How do I….

How do I keep with it? I have officially written one story of about 49,000 words. It’s not a bad story and needs to be edited. I look at it as a first step in the process. I can say I’ve written a novel. It’s not a short story (to long according to the Guru’s out there) and though its probably not quite long enough to be a trade paperback I’ll still call it my first novel. So I am officially part of the writer’s world.

Or am I?

Do you have to be published to become part of the Writer’s world? Do you have to have an agent? If someone asks me what I’m working on I tell them I’ve finished one novel and I’m getting ready to do another. This first novel will probably not turn out to be anything more than that novel in the drawer that all authors collect over time. So the trick now is to write a second book.

Or is it?

No really. That’s the goal right. Write one, write two, write three and so on and so forth. So, why can’t I get motivated to write a story and why am I struggling to find that perfect plot, the perfect character. Or better yet utilize that perfect character that’s in my head. I’ve tried writing a western, a sci-fi space opera, a military sci-fi, a fantasy, and finally a murder mystery. Nothing is clicking and the plots I come up with seem over the top and convoluted. So much so that even I’m bored about ten pages in. What gives? The first book went so smoothly. I was on fire and wrote every other day or so. Now I’ve noticed it’s like a week in between sessions.

I’ve visited blogs, I’ve visited Writer’s Digest.com, I’ve started reading some writing books and I’m devouring PI novels from Grafton and Parker because I think that is what I really wanna write. I mean really bad, I’m just having a hard time coming up with something original. So now I’m looking at the K.I.S.S. method, tryin to find a plot that’s easy. An introduction to the character…..and that leads me to the next problem. I wanna write a female main character. I even have one all picked out….but she’s just not working. There’s no flow, no feeling. So I’ve turned to a male character and he’s better but I feel sort of disconnected from him and I’d like to have that change.

So it’s back to drawing board I guess. I’ve picked up some books on developing character, one of them written by Orson Scot Card. Now its time to read them and see if I can breath new life into characters, the way I feel like I did with my first novel. I will say this, it is definitely harder than it sounds or looks. It takes a lot of hard work but I am determined to not be in the; “I had a good story once.” or the “I had this one character once and I was so gonna write.” camps. I wanna make this work, I wanna see my writing in print….even if I have to print it out myself!

Onward and upward and hopefully one foot in front of the other will lead to that perfect combination of character and plot that will then lead to being published! Thanks for listening.

It’s been a while…

Well I guess it’s been nearly two months since my last post and I apologize. I have been writing and going to school part time, working full time and paying husband/father full time (me thinks that’s one to many full times) and the blog has not been a priority. When I started this page it was with the idea that I might freelance a bit, you know try to get my name out and about, but since then I have had other ideas. School has become a priority and I have little visions of an MFA in creative writing floating through my head like faeries high on pixie dust. Unfortunately, reality dictates that I get my AA and my BA first….damn reality! Still it’s a goal….we all need goals…or so I’m told.

In other news I completed my first manuscript. Well at least the first draft of it. Yep my little Masterpiece in the Sky is done. I finished it about three weeks ago and I have promised myself that in another three I’ll pull it back out and re-read it, edit it if you will. The bad news is that since then I’ve literally been able to write….well zilch. I’ve tried, oh lord have I tried, but everything falls flat. The excitement while writing the Masterpiece in the Sky is just not there. Its work, its dull and its cliché. I’ve tried female characters, male characters and sci-fi and mystery. There was a Space Opera for a day, a mystery novel the second. Finally, I tried to combine them both with a cool little plot. The problem….the characters were flat and not likeable in the least. I have found myself backpedalling, questioning my decision to pursue this finicky little art and I find myself in a corner.

Author Lilith Saintcrow doesn’t believe in writer’s block and suggests we write everyday without fail. So I have written drivel after ream of drivel. With my back in the corner I pulled out some old characters from way back in the mid-nineties. I re-examined them and looked at this fantasy world I created. I think it’s good….doable at least. A 6 on a beauty scale of 1 to 10…10 being Angelina Jolie! I sat down and effortlessly put in 2000 words in a little over an hour. It flowed fairly well and best of all I was excited about it. I felt like the character was right there, the story line is a fairly routine one but the main character is not human or elf or dwarf but something I made up on my own and refined for a decade. Maybe it’ll be shite in the end but if I have fun writing it. Who cares!

In related news I’ve been reading like a mad man. 34 books so far this year and while I know some who read this will scoff at such a lowly amount, it is the first time I’ve ever really kept track. I was actually fairly amazed at the diverse style of books. There are westerns, and thrillers, a mystery novel or two and a historical novel, sci-fi and some fantasy. I’m impressed with myself (which is probably far too easy…just ask my friends). If writing is the key to understanding the art of writing than reading must be a pretty close second. So with that in mind I’ll keep writing and keep reading!

Thanks for listening friends of the written word. Keep on reading and keep on putting pen to paper! Er fingers to the keyboard! ;-)