Limes with Orange

Okay, so I've been making a point of doing my timed writing practice every day. Unfortunately, the results read like the stream of consciousness transcription of a rambling, chaotic brain... which I suppose they are. But I seem to remember a time when I actually was able to get past that surface flotsam and achieve both focus and creativity (or perhaps I was just delusional). So I'm thinking that maybe I need a slightly more structured writing exercise to help me regain focus. To that end, I'm gonna try this visualization technique...

Holly Lisle talks about reading a book and feeling like "you're standing in the dark listening to someone muttering on the other side of a wall." I fear that my writing can get like that when I'm trying so hard to advance the plot that I lose sight of the moment. Holly's visualization exercise to overcome that problem starts with collecting various objects (jewelry, photos, food, etc.), placing them on a plain cloth, studying each one carefully in turn and memorizing their details, then writing at least 100 words describing each of them. So that's what I'm going to try today.

P.S. I'm sure you're all just dying to know how my plotting technique is working, aren't you? Well, it's harder to come up with scenes than you might think (or maybe I was just hopelessly naive to think it would be simple). Anyway, I have come up with only 20 out of the required 75 scenes... methinks one of those books about fiction plotting might be helpful right about now.

Labels: writing