Cliche

Have you ever written a scene only to feel like it is a screaming cliche? I was just in the process of rewriting my opening and characters were demanding me to write it a certain way, but the scene just seems so cliche! So done before.

And of all the parts of your story you need to be startlingly innovative - in every sense of the word - the opening is it.

So now I'm just sitting here staring at the screen trying to figured out how is God's green earth will I spice it up and make it different. The scenario must change but the characters are still demanding their due.

Hmmm.....

Such are the problems of an author.

Inspiration for the day

This is a new song that's been added to THE TOUCH OF DEATH's playlist. Its a bit harder than most of the others but I just love it!

I Don't Care by Apocalyptica

Sorry guys for some reason the player isn't working so here is the link to the youtube page. Its really worth listening to!

The Brick Wall

Yup still working on the changes to THE TOUCH. And to tell you the truth, I haven't actually made much headway with it, mainly because I have to re-enter my story. And that is an absolutely horrible thing to have sitting over my head. Starting the story over again - re-entering my world and having to match up with the rest of the preexisting storyline is just a stressful, aggravating, and disheartening thing to have to do.

*Sigh* Sorry, I don't mean to sound so whiny but I needed to vent. Writing she is a fickle beast. One day you're plowing ahead at full speed and feeling wholly optimistic, and then next you hit a dead end and have to start digging you're way out.

One step forward...

Two steps back. So a day or two ago, I had come up with an amazing new aspect that I want to add to my current story. Its fabulous, grande and fixes a large number of problems I had in my own manuscript. It was one of those things that you knew must have always been there I was just too blind to see it.

But it is a major change which means major renovations to my exsisting work. Like BIG TIME overhauling. I had to sigh because I was making such amazing headway with the manuscript and felt optomistic but now I have to go back and rewrite a good 50% of it.

The main dialogues and stuff can say the same I just have to alter the exterior portions to it. Lots of work none the less.

But will I do it? Heck yeah. It means a far richer story in the end.
Ah the things we do for our craft.

I think this video sums it up quite well. Enjoy!

Backstory

As a writer I have found that there are some stories out there that don’t need a backstory and then again there are some stories where it’s absolutely essential. My current story is one of the later.

The further I entered the world, the more I found that I needed to create the backstory simply for motivational purposes. Why is the main character doing this? What happened that made the love interest this way? How did their world become the way it is?

In the end, I had to create two stories just to tell the one I originally set out to tell - a secret world behind the public one.

It was a very fun process – writing the hidden side but also it took a lot of additional effort. Now I can easily understand why people come out with prequels after their series is over. It’s already there.

So what do you all think of writing backstories? Or backstories in general? Do you like them? Do you think they’re a waste of time?

I want to hear your opinions.

Quote

The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.

~Sylvia Plath

Epiphany Moments, Outlines, and Bonus Points

I love epiphany moments when I’m writing - LOVE them. They are those special little moments when you just want to smack yourself on the forehead and yell “Why didn’t I think of that before!” Brilliance shinning and immense relief all at once. Love it.

Anyway, I had one of said moments yesterday. (And yes I did smack myself on the forehead. :D) But it was fabulous. And it was like a dam releasing after that. The ideas just flowed. I tacked on three more outlined chapters to the story I haven’t really made any headway on since last summer.

So I give bonus points to my outlining experiment. Since I’m just outlining, I don’t have to have every facet of every conversation and every movement set in stone before moving on. I can quickly jot down notes on how the chapter is going to flow and then keep moving. It’s great!

I’m officially an outline person now. :D

What about you? Outline or winging it?

A Pat on the Back...

So I decided to swing the opposite way today. Getting away from jealousy and envy, this post we’re heading toward that person we rely on the most when writing.

Most writers say the same thing: you need at least one person to tell you you’re doing a good job and I’d have to agree. I think every writer needs one – published or not – someone to tell you that what you’re doing is good work (or crap), that they love it or it sucks; someone to bounce your thoughts and ideas off of. They are invaluable.

Now, I can’t speak for published authors, who have editors and agents to go to – somehow I don’t think it’s much different for them in the long run. But we who are unpublished go through the writing process mainly by ourselves. And it is a looooooong process to deal with it alone. Am I right?

For one thing - me being me, I have this wonderfully torturous voice in the back of my head telling me that this sucks. I need to change all of it! No one is going to want to read this…etc. Not all the time, no, but definitely when I’m weakest. And that is when I need my Bestie the most.

That’s right my Best Friend is my go-to person. She is the one who is not afraid to tell me that this is stupid, or fabulous. She’s not afraid of using her mythical Cattle Prod of Doom to get my butt moving once again. And she is the one who reminds me that I love writing and that should be the only thing that matters right now.

Who do you have as your go to person? Who keeps you going?

Green-Eyed Monster

Do you ever get that feeling ...you know the one they've nicknamed the Green-Eyed Monster? Yeah that's right I'm talking about jealousy, my friends.

The other day I was browsing one of my favorite blogs and the author was posting about how she was on her next wip. That would make three that she’s completed in the time that I’ve finished a third of mine! **Cue the Jealousy** :\

She talks about how she spends all this time writing – goes away on writing vacations with her husband! **Cue more jealousy** And don’t get me wrong…I don’t hate her (well I do but not in that way). Mostly, I just wish I had that sort of opportunity to make my writing work.

I mean this is my dream job, right? But my real life intercedes constantly. (Not that I would give up my kiddos or hubby for anything – publication or not. The day job on the other hand….)

Each writer has their own path to take, though, in order to get to where they want to be. And mine is spent carving out whatever spare time I can amidst a heavily chaotic real life.

Do you guys ever feel this way?

Day One...

You know what I love about New Year's? It means a clean slate...starting over! And not just for writing but relationships, that diet or workout routine as well...anything you need a fresh start with.

And taking the opportunity to make a clean slate of things is a fabulous feeling, my friends, trust me. Now I'm not saying that you have to wait until New Year's to make a fresh start, but I find that most people think this is as good as a time as any so - Have at it, people!

Make a clean start! Dust off that forgotten manuscript, reattempt that diet that failed miserably last month, and/or get back to that workout routine that was left for dead! Think of it as day one and just get your booty movin'.

Happy New Years, My Friends!