For Beginners Like Me

Not 100% accurate, but close.  

I started my newest project over 30 days ago and although I'm a total newbie, I've learned a few things that could be helpful to other aspiring authors.    

Without further ado, here are a few tips for beginners like me. 

Character Development
When I first started writing, I wanted the reader to be in love with my main character.   After a few weeks, I decided that although the reader should definitely feel something for the character, for me, it doesn't have to be "liking." Right now, I'm okay with the reader being angry, disappointed and/or disgusted by her actions.  I want the story to evoke emotions and those can be either positive or negative...as long as the story is interesting enough for people to continue reading.    

Scrap Notes Doc

I do most of my writing in Google Docs and the Scrap Notes Doc I created has been a lifesaver.  I use my scrap notes doc to cut and paste lines and paragraphs that might not fit at the time, but seem too good to delete.  There have been a few times so far that I went back and used a paragraph or a line that didn't fit when I wrote it but was perfect at another point in the story.  This also helps to keep things organized and under control.  

Keep Things Organized and Under Control

The Scrap Notes Doc is helpful with this.  Its so important for me to keep things organized.  It drives me crazy to see a bunch of random paragraphs and sentences all over my pages.  It also makes it very difficult for me to go back and edit.  When ideas come to me, I jot them down as they come, however, I can only do that for a few days before I have to go back in and organize.  I put pieces of my scenes together and scrap the parts that don't fit.  Its also very helpful because I use the main ideas I've written down to fill in story details later.  

Arrange Scenes in Order 
Since I decided on the plot, my mind has been flooded with ideas for scenes.  They come to me at all hours of the day and night and I try my best to immediately write them down even if its only a line or two.  One thing that helps me is arranging the scenes I have written so far in order.  Even if the whole scene isn't complete, arranging it in order helps keep things flowing and reduce my own confusion.  It also helps me because I can think ahead based on what's already written.

Allow Yourself to Think Ahead...But Not too Far

For me, the plot is constantly unfolding and I still don't know how my story ends. My advice is to let your story build on itself.  Don't try to write all the plot points from A-Z at one time.  When I first started, I had an idea of how I wanted the story to go.  However, a month later, my story is completely different than it was when I first started.  The basic idea is the same but there have been so many changes since then and they all arose on their own.  
When I was tied down to my original plot idea and story ending, it frustrated me when I couldn't get things to fit into that mold.  Once I started to let the story unfold on its own, everything started to flow more freely.  It was amazing.  My characters came to life and the plot has become richer.    

Look for help

There is a virtual writing center on the web for aspiring authors.  Its so awesome that there is so much DETAILED help on the net from other writers.  You can search for tips on any aspect of creative writing and find a wealth of information on how to fix your current problem.  It might be a good idea to do this before you start writing as well.  Incorporate tips from blogs as you write and during the editing phase.  If you read a good tip that works in one situation, try to apply it to other similar situations in your book.  

Get in the Zone!  

Make writing a habit.  Do it everyday.  Some people think its difficult to write everyday but its really not.  If you're trying to eventually write full-time, you'll need to build this skill now in order to make that goal a reality.  Writing everyday keeps things moving forward, keeps the ideas flowing and keeps you excited about your story.  Show up everyday to write like its your job.  Invest this time in yourself and pretty soon it could be your job.  

Do Away with Doubt
This is a tough one for me.  Since I have never written anything besides papers for school, I wonder if I can actually do this.  I know that eventually I will be finished, but will I have written something that others want to read?  Will I have wasted 6 months of my life?  Will my story be good?  Will it make any sense? Is it stupid?   Has someone already written something similar?  So many doubts have crept into my mind during this process. What I do now is chase those thoughts away as soon as they come to me. I've realized that all I can do is write.  I cannot control the outcome. Do everything you can to write the best possible book you can and let the rest go.  

And Finally...

Focus on the process...not the result

Its not going to happen overnight...and probably not over the next 180 nights either.  Give yourself a break.  Unless you're in some contest or have someone pointing a gun at your head, there is no need to rush.  If you do, it will be reflected in your work.  Take the time to learn as much as you can and enjoy this part of the process.  If you pay attention, you will see how much you are learning and how much better you're getting at writing.  You'll be proud of the fact that you could hang in long enough to complete it and amazed by your own abilities.  I'm not even close to finished but I am already super proud of myself for hanging in this long.  *pats self on the back*

Once again, I want it to be clear that I am no expert and these are just a few tips I've come up with through my own process.  Please share your own tips, thoughts and experiences in the comments below :) 

I Think I've Found My Happy Place

Reprinted from Seth Godin's Blog.  Check the original post here: 
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2014/08/end-of-summer-book-roundup.html

If this is true...I'm all in.

I came across this blog post by Seth Godin a few days ago and was instantly inspired.  When I first read the title, I thought it was going to be a post about why authors should be more competitive with each other. Jaded, right? However, once I started reading, I was very pleasantly surprised.  

The post appealed to me because at most of the jobs I've had, I've been faced with a decision: be myself or morph into this corporatized beast who will stab, maim and kill to get "ahead". People I respect and trust have told me that I should always be myself just "not at work." At work, it's okay to be deceptive, its understandable if you lie and above all, do what(ever) you have to do to put yourself in front of someone else. To me, that attitude is the exact recipe for ensuring that nothing good will happen for you.  

When I dropped my daughter off at Penn State last weekend I took a picture of a quote by Joe Paterno that I loved.  It says "Success without honor is an unseasoned dish; it will satisfy your hunger, but it won't taste good." To me, that quote is exemplified in Seth's post and I hope its true of this new world I'm about to enter.  I need to be around people who feel that way and most importantly behave that way.  

With this new venture, I'm hoping to be a part of a working world where people don't feel the need to hog everything for themselves.  Where competitors are confident and satisfied enough to be happy for each other.  Of course I want my book to be successful, but that doesn't have to mean that I want someone else's to not be.  It just feels ungrateful. There's enough everything for everyone and me trying to get more than my share isn't good for any of us.  

The bottom line is that I want my success to taste like rainbows, lollipops and sprinkles.  What about you?  Have you ever been in an environment that made you feel you couldn't be true to yourself? How did you handle it? Have you noticed a sense of camaraderie among writers?

What I've Learned So Far

Sometimes it feels like this.  

I've been writing daily for a while now and I'm really starting to appreciate the skills required to write a story that people will read and enjoy. People have always told me I'm a good writer (which is a great foundation) but there is so much more to writing a book than just sitting there and letting the words spill out.  I'm working on my first full-length novel and let me tell you, its a daunting task.  

Mostly because I refuse to write something that I wouldn't read myself.  I might be a little snobby in this respect but if I'm going to read something it needs to be well-done.  I get annoyed quickly when reading poorly written material and will skip and skim through the whole thing if my attention isn't grabbed and held onto almost immediately.  

I have so many ideas about what could be a good book.  I start writing and then look at it later and think, Would I read this?  If I were the reader, would I skip this section?  Is this part of the book even needed? How does this part go with the next part?  Does any of this make sense at all?  I realized last night that the whole premise behind my book needed to be changed because it just wasn't working for me and if it doesn't work for me it definitely won't work for the reader.  I'm not going to just write anything in order to meet my goal deadline.  

Basically, what I've learned so far about writing is that anyone can write a book, publish it and voila!...they can call themselves an author.  However, even with the persistence and ability it takes to write an entire book, it still needs to be readable and...that's very important.  Recently, I tried to read a book that spent a gazillion years on the Best Seller's list and to be honest, I felt deceived because the writing was crap.  I'm definitely not an expert in any way, but I do like to read and I can recognize bad writing from a mile away. Thank goodness I didn't buy it.  It actually gave me a headache and made me question the world's intelligence that literally everyone was fawning over this book and talking about how well it was written.  I wondered if I was living in a parallel universe.  I don't want people to feel that way when they read my writing.  

So...back to the writing desk I go.  Even though its mentally draining sometimes, I'm loving the process because once I get the basic skills down, I can replicate them on every project. What I've learned so far is that the basic ability to follow this task to fruition is only part of the equation.  If I'm going to do this I need to respect the art enough to learn to how to do it right.  

How does it feel?

Character Descriptions & Past/Present Scenes

I'm working on developing my characters without actually describing them in a block of sentences.  (Ignore the red words until you get to my explanation below.)

As she gazed at the necklace, her mind wandered back to her 9th grade introductory English class.  

"Who is Alexis Heston?" She had asked herself out loud while reading the teachers' assignment.  

"Who am I?" she (had?) repeated, bewildered by the question itself.

"Mom, who am I?" she (had?) asked, hopeful for a hint from the person who knew her best.

"Alexis, you have to answer that one on your own" she (or "her mother"?) replied with a chuckle.  

"And its not an easy answer" her mother (or "she") continued. "Answering that question requires introspection and self-awareness.  That means looking inside of yourself to see what's really important to you and what you want your life to mean."

Over the years, this conversation had replayed in her head often.  It seemed to pop up whenever she had those strange, uncontrollable feelings that came from nowhere and disappeared before she could identify their origin. 

Now, as she stood in the mirror, admiring the jewelry, that same question returned to her mind.  

"Who am I?" she asked herself.  She ran her fingers over the necklace and wondered if it truly "fit her well" as the salesgirl had suggested.  The piece was both heavy and delicate all at the same time.  In that way, it did remind her of herself: hard on the outside but delicate and very easily broken.  

Hopefully, from this passage you get some preliminary information about Alexis and realize that you'll learn more about her as the novel progresses.  Yes...No...Maybe?  

I also have some concerns about accurately portraying the past when its being examined in the present. Here, I used "had" to show that Alexis was thinking about the past right now.  But then, I wasn't sure if I needed to continue with the "hads" to let the reader know this was still the past scene.  When her thoughts returned to the present, I removed the "had" to alert the reader she was back in the present scene. I also used the line "Now, as she stood in the mirror," to let the reader know that the past scene was over. 

Did that come across well?  Are the sentences clear enough that the reader understands which part happened in the past and which part is occurring right now?  

I'm also concerned about when to move from using the character's name to using the pronoun.  Its difficult sometimes to make it clear to whom you are referring when both characters are the same gender.  

Its all basic stuff I know, but hey...give me a break, I'm just starting out.  :) 

Thanks for any feedback.  

The Last Ship

How I Got Here

As I sat down to think of a title for this blog, I decided it should be a catchy phrase that people could recognize easily and would pique a potential readers interest.  I started thinking about different cool phrases people use and ways I could tweak them to fit my content.  Then I thought of cool ways I could use my name in the title or other personal traits that may draw readers in.

 

Out of nowhere, the idea of writing for my life came to me.  I think I had heard it before somewhere and at the time I thought it was cool but I hadn't gotten to the point where the pressure to write was as intense as it is now, so I just let the idea pass.

 

However, now, as I sit here, I realize that at this point in my life, the title of the blog is a very accurate depiction of where I am.  I truly am writing for my life...the life of my dreams.

 

Right now, I'm kinda stuck in a job that I just started hating last week.  Even though the hatred is new, it is burning inside of me like the flames of a thousand candles.  The environment, the coworkers and the culture has proven to be more than I can bear.  It seems that most people there operate with an attitude and outlook that goes against everything I stand for.  A few years ago I realized how things went there and I vowed that I would not let the job change me.  I would not become one of those miserable ass employees that comes to work angry and leaves even angrier.

 

But right now, there are things going on that have threatened to force me to change.  Of course, some change can be good, but when "changing" means going from a happy, life-loving, positive team player to a disgruntled, angry, union-calling bitch who keeps her office door shut between the hours of 9 to 5, I'm going to resist that change with all my might.

 

So...here I am.  Writing.

 

As I think back, I've always been a writer.  I've always written stories even if they were never completed.  Always wondered what it would feel like to finish a book and then see it on the shelf of a bookstore.  I was never able to finish a story because my inner mean girl would always show up, take residence in my head and proceed to spout evil, disparaging feedback that convinced me no one was interested.  Fear has kept me from doing a lot of things, but more than fear is my own internal voice that adds doubt to the equation and makes me stop right in my tracks.

 

"Isn't it easier to just go to work everyday?  Why would you try anything like that?  What if people don't like it."  I guess these are good questions.  Questions that a responsible adult would ask themselves to make sure they are not being guided by their 7year old, responsibility-less, former self.  But the sad part is that I let those questions stop me before.  Not now.  The pressure is too great.  I have to make a move or I'll go crazy.   

 

In addition to the bullshit at work, there's the simple fact that I feel like I NEED to write.  I feel that if I don't do it now, I might not be able to later.  Its as if one night, some fierce creature is going to come to me while I sleep and rip away the powers because I was too stupid not to use them.  I can't let that happen.

 

And there's always been the nagging feeling inside of me that I CANNOT and SHOULD NOT work for someone else.  I've always known I needed the freedom that working for yourself provides.  I long for it.

 

And so, the sum of all of these parts is that I am finally ready.  Ready to write.  Ready to tell all of the stories that are inside my overly anxious brain.  Ready to make a living out of it.  Ready to FINALLY break free from the gulag that has been my experience with "employeehood" and make the move to CEO of my life and my future.  I feel like fate is pushing me in this direction.

 

I want to use this blog to connect with other writers, to get feedback on my ideas and simply share thoughts on life, love, goals and dreams.  Please feel free to leave comments, questions, ideas and critique.  This interaction is one of the main reasons I decided to do this.  I'm nervous about this endeavor but I want to use those feelings as fuel to move me forward.  With your help, I can do just that.  No pressure of course :)