When I first started my writing journey, I bought numerous books on the subject. One thing they all agreed on was the concept of "writing what you know." Did this mean I needed to trash my fantasy novel involving parallel universes? I'm not a student of quantum physics and the mechanics of my world were pulled from my warped brain. Was my story less since I was writing about things foreign to me?
Of course not. I don't believe in "write what you know." I support the idea of "writing from you heart." In other words, write about things you love. In the case of novel writing, you will be working on your project for at least six months to a year, so the subject matter should be something you find interesting and are passionate about or you run the risk of losing interest. For example, someone who loathes world building probably shouldn't write a fantasy novel set in a make believe world.
My stories tend to be more character driven, with the plot being secondary. In the past, I've abandoned projects when I couldn't love the main character. It is hard to spend time with characters you don't care about and sometimes come to detest. The characters who capture my affection are flawed yet still strong. The main character of the series I'm working on is an angry woman who is searching for the truth. I love the sensitive side of her nature and how it balances with angst she feels.
The best advice I can give to new writers attempting to write their first novel is to make sure they love their story. Write from your heart. Tap into your feelings and use what you have experienced to bring your characters to life. You don't need to have fought dragons to write about them, but make sure you have tackled adversity and can relate to the emotions involved with slaying monsters.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Time Keeps On Ticking
Novel writing is a marathon, not a sprint.
I need to remember this. Growing a story from an idea takes time. My current idea came to me almost a year ago, after a specially, vivid dream. I jotted it down in my story ideas file for future use. I wasn't writing at the time, having stopped due to stress and health reasons. It has been my experience even though I stop writing, the ideas don't stop coming. When I lost my job, I decided to start writing again. I went through my list of ideas and it called to me.
NaNoWriMo was approaching and I had a shiny, one sentence idea. How would I write 50,000 words based on one sentence? Enter my writing group and a technique we stole from a fellow writer. They threw me a novel "bash" where my one sentence would be expanded into characters, setting, and plot. Without my fellow Yetis, I would've been lost. They helped me expand my idea into not one book, but three if all goes as planned.
After plotting, I wrote my rough draft in one month and "won" NaNoWriMo. I completed this feat with caffeine, anti-inflammatories, sheer determination. Now comes the hard part, taking my rough draft and polishing it till it becomes the story I want to tell. Editing doesn't come easy to me, it never has. This is why I have so many half finished, unedited novels on my hard drive. For me, editing is tedious and time consuming.
Last week, my online writing group held a chat with a published author about editing. It helped me get past a roadblock I encountered. The author mentioned spending two years (please correct me if I heard wrong) editing a novel. This helped me to relax and stop worrying about the time it was taking me to go from rough draft to second rough draft. My game plan is to finish a rough second draft then print it out and read it all at once, taking notes. From my notes, I want to compose a third draft to send to my beta readers. This will not happen over night.
Novel writing is a marathon. I have been in training for ten years.
I need to remember this. Growing a story from an idea takes time. My current idea came to me almost a year ago, after a specially, vivid dream. I jotted it down in my story ideas file for future use. I wasn't writing at the time, having stopped due to stress and health reasons. It has been my experience even though I stop writing, the ideas don't stop coming. When I lost my job, I decided to start writing again. I went through my list of ideas and it called to me.
NaNoWriMo was approaching and I had a shiny, one sentence idea. How would I write 50,000 words based on one sentence? Enter my writing group and a technique we stole from a fellow writer. They threw me a novel "bash" where my one sentence would be expanded into characters, setting, and plot. Without my fellow Yetis, I would've been lost. They helped me expand my idea into not one book, but three if all goes as planned.
After plotting, I wrote my rough draft in one month and "won" NaNoWriMo. I completed this feat with caffeine, anti-inflammatories, sheer determination. Now comes the hard part, taking my rough draft and polishing it till it becomes the story I want to tell. Editing doesn't come easy to me, it never has. This is why I have so many half finished, unedited novels on my hard drive. For me, editing is tedious and time consuming.
Last week, my online writing group held a chat with a published author about editing. It helped me get past a roadblock I encountered. The author mentioned spending two years (please correct me if I heard wrong) editing a novel. This helped me to relax and stop worrying about the time it was taking me to go from rough draft to second rough draft. My game plan is to finish a rough second draft then print it out and read it all at once, taking notes. From my notes, I want to compose a third draft to send to my beta readers. This will not happen over night.
Novel writing is a marathon. I have been in training for ten years.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Prolific Blogger
March 24th is my blogging anniversary. I will have officially been splashing my words across the internet for ten years. Ten years. I've been writing with a purpose for ten, long years. For me, writing with a purpose means writing with the intent to sell the finished product. My thoughts about writing have changed since the day I started my journey. As a writer, I have matured. Looking back at my first attempts to compose a first draft make me ill. Then I remember I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for those first mangled pieces of prose.
I've written over 3,600 posts spread across a variety of blog sites. I was regular on Livejournal when it was still cool and Facebook was just for college students. The posts range in content from silly memes to meaningful essays. They are a record of my progress and growth as a writer. Ten years later, I'm still chasing the dream I've had since I was old enough to hold a pencil in my hand. I honestly can not remember a time when I didn't write.
Whether I publish a book or not, I know in my heart, I am a writer. Writer and Author are not synonymous. Authors are writers who have sold their creations. My dream isn't to be a writer. I am a writer. My lifelong dream is to publish a book and have others read my stories. I want others to join me in my imagination and love the characters I care about.
Ten years later, I don't know if I'm any closer to making my dreams a reality. I do know I'm still writing and ideas are still coming to me. I'm not giving up. I will keep on working toward my dream till I die.
I've written over 3,600 posts spread across a variety of blog sites. I was regular on Livejournal when it was still cool and Facebook was just for college students. The posts range in content from silly memes to meaningful essays. They are a record of my progress and growth as a writer. Ten years later, I'm still chasing the dream I've had since I was old enough to hold a pencil in my hand. I honestly can not remember a time when I didn't write.
Whether I publish a book or not, I know in my heart, I am a writer. Writer and Author are not synonymous. Authors are writers who have sold their creations. My dream isn't to be a writer. I am a writer. My lifelong dream is to publish a book and have others read my stories. I want others to join me in my imagination and love the characters I care about.
Ten years later, I don't know if I'm any closer to making my dreams a reality. I do know I'm still writing and ideas are still coming to me. I'm not giving up. I will keep on working toward my dream till I die.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
The Way Back
I've had trouble finding my way back after being sick for almost six weeks. Finally, I feel almost normal so it is time to return to putting words on the page. The momentum I conjured during November and continued with through December has fled. The mere thought of working on The Valiant is filling me with dread. Writing the first draft wasn't as hard as editing has been.
CuzWriMo was a bust. I started the first chapter of The Hunted four times. I can see the opening scene in my mind. My main character is driving her beat up inherited Volvo down the interstate with the windows down. It is early summer and she is still searching for her runaway partner. The difficult part is summarizing what happened in The Valiant in a non-boring non-exposition manner. What details do I reveal for people who didn't read the first book and what do I leave out?
My cousin didn't fare much better. As I healed, she became ill. We both signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo next month. I want to lock away the inner editor and feel free to vomit my story on the page. The draw back will be the editing process after the month is over, but I want to get the story down before it leaves me and I forget what happens.When I envisioned The Valiant, it felt like a series or at the least a trilogy. The story was bigger than one book.
I remind myself the important thing is I am writing again, no matter how terrible the words are. I didn't write anything of substance for almost two years. Finding my path again feels good.
CuzWriMo was a bust. I started the first chapter of The Hunted four times. I can see the opening scene in my mind. My main character is driving her beat up inherited Volvo down the interstate with the windows down. It is early summer and she is still searching for her runaway partner. The difficult part is summarizing what happened in The Valiant in a non-boring non-exposition manner. What details do I reveal for people who didn't read the first book and what do I leave out?
My cousin didn't fare much better. As I healed, she became ill. We both signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo next month. I want to lock away the inner editor and feel free to vomit my story on the page. The draw back will be the editing process after the month is over, but I want to get the story down before it leaves me and I forget what happens.When I envisioned The Valiant, it felt like a series or at the least a trilogy. The story was bigger than one book.
I remind myself the important thing is I am writing again, no matter how terrible the words are. I didn't write anything of substance for almost two years. Finding my path again feels good.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Rituals
After many hours spent writing and staring at a blank computer screen, I discovered I work better with an ink pen held in my mouth. Picture a dog carrying a bone between its jaws, that is how I look when I'm hard at work creating other worlds. I don't know when this ritual began, but I have come to rely on it. I think it might have become a signal to my subconscious it is time to stop fooling around and get to business.
Writers work differently. Some listen to music when they are writing, others do better in a quiet environment. Music helps me block out the outside world and concentrate on my story. Before I begin a new project, I create a playlist with songs related to my subject matter. I include a variety and lean toward songs I know rather than newer ones. This helps the music stays in the background rather than becoming the focus.
I envy writers who have created special spaces in which to practice their craft. I don't have the luxury of space to do so. My cousin bought an armoire she converted to a writing nook. During November, I spent the month on my daughter's love seat, turning it into my writing space. These days I work where ever I happen to be. A Facebook friend posted about Amtrack's residency for writers program and I wish I had the courage to apply. I've always wanted to ride the rails and write. It is on my list of things to do before I die.
Regardless of how and where you write, the most important thing to remember is to write. The words won't write themselves and putting your bottom in the chair is crucial to getting your story told.
Writers work differently. Some listen to music when they are writing, others do better in a quiet environment. Music helps me block out the outside world and concentrate on my story. Before I begin a new project, I create a playlist with songs related to my subject matter. I include a variety and lean toward songs I know rather than newer ones. This helps the music stays in the background rather than becoming the focus.
I envy writers who have created special spaces in which to practice their craft. I don't have the luxury of space to do so. My cousin bought an armoire she converted to a writing nook. During November, I spent the month on my daughter's love seat, turning it into my writing space. These days I work where ever I happen to be. A Facebook friend posted about Amtrack's residency for writers program and I wish I had the courage to apply. I've always wanted to ride the rails and write. It is on my list of things to do before I die.
Regardless of how and where you write, the most important thing to remember is to write. The words won't write themselves and putting your bottom in the chair is crucial to getting your story told.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Month of Words
Unhappy with our current writing progress, me and my lovely cousin, Robyn, decided to declare March to be a month of writing. We are pledging to write 50K new words during March. I dubbed it CuzWriMo. We are refusing to let illness and winter melancholy stifle our creative juices. As I said in a thread on my writing group's forum, no one writes in a vacuum and if I sit around waiting for a muse to whack me with her inspiration stick, I will never progress.
Robyn enrolled in Holly Lisle's online editing course and is working on editing her NaNoWriMo novel as well writing a YA prequel of sorts set in the same world. My editing progress is still stalled on Chapter Three and trying to get the correct tone of a character. She doesn't seem "right." My brain is saying "move along you can fix her in rewrite number two" but my heart argues. In the end, I will have to listen to my brain or I will be stuck on Chapter Three forever.
Last night, to commemorate CuzWriMo, I started writing the first draft of The Hunted. Before I started, I went back and read the last two chapters of The Valiant. Both need so much work. I think toward the end of the story I was racing to get it out of my head before it evaporated. I almost cried when I saw how bad it was. Not one to cry over spoiled words, I moved on. Like Robyn is fond of saying, it can all be fixed. At this point in my process, nothing is set in stone. She is right of course. I have I mentioned how incredibly smart my cousin is?
This morning I am about a thousand words behind on my CuzWriMo commitment. This shall be rectified shortly with a few sprints and the completion of Chapter One. Once I get back in the habit of writing every day, I'm diving back in editing/rewriting The Valiant. The sweat you smell is the scent of literary progress.
Robyn enrolled in Holly Lisle's online editing course and is working on editing her NaNoWriMo novel as well writing a YA prequel of sorts set in the same world. My editing progress is still stalled on Chapter Three and trying to get the correct tone of a character. She doesn't seem "right." My brain is saying "move along you can fix her in rewrite number two" but my heart argues. In the end, I will have to listen to my brain or I will be stuck on Chapter Three forever.
Last night, to commemorate CuzWriMo, I started writing the first draft of The Hunted. Before I started, I went back and read the last two chapters of The Valiant. Both need so much work. I think toward the end of the story I was racing to get it out of my head before it evaporated. I almost cried when I saw how bad it was. Not one to cry over spoiled words, I moved on. Like Robyn is fond of saying, it can all be fixed. At this point in my process, nothing is set in stone. She is right of course. I have I mentioned how incredibly smart my cousin is?
This morning I am about a thousand words behind on my CuzWriMo commitment. This shall be rectified shortly with a few sprints and the completion of Chapter One. Once I get back in the habit of writing every day, I'm diving back in editing/rewriting The Valiant. The sweat you smell is the scent of literary progress.
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