Fiction Writing Suggestions

Some Important Writing Basics

Jan 30, 2009 Lesley Munnichs

One important piece of advice consistently offered by fiction writers is to write - a lot.

So … what to write.

Journal Writing

Many writers speak of keeping some kind of journal, diary or notebook. It might include

  • quotes and odd facts
  • clippings from newspapers and magazines
  • inspired thoughts or sharp observations
  • a burst of writing motivated by sudden anger, sadness or joy
  • ideas about characters, plot or dialogue that don’t yet relate to a particular project
  • the first draft of writing exercises.

Workbook

A Writers Workbook is for material that has graduated beyond just a note or first draft stage. It is for work that is developed enough to be written with clear thought behind it (rather than just a vague idea) and is succinct and polished. It may be a description of person walking their dog, a few paragraphs about a bone washed up on the beach, a conversation between two strangers in a jewelry shop.

It is not for material that applies to whole storylines and larger projects. This type of material is best dealt with in 'Write Down the Bones'.

The workbook is more for smaller, succinct mostly polished pieces of writing such as descriptions of character or setting, flights of fancy, responses to writing exercises that produced a good result but which are yet to find a home in a particular story. The workbook is the bridge between the raw material of the journal and the completeness of a story that’s ready to be written.

Writing Exercises

Writing exercises are like cross-training for writers. They flex writing muscles, help establish a distinct style, discover what each writer is good at, breaks a writer out of their normal writing habits, stretches their imagination and increases their word power.

And just as a runner might swim and a swimmer might run, they wouldn’t let cross-training take over the main game. The runner wouldn’t spend more time in the pool than on the road and the swimmer wouldn’t run more than he swam. Writing exercise shouldn’t be the main activity just a complimentary one.

Writing Exercises can be great fun and there are an excellant way of generating material. For some ideas try Writing Exercises.

Write Down the Bones

This is the type of writing that is about organising ideas, simply splashing down the thoughts, ideas and sparks of imagination that are the next step of getting a project moving forward. It is also a great way to help clarify the story.

An idea may have had it's beginnings in a writing exercise, for example a character description. Put together with an incident from the past, the two now form the basis of a story. This may have been explored to a lesser degree in the workbook.

The time has come now to move the project up a notch. It's time to splash it all down on paper, create the necessary computer and hardcopy files, transfer over whatever material is already complete and give it all some structure and shape.

Polishing Fiction

This is different to splashing down the basis of an idea. This type of writing is more painstaking, far more difficult but perhaps more rewarding. It’s the type of writing where a writer may work away for a whole afternoon and only complete a page of a short story or novel. But that one page is brilliant.

So there are a number of choices as to what to write to ensure that those writing muscles stay in great shape.

The copyright of the article Fiction Writing Suggestions in Writing Fiction is owned by Lesley Munnichs. Permission to republish Fiction Writing Suggestions in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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