Finally, Something to Write About

So for days–more like a week now–I’ve been struggling to find a topic to write about. Sadly inspiration did not come from skimming my old writing journal or browsing other blogs as it usually does.

So while I smacked my head for ideas I realized I had a topic to write about all along: What do you do when you have nothing to write about? All writers periodically must wrestle with their brains for ideas, which can be like beating a  piñata with a toothpick. You’ve probably all had staring contest with a blank page, thumb wrestled with your pen, spent hours tapping your fingers on your keyboard (making music but no words).

Inspiration can be found everywhere, even the app store. Today I found the The Fiction Idea Generator (FIG). This is a fun resource to help writers come up with ideas from the very first sentence to the master plot.

To give you an idea of how it works, below are the ideas it gave me in each category.

Masterplot: A lawless person, being put to a test in which love will be lost if more material fortunes are advanced, emerges from a trying ordeal with sorely garnered wisdom.

Tense: past

Narrator: 3rd person

Period: 3 days ago

Situation: a kidnapping

Protagonist: a female street sweeper who is insensitive

Tritagonist: a male psychiatrist who is arrogant

Their Relationship: insecure

Character: A male millionaire

Key Trait: he is in love

Ethnicity: Irish

Name: Cavan Robinson

Word: guile

First Sentence: It was a Sunday evening in October, and in common with many other young ladies in her class, Katharine Hilbery was pouring out tea.

Emotion: tense

Item: Cat

Location: A Pub

Hints and Tips: Creativity is 99% perspiration and only 1% inspiration. However; a good amount of perspiration is essential before any eureka moment. Inspiration never just happens.

So according to my hint, I just wasn’t perspiring enough to write.

From the example above, this could be a great tool to develop ideas for novels, short stories, or writing prompts.

I’m not saying this app is going to plan your entire story for you, but it will certainly help get the brain cogs going. Give this a try. It’s free to download and very easy to use.

 

Celebrate the Small Stuff

We’re often told, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” We also need to remember to celebrate the small stuff. Today I am celebrating  several small accomplishments. After all, little things make big things happen.

For starters, after a year, I finished the first draft of my fantasy novel. Those of you who write know what a wonderful feeling this is. It’s better than the best orgasm, payday, a chanel sweater, or getting money in a birthday card. This is an amazing feat for me, because I’ve only finished a draft once before (and I scrapped the entire thing). Of course, my first draft is much too cringe-worthy to publish. Let’s just say it’s about as rough and crude as a Neanderthal. So the next stage will be editing, but for now I’m going to work on the sequel, which I’ve been waiting to write for over a year.

My second little accomplishment: I may have two editing projects for the month of April. Every editing assignment I’ve had has been from word of mouth. This latest project is a referral from my coworker. I have another referral set up for the future. If I continue to get steady freelance work, I may be able to edit from home one day.

I’m also celebrating the fact that today I caught up on my target word goal for Camp NaNoWriMo. According to my stats, I will finish on April 30th.

I’m going to celebrate with a glass of wine and maybe some sushi. I hope you will all celebrate with me by posting in the comment section below some of your own small victories for the day, week, month, or year. Don’t wait until you reach your goal to celebrate; be proud of every step you take towards it.

Camp is in Session

Camp is in session! Which means I finally have a reason to justify buying a bag of those giant marshmallows. I won’t be roasting them, unless it’s safe to cook over a candle. Being the size of a mug, they aren’t suitable for hot chocolate either, so I think I’ll just stab them with a fork and eat them bite by bite or nuke them in the microwave on a graham cracker to make s’mores.

At the last minute I decided to sign up for Camp NaNoWriMo. I was thinking about skipping it this year but It’s a great way to gain inspiration and get to know other writers. Even though it’s not a real camp (no fighting over who gets the top bunk), you get all the benefits of an actual camp. With the forums and your cabin mates, you are never writing alone. You’ll never find greater creative camaraderie than at Camp NaNoWriMo. My main focus this month is editing so I kept my goal small, only 10,000 words. Considering I’m only about 5-10,000 words away from finishing my final draft, it isn’t too low.

With my writing goals being relaxed I’ll be able to spend more time on the forums, which in the past has always been a guilty time eater for me (time I should have spent writing). I can also spend more time connecting with my cabin mates and other writers. My sister isn’t in my cabin this year, which makes me feel like when we were kids in different classrooms.

I haven’t written a word yet (gasp) because I spent the first day of camp celebrating my mom’s birthday. Before, birthdays had to take a backseat to writing, but the pressure is off this year, so a zero-word night here or there won’t make or break me.

If you’re interested in connecting with my sister and I, my sister’s name is Kitomi and mine is Skylo_Snowfire. For those of you participating this year, feel free to give me your information as well. The more campers, the merrier!

Can’t wait to get to know my cabin mates

See you all around the campfire!