Writing and me

Writing is a huge part of my life, and I have been working on it off and on since I got here. I've also been doing a lot of reading. But today let's talk about the writing.

I started out finishing a book that I'd previously started. I realized when I finished it that it was too perfect. There wasn't much in the way of plot. I got them from point A to point B but there wasn't much struggle. Also I had a plot point that just wasn't going to work. Even if it was two books it wouldn't work because it was an impossible goal.

So I started over. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. I've done it multiple times with multiple stories. But this time I actually did something a little different. I actually built an outline.

I'm normally a pantser, but this time I wanted a more concrete plan for the chapters so I didn't wander around. Unfortunately, as I progressed further into the story, I realized I don't have any side plots. It's all straight line to the end of the outline. So now I have to figure out what I want to do about side plots. I have room to put some in. I just have to figure out what they are. I've left myself a note and will go back and insert some things after I've finished the story. Revisions are good for that.

I plan on finishing the first draft of Hackers, the novel I'm working on right now. It was last year's NaNo novel. Hackers is a working title, since I have no clue what I want to call my cyberpunk novel. But now I'm completely rewriting it to fix all of the errors I found when I read through it again.

That leads me to this year's NaNo. I still plan on doing it. I'm just trying to decide what project to do. I have a number of stories waiting to be written, but none of them are speaking to me. I thought about writing the sequel to Hackers but until I get the side plots in and adjust the main plot so it can carry over into the next book (my outline didn't take that into account either) I don't want to work on it.

I've thought about rewriting Marked with the changes I've made to the world. Yes, I know. I need to stop world building and set up the guidelines I need to work with. But talking with Tims, things keep expanding and changing. Which makes me reluctant to work on Marked. Or any of the Vassa books.

That leaves me with my other sci fi novels. Which I'm not sure what I want to do with either. I intend to finish this draft of Hackers by the end of October so I'm free to write in November. I also intend to write an outline for November, to see if it helps keep me on track. If it doesn't, I'll scrap it and pants it again.

So that's my writing in a nutshell for the past six months. I've written on a few fluff pieces just to keep me writing on those days that even with the outline I just can't seem to write anything serious. But I've set my goals so now I just have to complete them.

One aspect of writer's block

I started a new story some time ago, but it stalled out when I was only 8k into it. No matter what I did, I couldn't bring myself to continue working on it. So it went into my story ideas folder, along with the notes I'd sketched out, to sit until I felt like working on it again.

I dusted it off over the weekend. I could see where I went wrong, but I wasn't sure how to fix it. I went back to the characters notes and realized I hadn't fleshed them out enough. I went through and did that. Once I was finished, the way to move the story forward finally came to me. It took erasing a good chunk of that, a little over 5k to be precise, to get it back to where I could make the story flow again. But it was worth it because I started getting somewhere instead of sitting and staring at the cursor blinking.

What happened to me initially with the story is, to me at least, a form of writer's block. I have a story I want to tell, but sometimes telling it gets in the way of the story itself. I wanted to keep it set to a series of events that I was planning for. I built it up too fast and then found it too difficult to keep going. How was I going to top some of the tension I'd already created moving forward? I wasn't sure I could, so it stalled out as I tried to figure out where to go.

Now I'm using minor bursts of tension to raise the stakes but not so much that I can't get around it when it comes time for the climax. Getting to that point too early in the book makes it more difficult to handle the coming scenes. Every character has a story, and some of them are subplots for the main one. I'm letting a little bit of those stories, not every detail but a hint of them, come out here in the beginning. This is giving me a lot more to work with than I initially had.

This is part of where being a pantser can be difficult at times. Which is why I may write the story by the seat of my pants, but I at least try to have a few conversations with my characters before I start just to get a sense of them and their stories.

What do you do? Do you write out notes for every little detail? Do you just wing it completely? Or are you somewhere in between?

Writing Wednesday - Writer's Block

How many of us have suffered from writer's block? How many of us struggle to put words on the page even though we desperately want to? I know that I've suffered from frequent writer's block. It stops me dead on whatever project I'm working on and I can't seem to get up the mental energy to start it again.

I've read a lot of articles and blog posts about how people combat writer's block. I've even read a few things that say there's no such thing as writer's block (there is). All of the articles and blog posts shared one thing - they all had suggestions on how to get out of writer's block. Some of them were even similar to each other. But I thought I'd share my technique for getting away from writer's block.

First, read back through the project I'm working on. It could be the characters are telling me that something isn't right and I need to change it. Find where the disconnect is happening and start writing from there. Sometimes this means whole chapters get rewritten, but once I locate the disconnect and fix it the words start flowing again.

Second, choose another project I've got and work on that instead. Sometimes you just need to walk away from what you're currently working on. You need to let it rest and let your mind work on the scene without obsessing over it. That's when you should work on any additional little (or big) projects you have.

Third, walk away from writing for a while completely. I don't mean for months on end. I mean for a day or two. Go read a book. Watch a movie. Go for a walk. Get away from your story completely for a day or two to let your mind go fallow and your story sit without any kind of work being done on it. When you get back to it, read over the last little bit to pick up where you left off. Then start writing again. This has been a huge help when writer's block has crippled my writing.

So, what are your ways of combating the dreaded writer's block?

Writing Wednesday - Writer's Block

I have it.

The dreaded 'writer's block'.

It sucks.

It's even impacting my ability to post to my blog.  I sit and stare at blank screens and wonder what I'm supposed to be saying when the words won't come.  I hate this feeling.  I spent five years not writing at all because of this feeling.  I really don't want to do that again.

Part of it is how discouraged I am with Only A Name.  I want to be done with it, have it polished, and be shopping it around.  Instead I've shelved it because it needs a lot of work and because I feel like it's crap I want to delete it and start over.  Except I know starting over isn't the answer because it really isn't a bad story.  It just needs some good, strong edits and revisions.  But emotionally I'm too attached so I have to put some distance between me and it before I can do those edits/revisions.

Now, I have a lot of other projects I could be writing on.  I have more than a dozen novels set in Aleran that are waiting to be written.  I have my sci fi projects.  I have my UF projects.  I have random bits of stories that have been jotted down for "future reference" so I can work on new stories and new worlds.  And none of them appeal to me.  I just can't seem to make myself write anything.

The other part - and probably my major reason for not being able to write right now - is the emotional stress I'm going through.  Himself's mom died and he's not taking it well.  He needs someone to keep an eye on him so that's what I'm doing.  My job is stressing me out because of their insistence on perfection when I am far from perfect.  I'm even stressed out about the interview I have tomorrow for a new job (wish me luck?) because this could be a whole new avenue and a whole new opportunity for me, if I get this job.

I don't know when or how my writer's block will go away, but I need it gone soon.  I need the release I get from writing.  I'm hoping that something will spark that creative fire that's been banked by my frustrations soon so I can start writing again.