Yes! Thank goodness.
April was just nuts for me. Why did I do it to myself? Why did I sign up for so many classes, all at once?
Beats me but I did learn a lot, so it was worth it. Still, I'm not going to do that to myself again (she said with crossed fingers).
I did do a good deal of writing on the book. Much of it is backstory, but that's a good thing. It means I know my characters a lot better now and can write them with more authority. In fact, I wrote over 6000 words of backstory in a single sitting. Will any of it be in the book? Not likely but it's possible.
Of course, I have created a problem for myself...I have so many good 'opening scenes' that now I'm not sure which one to actually open the book with.
One of the two (yes, only two) classes running through May is for writing romance. Naturally, I'm being told that the book needs to start with the heroine. Trouble is, it's actually about the hero - or it has been so far. That being said, I realized that I didn't know my heroine as well as I needed to so focusing on her is helping me to learn about her and how she is and she's not entirely the soft touch I originally thought her to be. This girl's got some attitude, which is a good thing because she's going to need it to deal with her hero.
They have a past and not a very good one. They'll have to work through all that resentment in order to live happily ever after together. They'll also have to deal with her father who is essentially trying to kill him and force her back into the life he's decided she will live. Yeah, I'm pretty hard on my characters but then, that's what makes a good story. Am I right?
So, May will be all about bringing all these pieces together into something more or less coherent so that my readers will have a good story to read....and rip apart. I'll then do another editing run through, using their suggestions...or not. Then, hopefully, I'll have something to send to an artist to do my cover and then, maybe, I'll have the book up on Amazon first of next year. Depends on when I can get with an artist and how long the artist will take to do the cover.
Or, I'll submit the finished manuscript to an indie publisher like Booktrope and let them help me do the hard work. My friend who is with them just got the notes back from the editor. She left writer's group feeling just a tad overwhelmed. We tried to encourage her, but even I had to admit, there was a lot the editor had to say but then not all of it was going to require major revisions. Just a tweak here and there. But it did prove to me that knowing the backstory as well as the purpose for every character in your book is very important. As if I needed more proof than my own experience.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Just Because I Feel Like It
Fair Warning: This post has no particular subject in mind, just some rambling I felt I needed to do.
The Spring Plague is slowly losing its grip on me. Still on the antihistamines, though. Otherwise, I feel like I've got a garden hose shoved up my nose. Sorry for the visual.
I've got three short pieces I need to write for classes that are due tomorrow. Not really motivated but at least they are short. Two are about my hero and heroine, the other is...kind of hard to explain but I think has to do with the premise of my story. I think. It's a little abstract piece based off of 205 words written by George Orwell from his essay "The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius." This piece is supposed to be about the culture in my story. My piece should be roughly the same length. Getting in deep in these classes, I might add. But it is good practice to get to know the culture in which my characters live so I will throw my best efforts at this one.
Subject change!
Something interesting popped up this week: a debate over whether or not we should be using 2 spaces after a period or 1.
Now, personally, I tend toward using 1. I guess I fell into that habit because it seems to me that when you read something in print, it appears there's usually only a single space between sentences. Yes, I was taught to use 2 but in reality, a single space is much easier to accomplish when typing quickly. I always did stumble over that second space when in the midst of a speed typing test. My fingers are already used to a single space between words so there was no real learning curve to a single space between sentences.
Some people said blocks of prose were easier to read with 2 spaces. I have never had that problem. To me it just looks too spaced out when that extra space is there. But then, I'm used to the single space so that's probably why. Still, the debate got the mental juices going. Really made me think about why I write a certain way. No real conclusion to that debate, though. It's all up to what the writer prefers as well as what a publisher requires, I suppose.
And speaking of publishers (and now you have some idea of my brain on allergy drugs), I've also been reading a lot about the pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional. As I am working on a project that will eventually see daylight, this is a subject of particular interest for me.
It seems to me that traditional publishing would be the harder, more circuitous route to becoming a published author. On the other hand, that's where the potential for six figure advances is greater. If a writer has become a resounding success for a traditional publisher, they are more likely to fork over more money at the onset because the author already had a good track record with them. Not so much for those of us unknowns who just want that first shot. Our manuscripts, no matter how brilliant we think they are, are more likely to end up on a slush pile, unread. Not a reflection on our work, to say the least. Just proof that traditional publishing is something for the already well known - ok, mostly. Before somebody pipes up that they know of a friend of a family member's friend that got their first book published that way, I'll concede that miracles do sometimes happen. I'm just not counting on it for myself.
These days, from what I've read, breaking into traditional publishing is nigh on impossible unless an author is agented. Being with an agent is fine, I suppose, but isn't that just one more person who gets a cut of whatever your hard work might bring in? Yes, an agent will work their tail off promoting your work, getting it into the hands of a publisher so the rest of the world can enjoy it, too - a good agent will, at any rate. But is it really necessary to even hire an agent?
I have a friend who is unagented as of this writing and who has just signed with one of those independent publishers who use this new publishing model where the author chooses members of his/her publishing team and works closely with them. Each member gets a cut of whatever royalties the author receives. Based on the contract with Kindle Direct Publishing, for example, the author would basically end up with 30% of 70% of whatever the book earns. That ain't much, folks, based on the recommended price point of $2.99.
Of course, we all know that only a small percentage of published authors make the big bucks - and if you didn't know that before, now you do. Authorship isn't a get rich quick activity. Most authors write on the side while holding down at least one full-time job.
While I didn't start down this road in pursuit of any possible riches it might provide, I would like to earn a little something from my hard work. Spreading that 70% so thin doesn't seem like a good idea to me but I'm trying to remain objective until I see how my friend's book does with this publisher.
There's also the time involved in traditional publishing. Even the big names have to wait a year or more before they see their hard work in print. I've already worked on this book for nearly a year and I really don't want to wait another year to see it appreciated by more than just me and my writer's group.
I think you can probably guess where I'm going with all this. My plans are to self-publish. At least, in the beginning. The only time I'll have to wait once I have a final draft in hand will be for the cover art. I already have an artist in mind for that, as well. I'm planning for something original, though. I've looked at the already done covers and while I have found a few I liked, I've also found that, despite claiming they only sell one copy, they actually sell the same cover more than once. One I thought would be good for another project has already been used at least 3 times on books I actually have on my Kindle. I would prefer to pay a little more for something original that I'm not likely to see on someone else's book.
Well, I believe I have rambled myself out. I just felt like I need to get all this out before I start working on what I need to get done today. Thanks for putting up with it.
Or, since the antihistamine just kicked in, I might go take a little nap before I get to work.
Oh, any writing inconsistencies in here - just chalk it up to lack of oxygen to a brain influenced by allergy medicine and everyone will be happy. Me, especially.
The Spring Plague is slowly losing its grip on me. Still on the antihistamines, though. Otherwise, I feel like I've got a garden hose shoved up my nose. Sorry for the visual.
I've got three short pieces I need to write for classes that are due tomorrow. Not really motivated but at least they are short. Two are about my hero and heroine, the other is...kind of hard to explain but I think has to do with the premise of my story. I think. It's a little abstract piece based off of 205 words written by George Orwell from his essay "The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius." This piece is supposed to be about the culture in my story. My piece should be roughly the same length. Getting in deep in these classes, I might add. But it is good practice to get to know the culture in which my characters live so I will throw my best efforts at this one.
Subject change!
Something interesting popped up this week: a debate over whether or not we should be using 2 spaces after a period or 1.
Now, personally, I tend toward using 1. I guess I fell into that habit because it seems to me that when you read something in print, it appears there's usually only a single space between sentences. Yes, I was taught to use 2 but in reality, a single space is much easier to accomplish when typing quickly. I always did stumble over that second space when in the midst of a speed typing test. My fingers are already used to a single space between words so there was no real learning curve to a single space between sentences.
Some people said blocks of prose were easier to read with 2 spaces. I have never had that problem. To me it just looks too spaced out when that extra space is there. But then, I'm used to the single space so that's probably why. Still, the debate got the mental juices going. Really made me think about why I write a certain way. No real conclusion to that debate, though. It's all up to what the writer prefers as well as what a publisher requires, I suppose.
And speaking of publishers (and now you have some idea of my brain on allergy drugs), I've also been reading a lot about the pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional. As I am working on a project that will eventually see daylight, this is a subject of particular interest for me.
It seems to me that traditional publishing would be the harder, more circuitous route to becoming a published author. On the other hand, that's where the potential for six figure advances is greater. If a writer has become a resounding success for a traditional publisher, they are more likely to fork over more money at the onset because the author already had a good track record with them. Not so much for those of us unknowns who just want that first shot. Our manuscripts, no matter how brilliant we think they are, are more likely to end up on a slush pile, unread. Not a reflection on our work, to say the least. Just proof that traditional publishing is something for the already well known - ok, mostly. Before somebody pipes up that they know of a friend of a family member's friend that got their first book published that way, I'll concede that miracles do sometimes happen. I'm just not counting on it for myself.
These days, from what I've read, breaking into traditional publishing is nigh on impossible unless an author is agented. Being with an agent is fine, I suppose, but isn't that just one more person who gets a cut of whatever your hard work might bring in? Yes, an agent will work their tail off promoting your work, getting it into the hands of a publisher so the rest of the world can enjoy it, too - a good agent will, at any rate. But is it really necessary to even hire an agent?
I have a friend who is unagented as of this writing and who has just signed with one of those independent publishers who use this new publishing model where the author chooses members of his/her publishing team and works closely with them. Each member gets a cut of whatever royalties the author receives. Based on the contract with Kindle Direct Publishing, for example, the author would basically end up with 30% of 70% of whatever the book earns. That ain't much, folks, based on the recommended price point of $2.99.
Of course, we all know that only a small percentage of published authors make the big bucks - and if you didn't know that before, now you do. Authorship isn't a get rich quick activity. Most authors write on the side while holding down at least one full-time job.
While I didn't start down this road in pursuit of any possible riches it might provide, I would like to earn a little something from my hard work. Spreading that 70% so thin doesn't seem like a good idea to me but I'm trying to remain objective until I see how my friend's book does with this publisher.
There's also the time involved in traditional publishing. Even the big names have to wait a year or more before they see their hard work in print. I've already worked on this book for nearly a year and I really don't want to wait another year to see it appreciated by more than just me and my writer's group.
I think you can probably guess where I'm going with all this. My plans are to self-publish. At least, in the beginning. The only time I'll have to wait once I have a final draft in hand will be for the cover art. I already have an artist in mind for that, as well. I'm planning for something original, though. I've looked at the already done covers and while I have found a few I liked, I've also found that, despite claiming they only sell one copy, they actually sell the same cover more than once. One I thought would be good for another project has already been used at least 3 times on books I actually have on my Kindle. I would prefer to pay a little more for something original that I'm not likely to see on someone else's book.
Well, I believe I have rambled myself out. I just felt like I need to get all this out before I start working on what I need to get done today. Thanks for putting up with it.
Or, since the antihistamine just kicked in, I might go take a little nap before I get to work.
Oh, any writing inconsistencies in here - just chalk it up to lack of oxygen to a brain influenced by allergy medicine and everyone will be happy. Me, especially.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
The Writer's Life: Permission To Be Sick
Ah, Spring. I knew you were here even before the calendar told me. Any other Spring allergy sufferers out there?
Today I write about another perk to the Writer's Life: Guilt Free Sick Days!
Yes, cube life does sometimes grant sick days but you wanna know a secret about those? Your employer really doesn't want you to use them. Oh, they'll say it's ok to take a sick day but just try taking one. Go ahead. I dare ya. Anybody else call in sick and get that "you are a bad employee" vibe from their boss?
I always did - from the last boss, anyway. I went through a tremendous amount of stress first thing in the morning while trying to decide if it was worth the agony to call in sick or should I just suck it up and get my sick self into the office? I usually went in. Didn't get a whole lot done but at least I was a warm body in a seat for the day. And that's really all that matters in cube life.
You see, the thing is - and this where the rulers of cube life are short-sighted - a person comes to work sick, they spread that sickness to their co-workers and soon, half the office is out sick. However, if that sick employee had been allowed to stay home at the first sign of the illness, that might not have happened.
Now, you should know that I was the kind of employee that if I was calling in sick, rest assured, I was sick. Only once in my life did I ever call in sick when I really wasn't and by the end of that day, I had a stress migraine from worrying that I would get caught. Never did it again.
But that's cube life for you. As a full-time writer, sick days are something completely different. For one thing, nobody makes me feel like I'm a bad writer because I've decided to take a sick day. I mean, the only person who could do that would be me and since I'm the sick one in the first place.....you get the picture.
I'm not saying that writer's don't also answer to a higher authority. If a writer is working with a publisher, they will have deadlines to meet but generally, from what I've read, those deadlines are achievable even if the writer takes a few days off to recuperate from illness. Even sick, a writer can do a little something every day if they feel up to it.
I have accomplished very little this week. I did make assignment deadlines over the weekend, but that's about it. Those pieces were pretty much already written anyway, they just needed a quick tweak before sending them off. After that, I succumbed to the Spring plague with a clear conscience.
One of those pieces may get a little more work. The Writer's Digest Annual Writing Competition deadline is approaching and I am considering sending in my entry. The max word count is 4000, so I can flesh out my story a bit more using my instructor's suggestions. Deadline for early entry is May 4. Check out the Writer's Digest website for more information if this sounds like something you might like to try.
Speaking of being productive, I'd better get cracking here. I have a webinar recording to watch/listen to and tons of reading to catch up on before composing the two writing assignments due on Sunday.
My Writer's Life in action.
Today I write about another perk to the Writer's Life: Guilt Free Sick Days!
Yes, cube life does sometimes grant sick days but you wanna know a secret about those? Your employer really doesn't want you to use them. Oh, they'll say it's ok to take a sick day but just try taking one. Go ahead. I dare ya. Anybody else call in sick and get that "you are a bad employee" vibe from their boss?
I always did - from the last boss, anyway. I went through a tremendous amount of stress first thing in the morning while trying to decide if it was worth the agony to call in sick or should I just suck it up and get my sick self into the office? I usually went in. Didn't get a whole lot done but at least I was a warm body in a seat for the day. And that's really all that matters in cube life.
You see, the thing is - and this where the rulers of cube life are short-sighted - a person comes to work sick, they spread that sickness to their co-workers and soon, half the office is out sick. However, if that sick employee had been allowed to stay home at the first sign of the illness, that might not have happened.
But that's cube life for you. As a full-time writer, sick days are something completely different. For one thing, nobody makes me feel like I'm a bad writer because I've decided to take a sick day. I mean, the only person who could do that would be me and since I'm the sick one in the first place.....you get the picture.
I'm not saying that writer's don't also answer to a higher authority. If a writer is working with a publisher, they will have deadlines to meet but generally, from what I've read, those deadlines are achievable even if the writer takes a few days off to recuperate from illness. Even sick, a writer can do a little something every day if they feel up to it.
I have accomplished very little this week. I did make assignment deadlines over the weekend, but that's about it. Those pieces were pretty much already written anyway, they just needed a quick tweak before sending them off. After that, I succumbed to the Spring plague with a clear conscience.
One of those pieces may get a little more work. The Writer's Digest Annual Writing Competition deadline is approaching and I am considering sending in my entry. The max word count is 4000, so I can flesh out my story a bit more using my instructor's suggestions. Deadline for early entry is May 4. Check out the Writer's Digest website for more information if this sounds like something you might like to try.
Speaking of being productive, I'd better get cracking here. I have a webinar recording to watch/listen to and tons of reading to catch up on before composing the two writing assignments due on Sunday.
My Writer's Life in action.
Monday, April 6, 2015
Chaotic, Antihistimine Sedated Days
April has begun with a bang for me. Lots of reading to do, lots of writing to do, not nearly as much energy as I would like.
It's allergy season for me right now, which means antihistamine, which means I live sleepy on a daily basis. But, thanks to a new mindset that says, "Yes, you can write while sleepy," I am getting some writing done in spite of it.
What usually happens when I feel like I'm too sleepy to write? That inner whine that says I'd rather go back to bed. I don't. I sit my butt in the chair, plant the fingers on the keyboard and write. Even if it doesn't make any sense at the time, I continue to write until I've written at least 500 words.
Of course, halfway through, the inner critic, who seems to be more wide awake, starts telling me that what is coming off my fingers is a load of crap and that I should stop before I do any more damage to my story. To her, I say, "Shut your mouth, lady, and crawl back into the dark, dusty corner where you belong."
She doesn't, by the way, but at some point I'm too sleepy to pay attention to what she's saying.
By this time, you must understand, I've either hit a groove where I can keep going or I stop at word #500 (or at least finish the current thought). That's when I shut down whatever writing program I'm using and go on to something else. I don't even read what I've written yet. That, I save for the next day. If the urge to write resurfaces, I'll write - it usually doesn't, but at least I've gotten some writing done for the day and that's saying a lot.
So what does this forced writing exercise look like the next day? I'm often surprised to find I've not written nearly the load of crap my inner critic seemed to think it would be. In fact, there are the rare occasions when what I've written is quite inspired.
So if you have one of those days when writing seems like too much effort, just sit down and write 500 words. That's all. Even if you can't think of anything to write. In fact, you can start your writing session by writing: "I can't think of anything to write." You might be surprised at what that simple sentence might just inspire.
It's allergy season for me right now, which means antihistamine, which means I live sleepy on a daily basis. But, thanks to a new mindset that says, "Yes, you can write while sleepy," I am getting some writing done in spite of it.
What usually happens when I feel like I'm too sleepy to write? That inner whine that says I'd rather go back to bed. I don't. I sit my butt in the chair, plant the fingers on the keyboard and write. Even if it doesn't make any sense at the time, I continue to write until I've written at least 500 words.
Of course, halfway through, the inner critic, who seems to be more wide awake, starts telling me that what is coming off my fingers is a load of crap and that I should stop before I do any more damage to my story. To her, I say, "Shut your mouth, lady, and crawl back into the dark, dusty corner where you belong."
She doesn't, by the way, but at some point I'm too sleepy to pay attention to what she's saying.
By this time, you must understand, I've either hit a groove where I can keep going or I stop at word #500 (or at least finish the current thought). That's when I shut down whatever writing program I'm using and go on to something else. I don't even read what I've written yet. That, I save for the next day. If the urge to write resurfaces, I'll write - it usually doesn't, but at least I've gotten some writing done for the day and that's saying a lot.
So what does this forced writing exercise look like the next day? I'm often surprised to find I've not written nearly the load of crap my inner critic seemed to think it would be. In fact, there are the rare occasions when what I've written is quite inspired.
So if you have one of those days when writing seems like too much effort, just sit down and write 500 words. That's all. Even if you can't think of anything to write. In fact, you can start your writing session by writing: "I can't think of anything to write." You might be surprised at what that simple sentence might just inspire.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Know Thy Antagonist
Been working on my third writing assignment for the Science Fiction/Fantasy workshop I'm doing at Writer's Digest University. This time I get to describe my protagonist and antagonist and then put them in a scene together. I've already learned one thing from this assignment - I didn't know my antagonist quite as well as I thought I did.
Since my antagonist doesn't actually appear in any scenes until the last half of the book, I guess I didn't see the need to get to know him very well. But as I worked on my assignment, I realized I needed to give him more motivation than just the desire for power. I mean, that's kind of a cliche now, isn't it? I wanted a better reason. I wanted to go deeper. Why is he obsessed with power and control? What happened in his past to bring him to this point? What drives him?
"Fleshing out" is just as important for your antagonist as it is for your protagonist. Especially if the two are in direct opposition to each other. Here's what I've learned.
My antagonist is actually the protagonist of his own story with my protagonist in the role of my antagonist's antagonist. Kind of hard to get my mind around but not impossible. I can exercise this concept by writing parts of my story from my antagonist's point of view. These scenes most likely will not be in the final draft, but these scenes let me watch my antagonist in action and help me to learn more about him in the process.
Not all antagonists are the villain, either. Especially not in their own minds. To them, their actions are necessary in order to reach their goal, whatever that may be. They may even see their goal as altruistic despite the fact that it causes problems for the people they claim the goal will benefit.
In order to do that research, I entered "antagonist motivations" into my favorite search engine, Google. This brought up pages of links to informative websites that helped me understand the importance of getting to know my antagonist as well as I know my protagonist. I got most of my research done at Fiction University. It's a site for authors run by Janice Hardy, author of the Healing Wars series. I've just started reading this series and am pretty much sucked in. If you're looking for another source of helpful articles about the craft of writing, I highly recommend Fiction University.
After much research, I have finally come to know my antagonist and even understand what drives him. He has a flaw just as potentially fatal as my protagonist. Unfortunately for my antagonist, however, his fatal flaw will be just that - fatal. I'm surprised to find myself actually feeling sorry for him now because I know what he'll ultimately be facing, even though his end has been brought about by his own actions.
Since my antagonist doesn't actually appear in any scenes until the last half of the book, I guess I didn't see the need to get to know him very well. But as I worked on my assignment, I realized I needed to give him more motivation than just the desire for power. I mean, that's kind of a cliche now, isn't it? I wanted a better reason. I wanted to go deeper. Why is he obsessed with power and control? What happened in his past to bring him to this point? What drives him?
"Fleshing out" is just as important for your antagonist as it is for your protagonist. Especially if the two are in direct opposition to each other. Here's what I've learned.
My antagonist is actually the protagonist of his own story with my protagonist in the role of my antagonist's antagonist. Kind of hard to get my mind around but not impossible. I can exercise this concept by writing parts of my story from my antagonist's point of view. These scenes most likely will not be in the final draft, but these scenes let me watch my antagonist in action and help me to learn more about him in the process.
Not all antagonists are the villain, either. Especially not in their own minds. To them, their actions are necessary in order to reach their goal, whatever that may be. They may even see their goal as altruistic despite the fact that it causes problems for the people they claim the goal will benefit.
In order to do that research, I entered "antagonist motivations" into my favorite search engine, Google. This brought up pages of links to informative websites that helped me understand the importance of getting to know my antagonist as well as I know my protagonist. I got most of my research done at Fiction University. It's a site for authors run by Janice Hardy, author of the Healing Wars series. I've just started reading this series and am pretty much sucked in. If you're looking for another source of helpful articles about the craft of writing, I highly recommend Fiction University.
After much research, I have finally come to know my antagonist and even understand what drives him. He has a flaw just as potentially fatal as my protagonist. Unfortunately for my antagonist, however, his fatal flaw will be just that - fatal. I'm surprised to find myself actually feeling sorry for him now because I know what he'll ultimately be facing, even though his end has been brought about by his own actions.
Monday, March 23, 2015
A Writer's Garden or Good Excuses To Goof Off
Taking a break today from the frenetic existence that has become my life lately. As if I needed more to do during the day, I have now established a small houseplant garden in my writing room.
You don't often get pictures on this blog - ok, never up to this point, so here's to first times for everything.
And the TV tray is now full. A good mixture of foliage, flowers, and succulents. Some interesting, some traditional. The word eclectic comes to mind.
The jewel of the collection is that purple African Violet. There are two different colors of flower on this same plant.
That same flower stalk with the bi-colored flowers also has solid colored flowers. As far as I can tell, there is only one plant in that pot. There's offshoot, naturally, but none old enough to flower, I don't believe. I'm going to have to post a picture on an African Violet site to see if anyone's ever seen this before.
Why do I bring this up now? Well, aside from the conscious decision to be a complete goof off today, I began to consider how manual tasks, like gardening, are a good way to reset the mind and sometimes even come up with a good story idea or two. Or not.
For instance, this morning I finished potting all of my new friends. While doing so, my foremost thoughts were on the task at hand while echoes and dust bunnies occupied the further recesses. This time, that part of my mind went on vacation for a while, but it could have just as easily been mulling over this third draft I'm about to begin or sparking a new story idea.
For me, gardening (both indoor and outdoor) is one of those manual type tasks that lets my mind take a little vacation to wander wherever it will. Maybe a story idea will develop or maybe it won't. Got a problem with the current work in progress? Might come up with a solution, might not. Even if no breakthrough happens, my mind gets a restful vacation and I get a pleasing display to gaze at whenever I feel the urge.
I believe that mental vacations are crucial to creativity. I know it's difficult for me to write if I'm mentally exhausted. That's one reason why I've also arranged my writing area so that I can easily see out one of the two windows in the room without having to move. I can watch the traffic go by, watch it rain when it's raining (not going to mention snow because it's Spring!) or just stare into space.
Another tactic I use to combat a full mind is to play a game on my computer. I have several in which I can get lost and forget everything including the time spent playing. Others are good for a few minutes of distraction before they annoy me and I decide I'd rather get back to work.
Once my mind has been reset, I can return to whatever it is I'm working at and I'm good for another hour or two. To the world, it may look like I'm goofing off again when really, it's battle strategy I've learned through the years I've spent at this writing thing.
So give yourself permission to goof off once in a while. Who knows? You might come up with the next blockbuster novel that way.
You don't often get pictures on this blog - ok, never up to this point, so here's to first times for everything.
And the TV tray is now full. A good mixture of foliage, flowers, and succulents. Some interesting, some traditional. The word eclectic comes to mind.
The jewel of the collection is that purple African Violet. There are two different colors of flower on this same plant.
That same flower stalk with the bi-colored flowers also has solid colored flowers. As far as I can tell, there is only one plant in that pot. There's offshoot, naturally, but none old enough to flower, I don't believe. I'm going to have to post a picture on an African Violet site to see if anyone's ever seen this before.
Why do I bring this up now? Well, aside from the conscious decision to be a complete goof off today, I began to consider how manual tasks, like gardening, are a good way to reset the mind and sometimes even come up with a good story idea or two. Or not.
For instance, this morning I finished potting all of my new friends. While doing so, my foremost thoughts were on the task at hand while echoes and dust bunnies occupied the further recesses. This time, that part of my mind went on vacation for a while, but it could have just as easily been mulling over this third draft I'm about to begin or sparking a new story idea.
For me, gardening (both indoor and outdoor) is one of those manual type tasks that lets my mind take a little vacation to wander wherever it will. Maybe a story idea will develop or maybe it won't. Got a problem with the current work in progress? Might come up with a solution, might not. Even if no breakthrough happens, my mind gets a restful vacation and I get a pleasing display to gaze at whenever I feel the urge.
I believe that mental vacations are crucial to creativity. I know it's difficult for me to write if I'm mentally exhausted. That's one reason why I've also arranged my writing area so that I can easily see out one of the two windows in the room without having to move. I can watch the traffic go by, watch it rain when it's raining (not going to mention snow because it's Spring!) or just stare into space.
Another tactic I use to combat a full mind is to play a game on my computer. I have several in which I can get lost and forget everything including the time spent playing. Others are good for a few minutes of distraction before they annoy me and I decide I'd rather get back to work.
Once my mind has been reset, I can return to whatever it is I'm working at and I'm good for another hour or two. To the world, it may look like I'm goofing off again when really, it's battle strategy I've learned through the years I've spent at this writing thing.
So give yourself permission to goof off once in a while. Who knows? You might come up with the next blockbuster novel that way.
Friday, March 20, 2015
Early Update
Whew! My writer's life has gotten kind of busy lately. Let's see...how many writing classes am I going to be in during April?
Five?!
Well, one I can finish this month if I work at it. Another class will come to an end during the first part April, but there will be a final project for that one that will be due a month later.
And that's not even counting Camp NANOWRIMO starting April 1st. OY!
Yep. Life is going to get even busier. I do believe I'm busier now than I ever was when I was working out of the home. But I'm enjoying the daylights out of my life right now so that's the important thing.
Then there's the novel to keep working on and I am making some progress on that front.
Just got back from writer's group. It was a short one today but productive. I now have a finalized outline for each of the three acts in my novel and I'm almost ready to commence the writing part of the third draft. This third draft will include scenes from both the first and second drafts and probably some new scenes. I'll be spending some time stitching scenes together to start with then filling in the gaps with new writing. I find I'm actually looking forward to getting started.
So far this week I have spent about five hours on the novel doing the preliminary work. Possibly six, I'll have to go back and check. I'm planning to spend the rest of today pulling scenes from the first and second drafts and plugging them into the new folders I made on Scrivener for each of the three acts. I thought that would help me locate some key plot points that I'm learning about in the novel writing class: the trigger - which is the moment when the protagonist's flaw gets the better of him; and the epiphany - the moment when the protagonist overcomes said flaw in order to reach his goal.
Though all of this, I am beginning to see the benefits of doing outlines. I had already done a synopsis of the entire third draft and when I did the outline for each act (from scratch, I might add), I was surprised to find that the outline matched the synopsis, for the most part. Must mean I now have a good grasp of the entire plot and story arcs. I do want to go back through the outlines again and make notes of anything additional that pops into my head.
I sill need work on a few more backstories as well as complete a setting sketch for one of the places that will be featured.
So, still lots more preliminary work to be done but I'm closer now to having that third draft completed than I was.
I'm surprised to realize just how much work actually goes into writing a novel. I can remember the time when I thought all I needed to do was sit down and write until the novel was finished. While that is still the best way to get a first draft completed. in order to end up with a polished novel ready for public consumption, there really is a lot more to it than that.
Five?!
Well, one I can finish this month if I work at it. Another class will come to an end during the first part April, but there will be a final project for that one that will be due a month later.
And that's not even counting Camp NANOWRIMO starting April 1st. OY!
Yep. Life is going to get even busier. I do believe I'm busier now than I ever was when I was working out of the home. But I'm enjoying the daylights out of my life right now so that's the important thing.
Then there's the novel to keep working on and I am making some progress on that front.
Just got back from writer's group. It was a short one today but productive. I now have a finalized outline for each of the three acts in my novel and I'm almost ready to commence the writing part of the third draft. This third draft will include scenes from both the first and second drafts and probably some new scenes. I'll be spending some time stitching scenes together to start with then filling in the gaps with new writing. I find I'm actually looking forward to getting started.
So far this week I have spent about five hours on the novel doing the preliminary work. Possibly six, I'll have to go back and check. I'm planning to spend the rest of today pulling scenes from the first and second drafts and plugging them into the new folders I made on Scrivener for each of the three acts. I thought that would help me locate some key plot points that I'm learning about in the novel writing class: the trigger - which is the moment when the protagonist's flaw gets the better of him; and the epiphany - the moment when the protagonist overcomes said flaw in order to reach his goal.
Though all of this, I am beginning to see the benefits of doing outlines. I had already done a synopsis of the entire third draft and when I did the outline for each act (from scratch, I might add), I was surprised to find that the outline matched the synopsis, for the most part. Must mean I now have a good grasp of the entire plot and story arcs. I do want to go back through the outlines again and make notes of anything additional that pops into my head.
I sill need work on a few more backstories as well as complete a setting sketch for one of the places that will be featured.
So, still lots more preliminary work to be done but I'm closer now to having that third draft completed than I was.
I'm surprised to realize just how much work actually goes into writing a novel. I can remember the time when I thought all I needed to do was sit down and write until the novel was finished. While that is still the best way to get a first draft completed. in order to end up with a polished novel ready for public consumption, there really is a lot more to it than that.
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