Word Maze - what I'm learning about writing Pilar Orti

The last episode of the current season!

Pilar talks about what she's gained from taking part in previous NaNoWriMo s  and encourages anyone who's been thinking of writing a novel to try it too.

What is NaNoWriMo https://nanowrimo.org/
Community aspect
You commit for a month, that might be easier
You discover the story
I learned to sit and write - at least to sit and start
Learn what works, what doesn't
Helps you to talk about writing without saying you're a writer

Why Pilar is pausing her novel writing and this podcast.

If you're looking for podcast help, get in touch via www.pilarwrites.com
 
 

In today's episode, Pilar talks about:
Why she's stuck.
How the story's changed once she got writing, and how the idea can develop.

What's she learned from Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

What's she's incorporated from Scott King's Story Pitch

Here's the link to exporting synopses from Scrivener https://www.scrivenervirgin.com/2018/05/file-compile-export-synopsis/
She also mentions Austin Kleon's clarification of what he means by Show Your Work, in his interview in the What You Will Learn podcast.

You can find her Trello board here https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast and you can get in touch with her through www.pilarwrites.com
 

Pilar has realised that all her character was doing was living in the past, but she has a couple of things she's going to try to make the character more active.

Following feedback from her writing coach, she now needs to almost go back to the drawing board, but this presents plenty of opportunities to make the piece richer.

Plus: Thinking Remote: Inspiration for leaders of distributed teams is now out in audiobook format.

You'd think it's obvious, but it's taken Pilar quite a while to realise the main difference between writing a non-fiction book and writing a novel. 

Pilar recommends Anne Janzer’s excellent book on writing non-fiction, "Writing to Be Understood: What Works and Why". 

A little bit of progress on Pilar's own editing the novel. 

Check out the Trello board for book recommendations https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast and Pilar's website for more info www.pilarwrites.com
 

Why do we write? I struggled so much during the re-write that I almost threw it all away and gave up this "I want to write fiction" thing.
Why I didn't:
I hate dropping stuff before giving it a proper go - that's why I went to drama school I'm learning a lot I know that what I'm doing is hard, so if I get through it, or almost there, it will be amazing I'm paying for the process! I still don't know why we write / create art 2. Really glad I put the work in, because apparently, the writing has improved. Now the problem is the story, but that's ok, because that's fun. Now I've gone back to previous writing and seen how much MORE rewriting I need to do...
Still hard, I need to find the truth! Which means spending more time developing the relationship between Paula and Miguel- but always with that thread of suspense-is this a good thing to be happening? I don't want to write a love story...
3. The new opening, bringing the sounds to life; the sound routines, the breaking of them; the sounds from her neighbours
Description through point of view.
If you are also struggling with writing description that is relevant and reveals character, check out Episode 14.5 from Writing Excuses: Viewpoint as Worldbuilding
4. Twitter rocks- I needed the word for "shutters", tweeted, and got some options with minutes.
 

Pilar updates listeners on her writing retreat and how it's difficult to explain to people who don't write that writing is not driven by inspiration.

She shares her struggle with technique and the bad writing habits she's discovered.

This episode's wisdom is on using dialogue as exposition, borrowed from Into the Woods by John Yorke.


For book recommendations:

https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast
And to find out more about me and get in touch: www.pilarwrites.com