Tag: Not Fiction

Piecing Together

Every writer–no matter where they are in their writing journey–has a Trunk Book. It’s a story you started when you weren’t ready and had to give up. A story you wrote that never quite came together or a series of ideas you didn’t know how to connect beyond a few scenes and a loose plot. Maybe time got the better of you, or a busy schedule determined that your story would be put on hold, or perhaps you just lost steam about it and moved on to another idea. The Lost Characters, the Abandoned Quests, and the Snippets of Dialogue that you loved all linger together in the bottom of a trunk: digital, physical, or mental.

Personally, I have a particular file on my computer that I call the Graveyard: projects that didn’t quite pan out, short things I wrote in high school, and things that just never settled quite right for whatever reason. Sometimes, like a literary corpse snatcher, I go back to old projects and do a bit of grave robbing to piece together old ideas into something new. I have found myself revisiting this folder a lot recently.

The question that hits me again and again is “What needs to be fixed?” before I can do anything with it. Is it the tone of the story? Does a character not have enough motivation or do their actions seem inconsistent? Who or what would be needed to drive the story forward and what is stagnant that doesn’t seem to fit the pace? Answering these questions help me decide what to do with these old cadavers of story. Some stay in the Graveyard to age a bit, but some seem ripe enough to try and resurrect.

I am, admittedly, guilty of Email Writing a Novel. While working desk jobs–stuck behind a computer with shifting workflow–I would often send emails to myself. When an idea hit me that was remotely more interesting than another spreadsheet or company email, I would email my personal email what was on my mind. Trapped behind a desk, I built gateways to my own adventures. I uncovered an old email thread I had written and decided to tackle it again.

The most important thing about Graveyards or Trunk Books is that it doesn’t destroy things that didn’t work at the time. It saves them so they can percolate in a safe place without constantly trying to fix what’s broken. The most important part of writing is–unsurprisingly–writing. If you’re stuck in a Trunk Book, sometimes it’s healthy to set it aside until you’re ready to stitch together a new monster. Hopefully, your results will be more beneficial than Dr. Frankenstein’s body building.

Arranging Titles

I’ve been considering re-shelving my books recently. Between a few moves, borrowing books and trying to construct a To Read Pile out of the book fort that is becoming my apartment, I’ve wanted to arrange them in a way that would please me and make them more accessable.

In my mind, there are two main obstacles when it comes to book shelving and both of them come from size. The first is oversized books: large in either length or width in a way that makes them difficult to shelve. The second is paperbacks, which are easy to find space for but don’t use all of the space efficiently. Bookshelves are designed for the larger end of books, but don’t always allow the user to optimize the space. So, how do I make all my books fit without losing too many in the process? Personally, I think bookshelves should come with mini-shelf attachments: just enough to hold another row of paperbacks a little above the row in front of it. This would really help the paperback problem to optimize the shelf space without having to double stack and lose the titles behind them. I tend to keep Oversized books on top of shelves with bookends to support them or arrange them in their own section. Dungeons and Dragons Manuals tend to make their own section next to my TV rather than a shelf (any Ikea bookshelf would crumble under the weight).

I like to arrange my books by subject as much as possible. Most of my books are fiction (Sci-Fi and Fantasy, mostly), but I also have books that are on different sciences, writing practices, history and mental health. With all the moves, my shelving recently has been “where’s the space?” and that hasn’t been working for me recently. I’d like to get that to be my main organization system and kind of build from there. Right now, I have a few paperbacks stacked on the shelf over my fireplace, but I want to try and work out something to prop up a second row of paperback for my regular bookshelves to make use of that space. I want to try and put all my nonfiction books together at the very least, but I have to take stock of what I have and what I don’t. With the holidays and my birthday approaching, I want to try and make any room I can for new additions to the collection.

How do you organize your books? Subject? Size? Author Name? Color?

The Sound of Rushing Deadlines

Douglas Adams once said “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” This sentiment feels no truer than when you first try to tackle a large project in a designated timeframe. And so, once again, we find ourselves nearly a week into Nanowrimo (or National Novel Writing Month, for those who aren’t in the know). For many, it’s a first foray into the world of intensive novel writing. For others, it’s a familiar kick in the pants to deal with the project they’ve been putting off doing (present company included). As such, I feel it’s important to discuss how to handle writing deadlines without wanting to pull all your hair out. As the days wind down to the final day of November, 

  1. Small chunks
    50,000 words sounds like a lot because it is! Can you think of 50,000 of anything you have on hand? Maybe you have a massive coin collection, or a hearty storage of raisins, or maybe just a bunch of small, pretty rocks. Regardless, picturing 50,000 of any of these things really puts the number into perspective! It is, after all, the minimum word count for a standard novel (and it’s not National Short Story Writing Month–that’s in May). 2,000 of something, however, is a bit more manageable to picture. 2,000 pennies is more than a handful, but you can still count them out with an end in sight. Making your goal something manageable by the deadline is a much easier–and healthier–way of looking at it. Spread it out into smaller chunks and you’ll feel a little less like you’re drowning in word debt. 
  2. Find a Partner
    Accountability is 9/10ths of the battle! It’s easy to tell yourself that you will catch up soon, but can you look in the eyes of a trusted friend and lie to them the same way? Better yet, you and a friend can have Writing Blocks together! I do these with friends from time to time. Often, we’ll do them with fairly low stakes involved (usually an admission of failure over social media or something similar). Working alone together makes the process feel a bit less isolated when you’re working your way through a particularly challenging writing slog. Furthermore, having someone to work with gives you someone to bounce ideas off of during breaks (or even just talking about what you want to have happen next to think about how to get there). 
  3. Keep a Schedule 
    Know thyself! If you know that coming home from work or school leaves you exhausted and vegetative, find a better time to write. I loved having lunchbreak writing sessions, but I also have an appreciation for the quiet mornings with just my words and a cup of hot tea. Additionally, setting aside time to think about your story can save time when you’re at your manuscript. Everyone knows your best ideas come when you’re not working on a thing, so keep a small notebook and spend some time to think through novel problems (in the shower, commuting, cooking, exercising or anywhere else you can spare a few brain cells to mull over your plot). Then, refer to your notebook during your designated writing time! Spend less time thinking about what you’re going to write and just put it to the page! 
  4. It’s OK to Play Catch Up
    An important thing to remember is that life happens. Doctor’s appointments show up. Work gets overwhelming. Time spent recovering is as valuable as time spent working. All that is to say, it’s OK to fall behind. You can settle in on a day off and really commit to playing some catch up. As daunting as, say 6,000 words may look at first, if you give yourself a good block of time to work it out, you can get into the grove and tackle it all at once. Your small chunks might not be the smallest at times, but if you can put aside a day to work on it, you’ll get there in no time. You don’t want to save it all for the last minute, but things pop up in life. 
  5. You’re Allowed to Change Deadlines
    OK, this is really only true if you have the luxury of setting your own deadlines, but sometimes you need to extend deadlines. With Nanowrimo especially, goals change. Maybe your 50,000 word story is gonna need to be 60,000…or 100,000! 50,000 words in 30 days is really just the first goal. It can be–and is–a flexible thing that changes as time goes on. Don’t restrain yourself to just 50,000 words or just 30 days if you think you can improve with more words and more time! The challenge isn’t set in stone. 

Nanowrimo is often a great kick in the pants for starting (or finishing) a project you’ve had rattling around in your brain for a while. If it’s your first, third, or five hundredth time trying to hit a big deadline like this, it’s meant to be for fun! Write your story as best you can and when you do, prepare yourself for NanoWriMoEdYe (National Novel Writing Month Editing Year (or years)). 

The Reading Nook

Every reader dreams of having a big, extravagant library: tall oak shelves, high-backed chairs, a crackling fireplace, and an impenetrable wall of books! But, some of us have…simpler budgets.
Whether you’re living in the library of your dreams or a small apartment, having a special reading nook is a great addition to any space. I’ve been slowly working to convert my balcony into a reading nook (though I will certainly have to reassess these plans when it starts to snow). I find that very few of my neighbors are out on their balconies with any regularity, so I enjoy going out there with my dinner for the evening and enjoying some time away from the perpetual screens that I find myself glued to all day. When I can catch it, I’ll go out and watch a nice thunderstorm rumble from the protected alcove. And, of course, when the weather is clear and there’s a nice breeze, there is nothing that quite compares with going outside with a good book.
The ambient sounds are good background for whatever I happen to be reading and it’s a nice mostly private space for me to relax with a book. I’ll go out with a cup of tea and a light snack to enjoy the cool mornings or evenings and unwind a bit before or after a long day. And on my days off, the balcony becomes a nice little outdoor reading nook.
A good reading nook should have adequate light, a comfortable seat, a nice temperature, and–naturally–something to read. It can be just about anywhere, but I recommend keeping it a bit separate from your sleeping space or anywhere with a lot of traffic in your house. If you can surround yourself with books? That’s great. If you can only bring out one book when you’re reading it? That’s also great! There’s no right or wrong way to have a reading nook (though we all dream of the dramatic ride on the library ladder). In the end, a reading nook is about making a comfortable space where you can enjoy a good story and let the outside world stay outside (or more outside, depending on your location).
Do you have a reading nook? What goes into your perfect reading spot?

The Joy of Tabletop Games

I’m suffering from a bit of a mental burnout for a few reasons, so this post is gonna be a bit shorter than usual.

But, we just wrapped up a game of Monster of the Week in a group I’ve been playing with for about 6 months and I just wanted to reiterate my absolute delight at playing Tabletop RPGs.

I’ve no doubt talked about this before, but I just love story-driven games. Whether it’s decided by dice or a video game, I love stories that are gamified in some way. I am one of those people who enjoys running a game as much as they enjoy playing in other people’s games! I think that RPGs give storytellers a lot of very powerful tools.

You want to get better at worldbuilding? Give your players a set space and they’ll push up against the glass asking “What’s that out there?” and then you have to come up with something. I’ve encountered this scenario a few times in various games and it’s led to some fantastic adventures all from one player seeing something and wanting to poke it. You can build an entire continent of adventure and then have to shift all your adventures to a different location because those pesky players keep finding something more interesting elsewhere. And they ask questions that you need to come up with answers to–usually on the spot. It makes you a more flexible storyteller and makes you more aware of the places your readers are going to look to poke holes in.

Want to get experience with tone and mood? You quickly realize how different the words you use when describing an evil dragon’s lair shifts to the comfortable inn where everyone hangs their hat. I’ve been at tables where everyone collectively holds their breath, just waiting for the next words out of the DMs mouth. That’s tension. Seeing a player care about characters in a moment of crisis can be so heartbreaking you’d swear they were worried about real people.

Speaking of characters, running a tabletop game will have you thinking of characters on the fly that you want to explore more because you keep peeling back layers. One guard could very quickly turn into a group favorite (sometimes even going along for the ride) by the few characterizations you give them. You learn how to quickly make people enjoy (or despise) the characters you want them to, not by telling them, but by showing them. It can be so rewarding to see characters learn to trust NPCs or see a PC’s relationship with another PC change as they adventure together. You learn what really makes people tick, especially when you ask your players what their characters feel in the moment.

Story is such a powerful tool for games. It gives your players a mission, a goal, a reason to get out of their sleepy hamlets and go fight a dragon. But for someone who is obsessed with story, it is a lesson in committing to the moment and resisting the urge to make it perfect. An NPC’s name will never change–especially if it makes everyone burst out laughing. You learn to let go and have fun. You learn that it doesn’t need to be perfect on the first draft. It just has to be there.

Editing is a different beast, of course, but we all have our dragons to slay.

The Hunt for an Agent Author

Well, here we are again. Once more, I’m at the starting line for a query letter. Definitely a lot of emotions coming up around this experience, but I know I need to do it. I wanted to talk a little bit about the agent hunting process of trying to find someone who you think will be a good fit for your work.

If the act of writing is pure creation, then the process of finding an agent is like an endless job hunt. The tried and true method is the query letter that you’ll send to agents before sending them a full manuscript. The point of a query letter is similar to a cover letter or resume. It tells the agent a bit about who you are, what your project is about, and why they should read your story. It helps to include books that are like yours, but I always have to rattle my brain to remember any books I’ve read.

It’s daunting in some ways, but like anything, it gets easier with practice and time. I’ve learned to develop a kind of ‘It Is What It Is” mentality when getting rejections from agents, but it’s never a fun thing. Due to the sheer volume, form letters are pretty common responses and they’re never very detailed. Still, I try to approach submitting like a gamble that improves your odds with more entries. The more queries you send out the more likely someone will take an interest in your project. It’s a numbers game and no one really likes those games. Still, there’s always that magical one.

Query writing could easily be an entire semester’s worth of college courses and there’s no formula to do it. Even if there was a formula, agents would no doubt hate the formula after reading seventeen a day. Trying to make yourself stand out isn’t easy, but it’s a worthwhile endeavor in the end. I try to think of it as writing it for a friend and that lessens the pressure a bit. Still, it’s intimidating to feel like you’re presenting yourself to a gatekeeper towards publication. All that can be done is write, rinse, and repeat.

What’s your experience with query letters? Is it something you ever learned how to do or wanted to do?

The Mini-Writing Retreat

For the last few months, I’ve been trying to think of ways to go on a writing retreat. It sounds quite appealing: arrive at a picturesque location, enjoy some shop talk with other storytellers, maybe hear an inspiring lecture, then buckle down with some well-deserved writing time! Whether it’s three days, a week, or more, the prospect of being in a self-imposed creative exile certainly sounds like the path of a true artist. Sadly, that’s not always available. Even three days is a long time when you don’t have the resources. Even if you can sacrifice a whole weekend for a writing retreat, you still might feel compelled to do errands, not to mention that you’d have to be able to easily seclude yourself from the day-to-day if you can’t afford to physically distance yourself from the distractions you love. These past few weekends, I started doing Mini-Writing Retreats. While the romantic notion of going away for weeks at a time locked in the struggles of creating is not feasible for me at the moment, I can usually find an open day in my weekly schedule. So, I’ve started committing myself to my writing time again. If you’re interested in creating a Mini-Writing Retreat for yourself, here’s how mine usually goes down.  

Before: The days before I like to take care of things like food shopping, cleaning, and other little chores that might distract me. If I have the time to make a few meals I’ll do that and make sure the dishwasher is empty. Nothing throws off your rhythm like the temptation of something you “have to get done.” Plan out your meals and a couple of snacks so you don’t drift over to the fridge every five minutes to browse (and if you’re like me, grab something sweet to look forward to at the end of the day). Prepare to go social media dark for the day of, to ensure that all your distractions are limited, if not completely gone! 

Day of:
5:30- Wake up. I know some of you are already rolling your eyes, but trust me. The silence of the very early morning is the best time to get in the mindset. Make yourself a pot of tea or coffee, make some breakfast (not just cereal), and enjoy a bit of relaxation before the retreat truly begins.  

6:00-8:00- Writing. Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of editing, but commit some time to your work in progress. Actual work, not just mood boards or Spotify playlists. Put on some meditative music or something else instrumental to help set the writing mood if that helps.  

8:00-9:30- Break and Walk. I like to get some steps in and let my brain work out any story problems I might encounter in those first hours’ worth of work. There’s a trail near my apartment that takes a little over an hour to make a loop of, so I’ll do that followed by a shower and getting dressed in real clothes (sweatpants are only acceptable for so long, even if you don’t plan to leave the house).  

9:30-1:00 Writing. Get back to it! This is why you’re here!  

1:00-2:00 Lunch. Break out one of those premade meals and sit with it away from your writing space. Let your mind relax a bit and give yourself a proper lunch break. Some light reading is suggested or even a quick writing lecture on YouTube to further inspire you. Set a timer, though. Can’t fall too far down the black hole. 

2:00-5:00 Writing, writing, writing! 

5:00-5:30 dinner. Pop out another pre-made meal and give yourself a quick dinner break to mull over your last few story problems.  

5:30-7:00 Last Writing Sprint. Wrap up whatever you’re working on.  

I usually like to wind down afterward with a nice, sweet treat and a movie. After all, you just worked a full day!  Congratulate yourself on an excellent writing retreat and start thinking about when you’re gonna do your next!  Have you ever given yourself a Mini-Writing Retreat? Have you ever been on a professionally hosted writing retreat?  

Razor Sharp Focus

It’s so easy to feel like writing is something that can just be jumped into. We like to think of it like sky diving, a story idea taking us up and then we free fall as the words pour out of us in a smooth, endless string that eventually forms a story. Trying to keep that focus can prove to be the most challenging part. In an age of endless texting, social media notifications or the dreaded ‘just one quick video for ‘research”, it is so easy to drift off from a blank writing document. I think–like many writers joke about–most of my chores around the apartment get done in the time that I had set aside for writing (“Just gonna do the dishes real quick”). Even grabbing a fresh cup of tea is a potential disaster for distractions on the way to and from the kitchen.

If I have a good stretch of time off during the day, I like to try and set some of it aside for writing. To stay in the habit I’ll write a little each morning before work (usually not much), but if I have a day off (from library work or volunteer work), I’ll carve out a good chunk of time for writing. To make the most of it, I do everything I can to settle into the space before getting to work.

I always start with a fresh cup of tea. It’s usually very meditative and slows my pace long enough to think about where the story is and where I think it should go during the next few steps. I’ve always found the process of tea very calming: having to wait for the water, the feeling of a tea mug, the warmth of the boiled water, and all the smells that come from that first, fresh pour. I’ll also grab a snack so I’ll have one less excuse to get up at some point during my writing session (recent snack of choice? Peanut Butter Pretzels).

Something that I do struggle with is my mind wandering. I’ll put on music if there’s a certain mood that I’m going for, but I also enjoy listening to a few podcasts while writing. Some of my favorite podcasts to write to come from the McElroy brothers since I can kind of tune in and out without missing too much of the story. I jokingly call it the Golden Retriever Effect (ya know, like when you turn on the TV for your dog so they don’t feel like they’re alone? Kinda like that).

Making the most out of the time available is very important. Focus can be really hard to master, but giving yourself a conducive writing space is the easiest way to find your rhythm and stick with it. Forming a mental bubble around your space is more than just a good writing practice, it’s a survival tactic to keep your focus on what’s important!

What rituals/things do you do to make your writing space the most efficient it can be?

The Lunch Break Novelist

When I was working for a court reporting company, I called myself a Lunch Break Novelist. Each day, on my breaks and lunch, I would eat quickly and the break out my laptop to get some writing done while on my lunch break. On a good day, I could polish off a solid 700 words that I was satisfied with before having to head back to my desk. I’d spend time first thing in the morning and pick up right where I left off on my lunch and again when I got home. Some days were better than others, but I was usually able to come up with something by the end of the day.

One thing I see a lot when I talk with non-writers is “I just don’t have the time” as a popular excuse. The reality is that there’s always time. Five minutes here, thirty minutes there, another twenty at the end of the day–it adds up quicker than a lot of people realize. Yes, every writer would love to have the experience of getting into the flow state and write thousands of words over the course of the day, but that almost never happens (even with all the time in the world).

As I transition into working more hours at the library, I’ve been working on finding the time through out the course of the day. I’ve been practicing the idea of “Showing Up” rather than making a scheduled commitment. Rather than over exerting myself to get to a word count every day, I’ve been trying to get more into the mind set of putting time to it. It’s been easier to put aside time before work and wake up to ensure I can put the time into it. My breaks at the library now are too short to properly spend time on it, but I’m hoping to get back into the habit of being a Lunch Break Novelist (or at least a Lunch Break Editor).

Time is funny like that. While it is infinite by definition, we’ve come to treat it as a rarity. If we don’t have hours to spend on something, we question if we’re really committed to it. The reality is that there are hours we can spend on something, but they’re very rarely all in one place. It’s all about piecing things together and making the time. Five minutes a day with a notebook and pencil can add up faster than you think.

Are you a Lunch Time Novelist? Where do you find or make the time to commit to your writing?

Surprise Book Feelings!

Hello again, friends!

Today, I’m gonna talk a little about reading. Shouldn’t be surprising on a writing blog that I do enjoy the occasional book with a mug of tea, but I feel like I don’t really talk about it enough. I’d like to talk about a very specific experience I had recently, as well as give a little reading recommendation while I’m at it.

I recently encountered the book Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. I’d heard of it from several people and decided to check it out for the first time! The basic premise is “What happens to all those kids who go through portal fantasies and have to come back to the ‘real’ world?” Think of Alice from Alice in Wonderland coming back from her adventures, then running into the Pevensie children from Narnia and forming a little support group. This book has lots of great things: a killer premise, likable characters, and an engaging plot! Aside from all this, there is a trans character and an actual asexual character! Not in the wishy-washy ‘Head Canon’ kind of way, but the character describes herself and her asexuality on the page for everyone to see. I don’t get to enjoy that very often, so it was a real delight to have that come up! But what really hit me was the ending. I won’t spoil things because I think everyone should read this book right away, but it ended very quickly and I sat up and said “No! I’m not ready to go!”

And what struck me as funny was that feeling was a huge point of the character’s struggle. They weren’t ready to leave their worlds behind, but they were booted back to reality. I’m not sure if this was by design, but in that moment of reading the last words, I finally understood what the characters were grappling with. I wanted nothing more than to go back into the world I’d just been dropped from and continue the adventures.

Luckily for me, I don’t have to wait for a magic door to take me back. McGuire has several more books in this series and I look forward to reading those as soon as I can.

Have you read this book? What did you think? Do you want to see more book reviews like this? Let me know!

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