Tag Archives: amwriting

4 Days Left! Time to Go to Camp!

Posted on by

17

Participant 2016 - Web Banner

Are you signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo? There’s still time!

I’m super thrilled about my project this go around. I will NOT be completely winging it like I did in November (because Cover Up is a MESS), plus I’m getting in some good therapeutic writing.

72387_10154021204002641_3686270217819729306_n.jpgThankfully, since the day I somewhat angrily came up with this brilliant idea for a novel, things are sooo much calmer. My wine consumption has returned to normal (like I did NOT try to drink red wine out of a chocolate easter bunny like the Internet suggested – even though I had both a hollow chocolate bunny AND a bottle of red wine at home).

<—-

We’re super focused on saving money now and trying to figure out what the next step is career-wise for me. Cue existential crisis, but I had one yesterday so we don’t need to do that again today. Continue reading →

Death of the Author (Guest Post)

Posted on by

4

“What difference does it make who is speaking?”

This is the last sentence Michel Foucault writes in his 1969 essay What is an Author? [Admittedly, he wrote it in French, which makes the title: Qu’est – ce qu’un auteur? and the question: Qu’importe qui parle?. They sound so much cooler and philosophical, don’t you think?]. In this essay, he postulates that literary criticism should not focus on trying to understand the work through analysing the author’s biography in extensive detail (as many critics have done and still continue to do). He calls this “man-and-his-work” criticism. Rather, it should examine the work and its use of “structure, architecture, intrinsic form, and internal relationships”.

Of course, being a philosopher, Foucault then goes into even more detail: ok, let’s focus on the work (oeuvre). What exactly is a ‘work’? What qualifies as ‘work’? If we rummage through piles and piles of Einstein’s notes (if I’m not mistaken, he uses Nietzsche as an example) and find a shopping list scribbled in the corner of a page, do we include that as part of his work?

In contemporary Internet terms: would a blog post by an established writer about their breakfast – with pictures! – be considered part of their work? Continue reading →

A Newbie’s Guide to World Building (Guest Post)

Posted on by

1

top image.jpg

World Building

The primary purpose of world building is to ground the story in a consistent setting in which your characters live and move. What I’ve tried to do is give some tips and pointers in how to go about the process of world building, starting with making decisions, basics for the process, inspiration, and what not to do. Examples are given from well-followed continuities to make things easier to understand.

Make Decisions

decision making.jpg

Choose a type of world. Make this decision early and confidently, and don’t do a lot of other work until you have. Decide how far into that genre it will be. For instance, if you’re in a magical world, decide if it is Earth Magical (Harry Potter), medieval magical (Tamora Pierce’s Tortall and Emelyn books), or some other type of magical setting. You can combine genres as well, such as the TV show Firefly which is a space western.

Decide how you will make world building decisions. There are different methods and combinations for this. Some decisions are directed by the story’s plot or characters, while others will be made based on a particular species you’re working with. If you’re writing steampunk, it’s usually a good idea to set up a historically-based society, while a story about a starship will automatically put you in space. You can certainly change things about these settings, as Tortall and Emelyn are medieval based stories whose characters often challenge the patriarchal view one often finds there.

Do not dither back and forth when making decisions. Make a choice based on what you know and works for the story. While in some cases you’ll make changes later, most of the time you won’t. You don’t want to be changing every mention of something in an entire novel because you didn’t decide. Continue reading →

Monday Musings #10

Posted on by

13

500 Words or Less:

So there’s this writing contest that I’m trying to enter. The challenge for me? A captivating, complete story in 500 words or less. I’m not always the most wordy person, but there’s a reason I have more novels (finished or not) than short stories in my personal portfolio.

To me at least, writing short stories is harder than writing a novel. Especially 500 words or less. Flash fiction I guess you could consider this?

I did take one January-term seminar on flash fiction, and it never got easy for me. I hardly ever feel like my story hits its potential in 2 pages.

I did write one piece to try submitting, but I had 3 people read it, one who was also an English/CW major, and two who aren’t, and got some interesting feedback. Confusing too, because everyone has a completely different opinion about it. Everyone read into it differently (although that was intentional). And everyone thinks it’s a different stage as far as being turn-in ready. Gah! What am I supposed to do now? Hm. Continue reading →

Starbucks: My Second Office (Guest Post)

Posted on by

12

by Brent Jackson

dreamstime_xs_58237049 - Starbucks Cafe Interior

 

“When that first sip of coffee … touches your soul.” I see memes with this saying all over the internet. I have a few pinned to my Coffee Shop Stuff board on Pinterest. I love coffee! I love coffee so much, all I have to do is walk two blocks to my local Starbucks. The moment I open the door, I’m at my second office.

Think about it. A coffee shop is a special place. The smell of fresh coffee greets me the moment I open the door. The sounds of busy coffee machines and steaming milk fill my ears. The look of bar tops, tables and comfortable chairs inviting me to make myself at home. All that’s left is to order my coffee.

Continue reading →

Monday Musings #9

Posted on by

16

On Procrastination:

Yesterday I read a post by Bryn Donovan titled “Stop Procrastination and Unleash Your Full Power… In Writing and Everything Else” and boy did it make me remember the good ole days of college (like they were so far back, my goodness haha).

I’ve always been a master procrastinator. If such a degree existed, I would have it for sure. Maybe it’s not a good thing to have, but oh well.

In college, I was terrible. We’d get a syllabus at the beginning of the semester with deadlines. We’d get the actual assignment for papers at least a month before the due date. Some classes scheduled library research days where we would learn (for the millionth time) how to use the library resources, find good articles, etc. This class day got incredibly old come my junior and senior year. Just because we’re taking a 100-level class does NOT mean we need to learn how to do research, my goodness. They’d make us turn in an outline or an intro paragraph or whatever.

No matter how hard they tried, I wrote papers the night they were due. Even if they required a rough draft ahead of time, that was written the night before, and then the final paper was rewritten/edited the night before as well.

Some funny (terrible) college procrastination stories: Continue reading →

Making it Big as an Author

Posted on by

29

FROM TROY & LAURICE.jpg

At work today, my coworker made a jab about my lack of progress on any of my writing lately. Part of me needs to be jabbed on occasion.

Not with anything sharp or pointy though. Not the literal jabbing. Please.

We got to talking about how hard it was to really “make it big” as an author these days. The market is saturated with books, and unless you can land publication with a huge publishing house, the odds are definitely stacked against you.

(For the record, I am NOT bashing self-publishing by any means. So please don’t take it that way.) 

It is definitely possible to make it big in self-publishing. It’s just really, really hard. You have to do everything for yourself.

But for many, it’s our only option when it becomes obvious that the big publishing houses aren’t willing to take many chances on new authors.

The chances that your debut novel will make it big time are slim to none. Continue reading →

Snow Weekend

Posted on by

15

Today I got a snow day from work! Yay!

This is not a surprise. I work at a college where most of the students are commuting from as far as 2 hours away, so closing when we need to is no surprise.

Between Friday and Saturday, they’re predicting 18-24 inches of snow. Now, to some of you crazy northerners, that may not sound like a ridiculous amount of snow. However, I live in the south. I am in the 6 bottles section in the map below (though right on the cusp of 12 bottles, so…). And yes, when I’m not drinking coffee, I am definitely a wine-o. (A cheap wine-o though. Like no more than $15 a bottle.)

My fingers are crossed that I also get Monday off, but I won’t be getting my hopes up on that one. It just depends on how well the city/county does with getting it cleared out. (For what it’s worth, in the past, they’ve been pretty terrible about it.)

I’ve made myself a game plan, and it involves a mixture of catching up on my DVR shows, drinking coffee, drinking wine (I have 3 bottles, not 6. But I’m also not trying to get drunk like that one Saturday…..), playing in the snow, making a snow margarita, begging my dog to please go pee outside, and more than all of that combined, WRITING.

Because what better motivation than the beautiful, serene tranquility of a snow day. Not to mention, the view from my patio is AH-MAZING with the mountains in the background. I’ll share some pictures later! 🙂

So, short post today. Will update a little later with word counts, wine glass counts, and pictures of the snow. Gah. I LOVE snow days!

Happy writing!

http---signatures.mylivesignature.com-54493-383-F769D72EAB588F3CF6E0DDD3CD6F2215

A Writer’s Writing Tools

Posted on by

16

Everybody has their favorite method of writing. Some have a couple. Your preference is not the same as everyone else’s, and that’s okay! We all have our method of doing things. Do what works for you!

There’s desktop computers; laptops; iPads; smartphones; pen and paper; hammer, chisel, and stone. (Did I miss yours? Comment below!)

I think every option has its pros and cons. Let me highlight a few below. Continue reading →