A Word in Your Eye

Writing Excuses Season Four Episode 19: Discovery Writing

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2010/05/16/writing-excuses-4-19-discovery-writing-2/

Key Points: Outline or write, that was the question? Map and plan your road trip, or get in a cool car and take off? False starts may be your friends. Throw some interesting characters in interesting situations and see what happens? Start with characters talking? Discovery writing helps show us who the characters are. Do your characters suggest things and do their own thing? You may be a discovery writer! Don't be afraid to use some structure if it helps. Advice for endings -- analyze what you've written, identify the Chekhov's guns you've hung, and pull those triggers. Brainstorming with other people is outlining for discovery writers. Discovery writers revise -- go back and make it solid. Think of your first draft as a really detailed outline. Fix it in post.
( Off we go... )
[Brandon] All right, Howard, discovery write us a writing prompt.
[Howard] Discovery write us a writing prompt? You know what, we're going to do Brandon's improv technique. Okay? Wherever you are right now, unless you're in your car, look around and pick six unrelated items. Pick six unrelated items.
[Dan] You can do this in a car, just don't crash.
[Howard] They're going to be related, because you're on the road. Okay, six unrelated items and weave them together in the first chapter of your discovery written thing. Knowing that at least two of them are Chekov's gun's that are going to prove to be important throughout your story.
( Tail wagging the dog )

Writing Excuses Season Four Episode 11: Jordo Tries to Stump Us

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2010/03/21/writing-excuses-4-11-brainstorming-examples/

Key points: Push the words, ring variations on their meaning, try interpreting it literally or metaphorically, what happens next, why would this happen? Combine it with something else. Is it like something else? Where's the conflict? Who hurts?
( brainstorming in public? )
[Howard] What have we got for a writing prompt?
[Brandon] Writing prompt is the very next thing Jordan was going to say.
[Jordo] New Zealand woman sells souls to the highest bidder.

Okay, I'm behind. But over at http://www.writingexcuses.com/ Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells are putting out a weekly series about writing called Writing Excuses. It's audio, not text, but I tried the first one today (it was put up Feb. 10) and it was pretty good!
( Summary of Episode 1 Brainstorming behind the curtain . . . )Well worth spending some time listening to (only 15 minutes). And despite the term podcast, Firefox was perfectly happy playing this in a popup for me. Of course, it took me a moment to realize that I needed to press the forward icon in the popup window, but that's just me.

And you can find out about Howard's Pepsi habit, too. Now there's a sticky image. :-)