Category: writer development

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Check Your Answers, Class

  By writer development, writing life

optical-page-1-388724-mI was having a good blogging year until some personal life THINGS happened and everything ran off the rails for a bit. So I’m coming back to it slowly, and today, with something I stole shamelessly from Bare Knuckle Writer, who stole it from Terrible Minds. You know what they say in writing; if you’re going to steal, steal from the best.

So this is a little writerly self-evaluation. Take it yourself if you like, post on your blog, and just to be polite, post in the comments on the original post, as well. Deep breath, here we go.

a) What’s your greatest strength / skill in terms of writing/storytelling?
I think my characters come across as believable, and I’m pretty good at dialogue. This is based on comments I’ve had from others as well as my own opinion, which is pretty hard to give on a question like this without sounding like a giant a**.

b) What’s your greatest weakness in writing/storytelling? What gives you the most trouble?
Plot, plot, plot. I have a deeply ingrained aversion to detailed outlines, and sometimes that just makes plotting akin to trying to put an octopus in a bottle.* But you do what you gotta do.

c) How many books or other projects have you actually finished? What did you do with them?
Three novels totally complete; one published, one in submission, one about to be self-pubbed. Under contract for another one. Numerous others in various stages. Short stories, I’ve sold maybe two out of every three I’ve written. I think I’m doing pretty well at finishing and submitting.

d) Best writing advice you’ve ever been given? (i.e. really helped you)
Write to the end, then go back and fix what needs to be fixed. Finishing that first draft is just so unbelievably key to everything else.

e) Worst writing advice you’ve ever been given? (i.e. didn’t help at all, may have hurt)
That there’s really no market for what I write (fantasy and science fiction). That was from a grant officer. He’s already been proven wrong, but it was disheartening at the time.

f) One piece of advice you’d give other writers?
Don’t rush to publish or self-publish. Your work is worth the time and effort it takes to learn your craft and get it right before you let anyone else see it. And don’t take a bad contract just because it’s offered. Your work is also worth finding the right home for it.

*Not that I’ve ever done this. But the writer’s imagination…

Photo credit: ros

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750words.com

  By current projects, NaNoWriMo, writer development, writing life
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Pound those keys–no paper needed!

As you may have seen me mention, since the beginning of January I’ve been making a concerted effort to write at 750words.com daily. The idea of this website is simple: every day, you log in and write at least 750 words. What you write is private, and although you may share your statistics publicly, you don’t share your words–at least not from the site. You can write whatever you want–journal entries, rants, fiction, blog posts–it’s entirely up to you.

So far I’ve been doing pretty well. As of this writing (the original of which I’m typing, yes, at 750words.com) I’ve completed 40 days and written 32,218 words. This is the most consistent writing I’ve done in a while, outside of NaNoWriMo.

My entries usually take one of three forms. I may just write a sort of stream-of-consciousness blather about my day, projects I’m working on, or other personal matters. A journal entry, for the most part. I may write a blog post, as I’m doing now, which I’ll edit and post at a later date. Or I may work on a fiction project that I have underway. A couple of weeks ago I started a new short story, and I’ve written the entire thing in 750 (or so) word bursts. I’m getting close to the end of that story, and it’s been interesting–sort of like a mini-NaNoWriMo.

We humans like our rewards, and there are rewards to be had at 750words.com beyond the satisfaction of writing every day or working on projects consistently. The persistent writer can earn a wide variety of cute badges, which will be displayed on his or her page. The nice thing about the badges is that once you’ve earned them, you get to keep them, even if you fall off the writing wagon. Many of mine were earned a while back, and I’m challenging myself now to “re-earn” them. There are also point rewards for writing, so if you’d rather track your consistency this way, you can do that as well.

If you’re not into cute animals (in which case I feel sorry for you), you can also peruse many interesting metrics and data compiled from your daily word-grinding. You can track how long it takes you to reach the 750 word goal. You can track your total words written. You can analyze your emotions while writing and the words you use the most. You can compare yourself to other writers, and look at your data over time. It’s very interesting.

I particularly like the regressive imagery analysis when I’m writing fiction. I think it’s a great indicator of whether I’ve hit the mood I’m hoping for or not. If I’m writing a stressful scene where the protagonist is trying to escape a zombie horde, and the metrics tell me my writing was concerned mostly with death and my mood was “upset” while writing…score one for my writing! If I’m writing a love scene, the result should be different!

You can use the site for free for 30 days, but if you fall in love with the site and want to support it financially, it will cost you a mere $5 per month.

I made two New Year’s Resolutions back on New Year’s Eve. One was to try to be more productive (writing-wise) this year; the second was to try to cultivate consistency. The great thing about 750words for me, is that it is helping me to achieve both these goals.

Photo credit: jaylopez

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Eleven Reasons to Join a Writer’s Group

  By Eleven Reasons, personal, writer development, writing life

 

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They’re definitely plotting something…

I’ve belonged to writer’s groups–in real life and online–for many years and in many different formats. Face to face meetings, message boards, email lists and Second Life; I’ve reaped many benefits from those interactions. Here’s why you should consider becoming part of a group:

1. Company. Writing is (in most cases) a solitary endeavour. It’s you and your writing implement of choice, and a whole lot of imaginary folks with whom you do interact, but in a wholly different way. Sometimes it’s nice to share some aspects of your writing life with others who understand, just so you don’t get lonely.

2. Information. No one can find every good book on writing, every great article on the internet, or every helpful resource on their own. Writing pals are great for passing along information that’s helped them, and might help you, too.

3. Curing Self-Doubt. Almost every writer suffers from self-doubt at some point, but connecting with other writers reminds us that we are not alone in these feelings. It’s always heartening to voice a worry and have someone else agree that they’re bothered by that, too, or, better yet, share how they got past it.

4. Critique. Not all writer’s groups swap writing for critique, but it’s a benefit of belonging that far outweighs the time you spend reading others’ work. The better you get at catching and commenting on mistakes made by someone else, the better you get at catching your own–or avoiding them altogether. A group can set guidelines and methodologies that work for all members to make sure the experience is a positive one.

5. Comrades in Arms. The great noveling experiment that is NaNoWriMo attests to the power of attempting something crazy, new, or daunting with others at your side. All the struggling you do to finish that first draft or complete that umpteenth revision is just a little easier when you know that your friend is at his or her desk wrestling the exact same thing.

6. Feedback. Sometimes you don’t need a full critique, you just need to throw out a problem and listen while your writing comrades chew it over. Not sure how to get your hero out of a pickle? With a writer’s group, you can sketch his dilemma and ask for opinions, then sit back and take notes. Chances are the discussion will reveal an answer, or spark a new idea in your own brain.

7. Empowerment. There’s nothing like the power of a group mind to help when poring over the arcane terms of a publishing contract or bolstering you up to make a tough decision like pulling a manuscript out of submission. Again, you’ll make better decisions and rest easier on them when you don’t undertake them alone. Having the insights of others with experience and knowledge helps you see and evaluate all sides of the issue.

8. Fun. Most writing groups are not all business. Other writers appreciate the value of writing for play, so freewriting, prompts, timed challenges, and other ways to play with words are often on offer. Nothing frees the creative mind like play, and it’s that much more fun when it’s shared.

9. Collaboration. Not everyone wants to collaborate with other writers, but there are many kinds of shared projects that can blossom when writing comrades get together. It could be a chapbook of your group’s work, a project you take on with just one other writer, or something completely unique. But it takes those minds meeting up for the idea to be born.

10. Validation. It’s not always easy to stand up and say “I am a writer,” especially if you’re just starting out. Being part of a group of writers who are also just getting their feet under them, or who remember what that was like, makes it easier to think of yourself as a writer. And that makes it easier to make writing a priority in your life. Which is another side benefit. You’re likely to simply write more when you’re regularly meeting with other writers and talking about writing.

11. Opportunities. Besides simply having more information about opportunities coming your way as part of a group, sometimes the group itself engenders opportunities. A member might decide to put together an anthology and offer first submission opportunities to fellow members. Or a member might start a blog or podcast and draw on fellow members as guests or contributors. The possibilities are really endless, but you have to be part of the group, on the spot, to be able to take advantage of them.

Do you belong to a writer’s group, physical or online? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments!

Photo credit: lvklaveren

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One’s Aspect to the Sun Trailer

  By books, One's Aspect to the Sun, software, writer development

I love making book trailers. I’ve done them for most of the Third Person Press titles, and it’s really quite easy to do with all the resources available on the Internet. You can find free-to-use graphics at places like Morguefile.com and StockXchng, video clips at MotionBackgroundsForFree , and great music at Incompetech.com.  Of course, there are many others around the web, but these are some resources I’ve used and been very pleased with. I generally use Windows Movie Maker and Photoshop, although of course there are other video programs with more bells and whistles on offer.

So of course I had to make one for [intlink id=”2094″ type=”page”]One’s Aspect to the Sun[/intlink]. I had a ton of fun making this one!

http://youtu.be/LVK3_ZLFURQ&w=400&h=255&rel=0

Do book trailers really make a big impact in book promotions? Who knows? But the way I see it, having a good one can’t hurt. :)

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What Do You Want?

  By character development, current projects, musings, writer development, writing life
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Not all goals are this simple.

I’ve been struggling with a particular character in this novel rewrite, and her motivations. I think she deserves a bigger place in the story than she has now, but I can’t really figure out what she wants. It’s driving me kind of crazy.

One of the points K.M. Weiland makes in Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story, is the importance of knowing your characters’ goals early on. This makes sense, of course, since it is goals that mainly drive all character actions and reactions. I’ve felt that I really needed to know this character’s motivations and goals before I could go any further, but she was stonewalling me.

However, I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe that’s not actually the problem. I think maybe this character doesn’t really know what she wants, or how she feels about my main character. That would actually make a lot of sense in the context of their history (or more accurately, their non-history). And it also explains why I can’t figure out what she wants or how she feels–she doesn’t know either. She is curious, she thinks she dislikes the main character…but that’s all she really knows. It’s going to take a while for her to figure things out for herself, and figure out what she wants to do with that negative energy.

In our daily lives, we’re frequently conflicted about our feelings, especially toward other people. Often we are not really sure how we feel about someone until we’ve had some interaction with them. We’re all set to like or dislike them based on external factors or things we’ve heard from someone else…and we’re thrown off-balance when the interaction doesn’t meet with our expectations, for good or bad.

So I’m thinking maybe this is not a bad thing with regard to this character. I think we’re going to make this journey together, she and I, and we’ll see how we feel at the end of the story. It should be interesting.

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The Writer’s Ladder of Success

  By current projects, ebooks, musings, publishing, writer development, writing life
ladder

Look up…look waaaaaay up….

A long time ago, in 2001, when ebooks were barely a “thing” yet and the only format for them was .pdf (ancient history, I know), I self-published an ebook for writers. It was called The New Writer’s Guide to Just About Everything and yes, it’s still around, although it’s sorely in need of an update and a new edition. Another thing on my too-long to-do list. But I digress.

Today I am thinking about a piece in that ebook, titled “The Writer’s Ladder of Success.” In it, I talked about how some new writers think their first sale is the top rung of that ladder, but in reality, that’s only a few steps up. Writing, I said, is the first rung. Finishing is the second. Submitting is the third. You may be stuck on that rung of the ladder for a while before you can climb up to the next one, which is making a sale. That analogy still holds true, I think.

Then, I said, you climb back down and start climbing all over again, writing, finishing, submitting. I think now, with the wisdom and experience of my years of writing (stop laughing!) I’d look at it differently. I think instead of climbing back down, I’d say we can look at it one of two ways: either we go sideways onto another ladder and start climbing from there, or the ladder we started on just keeps going, stretching up into the distance ahead of us. Either way, we’re not starting from scratch; we’re building on what we’ve already accomplished in order to climb to greater heights. Some might find that long, long ladder too daunting to look up at, and like the idea of shorter ones that lead to another, so either way works.

And either view is far more encouraging than feeling like you’re starting every piece from scratch. Of course that’s true in a way, since each writing project is new and comes with its own unique challenges. But we always have the comfortable cushion of our past accomplishments to buoy us up as we tackle the new.

There’s a saying that a writer is only as good as his or her last book. It’s true that we’re often judged that way–and we have to keep our fans happy or we’ll lose them. That’s a lot of pressure, though. I think we’re much more likely to succeed if we continue to feel good about our past successes–and not lose sight of that part of the ladder we’ve already climbed, stretching away below us. One bad song doesn’t make a failed musician; one strikeout doesn’t make a failed baseball player. Why do we hold ourselves as writers to a stricter standard? Why do critics and readers? I’m not really sure.

I closed out that section of the ebook by saying, “…you were a writer from the time you reached that first rung. Don’t let anyone tell you the ladder is not yours to climb.” I think that’s still good advice. I don’t think I’ll change that, should I ever get around to producing a second edition of The New Writer’s Guide.

Keep writing. Keep climbing. Build on what came before. Good advice, and advice I have to keep reminding myself of as I tackle a new project and a new deadline. Because frankly, I like the view from up here.

Photo credit: mensatic

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Considering the Working Plan

  By current projects, musings, personal & miscellaneous, projects, writer development, writing life
Boxes1

I actually have fewer than half this many Christmas boxes. Honest.

I’m not one to get over the holidays very quickly or easily. It’s only a few days since my tree and decorations came down and were put away, and as I write this, mere hours since I finally cleaned all the remnants of holiday leftovers out of the fridge. I love Christmas and New Year’s; they’re happy and busy times for our family, and I like to string them out as looooooong as possible.

However. There does come a time when I have to accept the notion that it’s really, really, really time to get back to work. And that means coming up with a new working plan.

I wonder how many writers there are out there who just work on one project until it’s finished, complete it absolutely, and then move on to the next one. Show of hands? Whew. That’s what I was hoping. I didn’t see a single hand out there among you. Like me, most of you have several projects on the back burner, shoved there by time or necessity over the holidays, just simmering until it’s time for you to stick the spoon in and give them a stir. The question for me is always which one to stir first?

I have one obvious answer this year, a project I’ve been mulling over and even picking at a bit over the holiday break. But there are also a few other unfinished bits of business; a manuscript I have to send out for a critiquing swap, one I have to read for Third Person Press, a couple of stories to line edit, and of course, the queue of stories that prompted me to resolve to make 2014 the Year of Finishing. If I’m gonna finish those, I have to pick them up sometime.

The big project has to be one priority, but does anyone else find they have this little voice in the back of their brain as well, saying, “Oh, but look at this one–it wouldn’t take any time at all to finish! You could get that out of the way first.” Which is a big fat lie, in most cases, because if it was that simple, it would already be finished, right? This is my brain trying to sabotage me because it doesn’t want to go back to work, and what the big project needs right now is going to be…well, I don’t want to say “hard.” “Hard” is digging ditches or working backshifts, and I can’t really lay claim to anything like that as I sit here in my cushy office, can I? But it’s going to take work, and my brain is a lazy old thing.

I think that’s part of why it takes me so long to let go of the holidays. My brain is loathe to go back into “work” mode, so even the end of the season…taking down the decorations, cleaning out the fridge, putting the house back to rights…must take as long as possible. But this is it. The end of that road. The house is back to normal. The fridge is clean. Fresh groceries have been purchased, the laundry basket is empty.

Assess, prioritize, tackle. Working plan, here I come.

Photo credit: By skrewtape (http://www.flickr.com/photos/skrewtape/851672959/) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

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A Character Blooms

  By current projects, musings, revision, writer development, writing life
girl-silhouette-1193153-m

Who are you, anyway?

I have this character who’s been on my mind a lot lately. She’s a part of the novel I’m re-thinking and rewriting right now, and she’s sort of a sub-villain. Well, that’s not exactly right–she’s not really a villain at all, but definitely an antagonist to the main character. She’s had an interesting life, lived largely in the grey areas of society, because of who she is and who her father was. In a way her life has been a big lie, or a series of big lies, but since her father passed away, she’s felt the itch to do something. To confront the forces from her father’s past that impacted their lives every day. She plays a moderately important role in the draft as it stands now, but lately I’ve been thinking her part needs to be expanded. In fact, I’m thinking about getting inside her head a little more, and giving her more of a voice in the story.

She likes the notion, although she’s not giving up all of her secrets to me yet. I know she’s a bit of a maverick, with a devil-may-care attitude and a motivation to make life difficult for my main character. As she’s written right now, that’s almost all I know about her, and that’s the extent of how she comes across. That, and the fact that she has some secrets she’s not yet ready to share.

However, I’m thinking there’s more to her than that. I’m trying to understand her motivations, and, even more importantly, her goals.

Her goals as she was written in the first draft were mainly to find out more information about my main character, and hassle her a little without doing any real damage. Those goals work, but I’ve come to realize that they are not deep enough, or at least that I have not thought them through enough. I don’t really know why she has these goals. I don’t know if she really hates my main character, or only thinks she ought to hate her. I don’t know what she thinks she will get out of her current course of action. I’m not sure she knows, herself.

I do understand something of her motivations–my main character’s family “wronged” this character’s family, or at least that’s the way she sees it. And she definitely wants to do something about that. She’s driven by a mix of curiosity and a desire for vengeance, but she’s also searching for something. She knows that in some important ways, my main character and her family are like her, so I think she’s unwittingly drawn to them. It could be that without meaning to or expecting it, she actually comes to like my main character.

That may influence her actions, or it may only influence how she feels about her actions. I’m not sure yet. The storyline as it currently stands leaves much about this character unresolved, left for another time and another book. I’d like to retain some of this open-endedness, but I’m not sure how I’m going to do it if I do end up inside her head. I’ll have to reveal a lot more about what she knows and how she thinks. It might not be as neat and tidy as it is now.

But I think…I think it will make for a much stronger story, which is really the bottom line, isn’t it? And once we start hearing these little whispers from the characters in our heads, they become pretty difficult to ignore. She’s telling me “I have more to say,” and I think I’d probably be wise to listen…

Photo credit: mzacha

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Staring Out the Window

  By current projects, revision, rewrite, writer development, writing life

“What no wife of a writer understands is that a writer is working when he’s staring out the window.” ~ Burton Rascoe

window

…this also applies to husband of the writer, children of the writer, friends of the writer, family of the writer…well, you get the picture.

This is the stage I am at with the rewrite I’m working on. Or “working” on, if you happen to drop by and find me staring out the window. I’m doing a very important step in the writing process, which is actually a precursor to writing itself. I’m thinking.

Which is not to say that I’m spending *all* my time thinking. I’m also re-reading, making notes, drawing charts and creating timelines. I’m juggling characters in my head and on index cards. I’m using colored markers to visualize the interconnectedness of people and events.

I’m plotting.

Plotting is something I’m better at doing on the fly, if the truth be known. Or maybe it’s just that my subconscious is often a better plotter than my conscious. I’ve had many novel and short story plots work out when I don’t have things planned down to the last detail–really, when I don’t have them planned at all–when suddenly, somewhere in the middle of writing, there’s this enormous epiphany and my conscious mind realizes that this, and that, and that tie together and make it possible for this to happen and that’s how it all works out in the end. That is a lovely, lovely moment for me, when my subconscious mind is revealed, and lo, it is good.

However. It’s not exactly…dependable. It doesn’t happen every time. Sometimes the epiphany doesn’t come, and I realize that I’ve lost my way, and the writing comes to a full stop. Which is why I have learned that I can’t completely trust my subconscious. Sometimes it’s a wonder, and sometimes it’s a real jerk.

So now I do this thing where I think and think and think and plan and chart and scribble notes and ask myself questions. It’s not an outline. Anyone who writes actual outlines, like my friend Steph, would either laugh or cry if I pointed to my pile of plot refuse and said it was my outline. It’s not an outline, and it’s not a road map, and it’s not even a really badly-drawn treasure map. It’s more like a heap of organic stuff from which, if I plant the right seed, a tree will take root and grow. Some of the nutrients will get used up in growing the tree, and some won’t. I’ll have to add a lot more stuff like earth and water and sunlight (writing and revising and editing?) because the heap itself is only a starting point. But from the heap, good things can emerge.

Hmmm. Did I just say that my plotting style is like heaping up a big pile of manure?

Time to go stare out the window again for a while.

Photo credit: mjio

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Eleven Reasons to Love Writer’s Block

  By Eleven Reasons, writer development, writing life
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Even a pretty wall is still a wall

“Love writer’s bock? Come on!” you’re saying. There cannot be even a handful of reasons to love writer’s block, let alone eleven. Well, let’s see what we can come up with.

1. Being blocked is often a clue. A clue to the fact that *something* has gone wrong with your manuscript. It’s often your brain telling you, hey, something is wrong here, and I’m not letting you keep going until you figure out what it is and fix it. Listen to your brain. Sometimes it’s the smart one.

2. Being blocked is an opportunity to change gears. If you’re stuck on one project, you can sometimes get unstuck by going off and working on something else for a while. Concentrating your efforts elsewhere allows your subconscious to mull over the problem with your stuck project without the pressure. And: bonus! You’ve made progress on something else.

3. Being blocked can result in a really clean house. Or garage, or desk, or closet. In other words, go do something else productive that isn’t writing. Again, it can lift you out of the rut of worrying at the problem and let your subconscious work at it.

4. Being blocked offers a great time to do research. If you can’t move ahead in the story, use your time productively by working on something associated with the story, that isn’t actually writing it. Sometimes looking at photos or floor plans, reading up on time periods or settings, or working out how the murderer actually did it can be the key to getting you unstuck, and as a bonus, you have your research done.

5. Being blocked is a great excuse to get some exercise. Go for a walk, take a hike, sweat it out at the gym instead of staring at the blank page or screen. You’ll feel better even if you don’t get unstuck, but often the rush of endorphins lets new ideas rush in, too.

6. Being blocked makes you try new things. Ask some writer friends how they get unblocked, and you’ll likely get a lot of different suggestions for things you’ve never tried. Even if you don’t expect them to work, take them for a spin. You never know when you’ll try something that will become part of your regular writing arsenal in the future.

7. Being blocked can improve your social life. Been shunning your friends and family while you struggle with this manuscript? Walk away from it and have a party, go out to dinner, or see a movie. Any change of pace can get you unstuck, and you can reconnect with people at the same time. People, you know? Those folks we base our characters on? It’s good to interact with them once in a while.

8. Being blocked is a great excuse to read something new. Forget your own characters’ problems and get immersed in some other writer’s world for a little while. Chances are, they struggled with their story, too, but in the end they overcame their pitfalls. Besides being enjoyable, it’s a little reminder that you can, too.

9. Being blocked is an opportunity to do something else creative. Most writers I know are creative in other ways, too. Turn your left-brain on to something else it can sink its teeth into. Draw, paint, sew, craft, take photos, do woodworking–whatever is your thing. Any creative efforts can prime the pump for your writing.

10. Being blocked forces you to try harder. So you’ve realized that there’s a problem with the manuscript and you don’t know how to fix it? Now is the time to level up as a writer. Read some books or articles that might help, confer with writer friends, draw charts, make index cards, brainstorm a mind map. You’re a writer, dammit. Keep trying new things until you hit the one that works.

11. Being blocked is a chance to start over. Maybe your manuscript has gone off the rails so badly that there’s just no fixing it. While this is a drastic response, sometimes you just have to ditch the whole thing and start again. Save this for your last-ditch effort to break the block.

See? Eleven reasons to love writer’s block, not hate it. Next time it comes around to visit, don’t despair. Use one or more of these ideas to make it actually work for you.

Photo credit: ba1969