Writing Sick

It's never fun when you're not feeling well and often the last thing you want to do is work of any sort, even if it IS usually very enjoyable work.  I've always been told that you have to go do things like that anyway, even when you're sick because that's what adults do.  Now despite my own personal feelings in regards to how we treat sick people (for instance I really don't think food people should be allowed in to work while they're sick and I've read an article recently that echoed that thought.  Yet so many people do it anyway!).

Anyway!  I thought it an interesting experiment to write a little while I wasn't feeling good.  It is a peculiar thing, particularly with a laptop because you can stretch out on the bed even though you're feeling awful and pull up a document to type in.  That doesn't seem so bad right?  Now I wouldn't suggest doing it with something you're seriously working on unless you've got pretty good mental clarity despite the ill feeling, but it's an interesting idea to write and really experience your sickness.  Who knows, you might realize that it's really handy later when you're feeling better but one of your characters is sick.

I've spoken before about writing life and drawing from it, so here's another opportunity.  The same thing can be done when you're feeling down or when you're doubting yourself. Writing the physiological and psychological effects of such things while you're feeling them can give you a really good resource to draw from later when something similar happens to your characters.  Try and take everything as an opportunity and write a really in depth journal of how you're feeling, especially when you're feeling awful.  The more detailed the better.  After all, what better way to help the reader really feel like they're there than to write about it from an extremely knowledgeable place?

Chapter update - NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo isn't happening for me this year.  Why?  Well frankly I got into some stuff at work that I really wish hadn't have happened but it did and it had to be dealt with.  Combine that with writer's block already and I wasn't exactly moving very quickly.  To be honest I wasn't even really trying and there's something disappointing in that.  I had time if I pushed myself but I lacked motivation and desire.

Do you ever feel that way with your writing?  Sometimes the things in life can be used, sometimes those same things can be used but they have to be worked through first.  I've been very proactive in saying that you should keep writing during anything else.  If you've got the desire to write then WRITE, but I understand that sometimes things happen that sap your motivation or pull your desire to write away.

For this story?  Well I had that happen before the work thing, but the work thing did need to be resolved.  Hopefully that will happen sooner than later.  The bigger problem is my frustration and lack of desire to write.  What's with that?  I realized that while I get a great deal of joy out of creating and reading the final desire I'm not a terribly good writer.  I don't mean the words I chose or the phrases that I pick, more the actual ability to sit down and find the discipline to write.  Fortunately I think there's still hope for me as that means I have the potential to be a good writer but I'm not quite there yet.  So what to do first?  Well first I think I should put myself on a schecule I actually think I could motivate myself to follow.

It's kind of like a diet that you don't really feel like doing but you know you should, you've got to start with realistic goals, small ones, so that you can see your progress faster than you think you will.  So my first small goal is to find an two hours a week to write.  I can find the time to go and memorize my scripts, I can find the time to fiddle with games or my computer or anything else, surely I can find two measly hours to write every week.  It won't be as fast as I like or as fast as I know I'm capable of BUT it will be steady and it will help with my discipline as a writer.

If you're having similar problems I hope you'll consider going on this "writer's diet" with me, lol!  When it's over hopefully we'll all come out as well toned and fit writers!

Fiction vs Non-fiction

Lately I've been having a great deal of trouble working on my novel.  I think my last chapter messed a bunch of stuff up and didn't come out right at all and it's really thrown me for a loop.  That being said I've proportionately been playing in the kitchen more and making up more recipies.

My husband and I aren't rich by any means and it's both forced and allowed us to become incredibly creative when preparing foods.  We make them last for as long as we can and we turn leftovers into some really interesting and tasty new dishes with very little extra effort.  It's gotten me thinking, why not write a cook-book?

It's not like I haven't thought about it before.  When my husband and I were first going out we cooked together a lot then too.  So recently I started writing down the recipes we've been creating.  I've always been a reader of fiction.  When I started to create my own world I started reading non-fiction as a way to legitimize and otherwise ground my creation but I'd never really had an interest in writing non-fiction.

Oddly enough, despite my skepticism I'm finding a peculiar joy in jotting down my recipes as I create them (or more commonly asking my husband to write down whatever I call out).  I've made some really interesting dishes and as my recipe cards grow thicker I am considering more and more seriously about putting a cook-book together... now the only question I have for myself is how the heck is a fiction writer who cooks going to market something like a cookbook?

I certainly don't feel qualified!

The Use of Memory

Today I had reason to really go through my memory and remember as much as I could as accurately as possible about conversations from the last three weeks or so... holy cow!  I didn't realize how hard it would be and while I was writing it I realized something else.  Since we only have our own experiences to draw on we as writers need to cultivate one very, very important thing.

Our memories!

What's going to happen if you go through somehting that you really, REALLY could use when writing a novel say four or more years down the road?  What if you can't remember that specific anymore or the thing that really tweaked you out.  What if you can't even remember the event but if you could it would help you out of the bind that your writing's in?  I can't believe how important memory is when you're a writer, and worse I can't believe I didn't realize it until right this moment.  I always knew that it had to be good of course.  I need to remember character names and little tidbits of information and the like but that's what my notebook is for... well duh! 

There was my head slapping moment!  that's why so many authors do write journals.  Yeah sure, a lot of it's going to be dull because let's face it, 90% of our lives are probably very routine.  But if you've gotten into that routine of writing down your day imagine what happens when something incredible comes around!  Now, not only do you have some really interesting insights into something you might not have otherwise, you'll also have a record for it so you can compare notes at different times in your life, utilize it for different characters or even use it as a whole new jumping off point for another novel!

I know I'm seriously considering actually starting a daily journal.  I've started it before and never quite managed to get in there EVERY day, but if you work on your memory then you can fill it in a heck of a lot faster than I sometimes do.  So working on your memory to remember vividly everything you did that day and then keeping a journal to help out your long term memory's specifics seem like a REALLY good idea to me!  Hopefully you'll realize the same thing as me but it won't have to be with your own D'oh! Moment!

PS.  Sorry this post's so much later than normal, I wasn't able to get on to write it until now!

Adrift in a Sea of Words

Lately I have been stretching for ideas.  I've felt uncreative and unable to write anything.  A friend on the WD board that I suggested last post suggested that if that's my problem I stop working on my novel for awhile and start doing some free writes.

Free writes are interesting things, I've mentioned them before in my blog but never really in depth.  Generally you want to find somewhere quiet or with a bit of music if that helps, and you want to just write.  No censoring, no going back to edit, nothing that would hinder the process of writing.  You literally write everything that comes into your head during this write.  Set an alarm so you're not constantly looking at the clock and keep writing.

One of the first free writes that I ever did in my life started like this:  "I have no idea what to type so I'm going to just type whatever I'm thinking."  It was a peculiar way to start writing in my opinion but oddly enough it worked, I kept writing and writing and eventually I started thinking of random scenes that popped into my head, I started thinking about new characters and about where my novel was going.  In the end I actually found it very useful.

So now to this time around when I'm feeling drained and uncreative.  I know the things I usually do in order to de-stress and get some creativity back but this time I keep letting myself feel overwhelmed, often with things that have nothing to do with writing, but more often by the novels that used to help me relax and let my brain work for me instead of against me.  I'm intimidated by the wonderful words I read by other authors and find my own words just not quite good enough.  I think I will be trying some free writes and set myself adrift so that I can just write for awhile.  Since that's what I've been so hesitant to do it seems the perfect way to get over that fear this time around.

Enjoy being adrift on that Sea, there's moments of brilliance there and it can gently lure you into relaxation to allow your brain to think of something brilliant.  If you need some starter ideas you can check out my earlier blog post with those here.

Writer's Block - Some interesting Ideas

I was reading some articles (though I forget which one so if you recognize what i'm saying let me know and I'll source this info!)  about writer's block.  The most interesting thing that I found was that they suggested that the creative process must sometimes be left alone.  Weird huh?  You can force yourself to keep writing if you want, but they say often inspiration comes from your brain having rested and you doing something else.

The examples that they gave was doing things that took concentration but that didn't really take alot of thought.  Then you don't think about for awhile and suddenly... BAM... there's your new idea that's not the same old paths.  I don't know how well that works (I tried it yesterday as a hot shower and pampering yourself a bit was one of their suggestions) I found when I came back to my story I was just as stumped.  I've slipped over into trying to restructure this story and edit it instead of writing it and I'm not sure how to switch back to writing it.

I find that I'm not satisfied with anything that I write in regards to it, though I'll go through phases.  I was in a drama mood when I started writing it, but now I'm definitely not and that's what the story is.  So how do I get back into what the story is?  I'm not sure I can precisely.  I just have to push myself and keep writing it anyway and then edit it later.  Or maybe I should switch to a new story idea.  Overall I'm not feeling terribly creative.  I'll have to find some nice thoughtless but concentration intensive things to do... something that worked better than just the shower.  I did think about it, but my mind wandered off my story pretty quickly.  Good luck!

Writer's Resources - Some Great Ones!

Hello Again internet world!  And welcome back to my tri-weekly blog post!  Happy monday!

Okay, now that that's over with I want to share with you all some resources that I have found really valuable for one reason or another with my writing.

First and foremost are two of the books I've read most recently in regards to writing.  One is The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell.  It's an awesome resource, especially if you're having a lot of trouble.

The second book I would highly recommend as a general overview with some truly wonderful insights into writing novels (though novels of all kind, it is general as I say) is The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing  From The Editors of Writer's Digest.  It's a collection of tips and observations from authors, editors and agents from Writer's Digest and is definitely worth a look.

If you're feeling really low or alone with what you're writing I would also recommend the Writer's Digest Forums.  The people there are truly spectacular with some wonderful advice on your writing.  I suspect you'll find some people of like mind on the board, no matter what you write.  Some forums are busier than others of course, but you can usually find someone to chat with about your novel or just about random stuff.  Or best of all the frustrations of completing your first/second/third novel.


Rachel Gardner's Blog is great to read, and she has some wonderful emails that her blog sends out if you are like me and forget to check.  She's a literary agent so she's got some really interesting insights into the process that as writers we might not always think of.

And Finally, Holly Lisle is a great resource for information, encouragement and for general interest.  You can check out her blog or look through her website.  I'd highly recommend taking a look at her stuff, especially if you're self publishing.  The stuff she writes has been very useful for me!

Hope some of these things help and I hope your writing's going well!

Writer's Block

I suspect this will become a multiple post thing.  I'm working now, more or less everyday and I really have no excuse (even then) to not be writing.  I could be, I have the time.  Today I even stayed up super late and I'm only kind of tired.  So why aren't I writing?

Well the first thing I want to blame is writer's block, but I know that's only half the story at best.  What I know it comes down to every time is that I just don't want to work on it!  I love the story, I'm really fond of a bunch of the characters but I feel so uninspired.  Over and over again I read that you have to work through that and write anyway.  The most I've managed to do is to stay consistent with writing a blog post (even when like today, I feel uninspired to do even that much).

The more I read the more I come to learn that I'm not alone in this.  Procrastination seems to be one of the Writer's biggest obstacles to cross.  So how do you motivate yourself?  Well I can't tell you that really because I'm not you, just like you're not me.  We can share every trick and tip we ever come up with in our entire lives with each other and never find something that works just for us.  I think it comes down to desire more than anything else.

Do I want this?

Why do I want this?

 Do I want this badly enough to fight with every breath to achieve it?

If you answered yes to number one and three, then what's stopping you?  Find the thing that works for you and go do it!  If you answered no then you're probably not really into writing anyway and you'll move on when you find something that really does make your spirit sing.  Now if you're like me you might have said "well, yes, but..."  I think there can't be any buts to the answers to the above questions.  If you really want to write and be published then you've got to WANT it.  You've got to know WHY you want it, and you've got to want it so badly that you're never going to take NO as the final answer until you've exhausted every last avenue.  And if you do that and still get No's all over the place you've got to believe that the next project (that you started while waiting for acceptance or rejection) will be the one that gets accepted.

I've always wanted to devote myself to a craft, but I've always had trouble getting motivated.  Well this is my devotion and I must find time to do it as faithfully as I write this blog.  Even when I don't have a clue what I'm going to write before I write it.  Even when I finish and feel that it's not my best.  Even if it's only an hour a day or 100 words a session.  The amount really doesn't matter in some ways, at least not at this point.  What really, really matters is that I make the decision that this is what I want to do with life, that THIS is how I'm going to live.  And when I've decided that?  Then I go out and do it because I cannot accept any other way.

If you're struggling like I'm struggling know that you're not alone.  But also know that the only person who is responsible for your success or failure in the end is you.  "Forget Regrets, life is yours to live." - Rent.

Setting - How real is too real?

I was reading an interesting chapter from another writer recently and the thing that I noticed most distinctly was that there were a LOT of details in the setting.  Now I've read over and over again that writing details into your setting makes your writing more "real" and "believable".  That's great!  I want to make lots of details and put them all in right?  I would question that.

There's some truth to it of course, what book have you read that has no little details that betray the character's knowledge of an area or gives you a better understanding of a character through how they observe things.  But if you want to make a setting very real please, PLEASE don't feel the need to put in so many details (especially in a paragraph or a line) that the reader will feel overwhelmed.  I don't really care about details that aren't important or don't reveal something about the character.  I as the reader want to have an idea of the room or place that a person's in, I want to know about the character and I want to know about the situation.  To keep my belief in the story I also want the author to be consistent in the details they DO put in, but I don't want to hear about the minute changes in the colour green on a bush that happens to be in a clearing but isn't terribly important.

So how do you add details without being overwhelming?  Ask yourself this, "What does this detail reveal about _____"  Now you can add in scene or character or situation there (those are the main three that I can see) but if you put in a detail and it really has nothing to do with anything but your own amusement that's probably fine if you do it once in awhile.  Please don't do it in every sentence in a paragraph... let alone all throughout your story.  I ask this and point this out as both a reader and a writer...

That being said, I hope you're all enjoying procrastinating in NaNoWriMo!  I have predictably gotten a job in my desperate attempts to stress myself out to the max before I push through and write.  (Not too serious, but it does seem to be a pattern)  I should be stressed enough by week 3 to finish the novel... hopefully I will push through and continue tomorrow instead.  Happy writing!

Story Starters - Get that Pen Moving!

I've always thought that it's difficult to come up with ideas for free writes.  So as a way to help all of you who do read my blog who write I thought I'd challenge myself to come up with a few story starter ideas to help get those pencils moving.  So following are five story starter ideas, you can write a paragraph, go with the story, or write for a time instead of a length.  Totally up to you, if you want to share your writing in the comment section awesome, I'm always glad to hear from my loyal readers!  (and if anyone new wants to post I'd be glad to hear from you too!)

1.  It was late.  The sky wasn't dark though.  Little dots pricked it like holes in a skirt, light shining through and making the clearing as bright as day...

2.  "Aaaaaaah!"  She screamed with every last iota of her strength.  The sound was so intense that there would be nothing left when she was finished.  There was no way she would ever eat that broccoli...

3.  Hungry, hungry, gunna get a bite to eat, hungry, hungry...  The thoughts swirled around in his head as he strode down the street to the beat of them.  It was about time...

4.  He yawned, but he didn't bother covering his mouth.  "Careful."  She smirked at him.  "If you don't cover your mouth a fly'll go in."  He opened his mouth wider and aimed it at her, yawning again.  She...


5.  There was this bush.  It was round and puffy.  Yes, a bush can be puffy!  It had flowers speckled over it and peeking through the greenery.  They were a peculiar shade of...


So there you go, five story starters to get your brain working.  You can change them, use them, whatever you'd like with them and I reserve the right to do the same at a later date!  Lol!  Enjoy :)

Dialogue - How's yours?

I have always hated dialogue.  Not reading it, but writing it.  Why?  Who knows, maybe I hated it because I never really spoke much in my own life.  Maybe I hated it for some random other reason.  Honestly it was probably just because it was something I was never very good at.

Now you may laugh at me for this, but the thing that's really helped me to improve my dialogue?  Improve acting.

Yup, you've got it.  I role play.  That's all role playing is and no, that's NOT in a sexual way.  Make a story with a friend (in person is best), give the background, both of you think of characters and start talking with someone.  Speak not as yourself but as your character and remember the situation you're in as your character.  If you're like me and you either are or you think you are terrible with dialogue I've found this to be a very fun and useful way to improve your dialogue.  It helps your brain think differently too.  And it's a break from writing when it might be frustrating you a little bit.

I've no idea if it'll work for you, but hey, it's certainly helped me!  And dialogue, especially authentic dialogue, is a very important part of any novel.  As much fun as exposition is it's not exactly something you want for your entire novel.

Happy Novel Month!

NaNoWriMo -aka- Hell Month. Sorta.

You've got everything set up, your desk is perfect, your computer's primed and the clock reads 11.59pm.  The breath held in your chest as you wait is starting to make your ribs ache but your eyes don't leave the clock.  Just as you think you might actually pass out from lack of air it clicks over, DING!  Midnight.  November 1st.  National Novel Writer(or writing I suppose) Month has officially begun.

Crap.

Sound familiar?  I did NaNoWriMo for the very first time a few years ago.  I was going to university full time, with a full course load and I was doing a work study position (aka, I was working) as well.  I heard about NaNoWriMo and happened to be taking a novel writing course.  What better way to get inspired than to push myself and complete 50,000 words in one month?  It didn't seem so unrealistic, there's 30 days in a month right?  So that's what... say about 1667 words a day if I write every day.  Phshaw!  That's more than doable... so I told everyone that I was doing NaNoWriMo.  I was going to complete my novel in one month!

Week 1 passed.

Week 2 passed.

What happened?

Nothing.  I'd reached the beginning of week 3 and had squat, zip, ziltch, nada, zero... two weeks left and I had to do what!?  I started thinking maybe it would be okay if I didn't do it.  I mean I had other years, there was so much to do, I could be forgiven right?

Wrong.  Apparently I severely dislike telling people I'm going to do something and not doing it.  That I happened to like a professor of mine at the time and I'd kind of mentioned it to him sometime the week before?  Well... I couldn't look bad NOW...

Full time classes, work, and a novel that I already had writer's block for.

I began to write.

And write.

And write.

I didn't sleep, barely ate, was up in my room constantly because not only had I told people I was going to write for NaNoWriMo, see I had forgotten about the 50,000 word goal.  Most novels?  They're around 100,000 words if you're wondering and that's kinda short.  (Word count post here if you're interested in specifics).  And I, being the bright and stupidly brilliant kinda person we can all sometimes be, had told people not only was I going to write 50,000 words, I was going to finish my novel.  Yeah.  The one I had two chapters for...

That one.

Final word count?  104,877 words in my first draft.  In two weeks.

It was totally worth it.

Moral of the story?  Set goals for your self.  Set ridiculous goals for yourself.  Hold your breath, face the obstacle course you've mounted for yourself and despair.  Then take up your pen, stare down the blank page and charge ahead.

You might just surprise yourself with what you can do.

Sleepless Nights

Morning came, much like the mornings before it, bright and clear and beautiful.  I would have loved waking up to it.  A good morning stretch with a wide yawn cracking my jaw and ending in a smile would have been a cheery way to greet the morning.

Had I slept.

Had sleep even been part of my vocabulary last night.

Sadly, it was not.  Instead I lay awake, watching the night slip away into the darkness as it ate itself slice by slice and turned into day.  There was no appreciation for the sun, no sweet dreams to kiss regrettably goodbye for another day and no welcome stretch to greet the morning.  I met it with a frown instead.  One more day to chase away the sleep I yearned for, one more hour to trudge through.

I got up.

It took me another half of an hour but I did get up, finally admitting I wasn't going to sleep and I had things to do.  I drifted from one room to the next, preparing for a day that I'd never really left and hoped to finally leave that night when I chased after the hope of dreams once more.

It wouldn't have been so bad if I had at least been tired.  If I had at least been rewarded from my long night of laying awake and thinking with some sign that this night at last I would lay down and find rest.  But no.  I was as awake as a rooster after a good night's sleep, even without the good night's sleep.  My body was heavy, run down but like the night before my mind was quick, ready to go, wanting to learn, to move to sing.  I let it go, trying to sleep once more even with the sun so high in the sky but still my mind refused to settle.

Oh well.  Another day, another minute, none of them wasted as each moment was crammed with thoughts of this, that, and the other.  What was I to write today?  What was I to sing about with so many thoughts muddled together and raging?  Where was the sorting, the organization and the order!

There is no order in a sleepless mind.

Having a Clear View and a Loose Hold

I have been very badly stuck for the last several weeks but I have been incredibly reluctant to call it writer's block.  Really?  I should have labeled it as that to begin with and then just found a way around it.  I wasn't sure what to do and I was allowing myself to be really depressed about a number of things.  I've come to the conclusion that for my own ability to write I MUST NOT send my work to anyone else for any reason other than that I am sending them my completed novel to read for their own enjoyment.  I am far too influenced by every opinion and I so desperately want to please people that I will change everything with every opinion I get.  I have realized I am not one of those people who can sift through the opinions for the gems and keep the writing my own.  I need to focus on my own writing for my own reasons.

Now that does not mean I will cease asking for help.  Of course if I'm stuck I intend to ask for loads of help, but it's not quite the same as having someone reading your work with the purpose of judging it.  I can't stand judging from that perspective.  I really just want everyone to love everything I do.  That being said I know that's not possible too, but if I am serious about this I'm going to have to give that illusion up especially.  So I am going to take some advice from a very wise man (I'm sorry it took me so long to get it Warren) and I am going to eventually put my work out there for people's enjoyment but I am probably not going to utilize critique groups any longer or ask for critiques from people.  I need to learn to do it on my own at some point anyway, especially if it's going to be a career.

Now, as to having a clear view and a loose hold, I've found that some advice from another friend of mine has been very useful in getting me to write again.  I ended up free writing an interesting scene for the story that popped into my head.  It's only about 5 pages, I have NO idea where it actually is in the story but it allowed me to decide a great many things about where the story was going.  I haven't done a concrete outline with this one in the same way I have previously and writing this future scene I have found the desire and recaptured my interest in the story.  From that point on I started writing the chapter I'd left unfinished and I am feeling altogether good about everything once more.

Will I end up using that chapter?  Who knows, I might use it and expand on it, I might use it as a jumping point or I might never actually utilize what I've written in this story in any of my chapters but I find I'm not so worried about that at the moment.  What I need to concentrate on is what I CAN do and what I can do is write and get more of the story done.  For once I've actually been up for incredible amounts of time and I'm still going strong.  Every time I stop and hesitate this time I go back and continue writing on a different scene.  I read in one of my books a suggestion to write scenes on cue cards with character names.  You write all the interesting scenes you can think of for each character then arrange them.  That's the quick look of it, but hey!  It seems to be a good system for me.  I'll keep it up and maybe I'll finish another chunk of my novel.  I think this has finally been my tipping point and now I just have to keep myself from procrastinating!

(The blog post is an obligation and it helps me keep track of the things I find out, so I don't entirely consider it procrastination! lol!)

Consistant Characters

I find one of the hardest things to do at times is to keep my characters consistent.  Usually if I write them all at once they end up being consistent but at times (like right now) when I'm not righting consistently the characters can suffer.  I forget what they look like or what they were supposed to be doing in the story, I forget their motivation or the way that they speak.

The best way to combat this that I've found is to keep a separate note-book for all of the information that is actually just information instead of "story".  I have a synopsis for each character which includes their Motivations, a little bit of their history, some notes about where I was going with them.  I also have their appearances so it stays consistent from beginning to end.  It's been incredibly useful when I'm writing (even when it's in a short period of time) as a handy reference to look back at.  It's also a great place to keep the names of smaller characters.

Who wants to flip through the novel while they're working at it just to find a name that's mentioned once of a guard or something who made a ten second appearance?  (Makes me go, why did I name that character again?  He's never going to be seen after this...)  By keeping track of who says or does what I can reference it easily and then I don't have to go through the story again.  That's a good thing as far as I can tell since it does keep me writing at a relatively quick pace when I do write.

First Rule of Writing - WRITE

I find myself in a quandary today.  I am trying to think of something useful to write that will be interesting to those who read my blog (since I know there's a few of you, hi all!).  Yet I find myself stumped.  For the first time in awhile I find that I am excited to be working on my writing (say hello to the cable being out for 4 days, it's back now but I can pretend it's still out >.>), yet I can't think of anything to write here and writing my novel terrifies me.

Maybe that's something to talk about.  Have you ever written something that terrifies you to continue?  I don't even know why working on my novel freaks me out so much.  Maybe I'm afraid of success.  Or maybe it's failure.  Or possibly both.  Though if I'm so afraid of failure I don't know why I wouldn't have finished it already twice over!  You'd think in that case I'd want to finish it so I wouldn't feel like a failure, so I guess that leaves that I must be afraid of success.

I had a really bad experience with a critique group that was repeated in my classes in university rather too many times for my liking.  At that point I was so crushed because of the things I let other people tell me I had no spirit left with which to write.  I tried art, computers, anything to get me out of my writing funk but it really just came down to the fact that I didn't think I could do it anymore.  I let mean people who didn't know what they were talking about any better than I did tell me that I wasn't good enough.  In all fairness I had esteem issues before that class so it probably hit me a lot worse than anyone intended, but there it is.

Now I've let that affect me for far, far too long.  I've got to realize that yeah, it happened, some people didn't like my work, so what?  I don't have any less to say, it doesn't make me less creative, it doesn't make my world less likely to be written.  The only thing that has any affect on any of those things is me, myself, and I.  So it's about time that I take responsibility for that.

The first rule of writing is to write.  So if I'm going to follow those rules then I need to stop making excuses, stop blaming everything else around me and go write.  So let me encourage you to do the same.  If you're serious about your writing, if this is what you really want to do with your life, stop making excuses, find the moments, find the time, find the courage, and just go write.  That's what I'm going to do.

He said, She said

I got into an interesting discussion on the WD forum recently.  I had mentioned my utter disgust with the word "said" in my own writing.  Now let me be clear about one thing, I CAN read it in other people's work, usually I don't even notice it.  (I usually skip over the "said" though I know it's there).  In my own work?  I can't stand it.  I will write dialogue and then reach the end where "he said" would go and I just stop and shudder when I consider putting "said" in there.

Again, there's nothing wrong with using Joe said, or whoever said in your writing.  I came to the realization that I disliked the word when I was younger and writing a lot of dialogue.  I realized that I was using it every few lines and frankly I already have problems with repetition in words...  I decided to stop using it along with "replied" and "asked".

The first problem I ran into when I stopped using he said, she said was clarity.  I was no longer using any tags at all to indicate who was speaking.  When dialogue is really strong and there's only two characters chatting it's easy enough to write it without using "said".  The reader can assume that the characters are going back and forth in their discussion and realistically quotation marks are already telling the reader that the characters are talking, so why reiterate that with said?  However I did find that when my character's voices weren't very strong it got confusing very, very quickly.  So how did I fix it?

I began to add actions.  What are the characters doing?  What is their expression like?  What are they observing?  It's easy to add too many descriptions, if the dialogue is going well and it's firing back and forth and easy to follow then it's probably not the right place to add an action unless it enhances or directly affects the dialogue.  That's the key I try to follow.  I add action descriptions for two reasons, one to denote who is speaking when there's more than two people and two to further the scene, the story and the dialogue.  I will always believe that adding something like this is more useful than saying "Joe said" after your speech unless absolutely necessary.  It's become a pet peeve of mine in my own writing and I do think I'm very much in the minority on this, but that's okay.  Everyone's got their own style and this just happens to be a part of mine that I see no reason to change.  I'm sure a "he said" will pop in my writing somewhere eventually, but for the moment I've got too much of a block toward that particular phrasing.

Family vs Peers, who should read it first?

Lately I've been considering who to give my novel to when it's finished.  Do I give it to my family?  Friends?  Peers?  Try and find an agent or editor to read it?

My first question is going to be this, who is my audience?  If my family reads the type of book I write and can give me an honest review then yeah!  Why wouldn't I?  But if they're not my audience, if they don't have any interest in the things that I write then as supportive as they are they're not the right people to give it to.

So what about friends?  Again, audience is a huge aspect of it.  With friends though you have to remember which friend you're giving it to.  Are they going to be able to tell me not only an honest review but one that is going to be constructive in its criticisms and specific in the things that work and that they like?  If they're not or if they're not into that kind of book do I really want them to be reading it?  And if they don't like it will they be afraid to tell me for the sake of our friendship?  Consider your audience and the people you're giving the work to, if you don't think you can take what they have to say, they're probably not the best person to give it to.  Again, even if they're super supportive that may not be what you're looking for.

Your peers (other writers) who have shown a good ability to take and receive criticism (which could also be your friends), and who are interested in the genre you're writing is perhaps one of the best ways to share your work and get very good feedback.  The only problem with this avenue that I've found is that sometimes your peers forget that they shouldn't be editing your voice along with the rest of their critique.  I've definitely been guilty of that in the past and I've been learning how awful it can be if you don't pay attention to that.  When you're critiquing someone else's work you're not supposed to make it yours.  Don't change the language but highlight what you don't understand.  If you've got some awesome peers?  Then this is definitely one of the better ways to go in my estimation.

The editor?  An awesome option right?  Someone who's professional, who knows to edit your grammar and to clarify your story and language.  There's only one problem.  They can be expensive!  You're definitely paying someone to do the work and if you can afford it awesome!  Make sure you talk to them first and that you're clear about what you expect from them and what they're willing to give you for the price they're asking.  I've heard a lot of horror stories as well as good stories in regards to this version.

Ups and Downs of Writing

More and more I've been reading and in everything I read that talks about the life of the Writer I've been seeing how life goes up and down.  Not just in life itself, everything there could stay exactly the same, but the writer is one of those people who suffers.  We suffer from the art of self doubt, overconfidence, depression, elation... we go up and believe we can do anything and then the next moment we're down where nothing can work and all we can write is to be thrown in the trash.  Take heart though, if you're a writer reading this who recognizes this in yourself as well, we're definitely not alone.  It's something that most writers seem to suffer from.

This week I got banned from the Writer's Digest forum (permanently and my IP address was banned so I can't register with a different name) for "spamming".  I've emailed the guy they said to but I haven't heard anything from him. Fortunately!  As I just went and checked again to see if I as still banned, I found that not only am I no longer banned but that it was an admin problem for the power going out that resulted in a great many people being banned who should not have been.  I'm back to full access.  Yay!

That incident did however lead me to start reading more of the writing books that I've been slowly collecting for the last little while.  And that's how I discovered today's topic.  There's always things you NEED to do if you're going to be a writer.  The first rule of writing is WRITE so you always, always need to be doing that, no matter how down you are or how up you are.  You've got to find a way to keep writing.  However you should also know that the ups and downs are normal, that if you keep working through them eventually you'll come up with your novel.  Once your novel's done then you can start editing and finally you can get to the point where you let your novel fly free on its own.  When that happens good!  Try not to let it get you too down and move on to the next novel.  Keep writing.  Right now that rule's the hardest one for me to keep doing.  There's no good reason I haven't written a word in two weeks, but I haven't and I am failing badly at rule number one.  At the very least I've been keeping up with this blog which now has a schedule!  (yay!) so there's a reason to write all the time on something.  Now I just have to figure out how to get my butt moving on the rest of the chapters.

Characters - A Study of Evil

I've been considering what it is to make an "evil" character lately.  I remember once a long time ago I used to have discussions with people about what constituted as "evil" when you made a character.  At the time these discussions started it was the "obvious" evil verses the more subtle ones.  (Think drowning kittens vs taking over a kingdom.)  Now in the case of drowning kittens (or people as the case may be), most people would consider that a more obvious type of evil.  Murder = bad, if you don't know that it also = evil.  So what about the other one?  Taking over a kingdom.  I use the idea of the kingdom but it could also be country or anything else that requires a leader.

If you look at history it's always, always the victor who dictates how things are seen because they're the ones who will write the history books.  Imagine what would have been written about America if Germany had won WWII...  It wouldn't have been pretty I'm sure.  The atrocities that were committed by the furor and his followers would have been justified in their minds and in the history books that they wrote after.  Fortunately for a great, great many people those atrocities are not only seen as such but there are a great many efforts by many more people to ensure they do not happen again.  The world has moved on and away to try and understand how to accept all peoples, no matter their differences.  We're not there yet obviously, but we're working on it and that forward motion is a good thing to my way of thinking.

What I find really interesting is that I bet a lot of people would hesitate over saying whether or not invaders are "evil".  Invasion of another land or kingdom or people often includes a great deal of death, torture, destruction of land, maybe even slavery, theft... huhm... alot of those things are lumped in the evil category aren't they?  We seem to think of them as "necessary" evils, and it's all in the presentation.  In a fantasy novel "invasion" much like in real life can happen lots of different ways.  If you're portraying the take-over as a response to a different invasion force, it's much more acceptable.  The person invading is often (if not always) seen as the bad guy and those defending or fighting against the invasion are the good guys.

Yet the ways you could write such a thing are limited.  As interesting as the bad guy might be to write about, very few people actually want the bad guy to win in the end.  Why would we want the bad guy to win in the end when that happens far too often in life?  Yet look at the history of the world and think about how many things would be different if someone else had won the battle.  Would we really be more "evil" than we are now?  I'm not so sure.  So I've been considering my novel and what I want to do with my books in this light and I realize that I always seem to make my bad characters redeemable in some way shape or form.  Now I like that because I believe all characters must have motivations that are true to the character and the choices they make in the story (much as we are in life).  By keeping in mind that the "bad" guy has his own motivations and believes in them just as strongly as the "good" guy it's harder to see who the "bad" guy is.  Hence the word Antagonist.

When you've got someone in the story who presents an obstacle for your protagonist they don't necessarily have to be evil, they just have opposing goals to your protagonist.  I think that's one thing that I'll always enjoy exploring through my writing.  What is it that makes a person evil, vs good, especially in gray situations where the outcome makes all the difference?  I've got my own theories about it, but it's still interesting to explore.  It goes along the same lines for me as "why does God allow bad things to happen?".  There's always reasons for things in life, I believe that even when it's really hard to see or acknowledge, and I utilize the same thing with my writing.  My bad guys so far always believe in what they're doing just as strongly as any of my good guys, though perhaps the biggest difference is the good guys try to do things selflessly while the bad guys are often selfishly motivated.