Always On

I saw something interesting while scrolling through my Google Plus feed today.  It was a quote that I'll have to paraphrase for you since my mind has since purged not only the full quote but also who it was attributed to.  Sorry about that.  Anyway, the quote went something like, "If you're a writer, you never have a day off."  After considering it and all the things I think about during the course of a day now that I've been writing regularly, I had to agree.

If you're a writer of fiction, you undoubtedly know what I mean.  The search for ideas or inspiration is a never ending quest.  I can't tell you how many times at work I've come up with new ideas, scribbled them down on a piece of paper, stuffed it in a pocket and typed  it in a Word document once getting home.  The first rule of getting new ideas is to write them down as fast as you can.  You've got to.  If you don't, they'll slip away so fast it's like they were never there.

Everything is research for a writer.  Even conversation takes on a new purpose.  It's great to be in a room full of people and listen to them talk.  Just sitting there listening is research in a sense.  How are you going to make you're dialog realistic without taking some mental notes of how people talk and react to each other.  Try to listen to whatever age group you're writing too.  If you're writing kids, listen to kids interact with each other.  Just don't be creepy about it.

So go out there and do some research.  It won't feel like research most of the time, but that's what it is.  Live your life and put it into your writing.  I believe that your writing will be better for it.  Everyone says to write what you know, right?  I figure the more we pay attention, the more we know and the better we'll be able to convey what we know to our readers.  Good luck and keep writing.

November Update

It seems that writing here would be one of the easiest places to write.  Just like everyone likes to talk about themselves, it seems only natural that you would want to write about yourself.  That's not the way I see it at all.  Writing here is often the hardest place for me to write.  Maybe it's because what is put down here, goes out for all the world to see.  That is like a nice logical assumption.  It is however, one that does not necessarily apply to me.  My problem is that I figure that no one really cares what I'm up to at this point as I'm just a beginning writer who's learning lessons as he goes.  There should be an update from time to time about those lessons though, so here goes...

I have written, with the help of the Magic Spreadsheet, for over 230 days now.  Some days have been easier than others.  For my efforts, I have one completed short story that I have been shopping around, trying to get published.  While it would be wonderful to have the story published, my hopes are not real high.  It is the first thing I've ever submitted after all, and I've done some dumb things along the way.  Some of which involved the submitting process itself.  The bad thing is that I knew not to do some of the things that I did, but it was late, I was excited about finally submitting something, I needed to go to bed, and I just sent it.  Not that I'm making excuses.

The first time I barely read through it and left some grammar oh oh's that were painfully obvious when I looked at the piece later.  The second time, I checked all the grammar and made some of what I thought were nice edits to the story, before sending it in.  Only I forgot to put anything in the body of my email for a cover letter.  I knew better than to do that, and as soon as I sent it, I wanted it back.  Oh well, live and learn and all that.  The editor sent a link in my rejection letter that carried my browser to an article all about cover letters.  It was great.  It's here.  I'll try not to do that one again in the future.

Lots of other things have been written along this journey of mine too.  Most of which need polishing considerably before having a chance to be seen by others.  It has been lots of fun so far and I'll keep plugging away at it.  I'll let you know how it goes from time to time right here so stay tuned.  Hopefully, some interesting things will happen, things that may interest others.  That way I can post here more often about all the interesting things.

Thanks for stopping by.  Feel free to leave a comment anytime if you have some question or just want to say hi.  I'll be right here, write 'n stuff.

200 Days of Magic

Today marks the 200th day of magic for me and my writing.  The Magic Spreadsheet that is.  I owe a lot to The Magic Spreadsheet.  I owe it thousands of words, several stories, even more story ideas, and even a rejection letter.  It's been a wild ride marked by sleep deprivation and a few nights consisting of what some would call caffeine abuse.  The bottom line is that I did whatever it took over the past 200 days to write 250 words or more everyday.  If you are a writer and are not familiar with this piece of magic, you may want to read on.

250 words a day.  That's your goal.  It's not much and that's the point.  It's achievable.  Achievable goals are good because when you reach them, your confidence is boosted and you can move on to bigger goals.  Bigger goals come with the spreadsheet too as you level up.  With each level, your daily word count goal goes up by 50 words.  Even though 250 keeps your chain going, to get your full allotment of points, you need to reach your goal everyday.

There were some unfortunate issues with the spreadsheet recently.  Things were slowing down and people were having lots of trouble putting there numbers in.  Some people left the spreadsheet because of these issues, but they are fixed.  There is a new Magic Spreadsheet now, and everyone is welcome.  So come on over and get your daily writing habit started.

It won't be easy but it will be worth it.  You can't get better without practicing your craft so sign up and get to it.  200 days from now, you too can have a 200 day chain.  Good luck!

Writing the Wrong Way?

Today marks the 190th day of consecutive writing, thanks to The Magic Spreadsheet.  Lately, most of my writing have gone toward a story plot that I've been working on.  To be honest, it's kicking my butt!

I failed to take my own advice and now I'm paying the price.  What advice is that?  Oh so many!  You can boil it down to me not doing any planning before I start to write though.  It seems that I like discovery writing, even though I do not think that's the way I want to write.  Not long  pieces anyway.  I don't mind knocking out a short story off the top of my head, and as a matter of fact, that's kind of the way I like to do those.

Something novel or even novella length is going to require some planning on my part though.  My question is, how do I make myself do what I know I should do.  That's not something that's happened yet.  I guess that's something I need to work on.  Either that or just go to writing short stories all the time, but that's not the plan.

One of the advantages that I can see in this approach is that I've got an idea of who the characters are now that I'm writing an outline.  I know that's kind of backwards, but I can't tell you how many times I've heard to find what works for you and that there is no right or wrong way.  Maybe all that's true.  Maybe, just maybe I'm not writing the wrong way after all.  I probably am though.

So I'm going to keep on plugging away at it.  Maybe I'm doing it right or maybe I'm doing it wrong, but either way I'll let you know how it turns out.  Thanks for stopping by.  I'm out for now, but I'll be right here write 'n things!

Blood Oranges - Book Review

"Blood Oranges" by Caitlin R. Kiernan, writing as Kathleen Tierney, is a departure from the sparkly vampires that have assaulted popular culture of late.  There is no need to fear if you are a fan of the lighter side of vampires though.  "Blood Oranges" does not take itself too seriously and manages to be a fun, and gritty ride through the underbelly of the underworld.

I was intrigued when I first heard "Blood Oranges" promo-ed on the Writing Excuses podcast.  A demon hunter who gets bit by not only a werewolf but also a vampire, and in the same night even.  That's some kind of luck, and according to the brief description offered on the show, it only worsened.  I knew right then that I wanted to read this, but I was already in the middle of one book or another so I put it on the back burner.

When the book was nowhere to be locally found in paper, I downloaded it from the Kindle Store and took to it.  I was not disappointed.  I'll admit that the language was a bit more brusque than I had imagined it would be, and if you are easily offended by strong language then consider this fair warning and step away slowly.  To be fair though, the language makes sense for the characters in the book, and when you consider the fact that they are all manner of lowlifes, well, how would you expect them to talk?

The main character, Siobhan Quinn, tells the story first person.  It is her story to tell after all.  Most of what I've read over the past years has been some form of third person with varying viewpoints scattered throughout, so this was a big change up.  It was refreshing to read from a different point of view and to hold that view from beginning to end.

I enjoyed the book from beginning to end and hated to see it end so quickly.  I do not know what the future holds for Siobhan Quinn, but if she is going on more adventures, sign me up.

Being an At-Work Vegetarian

Apples are very filling and make a great lunch.

There are lots of people nowadays, focusing heavily on their health.  Diet and exercise get a lot of play in the media and it seems to be on everyone's mind.  It seems to be very easy to think about these things without putting those thoughts into action though.  It's easy to constantly tell yourself that you need to exercise more or eat better without actually doing it.  Today, I want to share with you an easy way to improve your diet.  I know it works, because I have put this into practice.  You may get some funny looks from your family or co-workers, but it's worth the effort.

The trick that I'm referring to is what I call being an at-work vegetarian.  Most people don't include enough fruits and vegetables in their diets, choosing instead to eat the fast and easy fare that so often tempts us even though we know we should pass.  Fast, fried and fatty food is the norm at my workplace just as I suspect it is at most places around the country.  I decided a few months back that I would make a change for the better, and I have yet to regret it.

My normal breakfast consists of a smoothie.  Most of the time I use kale, banana, mixed frozen berries, chia seeds, coconut water and sometimes plain fat free yogurt.  You can of course find what works for you, as a smoothie.  Smoothie recipes are everywhere!  Mine changes from time to time depending on what I have.  (I blend it in the morning and pack it to work for breakfast)  It is delicious, nutritious and a stark contrast to the grits, eggs, and sausage that is so often eaten on the job.  The absolute best part is how people look at you when you sit there, drinking your smoothie while they are eating a "real breakfast."  It's like they think you are absolutely insane, but that's okay.

So how about lunch?  I go for an apple.  Apples are so filling, that I find just one holds me until I get home in the evening.  If one apple is not enough for you though, by all means eat some more!  Another apple or some grapes or whatever you want.  It's a fruit and veggie plan we're on here, preferably raw, and there's no limit on how much of it you can eat.  Expect some funny looks when you sit down by the guy devouring a half of fried chicken and mashed potatoes with your apple though.  Fair warning.

When I get home, I try to eat a sensible dinner, but even if we're having burgers or something not so healthy, I know that I've eaten healthy all day and can cut myself some slack.  The key is to be flexible, but not too flexible.  Too much flexibility will land you back into your same bad habits.  That's my experience anyway.
It's not going to be easy at first, but if you are searching for a good way to fit more fruits and vegetables into your diet, this is the easiest way that I have found.  Good luck and good health!

"Riddick" - The Sci-Fi Story of a Man and His Dog

We went out to the theater last night to catch the 7:30 showing of "Riddick."  "Riddick" is the third movie in the series that started with "Pitch Black" starring Vin Diesel as a murdering escape convict somewhere out in space.  Much like "Pitch Black", he is again fighting alien monsters on a deserted planet.  Well, it worked in "Pitch Black" and it works again here.  We enjoyed the movie, but I got more than I bargained for when I sat down.

"Riddick" is one of those movies that does more than one thing.  Sure, the main story line was Riddick and his fight to stay alive, focusing on his struggles with both the alien creatures and the mercenary crews that come looking to take him out.  The thing that I didn't see coming was the relationship that Riddick builds with a creature on the planet that is basically a big dog.  He gets it as a puppy and raises it up to be his loyal bodyguard.  They go everywhere and do everything together.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!   SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

So when one of the mercenaries kills Riddick's dog, it's a real emotional moment in the movie.  Okay, there wasn't anyone crying in the theater, but still, you know what I mean.  What started out as a kill or be killed thriller, turned into "Old Yellar" for a little while there in the midle.  I wasn't expecting space dogs at all!  It was a touching story thrown into the sci-fi killfest and it worked.

They took the time to make Riddick a full character, not just a the killing machine that he obviously is.  It's easy for the characters in these movies to be so one dimensional that you're just watching for the fights and battles.  Don't get me wrong though, I love those movies, I just saying that a little more character development would not be a bad thing sometimes.

At the point in the movie when Riddick could have easily sacrificed his dog to get away from the people after him, he chose not to.  Like many of us would, he put his life in peril trying to save the life of his friend.  He ultimately failed, but that's beside the point.  It was a little thing to do, but it worked and made Riddick more human than he could have been.  

If you're looking for fighting and action don't be discouraged, there's plenty of that.  Just don't be surprised when you go check out "Riddick", if you get more than you expect.

Get Inspired and Get To It!

It's easy to get inspired. I do it all the time. The key is taking that inspiration and turning it into something positive. It does no good to get inspired, only to do nothing about it.  You have to take action or else your passion will fade and you will never realize your dreams, and we all want to live our dreams, right?

When I started writing, I was inspired by the writing podcasts that I had been listening to for a while.  Both "Writing Excuses" and "I Should Be Writing" had inspired me to write but time passed and I never did anything about it.  Not at first anyway.

It wasn't until I heard about The Magic Spreadsheet that my inspiration turned to a consistent habit that I look forward to everyday. With the help of the spreadsheet I've been writing for 150 straight days and have not plans of quitting.

Exercise is much the same way. It's easy to get inspired to get in shape, but unless it's something you really want, you will inevitably give it up. Just like writing, it helps to have a goal. Give yourself something to look forward to. If you're writing, getting to the end of that book or story is your goal.  Your fitness goals could be something like a local 5k or mud run.  With a goal in mind, you can push toward that goal and use that goal to push your exercise habit.  One thing's for sure, you'll be less likely to fall by the fitness wayside if you set yourself a goal to work toward.

So go out there and get inspired. Then get a plan together and set some goals. The next thing you know, you could have that book that's been rattling around in your head down on paper or a set of six pack abs and healthy body. Whatever you want, go for it and don't stop until you reach your goals. Good luck, and let me know how it goes!

Making Time to Exercise

I've thought a lot about my health lately.  Since I started writing on the regular, I found myself slacking off on exercise, choosing instead to sit in front of the computer typing away.  While I didn't feel exactly out of shape, I realized that I wasn't exactly in great shape either.  Some changes had to be made.

The first change was easy.  It involved work and the way I spent my days there.  I was always pretty good at taking the stairs to the upper floors when I needed to go, but often I would make one trip up and then think that was enough for the day, often taking the elevator on later trips.  Now I try to make more than one trip per day.  Sometimes it’s tough, especially on those hot summer days, but it’s important to keep going.  You don’t achieve your goals by quitting.

Changing my home habits was a bit harder.  At home it’s easy to sit and type or watch TV or whatever else comes along, and just forget about that pesky exercise.  The elliptical sits there waiting, but it’s up to me to get on there and get the work done.  It’s sure not going to spin round and round on its own.  So I started hitting the elliptical on the regular and so far so good on that front.  My cardio is looking up as a result of the double blast of stairs at work and the elliptical at home. 

To go along with the cardio, I’m throwing in push-ups, pull-ups, and various ab exercises to help round out the rest of my body.  I just hope that I can continue the trend that I've started.  I can honestly say that I feel better now than I have in a while, and I’m looking forward to getting into the best shape of my life. 

In the future, I want to add some free-running into my fitness plan because that just looks like a lot of fun.  That probably won’t take place for a little while though, at least not in full.  (I’m always jumping off of something)  The way I see it, your health is a journey and you have to keep progressing if you want to stay at the top of your game.  So take a look at your health and access what you need to do to improve yourself.  If you plan to keep on living, you may as well feel good doing it!

Still Learning...and Developing a Bit of Style Along the Way

It's funny that I've written consecutively for a hundred and twenty some odd days now and it seems that my personal blog is the hardest thing for me to write.  I often think during the course of the day that I'll update the blog that night or just that I'll blog more frequently, but all too often those plans fall through.

Most of the time when its time to write, something else almost always gets the love and the blog gets the cold shoulder.  "Why is that?" is a question that I've been asking myself and the answer is pretty clear.  It's that I don't think anyone cares.  Most of the time, when I sit down to update my personal blog I hesitate and often close the blogger tab in favor of a Word document because of this.  Yep, I've got a bad attitude, but I'm trying to deal and I'll be trying to do better in the future.  If you catch me slacking call me out.  That's only fair.

The good news is that I'm still writing, and I mean everyday.  If you don't know, I use The Magic Spreadsheet to keep me going and it works great!  I've written all about it before, so I won't bother you with those details.  Instead I'll leave links to those articles at the bottom of this article.  Check 'em out!  The spreadsheet truly is magic.

The kind of bad news is that the writing I've done has been all over the place.  Trying to find a style that works for me has been a bit more challenging than I had originally anticipated.  So far I've got a novella length witch detective story which is in bad need of a rewrite, a short story that I'm pretty happy with but needs a few more edits, and several starts to stories that I'm either still thinking about or have scrapped until I grow enough as a writer to use the ideas properly.

My style has been developing through all of this, and I think I'm going to end up being a discovery writer that writes very rough through a plot and then fleshes things out later, after the very basic frame work is in place.  My latest ideas are developing like this and I like the way its going at the moment.

Taking a step away from the writing side of things before I wrap this up, I want to mention that I'm doing my best to stay healthy and active as well as write.  One of the biggest changes I've made is to my diet, specifically the breakfast part of it.  I've found that having smoothies for breakfast is a great way to start the day.  They are delicious and nutritious, not to mention easy to make in the Ninja Blender that I received as a birthday gift.  This coupled with exercise that in reality should be a bit more regular, will hopefully propel me to my fitness goals sooner rather than later.

That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by and come back anytime!  I'll just be hanging out, write 'n stuff!

Oh yeah, those Magic Spreadsheet post links are here and here.  Hope they help!

The Decision to Cut Words

Today marks 114 days in a row of writing.  I know this because of the words I’ve logged in the magic spreadsheet very diligently over the past 114 days.  The spreadsheet has been a blessing because there is no way I would have kept up this pace for so long without it.  Over those days, I have reached level four and now have a daily goal of 400 words.  That daily goal though, has unfortunately become somewhat of a problem.

Let me explain.  It’s not a problem because it’s an unachievable goal or anything like that; it’s a problem because of me and my time limits and priorities.  Not to mention my lack of writing skill.  (Sometimes it takes me a lot longer than it should to pump out 400 words)  See, I’m not a professional writer, even though that would be great.  I like to think that if I was, I would knock out 400 words by breakfast, but that’s probably unrealistic too, so I digress.  So I've got work and then family and everything else.  It gets crazy sometimes, so I had to make a decision.

My decision is to maintain my chain in the magic spreadsheet by writing 250 words a day. (250 words is the minimum you can write and keep your chain alive)  Only writing 250 words a day will cause me to lose those, oh so valuable points, but I believe I can deal with that as long as my chain lives.  Keeping the chain alive will insure the life of my writing habit and the lower word count will free up some time during my busy days or nights.

I am still excited about writing, and I am still enjoying it greatly as I learn by doing.  I am also excited to free up some time to do some other things.  I’ll be posting about those other things soon, so stay tuned!

100 Days Down

Yesterday, I reached a milestone.  One that I had worked toward for 100 days and reaching it makes me extremely happy and also just a little frustrated.  What milestone is it?  Well, yesterday marked the 100th day of consecutive writing that I had logged in The Magic Spreadsheet.

One hundred days was one of the first goals that I had set for myself when I began The Magic Spreadsheet and to be honest, I never really felt like I would reach that goal.  I was absolutely positive that life would get in the way and prevent me from writing one of those days and just as suspected, life did try.  There were long hours at work (over 16 hours a day in some cases), family trips where writing just was not convenient or near the top of the to do list, and then there were the days that I just did not want to write for whatever reason.  Anyone who knows me can attest to the funks I can put myself in.  Through all of these thing though, I persevered and looking forward to the goal, sat down at some point everyday to write.

This perseverance makes me extremely happy with myself.  I now feel that I can do it.  I can write.  That maybe one day I can tell people that I know that I am a writer without that nagging piece inside of me that's wondering what they think about it.  When it comes right down to it though, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about it because I write for me.  At the end of the day, The Magic Spreadsheet helped me to do something that I wanted to do, and it doesn't matter what my peers or parents or anyone else for that matter thinks about it.  That sounds harsh though, so I should clarify and say that I have not been discouraged in my goals.  My immediate family understands that I write everyday even though I don't think they really get it.  I just don't feel real comfortable talking about it, and I blame that on being an introvert.

That's where a little of the frustration comes from.  I want to celebrate but then I don't want to celebrate because if I'm celebrating people will want to know why and I'll have to talk about it and I can't talk about it.  Does that make sense?  Probably not, but anyway, I can't help that.  It's really hard to explain.  Maybe I'll celebrate this weekend without telling anyone that I'm celebrating.  That sounds good to me!

There is one other thing that's a little frustrating, but at the same time it's a little encouraging.  It's the fact that now that I've reach 100 days, all that is ahead is more days.  That's both good and bad!  It's good that I know that I can do it, have done it, and can continue to do it, but it's bad in that you never have a day off.  That is probably a good thing too though, because if I took a day off I may not make it back.  So I'll keep plugging away and maybe someday I can write for someone who is not me.

Until then, I'll be right here write 'n stuff!

Mission Accomplished

Mission accomplished.  Vacation is over and my Magic Spreadsheet chain is alive.  It turns out that my two plan approach to writing on vacation turned into a mostly one plan approach and I wrote at the hotel at night, often after the family was asleep.  There was a Starbucks in the hotel though, so that helped.  Plan B was used once on the way home as I got my words done in the car.  That was the first time on vacation that I didn't drive!

While it’s good that I kept my habit alive, what I think I have discovered may not be as good.  I've been trying to write a sci-fi story for the past month I guess.  I've got a couple of chapters down and a good bit of an extensive outline.  The bad thing is that I’m discovering that I may not be smart enough to write the sci-fi story that I had in my head.  If I did the research necessary for this story, I don’t think I would have time to actually write the story.  I may have to sit what I've got aside and work on something else in the meantime.  It’s not like my writing can’t improve anyway. 

So, I’m faced again with what to do.  It seems that I ask myself that a lot since I started this writing habit.  I’m thinking about starting something new.  Something a little closer to what I like writing anyway which is something like fantasy.  Whether urban or epic, I’ll have to mull that over and get back to you.

It seems that I have some thinking to do, so I’m gonna go!  Not to worry though, cause I’ll still be right around here, write ‘n stuff!

Planning to Write While on Vacation

This week poses a unique challenge for me.  Vacation.  You see, I've got this chain going on The Magic Spreadsheet.  It’s up to 64 days!  Sixty five after today, and I really want to keep that going.  This is by far the most writing I've ever done, and it would be a shame to quit now but with the traveling, walking and other stuff it’s going to be tough.

What we need is a plan!  That sounds funny, doesn't it?  A plan to write while on vacation!  I mean, isn't a vacation something you go on to get away from stuff like that?  Well I guess not.  Not in my situation anyway. 

So here’s the plan/plans.  Plan A:  Write in the car.  I need to make sure that my laptop battery is charged so that I can take advantage of any travel time that I’m not driving.  I have to be careful not to be too anti-social though.  If plan A doesn't work, there’s always plan B.  Plan B:  My normal writing time is at night while others are asleep, so that will probably come into play this week.  In order to outlast everyone else though, late night coffee will definitely be in order.  Caffeine soothes the writer’s soul, right? 

   

So there it is!  That’s the plan.  I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.  Hopefully, I’ll have a chain of 70 when I get home.  Fingers crossed!  I've got to go now, but I’ll be back soon and I’ll be write ‘n stuff!

The Power of The Magic Spreadsheet

It was a goal of mine to start writing on a regular basis this year.  I started out well enough, but my regularity didn't last very long.  I would write for a couple of days, and then, inevitably, take a few days off.  My inconsistencies were getting the best of me and my writing.  Then I discovered The Magic Spreadsheet through Mur Lafferty's podcast "I Should Be Writing."

I've been using The Magic Spreadsheet for almost two months now, and I'm happy to say that I've not missed a day of writing since I started.  Today marks day 51!  It seems that I've become regular.  You could possibly compare The Magic Spreadsheet to, wait for it, bran in a way.  Bran has the power to make you go, but The Magic Spreadsheet has the power to make you go write!  If you are a writer, you need to check this thing out.  If you haven't already, check it out here.

The beauty of the spreadsheet is that you can use it however you see fit.  I log my word count when I write fiction or when I write blog entries here or on themotolife.net.  Most of my writing is fiction.  I really need a schedule for the blogs as they are neglected on a regular basis.  Once a week for each is probably a good goal for them, I just need to decide on what days of the week the blog updates take place.  Decisions, decisions, decisions...

The spreadsheet can also be used for editing.  I haven't done this yet, but from what I understand, the consensus of users take a percentage of the words edited to use as word count.  Ten percent would give you 100 words to put toward word count for every 1,000 edited.  That however is not etched in stone.  I'll let you know how it goes when some editing gets done around here.

The point of all this though, is that The Magic Spreadsheet works.  It may not work for you, but it does for me and I know that it does for many others.  I see the proof every night when I go there to log my words for that day.  Speaking of logging words, I'm going to do that now.  So, take care and go write something.  I'll be here write 'n stuff!

Learning From the First Draft - Descriptions

Last night was good.  Last night, a story was finished.  A first draft of a story anyway.  It's not ready for the public and it may never be.  That's okay though.  Writing "The Rin and Finnius Story" was a good learning experience and I will take those lessons and apply them to the next story.  Maybe it can be for public consumption.

Rin and Finnius taught me that one of the biggest things that I need to work on is descriptions.  All kinds of descriptions.  People, places, things....Just everything.  The world in general.  During the writing, I found that I was good at putting my characters in a bland place.  The characters could be bland alongside their surroundings too.  Nobody likes bland.  Yuck!  As a result, the story suffered in both interest and length.

Let's address interest first.  It's hard to be interested in someone or something if you don't know that much about them or it.  Not that you need to know everything, a bit of mystery is always good.  The thing is though, if readers can't form an image of a scene in their mind's eye, there is a good chance they will put your story down and move on.  I can't blame them for that.  Unless you're drawing pictures, your descriptions need to be dead on or the reader will lose interest.  That's how it works for me.  All things considered though, I think the descriptions were better near the end of the story.  I'll see if that's really the case on the re-read in a few weeks.

And now the matter of length.  "The Rin and Finnius Story" came in at just over 27,000 words.  That's the word count that Word gives anyway.  It would really be less than that when you consider that some of the words that are there shouldn't be.  As I said before, this story was started with no real plan.  Therefore, many things were written that had to be re-written, and since I'm not one to throw anything away, those words are still hanging out in the document.  So, the cutting will begin soon.

After the cutting, the trimming of the fat so to speak, I've got a decision to make.  I could go back in and beef up the descriptions.  This would give me some valuable practice in a world that I'm already familiar with but needs to be fleshed out.  It would also beef up the word count and possibly make the story better in the process.  Option two is to keep cutting and shrink the scope of the story in hopes of pulling a short story from the wreckage.  This may be the easier of the two routes, but I have no idea what I'll do at this point.

The only thing that's for sure is that it felt great to finish that draft.  I'm going to plan a little more for the next story, but probably not as much as I should.  I'll probably get all excited and start writing the wrong stuff again.  Any planning is better than what I did this time though.  So until next time, keep on write 'n stuff!

Continuing to Learn, While Trying to Finish

If you've followed along since January, you know what I've been trying to do this year.  If you haven't, no worries.  I decided to start writing more and take things more seriously this year...And more seriously means actually finishing things, not just starting them!

I began with two projects, eventually scrapping one when I realized that two things going at the same time was not worth the trouble at this point in my writing.  I really hadn't planned either project.  I just started writing when an idea hit me.  The trouble is, that's the same thing I had done over and over again, and that leads to a paragraph or two and then nothing.  This time was different though.  I would finish something, so putting the secondary project away, I plugged away at the primary.

Almost four full months into 2013, I can happily say that I'm almost finished...with a first draft anyway.  With a little luck, I'll be done in about a week. (hopefully less)  My "novel" did not turn out to be novel length however and I'm okay with that.  (close to 20,000 words so far)  So not a novel, just a story and admittedly a flawed one.  A learning experience, if you will?

So you say, what did I learn?  First and foremost is to have a plan.  Do an outline for goodness sake.  At least for me, I need it.  The pants-er experiment has been a failure for me.  I know it works for some very successful writers, but not me.  From now on, I want a plan before I start.

The second thing is to know your characters.  Know who they are, what they want and how they would act in a certain situation.  Your characters will bring your story to life if you bring them to life.  I need to work on my characters more before I can tell my story.

Third and not necessarily last, but the last thing tonight is to know your world.  Whether you're building a fantasy world or telling a story in your backyard, you need to know your world.  I don't believe you need to take as long as Tolkien to build your world, but at least put down some notes about how stuff works.  You will probably need more for a fantasy world than the real one so that you'll have something to refer back to when you have questions about things in your world.  They will come up, trust me.

The thing that is frustrating me now though, is that while I'm close to finishing, I don't know just how to end it.  I just know that it's time for it to end.  Oh well, that's a puzzle for me to figure on.  I should be on that, so I'm off to go write 'n stuff.

The Magic Spreadsheet

Around the start of the year, I decided that I would start writing.  Not that I’ve never written before, I’ve just never taken it seriously.  Like so many others I would start projects and those projects, once started, would fall by the wayside fairly quick.  No one is really at fault for that, right?  Life’s busy after all, and who has time to write?

I spent a lot of time listening to podcast before starting to write.  Mostly “Writing Excuses” with Brandon Sanderson, Howard Taylor, Dan Wells and Mary Robinette Kowal.  It’s a great podcast, and the knowledge that I gleaned from that podcast was my main inspiration to start writing.

That kick in the pants was not enough to make me write consistently though.  I would write one day and not the next, then maybe not the next either.  Days would pass with no words being put down.  I was busy.  I’ve got a family, a job and all sorts of other stuff to do.  “I’ll write when I get caught up,” I would tell myself.

 

If this is you, then let me tell you something.  You are never going to get caught up! 

It’s frustrating when you’re trying to do something and there is always something else in the way of what you want to do.  Well, Never fear, The Magic Spreadsheet is here.  I’ve got to thank Mur Lafferty for her podcast, “I Should Be Writing” because that is where I learned about The Magic Spreadsheet.  “I Should Be Writing” is a podcast that I found after I started writing.  Mur is an experienced professional that gives great advice but was also someone that I could relate to.  She would get frustrated or busy and not write just like me.  It was nice to know that I was not the only one with these issues.

ISBW was a new podcast for me, so there was a lot of catching up to do!  Mur shared the ups and downs of her career including her adventures in self-publishing, agent woes and her eventual book deal.  One of the most recent revelations she shared was The Magic Spreadsheet.  She said that she had been able for the first time in her life to write consistently.  At the time she was busting through the hundred day barrier.  Impressive!

So I signed up!  This is only day eleven but I haven’t missed a day.  Here’s how it works.  It may not be for everyone, but it’s working for me.  Just put down at least 250 words a day, log your words and the spreadsheet does the rest.  It’s great and  it works for me.  Check it out and get to writing consistently.  Thanks for reading, and until next time, I’ll be here write ‘n stuff.

It's Good to be Back!

I've been gone for a couple of weeks due to work and I'm oh so happy to be back!  It was a long two weeks with much work done over the course of many many hours.  It was a good couple of weeks even if it was very draining as lots of things were accomplished at work.

With the good also comes the bad though.  Working anywhere from 12 to 21 hours a day (thankfully more 12s than 21s) prevents a person from doing much besides work, eat and sleep.  Family time is cut to the bone as is anything else you spend your time on.  Hobbies are pretty well worked right out of the life equation.

During the past two weeks, I did not blog or write.  Part of that is my laziness and part was exhaustion.  Hopefully though, things will level out now, and I can get back to normal.  Writing, drawing and reading nightly.

To not loose complete touch with my artistic side during those weeks, I continued to read at night (if only a couple pages) and listen to podcasts to and from work.  At least that way I'm thinking about writing even if I'm not actually doing it.

I did write tonight though.  My first night back at it and it felt good.  I also enlisted in "The Magic Spreadsheet" after listening to Mur talk so good about it on the "I Should Be Writing" podcast.  I'll be sure to keep you posted on that and how it works for me.  Hopefully well.

Well, it's bedtime here.  'Til next time, I'll be here write 'n stuff!

Sick and Tired

I hate to say it, but for the past two weeks, I've almost completely quit writing.  The next two weeks aren't looking that promising either.

I haven't actually quit though.  While I have wanted to continue to write, my body has rebelled against me.  My sinuses anyway.  It seems that all I've done over the past couple of weeks is cough, hack and spit.  (not necessarily in that order)  Bear in mind that my writing normally occurs between 10pm and 12am, but when nine o'clock rolls around and you can't hold the eyes attached to your medicine head open, what are you going to do?  I normally take even more meds and go to sleep, hoping in vain to wake feeling better.

The good news is that I seem to be on the road to recovery even if I'm not there yet.  I still can't lay down at night (sleeping in a chair) or quit the cough, but I have begun to feel somewhat better.  This is just in time for a big thing at work that's gonna have me working long hours for the next couple of weeks.  (that's how we pay the bills though)

It is frustrating being sick but it's something everyone goes through.  I feel as though I could be done with the first draft of the "Rin and Finnius" story but oh well...  All I can do now is look to the future where hopefully I will feel really good and have lots of time to write stuff.

I'm going to bed now and maybe dream about write 'n stuff!

Goals Not Met, but Moving On

Last week did not go as planned.  Writing was done, not as much as I would have liked however since I didn't meet the 2,000 word goal.  I only logged 1,221 words of fiction during the course of the week.  Pathetic!

I do have some reasons for this failing though.  Early in the week, my eye became very red.  Self diagnosing as eye fatigue and figuring that I needed some sleep caused some missed writing time.  Then a late week trip caused some more lost writing time.  It really is hard to drive and write.  There's even laws against it some places!  Can you believe that?

On a more positive note, I was able to complete "A Memory Of Light" by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.  The eye fatigue was worth it.  I will gladly put more drops in my eyes for more works like "The Wheel of Time" series.  This last book and the series as a whole are great!

It is now a new week and I wonder what I can get done this week.  Only one way to find out.  I'm signing off for now, but like always, I'll be here write 'n stuff.

2013 - Seven Weeks Down and Still Writing

Last week I mentioned that I was doubling my paltry goal of 1,000 words a week.  After doing so I'm proud to say Mission Accomplished!  While it took all week, I did manage to put down 2,111 words in the Rin and Finnius story.  This is the only story I'm working on at the moment, as I've put all other fiction aside.

It may not seem to most of you out there that 2,000 words a week is a big deal and I would agree with you. Its just what I have right now.  When people post to Twitter that they've written 2,000 or more words in a day, I just take a deep breath and tell myself that one day that will be me.  At this point I'm living on Murr Lafferty's words of wisdom.  What's that you ask?  Those words are "It's okay to suck."  I'm allowed to write at my pace and to do it poorly and that's okay because what I learn now will bear fruit in the future.

Speaking of Murr, I've been listening to her a lot lately.  On the way to work and then home I listen to podcast.  For the past several weeks, I have been trying to get current with the "I Should Be Writing" podcast by Murr Lafferty.  It is very entertaining to listen to Murr and the authors, agents and editors that she interviews.  I recommend "I Should Be Writing" to all wanna-be fiction writers.

I'm still reading "A Memory of Light" by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.  It is a master work as is the entire "Wheel of Time" series in my opinion.  I'll probably finish it up this week, which will bring great sorrow to the pattern with the realization that this masterful work of fiction is completed.

That said, I need to be done reading so that may the Rin and Finnius story can be finished.  I really want to be done with the Rin and Finnius story so that I can plan what I will write next.  That may be the greatest lesson I've learned so far.  Plan before writing.  Rin and Finnius has been mostly discovery written and the edits that I see now are extensive.  There is more to change than I like to think about at this point, but I will keep writing and see what happens.  That is part of the fun, right?

Now to start the week off right, I'm gonna get some writing done.  Feel free to leave something in the comments, and as always, I'll be here write 'n stuff.

Ups and Downs

It probably shouldn't surprise anyone that my writing has been an up and down thing for the last couple of weeks.  These ups and downs should be expected for a "beginner writer" right?  And if your curious of what ups and downs I'm referring to, just read on.

First the ups.  My very modest weekly word count goal has been met and surpassed each week this year.  Big ups, whoop, whoop!!  Bear in mind that this is no huge accomplishment because the goal is small, on purpose though, and I hope to step it up soon.  Another up is that I have been achieving the small goal early in the week, leaving the latter half to 3/4 of the week for bonus writing.  This makes me feel good about my ability to get the words down, but it leads into the downs.  

The biggest down is that I'm leaving valuable writing time on the table.  I mean, what do you do when you just feel blah?  You get home from work or school, spend some quality time with the family, cook and eat, and then what.  Well, write of course.  Right?  That's the plan anyway, but you're worn out from the day.  The writing just doesn't always happen.  My thought process is that I've already reached my goal and I still haven't finished "A Memory Of Light."  So I read and not write.  All things considered, it could be worse.  If Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson hadn't done such a wonderful job on the "Wheel of Time" series, this may not be as big a problem.

The other down I'm facing now is that I've come to a point in my story that has me stumped.  I have to get past this point and fast or I will fail at my word count goal next week.  I may have to skip the scene and come back to it later, though I would rather not.  

As I write this, I feel as though the solution to my lack of writing problem is apparent.  The word count goal needs to be higher.  I've promised 1000 words a week.  That's been done fairly easily, so I'm going to double it now.  Starting next week the goal is 2000 words.  We'll see how that works out for a couple of weeks and hopefully move it up again.  

Now I just need to get past this scene.  I'll get to work on that now while I'm sittin' here write 'n' stuff.

Plan Before You Write? What a Novel Idea

Another week gone in 2013, and all is well.  As far as words written, I've continued to hit my goals.  Total word count doesn't necessarily reflect that I've done anything this week though, as I have continued to prune as I go.  Even rewriting entire chapters sometimes.  It's been brutal but worth it.

"Rin and Finnius" is coming along,(pruning and all) though at this point, I'm not certain what kind of length the story will be.  I had intended it to be short novel length, but it may not make it.  This is do to my very poor planning for which I take full responsibility.  It seems that starting to write with nothing but a few ideas in my head may not make as much sense as I thought it would.

My biggest problem with not planning, is writing a bunch of stuff that doesn't really work, only to realize it after I've left that part of the story.  Then there is a decision to make.  Go back or forge ahead with a broken story.  I don't like either option.  I did try to forge ahead, but ultimately decided to go back and edit.  It was that bad!

While forging ahead is probably the right decision in most cases, I couldn't do it.  Now some of the early holes patched and a little better plan in place I can continue to write.  The plan is probably not as good as it should be, but I think I can bring the story to a close with the path I'm on.  The important thing is that there has been a lesson learned.  Plan your story before writing your story.

With all the things I'm learning, the next story is bound to be better, right?  That's the hope anyway.  Thanks for stopping by and until next time, I'll be here...write 'n' stuff.

So, I'm No Pants-er!

When I sat down and began to write seriously, I knew that I had to figure out what kind of writer I would be.  That is to say, pants-er or planner (ie. discovery writer or out-liner).

Pants-er or pant-sing are terms taken from the expression "seat of you pants."  As in writing by the seat of your pants.  This approach involves little or no planning, just sitting down, writing and seeing where the story leads.  This approach works well for some.  Don't believe me?  Just ask George R. R. Martin, the "Game of Thrones" author how it's worked for him.

I thought that I would try the pant-sing thing as I wanting to get started and had a few ideas that I wanted to run with.  While I did take the time to throw some ideas on a page, it was not an outline and it didn't take long for me to figure out that my new story was broken.  The more I thought about it, the more holes I punched in it.  I realized that I needed a better plan.  The biggest part of that plan was an ending.

Having an ending in mind gives me a goal to shoot for.  Something to work toward.  After sitting down one night and writing an ending, I felt much better about where we were heading.  Though it was plenty painful; I had to cut several scenes and chapters that were already written, I like having that goal in mind while writing and will apply what I've learned here to future projects.  I will also put a lot more time into outlining before I start writing.  At this point, it's safe to say that I'm an out-liner that will probably pants some things in the story as the opportunities present themselves.  You can't plan everything after all!

Thanks for stopping in!  Feel free to leave a comment or check in on Twitter.  I'll be here write 'n' stuff!

2013 Week 2; Still Writing

It hasn't been a bad week.  I've had some opportunity to write, and have surpassed my 1,000 words a week goal for the second week in a row.  While that's not the biggest goal in the world, it's my hope that it will keep me writing all year.  2013 has started great and I look forward to the rest of it!

It hasn't been all roses though.  About mid-week "The Chronicles of Rin and Finnius" was going nowhere.  There was a scene, that when I sat down to write it, I couldn't figure out how to put it down.  Earlier that day, Bull Spec magazine (@bullspec) put on Twitter that they were taking submissions for there zine.  When I saw that my mind went into gear for what I would write for a sci-fi story if that was possible.  So, when Rin and Finnius turned to a dead end, a new document was opened and a space story was started.

That new story now sits collecting dust, waiting for the next wall to pop up.  The next day, thinking about Rin and Finnius, I figured out an ending.  Later, the ending was written, and things are looking up for "Rin and Finnius" now that there is a clear destination.  Before I had that destination, I was like a ship without a rudder, and everyone knows that a rudderless ship isn't getting anywhere fast.

"The Diary of Oic Oricson" did not get looked at at all this week.  Oic is my first person experiment that I plan to put up on the blog, one diary entry at a time when more material is available.  That plan may change if it turns really bad.  We'll see...

Lastly, my main distraction from writing this week is reading.  The final book in "The Wheel of Time" series came out Tuesday.  "A Memory of Light" is a massive read that I will savor.  It is the fourteenth book of the series that has been completed by Brandon Sanderson after the passing of Robert Jordan.  "The Wheel of Time" is epic fantasy at its best and everyone should read it.  But that's just my opinion.

Moving into the weekend, there should be some time to write tomorrow and Sunday and maybe some time to draw.  So have a good weekend, I'll be here write 'n' stuff!

2013 Week One: In The Books

One week into the new year already.  Most people set goals for themselves this time of year, but I've never really done that.  This year however seems to be different, or maybe it's just me that's different this year.  I did resolve to be a bit more consistently creative this year.  We'll see how it goes.

I've started work on two projects already.  "The Chronicles of Rin and Finnius" (working title) and "The Diary of Oic Oricson."  I seem to work on Rin and Finnius when I'm at home and Oic Oricson when I'm on the go, but no matter what I'm working on I have a common problem.  Naming.

I struggle with naming.  People, places, things or whatever.  I'll come up with this really cool fictional person or thing and need a name for him/her or it only to blank out.  This has got to be a common problem, but it isn't anything that's ever talked about.  At least not that I've heard.  I'm hoping that I will overcome this  hurdle soon because it slows me down and my writing time is already limited.

On the bright side, I managed to get down about 4000 words over the first week.  I've struggled some with where the story ("The Chronicles of Rin and Finnius") is going and considered changing course, but I'm going to continue on the track that I'm currently on.  I like the basic story arc and it is teaching me some things as I write.  When the story is done, I'll take a look and see what needs fixing.  If it can be fixed that is.  If not, I'll just move on to the next story.  It seems that all my story ideas come to mind when I'm writing, so I'm looking forward to finishing this story so that I can start on the next one.  Fun times!