The Elements of Style

Image by roverdo via FlickrFor Christmas I received a special edition copy of E.B. White and William Strunk's The Elements of Style, a tiny little book that is both a necessity and a marvel to every writer alive. The volume is, in my opinion, the most perfect for anyone who has ever wanted to rip their sheet of paper in half because they just weren't sure, "which word was best."

If you don't already have a copy of The Elements of Style sitting on your desk, I implore you to get one. I believe that I may have actually gotten a project finished if I had gotten mine a long time ago. It was always just one of those things that every writer needs that I always told myself I would eventually get around to buying.




This brings me to my New Year's resolution. I'm going to tell you guys the honest-to-God truth here and say that I have never in my life made a New Year's resolution. No one even thinks about them after February, so I always thought that I would become a better person whenever the mood struck me at any random time during the year. For some inexplicable reason I actually gave a crap this year, and have decided to make sure I get at least an hour of writing in every day. I used to do much, much more, but I'm starting out small and working my way up to the insane level of obsession with my writing that I once had before final exams knocked me off my horse.

Reading through The Elements of Style has given me a level of confidence in my writing that I  never thought I would have. Mind you, that's still not much. It's something, though, and definitely enough to make me feel like picking up the pen for more than a few sentences a day again. Professor Strunk reminds me so much of my own Professor that I feel as if I never left English 111 for winter break. I wouldn't be surprised if I found he kept a copy of the volume taped under his desk.

I was also overjoyed to find that Professor Strunk shared my opinion that an apostrophe should be used in names even if the name ends in an s. Most of my English teachers throughout high school have told me that such was a matter of preference, and therefore let me have my way. My Latin teacher, however, claimed that it was written down in stone tablets that "Chris's box" should be written as "Chris' box." Anyone who did not do so knew nothing about English punctuation.

That particular usage of the apostrophe has always been the punctuation equivalent of nails on a chalkboard to me. I have always preferred "Chris's box" to "Chris' box", even though I'm pretty sure both of them are correct.

Good luck with all of your writing related resolutions!

And, you know...the other ones, too.

Related articles

• Move Your Story Right Along: The Elements of Style Rap (brainpickings.org)
• The Words of E.B. White (themillions.com)

The Inexplicable Evolution of a Character

Image by jlseagull via FlickrPeople change. So do characters. I've never been the type of writer to viciously hold onto a character design to the point that I virtually halt the story development for fear that the character will change. A lot of times that can happen without you even knowing you're doing it. In fact, if you've been struggling with writer's block for quite some time now, I'd recommend you ask yourself if  you've noticed your character trying to do things that you'd describe as particularly out of character.

Me, I just write and see what happens. It wasn't that way when I typed up my stories, but once I started handwriting them I noticed that I was a lot less willing to go back and second guess my decisions. I spent roughly four weeks getting all the imagination related crap squared away, and by the end of the first month I had developed a main character that was nothing short of your typical shy and sweet bookworm.

Yeah, I know. Not the most relatable of protagonists. I think that's probably why Muriel changed so much once I actually put her into action. What I see now as I move my pen across the page (and scowl at my consistently poor word choice as usual) is a loud, naive, and not-so-bright girl who probably never acquired the patience to sit down and read a book that didn't have pictures. She may not be as smart and, dare I say it, "perfect" as she was before, but I'll bet she's twice as fun to read about.

And write about. I'd much rather chronicle the adventures of a fun loving simpleton who asked a plant-based character if she eats sunlight than a pompous one who throws out a scientific explanation for everything that happens.

That and I'm barely making a B in Biology 101. Ladies and gentlemen, you will not find me operating on you anytime soon.

I guess the long and short of this blog post (because God help me if I actually make a clear point ever at all) is that you can't really think of your characters as people you can control. Think of them more as people who have a story to tell you so that you can write it down on paper. Or type it up on Word. Whatever floats your boat.

Girls Write, Too

I'll never understand why it's so hard for readers out there to believe that a chick can write a kick-ass story that isn't pumped full of abs and estrogen.

Of course, considering what they've got to go on, I don't really blame them.

Everyone's heard the classic spiel saying that female writers who don't write erotica and romance should use a unisex, or even male, pen name. If they don't, their sales will suffer, because most readers out there will see the female name and immediately judge it to be in contrast with the genre of the book. Just once, I dare some writer of beautiful, passionate erotica to use a pen name like "Paul Schmidt", or "Al Gutman."

Nothing is worse, however, than the pen name that sounds like it came straight out of either the 60s or Lord of the Rings. No one is going to believe that your name is Rain Firestorm. Move on to the next name on your list, unless it's Crystalline Promise.

I won't deny that I've always wanted to publish at least one erotica under the psuedonym, "Jane Doe."

I don't know why. I can't write erotica--it's just that it would be pure awesome, just as awesome as I. M. Hornay. 

Freewriting Prompt: Prompt Writing, Sans Prompt

I haven't done a writing prompt on my blog in a really long time, and I thought I would try one out again. I wanted to make use of Freeblogging, which keeps track of time for you, but I couldn't think of a good fiction prompt that I could honestly keep up for any length of time without stopping for a good while. The result was me doing a promptless stream-of-conciseness writing exercise, just like the first one I ever did.  This is by no means a work of fiction, essay, or anything serious at all. Just me rambling and trying to find whatever stories and blog posts might be lying beneath the mess of seemingly meaningless text.


It's a great thing to do, but I wouldn't recommend anyone else making an ass out of themselves by sticking it up somewhere for everyone to see like I did. 

I decided that, for my first writing prompt in a long while, I would do a completely promptless stream of conciousness exercise. That's right. I don't have a single thing that I'm supposed to be writing about. I'm just letting it all come right out of my head as I type, which is something that you should probably be a little bit worried about. No going abck and erasing the embarassing or horrifying stuff. Nope. Not at all. Here it goes.

I'm watching Family Guy right now. They're making fun of the moon landing or something like that. I don't know becuase I'm only half-way paying attention. I think I heared something about surly blondes. Don't really know how that fits in there, but it's there. Kinda silly if you ask me. Guess it would have made sense in context, but I don't have the context because I wasn't paying attention. Just gonna have to let that one slide, I guess.

HA! Stewie just stole Brian's Peanut Butter Jelly Time thing. HA. That was something that Brian did, not Stewie.

I have no idea what to say now. Oh my God. It's like my mind just went totally blank. Usually when this happens while I'm writing my book, I just put on a song that reminds me of the stuff that's happening in my story and think about it until I finally have stuff to put on the page again. I can't really do that now, seeing as I'm just doing freewriting.

My cousin just came to the door. I bet he thinks I'm pretty weird, sitting here writing on the computer and yet talking to him at the same time like I'm not really thinking about what it is that I'm typing. Oh boy. My family thinks I'm pretty damn weird anyway, though, so I guess it's not a big difference.

Geez, let's talk about how awkwardly that was worded for a moment. Gaw. I can't believe I let that sentence at the end of that paragraph right up there leak out of my head. I'm entirely sorry. Good God.

You know, the first stream of onciousness prompt I ever did required me to not puncuate or capitliaze a single thing. I could n'efve evend end the sentence. And now this thing is freezing up, and I can't see where I'm typing. I bet the typos are absolutely endless. I am sorry. So, so, so sorry.

I want a banana.

Well, looky there. I didn't type for quite some time because my computer froze, and it's still letting me continue writing. I wish I would have known that, otherwise I qwould have actually planned somethign to write here. Instead I think I'm just going to sing a song in my head, but not write the lyrics down. That's difficult. Oh wow, is it ever and called it macaroni....DAMNIT!

Well. There you go.

Think of it as going on your own personal MapQuest.

It doesn't have to look like this ^^^

Today's post is about one of my favorite parts of the novel writing process: story world mapping.

If there's one thing that most writers of genres outside of fantasy tend to ignore, it's the importance of drawing up a map of your story world. Sure, it's important to form an image of the layout of your world if you literally have an entirely different world, but it's just as useful to draw a little map of all of the normal, everyday settings that show up in your novel.

You know, like a character's bedroom, or the diner where most of the scenes take place...you get the picture. Mapping can actually be a valuable part of your brainstorming process, even if you're a non-otherworldly writer. Just try it out and see whether or not it influences how you picture the scenes in your head and how vividly you write them.

Now, I'm not saying that you have to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. My mountains are, to this day, nothing but triangles, and my trees look like chicken feet. I'm a writer, definitely not an artist. It doesn't matter if your people are stick figures, or if your dragons look like squiggly lines with crudely drawn feet. It's still a perfectly respectable story world outline either way, and you should be pretty damn proud of it if you ask me.

When I was little I did nothing but draw maps of the places I wanted to write about sometime in the future, sometimes having them set up so that to see the whole thing you had to piece several notebook pages together. My mother thought I was insane, especially because I wrote in mostly first person back then. I actually believe that her reaction to finding my writing notebooks is just the reason I have such an aversion to first person writing: she accused me of being schizophrenic and threatened to commit me.

I would suggest carrying your writing notebooks around like they're a treasure box full of gems that everyone would rip away from  you and steal forever if you were to let a single person catch a glimpse of what's inside. Nobody likes to know you're writing something unless you've been published. Once you have, everyone wants to know, and I hear it gets pretty freaking annoying.

Try drawing a map your main character's bedroom. If nothing else, it'll at least be fun. Then, feel free to go map-crazy, even if they're all just simple aerial views.

Thank You!

Invitation

by Shel Silverstien

If you are a dreamer, come in,
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...
If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire
For we have some fla-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
come in!

That poem is one of my absolute favorites, and the one that really made me decide I wanted to be a writer. Yes, I have been dreaming of this since kindergarten. I may have made up a bunch of fake jobs because I was afraid of telling anyone that I really wanted to write, but this has always been it. For some reason that I'll never understand, a parent would rather hear that their daughter dreamed of stripping for a living than becoming a writer. This is a fact. Test it out. I'm posting this today because I believe I am finally - yes, finally! - able to begin drafting my novel. I'm going to go about this fast, which is how I  work best, and then work out every single one of the kinks in the rewrite. By then I'll need some beta readers, but I've seriously got to stop putting the cart before the horse. My goal is 500-1,000 words a day, and so far I think I've clocked in at 406. It's still not enough for me, but I have to be realistic. There's no way anyone can sit down and have half of it done one night and the other half the next, which would fly just fine with me. Plus, it's a good thing to isolate yourself and  your story. No worrying about not getting it done or how your mother probably cries herself to sleep at night because  you're not going to medical school right now, no sir. Sit that story right down in a chair across from you and say, "Okay, shoot. I'm listening." Then write down what is says with your little pen, there. God, I'm crazy. I'd like to conclude this post by thanking each and every one of my readers from the bottom of my heart. This blog wouldn't amount to a pile of dog crap if it weren't for you, and I say that as elegantly as possible. So many writers get caught up in their work and their own words that they forget what they would be if it weren't for the people reading---which is nothing. To this day I am a blogger only because you are reading this post, and I want to thank you so much. Not a lot of blogs manage to make it even this far, and it's all because of you that mine has. So what do you say? Help the blog go a little further? I'm in if you are! :D

Handwriting Novels - Is It "Okay" to Still Do It?

Image by Bright Meadow via Flickr

Of course it is, but not everyone rolls that way. I can almost hear the massive sigh of relief, as I'm sure most of you who work much better with writing on a computer are tired of longhand writers telling you that you're doing it wrong simply because it isn't their way. I've said it once and I'll say it again: Everyone has a different way. Anyone who thinks that there is only one way to write can kindly STFU.

Not to say that there aren't people out there who will throw a tantrum over how they think a computer is the only way to write, too, as if Nathaniel Hawthorne just sat down at his desk and fired up his good 'ol HP Pavilion to write The Scarlet Letter. Like I said in my Unlucky Things about the Internet post, there are insane fanatics and haters for nearly everything. I also remember saying that there really aren't any formulas for writing a good story. It's okay if you haven't let that sink in yet, because I'm certain I'll say it again many, many times.

I'm posting about this because the other day I had a shocking and slightly frustrating revelation: my work comes out much better when it's all handwritten than when I type it up on the computer. The only problem is that it's incredibly slow, and my thoughts move incredibly fast. In hindsight, this just may be why my work hadn't read very well when word processed, but hindsight is, after all, 20/20. I'm happy that I can stop worrying about my terrible, terrible prose now and start to focus on actually getting the story onto the page.

I implore everyone out there who hasn't already to try out both. Heck, I'd suggest even taking a whack at using a typewriter if you can get your hands on one. Write the same scene using a different method every time, and then read back over them to see which one just...you know, sounds and feels better.

The worst that could happen is your finding out that a much slower method, like handwriting, is your best bet.

But what if you discover just that? Perish the thought! Right?

Well, not exactly. It happens more often than you think. You'd be surprised how many writers out there nowadays still actually handwrite the first drafts of their novels, even in an age when computers are, let's face it, much faster (but not necessarily more creative). So what if you discover that this tried and true method is best for you? How do you cope with the hand cramps? The agonizingly slow speed at which the page is filling up?

Well, that's all up to you.

I've thought all of this through since I decided to handwrite my first draft. Today I went out between classes and picked up an enormous notebook, the largest one that I could find at Wal Mart. Yes, Wal Mart. No, it isn't one of these, but I'm perfectly happy with my spiral bound ghetto setup. Besides, the one I bought has eight more pages, so there.

Sometimes going out and buying something new is just what I need to motivate me to do something. I'm just impractical like that, and if you are too, go for it.

I know the thought of writing an entire draft in longhand sounds agonizing, but it really isn't as bad as it seems. I've tried handwriting for the past few days, and actually come to hate typing it up on the computer. Seriously, this blog post has been killing me. I suggest getting a pen that glides very well over the paper and only keep it neat enough for you to read, that way you can get it down as fast as a first draft is normally written. It's just the first draft, after all. Who else but you needs to see it until it's the second draft, anyway? Once you've transferred it to the computer, fixing the little mistakes you see here and there, it may as well be considered ready for a beta reader or two.

And as for the hand cramps that you're bound to get, believe it or not, water may be just what you need. Staying hydrated is given as a fix for nearly everything, though, so I also advocate taking breaks to stretch. Your fingers. I guess...flex them or something.

I know my chances of findindg another teen writer who uses pen and paper are slim to nil, but I've always been forced to deal with my abnormalities in strides. Why should this specific abnormality be any different?

I'll Just Leave This Here

11 Types of Bad Writing Advice

Believe me, I've heard all of these and continue to hear them to this day. Pick up any self help writing book and you'll see nothing but around two hundred pages of this crap. Just a quick reminder:

There are no laws to writing.

Just because Bill H. Authorguy (sue me for the corny joke later) has written seven hundred bestselling books doesn't mean that you'll only be a successful writer if you mimic him.

Writing is fun. Some people love to make it look like it's brain surgery, because they don't feel important enough if they're doing something they enjoy. Work should be hard. Tough. Grr. Manly. That's a load of bull, however, and you'll never finish a manuscript if you feel like working on it is some form of punishment. While they are challenges, they are worthwhile challenges that you should enjoy undertaking.

If Mr. ITeachWriting hates romance novels, he'll shoot down anything of that nature that you show him. It doesn't mean it's bad, he just hasn't learned to be unbiased.

You're supposed to explore, have fun, and learn things about yourself.

Making a mistake or trying something that doesn't work is not an indication of whether or not you'll make it as a writer. This has happened to everyone, even the person writing that hoity-toity self help book, and it is part of the process. I usually have at least three different versions of a scene floating around before I find one that works when I try it out.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, some people just should not give advice. Most of these people are writers. Not all writers, of course, but the more pompous types. You'll know them when you see them.

Last but not least, remember that we writers are sometimes the most stubborn people you'll ever encounter. Many seasoned professionals make it painfully obvious that they believe their own way of going about their story to be the only way of going about ANY story. I've tried all of the advice I've ever been given, and can honestly say that no one thing worked perfectly for me. You basically have to take little bits and pieces of what works until you shape your own unique process. It's like a fingerprint, and not the same for everyone by any means. Try something that just doesn't feel right, and you'll end up with a story as awkward as that analogy.


I think I'll also leave this here, seeing as most of the people looking at my blog have author blogs, themselves. I found it beyond useful. I posted it on Twitter earlier, along with the realization that most of the people coming to my blog from a search engine are looking for Pinkie Pie. Sometimes Google Analytics will surprise you. 

Off-Days Are For Rambling

-In Soviet Russia, story tells you.

    Looking over my old novel excerpts depresses me. I'm outlining (for real this time--yay!) those parts of the story right now, because they're the only ones that really stayed the same when I completely revamped the plot. This new story really is a 'new story'...the characters are the only aspect of it that hasn't changed, and even they've gotten more developed. Everything is different, even my style of outlining. I think all of the detail that I've been told was absolutely necessary in the outlines was actually killing my story. Not only is every process different, but every story as well. I don't think you can combine a trans-universal fantasy with anything that's supposed to make logical sense at all. You have to keep spaces open and ties loose, or you'll strangle your story to death. It's like squeezing a bird and saying, "No! You can't fly away because it's illogical! Mwahahahahahahahahahahaha!" knowing perfectly well that birds can fly even though most things can't.

In other words, the more things you make certain and set in stone before you start to write, the more your story is going to resist you. I definitely advocate a more paragraph-like summary type of outline now in place of the rigid, hyper-detailed one that I was using.  It has to be fluid, like a living organism. Don't tell your story, let the story tell you.

To an extent...

...oh man, I totally just broke the floodgates and let myself remember every single Soviet Russia joke I've ever heard.

I know there wasn't much to today's post, other than an admittance of the fact that the writing was extremely stilted in any and all of the excerpts that I've posted. At the time I was reading a book that went about everything in the wrong way, you see, and was too scared of never finishing a novel to realize that you shouldn't believe everything you read. If it feels like it isn't working, then for the love of all that his holy try something else before it makes you go crazy. Chances are it works for someone else, not for you. A good story cannot be formulated.

In addition to me rambling about my mistakes in hopes that I can save someone else from making them, I'd like to say that I believe I'll be sticking with Creawriter as my main DFW software. I'm getting absolutely giddy with the background feature. I have a different one picked out for every scene. What can I say? Pictures have always been just the thing to put me in the mood. 

It's not like the old days when you could afford to be a recluse.

I'm going to level with you here. I have both ADD and Noise Anxiety, which makes writing anything at all extremely hard if I'm not in just the right environment. Any little noise from the outside world--someone coughing, shuffling around, the TV in the next room at a distance, voices chattering--can totally set me off and wipe my mind completely clean. I'm serious. It's like every little noise is a moist towelette, and my novel is a mustard stain. But not a bad one. One that I want to keep. For some reason. Sorry, I'm not in my 'environment' right now.

I'm also bothered by motions as well, which is why I absolutely have to be alone when I'm writing anything. That, or near a person who's extremely talented at sitting perfectly still. A Buddhist monk mid meditation, if you will. People stomping through the house even tends to keep me from working. The second anything comes into my mind that isn't one hundred percent related to the task at hand, it might as well be gone for good. Imagine how much I hated using Microsoft Word when that stupid little paperclip was still there. People who didn't even have any problems with concentrating hated it.

I'm beginning to think that writers just don't have these problems. That, or that they all live alone. Every single writer who ever talks about their process seems to be living completely by themselves in a little cabin on another planet. I'm waiting to see if there are any real people out there who have to lay their heads down on their desks until their mother stops screaming about who won on America's Got Talent.

If any of you happen to be reading this post, I have a bit of a solution. By 'bit of a solution', I mean that it sometimes helps me, but not always. Listening to music, for example, can't do a thing to stop my brain from emptying itself out ever time the entire house vibrates from someone stomping through it. For all of your auditory and visual distractions, however, I believe I have found what may be a step toward a solution.

Music.
I've actually offended quite a few other writers by saying that I listen to music while I write. You just...just can't do that! Oh my God! How do you concentrate?

Well, how do you concentrate with a screaming baby in the background?

Forget I said that. Before you get lost in the world of your headphones, you should probably make sure that Little Timmy hasn't stuck his finger in a light socket.

But I digress...sometimes it's your choice of music that works best. I have an entire writing playlist composed (see what I did there?) of nothing but songs that make me zone out, i.e., I hear the music but am not really paying attention to it. If it's a song I really like or one that's too catchy, I'll find myself focusing on the words or tune and zoning out from the writing. The real goal here is to make sure that you sort of zone out of the music and let it play in the background of your mind, letting the words that you're writing come to the forefront. Slower songs usually work best, as well as songs you could imagine playing while you talk with a friend. Anything that can drown out noise, but at he same time take a backseat to your thoughts. For some reason songs with lower pitches work best for me than higher ones. It's also a good idea to throw in a few songs that remind you of your story in case you're running out of things to say and need to mull over the idea that you first had when you started to write. I also like to make my "Story Soundtrack" into a playlist for when I go on walks by myself. It's pretty much the only way I can brainstorm.

Distraction Free Writing
Hear me out on this. I thought it was only for programmers at first. Not to mention, of course, that it's not exactly aesthetically pleasing. That is, of course, the goal. Felt sort of 'derp' after that one.

DFW programs provide a very basic interface for writing. I didn't think I needed one until I tried one out. I was amazed at how things as minuscule as the task bar and the temptation to check Facebook were hindering me.

Creawriter is one of my favorites. You can choose whatever background image you want, and the ambient sound is a great addition. For some people (myself included), the noise and image gets to be too much sometimes. In that case I would recommend  Dark Room or Writemonkey.

Novel Ramblings

They say the number one rule for writing your first novel is not to tell anyone you're writing it and keep it your little secret.

Whelp, blew that one already.

I'm dying to put up some stuff from my story, but at the moment it's nothing but poorly punctuated pre-writing before I begin the first draft. I literally have around 30,000 words of nothing but free writing trying to form my story world and develop the characters. If this thing were a novella it would be long enough for publication already. I'm obsessed. Good thing I didn't sign up for this to be normal.

Anyone ever seen a first draft? Most of them look like they were written by a kinder-gardener.

If they're mine, they're cringe-worthy. I've heard and found it true that you're supposed to just write and iron it all out in the rewrite, which means that going back over it to stomp out typos may be counterproductive. Second guessing yourself is for technical writers. Let your story be alive. I don't want anybody to think that I'm just blowing smoke here, so I'm going to try and get at least something up soon.

I'm beginning to worry that an anthropomorphic dragon wizard might be too crazy of a character for comfort, even though I believe the fantasy genre is in dire need of some spicing up. Translation: there are so many Lord of the Rings clones floating around out there that the literary world just may drown in them.

I also know that a main character who goes insane by the end of the story isn't a new idea, either, but the one thing that sort of makes mine different could be just causes it to be a controversial story. My intent was to follow a child's descent into madness. While I have plenty of other crazy people in my story, I wanted Muriel's transformation into one of these crazy people to be particularly unsettling. People just cringe at the thought of anything unsettling involving children, even though thirteen isn't exactly a childish age. The problem, I guess you could say, is that most people assume it's a much more childish age than it really is. At thirteen you know a lot more than people give you credit for.

I'm also trying to make it look like her 'descent' into adulthood accompanied her descent into madness to the point that some people might take it to mean that I believe it's wrong to grow up.

Nah, not wrong...just impractical :P

Prompts, Straight out of My Head

Image by J. Paxon Reyes via FlickrI have antibiotics in my system, and I believe I just might be back.

Or, well, hopefully. Today I went to a College Composition class where I was told that I would have to think completely mechanically for the next fifteen weeks. I could have died that very second. Good Lord, how am I going to manage writing something technical that isn't about wizards and space aliens?

It sort of reminded me, however, about one of my bigger problems lately. My writing is, well, too mechanical. It sounds like Ben Stein is the narrator (no disrespect intended to Mr. Stein, of course). So, I took a little break from my novel and decided to brush up on some stream of consciousness exercises. These are always fun. I always produce the most interesting little things when I work this way. It isn't at all filtered through my stupid left brain. I'm just writing, and that's the best thing any writer can do.

That being said, I thought it would be great to post up some good stream of consciousness prompts just for the fun of it. If anyone decides to tackles these and comes up with something they think particularly hilarious (or frightening), feel free to put it in the comments. The best possible thing that could come from this is you getting a whole new story idea. These really are just the best around for generating ideas.

• The thing you want to do most of all before you die
• Write about the one thing that scares you the most and why it scares you.
• What is your passion and what about it makes you passionate?
• The thing you feel society has most screwed up on
• OR the thing you feel society is doing best of all
• What you feel is the biggest injustice today
• An event or period of history that makes your skin crawl
• The most admirable thing about the person you think of as your hero

Remember to give yourself a good set time (the usual one is about five minutes) and not stop until the time limit is up. If you're writing, don't let that pen or pencil leave the page until the whole five minutes are up. If you're typing, you're fingers shouldn't leave the keyboard. Just go and let it come straight from your heart and as you yourself would say it. Don't think it. Just feel it. Above all, don't judge it.

Image via WikipediaChances are that if you're alive, you've heard of the Amazon Kindle (or some other sort of e-reader). What you may not have heard, however, is the changes that many believe it is causing in the ways people read, write, and publish their books.

Okay, let's get real here. You've probably heard. But what does it mean for you as a writer? What about you as a reader?

It's hard to tell at this point, but I think the results will be quite favorable to writers. As a writer you are presented with a wonderful opportunity to get your book out there without going through a publisher. It's a great way to get some valuable experience on what people actually like to read without sinking too much money into self publishing in print, which can quite literally cost you an arm and a leg. Well, if that's the type of currency they take, that is. In that case, I would probably become suspicious.

Not to mention all of the trees you save. And if you decide not to do the indie thing anymore in the future, it might help quite a bit if an editor knows you as, "that chick or dude who wrote that book that was in the top ten on Amazon Kindle for a year straight" instead of just a no-name right off the streets.

Not to mention, of course, well...this. I can only imagine the toes I'm going to step on by linking that one.

KDP (that's Kindle Direct Publishing, not Kurdistan Democratic Party) isn't just a boon for writers, however. Can you imagine a world with no book trailers hyping up terrible books to the point where you actually find yourself buying them when you know they're going to be terrible? How about world in which a book gains merit by impressing its readers alone and is hailed as a classic, while less well written and executed novels sink to the bottom of the barrel where they belong? Ladies and gentlemen, such is the world I've seen come into existence while browsing book reviews at the Kindle Store. Well, not always of course...there are those authors who ask their friends to leave incredibly favorable reviews of their products. In fact, you'll more than likely notice that all of the reviews for books that have just been added are usually five stars. The one star reviews don't start coming in until later when, obviously, other people have started buying and reading the book.

Then again, I have also seen people give low ratings to a book just because it "contained swear words", so I'm not saying that this is wonderful for writers and readers just yet. I'm just saying that, at the moment, it seems like it will have a pretty positive outcome.

I wrote this thing in a room full of screaming, cackling, tongue clicking people. I'm one of those people who requires absolute silence to write anything worth reading, so I apoligize if this post isn't...well, if it isn't worth reading.

Gah. This is one of the reasons why writing a novel takes me so long. Has anyone ever had absolute quite in their homes when they weren't home alone (which I never am anymore -.-).

Related articles

• 100 Sites for Fiction Writers: #2 - Kindle Direct Publishing (bizcovering.com)

At Least 42 is an Even Number

Image by phatcontroller via FlickrHow many scenes does the average novel have? Mine, after I made a little timeline, appears to have forty two with about three scenes per chapter. I wanted to make my usual tediously detailed outline for it by the end of today, but I don't think that's going to happen. I worked on it for a few hours yesterday and only outlined eight scenes.

Yes, eight. Out of forty two. Looks like I've got to either give myself an extra day or down a gallon of coffee and work from now until Kingdom Come. I'm starting with the former, but like always will most likely switch my plans to the latter. Either way, it's work getting done, right?

I know I can't be the only one who sits there staring mindlessly at my blinking cursor unless I have a perfectly prepared outline of the scene. Seriously. I even need to divide the scene into a beginning, middle, and end. After that I divide the different parts of the scene into their own beginnings, middles, and ends. Sometimes I even go further than that, but I won't delve too deeply into my insanity. It makes people  nervous.

I'll have to note that the excerpts I posted were done without any sort of scene outline at all (let alone the hyper detailed one that I prefer), which is why they tended to suck. I honestly don't see how some authors can spin a tale out of an outline that's basically just a bulleted list of the scenes. Everyone has a different process, though. Most indie authors, what with their freethinking ways and such, scorn the outline entirely.

Me, I need it to survive. I didn't even realize it until my current novel. All of my previous works were attempted with absolutely no outline at all, and they never made it past a few horribly written chapters with no concept of any sort of narrative arc. One common mistake of novelists is, after all, that they're writing a novel from beginning to end and literally making it up as they go. Makes foreshadowing a bit hard when you're literally writing the thing as a reader.

Looking back over my old writing makes me nervous. I shudder at how terrible it is, and back then I thought it was so good! That in turn makes me worry that what I'm writing now isn't good even though it at least feels decent. Isn't it frightening to work so hard on something that you might scorn later when you've gotten more experience?

Anyone else afraid of this? Or are you perfectly comfortable with laughing at your old work (whether it's in writing, art, performing, or sports) and beaming at how much you've grown? I wish I were. I'm going to try, anyway. I'm definitely going to do the whole, "wait a few weeks and then proofread again" once this baby is through, though.

I would like to close by leaving all you other indie authors out there with a link to one of my favorite blogs, Publetariat. I always get a kick out of the title, and it's an amazing source of valuable information for independent authors.

Related articles

• How Many Scenes Does Your Novel Need? (advancedfictionwriting.com)

To POV or not to POV?

Today I have a question. That's right, a question. No rambling about nothing important at all, not even a little bit. Just a simple question.

Which point of view is your favorite? Is it first? Third person limited? What about omniscient? It may even be second, rare as it is these days. Does it change from one to the other when you're writing instead of reading?

When it comes to reading I usually like what best fits the story, but am definitley limited to third person in writing. It's just so hard to make good prose when you're limited to your narrator. I envy those of you who are gifted in that area, I really do. First person may be a lot harder to pull off, but it really does look fun.

I would also like to note that the single most viewed post on this entire blog is the one that mentions My Little Pony. Truly, it is capable of mind control. I hope I didn't scar those of you who were unfamiliar with the story by linking Cupcakes a while back, and just want to warn everypony one more time that you should be very, very afraid of Pinkie Pie.

Three guesses as to what this post is going to be about.

ThImage by brody4 via FlickrI'm sincerely sorry that I can't shut up about this novel. It's just really coming together, and quite frankly, I'm overjoyed. Nothing has ever come together like this for me. Usually it starts as an idea and stays as an idea because I'm more than afraid to plan it out and actually DO it. Fear of screwing up? Oh yes. I should think so.

This time, however, I told myself that such a thing simply would not fly. I buckled down and actually started outlining the thing, and didn't make myself too scared to plan out the story from start all the way to finish.

The only problem is that now I'm terrified of actually writing it.

On a related matter, I decided to bump the age of my main character from fourteen down to thirteen. While she's supposed to seem young and naive for her age, I was writing my scenes and realized that she just might be a bit too young and naive to be fourteen.

Is she too immature to be thirteen?

Incredibly. But not so much that it makes it look like I such at characterization. I've just got to say that I'm glad I made the change before I actually started on the manuscript. Does anyone out there know how annoying it is to go back and change things about a character (such as name or age) and then go change all of the references made TO that thing you changed? And all of the plot points it influenced?

Ugh. That's another reason to make sure you've got it straight before you start writing. Believe me, the more sure you are about exactly what is going to happen and when, the easier the actual writing will be.

Four Websites to Break the Tension of Writer's Block

Oh, good Lord. It's another blog post in the form of a list. Lord Xenu help us all.

Image via WikipediaIn case it hasn't made itself obvious by now, I can't think of a single thing to write lately. Isn't that just the most irritating feeling in the universe? Staring at that blinking cursor...chewing on your pen until you can taste ink...it's just infuriating. So, what's a writer to do?

Why, compose a blog post about writer's block, of course!

Or you could just whine to everyone you see regardless of whether or not they care. That's normally the route I choose, but it never really does much good. I've found that visiting the following websites can be a tremendous help, even if it's just to have a good and slightly inspirational laugh.

1. Language is a Virus - While most people have heard of this one, but I can never keep from mentioning it. The poetry generator always proves to be nothing short of hilarious. If anything, it will stop you from being so uptight about the fact that the stupid poem you've been working on for the past week just refuses to budge past the first quatrain. Sometimes just relaxing a bit can make all of the difference, after all. The site also offers quite a few inspirational articles, not to mention writing prompts that can force you out of your comfort zone. I've used a few in the past to compose some of my favorite of the poems I've written...you know...the ones addressed to the reader that most people find a bit creepy.
2. WeHeartIt.com - I love visual inspiration. If it strikes just the right chords, a picture really can be worth a thousand words, maybe even more. It doesn't work for everybody, however, as no two people write (or get inspired) in the same way. If you're one of those people who could just go to town on a manuscript after seeing a picture of a mountain or a beautiful work of art, this website is most certainly for you. 
3. Seventh Sanctum - Seventh Sanctum, much like Language is a Virus, is another well known website that's great for playing around and having a good laugh. While some of their generators prove to be more amusing that anything, I would definitely be lying if I said that it hasn't helped me to compose some serious works. You'd really be surprised at what a silly sounding randomly generated collection of words can stir up inside of you. In my opinion, such websites do a wonderful job of proving that inspiration will come to you if you could only allow yourself to forget that you were looking for it in the first place.
4. Random Book Title Generator - I'm just going to be completely honest with you here and say that this generator is only on the list because it's one of the funniest things I've come across on the Internet. I can't really say much else about it...you'll just have to see for yourself. As is the case with Seventh Sanctum, you never know when it will actually inspire you. For the most part, however, it's just a wonderful way to make yourself laugh when you've probably done nothing but bang your head against your computer screen for the preceding week.

Related articles

• Random Whimsy - Treating Writers Block (emilyandthelime.wordpress.com)
• The best way to Defeat Writers Block. (leccoworkshop.com)

Just Write: Quite Possibly the Best Writing Advice Ever Given

Image by jjpacres via FlickrThe best thing you can do (besides showing and not telling) is to just let your first draft...you know...happen. Don't stress too much. That's what revision is for, anyway.

Yesterday I didn't quite manage to get in my two hundred words. I know that's not much of a goal for more seasoned writers, but I tend to get distracted. Two hundred words a day is a pretty reasonable number from which I can work my way up.

Oh! The joy of one day being able to write one thousand words on a bad day...alas, I fear it shall never come.

Well, the other day I sort of got on a roll and managed five hundred in about ten minutes...but that's not typical.

Normally it's all like..."Ooo! This is happening in the story!"

...and then ten seconds later...

"Nah...nah....this should happen instead...*super backspace of DOOM*

After about two hours of me doing this I've got about two hundred words. Sad, I know, but that's why I'm trying to listen to all of those people who tell me I should just write instead of worrying about the first draft being as perfect as the final. It is just a first draft, after all, isn't it?

After years of saying, "No! No, I can't do that! I have to make it good from the start or else...you know?", I think I finally understand why every writer in the world I've asked for advice has told me that. It really does work! You actually get something done. I would recommend this to everyone were it not extremely possible that everyone else is already doing it.

So if you aren't...DO IT! It's fun. I promise.

I just want to write stories that people enjoy. Honestly, where would any of us be without a good story to take us somewhere we've never dreamed we'd go?

Not in Mexico. That's for sure.

Not in Mexico.

You know, sometimes it's best to ignore me.

I begin this story in the same way I've began many others...

...with a vague and possibly flawed introduction in the form of a flashback attempting to draw the reader into the rest of the story. I've been told that the main reason I can't finish projects is my habit of writing my first draft as if it were the final when I should simply just be writing. I've been trying harder to take that advice and just "write". The following introduction to my newest project (which, God willing, I will finish) is the result.

I'm not happy with it, but then again I'm not happy with anything I do. To be honest, I'm far too frightened of what might happen if I were to allow myself to be satisfied.

-----

The cave walls, bathed in an orange glow from the fire, were crumbling all around her. The entire world wanted to crush Muriel under its weight and trap her flattened body underground where no one would ever find it.

If, of course, anyone would even look. Muriel wasn’t the fastest thinker you’d ever come across, but she had been given due time to figure out that this sort of thing had happened before. 

In front of her lay the dank opening to the rest of the catacombs. If she took one more step into that darkness that was so thick it looked like she could choke on it, she may never find her way back again. Worse yet, she would more likely than not be trapped inside when the whole damn thing collapsed. 

But if she didn’t? Well, then she would never know.

Biting her lip and shaking with both fear and anticipation, Muriel listened to the sounds of her footfalls as she took a first, second, and then a third step into the rocky aperture. Once she had passed the stone gateway, the shaking earth became silent as quickly as if switched off by the press of a button.

----

Now, if only I could begin from the actual beginning and work up to that particular point in the plot.

Of course, it could really put a damper on things if I decide to take the above mentioned scene out of the story...you wouldn't believe how many times that has happened. Seeing as it's the most climactic point in the plot, however, I don't believe I will. 

On a related note, am I the only person who has changed a character's name and been forced to go back through the entire manuscript and make the appropriate adjustments? 

The first time that happened to me was definitely the last. Now I try as hard as I can to make sure I've got the name set in stone before I begin writing. I decided to change a character's name from "Mark" to "Lucas", and since I was already at least ten chapters in, I simply used "find and replace".

What I ended up with was chapter after chapter of people making "reLucass" instead of remarks and "Lucasing" things onto pieces of paper.