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Motivation to write a novel?


Surreptitious

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I've been on the brink of writing a novel for some time (in fact, years). I have excellent ideas for science fiction, horror and action/espionage. Ideally, I would rather find a author who could make my ideas work in story form. I lack gusto for dialog, etc. I'm more into the over-all plot. I do write and compose music, which has it's advantages (my plots are poetic in nature). So lately, I've been considering to actually try and write a rough draft, but I lack motivation for it. I can write songs all day long and I think it has something to do with substance. The music makes the words more profound/interesting to me, etc.

Do any of the authors here have any special advice or system they use for writing? I've only recently put more energy into this and I really do not want to waste my time!

Also, if I do get lazy and not even attempt to write, would someone out there be willing to collaborate on an amazing story? I'm great at certain aspects of creativity. However, dialog is not my strong point.

I do not want to give away any of my ideas publicly. I'm sure you can all respect that.

I can basically imagine my plots in movie form and they could be great scripts eventually.

Thanks for reading!

I just realized I put this in the wrong section!

Surreptitious.

Edited by Surreptitious
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  • Surreptitious

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I've written seven novels. Two are being shopped to agents and publishing houses right now. The rest are in various stages of editing.

I really do not want to waste my time!

This is interesting to me. What is the goal you expect from writing this novel that would mean you didn't waste your time?

If you do not have the motivation to write a novel, it probably won't get written. If you want someone else to write your ideas, you will have to hire a ghostwriter. I've ghostwritten non-fiction before, but not fiction. Unless paid up front, I can't imagine anyone professional would want to spend all their time writing your novel.

If you think your story-lines would make great scripts, maybe consider just writing a script instead of a novel.

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A deep and hard look at my bank account always motivates me to write... maybe you should try that.

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A deep and hard look at my bank account always motivates me to write... maybe you should try that.

LOL!! :D

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I, too, had many ideas rolling around my head that I never thought I'd put to paper/computer screen due to lack of motivation. However, I managed to flip my problem around and use writing as a distraction. I find that, now, I'm most motivated to write when faced with a task I'm trying to avoid. It's become an avenue of procrastination for me. I'll say to my self, "Ok Pinx, you can either fill out those "TPS reports" for work (;)) or just goof off on google docs." Also, I started off with simple writing exercises to work on my dialogue (not a strong point for me either) and now I've written over 400 pages, and still going. I might even self-publish on amazon one day, once I clean the whole thing up a bit. The only advice I can give is you should just write for the fun of it. If you can't find the writing fun: 1, you probably won't finish it. 2, your readers probably won't find it fun either. Just my two cents. :)

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No one can motivate you. That's something you have to find within yourself. What works for other writers might not work for you. If you really want to write your great ideas, you will find away. As Purplos stated, you'll be hard pressed to find someone who just wants to write your ideas. Collaborations work better when both parties have a say in the ideas, not just one writing for the other.

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I've been on the brink of writing a novel for some time (in fact, years). I have excellent ideas for science fiction, horror and action/espionage. Ideally, I would rather find a author who could make my ideas work in story form. I lack gusto for dialog, etc. I'm more into the over-all plot. I do write and compose music, which has it's advantages (my plots are poetic in nature). So lately, I've been considering to actually try and write a rough draft, but I lack motivation for it. I can write songs all day long and I think it has something to do with substance. The music makes the words more profound/interesting to me, etc.

Do any of the authors here have any special advice or system they use for writing? I've only recently put more energy into this and I really do not want to waste my time!

Also, if I do get lazy and not even attempt to write, would someone out there be willing to collaborate on an amazing story? I'm great at certain aspects of creativity. However, dialog is not my strong point.

I do not want to give away any of my ideas publicly. I'm sure you can all respect that.

I can basically imagine my plots in movie form and they could be great scripts eventually.

Thanks for reading!

I just realized I put this in the wrong section!

Surreptitious.

Try this : Set a deadline for yourself. Say to yourself "I will have the first draft written in one month"... then just do it. Don't worry if the first draft is perfect or not - once you have something written down you can go back and rework it to your liking. But focus on getting the whole story down first.

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No offence to Wookietim, but in my opinion, setting a deadline for yourself to finish a novel is a horrible idea because it forces one to put in whatever codswallop my come to mind. As a musician and a writer myself, I completely understand the subtle differences in the art form.

First of all, though music can be meticulous and mathematical, (just like writing), its overall goal is to evoke a certain sense of feeling. What kind of ambiance is the musician attempting? As far as horror stories go, two perfect examples put into music would be “A Night on Bald Mountain” by Mussorgsky, or “The Call of Kathulu” by Metallica. Both of these give that dark and creepy vibe, but have been written in completely different styles.

Now let me ask you this? How do you write music? Do you hear the complete song in your head then write it down on paper and that’s it? Or are you a normal human being who gets an idea and then picks up your guitar or whatever, and dinks around on it, coming up with the main part and then filling in the details?

I’ve found that when I have an idea for a plot, it is much easier to write by using a technique called “Freewriting” where you just start writing whatever comes to mind. I’ve actually spent hours doing this without knowing where everything was coming from and have come out with some pretty good stuff. I give it a little time, then go back later, read it out loud and make the necessary changes.

When I have a character or even a particular scene in mind without a plot, then the writing becomes a much more difficult and slower process. I’ll actually try to diagram it out sometimes by using bubble charts.

The question you have posed has been one that I have wondered about for a very long time. All in all though, I have realized that if I don’t actually start to write something, then I’ll never see it come to fruition. This is why I’ve written a plethora of short stories and have shared them for free download on Authorstand.com (under the name James Conright). Lastly, as I’ve been reading other authors on that site, I’ve come to borrow ideas from them (but never outright steal or plagiarize). I’ve realized that this is much akin to borrowing licks from popular songs, then tweaking them a bit to fit into something that I’ve written myself. Sometimes, the results are astounding. Good luck to you and stop putting off your writing!

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No offence to Wookietim, but in my opinion, setting a deadline for yourself to finish a novel is a horrible idea because it forces one to put in whatever codswallop my come to mind.

No offense to C. Mascot, but in my opinion, setting a deadline to finish a first draft of a novel is a exceptionally good idea. :) There's a reason why NaNoWriMo is so popular.

It is very easy to get stuck in the trap of tweaking and editing and polishing chapters or scenes and never finish the entire story. I say get the whole thing down on paper/screen and then go back and work it. Which is pretty much what you say here:

I’ve actually spent hours doing this without knowing where everything was coming from and have come out with some pretty good stuff. I give it a little time, then go back later, read it out loud and make the necessary changes.

Pick ten random writers out of a giant room full of writers and you'll get ten different methods for writing a novel.

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No offence to Wookietim, but in my opinion, setting a deadline for yourself to finish a novel is a horrible idea because it forces one to put in whatever codswallop my come to mind.

Notice I never said that the deadline was to FINISH the novel but to simply have a first draft?

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Obviously different people have different meathods; one thing that we all agree on however, is that one must first write the whole danged thing before going through and tweaking and peaking it... Good luck!

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Now let me ask you this? How do you write music? Do you hear the complete song in your head then write it down on paper and that’s it? Or are you a normal human being who gets an idea and then picks up your guitar or whatever, and dinks around on it, coming up with the main part and then filling in the details? size]

Well, that is a tricky question. I have numerous ways to write music/lyrics. It all depends on my mood. I suppose I could apply the same to writing a book, etc.

Usually, I'll start playing a progression and hear the vocals. Most of what I do is free writing.

Thanks for everyone's input. I actually started designing my characters. I've been working on locations and learning about the areas too. I know it helps to research locations, time-periods, etc. Just realizing that, has made me more into it. Gotta read some more posts..

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...

What I usually do when I write, one thing that tends to work is listening to musick.

If I do not have musick it tends to be harder to focus, but if I play a game like zelda or something I enjoy, I feel I get inspired for some reason. If you want motivation, you have to find your muse, but motivation is not enough to write I think. I thinke there has to be a honest reason to write to, a goal sorta. Something you wish to gain, and money is not what you should look for, neither is fame. Try to think about the things you might be able to create by writing a book. A purpose that is to reach those that read. Something they will have to take into them. In a way, it's like writing a song, and freewriting might work well, but you have to controll the impulses in the right direction and lead it on from there I guess.

Well, those are just my thoughts'

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You have to be dedicated and driven in order to write a novel or a book. I wrote one, and I didnt know where to start, like when I was born, or as a teen or as an adult etc. My publisher said to write it like I was talking to my best friend and just run with it, so I did. It was not easy, and could be very draining and there were times I had to walk away for a day or so. Mine was about a true demonic haunting and it was very hard to re-live alot of it, plus I had a great deal of activity while writing it. If anyone is interested its called "Waking up to the Devil:A Haunting in Massachusetts" and its available on Amazon. I had to motivate myself many times even when I was sick or tired, but I am not a quitter either. It was written to help others out there, as well as therapeutic for me. I required total quiet when I wrote because I could get distracted very easily. Go for it and good luck. :tu:

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What I do is, I just write and write and let everything just pour out on to the screen (since I type my stuff), bad dialogue, clunky sentences and all, and then I go back over it, then again and again until I'm happy with it. I always thought I was rubbish with dialogue but I just need more time — great dialogue doesn't come naturally to me but I get there eventually.

The other thing is, sometimes I procrastinate because I have this fear that I'll never finish something or I'll be unable to put my story in to the words/sentences/a style that I feel it worthy off. But what I always find is, once I get going with that first sentence, I forget all about my fear/hesitation and can keep writing for hours and hours.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Really cool, the guy I do the radio shows for owns a publishing company, he has his book coming out soon....

He is always looking for people to be on his radio show too....keep us posted.

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