Tag: process

Honing the mind

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I hope I’m a better writer than I was ten years ago. I’ve worked at it, and along the way, I’ve had a few sales — which told me I was doing something right, even if it wasn’t consistent. So how do I work at it?

I read — fiction, to see what’s out there, to absorb story patterns, to see how other people have managed to deal with trick situations; nonfiction, to research, to find new ideas, to stretch my brain; and writing books, to try to absorb lessons specifically about how to do things.

And I write. Sometimes, I write in a binge. Others, I might manage a few hundred words a day for months. Sometimes, the count goes up. Sometimes it goes down.

As far as I know, those are the keys to being a writer: read and write.

Today’s post was inspired by the topic “Improving Craft” — June’s topic in the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Be sure to check out the next posts in the series, by Sandra Barret and D. M. Bonanno.

If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and find out their thoughts on first stories, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site. Read and enjoy!

My uniqueness

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Rocky start this year with the Merry-Go-Round Tour. I missed the first couple of months completely, and I’m a day late with this one. Such is life.

Today, I’m supposed to talk about what, in marketing speak, would be my USP: unique selling point (or unique selling proposition). Yeah, I hate marketing speak.

Now, obviously, no two stories (barring plagiarism) are identical, so it stands to reason that by definition my stories are unique. On the other hand, everything fits into a genre and has relationships with other things in that genre. My cozy mysteries take place in a small town, the murders are solved by an amateur rather than the chief of police, and the cast of characters is full of quirks. My science fiction has spaceflight or aliens (or both); my fantasy uses magic and beings that don’t exist in our world.

So what would make someone who doesn’t know me pick up one of my stories rather than somebody else’s? What is it that I bring to the table? Continue reading

Looking back

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Back in January, I talked about my grandiose plans for the year. Yeah, that didn’t work out so well.

I didn’t finish the fantasy novel yet, although I did submit it to Viable Paradise.

I’m still working on fine-tuning the next cozy mystery, and I haven’t started the other series I mentioned I was thinking about.

I haven’t written the other middle grade novels nor the Dreampunk series novellas.

In fact, the only things on the list I’ve managed were the application to Viable Paradise and getting The Christmas Tree Farm Murders into paper (but not audio).

Yet for all that, I feel I’ve made progress this year. I’ve isolated things to work on improving, I’ve tweaked my work flow, and I think I’m finally getting a handle on how much I can reasonably expect myself to get done in a given time frame (the fact that it will never be as much as I want is depressing but must be accepted).

I’m going to see how some of what I’ve learned shakes out over the next two or three months before I set solid goals for 2014. I think the one thing I’m sure of is hat hey won’t be as far-reaching as this year’s were.

How about you? At the 5/6 mark of the year, what are you still aiming to get done in the next couple of months?

Today’s post was inspired by the topic “2013 project review” — November’s topic in the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Be sure to check out the next posts in the series, by Sandra Barret and D. M. Bonanno.

If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and find out their thoughts on first stories, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site. Read and enjoy!

Same old, same old? Not so much

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I’ve tried all the various routines, from writing in every spare moment to writing a specific number of words per day (mostly in the first couple of NaNoWriMos I participated in) to binge writing. I’ve written things straight through from beginning to end and gone back months or years later to pick up something that I set aside. Lately, I’ve been getting partway through the day on Friday and realizing I should write a flash to post.

I’ve written longhand in notebooks and on random index cards that are lying around. I have written in Word, in a plain text editor, and in Scrivener. I’ve written first thing in the morning when I sit down to the computer, and I have written late into the night (and on into the next morning) because I didn’t want to walk away from what I was doing.

I have also gone weeks without writing a word of fiction, instead spending time with my family, with books, with my crafts.

. . . so I don’t have a routine.

That’s okay. Although there are impassioned people who insist that if you don’t write every day, or if you don’t write first thing in the morning, or if you don’t outline first, or if you do outline, you’re not a real writer, I’ve never believed that. The bottom line is do I create stories that people want to read? As long as the answer is yes, I’m doing my job.

Even if it’s not routinely.

Today’s post was inspired by the topic “Writing routines”– April’s topic and theme in the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Be sure to check out the next posts in the series, by Sandra Barret and D. M. Bonanno.

If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and find out their thoughts on first stories, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site. Read and enjoy!

Deadlines and me

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In my freelance work, deadlines are a fact of life. Every project comes with one, and I know exactly how much time I have to complete the work.

For that reason, I’ve always liked themed anthologies and contests: I know how much time I have to write the story and, generally, how long it should be. NaNoWriMo also comes with a very specific, built-in deadline, and I’ve participated every year since 2003. Blogging deadlines work for me, too — my Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour post on the second of every month, and the A to Z Blog Challenge.

Do you notice something that all of these have in common? They’re externally created. When I read Alex’s post yesterday (Deadlines? Deadlines? What are deadlines?), I agreed totally. Self-imposed deadlines are a pain in the neck, and there are no consequences to letting them slip.

What I’m finding useful this year, though, is combining self-imposed deadlines with external expectations. I’ve promised to have something new up for sale every month, and because I know people are waiting (even if it is just a handful of people right now), I make sure I get something done. Note the generic “something” here — that’s key. I’m not committing myself to any particular story or novel getting done and posted in a given month. Eventually, I’ll probably have to do that as I build an audience and they expect reliability. Right now, it’s just focus on getting things done and building that audience.

What do you find helpful to meet your goals, writing or otherwise?

Today’s post was inspired by the topic “Deadlines: Love’em or hate’em?”– May’s topic in the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. The next post in the tour will be on the 4th, by D. M. Bonanno. Be sure to check it out.

If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and find out their thoughts on crossing genre lines, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site. Read and enjoy!

Y is for You Never Know

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I had real trouble with this one. I couldn’t come up with any Y words that directly said “epic fantasy.” I played with ideas, like using a list including words like yataghan and yogurt to talk about how specificity aids in bringing a world to life, or using Yahtzee in the title and segueing into the use of games in fiction, or talking about Yog-Sothoth (although Lovecraft is most definitely not epic fantasy), or saying something like “Y is for fantasy spelled backward” (though I couldn’t figure out where to go from there). Continue reading

My not-so-little room

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Computer and front window

The family computer where I do most of my writing. The glider on the right side of the picture is my brainstorming spot. (The balloons are from Boskone, if you're curious.)

I do most of my writing at the computer — currently, the family computer, which is positioned in the living room so I can look out the front window to rest my eyes if need be.

I do a lot of free-writing and brainstorming in the glider chair next to the computer. It puts my back to the window, but I get plenty of natural light. This is where I sat, for example, as I worked through what I wanted to write each day for NaNoWriMo this past November — what difficulties and solutions Jack Hawthorne was going to run into. The chair served me well then, as it does now while I’m thinking through an epic fantasy I’d like to write.

I’m not limited to one place, or even one room, to write, however. I have notebooks and pens scattered around the house, and I’ve been known to write short stories in bed, haiku while sitting outside, and random notes wherever I am. I don’t require specific items or place to write, which means I can write whenever I want.

I have a dream room, though, one I’ll probably never have — an octagonal tower room with windows all around and a spiral staircase coming up from below. The lower part of each wall is lined with bookcases — some reference books, some I’ve written, some books written by friends. My desk sits so I can look out the windows at the neighborhood. (I haven’t figured out yet how to deal with glare on the computer screen.) It’s a lovely dream, anyway.

Today’s post was inspired by the topic “My favorite writing place”– March’s topic in the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. The next post in the tour will be on the 4th, by D. M. Bonanno. Be sure to check it out.

If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and find out their thoughts on crossing genre lines, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site. Read and enjoy!

An Ideal Reader

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I like to make things for people, which you might realize if you’ve been following this blog for a while. There’s the quilt I’m working on for my son (and the quilt I gave to my niece a couple of years ago). Last month, I took time away from quilting to do some knitting and make the sweaters I showcased on the blog last week. I’ve made many afghans for friends over the years, and when I was in grad school, I was known to bake birthday cakes occasionally for people in our lab. There’s something very pleasing about giving somebody something that was made just for them, created with them in mind.

That being the case, it should make sense that I create stories and books with someone specific in mind, right?

Certainly other authors do: Stephen King, in On Writing, says he always writes with his wife in mind, and when she smiles as he’s reading, he knows he got it right. John Scalzi has said (for example, here) he writes science fiction with his in-laws in mind because he knows if they enjoy it, others who don’t primarily read SF will as well.

But the middle-grade horror that I wrote for NaNo this year? My son didn’t even like the premise of it and thought it wouldn’t be worth reading.

My husband, when he reads something I’ve sold that’s been posted on-line, invariably seems to sound surprised when he says it’s good. That’s when he comments.

My mom has given me feedback on stories ranging from “I really liked it” to “It certainly was different.”

Clearly, my family members are not my ideal readers, which left me convinced for a long time that I didn’t have anyone particular I wrote for. I just wrote the stories that appealed to me and hoped they would find readers out in the wild.

I still write things because they appeal to me, but I realized around the middle of December that I do have an ideal reader. My friend Bonnie, who has critiqued many a story for me, is the first one I think of when I want to share a snippet of something I’ve just written. When I wanted to know whether The Christmas Tree Farm Murders was ready to go, I asked her whether she would buy it in a store if she didn’t know me. She’s the one I bounce ideas of off, talk through plot problems with, and squee at when I have good news. She’s ideal because she loves my writing but won’t hesitate to tell me when something doesn’t make sense or doesn’t work.

I write for me, but she’s my barometer, and for that, I thank her.

Today’s post was inspired by the topic “My ideal reader”– January’s topic in the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour — an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy. The next post in the tour will be on the 4th, by D. M. Bonanno. Be sure to check it out.

If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and find out their thoughts on crossing genre lines, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. You can find links to all of the posts on the tour by checking out the group site. Read and enjoy!