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writercisesOriginal posting November 14, 2013
Two weeks, 14 days, and now we're going to talk about heart? Well, yes. I know you're probably halfway to your 50,000 words, and happily crunching along. Which is a good time to think about putting the heart in your story. Here's the Pixar advice:
"#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What's the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That's the heart of it."
Take a look at your story. You probably have a pretty good idea of where it's going. And you probably have feelings within you that are helping to shape this story. The advice here is to really pay attention to your own beliefs, your own feelings, your own ideas, and use that to give your story heart. This is YOUR story, and we should feel your belief burning through it. So go ahead and write those words, show us the characters, their conflicts, their actions and reactions, but don't be afraid to shape it so that we see your heart beating in the middle of the words.
Whether you're just slogging through the middle, or perhaps skipping ahead and writing the climax, or even slipping back and rewriting the beginning (don't forget the forward progress! Finish the first draft first!) remember, put yourself into those words. Make it something you are proud of. Make it yours.
I think that's part of the old advice that says, "Writing isn't hard. Just open a vein." Whoops. I decided to find the quote, and I see Red Smith apparently said, "All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." Thomas Wolfe said, "Writing is easy. Just put a sheet of paper in the typewriter and start bleeding." But wait, someone else says Red Smith said, "Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed." And while I'm shaving yaks, there's a whole posting by the quote investigator exploring just who said it and what the heck did they say.
What was I going to say? Oh, that's right. Writing with blood. You want to put feelings, emotions, beliefs, whatever you are into the story. That's what makes a story really come to life.
So open that vein. Bleed all over the nanowrimo words! Set fire to the story, and let it be a blazing beacon.
WRITE!
Two weeks, 14 days, and now we're going to talk about heart? Well, yes. I know you're probably halfway to your 50,000 words, and happily crunching along. Which is a good time to think about putting the heart in your story. Here's the Pixar advice:
"#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What's the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That's the heart of it."
Take a look at your story. You probably have a pretty good idea of where it's going. And you probably have feelings within you that are helping to shape this story. The advice here is to really pay attention to your own beliefs, your own feelings, your own ideas, and use that to give your story heart. This is YOUR story, and we should feel your belief burning through it. So go ahead and write those words, show us the characters, their conflicts, their actions and reactions, but don't be afraid to shape it so that we see your heart beating in the middle of the words.
Whether you're just slogging through the middle, or perhaps skipping ahead and writing the climax, or even slipping back and rewriting the beginning (don't forget the forward progress! Finish the first draft first!) remember, put yourself into those words. Make it something you are proud of. Make it yours.
I think that's part of the old advice that says, "Writing isn't hard. Just open a vein." Whoops. I decided to find the quote, and I see Red Smith apparently said, "All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." Thomas Wolfe said, "Writing is easy. Just put a sheet of paper in the typewriter and start bleeding." But wait, someone else says Red Smith said, "Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed." And while I'm shaving yaks, there's a whole posting by the quote investigator exploring just who said it and what the heck did they say.
What was I going to say? Oh, that's right. Writing with blood. You want to put feelings, emotions, beliefs, whatever you are into the story. That's what makes a story really come to life.
So open that vein. Bleed all over the nanowrimo words! Set fire to the story, and let it be a blazing beacon.
WRITE!
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