Tuesday, September 14, 2010

How Homework Helps

Ha! That title got your attention. No, I don't really think homework is good. I do not suggest you spend hours on homework in the hopes that it will improve your writing. I myself HATE homework. (Except English sometimes.) (Because Tale of Two Cities is actually an awesome book.) (And I love Sydney Carton.)

Anyway.

Say you do have to do homework. You can use this as prime motivation for thinking about your story! How, you ask? Well. There are times when I need to expand on a scene, or think of a scene, or more about a character, and when I sit down to think about it, I'll find myself drawing blanks. I get my best ideas when my mind wanders, and apparently I can't always force my mind to wander. It has to be unintentional procrastination.

If you're like me, then use homework to your advantage. Once you have a pressing idea your mind probably won't let it go, so once you start reading about the Renaissance something will trigger a thought and that thought will trigger a different thought and pretty soon your mind will be wandering right down Story Idea Lane.

The point is, homework is a good device to use to induce unintentional procrastination.
(But then you still have to do the homework.)

Kieryn
www.kierynnicolas.com