Friday, April 5

Writing Scenes: Getting Up Close And Personal; Using Sensory Language

Writing Scenes: Getting Up Close And Personal; Using Sensory Language C.S. Lakin, in her recent article Using Close-Up Shots to Give Sensory Detail, continues her discussion of how to supercharge your novel by using cinematic techniques.

This is the kind of post I get excited about. Why? Because C.S. Lakin gives that most valuable of all things: examples!

First she tells a bad (very short) joke and uses it to show how a writer can take a basic scene and use a Close Up to "add flavor and nuance and texture".


The Joke

A man walks into a bar, accompanied by a large piece of asphalt. He goes up to the bartender and says, “I’ll have a whiskey.” He nods at his friend and adds, “Oh, and one for the road.”
I warned you it was a bad joke!


Close-Up Shot


Lakin now uses small sensory details to make the scene come alive.

I'll let you read C.S. Lakin's example in its entirety for yourself--and I hope you do--I'll just quote one small part of it to give you the gist:
The crusty old barkeep came over reeking of sweat and the sour odor of stale cigar smoke. The man’s eyes caught on the long scar running under the barkeep’s lip, but the glint in the old man’s eye told him he’d better not mention it.
Nice! Notice the sensory details Lakin added:

- reeking of sweat and the sour odor of stale cigar smoke.
- The man's eyes caught on the long scar (I can almost feel the scar's raised edge)

The passage sets a mood by helping to flesh out the characters.

C.S. Lakin reminds us:
Novelists can evoke some emotions like smell and touch sometimes more powerfully than a film can. Why? Because instead of showing from a camera’s POV, you are in your character’s head and he is reacting firsthand and personally to what he’s experiencing.
Well put and very true.

C.S. Lakin challenges us to take one of our scenes, one that doesn't have description from at least three senses, and rewrite it. She also suggests writing the description in such a way that it reveals something about the personality of your point of view character. But--in the spirit of the post--make sure it's something she can only see if she's up close!
Challenge: Take one of your paragraphs and make it more evocative. If you'd like to share the before and after versions, that would be awesome! :-)

Other articles you might like:

- The Strange: How To Hook A Reader's Interest
- 3 Elements Of A Great Story Opening
- Kris Rusch: Don't Accept A Book Advance Of Less Than $100,000

Photo credit: "Ballet 3" rolands.lakis under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

The Strange: How To Hook A Reader's Interest

The Strange: How To Hook A Reader's Interest

I've been writing about hooks lately, especially in openings, but the fact is that we need hooks all through our story, hooks being little things that keep our readers curious, interested, wanting to turn pages to find out what happens.

Hooks build and maintain narrative drive.

In the third part of his Storytelling as a Fine Art series, writer extraordinaire, David Farland, talks about the role of The Strange in creating and maintaining reader interest. (You can find the first two parts of his series here and here.)


How To Engage A Reader's Interest: Offer Something Strange


As I wrote this post one of the songs from the soundtrack of The Lost Boys started to play in my mind: People Are Strange. It's true. And strange people are interesting. Exciting. Look at the dictionary definition:
Strange:
-    Unusual or surprising in a way that is unsettling or hard to understand.
-    Not previously visited, seen, or encountered; unfamiliar or alien: "she found herself in bed in a strange place".
I think that's the key: hard to understand. We want to be challenged, we want to read something that will make us curious, beguile us, that will make us excited. Engaged.

David Farland mentions that J.K. Rowling wrote her books at a 9th grade level when a lot of adult literature is intentionally written at a 6th grade level. That was part of their draw: readers of any age want a challenge (Robert Sawyer talks about withholding description to make reading interactive).

Here are David Farland's examples of beguiling strangeness:

Visit a strange new world, visit a fantastic setting


- I think one of the many reasons I, and so many others, fell in love with J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books was the fantastic and fabulous places he took us to, the kinds of critters--Trents!--he introduced us to.
- Recall the iconic bar scene in Star Wars, the one that takes place in the Mos Eisley Cantina. Not only are there all manner of exotic creatures but most of them are pirates and smugglers.

Offer up UNPREDICTABLE CHARACTERS


Someone who "thinks, speaks, or behaves in an unpredictable fashion". I'd Say Han Solo fit that bill nicely (he did shoot first, after all! ;).


Surprising Language


Use language in surprising ways.


- J.K. Rowling: "Muggles", "Severus Snape".

- Neologisms, modern slang, regional dialects.

Modifiers, nouns, verbs


Leslie Norris: "Try to avoid using modifiers or nouns or verbs unless they're surprising in some way."

David Farland's example: "A brief, desolate smile flashed like summer lightning across Serena’s lips."

(This is also the sort of thing I've been calling a hook. Since smiles generally aren't desolate this smile is strange, different. That makes us curious. Why is this one different?)


Less Is More


Pacing 


Sometimes you want the pace of your story to fly. For instance, in a climactic fight scene. In that case you want your prose to be spare.

Another example. David Farland gives us a scene where characters discover love. He writes:
... I’ve seen those moments where a young woman suddenly gushes with newly discovered love, and the author will seek ways to convince us that her love is purer, larger, and nobler than any love that has ever blossomed within a woman’s breast.

That’s nice, but it doesn’t work. Your goal is not to describe how your character feels, but to create an experience that makes the reader feel the desired emotion. Your goal isn’t to describe how your heroine feels, it’s to make the reader fall in love.

Very often, it is not the overwrought description of an incident that arouses the emotion, but a nice spare depiction that simply makes the reader feel as he or she should feel.

Sometimes, less is more.
How about you? Have you used the power of The Strange in your work lately?


Other articles you might like:

- 3 Elements Of A Great Story Opening
- Kris Rusch: Don't Accept A Book Advance Of Less Than $100,000
- C.J. Lyons Discusses Whether Amazon KDP Select Is Worth The Price Of Exclusivity

Photo credit: "Raiders Of The Death Star" by JD Hancock under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Thursday, April 4

3 Elements Of A Great Story Opening

3 Elements Of A Great Story Opening

1. Action


Begin with action, movement, danger.

According to Christine Fonseca in her fabulous article, Three Elements of a Great Opening, the trick is to start close to an emotional event, but not so close that the reader feels confused and can't figure out what's going on.

Also, readers need to know something about a character to truly care about them.

This is a grizzly example, but think of the difference between watching a stranger lying on a stretcher being wheeled into an ambulance and watching a friend. I would feel bad for the stranger but I would be in tears for the person I knew.

Get your readers to care about your characters and then brutalize them.


2. Characters


Have something happen (action) that makes your readers care about your protagonist. Often showing him or her as the object of an undeserved misfortune will do the trick.


3. Intrigue


You want a strong hook early in the story, preferably the first sentence (see: Different Kinds Of Story Openings: Shock And Seduction).

Your readers need to care about the answer to a question (but no need to stop at one!). For instance, here's the first sentence of Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (the first book of the HBO series True Blood was based on):
I'd been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar.
Why had she been waiting?
Who was the vampire?
Why was the vampire in the bar?

What is your favorite story opening? Favorite first line?

Other articles you might like:

- Kris Rusch: Don't Accept A Book Advance Of Less Than $100,000
- How to record an audiobook at home
- Short Story Structures: Several Ways Of Structuring Short Fiction

Photo credit: "Good morning bokeh" by Pavel ahmed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Kris Rusch: Don't Accept A Book Advance Of Less Than $100,000

Kris Rusch: Don't Accept A Book Advance Of Less Than $100,000
Got your attention? Perhaps that title is over-the-top but Kris Rusch knows her stuff. She's been in the industry as a successful working professional for decades, as both a writer and an editor. So when Kris Rusch says, "Don't take a book advance for less than $100,000" my antenna perk up.

Kris writes:
Weirdly—from my perspective—I now believe that any writer who goes to traditional publishing for book advance of less than $100,000 is getting screwed.
"Weirdly" because even four years ago Kris worried that "new writers would give up on themselves too soon and go directly to self-publishing, hurting their careers."


The Advantages Of Publishing Your Own Work


As an example of the advantages of publishing your work yourself, of having control every step of the way, Kris writes about her book, The Freelancer's Survival Guide.
To date, the [Freelancer's Survival] Guide (and not its spin-off short books) has sold as many copies as it would have sold if it were traditionally published with the standard promotion given to a writing book or a low-level business book.

By now, if I had gone the traditional route, the Guide would have had only one edition, and would no longer be on any bookstore shelves. You might still be able to order it through an online bookstore like Amazon, but you might not. The book would most likely be out of print. It would never have had an audio version (ever), it would not have been available outside of the US, and it would probably have had a very crappy e-book edition.

It certainly wouldn’t continue to reach its intended market, freelancers who are or have started their own small businesses.
Kris' post, The Business Rusch: Four Years, is a must read, and it marks the anniversary of the 4th year of her blog.
Do you agree with Kris Rusch that unless a traditional publisher offers at least a $100,000 advance that a writer should walk away? What would it take for you to sign with a traditional publisher?

Other articles you might like:

- C.J. Lyons Discusses Whether Amazon KDP Select Is Worth The Price Of Exclusivity
- Chuck Wendig On Straight Lines, Story Structure And Why Storytellers Need To Be Unconventional
- A Pantser Turned Plotter

Photo credit: "la terrasse" by jenny downing under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Wednesday, April 3

C.J. Lyons Discusses Whether Amazon KDP Select Is Worth The Price Of Exclusivity

C.J. Lyons Discusses Whether Amazon KDP Select Is Worth The Price Of Exclusivity

Amazon KDP Select


C.J. Lyons, a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, describes the Amazon Select program:
In exchange for giving Amazon exclusive use of a piece of digital content for 90 days, you receive five days (any five you choose) to make your digital content available for free, and you also get paid for any of your e-books that are lent through the Amazon Prime library.
But is the price of exclusivity worth it?

Here is C.J.'s conclusion based on her experience in the program: For the two 90-day periods I was in Select, it was a virtual wash financially.


Should You Try Amazon KDP Select?


Although C.J. Lyons didn't make any money through Select, you might be able to. Here are three questions C.J. suggests you ask yourself before enrolling a book in the program:
1. Can I obtain the level of engagement I’m looking for via Select? For a standalone book with lagging sales or to bring new readers to an established series by giving away the first book, the answer might be yes.

2. Will enrolling in Select anger my readers? Know your audience and have a plan in place to gift them a version if they shop at a different venue.

3. Will this help me increase sales/make a bestseller list/grow my audience? Don’t try to do all three at once, but instead choose one goal for this particular title at this particular time.
C.J. Lyons concludes: "Keep your options open and don't be afraid to experiment."

Great advice!

All quotations are from C.J. Lyon's guest post on Jane Friedman's blog: Amazon KDP Select: Is It Worthwhile for Authors?

Have you ever used Amazon KDP Select? Would you recommend it?

Other articles you might like:

- Chuck Wendig On Straight Lines, Story Structure And Why Storytellers Need To Be Unconventional
- Short Story Structures: Several Ways Of Structuring Short Fiction
- How to record an audiobook at home

Photo credit: "I want to play a game.....me dijo el gato." by Rodrigo Basaure under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Chuck Wendig On Straight Lines, Story Structure And Why Storytellers Need To Be Unconventional

Chuck Wendig On Stright Lines, Story Structure And Why Storytellers Need To Be Unconventional

I know, in the past, I've said, "You've GOT to read this blog post, it's amazing!" I try not to say that too often because not every good post is going to be oh-my-gosh-you've-got-to-drop-everything-right-now-and-read-this amazing.

This one is (article contains adult language): How Story Rebels Against Expectation, by Chuck Wendig.

Here are some highlights.


The Heart Of Story: Avoid The Straight, The Predictable: Be Rebellious


In his most recent post on story structure Chuck Wendig writes about what lies at the heart of storytelling, it's essence.

Straight lines, he says, are predictable and boring.

The straight path is what a protagonist is on before a story begins. Chuck writes:
It is the life everyone expects of her. Or, perhaps, the life that everyone demands. The line is situation normal. The line is plain vanilla frosting. The line is office parties and yearbook photos.

The line is conservative and afraid.
But a line doesn't have to be straight. We are creators, gods, in the world of story.
A line can be any shape we want it to be. A gentle curve suggests a slow build and a slide downward. A sharp peak is a knife’s blade, a mountain’s peak, a fast rise and a quick fall.
Sometimes lines go wild.
One line falls when you think it should rise.

One line ends when you think it’s just beginning.

Some lines are the snake that bites its own tail, a spiral, a circle, looping back on itself and becoming that thing and that place it was trying to flee all along.

Some lines detonate — a plunger pressed, a dynamite choom, an unexpected gunshot in the dark of the night, a sudden collapse of an old life, a death that is life that is rebirth that is death all over again, a massive avalanche, a soot-choked cave-in, a heart rupture, a giddy explosion.

The lines of our stories and our lives should not be safe, straight walking paths.

They should be electric eels that squirm and shock. They should be the lines in Escher prints, the peaks and valleys of mountains and volcanoes, the sloppily painted strokes of a drunken chimpanzee. The right line, the interesting line, is a line that defies, ... that is shaped like a middle finger aimed squarely at the expectations of others.
The line should not be safe, it should not be predictable, it should not be normal.

This is what the emotional energy of Chuck's post was leading up to:
Storytelling is an act of rebellion. Story is a violation of the status quo.

Everything the straight line tells you to do is how you know to do differently.

When you think you have the answer, defy it with a new question.

When the path seems well-lit, kill the lights and wander into darkness.

When the way is straight, kick a hole in the wall to make a new door.

When everything seems so obvious, close your eyes and look for what remains hidden.

Seek the wild lines.

The straight line is our anti-guide.
. . . .
The status quo is a known quantity and so it does not demand the attention of our description — we know what a chair looks like, a bed, a wall, the sky, that tree. The straight line is as plain and obvious as a pair of ugly thumbs. We know to describe instead the things that break our expectation, that stand out as texture, that are the bumps and divots and scratches and shatterpoints of that straight line. We describe those things that must be known, that the audience cannot otherwise describe themselves, that contribute to the violation of their expectations. We don’t illuminate every tree in the forest: just that one tree that looks like a dead man’s hand reaching toward the sky, pulling clouds down into its boughs, the tree from whence men have hanged and in which strange birds have slept. We describe the different tree. The tree that matters. The crooked tree that doesn’t belong.
I think the best bit comes right at the end when Chuck likens storytellers to shamans, but I'll let you head over to Chuck's blog and read that for yourself. I don't like quoting extensively from another writer's article, but in this case it was just so good I couldn't resist!

Please do head over to Chuck's Website and read: How Story Rebels Against Expectation, but be aware that it does contain adult language.
What shapes are your stories? Straight lines? Triangles? Zany, death-defying, roller-coasters?

Other articles you might like:

- A Pantser Turned Plotter
- Is Writing Your Brightest Fire? Guest Post By Max W. Miller
- 6 Ways To Write Every Day

Photo credit: "red snapper" by paul bica under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Tuesday, April 2

A Pantser Turned Plotter

A Pantser Turned Plotter

Writer Unboxed is one of my favorite blogs, and with good reason. Not only does Therese Walsh, co-founder of the blog, write about issues every writer--whether amateur, part-time or pro--wrestles with, she does it in a way that lets her clear, fluid, writing style shine through.

Beautiful!

Therese, a died-in-the-wool pantser, decided to try her hand at plotting her next novel.


Pantser Turned Plotter ... Temporarily.


Therese writes:
Though some pantsers shun plotting, saying the story will end up stale and formulaic if it’s planned out ahead of time, I’ve seen plotters work through outlines and synopses, use Scrivener and the like, and end up with beautiful works of fiction that read as organic and authentic.

So I decided.

I’d control the second book. I’d make the characters do what I told them to do. (Notes From a Desk (2): Respecting Your Process)
Good luck with that! Whenever I try and tell characters what to do they laugh condescendingly at me and go on their merry way, wreaking havoc with my outline.

As you can guess, it didn't work out.

For me, and perhaps I'm a weird hybrid of plotter and pantser, just because I start writing with an outline doesn't mean I'll follow it!

I know that sounds wonky, why create an outline if you don't intend to follow it?

I think Mary Robinette Kowal said it best in her workshop at last years Surrey International Writers' Conference: Use your outline like a road map.

If you decide to take a road trip from Tallahassee Florida to Sacramento California--you plotted your route the night before--you can still change your mind along the way ('Oh, look! The world's largest ball of string. Only 50 miles that-a-way.') and make detours. Of course it'll cost you something. More time, more gas.

You can even change your destination, but that would change a lot of other things on the map as well and the cost would be greater. But you can do it. All a road map does is show you, at any moment in time, where you want to go and where you've been. That's it. Whether you follow it is entirely up to you and your muse.


Ray Bradbury: It's important to get out of your own way.


For some writers getting out of one's way means plotting the story in advance, while for others it means pantsing it all the way through.

Just as no two stories--and no two structures!--are exactly the same, so each writer is different.

How do you know what kind of writer you are? This is a question I had for a long time. I tried various things, read books about structure, and then, somehow, somewhere between wrenching words out of my gut and thinking about plot structure, the way I wrote slowly came together.

But it took years, and I don't think the process will ever be finished. Well, except when I'm dead! But until then it'll be in flux, evolving, the only constant being that I must write.

Well, that, and writing should be fun. At the end of the day, if you're not occasionally having fun there are other, probably more lucrative, ways to make a living.
Which are you, a plotter or a pantser? Have you ever tried to mix it up and try the other way of doing things? Any of you plotters decided to chuck the cork board, shred the index cards, and just write, destination unknown? Have any of you pantsers decided to do what Therese Walsh did and meticulously plot out your novel? How'd it turn out?

Other articles you might like:

- Is Writing Your Brightest Fire? Guest Post By Max W. Miller
- 6 Ways To Write Every Day
- How To Write A Great Opening For Your Story

Photo credit: "Stop For a Minute" by MSVG under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Is Writing Your Brightest Fire? Guest Post By Max W. Miller

Is Writing Your Brightest Fire? Guest Post By Max W. Miller

Karen Woodward: Today we have a real treat, a guest post from Max W. Miller on finding your brightest fire, your passion, that creative impulse that haunts you if neglected. Take it away Max!


Is Writing Your Brightest Fire?


Max W. Miller: Feeling trapped inside your present career choice(s)? Consider allowing your thoughts to travel backward into your past. Ask yourself, “What is the one creative thing that has stayed with me throughout my life. What is my haunting?”

Yes, it haunts you—everywhere your life turns it’s there, during happy times, during sad events, and even when you’re not thinking about much of anything, the gift of writing is there to bring you stability! You turn to it no matter what state your mind is in.

Creating music through words has been the ‘Brightest Fire’ for many who have yet to fully realize it. Maybe that’s you, if so, you cannot move forward into a fulfilling career choice for the future until this strong creative gift becomes a part of that future. Whether it becomes a full-time career or an add-on to an existing work schedule, your brightest fire must burn. So what exactly is this brightest fire thing anyway?

Your Brightest Fire is your strongest creative gift; sometimes it is hidden deeply inside the core of your subconscious. Imagine what it takes to get to the core of an apple. It takes quite a bit of biting to reach the core. Hopefully, you will begin to realize that in all your times of stress and discontent, peace and love, you always picked up pen and wrote expressions from the heart. Could it be that an unseen hand was guiding you toward your brightest fire?

Life’s circumstances forced me to slide around on the glossy skin of my apple, jumping from career to career—never allowing myself to bite down beyond these jobs that did not satisfy my inner passion. Circumstances can hold you in the ‘Survival Zone’ a place of scrambling to make the rent. It is during these times your head should turn and look back; remember the creative side of you, the thing that when you carve out time to do it, it brings you courage.

If writing is your brightest fire, it doesn’t matter how long or how hard you try to convince yourself that the burn is just a fleeting hobby—something you do when you’re bored. It’s bubbling up at all stages of your life. You know that there’s more to this writing thing, you know that this haunting is actually an appointment in time, a date you must not cancel.

It will take time to bite through to the core of where the “seed of your fire” burns. It doesn’t matter how young or how old you are you must understand. Many are confused about the difference between what they do for a living versus what they simply do—nobody taught them how, they just do it. To distinguish between what you do to survive and what you do because you have a calling/haunting is not always easy.

Remember the seed that springs out of your core. Some people hit it on the head, like Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley; they found their core early in life and became rich and famous on what sprung out of the seed. You have a core that contains a seed. Go back to the beginning and find the thing you've maybe forgotten you have. Is writing your Brightest Fire? Then began migrating from what you feel you have to do, to what you are passionately bound to be. Do something with your writing today!

About the Author:


Max W. Miller picked up a pen when she was in the middle of a personal crisis. In order to survive, she realized she had to re-invent herself in a positive way. The results of her private battle have been the creation of four page turning SCI-FI/FANTASY stories. To learn more about Max and the PARANORMAL worlds she creates. Go to: http://www.scififantasyfiction.com / follow Max on twitter @ MaxWMiller email:bookbaby@maxwmiller.com To WIN PRIZES Play The Legacy of Sadie Mae Stevens BOOK GAME@ http://scififantasyfiction.com/game-the-legacy-of-sadie-mae-stevens/game-intro-page/

Karen Woodward: Thanks Max! A wonderful, and wonderfully inspiring, article.
What is your fire? We all have one. For some of us it's writing, for others it's climbing, or hiking or reading, or ... well, the list is endless.

Other articles you might like:

- 6 Ways To Write Every Day
- An April Fool's Roundup
- Rewriting

Photo credit: "luray carvern" by scott1346 under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Monday, April 1

6 Ways To Write Every Day

How To Write Every Day

How To Sell More Stories: Write More!


What is the single biggest cause of writers not selling their work?

Not writing!

It sounds silly, but think about it for a moment and you'll agree.

What do writers need to write?

They need time.

Okay, yes, maybe I have turned into Ms. Obvious.

I've started making the time from waking till 9:00 am sacrosanct and it's amazing how much more writing I've been doing.

Instead of procrastinating writing to blog I procrastinate blogging to write!


Rob D. Young's 6 Strategies To Make Your Writing Schedule Sacred


It was with great glee I read The Write Time: 6 Strategies to Make Your Writing Schedule Sacred by Rob D. Young. Here are some of the strategies Rob developed to make sure his writing time remained sacred:


1. Make your writing time legitimate.


Writing isn't optional.

It's easy to think of writing as less important than cleaning the house, making dinner, spending quality time with friends.

I'm not suggesting these things aren't important, they are, but as Rob points out "tasks tend to expand to fill the time available for them."

Even if you're not planning on making your living from writing, writing is part of you, and writing gives your creative muse a workout--and you know the saying: Use it or lose it. Rob writes:
Your work matters, so stop treating it as "fake." Schedule it in the same way you schedule appointments and work tasks.

2. Invest in your writing ritual.


Ritualize your writing. How? Create rhythms.

Here's mine: I get up, put on the kettle, get out my writing journal--a book which only includes my writing and my notes on my writing, no daily reminders, no to-do lists--and I sit and write for about an hour and a half. After that I launch my day, read my email, research my blog posts and so on.

Later in the day when I'm not quite as fresh creatively I edit my work and do research. (By the way, I never edit the work I've just done--that would be madness, madness I say!--I work on a completely different manuscript.) As part of my work editing (and it is work) I flag passages that need to be re-written but I'll do the actual re-writing in the morning when I'm fresh.

One thing I don't do is look at my email before I write, not even one tiny teensy-tweensy glance, because every time I do I end up blowing through my writing time. It's always, "Oh, just one more thing." Uh huh. And pigs fly.

As Rob mentions, doing the same thing every single day helps to gently wake your muse and get her ready to grace you with her creative magic. Here's his advice:
What I encourage is developing your own rituals that involve things that you already enjoy. From there, a simple investment in your rituals can have a profound impact. It doesn't matter that no one actually needs 16 different flavors of tea (my current total): Buying new flavors is how I get myself excited about the ritual surrounding my writing. Likewise, I regularly invest in instrumental soundtracks (most recently work by Lindsey Stirling) because it makes me excited to get going. 
Any excuse to buy more tea is wonderful!


3. Unplug your distractions.


During the time you've set aside to write a first draft do not for any reason go on the internet. (That is, if you're anything at all like me!) Even to research something. You can do the research later during your editing time.

Research is important but it will often kill the momentum you've built up or, if there is no momentum, it will offer you something else to do besides writing.

But don't stop with the internet, turn off your phone too.

If you're one of those lucky writers who have an office don't be shy about putting a sign on the door telling folks it's your writing time and to please not disturb you.


4. Use peer pressure.


This is part of the beauty of #NaNoWriMo. In his article Rob looks at how writers can use peer pressure all year long to keep our butts firmly planted.

a. Use your website/blog


Put a widget on your site that tells your community/tribe both what you're working on (if you want to be super secret about the content you can label it 'Project A') and how far along you are.

My favorite words-written widget is over at the NaNoWriMo site: NaNoWriMo Word Meter.

b. Use writing groups


Get together with a group of similar minded writers. Rob suggests doing write-ins where you get together, unplug from the world, get maximally caffeinated, and write.

You can do something similar virtually by tweeting an appropriate hash tag (your group could even make one up) to your friends and followers and have them join you. You could even turn this into a game to see who can write the longest.

The suspicious among you--yes mystery writers, I'm looking at you--could use Google Hangouts so everyone involved can see that everyone in the group is indeed writing.

Rob suggests using Word Wars. Instead of seeing who can write the longest, see who can write the most words in a given period of time. Rob writes:
By getting connected with a community of writers that you report to regularly, who have an expectation that you will produce, and who you can "compete" with, you're far more likely to do the actual work. This sort of peer pressure is a way to adopt the role of writer in social settings that reaffirm this portion of your identity.

5. Create a space that's just for writing.


Rob writes:
I have an ergonomic keyboard, a chair with extra lumbar support, audiophilic speakers, a clean desk, and organized drawers. My walls have humorous posters about commonly misspelled words, how to use semicolons, and when to use i.e. or e.g. in a sentence. I do this because I want to make myself comfortable, but also because I want to remind myself that writing is what this space is for.
I have all those things too but, fact is, I do most of my writing (at least, for my first draft) sitting on my couch using a pen and a journal.

When I edit I either sit on my couch or at a kitchen table and use my uber wonderful Mac laptop

I do, occasionally, use my convenient and ergonomically wonderful keyboard in my convenient, expensive, and seldom used office, but I prefer (when the felines allow) being in the thick of things, not cut off from the life of the house.

That said, I do think it's a marvelous idea for writers to have a space dedicated to writing whether, like Sheldon Cooper, you have a favorite spot on the couch or whether you have something more private.


6. The desire to write.


Having a desire to write doesn't make you a writer--writing makes you a writer--but it makes it more likely that you'll write. 
If you want to be a writer, the sole requirement is that you write. And if you want to write, you have to create an environment and set of habits that make writing feel like the natural thing to do ... [R]eal writing isn't the sort that happens in tidal-wave crashes a few times a year. Real writing is found in the day-in, day-out practice of a craft we can come to love in the same way we love a home, a spouse, or even our own familiar bones.
All links, unless otherwise indicated, are from Rob D. Young's article, 6 Strategies to Make Your Writing Schedule Sacred.

What is your writing ritual? Please share! :-)

Other links you might like:

- An April Fool's Roundup
- How To Write A Great Opening For Your Story
- The New Yorker Rejects Its Own Story: What Slush Pile Rejections Really Mean

Photo credit: "127/365 "In dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own."" by martinak15 under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

An April Fool's Roundup



Happy April Fools!

Did you know that Joe Konrath has pulled all his books from Amazon? That's right! And spaghetti grows on trees.

Here are links to some of my favorite April Fool's pranks.

Konrath Flip-Flops
I knew Joe Konrath's success over at Amazon was too good to be true!

The search is over: Fermilab chooses new director
Doctor Who.

Jim C. Hines April Fool's Day Roundup
Jim Hines provides links from an eclectic array of sources ranging from Google's Google Nose to Brent Weeks' NINJA KITTEN.

April Fools: Are folks getting more difficult to trick?
Article by Peter Funt, son of Allen Funt, creator of “Candid Camera.”

April Fools’ Day 2013: A round-up of the best jokes and hoaxes
My favorite: NASA's Curiosity rover quits Twitter after abuse from trolls. This list is from Metro.co.uk.

I'll leave you all with an April Fool video featuring "spaghetti trees" from 1957. Thanks to Sarah A. Hoyt for embedding it in her blog post: April Fool's Day Post One.



What was your favorite April Fools' joke? What joke did you play?

Other articles you might like:

- Rewriting
- Are Libraries 'Sitting Close To Satan'?
- How To Write A Great Opening For Your Story

Photo credit: "*gasp*" by fPat under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.