(Side note: Uh whoa, Blogger totally changed its style. What is this strange place?)
But anyway, onto today's topic.
One of the hardest parts of writing is ... writing. And by that I mean, the physical act of actually getting your butt in a chair and putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). It may sound simple, but let's face it ... Life is busy. We're always caught up in school and/or work, and at times it is hard to find the time to write. Even when you do have time, you might not feel motivated. Maybe you're not sure what's going to happen next in your story, or you're stuck at a part that's not particularly exciting.
Personally, I believe you just have to force yourself through a first draft. You have to write whatever comes to mind, even if it doesn't make much sense. You have to drag yourself through the boring patches. (I know a lot of writers who write things out of order when they're stuck, but that tactic is not helpful for everyone––definitely not for me. I talk more about why in my post "What order do you write in?".) The truth is, you just have to get the words out.
Sure, your first draft is going to be crap. It's going to be disorganized. Just accept it now. But getting it out of your head and onto paper is the first big step you have to take.
So, here are the places I turn to when I just need to pump out words:
Write or Die:
I've probably mentioned Write or Die a billion times before, but I can't advertise it enough. This thing is the bomb. It's an application in which you set a time and a word goal for yourself. Then, if you space out and stop typing, the screen starts to turn red and it makes annoying noises at you. It may seem aggravating at first, but it can really help. Personally, using this application has trained me to usually write more than 500 words in 15 minutes (about 2000 words an hour!), so I'd say it's definitely worth it.
There's both a web app and a desktop app version of Write or Die. You can use the free web app by going here, and it's right above the "About" section. And the desktop app costs $10 if you want to invest in it.
Written? Kitten!
If Write or Die scares you too much, Written? Kitten! may be a better alternative. As the website describes, "We like positive reinforcement, so we decided to make something a bit like writeordie but cuter and fuzzier." Every time you type a hundred words, you get to see a new picture of an adorable kitten! What could be better than that?
Check it out here.
Word Wars:
If you have friends who are writers, this is a fun way to motivate yourself. The way it works is pretty simple. You get together with a group of writers (whether it's in person or online), and you all write for the same amount of time (usually somewhere between half an hour to an hour), and at the end you all share your word count and see who wrote the most. A little competition is always healthy, eh?
I've done most word wars via Skype with other writer friends. But I also recently joined a word wars group on Facebook, which writes every day from 7-8 PM EST ... and that has been extremely helpful lately!
#Wordmongering on Twitter:
If you have a Twitter account, I highly recommend making use of the #wordmongering hashtag. It's basically word wars, which happen at the beginning of every hour and end at the half hour mark. The best thing about it is that you can do it whenever you want, and there are usually a bunch of other writers participating. Just check out the hashtag for more information and to see who else is writing!
Hopefully these resources are useful to everyone. If anyone else knows of other good motivation websites/applications for writers, please comment and let me know! :)
Personally, I believe you just have to force yourself through a first draft. You have to write whatever comes to mind, even if it doesn't make much sense. You have to drag yourself through the boring patches. (I know a lot of writers who write things out of order when they're stuck, but that tactic is not helpful for everyone––definitely not for me. I talk more about why in my post "What order do you write in?".) The truth is, you just have to get the words out.
Sure, your first draft is going to be crap. It's going to be disorganized. Just accept it now. But getting it out of your head and onto paper is the first big step you have to take.
So, here are the places I turn to when I just need to pump out words:
Write or Die:
I've probably mentioned Write or Die a billion times before, but I can't advertise it enough. This thing is the bomb. It's an application in which you set a time and a word goal for yourself. Then, if you space out and stop typing, the screen starts to turn red and it makes annoying noises at you. It may seem aggravating at first, but it can really help. Personally, using this application has trained me to usually write more than 500 words in 15 minutes (about 2000 words an hour!), so I'd say it's definitely worth it.
There's both a web app and a desktop app version of Write or Die. You can use the free web app by going here, and it's right above the "About" section. And the desktop app costs $10 if you want to invest in it.
Written? Kitten!
If Write or Die scares you too much, Written? Kitten! may be a better alternative. As the website describes, "We like positive reinforcement, so we decided to make something a bit like writeordie but cuter and fuzzier." Every time you type a hundred words, you get to see a new picture of an adorable kitten! What could be better than that?
Check it out here.
Word Wars:
If you have friends who are writers, this is a fun way to motivate yourself. The way it works is pretty simple. You get together with a group of writers (whether it's in person or online), and you all write for the same amount of time (usually somewhere between half an hour to an hour), and at the end you all share your word count and see who wrote the most. A little competition is always healthy, eh?
I've done most word wars via Skype with other writer friends. But I also recently joined a word wars group on Facebook, which writes every day from 7-8 PM EST ... and that has been extremely helpful lately!
#Wordmongering on Twitter:
If you have a Twitter account, I highly recommend making use of the #wordmongering hashtag. It's basically word wars, which happen at the beginning of every hour and end at the half hour mark. The best thing about it is that you can do it whenever you want, and there are usually a bunch of other writers participating. Just check out the hashtag for more information and to see who else is writing!
Hopefully these resources are useful to everyone. If anyone else knows of other good motivation websites/applications for writers, please comment and let me know! :)
Awesome. I'll definitely check them out when I'm done with the "publishing" end of things and can get back to the part I like --- writing!
ReplyDeleteHooray! :D
ReplyDeleteHaha, I was wondering if Written? Kitten! would be on here. A resource for many a burned-out college student with yet another paper to write too... Speaking of which, congrats on finishing your first year of college! Also, this post struck me as being the exact opposite of this: http://www.therejectionist.com/2012/05/some-things-to-do-instead-of-working-on.html
ReplyDeleteIndeed ... lol. Thanks! :D
ReplyDeleteHahaha! That post was great ... so accurate.
Just finished my first year too! High five, fellow sophmore!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if these are all for me. (Though part of me suspects that I really SHOULD try write-or-die...it appears to be extremely effective.) We'll see...for now, I'm pursuing a draft of a new WIP with a strategy that is very much based upon the "skip around and write the good parts" theory.
Woo! *High fives*
ReplyDeleteYes, I highly recommend Write or Die. Out of everything, it's probably the one that helps me the most.
Haha, well hey ... whatever works for you! :)
I've used write or die and it's intense. But I've never heard of write or kitten! :) I love kittens!
ReplyDeleteHey girl!
ReplyDeleteI was awarded the kreativ blogger award (actually by Krista right above me here, aha) and now I'm passing it on to you!
--Katie
http://thefictiondiaries.blogspot.com/2012/05/kreativ-blogger-award.html
Aw, thanks Katie! :D
ReplyDeleteThey have a written? puppy! site too :D
ReplyDeletehttp://nightowlr.com/writtenpuppy/puppytest.html
Ooh! Good to know. ^_^
DeleteSo... What do you do after you pump out those words and you barely have a plot? That's what happened to me recently, and now, I feel like I need that one thing that holds it all together and makes it different from any other story. But anyway, I love your blog! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteAnd umm ... that's a good question. Well, this post is mostly about just getting a first draft done, so that's kind of a different topic entirely. When you're writing a rough draft, the story doesn't necessarily need to have a plot because you're just getting all your ideas down on paper. Usually I don't worry about the structure of the story until after I'm done with a draft or two. It might help to write down an outline or a synopsis of the whole thing, so you get an idea of what you want the structure of the story to be, and then edit accordingly. Not sure if that helps or not, but hopefully it does! ;)
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ReplyDelete