Tips for Writers

Jun 20

I have finally made the tough decision to rewrite my entire WIP. I’ll still keep some of the same characters and the same general concept, but it just isn’t working. Coming to this decision was not easy, but you can only do so many edits to a piece of writing. Sometimes you need to just take what you’ve got and toss most of it out the window.

Have you had to do that? When you make that decision, is it something you just feel, or do you give yourself a certain number of editing rounds/time limit before coming to this decision?

Jun 14

Photo courtesy of Robbert van der Steeg

I know I’ve posted about time management before, but since it’s slipping away from me again, I figured it might be slipping away from you again as well.

Managing your time as a writer

Now that summer is upon us, it seems even more difficult to manage my time. The winter was pretty dreary, so now I want to enjoy the sun whenever I can get it. Plus, I’m a bit sick of staying indoors. But I’ve also missed my self-imposed deadline, so something has to give.

The good thing about the summer is longer days and bad t.v. Because the days are longer, I feel like I have more time to get things done. But I also feel more inclined to go out instead of hanging around. When I am hanging around the house, there is little television distraction because, let’s face it, with the exception of Doctor Who and HBO’s new series Game of Thrones, there really isn’t that much going on in the world of the boob-tube. But the warmth and long days call me outside with a book and I find myself losing my entire day to reading or taking walks or dreaming up summery things to eat.

Reimposing the 15-minute rule

OK, the 15-minute rule doesn’t mean that everything gets only 15 minutes of my time. It’s more the general principal, meaning I have to give myself time limits for things. Example: I can read for an hour or x-number of chapters. I can watch 1 television show. I can spend 1-hour at the gym. And, most importantly, I must spend 30-minutes minimum each day writing. Of course, fitting those 30-minutes in is hard – I want to read outside. I have to eat dinner. The fiance comes home and wants to watch Dr. Who. And then it’s time for bed.

And this is where looking at writing as a job comes in. Because I want to get a book out there, I have to treat it like I treat my 9-5. Sure, some days I would rather sit home and read a book or hang out with friends or take a vacation instead of going to work, but I go to work because I have to. I have people to answer to and I commitments I made. I have deadlines and people that are relying on me. So I put aside the things I want to do and take care first and fore-most of the things I have to do. And that is how I have to look at writing. Even on the days where I feel drained of creativity, I must write. Because if you aren’t writing, you aren’t a writer.

How do you manage your time? Do you set up appointments with yourself? Do you treat it like a job? Do you have someone who holds you accountable for your time?

May 15

Courtesy of id-iom's Flickr photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/id-iom/

Tucked inside a care package for my cat, I found an article my mom tore out of a magazine for me, Don’t Give Up, Just Lie,with a note attached telling me to read it when I get frustrated. The article chronicles the struggles faced by Kathryn Stockett as she attempted to find representation for The Help, which received 60 rejections before finally getting signed. The article tells how Stockett finally turned to lying – she didn’t want to admit to her friends and husband that she was still retweaking the manuscript, still sending it out. She was ashamed by the rejections and didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t want to be told that she should give up or find a new project. Instead of being honest about how she was spending her time, she would do things like say she was on a girls’ weekend when really she was holed up in a hotel writing.

But what about the opposite lie? What about when you say you worked on your writing when really you did nothing of the sort? What about when you don’t want to admit that you are stuck? Well, that’s the boat I’m in. Just about every night I’m asked “Did you get any writing done today?” or “What’d you do today?” I’ve found it’s easier to say “yes, a bit” or “I did a little writing” than it is to be honest and say “no. I’m stuck” and then get the look that reads “give up. Find something else to be passionate about.” Or worse yet, to be asked if I need help or to receive suggestions for new ideas.

Although my lies are the opposite of Stockett’s, I’m betting the looks she got when being honest, the looks that drove her to lying, are similar to the looks I get when I’m honest. But why should we have to be ashamed of our dreams? Why should we have to lie? Obviously Stockett was meant to be a writer and was meant to write The Help. She should not have been ashamed of the time she spent writing it. And me, well I shouldn’t be ashamed either. Sure, I may be stuck, I may find the editing process to be a huge bear, but I’m sure other writers before me and others that will follow me will find themselves in the same boat.

Do you feel obligated to lie about your writing? What lies do you tell?

May 10

For the past several months I’ve been trying to force myself to write in first person. It fits the genre and I love my opening paragraph, which only works in first person. The trouble is that I find it difficult to tell a story in first person narration. And this is causing a lot of struggles.

Yes, I succeeded in completing a first draft in first person narration, but when I went back to read my writing, it felt stale. It was lacking the excitement and energy of things I’ve written in third person. Yet for some reason, I keep clinging to this idea that the story must be in first person. But why?

So what if a lot of books in the genre rely on first person narration? So what if I have to rewrite my first paragraph? If I’m not comfortable writing in that style, if I lack the talent to write in that style, none of the reasons to retain it will matter because no one will ever want to read my book, and that, after all, is what makes you a novelist – you need readers. And this leads me to my current dilemma – should I rewrite the entire first draft to fit within a form I’m comfortable writing in, or should I try to stretch myself and step outside of my comfort zone?

What would you do in my shoes? Do you prefer first person to third person? Or do you let the story dictate your plan of attack?

May 01

Image courtesy of JFH's Flickr stream, http://www.flickr.com/photos/jhf/

Taking the big leap from guaranteed paycheck to unreliable money (a.k.a. full time writer) is not a leap to take lightly. But now that I’m engaged to an incredibly supportive man, that question has come up, and it’s not me who’s raised it.

The realities of a full time writer

Last weekend while on vacation the issue of quiting my job was raised, yet again. “If you want to be a writer, then write. You’ll never finish a book if you are working full time.” But I disagree.

Look at most writers. How many of them work full time jobs in addition to writing? A fair number. Now look at how many are able to sustain on a full time writer’s salary. You will only find a handful, and my hands are rather small.

In addition to the financial implications, you also have to think about the insurance issue. Sure, if you are married or, depending on the company, living with someone, you can go on their insurance. But for a lot of people, this isn’t an option. And think about signing a lease or trying to get a mortgage? Since I have a steady paycheck, I can’t say this for sure, but I’m betting a full time writer will run into more obstacles when attempting to arrange their living situation than someone working a traditional job.

Then there is the stress. For me, my financial situation creates a lot of anxiety. When I’m anxious, it’s really hard to write. So would not knowing where my next paycheck is coming from really make it easier for me to finish a book if I quit my job?

The lonely factor I could deal with – I prefer working with no distractions, and I’m also good at managing my time. I can make myself work regardless of whether I’m in an office or working from home, but the working environment are additional factors that have to be considered.

Before considering this leap, you have to look at yourself and be realistic. Writing may be the world to you, but if you can’t stomach the insecurity of not knowing where your next paycheck is coming from or how to afford insurance, if you thrive on being around people while at work, quiting your traditional job for writing might make things more difficult.

My course of Action

With all of that being said, I am not going to quit my job and give up the security of full-time pay. And here’s why.

I don’t know if I can get something published. Having never sold a book, or even gotten one to a publishable place, it seems a bit irresponsible for me to quit on a whim. Sure, it’s my dream. And sure, it’s something I’ve been doing my whole life, but being able to focus on writing if I’m stressed about my finances would be a stretch.

Instead of quiting, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. I am able to find the time to work on my writing despite working a full-time job. I work long days so I get every other Friday off and I usually fit in a little bit of time even on the days I work. I also manage to find the time to make connections and read a ton. Even though my efforts may not always seem to be getting much results, I’m slowly working towards that final goal.

Who knows. Maybe when I get something signed I’ll rethink things. I may decide to scale back my hours or quit all together. But based off of what I’ve seen of the publishing world, based off of the royalty statements I used to send to authors when I worked in publishing, this is a decision I would not arrive at lightly. Because the reality is, writing is satisfying, but it rarely pays the bills.

The plan of action I’ve chosen won’t work for everyone. But it’s always useful when making these types of big decisions to see what other people decided and why.

Did you take the leap? Do you plan to in the near future? Or did you decide to keep doing what your doing? I’d love to hear how others deal with this.

Apr 11

Don't you feel inspired just looking at this photo?

It’s been over 2 months since I returned from my trip to Italy, but since I’ve been looking at description in writing, I figured it was high time I went back to that trip and shared what I learned.

Do real life experiences breed better description?

If you recall, one of the reasons I was so eager for my trip to Italy was to scope out Pompeii for a possible book idea. While there, I discovered a lot more than what I set out to discover.

Originally I was only interested in Pompeii. I wanted to check out the site, get some impressions of what it is like coming up to it, how well preserved it is, that sort of thing. I wanted to feel what my MC would feel as he arrived at the site. Little did I know I would come back with a lot more ideas, and none of them related to the story I set out to research.

Naples, surprisingly enough, provided more inspiration than Pompeii. Naples is a medieval town, despite it being 2011. There are still narrow cobble-stoned streets, twisting alleyways, and the best part of it, it hasn’t been modernized the way Rome or Munich or other large European towns have. Because of this, I felt like I was being catapulted back in time.

Relying on all of the senses to open your mind to inspiration

The sights, smells, and even sounds all called to me, filling my senses and giving me some great ideas for descriptions -ideas that I could never have honed in on that well without first-hand experience. Things like the way the street lights reflected off of cobblestones after a day of rain, or the sound of rain hitting those cobblestones, or the energy of a small cafe in the late afternoon, or the adrenaline rush as a car comes racing towards you down a narrow alleyway, searching for a place to move to avoid being hit, and being terrified that the car will smack into the walls closing in on it from every angle. Even the feeling of being surrounded by these high walls with little room for escape provided inspiration.

Inspiration is every where, if you know how to look for it

Part of why the environment affected me so much may have been because I set out to be affected. I kept my mind open, I absorbed everything like a sponge. I wanted to remember the sensations and, as a result, I got some really good material for a future book.

Of course, you don’t have to travel all the way to Italy to get inspiration. There is inspiration everywhere. Walk outside and observe what you see, pretending like you are a stranger to the area. Look at things from an outsider’s point-of-view and you just might be surprised by all the things you pick up on, all the new sensations you become aware of.

Do you rely on real-life for inspiration? How do you turn on your senses to really see, hear, smell, and feel things, even things you are very familiar with?

Apr 04

Arthur was not harmed in the capturing of this photo

I hear people talk about writer’s block all the time. I’m familiar with it. I’m sure you are familiar with it too. But as I work on my edits, I’m realizing that there is a worse block out there – editor’s block.

Writing is fun. You are creating a new world, creating new characters, making something new. Editing seems to be the antithesis to creating. Instead of making tons of new things, you are taking away from your creation. Sure, you are taking away to make it better, but it’s hard to see that while neck-deep in the editing process.

The dreaded cuts

No one wants to cut words they’ve spent countless hours writing. This is one reason why it is so important to focus on getting the story down in the first draft and waiting to fix the writing until the second, third, fourth, etc. draft. Why spend countless hours perfecting one sentence when you may end up cutting that entire scene?

Even if you aren’t cutting well-crafted prose, you may still find cuts difficult. And this is where I’m at in the process. I am making cuts to scenes I felt attached to when I wrote them but now I see that they don’t fit in with the natural flow of my story. When you are in the midst of writing, things seem like they fit. But the writing process takes longer than the reading process; you are likely to forget details or even characters, leaving loose ends and contradictions. In rereading your story, you might realize, like I did, that the plot starts to deviate from the original plan. Some deviation may be good – it can mean that the story does not naturally flow the way you originally planned. But with deviation comes reworking of the plot, and with reworking comes cuts, including character cuts in some instances.

Splicing and dicing

A coworker of mine was recently in a television show. When it aired, she was shocked to see that several sentences were spliced and edited into one sentence. Unless you had been there during her interview, you would never have been able to guess where and how the cuts/edits were made. Well, guess what? Sometimes you have to do the same thing with your writing. And this is where things get really scary. I can deal with making cuts here and there, but when you start moving around large chunks of text, cutting some things, inserting half of a scene from chapter 12 into a part of a scene from chapter 2 and another part from chapter 7, the editing process can seem daunting and a bit frightening. I think this more than the cuts is where my editing block really stems from. Once you start changing the structure, you are really committing to the edits. You are committing to the changes in the story. And you are committing to the new plan you devised for the plot.

Overcoming editor’s block

Of course, editing doesn’t have to be scary. Here are two tricks to get you through the process:

Save every version – I have drafts 1.1 and 1.2 as well as 2.1 and I just started 2.2. Whenever I make any big changes, I save a new draft. This way if I change my mind, I can go back to a previous draft. This may seem like commitment phobia, but I see it as smart. You never know when you might decide that a scene or character or setting actually does work. Each rewrite changes the story, and something that didn’t work in one draft could end up working perfectly in a future draft.
Just dive in – Obvious, right? But this takes a lot of guts. You know what though? So does being a writer. And sadly, part of writing is editing, so if you are serious about your dream, then you have to take the plunge. You just may end up loving the end result. Need a little motivation? Check out this post by Alexis Grant on How to Find the Guts to Take a Leap.

Do you suffer from editor’s block? Do you have any tips on how to conquer it?

For more on editing, check out Andrea Mack’s blog post over at MiG Writers, Revision is All About Taking Risks.

Mar 30

Meditation is all about clearing the mind and focusing your thoughts. So does it have a place in a writer’s toolbox?

The other night I was having dinner with an acquaintance who spent the last 7 months traveling around the world. He was telling me about this 10-day meditation retreat he did in Tibet. And what he got from the retreat? He said it made him a better (faster) computer programmer because he learned how to focus his mind.

This got me thinking. When I sit down to write, I often find my mind wandering every which way. That’s the curse of our super connected, internet-crazed society. There’s so much going on you don’t know where to look. So would meditation help me to stay focused on my writing? Or would meditation actually be a hindrance?

When I write, I have to let my mind wander. That is part of the creative process. I wander in and out of the plot, pulling at bits that work and don’t work. But I also feel my mind drifting to things like what to make for dinner or how nice the sky looks today or what will happen next in that book I’m reading.

I’ve decided to try an experiment. For the next month, I will devote time every day to meditation. Originally I thought I would do it before falling asleep, but that’s when I do my best brainstorming. Instead I will do it after work – a nice way to calm me down. Of course, since I don’t really know how to meditate, this might be slow going and I may need more than a month. But a month seems pretty doable. Being as I am in the editing stage of my writing, the part I always dread, this might actually be the best time to give this experiment a try. What do you think? Do you use meditation to help your writing? Or do you think writers should have minds full of ideas circling all around competing for attention?

Mar 27

Ask yourself: does your scene require the super zoom lens or will a wide-angle do the trick?

I’m still on the subject of description, mostly because my WIP needs more of it to really come alive. Description is particularly important for my WIP because the main character has been sent to a new world. Everything is new and so she is really taking in her surroundings, trying to get a grasp on this new world and how she fits into it. But how do you determine when you need more description vs. when less is more?

To describe or not to describe…

I read a great post on kidlit.com the other day about mimetic writing. In her post, Mary looks at situations where lots of description are necessary and situations when excessive descriptions are less appropriate. Basically, if there is a situation where the characters would be likely to notice things, then by all means, throw in some description. But if they are in a high action scene, description would not only get in the way of the flow of the prose, but it would be out of character. Who stops in the middle of running for their life to notice the different types of trees or the chipped paint on a fence? Not many people.

The line that really caught my attention in her post was “If your character is paying really careful attention to someone or something, vague description just isn’t going to cut it.” This could not have described my MCs situation more. And that is when it hit me that I really needed to pump up the description to make the story more real, especially since it’s told in 1st person.

Now, there will be times when high action scenes could call for more description, just as their could be times when detail may be less relevant in a scene where a character is paying close attention to things. For example, if a character is running for their life, they may be paying attention to their surroundings to try to find a place to hide. Or if they are in a fight, they may be watching the movements of their advesary very carefully. Likewise, a character who is paying close attention to someone they are interested in may not be interested in describing everything the person is wearing. If it is the hair or eyes or hands that have attracted the person, they would not necessarily care about the type of shoes the person was wearing, or the smells in the cafetaria. Description for the sake of description is never a good call.

Description can add a lot to a story, but writers have to use common sense when adding it and ask: is this description necessary? Will it add to the story? Will it take away from the flow of the prose? Does it make sense? If your character is from the slums, would they recognize a designer handbag? Would the stuck up socialite care about the color of the bums hair? Not only can description help create your world, but if used smartly, it can also provide insight into your characters. Description can be a powerful tool when used correctly.

Mar 22

As I’m editing my novel, the thing that keeps jumping out at me is the need for more and better description. Having just finished Lauren Oliver’s Delirium, which uses amazing imagery, this task seems incredibly daunting. If you’ve read Delirium, you’ll understand why I feel so intimidated. But seeing how Oliver achieved this, I feel like maybe there is hope for me yet.

Importance of Description in your Writing

Writing without description often leads to boring prose. It leaves your reader in the dark. Description doesn’t just help the reader see what you are seeing, it brings your writing alive. Think about listening to a t.v. show without watching it. Now think about the old-timey radio shows from the pre-television era. The difference is that the radio shows were full of description. They had to be to bring the story alive for the listener. Television shows do not need to use description – they are expecting you to be watching and listening. Now think about applying this to your writing. Without good description, you may as well be listening to a chase or fight scene on t.v. without actually watching it. No fun for you, and no fun for your readers if they are left in the dark.

How to write description

The other day over on Dark Angel’s Blog there was a post on description. In the post, Sherry talks about something she has dubbed “info-dumps.” This is where the writer literally dumps all of the description in one big lump. Check out her post for examples of good description vs. bad description.

The main take-away from Sherry’s post is to subtly weave description into the prose. As a writer, you may write a dump for yourself. I do this all the time. For example, in my notes I may write: Mistress Abbot is overweight and short, like a teapot. She wears little kitten heels and pastel sweaters that make her legs look like sausages and clash with her bright red hair, always coiled up on top of her head in a tight bun. She has a stern expression. However, in my prose I would be more likely to dab bits of the description in throughout the prose. Example: “The clicky-clack of Mistress Abbot’s heels reverberated down the hall and moments later I saw a flash of red hair as Mistress Abbot waddled in like an overstuffed turkey.” Turkey’s are large with thin legs – this calls to mind the tiny, disproportionate heels. The waddling also calls to mind someone who is overweight. You are left with a pretty good image of Mistress Abbot, but the reader still has enough room for their own additions to the image, which I think is important so that the reader can take things they are familiar with and attach them to your descriptions. If the reader can’t imagine it, they aren’t going to get it no matter how descriptive you get.

Do you have tricks for writing description? Do you find it difficult? Are you an info-dumper?

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Page 4

Tough decisions in editing – undergoing a complete rewrite

Time – the Writer’s Foe

Managing your time as a writer

Reimposing the 15-minute rule

Lies Writers Tell

Choosing your Narrator: First Person Versus Third Person

To Quit or Not to Quit – a.k.a. Should I be a full-time writer?

My course of Action

Finding Description Inspiration from Real Life

Do real life experiences breed better description?

Relying on all of the senses to open your mind to inspiration

Editor’s Block

The dreaded cuts

Splicing and dicing

Overcoming editor’s block

Can meditation make you a better writer? – The Meditation Experiment

Description and Edits – Continued

To describe or not to describe…

Writing Amazing Description

Importance of Description in your Writing

How to write description