Tag: Writing Life

Reflecting on 2021

Once more, we’re rolling into the new year. To say that it’s been a rollercoaster feels like an understatement. So much has happened, both good and bad, but it’s been a year of growth.

Going into 2022, I’m trying to figure out exactly what my next big project is going to be. I know I want to keep writing, submitting, and working with other writers. It’s hard to set these goals early in the year because the last few years have made it clear that I can never be truly prepared for what the next year brings. The only things I can control are my habits, my time, and my writing. So, I think there are a few things that are going to happen this year:

First, I plan on submitting two times every month. After the September Submission Scramble, I realized that I can submit very easily before or after work, so I can’t really use that as an excuse anymore. In response to that, I’m going to be submitting two times every month (one short story submission and one novel submission).

Secondly, I’m going to try and have one large project that I’m gonna be working on in my off hours. I don’t have any big ideas yet, but I’m hoping that something will come when the holiday haze wears off (we really shouldn’t be required to do any work for December, honestly. How much work are you supposed to get done?) Recently, it feels like a lot of my stories have been stronger as snippets or scenes rather than whole stories, so I need to be better about refining the work into something cohesive.

Thirdly, I’ll be doing a lot of editing. I don’t wanna give anything away, but I have an idea I want to try and tackle and need some time to make it worthwhile. It’s been harder for me to focus on larger projects when it feels like I’m writing something new every day. I’m hoping a single project to unify everything will help me retain my focus and give me a through line rather than trying to pick up snippets over the course of a few days. I don’t know if this will translate to a schedule or deadlines, but I need to be smarter about the time I do spend away from the library desk. Hopefully, this will culminate in some more exciting stuff for the end of the year (or next year).

2020 was wild and 2021 felt like the aftershocks of an endless earthquake. I’d like to say that I hope 2022 will be better, but we can’t know for sure. Instead, I can only take hold of what I can control and focus on that to the best of my ability.

What are your goals for 2022, writing or otherwise?

After The Submission Scramble and Looking Forward

It has been a busy month! I recently moved and have been working a fair bit. Some of you may remember that I also undertook a project I was calling “The September Submission Scramble”. I’m proud to say that I finished and succeeded! Many magazine submissions, agent queries and contest entries later, I feel like I finished a lot over the course of the past month. I also feel like I was much more active.

The easiest way to win a card game is by holding most of the deck, right? Yes, technically, that’s not how you play cards, but you see my point? I feel like with submissions, you need to jump in if you want to play. I’ve always known that writing takes a surprising amount of luck, but the odds are better when you have a bigger sample size. The work I’ve been putting into this past month has been rewarding. It only takes ten minutes to get a query sent out, so I’ll probably be sending out a lot more of them. I highly recommend every writer try this. Pick a month and commit to submitting your poems, short fiction, novels, everything to anyone you think might publish it. The biggest problem is the fear of rejection, but I’m bracing myself for it.

That being said, I’m working on trying to figure out what the next month holds. Maybe some new short fiction to submit around or some more editing of older pieces. I’m half tempted to do Nanowrimo this year just to get the draft of something new out. Either way, I feel like I’m being a lot more active. Even if the choices I made this month were bad choices, at least I made them. I’m looking forward for what’s to come!

The Superb September Submission Scramble!

Be honest, you really opened this one for the alliteration, didn’t you?

Yes, friends, believe it or not, we have made it to September. The slow drudge of March 2020 has finally made it to September of 2021. I regret to say that my writing has had to take a back seat to a few things: a new job, finding a new apartment, and working on my mental and physical health. It’s been a busy time these past few months and my writing has suffered because of that. Not that I haven’t been writing or editing–I’ve been doing that almost daily since we were first told to stay home to help other people. But the work you never share never sees the light of day. Yes, I’m talking about submitting.

Whether your submitting a short story, flash fiction, or a novel, the process of submitting your work is daunting. It’s one thing to post my short little fiction pieces here so that people can get a taste of my writing, but presenting my work to an agent or editor with the sole purpose of them deciding if the piece’s worth? It’s terrifying! That being said, the easiest way to win at poker is to hold as many cards as you can. I know that’s against the rules, but that’s the thought behind the September Submission Scramble.

Every day this month, I will submit one thing to an agent, magazine or contest. I have a long backlog of things that have been rejected and edited, but I so rarely send them out for round two. Why? Fear, maybe. But that’s the point of the Scramble: submit with reckless abandon. If you get a rejection, I tell myself, you’re no worse off than if you don’t submit. If someone bites, you put your effort into it. So, I’m in the act of submitting as much as I can over the next month. Rejections, Acceptance, or Non-Responses: when there’s only three options? It doesn’t feel so bad. Try, Fail, Try Again, and Fail Better.

If you write, how are your submissions going? We’re entering magazine season again, so if anyone wants to join on, let me know! Part of the Scramble is to encourage each other to try.

The Editing Game

Earlier this month, I decided I wanted to take another crack at submitting my novel to agents and publishers, which means I’m back at editing again! With that in mind, I decided I wanted to share a few of my usual editing tricks for anyone who is working on Self-Editing their current projects!

  1. Read to an Audience:
    This is probably my favorite recent editing trick I’ve had the chance to use. Reading out loud makes sure you read and hear every word in a sentence just a first time reader will interpret it. It can also be a good time to get some positive reinforcement. We aren’t all lucky enough to have a captivated audience on hand, so feel free to use whatever is available. Do you have a pet? They’ll love the attention. A plant? Plants do grow better when you talk to them. Rubber Duck? Well, at least it won’t tell you that you’re a hack! (Though it might say you’re a quack.) Currently, I’m using my owl egg-timer that doubles as my Writing-Spring timer (his name is Ap-owl-o…I’m not taking notes).
  2. Highlight the Lines You Like, Not Just the Errors:
    It’s good to have some positive notes when going through your manuscript. Whenever I’m in a workshop, I’ll point out the lines of dialogue or prose that I really like so the notes I give aren’t just critiques. The same has since been applied to my own editing to give Future-Nick something to look forward to. It also helps remind me that there is a reason I love the story so much.
  3. Editing Somewhere Other Than Where You Write:
    A change in scenery can often be great for writing, but it’s also really good for editing. I write at the same spot every day, but editing requires a different mindset in order to do it effectively. I will edit on the couch, so that I can have a different set of eyes while editing. It’s almost like going to a different office to work out a problem rather than looking at the same four walls. Granted, I have a view of my editing space from my writing space, but it’s different enough that I’ll be able to put myself in a better mindset.
  4. Give Yourself A Deadline:
    Like any sort of “Working From Home” experience, it can be easy to give yourself abstract deadlines and set things aside for too long. Procrastination, after all, is a form of perfectionism and that’s what writing is all about. Instead, I make sure a date to have my editing done by so that I can be ready when it comes. More often than not, giving myself a deadline encourages me to finish a project early rather than stretch it out until the last minute. It’s easier to finish things if you plan things in advance.

What are some of your favorite self-editing tricks and tips?

Lunch Time Novelist

Let’s be honest. Having a writing success land into your lap is unlikely. It takes effort, luck, and time, which are resources few people have in spades when it comes to starting their writing careers. So, the solution is to work while writing and hope for the big break to come along. I’ve often called myself a “lunch break novelist”, taking time on paid breaks to sneak in a little bit of creative time to up my word count (even if it’s a few frantically written ideas on a scrap paper that I’ll have to decode later). With all of the jobs I’ve worked, I’ve decided to go through them all and list the pros and cons of each of the jobs I’ve worked and determine which is the best for burning the Creative Oil.

  1. Library Assistant – Where better to work on writing than in a building surrounded by books! The quiet atmosphere, the literary osmosis from having so many books pass through your hands and a first person perspective on what people are checking in and out on a regular basis! Learn from the best and find new books to read regularly.
    Pros: Quiet space, lots of inspiration, people to talk books with, and access to just about research material you could need! And, unlike a bookstore, there’s very rarely an exchange of currency for people to get upset over.
    Cons: Breaks are often short, hours can be erratic, and weekends are often spent in the stacks. The timing isn’t ideal, but if you can start and stop the writing process easily, it’s not a bad fit. Keep a notebook on your person for ideas and new authors to read!
  2. Office Work/Data Entry – The truly romantic story of an artist wading their way through the corporate swamps is the classic tale for every new writer. The hours are pretty regular and you can plan your time accordingly. Most offices have a break room as well, which can give you a small space to work over the course of a lunch break.
    Pros: Regular Schedule that’s easy to plan around. Nights and weekends can be committed to creative endeavors. If you can find an isolated spot with your laptop, you can get a good chunk of writing done without distractions like internet or minor household chores.
    Cons: Soul sucking work that can be creatively stifling. Mindlessly pushing numbers around or doing basic procedural work can make the creative part of your brain lethargic and tired. Make sure it’s an office where you can leave the work at work and preserve the writing time for writing. Nothing worse than saying “Someday” over and over again until someday becomes yesterday.
  3. Dishwasher/Restaurant Worker – I’ve worked in quite a few restaurants and it’s always come with it’s fair share of characters! Customers and coworkers alike can make for some interesting character fodder.
    Pros: Easily separate work and creative time, lots of time to think about stories and get inspired, lots of social interaction for dialogue study.
    Cons: No real ‘Break Room’ (usually an over turned bucket in the back), hard to stop work to scribble down ideas, mostly working nights/weekends can be overwhelming very quickly when the dinner rush hits, physically exhausting.

So, while I don’t think there’s a “Best Job” for writers, I think that each job has its pros and cons. Personally, I can’t see myself working anywhere other than a library and I think that it’s the best fit. There might be some writers who prefer having the consistent schedule of a desk job or the fast-paced environment of a restaurant. Any number of jobs have factors that can make them good or bad, but since no two writers are the same, there is no perfect job for all writers.

If you’re a writer, what parts of your job encourage or encumber your creative process?

Creative Combat

Every so often, when the stars align and timezones aren’t an encumbrance, I like to do creative things with other creative people. Whether it’s a battle for word count, a goal setting challenge or just doing something creative with someone to keep you accountable, I have a few friends I know I can count on for Creative Combat! If you want to feel motivated, here’s how you can do your own!

Everyone has their own project and they don’t always line up. Everyone has a project they’re working on: writing, editing, drawing, knitting, whatever! Everyone sets a goal, either as a time goal or something more specific like word count or pages edited. One friend and I like to add stakes to our little combat sessions (nothing serious beyond having to make our loss public on Facebook or Twitter). Then, the work begins. It’s best to set a timeframe, if only to check in with each other at a certain point.

I’m not a normally competitive person. I’m usually a fan of collaboration which makes writing an interesting choice, due to its solitary nature. However, having motivation with another person–even without stakes–is such a huge factor in my productivity sometimes. It can be hard when you’re working alone, so having someone else to work with is important. Accountability can be so hard (it’s half the reason I started working on this blog), but having someone you promised to work with can make that work more valuable. Even if it just means you have someone to consistently work with and share your struggles with, it beats sitting alone at the computer trying to will the words onto the screen.

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?

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?

Reflections: August

I was thinking about making yesterday’s giveaway announcement my post for the blog, but my completionism nature won out. I decided to take a quick moment just to give everyone an update on what’s going on so far.

The book is doing really well, in my opinion! There were a couple of minor hiccups and things that I might do differently next time (and, believe me, there will be a next time), but I feel like this has given me a massive boost in confidence in my writing. There’s a really big difference between having people read things you post for free and having them pay for something you wrote is a very different experience! I’ve been working on writing more books for the future and I’ve been submitting my work to more agents. The confidence boost has been huge and I am so appreciative of everyone who read my book and wrote reviews. You have made this experience so much more enjoyable and really lit the fire for me to keep working on my writing. So thank you! This would, quite literally, not be possible without you.

I’m in the process of moving (relocating in September), so I’m glad I’ve been able to get things with my book relatively stable in terms of things that are in my control. I’m gonna keep posting about it and appreciate each and every one of you who have helped spread the word. As of right now, I’m only able to get the news out by word of mouth and I’m so grateful you’ve been willing to give me a chance. So, thank you.

I will probably go back to more normal things (if such a thing ever exists again) after my move, but keep an eye out for my writing and other updates. And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Stay safe and stay well!

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