Writer's Road ReCap: Problem Solving 7/22

An abbreviated recap of the frist Writer's Road chat on problem solving in which our chatters are invited to bring their writing or publishing related problems for open discussion (the Writer's Road chat occurs every Monday at 6pm PT using on Twitter using Tweetchat with the hashtag #WritersRoad):

Kurt Bali  Motivation. Writing when the spirit's down. RT @teetate: So who among us has a writing issue they need help with? Let us know! #writersroad

Heather McCorkle  @KurtBali Lack of motivation, a huge problem for many! Brainstorming with friends always words great for me. #WritersRoad

TS Tate (Tee)  to @KurtBali I'm sure others will have something to say on this, but for me the only answer is butt in the chair & do it #writersroad


Krissi Dallas  to @teetate Yes. Butt. Chair. WRITE. I've learned if I'm stuck for long, there's a major issue in the story that needs resolving! #writersroad

TS Tate (Tee)  a bit like deciding if you want to marry writing or fool around w/ it. If you want to marry it, then it requires commitment #writersroad

Ebony McKenna  to @KurtBali and @teetate Early mornings work best for me. But not too early! #WritersRoad

Heather McCorkle  One music artist in particular has been so inspiring for me, I'm going to mention them in the acknowlegments. Can work wonders. #WritersRoad

denisejaden  Love this topic! I love having friendly word/page-count competitions for motivation. #writersroad

J B Mills  to @teetate I'm like the cheater who keeps cheating to find the younger and prettier MS. #pathetic #writersroad

J B Mills  to @HeatherMcCorkle Do you do passes for different things? #writersroad

Heather McCorkle  to @jbeemills Absolutely. I start with structure, plot holes, and such. Then character arcs, story arc, then grammar. #WritersRoad

TS Tate (Tee)  to @KurtBali It's hard for me to keep motivated when the temptation of the Internets, etc is there. So I disconnect the wifi #writersroad

Heather McCorkle  Another great idea for motivation can be listening to conversations, people watching and such. #WritersRoad

Ebony McKenna  I plot things out. Like this #WritersRoad pic.twitter.com/c4ttTHwcbm

J B Mills  I feel like writing is making a big spaghetti dinner and revising is doing the dishes and peeling noodles off the ceiling. #writersroad

Of The Wilds  to @EbonyMcKenna Even my ideas for endings I plot out rarely make it in. Story always changes course, and new endings are born. #writersroad

Heather McCorkle  to @OfTheWilds Love that. The natural, organic part of allowing your story to grow can be the most fantastic part of the process. #WritersRoad

TS Tate (Tee)  to @EbonyMcKenna This just happened to me. Had to revamp 100+ pages bc a secondary char became central. pffft #writersroad

Amber Forbes  I just use notebooks to plan out my chapters on detail. Often avoids plot holes. #writersroad

TS Tate (Tee)  Make your characters have unique ways of speaking. No two characters should sound exactly alike. #writersroad

Amber Forbes  Make sure something happens in every chapter, some kind of development. #writersroad

theakpal  #WritersRoad My transitions are killing me. Currently having trouble getting between scenes-of-value organically/smoothly.

S Tate (Tee)  Ask yourself these questions: 1. When readers read my novels, I want them to feel... #writersroad

TS Tate (Tee)  2. What is it about the lead character in your fav novel that captures you? #writersroad

Heather McCorkle   to @theakpal Just remember, every scene has value of some kind or it doesn't belong. It must move the story or character forward. #WritersRoad

Ebony McKenna  I bought Goal, Motivation & Conflict by Debra Dixon, it's finally on Kindle. I LOVE HER! #writersroad