'nother Mike (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mbarker) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
writercises2024-01-02 05:33 pm
mbarker) wrote in writercises2024-01-02 05:33 pm
EXERCISE: What are the questions (not to say quests!) that keep you writing?
Original Posting 3/22/2020
Just contemplating. One of the things that almost every book on writing, whether it's about setting, character, plot, or whatever, seems to do is lay out a list of questions. They may suggest you answer them before writing (plotters! And outliners!) or sometimes they just say you'll want to think about these as you're writing (aha! Painting... no, pantsing, that's it!). But they have a list of questions.Now, one clue to your own writing might be what questions you try to answer before or while writing? What are the questions that start the words flowing? Is it just "What is this guy (or gal) going to do when the skeleton jumps out of the garbage can in front of them?" (Which is probably kind of specific, but I could see someone asking themselves that as they write happily along). Or maybe it's just something like "What is the event that kicks off the second act?"Anyway, stop a moment and think about what the list of questions is that you use to kick your writing into gear. Do you use a checklist ahead of time, craft them as you go, maybe take a look at that old hero's journey during revision?What are the questions that you use to guide your writing?Go ahead, ask them!
Just contemplating. One of the things that almost every book on writing, whether it's about setting, character, plot, or whatever, seems to do is lay out a list of questions. They may suggest you answer them before writing (plotters! And outliners!) or sometimes they just say you'll want to think about these as you're writing (aha! Painting... no, pantsing, that's it!). But they have a list of questions.Now, one clue to your own writing might be what questions you try to answer before or while writing? What are the questions that start the words flowing? Is it just "What is this guy (or gal) going to do when the skeleton jumps out of the garbage can in front of them?" (Which is probably kind of specific, but I could see someone asking themselves that as they write happily along). Or maybe it's just something like "What is the event that kicks off the second act?"Anyway, stop a moment and think about what the list of questions is that you use to kick your writing into gear. Do you use a checklist ahead of time, craft them as you go, maybe take a look at that old hero's journey during revision?What are the questions that you use to guide your writing?Go ahead, ask them!