novel

The Miracle of Senses

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The pentagram is used as a Christian symbol fo...

The pentagram is used as a Christian symbol for the five senses, and if the letters S, A, L, V, and S are inscribed in the points, it can be taken as a symbol of health (from Latin salus). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As I have said before, sometimes I get so focused on a task that I forget everything around me; I block everything else, and many times I forget that I was just making pancakes for breakfast or that I had just put a load of laundry and heard the bell a minute ago.  All I can say is thank God for all my senses.  The smell of starting to toast pancakes or the too quiet house will alert me and bring me back.  The gentle nag of a cat that wants a temptation treat has brought me back from the extreme focus vortex just in time.  This brings me to the topic of appealing to reader’s senses in your writing.

Just as it is important to me to get rescued by my senses, I thought of how important sensory stimulation is on a novel or a piece of writing.  Awakening readers senses gives a new depth to your story, and may rescue some readers from boredom – boredom of too much dialog or description.  Even if you are deprived of one sense, another takes over, keener and improved.  I try to keep this is mind when writing my story, as I tend to run into too much dialog.   To me, the senses are a miracle; it is how we experience the world, and how readers can experience your story.

Sometimes, I tend to ask myself the weirdest questions, and I have asked myself if I was to be deprived of a sense or ability, which one will I give up.  I know, it may sound sinister to many, but I think about unusual things sometimes.  I would give up speech.  I don’t  talk much; I am the silent type, the observer, and I rather write than talk.  As long as I can communicate when I need to in some way, I think I would be happy.  I am a very visual person, and that would be the sense that I would miss the most, probably to the point of insanity, which brings me to this point – readers are very different in their consumption of reading material and learning, so the senses that prevail throughout your story may appeal to some readers more than to others.  My point, striving for a good balance might not be a bad idea.

Do you think about stimulating the senses when writing your story?  Which sense would you give up?  Which one would you miss the most?  If you are missing a sense, how have you improved the other senses?

 

Use a Mirror to Manage Writer’s Block

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At one point or another, you may feel as if you cannot write or as if the story is not flowing quite the way it is supposed to flow.  You may think that you have been plagued by writer’s block (or artist’s block) and when you try to work on your novel or art, you cannot go back to it, as if something prevents you from it.  I have been there and what I found out was that it was not so much of a writer’s block, but more of a conflict with a particular part of the story.  It may be a character, beliefs, philosophy, or even a particular scene.  Somehow, you have an internal reaction or “a problem” with it.  It may be that you do not agree with something that you happen to be writing, but know that you have to write, whether it is to keep the story going, or by mere inspiration.  When you feel that you are stuck with the story, take a break and ponder about the last thing you wrote.  Take notice of how you feel about it, and if an internal bell rings.  This is a sign that you have something to work on (on yourself) before proceeding ahead with the story.  The way I see it (and this is only by my experience with this) is that you either,

  • acknowledge it and ignore it, meaning that you know the bug is there but you will ignore it and keep writing; however, it will come back along the way, impeding total free flow of your writing.
  • take a short break, acknowledge it, ponder it, and make peace with it.  I find that just because I may not agree with something in my story, that does not mean that I am selling out my beliefs.  In the case of an internal conflict that one of your characters or scenes brings up, acknowledge it, try to find the link between your conflict and the story, understand it and move on.

The main thing here is that by recognizing that there is an internal conflict you are looking in a mirror, and therefore, are starting to open the flow of your writing once more.  The mere act of looking at that reflection in the mirror is going to help unblock your writing.  At least for me, it works that way.

Hope this tip is of any help.

What to Do When your Mind Won’t Shut Up

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A picture of American firefighters in the 1770s

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I decided to write this post because this is an issue that I deal with sometimes, and it can get in the way of my writing, and whatever project I am working on at the moment.  Sometimes, my mind won’t shut up.  By that I mean that there is a constant overflow of ideas and images, phrases, possible projects, music … and much more that bombards me all at once throughout the day.  When this happens, it is hard to tackle something for long.  It has nothing to do with focus or concentration, I have no problem in that area.  I am blessed in the sense that I can block anything around me and work on something.   Sometimes, too much focus, for example, one day I was working on several freelance articles for a client and while sitting at my desk, I noticed a shadow blocking the window light.  I glanced and I saw a firefighter woman looking at me through the window glass.  Behind her, in my backyard, there were many firefighters, about four of them, running around.  I figured that something was wrong.  I went outside and asked the woman what was going on.  She said if i didn’t smell the smoke.  I said, now I do.  A neighbor decided to burn some brush and someone complained thinking it was a fire, and the firemen followed the smoke to my backyard but it was coming from my back neighbor’s backyard, not mine.  She asked me if I didn’t hear them knocking and I said no.  When I went to the front of my house, there was a fire truck parked on the front and other firemen walking in my front yard.

On another occasion, I had been working on some freelance stuff all day and my husband came home from work, around 5pm.  He came into the room and seemed alarmed.  I asked him what was wrong and he said, don’t you hear all that?  Then he told me to come outside.  I live in a very quiet neighborhood and people are very nice; it is usually very quiet during the day, so my husband was concerned that the street in the back or our home was blocked by police, there were many reporters, news vans, police cars, and even a few helicopters hovering on top of our home.  A neighbor told us that a woman had been murdered in her home, she was actually burned in her bedroom, a very sad incident for this neighborhood.  This commotion had happened since early in the morning and I never even heard a thing.  The street is right behind my house.  These are two examples of how I can get wrapped in what I am doing and not hear anything.

However, I can hear my mind and when it doesn’ t want to shut up, I have a trick that seems to work.  I just empty it.  I know, I probably sound nuts, but it works.  I take a piece of paper and start writing everything that comes to mind, just jotting a few words, not sentences, quite fast, whether an image, a word, and idea for a project, a scene, a title, anything at all gets written, until I stop.  Then I can go back to what I was doing and work happily.  The ideas may serve for something later on, or not.  This trick works for me.  You may want to try it, if you find yourself wrestling with your mind on occasion.

40 Tips from Best Selling Authors

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Revisited – I wrote this sometime ago and decided to revisit it as I think these tips from best selling authors are worth reading once more.

 

As a writer, I love to hear what other writers have to say about writing, especially, best-selling authors.  I sat down, coffee at hand, and listened to many interviews of best-selling authors.  Many hours later, a list of their recommendations was born.  The following list is full of tips, recommendations, and inspiration, from best-selling authors to aspiring writers, although these authors have been published the traditional way, and we all know that the eBook is shaking the publishing world; however, these tips are worth considering.

 

1.  Write, Write, Write.

 

2.  Accept rejection.

 

3.  Send hundreds of queries.

 

4.  Don’t take no for an answer; keep at it.  Eventually you will get a yes.

 

5.  It took Janet Evanovich 10 years of trying to get published.

 

6.  Write every day, even if you stare blank at the computer.

 

7.  The characters will take life of their own; they will lead you but you still have control.

 

8.  It is a huge honor to get your book made into a movie; but it is a totally different animal.

 

9.  Pick a genre and stick with it; at least in the beginning.

 

10.  Most seemed to have writing on the backburner, and somehow, fell into it as if by chance or destiny.  Some did not even know if they were any good.  Examples are:  Stephenie Meyer, Janet Evanovich, Lalita Tademy and Sara Grwen.

 

11.  Their backgrounds are so diverse but there is a constant:  they persevered, and they write, write, and write.

 

12.  Some observe and listen for ideas, others have dreams, others write about what they know.  Sara Grwen saw a picture of a vintage circus and that instance; she knew she would write a story about that, even when she had started a complete different story.

 

13.  Some used ideas and modified them into complete different stories (careful with copyrights-this author made sure a lawyer handled all details).

 

14.  They all come across as very content with their lives.  And some of them had hardship or events that lead them into writing.

 

15.  Christopher Paolini wrote about what he always wanted to read about, but there just was not enough of it (Besinger).

 

16.  Some seem easy going, go with the flow, while others more uptight, others seem to have fun in the process like Gregory Maguire.

 

17.  Michel Chabon – “You have to live with the book on your head all the time, even when living your normal daily routine.”  Sometimes he goes away to write for a couple days, or two weeks.

 

18.  Elizabeth Gilbert – “There is only one way to tell a story and that is to tell it.”

 

19.   Jody Picoult says – “Ideas come from all over the place – for me usually about an issue that I do not have the answer to.  Characters pop up like mushrooms and take over the book.  I research the subject sometimes months before I start writing.”

 

20.  Brunania Barry self published 2000 copies, and then hired a PR company.  Took a leap of faith, quit her job, and wrote.  Always knew she wanted to be a novelist.  This book started as a dream.

 

21.  Mitch Albom weaves own anecdotes into his stories.  He uses a song in every book, kind of his trademark.

 

22.  Lisa Scittoline – “Try to write something that is inside you, you open your heart and readers open theirs.”

 

23.  Harlan Coben – “I like to write with heart; otherwise it is not going to work for me.”

 

24.  Kate Jacobs – “The secret is being persistent and silencing this inner critic.”

 

25.  John Grisham – Writes mostly legal thrillers, but writes whatever he wants.  He has fun with the genre, he says he does not know where he is going as far as to stick with a genre – “You can’t get to serious, the pages have to turn”.  His style is very disciplined and structured – He writes from 6-12 m mostly 5-6-7-8+ pages a day.  Before writing he has to get his thoughts together.  He makes an extensive outline to follow 40 chapters.  He needs his outline.  Some of his books made into movie, The Appeal/The firm.

 

26.  Sherrilyn Kenyon – Acheron – “Over, under, around or through, there’s always a way to get where you want to go, you just have to find it.”

 

27.  Wally Lamb – “Write the book for yourself and let the audience that have to find it find it”.

28.  Anne Lamott – “Writing, just do it.”

 

29.  Gregory Maguire – “The consolation of the imaginary is not imaginary consolation.”  “Your inventive culture/world should be convincing.  Work this world in your mind, even if you do not write the details in the story.”

 

30.  Jamie Lee Curtis – “I don’t do it (writing) for achievement, it is pure expression for me.”

 

31.  Debbie Maccomber – She is an inspiration, she was dyslexic and learned to read in 5th grade.  She loves being a writer.

 

32.  Claire cook – “Just try it; small steps every day take you there.”  It took her 25 years because she was afraid of the big step.

 

33.  Donald Trump – Think Big and Kick Ass – “Keep your left up”.  “Never ever quit.”

 

34.  Nora Roberts: “Well, first: there ain’t no muse. If you sit around and wait to channel the muse, you can sit around and wait a long time.”  She says writing is not effortless.  “So I work really hard to make it as fluid as possible, as readable and entertaining as possible.”

35.  Kate DiCamillo does not do research.  Her book just shows up.

 

36.  Maggie Stiefvater – “To aspiring authors:  read, read, and read.”  She didn’t take any creative writing classes.

 

37.  The idea of a character of your book writing a book – James Patterson.

 

38.  Writing under different pen names – Jayne Ann Kretz is (Jane Castle and Amanda Quick); Lori Foster is L.L. Foster.

 

39.  Age dilemma when writing – addressing age appropriate dilemmas is important when writing your story.

 

40.  Eloisa James writes 20 pages a day.  She says that writing is hard work, it is tough.

 

Well my friends, here you have it:  Many hours of listening compiled into 40 tips for you to enjoy, and apply to your craft.  I love tip number 26.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing – The Dream Approach

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Adam Elsheimer - Jacob's Dream - WGA7493

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Much has been written about dreams and their meaning.  There are many sleep clinics, and studies have been conducted on the subject.  Most people remember a dream, and for some, dreaming is as frequent as brushing their teeth.  While some hardly pay attention to their dreams, others, take them seriously, and analyze them, in search of guidance from the subconscious, or the universal mind.

However we happen to approach our dreams, one thing is certain – they are unique to each individual, and they paint a unique portrait.  When we dream, our subconscious is opening, unguarded, and we are honest with ourselves – there’s no hypocrisy in our dreams; they are rooted deeply.  They represent our goals, our fears, our preoccupation with daily events, or what we truly think.  Sometimes, they might appear meaningless or bizarre, or the result of a movie we had seen.  However, when you dig deeper, at your reactions and behavior in a dream, you can always find a piece of truth embedded.

For writers, dreams can be a bountiful source of inspiration.  One segment of a dream can become a best seller novel.  A great example of this is the novel Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.  Writer’s block can be fought with a good dose of dreaming.

So, next time you “hit the sack,” make sure to place a piece of paper and a pen under your pillow.  Your muse will be thank you for it.

Ready to Self-Publish? Not so Fast

/ inkspeare / 6 Comments

When I started writing my first novel, I was not sure that I wanted to go through the traditional method of publishing; however, I decided to wait and contemplate the possibility of self-publishing.  Although I have not made a decision, I put aside my first novel and started on the second one – I am half way writing it.  Why do it this way?  Because it is a very important decision.

If you are contemplating self-publishing, that is great; however, make sure that you are ready for it.  Ready for the financial issues (even if you POD), the marketing efforts, but mostly, ready with your novel.  The novel (or other) must be as perfect and pristine as you can get it.  Why?  Because once it is out there for everyone to see, it speaks loud (and loads) about you as a writer and the quality of your work.

The internet and today’s technology has brought to light many people who want to write and publish their work for whatever reasons – fame, money, love of writing …  Each writer has his/her own agenda.  However, you see many people who convey that they are in a rush to publish their work; many, thinking that they will make a lot of money or will be known widely as best-selling authors.  The reality is that it is not always this way; on the contrary, it is unlikely that this will happen, although there have been exceptions.  It seems that the “hot market” has to do a lot with it.  Once you expose your talent (or non-talent) to the masses, there is no going back, and if you did not bother to polish your work and present it in the best light, this may haunt you for the rest of your writing days.

Before you decide to present your work to the world, whether self-publishing or not, see if you are truly ready (not to be confused with procrastination).

  • Learn about different ways of publishing your work
  • Make your manuscript as perfect as it can be (more than one revision, editing, or hiring the necessary experts …)
  • Evaluate your reasons for publishing and see what venue fits those reasons best.
  • Consider your finances and your time to dedicate to this full-time venture.
  • Read other authors who have self-publish or who have taken the traditional road.
  • If you have someone who can give you an honest and detached opinion about your work, ask for it. This person should be as neutral as possible.  More than one person is fine, as it will give you different points of view.
  • Trust your gut.  Many times your instinct is your best friend and agent.
  • Be sure deep down that this is what you want.

A note of caution – Rejections are a given in this journey.  Many people decide to self-publish after they have received tons of rejections.  Other people will keep trying because they know that the traditional way is what they want.  Be careful that you don’t get discouraged by all the rejections and the “not marketable enough” notes – it can kill your writing spirit.  If this is what you want to do, continue to pursue it but make sure that you are not self-publishing for the wrong reasons.  It must be true to whom you are as a writer.  If you are so fortunate to get a contract after just a few no’s, realize that these days, the publishing business is all about “hot markets,” and it moves at a fast pace.  Can you handle the many commitments and deadlines that the agent/editors/publisher puts on you?  Are you able to let go of your precious work (and writer’s ego) and be open to all the suggestions that these people will have for you?  Some people cannot and will not deal with many changes in their novel.  I have read/heard stories of changes as crazy (pure lunacy) as far as getting rid or highly modify a main character.  Most times, a writer feels and identifies with his/her characters and lives with them for long – they become a family.  Ponder that and what it does to a writer.

Finally, both paths take a lot of work, dedication, commitment and overtime hours – be sure that you can handle it and certainly, that your family knows what you are getting  yourself into, so it doesn’t take them (or you) by surprise.  Therefore, don’t think of self-publishing as a light issue, an easy cope-out, or a second choice, because it is non of that.  It is an option, a different way of doing things, and in many ways, of challenging yourself much more.  Give it the respect that it deserves (that your work deserves as well) and don’t join the waves of unprepared authors who have self-published in a rush.  Although I have not heard of anyone, it takes the most confident and self-assured, self-made, self-published author to turn down a book contract  to continue the path of the indie author.  That is why your reasons must be clear.

If you have gone through that experience, please feel free to share it here.  As  a writer that realizes the long journey ahead, your experiences are valuable to me and to other readers.

Microwrite Your Novel

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I have set a goal to finish my novel before the end of this year, so that means I have seven weeks before December 31st.  I started working on the first draft on July and took a break from it (see post Wrestling with Your Characters 1-2) for the entire month of October.  Now, I am up to 19,500 words and my goal is to pass the 50,000 words by the set date.  I decided to break things down in numbers to see how manageable that was for me.

Taking 50,000 words as my base number minus the 19,500 words I have in, that equals 30,500 left for me to write.  I divided that number between seven weeks, giving me a total of 4,357 give or take words per week, or an equivalent of 622 words per day.  That is not bad at all, and certainly very doable for me.  It looks that I will have my first draft before the new year begins, cause for celebration.  In an equation it would look like this:

50,000 – 19,500 = 30,500 ÷ 7 = 4,357 ÷ 7 = 622

Usually, I write and don’t worry about word count or numbers (the reason I will never do Nanowrimo) but in this case, I needed to figure out the numbers to see if I would be able to meet my goal in the set timeframe.  That will take care of the first draft, and then the hard part starts, revisions 2 and 3, for me.  I stop at the third revision.

If you are trying to write a novel, novella, or novelette, try this.  Give yourself an amount of time, and then break down the correspondent amount of words (an approximate) per week/day and that will make the task easier.  It will help you get an idea of how many words to put in (if you miss a writing day).  Or follow best-selling author Claire Cook’s advice of writing two pages a day.

So go ahead and microwrite that novel a few words at a time.

Day 2 – Awesome WordPress Bloggers

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Today, I dedicate this post to C2C – Courage to Create by Ollin Morales.  This is one awesome blog that has many followers and in which you will find great information about writing, but also much inspiration to keep going.  A writer’s world is not an easy one, and C2C manages to give you the courage to continue in your writing journey.

I like this blog because it talks to the reader, it presents information and great tips, but also manages to make the topics personal and real.  It features writing topics, many writing guests, as well as great insight from the author.

C2C has a light, realistic, and encouraging tone and manages to keep real but informative throughout the author’s writing journey.  I think it is also innovative in the way it approaches many writing topics, pointing not only to the writing tasks, but also to the whole that is the writer’s life.  So there, you will find the information you need but also great insight and perspective.  Visit C2C and see for yourself.

Wrestling with Your Characters

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I’ve had a hard time writing my novel for the past couple of days – not because I was not in the mood to write, or because I was procrastinating, but because every time I sat down to write the next chapter, I got off the chair and did something else.  Now, that may have sound as procrastination, but I knew that was not the case.  I decided to think about it some more.  Why did I turned back once I decided to write that next chapter?  It puzzled me and annoyed me as well.

Pondering about the issue, I discovered that I was having an issue with one of my characters.  Yes, as weird as it sounds, this character had grown strong and had taken over, behaving and reacting differently from what I had planned.  Opening that computer file to write meant having a writer’s confrontation with my character.  This presented an issue that I disliked to ponder – had I lost control of my novel?  Was I being intimidated by one of my characters?  I had to ponder about this even when I did not like the idea.  I did.

My findings were very interesting.  I had to admit that I was wrestling with this character from the beginning of the story, like it or not.  The problem is that it is my main character.  This issue presented another bigger issue – should I stop writing the novel, should I continue wrestling, or should I listen to this character and give in to it?  In this case, is her.  Well, I needed to decide, otherwise my story would be frozen indefinitely.  I did.

I realized that I had to go back to the beginning of the story and try to understand this character’s reasons.  I decided to look for the moment when the writer-character conflict started and understand the why.  This is my compromise with her.  To some of you, this may seem bizarre and a bit “cuckoo” but it is the compromise I had to do to continue writing the story.  I agreed to put my writing aside until I go back to those chapters and realize my issue with it – after all, it is my issue, and not the character’s issue.  I created it, and I am having the problem; or is it a challenge?  Does that mean that after all, I am in control of the story?  Well, I cannot answer that until I find out, and that is another post.

Steampunk Inspired

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I love the Steampunk theme; it is a mix of Victorian Gothic with futuristic elements, which I find so appealing to the senses and imagination.  I love it in stories, movies, art. and even some apparel and jewelry (yes I do own some).  Steampunk screams adventure and romance, but also the darkest side – the fallen of humanity.

Thinking about this, it occurred to me that writing Steampunk is not easy; I’m not sure I could do it, although I have never tried.  The creation and elaboration of that kind of world requires a lot from the imagination.  Unlike writing in the present or writing from a historical perspective, Steampunk presents a different challenge to the writer.  The writer must create a world that has elements of the past, present and the future, and at the same time mesh in the characters, but doing all that while being true to the characters.  In a way, it is similar to writing fantasy, but in my opinion more challenging, since you can just take off with your fantasy world, but in Steampunk, you still have to abide by some “past-world rules.”

If you are a Steampunk writer I invite you to comment about the challenges that you have faced as a writer while creating that world.