And with this ends National Novel Writing Month. There is still one day left in the month but I'll be busy working on the rest of the Novel Series for 2013 so I can start posting those when I come back from holidays. I need to add four. Ha.
Anyway, in keeping with tradition this is the final update for NaNo2013. Week one, week two, and week three can be found by clicking the links.
Word count: 250,209
Goal: 250,000
Words Needed: NONE. I'm 209 over. ;)
Novels: Novel 1: Seeker (complete as of Nov. 8): Sequel to Seer. Novel 2: Face Snatcher (complete as of Nov. 17). Novel 3: Hangings: Sequel to Face Snatcher (complete as of Nov. 25) and as a padding a continuation to Lies, the novel I did for April's Camp NaNo.
Plot so far: As stated in the Week One Post: you'll have to wait and check out the rest of the novel series coming in December.
Thoughts of the week: I FREAKING DID IT! I hit the 250,000 words with a day to spare. A day. ONE DAY to spare. Normally I have a week or something after I count up all the days I didn't write. But no, there were no spare days. I couldn't afford taking a week off because of life.
But that doesn't matter. Life happened and I still got 250,000 words. I finished THREE NOVELS for crying out loud at a pace that was both fast and allowed me to deliver my normal quality of first draft. That means all three novels are editing for weird sentences, spelling, grammar, wrong words, repetitive words, useless scenes, and all that other stuff. Seeker is probably the most "edited" of the three. Face Snatcher needs something minor added to tie up a subplot that's probably not worth worrying about. Hangings has to be looked through for date changes as I made them important about half way through and didn't go back (yet) to fix them. I think that's the only thing wrong in Hangings.
Speaking of, Hangings ended climatically. James' thoughts while he was chasing the unsub down were awesome. The description was right on. And the unsub was caught so hey, it's all good. Actually, all four of them (Mia, Brown, McGregor and James) were spot on and they got to interact with each other on a more personal level. The scenes with Mia and McGregor were great, they have such good chemistry considering they just started becoming friends. Brown is just, he's awesome. As a unit they're great. They all have weaknesses (Mia can't run, James can't shoot, Brown doesn't leave his office, and McGregor is anti-social) but someone on the team can pick up the slack (Mia can shoot, James can run, McGregor will leave her office and Brown is oddly more social).
The only disappointment this week was the realization that I couldn't start Dryer (book 3 in the series) because I just wouldn't have had the time. I would have had to force myself to stop right when it started getting interesting then leave it for a week. I just can't do that. With only 5 days to write as well as packing and other preparations for a trip I'm going on to do: it couldn't be done. I knew my limit.
I know my limit. That is, I know now that anything over 250K in a month is not possible for me. Not with my life the way it is now. If I was a full-time author and didn't have to work 9AM to 5PM to, you know, live, then yeah. I could pull off more than 250K. But, seeing as I have a full time job the 250K is all that can come out especially with life being life.
Now I'm sure next year I won't have to buy any new appliances so that gives me an extra two days or so. But I could have used those two days between novels. It would have helped my brain.
I'm also sure that next year I might not have certain time constraints. Heck, I might not be in the same job and could be writing full time. I do know that as it stands right now my goal for next NaNo will be 250,000 words.
This doesn't mean I'm going to wait until then to write Dryer and the other 10 books in the series. Oh no. I'm once again doing Milwordy. I plan to write two books a month (about 140,000 to 160,000 words a month) until the entire series (13 books) is done. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen but I want to be back into fantasy and sci-fi by the summer. I do have this feeling that once I get back from my vacation that I'll start and finish Dryer. Maybe. My hands are hoping not.
Until next time: Comments, questions, rants, rage and everything in between can be directed to the comments.
Showing posts with label plot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plot. Show all posts
Friday, November 29, 2013
Friday, November 22, 2013
NaNoWriMo 2013: Week Three
In keeping with tradition this is my update for NaNo Week 3. Week one and week two can be found by clicking the links.
Word count: 183,323
Goal: 250,000
Words Needed: 66,677 (Haha, YES! I love that number)
Novels: Novel 1: Seeker (complete as of Nov. 8): Sequel to Seer. Novel 2: Face Snatcher (complete as of Nov. 17). Novel 3: Hangings: Sequel to Face Snatcher
Plot so far: As stated in the Week One Post: you'll have to wait and check out the rest of the novel series coming in December.
Thoughts of the week: Holy freaking crap I'm tired. I think the sheer volume of what I've written has made me bloody exhausted. Adding to the writing front I needed to go out and get a new fridge, a new TV, go to a few social events and yeah. So it's been a busy month for this event but I'm not lowering my goal and I WILL get it.
I was happy to finish Face Snatcher. It ended well and left a bit of a cliff hanger for Hangings. Some people read my last lines and the excerpts I have on the NaNo board and liked them. It was encouraging.
Discouraging is the fact that if I want to hit 200K by tonight at midnight I have to write about 17,000 words. That's not happening in 4.5 hours. Even at my top speeds I can't do that. It's been a bad week as I took Monday night off from sheer tiredness. I couldn't catch up the rest of the nights (only getting 7K when I needed 9K or something) and the daily online word counter I've been using since January 1 is giving a 503 error every time I try to log in. Luckily it didn't keep track of monthly totals so I've still got my overall total if I add the monthly totals I've been keeping track of.
Encouraging: The throw-away character that was introduced in Face Snatcher is an important minor in Hangings which is awesome because I had a feeling that minor character would be someone's favorite. Kind of like Matt from Death Note. He had one or two scenes and he's one of the more popular characters. This was what David (the throw-away character) would become so I made him important. I'm sure he doesn't like it because I'm being mean to him but at least he gets spotlight unlike the many throw-away police officers and forensic people.
Like Face Snatcher, Hangings has a lot of plot going on in few words. It's just over 24,000 and so much has happened. I'm sure that it'll end like it's prequel: fewer things happening but everything being wrapped up in a climatic final chase. The ending for Face Snatcher was a bit anti-climatic (in my mind) as the unsub did cooperate and let himself be taken in. I'm not sure if Hangings unsub will do the same as the only thing I know for sure is that they'll catch the guy. Said guy's motivation for killing these poor people has changed twice all ready so yeah.
Hangings is the least planned of the series but as I found out in Face Snatcher my characters will do as they darn well please, including changing the plot enough so the conversations I did write prior to NaNo didn't actually work as the characterization changed.
With all that said, until next time: Comments, questions, rants, rage and everything in between can be directed to the comments.
Word count: 183,323
Goal: 250,000
Words Needed: 66,677 (Haha, YES! I love that number)
Novels: Novel 1: Seeker (complete as of Nov. 8): Sequel to Seer. Novel 2: Face Snatcher (complete as of Nov. 17). Novel 3: Hangings: Sequel to Face Snatcher
Plot so far: As stated in the Week One Post: you'll have to wait and check out the rest of the novel series coming in December.
Thoughts of the week: Holy freaking crap I'm tired. I think the sheer volume of what I've written has made me bloody exhausted. Adding to the writing front I needed to go out and get a new fridge, a new TV, go to a few social events and yeah. So it's been a busy month for this event but I'm not lowering my goal and I WILL get it.
I was happy to finish Face Snatcher. It ended well and left a bit of a cliff hanger for Hangings. Some people read my last lines and the excerpts I have on the NaNo board and liked them. It was encouraging.
Discouraging is the fact that if I want to hit 200K by tonight at midnight I have to write about 17,000 words. That's not happening in 4.5 hours. Even at my top speeds I can't do that. It's been a bad week as I took Monday night off from sheer tiredness. I couldn't catch up the rest of the nights (only getting 7K when I needed 9K or something) and the daily online word counter I've been using since January 1 is giving a 503 error every time I try to log in. Luckily it didn't keep track of monthly totals so I've still got my overall total if I add the monthly totals I've been keeping track of.
Encouraging: The throw-away character that was introduced in Face Snatcher is an important minor in Hangings which is awesome because I had a feeling that minor character would be someone's favorite. Kind of like Matt from Death Note. He had one or two scenes and he's one of the more popular characters. This was what David (the throw-away character) would become so I made him important. I'm sure he doesn't like it because I'm being mean to him but at least he gets spotlight unlike the many throw-away police officers and forensic people.
Like Face Snatcher, Hangings has a lot of plot going on in few words. It's just over 24,000 and so much has happened. I'm sure that it'll end like it's prequel: fewer things happening but everything being wrapped up in a climatic final chase. The ending for Face Snatcher was a bit anti-climatic (in my mind) as the unsub did cooperate and let himself be taken in. I'm not sure if Hangings unsub will do the same as the only thing I know for sure is that they'll catch the guy. Said guy's motivation for killing these poor people has changed twice all ready so yeah.
Hangings is the least planned of the series but as I found out in Face Snatcher my characters will do as they darn well please, including changing the plot enough so the conversations I did write prior to NaNo didn't actually work as the characterization changed.
With all that said, until next time: Comments, questions, rants, rage and everything in between can be directed to the comments.
Friday, November 15, 2013
NaNoWriMo 2013: Week Two
As I write these words week two of NaNoWriMo is ending, well for me. It officially ends Sunday at midnight but I'm a weird one when it comes to counting things. The explanation (and other fun stuff) for that is in the Week One post.
Keeping up with my tradition of updating weekly during NaNo, here we go:
Word Count: 133,317
Goal: 250,000
Words Needed: 116,683 (I'm over half-done. YAY!)
Novels: Novel 1: Seeker (complete as of Nov. 8): Sequel to Seer. Novel 2: Face Snatcher which is the first book in a 13 book crime fiction series. Yeah, 13, cuz again: I have a weird thing for numbers.
Plot so far: As stated in the Week One Post: you'll have to wait and check out the rest of the novel series coming in December.
Thoughts of the week: I was ecstatic when I finished Seeker. Seriously, I put to rest characters that have been in my head just about my entire writing career and have been with me through three restarts. It was a bitter-sweet ending: good that it was over but I'll miss Dawn, Ice and the crew.
Then I started Face Snatcher and wrote about 21,000 words on it on Nov 9. I also realized how freaking detailed crime fiction is. After the first Saturday on it, I took the Sunday off (for me) and wrote 7K. I also made a folder within my "Detective Series" folder for Face Snatcher and all subsequent novels. That's right: each novel in the series has its own folder.
Why? Well. I have a list of: victims, witnesses, the story itself, and other important points in that folder. I can guarantee that each story will need it's own victim and witness list so I can do these things right. Adding to that in the main folder I've got the plot for all 13 novels as well as another list of all the police and other detectives I've mentioned.
This week was Hell. Again. I got so discouraged when I realized how freaking much there was to remember when writing crime fiction until Mia, my FMC in the series gave an idea: make a list. So now for each chapter I'm starting it with a list of things for my characters to do and checking things off on the way. It helped that I had plotted the MC's being new to big cases so they're over-whelmed and needed a list of things to check on. We're going to get better together. Ha.
My hands still hurt. My wrists are in pain. I've slowed down my pace so I can produce a draft that's better than a first draft (which is what I normally aim for anyway), so I need more time to write while producing a few hundred less words. That doesn't mean I'm not writing huge amounts. If I'm not researching something mundane (IE: getting distracted and needed to check on something when I don't have to) I can still get 2,000 words an hour. My lowest word count was 1,400 in an hour. Highest was over 3,000. Anyway, let's move on.
The good news is that I'm about a day ahead of where I should be. The better news is that I don't think I'm too busy this weekend so I'm going to finish Face Snatcher by Sunday at 10PM. Why Sunday at 10PM? Well by then I can watch The Walking Dead and that's one thing I'm allowing myself as a reward for writing during the week.
I should mention that I did get 125,000 words on Day 13 as I had planned WITHOUT the 40K weekend of last weekend. It was a good feeling. My goal for this week it to either hit 200K or be really close. I'm also looking for a 50K weekend but I'm not sure how well that'd go. I've got stuff to do tomorrow morning which kind of has to be done. As it stands, I'll have one day to pack before going on vacation and into a social media silence. Totally not used to packing the day before so depending how this week goes, I might take a day to pack next weekend. Or get it started.
So overall: I'm feeling pretty good. I'm ahead and will only get further ahead tonight when I add anywhere from 5-7K words. I'm aiming for 200K (or close) by this time next week which will give me an nice, easy 50K in a week with writing time on a weekend. Which means I can be finished with my 250K goal by the 24th at 10PM. It's a hope.
Until next time: I found this about the quality and quantity debate. You should read it. Comments, questions, rants, rage and everything in between can be directed to the comments.
Keeping up with my tradition of updating weekly during NaNo, here we go:
Word Count: 133,317
Goal: 250,000
Words Needed: 116,683 (I'm over half-done. YAY!)
Novels: Novel 1: Seeker (complete as of Nov. 8): Sequel to Seer. Novel 2: Face Snatcher which is the first book in a 13 book crime fiction series. Yeah, 13, cuz again: I have a weird thing for numbers.
Plot so far: As stated in the Week One Post: you'll have to wait and check out the rest of the novel series coming in December.
Thoughts of the week: I was ecstatic when I finished Seeker. Seriously, I put to rest characters that have been in my head just about my entire writing career and have been with me through three restarts. It was a bitter-sweet ending: good that it was over but I'll miss Dawn, Ice and the crew.
Then I started Face Snatcher and wrote about 21,000 words on it on Nov 9. I also realized how freaking detailed crime fiction is. After the first Saturday on it, I took the Sunday off (for me) and wrote 7K. I also made a folder within my "Detective Series" folder for Face Snatcher and all subsequent novels. That's right: each novel in the series has its own folder.
Why? Well. I have a list of: victims, witnesses, the story itself, and other important points in that folder. I can guarantee that each story will need it's own victim and witness list so I can do these things right. Adding to that in the main folder I've got the plot for all 13 novels as well as another list of all the police and other detectives I've mentioned.
This week was Hell. Again. I got so discouraged when I realized how freaking much there was to remember when writing crime fiction until Mia, my FMC in the series gave an idea: make a list. So now for each chapter I'm starting it with a list of things for my characters to do and checking things off on the way. It helped that I had plotted the MC's being new to big cases so they're over-whelmed and needed a list of things to check on. We're going to get better together. Ha.
My hands still hurt. My wrists are in pain. I've slowed down my pace so I can produce a draft that's better than a first draft (which is what I normally aim for anyway), so I need more time to write while producing a few hundred less words. That doesn't mean I'm not writing huge amounts. If I'm not researching something mundane (IE: getting distracted and needed to check on something when I don't have to) I can still get 2,000 words an hour. My lowest word count was 1,400 in an hour. Highest was over 3,000. Anyway, let's move on.
The good news is that I'm about a day ahead of where I should be. The better news is that I don't think I'm too busy this weekend so I'm going to finish Face Snatcher by Sunday at 10PM. Why Sunday at 10PM? Well by then I can watch The Walking Dead and that's one thing I'm allowing myself as a reward for writing during the week.
I should mention that I did get 125,000 words on Day 13 as I had planned WITHOUT the 40K weekend of last weekend. It was a good feeling. My goal for this week it to either hit 200K or be really close. I'm also looking for a 50K weekend but I'm not sure how well that'd go. I've got stuff to do tomorrow morning which kind of has to be done. As it stands, I'll have one day to pack before going on vacation and into a social media silence. Totally not used to packing the day before so depending how this week goes, I might take a day to pack next weekend. Or get it started.
So overall: I'm feeling pretty good. I'm ahead and will only get further ahead tonight when I add anywhere from 5-7K words. I'm aiming for 200K (or close) by this time next week which will give me an nice, easy 50K in a week with writing time on a weekend. Which means I can be finished with my 250K goal by the 24th at 10PM. It's a hope.
Until next time: I found this about the quality and quantity debate. You should read it. Comments, questions, rants, rage and everything in between can be directed to the comments.
Friday, November 8, 2013
NaNoWriMo 2013: Week One
The first week of National Novel Writing month 2013 is lying at our feet: defeated. Well, almost. There's still tonight for some people and really it depends if you consider the end of week 1 a Friday or a Sunday. For me it's Friday so, yeah.
Since I needed to do more writing this month (sarcasm, btw) I've decided to keep up with the tradition of writing a weekly update on my NaNo progress for this blog. Oddly enough I just finished checking last years blog post for NaNo week 1 and I'm at (almost) the same word count as this time last year. I find that freaking hilarious and depressing at the same time. Moving on.
Word Count: 70,064
Goal: 250,000 (Yeah, I'm an 'over-achiever' but for all intents and purposes: I consider anyone who gets over 50K for the month an over-achiever. Hell, anyone who gets more than their personal goal this month even if it isn't the 50K is an over-achiever.)
Words Needed: 179,936...oh that's painful to know...
Novel: Sequel to Seer
Title: Seeker
Plot so far: The thing is almost done so stay tuned for the "Novel Series" on it coming in December sometime. There will be a lot of them, trust me. I need something to do at night when I'm not writing and December is a non-writing month.
Now onto the thoughts of this week: It's been Hell. I'm not even going to lie. I missed all but two hours of writing time on Saturday because I was helping a friend move. I could have said no but she's one of my best friends and I would have felt bad. It turns out I was actually needed even when she said there were enough people.
I did hit a 25K day on Sunday through sheer willpower I'm sure but even now I don't have much of a buffer which is unusual for me. If I was keeping right on track I should be at 66664, meaning I ONLY have less then 4K as a buffer. This means I cannot take a night off no matter what. And I kind of like have a day or two between novels so I can switch plots in my head better.
Worse yet my entire Saturday morning (tomorrow) will be taken up with running errands that have to be done. Actually, I won't be able to get onto my computer until about 2PM which leaves me with 10 hours to write and gives me a potential of 20K. I might get 30K if I can keep a 3K/hr thing going but I highly doubt it. My hands do need some kind of break.
Furthering that: I'm losing my Sunday night to a supper I have to go to. And let's not forget that in the first week of December I'm going on vacation so I'll be losing November 30th for packing and other such things. It's like everything decided to happen this month which is totally not cool.
My hands hurt. My wrists hurt and I'm miss-firing on typing this blog post. I WILL NOT give up because I refuse to lower my goal and I refuse to be defeated by it. Besides, I've got all of December to give my poor hands a rest.
On the plus side: I did a 25K day so I can catch up if I manage 40K this weekend. That'd put me at 110K when I'm supposed to be at 84K. Big buffer. I like big buffers and I cannot lie (I would totally continue this rap if I had the mind to. But it's focusing on other things). I do have to say that I thought this year was the year I completed the 50K the quickest but that title belongs to last year when I won on the 4th. Oops.
Anyway, I'm looking to start week 2 strong (which again runs from Sat morning to the next Fri night for me cuz I'm weird like that) with the 40K weekend. I hope to continue it by getting 125K by the middle of the week (the 13th) so I can keep my buffer. My big buffer that other buffers can't deny. Cuz when you see a big buffer...ha. Sorry.
Also, it should be mentioned that I'll be doing four novels this year. Seeker is the first and the others are the first three books in a crime fiction series. The series will span over 13 novels and if I manage to get all four finished by the end of NaNo I'll have written 14 books this year. I was aiming for 13 because, you know, 13 in 2013 but Seeker isn't turning out to be as long as I figured it would be. I was hoping for like 90K. It's panning out at anywhere from 76-80K if it doesn't grow a second head tonight.
With all that in my head (it hurts I tells ya) I'm going to go finish Seeker. That means killing a character (or two, not even I'm sure yet) that I've had in my head for about a decade now. It's going to hurt, especially the whole how he dies but it's got to be done.
Until next time: comments, questions, rants, rage and everything in between can be directed to the comments.
Since I needed to do more writing this month (sarcasm, btw) I've decided to keep up with the tradition of writing a weekly update on my NaNo progress for this blog. Oddly enough I just finished checking last years blog post for NaNo week 1 and I'm at (almost) the same word count as this time last year. I find that freaking hilarious and depressing at the same time. Moving on.
Word Count: 70,064
Goal: 250,000 (Yeah, I'm an 'over-achiever' but for all intents and purposes: I consider anyone who gets over 50K for the month an over-achiever. Hell, anyone who gets more than their personal goal this month even if it isn't the 50K is an over-achiever.)
Words Needed: 179,936...oh that's painful to know...
Novel: Sequel to Seer
Title: Seeker
Plot so far: The thing is almost done so stay tuned for the "Novel Series" on it coming in December sometime. There will be a lot of them, trust me. I need something to do at night when I'm not writing and December is a non-writing month.
Now onto the thoughts of this week: It's been Hell. I'm not even going to lie. I missed all but two hours of writing time on Saturday because I was helping a friend move. I could have said no but she's one of my best friends and I would have felt bad. It turns out I was actually needed even when she said there were enough people.
I did hit a 25K day on Sunday through sheer willpower I'm sure but even now I don't have much of a buffer which is unusual for me. If I was keeping right on track I should be at 66664, meaning I ONLY have less then 4K as a buffer. This means I cannot take a night off no matter what. And I kind of like have a day or two between novels so I can switch plots in my head better.
Worse yet my entire Saturday morning (tomorrow) will be taken up with running errands that have to be done. Actually, I won't be able to get onto my computer until about 2PM which leaves me with 10 hours to write and gives me a potential of 20K. I might get 30K if I can keep a 3K/hr thing going but I highly doubt it. My hands do need some kind of break.
Furthering that: I'm losing my Sunday night to a supper I have to go to. And let's not forget that in the first week of December I'm going on vacation so I'll be losing November 30th for packing and other such things. It's like everything decided to happen this month which is totally not cool.
My hands hurt. My wrists hurt and I'm miss-firing on typing this blog post. I WILL NOT give up because I refuse to lower my goal and I refuse to be defeated by it. Besides, I've got all of December to give my poor hands a rest.
On the plus side: I did a 25K day so I can catch up if I manage 40K this weekend. That'd put me at 110K when I'm supposed to be at 84K. Big buffer. I like big buffers and I cannot lie (I would totally continue this rap if I had the mind to. But it's focusing on other things). I do have to say that I thought this year was the year I completed the 50K the quickest but that title belongs to last year when I won on the 4th. Oops.
Anyway, I'm looking to start week 2 strong (which again runs from Sat morning to the next Fri night for me cuz I'm weird like that) with the 40K weekend. I hope to continue it by getting 125K by the middle of the week (the 13th) so I can keep my buffer. My big buffer that other buffers can't deny. Cuz when you see a big buffer...ha. Sorry.
Also, it should be mentioned that I'll be doing four novels this year. Seeker is the first and the others are the first three books in a crime fiction series. The series will span over 13 novels and if I manage to get all four finished by the end of NaNo I'll have written 14 books this year. I was aiming for 13 because, you know, 13 in 2013 but Seeker isn't turning out to be as long as I figured it would be. I was hoping for like 90K. It's panning out at anywhere from 76-80K if it doesn't grow a second head tonight.
With all that in my head (it hurts I tells ya) I'm going to go finish Seeker. That means killing a character (or two, not even I'm sure yet) that I've had in my head for about a decade now. It's going to hurt, especially the whole how he dies but it's got to be done.
Until next time: comments, questions, rants, rage and everything in between can be directed to the comments.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Throw a Ninja at it
We're one week away from the beginning of National Novel Writing Month so by now you're doing one of two things: sitting back and waiting impatiently or freaking the HECK out. If you're sitting back and waiting impatiently then I congratulate you. I (like a good handful of others) and freaking the HECK out.
Why? I'm not quite ready yet. I've still got to answer a bunch of questions for my first novel, type out the planning I have for novels two, three and four, get new tires for my car, do some laundry (it lasts a month. Yes I have THAT much clothing), clean the house, and help a friend move during the first three days of November. Yeah. I'm not in a good place but here I am sitting around online. I'm special like that.
ANYWAY. Enough about me and the woes that if I buckle down would only take a day or two to complete but I probably won't because I'm easily distracted and a huge procrastinator. Deep breath, there we go, ready? Good. This is supposed to be about ninjas. Ninjas are fun and your biggest friend during NaNo.
Why ninjas and why are they your biggest friend? Well, for one, ninjas are freaking awesome. For two, er, there is no two. One is enough. It should be noted that when I say ninja I don't just mean this guy:
That guy can be included, don't get me wrong. But ninja also means a random and unexpected plot point, character, sub-plot, scene, place or basically anything else you didn't plan when writing your novel. Those ninjas are sneaky, aren't they?
Ninjas are meant to be these shadowy beings that tip-toe around in the dark then BAM! Attack. It's a good thing. Well, it's a good thing for you as a writer so long as you're not actually walking around in the dark and get attacked.
A ninja means that you're adding word count and (hopefully) another layer to your story that without said ninja would not exist. It might not make sense when you write it but later on you could have hit upon something that tied up a loose end without you realizing it. And if it really doesn't make sense then you can edit it out.
Basically, in order to fully utilize the ninja, you have to get to a writing Zen. My best writing is done when I'm not thinking about what happens next and I'm going with the flow of the story. I call it subconscious writing, or throwing ninjas at it. It's the writing that happens when you let the story come out of its own free will instead of forcing into some cookie-cutter you plotted out for a year.
Now, you can write successfully without a ninja. It's not as fun but it can happen. And depending on the type of writer you are (go check out this blog post for tips on that) you might not even need a ninja.
But for those of you who are truly stuck, panicking and have no idea what you're going to do for NaNo: throw a ninja or two at it. Heck, toss a whole ninja clan at it if you need to. Don't be afraid to open up a new document (or notebook if you're handwriting) and just start writing. It'll come. It might take a while and a lot of ninjas but you'll end up with something that could turn out to be really cool.
And for those of you that do have a plot in mind but still find yourself stuck: ninja. It doesn't mean that you have to veer away from your plan. BUT, if you find yourself so stuck that you can't continue on the nice, neat little path you've got set out: it might mean your characters/story subconsciously wants to go in a different (most time better) direction and you should follow the ninja.
In short: Ninjas are freaking awesome and you should follow them more often. Let your story go where it wants and learn to write subconsciously. Remembering: you're telling a story, not forcing it. Until next time: comments, questions, rants, rage and everything in between can be directed to the comments.
Why? I'm not quite ready yet. I've still got to answer a bunch of questions for my first novel, type out the planning I have for novels two, three and four, get new tires for my car, do some laundry (it lasts a month. Yes I have THAT much clothing), clean the house, and help a friend move during the first three days of November. Yeah. I'm not in a good place but here I am sitting around online. I'm special like that.
ANYWAY. Enough about me and the woes that if I buckle down would only take a day or two to complete but I probably won't because I'm easily distracted and a huge procrastinator. Deep breath, there we go, ready? Good. This is supposed to be about ninjas. Ninjas are fun and your biggest friend during NaNo.
Why ninjas and why are they your biggest friend? Well, for one, ninjas are freaking awesome. For two, er, there is no two. One is enough. It should be noted that when I say ninja I don't just mean this guy:
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| I've always wanted to include ninjas in this blog |
Ninjas are meant to be these shadowy beings that tip-toe around in the dark then BAM! Attack. It's a good thing. Well, it's a good thing for you as a writer so long as you're not actually walking around in the dark and get attacked.
A ninja means that you're adding word count and (hopefully) another layer to your story that without said ninja would not exist. It might not make sense when you write it but later on you could have hit upon something that tied up a loose end without you realizing it. And if it really doesn't make sense then you can edit it out.
Basically, in order to fully utilize the ninja, you have to get to a writing Zen. My best writing is done when I'm not thinking about what happens next and I'm going with the flow of the story. I call it subconscious writing, or throwing ninjas at it. It's the writing that happens when you let the story come out of its own free will instead of forcing into some cookie-cutter you plotted out for a year.
Now, you can write successfully without a ninja. It's not as fun but it can happen. And depending on the type of writer you are (go check out this blog post for tips on that) you might not even need a ninja.
But for those of you who are truly stuck, panicking and have no idea what you're going to do for NaNo: throw a ninja or two at it. Heck, toss a whole ninja clan at it if you need to. Don't be afraid to open up a new document (or notebook if you're handwriting) and just start writing. It'll come. It might take a while and a lot of ninjas but you'll end up with something that could turn out to be really cool.
And for those of you that do have a plot in mind but still find yourself stuck: ninja. It doesn't mean that you have to veer away from your plan. BUT, if you find yourself so stuck that you can't continue on the nice, neat little path you've got set out: it might mean your characters/story subconsciously wants to go in a different (most time better) direction and you should follow the ninja.
In short: Ninjas are freaking awesome and you should follow them more often. Let your story go where it wants and learn to write subconsciously. Remembering: you're telling a story, not forcing it. Until next time: comments, questions, rants, rage and everything in between can be directed to the comments.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
NaNo Prep
October is half over so Nation Novel Writing Month 2013 is creeping closer. For the veterans (those who have done at least one NaNo event) we know what we've got to do. For newbies, not so much. So I've made a list (or something) of what a newbie (or veteran) can do to prepare in the coming days. Of course this is based mostly on my writing style and it might not work for everyone. Also these tips appear in the order I thought them in, not necessarily the order they have to be done in. Lists make things easy to read. Anyway, here we go:
1) Know what you're doing: Kind of obvious right? I mean you can't do anything until you know what you're going to write. Is it romance? Fantasy? Sci-fi? Crime fiction? None of the Above? All of the above? Some made-up genre that combines other genres? Figure out what your story is and it'll help you with a lot of the other stuff you'll need to do.
2) Who are you? I mean this in two ways: who are you as a writer and who are your characters. Let's do the characters first, okay? You need to know the goals, challenges, weaknesses and strengths of any major character including good guys and bad guys. Don't worry too much about description right now (unless they're missing an eye which is a weakness) but concentrate more on who your character is and what they want to achieve in the story.
As for you: What kind of writer are you? Are you someone who can write for hours on end (welcome to the club) or are you someone who writes for 15 minutes, breaks for five, writes for 15, etc? Can you pump out 10K or more in a day or are you limited to the bare minimum? Knowing how you write is important during NaNo because along with planning out your novel you've got to be able to plan out how you're going to reach the 50K.
3) So this happens, then this: Start planning out what happens in your novel. This is where the pansters mainly go "ah heck with it" because they usually only have a vague idea in mind, sometimes not even an ending. The planners will start making chapter by chapter play by plays depending how much they plan. THIS IS TOTALLY DEPENDANT ON YOU AS AN AUTHOR AND NO ONE IS RIGHT OR WRONG. Yes it had to be shouted and yes it's dependant on the tip above.
I fall in between: I NEED to know my ending but I don't need to know every detail before I write anything. Most of the time my characters will lead me along and fill me in with subplots. The only time they didn't was in Testing Grounds and I coulda killed 'em.
4) Organize: make sure that along with your story work-book (or Word Doc) you've got somewhere to jot down some notes. You need to remember who's dating who, what your character looks like and all the subplots going on at one time. It's a lot to remember so don't feel bad or whatever if you can't remember it all. Make sure everything is organized in a system that works for you and easily accessible whenever you're writing.
5) The Inner Editor: MOST people will tell you to shut off the Inner Editor. I'm simply going to say this: if you've learned to work with it then don't shut it off. If you can't work with your Inner Editor then shut it off. I mention this because there's still two weeks before NaNo. This is the time you should be using to learn how to write without the editor if you have to and getting their den ready so they don't bug you if you can't work with them. AGAIN: TOTALLY DEPENDANT ON YOU. This is where knowing who you are as a writer helps.
6) Research: anything that you need to research this way you don't have to go to Google in the middle of a writing session to figure out how many police officers are in a certain city so you can make your made-up city seem more realistic. I just did that during the writing session before this blog post. ;)
7) Have a plan: and I don't mean just for your novel. Plan out when you're going to write, where, and for how long. This goes back to number 2 because you can't figure out where, when and for how long if you don't know what kind of writer you are. For me I know I can only write weeknights. On the weekends I'm planning to write all day from 8AM to about mid-night. So I've informed the people who might bug me not to bug me. They'll message me sure, but they won't expect a quick response.
8) Make sure that everything is done: As in if you know you've got a paper due in the beginning of Nov., get it DONE before November. If you know you're moving, pack the things that can be packed away before November. If you've got family coming, pencil them in at a time you don't normally write (that's reasonable). If you've got a trip planned (right here), make sure you've prepared as much as you can before the trip so you're not scrambling the day or two before. Less things to do = less stress = more writing.
9) Go with it: Don't be afraid to change your writing times, your plot or anything else if something comes up. Life happens, characters want to go in a different direction, and we don't have complete control over everything no matter how much we think we do. Just go with it especially if it can't be helped. Try to make the best of it.
10) Have fun: NaNo isn't about killing your hands/wrists/brain and exhausting yourself to get 50K. It's about having fun while writing. So don't think it's the end of the world if you "lose" because really everyone who writes anything when they haven't before (or even if they have) is a winner. If you can't make the 50K then you've got whatever you did get when you didn't have it before.
Unless you're used to writing huge amounts of words in a short time don't try to tackle OVER 50K. It won't end well. BUT if you find yourself over 50K with more story and some days left in the month feel free to keep going. And welcome to the "overachievers" club...which brings me to my next point.
11) Overachievers and you: For the love of all that is NaNo DO NOT be afraid, intimidated, jealous, mean towards, etc, the overachievers. We're all writers working towards a goal. There's no need to call someone who's "won" NaNo in week 1 (or day 1) a cheater. And just because someone has "won" NaNo doesn't mean that they're immune to plot/character/novel problems.
I understand jealously (heck I'm jealous of the people who can get a million in a month but I still like them), I understand the intimidation, and all that other stuff but none of it is an excuse to make someone feel bad about getting over 50K. None of it is an excuse to make your regional overachiever leave the region because of stress. It's happened, I saw it happen to someone I know well(ish) and it's not fair for anyone.
It will make the overachievers reluctant to help you if you need help (I know I am once the bar is full) and that's bad for everyone involved. The overachievers are likely some of the best motivators in NaNo: they know what it takes to get 50K, they know how to get 50K and they're willing to help you get 50K if you're not insulting them or making them feel bad for being over 50K.
On that same token if you are ahead of the game it's no excuse to make fun of someone who might be struggling. You motivate, you help, and you cheer. You don't bring down, tease, and ignore. NaNo is not a competition against other people. It's a competition for yourself. You're "competing" to force yourself to write more, faster. NaNo is not around to bully people who are ahead or behind you.
12) Know the rules: of the forum. Take a brief look over them and make sure you're not posting things in the wrong place or breaking some other rule. If you're not sure go for the best place that you can think of. Ask a moderator: they're nice and they don't bite. Also make sure you know how the site works so you won't be struggling to find something or someone during the month. This is the time to do it so don't be afraid to do it. We were all there once so we're not going to think you're stupid for asking something that's obvious to us.
That's all I can think of right now. I'm always willing and free to chat so if you find me on the NaNo forums don't hesitate to PM me, reply to a post or generally chat. I might take a while to respond and PM'ing is probably the best way to get a hold of me. My name on the forums is Dairenna and this is my avatar:
1) Know what you're doing: Kind of obvious right? I mean you can't do anything until you know what you're going to write. Is it romance? Fantasy? Sci-fi? Crime fiction? None of the Above? All of the above? Some made-up genre that combines other genres? Figure out what your story is and it'll help you with a lot of the other stuff you'll need to do.
2) Who are you? I mean this in two ways: who are you as a writer and who are your characters. Let's do the characters first, okay? You need to know the goals, challenges, weaknesses and strengths of any major character including good guys and bad guys. Don't worry too much about description right now (unless they're missing an eye which is a weakness) but concentrate more on who your character is and what they want to achieve in the story.
As for you: What kind of writer are you? Are you someone who can write for hours on end (welcome to the club) or are you someone who writes for 15 minutes, breaks for five, writes for 15, etc? Can you pump out 10K or more in a day or are you limited to the bare minimum? Knowing how you write is important during NaNo because along with planning out your novel you've got to be able to plan out how you're going to reach the 50K.
3) So this happens, then this: Start planning out what happens in your novel. This is where the pansters mainly go "ah heck with it" because they usually only have a vague idea in mind, sometimes not even an ending. The planners will start making chapter by chapter play by plays depending how much they plan. THIS IS TOTALLY DEPENDANT ON YOU AS AN AUTHOR AND NO ONE IS RIGHT OR WRONG. Yes it had to be shouted and yes it's dependant on the tip above.
I fall in between: I NEED to know my ending but I don't need to know every detail before I write anything. Most of the time my characters will lead me along and fill me in with subplots. The only time they didn't was in Testing Grounds and I coulda killed 'em.
4) Organize: make sure that along with your story work-book (or Word Doc) you've got somewhere to jot down some notes. You need to remember who's dating who, what your character looks like and all the subplots going on at one time. It's a lot to remember so don't feel bad or whatever if you can't remember it all. Make sure everything is organized in a system that works for you and easily accessible whenever you're writing.
5) The Inner Editor: MOST people will tell you to shut off the Inner Editor. I'm simply going to say this: if you've learned to work with it then don't shut it off. If you can't work with your Inner Editor then shut it off. I mention this because there's still two weeks before NaNo. This is the time you should be using to learn how to write without the editor if you have to and getting their den ready so they don't bug you if you can't work with them. AGAIN: TOTALLY DEPENDANT ON YOU. This is where knowing who you are as a writer helps.
6) Research: anything that you need to research this way you don't have to go to Google in the middle of a writing session to figure out how many police officers are in a certain city so you can make your made-up city seem more realistic. I just did that during the writing session before this blog post. ;)
7) Have a plan: and I don't mean just for your novel. Plan out when you're going to write, where, and for how long. This goes back to number 2 because you can't figure out where, when and for how long if you don't know what kind of writer you are. For me I know I can only write weeknights. On the weekends I'm planning to write all day from 8AM to about mid-night. So I've informed the people who might bug me not to bug me. They'll message me sure, but they won't expect a quick response.
8) Make sure that everything is done: As in if you know you've got a paper due in the beginning of Nov., get it DONE before November. If you know you're moving, pack the things that can be packed away before November. If you've got family coming, pencil them in at a time you don't normally write (that's reasonable). If you've got a trip planned (right here), make sure you've prepared as much as you can before the trip so you're not scrambling the day or two before. Less things to do = less stress = more writing.
9) Go with it: Don't be afraid to change your writing times, your plot or anything else if something comes up. Life happens, characters want to go in a different direction, and we don't have complete control over everything no matter how much we think we do. Just go with it especially if it can't be helped. Try to make the best of it.
10) Have fun: NaNo isn't about killing your hands/wrists/brain and exhausting yourself to get 50K. It's about having fun while writing. So don't think it's the end of the world if you "lose" because really everyone who writes anything when they haven't before (or even if they have) is a winner. If you can't make the 50K then you've got whatever you did get when you didn't have it before.
Unless you're used to writing huge amounts of words in a short time don't try to tackle OVER 50K. It won't end well. BUT if you find yourself over 50K with more story and some days left in the month feel free to keep going. And welcome to the "overachievers" club...which brings me to my next point.
11) Overachievers and you: For the love of all that is NaNo DO NOT be afraid, intimidated, jealous, mean towards, etc, the overachievers. We're all writers working towards a goal. There's no need to call someone who's "won" NaNo in week 1 (or day 1) a cheater. And just because someone has "won" NaNo doesn't mean that they're immune to plot/character/novel problems.
I understand jealously (heck I'm jealous of the people who can get a million in a month but I still like them), I understand the intimidation, and all that other stuff but none of it is an excuse to make someone feel bad about getting over 50K. None of it is an excuse to make your regional overachiever leave the region because of stress. It's happened, I saw it happen to someone I know well(ish) and it's not fair for anyone.
It will make the overachievers reluctant to help you if you need help (I know I am once the bar is full) and that's bad for everyone involved. The overachievers are likely some of the best motivators in NaNo: they know what it takes to get 50K, they know how to get 50K and they're willing to help you get 50K if you're not insulting them or making them feel bad for being over 50K.
On that same token if you are ahead of the game it's no excuse to make fun of someone who might be struggling. You motivate, you help, and you cheer. You don't bring down, tease, and ignore. NaNo is not a competition against other people. It's a competition for yourself. You're "competing" to force yourself to write more, faster. NaNo is not around to bully people who are ahead or behind you.
12) Know the rules: of the forum. Take a brief look over them and make sure you're not posting things in the wrong place or breaking some other rule. If you're not sure go for the best place that you can think of. Ask a moderator: they're nice and they don't bite. Also make sure you know how the site works so you won't be struggling to find something or someone during the month. This is the time to do it so don't be afraid to do it. We were all there once so we're not going to think you're stupid for asking something that's obvious to us.
That's all I can think of right now. I'm always willing and free to chat so if you find me on the NaNo forums don't hesitate to PM me, reply to a post or generally chat. I might take a while to respond and PM'ing is probably the best way to get a hold of me. My name on the forums is Dairenna and this is my avatar:
I'll see you all there and until next time comments, questions, rants and generally anything else can be directed to the comments.
Friday, September 13, 2013
One Million Words 2013
So for those of you that don't know: I wrote a million words this year staring on January 1st and ending August 31st at 5:00PM EST. Why? Well mainly because I can. I've been writing long enough that I can produce decent first drafts quickly so I figured I'd par down my story list.
Sadly, it's not as pared down as I wanted it to be despite me writing nine novels this year. Four (or six) of them were new so I added to the list then took something away. Counter-productive: yes. Fun: HELL YES.
Anyway. This is the second year I've done a MilWordy successfully and the second year I finished before the year was up. This year's novel list:
The Bonehemmer Princess
The Harmonizer
Model
Dragon Knights
Lies
Troubles of True Love
Glory Hole
Testing Grounds
Seer
You can find more info on all nine by clicking the "Novel Series 2013" above (or there, whatever floats your boat). Adding to the nine above there were a baker's dozen of short stories, a novella and a few 500 word stories.
I was recently asked "where do you get the inspiration/ideas to keep going?"
My long answer is a blog post: Writing is Breathing.
My short (and nice) answer was: "I have a story list of about 60 ideas. I pick one, flesh it out and keep going. I get ideas from everything. This months' WIP came from a song lyric."
My REALLY short (and not so nice) answer is: "Fucked if I know."
No seriously: fucked if I know. I just keep going. And going. Kind of like a deformed energizer bunny on anti-depressant meds who cackles madly at torturing the voices in her head. That's a Hell of a mental image...
Regardless. I haven't written much since finishing MilWordy. I did plot out and make some character descriptions for novel number 10 and started it. I'm halfway through chapter two or so. For those who don't follow my twitter (shame on you): this novel is going to be exploring racial issues, society issues, and gender issues. It'll be one of those ones where you're like: "Okay, I KNOW something is creeping me out here but I can't figure out why...OMFG! WHAT?!" It'll be fun.
I figure I'll finish NaNo with 13 novels. So, 13 in 2013. Because I'm a bit of a freak for numbers like that.
Novels 11, 12 and 13 will be the beginning of my crime fiction series which I talked about like, two years ago or something crazy. I started fleshing it out when I was in Los Angels and trying to get Tale of the Twins made into a movie. Now it's got 13 books. Creepy, huh?
The characters are set. The plots are set. All I've got to do is read it all over and start writing. It'll be a crazy trip because there will be no magic. There will be no weird creatures. There won't even be a future aspect. It's all the world as it is now, nothing odd about it except the monsters who pretend to be human otherwise known as serial killers and psychopaths. Consequently I'm going to be totally mind-fucked when I'm reading up on why killers kill. It'll be fun, really.
Until next time: direct your comments, questions, rants, hate, love and other oddities to the comments. I'll get there eventually.
Sadly, it's not as pared down as I wanted it to be despite me writing nine novels this year. Four (or six) of them were new so I added to the list then took something away. Counter-productive: yes. Fun: HELL YES.
Anyway. This is the second year I've done a MilWordy successfully and the second year I finished before the year was up. This year's novel list:
The Bonehemmer Princess
The Harmonizer
Model
Dragon Knights
Lies
Troubles of True Love
Glory Hole
Testing Grounds
Seer
You can find more info on all nine by clicking the "Novel Series 2013" above (or there, whatever floats your boat). Adding to the nine above there were a baker's dozen of short stories, a novella and a few 500 word stories.
I was recently asked "where do you get the inspiration/ideas to keep going?"
My long answer is a blog post: Writing is Breathing.
My short (and nice) answer was: "I have a story list of about 60 ideas. I pick one, flesh it out and keep going. I get ideas from everything. This months' WIP came from a song lyric."
My REALLY short (and not so nice) answer is: "Fucked if I know."
No seriously: fucked if I know. I just keep going. And going. Kind of like a deformed energizer bunny on anti-depressant meds who cackles madly at torturing the voices in her head. That's a Hell of a mental image...
Regardless. I haven't written much since finishing MilWordy. I did plot out and make some character descriptions for novel number 10 and started it. I'm halfway through chapter two or so. For those who don't follow my twitter (shame on you): this novel is going to be exploring racial issues, society issues, and gender issues. It'll be one of those ones where you're like: "Okay, I KNOW something is creeping me out here but I can't figure out why...OMFG! WHAT?!" It'll be fun.
I figure I'll finish NaNo with 13 novels. So, 13 in 2013. Because I'm a bit of a freak for numbers like that.
Novels 11, 12 and 13 will be the beginning of my crime fiction series which I talked about like, two years ago or something crazy. I started fleshing it out when I was in Los Angels and trying to get Tale of the Twins made into a movie. Now it's got 13 books. Creepy, huh?
The characters are set. The plots are set. All I've got to do is read it all over and start writing. It'll be a crazy trip because there will be no magic. There will be no weird creatures. There won't even be a future aspect. It's all the world as it is now, nothing odd about it except the monsters who pretend to be human otherwise known as serial killers and psychopaths. Consequently I'm going to be totally mind-fucked when I'm reading up on why killers kill. It'll be fun, really.
Until next time: direct your comments, questions, rants, hate, love and other oddities to the comments. I'll get there eventually.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Writing is Hard Work
Let me repeat that: writing is hard work.
Okay, maybe: writing should be hard work.
There are some authors (and non-authors) out there that don't think writing a novel is hard. I laugh and then they give me a look (or type back a response) that lets me know that they're serious. Then I wonder what the heck kind of happy pill they're on that they think writing a novel is easy.
I understand that on the physical side it's not hard. I mean you just have to plant yourself in a chair for over 100 hours pounding out a first draft, then stay in the chair for another 50 hours doing first round edits, then another 50 hours doing third round edits before sending it off to an editor, oh and about 10-50+ hours making the cover, pre-promoting, and final run through before FINALLY publishing. Sitting for over 200 hours in one place isn't hard, right?
Let's not forget the actual process of writing. Whether you type or hand-write (or both), you're still constantly doing repetitive motion with your hands and fingers. If you have weak wrists: you'll make them weaker. If you're wrists are fairly average: they'll become weaker over time, faster than non-writers. You WILL eventually get carpal tunnel syndrome especially if you're crazy like me and just keep pumping out novels. I've all ready done permanent damage to tendons in my right hand that flare up if I push too hard.
Oh then there's the whole myriad of problems that occur when one writes all day, every day for long periods of time that may or may not include: sleep deprivation, caffeine addiction, high salt, high sugars, eye strain, etc. Not to say that all writers are unhealthy it's just that writing is a sitting down thing that does not require getting up and moving as recommended. Most writers try to balance writing with being healthy and that in itself is hard.
So we've determined that it's not as hard as say, construction on the physical sense but there are certain difficulties that come with writing in the physical sense.
Now let's move onto mental problems. These are always the best issues, really. And these are what makes writing easy, right?
Whoever said it's easy to come up with a plot, sub-plots, plot-twists, research things for accuracy, create entire worlds, and make the novel flow has either been writing too long or not enough. I can't being to count the amount of times I've hit a mental wall in a novel and went into sleep deprivation for days trying to figure it out. Actually, the entire reason I'm writing this blog is because I can't think of HOW my current WIP (will be Novel Series #8) ends.
Making a world from scratch including social beliefs, people, races, technology, entertainment, religion, landscape, language and anything else is taxing. You have to be able to weave it in a way that makes sense and everything has to co-relate. You also have to have a kind of history in mind as to how everything got to that point.
Okay, screw it, let's use Earth as a base. Even still, you have to make up new people (characters) that have some kind of conflict (hi: PLOT) to go through to fix whatever was wrong (CLIMAX/MAJOR PLOT TWIST) that threw them into the mess.
Okay, screw it. We'll use a Chosen One plot. Why is your Chosen One so different? What exactly does he have to do to save the world/other person/city/etc?
Crap. Yeah. Exactly. Let's not forget about foreshadowing, sub-plots, minor characters, scenes, and how everything interacts with each other to form a cohesive, interesting novel.
Well, let's forget about the mental difficulties that come along with being a writer and move onto emotional. There's no emotion in writing, right?
If you don't connect with your characters then your READER will not connect with your characters. Simple as that. If you don't feel bad when your main character, your hero, the Chosen One dies or is dismembered, neither will your reader. You need emotional investment in your novel to make it seem real.
So, what exactly is easy about writing again? I say again: writing should be hard work. This is something you're going to spend over 100 hours on so you should be giving it your all. It should include your blood, sweat and tears. If you think it's easy, please explain HOW it's easy.
I've been doing this for over a decade and it's not easy. There are challenges I face from time to time that make me want to scream. The tendon damage is one of them because it forces me to a stop. The not being able to figure out the plot is another because again, it forces me to a stop. Does it get easier? Yes. If writing is your passion, your dream, and your career despite all the hardships it will seem easy. That's the trick. Making it seem and feel easy to you.
So, is writing hard work? That's up to you as an individual to decide.
Okay, maybe: writing should be hard work.
There are some authors (and non-authors) out there that don't think writing a novel is hard. I laugh and then they give me a look (or type back a response) that lets me know that they're serious. Then I wonder what the heck kind of happy pill they're on that they think writing a novel is easy.
I understand that on the physical side it's not hard. I mean you just have to plant yourself in a chair for over 100 hours pounding out a first draft, then stay in the chair for another 50 hours doing first round edits, then another 50 hours doing third round edits before sending it off to an editor, oh and about 10-50+ hours making the cover, pre-promoting, and final run through before FINALLY publishing. Sitting for over 200 hours in one place isn't hard, right?
Let's not forget the actual process of writing. Whether you type or hand-write (or both), you're still constantly doing repetitive motion with your hands and fingers. If you have weak wrists: you'll make them weaker. If you're wrists are fairly average: they'll become weaker over time, faster than non-writers. You WILL eventually get carpal tunnel syndrome especially if you're crazy like me and just keep pumping out novels. I've all ready done permanent damage to tendons in my right hand that flare up if I push too hard.
Oh then there's the whole myriad of problems that occur when one writes all day, every day for long periods of time that may or may not include: sleep deprivation, caffeine addiction, high salt, high sugars, eye strain, etc. Not to say that all writers are unhealthy it's just that writing is a sitting down thing that does not require getting up and moving as recommended. Most writers try to balance writing with being healthy and that in itself is hard.
So we've determined that it's not as hard as say, construction on the physical sense but there are certain difficulties that come with writing in the physical sense.
Now let's move onto mental problems. These are always the best issues, really. And these are what makes writing easy, right?
Whoever said it's easy to come up with a plot, sub-plots, plot-twists, research things for accuracy, create entire worlds, and make the novel flow has either been writing too long or not enough. I can't being to count the amount of times I've hit a mental wall in a novel and went into sleep deprivation for days trying to figure it out. Actually, the entire reason I'm writing this blog is because I can't think of HOW my current WIP (will be Novel Series #8) ends.
Making a world from scratch including social beliefs, people, races, technology, entertainment, religion, landscape, language and anything else is taxing. You have to be able to weave it in a way that makes sense and everything has to co-relate. You also have to have a kind of history in mind as to how everything got to that point.
Okay, screw it, let's use Earth as a base. Even still, you have to make up new people (characters) that have some kind of conflict (hi: PLOT) to go through to fix whatever was wrong (CLIMAX/MAJOR PLOT TWIST) that threw them into the mess.
Okay, screw it. We'll use a Chosen One plot. Why is your Chosen One so different? What exactly does he have to do to save the world/other person/city/etc?
Crap. Yeah. Exactly. Let's not forget about foreshadowing, sub-plots, minor characters, scenes, and how everything interacts with each other to form a cohesive, interesting novel.
Well, let's forget about the mental difficulties that come along with being a writer and move onto emotional. There's no emotion in writing, right?
If you don't connect with your characters then your READER will not connect with your characters. Simple as that. If you don't feel bad when your main character, your hero, the Chosen One dies or is dismembered, neither will your reader. You need emotional investment in your novel to make it seem real.
So, what exactly is easy about writing again? I say again: writing should be hard work. This is something you're going to spend over 100 hours on so you should be giving it your all. It should include your blood, sweat and tears. If you think it's easy, please explain HOW it's easy.
I've been doing this for over a decade and it's not easy. There are challenges I face from time to time that make me want to scream. The tendon damage is one of them because it forces me to a stop. The not being able to figure out the plot is another because again, it forces me to a stop. Does it get easier? Yes. If writing is your passion, your dream, and your career despite all the hardships it will seem easy. That's the trick. Making it seem and feel easy to you.
So, is writing hard work? That's up to you as an individual to decide.
Friday, June 21, 2013
The First Draft
A long time ago, when the pyramids were still young (if anyone gets that: cyber cookie), I wrote a little something about the Inner Editor. As a quick summation: I talked about the little voice in most author's heads that tells us plot lines, characters, etc and sometimes tells us we suck. I also admitted to loving my Inner Editor and that hasn't changed.
What I did mention in there that I kind of forgot about was that first drafts don't always suck. And quote: "But not all first drafts have to be big piles of crud. I know, I know: BLASPHEMY! Every first draft is CRUD! Cue the pitchforks and all that. I disagree that all first drafts are crud but more on that another time."
This is "another time." Yeah, it took half a year (or more) to get there. Deal. ;)
Anyway, I am under the firm belief that not all first drafts suck. Now, I'm not saying that all first drafts are perfect. I'm not saying that any author who writes more than one draft is wasting their time. I'm simply saying that the "all first drafts are crap" is perhaps wrong.
The first draft is that stepping point. It's the first thing you've done with the concept, the characters or the scene. For some it's a rushed thing that gets completely scraped when it comes time to write the second draft. For others, it's a thing that with a few edits (simple removing/shifting things around) can become the final copy.
Not all writers write the same way. Some feel that they have to write multiple drafts, while others can get away with writing only that first draft. Those that fall into the second category then go on to remove or add scenes before giving the whole thing a final edit then whacking an editor with it.
Is a writer who can get away with writing only one draft any worse than a writer who needs more than one draft? I don't think so. All drafts have one thing in common: we're figuring out how to get the story from our heads to the page in the best way possible.
What I believe is that it's not about drafts. It's not even about how you approach writing. It's all in practice. I've been writing for well over a decade now and my writing style improved significantly in the past, oh, three or four years. Why? Because I wrote more.
The more you write means the faster you figure out what works and what doesn't. It means the faster you find you personal voice. It means the less drafts you have to write. That doesn't mean that some of the things I write won't get more than one draft. Most of them are at first draft stage and being honest, they're similar to a second or third draft. This means my second or third "drafts" are merely me adding or taking things away. I won't fully scrap any of my newer stuff. Besides that, spelling, grammar and consistency have to be checked but most of my first drafts are pretty solid.
So, what do you think? Am I being my typical verbose self and rambling on crazily about something? Or is there some merit to "not all first drafts are crap?"
What I did mention in there that I kind of forgot about was that first drafts don't always suck. And quote: "But not all first drafts have to be big piles of crud. I know, I know: BLASPHEMY! Every first draft is CRUD! Cue the pitchforks and all that. I disagree that all first drafts are crud but more on that another time."
This is "another time." Yeah, it took half a year (or more) to get there. Deal. ;)
Anyway, I am under the firm belief that not all first drafts suck. Now, I'm not saying that all first drafts are perfect. I'm not saying that any author who writes more than one draft is wasting their time. I'm simply saying that the "all first drafts are crap" is perhaps wrong.
The first draft is that stepping point. It's the first thing you've done with the concept, the characters or the scene. For some it's a rushed thing that gets completely scraped when it comes time to write the second draft. For others, it's a thing that with a few edits (simple removing/shifting things around) can become the final copy.
Not all writers write the same way. Some feel that they have to write multiple drafts, while others can get away with writing only that first draft. Those that fall into the second category then go on to remove or add scenes before giving the whole thing a final edit then whacking an editor with it.
Is a writer who can get away with writing only one draft any worse than a writer who needs more than one draft? I don't think so. All drafts have one thing in common: we're figuring out how to get the story from our heads to the page in the best way possible.
What I believe is that it's not about drafts. It's not even about how you approach writing. It's all in practice. I've been writing for well over a decade now and my writing style improved significantly in the past, oh, three or four years. Why? Because I wrote more.
The more you write means the faster you figure out what works and what doesn't. It means the faster you find you personal voice. It means the less drafts you have to write. That doesn't mean that some of the things I write won't get more than one draft. Most of them are at first draft stage and being honest, they're similar to a second or third draft. This means my second or third "drafts" are merely me adding or taking things away. I won't fully scrap any of my newer stuff. Besides that, spelling, grammar and consistency have to be checked but most of my first drafts are pretty solid.
So, what do you think? Am I being my typical verbose self and rambling on crazily about something? Or is there some merit to "not all first drafts are crap?"
Friday, May 31, 2013
Novel Series #3: Model
This started right after The Harmonizer which was strange. Why was it strange? Well The Harmonizer and The Bonehemmer Princess are both high fantasy types with magic, half-human hybrids and other funky things. Model, not so much. This was written from mid-February until about March 2nd or 3rd. I can't remember.
Genre: Science Fiction
Word Count: 88,305
Prompt: Models uncovering a government conspiracy. Yep.
Main Characters: Cassia Thomas, Star Von Vette, Misaki Ito, Jay Thomas, Demon, Jammer, and Minko.
Minor Characters of Note: Cassia and Jay's parents, Eddie Mayers, David Fargan (I don't know where that last name came from), Keith Rander, and James Pearson.
Summation: Models Cassia, Misaki and Star stumble upon a government plot that wants to replace everyone famous in the world with a machine.
High Points: Star in general. He's freaking hilarious.
Low Points: The ending, more specifically the last chapter and epilogue.
The World: It's 2080 with hover cars, foldable computers, and cyborgs with a few normal things mixed in. Society is accepting of most people (except the random few) and the world is normal. No magic. No weird hybrid human/animals and full of technology.
Major Plot twist: Jay and Cassia find out something that changes them completely.
Thoughts: Star made this story awesome to write. It still would have been fun without him but he gave it that extra something for me. Jay, Demon, Jammer and Minko (the Hackers) weren't supposed to be as involved as they were but it works. Also there are four full relationships in the end which never happens with me.
Memorable lines:
“I didn’t claim to be homosexual. I strutted out of the closet and haven’t looked back. I won’t ever be interested in a woman in that way.” (This is probably my favorite line out of the whole book)
“Right, right. Okay. So your friend’s a cyborg.”
“Demon, it’s not nice to go around asking people if they’re a guy or a girl.”
“I think this is what they call girl-talk. You know the stuff you fail at despite having the double X chromosome.”
“Well it’s a good thing we know the God of Hackers.”
“Get out now Jay. I can handle this. I am God.”
“Okay, that was one for the record books. You just fought yourself.”
“Oh yeah, she totally caught the gay from me.”
“You know there’s this cool new thing people are doing. It’s called slowing down.”
“Yeah, no one’s perfect. I mean, they’re close, but no one’s perfect and that’s a good thing.”
“It’s the freedom to be who I am without repercussions, without judgement and without worry.”
“It’s because of you that we’ll always be human.”
Next up will be The Dragon Knights which went back to fantasy. I like to bounce around a lot. Good or bad?
Genre: Science Fiction
Word Count: 88,305
Prompt: Models uncovering a government conspiracy. Yep.
Main Characters: Cassia Thomas, Star Von Vette, Misaki Ito, Jay Thomas, Demon, Jammer, and Minko.
Minor Characters of Note: Cassia and Jay's parents, Eddie Mayers, David Fargan (I don't know where that last name came from), Keith Rander, and James Pearson.
Summation: Models Cassia, Misaki and Star stumble upon a government plot that wants to replace everyone famous in the world with a machine.
High Points: Star in general. He's freaking hilarious.
Low Points: The ending, more specifically the last chapter and epilogue.
The World: It's 2080 with hover cars, foldable computers, and cyborgs with a few normal things mixed in. Society is accepting of most people (except the random few) and the world is normal. No magic. No weird hybrid human/animals and full of technology.
Major Plot twist: Jay and Cassia find out something that changes them completely.
Thoughts: Star made this story awesome to write. It still would have been fun without him but he gave it that extra something for me. Jay, Demon, Jammer and Minko (the Hackers) weren't supposed to be as involved as they were but it works. Also there are four full relationships in the end which never happens with me.
Memorable lines:
“I didn’t claim to be homosexual. I strutted out of the closet and haven’t looked back. I won’t ever be interested in a woman in that way.” (This is probably my favorite line out of the whole book)
“Right, right. Okay. So your friend’s a cyborg.”
“Demon, it’s not nice to go around asking people if they’re a guy or a girl.”
“I think this is what they call girl-talk. You know the stuff you fail at despite having the double X chromosome.”
“Well it’s a good thing we know the God of Hackers.”
“Get out now Jay. I can handle this. I am God.”
“Okay, that was one for the record books. You just fought yourself.”
“Oh yeah, she totally caught the gay from me.”
“You know there’s this cool new thing people are doing. It’s called slowing down.”
“Yeah, no one’s perfect. I mean, they’re close, but no one’s perfect and that’s a good thing.”
“It’s the freedom to be who I am without repercussions, without judgement and without worry.”
“It’s because of you that we’ll always be human.”
Next up will be The Dragon Knights which went back to fantasy. I like to bounce around a lot. Good or bad?
Friday, May 24, 2013
The "Said" Debate
Some authors will say that when writing the only dialogue tag that should be used is the word "said." This confuses me mainly because when I was taking Journalism my teachers told me the same thing. I believe that journalism (reporting the news) and being an author (telling a story) are different. In fact, I remember reading a quote from a famous author (I can't remember who) saying something like: "All journalists have a fiction story inside them. That's where they should keep it."
If that's the case why are we as authors told to always use the word "said" in dialogue? Why are we being told to be like our news-reporting cousins? The answer to that is usually: 1) the reader ignores the dialogue tags anyway and 2) the familiarity of said prevents it from drawing attention to itself.
That second part of that is fine but the first part is irksome. Why should we as authors who have spent weeks (months or years) writing, re-writing, editing, scraping, and re-doing our novels be okay with letting someone ignore part of what we've written? Why should we be fine with readers ignoring part of our hard work and dedication to our craft? Why are we being told it's okay to ignore a tool in our author's tool kit?
Letting all dialogue tags be "said" is like a plumber ignoring his wrench. Dialogue tags are part of our word counts, they're part of our stories and we should pay just as much attention to them as we do to pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, sentence structure, plot, characters and everything else.
If the reader skips a dialogue tag it's not good enough reason for authors to simply replace all of them with one word. Some readers skip over description of places or certain scenes, so should we stop writing descriptions or certain scenes?
I'm not saying that every dialogue tag should be a word different than "said." I'm saying to mix it up a bit. Used "whispered," "muttered", "uttered", "grumbled", "whined", "shouted", "told", "informed", "described", "voiced", "answered", "responded", "exclaimed", "cried", and "mumbled" occasionally. Throw in a few "said with a(n) *insert action here*." These words give feeling to what the character is saying and the description that comes after the dialogue amplifies it. Besides, if we all just "said" things, we'd be talking like monotone robots all the time.
There are many that would disagree but even Stephen King has used "exclaimed", "told", "repeated", and "amplified" all within a few pages (51-55) in his book Thinner. A more recent example is Under the Dome pages 277-279 where "whispered", "shouted", and "cried" appear. There's also a "said dully" and a "said eagerly" mixed in among the "saids."
Dialogue is all about balance and I think a constant repetition of the word said (or no dialogue tags at all) will stifle it. Balancing it with other dialogue tags and a few describers makes for more interesting reading. "Said" should always be the most common dialogue tag as various ones would get too distracting but there is no problem with mixing it up a bit.
I have to admit the reason I wanted to write this blog was because of a thread in the NaNo forums. Some authors there agreed with the prospect that "readers ignore the dialogue tag anyway" and were telling (see what I did there?) other authors that "said" was the only dialogue tag that should be used all the time. One even went so far to say it was the only dialogue tag used besides "told" if (s)he wanted to mix things up. I ask (again): why should we allow (and be okay with) readers ignoring part of our work? It is because it's convenient for them? Is it because we're in this fast-paced world and reader's want to burn through books on their eReaders? Those are not good enough reasons.
Our characters, plots, dialogue tags, scenery, and slew of others elements are equivalent to a plumber's wrench, snake, screw drivers and pliers. If plumbers ignore tools of their trade the result could be disastrous. I'd like to think the same applies for authors.
So what do you think? Should authors obliterated every word but "said" from our dialogue tags? Should it be a mix? Why?
If that's the case why are we as authors told to always use the word "said" in dialogue? Why are we being told to be like our news-reporting cousins? The answer to that is usually: 1) the reader ignores the dialogue tags anyway and 2) the familiarity of said prevents it from drawing attention to itself.
That second part of that is fine but the first part is irksome. Why should we as authors who have spent weeks (months or years) writing, re-writing, editing, scraping, and re-doing our novels be okay with letting someone ignore part of what we've written? Why should we be fine with readers ignoring part of our hard work and dedication to our craft? Why are we being told it's okay to ignore a tool in our author's tool kit?
Letting all dialogue tags be "said" is like a plumber ignoring his wrench. Dialogue tags are part of our word counts, they're part of our stories and we should pay just as much attention to them as we do to pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, sentence structure, plot, characters and everything else.
If the reader skips a dialogue tag it's not good enough reason for authors to simply replace all of them with one word. Some readers skip over description of places or certain scenes, so should we stop writing descriptions or certain scenes?
I'm not saying that every dialogue tag should be a word different than "said." I'm saying to mix it up a bit. Used "whispered," "muttered", "uttered", "grumbled", "whined", "shouted", "told", "informed", "described", "voiced", "answered", "responded", "exclaimed", "cried", and "mumbled" occasionally. Throw in a few "said with a(n) *insert action here*." These words give feeling to what the character is saying and the description that comes after the dialogue amplifies it. Besides, if we all just "said" things, we'd be talking like monotone robots all the time.
There are many that would disagree but even Stephen King has used "exclaimed", "told", "repeated", and "amplified" all within a few pages (51-55) in his book Thinner. A more recent example is Under the Dome pages 277-279 where "whispered", "shouted", and "cried" appear. There's also a "said dully" and a "said eagerly" mixed in among the "saids."
Dialogue is all about balance and I think a constant repetition of the word said (or no dialogue tags at all) will stifle it. Balancing it with other dialogue tags and a few describers makes for more interesting reading. "Said" should always be the most common dialogue tag as various ones would get too distracting but there is no problem with mixing it up a bit.
I have to admit the reason I wanted to write this blog was because of a thread in the NaNo forums. Some authors there agreed with the prospect that "readers ignore the dialogue tag anyway" and were telling (see what I did there?) other authors that "said" was the only dialogue tag that should be used all the time. One even went so far to say it was the only dialogue tag used besides "told" if (s)he wanted to mix things up. I ask (again): why should we allow (and be okay with) readers ignoring part of our work? It is because it's convenient for them? Is it because we're in this fast-paced world and reader's want to burn through books on their eReaders? Those are not good enough reasons.
Our characters, plots, dialogue tags, scenery, and slew of others elements are equivalent to a plumber's wrench, snake, screw drivers and pliers. If plumbers ignore tools of their trade the result could be disastrous. I'd like to think the same applies for authors.
So what do you think? Should authors obliterated every word but "said" from our dialogue tags? Should it be a mix? Why?
Friday, November 16, 2012
NaNoWriMo: Week Two
Being honest, I got so wrapped up in my story I kind of forgot about this blog. Better late than not at all, right? Moving on:
Word Count: 126,346 (I'll be writing more after this post goes up)
Goal: 200,000
Words Needed: 73,645 which is a little over how much I wrote in week 1.
Key Plot points:
Er, I can't even remember half my plot right now because it's zipped by so fast. I do know that my villain is gearing up to head North where the Forbidden Object must be destroyed. The Chosen Ones are about five months away from getting to the only place the Forbidden Object can be destroyed. Yes there is an epic battle planned in the near future.
Ed decided to be a hero and learned a bit of swordsmanship from Bob. He's not wonderfully good but he knows to stick the pointy end into people. We got to meet Bob's cousin (Andre) who was supposed to be a minor, one scene character. Now the cousin has joined the Chosen Ones on their journey.
Ed was poisoned by a massive spider and we found out that all elves are deathly afraid of spiders. Ed was brought to the elf haven of White River where they reunited with Bob's cousin Andre. This is where Andre joins them on their journey once Ed heals up. The group is currently trying to save the elf haven of Strong Waters from two Kings fighting over who's Queen is prettier.
Ridam learned to fly after Hulkael sneezed him off a cliff and he learned to breathe fire when Ed was attacked by the giant spider. Yes, Ridam is an ACTUAL dragon now. They grow up so fast.
Mr. Omega created giant koalas because he wants them to be part of his North-bound army. I never said he was a normal villain. There's probaly a lot I'm missing (and intentionally leaving out...hehe) but that's the basics. Check out the week 1 blog for prior plot information.
My thoughts on week two:
It dragged. I know I wrote more than I did in week one but for two nights in a row I didn't even open the darned document or anything. I got stuck with a big massive hole in the middle but inspiration struck and everything is planned now. It didn't help in actually writing anything though.
I'm still hitting that wall where this thing is too serious for a parody (in my eyes) but then Mr. Omega comes along and knits his kittens sweaters or something equally odd and makes things better. I swear the only reason I have him is for funny moments. I'm afraid that if I kill him off all the funny will go away.
Anyway, things are tying up in nice little bows and I don't think I've missed any plot points. I kind of sad that in four chapters and an epilogue this thing will be over. I know, right? I've only got four chapters left to write.
I know I won't hit the 200K word count goal with just this parody. I'll probably get around 180K words for it but that's okay. I've got the story I was working on in October to finish to get my 200K goal.
My goal for this weekend (with tonight, Sat and Sun) is to get 50K words to finish this monster. I'm not sure how that's going to work out as my highest word count day is 18,333. I'm going to try though.
I hope to be finished this novel by Tuesday, take a few days for a break then get my last 20-30K words with my other novel. The sad part is even with those 20-30K words that other novel won't be done. That's okay though; I don't mind. I will say that once I hit the 200K I'm stopping so I can focus on editing everything.
Anyway, that's my NaNoWriMo week 2 update. The week 3 update is coming on the 23rd and until then: Good night and don't let the evil sun monster steal your soul.
Word Count: 126,346 (I'll be writing more after this post goes up)
Goal: 200,000
Words Needed: 73,645 which is a little over how much I wrote in week 1.
Key Plot points:
Er, I can't even remember half my plot right now because it's zipped by so fast. I do know that my villain is gearing up to head North where the Forbidden Object must be destroyed. The Chosen Ones are about five months away from getting to the only place the Forbidden Object can be destroyed. Yes there is an epic battle planned in the near future.
Ed decided to be a hero and learned a bit of swordsmanship from Bob. He's not wonderfully good but he knows to stick the pointy end into people. We got to meet Bob's cousin (Andre) who was supposed to be a minor, one scene character. Now the cousin has joined the Chosen Ones on their journey.
Ed was poisoned by a massive spider and we found out that all elves are deathly afraid of spiders. Ed was brought to the elf haven of White River where they reunited with Bob's cousin Andre. This is where Andre joins them on their journey once Ed heals up. The group is currently trying to save the elf haven of Strong Waters from two Kings fighting over who's Queen is prettier.
Ridam learned to fly after Hulkael sneezed him off a cliff and he learned to breathe fire when Ed was attacked by the giant spider. Yes, Ridam is an ACTUAL dragon now. They grow up so fast.
Mr. Omega created giant koalas because he wants them to be part of his North-bound army. I never said he was a normal villain. There's probaly a lot I'm missing (and intentionally leaving out...hehe) but that's the basics. Check out the week 1 blog for prior plot information.
My thoughts on week two:
It dragged. I know I wrote more than I did in week one but for two nights in a row I didn't even open the darned document or anything. I got stuck with a big massive hole in the middle but inspiration struck and everything is planned now. It didn't help in actually writing anything though.
I'm still hitting that wall where this thing is too serious for a parody (in my eyes) but then Mr. Omega comes along and knits his kittens sweaters or something equally odd and makes things better. I swear the only reason I have him is for funny moments. I'm afraid that if I kill him off all the funny will go away.
Anyway, things are tying up in nice little bows and I don't think I've missed any plot points. I kind of sad that in four chapters and an epilogue this thing will be over. I know, right? I've only got four chapters left to write.
I know I won't hit the 200K word count goal with just this parody. I'll probably get around 180K words for it but that's okay. I've got the story I was working on in October to finish to get my 200K goal.
My goal for this weekend (with tonight, Sat and Sun) is to get 50K words to finish this monster. I'm not sure how that's going to work out as my highest word count day is 18,333. I'm going to try though.
I hope to be finished this novel by Tuesday, take a few days for a break then get my last 20-30K words with my other novel. The sad part is even with those 20-30K words that other novel won't be done. That's okay though; I don't mind. I will say that once I hit the 200K I'm stopping so I can focus on editing everything.
Anyway, that's my NaNoWriMo week 2 update. The week 3 update is coming on the 23rd and until then: Good night and don't let the evil sun monster steal your soul.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
So many...characters...
After reading through another batch of old stories, I found out something interesting. I have dozens of interesting characters stuck in a story without a plot.
I find it funny how it's very simple for me to make up a new character. I can literally spend an entire day writing character profiles, quotes they might use, their look, their background but do they get in a story? Nope. Well, not all the time.
The old short stories (that at the time I thought were novels...oh how young I was) have introduced an entire new slew of characters, each that would be loved (or hated) by readers. But, no story lines.
Don't get me wrong, the setting descriptions are amazing. But, the plot is so generic it's laughable. I can barely read some of my old work, and not because my handwriting is illegible.
It's just so dull. Hopefully I can breathe life into some of these generic plots or at least steal the characters and put them into something else.
I'm going to finish this off with a few tips for writing a good character:
1) Become your character. There is no better way to describe a person then if you think like them. So, think like the character you want to create. Ask yourself, are they extroverted or introverted? What made them this way? Will they change and how? What are their likes and dislikes? Why don't they like certain things?
2) Stay away from generic looking characters, especially in fantasy. So, you have an amazing personality set out for your new character. Now, you need tell your reader what they look like. Blond hair and blue eyes? Sounds good, but there's so many blond haired, blue eyed people running around. If you do make them look 'average' give them something different. A scar, a tattoo, a certain way of dressing. Don't get me wrong, it's entirely possible to create an average looking character and make them stand out via their personality alone. More difficult, but still doable.
3) Interaction. This kind of ties in with a character's personality. How will this character interact with other characters? How do they speak? Is it very formal or filled with slang? And remember, tie in the way they speak with their personality. A genius character may not use a lot of slang and contractions in their speech pattern. Above all, make them talk as someone with that personality would talk (again, BECOME that character).
4) Be creative. When creating a new character, there are no rules. Who they are is completely up to you. Think of it as walking into a room full of blank wooden dolls and with your writing powers, you have to make them human. Or elf. Or vampire. Or hobbit. Or, whatever it is they are going to be. (Side note: That just gave me the beginnings of an idea).
Now, there may be other things other authors do when writing a character but I find the above works for me. Of course, what works for me, may not work for someone else and the tips are meant to be a general guideline/place to start.
Keep creating. ;)
I find it funny how it's very simple for me to make up a new character. I can literally spend an entire day writing character profiles, quotes they might use, their look, their background but do they get in a story? Nope. Well, not all the time.
The old short stories (that at the time I thought were novels...oh how young I was) have introduced an entire new slew of characters, each that would be loved (or hated) by readers. But, no story lines.
Don't get me wrong, the setting descriptions are amazing. But, the plot is so generic it's laughable. I can barely read some of my old work, and not because my handwriting is illegible.
It's just so dull. Hopefully I can breathe life into some of these generic plots or at least steal the characters and put them into something else.
I'm going to finish this off with a few tips for writing a good character:
1) Become your character. There is no better way to describe a person then if you think like them. So, think like the character you want to create. Ask yourself, are they extroverted or introverted? What made them this way? Will they change and how? What are their likes and dislikes? Why don't they like certain things?
2) Stay away from generic looking characters, especially in fantasy. So, you have an amazing personality set out for your new character. Now, you need tell your reader what they look like. Blond hair and blue eyes? Sounds good, but there's so many blond haired, blue eyed people running around. If you do make them look 'average' give them something different. A scar, a tattoo, a certain way of dressing. Don't get me wrong, it's entirely possible to create an average looking character and make them stand out via their personality alone. More difficult, but still doable.
3) Interaction. This kind of ties in with a character's personality. How will this character interact with other characters? How do they speak? Is it very formal or filled with slang? And remember, tie in the way they speak with their personality. A genius character may not use a lot of slang and contractions in their speech pattern. Above all, make them talk as someone with that personality would talk (again, BECOME that character).
4) Be creative. When creating a new character, there are no rules. Who they are is completely up to you. Think of it as walking into a room full of blank wooden dolls and with your writing powers, you have to make them human. Or elf. Or vampire. Or hobbit. Or, whatever it is they are going to be. (Side note: That just gave me the beginnings of an idea).
Now, there may be other things other authors do when writing a character but I find the above works for me. Of course, what works for me, may not work for someone else and the tips are meant to be a general guideline/place to start.
Keep creating. ;)
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