A Share Over Coffee

I'm sitting in one of my not so local Starbucks, enjoying some coffee, black.  Typing, anything away from home, isn't something that I really get to do too much of but it is somethng that I think that would be great.  The atmosphere is good, and so is the coffee.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of thinking about my writing and which way to go.  I have a desire to start putting things out, but honestly, I'm not sure how I want to do it.  There are several routes to take.

Submitting short stories to publications is one thing that I want to do.  I've done some of that before, but I seem to have just stopped.  Not from discouragement or anything though.  I stopped more from the side of just being busy and not wanting to take the time to jump through the hoops.  It is a poor excuse.  Really it is.

I've looked at making a new site.  I like this one okay, but the domain name is tied to another account and I would love to have it separate.  Google is less than helpful with this.  It's frustrating as, well you know, that I can't do anything with something I already own.  One day it will return I think, whenever the credit card that pays for the renewal runs out.  Hopefully soon, but not before January.

Wordpress looks like a great platform, and getting my name with a .wordpress on the end of it is probably possible.  Sitting here, sipping coffee, that idea is starting to look a little better.  If for nothing else than to experiement with it.  Blogger is easy, but it feels limiting sometimes.

The perfect thing would be a full blown Wordpress site, but alas, I do not have the funds for that.  For a minute I thought I did, but then looking further, no.  Not right now anyway.  That may be the end-goal though, so getting a .wordpress site may be the best move.

I'll take any input that anyone out there has.

Anyway, on this new site, I would like to post one short story a month, along with a semi-regular blog for a start.  Having that deadline, may just give me the kick in the butt I need.  It's a plan anyway.  More than what I have now.

Just got the call, and it's time to go eat.  This was fun, we should do it more often.  Have a great day out there!

A Bad Blogger

I'm not a good blogger.  Not at all.  Try as I might to post here every Tuesday, all I can claim is inconsistency.  Sometimes I have something on my mind, and that's easy.  Those post fly from my fingers but then other times, when there isn't something particular that I feel needs to be addressed, I flounder and miss not just the day, but the whole week.

Honestly, I don't think that will change.  At least not anytime soon.  It's not that I don't want to post, but if there's nothing really going on or nothing to say, why bother.

Sometimes though, I just want to say hi.  Say that I'm still out here, writing every day, plugging away, and trying to get better.  That's what today is.

So here goes:

I've been in a funk all week.  Not sure why.  We are on long hours at work, but not really that long.  Just two more hours a day than normal, but for some reason, it is wearing on me.  I'm tired which leads to grumpy and general unhappiness for all involved.  But I'll get through it.  The past couple of nights I was in bed early, and that didn't really help, so I'm thinking of staying up a little later tonight and maybe spending a little time with a pencil and sketchpad.  Introvert that I am, that may be just what the doctor ordered.

As for writing, that's going well enough.  It's kind of scattered right now as I'm doing short stories mostly in an attempt to stave off editing.  Eventually though, I'll have to bite the bullet and bear down on that editing that's waiting.  Maybe next week.

I'm almost done reading "The Martian."  It's been really good up to this point.  Hope the ending doesn't let me down.  Most of it has been read thirty minutes at a time while on lunch break at work.  I didn't want to rush through it.  I want everything to be as fresh as possible when the movie comes out.

I guess that's about all.  Maybe I'll break out of this funk soon and get back to normal.  Anyway, hope you all are doing good out there.  I've got to go, there's a pencil calling my name.

Weekly Update and Making Writing a Habit

It's Tuesday again.  Another week gone by and time for another blog post.  I'm doing my best to post every Tuesday.  Considering that I missed last week, well let's just say that there's some issues for me to work through.

Random Final Fantasy guy!

So I'm deep into "The Martian" now.  At least halfway, and it is really good.  The chapters are a convenient length, allowing me to get through one or a little better everyday on my lunch break.  I try not to read it too much at home, but it's hard to resist at times.  While at home, I'm reading "Words of Radiance" whenever I get the chance.  I wish I had it in e-book.  If it was, it would be finished by now.  As it stands, I'm about halfway through it as well.  "The Martian" will get finished first as it is a much smaller book, and it's easier to carry around.

Besides reading, I've managed to write everyday.  No real shock there though.  Writing is a compulsion now, guilt falls over me whenever the thought of skipping a day crosses my mind.  Yesterday, the writing got finished a little early, and there was time to draw a little something.  That's it right there!  He's a character from a Final Fantasy manga that's laying on my desk.  I don't know who, but I hope I did him justice.

I wanted to talk a little about making a habit today.  They say it takes 21 days to form a habit.  That may be true, but you can't let your guard down after that if it's a habit you want to keep.  You have to fight to keep your new habit lest you slip back to the old ways.

I've managed to do it with writing, but let me tell you, it's not easy.  Even now, approaching 900 days, I have some really bad days.  Just today as a matter of fact, there was some stuff going on that made me want to not put anything down.  Just forget writing and everything else, but remember that compulsion that we talked about above?  That guilt?  That's what keeps me going.  That may not be healthy, but anyway.

What you have to figure out for you is what keeps you going.  There are some things out there that can help you out too.  The first is The Magic Spreadsheet.  With it, you have a minimum 250 words to write a day.  Every consecutive day adds to your chain and you receive points.  You eventually level up, write more words, get more points, so on and so forth.  It's a great tool.  I use it myself and have for almost 900 days now.  It's part of the compulsion.  I need my points!

The second is the Writing Challenge group.  They started on Twitter, and your challenge is to write 500 words a day.  They have a great group of writers over there and though I haven't been around much lately, September may be my month to get back in it.

Check both of these tools out.  They may be just what you need to get and stay motivated and form that habit that you've been wanting.  There's nothing to it but to do it.  So why wait?  Go ahead and get started now, and be sure to let me know how it goes.

Writer, Move Thyself

We writers and artists can be a sedentary bunch.  It's just too easy to get caught up in what we are doing sometimes, and before you know it, we've spent hours sitting in one spot.  There are good things about this, (we get lots done and are happy) but there are other things that aren't so good (we get less healthy and are unhappy).

I don't know about you, but I can spend untold hours behind a keyboard or sketch pad, writing or drawing the day or night away.  That's a happy time, with nothing to worry about but the work that is front of you.  Isn't that enough to worry about anyway.

  

Often though, I find myself wishing that I was in a little better shape, physically.  While our favorite activities may exercise out mental selves, it can often be detrimental to our physical sides.

Lately, I've been very guilty of this.  Focusing more on my art (mostly writing), I've become physically lazy, and even allowed my gym membership to lapse.  (Why pay for it if I'm not using it, right?)  The thought was that, exercise could be done at home, freeing up some time for other things, and so the best of both worlds could be achieved.  It hasn't quite worked out that way.

The goal is thirty minutes a day.  It's doable.  Really, it is.  It takes a commitment though.  Maybe not the same commitment that you have to your art, but similar.  I believe that better health will  help us create more stuff and create it better.  That realization can be a great motivator for us all. 

How does exercise help you create?  Well, good question.  The answer is simple.  We all know that a regular exercise regimen makes us feel better.  We have more energy when we are being active and allowing our bodies to work as they were designed.  If you feel better, you will write or draw better.  Whatever you are applying yourself to, the better you feel, the better you'll do.  It's hard to focus on what you're doing if you feel bad after all.  I know when I'm sick or depressed, I don't want to do anything.  Not read, write or even play video games.  That's just the way it is.  When I'm fresh and feeling good though,  I want to do all the things.  That's when I get into the "not enough hours in the day" mode.  That can be a frustrating place, but it's better than not having the drive to do anything.

So enjoy your creative time, alone with your work and a cup of coffee, or wine, or whatever you have for your creative go to.  Just don't forget the things we need to do to keep the creative machine churning out those creations.  Make a little time to exercise your body as well as your mind, and you may find that every aspect of your life benefits from it. 

What are your thoughts on fitness and creativity?  Do they go hand in hand for you?  They do for me, but I've got some refocusing to do.  Besides, when that zombie apocalypse gets here, I want to be ready for it.  I'll be working on that and hoping that you are too.  Good luck out there!

Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate it.  Come again soon!

To Submit or Not to Submit?

Ideas aren't the problem.  They seem to be everywhere.  They're there when you lay down at night and then after coffee, in the morning.  The ever present question is what to do with them?  

When it doubt, write it out!

Lots of these ideas turn into short stories.  Sometimes they go longer and that's fine too.  Full length stories have to start somewhere after all.  My big problem is developing these ideas.  What I've been doing lately is trying to write through it any way I can to see where the story takes me.  Trying to develop the story in an organic manner, you could say.  

I do like this free writing process, even though I realize that it may not be the best long term method for me.  It's fun though, to just sit down with a brand new idea, start writing and see where it goes.  What to do next though?

That's my big issue, or one of them.  A while back, I got a really nice rejection letter from the fine folks over at Pulp Literature Magazine from a short that I sent them.  It was my first submission and rejection, and I was feeling great about it.  Funny how you can feel good about a rejection, but there it is.  I submitted more, all with similar results.  I'm okay with that as I never thought getting anything published would be easy.

Submitting has stopped for me right now.  It's not that I don't want too submit, but I'm not sure if I should.  What if it's not good enough?  Typing that, it seems obvious to me that of course I should be submitting things.  How will I ever know if I'm getting better if I don't ever send stuff in?  Obvious right?  Right.

So now I have a direction to go.  First, I've got to get some stuff ready to go, and then out the door with it.  If no one wants it, well that's fine because I'll still be learning and hopefully getting better.  So I'll get right on that, and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

One Book Down,,,

Need to Read!

Another week has passed us by, and what a week it's been.  In that time, I've finished reading a book, received another in the mail, wrote and edited some short fiction, and probably a few other things.  Pretty busy, but totally worth it.

The book that I finished was "The Medium" by MR Graham.  It's about a vampire who is also a medium and as a result has some difficulties doing the things that vampires do.  It was great and I was happy to give it five stars on Good Reads.  The only thing that I had an issue with was more my fault than the authors.  I seem to have read some of the books in the series out of order.  Had I read them in a different order, I probably would have understood both books a little better.  This was a result of getting "In the Shadow of the Mountains" for free in an author's promotion.  Well, the promotion worked, because I have bought and read more of her work since then.  Whatever order you read these books in though, it's okay, as they stand on their own pretty well.  I just felt that a few things were made a bit more clear when the two stories came together.  Overall, I'm really happy to have read the books and look forward to more.

As for the book that came in the mail, that was "The Martian" by Andy Weir.  I had heard great things about this book, but was putting off buying it.  The announcement of the movie that is coming in early October, lit a fire under me though.  I really want to have it read before the movie releases.

There's only one "little" problem with that plan though.  That problem is Brandon Sanderson's giant work, "Words of Radiance."  I love this book.  It is so interesting that all I want to do is read it, get to the end, and hate the fact that it's done.  Only, I seem to read at a snail's pace.  It is a curse.  The plan is to get through as much of "Words" this month, and then bear down on "The Martian" to have it done by October.  That's the plan.  It would be great to get both books done, but snail.  Anyway, wish me luck on that.

As far as my writing, I'm still chipping away at it.  Working to improve my craft anyway that I can.  Reading as much as possible is a big part of that.  Along with the short fiction that I've been working on, I've also started to outline what I think will be something novella length.  The long work that was finished a couple weeks back, continues to sit and wait for the edits.  Not something that I'm looking forward to, but it needs to be done.  Maybe in a week or so, I'll get started on that.

That's about it.  Thanks for stopping by.  I've got to go so that I can get back to reading.  There are a ton of words that need to be put behind this snail in a short time.  See you guys next time!

Vacation Expectation

Vacations are great. They're one of those things that keeps us going. Just knowing that there's a break from the norm on the way is enough to help push us through week after week of often boring and unfulfilling day jobs. Even as good as they are though, they often fall short of our expectations.

It happens to me all the time. Vacation is on the way, and there is so much that I'll be able to do in that time.  Time to read, write, and draw all the stuff that I've been thinking about at work for weeks or months is on the way. Then, the vacation is here, and before you can blink, it's gone. Where did the time go?

If you're like me, most of it was spent with family, while not reading, writing or drawing all the things that you've been dreaming of while at the day job for the past several weeks or months.  It happens, and it's okay.  

On the bright side, I did get some reading and writing in over the past week.  Just not as much as I would have liked.  As far as drawing goes though, I don't think I even made a doodle in the past week.  That kinda sucks, but it's the same problem that I've had for some time.  Not drawing enough.  To be honest, I'm not sure how to remedy that.  There's only so many hours in the day after all, and something always seems to get pushed to make time for other things.  Right now, the thing being pushed is the drawing time.  

So now that I'm back at work, there's not as much time to read, write, and draw all those things that I've been dreaming about.  I will get to them though.  I may not know how just yet, but I'll figure it out.  I'll let you know what I come up with.  In the meantime, good luck with all that you're doing out there.  

Time and What to do With It

This life is what we make of it.  It's filled with our decisions.  The things we do that mean so much to us, give form to our lives.  What do you do when you want to do too much though?  That's the problem I'm dealing with.  It's one that I've had for some time.  I would bet that many of you have it too.

I write.  I do it everyday.  That makes me a writer, but that's not all I do or all that I am.  Or should I say that it's not all that I want to do or be.  I try to draw a little whenever I get a chance.  Drawing is soothing.  To sit with pencil and paper and work on a piece of art is a very relaxing experience.  For me, it's a lot like writing. 

The thing about my drawing that I don't like though, is the lack of it.  It gets pushed to the side so often, and that's frustrating.  I want to draw more, but like writing and everything else, drawing takes time.  It takes even more time to be good at it.

That's the good thing about art though.  You can be good at it.  Whether you are writing, drawing or whatever else, you can be good.  It demands your time though.  There's no substitute for the hard work you put into your art.

That brings me to the next thing.  There's only 24 hours in a day.  That's a fact that we all have to deal with whether we like it or not.  There have been a number of times that I've not liked it, that's for sure.  With that in mind, sometimes we have to make changes to our lives.  Time management, if you will.  

For the past year, I've been going to the gym as much as possible.  Early in the mornings, before work was the best time for me.  The problem is that, in order to get up that early and hit the gym, you've almost got to get in the bed early.  If you don't, you'll end up paying for it all day long.  Going to bed early kills the time that I've always used for my art, be it writing or drawing.  After much thought, I'm going to change that.  I can get my workouts in at home, if I can discipline myself enough for that, and I think I can.

With that done, I should be able to create more, which is what I want more than anything else right now.  Even with that done though, life is busy, but would we really want it any other way?  I didn't think so.

What Makes a Good Short Story?

How about a short story? Where does it start and where does it end?  The answers to those questions are probably just as varied as the number of people you ask them of.

I make that statement after having read, listened to, and written many short stories. To admit here to you, that after all of that, these questions still hunt me down and haunt my dreams, is a little uncomfortable.

The good thing is, that I don't think that you have to have it just one way. Short stories can have little to no backstory, with just enough ambiance to imply a setting and be great. Contrasting that is the short that gives breathtaking description of time and place as well as some back story to the characters while still being somewhat brief about it. It works like that too!  The possibilities really are endless.

Within the past two days, I've seen examples of both and have been more than pleased with each.

It makes me think though. What is my style?  I've just cut a chunk off of the front of the story that I'm currently working, feeling that it was not necessary. To me, that's the key.  To feel your story and flow with it.  Cut when it needs to be cut and add to it when it needs a little something more.

Every story is different.  Some stories need more words than others and that's okay. You have to decide what's best for you as a writer, but ultimately, what's best for the story. Don't give the reader stuff they don't need and they won't get bored with it. At least that's what I'm trying to do.

I love a good short story that sets the imagination on fire, and hope to post some here soon.  Good luck out there!  Here's to hoping you read and write something great today!

Two Nights at the Beach and a Finished Draft. Now What?

Sketch of our dog.

The beach is a great little getaway for us.  It can be relaxing, but it can also be a little busy with all the family activities going on.  There's movies, shopping, biking, and of course the beach.  These past couple of days weren't that busy though.  For me, that was a good thing.

This trip was not only a getaway, but a time for me to get some much needed work done.  I've been working on a book length story for the past several weeks and thankfully I can now say that it's done.  With over 800 words one night, and over 600 the other, the first draft is done.  That's a great relief for me, but I have to ask myself, now what?

Well, I know that there's editing to do, but to be honest, that's going to have to wait a bit.  I need some time away from that story.  Some time to clear my mind, if you will.  What I'm thinking about is doing a few short stories.  Writing some and editing some.  I've got some stories written already that need some editing passes. so I may start with those and then get into writing some new ones.  I like short stories after all, and who knows, I may even post one or two here.

That trip to the beach was more than just writing though.  I got the chance to partake in one of my other favorite activities.  I was able to draw a little, which was awesome.  I sketched out our dog and then sitting on the beach, gave myself an exercise in perspective sketching out the pier that I was seeing at the time.  It was a blast and though I took some creative license with how many pilings there were actually holding up the pier, I was satisfied with how it turned out.  Perspective wise anyway.  It's not a drawing that I was really pleased with, but that was hardly the point of the exercise, in my mind anyway.

So, from here, we'll continue to write and continue to draw.  Oh, and I'll get some editing in there too.  I've had several other long works that I've scrapped after the first draft, knowing that they weren't good enough to even edit.  I hope that's not the case this time.

Anyway, it's time to go.  Thanks for reading.  Try not to be a stranger and I'll try to do the same.

Tools for Writing Anytime

Word, Scrivener, Pen and Paper, or E-mail.  

Since I've been writing, I've used several different tools to get the job done.  Even though days come and go without too many words written, I have found that I can be pretty consistent, getting several hundred words a day even on hectic days.  It's not always easy, but with a little creativity and flexibility, it can be done.

When I started to write everyday, the software of choice was Microsoft Word.  It's a good program, used by many and it was already on my computer, so it was a no-brainer for me.  It worked good for a while, but there was another program out there that I had been hearing a lot about. It sounded great, and I wanted to try it out for myself.

That software was Scrivener.  The things that I had heard on podcasts and read on blogs turned out to be absolutely true.  Scrivener is my knew favorite writing software.  It has so much functionality that it's a little scary.  All I'm doing with it right now is typing away, but there is so much more there.  A tutorial is there to get you in on all the good stuff, but everything looked so good that I just dove right in, unable to contain myself until the end if the tutorial.  I need to go completely through that thing sometime, but as it is, I'm happy, even if I'm not getting the full benefit of the software.  That's how good it is.

I do have a problem with Scrivener though.  That problem is one of mobility.  Having your computer with you is a must with Scrivener, just like it is with Word.  That's not always a possibilty for many of us.  There's always low tech ways to go though.  Pen and paper is a go to that I've used many times away from home or computer or both.  Pen and paper is great.  It is relaxing to just sit and write, watching the ink flow onto the page.  It's a real refreshing way to get some writing done.

There's a problem with pen and paper too though. My big problem with it is that, when I put something that I really like down on paper, I then have to transfer it to digital to really work with it.  That can be a pain, but it can be worth it if it means capturing something good.  And besides, you can use that time typing your work in as the first editing pass, and that's a win in my book.

The latest thing that I've been using to get my daily writing in is e-mail.  Smartphones are everywhere these days.  There's a good chance that you are reading this on one right now.  Well, when you get done reading this, you can open up an e-mail, address it to yourself, and start your story.  It's easy and it's with you wherever you go.  I have several drafts addressed to me right now.  The only problem I've found with this method so far, is that if an e-mail gets too large, it may not save right and you could loose those words.  It's happened to me twice, and it sucked, so be careful until you figure out how large an e-mail your carrier can handle.  With Gmail it's pretty large, but it can happen.  When I lost parts of my story, I was over 3
0 chapters in. Sorry, I don't have a word count on that though, so just be aware and keep an eye out for missing words.

Writing can be tough. It takes time and effort that many can't or won't ever understand. There are ways to keep going though. Even when it gets rough and hectic out there and you're short on sleep, you can keep writing.  However you write, wherever you write, keep writing.  Good luck out there, and write on!

A Week of Movies

It's not unlike us to head out to the movie theater on the weekends.  We like to watch a movie in the theater and on a normal weekend,  Friday is our night.  There are weeks that we don't make it, for one reason or another, but that was definitely not the case this week.  This week, instead of our somewhat routine movie on a Friday night, we ended up at the theater four times.  We watched Spy, Insidious: Chapter 3, San Andreas, and last but not least, Jurassic World.

Spy was really good.  I've never been one to take in a lot of comedies in the theater, going for the bigger budget special effects flicks instead, but Spy did not disappoint.  We laughed through the whole movie and left the theater feeling good about the money spent.

The next night, we were back at the theater, with a much different experience in mind.  Insidious: Chapter 3 was the first movie in the Insidious series that I had ever seen.  As it turns out, that's okay as Chapter 3 is actually a prequel to the first two movies, so you can go see this one without having to worry about watching the first two if you haven't already seen them.  It was a pretty good movie, with lots of suspense throughout, if not all out scares.  If you like creepy, suspenseful movies, this might just be what you're looking for.

The next night, it seemed that we weren't going to make it back to the theater, but we did manage to make it to a late movie.  San Andreas was, I thought, your average, run of the mill disaster movie, complete with several chuckle worthy moments.  That's the thing that kills me about these movies.  They seem to take themselves so seriously, but then they throw in a scene that is just so unrealistic, it makes you laugh.  San Andreas was the worst movie we saw all week, but it really wasn't that bad.  I would save it for a Netflix night if I had it to do over again though.

Jurassic World came out just yesterday, and though we missed opening night, we knew that we wanted to go check this movie out.  When we did get to the theater this morning, Jurassic World did not disappoint.  It was everything that Jurassic Park was twenty years ago, amped up with new special effects for a new generation.  Jurassic World was the best movie we saw all week, entertaining from start to finish.  The dinosaurs looked great and the special effects were, for lack of a better word, special.  If you're looking for a movie to go see this week, Jurassic World would be my recommendation.

I'm not sure what this next week will hold for me.  We may be back at the movies, depending on what's coming out.  If that happens, I'll let you know what I think of it.  See you then.

Neglect

I've neglected this platform for some time now.   For several reasons I guess.  The biggest of those is that I can't imagine that I have that much to say that anyone would really care about.  People like to read what experts in certain fields have to say about their craft.  I'm not an expert in any field.

What I am is a guy that decided a little over two years ago to write every single day, and so far I've managed that.  At least 250 words a day with the with the help of The Magic Spreadsheet, I've managed well over 700 days and counting so far.  I'm still logging my words on the spreadsheet today.  It's been quite the ride.

Then last summer, the Writing Challenge group started on Twitter.  They were doing 500 words a day and I was in.  That lasted for a while.  Several months anyway, increasing my productivity and my skills as a writer.  There were a lot of short stories written in that couple of months.  A few that were sent of to various magazines or websites and were rejected in turn.  That's okay though.  Rejections are part of this game and I expected as much even if I did have high hopes while sending out my stories.

My daily goal to write now, is 300 words.  There are days that yield more, but very, very few, that ever yield less.  It's hard to say the last time I settled for 250 words.  300 words just works for me and when I'm feeling it, I can keep going.  Those are good days!

So, while I've neglected this blog, I've not neglected my writing.  I hope to send some more stuff out at some point.  This game is persistence.  All I can do is write and write, work on my craft, and try to get better.  When that happens, I'll get something picked up by one of those magazines or websites, and I'll let you know about it right here. In the meantime, I'll try to give some more updates here and be more accountable.  I've not been good at that in the past, so we'll just have to see how it goes.  Until next time, have fun out there!