You read it everywhere: write every day, write about what you know, write write and write some more. Easier said than done, if you ask me, mostly because I spent five years in a dry spell. I tried the NaNoWriMo in order to motivate myself, and I spent countless hours calculating how many words I should write in one day if I were to become succesful in my NaNoWriMo novel. I spent more hours doing that than actually writing. So, how do writers do it? How do you get down to writing?
So, here is the down to earth truth.
Should you write everyday? YES! Reasons range from because your need the training, to because it becomes easier with each passing day, and because if you don’t write today, why is tomorrow going to be any different?
How many words per day? I remember listening to a speech by the famous Joanna Penn. She said that writing 1’500 words per day was a minimum, or was the minimum length for a short story, something like that, I can’t really recall. But what I remember is that, when I read it, it sounded daunting. How could I write THAT many words in one day. Now that I am training myself, I find out that, when I have something to say, 1’500 words is truly a minimum.
What should I write about? I found out in high school that I could only write well about topics I actually cared about, things that moved me, upset me. I started out writing articles for magazines. I was happy at first, then I felt kind of stuck in a box. The editor would give me a topic (not what I liked best, but rather what was available) and I would drain my creativity to write something interesting about this topic. I must admit that this is not the best way for me to write, because of the pressure. What I very much prefer is to find a prompt, and go with it, let it flow. For example, I went on fanstory Website and found a prompt one afternoon. It has turned into a now 5’000-word project and it is still flowing (see below for an excerpt)
What is all these words amount to nothing? Then, you will take this just like a 5-kilometer Nordic walk. You got nowhere in particular, you are back to where you started (Because you left your car there! Duh!) but it feels so… so good! So, write as much as you can.
How to start writing an eBook and get it published? Make use of all the words you write everyday and check it out to see if there is anything that can be exploited. See if you can combine startings and endings. Draw Mind Maps to help you out… and keep writing some more.
An excerpt to the future Best Seller by FT Colette (working process…)
Chapter one
The cold of the night would soon arrive (that was the prompt!), and I had no idea where I should go. Behind me laid the tormented road of past mistakes, in front of me stretched the unknown.
Given the choice, I would certainly pick the unknown rather than go back to what made up for a miserable life. But did I have a choice to make? He was still walking. I could see him on the horizon line, his leg dragging behind him as if to force him to slow down. Still, he could not take a hint, so he kept on walking, dragging his broken limb determined to catch up with me.
– “Keep trying, you moron!” was all I could volunteer. I spat the words in his direction. I did not recognize my voice, it was spiteful, full of hatred.
I wrapped my arms around myself. It was getting colder as the sun fell on the other side of what used to be my world. It was getting darker too, still I saw it. It looked like an abandoned gas station, with sand flying around its walls and no one in sight. I needed water, my tongue felt like sandpaper grinding against my teeth.
I started to walk in its direction, then hesitated. If there were people here, they could turn out to be even more dangerous than the one chasing after me. Was it worth the danger of ending up worse than I already was? Would I have the energy to deal with it? I glanced behind, he was now about three hundred meters from me.
Maybe just a sip from the well… I was faster, after all, both my legs were fine, and I only had a broken nose. My vision was blurry at times and I could feel my left eye swelling up where the bat had caught up with my head. I started towards the well.
– “Go away!” an elderly man came out, gesturing nervously and waving me away, “Go away, do you hear?”
I kept my head down, maybe I would reach the well and get a mouthful of water before he did anything to force me off his property. I heard the unmistakable click of a shotgun being loaded, and froze in my sandals. What the…?
– “We have nothing for you! Go away! Don’t stop here!”
– “Please, Sir, I pleaded, just a drop of water!” I kept my head down. My target had suddenly shifted from the water to the gun. I was fantasizing holding the weapon and shooting one or two bullets in the thick skull of the man who had destroyed my life. The thought brought a smile on my face.
– “Yeah, smile! Consider yourself lucky I have not killed you yet!” the ancient man shouted.
– “Please, Sir… please, have mercy!”
I heard his footsteps getting closer. Time was running. The other slug was surely closing in on me. Keep coming closer, old man!
– “No mercy! You travellers are all the same. You come, you take, you go and we are left with nothing.”
– “It’s only a drop of water Sir, only a drop, nothing much… you have a well…”
– “I know what I have now… What I will have left after you leave is another story!”
The light footsteps grew louder, then they stopped.
– “Oh, and you brought company?”
I looked up, panicked. If John caught up with me now, this old man would be no match against his wrath. Startled by my sudden movement, he adjusted his gun in my direction. I knew he was looking at John, though. What a sight this would be!
– “What the heck happened to this poor soul? Was he in an accident?” Then he took in the sight of my torn clothes and battered face, “Did you do that to him?”
I imagine what John looked like in the sunset. His leg twisted with the knee bone sticking out, his face gross and bloody, some of his hair pulled out on the one side of his head and blood sticking in lumps on the other side.
His clothes burned and torn…
Yes, I did that! This was what happened when you drove your woman to the ground, day after day, year after year. This was what happened when you did something irreparable.
I straightened up and stared at the man’s eyes with pride.
– “I did!”
The old man spat on the sand.
– “Well, I don’t know who I should shoot first… I thought it would be him, but I have doubts now.”
– “Why would you have to shoot anybody? Can’t you see that we have enough going on already?”
He did a double take and shrugged.
– “Go away! Go away do you hear? There is nothing here for you!”
OK, so back to that then…
I could smell the smoke emanating from John’s clothes now. He was not more than twenty meters behind me. I had to act fast if I wanted to live. I launched myself towards the old man, grabbing the gun. I saw his eyes catching mine in horror. He was much older than I thought. I pulled the canon of the gun towards me with all the strength I had left after this day of battle, and immediately realized it was probably the wrong idea to be at the open end of a loaded gun. The old man resisted the pull with all his might and held onto his side of the gun and then, I heard it.
I heard the unmistakable click of the gun unloading on me.
Chapter two
Raya looked down at her dirty hands for a long time, and took a deep breath. Mom would tell her to go and wash them. Mom? She straightened her dress, and patted her hair around the side of her face.
– “Mom!”
The emptiness echoed back “Moooooommmm”
She had to get off the path, she was way too easy to spot. She entered the bush on the side of the path, and when she considered herself hidden and safe, she fell on her knees. How long had she been walking for? The sun was setting and she had to find a proper shelter, one that he could not discover, a haven to protect her from her father, the man who had tried to kill her today. By now, he must have found out about her escape and he would be looking for her. Oh, he would be so mad. Mad enough to kill her. She chuckled. Like he needs a reason for that!
She heard a sound behind her. A branch cracked on the path where she had walked just seconds before. She stopped breathing, her heart racing in her chest like it wanted to jump out and throw itself at the intruder. Someone’s there!
Walking on all fours, she hid further in the bush and remained still. Maybe she had fantasized hearing the sound. She was hungry and hunger could play tricks on the mind, her Mom taught her that when they took long walk through the forest to get away from his wrath. She did not dare to look over onto the path to check if she could actually see someone, but she soon heard another crack. The sound bounced back off the still tree trunks. Someone’s there!
She placed her face in her hands. If I can’t see anything, no one can see me! She used to play the ostrich game with her Mom. They would chase each other around the yard, and when she hid her face in her hands, Mom would call out:
– “Where did you go? I can’t see you if you can’t see me!” and she would suddenly grab her and lift her up in the air. Their giggles would travel across the fields around the house, scaring the old rooster which tried to fly away but could not, because they had clipped his wings, so he ran like mad in circles around the yard.
Another crack, closer this time, maybe two arm lengths away. Was she supposed to start running now? Would this trigger a scary chase around the woods? One that she would of course lose, she was only six years old and not a fast runner. Mentally, she went over her options, die there and then from a heart attack, like Grand-Pa, but she realised that this could not be intentional, so she could not really act on it. Make a run for it and be caught within seconds, minutes if she was lucky. Stay right here until a powerful hand grabbed and pulled at her. The latter is exactly what happened, as if Raya could see into her future.
There was a noise, very close to her, the swishing noise of leaves being pulled apart, she clenched her hands tighter on her face, Oh, please God, please make it all go away!, and before she could take another breath, a hand grabbed at her dress and pulled her backwards, against the bush. She fell on her bottom, and felt the branches tearing at her arms and legs as she tried to resist, but there was no way, the hand was too strong. She was being pulled out of her hiding.
She kept her eyes closed and waited for something terrible to happen. She hoped it would be fast… and painless. She did not want to feel that pain again. It hurt when he hit and it hurt the whole night and the whole day after that. Sometimes, she would still hurt after a few days, until the bruises became pale. Her Mom would nurse her, sing lullabies and blow softly on the cuts. But Mom was not there anymore, she had seen it with her own eyes and could not un-see it anymore..
– “Say goodbye to Mommy!” her father’s eyes were wild with rage as he screamed and raised the bat again and again. She saw the shape under the blanket go still after a couple of blows. She saw the blood soaking the cloth. She blocked her eyes with her hands but the horrid vision would not go away. She wanted to run and see her Mom and hug her, but she was scared of the blood and scared to see a dead person for the first time, even if this person was her Mom.
She was still being pulled across the forest. She gave in. She was not fighting back anymore, it was pointless. If she died now, she would be reunited with her Mom again, so this was her choice. The hand pulled at her dress and her body followed lazily, nonchalantly slamming into stones and trees as they whirled around a wild path. What was taking him so long? Bravely, she opened her eyes and let her mind flow. She looked up at the treetops, all the leaves were dancing with millions of colors. It was truly beautiful. Raya loved the forest. Her favorite pastime was to come here and lay in the grass under the canopy, looking at the treetops and whistling with the birds.
There was no whistling today and she did not notice whether birds were singing or not. She was tired and somehow, even pulled around like a rag doll, she fell asleep.
The cold woke her. She opened her eyes and it was dark. She was lying on the ground and it felt wet and cold. She brought up her knees and sat up. Her eyes stretched, trying to see something in the obscurity. She seemed to be in a cave of some sort. She heard water nearby, maybe a stream. She was thirsty. Suddenly, the noise of something being dropped to her left startled her. She jumped and let out a shriek. Quickly she controlled it. Calm down!
Her eyes became accustomed to the dark and she could see the opening of the cave, she recognised the sky outside. She felt with her foot near her where she had heard something drop. It was a bottle. She grabbed it and opened it nervously. She sniffed it. Water! She drank with avidity until she choked herself.
– “Calm down!”
Was this a voice? Did she hear it or imagine it in her mind? She heard a movement to her left. Someone’s there!
Free Writing in 2013 