Keep It Moving

What are you working on right now? Anything you care to share? I find it interesting how I always have some sort of project in action. This past week I worked on a short story. It wasn't because I was bored (though that would have been nice because I would have had a lot of time on hand). I worked on a short story because I needed to for school. I was allowed to write a story of no more than 1,000 words and in any genre. Particularly I find it difficult to write stories of no more than 1,000 words. It's not enough words for me. I like the 1,500-2,000 word kind of stories. The ones that stretch into 6-8 pages. With this short story I didn't have much of  a plan. I don't recommend this actually. If you can write from the top of your head and still make sense by ending up at the end with a good punch, go for it. Some of us can't do that and that's okay. It doesn't mean you have less experience or aren't nearly as good. Your mind processes in a very special and unique way. You're the type who needs a plan, a guide and map in order to know where to go. There are many writers out there and all of us are different. No two writers will be the same, even if they are novelists, they will not write the same. We all have our techniques, our strengths and the weaknesses. For me I find it difficult to show, not tell and avoid to be verbs. It's extremely difficult for me to put those verbs away and write in a different text. I'm not sure what your weakness is, but don't focus on the weakness. Concentrate on the strengths and what you can do. I think it's more important to know what you can do instead of paying attention to the areas you lack.

Well back to that short story I worked on. I completed it in two days and funny thing is, it ended up with a different twist than I expected. I had this vision, this plan with this story and kind of knew where I wanted it to end up. On the first day I ended with 500 words and then on the second day that's where my twist came in. All of a sudden I had this desire to cause something terrible happen to my main character. I didn't see that coming from the start but when I started thinking about it I liked it. And sure enough I allowed it to happen. In my opinion I say follow the flow. Writing a plan down or an outline is not a bad idea. In fact, it's probably the wisest and safest thing to do. It keeps you accountable and on track, but if a change arises and you happen to like it, go for it. Don't stop just because you have something different written down, another intention. Sometimes the best stories come from a spur of a moment, an epiphany. Don't block that sensation. My advice: always keep an open mind when writing. You don't know where your characters might take you. Sometimes they decide to do this major turn but it can end up being the best.

So word of advice for the rest of your writing week: KEEP AN OPEN MIND.

And as always, write. Write what comes to mind. Here are a few tips for you to put to practice and remember:

• Where are you going with this?
• Who are the characters?
• Did you establish a hook that pulls your readers? 
• Can your readers relate to your characters/setting/images? 
• How intense and realistic is the conflict? 
• Remember, you're in show business--show, don't tell!
• Are you moved emotionally?--if you're moved, most likely your readers will relate 

Tell me what you're working on this week!

A Writer on Writing

The past few weeks I've been talking about different aspects and avenues of writing. I've discussed the many roads you can take and various things you can write and how it all starts with one action: write. I talked about writing a book proposal and staying consistent with yourself. But today I'm going to talk about myself. What am I working on what right now? I think it's always encouraging to hear from other writers and know what they're working on, it helps perk the brain a bit. To be honest, today is one of those days where I'm struggling. I can't think of anything, my mind is foggy and feels a bit overwhelmed. I know the cause of this though. I have a terrible test for school today so this is definitely taking up my entire mind because I am worrying about it. Anyway...

My writing. What am I currently working on? A novel. Yes, I have tackled writing another novel and currently I love it. I'm not sure if I love it more than my past novel but it's definitely a favorite. I know I have said this many times already but it doesn't hurt to say it again. I love my characters in this story. My goodness. I have fallen in love with my protagonist because in many ways she's just like me, except for being overtly emotional.  There's one scene I wrote a while back and I can barely read that scene without feeling the hair on my arms stand up. By that motion, I know I composed an amazing scene because I was moved. I once heard that in order to move your readers you yourself have to be moved. I one hundred percent agree with that. You cannot expect to move your readers if you weren't by the least touched with what you wrote. There was one scene I wrote where I grew angry with a character. I was upset, torn, and disappointed with this move he made. By the time I was over my little fit I realized I wrote that scene and am the only one to blame.


So, yes I'm working on a 95,000 word novel right now. My goal is to complete this book by the fall and then get it into the whole publishing ordeal again--honestly I hate that process. But yes, I write every day, no matter what the day brings forth. The weekends tend to be a bit up in the air at times so I normally give myself some room on those days. But throughout the week I write up to 6,000 words in five days. I don't stop until I've reached the 1,000 word mark on any given day. Once I've reached that point, I'll stop. I'm also reading a novel this month. I make myself read a novel a month. This month I'm reading one from Karen Kingsbury. Last month it was Francine Rivers. I have a friend who endeavors sharing his novels with me and I have to admit, they are very good. I read novels to get ideas and open my mind with reading that I write. You cannot expect to be a novelist and hate reading novels. With that said, I'm always working on some sort of writing. If I'm not working for a publication I'm working on my own kind of work because I have anticipation to work with a publisher when I'm done. Set reasonable goals for you day. I plan my month with big goals I need to accomplish and then break it down into weeks and then days. Set your goal. Write as many words as you can in a day or go for time. 

• BUT ALWAYS WRITE.

Another thing I do that you might find helpful or not is not look back at what I just wrote. I will write and write and write and won't read what I wrote until the entire product is done. Now if I'm working on a short story I do a total different approach. But with my longer pieces of work I take my time and write until the certain word count (usually 95,000) is complete. I then take two or three days of a break before I get into my editing mode. Once I go, I don't stop. This is my way. You might have a total different approach, something that works for you. If so, leave me a comment, I'm curious to know. 

With all that said, keep writing and enjoy what your characters are showing you and telling you!

Third Person Perspective

To be honest, this is my favorite kind of writing. It's easy and comes naturally--or at least for me. The thing about third person perspective is that you as the writer are the narrator. You get to know ALL of your characters. You're stuck in your character's minds and you decide what to do, not the main character deciding or others deciding for you. If you want to kill someone today, then do it. I tend to just write in this perspective, just because I'm most used to it and find it the most enjoyable. This perspective allows you as the writer to have more freedom in how the story is told. You may decide to change a particular character's thinking a bit, but don't go out and change it drastically. Remember to stay consistent. I believe writing in first person and third person both have their advantages and one, more than the other, will have its place in a story. It depends on what your motive is. What are you trying to say? And will it sound better in the third person perspective?

• Third Person Limited--narrator only knows the thoughts and feelings of a single character
• Third Person Omniscient--narrator knows all the thoughts and feelings of all characters 
• He, she, it, they 

If you want to know all of your characters then choose to write in third person omniscient. If this isn't a concern for you, then write in third person limited. Perhaps it's easier and more natural for you to just know one of your characters in and out. It might be confusing to know all of your characters, perhaps it's too overwhelming--understandable. Don't overwhelm yourself with your writing right away. Writing does get overwhelming the moment you're on a deadline, but if you're writing just for fun, don't stress out about it, have fun. 

Third Person Limited: Janie Smith, she doesn't know a thing about her brother, Johnny. If she only had a single idea what was going through his mind, things might make it easier for them to relate. She wants to know, but he won't open up to her. Ever since papa died, the family died with him. Johnny is cold-heart and broken, the opposite from Janie. She is open, willing to work through the disaster and open a new door. Her papa always told her to work things out, if only Johnny understood. 

Third Person Omniscient: The house was too quiet without Mary and Joe. They were the ones who always brought it to live, even on the rainiest days. A single tear slid down her cheek. Susan peeled her coat off, resting her lazy and tired body on the sofa. If only Mary and Joe were still around. Fall always had a way of tearing people apart, that's what Mary always said anyway. 

Find YOUR aspect of writing. I have covered each perspective so now that you have this down, it's time for you to choose your alley and get writing. If you have been writing for weeks already, congrats. But if you're still waiting for that perfect moment, wake up, the perfect moment never comes. You need to write in order to find it! I'll start a new "mini" series next week. 

Keep writing! 

POV--First Person

I said. You said. He said. 

POINT OF VIEW (POV)! Another important element when writing fiction....which one out of the three should you write in? There are four different angles you can write from:

• First Person
• Third Person Limited
• Third Person Omniscient 
• Second Person

Each perspective has its place in fiction/novel writing. The kind of view you choose is entirely up to you. The first three perspectives are relatively common, the last one is the oddball. I haven't read too many books writing in second person, all because it's a whole different world. Recently I read a book written in first person and I was immediately captivated. It felt as if I were walking with the protagonist, experiencing her problems and struggles. After that book I went straight into another book, now told from third person limited--a TOTAL different approach. I'm more used to this kind of writing but once I read the first person story, it was hard to switch over. Because this is a wide topic to discuss, we'll go through each perspective over the course of four weeks. I'm partly doing this because there's a lot to remember and I have a sprained wrist...ha, a sprained wrist and a writer don't match. It's a writer's worst enemy. I feel limited to SO much this week. Okay, I won't complain about my incapability. With each week I'll cover one of the perspectives and then write a brief example. 

First person.

A novel written in first person is written from the account of one person. You'll ride along with this person and go through whatever journey they are faced with. You'll experience what they are experiencing, feel what they feel, react how they react, and relate to similar things. Writing in first person can be exciting but also daring. If the job is done well the reader will feel as if he went right along with your main character. 

Writing from this perspective will teach you the many uses of the pronouns "I" and "we". You'll explore with these pronouns and learn how to build a story around the protagonists life. Every detail must be filtered through the storyteller. First person point of view is the most friendliest all of writing. The reader feels well acquainted with the story and the character, almost feeling like a best friend relationship. There are things the character will tell you the reader but no one else in the story. First person view point is fun to write and explore with. You can create a story of fun, drama, tragedy, horror, mystery, romantic, or imaginary. The moment the story starts the reader will be stuck in the character's mind. For beginner writers this can be a trickier kind of viewpoint because you need to know your character. You need to choose which character will be impacted and tell the story. Once you have that figured out, you'll have to bond with your character in an inseparable way.

Remember to keep your point of view consistent throughout the story. What I mean by this is, you cannot change the viewpoint every single scene. You'll confuse your reader for sure. In first point view the character will do all the talking, you're just writing. Don’t let your first person story turn into simple observation (Show, don’t tell!). The character needs to be involved--to react to events physically and verbally--not just describe the reactions of others. First person creates an intimate perspective. You'll feel connected and if the author does an outstanding job with placing the character on a beach, you might find yourself having to dump the sand out of your pocket once you're back from the beach. Describe the emotions, physical attributes, mental images, and anything else occurring. 

Have fun! Get to know your character first and then get writing. You need to be relaxed when approaching this kind of writing or else your reader will feel the tension through your character. You may discover that first person is not your type of writing and that's okay. Explore, it's the only way you'll figure it out. 

This week's example! I wonder why I'm still awake when I really should be asleep. Why did he have to react that way? Doesn't he know how much I care for him? Doesn't he know that all I want is for him to listen? I wonder if he even thinks of me? I doubt it. Who am I that he would even care? I guess I'll never know. I'll be here, alone and clueless about everything. I don't even understand my thoughts anymore, and my toes are freezing. How I hate winter and being alone! -----> clearly we know that the character is unhappy. 

Very Important..Very Fun

I don't know about you but when I read any kind of novel I flock to the dialogue. It intrigues me to see how the author weaved his words in writing. There are many different ways you can make your characters speak. Since I tend to write contemporary style, my characters speak informally, almost with a slang. Though, it's very interesting how you can mess with your characters in various ways. You have the power to stir them in any direction. With the words that you choose you can make them do anything you want. The bottom line is what you think is the way your characters will move. Perhaps you want them to yell, well make them do just that. Or maybe the story has hit a deep point, a point where tears seem the most appropriate. Make them cry. I know this probably sounds ridiculous, but one of my favorite things to do with my characters is make them cry. It's amazing how you can make them cry without saying it. You don't have to say, "She cried." Instead say, "Tears fell down her cheeks, leaving wet streaks along the way." This is just one example out of many. So, before I get into the meat of this article I think it's important if I note one very, VERY, important rule. You'll hear this rule over and over again and eventually will get tired of it that you may want to shout, "I know!!!!!" but believe me, it's a VERY important rule.

Show, don't tell. 

Easy, right? I mean, there are just three words in that sentence and you know what each of the words mean so what's the big deal? Ha, believe me, this can be the trickiest rule ever. There are so many times where you'll catch yourself saying the action instead of writing the action. You'll captivate the reader's interest more by showing it. If you go on and say, "Brit was mad." Okay, we know he was mad, but how mad? Aha, show, don't tell. Try imaging this. "Brit's eyes narrowed, he clenched his fists and took long and steady breaths." You now know what he did and how he felt. He wasn't only mad, he was profusely angry, upset. Make your characters come to live. This is a fun aspect of writing. You need to have fun with it, don't let it pull you down and literally make you pull your hair out. Explore with this. Get to know your characters. This is an important aspect. You cannot write a story if you don't know your character(s). Know how they feel, what they're thinking, what irritates them, what makes them happy, and what're their fears. Understand your characters in and out. Be interested. If you aren't moved as an author, your reader won't be moved. If you didn't laugh, your reader won't laugh. And if you didn't cry, your reader won't cry. You need to build that connection with your writing.

I know I say this often, but allow your thoughts to spill through your words. If you have an overly emotional character, show it through her words. Describe how she's feeling when she talks. Dialogue is important and it shouldn't be abused. Use every word wisely, making it count.  And I know this is a lot of information to digest, but let me make one more point. Don't be too descriptive. It's so easy to get flowery and into your words that eventually it sounds too wordy. Cut. Chop. Kill the one too many adjectives. Be selective, but most importantly, be creative. Dialogue is fun to write. Write as though you are speaking. Readers like it when you're natural and realistic. Relate to them, you'll gain a wider audience that way.

Dialogue. Speak. Show. Entertain. Don't tell me, show me what happened. Make it exciting, so exciting that I can't stop reading.

The List of Genre is Just Starting!

This week I decided to tackle something entirely different. Over the past few weeks I have discussed the many aspects of the writing life and what it takes and what is doesn't take and how to discover such and such. I hope you have a greater understanding for all of this because this week, I'm going to start opening a different topic. Over the course of weeks, I'll discuss the various genres there are and a bit of insight from each. But to start with, I'll talk about my writing experience (I love sharing my side, especially since it drastically changed overnight.)

Alright, before I picked up the craft of writing, I was against all fiction. I didn't like fiction. I ignored fiction. I shunned fiction. I literally disregarded all books that were fiction related. I thought reading fiction was a waste of time, entirely unnecessary and irrelevant. I didn't find enjoying when reading fictional books, so I clearly decided that fiction wasn't for me. I stuck to the nonfiction books, the one that gave me something, a message. Whenever I would pick up a novel, I would stare at the cover and think, "I wish I could learn to like these kind of books." Because to be honest, the covers on most novels are tempting. There's just something amazing that the author masters. They have a way to capture the buyer with their cover, even if the book itself isn't captivating. I would walk through any bookstore and clock to the fiction section and grab a handful of books just to study the covers, not going beyond that. Okay, so without me even reading the book, I quickly learned that the author did a great job with luring me to the book just by having an awesome cover. 

But what got me to read novels? Well, in the summer of 2010, I just graduated and was tired of reading books about facts and books that took more concentration to grasp the message. I wanted to relax. I wanted to be the kind of person who would curl up with a blanket and read for hours on end, not able of putting the book down. I remember pulling out a book I got from the library for the summer. Again, I stared at the cover and understood why I picked this book. The cover alone was mesmerizing. It was incredible. So what did I do? I opened it, probably just like anyone else would do. I skimmed through the prologue, flipped through the middle, and landed on the last sentence (my mistake always). The last sentence alone got me. It made me curious to read the book and that I did. Well, I'm proud to say that after that I haven't shunned a novel in a long while. There have been nights where I cannot set the book down, I have to force myself to do it. 

After that I started having this niche to write fiction, not just any kind of fiction, contemporary and dramatic fiction. You will soon learn that there are a ton of different subtopics under fiction. I won't go into detail right now, I'll save that for another post. But yes, I took up the task that I hated most. I decided to write fiction and honestly, I can't get enough from it. There is always a character stirring in my mind. Sometimes I leave my characters in an iffy situation. I do this on purpose because I cannot wait until I can get back to my story and fix their dilemma. When I write, the world I live in closes down for awhile. Everything that goes on kind of goes on without me. I'm interacting with my characters. I'm having internal conversations, we are getting to know each other. 

You must be comfortable with your writing. You need to feel right doing it, knowing that this is something you can write/talk about all day. Know the topic you're writing about. Maybe you're into nonfiction, the facts. Or perhaps you like to read articles and would be interested to write for a magazine or newspaper. You don't have to seclude yourself to just one specific type of writing. Be open to anything and everything. Try a bit from here and some from there, but I assure you, there will always be that one kind of writing you'll enjoy more than the other. You're human. We tend to have favorites. 

Different topics lead to different interests 

I love fiction. You might be different. But that's why there are a wide variety of books, because everyone has a different taste and there are those authors who like to tackle the things someone like me wouldn't dare handle. Next week we'll talk about the many aspects of fiction (short story, novel, novella). 

Explore. Experiment. Challenge yourself. Write.