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| Ready to write your novel? Embracing the Mystery and Taking Action
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October 16, 2020
Oakland, CA
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| | The creative process is a mystery. Writing a novel is part mystery, part exploration, part WTF.
When we learn things the only way we know that we have learned them is to take action.
In my growth as a novelist, I went from someone who wanted to be a novelist but had no idea where to begin, to learning, observing, reading a ton, and then sitting down to finally write.
When I committed to writing a novel and sat down to write that first scene at an outdoor cafe on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, it was so hard.
For one thing it seemed to take forever, but probably only took an hour to write half a scene. I’d never done it!
Plus, I had no idea where this scene fit into a greater whole. I had no idea what I was doing.
But I started. And that was the difference that made the difference.
I went from daydreaming to action — however imperfect and clumsy and feeling my way in the dark it was.
I was in completely new territory.
That started the journey of learning.
I had so many questions.
- How do you develop a character?
- What is plot?
- What is conflict?
- How do you write a scene?
- What the hell is a scene anyway?
- How do you string ideas together into a coherent whole that feels like a story?
I didn’t know how to do any of these things at the start.
All I could do was ask questions and look for answers.
Then I sat down and I wrote. That first novel took 5 years.
I am proud of my efforts, but I won’t ever publish that novel. That’s okay. I learned a ton and had the tremendous satisfaction of holding a completed messy draft in my hands — all 350 pages of that hefty manuscript.
Then I right away started a new novel and finishing it. And then another. And another. And so on.
I took what I observed and experienced and learned from each book and from my critique partners and put it into action into each new novel.
That is my wisdom. I trust that I learn something from each project; that learning goes into the next.
Why does learning work that way?
I don’t know. It’s a mystery.
The creative process is a mystery.
How I now understand how to write a novel is amazing and glorious and still a mystery.
I am someone who thrives on challenges.
The fact that it’s hard to write a novel is one of the reasons why I’m so passionate about it. I get to learn about how to be a better storyteller every day, and I’m sure I will until the day I die.
I’m fascinated by what makes a good story and I’m fascinated by the stories that pour out of me. I don’t know where those stories come from. I only know that the interest me deeply.
I’m passionate about helping writers—you—get to know your creative process and be in alignment with it so you can do what you love: write stories.
Do you need to understand everything to start writing? No
Do you need to understand perfectly all the ins and outs of story? No.
With every story you’ll learn more. With every story you write you will get better.
Why? Because that is the way humans learn and grow.
And why is that? We don’t know. And that’s OK. We don’t need to know everything to create excellent stories.
Stories that move readers, stories that make them cry, stories that make them laugh.
Art is about emotion.
And learning how to put that emotion into art is the game.
It’s October and therefore time to get ready for Nanowrimo, if you want to harness the energy of National Novel Writing Month to write the first draft of a new book, then yippee!
Start, take action, play with your story ideas on the page.
Writing is thinking and where the alchemical process of creativity happens.
We have support and tools for you!
Ready to Write?
— This book is great if you want the bare minimum to get you started and comes with a fun and useful Bonus Pack that includes a checklist, videos, and more!
— This book is great if you want extensive story planning tools to help you develop your idea seedling in a fully-fledged story outline, so you can write your story with confidence and clarity. The book comes with a Bonus workbook and a 50% off coupon to the online course.
— Jump right into the course at Barany School of Fiction. This course comes with teacher support.
When you sign up for the bonuses that come with the first 2 books or you sign up for the class, you also get access to our community, Fellowship of the Pen, and the support we provide:
- Weekly writing sprints to help you focus on your writing
- Monthly Q&A calls to get live coaching and join together in community to learn from each other and support each other
Are you ready to write and take action now?
If you’re ready to take action now, if you want to write a novel for yourself or for the next generation, or to see if you can do it, or if you have something you need to say, then check out our offerings and see if they’re right for you.
If you’re not sure which of our offerings are right for you, write me (hit reply) to set up an appointment to chat, or go here to sign up for the no-obligation call.
I’ll leave you with this today…
Over the last 20+ years I have devoted my attention to writing fiction, and tomorrow I publish my 10th novel, Lured By Light, the next Janey McCallister mystery. Yippee!
I am proud of my books and all the work I have done to get to this place.
I am also amazed at what I have accomplished — I have accomplished what I set out to do.
When I look back at the little girl I was at 8 years old, working on her first story with her brother about their cats, and wanting to be a writer, and then fast forward to now, I am in awe.
From a young age I wanted to write stories, and now I can. Wow.
If I can do it, so can you.
You can also listen to this post here on Soundcloud. |
| | | Upcoming Event Next Week!
Escape the Plot Forest 4-day event mixes daily prompts, community support, and expert lectures. You'll finish the conference with specific, concrete goals for plotting your next draft.
I'll be speaking about our "7 Essential Keys to Planning Your Novel" and I walk Daniel through a story idea. So much fun to see how his idea evolved from a seedling into a full outline.
Sign up for this free summit by Sunday, Oct. 18th 9pm PT/12midnight and be eligible to win an all-access pass (currently worth $67 with early bird pricing): (special bonus for my list!)
Everyone who has already signed up via my link will be eligible to win this pass too.
"Escape the Plot Forest: the Online Plotting Summit" is shaping up to be a fun, intimate learning event:
- 11 speakers over 4 days so you can absorb all the gems
- Free bonus when you register: a thirty-seven page manual to help you sketch out and write a brand-new story — today; with prompts and lessons to construct a short story, step by step
- A "Character-First Novel" seminar with Daniel David Wallace, his special sauce!
- Specific, concrete advice that will get you writing
- Watch parties for those who buy a premium pass
- Lots of bonuses and goodies from the speakers (I have some fun bonuses for you!) so you can get lots of value that you can apply right away
See you there
Sign up here for this fee summit:
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| ♥
Have a happy and creative week!
All my best,
Beth
♥
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| | Recent Posts on the Writer's Fun Zone Blog |
| | | | Our Newest Book for Writers!
"7 Essential Keys to Planning Your Novel: Story Preparation for Pansters"
We're selling this book for $0.99 on the ebook retailers, as a way to introduce new writers to our material.
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| | You have been reading the Creativity Sparks Newsletter!
Now in its 14th year, this newsletter is a service of my coaching and consulting business, helping genre fiction writers write, market, and publish their books through live and home study courses, a 12-month group program, and private consultations.
You may share this content intact and with no changes with this attribution:
c. 2006-2020 Beth Barany, Creativity Coach for Writers, www.BethBarany.com
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| ABOUT BETH BARANY
Beth Barany is creativity coach for writers, a teacher, workshop facilitator, and speaker, who helps fiction writers experience clarity, so that they can write and polish their novels, and proudly publish them to the delight of their readers.
Owner of the Barany School of Fiction, an online training hub, Beth takes great interest in how humans learn, create, and grow, and includes all her students’ life experiences, including the ancestors, into the moment.
Want a course to help you prepare to write your novel? Discover the comprehensive Plan Your Novel course here, co-taught with award-winning, bestselling thriller author, Ezra Barany.
She's also an award-winning novelist and writes magical tales of romance, adventure, and mystery to empower women and girls to be the heroes in their own lives.
Uncover her Henrietta series here (YA Fantasy) and her Touchstone series here (Fantasy/Paranormal Romance). And her new Sci-fi Mystery here.
beth@bethbarany.com
Barany School of Fiction
Writer's Fun Zone blog
Photo Credit: by c. 2018 Ezra Barany
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