Hi writers! So how did you fare during our June Read/Write Challenge?
I had a few goals in mind when I began this challenge. First, I wanted to practice reading like a writer without getting too bogged down and forgetting to enjoy what I was reading. The formula I arrived at–(1) notice one thing the author does and (2) jot down one idea to try in my future writing–seems to work pretty well and I hope to continue using it.
Second, I wanted to continue to cultivate a daily writing habit. I have to admit that on many days it was difficult for me to find even 20 minutes of uninterrupted time to write. My brain doesn’t really start to function until halfway through my second cup of coffee and, by that point, my kids are usually stumbling downstairs and asking me for things. And at the end of a long day, I just want to collapse.
I guessed that 20 minutes of writing generally got me one page, front and back, in the notebook I carry around with me, so I used that as a guide instead and collected sentences throughout the day. One while waiting for the train, one at my desk before turning my computer on, a few at lunch, one in the parking lot before heading into the grocery store, one in the parking lot again before driving home. It is possible to write this way. I promise. It is even possible to write something good this way. I read once that Toni Morrison wrote her first novel a few minutes at a time, getting up at 4 a.m., before her long days as a single working mother of two young children began. Persist, writers!
I also wanted to explore a new source of writing prompts. And writing from random lines in the books on my shelves was pretty fun. Talk about an endless source of ideas! Some of the lines I chose took me in places I would not have otherwise gone with my writing. Sci-fi, historic fiction, different tones. And now I see writing prompts in everything I read. Do you know what I mean? Those cryptic lines of text you run across that belong to one story but hint at many more. I missed a couple of days but I’m pretty satisfied overall. On Day 28 I even got so carried away with what I was writing that I continued it on Day 29, instead of starting with a new prompt.
So what do you do if you used this method and wrote something spectacular that you want to submit for publication (congratulations, btw)? Plagiarism is of course not an option. First, see if you can just omit your prompt line. It got you started, sure, but is it essential? Leaving it out may actually improve your piece, by throwing the reader right into the action. And if you simply can’t do without it, consider make it an epigraph, giving the author full attribution.
Whatever you do, hang onto the story starters and ideas you came up with this month. For one of our upcoming challenges I hope to do a whole month turning writing “scraps” like these into finished pieces.
And now, on to the next challenge!