It's Confession Time

I have a confession to make:

Writing scares me. Ahem. Writing scares me!

There. I said it...er... wrote it.

I didn't think it did, but I have to face the truth, because the sooner you accept something, the sooner you can move forward. The only reason I am realizing it now is because I am currently on my third attempt at my novel, and after re-reading the first two botched manuscripts sitting on my desktop, my fingers and brain feel frozen.

I love it. I hate it. I want to be published. I'm terrified of having people read my work. I don't want to write. I can't stop. This journey is just one big oxymoron. But it's worth it ;)

I promised myself I would get back into it this week, but I keep opening a new word document, only to stare, and then close it again after a few moments. It's okay, it's only Tuesday. The muse is there--I think it might just be shy, perhaps because I've been so hard on it in the past. We are going to get reacquainted this week, and I will keep you all posted on progress.

My question to you is whether, as much as you love it, (because we all do, otherwise we wouldn't be doing this) do any of you have a similar fear of writing? For those of you who have finished your MS, does it ever get any better?

The Art of Reading - Through a Writer's Eyes

I've always been a fairly voracious reader. I devour books. When I was little, I couldn't go to sleep unless I had been read to. As I grew older, I had to read at least one chapter, and then two, and then three--until eventually, it was the entire book that needed to be finished before going to bed (and trust me, this made for some very exhausting days at school).

That's the thing about reading - the way that almost any book, well written, and thoughtfully crafted, can completely transport you to another world. You don't want to put it down. You can utterly submerse yourself into the storyline and become a part of it.

The sad thing is when I'm writing, I'm not quite able to enjoy reading in the same way. It's like my brain fully rewires itself into "analyze mode" and all I can see is the technicality of the writing. I'm constantly picking apart each element of the novel, frequently going back and re-reading certain parts to see if they match up--it almost becomes very tedious, but I can't help it. While I still lose myself in the story, the expression "reading for fun" now has a different meaning for me.

Despite this, while I'm picking apart all these novels - I know it's because I'm learning. This never happened before when I was just writing for myself. Now that I'm positive I would like to someday be published, these are the sorts of things I am suddenly paying attention to. I'm learning not only about writing, but also about technique and myself--what works, what doesn't, what I enjoy, what I don't, how the story should flow, etc. When you really look at it, the book you're holding in your hands is something someone, somewhere thought was good enough to be printed - we can all learn from that.

Don't get me wrong - I can never stop loving reading - it's almost like breathing to me, it's just a different experience when I'm writing at the same time :).

Does this ever happen to you? Have you found that reading has changed for you since you became serious about writing?

Gender Specifics

Being a female myself, I have always written from the female perspective--because it's what I know. My MC is always a girl. When I was younger however, I used to want to show what everyone in the story felt, so I would end up writing from ALL character perspectives--male, female, animal, creature...you name it.

Eventually I just stuck with the female POV because it made sense. But I like to know what everyone else is thinking too--especially the male MC and particularly if he is the love interest of my female MC. I always imagine how things are on his end of the spectrum in vivid detail, because even though readers aren't seeing things as they progress in his mind, I want them to be able to understand his actions and reactions.

It's not necessary to make your MC the same gender as you in order to write a good book. Look at J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter anyone? How about E.B. White and Charlotte's Web? Or A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Also Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

I think you should be able to write from any perspective as long as you understand your character and know what it is you want to convey to your reader.

I am curious to know whether your MC is a male or female. From what perspective do you write and why did you choose the same or opposite of what you are? Which is easier for you?

Let Us Die Young or Let Us Live Forever

Yup, I'm quoting the Jay-Z song here.

In today's post, I would like to discuss the idea of character immortality in books and what it is about it that draws readers in. Vampires, Werewolves, Immortals, Angels... just to name a few ;).

There has been a surge in these types of characters recently, but they have existed in stories forever. Many fantasy novels involve at least one type of immortal character, if not more. They are usually young and beautiful, frozen that way, both doomed and destined to roam the world for all eternity. But what makes them so appealing?

Is it that they never get older? They are literally "forever young", and considering the human quest to unlock that elusive fountain of youth, perhaps this is what draws us to them. They don't need to die young to be immortalized or obtain perpetual youth. People will never remember them as old, aged or wrinkly. They get to live forever, never age, never get sick, experience all life has to offer, to do it all with no regrets--because they always have that second, third, fourth chance to make it right. But do they?

Not always.

Perhaps it's the tortured soul that we sympathize with. The lost wanderer who is all alone with no one to turn to because he/she eventually loses the people and things they love, while they themselves continue to merely exist, but not really live anymore.

What do you think? Are your characters immortal and if so, why did you choose to make them that way (of course, depending on the genre you are writing)? And if not, what is your opinion of the appeal of these characters?

Honing Your Writing Skills

It's a fact. The more a person writes, the better at it they become. I've definitely noticed a very slight improvement over the last 3 failed drafts of my novel. In each one, the writing has gotten consecutively better, even though the story is still not coming out right.

I haven't been getting to write as much as I would like to over the last few weeks, and all the words just get bottled up inside, and eventually they start becoming jumbled. So then--how is my writing getting better if I'm barely writing at all?

Today it hit me.

While at work, I was trying to reword and decode a very long, frustrating email for public distribution. As I sat there, thinking my time could be better spent actually writing, I realized that's exactly what I was doing. I was writing. And I'm fortunate to be in a job where I constantly am writing, even though it's not the type of writing I would prefer to be doing.

I think every little bit helps. Writing in some form or fashion, whatever it is--helps. And your writing is improving, even if you think it's not.

I would like to throw this out there. What do you do to hone your writing skills? Are you currently in a job or situation which allows you to give your talent a workout?

Bye for now!

Hello Again with Pictures!

Hi Everyone,

I have returned after my mini hiatus. I apologize for my absence, however, as promised, new things are coming and posting will be more frequent, I swear! :)

I am extremely relaxed and inspired after a two week vacation in Florida - I am ready to get back to work - novel writing work, that is. I hope things stay this way. For a while there I didn't know whether I was coming or going.

Spending time with Mickey and Minnie definitely has a way of bringing out the creative side of a person.

And now for your viewing enjoyment:

No matter what time of day, Cinderella Castle is beautiful and majestic!

The perfect ending to my vacation - a whole new world peeking through.

Do you ever feel this way? What inspires you to write?

Bye for now!

Coming Soon!

I've decided I need to spruce up this blog a little bit.

I haven't worked out exactly what I want to do as yet, but you can expect some new weekly features, and more helpful sidebar links for starters. As I mentioned before, while I haven't been writing, I've been reading and I've seriously come across a whole wealth of information that I will be sharing.

Stay tuned!

Top 20 Things You Should Know About Me

So I decided to get a little more personal on my blog (still no names though ;) ), and to start things off, I am going to list the top 20 things I think you should know about me.

Ready?

Here we go - in no particular order:

1. The first one you already know - I want to be a writer!

2. I am 26 years old

3. I believe that family comes first, before anything else

4. I am a moviebuying-holic (yes, it may not be a word, but the condition exists)

5. I would love to lose at least 40 pounds

6. I love food - all food - particularly sushi & dark chocolate. Together? Not yet, but this does sort of make point #5 much harder.

7. I think I could very happily live in any one of the four parks at Disney World

8. I have an ongoing love/hate relationship with American Idol - I hate that I can't stop watching it and how much time it wastes each week during the season!

9. I love 50's & 60's music

10. Sometimes I wish I were more outgoing

11. I've only been to a beach twice in my life (and the first time I nearly drowned)

12. My favorite subject throughout school was English

13. I love watching musicals - I've seen The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia & The Sound of Music -- to name a few

14. I can fit into the kid sizes at the shoestore

15. I still sometimes watch movies on a VCR

16. Occasionally I eat TUMS as a snack

17. I wish I had continued taking piano lessons (I made it to Level 4)

18. I really enjoy glow-in-the-dark bowling (even though I'm not very good)

19. I hate missing the previews at the movie theater

20. I think I'm developing a serious crush on one of my Male MC's ;)


That's all I can think of for now. I hope this helps you to get to know me a little better. :)

Help! This Book Is On A One Way Track To Nowhere!

So in my spare time--while I have NOT been writing--I've been reading. And I have come across some amazing blogs with very, very useful information.

I feel like I've woken up from a really deep coma or something. I have been on this one mind track for so long, and I've only been thinking about the negatives. For example, no one is going to want to read my book, it's been done too many times, my characters seem too much like others, my story seems to be going nowhere, I'm never going to finish it, etc. Just to name a few. Now I'm realizing that I probably haven't been giving my manuscript a chance to breathe and grow because I've stuck it in this unconstructive box with my brain.

I just wanted to point out a couple of the sites that provided significant contributions to my wake up call:

Aprilynne Pike, author of YA novel Wings, made reference to the new/fresh concept on her blog. You can read it here.

I know this is something that I have been struggling with (along with my many other issues) for quite some time. It's an age old question. "What if my idea isn't fresh/new enough?"

Chances are--your idea probably won't be fresh or all that new. It may have been done many times before. And as Aprilynne pointed out, that's okay. It's really what you do with that idea, and how you resell it that makes it appealing to an audience. Go ahead and write what you want to write, just give it your own unique spin.

The second major issue I've been muddling through is that I've restarted my manuscript four times. I mentioned before that I made it up to 200 pages on my second draft right before I decided that it didn't make any sense at all and I needed to begin again. I've been trying to write it since I started in February 2009! And at this rate, what conclusion did I come to? Exactly - I must be a horrible writer because I can't seem to finish the thing.

To that effect, YA Author Elana Johnson made a very inspiring post here to remind all of us that this too is okay! You may restart your book a gazillion times and feel like everything you write is completely dreadful. It's not true and it does not make you a bad writer. We have to remember that. Perseverance goes by many different names and there is no time limit on what you can achieve.

So... the moral of today's story?

You should never give up on doing what you love just because you feel that it's going nowhere. Everything goes somewhere, and eventually we will all get there.

I'm looking at the writing process in a whole new light, and suddenly I'm very excited again! :)

Check out these blogs - you will not be disappointed.

What is wrong with me?

Alright, not only have I not been posting as much as I should be, I've also run into another roadblock with the book.

I hate my book. Again. Yes. Again.

I'm currently at almost 16,000 words and I'm re-reading it and thinking to myself... what am I thinking?? No one is going to want to read this, I don't even want to.

It's so weird--like the story is there--I know what I want it to be, but it is soooo jumbled in my brain and I don't know how to make heads or tails of it. I've been suffering with this problem for months!

Second problem? I think it's been done before, in some way or another--it's been done. It's tired and not unique. And I just don't know what to do. Coming up with a fresh new idea is not as easy as it seems! Sometimes I wonder if the key to success is just revamping an old idea into something people want to be a part of again.

I've been sitting at my computer for hours, just staring at the screen, and trying to figure out whether or not I should start over. Again. Yes. Again.

And... I think I'm going to. Besides all of the above, one my characters is just too overbearing, and I think people may hate him. But he's a great guy, he really is. He is just having trouble expressing himself. Sigh. Like me.

So much for my resolutions. I'm sorry that this is such a down post. I'm not giving up yet though. This will be my fourth revision of this book, but I hope it will be worth it.

What do you do when you fall into this rut? Do you ever?