Tag: writing

Just Finish!

I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about this before, but I am a firm believer in finishing projects. Recently, I’ve been struggling to finish a project I started working on earlier this year. There’ve been a few natural hiccups (including getting all four wisdom teeth out), but I feel like my writing has been something I’ve had to wrestle every morning to get it going. I don’t think it’s burn out, but let’s be honest, I think everyone is a little burnt out more these days considering it’s been over a year since March 2020 started and it still feels like we haven’t gotten into April yet.

Still, I’ve been doing my best to write something every day. I’ve been tempted to put it away and start something, but I really enjoy the characters I’m working with and want to give them justice. The easiest way to keep writing is to just finish a draft and remember that you’re going to fix the parts you don’t like later. I feel like my first draft is really an opportunity to explore the characters in a situation and figure out what they should do or want to do. My current problem is pacing, so I have plans to work with that frame of mind and try to fix it all later. If I only ever wrote when I knew I what I was doing? I doubt I’d ever truly get the the work done.

There’s a saying about “You can’t polish crap”. The problem with that is that it’s easier to polish crap than it is to polish nothing.

What do you think? Agree or Disagree? If a project isn’t working for you do you still try to finish it or do you find it better to shelve things and let them stew a little?

Plotting and Choices

A story’s core comes from the plot. Whether it’s a story about characters or a story about events, a true story begins with something happening. It can be as simple as a character has their wallet stolen or as complex as an attempted assassination of a young monarch. Even if the character doesn’t do anything beyond sitting at the kitchen table contemplating their lost wallet, it’s still a story instigated by something. If nothing happens in a story, there is no plot. So, where does plot come from?

For me, plot comes from conflict and breaking of usual patterns. It comes down to finding the one thing that can make the character’s day, week, or life worse and pulling at that thread. What they do from there becomes the plot. They could make allies or enemies, find a clue or get more lost, succeed or fail. The inciting incident is the plot, but the character’s choices are the story.

A good story has a “Try-Fail” cycle, where even if a character succeeds, they find their in a new circumstance. But the plot comes from the character trying, failing, trying again, and failing again until they succeed. Plot points are choices and their decisions and reactions create more plot points for them to choose between!

Recently, on my twitter, I started playing a Choose Your Own Adventure story that I wrote out. Combining the challenge of interesting choices and hyper-short format, I find that the most interesting thing is what people choose. Sometimes, it’s an undisputed agreement. Sometimes, people will lead one way or the other (requiring me to make a coin flip to decide where the story goes). It’s fun to think about how this is all spreading all the way that people naturally want to explore the space of a story.

What makes a good story for you? Does the character need to succeed after a certain number of tries or does the uncertainty make you want to keep reading? Is the hope of success enough to overpower the fear of failure?

New Years Words

Hello everyone!

First of all, I’m cautiously optimistic about this year. I spent a quiet night in so we can sneak up slowly on 2021 without scaring it off. As long as we don’t open any more mummy tombs, I think we got a good chance to enjoy this year! I normally like to take this time of the year to consider my goals as a writer and what I’m going to do to meet those goals.

First and foremost, I got the publishing itch again for sure! I learned a lot by self-publishing and hope to use that for all my future projects. It was a good experience and I definitely have that itch to send a book out into the world again. Whether that means another self-published book or something different, I’m still not sure, but I hope to write and create more as the year progresses. I got some stuff I’ve been working on, so I’m excited to keep working with it. I think this was the best possible time to try self-publishing, given the current situation of…everything. I have a ton of ideas and still want to keep shooting for traditional publishing, so I’m going to push for that as well.

I want to write and submit more short stories to magazines and things like that. I enjoy giving out little snippets of my writing for free here, but I’m hoping to grow my audience a bit more this year. As it stands, my current mailing list can be easily reached through my personal Facebook, so I’m planning on trying to increase my followers (or site traffic) a bit more. I have some things in the works on how to pull this off, but it’s going to be a constant goal through out 2021.

2020 was, in short, awful. That being said, I’m glad it’s in the rearview and I can start focusing more on the future. I’m in a better place than I was at the beginning of the year, so I hope to ride that momentum and encourage more creativity. My body has been so focused on survival for the past year that I want to get into a position where I can thrive. What are your 2021 goals?

The Pirate in the Stables

This idea came to me while I was looking for some volunteer opportunities to fill some time. There was a retired horse rescue that got me wondering about what characters I’d put there. The thought of a pirate crossed my mind, so I started playing with this one. It seemed like a fun idea, so he might come back in another story one day.

The Pirate in the StablesDownload

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?

To War Each Day

Today’s story is about a young couple trying to live with particularly troublesome wood sprites. I always love the mix of fantasy and reality that urban fantasy offers. Most of the time, it seems to focus on the ‘Sexy Vampires’ or ‘Drug Dealing Warlock’ aspects of urban fantasy, but I feel like there are more options in even the little aspects of living with the fantastical.

To War Each Day…Download

Found Mysteries

Hello Everyone!

I’m making an announcement here that Found Mysteries: The Rebirth of Violet Franklin and Other Tales will be available for purchase in 1 Week!

I still can’t get enough of this amazing cover design by Emily Congdon!

I’m still working out a few last-minute details (Covid-19 really gummed up the process and that’s completely understandable), but I’m thinking everything should be on schedule! Keep an eye out for more information as we approach the release and the time after when we’ll be having a giveaway!

Found Mysteries Update

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing well in these strange times. I wanted to take a minute to inform everyone about the upcoming release of my novella set, Found Mysteries. The official release date is June 30th, so mark your calendars and keep an eye out for updates! I’m very excited to share this with all of you and hope you enjoy it!

Additionally, there will be a special contest for a beautiful 12in x 16in Print based on the cover with a quote from the book. A special thanks to Emily Congdon for helping design this cover and the subsequent poster. The rules for the contest will be explained more thoroughly later on, as well as how/where you can get your hands on your own copy of the book!

Stay safe, Stay Well!

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