Holiday Slowdowns

Yes, it's been days since I've posted up a new blog post. It's been days - weeks, maybe - that I tweeted. It may have been even longer since I posted a new post for facebook.

The root of the problem is the holidays. It has been terribly hard to stay active, to stay productive when there's food to eat, drinks to be drank and gatherings to attend.

Writing requires so much thinking, depending on what stage you are on in the process, and it becomes so hard to stay focus when your physical pressence is needed.

Okay, with the slight holiday rant is over, I guess it's time to get this blog on the way.

Staying Productive may not be in the easiest thing to do. As writers, we may have control over our creative world, but we do not have control over the comings and goings around us. When you have a full work load, and your time for creativity may only come from a small window of  time, your day to day life, and even human reactions and interactions can get in the way.

I applaud anyone who can work in the creative sense and still go to a Christmas party aftwards. I had a huge Thanksgiving. I knew that Christmas would be much smaller for me - in terms of my participation.

I was still a little gung-ho from my progress through the Thanksgiving holiday. I managed to finish my rewrite on The Playmate and start on the final copy once my editor sent it back to me - yes, we were on Superman coattails - during the Thanksgiving.

I just knew that Christmas would provide me the same engergy.

It did not.

The moral of this is not to worry if you aren't getting work done like you hope. This is where I messed up at. I worried myself silly because there were things to do, work that needed to get done and it wasn't happening. I had wanted to take a MENTAL BREAK until the New Year 2013. For the last solid months I have been writing and jumping from one project to the next.

It's safe to say that I am tired.

I do not like not producing work. I know what it feels like to have ideas in your head and go to hammer it out, but nothing comes or gets. I spent a very confused and lonely year like that.

So when I hit a time span of no productive work, I get a little shifty. Writing is apart of life for me. I do it to get a line of fresh air, it's a way to go through life. It's my filter. It's like smoking a cigarette without a filter. The tobacco is way too strong and you will soon be coughing a little too thickly on the tar. A bad scenerio, but hey, for smokers, they may get it.

Letting The Mind Rest

It's close to the holidays - two days till Christmas to be exact.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and the cheer, the holiday songs, the cookies and milk, but this year I can't wait to get it all over with.

For the last four months I have been jumping from one writing project to the next. Ruck's Nightmare went in first then The Chase and then The Playmate.

Now, I'm moving on to my final novel, which is set to come out in the beginning of 2013: Rogue.

My mind is blah... Between my own indiviual writing projects, I have had paid gigs to keep up with. A script writing job, which is now completed - well, the first rough is. And a comic book job, which needs the final touches and then it's shoved right out the door.

If you asked me a few months ago, if taking on several projects at one time was a good idea, I would have told you 'yes.' But now I'm not so sure. I have experienced plenty of set backs from this spurt of insanity.

SET BACKS:

Sleep...
Rest...
Solid Mind...
Coherent thought...

Sleep is a sailing dream. Resting goes hand and hand. I can't stop my mind from working. I keep a tally in my head which project needs what... My mind doesn't feel solid or strong at all. No, does not mean I'm going into a straight jacket, but it makes me feel tired and tired and doesn't help with my mood at all.

Coherent thought... I get slightly scattered brain. I move from one thought to the next... unable to plan out one solid detail.

The moral of this story is take your time with your planning and your writing. Your mind, as a writer, is the most valuable thing. I am fortunate to say that I have made it through my writing obligations, but I will go about a solid brick of writing much different the next time. I'm not an outliner, but from now on I will be.

I won't rush my work, but effeciantly plan things out.

Writing vs. Social Media

I'm starting learn that writing isn't the hardest part of being an Indie Author.

It's the social media. Don't get me wrong, I like it - I love meeting new people and authors. Still, it's a lot when you still have to try and crank out, at least, fifteen pages a night on your next and upcoming book.

Now, on this blog, I have talked about ways to write around Story Snags and ways to keep your head free in order to do your work.

For the social media... I'm at a lost. Yes, to write, you need to keep your head free, but how do you do that when you have to respond to emails and do interviews and keep up on friends. Being an Indie Author, you have to be apart of the community. No, you can't act like the golden child - like your work is so great that it's only a matter of time before someone will read it and that one person will turn into millions.

No, you have to give back to the community if you think the community is going to do anything for you. I have met wonderful people on Facebook. I have learned from them because they opened the door for me to learn.

I will figure out a formula on how to deal with the attention requirement for Social Media and I'll do a post on how to keep your head clear, you mind fresh and ready to create.

Simply falling into your words

My editor tells me that I have a way of using camera directions in my writing. Again, I went to school for film and the way I write and layout a story, is in a way that I can see it being shot like a film.

This simple technique - writing in a way that I would see it on a screen or in a movie - has done wonders for my detail. I love to feel like I'm in the story.

I enjoy giving my characters mudane things to do. To me, in a way, it makes the character more human, more real. Like giving your character a moment to sit in a cafe to drink a cup of coffee or read a newspaper. Or even taking an extra moment in a kissing scene to allow your character to savor the taste of another's lips.

It's the little things that make you fall into a story. Yes, action is great. Yes, conflict is wonderful, but every story has conflict and some sort of action. Our minds, as we read, has come to be used to this, so we expect it. In stories that just have action and some sort of drama/conflict, we watch these things from a third point of view.

Give your reader a moment to rest inside the character's shoes. Just like in a movie, you are the main character, you put yourself in their shoes, ride the ride with them. You have to give your reader a chance to sit down with the character, learn the important facts about them, but watch them take a moment in their story. You will be surprised how you will fall into the words.

When you, as the writer, fall into your own story and you see every detail as you type them, then your reader will experience the same.

Just think about that.

RUCK'S NIGHTMARE

Mark Anderson was the typical small town, football player - a quarterback, no less - and had the cheerleader girlfriend.

Yes, we've seen it a thousand times. We've seen it in Friday Night Lights and movies like Varisty Blues. We know the story of a young kid, mostly always a boy, is given fame, and a free pass because he knew how to toss a lemon shaped ball.

So why did I write a story about a high school quarter back? I did it because I lived in a small town for six years. I saw how interesting things could get on a game night. No, the town wasn't football crazy, but there was an energy there. I wanted, if only for a moment, to capture that. Only a few, yes even fewer, will know what it feels like to be treated like a God for four years.

Yes, to be treated that way can be bad for a person later, but it's that moment, where no one can see the reprecussions of bowing to a simple seventeen year old.

In Ruck's Landing, Mark Anderson has the usual small town dream of leaving the small town life with his girlfriend to be in a huge college and become a pro football player. Well, not only does this not happen, but he takes major, major combinations of bad misfortune.

This book was the first of my So Thrilled Collection, which may have been a mistake. Ruck's Nightmare is a thriller but the thrills truly don't happen to the end of the story - more or less, the last twenty pages of it. I enjoyed painting the picture of Mark's life. I was fascinated by his play on the field, the way his love for his girlfriend seemed to elevate his life to a euphoric level.

With all that said, Ruck's Nightmare is a book that slowly paints a picture, but not fast enough for those that are looking for a thrill. I have gotten nothing but good reviews back for the book, but I have been told on more than one occasion that the book started off slow, that they loved the football scenes but there were parts that could have been taken out.

I do not regret anything about Ruck's Nightmare. Like I stated, I enjoyed capturing the small town and the football craziness. I did learn that despite being an author and writing for you, you may have to gain an eye for when you need to trim down detail. I say this plenty of times not to FALL IN LOVE with your writing. Writers have to be adaptable and easy with change.

I would like to think that THE CHASE was a much better story in regards to it's pacing. I have gotten awesome reviews on that one, and I am very smitten with my character Fall Pryor.

I wouldn't be surprised at the impulse to give him another story, this time giving him a full novel to work with to really see him flourish.

Half Here, half there

I touched on this on facebook and on twitter. A writer's mind is constantly in two places. Half of that mind is in the world, in the now, in the living - and other is in the world they create on pages. As a writer you are constantly thinking. Your mind - rather you want it that way or not - is constantly on the hunt for the next story. If I was not a writer, I really do wonder why kind of person I would be. Writing is an escape, an outlet, a way to understand the world. Don't get me wrong, my day to day life is not hard. I enjoy my life, but life still can be a little cruel at times, a little tough. Everyone should have a filter, a way to deal with the world as it changes ever so quickly all around you. Nothing is for certain. This is why I'm half here and half somewhere else.

Respecting your writing flow

There's something to be said about respecting the way your creativity comes to you.

I am a night writer. Only, in the wee hours do I feel like my mind is opened enough to begin writing. My professor was a morning writer. He found the beginning hours of the day much easier to create.

Now, during my day, I do keep a journal on me to log in any ideas that may strike.

The point I'm making is that you have to respect the flow of your creativity. Your writing something you can force. You have to deal with it when it comes. Yes, I get it, some of us have deadlines and have to force the work. I am not saying that this cannot work - sometimes we train ourselves to do darn good work under pressure, but you should still understand when the best ideas come.

Structure is always a good way to deal with your writing abilities. It's like a diet. You want your body to respond to what you put in it that is supposed to be good. You want your mind to respond to way you treat it.

Think about that.