Inspiration
If you own a Mac, you need Scrivener. It's a writer's word processor that handles all the work of converting your work to manuscript format1 and allows you to manage research and the like. I'm not using it for anything academic, but I could see it being really good for that purpose too.
At any rate, on whim I downloaded the demo. So, I figured, "What the hell? I'll dust off an old story," and picked up Shooter2. Inspired by a lightning_fic, it's a weird west story about super powered weirdos. Previously it didn't really have a plot- I wrote 40 pages of meandering and florid prose, without getting bogged down in little details like having things happen.
So I don't even look at what I wrote previously. I just start all over, and start writing. I haven't written much yet, but there's a much stronger sense of direction. I know what the story is about3. I have a feel for the way events will unfold (there will be events this time!). Since Minna will be out of town next week, and I'll be bored anyway, I'm going to try and woodshed on writing it- it's my most ambitious and intriguing project.
But it isn't my only one. Of course not. I sit down and start writing, and WHAM! I start getting hit with ideas. Other little stories, mostly focusing on scuzzy people doing scuzzy things that you have to laugh at otherwise it'd make you sick.
The one that I probably won't write I'll share here. It's a love story. A forbidden love, between two military officers. Two Nazi officers that work in a concentration camp and are in charge of executions. It's a good concept, but not one that I'm all that interested in following up on. But- if anyone does, let me know. I'd be curious to see what folks do with it.
1There's a joke in there- computer generated manuscript? No? Oh, never mind.
2Working title and I really don't like it.
3Actually, I don't. But I know what some of it's about, and I know what I don't know. That is, there are big blank areas in the story, but I know their size and shape.
At any rate, on whim I downloaded the demo. So, I figured, "What the hell? I'll dust off an old story," and picked up Shooter2. Inspired by a lightning_fic, it's a weird west story about super powered weirdos. Previously it didn't really have a plot- I wrote 40 pages of meandering and florid prose, without getting bogged down in little details like having things happen.
So I don't even look at what I wrote previously. I just start all over, and start writing. I haven't written much yet, but there's a much stronger sense of direction. I know what the story is about3. I have a feel for the way events will unfold (there will be events this time!). Since Minna will be out of town next week, and I'll be bored anyway, I'm going to try and woodshed on writing it- it's my most ambitious and intriguing project.
But it isn't my only one. Of course not. I sit down and start writing, and WHAM! I start getting hit with ideas. Other little stories, mostly focusing on scuzzy people doing scuzzy things that you have to laugh at otherwise it'd make you sick.
The one that I probably won't write I'll share here. It's a love story. A forbidden love, between two military officers. Two Nazi officers that work in a concentration camp and are in charge of executions. It's a good concept, but not one that I'm all that interested in following up on. But- if anyone does, let me know. I'd be curious to see what folks do with it.
1There's a joke in there- computer generated manuscript? No? Oh, never mind.
2Working title and I really don't like it.
3Actually, I don't. But I know what some of it's about, and I know what I don't know. That is, there are big blank areas in the story, but I know their size and shape.