Tag: Writing Life

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!

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!

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?

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?

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!

What’re you workin’ on?

Anyone who’s a creative (visual artist, writer, musician) dreads and fears this question. How do you consolidate weeks, months or years worth of work into a few sentences? It’s daunting, especially when you’re trying to justify all the time and effort spent making your art.

For me, answering this question results in a few vaguely connected sentences about what I’m currently working on. Usually, it ends with ‘…or something like that, I’m still working on it.’ This year in particular, with my goal to write four hundred words a day, I have three or four projects cooking at any given time. Either short stories or novel length projects, drafting has been my main goal this year. The answer to this question changes so often, it could be one thing during one week and something completely different not long after. So, I usually try to mention whatever project I’m working on: Dinosaur Westerns, Endless Summers, Werewolves, Fauns in the Modern World, or whatever else might draw someone’s interest.

As much as I’m enjoying my writing streak (which I plan to go more in depth about in January), I’m also looking forward to being able to sit with what I’ve written and really make sense of it all. I think a lot of artists feel this way at some point: so many rough ideas, sketches or tunes that you need to just get out on paper. In a way, it’s freeing to do it, but there’s so much going on that it’s hard to make sense of it all at once.

Hitting the Books…

Recently, I’ve been doing some subjects that require some substantial research. Pirates, cowboys, space travel…I’m willing to bet my search history looks like an eclectic hummingbird buzzing from article to article for an information high.

I’m always a fan of using libraries and will usually check out a few books on new subject when I first start working on a story. I’m also a big fan of documentaries and YouTube videos from historians. A favorite channel of mine is ‘It’s History’. Seriously, if you have an afternoon, jump on down that rabbit hole.

I love talking with other writers about things they’ve searched for for the purpose of a story. Below are a couple of examples of questions I or my writer friends have researched for in the pursuit of fiction.

“How much does an elephant cost?”
“What bones could you lose in your hand and still have it work?”
“How much is a human liver worth?”
“What poisons can be transferred by touch?”
“How did pirates get their peg legs?”
“What’s the cost of cocaine in 1975?”
“How long can a person survive in subzero temperatures?”
“How to survive a bear attack?”

I always feel like I should end every search with “it’s OK, I’m a writer!” What’s some of the weird questions that your research has brought you to?