It’s a scary thing as a writer when you’ve written something about your writing journey, go to save it and everything you’ve written disappears. You remember bits and pieces of what you wrote but it’s nothing compared to what you had written and your heart sinks as a result. Well, the original piece I wrote for the end of March, wrapping up my second full month on my 365 day writing journey, completely disappeared when I tried to save it as a post. I very rarely write a post directly onto the … [Read more...]
Archives for March 2013
Day 56: No Drama
In life I think we all wish we could lead a drama-free life. It sometimes feels like my family, not my immediate, there always seems to be some kind of drama. From my sister to whatever made up story she has told recently to something with my brother to something with one of Keith's brothers. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who has family members who automatically bring with them drama. But when we sit down to write, and we're in our own world in our own little bubble and the only drama we … [Read more...]
Day 55: One Lie Leads to Another
This puts a smile on my face. All our lives we are told lying is bad. It's a sin. And then you become a writer of fiction. Now you have the freedom to tells as many lies as you want to because now you are creating a story. When we go to read a book, we don't think about how it's a completely made up story. A story the writer has spent hour upon hours writing and editing all from the made up story in the recess of the author's head. Personally, I can't wait for the day when my first book is … [Read more...]
Day 54: The Beginning Writer
It's interesting to think that when you are staring at a blank piece of paper, or in many cases today a blank document on the computer screen, that we are all beginning writers. As far as literally, someone who's had several books published or been writing for several years is not a beginning writer. A beginning writer is someone like me. Someone who has recently begun to write. I have no published books. I don't have several books I've written waiting to be published. I just have two books … [Read more...]
Day 53: On Work and Sentences
When I was young and growing up, English was a hard subject for me. I always had a hard time knowing when a run on sentence became one and was I supposed to use there, their, or they're. My dyslexia always made it more difficult. Today it has gotten easier but it still is hard work. I've been able to learn to compensate. For example, when I take a college class I probably spend a lot more time than most to get the same 'A's as someone else. The bottom line is it takes work. Anything truly … [Read more...]
Day 52: The Writer as Spy
As a writer we tend to get our ideas for the stories from so many places. We watch a man and woman kiss next to the ocean. Some kids are playing baseball and one of the kids just hit a home run. Two girls are standing in a corner yelling at each other for what seems to be about a sweater. Even watching television can spur on new ideas from something you watch. NCIS had a man stand over a dead body drenched in blood but he says he didn't do it. Or your watching Grey's Anatomy and a woman who … [Read more...]
Day 51: Nothing New under the Sun
Stories. There are literally thousands upon thousands of stories out in the world today. So, let's say you have a great, new idea that pops into your head while you're eating breakfast. You have to get it written down right away so you don't miss one word of it. You put the idea in your box/basket/folder, or wherever you keep story ideas, and you continue what you're doing. A couple of days later you decide to pick up a new book to read. You start to read it and sure enough, right there in … [Read more...]
Day 50: The Narrative of Your Life
We all have a narrative we live by. Our morales. Our ethics. Our beliefs. Our likes and dislikes. Plus many others. All the things make us who we are. And through writing, we can find ourselves through the words we write. I know I do in my characters. They come alive in my head and I try transferring that to the best of my ability to paper. The narrative of my life has been anything but easy. The positive through all of this is I can use those experiences in my fiction. Maybe somehow, someway, … [Read more...]
Day 49: Tilting
When we write we put our heart and souls into our characters. They become a part of who we are. But are those character verbatim of who we are? Of course not. We "tilt" the character just so, so that he or she has something similar to who we are. There might only be a smidge of something about us but it's there. Tilting the characters makes them in their own right individual and unique. But if we don't put ourselves into our work it won't sound right. No, I won't be a thing like the … [Read more...]
Day 48: Community
When I think of a writing community I think of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). This little community of writers is so much more than writing. There is Novel Track. It's a place of accountability and support. You let the group know what your goal is at the beginning of each month. Then, as each day goes by you report in your numbers for that day. In return, you will receive positive reinforcement. Even on the days where you did nothing and tell the group you have a great big goose … [Read more...]
