There are times when I write and the story or characters seem to get stuck deeper and deeper in a rut. I have written them into a corner that there is no way out of. So what do you do when this happens? Start over? Backtrack?

Generally, for me, I start over. I of course could probably solve some of these problems if I were better at outlining, but when a story is flowing, I’m not outlining, therefore I back up and rework it. And yes, this is often when I start the outline that might have saved me time if I’d just done it in the beginning.

So how do you dig yourself out? What skills do you use?

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Sarah is writer looking for an agent. She is currently working on novel # 4, editing novels 2 and 3, and querying novel # 1. For more insight to her work, visit: http://legendoftheprotectors.wordpress.com/ or http://legendoftheprotectors.blogspot.com/

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Last weekend, I participated in a workshop by Patrick Gale and Suchen Christine Lim.

Both of them were quite adamant about the use of pen and paper. Pen and paper, they said, would not let you edit as you draft, which is very important for first drafts.

Also, it slows down your thinking and writing, which, apparently, is a good thing. They even said something about writing by hand being an organic process as opposed to typing, closer to our hands and hearts.

This brought to mind my writing teacher and friend, who does not allow laptops in her creative writing classes for beginners. An year ago, I could not imagine putting pen to paper, it seemed an alien skill after years of typing.

But when I started off, I realised that with pen and paper I could access the creative side of my brain much easier. Thus far I had typed out all my articles, official letters, reports and so on. So, for me, the pen and paper became the starting point for all my first drafts, after which I typed them on to a document.

While typing I started editing automatically, my first draft virtually became my second draft. I printed this out, and started scribbling on it, adding in and deleting parts, then typing them in again.

This has become my de-facto drafting process for all my short stories. I have not managed a novel yet, so I don’t know what drafting an entire novel by hand would be like. As others have said, it could have its disadvantages.

Patrick Gale does all his first drafts in long hand on notebooks. As writers we have all have different processes, and I’m curious to know how other writers create their drafts. So how do you draft your work?

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In my writing, I struggle with dialog. How do I get it to a point where the conversation is not only meaningful, it also advances the plot and reveals character?

I have done a few dialog-writing exercises, but the results are often dead, stilted.

But today I read some interesting bits about real-life conversation in a curious book called the 3 am Epiphany, which I’ve borrowed from a friend. They sort of made me realize that dialog does not have to be always clean, cut-and-dried, but can imitate life in various ways, all the while doing what I ask of it: advancing the plot and revealing character.

Without further ado, here are the pages I’m referring to:

3 am Epiphany on Conversations

Conversation examples

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It’s inevitable that as you start on your journey in creating a story, you don’t start at day one. So where do you start?

For me, when I first started writing, I started too early into the story. My friend Bethany helped the inexperienced me understand that the story starts often after the trauma, after the move, after the big change. That ridded me of my first two chapters of book one. Now, as I write, I try to start where the story actually begins, but I realize that often I still need someone to say, “Nope, here’s the start to your story.”

That leaves the backstory to be woven into the novel, not dumped in, but layered throughout.

Often, we tend to think that something can’t be cut because it’s important for the reader to know. So, my question is: How do you work it in without dumping it?

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Sarah is writer looking for an agent. She is currently working on novel # 4, editing novels 2 and 3, and querying novel # 1. For more insight to her work, visit: http://legendoftheprotectors.wordpress.com/ or http://legendoftheprotectors.blogspot.com/

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On my writing desk, I put up things that help me write from time to time. Recently, I found a book by Stephen Wilbers, called ” KEYS TO CREATIVE WRITING” and the two pages I find most helpful, I have photocopied and laid down on my desk where I can see them as I write.

I have scanned them for you, in order to share. You can read few pages here. But I would urge any writer be it fiction, or non-fiction to go and buy the book. This would probably be a good investment for all writers and writer-wannabes out there, because it contains detailed info not only on writing a piece, but more importantly, on re-writing and editing it to perfection.

So here you go:

Excerpt from "Keys to Great Writing"

Second Excerpt from Keys to Great Writing

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While talking to different people who are into fiction writing, I have recently stumbled upon a question that I ask each of them.

“Why are you writing this novel?” I ask.

And every time, the answers are different. Some writers do not have an answer. But I’ll try and quote the others from memory:

“I want to be published. I have published a few short stories, but that just not have the same impact.”

“If I had a choice, I wouldn’t. But there’s this deadline…”

“Because I think I can write one…”

A scattered few say:

” Because I can’t help it. The characters in my head won’t stop talking….”

“I care about what happened here, and I want to write so that the truth is out, once and for all….”

” This issue is close to my heart, and I’ve carried this story within me a long, long time….

I’m a reader for some of these writers and when I get their manuscripts in my hand, it is always the work of the latter category that keeps me reading to the last page. They aren’t always technically perfect, these works driven by passion or even obsession, but that can be corrected with the help of an editor.

I have come to believe that passion, more than knowledge of the craft, is what carries a novel with a reader, and makes him or her want to read on.

I’m not writing my novel, yet, but I’m sure I’ll ask myself the same question when I get to writing it. I’ll be sure to come out with my first, most spontaneous, honest answer, and then take a long, hard look at it.

So, why are you writing your novel?

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