Tag: TIRED

Story Genius & Author Accelerator

A few months back I was standing in an independent bookstore, staring at the plethora of books that are always both inspiring and demotivational to a struggling writer such as myself. I was searching for Writer’s Market 2017 (which I now realise I still haven’t bought) and stumbled across a little gem called Story Genius by Lisa Cron. First, I must admit… I hate getting writing advice from someone I’ve never heard of. Secondly, reading the writer’s memoirs from the likes of Stephen King and Ray Bradbury always had the same inspirational/crushing effect on me. Not sure why.

I slid the book from the shelf and weighed it up for some odd reason. It felt light; Could it be that there wasn’t enough printed in it to be worth it? Who knew what I was actually thinking, perhaps this was just some sort of ritual, like two dogs smelling each other. My writing at home was begging for me to come back, the dozens of novels I wanted to read and reread groaning at the idea of another book entering the fray. I flipped through the first few pages, read the blurb and returned to staring at the cover.

Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)

Ironically not the most concise title for a book on writing, but it was catchy and got its point across. At this point, I’d already finished Jefferson & The Magician’s Curse and was avoiding it like an ex-girlfriend. It needed editing desperately and I simply wasn’t the man to do it. Not then… and not now. You see, the problem I have is one of experience. Of writing? I have roughly two decades of story writing behind me. Of novel editing? Well, roughly three weeks of it before I got fed up and started writing something else.

My biggest problem (aside from editing) is that I was very disorganised when I began writing Jefferson. I broke it down into five parts (Intro, Journey, Antagonist Reveal, Climax and Conclusion) and let the characters take me on a journey between points. There is a lot of dialogue. A LOT. Not as much description though, which removes the reader from the world. That being said, I need to work on introducing those things. I’ve travelled a fair bit since then and hopefully, that will help my writing.

So now, as of today, I’ve submitted my application into Author Accelerator. I’m actually unsure of why I’ve done it or what it will actually entail. I saw pricing on there that was $199 for a 10-week class and I wonder to myself if I’m ready to start spending money on that sort of learning for my writing. Not only that, but 10 weeks will take me straight into the build of my home and I wonder if I will have time to devote to it properly.

For now, I’ll simply wait, for tomorrow is a new day where we will choose the kitchen for our house. Maybe tomorrow I’ll do a bit more editing on my novel. Maybe.

Maybe.

The Struggle

I suspect many aspiring authors post about not being able to write, Writer’s block being a common theme. But for me, I could write anywhere from eight to ten thousand words a day given the time. However with eight (or so) hours dedicated to sleep, roughly two for eating and food preparation, and eight (or so) dedicated to work… this has left me with six hours for writing. Six sounds like quite a bit doesn’t it? Well, considering I haven’t factored in travel time to and from work (not bad, thirty to forty minutes) and bathroom breaks (including shower time, looking at less another hour or so), down to roughly four hours. That is quite a bit of time, right? Well, I have a partner who enjoys my company and two dogs who are demanding. Unfortunately, I can’t leave one with the other as that would be selfish for her to take care of them all the time and would be neglectful of me to not spend time with her as well as the pups. So in short, I have no time. I keep buying books and games, in the hopes that I will be able to one day enjoy them. This is a laughable concept, however I have many more games and movies on preorder. Hope, as well as home, is where the heart is.

You’re probably thinking, “Well, what about your days off?” I too have considered this. I try to write as much as I can on my days off but as my partner works Monday to Friday, my days off on the weekend are allocated to spending time together, general catching up with friends and visiting family. If my day off happens upon a weekday, you may see a post such as this one. I may also bunker down and put some words into one of my stories. I may do both (insanity, I know). So it seems as though it is an entirely uphill battle of which I make very little, if any, progress.

I bought a book about time management, which has some fantastic advice. “Make time for the things that are important to you. If you’re not achieving your goals, no matter what else is going on, you will be unhappy.” This is very true. However managing your time and finding more time are two different things. It used to be that I would prioritise my writing, before the day began and before work got in the way. Waking up an hour early was to wake up with a purpose and to accomplish my writing before the day began was extremely fulfilling. Now I get up at that early time anyway to take the dogs out and feed them before I head to work for seven in the morning, and I cannot seem to get to bed any earlier. It is extremely frustrating and despite the fact I am achieving my goals at work, my personal goals are getting left in the dust.

It’s been getting to the point where I’m wondering if I stopped trying to write, would my overall mood improve? Would I be less frustrated and short fused? The only problem is, my imagination won’t give up or turn off, so how do I control that?

Hmm… even that thought sparks an idea for a story. A test subject trying to suppress his creativity through government experiments discovers that through suppression, his mind has been enhanced and enables him to create anything from nothing but the energy in the world around him . As the government tries to control him, he escapes and tries to go into hiding, only to be hunted down until he realises that to be free means to destroy his enemies or himself.

I’ll put it in the for retirement pile. *Sigh*

New, Shiny, Distracting…

Are you a writer?

New… Shiny… Distracting…

Do the above words describe the creative process?

These are your ideas: beautiful as a newborn, shiny as gold bars and eating up your brain space.

I understand. No, really I do. You see in the world of a writer, there are an INFINITE number of distractions from your writing. Many of them are in the world around you. In your pocket. In the browser window below. This article you’re reading. But the one distraction you cannot avoid is…

Your mind.

Dun dun DUNNNNNN.

So, I’m most certainly not here to tell or teach you how to control it. In fact, a writer’s mind can be focused but something always pops up. Maybe this isn’t everyone. But for me (and I know a fair few others) we write one idea and during that time we stumble across a mine shaft of shinier ideas.

My ideas hit me whenever and wherever. Just the other day I thought a great start to a novel would be the initial meeting between a master assassin and his unsuspecting contract. As the assassin holds the knife to his/her throat, the contract wakes up and stares into the assassin’s eyes, almost as cold as his heart. Suddenly, the assassin too has an epiphany. “You’re already dead. Your family wanted you out of the picture. How do you feel about a career in killing others?” With a silent nod, the contract agrees to the terms and the pair make off into the night. Thus starts the protagonist’s journey into becoming an assassin, while planning their own revenge on the side.

So my point? I don’t really have one. That’s the best part about this blog post… I’m just letting you know you’re not alone. I have yet to overcome this huge challenge. I have curbed it through excessive planning, but that is as close as I’ve come.

On a side note, Jefferson & The Magician’s Curse underwent its first reading by my lovely partner. Sadly for me, she wore a poker face for the whole thing (which lead me to believe she was forcing herself through it) but finally she gave me her verdict. She liked the story and characters (gave them an eight out of ten) and her only issue was she felt there wasn’t enough description (which I have always had an issue with balanced description). She gave my mechanics a five or six out of ten because she could tell when I had been writing while trying to stay awake and she wanted more description.

Still not as bad as I expected for a first draft. I now need her to ask questions about the things she didn’t understand and any gaps that I missed (because I know everything about it… it’s all in my head with the voices). Although a few things I will need to do are break it up into chapters as well as add in some more description. I need to get back into reading as well (it’s been too long) and I fear my writing mind may be ready to write, but the tools of the trade are a bit rusty. The good news is I have a ton of books to read that have come through in recent weeks (my obsession with Barnes & Noble’s Collectible Editions runs too deep) and any of them would simply sharpen my skills a bit. 

Although there is something odd about knowing you have written something longer than some popular fiction. I did a few quick word count searches on the internet and found out where my book sits. This list includes some of my favourite novels as well!

  • Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone (J.K. Rowling) = 76,944
  • The Crystal Shard (R.A. Salvatore) = 86,000 (ish)
  • The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien) = 95,022
  • Jefferson & The Magician’s Curse (ME!) = 98,657
  • Game of Thrones (George R.R. Martin) = 284,000 (ish)

So all in all, not too bad for my first completed book. Once I add in some description and cut some of the sections I wrote while only half awake, I should probably be sitting comfortably over 100k at least. But as always, it’s not the quantity, it’s the quality.

Anyway plot points have begun to rear their heads for Book Two, Jefferson & The Eternal Mana. Should be an interesting write considering I have some things to look back over. There may be an event or two pushed from the end of book one and into book two. I had an idea of how I wanted book one to end so I may go back and revisit that ending as I felt it would have been more powerful. We will see once I further edit book one. Anyway, what are you ladies and gents working on out there? How’s it going? I feel like I’ve already lost touch with many of you out there! Let me know what’s happening and I promise I’ll get back to you ASAP! After all, I have tomorrow off!

NaNoWriMo Ends, Christmas Begins.

From the frying pan and into the fire. From bad to worse. From craziness to insanity. From NaNoWriMo and into Christmas. All of these sentences mean the exact same thing when you work retail. Have you been wondering where I have been recently? I have been working myself really hard to prepare for christmas, and for puppies (Which arrive this saturday. Which… OMG I’M SO EXCITED, FACE MELTING CUTENESS! YAY!). I’ve never had a pet, so I don’t even know how these little buggers are going to take to our house. We are very much hoping they’ll take to each other and become the best of friends. But… I have worked retail for the past (Oh Man…) decade.

Christmas in retail is like being stuck in a building crammed with people and someone pulling the fire alarm. There are so many people and so few staff that trying to get to everyone is near impossible. Not only that, but I’m not sure when or how people came to the conclusion they’re entitled to everything, but they definitely do. My product was defective, and now I want a new one AND a fifty percent discount. Oh ha ha… oh wait, that guy was serious. Christmas brings out the crazy in people. Also, people make it very clear that “This is a christmas gift, so I need it before then.” I’ll be honest for all of you out there, no matter if you need it next week, or next year… the exact same process is in effect for both situations and you will get it ASAP in both scenarios. I promise!

So I know some people who did really well this year at NaNoWriMo (Congrats from me to Becka, BTW Check out that NaNo Cake!) Also Lorie and a few others!) I also know many who didn’t do so well… one notable one especially: Me! I had set the target of the end of November to be completely done my edit. I can give you a million reasons why I didn’t accomplish my goals, but not one as to how I tried to. I failed because I didn’t try to. I admit my defeat and move past it. No sense dwelling on it. But I am now aiming to have it done by the end of the month.

Of course as I mentioned earlier, I work retail. The hardest part about that at Christmas is I always want to do really well for budgets and the team morale. This involves me and some (Read: Many) extra hours at work. Arrive early, leave late, rock it for the entire day and revel in my own incredible productivity. Then I come home and glance at the couch before passing out on, near or around it. Horizontal is the new vertical, and I love it. So comfy. Anyway it seems I need to start waking up before work to get back into the habit I made to write.

Anyway congrats to all those who managed to hit fifty thousand words, and congrats to those who made those fifty thousand words matter! I will be back ASAP with more progress! Talk to you all soon!