Today I attended a workshop entitled "How to be a Writer and have a real life". One topic was procrastination, which according to freedictionary.com means: "To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness."
The word HABITUAL sounds so harsh but I realized it did describe my recent writing routine or rather the lack of a routine. I had several shallow reasons that I used to validate the lack of productivity.
After this realization, I have determined that the word for this year will be FOCUS! How do I plan on getting out of this procrastination rut I seem to be stuck in and FOCUS on the writing projects I currently have in progress?
1. Setup blocks of time in my day for writing. Once I added up the time I spend reading Facebook posts, watching you tube videos and television, I realized there are actually several hours in my day that could be better utilized. I say hours because I have only a small apartment and dog to care for after work.
2. Use a calender system! I have three sets of small stickers I bought in the school supply section and a notebook size calender. One represents writing done on my work in progress, one is for my blog posts and the third represents work done on my Writers Club projects. My goal is to have at least 5 stickers a week for my WIP, 3 for my blog and 1 for Club projects.
3. Save editing for once a week. Let the words pour out onto my screen and resist the urge to "perfect" each paragraph.
For further and more in depth information about the Procrastination of a Writer, I recommend the article "Procrastination" on the University of South Carolina at Chapel Hill's website. This article challenged me to think of some reasons I may have for avoiding certain tasks.
This article mentioned Five myths of procrastination and I readily recognized some of the signs in myself. Believing I cannot work in a messy environment and my writing has to be perfect were just two of the examples that resonated with me. I tend to spend large amounts of time rewriting the same passages and making little progress. One of the reasons I enjoy NaNoWriMo is because I am free to let the words flow and there is no time to pour over every paragraph several times.
Now that I have finished this blog post, I will load the dishwasher and then enjoy a few hours watching "Gone with the Wind".
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Friday, November 1, 2013
NaNoWriMo is here!
Now, if you need an exciting way to keep up with your word count, I highly recommend this site: Awesome Word Counters
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Get a full size PDF of this poster and check out Brian Clark on Copyblogger
I have finally returned to my blog after being away for more
than a year! I really lost my passion for writing during that difficult year. I
have since moved, taken on a new job and connected with a great group of
writers in my new area.
Invigorating my renewed passion was a mini workshop
featuring the author of a new favorite series of mine, Suzanne Johnson. She shared some of her writing techniques
with the group as she presented “Plotting for Pansters”. Her series, The Sentinels of New Orleans, is
categorized as urban fiction and the first chapter of Royal Street really
caught my attention. This paranormal
romance set in New Orleans and is far out of my normal reading zone. I have
always preferred a good cozy mystery. I
do however, like to read the works of authors that teach workshops and I got
hooked on this one. It did remind me in
a small way of the few books in the Sookie Stackhouse series I have read.
I am glad I attended this workshop because though I have
always been a plotter, I did take away several fresh ideas on weaving my story
together. She showed examples of how she
achieves weaving her plot, sub-plot and the characters into a solid book. I was
mesmerized by the colors and technique she uses in her outline to represent
each area.
I am filled with
ideas for stories and novels, but the middle and sometimes the endings escape
me. One of the books she recommended at
this mini workshop was Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell. I have spent the last two afternoons studiously
devouring this book and taking notes. I have a solid idea, but I am very
undecided about the ending.
With NaNoWriMo on the horizon, I hear people lamenting on
their lack of plot and I will recommend this book to them to help jump start
their stories. He lists several
techniques for finding inspiration and some examples that were actually
used in popular published works. I am also using a workbook that I will discuss in the next blog post.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
What do Soup and Layers of Writing have in Common?
Today I am honored to have a guest post by Becca Puglisi of The BookShelf Muse. I absolutely adore this website. It is an absolute must have research tool when I am working on a writing project
Soup
and Layers
It’s
hotter than You-Know-What right now in south Florida, an entire four months
during which no one in their right mind would want to eat something as warm and
wet as soup. But my husband and I were feeling a little sickish, so despite it
being a thousand degrees outside, I pulled out my Poppy’s ancient pot. As I was
adding ingredients every thirty minutes to my steaming pot of yum, I realized
how similar it was to adding layers to a story. The first draft is usually bare
bones, skeletal—more scaffolding than a complete structure. But once you start
revising, you add the layers that flesh it out and make it thicker,
three-dimensional. There are a lot of things you could add to achieve this
goal. Here are a few on my current revision list...
1. Subplots. These secondary plot lines add
complexity and girth and are almost always directly tied-in to the main plot
line. A romance that
complicates the main character's objective (The Hunger Games); a mystery that is solved at a
pivotal point in the story (Saving
Private Ryan); a
friendship that spurs the mc on in her quest to reach her goal (Wither). Each subplot should have
its own complete and smooth story arc. Keep this in mind when editing.
2. Theme. Some writers start with theme.
Others figure it out along the way. Still others have the entire first draft
done before they realize what the theme is (hello, me). However you do it, it's
crucial to at some point identify
your story's main theme
so you can touch on it from start to finish. Think of your theme as a secondary subplot, one that needs a full arc from
beginning to end. Revisit it frequently to add depth.
3. Character Renovations. Without fail, I get all the way
through my first draft before realizing that my main character is missing something.
I hate that. But that's what the revision process is for, no? To increase
depth, to give us the chance to add an endearing quirk, uncommon trait, or a
fatal flaw to be overcome. For maximum impact, make the trait one that either helps or hinders the character's ability to
achieve his or her overall goal.
4. Meaningful Repetitions. These include anything that
is repeated throughout the story and, ideally, grows or changes with the story.
Symbols and
metaphors are good
examples. Common phrases
or sayings.
Meaningful objects. Settings
also apply: a favorite hang-out, the place your character goes when she needs
downtime, a location that has specific significance or emotional importance.
These repeated pieces are like touchstones for the reader, connecting them with
the characters and embedding the reader more firmly into the story with each
repetition.
The soup
was awesome, by the way. Hopefully, my story will turn out just as good once
the revisions are done.
Becca
Puglisi is one half of The
Bookshelf Muse blogging duo, and co-author of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character
Expression. Listing the body language, visceral reactions and
thoughts associated with 75 different
emotions, this brainstorming guide is a valuable tool for showing, not telling,
emotion. The
Emotion Thesaurus is available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Smashwords,
and the PDF can be purchased directly from her blog.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Writer Wednesday - Taking a Trip
It's midweek and you
know what that means? We are three days away from the weekend! I know, I can't
wait too.
So, we had an amazing
turn out last week! Here are the stories we received:
It's my turn this
week! And it's my favorite part of the whole week because I get to choose the
photo! Yay!
First a special shout
to Carrie K. Sorensen and Jane Bussey
for being awesome co-hosts. Also, if you enjoy the blog hop and want to help
promote it, feel free to grab a button:
Click and copy this
code
Two more bits of news
before we get into the blog hop:
1) If you are
interested in being a co-host for the blog hop, let us know in the comments!
It's fairly easy, just making sure you are posting the blog hop post each
week!
2) Also, Carrie is
starting a new blog story hop! It's a lot of fun and it's so exciting to see
where the story goes according to each blogger. She has a post about it on her blog. Or contact
me via Google Plus. Or email
or Twitter.
So, without further ado! Here is
this week's writing prompt. Real quick, here are the
rules:
1) There will be one
photo, and five words - both of those elements must be a feature in the brief
story you create.
2) There is also a
500 word maximum.
3) You have until the
next Wednesday to create your post.
4) When you have
finished your post, come back here and link up below and let me (Or whoever
your blog host is) know in the comments that you have done so!
5) We were going to
tell you to not take this too seriously, but reconsidered it because we know
full well that asking writers to write something means that they will take it
seriously. So, take it seriously, but don't fret/panic/pass
out/hyperventilate/lose sleep/run in fear over it.
The Photo - Taken
from...I have no idea to be honest...
Five Words -
Generated with this Website
zip
hymn
computer
false
teeth
peacock
Alright! Once you
have your story created, post it below!
Monday, June 25, 2012
What if?
This morning as I was baking turnovers, the title of a book I am reading popped into my head. The book is "What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers" by: Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter. I will post a full review after I have worked through more of the exercises. The first exercise caught my attention right away. "First Sentences: beginning in the Middle" This exercise challenges the writer to to think of a line that will grab the readers attention. Just for fun, I pulled three books from very different genres from my shelves and looked at the opening lines.
Mystery fiction "Cover Her Face" by P.D. James: Exactly three months before the killing at Martingale Mrs. Maxie gave a dinner party.
Historical fiction "The Other Boleyn Girl" by Phillipa Gregory: "I could here a roll of muffled drums."
From the self help section, "The Secret by Rhonda Byrne: " A year ago, my life had collapsed around me."
Think a moment about the reasons you might want to read these books. I bought "Cover Her Face" in an airport book store. That first line and the remaining paragraph are what prompted a five minute decision on a book to read during my flight and subsequent layover. "The Other Boleyn Girl" started a love affair with all things Tudor. When I read the first line of "The Secret", I thought, Your Poor Lady. Like most others whose lives are not perfect though, I went on to read this book and the following two books by Rhonda Byrne.
I learned from this lesson to make that first line, in that first chapter, on that first page, really grab that reader. I want the reader to feel something or to arouse their curiosity until it cannot be contained. The three authors above demonstrate the ability to engage their readers. The "What If" techniques will give us the ability to form a great and memorable story.
So this morning, as I sit outside eating said turnovers, I will continue to think "What if?" I will ignore the obvious answer to "What If I eat too many turnovers?" This is research and they are fuel for the machine. Have a great day!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Writing on Wednesday
Welcome to another Creative
Wednesday Snapshot prompt. There were lots of different takes on last week's
inspiration, put together by Jane Bussey at A Writer's Muses. All the stories are
listed below, so you can click through them on your way to this week's
prompt.
It really is incredible how one
prompt can inspire so many different views. I'm so excited to be a part of a
blog hop that generates these different stories. This week, I got another
chance to put together our photo and words. So let's get to it.
And the rules are:
1) There will be one photo, and
five words - both of those elements must be a feature in the brief story you
create.
2) There is also a 500 word
maximum.
3) You have until the next
Wednesday to create your post.
4) When you have finished your
post, come back here and link up below and let me (Or whoever your blog host
is) know in the comments that you have done so!
5) We were going to tell you to
not take this too seriously, but reconsidered it because we know full well that
asking writers to write something means that they will take it seriously. So,
take it seriously, but don't fret/panic/pass out/hyperventilate/lose sleep/run
in fear over it.
Task
Digging
Flea
Price
Legend
There it is. So take a chance
this week and see how your story pieces itself together. Once you have it,
remember to share your link below.
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