Tag: Writing

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.

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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…

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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As a Business

How often do writers look at what they do as a business? How much do writers look at their activities with regard to what makes sense for their goals?

I’m working toward my business plan. I know things can get in the way, possibly more for a fiction writer than a non-fiction one, but without focus no one will get anywhere.

It takes research to figure out what else is required for me to succeed. One conversation with a friend about business cards started this months ago – who is my customer? It might not be who you think.

My customer is the publisher or agent. My customer is the one who writes me checks. It works in my favor to get people to buy the book, but those are the publisher’s customers. It’s a shift in viewpoint, but because helping my publisher helps my bottom line, it’s definitely in my best interest to get people excited about my book.

However, remembering that publishers of any size don’t have the resources to promote all their books, it falls to the authors to do that on their own. It still makes me think.

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Challenges

I’m one of those people who’s always looking for a challenge. I like being able to accomplish things, and writing has its own to manage.

These challenges can stretch the writing abilities. I took a piece to my writing group today, and they thought I could make it into a picture book. Funny, I just hadn’t looked at it that way. It would require a few changes, but it’d be cute.

I thought I’d never written anything like that, but it turns out I was wrong. And all of that from a prompt that said to have a story where something makes odd noises at night and not a horror story. Good thing, since I’m not much of one to write horror stories anyway. (I don’t read them much either, if you’re wondering, and I stay far away from the movies. My overactive imagination does not deal well with most of those.)

Sometimes, it’s just nice to try to stretch in that way. To take a stock prompt or random stretching of ability and turn it into something to be proud of.

One day I’m going to take up the challenge of not ending sentences with prepositions… but not in my blog. Here you can read me just like you can listen to me – a little incorrect, but generally well-meaning.

Posted on by ransomnoble 2