2017 Goals – Darker and more Consistent

 

Distractions. Procrastination. These two words consistently show up on my blog. I think many writers and aspiring authors struggle with these two concepts. Always finding something else to do while the writing waits patiently to be finished… or to be started. We’ve all heard the call to write. We have all read quotes from authors we look up to. We’ve read and perhaps even written blog posts that speak to us about not writing enough, about being consistent – Stephen King wrote every day, why don’t you? Then we feel the guilt-fueled inspiration to dig right into it, and it works for a while but a few days, perhaps a week, or month later it’s back to having the desire but not the will to write. In all honesty it sucks.

Consistent Writing

This isn’t some “New Year, New Me” fad that I discover later on to be nothing more than a short lived emotional spike that dwindles back to the reality that I’m the same person this year as I was last year. It’s a goal. It’s an island in the sights of my spy-glass and I’m rowing towards it with purpose. There may be storms and there may be smooth sailing but at the end of the day, I’ll pull up to beach as I arrive on the island. If I stop rowing, I may eventually get there but it will take much longer and perhaps drift me off course. If I keep rowing, if I keep writing, I’ll get there faster.

Darker Writing?

I’ve dabbled in a number of genres from romance to fantasy to political thrillers and other interesting genres. It’s been fun and educational. Yet those genres don’t click with me like the horror genre does. In fact, I lost quite a bit of the spark that used to fuel my horror stories and that’s something I’m still at two minds about. Nicolette Stephens, owner of Chasing Dreams Publishing, a writer and a good friend to me, said this about one of my stories,

“If you’re going to write horror, you need to actually embrace it, rather than holding back for fear of it being too dark. Otherwise it blunts what could be a very sharp edge.”

It’s fantastic advice, and is the reason I trust her without question regarding my written work. It’s not gone completely, if you’ve read my Friday Fiction shorts you’ll see I try and add an element of it, but it’s not really horror is it? Not at the right capacity anyway. Horror was the first real genre I fell in love with both reading and writing. It will probably continue to do so for a long while still.

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Lot’s more happening in 2017. This week will be updates and getting back into the regular flow of things so you’ll get to be with me on this journey. Nonetheless, what are you goals for 2017?

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Driven by the Trade

The question has plagued many an artist over the course of history, right there next to the question “Why am I here?”, is the second most important question; why do I do what I do. Am I driven by the joy of exercising my craft or do the corporeal benefits steer me on. As a writer I have been on both sides of the fence and now sit straddling the equivocal fence, unsure which way to fall this time.

There is pleasure in writing. This particular article has been a joy to write, an old experience seen anew outside of fictional writing. The practice of combining letters  to form words, sentences, paragraphs; the joy of putting thought to digital paper, watching it come to life before me. Seeing the worlds in my mind spill out as close to physical manifestation as words ever could; it’s an almost magical experience.

Getting that orange star in the top right corner of my dashboard or better yet, a speech bubble, is an exciting experience. Googling my name (such vanity, forgive me!) and seeing my published works and a link to my blog and website exhilarates. Going to Amazon.com and typing in my name (exonerate this conceitedness!) to see that I am listed as a published author inspires. Gamecca Magazine. Goodreads. Twitter. Instagram. My first cheque for my published book. Holding the physical copy of my book in my hand… it’s an almost gratifying experience.

Even as I write this I cannot come to grips with where I stand on this ongoing debate.

I love writing. I remember spending hours on my own scribbling pages and pages of story in my almost illegible school boy handwriting. I remember sitting in front of my computer and typing my emotions away into pages and pages of Times New Roman font (what font could better capture my art I ask you?). I cared little about who read my work, I wrote for me.

It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.
– Ernest Hemingway

At the same time I am here writing this blog post with the hope that old and new visitors will be taken by my writing and leave likes and comments; bless the new follower who has stumbled upon my writing. I bombard my social media platforms with links and links and links, hoping someone will take the time to see what I have written. I imagine my viewership forming opinions about what they have read and leaving satisfied that their time was well spent; that I am a talented writer; that my poetry is masterful and my short stories engaging; that I should be a prolific writer whom other writers hope to be compared to.

It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.
– Robert Benchley

I cannot write a short story without wondering what others will make of it while my poetry is written with little care of the reader. Stories bubble forth only to be hampered by the imaginary reader. Others are driven because of the imaginary reader. Other times I am the imaginary reader. Why do I do what I do? Why do I write? Is it for me? Is it for you dear reader? I wish I knew. One thing that I do know is this; I will continue to write. And I hope you will continue to read.

Where is my Muse?

Courtesy of Beginte: http://beginte.deviantart.com/art/Writing-is-300342371

The year is flying by faster than you can say half-way-through-twenty-fifteen and with it, deadlines, competition closing dates and a fast approaching NaNoWriMo. With June now past, stories published, feature articles written, the next six months loom ahead carrying some high expectations. The only problem I am facing, is finding my muse.

December: What bringeth ye

 

It’s been 4 days since NaNoWriMo but a week since I wrote anything. How well did I do? I failed again. I reached 25 000 words and completed the word count with a sentence that changed the entire premise of the story. Suddenly a character sneaked in and bam, they became the center around which everything else revolved. I did not even see it coming!

So what does that mean? Do I discard what I’ve written, crawl into the fetal position and mourn over my inability to write 50 000 words in a month…again? Well that stage is already past, I’m at the “What’s next!” stage of what I like to call the “Failure to Sit Down and Write Syndrome”, symptoms include procrastination, walks to the kitchen to make coffee, excessive bathroom breaks from multiple cups of coffee, an idea that seems more fun to write etc etc. You get the gist of what I’m saying.

Hello 2014 – Goodbye Procrastination

Greetings to you all. This is just an official Welcome to 2014 post with a quick update of what’s happening on my blog, with me and just life in general.

Currently Running

First, if you haven’t noticed already, I’m working on a series called Villainous Villainy where I explore villains and the various facets they come in, their motives for being who they are and what generally drives them. I cover these in a series of short stories that I try to keep at at least 1000 words.

Pokemon Fan Fic

I’ve added more to the Pokemon Fan Fic with a second part of the fan fic The Chase. If you’ve been checking back and it hasn’t been updated, that’s because December was practically non-existent when it came to writing but you can expect a bit more now and in the coming months.

Junk Yard Angel

A continuous work in progress. I actually haven’t touched this story since I failed NaNoWriMo. I think I wrote a bit for two days afterwards but in the end I stopped. This doesn’t mean I’ve stopped writing, I’m just taking a break as I focus on other things that are taking quite a bit of time now.

Auburn

Auburn is almost done! That’s right, the tale of our unfortunate hooded fellow, the red haired lady our grey haired security guard and the antagonist Mr Sinister is drawing to a conclusion and as it stands it will have a February conclusion. We also planning some cool stuff relating to Auburn and my fellow writer Tyron Armstrong might branch off on a Auburn spin-off. Exciting stuff.

2014

So last year was quite a productive year of writing and this year seems to be continuing along in the same trend. I’m still going strong writing for Gamecca and Gladget as well as a side personal project that is consuming hours. There is much to look forward to this year and I hope you tag along and enjoy the journey with me.

Progress – NaNoWriMo

Courtesy of the NaNoWriMo website, not my own work or like whatever. COPYRIGHT etc etc

So I’m almost 10 000 words in (9 955 words to be exact at the posting of this uh…post) and I’ve written myself into various dilemmas! Understandably though as my characters are progressing this fictional world and getting thrown into situations that aren’t favourable to them and it costs them dearly! Funny thing is that they are actually just making their own decisions and I’m incorporating the world around them to fit. Don’t laugh! I’m serious. I’m just typing along la di da di da and then BAM “hey I want to go left, what’s left?” and I’m like “Uhhh vampires? I guess…” and the character is all “I love vampires, remember that time you wrote a vampire short story? The stakes were high on that one!” and I’m like “But you can’t have vampires! They don’t fit” and next thing I know I have vampires infiltrating a well thought out romance novel (uhhh…yes occasionally I write at twilight? What do you mean its a movie/book? Sparkles???)

So what’s the dealio Thito?

Well firstly my world is suddenly populating with characters that I had not anticipated, characters suddenly sprouting opinions and ideas of their own forcing me to incorporate them into the big scheme of things and they have proven to me that they are worthy of being included. Imagine that! They are just screaming at me to make them part of the story so I have and I’m liking how they are shaping up and I have already foreseen how they will either aid or hinder my MC’s as they continue of this quest.*breathes* Did someone say excitement? Oh and then there is this one character, sneaky sneaky! He is creeping in to every little arc like some sort of sneaky antagonist who never gives any of the MCs or SCs (Main characters and Sub characters…in case you have been confusing them with rappers or whatever – like I did the first few times. What’s up with this Master of Ceremonies showing up everywhere! – I digress – lol always wanted to say that…I wonder how much can be put in to parenthesis before it becomes its own little paragraph…maybe I should remove the parenthesis …parentheses…I’ll add an authors note!) a chance. #Authors note. Read previous sentence excluding sentences within the parentheses to make sense of it.

So how easy is it to make a fictional earth?

Well let’s take a look at it shall we. There is a planet. The planet has to be designed somewhat and of course named. I suck at names. What’s worse? The planet is made up of continents – continents have names! I so far planned only 5 continents and if I really have to add more I will but I can handle five, besides I only need these five to progress my story. I can do a whole Japanese RPG thing and bring in this one separated continent in the middle of nowhere, hiding a giant floating city (or underwater city oooh) where the final battle ensues. Or I could just go with what I have. Then each continent is made up of countries. Many countries in fact. South America with 12 countries is a continent with the least number of countries (excluding those frigid landscapes that have NO countries. I like that idea better!) and each country has a name. Argentina comes from the Latin word Argentum which means silver and was used at first to speak of a Silver River. Brazil stems its origin from the brazilwood tree which was  its earliest commercially exploited product. In Portuguese brazilwood is called pau-brasil, from the Latin word brasa meaning ember or rather red wood. What about my countries? Do they have such rich historical roots? Nope! Which means that I have some work to do in building a background for these countries. Oh and do you know what’s in each country? Yeah…. states and provinces and cities and villages and towns and suburbs and streets and roads and avenues and mountains and hills and tourists sights oh gosh!

Freakin out there ?

Uh yeah no. I mean I’m like one fifth in already right? 23 days to go to write the remaining 40 000 words (40045 to be exact) and what I have is this unraveling of characters and places and events that each lead to their own separate story arcs. Each arc building up to that cataclysmic conclusion where the protagonist and antagonist clash swords, shoot energy balls at each other and achieve their ultimate form that pushes their power level beyond all human understanding and probability. Okay that’s not happening in my story but you get the gist of what I’m saying right? Great!

Any fears?

Yes! I’m afraid that my novel might be longer that 50 000 words because as things are progressing, my storyline is slowing down. I feel like its moving a bit too fast you know, like you won’t get to know and understanding these characters as they are and by the time you have a sense of who each one is, they are already shooting energy balls at each other and the one dies and its like, whoa whoa whoa! Who are these people and why should I care that a sword has been driven into his chest!? And what do you mean they rode off into the sunset? It can’t be over already!

Do I have a fear of not finishing?

Hmmmm I think somewhere in the recesses of my mind I’m contemplating it. When fatigue sets in at 500 words and I know that there is still another +-1200 to go before I can call it quits, at those times I feel like quitting. Who needs this novel anyway. The worst times are when I can’t come up with anything to progress my story and I read it over to see how I can move them along to where they need to be but no ideas come to mind – and its 23:00 meaning I have an hour to write over 1000 words. Pressure! Frustration! But with NaNo on my case and numbers publicly displayed and coaches hashtagging twitter and e-mails with updates constantly reminding me of this novel that I’m writing, how can I fall away. All this pressure. So I push. But I also push because I’m enjoying the writing. Its invigorating and fun and you know sleeping at 00:01 because I had to make sure I reach my daily quota is somewhat satisfying. Thankfully at the end of it I’m so fatigued, I fall asleep almost immediately. I mean writing is emotionally, mentally and physically tiring. But I love it.

Well with that said let me bid you adieu. I haven’t written anything so far, I used up more than a 1000 words writing this post which means I have to dig deep to find another 1600 or so words in the next… 4 hours. Procrastination tells me I can play some League of Legends or Battlefield 4 or a game or two of Fifa14. The rest of my working brain is screaming at me to get to work. Guess you can check my word counter on the right hand corner there to see which one of ’em won.

To all other NaNo’s out there. Keep writing, keep pushing and let’s finish well.

Monday Inspiration

I wouldn’t be surprised if writers, in general, had moments when they wondered what it is they were writing for. Does personal satisfaction push fingers to type, or are they driven by a particularly personal point they wish to get across to readers? Do they write to escape within the fictional and ( sometimes non-fictional and introspective) worlds that words create? Or is it to attempt to prove their English teacher wrong after being told that they had no future as writers? I don’t know, but what I do know is that we are all driven by something to write. I came across this link on a blog that I am following which really got me thinking about my writing: http://james-smythe.com/blog/an-open-letter-to-new-and-would-be-writers

It is, as the name of the link states, an open letter to new and would be writers of which many of us, especially here on the blog-o-sphere, fall under. So when a successful writer reaches out to us to offer advice, should we not at least consider it, and even be moved to take it? As I progress in writing my novel, Junk Yard Angel (which has been on a standstill for a while now ), I asked myself why I was writing it. Yes I was writing it because it’s what I’ve wanted to do for years (write a novel that is) and finally  I am in the process of it but what really spurs me on, what fire fuels my desire to write this novel, what exactly am I hoping to achieve with this novel – and I found this quote helpful from the above link:

“You got into this to write. I tell myself that, when I am feeling sad about this – and I do, frequently, I won’t lie – but you got into this to tell the best story that you can, in the best way possible. You got into this to push yourself, and to try to affect people… 
…And you, ambiguous writer, have to believe in whatever it is you’ve written, because that’s all that matters. Make it the best it can be, put your heart into it. That’s what matters. Heart doesn’t sell books – luck and money sells books – but heart means you’ll be proud of it, and that you can stand by it.” 

Maybe as you read through the letter, you will find something that stands out for you to take in and use, helping you along on this adventure that is writing. Read through the letter and let me know what you think by commenting below – let us benefit, inspire and grow with one another as writers!

An Escape

Escape – by M Crane (deviant art – http://mwcrane13.deviantart.com/)

Writing is an escape.

Escape from what you may ask. Pressures of life steamrolling towards me? Circumstances that pummel down my way? Emotional roller-coasters rocketing me through all the high-highs and low-lows while fears and exhilaration cause my thrumming heart to beast faster with each loop and twist and turn? Gah! Who knows! But guess what!? I’ve added a third page to my Pokémon story! Yay! Its taken a while to write and not because I didn’t know what to write but rather how to write it.

I feel really bad for my character though. I mean he just doesn’t get a break and it seems like everything just keeps getting worse every time it looks like its about to get better. Sometimes I wonder how much of my writing is me writing and how much of it is some sort of rant from my subconscious, only able to finally express itself through these typed letters, forming words, forming sentences, forming paragraphs; forming unintentional introspection.

So then it becomes an escape not for me from life but rather an escape of my thoughts from my passive, seemingly uncaring yet completely aware mind that keeps shoving stuff into the dark unused cabinets of my subconscious and bottling unstable vials of emotions away to prevent me from falling apart. So then this writing works out well, therapeutic you might say, and if life is life, I can be assured that there will be countless tales spewing forth onto this blog.

Be part of it all! Follow my blog, read my stories, check out my pages, leave a comment and come back to see what else my thoughts have been up to!