Category: Ramblings

So…you wanna try Nanowrimo?

Well, after we’ve peeled off our Halloween costumes and before we start trying to figure out plans for the holidays, it’s that wonderful time of year called Nanowrimo!

Yes, Nanowrimo, where everyone tries to write a 50,000 word story while wrestling with imposter syndrome. Personally, I’ve finished Nano a handful of times in the past years. I’ve done it alone, I’ve done it with other writers and I’ve even convinced non-writer friends to participate in the past. For most people, it’s the equivalent of trying long-haul trucking after years of a twenty minute commute. And this year, you can do it too!

A few times in the past year, I’ve discussed the importance of finishing. I feel like–at it’s core–that’s the point of Nano. Not only is it a huge confidence boost for a writer (of any level) but it’s something you can use. Even if all you pull from Nano is a few sentences or a character or a place, that’s something that you didn’t have before. So, in the spirit of writing, here are a few times to get you excited and motivated about tackling the 50,000 word beast that is before you!

  1. Find your writing pack!
    Nothing makes writing easier than having a group of other writers to share victories and commiserate over difficulties together! It’s hard to get excited about creating when it’s such a solitary hobby (especially these days). So, get your pack together! Find a few friends and start a text thread to check-in with each other! Bolster each other up and get excited together!
  2. Write recklessly.
    For now? Forget all the rules of writing. Have a page and a half of exposition. Let your sentences run until you exhaust yourself. Use said as much as you like. Nanowrimo is about creation and getting the bones down! The editing will come later when you polish and clean up your words into what you want it to be. But, for now, the important part comes from finishing. Write recklessly and don’t look back!
  3. Commit to a schedule.
    These days, we’re on our own to figure out when and how to work. Pick a writing time and stick to it. Maybe you’ll take some time before work to hit your word count. Some people write better after work. I knew people who had one day a week during Nano that they would write all day. Find your time and stick with it!
  4. Don’t be afraid to jump around.
    You’re gonna get stuck. A lot. And that’s OK. Sometimes, in order to get your word count, it’s important to remember that you’re allowed to skip to different parts of your story. Got a fight scene you’re excited to put down? Maybe you thought of how you want to do the “Big Reveal”. It’s not always the easiest to do Timeline Gymnastics, but you don’t have to write chronologically. Nanowrimo is all about the end goal and banging your head against the keyboard for 500 words isn’t going to help if you have the idea for the next scene already there.
  5. Have fun and Don’t Panic!
    I won’t lie. You’re going to write crap. 50,000 words in a month doesn’t leave a ton of time to polish your work. So don’t worry about perfect for now. Enjoy the wild plot holes you’re gonna dig yourself into. Make your characters silly. Write bad sentences. That rush once you hit 50K is going to feel so good and you’re going to have a blast doing it.

So, remember: Nanowrimo is all about the creation. Fixing what you made is what comes later. Write recklessly and enjoy the process. It’ll motivate you to edit everything once you finish. And above all else: Have fun!

The Art of Finishing

So, recently, I just finished the first draft of my most recent project (sorry, no details yet). I decided to set myself a deadline to finish the draft by and I feel like adding that number to it made it a lot easier to commit an afternoon or whole day to working on it. It got me thinking about the hardest and most important part of the writing process is finishing!

I had a video chat with a friend the other day and they said they were impressed by how much I wrote since the beginning of the year. They’d been out of work for a bit and wanted to try their hand at writing, but couldn’t commit to a story long enough to finish it. It made me realize that the hardest part of writing is putting all (and I mean all) of the words on the page. As a serial idea-thinker, it’s very tempting to start writing a new thing when I start to lose enthusiasm for whatever I’m working on. New projects are exciting because they’re fun and different! I tend to get stuck working on projects because it starts to feel hopeless trying to make it work. Then, a shiny new project comes along and…well, it’s easy to get excited about a new idea.

But! The most satisfying part of writing is finishing because it gives you something to work with! You can’t fix an unfinished piece because…well, you don’t know what needs to be done. You can make a good beginning or middle, but with no ending? You’ll never feel like the piece is done (for obvious reasons). It seems pretty elementary, but it’s still worth saying.

You can always fix a terrible piece of writing, but you can’t fix it if it’s not finished. You can always change the ending, but it’s hard to fix things when you know there’s a huge, very important part missing. So finish and finish horribly. You know you’re going to have to edit, so just commit to know you’ll need to edit. Write down those new, pretty ideas when they come and remember that you’ll have to finish that too.

Do you struggle with finishing projects? Or are you good about maintaining your focus on a single idea?

Closing Chapters

This is a bit of a hard one to write. After almost 5 years in Seattle, I’m afraid that I’m leaving the city. Whether or not this will be my last time living here or not, I don’t know for sure. Regardless, this feels a bit like the close of a big chapter of my life, so I wanted to reflect on that a little here. So, this is equal parts update and journaling.

I came out to Seattle on–almost–a whim. I had just wrapped up Graduate School and wanted to try something very different from small town New England life. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for in the city, but the only way I could describe it was “an adventure.” The only person I knew out here was my second-cousin, so it was about as far from my comfort zone as I could go.

Since moving out here, I’ve lived in three different apartments of various sizes, worked four different jobs and made countless friends. I really came into my own when it came to my asexuality, my independence, and ability to improvise in difficult situations. I started playing Dungeons and Dragons. I (basically) learned how to cook. I really applied myself to my writing and my photography. I had my first serious relationship out here (I don’t know if that ties more into my asexuality or moving, but it’s included in this chapter for the sake of the chronology). I self-published my first book. There were some difficulties along the way, for sure. Being on the other side of the country from a majority of my family was difficult and I had to learn a few lessons the hard way. I was working multiple jobs to make rent (sometimes going 14 or 15 hour days to make everything balance) and none of them were really fulfilling or satisfying by the end.

It’s been a ride of ups and downs. Some of my friends I made within a couple weeks of moving out here and I still see them on a weekly basis to this day. I’ve made some really great connections here and I’ll keep those after I leave. I learned a lot of skills, both professional and personal. I learned a lot about myself and discovered the boundaries that I need to work on for myself.

I don’t know what the next step is now. It’s a bizarre and wild time to move, so most of my efforts has been focused on moving. When I get to my next step, I’ll decide then, but I know that my writing will stay constant. Right now, my writing has been a rock in all the confusion of the world right now. I feel like creating is my therapy and my writing has always been what brings me the most peace.

I move at the end of the week with a very early flight and, as sad as I am to leave the city behind, I’m excited to see what happens next.

If you haven’t yet, go and pick up a copy of Found Mysteries: The Rebirth of Violet Franklin and Other Tales. It’s been doing pretty well so far and it’s been exciting every time I hear someone else has read it.

Reflections on Release

If you’re here, you’re probably aware that my first book was published this week! Those are still available in the digital format and I’m hoping to have details on the release of physical copies. Covid has really slowed down things at the distributor, but believe me when I say, I can’t wait for it to be available for everyone. I know a few people are waiting to buy physical copies and I promise I’m working on getting those available as soon as I make sure there aren’t any issues with the printing process.

This experience of self-publishing has been a learning experience above all else. There are things that I might do differently looking back, but I can’t help feeling like Covid was a contributing factor to what happened this year. There are things I would have done differently, but all in all, I’m pretty pleased with how things have been going in the first week! I got a lot more planned, including a re-release event/giveaway when the option for ordering physical copies will be available.

It’s the first time I’ve ever published anything (and charged money for it), so to anyone who’s bought or read a copy of the book so far, I can’t thank you enough. It’s been surreal to see my book available and seeing responses and reviews from people who’ve read it. For all that’s happened this year, this has definitely been a high point and I’m eager to see where this goes. Even if that just means a few people get to read my stories? I feel like this was worth all the work.

Stay healthy out there and be kind to one another!

Black Lives Matter

I’ve tried writing and rewriting this for most of an hour and can barely make it beyond the first sentence. Everything I say feels like it’s already been said and I don’t feel like I have much authority on the subject. It goes without saying, but Black Lives Matter and it’s our responsibility to act.

I’ll say please consider donating to a Bail Fund in your state if you have the resources. I also highly encourage you to donate and spread the word for the following organizations. With all the donations going around, we need to help as many groups as possible:
Reclaim the Block – Minneapolis community and city council members to move money from the police department into other areas of the city’s budget that truly promote community health and safety
The Okra Fund – NY based community and food for black trans people.
Black Trans Protestor Fund
Black Lives Matter
Black Visions Collective – similar to BLM, but Minneapolis base

I intend to read more books by black authors this month and consume more black media in general. It’s important to hear voices now more than ever, but it’s also important to listen to those experiences. Currently, I’m reading “The Fifth Season” by N.K. Jemisin which I’m thoroughly enjoying. If you’re interested in joining me in reading books by black authors, I would recommend purchasing through the stores in this article:
https://afrotech.com/this-mompreneur-is-launching-detroits-first-coworking-play-space-for-families
Support Black Owned Business and Still Keep Social Distance.

Stay Safe. Stay Well.

Eat my shorts!

We are rolling into May! Hope everyone is staying healthy, washing hand, and taking care of that ever important mental health! I’ve been keeping busy, splitting my time between different photography ideas and writing lots of flash and short fiction. Which has led to me thinking a lot about brevity in writing.

Flash fiction, in my opinion, is incredibly difficult to pull off. As someone who usually prefers speculative fiction, having to tell a story in such a short amount of time is very alien to me (why tell a story if I can’t construct the entire world around it?). Still, this quarantine has been giving me lots of time to work on my short form fiction. I’ve been engaging in Write-A-Thons where I’ll try to take a story from conception to composed (not edited) in a few short boosts. These pieces range from 1,000 to 3,000 words. I’ve been getting a lot of prompts from the Reedsy Blog. They hold weekly contests, so I figured (since I’m home all the time) I figured I should submit to their contests, if only to stay in shape. You can check these stories on my Reedsy profile, which is linked through my ‘Original Fiction’ page.

One big question is, why write flash fiction? If you’ve been following me for a while, you’re familiar with the short form fiction I pop out monthly. I always treated these similar to how an artist or illustrator will post their works in progress on their websites and so I can keep my writing brain active. I love the challenge of telling a whole story in as few words as possible. As much as my heart belongs to long-form storytelling, I also enjoy giving people the option to read something short and sweet rather than hope they’ll go through a whole novel on faith that I’m a good writer. Not that we don’t have the time now, right?

What are some of your favorite short fiction pieces? What makes a piece of short fiction really entertaining?

Home Office

First of all, I hope everyone is safe and healthy. Things are intense out there, but we need to work together to stop the spread of the virus as best we can. That means we all gotta be smart and work together. One of the biggest ways we can do that is by working at home as much as we can.

This is a good time to talk about the best practices for working at home. Since August, I’ve been (more or less) working from my kitchen table and I have a few suggestions for people who are struggling with the transition from a structured office to a productive Work At Home.

First, make a schedule and try to keep to it. I have an alarm for 5:30 and usually roll out of bed at 6:00. After I shower, I’ll make some breakfast, usually eggs and spend some time on Facebook and other social media to see what I missed. After that, I’ll settle into my current project (whether that’s editing or writing). Around noon, I’ll go for a walk outside (not too far and alone). I usually close up around 5 or 5:30, but I’ll keep going if I’m on a good roll. At worst, I’ll close up everything at 7:00 and go do some reading in bed before I fall asleep.

Which leads to my next point: Have more than one space to work in, if you can. If you have access to more than one space, you should establish one as your workspace and one as your recreational/sleep space. I have a separate bedroom than my living space, so it’s easy to close my door at night and leave my writing work at my kitchen table. I have the bad habit of working while eating other meals, but who isn’t a little bit guilty of that? I’m able to limit the overlap between Working Brain and Sleeping Brain by physical space.

Thirdly, drink a lot. No, I don’t mean that kind of drinking. Water and tea are my suggestions. It’s important to stay hydrated through out the day. I’ve been going through six or seven mugs of tea a day at this point. When working at home, it’s strangely easy to ignore our basic needs like water.

And finally, don’t forget to stop working! Yes, productivity at home is good, but don’t let that drive burn you out completely. When we’re working, it’s easier to keep track of our daily work schedule and clock out right at 5:00. When you’re already home, what’s five more minutes? Then ten minutes. And next thing you know, it’s dark outside already (which is shocking now that we’re entering the long, summer days).

Above all else, if you’re working from home? Stay healthy both physically and mentally. So, stay safe, stay well and don’t forget to relax once in a while.

Reinventing the wheel…

At a certain point in every editing experience, it feels like you’re just staring at static words. You’ve so carefully reviewed the material so many times that it all starts to blend together into a mess of letters. As someone who edits a lot of their own work, it’s inevitable that things get missed. But recently, I found a technique that works really well for me and I’d like to share it with you!

It works like this. I have my most recent version of my piece that I’m working on open to the right of my screen and a blank document to my left (for those of you with two monitor rigs, good for you). From there, I rewrite the entire pieces. Word for word.

What do I like about this technique? For a start, I feel like I have to be very careful and it makes me focus. I catch words that I glance over in previous edited versions (either that are the wrong word or just completely missed due to ‘static editing’). I have a chance to reconsider grammar that I missed initially. When I’m rewriting the words, I hear them as I’m reading them, so I can reconsider my word choice.

Rewriting also gives me a chance to look beyond just basic word choice. I can examine entire sections and change them. I can expand sections or cut passages to improve the pacing. Without having to think about ‘What Comes Next?’ I get to focus purely on how things sound and can change them accordingly. I can focus more on pacing, descriptions, and incorporating details into dialogue.

Is it time consuming and tiring? Absolutely, but I think it’s important to find a method that works and embrace it. What are some of your favorite editing tricks and tips?

Coming together…

Hello from the land of Sickness! I’ve got a bad case of Jazz Voice (when your voice drops an octave and gets all raspy), so it’s been a quiet weekend over here. That being said, this will be a short update.

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about writing community. Since I spend a lot of my time working on projects alone, I think it’s important to have a community that I can check in with. While organized workshops are valuable and important, it’s also important just to have other writers to talk to.

Like milling around the water cooler at an office, having a writing community is like have regular coworkers that you can check in with and talk to. I have a group of friends that are also writers that I talk to frequently when I’m stuck or struggling with a scene. We motivate each other, write with each other and talk about the things in our projects that frustrate us. Sometimes, we’ll just sit in the same space and write at the same time. It’s like the quietest party you’ve ever been to.

We also celebrate our successes! Whether it’s 500 words written or a book that’s getting published, it’s very important to have a group of people you can be excited with! Friends and family will get excited about big milestone, but the little ones are also important to keep in mind.

Do you have a writing group that you talk with? How do you support each others goals, big or small?

New Year, New Words

Last year, I started with a simple goal: 365 words a day, every day, for the entire year. The goal was to build up stamina and be consistent in forming writing habits. My goal was to go an entire year Raptor-Free (meaning that I don’t miss any days) and I actually managed to pull it off!

New Years Resolutions are always kind of hit and miss. I’m used to having a strong star followed by a slow decline. However, this resolution went very well! Below are some more elaborate statistics and facts.

Average Words Per Day: 1,092 Words
Best Day: August 20- 5,837 words
Worst Day: January 22- 376 words
Total for the year: 398,443 words

I feel like I learned two main things from the project. Firstly, I learned that consistency is a skill. Having accountability, in the company of other writing groups or personal family, was actually crucial in building my writing stamina.

The second thing is that there’s a difference between “Finding the Time” and “Making the Time” when it comes to writing. Even when I working full-time, I would wake up early to get my writing time in before going to the office. I know myself well enough to know that I wouldn’t want to write after working a full day. Waking up early to write was sometimes the best part of my day.

This year, I’m planning on doing more editing and submitting (gulp!) and I’m attempting to do all three things (Writing, Editing and Submitting) in a slightly more even distribution than just writing nothing but new material. I’m calling it the W.E.S.T. (Writing, Editing, Submitting Tally). I have a lot of raw ‘Novel Fodder’ to work with and I’m looking forward to tackling the new year with new opportunities to put my writing out there! If there are any other writers who want to join me in this (or attempt their own 365 for 365), feel free to let me know!

Thank you to everyone who’s stuck with me for 365 of 365! Stick around for more fiction, more thoughts and a lot more excitement in the coming year!

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