Writing Issues

I didn't do my normal Friday post yesterday- sorry. I've been slacking a little with the blog lately. It's not only because of school but also just due to the fact that I CAN'T SEEM TO WRITE ANYTHING. I haven't worked on the WIP in so long I feel like I'm starting to lose it.... (By which I mean both lose my love for the story and lose my mind) I left off in the middle of a scene and I have no idea how it ends or what happens next. I know what happens in 40-50 pages through the end, but the middle is actually proving difficult... I've had horrible thoughts of abandoning the project and working on something else, or maybe taking an extended break from it... I just hate that I'm 30k into it and can't seem to finish. The idea of starting at zero on something else and having to get all the way up to 30k again makes me want to crawl into a ball and cry.  So basically this post is just an excuse for me to whine. Great :P

I also thought of maybe trying my own modified NaNoWriMo where instead of writing 50k of a new novel for National Novel Writing Month in November, I tried to write at least 1k every day of this stagnant project and do 30k in a month. But I really don't think I could do that and the thought of epically failing scares me.

There. I admitted it. I'm scared of my book. I'm scared because it sucks and I think on some level my real fear is that I'll finish the draft and then not be able to fix it. I've never done a real revision before and IT SCARES ME SO MUCH. Also, I have this prevailing fear that the idea and the whole concept is stupid and bad and shallow and not worth it. I don't know how to get over that, and I feel like as long as I can't there's no chance of making it into a good book.

Alright. Now I'm just rambling and depressing myself more. Anyone else have writing problems? I can empathize :)

I'll try to post more this week, too. I have some thoughts on writing I've been meaning to write up a post about, as well as a new TV show I'm obsessed with and can't wait to rant about. Have a good weekend!

- Nicole

Finding Direction

The writing process/practices I currently use I've had for over a year, and it's easy for me to forget that the way I do things is really different from the ways of other writers (I love hearing about other writer' processes!). So I thought I'd share today one way that I've found that helps me to find focus and not ramble (quite so much) while I write.

I'm somewhere between a plotter and a pantser, meaning that I have no more than a vague idea of the middle and end of the book when I begin, but I outline each scene before I write it. I outline two or three chapters ahead, but never farther or it falls apart. Before I start a scene I'm usually carrying the idea of it around in my head the in days before, wanting to write it, and I'll start writing the scene in my head. When I start writing in my head then I know I'm in a good place with the project and I am VERY HAPPY. I imagine the dialogue, especially. And I jot it down.

Going into a scene knowing what has to happen and what information has to pass between Character X and Character Z is very helpful, but knowing ahead of time that one beautiful sentence that shifts the balance in that chapter? For me, that's gold. The one sentence/paragraph will be what I work towards for the entire scene, and I can make sure I don't stray from the goal of getting to a place where it makes sense for character X to say that.

For some people, knowing the most interesting line(s) ahead of time might take the fun out of it, so this might not apply, but it might just help you to stay focused :D Do you have specific ways of preparing to write?

 - Nicole

Magic Numbers

Last night I finally got past 30,000 words on the novel I'm writing! For some reason, 30k is the magic number where I actually start to believe, after I get there, that I can finish the book. The beginning is the part I hate the most, and I love finally getting away from it. A lot of writers say writing the middle is the worst for them. Personally, I like the middle (sure, I have my bi-weekly complete mental breakdown like every other writer, but that happens at all stages). By the time I get to the middle I have a pretty solid idea of where I'm going for the rest of the book, I know my characters, etc. I'm curious to know if other writers have a "magic wordcount number". Do you?

- Nicole

Recommended Writing Books

I'm actually working on and loving my WIP these days, so that's REALLY GOOD. Some of my sudden inspiration/work ethic has definitely come from the awesome book on writing I'm currently reading. When I realized a year or two ago that writing books was something I really wanted to do, the first thing I did was pick up a book on the subject.Today I'm going to share my favorite books (so far) on the subject.

The first writing book I ever got was The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing a Novel. Certain parts of it are a tad outdated (some of the things about publishing) but the vast majorirty of it is totally relevant. It was the perfect book for me as a beginner and I'd definitely recommend it for a good overview. In each chapter there are helpful writing exercise blurbs and quotes from writers that are funny/helpful/inspiring. I've reread it multiple times and my copy is filled with highlighting and pen marks,etc. For a few months after I bought it I just toted it around with me everywhere. I'm odd, what can I say.

The second book on writing I ever read was Stephen King's aptly named On Writing, a semi-biographical writing guide that is funny and personal and very helpful and engaging. I bought it just because lots of writers raved about it, and they were right!

I'm currently reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott which is SUCH AN EXCELLENT BOOK. There isn't much that I didn't already know or know of (believe me, I've read A LOT about writing. My pile of printed out blog articles on the subject weighs roughly 200 pounds), but this book is very quotable, very interesting, and offers a wonderful perspective that's really made me want to write. I think I may like it even better than the two aforementioned books.

Two other books on writing I bought online came in the mail today! They are The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass and Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King. I obviously haven't read either of these yet, but I'll let you know what I think!

Happy writing!

- Nicole

Writing Superstitions

Since I've only finished one novel, I really don't have that much experience, however I have developed certain writing superstitions, some of which I don't mind, and some I'm trying to break.

I wrote my first novel during January through April of 2011, and I came to associate writing with winter, for some reason. There wasn't much to DO outside and such in the winter, and my classes weren't *that* hard last year, so I was writing at least 5-6k over the course of every weekend towards the end. I'd wake up and it would be cold outside and warm inside and it felt perfect to stay in and write. I had such a hard time getting even 20k out this summer. Definitely trying to break the only-writing-in-winter thing. But at least winter's coming, so maybe that'll help :D

And since it was winter I was drinking a ton of tea. Specifically, my drug of choice, Tazo brand chai. It's soooo good (I'm not trying to sell it, I promise lol). The very smell of it still makes me want to write. But in the summer it's too hot for anything but iced tea, and it's just not the same.

The last one I can think of is music. I'm obsessed with playlists for my novels and I can find hours searching for new songs that fit perfectly . . . when I should probably be writing :P I was thinking of sharing the playlist for my current WIP on the blog once I finish the first draft. Though it is still subject to change, so I'm not sure.

Do you have any writing superstitions/associations?

- Nicole

How a Book is Born

Today I want to blog about, get this, writing! Not school for once. Today my AP history class gave me a great concept for a book, and I'm so excited to see if it will go anywhere. That and the fact that I'm at an interesting place in my WIP has me thinking about the different mind-sets that go with each stage in a book's development. I image different writers have different steps and really different feelings about them.

For me, the first stage is when I get the "concept", which is even less than the idea. The concept usually just consists of a subject, for example with my current WIP the concept was "I should write a book that combines too things that fascinate me: reality TV shows (I hate watching them, I just find the idea of their existance interesting) and boarding schools (which I love).

Sometime pretty soon after I think of a concept I get the "idea" which usually tells me a little about the plot and a character or two. At this point I'll start making frantic notes about every tiny thing I might want to incorporate into the novel. From here I basically wait a few weeks or months or longer, compiling lists of scenes and character and setting descriptions and making note of songs that have the feeling I want to invoke. I don't really "outline" though. Throughout this process I am SO VERY HAPPY with this unborn idea that has so much potential, since I haven't had the change to actually write and screw it up yet :D Most writers probably feel that way at this stage.

Once I start writing, for me, the first chapter or two is fun. It's new and exciting and I think I'm a genius. Somewhere between 5-10k words I start hating every single thing about this idea and my writing. The beginning is the hardest part for me since I'm still not sure I can finish and I doubt myself a lot. The miserable mindset generally stays with me until I hit my magic number, 30,000 words. My current WIP is stalled at 20k, and I'm currently stuck between hating what the novel is and being madly in love with what I hope it will be. From 30k until the end I have sporadic moments of Complete Writer Devastation (CWD) but everyone has those. Leaving the project for a few days usually helps a lot.

Towards the end this weird phenomenon happens in my brain where even though I'm so excited to finish the book, I also get a little depressed because I know editing is way harder than writing and I know I'll miss the characters when I'm done drafting. But finishing is still the best feeling in the world.

Too bad none of my three in-progress ideas right now are anywhere near done O_O

Do you agree with my stages and mindsets? Do you feel totally different? Tell me things.

- Nicole

Scrivener and Spotify

I feel like I haven't been blogging enough, but my grandma is visiting from Australia; we hadn't seen her in three years, and one of my stepsisters is here from California and we hadn't seen her for five years, so blogging and writing and tweeting took a backseat :) Not to mention rushing to do tons of summer work now, since school starts for me on the 31st...

My work-in-progress is going really well, though! And I'm definitely contributing some of that success to several new programs I've fallen in love with. I learned about Spotify from one of Natalie Whipple's posts. It's like a hybrid of iTunes and Pandora - so basically a free iTunes with some commericials - and it's amazing! I made all of my novels' playlists on there. I highly recommend trying it.

And I've wanted the writing program Scrivener forever, but until recently it was only available for Mac. The Windows beta is out now, which is what I'm using, and it's every bit as genius as I knew it would be from watching the YouTube tutorial a million times. I write completely linearly, but it's still SO helpful when it comes to outlining and collecting notes and research. I am so in love with it and can't wait to get the real version when it comes out. I never plan on using any other writing program, if I can help it.

Sorry if this reads a little like a commercial :) I really love these programs and they've really helped me feel organized and inspired with my WIP.

- Nicole

My Favorite Writing Quotes

I've developed the habit of saving all my favorite writing quotes in one big document and referring to them in time on inspirational need. I've been a bit obsessed with them lately, though I haven't had time to search out new ones, but I thought I'd share some of the really good ones. Some of them I got from blog posts or articles and others I've just stumbled upon in the internetz, and a many from my favorite authors.

“Reality is a nice start. But don’t feel the need to stay there. If reality were so great in the first place, we wouldn’t have to write fiction.” - Barry Lyga

“Sure, inspiration comes sometimes - a sudden great idea you can’t wait to write down - but it’s not often and usually at inopportune times when you don’t have a pen.” - Cassandra Clare

“Core is what your novel is. It’s not what your novel is about. It’s the thing that made you want to tell this story and no other. It’s the theme, or the character, or the setting that made you love it.” - Maggie Stiefvater

“There’s a word for a writer who never gives up . . . published.” - J. A. Konrath

“If you want to get rich, go to law school and become a corporate attorney. If you want to do something fulfilling and be guaranteed a living wage, become a teacher. If you want to entertain and enlighten people, become a writer . . . and be prepared for the possibility that you’ll live on noodles for a long time.” - Barry Lyga

“Sometimes, writing feels like you're trying to carve a chihuahua out of an elephant with a chainsaw.” - Saundra Mitchell 

“Revision is when you first get to recognize the distance between what you wanted to write, what you thought you were writing, and what you actually did write. That recognition often makes you want to throw up.” - Carolyn See

“I realise people exist who don't read. But it's like I knew there were people who didn't breathe or eat: I can't imagine a life like that.” - Sarah Rees Brennan

“There are millions of people out there who think, ‘hey, I could write an awesome book.’ And they never do. Which is great - I hate competition. - Kiersten White

Do you have any favorite writing quotes??

- Nicole  

Don't Stop Believing *insert cheesy music here*

My new WIP is at 60 pages exactly right now!! There's something about the landmark numbers, for both page and word count, that makes me very excited! As if all I have to do is right ten more pages and get to 70 and then I'll have more validation that there is progress. I wanted to write this post because up until this point for this novel I've only known the premise, the characters, and had a very vague idea of how I wanted it to end. Even the plot was a bit shaky... but I kept writing anyway because I love the idea. I figured that if I just shut up the voices of self-doubt and kept hacking away at it, eventually the plot and ending would come to me.

And they did! *Stops for applause. Hears crickets* I was lying in bed after writing out a really fun/funny scene (if I do say myself :P) longhand that the whole thing came to me, and it was pretty magical. I grabbed my WIP notebook and wrote it all down in the messiest handwriting EVER, which is saying something because I have awful handwriting, and then it took me a long, long time to fall asleep. I couldn't stop imagining how the ending was going to play out in my head and all the things the characters could say and do and all the ways I could torture them to get to that ending *insert evil writer laugh*.

I'm rambling a bit, I guess what I wanted to say is that even though having a plan and an outline is great, sometimes going out of your comfort zone and just starting the story is enough. I had to trust myself and to trust that in time the answers would come to me. Now they did and I'm more excited than ever to write this story! Don't give up in the beginning just because there's still such a long way to go. As long as you start, eventually you'll figure out where you're going and how to get there :D

Happy writing!

- Nicole

10,000 At a Time . . .

I'm taking a quick break before beginning the next chapter of my WIP, so I thought I'd blog really quickly about my process. For me, the beginning is the hardest part of drafting because there are so many questions still unanswered and so many blank pages still in front of me, and I know a lot of writers struggle with this. I don't have strict outlines, just lots of notes on scraps of paper and in notebooks (Oh, how I wish I could outline!) Basically what I figured out works for me is planning (usually in bullet points) just the next 3-4 chapters ahead of where I am. Then I write those chapters, plan the next several, and keep going like that.

And since I never have ANY idea how long a novel is going to end up being I can't just say "it's going to be around 60,000 words so at 30 I'll be halfway! So instead I try to only focus on 10,000 words at a time. For example, right now, about to start chapter 5 (!!!) I'm 700 words from reaching 10k words. Up to this point all I've been thinking is "in the plotlines and in the character's relationships, where do I want to be at 10k?" Now I'm going to sit back and think "where do I want to be at 20k?" And then plan out the chapters that will get me there. This way I never get overwhelmed with how far I still have to go, but still have a path to guide me.

If you're a struggling writer, I hope this helps! :)

- Nicole

The Road Less Travelled By . . .

It's 9:30 at night which is past the point when my brain is usually working and I have two options in front of me. My goal today was to get the WIP to 7,000 words so that way I have a hope of reaching 10k tomorrow... but earlier when I had TIME to write in the afternoon (which is when I prefer to do it) I got sidetracked by awesome Harry Potter parodies on Youtube (like THIS one and THIS one and THIS one THIS one - note the third video contains some language, etc.) So now it's late and I'm 1900 words behind where I wanted to be . . .

And it would be really easy to say I'll just try again tomorrow and mess around on Twitter for a bit longer and maybe continue reading The Disreputable History of Frankie Landua-Banks by E. Lockhart, which is one of the amazing books I'm rereading for inspiration for the new WIP. That would be fun . . . 

Or I could take the more difficult road, the road less travelled by *insert literary reference here* and write the dang words so that I can sleep tonight. I think I'll do that. Even though I don't want to. Because that's how the frickin books get frickin written. Also: "frickin written" may be my new favorite phrase.

- Nicole

Writing Indecision

I've heard published writers and writers who've written multiple books say before that starting every new book is like learning how to do it all over again and that the process is never exactly the same . . .but while I was writing my first book I always thought "oh, please! Once I finished this I'll have done it once and then I can do it again and again no problem!" Hahahahahahahaha. I'm crying as I laugh when I think about me thinking that *semi confusing sentence*. 

Since I finished my first WIP in mid-April I've had four false-starts on other books... two of those on the same project. I actually wrote over 80 pages on a book I was SURE would be my second finished WIP . . .then I stopped writing it for a few weeks because of final exams and other things like that and then I just didn't feel like writing it for some reason . . . and then I realized what the "some reason" was. Basically, I had to rewrite everything I had because the new reincarnation of the idea was so different. And I still love the story, but I just can't seem to DO it. Have you ever had a time in your writing life where it seems impossible, and for no reason you can really put your finger on? 

Anyway, I had an idea for another book that I LOVE LOVE LOVE a few months ago when I was writing that 80 pages of WIP #2 and I set it aside then and haven't done much besides taking notes on it since . . . I started writing the first draft of that two days ago. What is wrong with me? I hate the feeling that I might never finish anything again, but just keep starting books and never getting anywhere. I have writing bi-polar and the scary thing is that the only cure is for me to just suck up my own doubts and write a freakin book. Isn't that always the way? 

Alright, that's enough of my rambling. I should probably go attempt to write something now . . . :D

- Nicole