Alright for those of you who are new to my lovely little blog, I've a huge soft spot for music. It is my muse, my release, my energy. Okay that sounded totally hokey but I do love music. It is an essential part of my writing. So every now and then I post new songs that catch my ear. Songs that will most likely make it to my playlists for inspiration. So of course I have to share all of you. :D I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!!!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
As the outline turns...
Well I promised I would keep you guys posted on the progress of my outline. If you remember started one for my current WIP - The Touch of Death. (Yes I finally came up with a new title that I like! What do you guys think?) Anyway, I have to say I'm really enjoying it.
See one of the problems/quirks with my writing process is that I constantly have new ideas for certain scenes - the ones that I've already written - how I want to change them, what no longer works and/or a waaaaaaay better idea then I had originally. So while I'm trying to flush out the new scenes, I'm also second guessing the previous ones which gets a bit cumbersome. Trying to keep track of everything and still make progress is a whole lot harder than it might seem to someone outside the writing world. :) I know you guys hear me though.
That being said, now that I'm going back to outline the story I can insert the other ideas that I had nagging at me while I was trying to write the new sections. And just getting them out - even if they are only in the bare-bones version - helps me in ways I can't explain.
I guess the best way to put it is - organization. I will fully admit I am so not an organized person. Not that I'm a chaotic mess either (although I can hear my mother contesting that one right now) but sometimes trying to keep all the details, and characters progressions, and storylines twists and turns perfectly clear is a bit daunting. And writing the outline is a great big help.
So as of right now I have to say outlining has some major bonuses for a writer like me. I can't say that I will always make one out - in fact chances are, I probably won't until I get stuck, but I have to say I like having that tool in my back pocket for when things do get confusing.
Conclusion: a gold star for outlines. :D
See one of the problems/quirks with my writing process is that I constantly have new ideas for certain scenes - the ones that I've already written - how I want to change them, what no longer works and/or a waaaaaaay better idea then I had originally. So while I'm trying to flush out the new scenes, I'm also second guessing the previous ones which gets a bit cumbersome. Trying to keep track of everything and still make progress is a whole lot harder than it might seem to someone outside the writing world. :) I know you guys hear me though.
That being said, now that I'm going back to outline the story I can insert the other ideas that I had nagging at me while I was trying to write the new sections. And just getting them out - even if they are only in the bare-bones version - helps me in ways I can't explain.
I guess the best way to put it is - organization. I will fully admit I am so not an organized person. Not that I'm a chaotic mess either (although I can hear my mother contesting that one right now) but sometimes trying to keep all the details, and characters progressions, and storylines twists and turns perfectly clear is a bit daunting. And writing the outline is a great big help.
So as of right now I have to say outlining has some major bonuses for a writer like me. I can't say that I will always make one out - in fact chances are, I probably won't until I get stuck, but I have to say I like having that tool in my back pocket for when things do get confusing.
Conclusion: a gold star for outlines. :D
Monday, December 20, 2010
To get everyone in the mood
Since it is the week of Christmas, I figured I would post up something to get you all in the holiday mood. I've got to say these people put everyone I know to shame!!
Enjoy!!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
My Brain Uncensored
Yeah I don't really know what to call this blog post except maybe ...oh hell truth be told, I'm just letting my brain go uncensored for a bit. I figure it has to happen ever now and then otherwise I'm going to pop!
So here's the thing ...writing, blogging, and the other stuff on my "I have a Dream" list - sometimes I really wonder if I have any chance at all. I look at some blogs in the online writing community and they have hundreds of blog post and I'll be lucky to have a quarter of that before the year is thru. Or more importantly - they're working on their third WIP of the year and I've still got 25,000 words on the same damn WIP I've been working on since last fall. I feel like such a slacker some days. Because I really, really and truly want to be an honest to God published author before I die (not that I'm planning on that happening anytime soon) but the motivation is dying. I can feel it and it sucks.
I started writing with that "I'm going to be the next J.K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer" passion driving me. And I wrote like crazy! 9 months and I had a 170,000 page novel done (yeah I know I revise the sucker to death believe me). Another 2 months and it was edited. Done and Done. I sent it out and waited on baited breath for the "Please send me more of this amazing manuscript!!!" requests to come rolling in. But they didn't. Instead the real world came knocking.
Dissallusionment is one of the hardest things that a writer has to deal with, I think. I've heard it a thousand times before I sent out my manuscripts - "Every writer has to deal with rejection. Its just part of the harsh reality." But my friends, nothing truly can make you ready for it. You just have to sit there and feel it hit you like a baseball bat to the gut. The first time you say "Okay I knew this was going to happen." The second - more of the same. The third, fourth, etc. Yeah you get the drift.
The hard part is picking yourself up off the proverbial ground, dusting yourself off and sitting back down to the keyboard. Do you revise? Do you shelf it? Do you start over or take on something new?
I think I was literally shell shocked. I didn't want to give up my baby - I had poured my blood sweat and tears into it for over a year!! But on the other had, it failed... I failed. How do you have passion in something you no longer have faith in. I tell you one thing - writing certainly isn't the same after the firey Newbie passion is gone.
I think failure is what kills most writers - those who are weak of heart. I failed but is that it for me? Is that all I'm willing to subject myself to? Hells no. I still want to be a writer. I still have stories banging around inside my skull, screaming at me to let them out. I love that part of being a writer. That creation that is purly mine. There isn't another person on this planet that can write my story.
It might have similar themes or familiar characterizations but it won't be mine.
So I guess I'll keep plugging away purly for the satisfaction of giving life to my creation, my story. And maybe some day I will be published. Maybe someday I will succeed.
So here's the thing ...writing, blogging, and the other stuff on my "I have a Dream" list - sometimes I really wonder if I have any chance at all. I look at some blogs in the online writing community and they have hundreds of blog post and I'll be lucky to have a quarter of that before the year is thru. Or more importantly - they're working on their third WIP of the year and I've still got 25,000 words on the same damn WIP I've been working on since last fall. I feel like such a slacker some days. Because I really, really and truly want to be an honest to God published author before I die (not that I'm planning on that happening anytime soon) but the motivation is dying. I can feel it and it sucks.
I started writing with that "I'm going to be the next J.K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer" passion driving me. And I wrote like crazy! 9 months and I had a 170,000 page novel done (yeah I know I revise the sucker to death believe me). Another 2 months and it was edited. Done and Done. I sent it out and waited on baited breath for the "Please send me more of this amazing manuscript!!!" requests to come rolling in. But they didn't. Instead the real world came knocking.
Dissallusionment is one of the hardest things that a writer has to deal with, I think. I've heard it a thousand times before I sent out my manuscripts - "Every writer has to deal with rejection. Its just part of the harsh reality." But my friends, nothing truly can make you ready for it. You just have to sit there and feel it hit you like a baseball bat to the gut. The first time you say "Okay I knew this was going to happen." The second - more of the same. The third, fourth, etc. Yeah you get the drift.
The hard part is picking yourself up off the proverbial ground, dusting yourself off and sitting back down to the keyboard. Do you revise? Do you shelf it? Do you start over or take on something new?
I think I was literally shell shocked. I didn't want to give up my baby - I had poured my blood sweat and tears into it for over a year!! But on the other had, it failed... I failed. How do you have passion in something you no longer have faith in. I tell you one thing - writing certainly isn't the same after the firey Newbie passion is gone.
I think failure is what kills most writers - those who are weak of heart. I failed but is that it for me? Is that all I'm willing to subject myself to? Hells no. I still want to be a writer. I still have stories banging around inside my skull, screaming at me to let them out. I love that part of being a writer. That creation that is purly mine. There isn't another person on this planet that can write my story.
It might have similar themes or familiar characterizations but it won't be mine.
So I guess I'll keep plugging away purly for the satisfaction of giving life to my creation, my story. And maybe some day I will be published. Maybe someday I will succeed.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
To Outline or Not to Outline; That is the Question.
So seriously...
I'm wondering what the thoughts of my fellow writers out there are. Do you prefer winging it or staging out the entire story before you even approach the keyboard? I only ask this because I'm contemplating going against what I usually do and attempt to start an outline for my current work in progress.
Now, I'm the first to admit that I am not even close to being an old pro at this. I'm still finding my footing much like many of you out there. But the last few stories that I have written were pure winging it and it doesn't seem to be working this time around.
Now when I say I wing it - that is not to say that I don't know the general gist of my stories. I do. I have it in my head...how the story is going to go. But I don't write out in detail how each chapter will evolve ...what each section has to entail and when. And I'm curious to see if that will help me get this WIP that has been kicking my butt out on paper.
I need it out of my head, you see, and on the page. No matter how busy I am, how much stuff I am doing at the moment or how exhausted I am...its still there. Bugging the crap out of me that i haven't gotten it done.
My fellow writers out there will know this - Stories are insistent! Constantly demanding from its writers its full completion. But for some reason this time around it also feels like pulling teeth. Its coming in a slow and arduous trickles, driving me batty.
I need to try something different because my usual process isn't working. Which leads me back to the beginning....To outline or not to outline? Thoughts?
I'm wondering what the thoughts of my fellow writers out there are. Do you prefer winging it or staging out the entire story before you even approach the keyboard? I only ask this because I'm contemplating going against what I usually do and attempt to start an outline for my current work in progress.
Now, I'm the first to admit that I am not even close to being an old pro at this. I'm still finding my footing much like many of you out there. But the last few stories that I have written were pure winging it and it doesn't seem to be working this time around.
Now when I say I wing it - that is not to say that I don't know the general gist of my stories. I do. I have it in my head...how the story is going to go. But I don't write out in detail how each chapter will evolve ...what each section has to entail and when. And I'm curious to see if that will help me get this WIP that has been kicking my butt out on paper.
I need it out of my head, you see, and on the page. No matter how busy I am, how much stuff I am doing at the moment or how exhausted I am...its still there. Bugging the crap out of me that i haven't gotten it done.
My fellow writers out there will know this - Stories are insistent! Constantly demanding from its writers its full completion. But for some reason this time around it also feels like pulling teeth. Its coming in a slow and arduous trickles, driving me batty.
I need to try something different because my usual process isn't working. Which leads me back to the beginning....To outline or not to outline? Thoughts?
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