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Distance
People have always told me that distancing yourself from your work now and then is the best thing a creator can do. When you take a step back, you have the freedom to move outside of your work and look at it afresh with a more discerning eye when you return to it. I tend to forget this, especially when I’ve set a writing deadline for myself to finish Draft 2 ASAP by the autumn. But the good thing about being so busy with life is that I’ve gotten some distance from my story, so when I went back to try editing last night, it was so much clearer and…
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When Characters Have a Mind of Their Own
I was talking with another writer friend last night, and he was telling me how frustrating it is when characters develop and change as you write them, and they mess up all your nice plans for the story’s direction. There can be nothing more frustrating, trust me :-), yet I like to look at it as a challenge. You really WANT to listen to your characters, or if you’d rather, your intuition about your characters. It’s so important if you want your story to be genuine, original and true. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, especially to creative types who like to plan ahead! Some of my characters start off one…
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Intricacies
I’ve been blessed with a window of time to blog today! Yay! I haven’t been posting because things are pretty much progressing about the same. Still writing away when I have free time, mostly on the weekends, but I am finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! I did this huge organization thing where I took all my digital notes (I have so many more written on paper! *faints*) and organized them to see what spots I still had to fill in. This helped immensely, so now I know where I stand and what I still need to cover. And I’ve been getting an overflow…
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The string around the finger
I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe […]/Oft turning others’ leaves, to see if thence would flow/Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sun-burn’d brain./But words came halting forth […]/Thus, great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,/Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite–“Fool,” said my Muse to me, “look in thy heart and write.” ~Sir Philip Sidney, Astrophil & Stella This has sort of been the story of my writing life lately. I’ve been trying to figure out certain characters, certain plots…picking my brain to shreds to come up with something perfect. I have to remember that nothing is ever perfect the…
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The Anticipation is Killing Me!
I have been making some fun new plans for Book Two, so that means I reeeeally need to finish Book 1. Lock onto it, mate. It’s within our grasp!
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My kingdom for a hermitage
LKHamilton: 9 pages done. Breaking for lunch. I wish I had the time to do that! ^_^ (Well, I suppose I do, but I cannot live by writing alone!) Right now, I’m making sure I have the old stuff integrated into the new, to make writing through the week easier. I am trying not to edit right now, but get the story itself into a final congealed form. That’s more important than being nit picky. Oh, to be a hermit with nothing better to do than write and write and write. *wistful sigh* Stone walls do not a prison make,Nor iron bars a cage;Minds innocent and quiet takeThat for a…
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A Writer’s Musical Toolbox
I’ve had music on the brain recently, so I decided to compile a short list of inspirational artists and songs I like to listen to while writing. For a mellow mood: Enya, The Mediaeval Baebes, Loreena McKennitt or movie soundtracks. For inspirational lyrics (and beautiful melodies): “Come Awake” by David Crowder, and anything by Nickel Creek or Josh Groban. For emotion-driven writing: intense, yet primarily upbeat, rock, by the likes of Hoobastank, Creed, 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, and for something a bit more intense, I like me some Black Tide, Evanescence or Nightwish, among others. Also like “Build Me the Moon” by Charlotte Sometimes. I’ve also been compiling a list…
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Decisions, decisions (Traditional vs. Self-Publishing)
I am pleased to say that since I have time to actually organize my life now, I feel safe in saying that I have time to write again. I keep finding myself scribbling story ideas on little pads or scraps of paper as I work throughout the day. I just had an interesting conversation with my friend Todd over lunch, a fellow writer. We were discussing the pros and cons of publishing with an acutal publisher vs. self-publishing. Big publishers have been losing ground recently, not unlike the music industry with the indie movement, where artists are pursuing their dreams on their own terms. I’d agree that self-publishing is becoming…
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I’m a shockwave ready to kill
Draft two is coming along nicely: I keep coming up with better ways to do scenes, except for the fact that it totally disrupts the order I had before, and I need to figure out how to make it work all over again *facepalm* Am I just making it harder for myself, just because I want something special? Figured out some religious and mythological history about the area one of my characters was born in. It explains a lot about why things are the way they are, and why he turned out the way he did. I saw a music vid today that totally captured a slice of this same…
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Draft Two hath begun
I’ve been settling into work nicely ^_^ w00t w00t! And today I’ve had time to actually do some REAL writing, which is super fab. I originally decided that before I went back and did an intense run through on draft one, I’d finish the entire story. However, I am having a hard time figuring everything out with just the old draft, since there are a lot of changes I’ve wanted to make. So, I’m starting draft two tonight, cleaning through, editing, etc. It feels good to be back again.
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Life Developments
Rather blessedly, I must say, the gainful employment has occurred. Huzzah 😛 However, as all work does, I feel that my time to write will be significantly zapped. Although, even with all the time in the world, I wasn’t doing much for my story. *facepalm* A friend of mine told me today that I’ll probably be able to get more done, since I’ll have more structured time and I’ll have to prioritize, and I believe she’s right. Besides, there’s nothing like life experiences to inspire more stories to write. I think I will do a bit of notebook-writing before I drift off to bed.
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Ah, fresh new blog!
“A hard beginning maketh a good ending.” ~ John Heywood Can I get that in writing, Mr. Heywood? 😉 “Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Hey, guys. I’m a first-time author on a journey: to tell stories the best way I know how. I’ve been published in a few tiny anthologies, but I’m planning something bigger: a young-adult fantasy novel series. It’s been a long time coming, and I’m on the verge of finally finishing the first draft. I’ve been working on this project since I was quite young, so to have it get to this point is really…
Artist, Author, Geek
