Rest

For a long time, I bought totally into the hustle harder mentality. I burned my candle at both ends and got a lot done, but, to be honest, most of it was crap. I spent my time just running in a hamster wheel of things that weren't best for me, didn't get me where I wanted to be, and mainly didn't amount to much at all. I burnt out hardcore. 

What I'm having to learn is that rest has to be a part of the process not an afterthought when I collapse from exhaustion. For a lot of creatives, there's a lot on your plate to begin with. Most of us work full time day jobs to pay the bills and we work hard on our passion projects in the evening, during our lunch break, well into the night and every weekend. We operate at 100 miles per hour all the time. There is no halfway, it's all or nothing.

And much of the culture encourages it, the 'drink coffee, do everything' shining image that social media presents. There's a glamorizing of working late into the night, sacrifcing sleep, food, health to get the work done. And sometimes that is the nature of the creative life. Deadlines hit, life happens, but it can't last forever. Eventually the gas runs out and the burn out hits hard. 

So for the holidays I'm taking a delibrate break. Rather than trying to write another novel, or jumping on another big project. For the first time since I committed to a creative life, I'm taking a freakin' break. 

So far it's been awesome. I've gotten the chance to read so many books; I've gone ice skating and on some amazing adventures. I'm refilling that well and I'm already feeling the energy and life flowing back into my black little heart. It's amazing. 

So, listen to your limits and try to remember that rest is a neccessary and not a sign of weakness. Resting, having experiences, enjoying life keep your creativity not just surviving but thriving. It is a part of what keeps your creativity a live and well, new ideas come in the moments of recovery. Need I mention that the idea for the smash-hit amazing Hamilton came to Lin Manual Miranda during a vacation? 

View it as part of your process, not an enemy or a hinderence but something to enjoy, plan for and enjoy in the parts of a healthy creative life. 

5 Steps to Edit Your Novel

Edit, it's a four-letter word for a lot of people (okay for everyone it literally is a four-letter word but you know what I mean, right?) and that's because it's firckin' hard sometimes. You've spent days, weeks, months, years working on a story and now it's time to tick the knife to it. Honestly it can feel a little demoralizing if you let it, but I've slowly learned to understand and even occasionally love the editing process (don't tell first drafting about that though). It's taken time but after several failed novels that are housed in the deep dark recesses of my harddrive, I've realized I can't write a novel, do one quick pass to clean up the grammar then send it off to query. Nope, bad plan and you're going to have a bad time. So what's a gal to do?

At my very core, I am made up of to-do lists. I LOVE lists and checking things off, it's such a rush. So, here's what works for me I have to dive into edits and I'm not even sure where to start. It's a five step process that doesn't have a set timeframe. Some steps may take no time at all, and some may take huge amounts of time, it all depends on where that novel is. And yes, there are always exceptions to every rule and what works for me might not work for you, but I'm not here to talk about the infinite options for edits, I'm talking about one process. Take bits and pieces of mine that suit you and get to work. 

Step 1: Read And Take Notes

I read over the whole draft again and on a sheet of paper I'll write out the changes I need to make, big or small. This includes things like change story present tense to past tense and things like make sidekick less annoying as well as main character's last name changes. It's EVERYTHING all smooshed into a list that I can look at and figure out what problems are where. It also helps me see the story as a whole instead of in chunks like I did when I was in the middle of drafting. This is a great way to catch areas where the story has gotten weak. 

Step 2: Identify Types of Edits

After you've written down all the edits you want to make, identify the type. You can use a highlighter and give each type a color or whatever works for you. Types might include: emotional arc, side story, world building, tense change, grammar. This is where you need to brutal. Even if you love this one side character, if they don't serve the story then out they go. Figure out what the biggest, ugliest section is going to be and put a big ol' star by it. 

Step 3: Attack One Section at a Time
 

This is hard. It's so easy to want to go in and do ALL THE THINGS in one fell swoop but that's not the ideal. Yes, maybe you can lump tense and grammar changes together, but trying to tackle big level emotional changes at the same time as comma placement doesn't work for me. For my last edit the biggest thing was changing the story from present tense to past tense. I went through the whole thing changing the tense (and some grammatical issues along the way) before then jumping into working on the character arc. Find the thing that feels scariest to you and do it first. This may mean you go through the story four or five times, that's okay. You'll find new ways to make it stronger.

Step 4: Take a Break
Once you've done all that, take a break. Go take a bubble bath, read a book, binge watch Stranger Things. Get away from the book for a while. Space and rest is a part of the creative process, something that we try to rush but really, you need distance to be able to look again. Even if it's just for a day or a few hours, get away from the manuscript. 

Step 5: Final Pass
After all that, give it one more read over. I know your eyes are crossing over and you hate everything you've ever written because you've read this novel a thousand times, but do it again. Look at it with new eyes and see if there's anything else to polish. For me, this is where I frequently get a ridiculous idea about some major revision (as in, hey the bad guy is a different person) and panic. But that usually fades away and I fall back in love with the story one word at a time. 

And then you're off to publishing land. 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA. NO. 

At this point, try to find a trusted edit partner to read it for you or if you still feel like there are problems, hire an editor to work with you (but be careful to not get suckered into a bad one) to really help your manuscript. After you get your notes back from your partner, you'll probably have to revise again. Take a breath, it's okay. You're like 73.2% further along than most people ever get with their writing. 

How do you know when you're done? 

For me, it's when I start playing around with phrasing. When my edit passes are more just me playing with language then I know that I don't have anything more to change. You may send it out to another group of readers for more feedback, but at some point you have to find your 'this is as good as it gets right now' and let it go. (Dear god, please don't sing that song)

Editing is tough and finding ways to make it work for you mean you becoming a stronger, better writer. So don't let edits scare you off, keep writing! 

10 Gift Suggestions for Writers

1. Gift card for your favorite bookstore

Writers love to read and visiting a local bookstore is a treat. Most have giftcards you can purchase and let the writer in your life choose their own book. 

2. The gift of time

Seriously, offering time to help out is amazing. A writer with kids? Offer to babysit and let them have a night to write? Offer to make dinner or help out around the house, or to listen to them try to sort out the latest plot problem. 

3. Writing Courses
There are great courses on Litreactor and Writer's Digest. Offer to pay for one class.

4. Headphones
Get a nice set of headphones or ear buds so they can drown out the world. 

5. Spotify Subscription
Making a playlist for your work in progress is awesome! With a paid spotify account you can download those albums and take them with you to listen to offline. 

6. A fancy notebook/pens
Almost all writers love notebooks and pens. Find some neat ones and share the paper good wealth. 

7. Pay for a conference visit/manuscript consult
Conferences are expensive, so are manusript consultations. Offer to pay for one and watch your writer stammer for the words to say thank you. 

8. External Hard Drive/ Drop Box paid trip
Backing up your work is vitally important. Having a steady external harddrive and a drop box with massive memory is a huge help. 

9. Adventure!
Pay for an adventure! Wheter its tickets to a theater show or a plane ticket across the sea, adventure breeds stories. 

10. The Storymatic! 
A fun set of cards filled with inspiration. 

When the Shadow Sees the Sun

NaNoWriMo Kick Off!

Tomorrow marks the kick off of Nanowrimo! I'm filled with nerves and anxiety about it. I'm not anywhere near as prepared as I ought to be and I'm already looking at the goal of 50,000 words with some serious side eye. 

But I'm ready to take the leap and go for it. I enjoy the challenge and, after almost 6 months with basically no productivity on the creative front, I'm excited to have the chance to get some work done. I know that I am not going to end November with a ready-to-be-published novel, but with something kind of a mess and needing a lot of help. But that's part of the writing process. 

Written in Slumber by matryosha

First drafts are almost always a messy affair that requires a whole lot of work to turn into the polished shiny novel that eager readers scoop up. Nanowrimo is the chance to turn off that inner critic and just sprint the novel race. Some days you might limp along, barely walking, and some days you may run a 7 minute mile of words, the thing is you keep moving and writing. I know a lot of people who don't participate in Nanowrimo because they think anything they produce during the sprint of November isn't going to be worth anything. But, for me at least, the point of Nanowrimo isn't just to create, it's to build the habit of writing. It's to commit to and finish a goal. 

I'm nervous as hell about this year's attempt. Every year I've committed to the 50,000 word dash, I've made it, and last year I wrote almost 90,000 words in November. But this year has been a slow slog through the muck of some serious depression and a lack of motivation. I've struggled to finish much of anything and I'm scared I won't make it to the finish line this year. But I know I'm not doing this race alone, there's a whole group of people here with me to help cheer me on. We're a team and that's an incredible soothing thought. 

Writing can be a very solitary endeavor, and it;'s one of the things that I struggle with the most. Nanowrimo is the chance to build your tribe of writers to support you through the good and the bad. Everyone starts the race with the same blank page in front of them and rather than competing to finish the race first, the goal is to help everyone cross the finish line with you. It's one of the reasons I keep coming back to Nanowrimo year after year, the friendships formed as we all write our hearts out for the same goal. 

So, do whatever you need to do to get ready for the race of the year. I've prepped some meals, figured out the times (I hope) I'll be able to write with minimal interruptions and I'm working on deciding what I'll get as a reward for reaching my goal. I'm totally not above using briberry to get myself writing. 

So, whether you doubt you can meet the goal or if you're an old pro positive that this will be a piece of cake, don't be afraid to take the dive and get involved in Nanowrimo, it's not too late to sign up and join in on the adventure. And even if you aren't in the race, take the chance to encourage everyone who might be. Sometimes all someone needs is a hopeful voice shouting louder than all their own doubts. 

So, my fellow Nanowrimo-ers, come hell or high water, we are here and we are ready to write. 

Get ready, set. 

WRITE. 

NaNoWriMo: Making Words Tips

So last Monday I wrote about ways you can start prepping your life for the NaNoWriMo challenge beginning in November. I'm a strong believer that your daily habits are what make your life so I super-duper recommend you do build time to write into your life even if it's just for NaNo. BUT, this post isn't about building your life around writing 50,000 words in 30 days. Instead, this post is going to be about what writing things you can do to prep for the word rush. (Note, there may be some overlap but that's because writing draws from your life. The two are connected much as we try to keep them separated.)

1. Have a general idea. 

For a long time, I thought I was a pantser (I'd just take off with no outline) and then I went hardcore into being a plotter (outlining), but means have their merits and work better for different people. If you know you're a pantser, at least take the time to think about the general idea of the story. One thing I've done is to come up with a short theme for your novel, something like 'friendship is magic' or something else that you can come back to when you get stuck. If you're a plotter than get to work on your outlines, plan out chapter by chapter, beat by beat, big moment by moment, etc. Do what works for you. What I've discovered works for me is to be a planter. I take a germ of an idea and bury it in a base outline. The story grows based on the nutrients in the soil but the shape of it is still free to shift and move with time. 
If you have no idea what you are? Try writing out a paragraph about your novel idea, just a paragraph. If writing that out takes some of the 'magic' out of the story, you're probably a pantser. If that paragraph makes you want to write out more, get to plotting. 

2. Find a support network. 

This is totally a life and writing thing, but part of what makes NaNoWriMo so much fun for so many people is the interaction with others. When you hit a low point, send out a tweet, hit a forum, shoot off a text, or call a friend who understands. Writing buddies are worth their weight in gold so try to start building your tribe now. 

3. Come up with names. 

Seriously. Name your characters. The number of times I've been stumped by needing a sudden name is amazing. Then I venture to the internet for help and...3 hours later I know the history of rum but still have no names. Create a list of names now that you can pull from when the need arises. If you already have an idea about your main characters, figure out what their names are and get that taken care of. You may go further than this with profiles or interviews with your characters but seriously, get some names together. (Recommendations here)

4. Decide how you want to write. 

I know it sounds simple but decide now, are you going to write in word, scrivener, notepad or something else? Are you going to read the previous day's writing before you start or not? Do you like writing sprints? (Usually started on twitter or Facebook where someone says 'Writing for the next 30, starting at 12:15') I LOVE writing sprints and hop onto them when I see one happening on twitter. It's amazing what that race like atmosphere can do for the writing muscles.  
There are also a surprising number of options for writing tools to help you reach your goals with minimal distractions. I like 750words.com and Cold Turkey Writer. 750words keeps track of your words, the time it takes you to reach them and a whole helluva lot more. I like racing myself and seeing if I can hit my target faster than the day before. Cold Turkey Writer takes over your computer until you either hit a certain word count or a set amount of time has passed, it's hardcore for making you focus on nothing but writing. 

5. Practice!

Start writing today. Right now. Get off this blog post and go write at least 1,000 words right now. I know NaNoWiMo hasn't started yet officially but that doesn't mean you can't start practicing now. You don't jump into a marathon without some training (at least I sure hope you don't because ow) so you shouldn't just leap straight from writing nothing to writing 50,000 words in a month (which is roughly 1,666 a day). Take some time now to write, get in the groove of it. When I'm really stuck I will just stream of conscious write what's going on in my head. The thing is to get those fingers limber and ready for a month of writing dangerously. 

I really enjoy NaNoWriMo and have participated for several years. I don't usually go to the in-person meet-ups but I've heard they can be incredibly inspiring and helpful. Regardless of whether you NaNo or not, getting into the habit of writing every day can't hurt if your goal is to be a writer. 

So, who's up for a writing sprint?