Tag: Writing Life

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?

Workin’ for a Living

“Don’t quit your day job.”

Every artist, comedian, musician or other creative has heard this at some point. It’s well-meaning advice in some cases, but sometimes given in a less friendly tone. This coming week, however, I am not taking that advice.

Yes, I’m leaving my current place of employment. Without going into too much detail, it was a good run, but there’s a time when things come to a natural stopping point and I felt that I was there. And while I’m not the first desk jockey with dreams of leaving their office with dramatic flair, I haven’t been the first writer to also shuffle papers during the day.

So, both as inspiration and a little brain storming for myself, here are some famous writers who started out pushing the 9-5. I stumbled on this interesting article, but here are some of my favorites!

Arthur Conan Doyle started his career as a surgeon. This actually makes a lot of sense considering Holmes’s famous sidekick was a surgeon as well. According to some lore, Holmes was actually based off of another surgeon that Doyle met who could analyze people and learn things like their hobbies, professions and living conditions.

Jack London was a self-proclaimed Oyster-Pirate, stealing oysters from oyster farms and selling them himself. Eventually, his piracy turned to honest sailing work that probably inspired his many adventure stories at sea.

Charles Dickens was a factory worker for a period of time. And by “period of time” I mean when he was 12-Years-Old and working in a factory. I can’t help but feel like this inspired the dynamic to the group of orphans in Oliver Twist. By the way, the name of one of his coworkers? Bob Fagin.

Jack Kerouac had a number of odd jobs, including dishwasher, night guard, fire lookout, deck hand and rail brake operator.

Stephen King– Famously, Steven King was a high school janitor while writing Carrie, what would become one of his classics.

Obviously, some of these aren’t very practical for me (though, Oyster Pirate sounds like a great career choice). But in a very real way, it’s comforting to know that there’s no one singular path in life. Whether that means you drop out of an Ivy League school and become a teacher like Robert Frost or start your career as a Theatre Critic writing in his spare time like Bram Stroker, if you have drive–and a lot of luck–you’re only a few steps away from the job of your dreams. For now I’ll just have to keep sending out resumes and keep writing in the early hours before the rest of the world wakes.

Spoilers (A Subject, Not Content)

If you’ve been near the Internet in the last few months, you’ve probably seen posts along the lines of “No Spoilers about XYZ” or similar. People do their very best to avoid ruining the big plot twist of a book, movie or TV Show. We’re all guilty of walking into the office and covering our ears to keep people from blabbing the big reveal. Reasonably, how long can we demand this as the standard?

Firstly, as soon as something comes out, you have to give at least as long as the media itself takes to absorb. A movie? Give it a couple days. TV show? At least a day. A book? Better be prepared to wait awhile. Even after these time durations, you’re only allowed to ask if someone has seen something. The most I tolerate after this period is “Oh, let me know when you’ve seen/read it!” I encourage excitement, but would much rather experience why I’m excited about it myself. This is the usually the first week. 

The second week gets a little fuzzier. By now, more people have viewed whatever media you’ve worked so hard to avoid. By this point, people still have to ask if anyone has seen it in the room before talking about it. At this point, it’s up to you to inform others of your intent and the responsibility they have in preventing spoiling your view experience. Don’t expect conversations to come to a screeching halt, but feel free take a walk about so people can share their excitement. Brace yourself, here comes the doozy…

Week three. Somehow, you’ve done it. The minefield that is the speed of Internet has not taken you out with a misplaced article title or untagged blog post. You’ve bobbed and weaved through conversations with friends and family and managed to stay spoiler free. Still, you better hurry. If you haven’t made time to see that movie/episode or made the time to read that book? You’re deep in the trenches of Spoiler Mountain. 

That, for me, is a good guideline for when you talk about new media. For books, I give it a little bit longer, but if you’re complaining about me spoiling Star Wars or Dark Knight Rises? You knew the risk going into this game. 

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?

 

Getting Motivated!

I hate alarm clocks. I hate the sounds they make. I hate the “Is it snoozed or is it off?” uncertainty. I hate how they always seem to go off right as you’re getting to a good part in your dream. But, I’ve recently decided to embrace my alarm clock and let it be my ally in my writing (so far, it’s an uneasy alliance but has promise for strong relations).

These last few days/weeks have been kind of rough. Work has been extra stressful and things have been kind of tricky to work out in other areas. My writing, sadly, has suffered because of this. So, I’ve decided to try a new approach. Screw inspiration, embrace the motivation and dedication. There are a few things that I’ve done in the past and will continue to do to make this a reality.

Firstly, I need a schedule again. This has been an issue for me in the past. I get flustered through out the week with a sporadic work schedule and weird morning shifts. So, I’m going to start using my time more efficiently. The blue is the time that I set aside for writing task: Querying Agents, working on a new project and writing blog posts (like this one here). It’s mostly and an attempt to stay in the mode of writing. Doing it first thing in the morning means I won’t be out of energy to do it when I come home at 6:30 or 8:00 at night. By making this schedule and keeping it, I’ll be able to establish a better sense of dedication to my work by sectioning off time at the beginning of the day to write something. I’m using iCal, but Google Calendars and other free apps are also good options.

The next big struggle is motivation. I find that seeing my progress is really helpful. Part of what makes Nanowrimo work really well for me is the accountability and daily goals that make is so much easier. A friend recently recommended the site Pacemaker (pacemaker.press) for developing and keeping a Writing Plan. You put in your goal, your timeframe, your pace preferences and it helps develop daily goals for you to aim for with writing (or any other goal). You can upload these goals directly into your calendar and update the site as you go along. As you can see, it’s pretty hit and miss for me (last month in particular, but yesterday was a great day).

Any art is a matter of habit. The more you do it, the better you get, the easier it is. The problem is waiting for inspiration, for those beautiful moments when the words come pouring out in a string of eloquence and elegance. But that only happens about 10% of the time you sit down to write. If you’re lucky. So, screw inspiration. If it comes it comes, but it’s up to the artist to be waiting for it when it arrives.