I’ve had a hard time finding the time and/or energy to get much work done the past few days. Being sick makes it tough enough, but when the rest of the house succumbs to illness as well, everything more or less grinds to a halt. I can’t speak for others, but I find it incredibly jarring to be in the middle of a thought, or sentence, and be called away for five to ten minutes. When this happens repeatedly, frustration inevitably sets in. All part of the fun of having a family, however. And I have to admit, when I manage to finish the work anyway, and get to the end of the day, I feel pretty enriched. It’s the hardest work that’s the most satisfying, eh?
Still, I’d settle for easy, now and then.
Something funny’s going on with this section. Not only can I not update it (I read those books ages ago!), I can’t seem to delete any of them. I may have to just remove it altogether, which is a shame because I like it quite a bit.
As I deal with twin babies and a three year old, I struggle to find time and motivation to get any writing done. I’m more than happy to make the kids my priority though, so I don’t mind my work taking a back seat for a bit. That said, it’s all about momentum, and I won’t get going again until I do. So why not make a start of it, eh?
One thing a person might often hear from writers(or artists in general) is the complaint that the elusive Muse has yet to visit, and thus, their craft is suffering. I enjoy anthropomorphizing the creative flash that sudden insight provides, but I think that refusing to work without it is lazy at best. Good writing is a result of good work, and if that Muse wants to get in on the action, she’s more than welcome to tag along. But the train has to keep moving.
Well, I’ve been, shall we say, less than consistent about posting here. But let’s just gloss over that fact, and get back to business.
The recent birth of my two new daughters threw a major wrench into my writing routine. Not that I’m complaining, of course. It’s a sacrifice I made happily. Nonetheless, it’s taking me a bit to find the beat again so I can jump back into the song. And as I prepare the next episode of Scion of the Immortals, I find a thoughtful mood has come over me. Here we are, at episode eighty-six. Over the course of the next fourteen episodes, the first chapter of Razian’s journey will come to a close, and the first book will be ready for assembly into printed form. When I think of the fact that we’re currently at about 90,000 words, I’m a little astounded. It’s taken quite a while, but I’ve actually written a book. I think that’s pretty neat.
As for the writing process, each new episode now feels different. I’m no longer simply describing the interesting things that are happening. The pieces to the puzzle have mostly laid out, and my job now is to fit them all together. What I’m finding is that, to my pleasant surprise, they’re actually fitting pretty well. True judgment will come once the dust settles, but for now, I’m liking the lay of the land. I foresee some stress as I bring this first chapter to a conclusion, but I’m looking forward to seeing it in its complete form.
It’s been far too long since my last update, and at this point, I can’t even blame Twitter. Sheer laziness has kept me from posting, and I hope to overcome that. One of the problems has, of course, been a lack of things to post about, and in light of that I’ve been playing with the idea of writing reviews. I watch at least one new (to me) movie every week, and I often find myself at odds with most reviewers. Thus, I’ve been thinking that it might be nice to write up my own thoughts, even if only for my own benefit. I would also like to write up some video game reviews, and stand up for those developers who still apply quality storytelling despite gamer complaints.
But will I find the time? I truly hope to. We may not get many readers around these parts, but, as the name inplies, the focus here is on improving my writing skills and learning what lessons I can. And if I get to throw my opinions around at the same time, well…who doesn’t enjoy doing that?
Well, I’m happy to report that having even a little bit of each new episode written when I approach it helps considerably. Half of what makes each episode difficult to begin is just figuring out what direction I want to take with it. Jump into action? Catchy dialogue right off the bat? Advance the plot between episodes. And so on. When I open that file and see that the groundwork has already been laid, it’s a massive stress reducer.
In addition to that, and I’ve decided to set aside one of my writing periods purely for the sake of brainstorming the new episode. If it flows nicely, I can get some writing done. If not as nicely, I can at least get the groundwork laid for the next couple nights. I’ve just tried this strategem, and I have some nice notes set up for tomorrow evening. I’m feeling hopeful about this.
One side benefit to giving myself this extra time, is that if I’m not rushed I’ll produce better copy, and not have many edits. This leads to more writing time, which I’d love because I hope to start working on another short story soon. This week, if I can. I’ve been wanting to get one going for a bit now, but I think it’s taken this long for me to find a routine and rhythm with the serial. I already have a plot in mind, even. It’s a story I had planned to write for a specific market, but the story changed as I went along and it became unsuitable for that particular market. No worries, though, as long as it turns out as well as my last one. Now to find the time to actually write it…
One of the interesting challenges involved with writing a weekly serial, as opposed to a standalone short, is starting each episode. Granted, all writers face that blank page when they begin a story, but now that I’m facing it on a weekly basis the challenge is more apparent. Even if I know right where the episode is starting, it’s almost always a chore to get the first words onto the page. The search for that elusive, “perfect” first sentence becomes the search for the equally elusive “perfect” first paragraph. And until that first paragraph is done, the rest of the episode hangs in Limbo while I fuss with little details. This gets frustrating, as I’m often quite excited about the rest of the story and look forward to writing it.
Well, this week I’m trying out a new tactic. When I finish this one, I’m going to use that momentum and immediately write the first paragraph or two of the next episode. My hope is that when I sit down to write that next one, I’ll have a rolling start, so to speak. Maybe other writers can just sit down and start pouring out sentences, but I’ve found that I need to warm up first. If, for example, I’m watching TV and then move straight to writing, I’m still thinking about TV. After writing for a few minutes, though, I transition into the writing mindset and the words start to flow.
And that’s why I’m feeling confident about this idea. Instead of fighting with myself, I should be finding ways to make things easier. I don’t think there are hard and fast rules that apply to all writers, despite what some might say. I do think that we all need to learn some basic qualities like self-discipline, but aside from that we need to learn for ourselves what works for us individually. And the way we do that is the same way one gets to Carnegie Hall.
Just finished the first draft of next week’s episode of Scion of the Immortals, and sent it off for edits. I hit a big of a snag recently, and on one night I doubted myself enough that I couldn’t write a single sentence. It was horrifying. To make things worse, the thousand words I turned out the following night was definitely substandard. Fortunately, I gave myself a couple days to think, and the resulting rewrite was, I’m told, very good. There was a lesson to be learned there.
Basically, I allowed myself to focus too much on anticipating edits. I started second guessing myself, and what I wrote didn’t have my voice at all. Good or bad, it’s important for a writer to write with the style that comes naturally to them. No, we won’t always turn out good copy, but at least it’s genuine, and that’s always good practice.
And so, as I await edits tonight, I find myself not worrying too much. I may have to change some things, or even do another full rewrite, but I like the writing of this one. It felt like something I would write, and that makes me happy.
Yes, the current fad has made me lazy about posting here, unfortunately. This is a bad thing, as 140 characters often isn’t enough space for me to fully express my thoughts. And now that I have a regular writing schedule, I’ve had less time to post here. That’s as it should be, really, as it means I’m spending more time working on stories than on posts. Still, I’m sure there’s a happy medium in there somewhere.
The second issue of Abandoned Towers is now available at http://www.lulu.com/content/6267409. My story, “Heroes and Common Sense”, is the final piece. This is a really good issue, with some great writers and artists. I recommend picking up a copy!
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