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October 06, 2003
totally motivated
with my writing these days!! I think it's a combination of several things.
The main motivators are my classes--both of them center specifically around an aspect of my writing. The first class is one in which I'm supposed to develop a creative project and thus Plum Ruby Review is moving forward.
The second class is one that offers up a lot of possibilities...I'm looking at ways in which problem-based learning (which is typically group based) can be utilized for the individual writer. What this means is that I'm delving into a myriad of tools that can not only help creativity, but it can help writers develop new ways of plotting stories, ways of organizing large amounts of material (world-building, non-fiction, historical fiction, complex plots) and pushing through writer's block. This project has a lot of possibilities--it will probably develop into my syn(thesis) project, which may take shape in the form of a book for writers, or potentially workshops and resources for writers to use. The best part about it, is that I get to be the guinea pig...while I'm doing my own personal writing.
The other motivating factor is that on November 1st, I'm going to be joining Ancarett, Sean, Gary, and Brad (who I don't know, but my friend Chris does, and any friend of hers is a friend of mine!) for NaNoWriMo. To prepare, I've been working hard, creating an extensive outline, a pantheon of gods, and character profiles. I'm developing a fantasy novel and the backstory is really important...building the world is a lot of work! I have a notebook full of information, pages of story information, and haven't written word one of the story yet. But on November 1, I'll be starting!!
It's a lot of work, but the wonderful part about all these projects is that they feed into each other. The PBL project will give me tools to move my writing along and organize materials. The editing of PRR will keep me engaged with many different types of literature and hone my editing and reviewing skills.
And well, it doesn't hurt that I'm unemployed and can spend half of every day writing!
Posted by crystallyn at October 6, 2003 10:22 PM
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Comments
Crystal -
Thanks for your kind mention of me in relation to NaNoWriMo. Digging around your site, I found that we have a few things in common besides next month's aspirations of a completed novel - like items 9, 68-70, and 97 on your list of 100.
I commend you on your diligent preparation for the NaNoWriMo ordeal; I have enough else going on that I think I'm going to just cook up some interesting characters, and see what they want to do for 2000 words a day. (Budgeting for 5 days off around Turkey Day, of course.)
Best of luck, and feel free to drop me a line (bradheintz-at-bradheintz-dot-com) if you'd like moral support for our novel ordeal, or a pint of blood, or whatever.
OK,
- Brad
Posted by: Brad at October 7, 2003 10:05 PM