A Little Help For My Friends?
Nov. 5th, 2008 03:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katstalesI was planning to post links to the writing prompts from the No Plot? No Problem! kit but hadn't had the chance to go hunting for them till now. Unfortunately, I have discovered that I began with card #5 and some days I posted multiple prompts and others only the one. So to make it easier on myself for next year, I'm going to to post them all directly instead of linking. They will be in groups of seven which I intend to post once a week.
To that end, here are the first seven:
Day One: Green Lights, From Here to The Horizon--This one was short and sweet. Chris mentions the blank page and that feeling of panic about getting off on the right foot. He goes on to say there are no wrong feet and offers a tip from "freewheeling graphic design guru Bruce Mau" on beginnings: "Not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. Begin anywhere."
Day Two: Create Your Clay--Chris equates writing a novel with working with clay. First the rough shape is formed and only after is it formed into something beautiful like "an ashtray or a fearsome army of worms." He goes on to say that unlike the potter, a novelist cannot simply go purchase their clay; the writer must create their clay with their minds. He says that it's an amazing feat and insists that this is why you must postpone judgment until the end of the first draft. "What you started producing yesterday is noveling clay--valuable, essential, and invariably lumpy. It's beauty will grow as you work it."
Day Three: Aim Low--Chris begins by telling us that one of his favorite books is called Rules of Thumb 2. He goes on to tell a little about the volume and its contents. It has thousands of guidelines for a myriad of "essential day-to-day activities, such as properly estimating a submerged crocodile's length and surviving a pistol duel." He says the dueling tip was offered by historian Jim Barber, who suggests that one "always aim lower than your opponent's vital area--to pierce the heart, aim at the knees." Chris says that this is something to bear in mind during these early days of week one. "Abandon the stultifying notion of brilliance and aim instead for the low mark of completion." He says this will relieve the pressure you're feeling and allow your writing to become "looser and more ambitious, paradoxically raising the quality" of your novel. He calls it "Barber's law: Aiming low is the best way to succeed."
Day Four: Let Your Fingers Do the Naming--This card begins by discussing the decreasing size of families in industrialized nation for last few decades. He goes into a few of the theories offered by experts before putting forth one of his own: with burgeoning numbers of names to choose from, would-be parents avoid having children because the can't decide on names. He goes on to suggest that you can reduce your own stress over naming by borrowing from "the Great Library of Character Names." He goes on to point out that the volume is published annually by our local phone companies and points us to the large white book on our shelf next to the Yellow Pages.
Day Five: Borrow Mercilessly--Before you start writing, read the first few pages of a novel by an author whose voice you've always loved. Pick out the techniques that the writer uses to create the mood that you find so appealing. Borrow those methods and use them throughout today's writing session.
Day Six: Go Wild--The card begins by giving some pretty astounding facts about a public figure in the US. It then goes on to say that should you begin to have concerns regarding the believability of your characters (and the card seems to assume that everyone will), you should remember the story about the PF. Don't forget that real life stories can be far stranger than any fiction. So embrace the absurd and stretch the bounds of believability--that's life!
Day Seven: Skeletons in the Closet--This card starts by pointing out that many of the things we take for granted everyday in our lives are actually the result "of a bitter struggle between two opposing forces." It goes on to recount the tale of Alexander Graham Bell's displeasure over the fact that the customary "hello" when answering a phone (suggested by Thomas Edison) became popular over the greeting he thought more fitting--"ahoy, ahoy". It then challenges you to delve into a fact about your protagonist life or personality and show one of these kind of surprising struggles that brought him/her to his/her current state.
And there you have 'em, seven prompts for each day of the start of NaNoWriMo. Hope you find them helpful--no matter if you are struggling or not! :)
To that end, here are the first seven:
Day One: Green Lights, From Here to The Horizon--This one was short and sweet. Chris mentions the blank page and that feeling of panic about getting off on the right foot. He goes on to say there are no wrong feet and offers a tip from "freewheeling graphic design guru Bruce Mau" on beginnings: "Not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. Begin anywhere."
Day Two: Create Your Clay--Chris equates writing a novel with working with clay. First the rough shape is formed and only after is it formed into something beautiful like "an ashtray or a fearsome army of worms." He goes on to say that unlike the potter, a novelist cannot simply go purchase their clay; the writer must create their clay with their minds. He says that it's an amazing feat and insists that this is why you must postpone judgment until the end of the first draft. "What you started producing yesterday is noveling clay--valuable, essential, and invariably lumpy. It's beauty will grow as you work it."
Day Three: Aim Low--Chris begins by telling us that one of his favorite books is called Rules of Thumb 2. He goes on to tell a little about the volume and its contents. It has thousands of guidelines for a myriad of "essential day-to-day activities, such as properly estimating a submerged crocodile's length and surviving a pistol duel." He says the dueling tip was offered by historian Jim Barber, who suggests that one "always aim lower than your opponent's vital area--to pierce the heart, aim at the knees." Chris says that this is something to bear in mind during these early days of week one. "Abandon the stultifying notion of brilliance and aim instead for the low mark of completion." He says this will relieve the pressure you're feeling and allow your writing to become "looser and more ambitious, paradoxically raising the quality" of your novel. He calls it "Barber's law: Aiming low is the best way to succeed."
Day Four: Let Your Fingers Do the Naming--This card begins by discussing the decreasing size of families in industrialized nation for last few decades. He goes into a few of the theories offered by experts before putting forth one of his own: with burgeoning numbers of names to choose from, would-be parents avoid having children because the can't decide on names. He goes on to suggest that you can reduce your own stress over naming by borrowing from "the Great Library of Character Names." He goes on to point out that the volume is published annually by our local phone companies and points us to the large white book on our shelf next to the Yellow Pages.
Day Five: Borrow Mercilessly--Before you start writing, read the first few pages of a novel by an author whose voice you've always loved. Pick out the techniques that the writer uses to create the mood that you find so appealing. Borrow those methods and use them throughout today's writing session.
Day Six: Go Wild--The card begins by giving some pretty astounding facts about a public figure in the US. It then goes on to say that should you begin to have concerns regarding the believability of your characters (and the card seems to assume that everyone will), you should remember the story about the PF. Don't forget that real life stories can be far stranger than any fiction. So embrace the absurd and stretch the bounds of believability--that's life!
Day Seven: Skeletons in the Closet--This card starts by pointing out that many of the things we take for granted everyday in our lives are actually the result "of a bitter struggle between two opposing forces." It goes on to recount the tale of Alexander Graham Bell's displeasure over the fact that the customary "hello" when answering a phone (suggested by Thomas Edison) became popular over the greeting he thought more fitting--"ahoy, ahoy". It then challenges you to delve into a fact about your protagonist life or personality and show one of these kind of surprising struggles that brought him/her to his/her current state.
And there you have 'em, seven prompts for each day of the start of NaNoWriMo. Hope you find them helpful--no matter if you are struggling or not! :)
