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 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! 

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!

Finding the Time to Write!

It is 5:00 in the morning, and I am wide-awake. It seems that my internal clock has chosen this as my new wake up time. The house is quiet and the birds outside are making the neighborhood aware of their existence. (I am happy to report that after waiting a month, I finally have birds coming to my new bird feeder, YAY)

I started on a new WIP yesterday. What I thought was going to be a possible short story series quickly turned into a novella or novel series. I love the feeling of starting something new. My heart races and my fingers type as if they are on autopilot. The world stops around me, and I completely submerge myself into the new world that I am creating. When it’s good, it isn’t work—it’s pure enjoyment!

Someone asked me yesterday, “between going to College, being a mom, working, and taking care of the house, how on earth do you find time to write?” My response, “writing is my outlet from all of those things. It’s not a task, but a sense of strength in my life. I find the time because I love it!”

I don’t mind when 5am rolls around and the characters in my head are awake and ready to start their day—now if I could just convince myself to work out at that time!  Oh well, another day maybe J   

Do you find it a struggle to find the time to write?

Currently Reading

Unleash Your Inner Muse!

My Muse visited me this morning with a completely new plan. She wanted me to write a short story as a different challenge for myself since finishing the first draft of my novel. I spent the morning going against her and telling her “no way!” After much debating back and forth, I am pretty sure she swore at me—can a Muse do that?

I decided it was in my best interest to listen to her, so I sat down and wrote my very first short story. I finished within an hour, and it is sitting on my lap as I type this. Is it the best short story ever written? No, and it needs a lot of well-deserved attention, which it will get. However, this short story is a symbol of my getting past the limitations that I have set upon myself somewhere along the way. Statements like “I am horrible at short stories!” or “I could never write a short story!” crushed my ability as a writer to listen to my Muse, and create work that captures the essence of who I am as a person. 

I am sharing this, because I know that I am not alone with this type of negative self-talk. So stop it! Start believing in your writing abilities. Try something that you have been telling yourself you would never be able to do. You might actually find out that you are capable of a whole lot more than you have ever imagined! 

Finding Balance

Writing requires a certain amount of balance. Actually, life in general requires a certain amount of balance. Balance is something that I have struggled with my entire life. If I am successful in one area, I am usually falling behind in another. May left me feeling overwhelmed and stressed out about what I have yet to accomplish. Therefore, June is the month where I find balance between my daily responsibilities and my writing.

Last night I sat down and made a simple schedule that I can stick to for the week. I want to emphasize simple because I typically make very elaborate beautiful lists that serve very little functionality. I have a morning and evening routine adapted from www.flylady.com (I love her!) My schedule includes the 2 h’s – homework and housework—after these are completed, I have writing time! This includes writing at least a chapter of my book and working on at least one of my blogs. I scheduled reading time, as this is very important to me. Most importantly I have to fit in mommy time with my kids J we all enjoy that!

So how am I doing?

Day 1 – I have had a successful day. I completed my 2 h’s and spent some mommy time with the kids. I am writing later than I normally would be, but I am doing so with a much clearer mind. I am excited to be moving towards the goals that I have set up for myself. Finding the balance in your life is about realizing what you want to achieve for yourself, and making the time to do it! I had to give up some phone time with friends, and keep my social networking down to a minimum today in order to cross off everything on my list, but the point is I DID IT!