Tabletops and Storytelling

I was really late to the part with tabletop gaming. While I played once or twice in college, it never really clicked until after college when I joined a small group that played together once every two weeks or so.

That group made of only 4 people (3 players and one dungeon master) hooked me and I've been playing regularly ever since. I've even run a few campaigns of my own and have always enjoyed the adventures that can be built through storytelling and dice rolling. But one thing I've really been noticing more and more is how playing tabletop games has taught me a lot about storytelling and what makes a compelling tale. 

Let's start by defining what a tabletop game is. A tabletop game (like Dungeons and Dragons) is a game played with a group of players and led by a dungeon master. The dungeon master controls the enemies, and the general plot, but a good DM (Dungeon Master) will work with the players to tell a collabrative story. It requires a lot of imagination and innovation on all parts. The game is played by rolling dice to determine successes or failures. Combat is done in a similar way. You see a flash of Dungeons and Dragons at the very, very beginning of Stranger Things. 

So what can you learn about storytelling through a tabletop game? Lots. Here are 5 things I've learned over the years.

1. Little details can matter a lot.
I love when a random towns person you discover suddenyl becomes important to the plot later. Or if you discover a strange item that is suddenly very useful 7 or 8 games later. Tie the little details into the big picture and watch the story become a huge, steady narrative arc instead of disjointed mini-adventures. 

2. The first thing you think of is not always the best option.
The first idea you have to solve a puzzle, or get out of a dungeon is usually not the best option. Dig deep, think to the next option then the next then the next. Push yourself to not go with the obvious but to go with the subtle, the outlandish and the unexpected. 

3. You can fail at things you're amazing at. 
Nothing is more frustrating when your master assassin rolls a failure for a sneak attack. Something your character is literally trained to be the best at and you fail. It sucks, but it's also true in stories. Sometimes the hero fails at something that should be second nature. Things go wrong and the unexpected happens. How your character handles those failures is what builds them into something unforgettable. 

4. You can excel at things you're terrible at. 
Sometimes the huge minotaur in plate armor rolls an instant success on sneaking into a room. Just because your character is terrible at something doesn't mean they have to instantly fail at it, sometimes the unexpected works in your favor and that leads your character into new situations where you'll have to think fast to not die immediatly. 

5. Stories have multiple paths, your choices impact the tale you tell. 
Even with a set path of adventure, the choices your character makes along the way shape what the tale will be like. If you're in a cursed city filled with vampires and dread, you can still have a comedy on your hands if that's how the chraracters interact with the world. The characters create the interaction and build the 'flavor' of the story. Use that wisely. 

I love playing in my tabletop campaigns and every time I leave the game filled with a renewed sense of inspiration for my own work. Telling a story with a group of people all working together builds a unique and incredible tale that can be totally different every, single time and that is a whole new kind of magic that I can get behind. 

How To Write When The World Is Overwhelming

Many creative people are in tune with the world around them. The hurts, pains and injustices of the world cut deep and the sense of overwhelm can swallow you whole like being washed under in the tides of a hurricane-churned sea. It can be so easy to get washed away and stop creating. But for me, creating is how I find my footholds in the world again. It's how I find meaning and make sense of things that feel senseless. It's how I restore myself and find the strength to move forward. 

But when the world has gone mad around you, when you are dealing with difficult personal problems that threaten to consume your whole focus, how do you make the time to create? I've found these 5 things help me carve out the time and space I need to still feel human, to not get lost in hopelessness. 

1. List out what you can do.
I live by my to-do list in my bullet journal and when things get overwhelming what helps is putting just one thing onto that list. It can be as simple as making a phone call. I add that to my list and knock it off. It gives me an instant boost of 'I can do something' and helps cancel out the feelings of hopelessness. 

2. Get physical. 
I'm not a terribly physical person, but I love going on walks and doing yoga. When I get really lost in my head I pop on a youtube video (I love Yoga with Adrienne) and give myself 10-20 minutes of focusing on my breathing and moving my body. Forcing me to concentrate on how I am moving, takes me out of my head and into a more physical space. It gives me the distance to catch my breath and get a breather from the noise of my endlessly flowing thoughts. Give yourself permission to do something that forces you to move and think about anything else. 

3. Create in a new way. 
Writing has always been my 'thing,' The creative outlet that calls my name. But lately I've enjoyed coloring. Find a new way to be creative and flex those thnking muscles in new ways! Always loved painting? Try writing a sonnett. Been a poet your whole life? Try writing a personal esay. Give yourself the chance to branch into other creative expressions. Bob Ross is on Youtube now so paint some happy trees.

4. Walk away. 
Sometimes, the best thing you can do is unplug and walk away. It's easy to get stressed out by staying on social media so sign off and take an afternoon to do something else. Go to dinner with friends, visit your closest national park and explore, paint your nails, sing karaoke. Go do something away from the source of your stress. It will still be there when you get back, but being on alert 24/7 is just going to burn you out. Take time for self-care even if it's as simple as taking a long shower or enjoying a hot cocoa and a book.

5. Reach out. 
Sometimes the best thing you can do is admit you're not okay and to reach out for help. Talk to friends and family if you can. Find online communities you can talk to, and never be afraid to get professional help. There is no shame in needing help and taking the steps to get what you need to continue being a healthy human. 

6. Find something that makes you laugh. 
Laughter is powerful and you should try to find ways to enjoy that medicine. Find some silly youtube videos or ridiculous games and just embrace the silliness. Watch your favorite comedy, invite your friends over and have a funny story circle. Laugh deeply and truly. 

Those are just some ways to find some hope and light when the world feels heavy and overwhelming. You have to take care of yourself. I believe in you. 

Shake It Up For Inspiration

Maintaining a creative life is a balancing act. Between making the time for all your creative work, trying to get the word out about your works, and doing that whole living thing it can be a challenge to make it work. For me, to make it work, it's meant finding a routine and sticking to it. Habits are incredibly powerful things. Most of our lives on built on these small day-to-day actions that we barely notice happening. 

But while habits are amazing. Sometimes, particularly during blocks, you need to shake things up and do something new, something that pushes you out of your comfort zone and fills you with wonder. To create you need to feed your creative well with experiences that bring amazement, joy, and a tinge of fear. New adventures fill like a breath of fresh air after years underwater. It stretches and refills our creative energy. 

For a long time I doubted the power of these moments, of what stepping out of my comfort zone would mean, but when I took the leap it led to me finding a new love in ice skating. Nothing fills me with as much joy as going on a trip to the ice rink (which is not exactly a dime a dozen in Atlanta). Taking that one chance (on a day job outing no less!) has shown me new ways to experience the world. It's encouraged me to try other things and to get up after wiping out. 

I take pride in the bruises that come from my tumbles. Those blooming black and blue markings tell a story of taking a chance, of laughing and of wonder. 

Your challenge for the week is to do one thing you've always thought about trying. Make the appointment, buy the ticket. Take a chance and watch how you grow. 

Don't Forget The Hows

I'm a hardcore goal setter. I love planners, my bullet journal, and the feel of the perfect pen in my hand. I can write out every task I have, check them off and keep on rolling. I see what I want and I mark it out on my calendar of when I want to accomplish it by. There's just one problem... I don't make myself a road map on getting there. 

See I'm great at the what and the when. I know what I want and know when I want it by but I don't put together the how. So, I want to submit a short story for an anthology and their deadline is Feb. 28. I want to send in a story. I know that I need to have it finished early enough to get edited so I plan to have a draft done by the end of Jan. to give me time to get a beta reader (or two) and get edits in.

I plan to submit my story by Feb. 20 so I have some wiggle room in my timeline if something gets thrown out of whack or a beta reader takes a little long to get back to me. That's awesome. It's great to have that laid out on my color coordinated planner. But what that plan doesn't take into account is how am I going to get that story written? 

Clearly I'm going to write it one word at a time but when? 

What I've found is that as my life gets busier, I keep making goals but take less time to worry about the steps between me and achievement. I want to skip to the good stuff and leave out all that pesky middle nonsense. But the middle nonsense is where the work happens and what really matters. The middle is the day-to-day that builds everything about our future. 
So now that I'm not ignoring that or magically hoping it all just kind of sorts itself out. Instead I've started figuring out the steps. What does that look like? 

Well it looks like me reviewing my commitments and building in time to work on these goals. If I want to finish this 7000 word story by the end of Jan. that's about 500 words a day. Now I have a measurable goal. Next, I figure out the times I have to write. Well, my days are pretty booked but I do get up early so I'll write first thing in the morning. 

Just by adding those two little bits of information already my goal feels a lot closer than it did before. Now I have a timeframe and a better idea of when I can get everything done. It sounds a little anal and type-A but I really have found that creating a plan helps keep me on track without getting so overwhelmed by all the things on my list. 

So, here's your task for the day, find a task you've been 'meaning to do' and set an exact time you're going to deal with it. It's even more fun if you give a ridiculous time like 7:13 and promise to work for at least 25 minutes. See what you can finally get knocked off your list and then celebrate that rush of  success. 

Seven Steps To Querying

So you've decided to look for an agent. Yay! Welcome to the club! It's an exciting step to decide to go the more traditional route and start the querying process. It's also a bit overwhelming and a little scary. There's a lot of information and it can feel a bit hard to decide where to even start. So let's do this thing! 

Party dog believes in you! You can do the thing, write all the words and send out all the queries! 

Step One: 
Polish Up Your Manuscript!

That's right, step one is not query. It's making sure you've got a badass manuscript ready to roll. I know it's so tempting when you type The End to ride off into querying land. But please, please, please, take your time. Polish up your manuscript to the very best it can be. Pay particular attention to the first 50 pages since that's the first impression of your story. Do those pages draw a reader in or is there a lot of nothing happening? 

This is also a good time to figure out what genre best fits your book. I know it can be hard to categorize your manuscript, but a genre is neccessary. This information also will help you know what to search for in agents. Also check your word counts for your genres. (A good resource on that is here from Writer's Digest.) If you have a 250,000 word young adult novel then you've got some major work ahead of you.

Step Two:
Research Agents. 

There are a lot of agents out there and it's easy to get overwhelmed with where to being. Now since you know your genre that gives you a great starting point. So where do you even start? First, read the 'thank yous' in a novel in your genre that you like. Most authors will mention their agents. (This also serves a dual purpose of giving you a comparative title to mention.)

Personally I like QueryTracker. It lets you search agents by genre, location, and query method. You also can read comments from others who have queried. It's a great start to get names. Writer's Digest is another great resource. There's also AgentQuery, and SFWA's guide to agents. 

Now, once you've put together a list of agents to look over, here comes more work! Take your time and really go through this list of agents. Go to their agency websites and read over the guidelines. Look at their twitter feeds or other public social media sites (don't make it creepy) and read interviews with them. 

At this point I make an excel spreadsheet that tracks these things: Agent Name, Agency Name, Where to Query, and What to Send. From there I divide agents into three categories: favs, awesome, and great. My favs are the agents I dream of working with and I think we'd be a perfect fit together. The awesomes are agents that I'm excited about working with but for some reason, they aren't a fav. These reasons can be simple as 'brand new agent' or 'isn't on twitter, just things that knock them down a pinch. The 'greats' are just one notch below the 'awesomes.' Again, usually it comes down to small reasons, nothing major. 

Step Three:
Keep Researching.

Seriously. Research, research, research. You don't want to end up with a bad agent or a scam artist so take your time. Check out preditors and editors to see if there are any red flags raised about that agent or agency. SFWA has a great breakdown of warning signs of a bad agent. Check them on Preditors and Editors. 

You also can take some time to explore the magical Manuscript Wishlist. This is an awesome resource started on twitter under #MSWL where agents and editors post about things they're looking for. (They even have a great website.) You might find one of the agents you're interested in posted about looking for a novel just like yours, neat! This may bump them from an awesome to a fav. It's a good way to see if there are any agents really looking for your kind of story. 

Step Four:
Write A Query.

Okay, there are dozens of resources on queries (like the incredible queryshark which you should read extensively) to learn about how to write one. Write one and get feedback. If you have the means, take a class and get a critique. (LitReactor has some great opportunities as does Writer's Digest.) Share your query and get feedback. Let people who have no idea what your book is about read over it. Does it make sense to them? 

Step Five:
Write A Synopsis. 

I hate writing a synopsis more than writing a query letter. A synopsis ties the whole plot up in a neat package. Not every agent will want a synopsis but enough will that you should go ahead and get it together. Get feedback and help on this too. Take your time.  Here are some great resources on writing a synopsis:

• Back to Basics: Writing a Novel Synopsis
• 6 Steps for Writing a Book Synopsis
• Synopsis Writing
• How To Write A Book Synopsis

Step Six:
QUERY

I recommend sending out batches of ten-ish queries at a time. Send a few to your favs, a few to your awesomes, and a few to your greats. Don't burn all your favs on your first batch. Now you track responses. Add more columns to your excel sheet: date sent, response date, result. 
When I get a form rejection I mark it all down and then black out that row on my sheet so I don't see it anymore. After you've marked it on your list, send out another one. However, if you're getting nothing but form rejections then it's time to go back to step four and try again. See if you can make your query stronger. A solid query should be getting some requests. 

Step Seven:
Keep Working. 

Just because you're querying doesn't mean you need to stop working on anything. Start on a new project and keep yourself busy. Writing and publishing is a lot of waiting for a response. Keep busy and don't fret yourself into an early grave. 

And that's it! Easy, right? (hahahahahahah)

My Hopes for You in 2017

2016 was a doozy for a lot of people for a lot of reasons. It's been a rocky 12 months for a lot of people and the breath of air at the beginning of the new year is welcomed and needed. So here's what I hope for you for 2017. 

I hope that you do something that makes you laugh so much your sides hurt and tears stream down your face. I hope you're laughing with a group of your favorite people feeling human and like the physical embodiment of helium. 

I hope you read and write things that challenge you. Don't read your same favorites over and over again in 2016. Read an author who is nothing like you. Write a story you've been afraid to tell. Push yourself out of your comfort zone and see what new wonders the world has to show you. 

Be kind to everyone you meet. The world is filled with people suffering with things we never know about. Don't add any weight to anyone else's life and try to help carry weight when you can. 

But don't mistake kindness with silence. Kindness is offering a hand when someone is knocked down. Kindness is not walking away in silence when someone needs your help. When you see racism, sexism, xenophobia, and hate in all its form, I hope you turn the spotlight on it. Tell hate that you see it, point it out to everyone around you and watch it wither. Hate thrives in the dark so don't let your silence be its fertilizer. 

I hope that you find your footing in anything you're struggling with. Whether it's with your budget, your relationships, your career, your home, whatever it is, I hope that you find the path that you've been searching for. Just remember that it's not going to be the easiest one, walk farther to end up where your heart longs to be. 

I really hope that you get rest. The world is so constantly go, go, go that it's almost impossible to not get washed into the current of busy-ness. The 'hustle harder' mentality is burning you mentally, physically and spiritually. I hope that you take the chance to sit down and take a breath. Enjoy a bubble bath, go on a walk, take a nap. The world will still be here when you get up. 

Reach out. Despite the ease of digital communication, it's easy to lose touch with people. Take 5 minutes out of your day to send a friend a nice tweet, a text, a Facebook message or a call. We are all on this ball of mud together, we might as well find a friend. 

I hope that you keep track of the good things that happen to you this year. The bad things fester in our memories, but there are moments of joy and beauty even in the awfulness. 2016 was filled with terribleness but there were moments of brightness, even if it's just something as simple as PokemonGo coming into our lives. (Team Instinct!)

Most of all, I hope 2017 brings you closer to your goals and to the person you were always meant to be. 

I'll be cheering you on. 

The Goals of Future You

Tis the season where every other word I see in my inbox is about setting goals and making big changes for 2017. And that's all well and fine. I actually love setting new years resolutions and have set rituals of spending the 1st of the new year setting out my goals and filling in my calendar. I enjoy it, and it gives me a rush. But a big part of that is on the simple idea that future me will be better than today me. 

I really think super highly of future me, the me of tomorrow doesn't splurge on that extra book or three, she doesn't eat entire pints of ice cream in one sitting and she always gets up early to workout, drink lemon water, and write before going to her job where she sails through the day with ease. Future me might be the best fantasy novel I've ever written. 

It's a well documented concept that we think our future selves will be better prepared to handle things, we procrastinate projects until the night before because we somehow think that we will wake up tomorrow with the willpower or skill set. But we don't. We go to bed and we wake as mostly the same person. Huge changes don't happen overnight, they happen one decision at a time done day by day.

It's an obvious thing. One everyone claims to know and understand. Of course you don't just wake up 50 pounds lighter (and if you do, go to the doctor asap cause that ain't right) and suddenly have a new life. We define ourselves. in the big moments that take our breath away but you are the result of the small, mundane choices you make every day. 

Does that mean I'm not going to set resolutions this year?

Uh no. I'm setting goals, marking down big resolutions and planning to generally continue kicking ass. This time, I'm just doing it with the knowledge that present me and future me are in this together. 

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!