Why do you write?

Sometimes I wonder "Why do I want to write?" For six years I've been fiddling with an MS I can't seem to let go. I took a break from writing, we started having babies, work, homeschooling, life etc... but that MS was always there in the back of my mind. 

     While watching my toddler playing soccer my mind would drift off to that MS, whispering to me. Slipping ideas and scenes into my head. Or maybe I'd be driving, kids in the back yelling and giggling, music playing and a song comes on and it reminds me of my MS and I can see my characters in that song. Wherever I go that MS follows me. 

     Now, I am one who believes everything happens for a reason. We may never know why they happen, and frankly I'm okay with that. There are a lot of unexplained things in our universe. But I think when a story you've created, even years ago, continually creeps into your mind even at the most inopportune times, you know what needs to be done. Call it your characters or your mind they aren't going to leave you alone until you finish the job.

     So I guess part of me writes because I feel I have to. For some peace. I think another part of me writes because as I read the work of other  authors I'm inspired. I'm so happy to escape  into that world they've created, even if it's for a short while, that I want to do that. I want to create my own world for others to visit and love. Passing the baton, so to speak. 

    I also write for the words. I am continually amazed how simple everyday words when paired with others and put in specific orders can turn things from plain to magical. Not just in books, but even in music. Some lyrics just floor me. Sometimes I think song writers have a harder job than novelists. Getting their message across in fewer words and sometimes with the added challenge of having them rhyme... Just brilliant. Listen to the lyrics sometimes, you'll see what I mean. 

Why do you write? I know I have few followers, if any who are active especially after my long absence, but if you happen to relate to this blog please feel free to comment and share. Thanks have a great weekend, and Happy Easter! 

Also, here is a LINK  to an article about famous writers such as Sylvia Plath, George Orwell, Chuck Palahniuk, John Green, Ronald Dahl, and others and why they write... Enjoy!

I live! (wait... Ithink I've used that title before...oh well..)

So I've decided I really, I mean really, need to do a blog post. If I don't, an entire year will have snuck by without having done one and that's just... unacceptable... in a lot of peoples eyes. Not really so much mine, but that's okay, I am just not a regular blogger.

I just don't have much to blog about on a regular, be it weekly or monthly, basis. It's better that I spend that time writing, revising or editing. Nor do I think I have the know-how to share about writing and all it entails. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the fact that when it comes to writing I'm really more of a toddler, in reference, than most of my writer friends, who I would consider to be more in the adolescence or adult stage of writing. I do not have writerly wisdom that pours from my mouth like a cherry Slurpee from on tap at 7-11 every time I open it. (Though wouldn't it be nice?)

But I have decided I do need to update my blog if for no other reason then to show I am back into the writing game. Maybe some of you think because I seem all willy-nilly in and out of this that I don't take it seriously? I don't feel that's the case but everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion. I know every ones lives are busy. People have families, jobs, homes to keep up and still some how a portion of them manage to pound out and perfect a new MS every year (maybe more) - that is AWESOME!  Kudos and cake for them. But I am not them. (This is how I imagine they work.)

I am a very slow plotter, outliner, reviser, editor... and I suspect, and hope, that that will get better with time and experience. I know a part of that is that I am a perfectionist, and I'm learning to deal with it. And according to Laini Taylor , who  suffers from the same affliction, I will probably deal with it for the rest of my life. (She's brilliant by the way, if you're not following her you probably should.) Her blog post this week My Brain is a Jerk: a blog post about writing with (and in spite) of perfectionism was beyond helpful for me.

But that's not why I've been scarce to the writing game for the last year. A large part of my absence is due to the new addition in our family. We had our 2nd child. But you say, "Tracy, people squeeze out kids every year and they still manage to write without fail." That's nice, but that's not me. I truly enjoy writing. Its something I do for myself, when I have time. And then you say, "If you want it bad enough, you'll make time."  You're right. And I do, I try to make time daily, but my children are only going to be this age once. And I'm always - always,  a wife and mom first. I'm not on a schedule to start my querying in "x" amount of months. I'm enjoying my writing. Taking my time to learn, and exercising my control with this disease of perfectionism. And as my children grow older I will have more time for myself.

You have no idea how far my perfecionism reaches

 

Also, with out getting all weepy, this last pregnancy was  an emotional roller coaster. It drained me emotionally, physically, mentally. Which deeply impacted my ability to focus. I won't go into detail because I don't want to bum you out. You don't come here for that -  you don't. If there's anyone here at all... "Hello?" *echoes bounce off blog walls*   Besides all is well now. That is the past. I'm fine, my heifer of a son is fine, fat and happy and that is ALL that matters.

 

So without further adieu- I am back.*Happy Dance*

 



And I'd like to give big shout-out-Thank-Yous to my very dear friends Jani Grey and Ladonna Watkins who checked on me without fail this last year and kept encouraging me to get back into my writing. They're pretty wonderful Ladies as well as writers so if you're not following them... well you know where I'm going with this. And here are a few more great people you should check out as well: Juliana Haygert, Melissa Hurst,  Leah Rae Miller and Jenny Kaczorowski.  There are many others if you need a list feel free to check out my Ladies who Critique list on my twitter account.

And oh, here is my bit of helpful writing advice courtesy of those more experienced than myself.

• How to write a good Query... hopefully by Ethan Vaughan  literary agent with Kimberley Cameron & Associates.

• Editing Tricks by Incarnate Author Jodie Meadows

• 23 Websites that make your writing stronger tweeted by Jon Winokur @advicetowriters

And finally a video I've watched easily 3x

•  ViHarts guide to comments posted by the Query Shark, Janet Reid (and you should definitely be following her).

Alright - Go. Be great! :)

Yes, I live......

Hello all -

Yes, I live. Though you might not think so considering my last post was from October of last year. *cringes* I mean, I'm not a consistent blogger but that's even long for me.

So what's the special occasion you ask? Well, my lovely Brazilian friend, Juliana Haygert, was kind enough to tag me in the "the Lucky 7 Meme" today.

And what is the Lucky 7 Meme you ask? Well, to be honest I had no idea before today - and I'm still not quite sure I know what Meme is but I know this is what you do if you're tagged:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next seven lines as they are written - no cheating!
4. Tag 7 other writers
5. Let them know

Seems fun and simple enough, right? Yay! So lets go.

I am going to post from the MS I've been revising because the MS I started with Nano is just a hot mess right now.

From The Divine, YA Paranormal Romance

She spotted Dominic first, shooting at a projected scene of a pond on the wall of the arcade. Brady stood nearby looking more like an awkward statue than his usual laid back self.

“Hi.” Em said as she approached them. “What’s up?” she smiled watching Dominic take out duck after duck. When she looked back at Brady’s face, she noticed he looked a little pale.

“I’m not feeling very well. I think I’m going to go home.”

“He’s fine. He’s just being a wuss.” Dominic said in a low voice with the butt of the shot gun resting under his cheek.

Okay, so I'm telling you now some (okay, probably all) of the 7 writers that I'm going to list have already been tagged by someone else and that's cool, my writing community is kind of intimate and their great people, some of my favorites, so I'd rather double tag them anyway :o)

Visit their blogs, read their stuff, follow!

1. Leah Miller  at Living the Dream

2. Stefanie Gaither at her blog

3. Bec Davidson at Bec writes books
4. Jani Grey at Life Debatable
5. Ladonna Watkins at The Writer in Me
6. Juliana Haygert at her blog
7. Jenny Kaczorowski at In Somnis Veritas

Alright, pass it on :o)

~t

Facing our Fears

So tomorrow, it the official start day for Nano (or tonight at midnight rather). It's my first time and I'm a little freaked out but I'm keeping it together. (If you're doing it, look me up - Scribbling Scarlet) I've got lots of great cheerleaders. But all this first time Nano business has got me thinking about people who don't give things a try because they're afraid.

Now, I'll admit, there are great opportunities I probably passed up because I was afraid. Afraid I wouldn't succeed. Afraid I'd make a fool of myself. But it usually always comes down to afraid of failure. I do know one thing though, we definitely won't succeed if we don't try. 

So I'm psyching myself up. Why can't I complete Nano? Thousands of other people have that probably started with the same outlook. So I say, "Lets do this!" Am I still afraid? Sure, but I'm willing it take it on and give it my best shot. Is it possible I won't complete? Yes, there's always a possibility but if I don't I still will have walked away learning valuable lessons and tips for next year. I think Eleanor Roosevelt said it best when she said...

So for those of you doing Nano for the first time or anything you're afraid of for that matter, writing your first book, entering your work in a contest, giving a critique partner your work for the first time ( I am not looking forward to that-but I'm going to do it!) Go for it. Do it. Do it afraid. Regardless of the outcome you will be better for it and you definitely won't succeed if you don't give it a shot.

So good luck!!!

And if you need some music to help get you psyched, this is a good one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTvu1Yr3Ohk&ob=av3e

Has music inspired you?

How deeply are you affected by music?  I, for one, am.

The right song can lift me up or bring me down (which I don't prefer but it happens). It can transport me to anytime or place; one year ago to a girls night out, five years to a summer vacation, ten years ago to a New Years party. We associate music with people, places, emotions, objects. It's quite powerful. Music can even drown out my worries and inspire characters and scenes in my writing.

There's one scene I wrote in my current WIP, the final scene to be exact, that was inspired by a song. I swear I must have had that song on repeat for thirty straight minutes until it was complete (and I never tired of it ~ I still love that song). That song kept me completely enveloped in the mood of the that moment.

I love music. Even as I type this I have Florence and the Machine flowing through my ear buds feeding my brain. Most of the time I prefer soundtracks. I'm not sure if thats because of how the combination of songs placed strategically thought out a movie reaches me on a deeper level but whatever the reason I tend to favor them.

My most recent soundtrack? probably SuckerPunch but I'm planing on getting the sound track to Hanna ~ that was awesome. 

Apparently I am not the only one. Here are some tweets from some well known YA authors I saved to show what I'm talking about.

 Veronica Roth author of Divergent (read and highly recommend) , Tahereh Mafi author of Shatter Me (Waiting {waiting!!!} for it to hit shelves) and Myra McEntire author of Hourglass (read and highly recommend) also make it known in these tweets they are also affected by music.

So what about you? Has music inspired you? What song has most recently spoke to you?

Heres my most recent <3... by Foster the People called Call it what you want. ~ Enjoy!
~t

 



Also, if you're having problems leaving a comment and receiving somthing about "null" and "Cookies" I'm trying to fix that. Thnx for stopping by.

Book-Stack Contest

Janet Reid, aka The Query Shark is hosting a book-stack contest. An idea she admittedly stole from Tahereh Mafi, author of the up and coming "Shatter Me" (which has been in my TBR on goodreads for months). 

Write a poem using books you have (any) and post a pic. Deadline is tomorrow (Sunday 9/18), noon (additional instructions on Janet's blog). I tried posting this earlier today but blog was being uncooperative about posting my picture in it's correct form *smacks blog* bad blog!

Below is my entry. Best of luck if you enter!

“The Blood of Angels”

Once THE LUCKY ONE.

Now BANISHED

FOREVER,

BEYOND EXILE.

No longer a HOST

MATCHED

In an ANGELS GAME

Of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES

Living in a CITY OF GLASS.

One drop of ELIXIR

And I am cast WITH A VENGEANCE

From the TWILIGHT

Of my SPHERE.

My HALO

CATCHING FIRE

As I tear ACROSS THE UNIVERSE.

Now  DARK VISIONS

Of WILDEFIRE

LINGER

And ECLIPSE

The CRESCENDO

Of the BREAKING DAWN.

I  SHIVER

Under the HUSH-HUSH

Of the NEW MOON as it casts its glow on a

CITY OF BONES;

A DAY BY DAY ARMAGEDDON

From the BLOOD OF ANGELS.

 Alright, so I'm a little behind. I received this award a little over a week ago by one of my awesome CP's, Jani Grey  ~ Thnx Jani!

"The basic idea of the Liebster Blog Award is to showcase bloggers with less than 200 followers. When you get the award, you keep the love going and give it to 5 other bloggers who have less than 200 followers.

The list below are five ladies I chose to pass this award to. Now, it's quite possible that they have already received it (thought I didn't see it posted in recent blogs). But if they did, that's okay ~ I'm happy to promote them anyway.

I've only met these ladies online, either through Ladies who critique or Twitter. I've chatted with each one of them sometimes often others briefly but we all have a common goal; to become published authors.

 Anisa Jaycott

 Jennifer Johnson

Juliana Haygart

Heather Reid


Leah Miller


Get to their blogs or websites and check them out, strangely enough only two of them lives in the states ~ which I find fascinating.

Don't forget to keep this award going ~ pay it forward!

Why do you really procrastinate?

Why do you procrastinate? This is something I've had to ask myself recently.

The internet makes it really easy to procrastinate, doesn't it? But why do you really procrastinate? 
Do you allow laziness to take over more often than it should? Maybe your just avoiding the hard work you know you need to do? Maybe its a certain chapter or you just don't feel like taking the time to research what you need. Or is it something bigger?
Maybe you're afraid?

Afraid of what you ask?  Well maybe you're afraid of what happens when you finish your MS? Because once you're finished then you must move on to the next step, which is have a critique partner look at it. Maybe you're afraid your critique partner will come back saying they "don't get it".  Or maybe its because having your work critiqued puts you a step closer to querying. Maybe you're afraid of rejection by agents? Or maybe you're afraid of what happens after you land an agent. Maybe you're afraid you won't land a publisher? Or maybe you're afraid of bad reviews?  And then maybe you're afraid if you are published you're book won't sell? Or maybe you're afraid of public appearances? The list goes on and on. There's a lot to be afraid of and While I'm sure all of these things are in the backs of each and every one of our minds. Are you still ready to go all the way and face each of these things?  Or not?

If you're procrastinating maybe you should ask yourself why.

For me, I procrastinate because I have the occasional lazy fit and I'm short on time. But you know as well as I do, when you want something bad enough you'll work it into your schedule. If you're passionate enough about it.

I also needed a little help in being more productive with out putting crazy amounts of pressure on myself. A big help is setting short term realistic goals and doing short bursts of writing. Micheal Hyatt posted a blog about "batching". What's batching? Well, I've give you a quick idea so you know if you're interested before clicking on the link. 

Batching
Batching is simply a form of time management that allows a person to maximize concentration and decrease distraction. Batching is setting aside an intentional amount of time for intentional tasks and making an intentional effort to not allow the distractions or interjections of others break that focus.

He singles out one method of batching called the Pomodoro Technique.

It basically gives you a formula of how long your attention span is good for. How long you should write and break, or do anything for that matter. I found it very helpful, maybe you will too? Good luck with your procrastination!

Citrusy Treat

Last week I started a writers workshop, a six week course. I enrolled with the goal of improving my writing craft, as I believe everyone who enrolled did (accept for the gal from the Philippines who's trying to improve her English ~ awesome for her!)

This was the assignment given yesterday. 

Find a candle, set it in a safe place near your computer, and light it.

Write a one-paragraph only description of the lighted candle. Show us your candle so we can experience it with you. Be honest. Use specific words and sensory details as a way to focus rather than trying to aim for universal truths. The truths come on their own if you are accurate and honest. Feel free to let ideas emerge from your description. Emotion may also play a part. That's fine. Explore the power of description.

I'd skip obvious comparisons like "dancer" and "soldier." I'd push yourself to consider your own unique impressions and experience in this moment.

I like this exercise because it helps you practice focusing outwardly—experiencing what's going on with a burning candle—while you also focus inwardly—listening to your mind coming up with the words to describe your burning candle.

Take a few risks and let illogical words creep in if you like. You're only practicing, so feel free to write poorly. This is how you will learn. Try a first draft while writing freely, then revise, building on what you've written. Reread, rethink, and rewrite a bit.

Enjoy the paradox of trying to be interesting to your readers while you also struggle to be accurate.

And this is what I wrote : 

Citrusy Treat

My candle is almost at the end of its life. Having been used all summer there is only a small amount of honey golden wax left in the bottom of the jar. Reminding me of a jelly jar, it has a small rectangular shape, its upper corners replaced with plump curves. There are thin remnants of wax that cling inside empty walls softening the flames glow.  The wick is long; reminding me I should have given it a trim before lighting. The flame doesn’t mind. It wraps itself around the twine just the same. It’s deceiving, that flame, giving the illusion of a golden ball hovering above the twine when I know how tightly it clings to it. The wax slowly softens releasing its scent, filling my nose with a warm citrusy bouquet and the slightest hint of spice, perfect for summer. As its honey golden firmness transforms to a syrup, it pools deep at the wick shallowing toward the walls of the jar. Through the syrup I can see its clean fresh wick sprouting from a hidden place like a cats-tail in a pond. But soon this citrusy treat will be gone. And I will be eager to replace it with new scents of cinnamon and pine for winter warmth. I will not miss it. Not right away. But when the white crisp snow is replaced with the sadness of gritty gray slush I will wish for it, remembering its summery perfume. 

 

The LOLA & THE BOY NEXT DOOR, CROSSED, SHATTER ME contest.

Over at Taherah Mafi's blog, there is a contest with great prizes.

 

1. ARC of CROSSED + ARC of SHATTER ME

2. ARC of LOLA & THE BOY NEXT DOOR + ARC of SHATTER ME

3. ARC of SHATTER ME

 

Do I want you to head over there and enter? No, not really because it lowers my chances but I did my job and promoted :o)

 

In all honesty though, I've had Shatter Me on my goodreads "to read" list since May when I read a review by Nathan Bransford who said the book would be taking the world by storm this fall. The man is beyond credible in my opinion. Here are some other great reviews by Taryn at A fools golden paradise , and raving reviews from Abigaile over at Reading Teen and Emilia at YA Highway.

 

I'll be happy with any place!

Good luck to everyone!

This Week 7/31-8/6

The following are blogs/aritcles I found especially helpful this week.

On QUERIES (I can never read enough tips myself). - Query Writing, a guide for the anxious by Sarah @ Greenhouse Literary Agency. Query writing by Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent. And what definitely not to do if you want to land an Agent by Janet Reid (Query Shark) Red Flags in the Query Hoard

Writing Tips (I can't get enough of these either) - Describing appearance: moving beyond hair and eye color by Author Jody Headlund.

Why are so many writers plagued with insecurities?  Author Jody Headlund explains how insecurities plague writers/authors at every stage of their careers. (So it's not just the unpublished).

This is a blog by Author CJ Redwine that I found inspirational, You're kind of a big deal

Thoughts on making it big, written by a literary intern. I found this extremely insightful and wondered it this isn't exactly what's going on with authors Stephenie Meyer and Suzanne Collins right now. (It's a bit lengthy but so worth the read).

What is high concept? Some agents say they only want this. I'd read tid-bits here and there wondering exactly what the definition was but never got a clear answer. Here in her video blog, Rachelle Gardner, explains it perfectly.

And finally a terrific new blog for writers called The wordserve water cooler  by Authors all represented by Rachelle Gardner.

Tips for landing an agent from The WordServe Water cooler,  in other words authors who've been there.

Bye-bye Borders

It's kind of old news now but it's kind of a bummer that Borders is going out of business. My heart really goes out to the employees, I hope everyone is able to find another job ( I know it's a stretch but there's nothing wrong with hoping for the best).

One good thing that has come from their liquidation is that my personal library has radically improved. Check out my great buys.

In the 1st picture I bought $100 worth of books for $27 (4 hard backs). In the 2nd I spent like $21 (2 hardbacks ~ not sure how much I saved). All the red stickers were 10% off.

Now, in the 3rd pic, 3 of the 4 were originally $17.99 and the other was $16.99. I got them at 25% off so I got $80 worth of books for $53 ~ not too shabby. Cheaper than Wal-Mart or Target and they're all hardbacks and books I really wanted. (side note- I bought the last Wildefire and Shiver in the store, yay for me!)

I will go back and hit them at least one more time in hope that I can score decent prices on Longer & Forever (sequels to Shiver) and there are a couple of other old school books I want. They were out of Divergents so I will have to go somewhere to grab that up.

Strong Readers

I just read an article in Publishers weekly that Janet Reid posted on her blog. It actually brought tears to my eyes. It really surprises and upsets me how thoughtless parents can be sometimes when referring to their children while their children are present. In this article, a young girl about 14, was in a book store searching for just the right book. She would occasionally bring different books up to the counter and ask questions. At on point the book store employee went with the girl back to the YA shelves and made some recommendations. Upon seeing the recommendations the mother made the comment, "She's not a strong reader" then made some reference that the girl rarely finishes books. It kind of irritated me. There have been times where I didn't finish a book, does that mean I'm not a strong reader? No. It doesn't. Like this girl I'm very selective in what I read. If I can tell from reading the back of a book or the first page that I'm not going to like it, I don't start reading it. There have been books that in the beginning held my interest but somewhere around the middle I lost interest. That in no way classifies me as someone who's not a strong reader. And how horrible that girl must have felt to hear that. Obviously this girl was taking her time looking for just the right one.

This article reminds me of when I started getting into reading. I was a junior in high school. I was not an early reader (That's what I call those that started reading prior to junior high). I wish I had been. I was not encouraged at an early age to read for enjoyment.  It wasn't until someone from high school turned me on to the Vampire diaries that I really understood why all the early readers read for fun. Then I went nuts reading Christopher Pike and RL Stine. And then  I was discouraged. Usually because my mother didn't like the fiction and fantasy that I did. She called it junk or trash. After that I went through phases where I would get really into a series but it wasn't until the last few years that I started reading on a regular basis. It's it's mostly YA. Now I can't imagine not reading. It makes me wonder how my life might be different if I had been encouraged to read at an early age. I mean, it is what it is. No use wasting wishes now it all played out the way it did for a reason. But because of it I strongly encourage reading to my son. He's not quite two but he loves to be read to. He brings me books when he wants them read. Or there's time where I check on him in his room and I find him sitting contently in the middle of his floor flipping through a book. It all played out for a reason. Just gotta go with it.

Some of the best writers...

Do you know who I think some of the best writers are? Songwriters. Specifically The Killers, Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci.  


Now, maybe it's because I love everything they've ever written. And I continue to wear our their Albums on a weekly basis in my car and on my iPod (my personal fav is Day & Age). I think what appeals to me about them is their brilliant lyrics, incredible music and Brandon Flowers voice. I love his voice, it's light and airy. He has a smooth feel good sound.  But really, songwriters tell a story in limited words. It's kind of amazing. And since they are limited, the words they choose are usually very powerful.  Sure it's easy to get your story out in 50,000-100,000 words in a novel but in 300, smooth flowing words in a much bigger challenge I think.


When I first sat down to day I had a couple songs in mind that I wanted to use as an example but when I started reading the lyrics, they're all just so great it was really hard to choose. I finally decided on Dustland Fairytale (a bit of trivia~ this song was written about lead singer, Brandon Flowers, parents). It was really hard to decide between this and When you were Young. 'll put the lyrics below. I won't go into detail about what represents what and all that. Just take a couple minutes to really read the lyrics and I'll also post the video. I love this song.

 

The Dustland Fairytale beginning

With just another white trash county kiss in '61.

Long brown hair, and foolish eyes.

He'd look just like you'd want him to

Some kind of slick chrome American prince.

Blue Jean serenade

Moon River what'd you do to me

I don't believe you.

Saw Cinderella in a party dress, she was looking for a nightgown.

I saw the devil wrapping up his hands, he's getting ready for the showdown.

I saw the minute that I turned away, I got my money on a pawn tonight.

Change came in disguise of revelation, set his soul on fire.

She said she always knew he'd come around.

And the decades disappear

Like sinking ships but we persevere.

God gives us hope but we still fear what we don't know.

Your mind is poisoned.

Castles in the sky sit stranded, vandalized.

The drawbridge is closing.

Saw Cinderella in a party dress, she was looking for a nightgown.

I saw the devil wrapping up his hands, he's getting ready for the showdown.

I saw the ending when they turned the page, I threw my money and I ran away.

Sent to the valley of the great divide

Out where the dreams all hide.

Out where the wind don't blow,

Out here the good girls die.

And the sky won't snow

Out here the bird don't sing

Out here the field don't blow

Out here the bell don't ring

Out hear the bell don't ring

Out here the good girls die

Now Cinderella don't you go to sleep, it's such a bitter form of refuge.

Why don't you know the kingdoms under siege and everybody needs you.

Is there still magic in the midnight sun, or did you leave it back in '61?

In the cadence of a young man's eyes.

Out where the dreams all hide

If you want to know exactly what some of my other favorite songs of theirs are. Here they are in no particular order.
Neon Tiger, Bones, Uncle Johnny, When you were young, All these things I've done, Joy ride, Sams Town, Indie Rock n Roll, Forget about what I said, Human, Spaceman, Mr Brightside. 


Enjoy The Killers, as I do.

 

Out in the open

So I've decided to make my blog public. Originally I set it up as a daily diary of sorts to be used as a tool in my writing excursion. Though it didn't become a daily habit.  But it finally dawned on me, how am I going to meet other writers if they don't know who I am or what I'm doing on here? So keep in mind that any blogs written before this date were really only even intended for my eyes. So in other words I'm putting myself out there, in the open for you to read my private thoughts and fears. Makes me vulnerable but it's a building block to help my on my path.

My hiatus

Does everyone get so burned out when they're writing that they go a week or so where they don't want to even think about writing? Because that's how I've been this past week. I've taken a week's "hiatus" if you will. I hadn't even been in the mood to blogt. It's like I went two straight weeks of thinking and breathing my story every minute of the day that I just burned myself out. I would wake up in the middle of the night and when I'd try to fall back asleep I was thinking about my book, it had completely taken over my life. I was taking every spare moment of my time and putting it towards my book to think, write, edit. In the mean time I read about a fifteen and twenty-two year old who've had books published and that was a little discouraging. It doesn't help that when I reread what I've wrote other than the dialogue I'm not loving my writing, is that normal? Am I trying too hard? Have I not found my style? I even hate rereading my blogs where all I seem to be doing is complain. I mean, granted, I'm not doing it to another person only here, but I hate listening to others whine and complain. Maybe it has something to do with it just not being up to my standards. Even back when I used to draw most of the time I wouldn't finish because I was disgusted with my work it wouldn't turn out anything like I wanted. So maybe that's the problem I have with my writing. Also I can't seem to get it to flow. I know what I see but I'm still having trouble putting it into words that flow on paper like music. I think that has to do with lack of education. I've search for tips on line for writing fiction in third person limited but I haven't really found anything useful other than finding out Harry Potter was written in third person limited. So at least that's a book I can kind of study and use as a guide. I try to remind my self that it's not good writing that makes a story good it's good editing. I guess I should stop worrying about all the spelling and grammar and what not and just get the story down. If I accomplish nothing else in life (not counting raising children) please God let me finish this book.