Bringing in 2016 with Lofty Goals

Hi all!

2016 is just days away and it's about time we started thinking about goals again. While it's great to have goals year round, there's something really exciting about starting the new year with a plan.

Many of us set personal goals: we want to lose weight, quit sugar, save more money for retirement...so on and so forth. But when was the last time you set a professional goal for yourself?

I surely can't think of it.

So, this New Year, along with my personal goal, I'm also going to set a professional goal. And it's a big one.


Drum roll please.......

I'M GOING TO WRITE A NOVEL THIS YEAR.

Whew, I said it. No, I BLOGGED it, which makes it more real.

Now, this won't be my first novel. In fact, I've written five novels/novel length projects since committing to writing as my profession, but the other day I was thinking about how I haven't written something fun (like fiction, essays, or poems) in a few weeks. My life has simply been too chaotic with everything else going on. I'm sure you can relate.

That also got me thinking about my big novels that I've written in the past and how they really need to be revised.

So, that led me to the conclusion that I MUST write another novel in 2016. I currently have no idea what it will be about, who the characters are, or even where it takes place. I know nothing other than the fact that I will write it sometime this year.

The universe will give me the idea when it's ready and I am too. I'm sure of that. In the meantime, I'm screaming out into the void of everything saying, THIS is my year. Let's get this novel going.

Do you have any writing goals for 2016? Shout them into the aether of the universe by sharing them in the comments section.

Seasons Greetings

The holiday season is fully upon us. The stores are packed and people are either getting a few days off from work or are working longer and harder shifts during this shopper-filled season. No matter which camp you fall in, I'm writing to wish you all light, love, and happiness during the holiday season.

In fact, when the family's around and things are nuts can be the best time to slip away to get a few more pages of your novel written.

Or, like many this year, you can simply sit back with a gingerbread cookie and enjoy the tropical weather most of the USA is experiencing. Here in North Carolina it's going to be 75 degrees on Christmas Day!

Just whatever you do, don't stress. Now's the time for fun and relaxation. Now's the time to recharge so next year we can publish that amazing work we've been plugging away at.

Naming Characters

Writers say it all the time: My story is my baby.

We nurture it and watch it grow and pick it up when it falls down. We're actively involved in the progression of its life.

I see the resemblance.

Why, then, don't we put more time into our characters names?

Parents spend months trying to find the best name for their little ones. Books are read, friends are consulted, names are Googled. They want something unique and memorable, but they also think about who they wish their child to be. Want them to be strong and taken seriously - better find a name that matches. More interested in your kid being creative - pick a name that fosters that.

Yet, as writers, we often think of name, write it down and then never go back and question it again.

Why is this a problem? Well, I'll give you an example;

The other day I was revising a short story I wrote. One of the main characters has a unique name that just kind of popped into my head one day. It was pronounced like it was spelled and it was powerful, all the things I wanted him to be. I researched everyone else's names, but this one character was always - from the very beginning - stuck to his name.

Two rounds of beta readers and five revisions later, I was ready to begin submitting the manuscript around to magazines and journals. Right before I began searching for this story's home, though, something made me pause.

I did a quick Google search of that one character's name and found out that it was the same name used by a Russian gang in the 40's.

Now, this character was not Russian, nor would he approve of gang membership. I knew instantly that I had to change his name. I went on baby naming sites and looked up names based on first letter (I knew it had to start with B), and based upon his culture and ethnicity.

I found him a better name, but it was almost a disaster. If any reader Googled his name, they would have found many hits on Russian gangs and probably would have thought very differently about my character.

But - don't fret - there are two ways around making this critical mistake.

1. Let's say you need to write, like - RIGHT NOW - because the idea's there and the magic is flowing. Okay, do it. Write your little heart out. Rather than stopping to research names, use what I call the First Date method. "He walks into the room and looks around. She notices him and waves. "'How are you HE?' she asks." ---- This allows you to write the scene you need and worry about naming your darlings after you've figured out who they're going to be.

2. Does the First Date method drive you bonkers? Well then your other option is to take the time and research baby names. (Google "baby girl names" or "Sanskrit names" or "Jewish names" to find millions of lists out there for free.) When you've found the names you need for your characters, begin writing then.

Whatever you do, don't leave one of the most important aspects of your characters up to chance. Sure, it's always nice to have a name pop into your head like a magic perfectly-fitting slipper, but it may not always be the right foot you're applying it to.

Take the time to name your darlings.

Your children would want that kind of dedication from you.

Challenge Post: Opposite Day

I was recently told that I have to do a pretty hefty revision of a short story I wrote months ago. In my mind, the piece was just as it was supposed to be with enough tension and explanation of the plot to get to the next story in the series while still allowing this piece to stand on its own. Of course, that was 5 months ago, so I probably feel differently about it now. (Readers and editors sure do! lol)

To keep myself from the defensive rut of, "I need this paragraph of delicious prose" or "How can they not understand the subtle characterization?", I'm challenging myself to an opposite day.

The rules of opposite day are simple: You must write in an area or manner which is completely opposite to your normal style.

For instance, I normally write behind tightly closed doors where no one but my rabbits (who are too short to see the screen anyway) can hear my fingers dance along the keyboard. I prefer a tomb-like silence and stillness and even the fan of my laptop kicking in can throw me from my meditation.

So, on opposite day, I'm taking my laptop to the coffee shop uptown and writing amongst human beings. There will be talking, cell phone noise, espresso sounds and smells. People will probably come up and ask me what I'm doing. I will have to be cordial.

The whole idea of opposite day is to jolt you out of your normal routine and mindset and make you see your work from the perspective of new readers - readers who often first encounter your piece on their commute to work, or on their lunch break, or while also watching TV.

But I don't want to be the only one using opposite day. I challenge you, fellow blog reader, no matter what day you stumble upon this post, to do opposite day with me.

Do you normally write surrounded by bustling action and many people? Then find a way to write in peace (yes, even if you have to shut yourself in the bathroom). Do you write listening to blaring music? Take off the headphones and see what your characters say in silence. Vice versa.

Change something. See what happens. Even if it sucks, you'll have tried one more option and be another step closer to perfection.

An Addition to the Books On Writing Series: BIG MAGIC

As you know from my Books On Writing post series, I read a fair share of books by famous writers talking about writing. So, when I visited my local library last week and saw Elizabeth Gilbert's new book BIG MAGIC: CREATIVE LIVING BEYOND FEAR, I just had to check it out.

Image From Amazon (Book also purchasable there): http://www.amazon.com/Big-Magic-Creative-Living-Beyond/dp/1594634718/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449074141&sr=8-1&keywords=big+magic


However, this book wasn't the ABC XYZ step by step book on the craft that I was used to. Instead, Ms. Gilbert focuses on the most basic of building blocks upon which writing is founded - creative living. At first I though, well I don't need this, I already write and paint and draw and craft - I'm creative, dang it! I live it! But as I've read through (I'm about halfway now), I've found some helpful insight into the creative life that I've never thought of before or that I simply skipped over with tightly closed eyes.

In the "Permission" section of the book that I read last night, I found a delightfully put phrasing that applies so readily to writing and other writers.

To paraphrase the overall idea: Ms. Gilbert says that we need to defend our creative lifestyles (mostly to ourselves and our own egos) by first defining ourselves. "I'm a writer." Actually say it, out loud, to the universe. It is your proclamation of intent.

She then goes on to say:

"This proclamation of intent...is not something you can do just once and then expect miracles; it's something you must do daily, forever. I've had to keep defining and defending myself as a writer every single day of my adult life - constantly reminding and re-reminding my soul and the cosmos that I'm very serious about the business of creative living, and that I will never stop creating, no matter what the outcome, and no matter how deep my anxieties and insecurities may be." (Gilbert, pg. 95)

This paragraph is so inspiring to me because it reveals that even an extremely well known and successful author across nonfiction and fiction genres still has doubts. She still feels unsure of herself and her work. It's a feeling I'm not unfamiliar with myself.

So, whether you're just starting out as a writer and unsure you have anything new to bring to the table, or whether you're a seasoned pro unsure whether anyone wants what you've brought to the table all this time - know that your belief in yourself is enough. If you write, then you are a writer, and you deserve to be one. Your voice and your viewpoints deserve to be heard.

And just as you must dutifully work on your craft everyday, you must also affirm to yourself that you are enough in your creative life.

Go on, say it with me now:

I AM A WRITER

Believe it.



PS> I highly recommend checking out BIG MAGIC by Elizabeth Gilbert when you have some time. It's definitely going into my Books On Writing category. Both newbies and vets can relate to the primal info contained in this book.

Forcing the Muse

My schedule didn't allow me to participate in NANOWRIMO this year, but I do have a handful of friends who undertook the challenge. My conversations with them has led me to understand one very important thing: Sometimes the muse doesn't come willingly. Sometimes you have to drag it.

One friend of mine sat looking at her computer screen for the first four days of November, slowly falling behind in her word count. She fretted over the fact she had no concept, no characters, no setting, and no plot line.

Her imagination was an empty void.

"I would have quit," I admitted sheepishly to her. "Not writing, of course, but I would have quit NANOWRIMO. Obviously, it wasn't my year."

The beautiful thing is: she didn't take my advice.

On the fifth day, frustrated and crying, she began writing down absolute nonsense.

My headphones are red. The cord is longer than I think it should be. I have a sugar skull eraser. I don't wish to use it in case I erase off the face.

Pages and pages of nonsense ensued. Two lattes were downed and refilled. Somewhere, along the way, her muse remembered how to walk, then run.

By the end of the week she had a character and a novel plot. Her setting unfolded and she caught up, then surpassed her word count goals.

All of us have been here at some point - staring for days, thinking it's finally happened, we've finally lost our ability to write creatively. In fact, as I write this blog post, I'm in that boat. I've been sick for three weeks and with the surroundings of a new state, new house, and new job, I haven't had much time to devote to writing. Now throw in the holidays and it's like my muse no longer exists.

What I'll have to do next, and what you'll likely have to do eventually too, is force the muse. I'm going to have to get her out of her recliner, walking and remembering what writing feels like and how easily ideas can flow. I'm going to have to make her recall the beauty and the freedom in writing.

And while I won't be NANOWRIMOing anytime soon, I'm hoping a new short story or novel flows forth. I'm not giving up until it does.

A Recipe For Descriptive Phrases

There are two ways for you to describe your characters: through direct description and through indirect description.

Ultimately, the best novels utilize both direct and indirect description in combination with each other. Think of it like cooking. You need a cup of this, a pinch of that. Description works best when the concoction is mixed throughout the story.

First, let's define our methods of description:

Direct description is a clear explanation of what the character looks like/act likes etc. 

Suzie had blue eyes and silky black hair that always slipped from her braid before third period was even over.

Whereas indirect description is the characterization of the character through actions or implied thought.

Suzie slunk through the cafeteria, her eyes glued to her tray as she weaved between tables and ultimately exited through the doors to the field house. 

In the first example, we get a picture of Suzie's physical characteristics in a concise descriptive sentence. Nothing is happening other than the narrator telling the reader what Suzie looks like. We learn that she has blue eyes and silky hair.

However, in the second example, readers are in the action, watching Suzie slink and exit in a timid manner. We learn that Suzie is shy and possibly embarrassed to interact with her classmates. She gets what she needs and she's out of there.

I once had a creative writing teacher boil it down for me and say, "Direct description is telling, and indirect description is showing."

If you've been writing fiction long enough, you know that showing is always better than telling. We've had this drilled into our heads from our first high school writing course.

But wait! Before you go to your work in progress and delete every instance of direct description, hear me out.

We need both direct and indirect description to make a novel work.While, yes, indirect description keeps the reader in the action of the story and is more authentic to how we meet and interpret people in real life (we're not going to get a paragraph about their likes and dislikes spelled out for us before we meet a new person - however nice it would be!), sometimes important descriptive information needs to be conveyed in a concise manner.

For example, let's say the narrator of the above story notices Suzie's shoes:

They were wore out Chuck Taylors with mismatched sets of shoelaces. But Suzie hadn't been the one to give those shoes their scuffs. Those were Goodwill shoes. I knew because I'd donated them last week and my initials were still scrawled in Sharpie on the left sole.

This is a direct description of the shoes Suzie is wearing. We know they're Chuck Taylors, they're worn out, that they have mismatched shoe laces, and initials on the left sole. However, the description continues and morphs into indirect description as well. Suzie wears pre-worn shoes. This could say something about her socioeconomic status and could be contributing to her lack of self confidence.

So, as you can see, direct description is needed to make sense of indirect description. You can't have nameless, faceless characters acting on a blank set and expect your reader to understand it. Both must work in tandem to create the perfect story.

Your personal writing style will determine how much of each descriptive technique you put into your stories.

However, as a good rule of thumb, I like to use this recipe:

Add no more than one sentence of direct description for every page of indirect description utilized.

The Importance of a Writing Group

I've talked about writing groups in the past, but I wanted to reiterate their importance once again for any new blog followers who came on in the past few months.

When I was young and first writing, I didn't think writing groups were necessary. Why would I want to take time away from my own writing to review and critique other people's work. Also, if I didn't find a group that wrote solely within my genre, why bother? They're not going to know the subtle nuances I'm trying to achieve.

And then I joined a writing group.

I was 18 when I attended my first group session. It was a face-to-face session attended by roughly 3-4 different members every month. We shared pages a few weeks prior and then brought our notes for each other to some coffee shop here or there around Wisconsin.

There wasn't a single writer in that group that also wrote YA.

I absolutely loved it.

Sure, they might not have known everything about the YA genre, just as I sure as heck didn't know that much about memoirs at the time, but what young me had failed to notice is that I was surrounded by other serious writers. These were writers who put their fingers to the keys and plugged out pages of content every month for other serious writers to read. I grew in my knowledge of the craft in general  and I made some amazing friends.

Now that I've moved cross-country, I've joined another writing group (by the prodding of one of the original Wisconsin face-to-face members) that takes place entirely online. Rather than meeting for coffee, we have monthly quotas to fill (2 submission and 4 critiques per month) that keep all of us plugging away at our work. We stay in contact through email and Facebook and the occasional bi-yearly get together somewhere in the USA.

This format of a writing group has also helped me exponentially. Not only does the online format offer writers from all over the world membership, but it also allows me to read a variety of genres. I get feedback from a diverse group of readers and I give my own unique feedback to them.

Also, when I'm having a rough month and am unable to find time, energy, or inspiration to write, it helps to simply sit down with my laptop and a mug of tea and read the work of my writing group companions.

They inspire me to go back to my own work.

They help me improve that work.

Basically, writing groups are important because they force us to be who we are: writers.

I suggest, no matter your age, that you find a group that fits you. It may take a little while, but don't be discouraged, once you have them, you can never let them go.

The Morsel

Whether you separate your novel by chapters or your short story with asterisks or pound signs (let's face it, they're hashtags now. Forever hashtags.), there's one thing you need to remember before offering your reader a break. It's what I call The Morsel.

The Morsel is some tiny bit of information or foreshadowing that makes it impossible for the reader to stop reading at the intended break.

You give them a whiff - just the tiniest peek - at what you have to offer next, chances are they'll stay to read the next section and the next and the next, and before they or you know it, they're finding you on Twitter and Facebook and writing on your blog that they NEED the next installment of your work or they'll explode.

The Morsel is what makes people read past their bedtimes. It's what makes us fly through giant tomes in two days. The Morsel is the great locomotive of the story.


For example, let's say your chapter ends like this:

"He'll never know anything about it," Chester assured, winking. He then turned his back on me and sauntered out of the room. 

It's okay, right? The scene itself is over in that particular destination. The information has been relayed and we know that Chester is keeping a secret. There's plot here and character. 

But now read the chapter with the inclusion of The Morsel:

"He'll never know anything about it," Chester assured, winking. He then turned his back on me and sauntered out of the room.

It was the last time I'd see him alive.

That's so much better, right? Now the reader wants to know why it's the last time the protagonist sees Chester alive. They want to know how Chester dies and where, and if "He" who Chester is keeping a secret from has anything to do with it. 

The Morsel is what makes the reader turn the page and skim the beginning of the next chapter. It's what tricks them into reading "just ONE MORE." If you're good, your whole book will feel like this to the reader. One Morsel after another after another.

Because, when you boil it down, The Morsel contains one very essential aspect of storytelling: tension. 

It's what makes us stay tuned during the commercial breaks and the chapter breaks and the hashtag pauses. Because we know something is happening or going wrong and we need to find out how and why.

So, go through your latest project. Could your story be aided by some Morsels? Sprinkle them in. Have your betas take a read. Ratchet up that tension. 

Blog Update

I started a new job two weeks ago, and with a new job comes a new schedule.

While I adjust, it has come to my attention that I may not always be able to blog on Tuesdays. That being said, I am still committed to blogging every week.

So, what if we compromise?

I'll post a new blog post sometime between 12:00 am on Sunday and 11:59 pm on Wednesday.

The new post could come in on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or during the day or evening of Wednesday, but it will come!

So, if you want to keep checking back every Tuesday like normal, feel free. However, be assured that a new post will be available to read by Thursday morning. Check back every Thursday for guaranteed new content.

This will take some of the pressure off me as I learn my new job and adjust to my new (highly fluctuating) schedule.

How does this sound to you? Is this a worthy compromise?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and until next time we speak, keep writing! :)

Why It's Important To Ride Out The Storm

I recently wrote a short story with a pretty great plot (as long as my writing group isn't lying to me) that all stemmed from one simple thing: Brainstorming.

Remember in elementary school when your teacher would set aside ten minutes a day for you to brainstorm new ideas for your writing journal or so you could come up with a slightly more creative approach to your essay on the Underground Railroad? I sure do. A good 80% of the time, it worked, too.

And yet, very few writers brainstorm daily or even when they're out of ideas.

Instead, we wait around for inspiration to strike. We do laundry, we go to the store, we sit and stare at a blank screen at the coffee shop. We think, "It'll happen. I'll just ignore it and it'll come forward like a shy deer." When a smidgen of an idea does finally come, we usually stop it before it grows to its full potential. We outline it and worry about the characters to fill the idea, but we never let the idea grow crazy and wild before trimming it back. We wish it to grow inside our defined little box of "my genre" and "things I write".

But if brainstorming proved to be so beneficial as children, why do we so easily turn our backs on it?

The answer is, because it can be difficult.

It's scary to go unbridled into the lightning and thunder. It's dark most of the time. What if we can't come up with any ideas? What if we come up with a ton and they all suck?

These are questions everyone has asked before brainstorming.

And it's true: sometimes, nothing happens.

However, other times bad ideas turn not so bad. They grow and shift and change with each strike of lightning - illuminating themselves a little more to the writer.

I've personally set a goal to brainstorm at least once per week. Rather than getting stuck on my writing and going off to make cookies, grocery shop, or watch Project Runway (admit it, you've been there), I force my creative muscles to flex. I sit down with a timer, gluing my fingers to the keys and my butt to the seat.

And you know what? It works. Pretty soon ideas come and characters show themselves and plots unravel. Pretty soon my brain stops procrastinating and shrieking like a tired two year-old and it starts to have some fun.

That's why we got into this in the first place - it's why we do what we do - because we find writing intoxicatingly fun and we can't stop.

So, next time you're at your rope's end and you want to throw your hands up in frustration, try brainstorming. It may give you a new idea for a poem or novel, or it may help you riddle through the portion of your work-in-progress that has you at a standstill.

Need a new idea? Brainstorm.

Can't think of a title? Brainstorm.

Have an extra ten minutes while the soup boils? Brainstorm.

Incredible things happen when you give your creativity slack like that. You'll bring up things you never thought imaginable. They're all right there in your head, waiting for you to get out of the way so they can be seen.

Indirect Speech (AKA: "What could you possibly mean?" "Why, let me tell you." "Oh, please do." "With pleasure.")

Early post this week because I start my new day-job tomorrow (wish me luck!).

This week I want to discuss something with you that often gets overlooked: Indirect Speech. Sure, we spend loads of time talking about successful character development, dialogue, and setting, but what about some of the more subtle tools in the writer craft box?

Indirect speech is one of those tools.

To put it simply, indirect speech is the method of paraphrasing your character's actions and dialogue when the information is already known to the reader.

For instance, if your protagonist just learned the evil plot of the antagonist in a long chapter with tons of wonderful dialogue, when she teams up again with her sidekick, she doesn't need to repeat the entire plan because the reader just heard it. Instead, the writer may write something like:

Protag launched into the revelation of Antag's plan as soon as she saw Sidey-Man. 

"But why would he rob Starbucks?" Sidey-Man asked.

This way, the protagonist relays the important information to a supporting character without taking up valuable page-time. (Also note that directly after the indirect speech, the writer flows right into the necessary dialogue in the new scene without any breaks.)

Indirect speech is also important to help cut out common human interactions that your character may think are necessary, but that your reader doesn't want to continuously get stuck reading.

For instance, if you introduce your character as a polite person, they may begin their third conversation in the book like this:

"Hello, Mr. Johnson."

"Hello, Anvil, how's your day going."

"Just fine, how is yours?"

"Splendid. How can I help you?"

"Well, I don't want to alarm you, but I'm looking for a serial killer and I wondered if I could have a peek at your security camera footage?"

This will get mighty tedious mighty fast for your reader. Instead, employ indirect speech:

Anvil greeted Mr. Johnson warmly, then said, "I don't want to alarm you, but I'm looking for a serial killer and I wondered if I could have a peek at your security camera footage?"

This way, Anvil is true to his kind personality and the reader recognizes who this character is, but only the important need-to-know info is given the mighty distinction of quotation marks. 

So, the next time you're writing and find that

1) you're writing the same information over and over again

2) you need to cut word count, or

3) you receive critiques that say there is a lot of repeating information or phrases in your text

have a thought for indirect speech. It may be the subtle, underutilized writing tool your novel needs to kick it up a notch.

Happy Writing this week! I'm going to try and keep up a schedule, but with new jobs and training it's always difficult. Ah, the life of the poor scribe ;)

How to Write a Strong Female Protagonist

Making sure our female leads are strong, confident, and capable is something extremely important for writers (like me) who want to promote feminism and gender equality across the board. And while most writers have good intentions when they set out with their "strong female character" to conquer the world, I've read a number of stories and novels that go about portraying her the wrong way.

While it's great to show your protagonist in a predominantly "male" employment - like kicking butt, taking names, crunching numbers, and leading tech companies - this does not instantly make her "strong". Her body count racking up higher than the man's does not mean you've succeeded at writing her as a real, tangible character. Do you know why? Because that woman is normally portrayed through a lens of masculine characteristics.

She's an island without a single friend or family member. She's generally rude and terrible to be around. She swears to feel tough. She drinks to fit in. She's all around overly aggressive.

Why is this hurtful to women? Because it prolongs gender inequality by saying that woman can only be considered strong if they portray overtly masculine qualities.

Your character can in fact know that she is beautiful. This is not vanity. This is called not promoting body dysmorphic thoughts.

Your character can be confident with aspirations and goals and still be kind and have friends. This is reality. This is being a good person. This is not called being feminine and weak.

Your character needn't sit like a man, dress like a man, think like a man, belch like a man, and drink like one too...all while not falling over in her seven inch heels. This does not make her more confident or strong. This is called transforming her into the "tough guy" or even more insulting the T-U-F-F "tuff guy".

So, if none of this names a strong female protagonist, what does?

The answer lies in the most basic forms of story writing : character and plot.

Your character must make decisions, have desires, and affect the plot. The action of the story will unfold because of how she acts on the plot not on how she reacts to it. She must be the active driving force.

A woman who hates her job but does nothing about it but hope and pray that it gets better as she lives her day the same as she always does is being reactive.

Whereas, a woman who is unhappy in her marriage crashes her car and decides to fake her own death is being active. The plot now unfolds from her decisions and motivations rather than the things that happen to her. She's made the choice to do something about her situation. She's a fully fledged character.

It doesn't matter if your female character is a computer programmer or a preschool teacher. It doesn't matter if she wears high heels or flat shoes. It doesn't matter if she can take a person three times her size down in a parking garage or gets anxiety when she holds a gun.

The only way you can write a strong female protagonist is by making her the catalyst through which the plot flows. Make sure she has desires and motivations. Make sure she DOES stuff and doesn't just let stuff happen to her. And above all, make sure that she's strong because she has desires and gets things done, and not because she portrays the most stereotyped of masculine qualities.

What's a MOOC and Why is it Cool?

Many of you know that while I'm no longer actively working towards a degree in Writing, I still love taking online workshops and getaway writing weekends to grow my knowledge in the craft.

The only problem? All those classes cost A LOT of money.

Some I'd pay 80-100 dollars for, others cost over 400!

But it was okay, right? All in the name of writing. This is my passion. This is what I want for my life. I want to get better and be published. I want to be a writer!

However, what if we could learn how to be writers without paying two weeks of disposable salary?

That's where the MOOC comes in.

MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course. Wikipedia defines it further as, "an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web. In addition to traditional course materials such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets, many MOOCs provide interactive user forums to support community interactions between students, professors, and teaching assistants."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course

So, basically, a MOOC is a high-level class brought to you usually by an accredited facility, literally giving away info for free.

What could be better than that?

MOOCs were birthed into the world in 2008, but didn't become popular until 2012. This means they're still a pretty new concept in the world of learning.

If you're looking to take a writing MOOC (or a MOOC in any subject - because they exist for almost anything), here's a list of Pros and Cons.

PROs: 1. They're free.
2. You choose your level of participation. [Because you're not paying for it, you don't have to worry about making deadlines and submitting assignments or risk failing grades. There are no grades here. Simply self enrichment.]
3. You meet a wide variety of people in fields you're interested in. [Unlike a classroom, students are only limited in attending by whether or not they have internet access. That means you meet writers from all over the world that are interested in the same things you are. Great friendships ensue.]

CONs: 1. You must be at least moderately computer savvy.
2. You only get what you put in. [If you don't think you need to participate because it's free and you're not graded, then you probably won't learn very much. Sure, the instructor videos are helpful, but only by engaging in conversation and critique and submission with your fellow students will your writing truly grow.]
3. It's easy to get overwhelmed if you're not organized. [There's no enrollment cap so thousands of students sign up for MOOCs. That means, if you're not prepared, you can easily be overwhelmed by the 3,000 comments made on day one. Also, since there are so many people, it's likely you won't always be critiqued by the same amount of students for each story you submit. While you do receive variety in opinions with your critiquers, one story may get 700 comments, another may only get 3.]


If you think MOOCs sound intriguing, sign up! There are sites like NovoEd that contain hundreds of MOOCs on different subjects.

In fact, the whole reason I've made this post this week is because I'm enrolled in a MOOC put together by the University of Iowa (you know, the one with the really popular Iowa Writer's Workshop). It's called How Writers Write Fiction 2015 and may still be open for enrollment (?) since they're still in the Welcome Week of the course.

And good news for poets, too! The University of Iowa also puts on a How Writers Write Poetry MOOC occasionally. The 2015 one just ended, but they're looking into doing the next in 2016 or 2017.

What's In a Cover (Letter)?

The job search continues here in North Carolina as I look for steady employment to pay the bills. It means that most of my day is dedicated to writing. Some of it to stories and poems and (yes) even this blog.

But mostly, I'm writing résumés, applications, not-so-subtle pre-interview 'what would I do?' questionnaires, and above all, cover letters.

Writing these cover letters got me thinking: Is there a difference between writing a cover letter for the job market and writing a cover letter to submit a story to a lit mag?

Answer: Ah, hell yes!

Job market cover letters are longer (though never longer than one page) because they have to dance to the tune of many songs. A job market cover letter must at once hit keywords from the job description so you get picked up by the computer sorting and rejecting people before humans view the possible candidate, as well as convince the hiring manager that though you have no relevant experience or degree in their field, you'd be a great hire because of reasons a,b,c,x,y,z.

Whereas, a cover letter to a lit mag should be a very simple thing. Cover letters for your story should NEVER give a summary or synopsis of the story itself. Instead, follow this simple template:

1. Start your cover letter with a salutation. ("Dear Editor," works if the fiction editor's name is not listed on their site.)

2. Let them know what you've attached (either as a .docx attachment or in the body of the email) including the story title, word count, and genre (if the magazine publishes more than one).
Example: I have pasted my story, "Awesome Apes Five" (4,000 words, Fantasy) in the body of this email for your consideration.

3. List any significant publishing credits. No, that newspaper article you wrote freshman year doesn't count. Only include contest entries you won or placed in, or pieces that appeared in magazines published by people who are not related to you and who you do not know. No favors from your magazine owning uncle, and usually, no self-published material unless it got really really big on Amazon. (Note: if you're a new writer with no significant credits, no problem! Simply skip this step and go straight to #4.)

4. Close the letter.
Example:
Thank you for your time,

Super Writer
999 Publication Way, New York, NY
555-I'm Awesome
superwriter@imthebest.com


The main difference between a cover letter for the job market and a cover letter for a lit mag boils down to this:

To get a job, you want to prove that you're the best candidate for the position by smart talking and sweet talking your way to an interview. Flourish it up.

To get a story considered for publication, you need to not screw up your chances before the editor takes a peek at your story itself.  Keep it simple. Don't make them dislike you before they read your first sentence.

Don't get bogged down thinking you need to write a full page. And don't - whatever you do - ever think that you should explain why you're the best person to write this story.

You're the best person to write this story because you wrote it, not anyone else. End of discussion.

So, next time you want to submit, remember that simple is always better. Relay important information in the cover letter and let your story do the heavy lifting. It is, after all, why you created it.  

Tailor Fit Stories

Today we're going to tackle the classic debate: What came first, the story or the publisher?

Indeed, for every writer the answer differs, and for every story it differs as well.

Some writers fall very strictly in the "story first" category. They argue that, because the story is the most important aspect, it should be completed in full and revised and shined up all nice and 'perdy' before you even begin searching for a possible magazine or publisher to send said story to.

Those on the other side argue that stories (and probably most commonly, nonfiction articles) should have a clear focus and should be tailored specifically for each publication. That means, you might research one or two and then write your story tailored specifically to their specifications. On another hand, it could mean researching publications and magazines and garnering ideas from their sites or guidelines (like the list of things they're "currently looking for") and writing your story by inspiration from that.

No matter which camp you fall into, remember not to get bogged down in the cons of each method. If you're a "story first"er, remember that eventually, your story does need to be finished. Without a market in sight, you could get trapped revising, reworking, and editing forever and ever.

And if you're a "publisher first"er, keep your spirits up. If your target magazine or publisher rejects the story you tailor made for them, don't give up on it. Don't throw it away in a box somewhere or delete the file off your computer. You can take that story somewhere similar and submit (sometimes with little to no tweaking involved) and it could find a perfectly happy home in plan #2.

Personally, I've crossed the fence into both camps. I write stories because the stories need to be told, and then struggle to find the right market for them afterward, and I also keep my eye on new and emerging markets and what they're in desperate need of, then write a story from that.

Both have worked out. Both have been published. Both have made me very happy.

So, tailor made or out-of-the-slush? What do you think?

Authorship

I've always been a big advocate of the fact that being a "writer" and having the ability to classify ourselves with the term "writer" needs only one requirement; That we write.

You needn't be published, or represented by an agent, or have written a piece over 50,000 words. Being a writer simply means that you devote your time and energy to writing.

So, with this logic, I've been a committed writer for quite some time - probably a good eight years. And many of you have, no doubt, been writers just as long or longer than I.

Still, it sure does feel good when someone recognizes you for your achievements, doesn't it? This is exactly the experience I had the other day when I signed up for a Goodreads Author profile. To receive the Goodreads Author stamp on my profile, I had to prove that I'd published a book (or, in my case, a short story which was recognized on their site) in which my work appeared.

I submitted the application and waited two excruciatingly long days until I got the email that I was approved as a Goodreads Author! I logged on and look at what I saw:

Now, I'm a writer, but I've also boarded the coveted ship of "author". Seeing this definitely gave me the boot in the pants that I needed to keep the momentum of my projects at top-speed.

So keep writing, fellow scribes. Keep submitting and crossing your fingers that your story will be accepted. It'll take forever (eight years!) but it'll be worth it in the end.

[In the meantime, feel free to check out my profile on Goodreads. Also, if you're a Goodreads Author yourself (or simply a Goodreads member) hit me up in the comments or follow my profile and I'll come check out your books!]

Bonus Post: New Facebook Page!

I just created a Facebook page for my professional author and illustration projects. Feel free to check it out, hit like, or send me a message any time!

Alyssa Nedbal: author

And, as a super bonus, here's a picture of me geeking out with my copy of Parody Poetry Journal's Volume 4, Issue 1, which is for sale on their website now! Also, you can read 'The Fortune Cookie Writer' online, anytime, for free!

What To Do When the Muse Escapes You

It's a very busy time of year for many of us. School is back in session, summer vacations are over and gone, the days are getting shorter - ugh! With all of this and the stress of normal, everyday life, sometimes our writing falls to the back burner.

Even best laid plans often come out misshapen. You want to write over lunch but there's a twenty minute line in the cafeteria, so you only have a few moments to scarf down food. You want to write right away in the morning, but your alarm clock doesn't sound. You want to write before bed, but your kids aren't used to school-time bedtimes and fighting their energy has you up until midnight.

No matter who you are or what your situation is, these kinds of setbacks in our writing life definitely take a toll. After a week of thwarted plans, you're often too exhausted to write while family watches the football game. And when an early bedtime arises, you take sleep over getting another sentence into your novel.

I get it. I've been there too.

If this is sounding a whole lot like your life, I urge you to check out a brand new muse.

This sounds like more work, you say, but no. You needn't create her.

Instead, pop over to Pulp Literature and check out their "A Message From Your Muse" page. Here, you can sign up for a daily message from the muse either emailed to your inbox, or follow her on Twitter to keep excess emails thin.

Her gems of knowledge and encouragement have made me smile and lifted my writing spirits on countless occasions. I hope her musey effects help you as well.

Literary Goodies (A Gift List for Writers)

It's almost back to school time, and you know what that means? Shopping. And you know what shopping means? Buying ourselves presents, of course!

(Or maybe that's just my logic but, oh well!)

So this week, I'm lightening up on the writing advice and instead bringing you a list of my favorite literary inspired gifts for yourself or the writer you know. Hold on to your wallets, literary scholars, here we go!

1. Let's start with the most expensive and the most epic pick first. It's the Luxury Club Library Bookcase Chair by Alexander Love Designs in Brooklyn, NY. You can find it on ETSY. Wouldn't this be the best chair to sit in, surrounded by your love of books, your literary idols, your favorite tomes? Now picture yourself with a mug of coffee in one hand and your laptop poised on your lap, bursting with perfect prose. It's an ideal world in the Bookcase Chair. I just know it is. However, it will set you back about $2,950.00. So....put it on the list for when you get your first publishing advance :)

2. This next gift is a recent find of mine, but I absolutely LOVE this company and their wit. It's the Soap for Writer's Block by Whiskey River Soap Co. The site's description of the soap is amazing:
 " If this soap doesn’t help you churn out regurgitated ideas and probably a vampire, I’ll eat my hat. It’s a fedora, by the way. Cool vampires wear fedoras now. Put that in your crack pipe and smoke it. Or in your book. Either way, you’re gonna need this soap ASAP. Your ideas are terrible."
Another of my favorite, definitely fueled to writers, is the Soap for Introverts. It's "a handcrafted bar dyed with a blend of nonconfrontational ocean blues. And we didn’t bother scenting it. Because seriously, it’s not like you’re going anywhere anyway, right?" 
They also churn out soaps to help you get into character like the Soap for Evil Dictators scented with the plight of the people, Soap for Geeks, and Soap for Hipsters.
Feeling a little dry after all this talk of bathing? Whiskey River Soap Co. makes all their scents into candles, because who has the time to stop wallowing in their own writer's block for a shower? Simply light, lean back, and let the ideas flow.

3. We've covered places to sit and things to smell, but every writer needs something to wear (that isn't pajamas). Here enters Appraising Pages and their shop of wonderful book-inspired t-shirts, jewelry, and extras (like this Albus Dumbledore banner). My favorite, and one that I've really been wanting to buy - HINT HINT gift givers in my life - is their Support Authors tee. Nothing says "I'm a starving artist" like daily encouragement of complete strangers to buy our books. Self-aggrandizing? Maybe. A beautiful option to wear to the store other than holey cotton shorts and a plaid shirt? Yes.

4. Need a little motivation? Check out Steal Like and Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon at Amazon. It's a great read for anyone who's looking to navigate creativity and creation in the digital age, anyone who needs to defend "where they got their ideas" to family members, and for those who are plum out of ideas.

5. Finally, the last gift on the list is something useful to eating and drinking the hours away while you rework that plot point in chapter three. I'm talking specifically of the mugs from The Literary Gift Company. Now, The Literary Gift Company isn't limited to mugs. They also sell apparel, jewelry, housewares, stationary, books, cards, and reading accessories. Pretty much a writers dream, right? Well, it gets better. Their mugs include the Penguin classics like Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Grammar Mugs, and mugs that ask you please Go Away, I'm Writing and come with chocolate, so you won't have to leave your writing spot all day. Best of all, though, they carry Personalized Book Cover Mugs, where you choose the title and the author's name. I'm sure this was created to please those who love Penguin books they don't carry in their other listings, but really, we'd use it for ourselves. "The Great American Novel by Alyssa Nedbal"? I could work with that. So keep writing and keep this mug handy. You thought you wouldn't survive to see your book hit the classics shelf, but now you don't have to wait and hope. You can simply order.

Get Up, Get Motivated, and Write

It's no secret that I am in love with Asheville, North Carolina. If you've ever checked out my Pinterest page, you know that I have an extensive board dedicated entirely to Asheville. I first visited Asheville in March of 2014, when I wrote you this post about my Southeastern vacation. And then there was this post a little over a month ago referring to my move to North Carolina.

What you may not know is that I fell so completely in love with Asheville during my 2014 trip that I (with the help of my mom) convinced my entire family to move to North Carolina with me. My grandparents went first, then finally my parents' house sold and my mom, dad, brother and I moved. However, there was one little kink in my plan: no one else loved Asheville like I did.

So, instead of moving straight to my utopia, I landed an hour and a half away in a suburb of Charlotte. It's great here, don't get me wrong - the weather is blisteringly awesome, and I'm having a lot of fun decorating my new room and taking evening trips to Charlotte - but it isn't Asheville.

When I heard that the HGTV Urban Oasis 2015 was located in Asheville, NC - my Asheville, NC! - I set a countdown widget and waited for the first day I could begin entering. Since that day, I've logged on to the Urban Oasis site everyday and entered to win my perfect dream home in my perfect dream location.

As soon as I turn my computer on - before I begin writing or blogging or searching Pinterest - I go to the site and enter myself into the drawing for the Urban Oasis.

And that routine got me thinking...what if we applied this sort of routine to writing life? If you're truly dedicated to writing, if it's what you long for and desire above everything else is to write, then why not make it the start of your day, every day?

Before you check your email - write a sentence.

Before you heat your tea - write a paragraph.

Before you walk out the door for your commute - write a phrase, a period, a word - anything!

If it's your dream, if it's something you want with all your heart, then why shouldn't you make it happen in any way that you can?

John McPhee once did an interview with The Paris Review where he said,

"put a drop in a bucket every day, after three hundred and sixty-five days, the bucket's going to have some water in it."

Writing takes dedication and motivation. It takes getting up early and staying up way too late. Sometimes, it takes sneaking a sentence in here and there whenever you can, just so you can move that story farther along.

But the more you do it, the more it repays you. In the end you could have a wonderful piece that's ready for publication. You could have a whole novel or an epic poem. You could be walking away with your own dream house.

The Pacifier Predicament

When I was three years old, my mother finally convinced me that I was too old to be using pacifiers. She did this in a very stealthy way, like many mothers. She told me that poor children in Africa needed pacifiers, and could I donate a few of my pacifiers for the children who cried all day and night because they had none?

I, of course, agreed. I scurried around the house, digging my pacifiers from their hiding spots. I flung them into the cardboard box my mom set out in the living room. I found every single pacifier, and then I took the final pacifier out of my own mouth and added it to the box. My mom labeled the box for a phony African children's organization and we taped it shut.

Then, my mom and I walked the box of pacifiers down to the mailbox at the end of the driveway and slotted it in. She let me put the little flag up and I said goodbye with no reservations to every pacifier I had.

Little did I know, my mother snuck down to the mailbox during naptime and removed the box because, of course, the African children's pacifier organization didn't really exist.

That day my mom successfully did two things. 1. She became the spring board off which I would further my activism later in life, and 2. She allowed me to give up the things I no longer needed when I was ready.

This is something you need to remember when you write, too.

I bring up this little anecdote because it's something I'm struggling to remember at this very moment. I'm currently working on a story written in separate installments. My brain thinks that once I'm done with one part, I should go back and reread it and revise where necessary. But my heart tells me to keep writing. If I don't keep up the pace and flow of the next story, they won't seem cohesive.

What I keep telling myself to remember is that even if a scene doesn't feel complete or feels a little off for some reason I can't fathom right now, I don't need to worry about it. I just need to keep writing. When I finish the whole story - every single part - then I can go back and reread to see what's wrong.

Right now, I'm not ready to give anything up in my writing process. And it would be traumatic for me to be forced to.

This same advice works if you're already in the revising stage, too. Let's say you submit the next chapter of your novel to your trusty beta readers. They come back with HUGE problems in the plotting and characterization. However, you just can't seem to bring yourself to kill your darlings just yet.

It's okay. Go have a cup of coffee. Work on some poetry or the next chapter. Wait until you have enough distance from the criticism to truly take it in.

Because if my mom had come to a two year old Alyssa and asked her to give up her pacifiers, even if it was for a good cause, I would have screamed and refused. If she persisted, I probably would have developed some life-long thumb sucking habit. But instead, I got the space I needed to nurture the idea of giving up my beloved pacifiers. I was only approached with the idea of change when I was ready.

Don't feel bad if you leave a scene unfinished to continue the rate at which you're writing. Don't feel bad if you thank your critiquers for their comments, but don't look at them or use them for months. Everyone has a different time frame with change. Find yours and you'll be sending those pacifiers off in no time - no looking back.

Formatting Email Submissions: A Worksheet

Many literary magazines and even some agents are switching to sites like Submittable to handle their submissions. Those sites are great because it allows the author to fill in a form for general information, and then upload their story in a file format (usually .doc or .docx) so that the agent or editor can read it.

It's great for the author, too, because all their formatting stays firmly in place - all italics show up as italics, bolding is visible, and the formatting indentation of paragraphs stays secure.

Best of all, the receiving party doesn't have to worry about unintentionally opening a virus onto their computer because Submittable checks for bad omens like that.

However, a lot of magazines and agents still require that you submit to them through email with your submission in the body of the email. (Also so they don't download any nasty viruses by opening bad files.) This means that you can't attach a handy file. It means you must copy and paste your story (yes, even if it's 14,000 words) into the message box of the email.

Over the years, I've submitted hundreds of stories, poems, and article pitches this way. But even when you've done it a hundred times, it can still be boggling to know exactly how to format a submission for email. So, this week, I'm offering up a worksheet of my tried and true email formatting tips.

Step One: Highlight the text of your submission and right click COPY.

Step Two: Go to your email body and place the cursor where you want the submission to start (this is usually after a query letter or note of introduction to the agent/publisher/editor). Right click and make sure to select PASTE AS PLAIN TEXT.

[Note: Plain Text will remove ALL your formatting. This means no paragraph breaks, no indents, and no italicizing or bolding. Your submission will look like one giant text block. This is normal. Don't Panic. Trust me.]

Step Three: Go through your submission line-by-line. The spacing of text lines should be single spaced, between paragraphs double spaced, and no indentations anywhere in the submission. Basically, you want to format it just like this blog entry is showing up on your screen. See the single space between the line above and this line because they belong to the same paragraph?

And now, when I start a new paragraph, I add an extra space between them. Also notice that I did not indent the new paragraph because most email servers don't recognize indentation and will put funky alien symbols there in front of your words. Not appealing.

Step Four: Once the formatting is complete, go back to find all your stylized text like italics and bolding. They will appear just like normal words in the Plain Text version. You must place _underscores_ around the words like I just did. This translates to the reader that that particular portion of text needs stylization, whether it be italics or bold. So rather than saying that Sadie is such a bore. You must say that Sadie is _such_ a bore.

Make sense?

When all four steps are complete, you can go ahead and hit send with the knowledge that your email will show up in an appealing and legible fashion in any email, regardless of the server service.

It can be a bit time consuming and tedious, but when it's already so difficult to get published, isn't it better to take the half hour to format it correctly, then to have your wonderful story turned down because the editor got fatigued reading: ^#$@I%m in big trouble<%#$&* I said. ?

More Publishing News (And a Market for You!)

North Carolina must be bringing me good luck because I write to you again this week with more publishing news!

My short story The Eastern Route is being published in the August 1st issue of Vitality magazine.

You can pre-order now on www.readvitality.com for the issue coming out this Saturday, and if that's not exciting enough, my story was used as the Sneak Peek on their homepage.

If you haven't heard of Vitality magazine know that they are entirely online, so your issue will be sent directly to your email if you pre-order or subscribe. Vitality is unique in the fact that they publish stories, poetry, and artwork with casually integrated LGBTQ+ protagonists. This means they publish pieces that are fun and "escape" fiction rather than pieces that deal with the stresses of transition, bullying, homophobia, rape, or the martyrdom or death of LGBTQ peoples.

In their About section on their website, they describe themselves. "[Vitality is] a safe place full of wonder and awesome where the reader can see characters like themselves doing things like battling dragons, solving crimes, acting in a circus, or traveling the world. All genres and styles can be found in Vitality. The only limit is your imagination."     from: http://www.readvitality.com/about-vitality/


This is an extremely exciting proposition for writers because you can literally write close to anything. Have a fantastic space opera idea? Send it to Vitality! Want to write about sailors and sirens? Do it! Feel the need to dive into the realm of pixies or ghosts or time-hopping two-headed warriors? Now you can with the knowledge that a market exists. Just like they say, your imagination is the limit.

For me, this meant that I was able to write in one of my favorite genres: Steampunk. I'm really excited to present my transgender airship pilot and his love interest at the start of next month.

I hope you take a look at The Eastern Route if you get a chance, and please research Vitality. Not only is a great market with endless possibilities for creativity, but it also promotes diversity in fiction. What could possibly be better than that?


PS> check out that gorgeous artwork Rebecca Schauer did to bring my story to life! Can't wait to see the whole image!

The Power of Negotiation in Dialogue (Late Post)

Two years ago, I started a job at a medical facility in appointing. I'd lived my entire professional career in customer service, so I figured it'd be nothing new. However, I was now not only dealing with ornery doctors and overworked nursing staff, but angry, upset, and sick patients. I knew to expect that people would be short-tempered (we all are when we feel crappy, am I right?) but I didn't know just how volatile people could get. If I didn't diffuse their anger at having to wait 45 minutes to get through to me on the phone, or their frustration that they didn't get a refill of pain pills, or their downright pessimism onto how likely it would be for them to get to a doctor's appointment prior to two in the afternoon, then I was often called terrible names or even found myself dodging pens and other throwable objects.

I joked with my coworkers then that I needed a course in hostage negotiation to get through my day.

It seems that when it comes to writing, the same course would be very beneficial.

And I'm not just writing this post to those who write thrillers or detective novels. I'm talking to all you picture book authors, sci-fi scribes, and inspirational writers, too.

All of us need to better hone our negotiation skills to write one of the most important aspects of a story or novel: Dialogue.

Think about why dialogue exists in fiction. Yes, it's to spice it up so we're not only reading narration. Yes, it exists so readers better understand your protagonist's (and antagonist's) voice and inner thoughts. But what is common in the most effective dialogue? Answer: it allows characters to negotiate.

A child will talk to their mother in order to obtain the cookie they so desperately want.

A terrorist will talk to his victim in order to explain his side of the story.

A new love interest will talk to the shy girl in class in order to better understand her.

And why do the other characters respond?

The mother will want the child to do a chore to help her workload before the cookie is eaten.

The victim will try to talk the terrorist out of killing him so he can go home and see his family.

The shy girl will talk because she likes the attention she's getting from another human being and doesn't want it to end.

All of these stories, and all of these characters produce dialogue so that they can negotiate something. Characters want the outcome they've been hoping for. They want to convince everyone else that their way of viewing the world is the way that makes the most sense. It's the same motivation behind why we talk to our family members or roommates.

I remind my roommate before she leaves to get the cruelty-free dish detergent because it is the one that I want. She tells me to get it myself because she doesn't want to go out of her way just for that item. I offer in a free home-cooked meal in return. She reluctantly accepts.

It's negotiation through and through.

And it never fails. We communicate to negotiate our way. Your characters should be doing the same.

Homework: Go through your work-in-progress and reread your dialogue. Ask yourself what is being negotiated in each scene. Cut any dialogue that doesn't further each side's case towards that end negotiation.

Poem Publication News

Hey, y'all.

I feel like I can (or should/have to?) say that now that I'm a southerner. The move went as smoothly as you can hope it to. Dem Bunnies and I are doing well in the air conditioning because it is HOT-T-T here.

And for my first week back in the blogging seat post-move, I have exciting news to share with you:

My poem, The Fortune Cookie Writer, is being published in Volume 4 Issue 1 of Parody magazine.

I've known about this publication for awhile, but they've just posted the cover image and table of contents on their website, so I feel like it's officially official now. You should be able to read the issue and/or buy the printed copy soon.

Until then, I'm basking in the good vibes of seeing my name as a poet.

I'm taking this as a good omen for my life in a new region. I hope the luck transfers onto you, my faithful blog readers, and that you see success in your own writing endeavors.

Check out Parody Magazine here. 

Document and Forget

****Important Blog Info****

Next Tuesday is the closing date for my Wisconsin house. The closing is in the morning and then we start the long drive with four people, three vehicles, two trailers, two rabbits, one dog, a dozen house plants, and our essential belongings through most of the Eastern US until we reach North Carolina. 

This means that it will literally be impossible for me to blog next week on Tuesday. 

Sorry in advance, guys. Thanks for understanding. 

#                    #                    #

With that established, let's get down to business today. 

A few weeks ago my cell phone contract came up for renewal. I went to the cell phone store, waited almost three hours, paid out an entire pay check worth of funds, and finally left with a new phone. This upgrade was a massive switch for me. I was going from an Android Razar to the iPhone 5S. 

It took me awhile to get used to the new graphics, the new home screen, and, of course, Safari. Heck, let's face it, I'm still not very comfortable with where everything is located, but I'm getting better at using it on a daily basis. 

The other day, I turned on my old Droid to sort through the thousands of Notes I stored on it. Because switching my old pictures onto my iPhone was easy, but Notes was a whole 'nother story. I started at the top, wading through vegan smoothie recipes concocted during three a.m. moments of clarity, ideas for new paintings, cool character names I read or heard, hundreds of notes on novels and stories in progress. full poems written during lunch breaks, pointless rants I wrote when I needed to vent about that rude customer or this horrible boss, and lists of old grocery needs. However, the most important notes I found were titled simply "STORY IDEA". There were three. I expected to type them into a Word Document on my laptop and file them away for a later time when I needed a break from a novel revision or couldn't get a new story idea brainstormed. The first two I transferred over with no problem. One was an interesting exchange of dialogue I overheard while making someone's pizza that had blossomed into a possible literary story. The other was a link to a scientific study on genes and a possible sci-fi story idea. 

But the third made me stop. It was a mere five word sentence - probably a news story I had heard while walking past a newscast on TV. It was so short, that, had I written it out on a piece of paper, I probably would have thrown it away thinking it was nothing. 

What the note contained was so inspirational, I abandoned my Droid transfer and started writing a story around that idea. 

The moral of this anecdote is that I had completely forgotten about the original event that sparked the STORY IDEA note. I had completely forgotten that a story idea like that had ever crossed my mind. If it weren't for that five word sentence, I would never have written the story I'm currently working on. 

So, while I'm moving cross-country, I want you to start a Notes file on your own cell phone (or, if you're more old school, feel free to keep a pad of paper and pen in your bag) - just make sure you have something with you so that, when you walk past the TODAY show story in the hospital lobby and hear a weird tidbit about a remote county in Ohio, or your overhear a strange conversation between two women also waiting for their lattes, you can write it down. You don't have to have a story idea right at that moment. Just write down anything that makes you really listen or take notice. Document and forget. 

Then, when you come back to it weeks, months, or years later, it will effect you. Because it will be the right time for your note to spark an idea. It will be the push you need to start something new or to take up your old writing hobby.

Notice everything.

Write it down. 

Keep it safe. 

Character Blueprints: Building Your Best Person (AKA the super-late post of June)

So here I thought I was right on track. Logged in early to get my blog post done.........and then I noticed that I completely missed posting last week.

WHOOPS!

Sorry gang. It seems that an entire week has passed without me even realizing. Where did that time go? How is it I'm moving in less than a month? Why is nothing feeling complete yet?

Anyway, I'm filing this post under the super-late category. But I don't want your patience and dedication to my blog to go unrewarded. That's why, this week, I want to talk about character blueprints.

You've probably heard of them before. Most writers and coaches call them "character sketches", but as an artist, I consider a "character sketch" to be a pen and paper drawing of a physical character. So, I call them "character blueprints".

I believe "blueprint" to be a better term because it is through your blueprint that you're truly realizing who and what your character is. For example, when you look at a blueprint of a house, you get to see the dimensions of the rooms, the layout, and the overall feel. It is by looking at the blueprint that you can begin planning which bedroom you'll sleep in, determining if your dining room table will fit, considering which walls to knock down, and figuring out just where in the dickens those bunny cages will go. The blueprint is where you start from. The blueprint causes you to plan out your entire home life from square foot number one.

Why is this important for your protagonist? Because it is only through the blueprint (whether you actually write it down or simply have it memorized in your head) that you categorize what your protagonist looks like, what their flaws and strengths are, what their innermost desire is, and the disconnect between who they think they are and who they truly live to be.

Since you've had to be extra patient with this post, I'm going to sweeten the deal. Not only will I tell you what a character blueprint is and convince you why it's important, I'll also offer a WORKSHEET so you can keep this blueprint at your side for any story you write, and I'll do a REAL-TIME blueprint with you for the story I'm working on currently.

Exciting, right?!?!?!? I'm excited!

Let's get down to business-



I wrote a sci-fi/fantasy short story a little over a year ago when the premise for the world popped into my head. The first draft flew onto the page, but I never touched it after that. I recently found it in my laptop's documents folder and remembered just how much I loved the world and the protagonist. But, upon reading through it, I knew it needed a major overhaul.

This is daunting to me, especially since the first draft didn't possess an outline, character blueprint, or even any real direction. I knew that one aspect of the story was going to turn out a certain way, but I didn't know how it'd get there. And it was apparent in my draft that I was writing this thing from the seat of my pants. Realizations come too quickly, the dialogue is wooden, no one is properly described. To be short - it's a mess.

Trying to revise it from it's current state with only the current information would be like trying to order furniture for a home by only seeing the realtor pictures online.

Impossible.

So, I've decided to write a character blueprint right here and now, on this blog, to help me navigate my short story.


CHARACTER BLUEPRINT

Name: Malena Cyder

Age: 31

Race/Ethnicity/Species: Human, Mixed-race

Location: Chicago, USA, Earth

Year: 4104

Physical Characteristics: Medium brown skin tone, dark eyes, straight hair, normal weight range, Scars (faded with laser surgery, but most prominent around the left eye) on left half of face.

Occupation: Co-Founder of [tech company], Advocate for inter-species peace

Family: Mother - alive, but left Earth for the Moon Colony when Malena was fourteen, sending her to boarding school, where she met other co-founders of [tech company]

Childhood: Malena was burned in a planetary invasion by unfriendly aliens when she was a preschooler, which thrust her onto a negative public service announcement towards aliens


Mental Image: Malena believes herself to be cordial to the alien species inhabiting Earth, though she doesn't particularly like or associate with any of them.

Greatest Fear: Becoming someone who runs from her problems/fears like her mother. [Note: On a nightmare level, being harmed by the invading aliens of her youth.]

True Mental State: Though Malena is an advocate for inter-species peace, her true motivation isn't fueled by the hope that all species can coexist, but by the fear that if they don't, she could be harmed again by another unfriendly species.

Innermost Desire: To live a life where she isn't constantly afraid she'll be recognized as the little girl from the announcement, and where she no longer fears the aliens living around her. AKA, no longer a prisoner to her past - free to move forward.



So that's it! Malena Cyder in a blueprint image. Notice that not all the information has to be known right at the time you fill out the blueprint. Can't think of a proper last name? Don't know the name of the company your protagonist works for? Not a problem. Simply place the info in brackets like I did above with [tech company].

Notice that the character blueprint doesn't reveal everything about the story world or the conflict of the story itself. It is meant only to describe and maintain consistency within your character. So, we know Malena's physical attributes like age, race, and uniquely identifying marks. We know where she lives and in what time period. We know about influential family members/connections in her life and about her childhood. We also know Malena's inner blueprint: how she views herself, what is truly going on in her mind, her greatest fear, and her innermost desire.

All the major conflict in the story world will now flow from this information.


Ready to try it for yourself? I'll post a blank worksheet at the end of this post for you to copy-and-paste and work on for your own story. Feel free to doctor some of the categories, especially is you're not writing sci-fi/fantasy and don't need to specify what species your protagonist is.

After you finish the blueprint for your protagonist, consider also filling one out for your main antagonist and any influential people in your protagonist's or antagonist's life (like, for me, Malena's mother).

Utilize your blueprint as often as you can, and remember to always keep it close. You can't possibly know where to install those bunny cages if you don't know where the walls are.


(Worksheet)
CHARACTER BLUEPRINT:

Name:

Age:

Race/Ethnicity/Species:

Location:

Year:

Physical Characteristics:

Occupation:

Family:

Childhood:


Mental Image:

Greatest Fear:

True Mental State:

Innermost Desire:

Moving House and Home

Sorry about the late post, and about the brevity this week. I do have good news to share, though...............my house is under contract and I will be moving!

This is exciting, frightening, and exhilarating. It is also throwing my writing routine for a serious loop. So I must ask that you bare with me through the next month or two as I pack up, move, and then resettle. I will post as much as I can and be as helpful as possible through this time.

In related writing news: I'm currently revising. Revising what you ask? Oh, it feels like everything. Poems, my YA novel, every short story I have, some work for children - the list goes on. In many ways, it feels as if those little contained worlds are reworking their homes as well. Some of them are simply remodeling or repainting and others are moving cross-country just like me.

I've revised some pieces so many times, the paper is thin and translucent from where I've erased and erased over new and better ideas.

Who knows, maybe I need to take my own advice and let it all sit in a cardboard box as I move. Then, when I unpack, not only will I be in a new creative space, I'll be in a new state of mind.

And then all the right diction and plot points will fall right into place.

In the meantime, write as often as you can, as unbridled as you can, and with as much love and joy as possible. Write because you can't stop. Write because it's who you are.

Make Sure Your Characters Are Wrong

That sounds a little oxymoronic, doesn't it? All the time we talk about how important proper characterization and detail is when it comes to believable characters. So why would I intentionally write my characters wrong?

Because it's the most believable thing in the world.

Let's face it, how many times per day are we wrong? You think the barista who has screwed up your order ten times before will screw it up again, until she presents you with a perfect coffee. You think for sure you'll be late to work because you left ten minutes late, but then you catch every green light. You think that amazing dish you had at the restaurant the other night will be just as good so you order it again, only to find that it tastes terrible the second time around.

As humans, we're wrong all the time.

So why, then, are all our characters hunches and thoughts absolutely on point? Isn't it more realistic for them to be flawed? They should have those ideas that something is going one way, only to have it be the opposite.

One major case-in-point: Harry Potter and Severus Snape. (WARNING: SPOILERS)

Harry thinks Snape is the one trying to steal the Socerer's Stone. Wrong.

Harry thinks Snape kills Dumbledore because Snape's a deatheater. Wrong.

Harry thinks Snape hates him and his family. Wrong.

It creates more tension when your characters pursue one avenue, only to find out that they've been sniffing down the wrong path the entire time. Also, it makes them flawed, believable people.

So, next time your protagonist has a theory, make them think they're right, only to show that they've been wrong the whole time.

Because the only time something is supposed to work out for them is right at the very very end, when the whole story is being wrapped up.

Inspiration Knocking

I hope you participated in the Challenge Post from last week and submitted a new piece of writing for publication. If you did (heck, even if you didn't), you probably need some new inspiration right about now.

Struggling to find a topic for your next poem? Don't have enough tension to sustain your short story? Stuck in the middle of your novel-in-progress?

Calling inspiration!

Image from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/476326098064397728/

Really, just as Oscar Wilde said, inspiration isn't as illusive as our writer brain makes us think.

There are poems about cats like Christopher Smart's "For I Will Consider My Cat Jeoffry". Poems about jobs (like pet sitting) in Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz's "things that happen during pet sitting...". Poems about standing in line like Robert Funge's "A Starbucks Romance". Poems about catalogs like Philip A. Waterhouse's "Castlekeep".

Really, anything in our daily lives, when seen through an artistic eye, can be made into something extraordinary.

Did you once have hiccups for three days straight? Write an essay about it.

Did you watch grazing deer out your window while washing dishes? Make it into a poem.

Did you hear a strange conversation while sitting in your cafe booth during breakfast? Use it in a novel chapter.

Anything - literally anything - can be the inspiration for your next writing project. Take it from Orson Scott Card...

Image From: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/476326098064894077/