Content Interrupted by Content, aka Book Writing Sucks Time…

 

Drawing, Richie Billing

It’s not that I planned it this way, you know. But two things occurred.

One – A simple photo in a WWII documentary I’ve seen many times. But this time, disembodied male voices called out to me. “Get us out of here.”

Result: I was dumb enough to try. It took me 7 years to complete the literary quest.

Two – So-called experts told me to write a simple pulp fiction series, and I did so, I’d rake in the online dough.

Result: Turns out I don’t know how to write a simple story, or series of simple stories for that matter, that I could write fast enough to rake in said online dough. It took me 4 years to simply complete one not-so-simple story.

Moral of a Multi-Years Tale: Don’t listen to disembodied voices wherever they’re trapped, and never listen to online experts if you want to maintain any kind of online content writing schedule.

I should have known better.

But knowing better is advice I could have given myself since I was a toddler.

When Writer Lost is the Best Place to Be...

 

You wake up.

You open your eyes.

Your mind sparks, remembering all the writing you did NOT do yesterday... and the day before, and the day before that.

Your incentive to get out of bed — the literary loser you think you are — is non-existent.

You think to yourself, Even if I start writing today, I'm so far behind, and I'm so demoralized, my words will be crap anyway, as you throw the duvet over your head and wish a tree trunk would pummel your brains and free you from this living literary misery.

Sound familiar, peeps?

Guess what? You've hit the very bottom as an artist! CONGRATULATIONS!!! WHOO HOO!!!

Yes, this is the very best place to be as a writer. Why, you ask?

Because, no matter what scene you conjure, no matter what words you plunk onto the page, you can't damage your writer self anymore or fall any farther down than you already find your nervous exhausted butt. (Which is why I wrap Christmas gifts on the floor. Okay, a different topic for a different blog. Sorry...)

At your absolute worst IS THE BEST TIME to write! You don't owe anyone anything. Your demands are nil. Even if all you do is fill a page with the word "the" a thousand times over, think how great your typing speed has become, and you'll never misspell the word "the" ever again. See? Already two wins!

Okay, I'm being a bit factitious here...but you get my drift. 

Simply put, being at the bottom makes you failure-proof!

And guess what will happen when you do drag your pathetic carcass to the keyboard and hammer your peanut butter and jam sticky fingers onto those keys...

Characters birth — they open their eyes, and darned if they don't start yapping. I mean, Every. Damn Time. You can't shut them up! What is with that???

Locales pop — sea shores appear, stormy skies, too. A bobbing ship springs as a mirage on a foggy sea with a sailor barfing overboard... (Okay, sorry, again...my imagination is feral. I've tried to reign it in so the neighbors stop talking about me. No luck...)

Actions abound — those characters grab stuff, play hop scotch with kiddies on a sidewalk, and drink strikingly stirred martinis with James Bond as the Casino in Nice...(Seriously, shit starts happening!)

All because you had NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE.

Rock Bottom can be one of the most wonderful places to be. 

Fear of falling, fear of failing, they don't exist anymore.

It's you and those keys and your wandering mind, and amid that triad, wondrous worlds breathe. They always have for you, and they always will. No matter how tangled your hair or if you have raccoon eyes from binge-watching Netflix instead of writing. (This may or may not be a self-portrait. If you ask me if it is, I will hit you with something hard and sharp.)

So, on days like this... 

• Rent a car winch, and winch yourself out of bed.
• Take a flea delousing shower. (Don't tell me you don't need a good delousing. You're a writer, after all. Of course, you have fleas!) Bonus: In that wildly wet world, you'll be bombarded by ideas aplenty. Trust me. Buy waterproof crayons to take notes on the tiles. Stop pointing and laughing at me. Just DOO EET!
  
• Guzzle some coffee. Cold, hot, fresh, old, I don't care. Inject some caffeine, already!
  
• Plunk yourself down at that desk.
• And start typing...anything... NOW!
  

You'll be amazed by how damn good that prose shit actually lays out. No, really.

And as you amaze yourself with your conjurings, relish your time at the bottom., for you're too good to be there for long. I promise you.

~~~

P.S. While you're down there, could you hand me my pen? I dropped it the last time I was... never mind. ;-)

Writing Through Exhaustion...

Short Story: You have to do it.

Long Story: Finding a way to do it.

You're healthy, you're fit, and you've had sleep, and you look at the clock, and know it's time for your writing session.

But you feel the gravity around your body at approximately 628%, and the acuity of your mind is lower than the Archie comic character, Moose's, on his worst day.

You have prison pallor, bags under your eyes, and a weird scent is coming from your hoodie. (Okay, this all could just be me.)

You have writing deadlines that are threatening not to be met if you do not do what readers expect you to do, and that is to hunker down, put that 4th cup of coffee to the side, and get creating.

(Feel free to laugh now at the layman's romantic version of being a full-time writer. Crikey, I don't even own a cravat.)

Yes. Mental exhaustion can overtake. 99% of the time it's due to stress. And that stress can be the 7th circle of hell if you don't find a way to break the cycle...

 

 

 

No writing > More worrying > Less sleep > More exhaustion > No writing.

You get the drift.

How do you break that cycle? You write through the exhaustion.

 

 

You write regardless > Your self-image soars with pride that you managed to plunk those keys, however bull-in-a-china-shop ungraceful the act may have been > You're more tired for that mental effort come bedtime > The worrying about not writing disappears > You collapse into a contented coma > You wake up, exhaustion and guilt free > You happily write again.

In order to break this nightmarish cycle, you have to allow yourself to have a bloody awful writing day when you pound those keys on the projects that need doing — regardless of how you feel or how well you're writing.

~ Basically, it's nature's way of punishing you for ending up in that negative cycle in the first place. Way. To Go. ~

You've heard how the best way to write every day is to write every day, trying everything you can to NOT break that self-fulfilling cycle.

But life can get in the way — sickness, holidays, emergencies — where your good habit breaks, and you fall for the umpteenth time, head long, into the No Writing Fatigue abyss.

At some point, you must come to terms with the fact that you screwed up. You know you need to stop the negative cycle, cold turkey, and grab a hold of the ledge and claw your way back up to where the good cycle resides.

 

 

 

 

Just like with any bad habit, stopping cold turkey hurts, and hurts bad. The Horror...

Suck it up. Suffer through that exhausted writing day. Then go to sleep later that night assured that the next day, you'll be back on track — no exhaustion, much self-confidence, and renewed excitement about writing consistently again.

Fact: No matter how many years or how many works you've produced, this fall from grace can and will happen. Veteran writers aren't any more immune to the negative cycle than you. If they say they have no problems writing every day, they are lying. Life happens, even to the blue-blood blessed. Take some evil comfort in that. I surely do.

~~~

Today, I look, and feel, like crap. Thanks a lot, you Christmas cheer.

Today, I will write. And it will be painful. (help...me...)

I will take a shower afterwards to wash off any residual crappy feeling. (Be gone with you, oh, Mr. Crapoid!)

And tonight, I will collapse into bed, and I will sleep the sleep of the contented, rather proud of myself. (Hey, stop snickering... we writers barely have a life. We have to grab imagined good stuff where we conjure it.)

~~~

Okay now, it's your turn, oh, exhausted word hound. TAG!

Visualize First, Write Second...

I realize we writers write in different ways...

I was told once that to be a visual writer is to be a rarity, but I think that's only a half-truth. I believe writers who only see words and not the visual images of their tale means they haven't yet developed the ability to see with their mind's eye what they intend to put on paper.

Today, this post is a simple one. Visualize first, write second.

In other words, if you are having trouble getting those words down on the page, STOP. Sit back in your chair and "live" in that world you're creating...

• Who do you see? What do they look like? How are they dressed?
  
• What do you see?
• Where are you? What era in time?
  
• What are the people saying? Is their language foreign? Or do they have accents?
  
• Is there a singular event taking place? Is it good? Or bad?
  
• What are the onlooker reactions to that event?

In other words, let the individual scenes play out before you, before you become the dictation secretary to that tale.

Because honestly, I think that's all we writers are... superb at taking dictation for other worlds and other people in those worlds. So, you think I'm some kind of airy-fairy, artsy-fartsy, huh? Hey, snicker all you want. Try and prove me wrong! :-P

While you are visualizing, or just after your visualizing ends, jot down answers to my questions above. Start to cement, in words, what your mind's eye is showing you, because here's the key:

IF YOU SEE IT, YOU CAN WRITE IT.

That's the plain and simple truth.

If you can hone this ability, it will save you buckets-full of angst and frustration and gloomy thoughts about your skill as a wordsmith.

If I can visualize a scene in its general parts, I will sit down at the keyboard and my lousy typing skills can't keep up with the words that are popping up in my mind I need to use to tell the world what it is I'm seeing.

• There is zero doubt, zero questioning if what I'm writing is correct.
  
• No hemming and hawing about word choice, mechanics, delivery style.
• I'm literally hammering out the words that convey the image in my mind.

The only cursing going on is my brain wishing to heavens my fingers typed faster. (As an aside, I did take typing in college. I made the grade of achieving the minimum 45 words/minute to pass. Immediately after passing, I went straight back to my war correspondent-like hacking of the keys... yes, I'm THAT kind of arrogant so-and-so. In my next life, I'll be nice. I promise.)

HOMEWORK: If this describes you and your slow-as-molasses production of words onto the page, I want you to STOP writing, and START visualizing. The more you do it, the easier it will get, the quicker your fantastic tales will materialize for the rest of us word gobblers to enjoy!

P.S. It works for learning how to downhill ski, too. Less falling on one's caboose with red-faced embarrassment as other skiers look at you and shake their heads. Don't ask me how I know this. ;-)

Not Writing? Return to the Scene Cards...

 

If you've been in a writing frenzy, your fingers not able to keep up with your mind, and then, all of a sudden one day, your fingers stop. Cold.

They won't move. They won't budge.

They're the equivalent of a stubborn mule.

You curse them. You talk to yourself.

"What the heck? Get going already! We're at that part where the feral rutabaga storms in on the alien monkey, and lasers are lifted, and—"

Nothing. Nope. Fingers don't care about that climactic laser duel. Couldn't care less. Fingers close the laptop, and they walk away and go make a coffee and pick up an Archie comic to read...(hey, don't laugh. I love Archie comics! I also love War & Peace. I am a complicated weirdo...)

"What is the deal here?" You ask.

I answer, "Back to the scene cards, dear writer of tales."

Writers need to know more than how to write books. They need to read their own minds. Your brain is not only a powerful organ, but a protective one, too. It won't make you do something you're not equipped to do.

If your writing was going great and then stopped cold, chances are it's because there's,

• a) something wrong with the next scene, or
• b) the next scene you've created isn't fleshed out enough for your mind's eye to see it, to translate it to those fingers.

Stop trying to write. Proactively engage in the writer process. There is one, you know...

Go back to your scene cards. Lay them all out in a linear story fashion. And take a hard look at the story arc. 

• Is a scene or scenes missing? 
• Are characters missing? 
• Is the next scene needed? Relevant? Is it just an Info Dump?
  
• Are the character motivations right?
• Am I missing dialogue here?

If all's well there, then look at the next scene card you've yet to write out. 

• Brainstorm to expand the details of that scene. 
• Make sure, like a book, it has a beginning, middle and end.
• If more research is needed, do that. Maybe there are details you need to know before further writing can begin.

Chances are, when you return to your scene cards, something in the plot/character evolution/devolution is off, or you're missing a scene(s)/scene details to continue the story.

I'll guarantee that once you complete this exercise, your brain will again be on fire, and your fingers will rush to keep up.

HOMEWORK: Trust your brain. See it as your friend, not your enemy. And hit those scene cards and further flesh them out, and watch your finger dance begin again.

New writer doubts, fears, often include a mistrust of our brain, when nothing of the kind should exist. The more you trust your brain-to-finger writer process, the less stress you'll have, and the more the tales will flow out on the page. I guarantee it.

P.S. Tell your fingers to make another coffee. This one is cold. ;-)

Writer Evolution - Pantser to Plotter...

I can see the pantser rioters forming outside my house... pitchforks in hand, chanting, 

NO GO PLOTTER FOE! NO GO PLOTTER FOE!

For a second, I thought to invite them all in for coffee...

Instead, I decided to write this post. Their chanting inspired me...

Here's the beef:

It's not HOW you write your book that counts, IF that process gets you,

a) writing consistently, and

b) doesn't get you in an editorial firestorm.

Before I begin, let me say that there is a very small group of writers who are experienced enough to craft an entire novel in their head before they hit the keys. They have had years crafting similar books or years experience in the literary field. Those novels are usually genre, plot recipe driven. A good example I've cited before is Ian Flemming with the Bond books. He'd suntan on his beach and work out the skeleton of the next book, then head inside and plunk it all down in one go.

Those rare breeds are NOT who I'm talking about here. Who I'm referencing are the inexperienced pantsers who don't have a clue about what they're writing. They literally just start plunking out a stream of consciousness that has by definition no structure to it.

Their excitement for this daredevil approach might satisfy "a" above, but will usually trap them in "b," in a mess of plot black holes or corners they can't extract the characters from, and characters whose dialogue and actions maybe superficial, cliché or improbable.

So, although they are a typing storm, it's "b" that'll get them into a world of hurt after the pantsering fun has ended, and a real story must emerge from that frenzied approach.

IF YOU are experiencing "a" and/or "b" issues, you need to evolve as a writer.

You need to become a sponge, and assume by default there are better ways to write than you presently know, and are using now. Writing, like any profession, takes skill, and that skill you are not born with, you amass over time, often heeding the words of mentors who have come before you, and know the best route to book-writing success.

In my experience, new book writers are the most close-minded, the most stubborn, the most unwilling to change, when it's that segment who should be the most open to new ideas, especially if their ideas aren't cutting the mustard.

Having said all that, I am NOT telling you to know every inch of your tale before you write. What you need is to know the major scenes and the character actions/motivations within those scenes — the general points to get your writer mind VISUALIZING the unfolding tale, so your fingers will type out a draft that you CAN work with, you CAN flesh out and refine, versus a hornet's nest of plot/character black holes that'll get you pulling out your hair and dropping that draft, never having it come to finished book fruition, which when it comes to pantsers is, sadly, the norm rather than the exception.

I once had a colleague who refused to listen to/consider new process ideas. That person would literally put their hand up in the air as a visual stop-gap to say there was no way they would adopt any other way but their own - a full fledge pantser. 

That same colleague ended up editing their draft for YEARS.They so over-edited it that it eventually read as sawdust. They had effectively edited away all the passion out of the tale.

Instead of ending up in that mess, consider YOUR process...

Is it working? Are you writing consistently on your draft? Is it going down on the page, making sense? Is the plot line logical? Are the character's words/actions genuine to their personality/story arc?

If not, it's time to become a sponge, willingly adopt new ideas, and evolve into the productive wordsmith you so eagerly seek.

To improve as an artist, acceptance of CONSTANT EVOLUTION is a must. You must accept that the ideas, beliefs you started out with will never be the best, for beginning beliefs in any new endeavor are never the best. You need to be willing to change, modify, and refine your process, or drop your process altogether if a) no words get down on the page, and/or b) no cohesive tale is resulting.

The day you put your own hand up in protest to new ideas offered by mentors is the day you're doomed as an artist. You and me, both.

As I've mentioned before, we are all on the same literary ladder; some below us, some above. The ones above have experienced more, failed more, succeeded more. Their wisdom can guide the lower rungs to better, faster succession up that ladder, so LISTEN to them, HEED their words of advice, and be willing to change.

If you come away from my blog with only ONE adopted action...

BECOME A SPONGE. 

Soak in every ounce of advice, information, warning signs to which you are exposed, and ask yourself, 

"How can I reverse engineer that kernel of wisdom to see how it can work for me?"

"How can I examine its success rate with other renowned authors?"

"How can I adapt it to my process?"

Do not become a fervent pantser for the sake of tribal loyalty. That to evolve into a competent plotter will somehow steal the joy. What will actually happen when you adopt a more competent process is your story will unfold into a quality draft that can be edited in weeks, not years, taking that tale from a manuscript to a real book, a real gift to the world to enjoy or to learn from, instead of a red pen mess stuffed in the back of your drawer. And isn't producing a real book where the writer joy truly lies???

HOMEWORK: Tonight, look at your draft. Ask yourself, when was the last time I wrote on it? Is the storyline making sense? Are the characters vibrant, wholesome, genuine people? When you ROL — Read Out Loud — the draft, are you stumbling over the words? If any of your answers shine a negative light on your draft, then it's time to drop your beliefs for something that will work. 

Consider becoming a plotter, as in my previous post, Book Outlines, Scene Cards an Option... adopt a scene card approach to your tale, and start a NEW draft with those cards. You don't have to delete your old draft, but if you begin again with those cards in mind, you will write faster, better, and I guarantee you, you'll realize that old draft is no longer needed. You've written a better tale the second time around.

A hiker can't get from A to Z without a map, and neither can the productive book writer in you.

Open your mind, and evolve, to create great art. That's the only way great art is ever done!

Writer Fear, Writer Doubt - Psychological Catatonia

 

How many of you here have still not opened your notebook or laptop to start writing again on your WIP?

If you're still stuck, go back to my 5-Minute Game article posted earlier on this site, and reboot your mind. (Click on the Sitemap to locate.)

The fact you are still mired denotes a psychological catatonia — fear and doubt, the two evil forces, have taken your brain hostage. You need to acknowledge their presence, and write on despite their weight upon you. The only way to win against those forces is through ACCEPTANCE of their existence, that they will be there as you perform for the rest of your life, as an actor faces stage fright every time the klieg lights turn to face them.

 

No artist is immune. No producer of any kind is immune. Acceptance and practice to open that notebook or laptop and write/edit through that emotional pain is the ONLY way.

Comment below what progress, if any, you're reached in your book writing journey since you've signed on with me here. Let's uncover the obstacles to find ways around them. Every problem has a solution if you're willing to look, and do the emotional work.

No obstacle is silly, and this is a safe place to talk.

NO judgement.

ALL help.

Let's get those words flowing...

Welcome Story Critique - Play the Red Pen Game...

 

There was a movie in the '70s called, Walking Tall, about a sheriff who was a calm law enforcer, who walked his beat with confidence, holding a big old baseball bat. His controlled demeanor, and what he could do with that bat, if pressed, was what kept the townsfolk in line...or holy hell would be paid.

Well, the members of my in-person writers process group call my edit pen, Big Red, along the same lines of that movie — me, as the sheriff, and my pen that big old bat... lol... 

Of course, they know I'm not brutal or scary, but they've come to realize I'm passionate about making their pieces the very best they can be. I already KNOW they're all extremely talented. That has never been in question. The goal with those edits is NOT to demean, but to make their already wonderful works shine.

Where did I get my passion, you ask? From instructors who did the exact same for me.

A writer never learns, never evolves, from their successes. Advancement in one's métier comes from their highlighted mistakes, and through a figurative truckload of them over the years, I've learned to play a mind game with myself — the Red Pen Game.

After a work is finished — drafts, Read Out Loud, betas, rewrites — I ASSUME there ARE mistakes a plenty in that final draft. 

The Game: with the help of an editor, let's see how many we can find and annihilate! It's like a game of Battleship, where the author is unaware of his enemy's location, so the player needs help in finding and firing off those torpedoes to down those errant suckers!

The Key: by ASSUMING my work is flawed right from the start, I've taken the pressure off myself to be perfect to others. And with every flaw found, and corrected, it's like the downing of an enemy battleship, slaying each foe, inevitably advancing my artistic skill. 

I literally LOOK FORWARD to error location in my works from others! No, seriously!

I'm confident in my own skill as a wordsmith, but I know I am nowhere near perfect, and I need others to uncover what I myself cannot see, now, and for the rest of my artistic life.

Fear of Critique stems from a writer having little self-confidence in their own skill — again, the psychological. Are you getting now why I say writing is 90%  a mind game?

• New writers shouldn't be self-conscious about their ability. 
• New writers should feel empowered by their passion and eager to become a learning sponge, soaking up as much knowledge as possible about the literary arts, from every mentor who comes their way.

As long as the red pen critiques are,

• specific to a certain flaw  - story development, line/style consistency, proofing
  
• not a sweeping criticism or a blatant attack in terms of taste, or co-writer jealousy
  

Then welcome them with open arms, smile at their happenstance, rewrite, and learn to not make the same mistake again.

And above all, ask WHY? 

You need to know why a sentence or scene doesn't work to know why being delivered a different way does, so that you can internalize that error, and never make the same mistake again. 

Warning: If you gloss over these edits, you're not internalizing the errors, and you WILL be as a serial killer, and continue to maim your works in the same way, over and over again.

The Result: once you look at edits as a game and treat them in the right way, you will never be afraid to have your works thoroughly Red Penned. And that result, right there, will have you,

• fearing the process less
• wanting to write more
• making less excuses not to write.

Your STOP Not Writing dragon greatly slayed...