I've Got The Fire Back!

Since Nanowrimo, I've been on a little hiatus. I edited all through December, but when January hit, I was in a slump. February didn't see an end to it. But here we are in March, and suddenly I have found my fire again.


Firstly, I have been working hard to maintain my blogs and website. I'm tweeting like a madwoman and writing ficlatte's while looking up writing contests. I have found a few that strike my fancy.


While puttering around on my blogs, I found my niche! That's a good thing because now I can try to market myself. I've been trying hard to do that for a while.



The one glitch in the system is that MailChimp and I have been fighting each other. Apparently, I need to build an email list to work on promotion. MailChimp is free, but not the most user-friendly. I have been trying to give out a free PDF and people aren't biting. I realized that the links are not working and the free stuff does NOT integrate with MailChimp. I even tried avoiding the PDF file altogether and just linking to a view only version on Google Docs and when I clicked on it from my test email, it failed.

Anyway, I'm reading , writing, and pushing forward after a rough start to 2018. I expect more hiccups to come, but for now, I'm enjoying the escalating ride up the hill. I hope it leads to an exhilarating ride.

On Writing: Form and Time Management

Yeah, I haven't worked on the Love book at all.
Weekends are too short! My to-do list and my to-read list are too long!

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I've been working on other things; webinars on overcoming distractions and streamlining your work, updating my book covers on smashwords as I promised, doing a little bit or writing, typing a bit more of a  manuscript for a friend, and working with my husband on a new way to collaborate online in real time on our book series.

I also work full time, tutor two afternoons a week, and this weekend I celebrated my son's 14th birthday. My weekends usually have something going on.

So when do I write???

I write while I am watching a show, or in bursts when I feel the creative juices flowing and I have an idea. Did I learn anything from these webinars on streamlining my work? Basically, when you plan out a story, use an outline. Have an idea of where the story should go. Add in stuff. Expand the outline.

When I write micro fiction, I usually only have a feeling and a character in mind. That's it. I add in setting, other characters as necessary, and I edit and develop as I go. It's micro fic. It needs a set up, delivery, and twist or some sort of conclusion. Bam.

If I'm going for a novel, I need plots, subplots, the epic battle scene be it external or internal, characters, settings, and some research. Sometimes bits and pieces of this process are fun. Developing book covers, finding pictures of characters, typing up the outline, each process is a project. Writing time is when details start to flow.

Basically the outline is like this:
Story beginning - intro the main character and main problem
Things happen TO the character to cause them some discomfort
A big incident happens to cause them to wake up and take action
They react to the incident, they can fail
The Villain enters and readers get some info
They react and plot to try to outwit the villain, they can fail
They find the missing piece of the puzzle and can conquer
They conquer
Story Ending


If I get stuck, it's probably because I strayed from the outline. It happens. Sometimes I can weave my way back to the original idea. Sometimes I have to change things. Too much change, however, causes me to stop. I might drop a project. If I drop it for too long I will forget what I was working on, but sometimes going back a while later gives you new perspective. You can look at it with fresh eyes and maybe fix the outline or edit the prose to shape it into a masterpiece.

There will always be distractions, work, and life things that happen. Find time for your loves. If writing is one thing that makes you happy, then do it. Research. Design a book cover. Begin an outline. Look up pictures to model your characters on. Don't waste a moment. The time is there if you take it.

No More Winter Creative Blocks: 10 Minutes A Day Promise

Hi all of my lovely readers!

I hope in the interim you have enjoyed my posts on my personal blog about Generosity. I'm sorry I haven't been here in a couple months.

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I should have forced myself to write more.

But it's also winter.

While I always thought that I was less creative in winter, studies show that our brains DO NOT seem to be affected by winter, that it's really our attitudes. I say lack of seeing the sunshine is part of it.

I can't blame winter for 2 reasons. 1, This has been the mildest, weirdest, and un-winter-like winter in a long time for my area. We missed the big February snowfall, the sleet didn't even turn to layers of ice, and the largest accumulation of snow in January was a few inches. And 2, work has been all-consuming. I have been so burnt out from the trials of the day with the addition of paperwork that I came home simply to not think about it.

I should have been 'not thinking about it' by creating new characters, scenes, settings, or doing fun research for my writing projects. I should have worked on some outlines.

It's my attitude that influenced by work habits. I did what I felt like doing, which we all should do sometimes, but it wasn't what I should have been doing. I felt like being a lump. I felt like not thinking for a while. This is not really healthy if it continues over long periods of time. They say for every day you take off from writing, your Muse takes off three..

I did write a little Ficlatté about the death of my Muse.

Detective Hawk reached a gloved hand to the light switch. In the moment before the room was bathed in light, she braced herself for a scene of unknowable atrocity. It was not difficult to kill a muse, they are quite delicate, but at times the results can be quite macabre.

click

She squinted. Stark reality was hard on the pupils. A lithe figure, white feathered wings drooping from two graceful shoulders used to bearing the weight of the world curled around a body stooped limply yet stiffly across the top of a writing desk. Ink cascaded down a single white page and puddled on the floor thickly. A pale head, thankfully turned away from the Detective, rested on the ink stained page. Her feather quill had fallen to the floor. Elegant legs were still tucked under the desk.

She could have been asleep.

Unfortunately, the Detective had no choice but to walk over and stare into the vacant, open eyes of crystal blue.

"What happened to you, goddess?" she breathed in awe.

She began to search for clues.

It's not the best thing I've ever written, but it was a way to cope with the loss of being creative in any way.

To free up my creative energy, I am going to try to freewrite for 10 minutes a day. It might become longer, but a promise to myself of just 10 minutes should do wonders for healing my Muse. Truly, she is not really dead, but in a coma.

A person can do a lot of things in 10 minutes.

What can you do in 10 minutes?

Also, comment on ways you fight against creative blocks, not just writer's. :) I'd love to hear some strategies!

Turning Stumbling Blocks Into Stepping Stones

Thanks to a friend for suggesting that I go back in time and review old writing to spark something new! As I perused my old works, I noticed that I had 3 things that kept me going.

• Writing Partners to keep me going on a series and throw in new ideas and twists. Having a writing buddy to take your characters into new settings, genres, even meeting new villains broadens your horizons.
• Muses who were usually humans that encouraged me and whom I thought about a lot. In thinking of them, I found I created stories about characters loosely based on my perception of who they were.
• Unrequited Love/Emotional Baggage and regrets/trials and tribulations that I just couldn't let go of. With time and hard work, that kind of baggage falls away. Life changes. 

I am currently lacking in these 3 things. I feel very out-of-whack, akimbo, in limbo, and indecisive. Projects unrelated to writing are taking the forefront.

In order to get back, I need to find ways to make these 3 things return.

1. Find New Writing Buddies! Working on ficly dot com, many of the same writers still visit. I need to work on meeting new writers to fill the voids left behind by those that have moved on or visit less often. I could also go back to other sites and find new buddies there as well; Protagonize, Dark Media City, even a group on Critique Circle.
2. Search for my Muse. One of these new people could become a new muse. I could also look for inspiration in other places like people watching, jotting down things my children say, or journaling memories and random thoughts. When I find it, I need to write it down before I lose it.
3. Consider my stressors. While emotional baggage is a bad thing, stress can be good if it fuels creative fire. I have had a lot of stress this school year, and I did write about it twice. I always have to preserve confidentiality when it comes to work related stories and that does put a kink in the process. I don't want to simply change names or places because too many descriptive words will give away the characters to those that know them. I don't want to get in trouble. (Yeah, I'm afraid of trouble.)

What helps you write? What keeps the creative juices flowing? Who are your muses? What fuels your creative fire?

Don't be afraid to tell me in the comments..I won't get you in trouble!

Under Construction!

This blog is currently under construction as a place to post about my book

What I Learned In Tuvalu


So far, I have a proof copy coming to me from CreateSpace.

The book was written during NaNoWriMo 2008.
Here is my hook:
Left on a remote island in the South Pacific by his own father, Trenton must prove he has what it takes to return home to the family business. But even the best laid plans can go awry..

So what do you think?

I'm hoping that by blogging here I can stay motivated, share my experiences, and get a few readers. I plan on posting excerpts in the future; a little something to look forward to!