Category: Writing

The Priorities

Some days, you just have to give yourself time to figure out what’s important.

Starting new projects is interesting, terribly easy, and then requires thought/guilt/determination to finish. A rewrite can sometimes be difficult to get the motivation for, but with short time it can be better suited to short times in front of the screen when interruptions are imminent.

Blogging and tweeting shouldn’t take long, but sometimes I just get stumped. Then there’s all that housework that can be so distracting! (Yes, there might be a little sarcasm there.)

And not to forget, that little fussy girl who always comes first. When I work out what I’m working on, she decides it’s time for her! Better luck when she naps. Please, nap soon?

Posted on by ransomnoble 3

Did I write that?

Some of my fiction-writing friends have turned to articles here and there. It’s an interesting past-time. I have learned a few things in my pursuit of non-fiction.

One of them is that I love fiction. Writing truth doesn’t bring me the joy of making things up out of whole cloth.

Another is that there are a lot of opportunities that don’t have your name on them. We sign the rights away on most of these sites in exchange for a monetary reward. Many of these short articles end up online – do you ever wonder who makes those? Sometimes, I do.

Posted on by ransomnoble 3

Two Weeks

What’s up with the past two weeks as a hiatus from blogging? I have no idea. I’ve been busy, but I wouldn’t think so busy I would forget to blog for an extended period of time.

Oh well. There is always another chance to get back up and start over. I started reading No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty. It’s about writing a (short) 50,000 word novel in one month. NaNoWriMo has become quite an event in November, and I’d like to participate again this year, though the baby might get in the way. Then again, it’s exactly like the principle of the original challenge to have life posing obstacles that make it difficult to accomplish.

It’s only 1667 words a day. I know I can do 500 right now, though stringing sentences together has been difficult with the amount of sleep I’m getting from night to night. I bet I could work up to it by November. Any takers?

Posted on by ransomnoble 6

Emotional Impact

Do you ever go back and read your own stories and still feel the same impact as the first time you wrote it?

Is it a thing about the writer to move yourself to laughter or tears? Is that when you know you’ve hit your audience?

I sent a particular story to a friend – I told her I cried while I wrote it. She said she cried while reading it and I called us both hormonal. (Sorry, friend!) But if that same passage keeps moving me to tears, and others as well, perhaps it isn’t just the hormones.

Now how do I keep that up?

Posted on by ransomnoble 3

Miscellaneous

I play video games sometimes. They’re silly brainy games – Brain Age (1 and 2) and Big Brain Academy. One of them asked me to contemplate fictional objects. “Imagine a cat. Imagine a ladder. Now imagine a cat ladder. Was it furry?”

I guess it’s good for the brain to think about stuff like that. Imagine things that don’t exist (at least, not yet).

So is it good for the brain to create speculative fiction worlds? It seems like we’d have an advantage with all that.

Posted on by ransomnoble 2

Software

Another one? Yes, there must be about fifteen million different software adds to write novels. Check out Super Note Card.

While this might help me learn to use actual note cards, I find it’s difficult to replace the feel of paper note cards. I don’t use them often, or very well, but I want to. Does that count?

I use my computer to do most of my notes, but I’m still learning to organize my thoughts better for my projects. I think I’ll write a book about how not to write a novel – but only because I seem to know more about that than how to do it the ‘proper’ way. Still, if it works for me…

Posted on by ransomnoble 4

What If – Then What?

Speculative fiction is based on what if. All it takes is one small question to begin the process. What if?

It’s after that – the process of building the then what‘s that really builds the world from the writer’s mind. The then what‘s nail down the particulars. After that, a story shines through.

But don’t think I’m advocating a story about a thing- stories are about people. The character must change; that is the beauty of story.

Posted on by ransomnoble 2

Characterization

I started looking for a profile for my characters, because it’s an easy thing to do to fill in questions, when I realized it depends on the questions asked.

If I have a ‘critter’ from another world, she may not carry a purse or wallet. He may not wear clothing. It might not have the proper gender at all.

Which reminds me that I need to figure out questions more suited to the people I’m characterizing. Of course, it also brings to light other aspects – like if you’re working within a intergalactic community – what do they use for ID?

Posted on by ransomnoble 2

Plotting

I managed to get my daughter  down for a long nap this afternoon. (She really needed it – she didn’t get a good one in the morning.) While I also caught up on my chores, I got out my notes from the novel project I abandoned a couple years ago. About three, but who’s counting?

I didn’t completely abandon it; I just realized about seven chapters in that I didn’t have enough of a background in the world and I’d written myself into a corner, plotwise. Setting it aside for a time put things in perspective and made me realize what I needed to make it more real for me.

I’ve done some sketches since then. I have a couple left to do, but the approach now is completely different. Sometimes I wonder if my friends are going to yell at me since it’s going through such a large change in focus. Sorry, but you’ll have to live! I might be on the right track this time. I still have things to work out, so it’ll be awhile.

It just feels so good to be going back to it.

Posted on by ransomnoble 1

Podcasts aimed at Writers

See Lea Schizas’s post here.

I haven’t signed up for those yet. I am a fan of “I should be writing” by Mur Lafferty.

Speaking of writing, do you ever feel bogged down if you haven’t done something in awhile? My legs ache if I don’t exercise enough (I’m strange, I know). It’s an internal ache if I don’t write for awhile.

There are still characters in my head. There are still plots rambling around, begging to be written. I just need to sit down and do it.

So, today, I’m outlining. It’s a good place to start, and if and when I get called away by a little girl who needs something, well, I might remember where I left off a bit better.

That’s the hope. I am a writer, so I need to write every day. This blog doesn’t count for much in that direction, but it is the most consistent project I’ve managed since she was born. And while I do it, or perhaps after, I’m going to listen to these podcasts and see if something sinks in.

Posted on by ransomnoble 1