Breaking into a Secret Place

I love running. I've never run a 5k in under 30 minutes and I've never run a marathon, but I have hopes of someday reaching those milestones.

The running community is a close one. We're supportive and can celebrate acheivements at any level. (Kind of like the writing community.) But what is it that unites us? It's not that we've all hit the wall while running a marathon. It's not that we're all super-elite athletes.

Is it that we simply share an interest? Would we be equally supportive if we all loved cross stitch samplers or followed weather patterns? I know there are communities of people that do love these things, and I'm not knocking them, but any runner would have to agree that it's more than a hobby we share.

My theory is that we've broken into a secret place. We're the ones that figured out the combination to the lock and now we're enjoying the spoils. And while we can tell others how wonderful running is (no, really!) and we can give them the combination to that lock, until they want it enough, they'll never open it.

I share a lot about my writing endeavors on this blog. Writing has its own secret place, its own supportive community. I consider myself very fortunate to have two secret places.

Creativity Boost: Refueling and Refilling

I remember in high school, this used to be the toughest time of year. I felt draggy, like my spirit was just tired. I think everyone was feeling the same way. (Maybe that's why they started having Spring Break?)

So today's post is going to be about getting out of the slump: how to give yourself a creative boost and how to get to the good stuff your muse may be hiding in the corner.

Lilith Saintcrow wrote a blog post a while back about Changing Creative Fuel. Using your own life to get ideas is great, but it can become exhausting. Let go of fear and take a break to do something physical. They're good lessons we could all use.

Michael at Upstart Crow Literary posts about the Rule of Twenty. Basically, don't trust your first ideas. The creative gold is a little deeper, and you'll need to dig in order to find it.

Shonna Slayton always has good posts at Routines for Writers and her article on Purposeful Daydreaming is no exception. Make your down time work for you. She mentions making word clouds. Tried it. Loved it. Here's one I created for my WIP:

Holly Lisle wrote about using Timed Writing to Free Up the Subconscious in Writing. Always good stuff. She also offers a free PDF called Mugging the Muse.

And finally, the famous Rachelle Gardner has 11 Non-Writing-Related Ideas to help you become a better writer.

Do You Need Some Motivation? (What Writer Doesn't?)

We all need a little boost every now and then. Most of the good stuff is posted in November, during NaNoWriMo season. (Let's face it, we need it.) But the summer months tend to dry up when it comes to mood-boosters.

Suzanne Young did a guest post on Delightful Reviews on How to Keep Writing. It's not easy.

Elana Johnson reminded her readers last month: You Can Do Hard Things.

If you tend to fizzle out in the middle of your projects, you'll appreciate Staying Faithful to Your WIP by Christopher Jackson. He helps writers keep the love for your story burnin' ;)

Writers can be insecure, especially with all the rejection we face. This article was retweeted over a hundred times and will be a classic go-to for me. Writer Unboxed: The Only Way to Know If You'll Be A Successful Writer

and

There Are No Rules: Read This and Tell Me What To Do (Same message, from a different perspective.)

This isn't exactly motivational, but it got my brain churning and thinking new ideas, so it still counts. Finding Your Perfect Writing Method by Jennifer Blanchard

Writers tend to be introverts, but staying indoors in our pajamas could hurt our creativity. Alexis Montgomery tells writers to Cut the Cord to stimulate that muse.

Lilith Saintcrow never ceases to inspire me and her blog post on the Importance of Dreams is no exception. She even uses one of my all-time favorite quotes:
"We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of the dreams." (Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka)

and, from the same source:

If you want to view Paradise

Simply look around and view it.
Anything you want to, do it…
Wanta change the world?
There’s nothing
to it… (Willy Wonka)

All About You: How Do You Do It?

I thought today's post could be all about you. If you write, what does your schedule look like? Do you write every day, or whenever you find a moment to yourself?
What time of day do you prefer to write?
What gets in the way of your writing time more than anything else?
Do you reward yourself if you reach a certain goal? What's the goal and what's the reward?

Please comment. I can't wait to see how you guys do it!

Happily Ever After is Hard Work!

In my church, we're called upon to serve in various areas. We don't have a paid clergy. Recently, I was asked to be a part of the youth program. I now work with the young women (ages 12-18) which I absolutely LOVE.

As part of this job, I watch what's called the Young Women General Broadcast where the world leaders of the church speak directly to the young women, their mothers, and the young women leaders (that's me!).

Overall, it was very nice, but President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (second counselor over the entire church) gave a talk that really struck a chord with me. He began talking about fairy tales and all the adversities the characters go through before they reach their "happily ever after".

He went on to talk about how we need the bitter in order to taste the sweet. A marathon runner feels so fantastic at the finish line because of the hours of pain she experienced before. He tells of his personal experiences with heartache as he tried to win the heart of a beautiful girl (and how sweet it was when he did).

I can't wait to look up this talk later. It should be here soon.

But it got me thinking.

We all suffer. Some more than others. And sometimes we feel very much alone. President Uchtdorf encouraged us to turn to the Lord, who knows you so well and is familiar with your adversity.

But, obsessive nerd that I am, I thought about fiction. We're told that a character must suffer in order to be interesting. There needs to be something at stake. There needs to be conflict. Otherwise, what's the point? It's boring.

Why? Don't we strive for easy lives? Wouldn't it be great if our characters could be interesting and carefree?

I think that everyone is looking for their own "happily ever after", but it's not easy. I think, as humans living this life, we like to know that we're not the only ones that have to work for our happy ending. We want to see others overcome adversity and hardship so we can have more hope for our own circumstances.

Sure, a character's hardship may come from aliens or dragons or ninjas, but that just makes it all the better. We're taken out of our own worlds and sent into a new one.

Even in this new world, completely different from our own, there is hardship. There's pain and suffering and struggle. My conflicts seem normal by comparison. They seem more... conquerable.

All characters have to have flaws for the same reason. We lose interest if a character is flawless and wonderful in every way. Because then we can tell ourselves: if that (imperfect) character can overcome her problems, I have a chance too.

Hardship is necessary, in life and fiction. Without it, we can't grow. We wouldn't learn anything, and we'd be helpless as infants. Yes, it's hard. Of course it is. That's the point.

Just remember: the harder you have to work for something, the sweeter it is.

Inspiration for Writers

Okay, I hope you have some time to spend on these, because they're fantastic articles. I'm still working down the list myself. Here are the 43 Most Inspiring Writing Posts of 2009.

New Fire

Something is changing. I think I wrote (a while back) about how I can't seem to be a writer and a runner at the same time. I don't know why, but if I'm good at one, I lose interest in the other. So I'm either going to be a fat writer or ... a non-writer. Both of those options suck.

But I recently took on a new project. I never thought I'd be doing non-fiction, but ... I am. I'm working on an e-Book that's part of an established series. I have no experience with this sort of thing, so I have no idea what to expect. But it's getting me interested in looking over some of my past work. I really need to get editing again. I don't feel like I can move on or start a new project until I have at least one of my two manuscripts revised (or re-revised).

Anywho, I'm putting Shadow Bound through the ringer. Holly Lisle's How to Revise Your Novel. Yup. It's going to take forever. Yup. I'm going to want to kill myself. But it's better than the alternative.

**shudder**

I'll take deliriously sick of a manuscript over non-writer any day.

New Year Resolutions for Writers

We're all determined to write THE book this year. THIS will be the one. (And I genuinely hope it is, for all of us!)

So this post is for all of you who need a little motivation or help setting goals.

Here are 7 Weekly tasks for Authors that I think is excellent ground work for setting your own personal goals.

And here's a post by author Devon Monk called Why I Write. It's more of a reflective piece, but I found it to be motivating.

And finally, QueryTracker.net posted Setting, Keeping, and Achieving Your Writing Goals in the New Year. A few basics, with the writer in mind :)

My goals for this next year:
edit Shadow Bound for the 569th time
Get a clean, polished copy of Song of the Muse out on submission
Write a book that is better than all my previous work
Read at least 5 books that I can learn from as a writer (and love as a reader)

What about you?

Extra Post: My Swift Kick in the Pants

Okay, I needed this. Olivia, my friend, thank you for your perspective. I think you're right. She wrote:

seriously, you keep talking about Shadow Bound like it's dead! RIP THE THING APART! Every time you edit it will get better, I promise you. Having an agent say they'll look at it again if you edit it some more is a BIG DEAL, especially now. I don't understand why you haven't started editing it yet. Seriously, if an agent told me that, I'd chain myself to the computer until certain that every word was golden and ready for resubmission. Take your two weeks (or more) and get that first book ready and back out there. Give it a pass, then send it to two or three readers, then take that feedback and give it another pass, then send. That's my advise for you.

My reply:

I appreciate you getting onto me. I don't think Shadow Bound is dead, but it still feels... raw. I've torn it apart two or three times and part of me thinks it still needs some healing time before I dig in again. But you're right. I really need to get on that.

I'm signed up for Holly's How to Revise Your Novel, so it'll be 5 months before I finish that. >:(

But I don't think that should hold me back. You're right. I should go with Shadow Bound. I need to work on the voice, flesh out the scenes, build up realistic characters, and even out the tone. Shadow Bound deserves it. I'll do another edit, starting next week, then dig into Song of the Muse.

Thanks Olivia!

She's absolutely right. I've been too afraid to delve into Shadow Bound again. The little voice in the back of my head keeps telling me that I only have one more shot at making this book perfect. But there is no perfect. I need to make Shadow Bound the best I can make it. And then do it again.

Is Your NaNo Novel Stuck? Part 2

Here's some encouragement from Neil Gaiman to NoNoers.

Is Your NaNo stuck?

Okay, so we’re about a week into NaNoWriMo. Stuck yet? Here are a few ideas to get you going and/or motivated.

1) Mind Map. Have a problem? Can’t figure out why a cat keeps popping up in your scenes? Maybe your character received a letter in the mail and you don’t know what it is. (Been there.) Try putting whatever “it” is in the middle of a piece of paper (or a program like http://bubbl.us) and ask yourself questions about it. Write whatever comes to mind. It’s worked for me countless times.

2) Try a Timer. Set it for 10-20 minutes and write NON-STOP until the timer goes off. Write about your problem or whatever comes to mind. Just make sure you don’t censor yourself or edit. When you’re done, look back at what you wrote. Do you understand your problem a little better? Did you discover a new angle or viewpoint or solution?

Did it work?

How to Motivate Yourself by Changing Your Thinking

I found this great video on how to change your way of thinking in order to achieve your goals. Interesting stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbDVGfJGzrg

Most Productive Day. Ever.

Sometimes, the Muse sings. Sometimes, you have a really good work day and you get a lot done. Sometimes they both happen at once and you get a massive amount of genius. Yeah, I don't mean to brag, but today was a massive amount of genius.

As I edited my first draft today, I found that a few scenes were missing. So I added those. I typed up the pages I had marked from my hard copy pass, too. Overall, I edited 36 pages of manuscript and added nearly 4,200 words to the original work!
Thanks to Liquid Story Binder, I know that it took me all of six hours of actual work to do it.

I have never written that many words in one day before. Ever. Not in first drafts, not during NaNoWriMo. 4,200 words is a lot. To put it in perspective, if I wrote this many words every day, I could finish a novel in 12 days.

So, bear with me as I bask in my own glory. **sigh** ;)


**Just a side note, I'm not that into myself. It's supposed to be funny

How to Get More Writing Done

I'm back from my little experiment. I took off nearly a week from the internet in order to get more writing done.

First, if you think you might want to do this, you need to realize that if you shut down your internet access (and, as I did, your computer access) that a bunch of other things will try to fill in your time gap. I had no idea how many things I wasn't doing. Seriously.

But, not having the distraction of the computer did help my writing. No question. I revised a huge chunk of my book and wasn't pressured by my goal of fifteen pages a day. I hit the mark with ease :)

I was more focused when I wasn't working, too. If I was doing something else, my mind was a little clearer and I could think about my writing and what I wanted to change, and all that good stuff, so I was more efficient when I did sit down to work.

And when I came back? I turned on my computer and sorted through emails, checked (and read) the blogs I follow, checked and replied to a slew of forum posts, checked facebook, etc... all in about three and a half hours! Over the course of five days, I usually spend closer to ten hours doing all that stuff. An amazing time saver, though I may have missed some stuff.

So, I'm halfway done with the hard copy edit of my ghost novel. My goal is to finish by the end of the month, then do my soft copy edit. (Basically, going back and typing in all the edits and notes I made on the hard copy.) That leaves me with querying agents. I should be done with plenty of time to plan my phantom novel for November.

So, my next post will be on revising a manuscript. I've searched for different methods in preparation for what I'm doing now, and I'll share the best of it with you.

Tomorrow. I'm exhausted.

Hope all is going well with your writing!

Finding Time to Write

How much time do you spend on the computer? If you're reading this, odds are quite a bit. I'm guilty of spending hours (yes hours) a day on my computer -- on facebook, following blogs (mostly on writing), reading articles on writing and publishing, and reading and posting on a few writing forums. Then there's email and other everyday stuff.

If I took even half of that computer time and put it toward writing (or in my current case, revising), think how much more work I could get done!

So, I'm going to take the next 5 days off from my computer. I shudder to think of what will be waiting for me when I come back -- piles of emails, alerts, messages, posts, articles... but I think it'll be worth it.

Great Place to Revise: Bookstores

Revising is exciting. I keep telling myself that anyway. The first thirty minutes or so are enjoyable, but then I get bogged down in a character issue or weak dialog. I can't seem to keep myself editing for more than an hour and a half straight.

Yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble in the mall to do my revisions. The change of scenery was just what I needed! I browsed some books to get myself in the right place mentally, then sat down at a little table and spread my work out in front of me. I worked for an hour and a half straight. There are a couple of fun little things about doing my work in the bookstore, rather than at home:

1) I'm surrounded by people who love books. I love hearing people comment on what they see on the shelves, or watch how they move from subject to subject. This lady came to collect her husband, telling him she was done and they could go, but when she saw the bookshelf next to him, she became interested in some craft books.

2) The music can be inspiring. When I first arrived, some teeny-pop songs I had never heard before were playing. This is great, since I'm writing young adult.
Then, it gradually changed to some very old-fashioned music. An older gentleman who sat nearby hummed quietly along with "You Are My Sunshine". It was so cute! What's particularly wonderful about this is that the guy was right around the age of a couple of characters I was editing. (Talk about coincidence.) I added "You Are My Sunshine" to my book because of this. I think it adds nice detail to the characters.

3) I can test the markets while I work. A girl (maybe 15 years old) came in with her mom and began sifting through some books on display. She said, "I'm so tired of vampire novels."
Seriously. She said that.

Now, I do my share of research. Not a lot of marketing, but I get bits and pieces. Vampires are still (surprisingly) very popular. I've been under the impression that they'll soon be on the decline. (There are SO many vampire books out right now, the market is flooded.) But, hearing it from a potential future customer was so cool! Think of all the things I might pick up on if I go there regularly. I'll definitely hang out in the teen section more often.

By the way, according to my sources, zombies are going to be the next big thing in teen fiction. (Who knew?) I'll probably shy away from this trend, but it's good to know.

Other conveniences:
It's close, there's food and hot chocolate if I need a break but I'm not ready to go home, I have the whole mall at my disposal, and I can pick up a book if I feel so inclined. (That last one may be a little dangerous to my pocketbook.) :)

Mind Mapping Fairy Tales

Yesterday, just for fun, I did some mind mapping. I wanted to tap into my creative side and make sure my Muse was happy :)

Anyway, I used bubbl.us to start a new map and got a little carried away on a Fairy Tale tangent. I love fairy tales. I always have. They're beautiful and magical and classic. The imagery in some of them is incredible. When I read fairy tales, I find myself drawn in by the symbols and archetypes.

Can you tell I get excited?

So I decided to post part of my mind map, which will be added to my exerise for Lesson 2 in How to Think Sideways.

Click the picture to enlarge. It may take a while. There will be some Zoom options in the top left corner.

This exercise is meant to tap into your Muse--what she likes, is drawn to, gets excited about (as well as what she fears and hates). This is part of my map. The section that stemmed off from I am drawn to... familiar stories... fairy tales.

How To Think Sideways Lessons

I recently looked up some information for the How to Think Sideways Course that I'm taking. I wanted to know when I would get the full details on how to edit and revise a first draft. Well, it's going to be a while. I'll go ahead and edit as planned. I just may have to do it twice. No biggy for a perfectionist like me :)

Anyway, I thought you might like to know what lessons are offered, so I compiled a list. Some of the titles are a bit vague, so if you have any questions, then by all means leave a comment. I'll answer it to the best of my ability.




Lesson 1: How To Break The Four "Thinking" Barriers To Your Success
Lesson 2: How To Discover Your Writing "Sweet Spot"
Lesson 3: How To Generate Ideas On a Deadline
Lesson 4: How To Recognize And Build On Good Ideas
Lesson 5: How To Define Your Project's Needs (The Dot and the Line)
Lesson 6: How To Discover (Or Create) Your Project's Market
Lesson 7: How to Develop Your Personal Project System
Lesson 8: How To Plan Your Project While NOT Killing Your Story
Lesson 9: How To Write From Inside Your Story
Lesson 10: How To "Plan" Surprises That Surprise Even You
Lesson 11: How To Design Compelling Queries, Proposals, And Sample Chapters
Lesson 12: How to Create, Complicate, And Solve Problems
Lesson 13: "Can't I Just Kill Them All?" How To Fall In Love With Your Project A Second Time
Lesson 14: How To Find And Use Your "Planned" Surprises
Lesson 15: How To "Hire" Spies, And Why Your Project Needs Them
Lesson 16: How To Assess Your Progress And Make Mid-Course Corrections
Lesson 17: How To Use Story Gravity To Get To Your Ending
Lesson 18: How To Find The RIGHT Ending
Lesson 19: How To Write The Ending That Sells The Next Book
Lesson 20: How To Work With Editors, Agents, Marketing Departments, And Artists, And NOT Wreck Your Project
Lesson 21: How To Plan Your Revision
Lesson 22: How To NOT Fix What Ain't Broken (While Still Fixing What Is)
Lesson 23: How To Deliver What You Promised And What They Want On Deadline
Lesson 24: How To NOT Be A One-Book Wonder: Learn to Produce Repeatable Results

Bonus Lessons
How NOT To Write A Series---And Why You Don't Want To includes:

Lesson 25: Why Write A Stand-Alone Instead Of A Series?

Lesson 26: That's Why... What About HOW? (the six critical reasons why HOW you get to the end of your novel is NOT the point)

Lesson 27: The Ending Before THE END



All the lessons I've taken so far are fantastic, no doubt about it. But the ones I marked in blue are the lessons that I've taken and I think are exceptionally awesome. The ones marked red are the ones that I haven't taken yet, but am super-psyched about. Either I've talked to people who are ahead of me and have worked through those lessons, and/or it's something I need, and/or I've gotten samples of Holly's methods in those areas and am eager to get more details. Most of them, it's all three.

Improved Scenes Done!

Hurray!


I finished my Sentence Lites! I can't tell you how good this feels. But at the same time, I’m itching to jump right in and start editing my manuscript. I want to take a good two week break to clear my mind. This should help to prevent burnout. (But we’ll see.)

What does this mean for the blog?


Lucky you, you don’t have to hear about my progress each week! Instead, I’ll compile lists of helpful links and tools to help you with your writing journey. I guess I’ll have to live vicariously through my readers.


The first series of links is all ready to go. It's about conflict. This is something I’ve had to focus heavily on, since conflict is the bread and butter of scenes. I hope these articles and tools help you as much as they’ve helped me.



By the way, here is the last improved scene:

Improved Scene: Answers for Protection

It took me some time, but I finally sliced my way through to another sample scene. This one went from info dump to a hostage situation. (Okay, not quite as exciting as that. Nathan keeps information hostage.)