A to Z Challenge: Ideas

Usually, the whole writing journey starts with a single idea. You're probably going to get that new idea while you're innocently reading a book or watching a movie. 

Maybe you already have the first beginnings of an idea forming in your mind. That stirring in your soul when you close the book. That thought about: This can't be the end. What about so-and-so? What will happen to them if something or the other happens? 

And then, the next thing you know, you have an idea. Some people dismiss that idea and open a new book. Some of us, though, are consumed by that idea until we just want to write a few pages to get it out. 

But a few pages isn't enough. So you write a few more. 

You fall in love with the idea. With the characters. With the sheer joy of exploring your newly created scenario. With the joy of pure creation. 

At this point, my friend, you're screwed. 

The muse has you hooked, and she's a cruel cruel mistress. You'll be grumpy and agitated when you don't write. And often wracked by fears and doubts as you do. And yet somehow, you're still simply not happy unless you're writing. 

And then, as you settle into the routine (you know, the way people who ride a roller coaster again and again eventually can sleep on it.), things become complicated. 

Because while you adore the story you're working on, a new idea comes to you. 

Now suddenly you have a choice. Most new kids (me included when I was there) let my inspiration and ideas carry me from project to project. But the thing is, it's a real risk that you'll end up getting lost in your million new ideas. So lost that you won't know which one to pick up and which one to let lie. 

That's when the new kids start crying something along the line of: "Oh I just can't finish projects!" 

Well... no. You haven't taught yourself how to see anything through. Trust me on this: your muse is a terrible enabler. She will give you five new ideas for every single one you start. And five for each of those. And so on. 

It's your job to say: "Thanks muse, but can we please finish this story first?" 

It's always a choice you're making, even if you don't realize it yet. But if you ever want to get done, you need to commit to finishing one thing. Then the next. And the next. 

Or, you might be like me and you'll learn how to actually work on seven projects at any given time and still finish all of them in a year. 

But that's a skill I learned first by learning how to finish one book, and then two. So focus on that first. Focus on finishing your stories, or your ideas will remain ideas only. 

Where did your first idea strike you? How soon after that did the second idea hit? 

A to Z Challenge: Help

This is probably one of the more important things that writers should know about writing. We all need help at some point.

This can possibly taking the form of getting your spouse to do the dishes so you can steal some writing time. Other times, it's when you're stuck writing and the only person who can help will be another writer.

When I started out, (long before I started blogging) I was lucky enough to have a published writer in the house. However, I started moving over to the spec fic dark side and my Gran just isn't all that interested in it (she writes poetry and romance.) Also, she publishes exclusively in South Africa and I focused more on foreign markets, so it just meant that... well... I needed a lot of help from foreign writers.

Sometimes, that makes for... interesting... dinner conversation.

Back to the point (I'm afraid I'm REALLY good at digressing.)

Sometimes, you might simply need to have someone who knows read your story and tell you it doesn't suck. And if it does suck, to tell you what's wrong.

Sometimes, you will be so tired of looking at your own story while editing it that you can't see your own mistakes anymore. Or you'll need someone to read your query. Or to say "There there" when you got your hundredth rejection (trust me. Non-writers don't EVER get it).

No writer is an island. At some point, we all need some advice or a helping hand. So get yourself involved in the writing community.

Just remember: Be the friend you need. 

You want to be helped down the line? MAKE SURE YOU HELP OTHER WRITERS RIGHT NOW. 

What do you usually need help with? 

A to Z Challenge: Guts and Glory

So you've decided to write a novel. Congratulations! You have more guts than you've ever imagined. Oh, you don't know it yet, which is why I'm informing you of this.

If you're going to be vocal about you writing aspirations, you're going to meet with people (who I will be writing about later if my Internet holds) who are going to tell you that it isn't a big deal.

They're wrong.

It's a very big deal.

Huge.

Because the one thing that characterizes those vocal masses is that they've probably never even written anything themselves. And therefore, they have NO clue about what it takes to actually write anything.

They don't understand the fear of failure, the insecurities, the doubts, the wondering if your idea actually sucks and no one's telling you, the feeling that you *might* be a fraud and everyone but you is sure of it.

When it comes to the trials and triumphs of being a writer, they don't know jack squat.

So just ignore them and write that dang thing. And know right now that it's a great thing that you have guts enough to start, because it's going to take guts to keep writing.

You've (hopefully) written my other posts. You know by now that writing isn't a cake-walk. So you'll probably have figured out that writing takes guts. Lots and lots of guts.

And for some of us, there will be glory. Lots of it. But you need guts to get there.

Do you have it? 

A to Z Challenge: Failed Drafts

Isn't it just wonderful how life just screws over our best-laid plans? Almost exactly five minutes after I updated the first round of posts, my Internet Connection failed completely, and I was stuck without it all day.

So I'm still a day behind, which is sort of a theme for me at the moment. I'm also a day behind (give or take a few hundred words) for Camp NaNoWriMo. That said, I've written 12k words and edited half a book in a week, so I've got nothing to complain about.

Hopefully today, if the Internet holds, I'll catch up with the A to Z Challenge. I should be caught up with Camp NaNo by tomorrow.

Now, I'm going to pretend this isn't a bit of a non-sequitur and say:

Speaking of writing and NaNo, do you realize how many rough drafts you won't finish before you finish one? 

My number is seven. Yep, I tried - and failed - to write a rough draft seven times before I managed to get through one.

I think all writers have at least one "failed" draft.

Ah. You picked up on the quotes there. Let me explain them.

See, the same people who think that writing is a journey filled with bunnies and unicorns also think that it's incredibly easy to finish a rough draft.

Most of those people haven't tried writing as much as a short-story. Never mind a novel.

NEW TANGENT! Not saying a short story is in any way inferior to a novel. Once you get past the how-the-heck-do-I-fit-this-in-less-than-10k-words jitters, it's a significant amount easier to finish than a 50k, 60k, 80k, 120k draft. If only for the reason that 10k is so much faster to write. Fewer odds of your muse or anything else distracting you, for example. Or the what-the-hell-am-I-doing-I-can't-write-shit jitters to hit home, for that matter. It's for this reason that I usually recommend that new writers who don't have a particular idea for a novel try their hands at various length short stories first and work their way up. It's a wonderful way to get into the habit of putting thoughts into words without the word count intimidating them.

TANGENT TO THE TANGENT: I omit the truth that I find short stories devilishly difficult to write as well. No use scaring the minions before converting them to the dark side. MUHAHAHAHA!

Ahem. Enough digressing for now.

The point I'm trying to make is that if you've never even tried writing any sort of fiction, you don't know how fiendish it is to actually write it.

So when you're new and haven't any idea about what it takes to finish  a story, you're going to have a few (or quite a few) unfinished drafts and possibly a significant chunk of your ego as collateral damage. This, my friend, is not failure.

It's part of the process. No amount of me or any other writer telling you how to write will teach you how to finish a draft. You learn by trial and error. This naturally means that you're going to make mistakes, and those mistakes will mean that you won't be able to finish a particular draft just yet.

Oh, you noticed the "just yet" too. Sharp. You're very sharp. See sometimes, you're going to realize that your idea just isn't panning out. So you shove that draft into a drawer (or some forgotten place on your hard drive) and move on to the next idea.

...

You better be moving on or all your plot bunnies will meet with some unfortunate accident. 

You'll keep putting away unfinished ideas, but all is not lost. First, you're learning, and you're probably going to take what you did like from one unfinished draft to the next story you try to write. This way, your skills keep evolving until one day, you write "The End."

Then, after you've celebrated. Or after another "failed" draft, you'll get some insight into what will make that one draft in your drawer work. Then you'll start that one again and actually finish that. (Or it might take ten or so further lessons, but hey, you're still learning.)

In other words. There are finished drafts or unfinished ones.

NO FAILURES. 

The sooner you learn this, the more fun you'll have.

Veteran writers: How many unfinished drafts did you have before finishing your first? New kids: You are moving on, right? 

A to Z Challenge: Examine Your Motives

Well this is annoying. Yesterday I was stuck without Internet yet again. The problem this time being that I now don't have an open day in which to catch up. I guess I could just be a day behind on Sunday, but suddenly, I just don't trust my Internet to be there on the weekend.

So instead, I'll be doing (or trying to) two posts today. One now, and one later. (And the same on my other blog. Yeah no. I'm nothing if not determined.)

For this post's thing writers should know about being writers:

Why do you write?

This might sound like a silly enough question, but really it's incredibly important. As you might have gathered from my previous posts, writing is almost never just smooth sailing.

In fact, it might probably be the most challenging thing you've ever tried in your life. I think that quite a few people who've been reading my more recent posts will have wondered why I even put myself through the process of writing.

It's a good question. A fair one, I suppose. And one I need to return to every now and then like a touch-stone that keeps me on course.

Like when my publishing house and I split ways. (Not going there, but let's just say it wasn't a nice break-up.) Like when I queried over two hundred agents and got way more nos than I got eh... maybes. Or like when my book gets published and it simply doesn't seem to reach its readers. Or it does, and the readers don't like it like you'd thought they would (which actually implies they weren't your readers after all.)

When these sorts of things happen, the question actually pops up all on its own. Why am I putting myself through all this crap?

And if you're doing it to become rich or famous or infamous, or to show everyone around you how good you are at writing... You better hope you get it right the first time around, because if not, being a writer will make you a miserable person. In fact, if you've reached this stage and you're still writing, I applaud your determination.

Simply put: I wouldn't be able to go through all this if I didn't love writing. Not the moment I get a "yes" from an agent or publisher. Not the moment when someone lets me know that the read and loved my book. Not the moment when the first monies start rolling in. Not the moment Oprah (or whoever it is these days that makes a book "matter") lets the whole world know she likes my book.

Don't get me wrong. Those other things are awesome.

They're just not the reason I write. And that's a good thing, because I can't count on any of those things to actually happen to me when I'm busy with a story.

My love for my story, for losing myself in worlds of my own creation. For actually creating a story that's my own instead of experiencing someone else's creation...

That's constant. 

Maybe your reasons will differ a bit from mine. Many people use writing as a catharsis. Many people just love to escape. But all of us enjoy at least most of the process of creating our stories.

The rest of it, is (and should be) secondary.

So why do you write? 

A to Z Challenge: Discipline

So... I know this might be the way to madness, but I never (ever ever never) schedule my A to Z Challenge posts. I really do, and always have, write all of them off the cuff on the day they're supposed to go live. (Or, in this case, as soon as possible after.)

It's a system that works for me.

Usually. Yesterday my internet connection went just as I was preparing to open my editor page to get this post written. Luckily it's on now, though. So I'm quickly writing this while hoping that the connection holds.

Continuing my theme of Things Writers Should Know About Writing, I'm back to my old habit of destroying dreams and sharing unwanted reality checks.

This one's a biggie.

A lot of people (and I will, if the internet holds, devote an entire post to them) think that writing a book is this wonderful trail with bunnies and unicorns and inspiration and stuff. They think that every morning, writers hop up out of bed saying:

"Oh boy! My heart is all a-flutter because I am inspired to write! I love this book to death, so fa-la-la-la-la write writerly write write write. Oh look! I finished another story. Query!"

The reality, I fear, usually is something closer to this:

“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.” 

Dorothy Parker

Not very bunnies and unicorns, is it? 

That's because the rest of humanity thinks of muses as these smiling kind creatures. And they think that writers are blessed among men because they get to have a love affair with their muse. 

The reality... 

Very. Very. Different. 

Writers' relationships with their muses tend to be more love/hate. We love them to death, but sometimes we'd really just like to kill them. 

So no, it's not inspiration that gets us through the story. It's not love either, I'm sad to say. (Although writing without loving your story sets your story up for failure anyway.) Even if you love your story idea, it's not going to go anywhere if you're going to wait for some sort of magic moment when all the stars align and your muse decides s/he likes you after all. Trust me. That is the road to madness. 

No, dear. Discipline is what finishes stories. Sitting down and writing even when you're suddenly in love with a new idea (because your bitch of a muse has seen it fit to "inspire" you with something different. Don't do it. It's a trap.) Even when you feel like watching cute kitties on YouTube. Even when you don't see bunnies and unicorns on your writerly road today. (Because let's face it, you won't for most of your writing days.) 

Have you written lately? No? Then what the heck are you doing on the internet? Go now. Go go go. 

Every second you don't, I'm shooting a plot bunny. 

A to Z Challenge: Comfort

Hey all! Before I start, just want to wish everyone who celebrates a blessed Easter and Pesach. 

So far, in my writing about Things Writers Should Know About Writing, I've been pretty doom and gloom about it all.

Far be it from me to seem like a one-trick pony.

No. Today I'm sharing one of my favorite things about writing.

At the start, everything is strange and new, but as we go on, the project we work on starts to feel a lot like a home away from home.

Okay. So... maybe you're writing a horror featuring a serial killer that's out to destroy your beloved home. In that case, I wish you all the best. I also hope that you've got a working arrangement with said serial killer so you two actually get along in some regard.

Otherwise your happy place might not be all that happy.

For me, though, there's this one world I've created for my first ever published book. Every time I return to it, it really feels a lot like going home. Needless to say, I think it's a WONDERFUL thing that this book was the first in a series.

I just really like that particular place in my head. It's just so comfy. That's not to say that everything is perfect in that world. No no. That would make things boring, but I love the place and its people. Warts and all.

And I think that this is (or at least should be) completely normal.

Do you also have a go-to happy place in your writing worlds? Or is it always the one in your current Work in Progress? 

A to Z Challenge: Beginnings

Continuing with my theme of Things Writers Should Know About Writing, I'm exploring one of the most difficult things that writers encounter. 

Beginnings 

If you've ever started a fiction project, you must have some idea of what I'm talking about. 

Blank pages are terrifying. No seriously. I've had to do with very few writers in my life who doesn't know what it's like to have a bright idea, but draw a blank once we have a blank page in front of us. Suddenly, the words we'd had is gone. And we sit. 

And sit. 

And sit. 

Staring at that blank page, pens or typing fingers poised. 

Waiting for the words when they don't want to come. 

Then you finally get past it and write the first chapter, the second... the third... You start to think you're safe. After all, you're in the middle of the story now, right? 

Wrong. 

Every chapter has a beginning, which means that every chapter has a beginning. And that blank you draw can strike at any of them. 

The good news is: this is absolutely normal. 

The bad news: Well... there's not really a cure. Those blanks will come and there's not all that much that you can do to stop it. 

More good news: You can deal with it. When I get stuck on a blank page, I write down anything vaguely related to what I want to happen. Once that sentence is on the page, it's a lot less difficult to continue. Other people try to cut down on the number of blank beginnings by always ending in the middle of a scene or chapter. Some people, follow Jack Torrance's example in The Shining. Not the bit where he chops through the door. Although, if you're really that frustrated with beginnings... You might want to go have a lie down. 

No, I'm talking about his habit of writing All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Basically, he writes anything on that blank page so it isn't blank anymore. 

It works. No really. Any of my suggestions work because our fear of the blank page is a psychological issue. So, the solution is to find a way to trick the brain into thinking the blank page isn't there any more. 

See? Simple. 

Now PUT THAT AX DOWN!

What do you beat the blank page blank outs? If you're new, which suggestion are you going to try? 

A to Z Challenge: Alone

Hi all! Just a heads-up that I've also posted on Unicorn Bell today about my dilemma when a nasty character changes the way the story's unfolding.

But now, let's get into the Challenge.

My theme for this year is The Things All Writers Should Know About Being Writers. I'm starting with a biggie.

Alone

Unless you're doing a co-writing project, this is probably going to be the word that best describes your writing experience.

There are other words (aggravating, satisfying, challenging, ambitious, for example) that also work, but if it comes down to it, writing is a solitary experience. Yes, you're still going to go outside and live life. You've still got your family and friends. 

There comes a time, though, that you're going to have to withdraw from it all (even if for only a few hours) so that you can get some words down. 

When you're new to this writing gig, you're probably going to find that no one else understands this. They will want to draw you into their activities, to distract you with things like wanting some of your time. And even if they're supportive of your writing, they still won't understand the amount of blood, sweat and tears that actually goes into a story. 

They definitely won't understand what compels you to withdraw in the first place. 

You're going to try to explain it and will probably fail. My own family has accused me of being anti-social, a hermit, of thinking myself better than them, of losing all outside interests etc etc back when I was starting out with seriously writing to finish a project. Were they right? More often than not, no. Basically, they were worried about me because I, a TV addict, had suddenly stopped watching TV in the evenings and withdrew after work and dinner so that I could write. 

Because in the end, no matter how social we try to make writing by connecting to other writers, writing is a solitary activity. 

Just don't take it too far, though. Don't begrudge life for taking you away from your writing for a few short hours. It's easy to become so absorbed in our writing that we don't want to do anything else. But the good memories are made by doing things with those you love. 

So make sure that you're never so alone that you don't really live. 

Veteran writers: How do you keep life balanced with withdrawing to write?
New writers: Have you been struggling with this? 

Heads-up! I've changed my comment form to pop-ups because the embedded version seems to be giving some people trouble. Word verification is turned off, though, so you can ignore the block that says "Prove you're not a robot." Sadly, I can't seem to remove it. Stupid Blogger.