Here we go…How I write….
HOW DO I START MY
WRITING PROJECTS?
Well considering I only have one writing project, which is my YA Fantasy/adventure Series, I will have to defer to what happened with this.
I really didn't know what I was doing and just started writing. Literally. I pulled what I thought was an intriguing sentence from the air and began writing a story around it. I had the characters in mind and a basic plot, but that was about it. It really wasn't the best way to begin. By the time I began writing book two, I had fully developed characters that I could write without hesitation. So ingrained in my visual mind's eye, I could hear their voices and the dialog flowed. I had a more solid foundation of the story formed in my mind and little surprises popped up which allowed me to go into areas I hadn't thought of, which also brought more action and suspense to the story. The second book came out of me so effortlessly it made me rethink some parts of the first book.
Now I had a deeper understanding of my story and some loose ends that finally made complete sense. I may have to go back at some point and change up some of the first book to allow for a better continuity. Or I could just leave it alone and realize that this story, along with the characters, are ever growing and evolving. It's fantasy, it's magic, it's fun…so maybe best to leave it alone and finish up with book three.
HOW DO YOU CONTINUE YOUR
WRITING PROCESS?
By not forcing it. A lot of my author friends get really down on themselves when too much time goes by without writing. It happens. Life happens. If you're a writer, you write. I rarely have to push myself to sit down and do my work. I treat my writing like a job. I attempt to keep to my routine, however, things come up sometimes and it goes all eschew…it's okay. I like to get up early and write, when it's quiet. Or sometimes I'll do the late afternoon, again, quiet. I am a creature of habit so I do prefer to stick to my own self enforced schedule, so early morning, tea, candle lit, couple hours of fantasy. It seems to take longer in between books to get back to my routine, which is what I have experienced with this last book. After weeks of editing, re-reading, going over every detail, the business, the printing process, the cover, ect., when it's finally out there and getting a little promotion, it's just nice to take a break for a minute. Although this last book ended with such a twist that I couldn't wait to get started on book three.
However, even though book three took off without a hitch, with a HUGE shocking, in your face surprise which got super exciting for me, along came the next chapter…and I stalled. If I don't have a clear idea of where my characters are supposed to be and why, then it's utter torture to figure it out. So I stop and regroup for a couple days, tossing possibilities around in my noggin, and write a physical outline with arrows pointing from one group of characters to the others and the timeline. Then I can get back to the story, then it flows and makes sense.
HOW DO YOU FINISH
YOUR WRITING PROJECTS?I actually don't have a specific thing I do. Like Josh, he evidently eats cake..nice! Maybe that's what's missing, a little celebration of shorts. I think I'm going to have to give this some serious consideration. It only seems appropriate to do something "special" at the end of the writing journey…so I'll have to get back to you on that one…somewhere around November, when I plan to be finished with this third book.
INCLUDE ONE CHALLENGE
OR ADDITIONAL TIP
THAT OUR COLLECTIVE
COMMUNITIES
COULD HELP WITH OR
BENEFIT FROM.
Write for yourself. Do it for the love of writing.
Once you get too involved with other people's opinions or
ideas on how things need to be done, or better yet, you base your
work on what someone else thinks, you're done. The reviews
on Goodreads are just that, people, ordinary people who read
books and punch in a number. A lot of them don't even read
the book, they can rate your book based on the blurb…?
Figure out who your market is and find them.
Address them. Get your feedback from them.
Then take all that with a grain of salt and do what
you love to do…write.
UP NEXT...
So I hope you enjoyed getting into a bit of the mind set behind writing. Here are a couple other authors you will enjoy very much. Remember they won't be up and running until next Wednesday, August, 13th…you can come back here and click the links to their sites and post.
First is YA Fantasy Author Kristen Taber who was featured on here at PLP with a Guest Post and Spotlight of her first three books back in April…nice post, check it out. Kristen spent her childhood at the feet of an Irish storytelling grandfather, learning to blend fact with fiction and imagination with reality. She lived within the realm of the tales that captivated her, breathing life into characters and crafting stories even before she could read. Those stories have since turned into over a hundred poems, several short tales, and five manuscripts in both the Young Adult and Adult genres. Currently, Kristen is completing the five-part Ærenden series from her home office in the suburbs of Washington D.C.
Next is Fantasy Author Stephanie Greenhalgh, who you may remember from an interview we did back in January of this year…GREAT interview by the way. Even though she currently lives in Las Vegas, Stephanie Greenhalgh is a Midwestern girl through and through. As an avid reader and learner, literature and school are more of a passion than a hobby. This two time UNLV graduate has four published short stories: "Betula's Angst", "Duality", "Angel 101", and "The Twistedly True Nightmare of Ruby Hood", all featured in anthologies. Her first novel, "The Twistedly True Tale of Ruby Hood", was released in October 2013. And her first self publication, "If the Silver Slippers Fit..." debuted January 2014.
And last but not least author of Zeek and the Hoodies, The Cull, and working currently on his third, Enn Kae who gave an astounding interview back in Feb. I'm going out on a limb and including his name here in hopes that by next week he'll be on board. Enn Kae was born in a small town in the north-west of England to immigrant parents. When he was 11, his family moved to live in Scotland. At the age of 21, after graduating with a Masters in English from Dundee University (he also studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for a year), he left Scotland to live in England. He lived and worked there until 2012 when he left the damp isle for political and spiritual reasons.
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