As reported before, writer Mark Putnam had a problem getting going with his novel. He came up with the idea of having the readers vote on key elements in the plot. He called it plotastic. Now that the votes are counted, he has made a return visit at The Writing Show to tell about the progress."I have written more than a 1000 words a day," he reported. A few days before the voting deadline, when some of the calls were already clear, he had had a brilliant idea. It has boosted his morale and jump started the novel. Now, he is up each day at 5:30 AM, sneaks to the garage, trying not to wake up the house and throws in a good sixty to ninety minutes of writing. He bangs away on an old fashioned type writer, gazing a the voting results, stapled to the garage wall.
So if anybody is out for an idea to get going: see how Mark's approach can inspire you. Personally, I am not sure whether I could deal with the voting system, but the garage and the typewriter connect with me. In any case, I am an early riser when there is serious work to be done. And when in the past I was locked in a distraction free space with nothing more than writing material, I have had the best production ever. (Though in my case it was not a garage, but rather a medieval home on one of Amsterdam's canals, with a 1980's PC in it, that could nothing other than WordPerfect, if it didn't crash. Oh and did I mention the wine cellar? I'd better hush that up...)
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