A lot of time and enthusiasm is sometimes being lost by a slump of feelings a sense of emptiness in our creative thinking. If we only could keep writing with the same frame of mind, from the commencement to the final sentence of a manuscript! The reason for this not being possible is found in the writer’s personality. We have mood swings and are therefore not always in the same frame of mind. A new method of writing takes this into account by recognizing the variations in our creativity and it enables us to keep on writing without losing time.
Those of us possessed with the need to write, pouring out thoughts on paper will have their flow of words and sentences sometimes stopped by boring patches that somehow have to be overcome. For example, long descriptions and uneventful scenes may stop a writer’s flow of thoughts. As if there are not enough obstacles to overcome – all the way to the printed publication!
Now, the momentum of writing can be maintained with a new technique, that is, the use of ‘snippets’!
Perusing your ‘chapter outline’, select a piece of action, a whole chapter or simply a segment of it and continue to write on a new page, in manuscript mode or letter style, the flow of thoughts that are racing through the mind at the moment. This may be termed the ‘creative moment’ and it should not be resisted or suppressed by forcing oneself to write about something else as we would invariably lose ‘quality’.
When finished this piece of writing, title it ‘snippet number 1’, underneath, state the subject or topic and the result of the word count. Then file it away in a document file called ‘snippets’.
They need not be filed in any particular sequence, however, they will arraign themselves numerically in their document folder.
Once every incident and chapter is dealt with, start with the compilation of the actual manuscript. Establishing the usual header and footer and taken care of the page numbering, simply paste these snippets in the correct sequence into the manuscript. This completed, read through everything as there may be the requirement of ‘cementing’ the various snippets together with a few correct words and phrases.
Glancing at the total word count, the - now pasted - snippets will tell the writer whether the intended publication is voluminous enough for the end result.
This method of working with ‘snippets’ offers a great improvement as no precious writing time is lost and it can only be recommended to any author who wishes to establish a kind of order or system in the creation of a very special piece of literature!
PETER FREDERICK – AUTHOR
www.life-on-the-road.com
peter.frederick@life-on-the-road.com
- PETER FREDERICK
