Hey guys, I know I've touched on the subject of writer's block before, but I thought I would come back to it today. I subscribe to the blog I Heart Planners and got a link talking about writer's block, which can be found here. It talks mostly about writing blog posts, which I do sometimes need tips on how to do, but I was thinking it might be a nice refresher on what to do with writer's block overall. Not all of us are blog writers and are trying to work on a piece of fiction or non fiction as the case may be.
One of them is one that I've always believed to be true. That is to make sure that you're working on the right project. Writer's block might not be you, it might be the project. Now, this should be a last resort because sometimes it might be more a change of plot needed. Or a change of character. It might be less that you need to give up the project entirely and simply make a change.
Another one is to write in batch. Now, she's talking about writing blog posts, so the idea is, when you have time / ideas, to sit down and write down several posts in a row. You then schedule when they go out and it's a technique a lot of blog writers use. I know I use it, because I'm really not up and aware at 7 am to deal with blog posts (hi, night owl), and it works out well. I batch write my blog posts on the weekends or Monday, depending on how it's going. You can do this with writing a novel by making sure you don't stop yourself. Instead of creating a new document to write the next chapter in, hit "insert page" and put chapter x before you continue writing. It'll help for you to go until you really feel that you cannot write anymore. You'll know when you get there because your wrists hurt and you feel mentally exhausted. Sometimes physically as well with wanting a nap. I don't recommend pushing past that and it goes to the next point.
Taking a break - either a five minute walk or a 20 minute nap or even doing the dishes. Stepping back and doing something mindless can help to spark where you're going to go next. It's said that great ideas come when you're in the shower - which I can vouch as true - and it happens during times when you're doing something that you don't really have to think too hard about. I recommend keeping a notebook with you at all times to make sure that you remember the great idea that you had. But yes, taking a break is the best.
The last point I want to talk about, which is the main point of the linked article, is turning off your internal editor. It's hard to do and it takes practice, but it goes to the core of writing. You write, you edit, you re-write, you re-edit until you reach a polished project that you're willing to send out. Having your internal editor pop up during the writing process makes writing your project all that much harder. Some of the ways to help is to turn off seeing mistakes in spelling and basic grammar in the program you're using to write. Another way is to give yourself a personal challenge of writing without touching the backspace button at all. You can set a timer and make sure that your fingers don't leave the keyboard during that time. I will say that it does get easier and easier to turn off your internal editor while writing but you do need to practice. You know, that butt in chair thing.
Well, I hope this helps with banishing writer's block. Do you have ways that help you bash the block? Feel free to leave them below or contact me via Facebook or Twitter. Until next time, keep on writing!
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Baseball!
Hi everyone! This week is the Crosstown Cup series in Chicago, meaning it's North Side vs South Side, aka Chicago Cubs vs Chicago White Sox. This used to be something that was great for Chicago but it didn't matter. It was games that didn't count because the American League didn't play the National League until the World Series. And, if you know anything about baseball, the Cubs have a bit of a losing streak / not going to the World Series in a while.
Yes, I'm saying that no World Series since 1908 is a while. I'm allowed. I bleed Cubbie blue and I have since I was a kid. This year is always The Year until it stops because we didn't get to the playoffs. Or we do but then there's the Mets - that was last year - but... this might be it. Might be. Maybe. Someone go knock on wood. Maybe go sacrifice whatever goats eat to the goat who cursed us in the first place.
But that all changed when the MLB (Major League Baseball) decided that interleague play was a go. You could have teams from both sides playing each other during the regular season and it meant something. To us, in Chicago, this was huge, because it brought more importance to a series that we already love. We love going against each other and rooting for our teams. It's something that is, while not just Chicago alone, it binds the city together during the summer months.
It's why, if you're writing about Chicago, you should take it into account. If you have a character that lives here, you should give a passing thought about which team they'll support if they're into sports at all. Now, they can be into sports and not baseball, but do your research and understand the Bears, the Bulls, the Blackhawks, and even the Wolves intertwine into everyday life. You can also have someone that lives here and doesn't care about sports, but the characters that they come into contact with might. Nobody lives in a bubble and neither should your characters. It goes back to the idea of character connection and, yeah, it might be a barista making small talk, but it happens. I have baristas ask me weird things all the time about something that I might not know about - one asked me about Pokemon Go and if I'm playing when I've barely started - but that's because they're human beings too. Interacting and connecting is a part of the human experience and you'll want that in your novels.
Anyways, I'm going to get off my soapbox and go cheer for the Cubs. Well, maybe not right now, as the game isn't on, but tonight I will be.
Yes, I'm saying that no World Series since 1908 is a while. I'm allowed. I bleed Cubbie blue and I have since I was a kid. This year is always The Year until it stops because we didn't get to the playoffs. Or we do but then there's the Mets - that was last year - but... this might be it. Might be. Maybe. Someone go knock on wood. Maybe go sacrifice whatever goats eat to the goat who cursed us in the first place.
But that all changed when the MLB (Major League Baseball) decided that interleague play was a go. You could have teams from both sides playing each other during the regular season and it meant something. To us, in Chicago, this was huge, because it brought more importance to a series that we already love. We love going against each other and rooting for our teams. It's something that is, while not just Chicago alone, it binds the city together during the summer months.
It's why, if you're writing about Chicago, you should take it into account. If you have a character that lives here, you should give a passing thought about which team they'll support if they're into sports at all. Now, they can be into sports and not baseball, but do your research and understand the Bears, the Bulls, the Blackhawks, and even the Wolves intertwine into everyday life. You can also have someone that lives here and doesn't care about sports, but the characters that they come into contact with might. Nobody lives in a bubble and neither should your characters. It goes back to the idea of character connection and, yeah, it might be a barista making small talk, but it happens. I have baristas ask me weird things all the time about something that I might not know about - one asked me about Pokemon Go and if I'm playing when I've barely started - but that's because they're human beings too. Interacting and connecting is a part of the human experience and you'll want that in your novels.
Anyways, I'm going to get off my soapbox and go cheer for the Cubs. Well, maybe not right now, as the game isn't on, but tonight I will be.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
You HAVE to experience it THIS way
Morning everyone and welcome to a rant that's been boiling under the surface of my thoughts of late. I barely touched on this yesterday and I thought I'd come back and expand on the idea. It goes into the idea as a writer where you have a set vision for a book. You want to have x happen because it shows y symbolism to get across z message / moral. It's really straightforward and so simple for people to pick up on.
Yeah, let's get back to reality. It doesn't happen that way and everyone else will tell you that too. It gets worse when you have the creators saying that you have to experience it the way you want them to experience it. For one, not everyone experiences the world as you do. It makes the world more interesting and it makes us, as a species, unique. Even with identical twins, they have different mind sets, different goals, and so on. Just because you expect a reader or a video gamer or even the person you're talking to understand what you're trying to get across, it doesn't work that way.
You cannot have this expectation without having heartbreak. This isn't going to say that there aren't going to be critics. There will always be critics. But these are the people who are enjoying what you've created. Let them do so as they want to instead of forcing what you want down their throat. You'll have a lot more happier consumers and that is what is the most important in the end.
Well, I feel better now, dear readers. What's getting under your skin lately. Feel free to share it in the comments or interact with me on either Facebook or Twitter. Until next time, keep on writing.
Yeah, let's get back to reality. It doesn't happen that way and everyone else will tell you that too. It gets worse when you have the creators saying that you have to experience it the way you want them to experience it. For one, not everyone experiences the world as you do. It makes the world more interesting and it makes us, as a species, unique. Even with identical twins, they have different mind sets, different goals, and so on. Just because you expect a reader or a video gamer or even the person you're talking to understand what you're trying to get across, it doesn't work that way.
You cannot have this expectation without having heartbreak. This isn't going to say that there aren't going to be critics. There will always be critics. But these are the people who are enjoying what you've created. Let them do so as they want to instead of forcing what you want down their throat. You'll have a lot more happier consumers and that is what is the most important in the end.
Well, I feel better now, dear readers. What's getting under your skin lately. Feel free to share it in the comments or interact with me on either Facebook or Twitter. Until next time, keep on writing.
Monday, July 25, 2016
World of Warcraft: The Issue of the New Zoom
Hey everyone. We're going off topic of the usual things of this blog to talk about something that I love doing in my downtime. I play World of Warcraft (WoW), with the majority of my characters as alliance, and I've been doing so since the middle of the Cataclysm expansion. For those who don't know, WoW is a MMO, a massively multiplayer online game, so you play with others but there are things you can go do on your own. You can also fight against other players, what is called Player vs Player or PvP, and there's a ton you can do. If you love fantasy games, I highly recommend looking into it and you can play for free for the first 20 levels.
That said, we now are going into the Legion expansion. The Legion expansion brings back the demons of the Warcraft world and the story behind it looks amazing. No time traveling this time but it looks like we're going to lose some beloved characters and the player characters are going to step up. I cannot wait for it, but there are some things that they could keep the way they've been since the base game was released. That is the camera settings and how the new zoom works. I should point out, before I go into this, that I am happy with the new camera settings at the moment. It makes me feel like I'm living out my real life in a video game as my field vision only gives me around 10% of seeing around me which is not a good thing for the rest of the population.
See, not a lot, if any people, get how to use their camera that way. I do, because I have to scan in real life, so I scan in game. You use your mouse, move the camera around, and you can see what you were looking for. While this is easy for me and probably for others, it's not that great that the majority of players have to now learn to do this. A lot of people played the game zoomed out so they could see a great deal of the world around them. Blizzard, the company behind WoW, decided this didn't do for their vision of how they should play their game.
As you can expect, that's not going over well to the majority of the player base. Hell, it didn't even go over well with me, who is having no problems with the new camera / zoom. Save for going "hey, this is just like real life" which should not be happening in a fantasy game! I should not be feeling like my disability is transferring over to a game I love. I get enough of that by not seeing which way I have to go in a dungeon, not seeing what I have to find on the ground, and a bunch of other things that are too long to list. They did not have to add this to the list.
It's not enough to get me to stop playing. It's not enough to get me to stop being excited about the Legion coming. It does make me mad and wonders what is going on behind the scenes at Blizzard. It makes me wonder if they realize just what they did and when it'll be changed back. This isn't the biggest screw up they've made right now but it is the one that I can explain the easiest. I wish they'd talk to people and explain better why they did it, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
If you'd like more information on the camera and how it's effecting players, I recommend this thread. The forums only allow for 25 pages, so it might be capped by the time you read this. If it is, I will update the link to thread #4.
Until next time, keep on writing! If you play WoW, you can find me at crescentgaia1540 - feel free to give me a whisper.
Edit: The thread I linked to above has been capped. Here is thread #5 on the subject.
That said, we now are going into the Legion expansion. The Legion expansion brings back the demons of the Warcraft world and the story behind it looks amazing. No time traveling this time but it looks like we're going to lose some beloved characters and the player characters are going to step up. I cannot wait for it, but there are some things that they could keep the way they've been since the base game was released. That is the camera settings and how the new zoom works. I should point out, before I go into this, that I am happy with the new camera settings at the moment. It makes me feel like I'm living out my real life in a video game as my field vision only gives me around 10% of seeing around me which is not a good thing for the rest of the population.
See, not a lot, if any people, get how to use their camera that way. I do, because I have to scan in real life, so I scan in game. You use your mouse, move the camera around, and you can see what you were looking for. While this is easy for me and probably for others, it's not that great that the majority of players have to now learn to do this. A lot of people played the game zoomed out so they could see a great deal of the world around them. Blizzard, the company behind WoW, decided this didn't do for their vision of how they should play their game.
As you can expect, that's not going over well to the majority of the player base. Hell, it didn't even go over well with me, who is having no problems with the new camera / zoom. Save for going "hey, this is just like real life" which should not be happening in a fantasy game! I should not be feeling like my disability is transferring over to a game I love. I get enough of that by not seeing which way I have to go in a dungeon, not seeing what I have to find on the ground, and a bunch of other things that are too long to list. They did not have to add this to the list.
It's not enough to get me to stop playing. It's not enough to get me to stop being excited about the Legion coming. It does make me mad and wonders what is going on behind the scenes at Blizzard. It makes me wonder if they realize just what they did and when it'll be changed back. This isn't the biggest screw up they've made right now but it is the one that I can explain the easiest. I wish they'd talk to people and explain better why they did it, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
If you'd like more information on the camera and how it's effecting players, I recommend this thread. The forums only allow for 25 pages, so it might be capped by the time you read this. If it is, I will update the link to thread #4.
Until next time, keep on writing! If you play WoW, you can find me at crescentgaia1540 - feel free to give me a whisper.
Edit: The thread I linked to above has been capped. Here is thread #5 on the subject.
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Throwback Thursday: Character Connections
Today we're going to wind back the clock to the WriYe Blog Circle prompt from February about character connections. Since I am someone who writes more for the characters and have the plot wind around those characters, I'm surprised I haven't looked at this sooner. The connections between characters, the frictions and the sparks, is what drives the plot forward for me. Two people hate each other or love each other or something else entirely and then their lives spiral off because of it. I think it's why one of my favorite movies is The Holiday with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet. Their two characters swap houses for Christmas due to needing to run away from their lives / situations and how doing so makes them meet and touch other lives.
So, yeah, I love plot that happens like that. I try to make my own stories and writing like that because it's what I love. And, when you write what you know / like / love, then you are going to be successful in getting your writing project done. That all said, let's get into the questions.
How do your characters connect with one another? What kind of connection do they have?
Well, they're going to be one of three things - acquaintances, friends, or lovers - and react to each other as such. For example, using Mystery of the Dark's Kate, she's going to react differently to the person who take her food order differently than Mark or Justinian. To the person who takes her food order, she's going to be polite, use please and thank you, and not think of that person beyond that small interaction. With Mark, a close / best friend, she's going to be a lot more open and honest. She'll still be polite, but there will be times when she forgets to say please and thank you. However, it's different because she still wants him to be her friend at the end of the day. That means trying to not kill him over the stupid things he does and so on, like one would do with a normal friend.
Now, with Justinian? Oh boy. Yes, he's her love interest and eventual partner (sorry, spoilers), but he's still a vampire. She kills those things for a living. The two don't get off on the best foot but it'll come around in the end. In the beginning, she doesn't want to connect with him. She wants to write him off, make him into an acquaintance, but it's the strength of his character that makes him into her love interest. He pushes back and makes himself stand out in a way that she starts to take him seriously. It also helps that they go through a trial together and come out the other side whole time and time again.
How do you connect your character to your reader?
Well... I try to make the character feel like someone the reader can relate to. That, despite the fact that they might only be half human or not human at all, the character feels human. That they are human after all and has just the same problems that the reader might have on some level. I think that connection makes the reader want to continue reading to find out the plot. When it's the other way around, when it's more about the plot than the character, I lose interest. I don't want my readers to lose interest, so I make the characters interesting and then I make the plot interesting.
So, dear readers, what are your connections and how do you show them in your characters? Feel free to leave a comment below or connect to me on Facebook or twitter. Until next time, keep on writing.
So, yeah, I love plot that happens like that. I try to make my own stories and writing like that because it's what I love. And, when you write what you know / like / love, then you are going to be successful in getting your writing project done. That all said, let's get into the questions.
How do your characters connect with one another? What kind of connection do they have?
Well, they're going to be one of three things - acquaintances, friends, or lovers - and react to each other as such. For example, using Mystery of the Dark's Kate, she's going to react differently to the person who take her food order differently than Mark or Justinian. To the person who takes her food order, she's going to be polite, use please and thank you, and not think of that person beyond that small interaction. With Mark, a close / best friend, she's going to be a lot more open and honest. She'll still be polite, but there will be times when she forgets to say please and thank you. However, it's different because she still wants him to be her friend at the end of the day. That means trying to not kill him over the stupid things he does and so on, like one would do with a normal friend.
Now, with Justinian? Oh boy. Yes, he's her love interest and eventual partner (sorry, spoilers), but he's still a vampire. She kills those things for a living. The two don't get off on the best foot but it'll come around in the end. In the beginning, she doesn't want to connect with him. She wants to write him off, make him into an acquaintance, but it's the strength of his character that makes him into her love interest. He pushes back and makes himself stand out in a way that she starts to take him seriously. It also helps that they go through a trial together and come out the other side whole time and time again.
How do you connect your character to your reader?
Well... I try to make the character feel like someone the reader can relate to. That, despite the fact that they might only be half human or not human at all, the character feels human. That they are human after all and has just the same problems that the reader might have on some level. I think that connection makes the reader want to continue reading to find out the plot. When it's the other way around, when it's more about the plot than the character, I lose interest. I don't want my readers to lose interest, so I make the characters interesting and then I make the plot interesting.
So, dear readers, what are your connections and how do you show them in your characters? Feel free to leave a comment below or connect to me on Facebook or twitter. Until next time, keep on writing.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
My Writing Day
You know those memes where it's what people think you do vs what you actually do? That's how my writing day feels like.
This is what people think you do:
7 am - wake up / shower / breakfast
8 am - morning pages / start writing
noon - lunch
1 pm - editing / more writing
5 pm - day is done, go be with family / make dinner / whatever.
This is what actually happens:
Anywhere between 7 am and 11 am - wake up / shower / breakfast / share the blog post for the day
A hour after wake up - stare blankly / try to write / read what was written the day before and edit
Sometime around 2 or 3 pm - lunch
Between 4 pm and 6 pm - clean the kitchen and make dinner
6 pm to 9 pm - family time / extremely rare writing time
9 pm to bedtime - dishes / World of Warcraft / writing
Now, you might be thinking "oh, on the days she's up at 7, she gets more done". Actually, nope. I usually get around the same amount I get done on the days I get up around 11. Life gets in the way of writing, as does ones life routine, but I've attempted having a sleep schedule. I've attempted writing in the morning. I've attempted a lot of things that one thinks I should be doing and, in the end, I end up more frustrated than when I began.
My writing schedule works for me because it is what I have tried and what works time and time again. There are nights when I don't get on Warcraft and I write instead. There are days where all I do is edit and then decided to get on Warcraft because I feel I've done enough for the day. The day to day details change, but that schedule remains the same. As I've said before and as I continue to say ad nauseam, what works for you is going to work for you and that's what matters. It doesn't matter what people think you should be doing. It matters that you do what works for you and how you write. If that means waking up at 7 am and following a strict schedule, then that's great. If that means following more of what I do, then that's great. Just don't let anybody set your life or your writing for you.
Until next time, keep on writing.
This is what people think you do:
7 am - wake up / shower / breakfast
8 am - morning pages / start writing
noon - lunch
1 pm - editing / more writing
5 pm - day is done, go be with family / make dinner / whatever.
This is what actually happens:
Anywhere between 7 am and 11 am - wake up / shower / breakfast / share the blog post for the day
A hour after wake up - stare blankly / try to write / read what was written the day before and edit
Sometime around 2 or 3 pm - lunch
Between 4 pm and 6 pm - clean the kitchen and make dinner
6 pm to 9 pm - family time / extremely rare writing time
9 pm to bedtime - dishes / World of Warcraft / writing
Now, you might be thinking "oh, on the days she's up at 7, she gets more done". Actually, nope. I usually get around the same amount I get done on the days I get up around 11. Life gets in the way of writing, as does ones life routine, but I've attempted having a sleep schedule. I've attempted writing in the morning. I've attempted a lot of things that one thinks I should be doing and, in the end, I end up more frustrated than when I began.
My writing schedule works for me because it is what I have tried and what works time and time again. There are nights when I don't get on Warcraft and I write instead. There are days where all I do is edit and then decided to get on Warcraft because I feel I've done enough for the day. The day to day details change, but that schedule remains the same. As I've said before and as I continue to say ad nauseam, what works for you is going to work for you and that's what matters. It doesn't matter what people think you should be doing. It matters that you do what works for you and how you write. If that means waking up at 7 am and following a strict schedule, then that's great. If that means following more of what I do, then that's great. Just don't let anybody set your life or your writing for you.
Until next time, keep on writing.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Plagiarism
If you're watching the news or keeping up with social media in some way, you might have noticed that, on Monday night, Melania Trump gave a speech at the RNC. In that speech, she plagiarized First Lady Michelle Obama's 2008 DNC speech (Huffington Post for article, Jarrett Hill on twitter) for about two paragraphs. I don't have to tell you that plagiarism is wrong and shouldn't be allowed. That's common sense. It is common sense that, as a writer, you do not use other writer's works. There have been people in the news, like Chris Matthews, saying that the writer should fall on his sword and out themself. I only agree half way with Matthews. I do agree that the writer should out themself but I don't think they should fall on their sword. It might not be their fault - it might be Mrs. Trump's fault, as she says that she wrote a majority / all of the speech herself (Today Show interview) - and she could have steamrolled over anyone who said that she couldn't do what she wanted to do.
However, I disagree and do not believe those in the Republican Party or the Trump campaign that is saying this is just a misunderstanding. That it just happened because both women believe in the same things. If that's the case, and it might be, there are ways to reword what you want to say so it's not 100% the First Lady's words. Also, as someone who has been accused of plagiarism in a writing class at a community college due to my work being remotely similar to a famous fantasy author, none of what the campaign or the Republican party responses make sense. When it happened to me, I fell over myself apologizing to the teacher and asking what I could do to make it right. Due to my response and the teacher deciding to believe me, all I did was have a zero for the assignment - a creative writing assignment - which could be dropped as my lowest grade for the semester. If I had reacted like the Trump campaign and the RNC is, then I bet my punishment would have been a lot worse than a zero.
They need to own up to their mistake, just like any other writer would do, and they need to not pass the buck. It's what any good writer worth their salt would do. If that means that the blame is with Mrs. Trump, then she needs to come out and say that she made a mistake. Depending on how she does this, then it might become a non story sooner than later. If it is due to a speechwriter, then that speechwriter needs to step forward. That's to make it a non story. I'll update this post as we get more information, but, dear readers, I wouldn't hold my breath.
Until next time, keep on writing.
However, I disagree and do not believe those in the Republican Party or the Trump campaign that is saying this is just a misunderstanding. That it just happened because both women believe in the same things. If that's the case, and it might be, there are ways to reword what you want to say so it's not 100% the First Lady's words. Also, as someone who has been accused of plagiarism in a writing class at a community college due to my work being remotely similar to a famous fantasy author, none of what the campaign or the Republican party responses make sense. When it happened to me, I fell over myself apologizing to the teacher and asking what I could do to make it right. Due to my response and the teacher deciding to believe me, all I did was have a zero for the assignment - a creative writing assignment - which could be dropped as my lowest grade for the semester. If I had reacted like the Trump campaign and the RNC is, then I bet my punishment would have been a lot worse than a zero.
They need to own up to their mistake, just like any other writer would do, and they need to not pass the buck. It's what any good writer worth their salt would do. If that means that the blame is with Mrs. Trump, then she needs to come out and say that she made a mistake. Depending on how she does this, then it might become a non story sooner than later. If it is due to a speechwriter, then that speechwriter needs to step forward. That's to make it a non story. I'll update this post as we get more information, but, dear readers, I wouldn't hold my breath.
Until next time, keep on writing.
Monday, July 18, 2016
Monday Motivation
Found via Pinterist
Welcome to Monday. I wish I had more to leave you with other than motivation, but I don't. I've been on vacation and then had to come back to reality. It's taking a while and I haven't been writing. So, while I try to get back on track, I decided to share an interesting quote from one of my favorite writers. Have a good week and, unlike me, keep on writing.
Friday, July 15, 2016
Friday Inspiration
Hello and welcome to Friday! You can use the picture above to give some inspiration to either get through the day, your next few words, or even write something based on it. Either way, I hope you have a great Friday and weekend, dear readers.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Poetry Corner
Chasing
Inspiration
She is looking down
on the blank page
Then peeps towards a book of words
Seeing her thoughts are so close
Her notions on butterfly wings.
Inspiration, for just a moment
Her pen flies across a page
Then a page flutters away,
Sighs seep from her lips.
Notes written down,
Then peeps towards a book of words
Seeing her thoughts are so close
Her notions on butterfly wings.
Inspiration, for just a moment
Her pen flies across a page
Then a page flutters away,
Sighs seep from her lips.
Notes written down,
Locked up without
keys
Only small ideas, for she is
Afraid to give a dream a voice.
Deficient hesitation, she will return
On the way to what she knows best,
For she is simply pursuing inspiration
Only small ideas, for she is
Afraid to give a dream a voice.
Deficient hesitation, she will return
On the way to what she knows best,
For she is simply pursuing inspiration
A consequence of a broken
butterfly net.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
I am...
I actually laid my head on the table for a few moments before picking it up to write this post. It's funny, considering the emotions I went through. Dread was first, because I have a lot of emotional baggage and it's sometimes hard to put out there, so how the heck was I going to write a post? Fear was next, because, honestly, I don't know if I'm really reaching out to people or not. Why keep on writing a blog when that's at the back of your mind? Ugh. Procrastination came next, flipping to see what Wednesday's post was and debating if I could just push this one back by going to find the source of Wednesday. Then I remember it's on an easy findable flash drive in my room. Damn.
The last emotion, always the last and never the first, was acceptance. Acceptance that I should write this post because it might be the post that resonates with someone and helps them. Acceptance that it doesn't matter who is reading, but that someone is reading. Acceptance that, no matter how much I want to push it back and ignore it, it still needs to be written. Such is the way of writing. I say that because this cycle is not just for the average blog post. Oh no. This cycle starts whenever I first start to write a novel. Procrastination cycles through on a more rapid pace, as I find something to scrub until I get a spark of brilliance, but it is the same thing. Dread that it's a crap idea, fear that nobody will read it so why bother, procrastination because something needs to be cleaned or one more level of Candy Crush, and acceptance that I should just write the thing.
You might be thinking "oh my God, get over yourself". Yeah, I have that thought every once in a while when I think I'm being overly dramatic. Then I realize that I'm a writer and human. We're all overly dramatic once in a while, even if it's not been since you were little, but it happens. We also get into cycles that slow us down from whatever we want to do. I used to get out of the cycle by lots of chocolate and/or liquor, but it didn't always work. I will let you know what did work.
Acceptance. Acceptance that I am who I am and I will always have doubt. I can use that doubt to make my writing better, even though I think my editor might shoot me sometime in the future. But you know what? Even the biggest and best writers have doubt that they're writing what they should. It is the curse of the writer and, the sooner you accept that, the better you'll be. I don't know how to move on from it or leave it behind, but I accept it as part of my life. I talk through it, I journal, I rage, but, in the end, it is accepted.
I am doubtful. I am fearful. I am dreadful. I am me and I am human. I accept that, because if I don't, then I won't be able to tell the story that's locked in my head. I won't be able to help someone, just one person, by them connecting with a story I tell. For in the end, at our basic level, all humans are storytellers. You do it when you get home from work and tell someone about your day. You're telling them the story of your life.
So, at the heart of all these emotions spinning around me, the best thing I can say when I say I am is I am a storyteller. I will spin you a story, either from my mind or my life, set to a beat that might make you hold your breath, but it is what I do. It is what I am. I accept it and I accept me.
Until next time, keep on writing and keep on accepting yourself just the perfect way you are.
The last emotion, always the last and never the first, was acceptance. Acceptance that I should write this post because it might be the post that resonates with someone and helps them. Acceptance that it doesn't matter who is reading, but that someone is reading. Acceptance that, no matter how much I want to push it back and ignore it, it still needs to be written. Such is the way of writing. I say that because this cycle is not just for the average blog post. Oh no. This cycle starts whenever I first start to write a novel. Procrastination cycles through on a more rapid pace, as I find something to scrub until I get a spark of brilliance, but it is the same thing. Dread that it's a crap idea, fear that nobody will read it so why bother, procrastination because something needs to be cleaned or one more level of Candy Crush, and acceptance that I should just write the thing.
You might be thinking "oh my God, get over yourself". Yeah, I have that thought every once in a while when I think I'm being overly dramatic. Then I realize that I'm a writer and human. We're all overly dramatic once in a while, even if it's not been since you were little, but it happens. We also get into cycles that slow us down from whatever we want to do. I used to get out of the cycle by lots of chocolate and/or liquor, but it didn't always work. I will let you know what did work.
Acceptance. Acceptance that I am who I am and I will always have doubt. I can use that doubt to make my writing better, even though I think my editor might shoot me sometime in the future. But you know what? Even the biggest and best writers have doubt that they're writing what they should. It is the curse of the writer and, the sooner you accept that, the better you'll be. I don't know how to move on from it or leave it behind, but I accept it as part of my life. I talk through it, I journal, I rage, but, in the end, it is accepted.
I am doubtful. I am fearful. I am dreadful. I am me and I am human. I accept that, because if I don't, then I won't be able to tell the story that's locked in my head. I won't be able to help someone, just one person, by them connecting with a story I tell. For in the end, at our basic level, all humans are storytellers. You do it when you get home from work and tell someone about your day. You're telling them the story of your life.
So, at the heart of all these emotions spinning around me, the best thing I can say when I say I am is I am a storyteller. I will spin you a story, either from my mind or my life, set to a beat that might make you hold your breath, but it is what I do. It is what I am. I accept it and I accept me.
Until next time, keep on writing and keep on accepting yourself just the perfect way you are.
Monday, July 11, 2016
Keeping Organized
Happy Monday everyone! Today we're talking about how to keep your ideas organized. It's pretty easy to go off on an idea, write it down on a napkin, and then lose that napkin which might have been your best selling novel. I get it and have lost ideas in similar ways, but we're going to see if some tips would work for you. There are going to be links off to Amazon and other websites, but I am not being paid to put said links in this post. I am also not responsible for you spending a lot of money on said suggestion or you wandering off and buying a bunch of Kindle books.
Hey, it's been done. Anyways, let's get to ideas and start with the nice and free ones.
The one that I use is Google Docs. I have my ideas set up by project they'll go if there's a project started. It's simple folder titles, like Mystery Novel, and any new idea will go into there. I usually have my phone with me and it's a Samsung, so I've got an easy app to go into Docs and type up the idea. Now, this isn't always the best because of fat finger typos. So I'll go back to the idea and be all "what is this and why did I save it again?". That's the drawback but, if you don't have the worry of typos, then this is the best option. Another one is using the document system that you have on your computer through Windows or IOS and use the same idea. Also, with Google Docs, every time you stop typing, from what I've seen, it saves to your Google account. So no fear of losing anything and it's nice if you've got a smartphone to use the Google Docs app.
Now, if you want to get fancy and some new software, there's Scrivener. You'll be able to create a project file, which will then house everything you want to keep in one big folder for you to find when you need it. You'll need Scrivener to open it, as it'll be a project file as well, but at least you'll know where everything is. This is more when you're starting to work on a project, either in research or just trying to get your thoughts down, and less for when you just want to jot down a quick note. There's no mobile version yet but it does back up to Dropbox so there's no fear of losing everything in case of a computer crash. So that's really nice.
The expensive option that I've been wanting for a while is a smart pen. It's a pen, where you write on special paper from that company, and then it uploads what you wrote to the cloud. You can also record and then link and listen to them to what you wrote with the Livescribe. There's also the Neo Smartpen but these are the pricey end of keeping what you wrote and keeping organized. You only can use them with the special paper from the company that makes the pen. So, you're easily around $200 or more with this option but it is nice if you want to invest. I would recommend researching and finding which smart pen you want to spend money on. Then, in the software, I would recommend keeping to the idea I put forth above - folder for the project, even if it's unnamed keep it by genre, and put all of your ideas in there.
As always, the low text option of keeping paper and pen on you at all times works too. It's why I keep a little pad of paper and a pen on me at all times. My phone might be low, I might be on the phone while getting an idea, or anything else that I can't use my phone at the instance inspiration hits. You just need to remember to put said idea into whatever you're using, like when I hang up the phone and then the idea gets typed into Google Docs, but you could also file your notebooks if you've got a spare box lying around. You'll want something on the front or first page to say which notebook it is for which project and you should be all set.
Well, that's it for keeping organized today. Until next time, keep on writing!
Hey, it's been done. Anyways, let's get to ideas and start with the nice and free ones.
The one that I use is Google Docs. I have my ideas set up by project they'll go if there's a project started. It's simple folder titles, like Mystery Novel, and any new idea will go into there. I usually have my phone with me and it's a Samsung, so I've got an easy app to go into Docs and type up the idea. Now, this isn't always the best because of fat finger typos. So I'll go back to the idea and be all "what is this and why did I save it again?". That's the drawback but, if you don't have the worry of typos, then this is the best option. Another one is using the document system that you have on your computer through Windows or IOS and use the same idea. Also, with Google Docs, every time you stop typing, from what I've seen, it saves to your Google account. So no fear of losing anything and it's nice if you've got a smartphone to use the Google Docs app.
Now, if you want to get fancy and some new software, there's Scrivener. You'll be able to create a project file, which will then house everything you want to keep in one big folder for you to find when you need it. You'll need Scrivener to open it, as it'll be a project file as well, but at least you'll know where everything is. This is more when you're starting to work on a project, either in research or just trying to get your thoughts down, and less for when you just want to jot down a quick note. There's no mobile version yet but it does back up to Dropbox so there's no fear of losing everything in case of a computer crash. So that's really nice.
The expensive option that I've been wanting for a while is a smart pen. It's a pen, where you write on special paper from that company, and then it uploads what you wrote to the cloud. You can also record and then link and listen to them to what you wrote with the Livescribe. There's also the Neo Smartpen but these are the pricey end of keeping what you wrote and keeping organized. You only can use them with the special paper from the company that makes the pen. So, you're easily around $200 or more with this option but it is nice if you want to invest. I would recommend researching and finding which smart pen you want to spend money on. Then, in the software, I would recommend keeping to the idea I put forth above - folder for the project, even if it's unnamed keep it by genre, and put all of your ideas in there.
As always, the low text option of keeping paper and pen on you at all times works too. It's why I keep a little pad of paper and a pen on me at all times. My phone might be low, I might be on the phone while getting an idea, or anything else that I can't use my phone at the instance inspiration hits. You just need to remember to put said idea into whatever you're using, like when I hang up the phone and then the idea gets typed into Google Docs, but you could also file your notebooks if you've got a spare box lying around. You'll want something on the front or first page to say which notebook it is for which project and you should be all set.
Well, that's it for keeping organized today. Until next time, keep on writing!
Friday, July 8, 2016
Friday Inspiration
Photo by me!
Hello and welcome to Friday! You can use the picture above to give some inspiration to either get through the day, your next few words, or even write something based on it. Either way, I hope you have a great Friday and weekend, dear readers.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Road Trip!
On the road again... something something on the road again...
Hello readers! Today starts a road trip down to the beautiful state of North Carolina. However, the blog never stops and I thought I would give some tips on how to write when on a road trip. I'm going to list some that you can do alone and with others, but let's get down with some basic tech you're going to need. You'll either need a smartphone with an ability to record your voice, a recorder, or pencil and paper if you can write while someone else drives. Do not use the write down method if you are driving as you are distracted and could harm yourself and others.
That's said, let's get down to business.
1. Talk your story like you're telling it to another person. This is best if you're alone in the car because you can just turn on the recorder and talk. You can either write a chapter through voice or talk through a plot point or whatever you want to do. Just keep an eye on your battery use or the memory if you're using a recorder along with the battery. Also, if you have a willing passenger in the car, you could ask them to help you talk through a plot problem you're having with the results that you can listen through later. This does lead to more work down the road, but that can be solved with using a computer program such as Dragon or another dictation software.
2. Say you don't have a current project and you have someone else in the car with you. What you could do is decide on a prompt, hit record, and go back and forth with telling a story. With this, if you decide to publish or share the story, you should ask the other person if you can with giving them credit before starting. If the person doesn't want to give credit, it can still be a fun exercise to get through boredom. You just can't use the story that comes out of it in the publishing sense.
3. If you're stuck in the seat on a family road trip, or even on a bus or plane where someone else is driving, you could pull out your phone and open a notepad type program to write. This is best when you can't pull out your laptop to write and you've got an itch to write down an idea or the next chapter of your novel. This is also when the pen and paper idea, if you can write in the car, would help you as well. You could also make it a game, such as the idea in #2 but with passing the phone back and forth, but make sure you get the okay to use their writing and give them credit for it too.
So those are my three tips for writing while in the car while having a bit of fun. What do you like to do when you're in the car but want or need to write, readers? Do you use a variation of the above or do you do something else entirely?
Until next time, keep on writing!
Hello readers! Today starts a road trip down to the beautiful state of North Carolina. However, the blog never stops and I thought I would give some tips on how to write when on a road trip. I'm going to list some that you can do alone and with others, but let's get down with some basic tech you're going to need. You'll either need a smartphone with an ability to record your voice, a recorder, or pencil and paper if you can write while someone else drives. Do not use the write down method if you are driving as you are distracted and could harm yourself and others.
That's said, let's get down to business.
1. Talk your story like you're telling it to another person. This is best if you're alone in the car because you can just turn on the recorder and talk. You can either write a chapter through voice or talk through a plot point or whatever you want to do. Just keep an eye on your battery use or the memory if you're using a recorder along with the battery. Also, if you have a willing passenger in the car, you could ask them to help you talk through a plot problem you're having with the results that you can listen through later. This does lead to more work down the road, but that can be solved with using a computer program such as Dragon or another dictation software.
2. Say you don't have a current project and you have someone else in the car with you. What you could do is decide on a prompt, hit record, and go back and forth with telling a story. With this, if you decide to publish or share the story, you should ask the other person if you can with giving them credit before starting. If the person doesn't want to give credit, it can still be a fun exercise to get through boredom. You just can't use the story that comes out of it in the publishing sense.
3. If you're stuck in the seat on a family road trip, or even on a bus or plane where someone else is driving, you could pull out your phone and open a notepad type program to write. This is best when you can't pull out your laptop to write and you've got an itch to write down an idea or the next chapter of your novel. This is also when the pen and paper idea, if you can write in the car, would help you as well. You could also make it a game, such as the idea in #2 but with passing the phone back and forth, but make sure you get the okay to use their writing and give them credit for it too.
So those are my three tips for writing while in the car while having a bit of fun. What do you like to do when you're in the car but want or need to write, readers? Do you use a variation of the above or do you do something else entirely?
Until next time, keep on writing!
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
Killing Your Darlings
This is a popular saying when you're writing. Killing your darlings, for those who do not know, is a way of saying that you should think about if and when to kill off characters. The big three of killing their darlings are J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, and George R.R. Martin but there are others who do the same. In my opinion, Rowling is the best at the art of killing her darlings, as she did it during times when there were going to be body counts. She did not kill off characters for what felt like we hadn't had a character death in a while either.
If you can't tell, I didn't get past the first book of A Song of Fire and Ice. I like my fantasy to be less dark but I know that's not popular opinion. Feel free to send the flames at me if you must.
When I get into the idea of killing my darlings, it usually seems to be those who are slated to die due to their actions. That means that the bad guys die but the good guys seem to have the same amount or more of the people they started with. I would say this goes along with the authors I read, but it's not the case. There are losses on both sides and, as I grow more as a writer, that is how it went into my writing as well. Both side suffer losses but good triumphs in the end. However, I like a good happy ending and I write what I like to read. Others do not and that's perfectly fine.
Now, to get into the when to kill your darlings. The when goes along with your plot. To give you an idea for Mystery of the Dark, the deaths in that novel happen during high points in the plot. For example, the good side has losses in the midpoint of the novel but, near the end, the bad guys die due to being against the good guys. The good side didn't want to kill the bad guys, due to plot and wanting to find out more, but it happens anyways. Now, there are other deaths that get sprinkled along, but you really need to find when it's right for your novel. Is it okay for someone to die in the first chapter? Maybe. If you're writing a mystery novel, someone's possibly dead before the novel even begins. So, I would trust your plot and go with when it feels right. I would also, when you're done, either hire an editor after you are done editing or reading the novel yourself, and see what they say about when and where you're killing your darlings. You might be heavy handed but it's good for plot.
What I'm getting at is that it is going vary depending on your story. However, if you're stuck at a plot point with no clue what to do next, sometimes killing a side character (or two!) might get the plot rolling again. Just make sure that it's not your main character and you'll be fine. Readers, when do you feel it's right to kill off a character? Do you ever feel like an author hasn't done enough death or too much? Feel free to share in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter.
Until next time, keep on writing!
If you can't tell, I didn't get past the first book of A Song of Fire and Ice. I like my fantasy to be less dark but I know that's not popular opinion. Feel free to send the flames at me if you must.
When I get into the idea of killing my darlings, it usually seems to be those who are slated to die due to their actions. That means that the bad guys die but the good guys seem to have the same amount or more of the people they started with. I would say this goes along with the authors I read, but it's not the case. There are losses on both sides and, as I grow more as a writer, that is how it went into my writing as well. Both side suffer losses but good triumphs in the end. However, I like a good happy ending and I write what I like to read. Others do not and that's perfectly fine.
Now, to get into the when to kill your darlings. The when goes along with your plot. To give you an idea for Mystery of the Dark, the deaths in that novel happen during high points in the plot. For example, the good side has losses in the midpoint of the novel but, near the end, the bad guys die due to being against the good guys. The good side didn't want to kill the bad guys, due to plot and wanting to find out more, but it happens anyways. Now, there are other deaths that get sprinkled along, but you really need to find when it's right for your novel. Is it okay for someone to die in the first chapter? Maybe. If you're writing a mystery novel, someone's possibly dead before the novel even begins. So, I would trust your plot and go with when it feels right. I would also, when you're done, either hire an editor after you are done editing or reading the novel yourself, and see what they say about when and where you're killing your darlings. You might be heavy handed but it's good for plot.
What I'm getting at is that it is going vary depending on your story. However, if you're stuck at a plot point with no clue what to do next, sometimes killing a side character (or two!) might get the plot rolling again. Just make sure that it's not your main character and you'll be fine. Readers, when do you feel it's right to kill off a character? Do you ever feel like an author hasn't done enough death or too much? Feel free to share in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter.
Until next time, keep on writing!
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
WriYe Blogging Circle: Rawr Brains...
Hello! July, unofficially for me and the wonderful people at WriYe, we celebrate zombies during the month of July. It started up as a silly challenge, with deciding what to write for the month, and we came up with zombies. I think we've been doing it since 2009, back when JulNo was still up and running so before Camp NaNoWriMo, and it's a long standing tradition. It's not one that I've completed. I've started a few different zombie ideas, like one where the zombie virus came from bad rice, and it goes to the one that I'm working on for July that ties into Arthurian Mythology. That's also my main project for the month too.
Let's go into the questions. Feel free to answer the questions in the comments as well or comment on either Facebook or Twitter.
Do you have a writing tradition of your own?
The only other writing tradition I have is NaNoWriMo. Every November, I clear my schedule and write until I get to 50,000 words or the end of my novel. I would like to grow more, but I'm not sure of how to do so. I think it needs to be something that can grow into a habit and then into a tradition. But, at the moment, no, I don't really have any other traditions than Zombie July and NaNoWriMo.
How did it come about?
Well, it came about by trying it once before and then finally succeeding. I think that's another thing a tradition needs. You need to be successful or have a happy outcome to keep on wanting to do the tradition. Even though I don't win Zombie July, I like to do it because of the sense of community, which is a happy outcome. I would make sure that, if you want to start a tradition, that you make sure you know what the outcome could be or what would be happy for you if you don't reach the goal. The sense of community became just as much fun as trying to get to the end of the story and so I kept on trying. It was the same as NaNoWriMo until I won too. So you need to make sure that you are getting something pleasurable out of it or you won't keep on trying and it won't become a tradition.
So, dear readers, as I said before, feel free to answer the same question in the comments. And, until next time, keep on writing!
Let's go into the questions. Feel free to answer the questions in the comments as well or comment on either Facebook or Twitter.
Do you have a writing tradition of your own?
The only other writing tradition I have is NaNoWriMo. Every November, I clear my schedule and write until I get to 50,000 words or the end of my novel. I would like to grow more, but I'm not sure of how to do so. I think it needs to be something that can grow into a habit and then into a tradition. But, at the moment, no, I don't really have any other traditions than Zombie July and NaNoWriMo.
How did it come about?
Well, it came about by trying it once before and then finally succeeding. I think that's another thing a tradition needs. You need to be successful or have a happy outcome to keep on wanting to do the tradition. Even though I don't win Zombie July, I like to do it because of the sense of community, which is a happy outcome. I would make sure that, if you want to start a tradition, that you make sure you know what the outcome could be or what would be happy for you if you don't reach the goal. The sense of community became just as much fun as trying to get to the end of the story and so I kept on trying. It was the same as NaNoWriMo until I won too. So you need to make sure that you are getting something pleasurable out of it or you won't keep on trying and it won't become a tradition.
So, dear readers, as I said before, feel free to answer the same question in the comments. And, until next time, keep on writing!
Monday, July 4, 2016
Happy 4th of July!
I hope everyone is having or had a great Fourth of July weekend! We'll be back to talking about writing and all sorts of rambling tomorrow. For now, I leave you with the beautiful fireworks over Chicago and a simple prompt if you want to write or journal on it. I think on it a lot on the 4th and it rings true.
Home of the Free because of the Brave
If you have time, and want to, sit with it for a moment. See what it brings up for you and possibly write on it. I know, for me, it brings up all the memories of everyone in my family who has served in some way for either country or community or both. So, I wish everyone a happy 4th of July and thank those who are here and not here for us in keeping us safe so we can enjoy our freedoms.
Until next time, keep on writing.
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