Whuzzup?

This weekend’s output was pitiful; maybe a thousand words.

That’s everything.  Journal, online, Grim.  No stories, but I got a few in mind; Knight’s ultrasound, for one.  Mike is going away with Mikael which will explain my absence to Scott.  I plan on writing a story from that point of view.  Maybe another Sonnerad story, this time with Mikael and Mike going traipsing through Europe.  I have to find out what’s going on with Mikael’s player.

I started up on twitter and all of a sudden I have more followers than I have followed.  I have no idea how or why.  Maybe they don’t know I’m writing gay fiction – or they came here, or they went to my other site and read some stuff there.  I doubt that.  But if so, that’s great.  A lot of stuff happens behind the scenes and most of the time only the other players are familiar with it.

I may be sporadic for the next week, as I am traveling on business, but I promise to be back for next Monday.

Sneaking around

Why is something sweeter when you have to sneak it?

Like an office liaison, my dates with writing are when no one is looking.  I write in between doing real work, and I write at home between gaming times.

But why is it, when I get the nod that it’s okay to write, the muse runs away?

I have trained myself all these years to sneak.  I first started writing during school, when I was supposed to be taking notes from the teacher.  I wrote stories.  In college, sometimes, if the subject was boring, I did the same thing.  I wrote when the urge struck me, except during a five-year dry spell.  Then I picked it up with a vengeance and have been trying to write more often.  Since last October, I’ve been trying to write daily.

I’ve been sneaking writing at work since 2007, when I started here.  Short stories, scenes, that kind of thing.  Not novels.  Novels are too big.  Too unwieldy, especially when I have to use my head for some things.

I was out on leave and wrote Grimaulkin’sfirst draft in a month.  Pantsed it before I knew what Pantsing was.  It’s how I wrote all my novels, so I never thought that it was “bad”.  (According to Writer’s Digest, it is.)

Came back, and the writing dried up to daily stories for the game.  So it is now.

Although I’ve been writing Tamerlane these last few days, and a bit of Grimaulkin.  But today, nobody’s around, and those who are around don’t care.  So…why can’t I write?

Because the muses know that they can’t whisper in my ear during the hectic moments of the day.  They know that I am receptive, able to listen.

They’re not trained for that.

They’re trained to drop little things, hints.  Teasers.  In the back of my mind, they’re working on the full story.

Like I got to a point with Tamerlane last night, and thought, “Oh…OH!  I know where you’re going with this!  But will the reader know after I dropped this hint?”

So I have an idea consciously of where we’re going, but will I end up there?

I’m going to go back to Tamerlane, see if I can write more.

Where’s the time?

No time for writing much yesterday.  Or this morning.

I’m feeling guilty.

Usually about this time in the morning, I have a story in mind or I’ve already written it and posted it.  This morning, I’ve been working.  At home, I was doing some packing for my trip to AZ (for my day job).

That means all the writing has to happen tonight when I get home.  Unless I can squeeze some time here at work.

I was talking to someone here and she said, “You write an awful lot.”  I said, “You run, I write.  It’s the same thing.”

The thing is to make the time for it.  I need to write every day.  It’s as important to me as taking a shot.  More important, actually.

I MUST write.  And I will find the time to do so.

I started doing the planning stages of Tamerlane, and then I decided, “Screw this.  Why don’t I just let him happen?”  So instead of planning out his idiosyncrasies before the page, I’m going to do it as I go along.  Tamerlane is in my head at the moment; what I need to do is to let him out in dribs and drabs.  That will make it fun for me, and even more fun for the reader, I hope.

 

Partnerships

The great thing about writing in tandem with other people is that you can bounce ideas off of each other, and give each other ideas to work with.

I love the three guys I’m RPG’ing with.  They’re all fans of my page of work, and they read the stories there.  I try to keep close to their characters, and they feel honored, I think, when they see their characters being used in a story of mine.  I know I felt that way when I read one of the guys who used Grim in his stories.

But, alas, he no longer writes.  I hardly see him play, too.  Because of that, my character has limited action with his character because I don’t know his character well enough and I don’t think I could portray his voice correctly.

However, the other characters’ storylines…epic.  Truly epic stuff.

I really want to write out Mal and Knight’s story because that is truly romantic and epic at the same time.  Their stuff could go on for years, and many books.

Grim, of course, is dear to my heart, and his interactions with Scott are priceless.

Tamerlane is a single character.  He’s on his own right now and told in the first person.  Maybe that’ll change.

1574 words yesterday.  I cheated.  I did a lot of it at work.

Pantser or Plotter?

Julia Cameron makes writing sound so easy.  That’s because, she’s a pantser.

This is an ongoing argument in the writing community.  Should I plot or should I write?

I wrote Grimaulkin 1 Version 1 in a month.  I had an idea of what I was writing from (a Grim much older and wiser, admonishing the reader of the follies of power).  My idea was that the following things would happen:

He’d find out he was gay

He’d get a boyfriend

He’d go to the Academy

His boyfriend would break up with him

He’d get angry and do a deal with a demoness

Who would burn him and mark him as his own

He would get great power

Others would be afraid/jealous of him

He’d escape the Academy

He’d find someone new

He’d return to the Academy with this new man

He’d take over the Academy

He would bring magic to the masses.

The end.

I realize now, writing this plotline, that the whole Salem excursion (Grim 2) is worthless.  Well, not worthless – it was making the point about power and being responsible.  But most of it has nothing to do with this plotline.

I need to work on Grim 3.  I tried to plot it, but here’s the problem with plotting with me:  I write to hear the story.  If I plot it out, then I’ve told myself the story, so that’s it.  But the good thing about plotting is I can change my mind when I do write it (and often do).

So what’s best for me?

PANTSING.

I don’t care what the rest of the writing world says.  They’re talking about getting things done FAST.  “How to get your novel done in 30 days/90 days/1 year/overnight” is like that.

I think I have time.

The YA market (Grim might be going to that market, I’m not sure) is not going to go away any time soon, and the paranormal is going to be around for a long time.  Harry Potter-copy books – which is what I’m pushing Grim to be (“An anti-hero Harry Potter who’s gay”) will remain a big thing.

I’m thinking of writing for Samhain (A gay small press) using the Tamerlane stories.

Speaking of which, I need to write his novel.  Hm, who should I emulate?  Jim Butcher/Harry Dresden?  Alex Venus?  Drood?

Self-Promotion

It’s one of those days that my meds are actually kicking in.  It’s a day that I want to promote myself.  A day I want to show off.

Unfortunately, I can’t find any tank tops to show off all my tats.  Nor can I really show off that I’m an American and I’m probably going to be the only person who speaks English at the Vocational Meeting that I’m going to.

But mostly, they won’t see my writing ability.

In reading the many how-to-write books I got, I found one thing common to them.  The authors there pushed their own books.  Only one book did I not find that: Writing as a Sacred Path.

Are they showing us an example of what they mean by using their own writing?  Or are they trying to promote it?

Being the cynical person that I am, I’m of the opinion that they’re self-promoters.  Holly Lisle is notorious for this.  “In my novel this…  In my novel that…”  Do you only read your own stuff?

James Scott Bell also doesn’t self-promote, but his books are starting to sound the same.  Just get his “Art of War for Writers” and be done with it.

At least when I read Creating the Novel and Short Story, only a few authors referred to their own work.

I can’t wait until I read “Now Write” for Sci Fi and see how many people refer to George R R Martin versus Brandon Sanderson.  And heck, Holly Lisle who’s written so many books I’ve never heard of.  I’m going to count how many times authors refer to their own work and get back to you.

Meanwhile, I’m going to look for a tank top.  I want to promote good tattoo art.

 

Hello, yeah, it’s been a while…

Not much…how ’bout you?

Now that I put that song into your head, I do apologize for not writing sooner.  Or as much.  It’s not because I haven’t been writing – oh no.  I’ve been writing nearly every day for the last year.

I’ve read a ton of books on writing, also, which I’ll get a chance to review here.  Right now I’m reading “Right to Write” by Julia something-or-other, the one who wrote The Artist’s Way.  It’s crunchy granola touchy-feely stuff, but realistic and down-to-earth.  She basically gives us all permission to “write badly”.

I know when I write, especially for 800 Words, I try to write a story.  Something fully formed like Athena from Zeus’s skull.  I write a plot, with characters, a beginning, a middle and an end.  I have the end in mind most of the time, but sometimes I don’t get it until the middle, or I get a different end in the middle, or it just writes itself to the end that has nothing to do with the beginning.  I’ve noticed a couple of items that the beginning rambles on.

I’m going to try and ramble here more often.  And tweet.  Hey, if I’m going to be a best-selling author, I have to keep my life up to date, don’t I?

One second of your life

Could one second a day change your life? Here’s how!
via Time to Write by j4london@aol.com (Jurgen Wolff) on 12/10/12

…

Or, the idea I like best:

* At the end of each day, write one or two sentences about the most interesting thing you did that day, or the most interesting thought you had, or the most interesting thing you heard or read.

For writers, this could become a great source of ideas as well, and it means you’ll write at least a line or two even on days that you don’t have time for a proper writing session.

I suggest you get a nice notebook or datebook or even a calendar to use.

 

I did this last year, and found it to be not just a great way of keeping a diary, but also a place to put ideas and quick notations on the day.  I found that a full page-a-day was too large, and instead got a weekly/monthly calendar, and that was perfect.

All it takes if a few seconds a day to sum up your day, or something that you saw, or the germ of a story idea, and write it down.  You can also put it in your smartphone’s calendar.

Review: Writer’s Workbook

Publisher: Writer’s Digest Yearbook.  Yearbook, Fall, 2012.  $9.99

This, I think, is better and a lot more up-to-date than most of the writing books out there.  It discusses not only fiction but also non-fiction.

Writer’s Digest is well-known for such things as “25 Ways to Improve your Writing in 30 Minutes.”  There’s an article of that here, written by different writers.  It’s also one of the best articles here.

The first part of the magazine is about “Essentials of the Craft” including grammar, starting stories,  and using gender  when writing.  The second section is about “Elements of Fiction” and includes and interview with Harlan Coben and RL. Stine.  It starts from the outline all the way to the conclusionof the story, and includes pacing, showing feelings, and dialogue.  The third part of the book is about “Non-Fiction Techniques”, including how to write up an interview, travel pieces, restaurant reviews, op-eds, and memoirs.

Unfortunately, this being a magazine, it’s only out for a limited time.  Pick it up when you get a chance, as this will help anyone who does any kind of writing, or who wants to try their hand at a different genre.

Another day, more butt in chair.

There’s lots of quotes on how to be a writer, and most of them are variations of “do the work”. Put the butt in the chair. Arrive at the page every day. Even if what you write is garbage and has nothing to do with the project you’re on, you should write, every day.

During the months of November (NaNo!) and December, I hardly found time to write because of, you guessed it, my day job. Now that things have finally let up so that I can stick my head out of the proverbial piles of papers that is my Outlook inbox and look around to see what happened over the last two months.

My kid grew a couple of inches, is in the middle of another growth spurt, and is eating like a Hobbit (Second Dinner, anyone?).

My computer sounds like an airplane. A new one is due.

I have six gig of RAM in my computer instead of eight all of a sudden.

Champions Online is eating up my CPU. Wait, I have only one CPU? I thought I had two.

The Patriots are aiming for another Division East championship. I think? I don’t know, I know that they are winning.

And why did they make a Hobbit movie? Don’t they have like three of them already?

I am going to make April (Script Frenzy) be my NaNo this year. I had a great idea for NaNo, but it sounded too “Twilighty” for my tastes. I may post my garbage-writing here, or on 800 words (marked down to 500 words) or even on Protagonize (I’m under warwriter). I think maybe the polished stuff on Protagonize to get the maximum amount of exposure, and the first drafts on 800 words.

That’s my new years’ resolution this year – to get feedback and criticism. I’m going to try to not write in a vacuum.