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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 21, 2014 15:58:48 GMT -5
You guys have probably heard me complaining about how hard it is for me to come up with plot. I think I end up with reasonably creative ideas, but they don't come easy. On a creativity scale of 1 to 10, I think I'm maybe a 4. That's not great for someone writing fantasy. I need to invent worlds! Magic! Creepy monsters!
So here's what I'm wondering: do you think blogging (or some other form of writing that separate from one's books) can enhance creativity? Is creativity like a muscle, so the more you use it, the stronger it gets?
Or is it more like a cup of water -- if you pour some into a blog post, you have less left for your books? (I hope this isn't the case!)
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Post by vrabinec on Feb 21, 2014 16:12:17 GMT -5
I go with the muscle thing. Of course, everyone's muscles have their limits. But training can get the most out of them. And I think you're plenty creative.
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Post by cbedwards on Feb 21, 2014 16:46:19 GMT -5
I agree with Vrab.
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Post by Suzy on Feb 21, 2014 17:42:52 GMT -5
ANY kind of writing is good for creativity. I blog about lots of things but I always find it stimulating.
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 21, 2014 17:43:31 GMT -5
I go with the muscle thing. Of course, everyone's muscles have their limits. But training can get the most out of them. And I think you're plenty creative. Thanks, vrab.  I'm hopeful about the "creativity exercise" thing. But I don't know. You guys know the Neil Gaiman comic, The Sandman? I read it back in college. There's this one story where a mediocre writer has taken a muse captive to inspire his writing. Like, an actual muse, as in ancient Greece. When the muse is finally freed, the writer is punished by being given so much inspiration that he can't possibly write everything down. He's driven mad, and the story ends with him desperately trying to write all the ideas down on a brick wall, so desperate to record them that he's writing in the blood of his own fingers as he wears them down on the bricks. (Yeah, grotesque.) The last couple pages have maybe a dozen ideas -- he's saying them to himself as he writes. I remember thinking, when I was reading them, that these are are probably some of the throw-away ideas and Gaiman had that he didn't deem good enough to actually use. But each one was so inventive. Gaiman ... now that's creativity, you know? I poked around in Google images and found a scan of that issue's last page. It doesn't have all the ideas, just some of them: ic.pics.livejournal.com/icon_uk/11800056/1382916/original.jpgHmm, I'm getting deja vu. Have I talked about this comic before? Maybe back in the Bistro? That issue made a big impression on me. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 21, 2014 17:44:27 GMT -5
40-love in favor of creativity-building ... this is looking promising!
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Post by Suzy on Feb 21, 2014 17:48:59 GMT -5
My creativity has some big biceps after all the blog posts I've written.
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 21, 2014 17:49:33 GMT -5
My creativity has some big biceps after all the blog posts I've written. Get a load of Suzy's creativity guns!  |
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Post by Daniel on Feb 22, 2014 9:40:05 GMT -5
I don't think anyone could read Nolander and claim you aren't creative. Just sayin'.
I believe blogging can help your writing if you do it strategically. When my wife and I were writing non-fiction, we blogged on the topics we wanted to include in our books. The books were essentially organized, edited, and augmented compilations of our blog posts. With a consistent, weekly schedule, we were able to publish about a dozen books on the topics that interested us over the course of a few years.
I haven't tried to write fiction like that, although some people do so through venues like WattPad. But I think strategic blogging could still help your writing and flex your creativity muscles. By "strategic," I mean let your blog help you with the things you need to do in crafting your story. If possible, use your blog to develop content you need for other purposes. For example, if you want to put character descriptions into Shelfari, you could use blog posts to develop that content and then re-use all or a summary of it on Shelfari.
Experts recommend that you come up with a specific mission for your blog and target a specific audience. Many writers post articles aimed at other writers. I've done some of that myself, but now I'm trying to create posts that are of general use to anyone (like the blog-to-facebook post), or (most often) posts specifically aimed at my readers. That revised mission has led to things like Character Spotlight, Location Lore, and Creature Feature blog posts. What I hope to achieve is for my blog to become a sort of compendium for my stories.
My blog mission also influences what I ask for in guest posts. Really, my only requirement is that it be something that would be of interest to a fantasy reader. For example, one of my most recent guest posts was from Tracy Falbe, who wrote about how sixteenth century Prague inspired her Renaissance werewolf story. Before that, Juli D. Revezzo gave me a post that was essentially a flash fiction story that introduced one of her characters. I enjoyed them both, and I think my readers would enjoy them too.
I don't know if I'm doing this blog thing the "right" way, but I decided I needed a strategy, and this is it for now.
ETA: I just saw your post about reviving The Active Voice. Nice job! It looks like you've already got this stuff figured out.
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Post by whdean on Feb 22, 2014 11:06:39 GMT -5
I think of blogging or writing of that sort as thinking out loud. You have to clarify your thoughts and work through them to write them out, so I've always thought it's the best thing for creativity. I find lately, however, that I haven't been posting what I write to the blog. Sounds odd, but I do it to help me think, not to share with the world.
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Post by Pru Freda on Feb 22, 2014 11:22:24 GMT -5
A good point WH. I haven't posted anything to my blog in over a year. Things that I have written for it have never been posted - it's more a way of having a rant, or getting things off my chest or, as you say, working things out. I find it hard enough to write my stories, let alone expend valuable writing energy on a blog.
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 22, 2014 19:00:33 GMT -5
Good points, everyone -- thank you!
Lynda and WH, I know what you mean about writing stuff you can't post. The problem with having a blog that's aimed at readers is that you have to be careful about saying anything controversial or inflammatory. I'm not saying you should be bland or never take positions, but there are whole topics it's best to stay away from entirely because whatever you say is likely to alienate someone. So if I feel annoyed by some political event and want to rant about it ... nope, sorry, not good blog material. (Unless you're aiming to generate attention by being controversial. That does work for some people -- Barry Eisler's always on about politics -- but it's not my style.) You also probably don't want to post any creative work that's very rough. Potential readers might assume all your work is like that.
Daniel, I love your ideas about writing stuff that will help you craft your story. Character spotlights sound scary ... I'm afraid I'd give away too much. Have you done any of them? How do you handle the "telling too much" risk? Creature features sound awesome. For instance, I could write about the dinosaur species that inspired the minis (segisaurus), or about the epochs various strata represent (location lore). I could imagine these kinds of posts really appealing to readers! Such posts might actually draw some folks over from Fb. What do you think???
And thanks so much for the compliment. I did end up feeling okay about the level of creativity in Nolander. It just was like pulling teeth to get there, you know? I hear other authors talking about having a dozen ideas, not knowing which to start on next, and it's deflating. I have *no* preexisting ideas. I have to force one little idea at time to trickle out by actually writing. I want to get the old idea-generator going. If possible.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2014 19:15:28 GMT -5
I don't feel like my blog is particularly inspired. I just write about random stuff. Sometimes I post silly videos. I do intentionally keep writing posts to about a third. The best writer's blog that appeals to readers that I follow is Gail Carriger's blog. She's brilliant. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 22, 2014 19:19:08 GMT -5
I don't feel like my blog is particularly inspired. I just write about random stuff. Sometimes I post silly videos. I do intentionally keep writing posts to about a third. The best writer's blog that appeals to readers that I follow is Gail Carriger's blog. She's brilliant. That's an instructive example, Lynn, thanks! (I've had Soulless on my TBR list for ages.) How interesting that she posts deleted scenes ... |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2014 19:21:23 GMT -5
I don't feel like my blog is particularly inspired. I just write about random stuff. Sometimes I post silly videos. I do intentionally keep writing posts to about a third. The best writer's blog that appeals to readers that I follow is Gail Carriger's blog. She's brilliant. That's an instructive example, Lynn, thanks! (I've had Soulless on my TBR list for ages.) How interesting that she posts deleted scenes ... Her books are terrific! She's one of my favorite authors. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Feb 22, 2014 19:25:21 GMT -5
That's an instructive example, Lynn, thanks! (I've had Soulless on my TBR list for ages.) How interesting that she posts deleted scenes ... Her books are terrific! She's one of my favorite authors. Cool. I need to get back to reading one day soon.  |
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Post by Daniel on Feb 22, 2014 20:11:38 GMT -5
Daniel, I love your ideas about writing stuff that will help you craft your story. Character spotlights sound scary ... I'm afraid I'd give away too much. Have you done any of them? How do you handle the "telling too much" risk? The trick for not giving away too much is to only cover the character's history up to the point where the story begins. You can end the post with a lead in for your book (...One day she took a photograph that revealed something remarkable). I've done two character spotlights of my own and hosted several for other authors. You can see them all here: Character Spotlights at The Vaetra FilesThe ones that are mine: The Women of the Vaetra Chronicles Character Spotlight: Jaylan Forester Creature features sound awesome. For instance, I could write about the dinosaur species that inspired the minis (segisaurus), or about the epochs various strata represent (location lore). I could imagine these kinds of posts really appealing to readers! Such posts might actually draw some folks over from Fb. What do you think??? I know I'd like to read your dinosaur post. Like I said before, the hub concept puts your blog in the middle. It's like fan insurance. Reach fans however you can, but bring them home to your blog. No matter what else happens on the social networks, your fans know where they can find you. Back when I had comments turned on, I know for a fact that some readers saw my links or posts on social networks and then came over to read them (and comment on them) on the blog. Some came from Facebook, many from Twitter, and I've even had some from G+. Some readers make their comments on the social networking venue of their choice, which does nothing but help promote your blog post in that venue. I'd say the relationship between your blog and social networking is synergistic. |
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