Sunday, December 29, 2013

New Year, New Beginnings

My cousin gave me a beautiful day planner for Yule. I have yet to write in it. The pages are pristine and hold the promise of things to come. Defacing them with my goals and lists feels almost sacrilege. I know if I submit them to paper and ink they become real. The thought causes my palms to sweat and my heart to beat faster.

The coming year stretches before me much like the empty pages of the planner. Free from the constraints of a steady job and monetary obligations, I have time to pursue my dream. I've wanted to be a writer since I was old enough to form sentences and tell stories. I can't remember wanting to do anything else with such passion. The time has come to move forward or give up.

Fear has held me back for many years while others have prevailed. It is the main stumbling block in my literary journey. Part of me wonders if I want it badly enough. The reasoning is, if you want something with enough vigor you will not give up until it is within your grasp. I am determined to conquer my fears and succeed.

Today I will write in the planner. With the new year just two days away, I shall declare my goal for the coming year. I will finish my second draft. I will write a query letter. I will write the first draft of the second book. Fail or succeed, 2014 will be the year I finally try.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

To Read or Not To Read

One of my last year's resolutions was to read more in 2013. I have both succeeded and failed. I read more than I did the previous year, yet I failed to reach my goal of 50 books. Reading one book a week is a reasonable goal for me. I have been known to devour several tomes a week. If left alone, I can spend the whole day reading.

My parents have told me I learned to read before I entered school. I have trouble remembering the early years. It is a blur of swings, recess, and The Billy Goats Gruff. Thus, I have to trust their memories are accurate. Since learning to read, it has become one of my favorite ways to pass the time. Summers were spent at the library losing myself in different worlds. The love I have for the written word is no secret. I have boxes upon boxes of books and many electronic files on my computer and smartphone.

The first book I read in 2013 was Cold Days by Jim Butcher. Harry Dresden is a character I adore and I can't think of a better book to start off my new year. I read the first book of Dresden Files series after hearing many friends rave about them. They were right. Butcher is a talented story teller and I read every book in the series with gusto. In 2014, I want to read his Codex Alera series.

As for the last book I read in 2013, it is likely to be Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reily. I enjoyed reading Killing Lincoln earlier in the year. The story is unfolding as I thought it would. But I was surprised by one thing, how close The United States was to nuclear war. I knew about the Cuban Missile Crisis before reading the book. I just didn't realize the gravity of the situation.

The books in between the two. are an eclectic mix of fiction and non-fiction. Some were good, some were bad. I read "new to me" authors and old friends, like Neil Gaiman. (disclaimer, I do not personally know Neil. I have read all his books and his work is familiar to me) My reading tastes are varied. I read YA, urban fantasy, literary fiction, woman's fiction, non-fiction, ect. This is reflected in the books I read during the year.

Next year I want to read 50 books as well as write a couple of my own. A writer reads. Said simply, but nonetheless true.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

What Would I Do

Watching movies and reading is difficult for me. Being a writer and having seen lots of movies and read lots of books, I have become brilliant at predicting how stories will end. Not much surprises me any more. I applaud the story teller who captures my interest, holds it, and thrills me with an ending I never saw coming. (This is the part where I give examples, but my mind is old and full of holes.)

One thing writers learn when they begin their journey into the literary world is every story that can be told has been told before. The trick, we are counseled, is to do it uniquely. How does one take a story which  has been told through the ages and make it their own? If I knew the secret to this, I would be a best selling author by now.

What would I do? It is a game I play every time I encounter a tale unfolding. "Well, if it were me, I would..." I'm not always right, I have to admit. But I do get it right enough times to believe I have become jaded.

I called my cousin the other day to discuss a book. I didn't think the character acted appropriately. I know if  I woke up one day to find I were a pixie and green, I would react with a bit more excitement than this character did. In my story, she would scream a bit and maybe try to wipe the green away. But the catch is, it wasn't my story and the author told it the way she saw it. Who am I to say if she got it right or not?

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Onward and Upward

The past few days have not been productive. Various things kept coming between me and my December writing goals. Errands, headaches, and family commitments are just a few of the items which took precedence over the words. They were pushed to the back burner and not made a priority. This is a habit I want to nip in the bud as I prepare to write with purpose in 2014.

I have been thinking about my goals in 2014 and what I want to accomplish. First on the list is write at least 100,000 words during the year. A bit ambitious for me since I recently started writing again after an almost two year break. But I want to complete a second draft of my NaNoWriMo project and complete the first draft of the second book. I didn't start out to write a series, but it seemed natural to do so. The main character's story wasn't finished after one volume.

Which brings me to the second and third goals on my list; write the second draft of The Valiant and write the first draft of The Hunted. The plan is to rewrite a scene a day once I begin working on my second draft. In a perfect world, I would begin writing the first draft of the second volume at the same time, also focusing on a scene a day. With the turmoil which is my life at the moment, I doubt I will able to stick to this schedule.

Fourth on my list of 2014, is send the finished second draft of The Valiant to willing beta readers. This goal is by far the scariest on the list. I haven't shared my fiction often. Fear holds me back. I'm afraid of failure or someone will tell me I'm not a writer. I think all writers are a bit afraid. Having the courage to share a story with others deserves respect and kudos. Our stories are like our children and it is frightening to send them out in the world. What if no one likes them?

Last on my long list of writing goals for the coming year is to write a query letter to an agent. I have never attempted to write a query, let alone mail it to someone. If I am serious about writing, then it is the next logical step in the process. My palms are getting sweaty just thinking about it. What is the worst that can happen?  I get rejected. But I have to try. I can't let all the words I've written in my life time be for nothing. I have to try.

What are your goals for the coming year? 

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Dabbler

Being a writer has prompted me to become a dilettante in a variety of areas. One of my favorite parts of the writing process is research. In order to create a believable story, a writer must spend at least a portion of their time assembling facts on the pertinent details of their tale. Hemingway couldn't have created such a vivid book about bullfighting without first learning as much as he could about the craft.

A few topics I am researching for my current story include: The Atchafalaya Basin, yurts, RFID, and the physics of superheroes. Out of the things I've listed RFID and the applications of RFID have been been the most interesting. The prospect of using it to track products and create checker-less supermarkets blows my mind.

Back to the topic at hand, in order to create a believable world for their readers, a writer must commit to doing research. This can involve searching the internet, reading books, and talking to experts. The truth is in the detail. (this idiom can be traced back to the saying "God is in the detail," a fact I learned from research) The right details can enhance a good story, the wrong ones can break it.

This week, I have been creating a list of topics I need to research before starting my rewrite in January. My list is formidable, further pointing out the fact I jumped into my story without much forethought. The words "research this" enclosed in brackets can be found throughout my first draft. My favorite instance is following a scene where the main character is suppose to make every blood vessel in a antagonist's brain explode. I have no idea what this looks like in reality. Thus, the importance of research. (and becoming friends with a doctor) 







Thursday, December 12, 2013

Deaf Ear

My story began as a dream. I woke up in the morning and said to myself "That dream was freakin' awesome, it must be a story." Like most people who write, I keep a list of story ideas. I used to write them on whatever piece of paper was available at the time. Now, I have a file on my smart phone entitled, aptly of course, Story Ideas. After I was awake enough to write a coherent sentence, the idea was filed away for future use. The fact I was on a hiatus from writing didn't matter, the ideas keep coming whether I use them or not.

Along came life and I was given free time to write again, if I chose to do so. Without much hesitation, I plunged back into the world of writing. It was October and I was going to participate in NaNoWriMo in less than a month.  The story idea I dreamed about months before seemed perfect for my re-entry. It didn't matter I had no clue who the main character was or what the plot would be. All would be revealed as I progressed.

The main character was born during my first free writing session. I wrote a scene from when she was six years old.The more I wrote about her, the more real she became to me. At times, I can feel what she is feeling, the pain and frustration of living with a gift. (or curse depending on who you ask) Half-way through November, she stopped talking to me. I couldn't find her voice anymore and it showed in the writing. My MC went from being strong and stubborn to whiny and emotional.

How do I find my way back? I am instructing myself to write more back story and create a journal for her. If all else fails, I can "interview" her and try to recapture the qualities that made me create her in the first place. I only hope when she begins to talk again, I am listening.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Death of the Imaginary Soul

Today I am in the throes of a dilemma. To kill or not to kill, a character. The person in question is my main character's mother. I feel her death does little to push the plot forward, beyond hurting the main character. After many minutes of indecision, I turned to Google for the answer, as I do often.

During my Google search, I came across a blog/website, Brain Pickings. There I found literary advice from a selection of the greats. Kurt Vonnegut instructed "Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them-in order that the reader may see what they are made of." I'm sure he would vote to kill the mother. Faulkner would've been with him based on his "kill all your darlings" quote.

Joss Whedon would have no problem sticking it to the broad. He is famous (or is it infamous) for killing characters people have come to love. He has embraced the advice of Faulkner and taken it to a whole other level. Does it make him a better story teller? I have no idea, but I don't know if I can forgive him for what he did to Wash.

In the end, I decided to leave the mother's death in my story. Her death will warp my character into the person I need her to be at the end of the tale. The funny part is, I'm more torn up about the death of a secondary character who has a bit part than I am about the demise of one of the main characters. I knew he would die when I was imagining him. I guess you could say he was born to die.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Life Support

If I didn't have a support system, I would have stopped writing years ago. Maybe I am lying. The stories keep coming to me whether I write them down or not. Regardless, having the support of family, friends, and other writers has helped me stay on my writing path. The road hasn't been straight or clear of obstacles. I have fought every step of the way. Someone once said, "Anything worth doing takes effort." (After researching this, I discovered it is based on a quote by Theodore Roosevelt. His version was "Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty... I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.")

During my journey, I have not walked alone. Writers have a way of finding each other. Hemingway had Fitzgerald and Stein. Dorthy Parker had the gang at the Algonquin. Ilona Andrews has Jeaniene Frost. Shay has her Yetis.(for those who don't know, The Yetis are my writing group.) I am fortunate to have found writing friends both in person and on the internet and for this I am thankful. As I have said many times over, writing is hard work. Having a group of people who share your interests and your pain helps.

My writing group has been supporting each other for the past six years. There have been times when I stopped writing or stopped going to meetings, yet they still support and love me. I wouldn't be the person or writer I am today if not for them. Chance brought us together and the love of the written word made us a family.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Picking the Scab

I fully intended to let the first draft of my current story sit for the entire month of December before I looked at it again. December was going to be for reading and relaxing a bit. The momentum of November was still within me and the next story was pestering me, so I took the time to write a loose outline with a few plot points. No harm in going forward right. Next I thought I needed a timeline so I could tell the pacing of the story when I reopened my document for revisions. The timeline was my downfall, along with reading several articles about editing.  I went a full seven days without opening the first draft and picking at it. Today I lost the battle. I peeked.

First drafts are ugly. My first draft is hideous, with oozing festering boils. Looking at the mess made me want to delete the entire thing and start from the beginning. I didn't need to edit, I needed to rewrite the entire story. After a first sentence that invokes action, the rest of the first scene, chapter, spirals out of control. The tone changes a few times, and my MC isn't the strong woman I envisioned. A cute running gag I loved at the time seems silly.

Why didn't I wait? Why couldn't I just bask in the knowledge I wrote more words last month than I have in the past two years? Why did I think notes to myself in brackets were a good idea? The goal of NaNoWriMo is quantity vs quality, on some level. I took it to heart when I wrote my first draft. The suck is strong with my WIP.

In the end, I didn't delete my story. I did close the document and I'm not looking at it again till January 2014. The new year will be bringing many challenges and taming the wild unruly thing that is my first draft will be at the top of the list. On New Year's Day, when people are nursing their hangovers from the previous night's festivities, I will be opening up the first draft and tackling it head on, one crappy paragraph at a time.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Strengths Vs. Weaknesses

In order to be more productive in the coming year, I signed up for a writing challenge. Staying focused and finishing projects have been a problem for me in the past. (this is one reason why I have five or six unfinished novels on my hard drive) Life would often rear its ugly head and get in the way of my writing progress. The coming year shall be different. I am making writing one of my priorities. This explains my eagerness to join a community focused on completing writing goals.

One of the sign up questions stumped me. "Strengths?" The following one, "Weaknesses?", was easy to answer. I sometimes forget to add needed description to my stories. Settings also trip me up. It is as if I just threw my characters in a room and recorded their conversations. Follow through is also a problem for me. I have completed two novels, but have yet to finish a second draft. I loath editing. Did I mention the five or six other half finished projects I have?

Yes, I am well aware of my weaknesses as a writer. They beat me over the head. But when I was asked about my strengths, I drew a complete blank. Being the insecure person I am, I doubted any existed. To remedy the problem, I started calling, messaging, and texting friends who might have read my writing. (I know this is terrible, but I was desperate and needed something to fill the blank on the sign up) The first friend hadn't read anything of mine in such a long time, she couldn't help me. The next one hadn't read any of my prose. I think his writing is elegant and more refined than my own, so I refrained from sharing. My third try insisted I had strengths, everyone does, but when put on the spot couldn't name one. (to be fair she was busy and just answering the phone was a big deal) In the end, I put "plotting" as a strength.

My cousin, my best friend, my conspirator in writing, came through after the sign up was posted. Her response to my query was, "You are imaginative and good at descriptions."I love my cousin. I AM imaginative. If I wasn't, then I wouldn't be making up stories in my head now would I? On the subject of descriptions, I do not think I am strong. Cliches seem to creep into my pieces. I used to spend time at work describing things such as clouds to practice my description techniques. Unique descriptions are tough to create. It is easy to fall back on old standards.

Writers all have things which come naturally to them and others which take hard work and practice to hone. No two writers are the same. It is important to embrace your strengths and your weaknesses equally. They are what makes you distinct. Polish what comes naturally and practice what doesn't. Pretty prose isn't vomited on the page. It is often the result of much thought and elbow grease.




Pieces of the Puzzle

I have to dedicate this post to my friend, Alex. He achieved the zen we all strive for when we are working on our stories. We all know this moment, when all the elements of the bigger picture start to make sense and fall into place. It is similar to having your back scratched in just the right spot and your insides turn to mush.

Writing a novel, or even a short story for that matter, is akin to completing a jigsaw puzzle. You take a cast of characters, set them on a stage, add glowing description and torture them with copious amounts of conflict, ending with a coherent resolution. Scratch the puzzle analogy. Writing a novel is like baking a cake. The right amount of various ingredients and you have a beautiful and satisfying end product. Too much of one thing and not enough of another results in a culinary disaster.

Knowing how much of each component is the tricky part. Too much description and not enough conflict and your story is boring. Same for not enough action and pages of dialog. If you find the right balance of all the elements, your tale will jump of the page. This concept is one I am still working on.

My first writing efforts were comprised of wordy paragraphs filled with exposition. How proud I was of those pieces. Right up until the moment a good writing friend critiqued them. She taught me the value of white spaces in a piece and varying the lengths of paragraphs to control the pacing. Years after I began my writing journey, I am still learning and trying to grow as a writer. My big blocks of text are a thing of the past, I wish I could say the same for my telling instead of showing.

Back to the original thought behind this rambling post, nothing is quite as satisfying for a writer as when the writing goes well and everything works. Writers, hang on to those moments and remember them for the times when things aren't going as well and you are about to throw in the towel. To bad it is impossible to bottle feelings, because the accomplished feeling of a job well done is one I wish I could savor over and over.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Brain Freeze

The weather outside is truly frightful and not a tiny bit delightful. Winter is here and making its presence known in the form of freezing rain, sleet, and snow. I do not drive in snow or ice. My car is not made for it, being low to the ground and composed of mostly plastic. Today is a perfect day for staying in bed and working on writing endeavors.

A burning question being posed on a variety of writing blogs is to adverb or not to adverb. Stephen King is strongly (adverb use intended for humor potential) opposed to the use of adverbs in writing, cautioning only to use them as a cook would a pungent spice, in extreme moderation. My natural style is filled with countless adverbs and a plethora of "had" and "that." Maintaining an adverb free zone in my prose is a challenge. It is so easy to say "The girl looked at him, lovingly" rather than show her love in a series of actions and responses.

What do I think about adverbs? If you are intent upon using them, do so, in your first draft. Get it out of your system. Go adverb crazy, using them in every sentence if you have to. Then on your second pass, edit them out of your manuscript. Replace them with action. It can be done. Sometimes it is hard to give up every single offender. If the stray adverb refuses to budge, then it can be tolerated. In the end, your writing will thank you.

I would also like to say, as with anything you do in life, practice will make it easier. I know new writers get sick of hearing this over and over, but it is the truth. If you want to write better, then you have to keep writing, and writing badly. Writing is very much use it or lose it. (in my humble opinion of course) I think you must come to the table with some talent, but mechanics can be learned.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Back Story

Due to errands and babysitting, I wasn't able to work on my timeline as planned. By around eight o'clock my body was crying foul and my eyes refused to remain open. Just because I didn't open up the computer doesn't mean I wasn't working on my story. I was thinking about the supernatural elements and how The Order of the Valiant came into being.

People don't just wake up one day with special abilities. (Heroes excluded) These things have to come from somewhere or develop over time. There are no radioactive spiders in my tale, so I need to know where all these powers came from, how they are passed to others, and why the Order banded together in the first place.  These things will be not mentioned in detail through blocks of exposition. But as the creator of my world, I need to know how things work in order to write a believable story.

After spending so much time yesterday thinking about my story, I dreamed about it last night. During the dreams, I think another book idea was formed. The result was I woke up excited and eager to capture the remnants of the dream in text so it doesn't disappear forever. I'm stepping back from the timeline today and devoting my writing time to creating a plausible back story for the series. Correction, a more detailed back story than the one I currently have.


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Timelines

Timelines will be the death of me. Or rather learning how to put together a cohesive timeline using Liquid Story Binder will be the death of me.

During November I consistently found myself forgetting what day or what time of day it was in my story. The events of the book take place over roughly a week to two week period. This has me worried about pacing. Did I plow through too quickly or do I need to add a few more days and subplots? See why I need a timeline? Before I get too involved with the outline of my next book, I need to know what day I'm on and where I'm at. I think it will cover a few weeks as well, due to the nature of the plot. (MC is hunting down ex-partner to extract revenge)

My tale has a subplot I dropped the threads of near the end. I mention an organization and when the character representing it met her demise, no further mention was made. The organization still exists. It didn't die with the character, so I have the job of creating a plausible explanation. The timeline will help me achieve this goal. (I hope)

P.S. I am experiencing a bit of NaNoWriMo hangover. I spent November hanging out with other writers logging words and writing prose. It feels weird not to have a word count deadline looming over my head. I don't know the cure, other than writing, of course. Maybe after I finish some of my planning and start writing again the restless feeling with go away.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Back in the Saddle

After taking a brief (alright, almost two year) writing break, I'm back at it again. I signed up for NaNoWriMo as a jumping off point. Yes, after not writing anything more substantial than Facebook statuses for almost two years, I thought it would be a good idea to try to write 50K in one month.

A bit of back story here, for those of you who don't know, I am disabled. I was a working disabled person up until August of this year. I stopped writing because my body couldn't handle the strain of work and writing. During the last year of my employment, I was basically working and sleeping. All my free time was spent resting up and preparing my body for work. It wasn't much of a life. In August I was fired for absenteeism related to my disabilities. I wasn't prepared for this. I wasn't able to collect unemployment and my body can't handle work anymore, so I'm currently fighting for my disability.

I won NaNoWriMo for the first time in all the years I've been attempting it. I did it by writing roughly 2K words a day, taking breaks for rest and restoration. It was hard, but I did it. The resulting story isn't pretty, but it has a beginning, middle, and end. There is conflict and partially developed characters. For my return to the literary world, I would call it a success. My goal now is to keep up with my daily writing habits. So far, since November has ended, I haven't written much. The November WIP is on hold till after January when I will attempt to edit it. I am currently plotting and outlining the next book in the series. The story was too big for just one volume. I think it is interesting, but I'm not sure the rest of the world will.

I set a goal for the next year. It is to edit my story, write a query letter, and submit to at least one agent. Sounds simple right, but this is a goal that will require much work. Writing is tough. Getting what I see in my head to translate to the page can be a challenge. November's WIP is chock full of tell versus show and possible plot holes.

As I ride off into the sunset, I vow not to stop until I can't do anymore. I will die telling my stories whether anyone else wants to read them or not.