Monday, January 12, 2015

#WordsGetInTheWay



Out of all my peers who contribute to this blog, I’m the dilettante, the one who’s probably written the least prose of the bunch because most of my works-in-progress are television scripts.  When 2014’s NaNoWriMo came around, I decided to make an attempt to put my story ideas into novel form.  I got to 12,000-ish words, which is the most I’ve ever written in potential book form.  Also, even though I answered a quick “yes” to be a contributor, I’m still wondering what I can contribute since the novel writing and publishing arena isn’t really my expertise.




When I stalled at 12,000-ish words in November, I didn’t stop writing, I just switched back to writing the story down in script form.  My brain was churning out so many ideas, it just was faster to put scenes and dialogue together because that was (and is) my comfort zone.  Still the desire to put a book series together remains.




The last time I was on Blogger I actually had my own blog, Breakfast Every Hour, which will now be the title to my upcoming podcast and potential Tumblr blog.  The blog not only chronicled my work-in-progress, that resulted in ten episodes of my television show idea I’ve been throwing around in my head since high school, it also told the story of my “and The City” social and dating life in Manhattan.  Those misadventures sparked my last NaNoWriMo efforts.




If there’s anything I’m realizing in life and writing it’s that you really shouldn’t tell yourself you don’t know how to do something.  I mean look at the world around us.  Billionaires never seem to have a degree, even though we’re told the only way to make it is with a degree, and popular novels and culture are never quite the “art” we think they’re supposed to be.


The art is in the doing.  The lessons are in the doing.  You can’t find your story if you don’t write it down.  A story isn’t a story unless it’s told to someone else.  And dear GAWD, I’ve had so many stories untold.  Don’t let your story go untold.

19 comments:

  1. Having too many stories in my head, too many characters clamouring for attention, is one of my biggest problems when writing - I'm a prime example of what I like to think of as "Story Attention Deficit Disorder". I can't seem to stick with anything long enough to actually get if finished. The time of the year I'm most focused is definitely NaNoWri-November, but even then it's torture to focus on one set of characters only and not jump from story to story.

    I'll get there eventually, though... the most important thing is never to stop writing.

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    1. SADD is definitely something I experience and I'm in that camp where it's tough for me to outline because I just want to get whatever's going on in my head onto the page. But, I am seeing that structure and discipline in writing is helping. Keep the words coming Tessa!

      -A

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  2. I'm glad you're here blogging with us, Alex, because I think it's great to have a fresh and different perspective. I know of a couple authors who write their first drafts in script form, focusing on dialogue, then go back through and layer in setting and subtext. You may be further along the road than you realize.
    Cheers!

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    1. Oh wow! Thanks for the perspective!

      -A

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    2. Oh, and I've had that Miami Time Machine song running through my head ever since I saw the title of your post...
      ;)

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    3. It's ALWAYS stuck in my head!

      -A

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  3. Great post, Alex! I'm glad you blogging with us, too. Dialogue is a great strength.

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  4. Great inspiring post!! And I'm so happy you're here with us, because I want to hear your stories.

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  5. Can't wait to see the Pilot episode!

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  6. Love the post, Alex! I'm glad your here. And we have good conversation. (I love The Last Samurai).

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  7. Love the post, Alex! I'm glad your here. And we have good conversation. (I love The Last Samurai).

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