There is a simple, brutal truth for authors out there: Everything gets in the way of writing. Eating, sleeping, exercising, spending time with family and friends, other jobs, cleaning, there is nothing that doesn't take time away from writing. Even editing takes time away from writing! In the face of this hard truth writers have to decide if the things that they are letting keep them from writing are actually more important than writing or if they are excuses we are using not to write. If your writing isn't progressing as you want it to, maybe you should examine your priorities and determine if they are truly in the order that you want them to be. I'm not saying that friends, family, sleep, and jobs aren't important, I'm just pointing out that there may be a difference between priorities and excuses. Right now my own excuse for not writing is that finishing editing my book is more important. But is it really? Are there really that many "one hit wonder" authors out there? And how do those compare to the super prolific writers? I sometimes need to take my own advice. Keep Writing and Edit On I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness! |
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I'm not exactly dancing on the walls ecstatic, but I am pleased to announce that my short story Alchemical Reminiscence of Death received an honorable mention in the second quarter 2015 judging of the Writers of the Future Contest [received an e-mail yesterday, but not officially official on their website yet]. It is a fantasy tale in which the protagonist's best friend delves too deeply into the wells of alchemy and she must take him to an ancient shrine of power if she hopes to save his soul. I hope to soon be able to announce that someone has published my story based on this prestigious almost award. Keep Writing and Edit On
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again. Witness! I was fortunate enough to have met Zig Zag at Penguicon this year. Rarely do you come across an individual who is so passionate and authentic both as a writer and as a person. His personality fills a room, but in the best way possible, and his eclectic writing will fill up your brain. Meet Zig Zag Claybourne in 3 questions. 1) What do you wish that people would ask you about your writing? “Would you stop writing and come run with me, run madly across a beach as the sun dissolves into the sea?” Seriously, I’ve never cared for the ‘Where do you get your ideas’ types of questions. I get them the same place as you with your marvelous brain! I just happen to put them on paper a bit more often. If somebody asked me if I’d stop writing—either temporarily or forever—to experience life with them I would love that question and immediately dig out my swim trunks o’bliss. 2) Which of your characters would you most like to meet and why? Raffic the Mad Buddha. Raffic’s an enigma wrapped inside a face punch in my latest book (plug!). He’s this short loner the heroes know who appears in the nick of time when he wants to appear, does what he wants to do, and somehow always manages to be the most dangerous person in the room even when he’s not in the room. He’s the closest of all my characters to my secret heart of hearts. It would be cool to see how long he could tolerate me. 3) Are the psychic whales in your latest novel, The Brothers Jetstream, a direct result of your advice to write something ridiculous into your story (and take it out later) to get you past writer's block? The Brother’s Jetstream is a special animal. Its psychic whale was always meant to be a crucial part of it. As the book took shape the question of how to integrate a massive psychic whale-thing into a sci fi adventure about the forever war between art and commerce became so ridiculous I decided to use The Psychic Whale Maneuver in subsequent works whenever I came up against a blockade: don’t just write through the blockage, write the most insane bit of glorious lunacy you can come up with but make it flow with the book as though always meant to be. It’s like a runner stumbling and then jumping up with thumbs up and a big grin on her face, then running on. Writing’s about boldly going. The Psychic Whale forces you to do that. Boldly. Just like there’s no crying in baseball, there’s no writer’s block in writing. Zig Zag Claybourne is on a quest for world literary domination or supple book groupies,with a decided preference one over the other. He is the author of two novels-- Neon Lights (an urban comedy) and By All Our Violent Guides (literary novella) and a wild short story collection entitled Historical Inaccuracies. Just released: the only Brothers Saving The World Featuring Psychic Whales sci fi adventure you’ll ever need: The Brothers Jetstream. Keep Writing and Edit On
I Write, I Edit, I Write Again! Witness! I smile at the gate attendant and hand over the wad of crumpled bills. She beams back at me. "Do you need a map of the park?" I nod. "Yes please." She hands over my receipt and the glossy pamphlet map along with a bright orange piece of paper with an image of a bear on it. "Enjoy your visit." "Thank you." As I pull away from the gate my eyes are drawn down from the towering pine trees and winding road to the illuminated gas light on the dashboard. The lingering smile on my face fades, but I refocus on the narrow road ahead of me. Slanted sunlight dapples through the trees and sparkles off the creeks that follow the road. It is such breathtaking beauty that I nearly cause an accident or three. Shaking my head, I scan a sign which confirms that I'm going in the right direction. Though I asked for a map, I have my own and I know it like the back of my hand. My only worry is that I'll run out of gas before I get there, but it doesn't matter that much. Other cars and RV's crowd the road around me, especially in places where the steam of geothermal activity drifts up from the ground. I grit my teeth as I make my way past them. Eventually the traffic thins and valley meadows with rivers fall away to cliffs and canyons. Though the pine trees are ever-present, some are only dead, blackened spires left from wildfires. The car begins to sputter, and I search for a place to pull off. Budding from the road just past the next turn I spy a turnoff and pull into it. I turn off the car and retrieve my backpack and walking stick from the passengers seat. Scanning around, I see no signs or other cars, but still I don't linger. I shoulder my backpack, turn from the car and walk straight away from it without looking back. The ground is soft and marshy except where fallen pines crisscross it, and soon my faded tennis shoes are soaked through with dirty-smelling water. But the sights, smells, sounds, and feel of the place overwhelm me, and soon the road has disappeared behind the trees. Pine, dust, and the scent of marshy water become more poignant as the warmth of the day fades into the chill of the night. Sometimes the going is slow because the trees are so close together that I cannot squeeze between them and have to choose a different route. Once or twice I startle a squirrel or chipmunk, but I don't stop to see which. As long as it isn't a bear, I'm alright. My stomach rumbles with hunger but I don't stop walking because night is falling. The mosquitoes are relentless. They follow me in a cloud and buzz in my ears and land on my hands when they can find no other area of exposed skin. In my mind the rises and falls in the landscape and the swift but cold, shallow river I cross pass on the map in head with a red X coming closer and closer. Exhausted, feet cold and sore, I break through into a clearing and know that I have arrived. I am as far from a point of civilization here as I can be without climbing a mountain. Inhaling deeply, I ponder the wilderness. It is a strange place. So remote and feral, yet we call it ours. How can this land, that could swallow me up, be owned by the public? As I stand deep within the park's belly listening to the wailing of coyotes, I know that this land is wild and I am Alone. Papers and signposts mean nothing on this hillside. I take off my backpack and sit in the tall, scratchy grass watching the darkening sky. I will sit here until blue turns to purple and purple turns to black, and then the blackness is filled with stars. Here, I will come face to face with the place called Yellowstone. Keep Writing and Edit On
Hello, again. I have returned refreshed and rejuvenated from distant lands beyond the Mississippi. Today I want to wax poetic for a moment the virtues of travel with respect to the writer. In this day and age it is easy to hop on the internet and see pictures of faraway places to help you form a setting for a story not in your own backyard. However, even if you write fiction, there is no substitute for actually BEING in a place. To submerge all of your senses in a place: see it, smell it, taste it, feel it, touch it, hear it, is to truly experience it. Even if I am never to write a tale that takes place at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, I now have recorded in my memory a unique place that may help me someday to write about the heat and odd oppression at the bottom of a canyon on a newly terraformed mars. My point being, the more experiences you have as a writer the more sights, sounds, smells, etc. you have to draw from when writing. Additionally, traveling and experiencing new things is a wonderful source of creative inspiration. I admit that I probably have more wanderlust than most, and I further admit that you can certainly write excellent stories about a place you've never been (i.e. Jim Butcher Re: Chicago). On the other hand, aren't all great stories about a journey? ;) Keep Writing and Edit On West A city desk, buried in paperwork with a screen blasting information into her eyes. A quiet lunch in a crowded courtyard under the only tree. The wind trembles its leaves and whispers into her ear, "Go west." Home to bland, white walls and another screen taunting her with images of faraway places. Dinner from a box and a bag, then to bed. Through her open window comes the song of sirens and traffic in the night, but the breeze slips in and speaks to her in dreams, "Go west." Another day, the same but rain. Lunch at her desk with the rain pattering against the window, gowestgowestgowestgowestgowest. That night she dreams of a land that goes on forever without skyscrapers blocking the light of the sun, and of a chasm in the earth too deep and beautiful to comprehend. Another day comes, but the car takes a different turn on the way to the desk. Day turns to night, then to day once more. She drives, she sleeps, she marvels at the way the cities give way to suburbs and suburbs give way to towns and towns give way to majestic emptiness. Somewhere along a deserted highway she pulls the car over to the dusty edge of the road. Her eyes on a distant horizon with a setting sun, she begins to walk. Every step she takes echoes across the hard-packed earth and between the towers of rock. West. Going West for the month of June. See you in July, writing cowboys. Keep Writing and Edit On Grand Canyon image: "The-Beautiful-Grand-Canyon" copyright Michael Matti.
This is a topic that we've been discussing a lot lately, the pros and cons of writing short stories vs novels. Let's start with the pros of short stories: they don't take as long to write (or edit!), you receive feedback quicker, if you are submitting to an anthology you even have a theme to begin your creative process, there are many short story contests, and there are more markets for short stories. The cons of short stories: it is sometimes more challenging to fit a great story into so few words, anthologies may cause you to shoehorn your story ideas into a misaligned mold, short stories rarely (unless part of a very popular anthology) are as profitable as novels. Short stories can be a great way for an author to get some initial publication and a backing of readers before the author writes their first novel. They can also lead to invitations to anthologies which can put a writer's name in good company with other well-known writers. However, the payment for short stories may be less than expected (often just a one-time payment of $0-$100), possibly making a living solely on short stories unrealistic. Now let's look at the pros of novel writing: they give you freedom to use as many words as you need, are large representations of your literary prowess as opposed to tiny snippets, can be more profitable than short stories in the long term. The cons of novel writing: taking months to years to write (and edit), feedback on novels is much slower than with short stories, there are fewer markets for novels. Let's face it, the main benefit of a novel is the royalties. While short stories rarely offer more than a single payment, you make money every time someone buys a copy of your novel. The main trouble with novels is that they require major investments of time and effort to complete and get published. In truth, a larval writer should probably work on achieving competency in writing both short stories and novels to enjoy the benefits offered by both. One thing that I would caution from personal experience is that authors need to be careful about having too many projects going at one time and allowing one project to interfere with another project. Working on one novel and maybe a couple of short stories is plenty of work for a single writer on any given day. I do not recommend starting a new novel before you have finished your current novel. Remember, at the end of the day unfinished and unsubmitted works net you zero benefits. Keep Writing and Edit On P.S. The person in grey in the middle of that ropes course bridge is me! I'm sorry, Jen can't come to the blog right now, she is busy writing. Please accept this video of a dancing baby Groot in place of an actual blog post. Thank you. Keep Writing and Edit On
So, Patty Templeton is a recent acquaintance from Penguicon 2015. I was lucky enough to have her on my Larval Writers Panel, but really got to know her after we boogied Friday night away together with roughly three other brave souls. She is candid, friendly, and funny, and I pretty much couldn't put down her debut novel, There is No Lovely End, which is the best steampunk, wild west, alternate history, ghost story novel I've ever read that wasn't actually steampunk and took place mainly on the eastern seaboard. Without giving too much more away, on to the interview! 1. What do you wish that people would ask you about your writing? Heck! If there is one subject I love holdin' forth on as much as books, it is music. I sure wouldn't mind folks askin' me about the music involved in making a story or novel. In the case of There Is No Lovely End, I listened to a hellton of Philip Glass (his Dracula soundtrack), Danny Elfman, and random tunes set to the mood of whatever character I was writing. For example, I listened to a lot of Paolo Conte and World Inferno Friendship Society while writing the character of Sarah Winchester. The more physically aggressive character of Hester Garlan had me listening to Goddamned Gallows, Misfits, and AC/DC. 2. Which of your characters would you most like to meet and why? There are living, dead, and even a few animals from this novel I'd love to meet in real life. Living: Outside of the obvious main character love I have for Sarah Winchester, I'd have a helluva palavering with the Reverend Dr. Enton Blake. He runs a medicine wagon and can see ghosts. Dude has some serious stories and I'd sit with my ears open for all of 'em. Dead: Graham Johnson is a ghosty newspaperman. He's prone to perverted imaginings and gin drinking. I think he's hilarious and a giant dork and I would love to sit with him some summer night. Animal: CORT!!! I love Cort. He is Sarah Winchester's childhood dog. Yes, he's a fictitious character and authorial wish fulfillment. I want a puppy SO BAD and have for years. Cort is the scruffy, Ewokian mutt I want curled on my lap while I'm sitting at my coffee table writing. 3. Do you always dance to strange music with stranger people at Cons? I will dance with anybody, anywhere, anytime. I once pulled over my car to dance in a parking lot at 2 a.m. A policeman stopped by to make sure I wasn't drunk. I was not. Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself" had popped on the radio. I acted accordingly. I don't so much dance as flail appreciatively and I invite everyone around me to join in. PATTY TEMPLETON is roughly 11,000 cups of coffee into her life. Her stories are full of ghosts, freaks, fools, blue collar heroes, and never giving up, even when life is giving you guff. Her first novel, There Is No Lovely End, debuted in 2014. For more check out Patty's blog: pattytempleton.com Life happens, and keeps happening every single day. It is easy to let a million little things get in the way of your writing. Especially if you don't feel that your writing is important. Your writing is important. Make it a priority or it will always be just a hobby. You may say, "Easy for you to say," but it's not. I am sure every writer with a day job (or night job) struggles to make their writing important. One way to make writing important is to make a pledge to yourself to write every day, even if it is just a few sentences. It isn't easy, but it could be very helpful to your writing career. Cool picture for a hot day! Keep Writing and Edit On |
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Cold Comfort - Monsters in Spaaaace! AuthorMy name is Jen Haeger and I have a degree in Veterinary Medicine as well as a Master's in Forensic Science, so I decided to forget all that and write novels. I used to read quite a bit as a youth, but was not introduced to truly spectacular writing until my husband showed me the works of Jim Butcher, Neil Gaiman, Philip Pullman, and others. We are both enormous dorks and enjoy Science Fiction, Fantasy, Board Games, and RPGs, but also try to get out backpacking every once in a while (much easier to do when we lived in New Zealand). Cheers! Archives
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