<p>mootmom,
I’ll be joing you & writing during NaNoWriMo. I did completed a novel two years ago during NaNoWriMo & tried last year to write a young adult novel but my computer crashed & everything was lost. (That one I’d really like to recover or at least try again as it was the story of hurricane katrina dog)<br>
As for writing I also journal daily & write poetry from time to time.</p>
<p>Anyone here with a post count above 200 is a closet writer.</p>
<p>Used to write screenplays for $ in the 80’s & 90’s. Retired to mommy track. I am percolating a project that will take me back into writing; it will be a non-fiction book I think, but I have not ruled out a fictionalized story on the same topic. Still percolating.</p>
<p>SBmom - I don’t expect that anyone will ever read what I’m putting together, but I enjoy learning about the process. For example, I was looking on the internet this morning for a good description of a “log-line,” a one sentence description of the screenplay. I found some advice from Nick Dunning that is invaluable. The log-line should include both stories of the screenplay: the objective and the subjective stories. The objective story is the action and dialog you see on the screen; the subjective is the change that occurs with the main character. The log-line should have this structure: </p>
<p>A hero with a flaw that keeps her from achieving a worthwhile goal, is forced to respond to a lifechanging event instigated by an opponent, and in the process of responding to that lifechanging event and with the help of an ally, the hero is forced to overcome her flaw, and only then is she ready to do one-on-one battle with the opponent to realize her goal.</p>
<p>Further: The hero’s flaw has to be something that prevents the hero from responding successfully to the lifechanging event. Conversely, the lifechanging event has to force the hero to choose between her flaw and the opportunity, challenge or threat presented by the lifechanging event.</p>
<p>I love seeing these insights into the art/industry. And just reading this this morning has made me want to go back and change some things in the step-outline to more fully bring out the heroine’s flaw. Fun, fun, fun! Just wish I had more time.</p>
<p>SBMom: there is much truth in what you say. 200+ posts isn’t an absolute litmus test, imo, but it’s a good preliminary screen. I sometimes wonder about people who are writers but don’t know it yet.</p>
<p>I used to write a lot (both prose and poetry) in middle and early high school, and was supposedly good at it, but I don’t anymore. It’s the same with painting. I’m not sure what happened. I’ve always had high expectations of myself, but over the past few years it’s escalated to a crippling lack of confidence that leads me to… not really getting anything done at all. It’s the same with painting. I really wish I could get back into it.</p>
<p>There’s the log-line: Heroine, who has a crippling lack of confidence in her painting skills, and who has witnessed a murder by a man who sees her and is after her, must, with the help of her daughter, paint a portrait that leads to a confrontation with the murderer, but also leads to his arrest.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>LOL! That’s great. :)</p>
<p>Not to intrude on parental conversation, but I love to write as well. I’ll be doing NaNo WriMo this year, but unofficially, considering that I’m just using November as a month of inspiration to write a lot more of a novel that is already started. But I hope to see you all there.</p>