Writing About Life

Sorta.

After being in somewhat of a slump and struggling to get back to writing, I had a hard time deciding just what exactly I FELT like writing.

I sifted through a few prompts, but none of them really spoke to me. I flipped through a few of my short stories from last year, realizing some were a major mess, but didn’t feel like fixing them up. So instead I sat and just wondered – what exactly DO I want to write? (see previous post of me arguing with myself)

I took my own advice, grabbing a pen and paper and just started writing. You know, it’s not too terrible. Since relationships are on my mind at the moment, that’s what poured out on the page. However, I’m not one that really enjoys romance novels or anything related to “blah blah blah I LOVE YOU SO MUCH blah blah”. I prefer it much more when someone dies. So what’s being written isn’t gushy in the least.

Point being, I’m writing. Kudos to me.

Motivation?

Where in the hell did my motivation go?

Once apon a time, I couldn’t wait to write, but now it seems when I stare at the blinking cursor on the screen, I just want to say screw it. Yet when I crawl into bed, interesting story lines seem to flood my head.

Is there something about being detached from everday life that brings out our creativity? Or is it about using a good old pen and paper to create something spectacular?

I see no good in forcing myself to write, but at the same time there’s this nagging “you should do something” voice that’s really starting to tick me off. I will, damn you! I have to be in the MOOD, right?

Maybe what this really has to do with is the fact I never did find my prefered genere. I have absolutely no idea what I like to write. Seems when a story finds me, it just pours itself out on the paper without any previous idea of what “kind” of story to write. Horror, romance (yuck), children’s, teen, or what? What exactly do I write best, anyway?

I think what I need is some serious reflection time, writing down what comes to mind as I go to appease that annoying voice in my head. See, I’m writing you jerk! It may not be the next best seller, but it’s something. Or maybe it will be? Who knows….

A Few Writing Sites

After being completely shut down for the entire summer (and a few months prior really), I felt it was time to jump back into the swing of things. The house is empty again, and much needed peace and quiet has found me. Let the story ideas flow!

To kick things off, I thought I would share a few sites I found that I plan to dig farther into. These are your basic help sites, meant for finding inspiration and/or writing gigs.

Forward Motion -
Basically a writing community geared towards support. I poked around the message boards just a bit, and I can see some inspiration sparking from a few places. I also noted a section called “Markets”, which I plan to poke farther into, since I would like to start looking into some paid writing jobs. Free membership – my favorite.

First Writer -
A nice information site with an awesome database of publishers and agents. Not free, but very low cost monthly fee to access the databases. Contest and submission options on this site as well, that accepts both poetry and short stories. Worth poking around at.

Helium Marketplace -
Basically freelance listings, and good ones at that. None of the “$10 per 100 junk article” jobs. Nope, these are REAL, and the pay isn’t all that bad for a publishing credit.

Sunoasis Writers Network -
Slightly smaller community, but still worth looking into. Job leads is part of their appeal, and actually where I found the site above. So yes, it’s on my bookmarks and I’ve joined. Free is always a favorite of mine too.

Writing.com -
Couldn’t leave this site off the list, since it’s the one writing community I really feel at home at. HUGE site, and focuses on posting stories for reviews and fun contests. If you want to get your feet wet with writing, this is the place to be without a doubt. Has both free and paid options, but even the paid options can be free if you are active enough in the community.

That’s it for now! I’m sure I’ll find some other useful sites here and there, but those are the ones that have caught my eye for the time being.

An Update and Thoughts

By the lack of posts you may assume I didn’t finish NaNo and walked away from writing for a few months. That assumption would be correct. I went into total burnout, and had to walk away. But now I’ve back, feeling a little better about where I’m headed with a little less ambition as before (which isn’t always a bad thing, especially when it comes to a creative task like writing).

I also felt the need to discuss a book that I’m currently reading right now, because it’s driving me crazy. I’m hoping to be finished with the dang thing soon. The story line is keeping me mildly interested, but the writing style makes me want to toss the book out. It’s so incredibly BORING and the descriptions of meaningless surroundings leave something to be desired. Take this line for example, talking about the trees of all things:

“Their colorful leaves swayed gently in the mild autumn breezes.”

Ugh. Can you write a more boring sentence? No “the leaves were like…” or “the leaves reminded him of…”. Just a plain vanilla sentence. And yes, there are pages and pages of stuff just like this. In one chapter the main character “whispered softly” about a half of dozen times. I’m serious, it is BAD.

I won’t give the name of the book because I don’t want to insult the author directly, but I had to vent a little. I know I should move on to another book, but I almost feel bad not reading it to the end, no matter how painful. That, and I paid 95 cents at the book trader for it, so I might as well read it. I’ll just have to take it as a learning experience as to what NOT to write.

NaNoWriMo 2008 Has Started!

NaNo is in full swing, and so is my novel. You’ll notice on the side of this blog a little box that shows my current word count and how far I’ve come thus far. As of the 3rd day, I’ve only got a little over 3,000 words. But the month is still young and so is the day! I plan to finish with a big bang,  hopefully early even.

One thing I’ve learned so far is that I wouldn’t be going anywhere without an outline. I’m so glad I did prep work last month and I’m not walking blindly into this. For me, the outline has kept me on track and gives me a clear direction of where I’m going. Sure it’s good to let the characters run off in their own directions, but they need to stay on a certain path to get to the ending. Being one that likes to “put the puzzle pieces together”, I loved planning all the logic aspects of the story and love that I get to “fit” them with the personalities.

I’ve noticed some are publicly displaying their progress, but I’ve decided to keep mine to myself until it’s finished (and published!). I change too much as I go, and I’d be wasting a lot of time uploading current copies of chapters. Instead you’ll have to just wait until it’s out in stores, which I DO plan to get it published when I’m completely done.

Good luck to those who are participating in NaNo this year!

NaNoWriMo is Coming!

What the heck is NaNoWriMo?

If you are an aspiring author, I’m sure you already know. Just in case you don’t though, It’s National Novel Writing Month, which is the month of November.

I’ve been doing quite a bit of prep work this month, fleshing out characters and building an outline of the novel I plan to write. I’ve already dropped some pieces of it  here, but I’m sure they won’t look anything like the finished product. I’ve already done some major editing of those pieces (which weren’t even half of the first chapter), and plan to do even more editing.

Now I know we aren’t suppose to go into November with part of the novel written already, but in my defense it really isn’t. Like I said, I’ve already done a lot of editing on what I already wrote, and with the prep work I’ve done I can see that a LOT more needs to be changed. So basically I’m going to start over. I am glad I got that first chapter done already, because I feel like I have one foot in the door. The starting paragraph isn’t bad, which is a huge part of any novel. (You have to hook the reader, after all).

Anyway, I’m super excited for November to start, even though I’ve been trying to enjoy October as much as possible (horror stories aside, this is my absolute favorite month!).

Need more info on NaNoWriMo? Check out the site:
http://www.nanowrimo.org

Ghost Stories

Gathered around the campfire, Beth laughed at the drunken joke made by her boyfriend, Tommy, taking another drink of her warm beer. The night couldn’t be more perfect, aside from the temperature of her beverage. Her long term boyfriend by her side, a warm fire, a cool night, and friends to hang out with.

“Hey, I got an idea, let’s tell ghost stories,” Beth, being very inebriated, suggested. Roars of laughter erupted from the circle.

“Then what? Braid each other’s hair?” Cindy, another friend slurred, sipping on a wine cooler. Despite the lack of alcohol in her drink, she was obviously the drunkest of the group. More giggles and hoots floated around the fire.

[I have absolutely no idea where I was going with this, but I'm putting it up just in case I can use it somewhere else]

Tapping

Tap…tap…tap.

She tilted her head to hear what sounded like a child playing with blocks.

Tap…tap.

The only soul in the empty house listened carefully, attempting to identify the noise and its direction. Muffled voices muttered in the distance from the open window, and she knew it was only the sounds of construction carried in by the warm fall breeze.

[My neighbors are adding on to the house next door, I felt the need to write about it. *GRIN*]

Butterflies in the Garden

[Just a piece, and something I felt I needed to write down]

Butterflies danced in the early morning dew, attracted by the fragrant morning glories clinging to the fence. Petals of blue, purple, white, and pink dotted the vine, calling the butterflies for their daily rehearsal at dawn. A white butterfly, with wings like falling snow, hid on an equally white flowers, unseen to most who past.

Fall 24-Hour Short Story Contest

I was in search of contests one day, taking a break from the normal site I’ve been active on, and came across this. A 24-hour short story contest with a small entry fee. Not being one that likes entry fees, I hesitated, but then decide it would be fun.

The idea behind the Writer’s Weekly 24-Hour Short Story Contest is simple.  The fall contest is on Saturday, September 27th. On that day, you’ll receive a prompt, which you then have only 24 hours to write a short story off of. All entries are done by email, so no cheating is allowed.

Personally I love prompts, because all kinds of crazy stories spawn off of them. Plus they are an absolute blast to write. The ones I like the most involve objects that don’t normally go together (for example, there was a prompt for a can of soda, pair of socks, and a machine gun, which produced this story. It was FUN to write, and I turned it into a longer short story for a contest).

I have no idea what this prompt will be or how I’ll be able to turn it into a story, but I’ll sure do my best. I’m really looking forward to the contest, and hope I get placed!