Author Archives: Nick Enlowe

In my previous post, I mentioned that I tend to think about stories at the scene level. I even write chronologically, scene-by-scene. I visualize the overall story structure on a much broader scale, but I try to stay focused on individual scenes as I write, staying “in the moment”. This helps my third-person limited pointContinue reading “Figuring Out What Works: Collapsible Scenes”

Like most writers, I find it easier to break down my stories into smaller, more manageable components. A book can be built scene-by-scene, just as this blog is growing, post-by-post. Books are composed of chapters. Chapters are composed of scenes. Scenes are composed of sub-scenes. Sub-scenes are composed of paragraphs. And paragraphs are composed ofContinue reading “Figuring Out What Works: Writing Scene-By-Scene”

I’m sure you’ve come across more than a couple hugely popular movies, books, and games with piss-poor writing in your lifetime. And like me, I’m sure you’re often left scratching your head. Why is this so popular? Is it because it’s being heavily advertised? Or maybe it’s because it was handed impressive sounding awards byContinue reading “Figuring Out What Works: Bad Writing”

Lots of writers listen to music as they write. Some even decide on a “book soundtrack” to set the mood. I’ve got to admit that’s a pretty cool concept. It apparently works well for many writers. Maybe their writing has a more epic feel if they’re listening to appropriately epic music. Or maybe it takesContinue reading “Figuring Out What Works: The Ambience of Audiobooks, and the Strangeness of Brains”

I mentioned a possible pitfall earlier: “When I’d get back into writing, one trap I used to fall into was accidentally stumbling upon these huge 40 video series about writing while doing research. Then I’d feel like I need to watch every single one of these videos, or I might be writing without some criticalContinue reading “Figuring Out What Works: Write More, Research Less”

On my journey to discover what gets me writing versus what doesn’t, I found myself getting frustrated by the lack of hours there are in the day. If only there were 26 hours in a day instead of 24, I’d think. Or maybe 34… . I’ve got it! I can stay up all night andContinue reading “Figuring Out What Works: Prioritizing Writing – Replacing This for That”

Did you ever notice you tend to feel better while you’re getting work done? Energetic after you’ve exercised? Accomplished once you’ve done some yard work? It should be the other way around, right? I mean, if you burn a bunch of energy exercising, shouldn’t you feel less energetic? And you’d think being lazy and slouchingContinue reading “Figuring Out What Works: Creating Stuff Makes Me Feel Better About Life, Consuming Stuff Makes Me Feel Like a Zombie”

A forewarning: This post is unapologetically geeky, and may contain a dose or two of “Get off my lawn”. Every once in a while, I find myself doing something that is a total waste of time. Examples include playing an MMORPG, or trying to build the perfect trading card game deck. Nobody’s going to careContinue reading “Figuring Out What Works: Getting it Out of Your System”

I touched on this topic in yesterday’s post when I said: “Failing to write gives me this internal guilt trip that builds over time. Left unchecked, it can make me feel sick to my stomach. The guilt (and pain) only goes away after I get fed up, surrender, and write. This phenomenon is reliable inContinue reading “Figuring Out What Works: The Ebb and Flow of Stubbornness & Frustration”

Depending on how often you (don’t) write, it can take decades to figure out what works and what doesn’t. And, sadly, even when you do know what gets you writing, you still have to muster up the motivation to actually do it. (If there’s a magic dog whistle that guarantees butt in chair, hands onContinue reading “A Writer’s Journey: Figuring Out What Works”