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.

Holiday Writing

This is the first time that I have tried writing during the holidays. It's insane! I haven't been able to sit long enough to get a good rewrite in on my novel, and I haven't let any new ideas flow out of me for weeks! I could use the excuse of finals, and holiday shopping, but shouldn't I be able to write regardless??

Today, I was watching the snow fall on my car, and a character came to me. She was very annoying, and screaming for some paper time.  She was younger then my normal characters, and quirky, but let me emphasize again the word "annoying."  I knew that I couldn't give her the typical excuses that I give my other characters, so I gave her about a page and a half before putting duct tape over her mouth and closing my laptop.

After weeks of not being able to write anything new, you would think that I would be relieved that I released a new character out into the world, but I feel overwhelmed. She will not be going away anytime soon, I just have this feeling. The problem with her is that she doesn't have a conflict, and she really doesn't have much of anything. She has a setting at the moment, but she does a lot of talking about herself. Can I really make time to listen to the endless amount of chatter she has to get to a main plot and resolution?

I guess time will tell..  Are you a writing machine during the holidays? Or do you find yourself making excuses, and putting your characters off for a different time?

Anyway, that's my update -- to all of my followers, MERRY CHRISTMAS!! <3 See you all in the New Year!
 

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 9 - Kicking and Screaming

I love the fact that I can get lost while I write. The daily stress can quickly dissolve into the scene that I am writing, and for moments at a time, I can be the puppet-master of my own world.

Lately, two of my main characters have interrupted my peaceful writing. One of them, the youngest, feels that his age is too young. The other, well she can't decide on if she wants to be referred to in her full name, by her last name, or three different nicknames. It's exhausting! I will think that we have settled on an effective nickname, and then along the way it changes. 

The great thing about Nano, is they can kick and scream all they want, but I don't have to change anything right now. I don't have to worry if one character is acting way older than he should, or if another character has three different nicknames. I am confident that by the end of the story, he will know exactly how old he is, and she will have decided on her name. Until then, I will remain calm and peaceful, and continue to lose myself among the river of words. 

Do you find that your characters rebel mid-story? How do you handle it?

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?

Free Giveaways After 100 Followers Reached!

So why the giveaways?  I will be honest and admit that my blogging is for me, however, there is such a thrill with sharing my words with others. I love getting comments, and knowing that someone else is feeling the same way, or has a story that they can share with me. I spend so much time reading other blogs, and commenting when I can. I love when others recommend a blog to me, because usually I fall in love right away. I want to get the word out about my little place in the blog world, and at the same time reward my followers.  Writing can be a lonely journey, and by having this blog, I don't feel so alone anymore! Here are some of the items I will be giving away. I may add more as my follower list grows :)

                 

So how does this work?  It's very simple.  I need to reach 100 follower by the end of Nano, which is the end of November. So if you like my blog, and you think it's worth spreading around, then repost and retweet. I will be doing a random drawing of those who spread the word on December 1st or after 100 followers are reached.  Leave your comment here that you have reposted somewhere in your writing world!  Thank you so much, and leave your own blog, because I will be returning the favor! <3 Kristy

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?

NaNoWriMo Day 1 and 2

I had hoped to write this blog yesterday, but I was pretty wiped.  The past two days have been a success. I have managed to get over 6000 words in so far, and I'm still trucking along. I'm getting to know my characters a little bit more, and throwing them into some pretty dramatic scenes. It will be interesting to see how things progress. I am happy with it so far.

If you want to follow my updates - you will find me on twitter at @kphilbrick
If you want to be my Nano buddy - My username is KristyLee 

Things I have learned so far.


**Highlight words that I need to either find a different word for, or fact check - (this has been hard for me to do, but helps to not interrupt my creative flow)


**Be patient - I know what the story is about, and I know how it will end, but I need to be more patient on how I will get there - the characters will guide the way

**JUST WRITE  - This is a big one- I have heard a lot of writers give this kind of advice, and I must admit that it is true. Sometimes it really is just about sitting down and doing the writing. I had a notebook with me today, and wrote a complete chapter by hand. There are no excuses -- JUST WRITE!

How To Quiet Your Characters At Work

I wish that my writing career allowed for me to spend my time at home preparing my characters for November 1st,  but the reality of it is – it doesn’t! I have to work, and take care of my two kids, a home, a dog, and all while finishing my degree full time. 

Last night I spent a few hours doing character interviews, and this morning, they were still asserting themselves. I was unable to focus at work, and with only days left, I knew I needed to come up with a strategy to quiet them. Here is what I have done in past situations like this.

1.      1. Jot down notes – I carry a notebook with me, specifically for Nano, but I recently read an interview where the writer did all of her notes on napkins. 

2.       2. Send yourself a text or email – Give your characters a job, and have them send the email for you!

3.       3. Leave yourself a voicemail – I have done this before when driving. 

        4. Let your characters interact within your workspace - This is what I chose to do this morning. Instead of   fighting them off, I invited them to sit with me. Only a few showed up, but I could visualize how they would interact with the patients. It brought me closer to them, and it seemed to quiet my mind. Thankfully, my six-year-old character is a quiet one, and played by himself in the corner, while his mother chatted with everyone who walked through the door. 

         What is your strategy? 

Lost & Found

 

I wish I had an amazing excuse for my lack of blog posts, and twitter updates.  In fact, I haven't even taken the time to try to come up with something clever. Instead I will just say that I stopped writing. I could come up with about a zillion reasons why this happened, but the bottom line of it all is -- I stopped.  I wrote my first novel, completed it... put it away so I could rewrite it after some of the love for the characters had worn off... and that was that.  Five months later--here I am.

I have been doing a ton of reading, and it continues to feed my passion for writing.  Here are some of the books that I have read over the last couple of months:

   













I officially signed up for #NaNoWriMo today as well. I have a few plots kicking around in my head that are demanding to be put on paper-- that's my job right?

Thank you to those who kept in touch, and I look forward to getting to know my new followers.

Have a great day!
<3 Kristy