Category: writing

Reasons I’m Not Writing (Today)

In no particular order:

  1.  I’m tired.
  2. I have too many other things that have to be done.
  3. I have homework.
  4. I have a 4-day weekend, so I still have 2 writing days available.
  5. I have two essays to write (So, some writing).
  6. I can’t concentrate for longer than 5 minutes at a time.
  7. I’m a horrible procrastinator.
  8. I’m also an optimist (As in “I totally have plenty of time to get everything done.”  I don’t, actually.)
  9. I’d rather take a nap. (Done.)
  10. I need an outline and some worldbuilding done before I write anything else.

Change is Good

I started the new job Wednesday.  So far just basic stuff like safety videos, which is normal for the healthcare field, but I did go see my new clinic very briefly on Thursday.  “Wow” is all I can say.  It’s beautiful!

I’ve gotten a bit of writing on Siren Song done this morning, with more on the agenda for the day.  I think I can play in this world for a good long time, with loosely-related stories set in the Mystic World.  (At least, that’s what the Muse told me this morning.)  I’ve already revised two chapters of Witches today.  Mainly just a POV switch, with some thoughts for a deeper revision to come. I’ve started doing some reading for my editing class as well, and learned about style sheets:  the formal name for the set of notes I’ve been keeping on this story for years. Good to know.

Okay.  I’m off to get back to work on both stories again.

Writing Inspiration

I do not own this image. Image courtesy of Life on Michigan Ave.)
(I do not own this image. Image courtesy of Life on Michigan Ave.)

I’m pretty sure I can’t be the only person out there looking for ways to stay inspired.  Naturally, while “researching” this topic, I hopped on Pinterest and found this list.  (Seriously, Pinterest has the best pictures that my Muse likes to play with.  I have a board entitled “Inspire Me: Toys for the Muse” where I collect them.)  This list obviously isn’t a picture, but it has some great ideas.  I’m fond of numbers 1, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 15, 18, 19, 22, 26, and 27.  What about you?

Results

I started the switch from third-person to first-person on Witches yesterday.  Have you ever paid attention to how many times you use some version of a pronoun in your writing?  No?  I hadn’t either.  Trust me, the answer is: a LOT.  Sometimes, it felt like I was changing every other word.  At others, I wouldn’t touch two or three paragraphs at a time.  I like how the switch to first person lets me deeper into the characters.  I like it a lot.  Two chapters down yesterday, three on the agenda for today.

Plus some writing.  I wrote about 1,500 words Sunday. That’s not an extreme amount, but it’s a very solid chunk for me currently.  I’m pretty happy with that productivity level (Which, BTW, is actually 3-days’ worth of words that I didn’t get in last week.  500 words four times a week is my–admittedly small–writing goal these days.  I can remember doing 10,000+ word-days during NaNo years ago.  Sigh…)

So, writing and revising, before school starts in a few weeks.  What’s on the agenda for you?

Admission of Guilt

Okay. I admit it:  I’m not happy with Witches because it’s written in third-person POV, not first-person (which is what I’ve been writing in for years now).  I admit it.  Happy?  It actually doesn’t make me happy (and yet it does. Both at the same time. I may have some identity issues.).  Changing third-person to first-person is not the hardest thing I can imagine revision-wise. (I’m not saying it’s easy, just “not the hardest”.) However…doing alternating first-person view points well (and clearly) can be tricky. And I need about six POV characters to tell this story fully.

Six.

That’s a lot of character voices to keep straight. Not to mention, formatting the manuscript so as not to confuse readers. Because, like juggling six viewpoint characters isn’t enough, they’re also going to be in different countries, which will be need-to-know info. That won’t be difficult at all.

Ha. Ha.

To be fair, most of the book will be in Kahleena’s or Bali’s POV, a good chunk will be in either Casimir’s or Julien’s POV, and the rest will be in Siobhan’s and Eodin’s. So, I need to make it clear at the beginning of each chapter where we are and whose head we’re in.  I’m going to re-start this revision with that in mind and keep on keeping-on.

Suggestions are welcome.

Winning Against Inertia

I’ve started working on the revision for Witches.  Which means I’ve done two chapters so far.  It’s…interesting.  The first few chapters are pretty clean, actually. I’m altering my old voice to my new voice, but I usually write first-person these days, and this story is in third-person…which is a bit of a challenge for me.  If I didn’t need multiple viewpoint characters to tell this story, I would definitely be changing the POV as well.  But I don’t think a story written from the viewpoints of at least four characters would work that well in first-person.  (Plus, that’s pretty confusing.)

So.  Two chapters down, 67 to go.

I’m considering the idea of graduate school when I finish my bachelor’s degree next December.  My school offers an online master’s degree in journalism, which is intriguing to me.  I believe words have power.  And journalism, or at least this degree, can help me to use them.  So.  Mulling that over a lot.

I also got some writing done today on Siren Song.  Win!  I broke the inertia all the way around today.  It’s been a good day.

Decision Made

I’ve decided that I can’t go through the rest of the HTRYN process with this version of Witches. The distant POV and voice are just too much for me to ignore comfortably, even while revising. And the little voice in my head–I think it’s the Muse’s other personality–is jumping up and down and screaming so loudly that I can’t think straight. I even gave up on reading through the last ten chapters or so. I don’t think I have a copy of the very first draft of Witches, which is probably a blessing, but my writing has changed so much since this version, that it is proving difficult to read. My voice is SO different now!

I know it’s not always possible to “fix” a first novel, but I think this one is salvageable. If not, at least two of the characters are going to be extremely angry with me…

Update:  I just found my original first draft of Witches. I’m not sure I’m brave enough to read it…

All Fiction is Not “Fifty Shades of Grey”

If one more person tries to get me to read or watch Fifty Shades of Grey, I may have a screaming fit. No. I will not read it. I will not watch it. I would actually rather watch a Twilight marathon than do either (Yes, I’ve actually read the Twilight series. I am not a fan.) Please stop trying to get me to waste my time on something that, for me, has absolutely no value.  I think all authors have the right to write what they please. I do not think writers have the right to profit from other people’s ideas. From everything I’ve seen–for years—Fifty Shades of Grey started out life as fan fiction based on Twilight. (Please do not ask me what I think of that particular concept.) So, E.L. James has profited handsomely from Stephenie Meyer’s initial idea. That is not okay with me. I also do not read or watch James Patterson because I’ve read, many times, that he uses a team of co-writers to produce his plethora of work. I am sure those writers are well-compensated. But their name is not generally on the covers of those books. This is my personal reason for not reading either of these two authors.

Writing is hard. Anyone who doesn’t think so has no idea what they’re talking about. If I am ever so fortunate as to be published–traditionally or indie–I will be thrilled with my hard work and my ideas being appreciated. So, it offends me on a personal level when I see other writers not getting the credit they deserve. It’s like plagiarism. Seriously. And I do not support it.

Writing fiction can be magic. Words have value. Fiction has value. Just because I do not like a piece of fiction does not mean it doesn’t have value, it just doesn’t have value to me. I’m only one person out of several billion on this planet. Write what makes you happy. But write your own stories, not someone else’s. Don’t criticize someone else’s just because they aren’t your cup of tea.

And if you don’t read fiction, don’t tell me that writing it is pointless and has no value. Your argument is invalid, because you are making a judgment about something of which you have no knowledge.

Notice I did not say that Fifty Shades of Grey is poorly written or has a crappy storyline. I have never read it. I have no knowledge of it. It could be a lyrical masterpiece. It has value for an awful lot of people out there. Just because I do not find value in it doesn’t mean others don’t.

But please don’t tell me that writing fiction is valueless. Especially if you watch bad reality TV or the news instead of reading. Because everything on the news is absolutely true and not made up at all….

Too Good to Be True

So, I started revisions on Witches on Sunday, using HTRYN.  I haven’t touched this story in years, and, in fact, have actually forgotten large chunks of it, so reading it has been an experience. In the first lesson of HTRYN, you’re looking for places the characters, story, or world went wrong (or places they went right). I remember the first time I used it to revise a story:  I had red ink all over the pages, with notations of things. This time…the first few chapters have a few scattered marks, but the rest of the 20 chapters I’ve read so far have nothing. Nothing.

This concerns me. Oh, the story isn’t perfect, not by any means. But it’s written in a far different voice and POV than I use now, and that is what bothers me. It feels off, but not wrong. I’ve found a few “wrong” things: like a couple of details that don’t mesh well with the worldbuilding, but the story/plot itself seems to be sound. So…

I still have a lot more reading (and lessons) to get through, but as it stands now, the main thing seems to be that I’m going to have to fix the voice. I’m not as worried about that as I probably should be, because I would fix that a chapter at a time, which isn’t an overwhelming idea.

I have zero experience with this result from revisions. Anyone have any thoughts?

Finally…Progress!

I finally started writing again!  Granted, it was probably less than 300 words this morning, but it’s a start! Before I could write a single word, I had to re-read the entire (That makes it sound like so much) 67-page draft to get a feel for the characters again. That’s the problem with forgetting you even started a story and then trying to start it again:  you forget you ever knew the characters, much less the plot you had planned (assuming I had one planned.). SO I read the draft, then wrote a few hundred words. Not much, I know, but a start, and I know exactly what happens next, which is why I stopped where I did:  so I can actually start during my next session. I’m really happy to be writing again.

Today I will also start working through HTRYN with the draft of Witches. Wow. You know, I thought I was going to be working on a 300,000-word monstrosity, but it turns out, once I opened a document I hadn’t looked at in I-don’t-even’know-how-many-years, that this, the third version of the story, is only 188,000 words. Still way too long, but a definite improvement over my first thought. Whew.  Instead, after using a 10-point Times New Roman font, as well as single spacing it, the printed MS is only 269 pages. That I now have to read through as if I’ve never heard of these people before (And, let’s face it, after a break of years, that’s pretty accurate. I hope we’re old friends again soon.).