Discovering the fossil

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Katiebug8

Member
Nov 17, 2015
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Goodyear, Arizona
I recently got to the assignment of to write a story without any plot, and though I had not done that assignment I did last night start to get into the routine of writing everyday and it really helped. Even though my story could do some editing of course, but it was something that at least counted for the no plot assignment (even though it was not in those specific guidelines). Writing without a specific plot, really does let your characters tell the story instead of you trying to create the story for them. If that makes a shred of sense that is. Though I am sure Stephen King is a very busy author, I hope that his efforts to try to get aspiring writers to get serious with their writing has counted for something in someone's life. It sure did for mine as I hope to self-publish a poetry book, maybe even a collection of short stories if it gets to that point. So the phrase goes, the sky is the limit!
 

Pucker

We all have it coming, kid
May 9, 2010
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I recently got to the assignment of to write a story without any plot, and though I had not done that assignment I did last night start to get into the routine of writing everyday and it really helped.

It's no different than learning anything else. If you want to learn how to swim, or to play the guitar, or to juggle bowling pins ... or whatever, what do you do?

You practice.

When I'm just practicing, with no clear idea where I want to go, I like to try different "voices." That is, I experiment with idiom and pacing. How many different ways can I present a simple idea? I keep a journal, too, but that's my voice, and if I've learned one thing over the years (and painfully so), people get sick of my voice pretty quickly.

Another fun thing I like to do when I'm just practicing is to invent people for no particular reason; with no clear idea in mind as to what they might do. This guy is a bus driver in an unhappy marriage. That girl works on a construction crew and drinks too much coffee. Those kids are not in school for some reason. Wind them up and see where they go.

Sometimes you can find yourself smack-dab in the middle of a story without even realizing you had an idea for one.
 

blunthead

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2006
80,755
195,461
Atlanta GA
I recently got to the assignment of to write a story without any plot, and though I had not done that assignment I did last night start to get into the routine of writing everyday and it really helped. Even though my story could do some editing of course, but it was something that at least counted for the no plot assignment (even though it was not in those specific guidelines). Writing without a specific plot, really does let your characters tell the story instead of you trying to create the story for them. If that makes a shred of sense that is. Though I am sure Stephen King is a very busy author, I hope that his efforts to try to get aspiring writers to get serious with their writing has counted for something in someone's life. It sure did for mine as I hope to self-publish a poetry book, maybe even a collection of short stories if it gets to that point. So the phrase goes, the sky is the limit!
I think sK has said that he writes with only the barest bones of a rough plot in mind, that he doesn't know what the plot wants to be, that the story gradually reveals itself like a fossil which is gradually uncovered.
 
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Katiebug8

Member
Nov 17, 2015
6
28
29
Goodyear, Arizona
I think sK has said that he writes with only the barest bones of a rough plot in mind, that he doesn't know what the plot wants to be, that the story gradually reveals itself like a fossil which is gradually uncovered.

Good point, I was just referencing how he said at one point in On writing how the characters tell the story not you telling the story itself. Or something along those lines, I couldn't exactly remember what he said about that.
 

Katiebug8

Member
Nov 17, 2015
6
28
29
Goodyear, Arizona
It's no different than learning anything else. If you want to learn how to swim, or to play the guitar, or to juggle bowling pins ... or whatever, what do you do?

You practice.

When I'm just practicing, with no clear idea where I want to go, I like to try different "voices." That is, I experiment with idiom and pacing. How many different ways can I present a simple idea? I keep a journal, too, but that's my voice, and if I've learned one thing over the years (and painfully so), people get sick of my voice pretty quickly.

Another fun thing I like to do when I'm just practicing is to invent people for no particular reason; with no clear idea in mind as to what they might do. This guy is a bus driver in an unhappy marriage. That girl works on a construction crew and drinks too much coffee. Those kids are not in school for some reason. Wind them up and see where they go.

Sometimes you can find yourself smack-dab in the middle of a story without even realizing you had an idea for one.

That is true, I started keeping a journal myself and writing in it as well (though I had not written in one for a long time). I might even try experimenting with some ideas and seeing where it goes from there.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
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Cambridge, Ohio
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