Category: Thoughts and Ramblings

Can I get a second opinon?

On Tuesday, I met a mermaid.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “It was January. How could he see a mermaid when they’ve all gone south for the winter?” I was quite surprised myself, but I managed to meet Georgia, who is a professional mermaid. In a combination of environmental advocacy and underwater performance, this mermaid travels around to aquariums and other public events to raise awareness about sea life and preserving the ocean. After talking with her for a while, I decided to add her to my list of experts.

Every author, whether writing fiction or non-fiction, should develop a list of experts. It’s impossible for everyone to know everything, but it is possible to know enough people that it’s nearly the same thing. I’ve been compiling a list of people who, in some way or another, are experts. Friends, family members, online and in person, I’ve been compiling a document of people I’ve met who are experts in something.

I’ve been talking with my friend who recently became a ship captain about which sails would be most functional on an airship. I approached a coworker and prefaced a question with “You’re nearly a mad scientist, what do you think of…?” I have two friends who, between them, speak the major Romance Languages and a fair amount of German. I’ve needed to assure my nurse and doctor friends I was asking questions, purely for fictional purposes. With only so much experience myself, I find that having a perspective from others (often globally) is crucial to creating real characters and stories.

The best source, arguably, is straight from the expert. If you want to know something, consult a specialist. And, since we all can’t have top scientists or historians on our phones to discuss fiction ideas, we need to find the experts in our own lives. I encourage everyone to create a list like this. Not only will it be helpful in your writing, but it will also lead to some really amazing conversations with friends who know about things you never even considered.

New Year’s Writer Resolutions!

Hello everyone! It has been…a while, hasn’t it?

Things on this end of the blog have been going at full speed! I had a wedding in Connecticut, immediately followed by the gauntlet of family holidays at home. Overall, my vacation was pretty action-packed.

Now that I’m back and a New Year has begun, I’ve got to start thinking ahead. So, below are some of my Writer Resolutions. I have a few goals outside of my writing right, but I would like to have a few writing specific goals that I can focus on and build towards. So, without further ado, Writer Resolutions 2018!

  1. Jump back into the world of agent queries and finding publishing opportunities. I’ve been putting this one off for far too long, but I’ve had a good long stint to let the book rest and settle, as well as some new edits to look into. Time to put on my war paint and buckle up for 2018!
  2. Be more aware of my writing weaknesses. No one wants to admit they need improvement, but I have some definite writing habits that need to be addressed. Trigger Happy Commas, Over Using Dialogue Tags, Weak Scenic Descriptions. These are all things I know need help and things I’ll be working to improve over the coming year of writing.
  3. Write freely. I want to keep posting the short stories and character sketches on here because it’s something that I enjoy doing. And I hope it’s something that you enjoy. I’m going to start doing 30 minutes of writing every day (forcing it into my schedule if I must).
  4. Write bravely. I need to remind myself that just because something hasn’t worked for me in the past doesn’t mean I can’t do it. I need to try and get out of my head and take risks when it comes to my work. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

So, those are my 2018 Writing Resolutions. What are some of yours?

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Video Games for Writing Tools

It’s no secret that I like video games. But one thing I love as much? Video game trailers.

One of the video games that constantly impresses me is Overwatch. In addition to big trailers for the game, they also have movies that highlight some of the characters and their backstory. I like watching these, both for the quality of the animation and the fun ways that they quickly show storytelling tools that writers should be aware of.

Take a look at this particular short about one of my favorite characters, Reinhardt.

What can we learn from this? This is a good example of a character arc. It’s short, sweet, and could use some more fleshing out. However, for the time that they used, it is a satisfying sequence towards character development. We start off with the young, cocky hero who’s a showboat and clearly a bit arrogant. But then, there’s an inciting action that eventually leads to Reinhardt having a realization on what his role is in the unit thanks to the help of an elder mentor. Again, short and concise, but a really lovely example of a satisfying character arc.

Here’s another one, featuring the loveable robot, The Last Bastion.

For me, this is a good example of two things: Storytelling Through Action and Effective Use of Flashbacks. Nothing is said in the entire video, but there’s a very clear story of what is happening. Some of it we fill in ourselves, knowing some of the lore of the Overwatch Universe, but it’s still a clear story told through action. They foreshadow the climax before jumping into a flashback to explain exactly what is going on for the rest of us. It’s a very short flashback, but its timing and use are very powerful and helpful to the story.

There are numerous other examples in the video game universe: betrayal, foreshadowing, worldbuilding, and many more elements that writers can learn from. What are some of your favorite video game trailers? What did you learn from them as a writer/storyteller?

Nanowrimo Advice!

It’s November and that means that many writers are looking at a Word Count Workout!

Yes, National Novel Writing Month (or Nanowrimo) is here again! Nanowrimo is a writing challenge that encourages writers to write 50,000 words over the course of a month. An incredible task for anyone in school or with a day job. Apart from that? Very few rules. Most people have a daily word count or try and push themselves over the course of a weekend (maybe scribbling along the side of their notebooks in class, I don’t know). Some places have meetups where people gather in a coffee shop or library, doing word battle with one another to try to get to their end goal! However you write, the point is that you’re writing!

I have done Nanowrimo 3 times in my life. My first attempt was in college. I honestly forget what it was about, but I failed. Miserably. It was a rough first go, but boy was it fun. So when I attempted the next year, I managed to pull it off! It was rough (to say the least) and it wasn’t pretty, but I had a draft! I still have and sometimes look back on it, trying to find that hunk of gold in the dirt. I rarely luck out. But think I had a noticeable improvement over the first and second attempt around attempt three. I think, honestly, this is the point of Nanowrimo. To just do something!

Lots of writers do Nanowrimo and I encourage others to do it as well! It’s fun, builds a community and motivates better than any other deadline. I know of a few books that have come from Nanowrimo (The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern, for one). This isn’t to say that every Nanowrimo novel will be a success, but it shows the potential. Every fifty thousand words of crap you write are better than the five hundred words of pure gold you never write.

So, here’s my number one piece of advice for the first-time (or veteran) Nanowrimo Participant! You have permission to suck. Fail, but do it gloriously. You will learn so much more from a failure than from a success. It’s not called “Nation Novel Writing and Editing Month” for a reason. Try, fail, revise, start over. If your first draft is perfect, you’ve overlooked something.

So, without further ado, get out there and writer, Word Warrior! Your story won’t write itself, no matter how hard we try. Good luck and Godspeed.

Drafts, Editing, and Rewriting

“Picking up your first copy of a book you wrote, if there’s one typo, it will be on the page that your new book falls open to the first time you pick it up.” – Neil Gaiman

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about how we each write/draft/edit. There were a few things tossed around, but one thing we really disagreed on was editing. My friend needs to have a formal, well-thought-out outline before she starts with any word. I, on the other hand, have a looser outline. We jokingly said that my first draft was my outline, though I think that’s true.

I like taking my first draft and using that as a template. I get to think about my overall idea. What works? What doesn’t? Why are these characters doing things that are not in character normally? Do they even need to do these things? I consider a lot while reading through the first draft. It’s freeing, knowing that I may trash 90% of what I’m working with, but still getting the opportunity to say “That doesn’t work for John, what can I do to fix it?”

After research and worldbuilding (depending on the story), my writing probably breaks down to 15% writing, 35% editing, and 50% rewriting.
(Frantically checks the math on a calculator.) Yeah, that’s about right. Or at least some similar breakdown.

Recently, I had the privilege of working with my friend Melanie Venhaus (@libraryofmars on twitter) and have a whole new set of edits to work with! I can’t recommend Melanie enough for anyone looking for a freelance editor. I’m very excited to break into these new edits and hopefully rekindle some of the love I’ve lost in the last few months.

At the end of the day, your first draft should never be your final draft. Whether you have an 18-page outline that transitions from scene to scene or a loose story arc sketch on a bar napkin, you should always check your book for things that need changing. Your brain will only let you see so much and there are better ways to find typos before picking up that first copy.

Terry Pratchett, An Author’s Legacy and The Steamroller

Recently, fantasy fans around the world cried out in agony as Terry Pratchett’s hard drive (containing 10 unfinished novels) was destroyed as per his will. As was his wish, the hard drive was crushed by a steamroller and, honestly, I can think of no better send off. But reading the news got me thinking about other authors and what it means for a work in progress when it’s creator, for whatever reason, ceases to be able to work on it. Is death really the end for an author?

Despite his death in 1973, J.R.R. Tolkien’s works are still published regularly with revivals of legends of Middle Earth or companion guides to his world. Easily the most recognizable name in fantasy today, Tolkien’s impact on the realm of fantasy cannot go unnoticed, his stories still fresh and new 44 years after he died. His world and words live on by those who tell his stories and build upon them either on the page or the big screen. The Children of Hurin or The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, for example, were both published within the last ten years, drawing on the influences from the legends in Tolkien’s The Silmarillion.

Douglas Adams, on the other hand, was continued with the best intentions. However, And Another Thing… didn’t quite have the same feel as the previous iterations as the rest of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series did. It was written with the best intentions to honor Adams and his legacy, but it fell flat, in my opinion. It’s a nice, neat continuation of the world of Douglas Adams, but it failed to have that same charm that I had grown to love while reading the books.

I feel that an author’s world doesn’t have to continue after their death. But the unfinished worlds, defined only by the author’s own imagination and intent, should be left. I respect and agree with Mr. Pratchett’s final wish, though I am sad to know we will never read them. But if that’s the end of his unfinished novels, I can think of no end more fitting than what he asked.

A Brief Announcement

Apologies for the past few posts for those who felt spammed. Technology, for all its delights and advantages, doesn’t always cooperate. That being said, this will be a brief announcement for today’s post.

I’ve decided, after some consideration and thought, that I’m going to be doing fewer blog posts on here. While I enjoy the act of posting and keeping my blog active, my current situation makes the blog a little overwhelming. So, starting this month, we’ll be on a new schedule to make things a little easier for me and a little more predictable for you.

The First Sunday of every month will be a general blog post about my writing life and all the Behind The Scenes stuff that people are curious about. I still enjoy those posts and feel like I’m connecting with people and letting them see the side of the writing life that is normally kept very private and unspoken. The Third Sunday will include a new piece of fiction for you to enjoy. I feel like my “One Fiction Piece A Month” pattern is good, but it’s getting lost in between all the other posts (ideally, this will also keep me posting lots of new things on a regular basis). I like posting on this blog, but I also feel like it should be a vessel for my writing, not just ramblings.

This schedule may change as my situation changes, but I feel for my health and this blog, that I need to slow down a little. I have no intention of stopping, just cutting myself some slack. My Twitter will still be very active and I’ll try and keep my Facebook more active. But coming up with totally new content every week is just a drain on resources I don’t have. So, I’m gonna try and step away from the keyboard once in a while.

So, this will be the Behind the Scenes post for the month. Stay tuned for the fiction piece!

Writing, Twitter and the Intersections

There’s arguing that social media is a very powerful tool, whether it’s individuals communicating to one another or a business trying to stand out through the digital marshes, social media like Facebook and Twitter have become cornerstones for our increasingly digital world. And there are so many ways to use it as a writer.

“But, Nick!” You say, “I heard social media was making us more distant. No one talks to each other anymore!”

This is only as true as the idea that newspapers no longer make us social. For anyone who is trying to make a name for themselves, especially as a small business, social media could make a huge difference! And what business is smaller than trying to make a career writing? So in the spirit of that, here are a few of the most popular ways I’ve seen writers use their 140 Characters on Twitter.

Updates: Whether it’s a tour, a new book or a word count, I always like seeing progress being made by my fellow wordsmiths. Hearing an author is going to be in town always gets me to check my schedule really quick, just to see if I can make their event. It’s also fun hearing about new projects or even chatting with other writers about their current progress. It’s important to celebrate little victories!

Give Aways: Everyone loves these. Well-established authors have the opportunity to do promotions, giveaways, and other prize opportunities! Usually, they ask for likes/retweets or something along those lines so that people can very easily enter drawings for special prizes!

Interacting: At the end of the day, this is what social media is all about. Tweeting other writers about projects, answering questions, replying to responses, these are all crucial elements to building a name. An author with fifty thousand followers doesn’t have any advantage over an author with fifty if they don’t interact with their followers in any way. Writing can be isolating and lonely, even if you love it. That’s why it’s important to interact (when you’re not writing) and build a respectful relationship with followers, friends, and fans! I always try and answer questions in the #WritersTellMe and #authorconfessions tags to get conversations going there.

Those are my three most regular uses for twitter as a writer. You can always follow me on twitter @NickWWriting if you aren’t already for regular blog updates (and occasional surprise interactions). If you’re a writer or some other self-promoting artist, how do you use your social media to boost yourself?

 

Burnout Recovery

Man this month, I tell ya.

After a thorough (counts on hands) three weeks of being understaffed and overworked, the day job really starts getting to you. When I’m not on my feet, most of my time is going to writing or errands (with the occasional bout of D&D mixed in for flavor). I’ll be very glad when this month is over and things make sense again. But I’m still trying to keep dedicated to my writing work.

Writing while combatting burnout is, to say the least, stressful. But I find myself doing a lot of plotting/planning while riding the bus or during my almost daily run. Sometimes though, I need to step away from the keyboard and lay on my couch, letting my mind wander.

Tea helps a lot. I find a great deal of relaxation in the actual tea making process. It’s a very sensory process: the smell of tea, the milk spiraling in as it mixes or honey dripping down into the mug, the sound of the boiling water, the warmth that fills the cup and (of course) the taste. It gives me a break to stop focusing on what I’m working on a difficult scene because I focus on the process. And then, once it’s finished, I have a nice cup of something hot to regain my focus.

Burnout happens. A lot. Writing is a very solitary profession and it’s not like you can pass it off to someone else and take a break. So, it’s important to say “Five Minute Break” when you’re fighting a scene. But it’s even more important to come back recharged for round two when you’ve finished making your tea. Just don’t forget it’s there. Nothing worse than cold tea.