One thing I am trying is getting out my phone and recording it as dialogue when it occurs to me - then transcribing it later. I really want something to do that automatically but not luck yet :)

Write.

At the end of the day, that's what it comes down to. Don't pussy foot around and talk about feeling or emotion or mood. Sit down and write. Or stand and write. Or lay down and write.

But write. There is no magic bullet. Nothing that will make the words flow all the time, every time. Successful, prolific writers all share one thing in common: they write.

You say you can think about writing, but when you sit down, you can't. Yes, you can. The problem is you aren't writing. Writing is easy. The hard part is accepting that what comes out isn't going to be highly polished glass. What you write first is gonna be hard, grainy sand. It's gonna have rocks. It's gonna have bits of dirt. It's gonna be rough, and it will get everywhere. Later on, after you are done writing the entire thing, you can go back, gather the sand, get rid of the rocks, dirt, twigs, dried figs and dead fish, and start turning that sand into glass.

But write. Don't wait for inspiration. Write! Don't stop. Keep writing once you start. So what if your writing might come out like Saturday night's offerings to the porcelain god, that's why you rewrite.

But you aren't rewriting. Get the story out. Get it down. Get it done.

Write.

Edit: Because I wrote the post. Now I can go back and rewrite it. =)

I usually end up rewriting it a few times and then scrubbing it entirely. And I can do that maybe three or four times before a section is complete.

I've partially figured out the reason for this; for some reason it is difficult to "read" while you write. So what sounds great is actually awful when you come to read it back.

I'm not a snob but I don't like bad writing - so I will just scrap it :P

It's just inefficient that is all and I'd love to hack a better way.

EDIT: plus I am determined not to fall into the typical genre of fantasy writing: not particularly brilliant writing but full of sexual angst (and sex scenes to make up for it).

Let me help.

Everything you write is garbage. Everything I write is garbage. Everything Robert Jordan wrote was garbage. Everything Stephen King writes is garbage.

Writers write garbage.

However, the good writers are the ones that can take that garbage, and turn it into something nice. However, you can't do that while you are writing.

"plus I am determined not to fall into the typical genre of fantasy writing"

Ignore this. Just write. You can do this during your rewrite. For now, just get the story finished. Getting a story finished is worth more than twenty rewrites of chapter 1.

Yes you should write a lot and constantly - but you should also rewrite consistently. There is very little point writing a 15 chapter novel (with a couple of versions of each chapter) and then trying to shape it into something - you will end up having to write the book 10 times over just to get it finished.

The way I have always seen it is that you need to assemble a set of raw material and then refine it into a piece of prose. Then assemble all the prose into a book.

> The problem is, you spend time rewriting during your session.

I'm currently writing about one chapter a month (this is pretty productive for me). I write for around 4 or 5 sessions a week (when I get time). That breaks down into, say, 3 sessions of pure writing in which I will complete a couple of sections - but end up writing each of them up to 5 times. Then a session refactoring/rewriting, then a session building it together (this is a bit vague - I tend to get to the end of the month with lots of rewrites ready for a "build" in one go). What I want to do is cut down the amount of pure writing I need to do.

One successful thing I have done is get a three big whiteboards. One tracks the story as a whole (this is somewhat redundant because I've had the story in mind for about 5 years :)), One tracks the chapters I am currently working on and the last one I sketch out the current section/chapter.

At the start of the session I review the first two boards (and my memory) then start drafting ideas/timeline onto the third board. I deliberately pick points in the timeline that are "fixed" and start with them - drafting out a quick list of how it will work. Then you fill in the blanks with writing sessions.

This avoids the major problem with "just writing". In the past what has happened is I would sketch out a couple of chapters. Then I'd want to change something and it would mean that a whole lot of the chapter had to be reorganized. Or something had to push back into the previous chapter to make sense. Or.. You get the picture.

Writing a novel IMO needs one of two things: extreme natural talent (King et al) OR planning :)

(good discussion!)

Actually, that advise was basically ripped from Stephen Kings book, On Writing. He basically advises to write. Finish. Set aside the novel for several weeks, then pick it up and reread it fresh.

Read that book. It pretty much get's it down for you.

One thing to keep in mind is that interviews are pretty bad for finding tips on writing. In On Writing, Stephen King pretty much says that what he says in interviews is made to sound good, because the truth isn't as interesting.

But seriously, that book right there pretty much nails it in the head.

Now, at the end of the day, you do what works for you, of course. But at the end of the day, it's all about writing. If you've found some other method to get your writing done, great. Who am I to argue. But seriously, the best advise I can give to someone having trouble writing is to just write. You don't seem to have that problem, if your schedule is set and you've been doing it.

I guess my advise is more geared toward those who aren't writing, and want to. They ask the questions like: what word processor do you use? or do you use a notebook and pen? or when do you write? Questions that sound interesting. It's soft of like the GTD fad. Everyone is so consumed with the tools of GTD and ignore actually getting things done!

=)

And yes, good discussion. Wish I could give more karma!

Yeh I hear you; that's a good point :)