Mastery / Writing Flashcards
Why do I need to experiment with new writing techniques?
Learning new writing techniques will open my neural pathways related to writing and bring me closer to mastery. It will also ensure that I’m always getting better because I always have more connections in my brain than I did before.
What’s Creativity Time and why did I need it to compete with the best authors?
This is where I sit and generate ideas. Maybe it’s for a scene, a chapter, a character, or a book. This helps me work past “top of the head” thinking and dig deep for unexpected things. The more I do it, the better I get.
How do I stop my outlines from feeling like random clusters of scenes?
Give everything and cause and effect relationship. Every scene causes the next scene. Very often, one scene’s consequence is the next scene’s conflict.
Why are rituals important?
Because Deep Work is hard, and your brain will try to get out of it if it can find a way. But it also follows patterns and prepares certain neural states based on what came before it
What are J. Thorn’s three components of a scene?
Conflict. The conflict disrupts the MC’s status quo and forces him to make a choice.
Choice. The choice is the reaction to the conflict. The conflict opens many choices.
Consequence. The result of the choice. It naturally follows. A cliffhanger pushes the consequence to the next scene, and that might be the conflict for the next scene.
What creates conflict in the different parts of the M.I.C.E?
Milieu (setting)
Starts when a character enters a place, and ends when a character leaves a place. The conflicts are things that are stopping the character from leaving
Inquiry
A question, like a mystery. Ends when a character solves that mystery. The conflicts keep the character from answering the question.
Character
Begins when a character is unhappy, ends when a character is happy. Conflict keeps the character from becoming happy.
Event
Action. Disrupts the status quo, ends with a new status quo. Conflict keeps the character fro trying to restore things rather than moving ahead.
How can I make sure I’m always getting better at writing, rather than just popping out new books every year?
- Writing sprints to get faster and spend more time in Flow.
- Set Creativity Time to level up this skill.
- Devote one day to deliberate practice. (This means 52 days of DP a year, or a full year every 7 years.)
- Write short fiction that pushes myself in new areas. This is like how shooting baskets from multiple angles helps the main angle.
- Deconstruct my favorite books or books that I think handle certain aspects well. For example, the prose in KKC, the worldbuilding in KCC and Greenbone Saga, the setting in NotW, the progression in Cradle, the characters in Game of Thrones.
Why can’t I look at book sales or comments all day?
Because all context switching comes with a larger cost than it seems, and this always makes me anxious to wiggle away from work.
Why do I need to do writing sprints every day?
- Flow state. These sessions help get my mind into flow at the beginning of the day, and I’ll be more creative throughout that session, regardless of what I do that day.
- Practice and improvement. This trains my ability to focus hard on writing. This training is more intense than ordinary writing, which means I get more deliberate practice. This practice is what makes sure I don’t stagnate and just “write one more book.”
How should a MC feel during / after infodumps to make the scenes more engaging?
Strongly. She’s not vaguely interested. She needs this information to complete her goal. She craves it. And then the revelations come with intense relief, excitement, or depression, or outrage.
Why do I need to avoid mindless activities?
Brains can become flabby with disuse if we’re not constantly using them to build new connections. Even in my free time, I should avoid mindless web browsing and video games in favor of learning and practicing. More brain connections will help my craft in indirect ways.
What’s the greatest source of our misery, according to Robert Greene?
Dead minds. Stifling the creative force. Fear of failure in favor of the familiar.
What does it mean to level up a genre?
Push a certain aspect in a specific way that’s unique to your own life experiences and knowledge.
In rhetoric, what’s an ideal way to end a long sentence?
With a single word, preferably one with a “stop” sound as opposed to a long sound.
What’s the ideal mindset when I sit down to write?
Focus on getting my brain into the right creative state, getting my hours in, and working toward mastery. Don’t think too hard about the content or the goal for that day. That comes later.
