators I use (because unless a name is REALLY important, I use a generator). Sometimes, if I’m feeling squirrely, I even outline in it (broad strokes).
· MICROSOFT WORD the real workhorse of my programs. I am in MS Word every damn day for one reason or another. (like now O_O…spooky right?) I used to outline in MS word with bulleted lists, but now I use it for drafting, and editing.
· CAMPFIRE PRO my first foray into a novel building software—and I’m never world building without it EVER again. You can tell it’s built by writers—it just works so well, and I’ve even re-purposed things like the Timeline feature to do my full-on Outlines. I have all the bells and whistles because I also play tabletop games and if I decide to GM one day, you best bet I’ll be using Campfire for it.
· EXCEL I use this to count my total words per day during NaNo season as well as to track how many words total my Short Story Collection is. I know NOTHING of Excel, well none of the cool stuff, but you best bet I figured out how to color a cell, so I wasn’t looking at a boring spreadsheet.
· NOTION the newest part to my system, but HOLY FUCKING SHIT this program does it all. It’s set up like Scrivner with a side bar that does folders, and you can make pages, kaban boards, calendars, etc. that show up. Currently I have a folder for my household, one for my author platform and one for my art commissions. It is, to be frank, a lifesaver. I’m getting more done than I ever have before.
· SPOTIFY if I don’t block out everything, I don’t focus, so when Husbando got us Spotify Premium a few years back, it instantly became a part of my ritual. I have playlists ranging from lo-fi, instrumental, to lyrical 90’s boy bands to death metal. I’ll put on a playlist and just go.
NEW & EXPERIMENTING WITH
· NOVEL FACTORY another novel building/plotting software, but this one has a word processor in it as well. Its interesting and I’ll be looking into it more after NaNo (gunna use what I know works for this). To be honest the Windows XP look is…distracting, but it has a good layout, and a solid character questionnaire.
This MONTHLY challenge is for those who want to work on writing new ideas and who would like to maintain a continuous creativity flow with your writing.
This MONTHLY challenge is for those who want to work on writing new ideas and who would like to maintain a continuous creativity flow with your writing.
Creatively writing short films are a great way to get started/or extend the passion in your career as a writer. A good short film can further help you develop your style and vision using story, drama, dialog, and imagery.
The Story Forge: Supercharge Your Work With These Story-Building Secrets with Speaker Jordan Morris
Learn how to elevate your work with this new and innovative development process that will teach you the secrets of an impactful character arc, how to effectively deploy theme, structure organically, and create a powerful triangle of conflict between three central characters.
This MONTHLY challenge is for those who want to work on writing new ideas and who would like to maintain a continuous creativity flow with your writing.
This MONTHLY challenge is for those who want to work on writing new ideas and who would like to maintain a continuous creativity flow with your writing.
Creatively writing short films are a great way to get started/or extend the passion in your career as a writer. A good short film can further help you develop your style and vision using story, drama, dialog, and imagery.
This MONTHLY challenge is for those who want to work on writing new ideas and who would like to maintain a continuous creativity flow with your writing.
