Auld Lang Syne

Originally posted on 1/3/10 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.


I suppose you know what this week’s article is about. Check out the calendar and you’ll know straight away. Yearly resolutions. Yeah, I know. I feel the same way, too. Why bother? I mean, we’ll just break them. I’m not the type to make resolutions because I know I have a difficult time following through. I’ve always though, “Why set myself up with a goal I know I’ll fail?”


The thing is, I seem to have a problem. I say I want to sit down and write. I push away distractions and refuse to play games of take part in online groups because “I need to use my free time to write”, yet what do I truly do? When I sit at the computer I check my email, glance at a few sights and then nothing. I might browse the web. One thing I never do is make the time to write.

I have time on Saturday and Sunday mornings, before the distractions wake up. If I simply used that time, who knows how far in my writing I’d get?

For some reason it’s hard for me to get started. Once I begin to type, I go like a mad man. The ideas flow and I can’t get them on the page fast enough. But getting started? That’s the hard part.

What I need is a regimented set time and place. I need to say “It’s 7 am, Saturday morning and this is my computer. It’s writing time!” Then I jump in and begin. What if I did that? What if I actually created a writing habit?

So now you know my resolution. It’s simple and it’ll help be become a better writer. I profess to want a future career in writing novels, yet I don’t force myself to work on some kind of deadline. You can be sure if Annabelle did land an agent and publisher, I wouldn’t be able to fart around the web. I’d have to write “x” amount of pages a day and accomplish a lot more than my new resolution allows for.

You can’t hand Christmas lights on your roof until you master climbing a ladder. By creating a set time and place to write, and sticking to it, I’ll learn to master the first rungs.

Enough about me. What are your writing resolutions?

Research

Originally posted on 12/20/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

Research. For some it sounds like hard work. Sure, it’s time consuming but it can really be worth it. It’s very important that you do this phase of the writing, just not necessarily at first.


We all get a general idea of what to write about. Concepts pop into our heads and we are inspired with “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”. Some of these ideas beg a look into other topics and fields we’re unsure of. Sometimes we’re watching a documentary or show and get inspired to create a story from the small aspect we’ve learned.

There’s nothing wrong with looking deeper into whatever that topic is. In fact at some point you’ll need to do this so your facts are accurate. One problem that might occur from too much research at the beginning is procrastination. You might get so wrapped up in studying the facts that you never actually begin the story. Your warm story concepts and passion for your ideas might cool. You might lose interest or get caught up in something completely different. In those situations, stories die in the opening stages and never become something.

Avoid this! It’s better to have something on the page. Some pages or chapters writing out so you can go back (if distracted) and find that passion again. If you can write the whole thing and only pause for research when you absolutely have too, you’ll have a finished manuscript. Don’t bog down ideas. Don’t stifle the writing by interrupting the flow to follow up on research, but go back after, during the edit phase, and fix. That’s what rewrites are for.

I jumped in with both feet and just started writing the story in my mind. I wrote two whole chapters involving a school house circa mid eighteen hundreds. The problem is, there were no such things in the seventeen hundreds. Yes, I had to cut them out and save those chapters for a later story, but by pushing through I had a chance to place my characters in situations where it helped me to get to know them better. I continued onward and finished the book. I know myself well enough to know I would’ve gotten sidetracked and lost my nerve. It would’ve been another unfinished project.



Sometimes we can’t catch it all. After numerous revisions of the finished manuscript I joined a critique group. I advise everyone to do the same. Others might take you down a peg, but you need it. One such author pointed out that the way I had wolves attacking children was wrong. The pack leader always goes for the fleeing prey’s ankle, that way she or he could pull in down. Sure, I had to rewrite the scene, but something better came from it.

Beta readers don’t expect you to be perfect, but your readers do need the story to be as accurate as possible.

Research is very important. Do not skip it. You find information from reading about your topics both through the web and actual books on the subject. Also, you can find others who know about said topics and interview them (with their permission of course). As you study, interesting gems come forth that may help direct your story. What would your characters do in this new, more accurate situation?

Yes, there will be parts you’ll have to rewrite but don’t be afraid to do that. We’ll discuss rewrites later. All I want to empress on you is that research can be fun and is necessary needs to be controlled. The important thing is to get your story on the page.

Good luck with your writing!

Working For a Living

Originally posted on 11/15/09 for the Charge of the Write Brigade.

Cindy Speer’s article on Friday really hit the spot. She wrote about Split Focus and I’ve got to confess I suffer from the same situation. Some days it’s so hard to focus on writing. I hear the kids in the other room or the TV. Maybe there are things in my life that I find myself dwelling on and can’t hear the muse.


It’s not like I don’t want to write. I still have my goals and dreams. I want to be a professional author whose tales entertain and inspire. Sure, getting the right agent or a publishing contract is harder than winning in Vegas, but I still must try.

Despite this desire, I find myself procrastinating. Why is it that it’s so hard to start writing and so hard to stop? I suppose it’s a demon I’ll always have to fight.

At any rate, I’ve got to put my nose to grindstone and my shoulder to the wheel. Sometimes writing is hard work. Yuck. Work.

Downstairs, while I continued in my relaxing activities upstairs, sewer water seeped into the carpet and soaked the walls of a few rooms. This meant work. Sure, a contractor removed the black water, and another has begun to put up new sheet rock to replace the old, but the wife and I need to help. We have a goal to get the ruined rooms replaced before Thanksgiving and we’ve got to jump in where possible to help meet that.

This means sheet rock dust in the eyes. Sometimes life blows dust and causes your vision to get blurry. I don’t like it but if I don’t put up the sheet rock, I don’t make my goal. So I jumped in and started at it. After some chalky mess I look around and behold, the room looks nicer.

Sometimes you need to set apart time to sit down and work. You might get dust in your eyes like discovering a scene wont work out how you want it too, but you’ll also find gems.

So how do I “jump in and work”? Friday I found myself with time to write and a desire to browse the web. I stopped what I was doing, opened Windows Media Player, and cranked up “Dies Irae (Requiem)” by Karl Jenkins. Suddenly I saw the big fight scene I needed to write. I opened my file and began to write.

Some days music doesn’t help. Some days a quiet walk inspires me. Whatever inspirers you, do it and get in the mood and write.

Good luck and remember my favorite catch phrase...

Just write.