WriYe Blog Circle: Editing

Theme: Editing

It's March. That means in the writing circles I run, it's usually NaNoEdMo or Editing Month! For me, it usually doesn't mean anything. Except for this year, I guess.

Describe your editing process. What is your biggest challenge in editing?

My editing process doesn't usually exist. I don't edit. I don't ever really intend to publish, so what's the point? For the most part, I'm a pretty good speller and spell check does reasonably well. The biggest thing I have been doing lately is revising. I've either been digging up old ideas and either completely redoing them or pulling the "good stuff" out and filling in the rest.

But, there is one thing I have been doing just this past week. I found a story I really wanted to work on. It is a BSB/CSI crossover I did back oh something like eight or nine years ago. I found it in my email as a verification file. The only problem was that I had scrambled it. Thankfully it was a very simple letter-to-letter code to crack. I took things like the letter "e" and turned them into "x" and the letter "t" and turned them into "z" and such. There was only one problem with unscrambling it: sometimes there really was a letter x or z or whatever other letters I used that needed to be there. So it made things a little strange. On top of that, when I spell checked the whole thing, it missed some words. Thankfully where I stopped decoding and decided to call it a day, I am pretty much able to figure out what was being said. Also on the first page, I have like three huge holes of where I have partial scenes written. Like they were literally just pieces. So what I decided to do was print out all 14 pages and just go line by line. I'm about 2 pages in, so that's not bad for the first day! And I've still got some time to figure out the timeline, the outline and more. I've actually got to refigure who the killer is and the whole plot as I basically just have the first act figured out for ONE of the stories. Usually, these CSI things have two or three stories running through them.

So that is basically my editing/revision process. It usually doesn't exist, except when it has to. This BSB/CSI crossover I am hoping to use for CampNaNo in April.

WriYe Blog Circle: Romance

Theme: Romance

Is romance necessary in all fiction? Why or why not?

This is one of those questions that I find relatively easy to answer but difficult to defend. No, romance does not need to be in all fiction. Why not? Well, I'm not entirely sure on this, to be honest. I think it's probably because I come from a juvenile reading background. And then I also read a lot of YA. Unfortunately, a lot of YA is either romance or dystopian or both!

But no, you don't need to have romance in every story. I've written short stories that don't have romance in them. They turned out fine.

If you do have romance in your fiction, tell us about your favorite pairings. Why are they your favorite?

Well, I haven't looked back at a lot of my work from years gone by, but lately, I've been writing a lot of fanfiction. Honestly, my favorite pairing is with Brian Littrell and an original character. Yes, I live in a fantasy world. I enjoy it. Leave me alone! It's my favorite because, well, I either enjoy screwing with his "perfect" life or just having fun with his faults.

Oddly, I have done some slash pairings that surprise me. My NaNo novel for 2018 was a slash pairing of Howie and Brian. I totally wasn't expecting it, but it works for the story.

WriYe Blog Circle: Goals

I'm back to doing WriYe again this year. I don't know why. I think it's because I got back into writing in November with NaNoWriMo. (More on that later.) So I thought I would pick up the Blog Circle Prompt for January.

Theme: Goals

What is your WriYe Word Count Goal?

My goal is 120,000 words.

Why did you choose it?

I chose it because I figured I could do at least 10,000 words a month. Now, this isn't counting Camp NaNo in April and/or July or NaNoWriMo in November. I'm leaving those alone right now. I'm hoping that if I do write more in those months that it will serve as either a buffer or a catch up depending upon where my word count is at that point in the year.

What are your plans for the year?

Other than writing 120,000 words, I plan on reading 25 books. Anything beyond that, I really don't know. I'm just going where the wind takes me I guess.

What do you want to accomplish with your writing?

I think for me, it's just about getting back into it. I haven't really written in years. This was the first year I've taken NaNo seriously since about 2014 I think. And on top of that, I'm back into WriYe. I don't know if that's because I am craving interaction with other writers as I muddle my way through this novel of mine or what.

What are you most looking forward to in 2019?

Probably new beginnings. After the absolute disaster that was 2018, I don't think there's a whole lot left that can faze me.

So that's about it for this prompt. Can't wait for the next one!

Revision: The Necessary Evil

This being March, it's commonly known around the writing universe as "EdMo." It's the month when all those word-vomit NaNo Novels get edited into something resembling an actual, well-written piece of work. I don't usually participate in EdMo, because I don't usually edit. I saw usually and that isn't entirely the case. I do edit. I edit as I write. As for revising, well, I do that too, sometimes. So here's the prompt for this month:

Easy Question: Why is it necessary?
Okay, some people will say it's because you want to be published. Well, I don't want to be published! So why is it necessary? Because I write crap! Well, it isn't ALL crap, but it can sure feel like it sometimes! I know there are plot holes and inconsistencies and that's why I have to go back and fix them, otherwise they drive me insane!

Hard Question: Do you enjoy it?
It depends. Sometimes I do, especially after it's been a while and I go back and look at a story and go "WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!?!?!" I also like it when I'm looking at something I haven't looked at in YEARS! Then it's an eye opening experience to me of where I was when I wrote that! My favorite feature though is the "strike through." I love being able to "keep" my word count but get rid of things!

My novel "selfie" in mid-revision:

I use different colors for each verification period, so sometimes a novel can look like a crayon factory exploded all over my novel. But as I said above, I love the "strike" feature!

What's my motivation?!?!?!

Okay, so this month's prompt is on motivation. I keep picturing my characters looking at me and saying "What's my motivation?!?!?!" You know, like actors ask directors all the time? So I guess I'll break it down my my projects this year because I honestly don't think about motivation unless someone asks me.

What is the main motivation behind your characters?
NaNo14: Sari's motivation is initially trying to save the people of her planet but she also wants to save her boyfriend from his captors.

NaNo13: Um, I guess the Fringe crew has a few motivations in this story as to finding out what is causing the holes between the universes so they can stop them, but they also want to get everyone back to their own universe.

Untitled (YA): Jessen's motivation is overthrowing the aliens who have taken over the planet. Thankfully she's got the Resistance on her side!

Hush: The MC's motivation is to let Brian know the truth and NOT hate her. (Essentially that's it in a nutshell....)

I'll Never Break Your Heart/Revamp: I think the MC's motivation in this is to actually have a relationship, but I'm not sure because I'm reworking it.

Where do you come up with that motivation?
Well, in the case of my original ideas, oddly enough they are both from dreams! So I guess you could say I dreamed them up! As for the BSB fanfic (Hush/INBYH), I would say it's typical fangirl, girl wants the celeb boy, thing. As for the Fringe one, it comes from the show, I guess.

Do you tend to use the same motivation in every novel, or do you mix it up more?
Um, it seems to be the same, depending upon the type of novel I'm writing. Fanfiction is the same and the originals both came from the same place!

What is your favorite example of character motivation?
Well, I kind of like the one I'm doing for my NaNo14 novel. I mean, yeah, she's kind of motivated by love and whatnot, but there is also an underlying motivation of saving the people on her planet. But otherwise, I feel like I suck at describing this!

Goal

**blows dust off blog**

Hello, old friend, how I have missed you. I so need to go through and update this thing! Along with the blogroll! Why? Well, it's a new year and that means a new Blog Circle! So I must do that. And I must update my books and TV shows.

Okay, so now that those have been stated, let me answer this month's question:

What is your one main goal for this year?

This isn't as easy as you would suspect for me. Writing wise, I have several goals. I would love to actually win NaNoWriMo again. I would love to maybe have something finished. Well, that's probably my main goal: finish stuff! I'm only really focusing on like 4 or 5 pieces this year. I'm really hoping I don't get bit by a bunch of plot bunnies either! I usually don't, but every so often...

Anyway, I'll be listing the 4 or 5 stories I plan on working on in another entry later. But as for right now, my whole goal this year is to FINISH! I know. I know. That's my goal EVERY YEAR. But I mean it this year! I WILL FINISH!

Hey, that would be a good mantra! And here I was thinking I wouldn't have one! I WILL FINISH!

You Use What?

Image stolen from The Farthest Star by Jono.

Okay, so I totally forgot to do May's blog entry. I really loved it and I just didn't have time to do it. So here goes!

What do you use to write? 

I used to used Word a whole lot. Like that was the ONLY thing I used. Then this year I switched to Google Drive. Why? Well, I found that I have to write on my tablet a whole lot more than my computer sometimes. (Joys of having kids. They kind of zap your creativity and you have to squeeze in times to write, like lying in bed.) Since I have an Android based tablet, I had Drive on it. Not to mention Drive is cloud-based so I don't have to worry about memory sticks or where I was in something. I can just open it and go!

What do you use to supplement your writing? Music? TV in the background? YouTube channels? 

Typically my noise is either the kids or silence. I find that silence is sometimes the best option because after listening to the kids all day, I need a little quiet time.

Do you shift between different software for different parts of writing: planning, writing, editing, etc.?

Sometimes I have planning docs in Drive that I shift between. I used to use OneNote. I guess I should see if they have it for my tablet. I really liked it for planning.

Bonus: Give us a screenshot of you mid-writing.

I know this is difficult to see but on the left hand side is my AOOA at the top and beneath that is the story. On the right hand side is two different chats. The top one is the WriYe Skype room and the bottom one is a sprint room I follow.

Of Genres and Things

I totally forgot to blog in April. I don't know why. I think I was just dealing with stuff. So here's April blog about genre.

What is your main genre? How has it evolved for you in the past few years and how do you think it will evolve further - both in your own writing style and in the publishing field overall? Is there any genre you think blends easily with your niche? Or maybe you write in one that hasn't really emerged yet.

The genre I find myself writing is in fanfiction. Actually, I haven't written that much fanfiction this year. I've got two main fanfictions in the works: a Fringe one and a Backstreet Boys one. Otherwise, I've been focusing mainly on Last WriYe'er Standing. (I'll save that for another post.) So as for fanfiction, it has evolved in the fact that what I'm writing has changed based on my life. I haven't written a lot of NEW BSB fanfiction mainly because there has been so much change in that fandom as in the way they present themselves. They're all married now. So gone are the days of writing that the main character would get involved with them. They've also started doing things like cruises and "reunion" tours. They've never really broken up, but they are getting together with other acts, like NKOTB and touring again. So as for me writing BSB fanfiction, it's kind of gone to finishing up stories that I thought were long dead. (That's the one I'm working on now.)

And writing in the Fringe universe, well, that's a new one. Sometimes I like to dabble in new fandoms. This is definitely a new fandom to dabble in. It was primarmily because of an idea I found on the NaNoWriMo boards and that's how I wound up writing in that fandom.

As for other genres I write, I primarily write realistic fiction. I've found I've gone more literary or even that New Adult genre when I write it. But I think that's just because I've found it easy. I really need to challenge myself more and write some sci-fi or something.

As for publishing, well, my fanfiction I definitely don't see being published. I'm okay with that. As for genre's that blend with my niche, well, I would say that for my BSB fanfiction, if I were to fictionalize them and not write about real people they would fall into the New Adult genre. The Fringe fanfic would fall into sci-fi. I've got a couple of other sci-fi stories in the works, but they haven't gone anywhere yet.

I don't know how much this post makes sense as my allergies are killing me today, even with medication!

Strike, Color, Correct, Repeat

March is commonly known as NaNoEdMo, or National Novel Editing Month, at least in my circles. It's that time of the year that after NaNoFiMo (National Novel Finishing Month in December) that enough time has elapsed that you can go back and look at the crap novel that you wrote in November for NaNoWriMo and edit it into something that people might actually read. So does it surprise me that this month we are talking about editing? No!

What is your favorite method of editing? Do you print it all out and paint it red? Do you use a computer program like Scrivener or Liquid Story Binder to arrange things? Or maybe you just trash the first draft and try it all over again?

I would print it out, but I would have NO paper and NO ink left over and that would be bad! I don't use computer programs. But I do tend to, on occasion, trash the whole thing and start over. But that doesn't happen that often. Instead, I tend to strike stuff that is being deleted. Why? Because unless it is the beginning of the year, I can't afford to lose those words for WriYe! Then, I start using colors. Ever verification period for WriYe is a different color. This way, if I'm in a document I've worked on before, the new stuff for each verification I write will be a different color. So it may end up looking like this:

Then at the beginning of the next year, I go in and actually delete the stricken words and change all the colors to black if I need to keep working on it. Sometimes even the colored words get struck. It just depends on how often I edit, or feel the need to edit.

What do you find the most in your editing? Are you a repeated-word-abuser? A comma-phile? Or maybe your grammar just ain't no good?

I tend to use the same word over and over and over and over and over again. And typically my dialogue sucks! But mostly I feel like this:

So that's the way I edit.

Relationships are...complicated.

How hard is it for you to create character relationships? 

It's so hard for me. I don't usually start out knowing who's going to end up together, if anyone. I'm not much of a romance writer, so romantic relationships are really hard for me. Now other relationships aren't as hard for me, but they do require work on my part.

Do you pre-plan them or do you end up letting them develop as the novel goes on? 

Sometimes I pre-plan them, but usually not. I just let the relationships develop as the story goes on. Sometimes I end up with surprise romances out of what I thought was a friendship. Sometimes I find relationships that are very different than what I had thought. When it comes to romance, the relationships I tend to pre-plan are those of the one-night-stand variety. I guess that's what my brain needs sometimes!

Have your characters betrayed you and paired up with someone you didn't expect? 

They haven't paired up with someone else, yet. But I wouldn't put it past them. Usually, like I said before, I get relationships I don't expect between characters I put together.

Give us the story of how your favorite written characters got together and what makes their relationships strongest.

Probably my favorite relationship so far is a bit of fanfiction Alternate Universe.

Here's a little back story on the AU: Take 5 Backstreet Boys, plop them in a sci-fi/Kindred-esqe type story. 4 of them are vampires, 1 of them is a werewolf. Now, the story line is this: the leaders of the supernatural world are upset because vampires being killed. This could out the whole supernatural society to humans! Enter 3 women, a vampire, a changeling and a human "Watcher" who is making sure everything stays under wraps from the other humans.

Okay, now with the back story set, here's my favorite relationship:

Werewolf and changeling were in an intimate relationship in college. Then one night, the changeling is kidnapped by the other changeling she was betrothed to. Werewolf kind of goes insane looking for her, but doesn't find her. He continues his search for the next number of years.

Now that the changeling has been assigned to this group, she must go back into the city where the werewolf lives. She changes her appearance so to not surprise him too much. Unfortunately, he knows it's her, he just can't prove it to himself. After a series of mishaps, fights and other strange episodes that almost makes it out like they hate each other, an encounter where the werewolf is injured sends the changeling to his side. They both brush off the bond as a fluke. Well, later, when the changeling is seriously injured, the werewolf is at her side and seriously protective. It's then that everyone else makes the connection that they are meant to be together. They eventually figure it out as well.

Oh, and a note about the guy she was betrothed to: he dropped her as "damaged" and was a real jerk about it!

I have no idea what makes this relationship so strong. Probably the idea that it goes over a long period of time and the fact that I know the two are bonded together but they don't know it.

To Plan or Not to Plan

What's your favorite planning method?

Probably outlining, but I do some timelines and just general "word vomits" too. Sometimes there's research involved. Sometimes there's just random notes thrown in the text in RED BOLD CAPS to say LOOK AT ME! YOU MESSED UP HERE! But otherwise, I try to take it chapter by chapter. But sometimes that doesn't happen. Most of my stories don't have chapters to begin with. Well, actually a lot of them now do. Which is weird. I don't remember that happening. But I digress. Anyway, I try to go chapter by chapter. Sometimes I really like dialogue. Other times I hate it. It just depends really on the story.

Do you prefer to plot by hand or use the computer?

I prefer to use the computer, mainly because my brain sometimes moves faster than I can hand write. But on occasion, I do like a good notebook to jot stuff down in. Then it isn't as easy for my mom to come and read over my shoulder!

What part of planning do you hate the absolute most? Or do you hate all of planning and you'd rather pants your novels? Why?

Um....doing it? No, probably actually just thinking about it. I can't really plan my novels ahead of time. Well, I really should. The ONLY time I won NaNoWriMo was when I planned myself into the ground and could practically write the story in my sleep! But yeah, I usually just pants my novels to start and then go back at some point and fix stuff. That's where the "word vomitting" comes in.

Bonus: I'd draw you a picture, but I think you get the idea when I say "Word Vomit." LOL! So no bonus point for me!

Inspiring Inspiration

Where do you get your initial spark of inspiration? Is it from anything important? What else about inspiration intrigues you? What is your advice to other people to kick start their inspiration?

My inspiration comes from various locations. Sometimes it's dreams. Other times it's things that are actually happening. For example, I wrote about 500+ words yesterday on something that had happened that morning that was in my Facebook feed. And then there are times that books will inspire me. I think that's where my post-apocalyptic story came from: The Hunger Games. Not that it's fan fiction or anything like that, but it was definitely inspired by the books. As for my fan fiction, well that usually comes from my own fantasies of things. Sometimes it comes from something someone said or did.

The thing I LOVE about inspiration is that it can come from ANYWHERE! There was a show that was on when I was a kid (I don't even remember the title or much about it). It was an art show. The guy on it encouraged kids to carry around an "idea book." This way when they saw something that they liked, they could draw it. Well, I liked this idea for my writing. There have been times that I have literally carried around a notebook to jot ideas into. Now I have an app on my phone that if something strikes me, I can jot it down in there. (In fact, I think there are a few lines for that post-apocalyptic story sitting in there right now.)

The biggest piece of advice I can give anyone about inspiration is to observe the world around you. Maybe it's that person in the coffee shop. Maybe it's some random thing that was put on the news. Maybe it's something that everyone is talking about. Just about anything can inspire your writing. It's kind of like during November where we are told that if we are writing out in the world and we are stuck to just find someone around us and write them into our story. So if you need some inspiration, get out of your house/hobbit hole/room and go observe the world. There's a lot happening that will make you want to write!

Who do I write for?

Well, in answer to the question “Who do I write for?” the answer is simple: myself. I don’t dream of being published. (Though I must admit it was quite cool to buy the AugNo Anthology #3 and find my story in it!) I write because I enjoy it. It’s something for me to do to take my mind off of everything I need to do (and be doing…like laundry and other household chores). I don’t do it to impress others with my literary prowess. I don’t really care if people like, or even read, my stories. Sometimes I do post them on my LiveJournal. But I’m not entirely sure as to why I post them on my journal.

I guess I’m not worried about publishing my writing because I primarily write fan fiction. (Though for the first quarter of this year, I have written a majority of original fiction.) I know that writing fan fiction, I won’t even dare submit to an agent or a publishing house. It would involve WAY too many things to either get approval to publish or to change it to an original fiction, not to mention, it could be considered illegal!

I enjoy writing. It’s one of those things I can do in seclusion and not worry about what people think of it. That is, unless I decide to share it. I do tend to worry about what to write next, but then again, my biggest worry is actually FINISHING something. I think I am too much of a perfectionist to think something will EVER be done. Not to mention, even though I tend to write fan fiction, if you wanted to pick an actual genre of what I write, I write realistic fiction. So I’m telling stories about people’s lives. Sometimes that makes it difficult for me to figure out where to end things.

Do I write to carry on stories that I think need to be carried on?

Sometimes. I don’t think I have done this recently, but this was how I got started in fan fiction actually. I started writing Star Trek and The X-Files stories and most of those were written to either explain something the writers of those shows hadn’t explained yet or to actually FINISH the story that they left open. But as for right now, I write things that I want to write. Maybe they are strange things that get stuck in my head (“She’s a Dream” being about a girl marrying a Backstreet Boy and not knowing he’s famous) or maybe they are inspired by stories that I read (my BOYB [Breaking Out of Your Box] story is inspired by The Hunger Games) or maybe they are inspired by my own life and stories I think need to be told (“I’ll Never Break Your Heart” is one such story, though I have NOT met Brian Littrell...yet). I would like to think that I would read my own writing and that I’m writing things that aren’t out there, but based on what I’ve been reading lately (a lot of YA), I don’t know. Not to mention, I don’t really go back and read what I wrote anyway (except to revise).

Cross-Posted to: krazikrys writes!

Untitled

This blog is intentionally titled "Untitled" because that's what I want to talk about: Titles!

When do you title? Before you start? Somewhere in the middle? At the end? Never?

Until your story gets a title, what do you call it?

Where do you get your titles? Do they just come to you or do you have some magic words you say and your title appears?

So I know it's like three questions, but it's all about titles! So here's my deal:

Very rarely do I get titles to start with. I always feel that if I'm trying to write to a title, the story isn't going to come out well. Usually I get some type of title in the middle or at the end. But I do want to say I never title my stories and the reason I say that is because I have so many works in progress!

Until I title my stories, they are labeled "Untitled" (see my WiPs lists and see how many "untitled" stories I have!) I usually have names that I call them. For example, I'm working on my Breaking Out of Your Box story, so in conversation I call it my BOYB story. I also have my Keeping Warm in February story, which I refer to as, you guessed it, my KWIF story! Other "Untitled" stories I tend to reference by their fandom (as I do write primarily fanfic). So I have my CSI/BSB story, my Criminal Minds story, etc. If a story is for a challenge (like Fic-100), it gets called my "Fic-100" story. Of course this goes on until said stories get titles.

When my stories do eventaully get titled, I find myself titling them after songs. Sometimes there's a reason. For example: My Fic-100 story. I started on it back in June of 2006. (I decided that June would be a good month to attempt to do a NaNo because it has the same number of days and I was out of school for the summer, unlike November which kills me every year.) Well, I didn't get very far into it before I shelved it. I came back to it a couple years ago. Now here's the premise of the story: FMC is married to her favorite Backstreet Boy, only she doesn't know it! (I know...a little far fetched, but still way fun to write!) Anyway, between the time I started writing my story and the time I picked it up again, the Backstreet Boys had released a new album. On said album was a song entitled "She's a Dream." I found out that the Backstreet Boys actually co-wrote the song together. Upon listening to said song a bazillion times (seriously), the song was about a girl essentially dating one of the Backstreet Boys and not knowing that they were celebrities. Um...can we say life imitating art? So of course, Fic-100 story got titled: "She's a Dream."

So tell me about titling your stories.

Cross-Posted to: krazikrys writes!

Procrastination: To Be Avoided At all Costs!

I procrastinate up and down all the time!!!! In fact, me writing this blog right now is me procrastinating filling out character sheets about my novel. Ok, here goes:

Favorite Forms of Procrastination

1. Facebook Games: I don't play as many as I used to, but they still seem to consume my time. I think I'm only playing like 2 or 3 right now, but still. They take all the time I HAD reserved for writing away from me.

2. WriYe/Chatting: I lump all of this together because well, they are different forms of the same thing. I get on WriYe and into chats with people and there goes all my time writing!

3. Reading: Oh yeah, this is a big one. Right this very second "Mockingjay" is BEGGING me to read it. It doesn't help that it's due in 5 days from the library, but still. There have been times I have just wanted to read instead of write.

How to Stop Procrastinating

Probably the best way for me to stop procrastinating is having my Internet go out, which it does FREQUENTLY lately, so I end up writing SOMETHING while I am waiting for the Red Light of Doom to go away. Also the other way I get rid of procrastination is I go to work. Yeah, okay, me writing at work is procrastinating work type things, but sometimes there's not a lot to do in a small town library. Deadlines don't work, otherwise I would have won NaNo all the times I did it! Word wars seem to help, and challenges. That's where the chatting and WriYe come in handy.

Cross-Posted to: krazikrys writes!

A Writer's Confessional

There's really not a whole lot to confess about my writing. I don't write every day. I have "planned" my way to ONE NaNoWriMo win and have half "pantsed" half "planned" my way to a bunch of losses. I hate revision and editing. Well, since I teach, I look at them as two separate steps. I tend to edit as I go. It's revision where I tend to get caught in. Take my monster Backstreet Boys fanfic "I'll Never Break Your Heart." I have been writing on it since 2000! That's twelve years! I think I'm in version 3.2 or something. (Maybe I should start keeping version update numbers like software people do?) Maybe one day I'll finish it. I have cheated in NaNo, though nowhere near as bad as some people I know. My "cheating" consists of padding techniques. I can't seem to plot to save my life. I'll do character sheets until I wind up leaving large chunks blank because I'm tired but when it comes to plotting, I suck! Okay, maybe that is a whole lot more than I intended to confess.

Cross-Posted to: krazikrys writes!

Writer's Block Sucks!

I hate writer's block. I don't know of a single writer who enjoys it. But writer's block for me is something that I particularly despise. As a mom, I don't get a whole lot of time to write. It's usually after my kiddo goes to bed that I finally get to sit down and maybe get some words on the page. So if I'm wrestling with writer's block, it's especially frustrating.

I try not to let writer's block get me down. I have enough Works in Progress (WiPs) that I should NEVER have writer's block, but that is not the case. Sadly, I think I have writer's block on a vast majority of them! I think for some of them it's because it's the length of time that I've been (or haven't been, as the case may be) working on them that I have developed writer's block. Other's well, I think I just write myself into a corner and can't figure my way out of it. Well, not really. I don't think I've ever written myself into a corner, but there are definitely times when I feel like things aren't flowing. I think for me, it's the fact that I don't really get a whole lot of time to actually think about it. Instead, I've got about a million things going on in my head at once. (For example, while composing this blog, I am thinking about the load of laundry in the washer, the clean dishes in the dishwasher and the bills I need to pay and job applications I need to fill out.) There's not a lot of room left in there for an idea to spark.

This blog has 5 ways to get rid of writer's block:

1. Write! Well, duh! Tried that. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It's really difficult when my depression gets going and I can't seem to think of ANYTHING at all nor do I WANT to sit down and write.

2. Read (your favorite author)! It would help if I HAD a favorite author. I do tend to read more when I don't feel like writing so I guess in a way this helps. I mean, for example, my Apocalypse Fiction BOYB fic came from reading Hunger Games, so I guess it's possible.

3. "Word-a-day!" Essentially it's prompts. Pick something and write about it. I've done this before and sometimes it helps. It just depends on where I end up using it.

4. Reread your old stuff! Yep. Been there, done that. It works, to an extent. Sometimes I am so disheartened by what I read that it makes my depression worse, but sometimes it's all I need to get back into the WiP and get back on to writing it.

5. Don't take long breaks! I try not to do this, but again, with a kid, it's sometimes very difficult to write. I may not be the most consistent person on the planet and churn out 1,000 words a day, but I at least get something written every month, even if it's only 3,000 words for 30 days. I think this is the biggest thing that has helped me with my writer's block: knowing that if I can't think of anything now, not to go off and forget about writing for the next year, but to just pick it up tomorrow and see what comes.

750 words has been great for me getting over writer's block. It allows me to ramble on about my day, random things, or my stories and know that I don't have to share this with anyone, or even tell anyone that I wrote it! It's kind of freeing in that way.

Cross-Posted to: krazikrys writes!

Shut up Already!

So Liz asked about characters and if they talk to you and how you get them to shut up. Well, I don't really have the problem of my characters not shutting up. I have the problem of them disappearing on me. Well, more like they take extended vacations and don't tell me. I have had a few times where my characters "talk" to me. Not many though. The way it happens is that I tend to get ideas for a scene. For example: my characters in my KWIF story were "talking" to me trying to get me to write the scene where they met. Now I was literally getting dialogue and everything from them! It was great. The only problem was that I couldn't seem to sit down and write it. They didn’t but me about it all the time, but there was this "pressure" (it's the only way I can describe it) to sit down and write the scene. Now that I've written it though, the pair has stopped talking. I was hoping that after I wrote it they would give me more to go on, but they didn't.

As for getting those annoying ones to quit talking, well, I tend to banish them to closets. Well, not really. Sometimes, I'll just drop them in a hole. I've only had this problem a few times and I've found that if I ignore them long enough, they'll eventually stop bugging me. Sadly, I think my characters don't like me ignoring them because then they don't want to say anything for months, sometimes years! Anybody got any ideas to get the ones who've quit talking to start again?

Cross-Posted to: krazikrys writes!

Same Time, Same Place

Well, Keri wants to know about books dealing with the same universe different story (SUDS - that she coined). I've only tried to write one of these types of stories once and it didn't work out too well. I've read a couple of book "series" that take place like that. I don't know if I would call them a series, but still.

Sometimes these "series" work well. It kind of gives you insights into the other characters that the other books are about. It also allows you to see the characters through different eyes.

I guess in someway, I'm doing this with "She's a Dream." This story is done in parts, each part is "kinda" a stand alone, at least I feel that way. But there are more parts that are written in first person as the FMC than there are in third person. But there are third person parts in there too. But I think that's the closest I have right now.

Sorry for the short entry, but I really don't know what to say right now. I'm still exhausted from the past weekend.

Cross-posted to: krazikrys writes!

Plotting? What Plotting?

Seriously, I don't plot much. But when I do, I tend to write lists. I don't bullet like Keri. Instead, I just open up a document (or OneNote...more on that in a moment), and list things. I've got a list (using Chaotic Shiny) of names for my Apocalypse Fiction. I've also got weapons and spaceships. I do tend to label this list because sometimes I can get confused. Like for my Apocalypse Fiction, if I didn't label the lists, the names could be confused for weapons or spaceships, and vice versa. I've even got a list of quotes! Well, that one is for my DS9 fanfic, but still. It's a list!

I have outlined, like literally with Roman Numerals and everything. And even then, snippets of conversations end up in the plotting.

Something else I have done is research. I know some people don't need to research their stories and I usually don't either. The only time I've ever had to research is when I am writing a fandom I know NOTHING about, or very little. For example: last year, during the LWS competition, I wrote a Harry Potter fanfic. I had to do some research at some of the Harry Potter sites out there to make sure I got stuff correct. And now, with my DS9 fanfic, I've been on a couple of Star Trek Wikis to help with some of the finer points of the race that I'm exploring. I guess the research comes in when I want to stay within canon of a certain fandom.

The other plotting thing I do is that I talk to myself. Yeah, I do that, mainly in my car when I'm driving to or from work. Sadly, I have nothing to record my ramblings so sometimes stuff doesn't come out the way I plot in my head.

Now, about OneNote. When I got my new computer, I had OneNote on it. Now I've heard everyone go on about LSB and various other writing programs. Well, for me, I like OneNote. In it, you can have several notebooks going on at once and each notebook can have sections with pages in it! I've got about 5 notebooks right now. One of them was for a training I did and the other one is for an event I'm helping plan, but the rest of them are all WriYe related. I've got one for General WriYe stuff. It's got tabs for Points, WiPs, WiMs, Goals, etc. I've also got a whole notebook for my WiMs. And when you copy and past from somewhere, it automatically puts the link in! (This is great for when I research stuff!) It also has tags. Now these are similar to tags on the various blogging sites, except they are more specific. I like the "To Do" tag. It puts a little checkbox next to whatever it is and when you do it, you click the box and it checks it for you! There's also a highlight feature. I've used this for a couple different things in my event book, but not so much in my WriYe ones yet. The other thing I love about OneNote, is that you can click ANYWHERE on the page and start typing. And then once you click somewhere else, you can move that text box that you auto-created anywhere else you'd like. The only downfall to it that I've found is that it doesn't count words. So it's not really great for keeping track of words written or anything, but otherwise, I am loving OneNote!

This is the most recent question. So I am now caught up!

Cross-Posted to: krazikrys writes!