The Creative Process

WARNING: Long post is long.

Every author's writing process involves (or should involve... if not, how's that working out for ya?) these four basic steps: pre-writing, drafting, revising, and editing. There are a variety of different ways to work through each of those steps and a number of other steps that go with them.
And while there's plenty of advice out there concerning the matter and what you should do, it's SUCH a subjective process--no one can tell you HOW to do it. And believe me, everyone tries. And there's this horrible misconception that if it works for THEM it HAS to work for you too. Nuh uh. No, sir. Don't buy into that.

Writing is an intimate process and you should develop your own way of getting from idea to the end. Which isn't to say you couldn't use someone else's process/routine as an example. But don't go getting addicted to laudanum just cause Dickens did. And because I don't want to be one of those people that tell you how you're SUPPOSED to do it, I'll just tell you what works for me/how I roll. And I'll tell you now--I like to wing it.

For most, the next big step after THE BIG IDEA (and the research that entails) is to create an...ugh...outline. I am not a fan of detailed outlines. THERE! I SAID IT! OUTLINES SUCK!

For me, outlines are like getting on a train. The train can only go where the tracks lead. There is no diversion, there are no spontaneous side trips, and while the views might be beautiful, you have to stay INSIDE the train at all times.

Likewise, if you follow an outline when you write, I think you miss out on some of the spontaneity that can come from just letting the words flow. Often, writers don't know their characters as well as they'd like until they've spent a good amount of time with them/writing them. And as they write, these characters should grow and make their own choices and throw a massive stick in the spokes of your outline wheel.

I think it's best to plan as little as possible, to leave room for the characters and the story to adapt to each other and start to take their own path. But, because people (professors, classmates, how-to books) kept telling me that I HAD/NEEDED to do an outline, I gave it a shot. Once.

In the beginning it felt good to have all the tracks laid out before me. All I had to do was set my locomotive on its way. But then came this humongous pressure to stick to those tracks from chapter to chapter. And then the writing became tedious and forced. But after writing such a detailed plan, it felt like if I strayed from the outline the story would implode on itself. I've never felt so creatively stifled in my life! Needless to say, I've not tried again since.

So here's an analogy for you: outlining is to "train tracking" as winging it is to ________.

You guess it? ROAADD TRIPPINNGG!

I love road trips. You have a general direction, a decided destination, but how you get there is completely up to you.

You want to stop and see the Nation's Largest Ball of Yarn? DO IT. You want to stop at that natural spring and go for a swim... NAKED? Oh, my. Scandalous. DO IT.

Oh? You thought you were getting away without a gratuitous Shia gif? Think again! 

There's a wonderful freedom to road tripping. Don't get me wrong, I still have a list for the big moments that need to happen in different acts of the novel (the best attractions to stop at on my road trip). But how I get to them is completely up to that creative flow.

Are you sick of the transportation metaphor yet? Yeah? Well then, here's my process in a nutshell:

1. Title (GASP! Shock and awe!)
2. Main Character + Plot
3. Research, Research, Research (which involves creating character bios, storybuilding, etc)
4. Plan my road trip
5. Write the damn thing (I edit as I go so this tends to be slow going, but also means I have less work     at the end)
6. 2nd Draft + Revisions
7. Betas + Critique Partners (and further revisions based on that feedback)
8. Send my little mind child out into the world and hope for the best.

Simple, right?

Like I said, and will say again, ignore everything you've read when it comes to developing your own process: all the how-to books, the many different processes of the already-famous, maybe even MY advice, and do what works for YOU! Especially for your routine. Feel out different things: cafe or library, music or silence, sitting at a desk or laying in bed, in the morning or at night, outline or no outline, train tracks or the open road (sorry, had to throw it in there one more time for good measure, #sorrynotsorry).

Do you, boo boo. Do you.

~Be mindful of the influence and opinions of others, stay true to yourself.~

Don't [Pity] Party Too Hard

It's my morning ritual to check my emails as soon as I wake up. It's silly, really, since I know agents are, contrary to popular belief, also human beings and must sleep and don't ALWAYS work through the night to keep on top of the infinite number of queries they receive. But every morning I click on the little mail icon, hold my breath, and hope for a reply. JOYOUS OF JOYS, today I DID actually get one. And one I've been anxiously waiting for. And it wwwassss... yet another rejection. This time for my only full request. And while it was an immensely encouraging rejection that shot rays of hope through my phone screen, it was still a rejection. And so I threw a tantrum.

"I JUST WANT TO BE A WRITER," I yelled, exercising my human right to be a big baby. And while it's not one of my proudest moments, though perhaps adulting at its finest, I'm telling you about it because it's also nothing to be embarrassed of. It's okay to want something so bad that it's the first thing you think about when you wake up and the last thing you think about before you go to bed. And part of me thinks that's the only way to get what you want: to want it THAT HARD.

To want it SO hard that you throw a baby tantrum when you can't get it. Not because it's shiny and expensive, but because it's you and it's your dream and you know your life won't be complete without it.

If only just wanting something was enough! Even hard work--that wholesome, old-fashioned notion--isn't enough sometimes. We'd all be writers by now if just want and hard work were all it took.
But there should be a disclaimer attached to writerly dreams: "writer" is synonymous with "rejection." You'll get rejected. So. Many. Times. And BUY ME A ONE WAY TICKET TO FEELADELPHIA, does being book-blocked start to chisel away at your soul.

But I think there IS a way to protect your heart and soul and dreams against rejection. And it takes three things (the 3Ds if you will): Determination, Dedication, and Desensitization.

The first two are obvious (cue "Eye of the Tiger"). But desensitization sounds like the start of a debate on violence and video games. And what I mean by the third D is, DON'T TAKE REJECTION PERSONALLY. And it's gonna feel awful personal, so it's no easy feat. That was your mindchild someone just passed on! How dare they!?
But sometimes a rejection truly has NOTHING to do with your skill as a writer. There are so many other factors: it's in an overly-saturated genre, your query letter didn't quite do the story justice, or maybe the agent already has too many authors in that area.

And if it DOES have something to do with your writing, be objective about it! Could you have spent a bit more time editing? Did it need a 4th or 5th draft? Could you have found a few more beta readers? Would it hurt to read a couple "how to write" books? Maybe not!

Either way, Desensitize that rejection nerve. Take the hit and then PUNCH REJECTION BACK. IN THE FACE (so much caps lock in this post... left my chill at home). Better yet, print out that rejection and stick it on your wall! Because that rejection letter is tangible proof that you're following your dreams. You're ACTIVELY pursuing something bigger than yourself (because creating something that hundreds--no, thousands--nay, MILLIONS--of people can connect to and see themselves in is soooo much bigger than just one person) and a lot of people aren't brave enough to do that.

But, keeping all that and those 3 Ds in mind, rejections are still gonna suck--no matter how objective you are or how thick your skin is. And I'm not saying you can't throw yourself a pity party. But let's not call it that. Make it something more than about pitying yourself. Let's call it a passion tantrum. And you deserve that passion-tantrum every once in a while. Just keep it brief and then channel it into something more productive when you're done. "Woe is me" does not a writer make... Unless you're Poe. He was pretty woeful.

At the end of the day, all we need is ONE yes. Even if it comes only after hundreds of no's. These authors got plenty of rejections and if they had quit at any time they wouldn't be where they are now. Success could be just beyond the horizon and quitting accomplishes nothing except to ensure that your dreams will not come true. I'm not going to quit, SO DON'T YOU QUIT EITHER (if you're thinking about quitting that is. If you're not, then crack on, my confident writer-friend!)

So while we're allowed to feel like this every now and then: 

  

Turn it into this when you're done:

 

~Be mindful of the pity parties. They give life to excuses.~

Camp NaNoWriMo '16

I'm a NaNo-noob. I've always been in awe of the brave souls who jump into November head first, planning to write 50,000 words in 30 days. My last novel took me seven years to finish (that's as long as Brad Pitt spent in Tibet for goodness sake). For me, and just going by my track record, it seems an impossible feat destined to end in failure! 50,000 in 30 DAYS!?

Can we just take a moment to appreciate April as the
spirit guide she is? 

But in April and July, the good wordfolk at NaNoWriMo give less word-count ambitious writers like myself a chance to set our own word-count goal for the month with CAMP NANOWRIMO (click on the tent above to take you directly to their site)! If you're one of those people who can't stand the outdoors and you'd have THIS sort of reaction to spending a weekend in a tent in the woods: > > > > > > > > > >

HAVE NO FEAR! Camp NaNoWriMo is a writer's retreat on the interwebz, where you can take part from the comfort of your own home or in a snazzy little cafe with a toasty latte.

On your camp journey, you have the option to join a cabin! If you opt to join one (you can start your own private cabin, join someone else's, or be sorted into one based on criteria you choose) are joined by 11 other writerly cabinmates (highly recommend you do!), who will hopefully be active and talkative and encouraging. If they're not, you can opt out, but chances are, just seeing that there are other people with the same goals will be an inspiration in itself. You all share writing in common and delving into a supportive and like-minded community can really do wonders for that inner muse.
Word sprints are a great activity to do together (or on your own!): you set a time (if you can agree on one when everyone is available) and then post about how it went afterwards. For extra accountability, you can even get friends and family to sponsor you (proceeds go towards keeping the program up and running).

So, if November is faaarrr too daunting a task, give camp a try! There's a good chance you'll make some great friends, find a critique partner, and get your fill of writerly encouragement!

To my fellow writers already taking part this month, may the muse be with you!  

~Be mindful to surround yourself with equally passionate people. They add kindling to the fire.~

March in Review

A quarter of 2016 GONE! This year has packed itself up in a jet plane and is FLYING BY! Most of my March was spent reading, gaming, and timidly working on a new WIP. All of which totally broke the routine of "edit, edit again, smack face against keyboard and berate self in mirror, edit some more, then drown sorrows in bags of potato chips."

So March was a nice reprieve from fretting over the State of Affairs of my MS headed to NoWhere Land. Instead of milking my own creative juices from the tap (that's a gross analogy, sorry), I got to indulge in the fruits of someone else's labor (cliche analogy>gross analogy). 

So here are a few reviews of  things I enjoyed (and didn't enjoy) in March:

Cinder, Scarlet, Fairest, and Cress of The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.

So I'm a bit of a bah-hum bug when it comes to retellings and stories based on true events. To me, half the work is already done for you: the characters, the morals, the major conflicts, they all already exist! So I'm quick to dismiss retellings of any kind and call it cheating. But I'd heard so much of the series and my FOMO was wracking up some serious guilt over avoiding it. So I dove in. And I'm SO glad I did!

Meyer did an amazing job of taking fairy tales that have been beaten over the head again and again and again, pulling them out of that subsequent genre coma, and giving them new life in the form of shiny android parts, spaceships, thoughtful cultural references, and enjoyable character dynamics. While I didn't realize just HOW GOOD Meyer could make this series until Cress (which I enjoyed much more than the first two), the series has been so delightful as a whole that I'm very much looking forward to reading Winter. 

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. 

LOVED! It took some time to get around the odd and archaic language (which was only used in the main character Maia's thoughts to himself and in some dialogue) and the glossary of terms in the back of the book proved invaluable, but overall it was a fantastic read! Both tone and narrative style were refreshingly different from many epic fantasies and though I'd hardly characterize it as being "steampunk," though many do, I loved the little nuances that provided a much needed freshness in the genre. For a book that was relatively devoid of action or any impending doom, it read quickly and the pace was very comfortable, letting (and encouraging) me to really sink into things.

Maia, the exiled, half-goblin prince turned reluctant Emperor, was unique and endearing and, as is rare as far as fantasy emperors go, KIND. In every sense of the word. At times he was a bit too meek and mousy for my tastes, but his goodheartedness and compassion made up for it entirely. One of my favorite things about the book was Addison's usage of ears to convey emotion. In the same way a cat's and dog's ears give us hints, Addison used the twitch, angle, and movement of goblin's and elves' pointed ears to convey emotion, which was cleverly used in deducing a person's true feelings. 

All-in-all, this was a fantastically fresh book that really paid homage to the fantasy novels of the 80's and I hope the genre will see more of a return to this style in the future. While Addison has not mentioned a sequel to the book, there has been talk of a companion piece. Which I will actually be holding my breath for. 

Books by Sarah J. Maas 

After trying, unsuccessfully, to read the first books in two of Maas's fantasy series, I have given up hope of this author being the right fit for me. Both A Court of Thorns and Roses (in my opinion a very flat and unsuccessful retelling of Beauty and the Beast with repetitive language and world-building that leaves much to be desired) and Throne of Glass, had inconsistent and, in my opinion of course, unlikeable main characters. I just couldn't identify with either heroine and, despite some compelling minor characters, had to mark them both as DNFs. I was SHOCKED to see the vast number of glowing reviews for both on goodreads and am now worried that my entire world-view might be slightly askew... (google askew, it's fantastic. Seriously, you won't be disappointed!). 

And because I did partake in things other than book variety, though books are, DUH, the most important, here are some other reviews that I'll keep brief:

Far Cry Primal (PS4): 9/10. Get to ride a sabretooth. 'Nuf said. 

Zootopia: 8/10. SUPER CUTE. I wonder what my guinea pig would do in Zootopia..? She can be a serious diva so I imagine she'd be on a reality show called "The Real Housewives of Zootopia."

Batman Vs. Superman: 5/10. Snyder's Batman was seriously "omg, ugh." Superman should've just lasered that strong, manly chin right off. Wonder Woman was WAY too frail looking. But the hints at other Justice Leaguers: sploosh ;)

~Be mindful of the the things that precious time is spent on.~