Summer Writing # 1

I have taken the summer off from school to submerge myself into my writing. So I can rewrite the novel I wrote last year... and so that I can continue on the projects that I'm already working on. Yet, I feel pressured, non-content, angry, defeated. My characters have abandoned me, and my drive has dissolved. So, here I am, at the mercy of my blog, trying to find some form of motivation.  I contemplated starting a new blog - quickly realized that the time to get it set up could be better used writing. I sat, stared at the blank screen, and contemplated writing about my two dogs, possibly even giving them their own blog. It's a thought - but do I really want to spend my writing time, speaking for my pets? Some days, maybe... right now.. no!  So, my promise to myself is to write - to write every day regardless of how self-defeated I feel. Today is day 1!

AMAZINGLY

I want to be an amazing writer – Now one would think that this was always my goal.  It was not.  My goal was simply to write. It was my passion – it IS my passion. However, I have been giving up before I start, and I have been expecting less than mediocre from myself.  I haven’t required myself to be an amazing writer. I have just wanted to be a writer. That is not enough anymore. I want to be amazing. I want people to read my stories, and I want them to fall in love, over and over again.  There are several books that I have fallen in love with, several movies that I watch at the very least, once a year.  There are stories within me that keep me comforted, and others that keep me terrified. We all have a story, and it is important to tell it so that others can fall in love with our words, our situations, our characters.. and sometimes us.  That is what I want for myself, and my writing. The next few weeks will be full of rewriting.  Taking the work that I allowed just mediocre, and making it better.  Pouring myself into my words, and creating something that not only I love, but that others will love as well. It is no longer okay for me to just want to write – It is however, okay for me to want to write AMAZINGLY.    Kphilbrick.

Nano Day 13 - Virtual Writing Space

I am sorry that I haven't written in a few days. Unfortunately, my TMJ is having one of its episodes, and I have only been able to sit at my computer long enough to write on my story, and do my homework. I make sure to take the opportunity when I'm feeling well enough to write, thankfully I haven't missed a day, and the 30k mark has arrived.

Those of you who regularly read my blogs know that I use my Second Life character as my muse. She is also the source of most of my photo's for this blog, and is a great creative outlet. Someone very dear to me created a place where I can take my character to write. It is my very own virtual writing loft, and it is a very happy space. It is the kind of writing room that I hope to have someday. Therefore, I give my most sincere thanks and share with all of you a few pictures to show it off. (Notice the WRITE on the wall - Simply PERFECT).

I sat my character down, tabbed out, and typed over 4000 words tonight. It was exactly what I needed after a very long week! <3

Nano Day 8

I am now at the part of my book where all five of my main characters are together in one scene for the entire weekend. I have been leading up to this part of the book for almost 20k pages, and now that I'm here, I feel a sense of fear. Whose perspective will I tell it from? How will I merge all of these personalities into one house for one weekend? Thankfully, it's only a few chapters, and things will go back to semi-normal. I would love to hear how your Nano books are coming? If you are not participating in Nano, then how is your writing going? Make sure you remind yourself why you started writing to begin with -- tap into that energy! 

Late Night Writing - Nano Day 5, 6 & 7

I am starting to notice a pattern with my writing for Nano. I am waiting until the very last part of the day to start. It's not that this hasn't worked for me --I've exceeded 15k and feel like I am at a good pace with my story. Only last night did I fear that I was revealing something too early in the story. I still haven't convinced myself that I didn't, but for now, it will remain where it is.


The problem with waiting until the end of the night is I risk not being able to get my word count in and possibly my creativity is not as keen as it would be if I were to do it earlier in the day. Frankly, by this time of night, my brain is fried from other things. My goal for the next 10K words is to produce them earlier in the day, and then if I want to write later in the night, it's perfectly acceptable. I'm not sure if my fear is that I will sit down and stare at a blank page, or if I am just afraid that I won't be as creative if my brain is fully functioning.

Even today, I sat down to start writing, and now I'm blogging.

What time of the day do you find is the best for your writing?

Nano Day 4 - Don't Forget Your Imagination!

 

When I was a little girl, I would create elaborate stories in my head, and sometimes I would be so convincing that I would actually believe they were true. Some would call this compulsive lying, but I like to think of it as an overactive imagination. I always felt like I knew something that others did not. Reading would eventually allow for me to realize that I was not the only one with an imagination, and although I am still growing up (I don't think we should ever fully grow up) I realize that my imagination has caused many different emotions in my life. Here are just a few- jealousy, fear, anger, anxiety, as you can see a lot of irrational emotions pop up.

The power that we as writers have is the ability to channel that imagination, and use it the way it is meant to be used. It is a power that we can unleash onto the pages of our manuscripts, and we can be as irrational or rational as we wish. 

Every once in awhile I have to tap into that imagination, and remind myself that it's okay to let go. It's okay to let my characters feel a certain way... It's okay to be me!

I love my imagination - it is who I am, and it's what makes me the kind of writer that I have always wanted to be. So jump on that hot air balloon, fly through the sky, over the ocean, reach for that sunset, and don't forget the most important thing -- your imagination! 

Unexpected visit from my muse - Nano Day 3

Meet my MUSE! 

Today was an interesting day. I knew that I was already well ahead of my word count, and a sort of cocky feeling spread over me. "I got this," I said out loud while doing other things, and going about my day. I glanced at my characters for a while, and at one point felt like they might be hiding on me. Perhaps I had overworked them. It wasn't until I started up Second Life, and walked around my virtual world -- that I became inspired. I have been part of Second Life for four years now, and it has always been a source of distraction from the real world, but also an inspiration for my writing. I have gotten so many creative ideas from this world, that I truly believe I wouldn't be where I am, if I hadn't played. 

Here I have been worrying that my Muse wasn't going to visit me at the beginning of my book, and then I realized it was right in front of me (the above picture). I sat my Avi down in the virtual world at her computer, and let her start typing, while I put down the browser and pounded out over 2000 words to bring me to the 10,000 mark. WOOOOT!

Has your muse visited lately?

Let Your Characters Do The Work!

This morning I finally sat down with the goal of completing two chapters.  An hour later I was successful! I have always read about writers falling in love with their characters.  It's something that I often do when reading someone else's book.  They enter my daily thoughts, and I usually can't wait to find out what they will do next.  It's not really that different with writing my own book.  After getting past which POV to use, and the structure of the story, I can settle into bringing the characters to life.  They have lived inside of me for so long that displaying them to the world is quite exhilarating.  

Today my two main characters are getting to know each other.  They are in the midst of innocent flirting and endless possibilities.  They are recognizing how comforting it is to be in each other's company.  I am writing this book in first person, so at times I find it difficult to interpret what the male character Bobby is feeling through Mae's eyes.  I have to really try hard to tap into her senses to decipher what his body language means, and the tone of his voice.   The last chapter I wrote, Mae had butterflies in her stomach... I recognized as I wrote it that I had the same feeling.  I have already fallen in love with the characters that I am writing about.  When she is excited --so am I.  When she is sad -- I feel the same way.  

I am proud to say that my characters have taken me over. I am no longer writing from my mind, but from theirs.  They reveal to me on a regular basis how the story will play out, and reveal their secrets to me as we go. I am their puppet now.  I feel it's important to find the time within your story to let go and let your characters do the work.  You have set them free! Be confident in who they are and what they are capable of.  If you are stuck on a chapter, or a sentence.  Ask those very characters that you brought to life what they think would happen next. You will be surprised at how easy it is, once you trust them! 

Currently Reading

My review will be up next week! 

Why I Write!

I feel the only appropriate introduction to this blog would be to tell all of you why I write. Stories such as "The Secret Garden" and "Alice in Wonderland" allowed me to hope that worlds such as that exist. Magical places that I could escape to, keys that would unlock a beauty that could only be described by Frances Hodgson Burnett, or rabbit holes that went on forever as imagined by Lewis Carroll. I believed in these places, and I wanted nothing more than to be part of them, the scary parts, and all. Soon my imagination turned to love stories, the kind that leaves you with tissues, and a longing for that type of love. Nicholas Sparks brought me to a world that depicted so much more than the movie remakes could ever portray. Elizabeth Berg said this, "I still think about characters and sometimes I--this sounds awful to say, but I draw inspiration from my own characters. You know, what would Lainey do? Do you think she'd be sitting here bitching about this? No! She Wouldn't" (Writer's Digest March/April 2010). She has allowed me to realize that it is okay to be in love with my own characters. In fact, those very characters are a piece of me.


I write because it allows me to escape into a world that I created in my mind a long time ago. I write because I dream of more than what we see in front of us, and because my imagination carries me throughout the day. If I did not write, I think I might explode! I write because I love it and someday someone will be reading one of my books, and they will love it too! I write because I am a passionate person who dreams. I write because it is who I am--and I will no longer deny myself that right!

The Write Life will be a place that I can be who I want to be. I will discuss intimate details about the very characters that have entered my life. I am sure I will complain and maybe even cuss about the struggles of not knowing what to put in that next paragraph! I will share my joys and disappointments of the struggles of becoming a published writer. Most of all, I will write!