Category Archives: The Writing Life

There are things which keep us from achieving our goals, and sometimes we’re not aware when we’re being our own worst enemy.

1) be a good friend
Be a good friend to everyone but yourself. Always check email regularly, answer the phone and respond to your social media pings – as important as these are, they’re all distractions from writing. Set a time for them and that should be when you’re in your least creative head space, you can’t write another word or you need a break. There are days when I don’t check in with anyone or even look at emails because they’re an easy distraction and shift my thoughts on other directions. There are no short phone calls with close family or friends. The danger of the distraction is the changing head space. When I’m writing a world, I need to stay in it – the travel fatigue between realities is strenuous and counterproductive.

2) pretend you’re back in elementary or high school
At some point, we learned not to believe in ourselves. We can be our own worst enemy and critic. Somewhere deep inside a kernel of doubt niggles, of not being good enough (whatever that means), that we won’t succeed, that the stories will never measure up. Remember those elementary and high school teachers who red inked your assignments? In an effort to teach us the basics, they unwittingly hammered fragile creative egos. Make them the ghosts of your past, not your present. So, drop the hammer and the red ink and use the keyboard instead.

3) sweat the details
The devil is truly in the details. It’ll bring your world alive or it’ll totally swamp you. Researching a world thoroughly is fun and it stimulates creativity. Done to excess, however, it can be a distraction from both writing the story and the protagonist’s journey. The details must contribute to the plot and not be superfluous. Sometimes you don’t know what details you need until the story is being written. Use the premise and a rough outline to guide your research. If you really like research and world building, know that it isn’t over until the story is published – there will be times when you need to deepen the world with a little more research.

4) fear heights
Fear climbing the ladder of success. Fear writing ‘the end’. Fear sending your work to beta readers and editors. Two things happen when we get closer to our goal – the dreaming stops and we are forced to leave our now comfortable, creative world for the business one. The business side demands skill sets we’re not always comfortable with such as revision, editing, submission and marketing. Rejection or criticism, at any level, feels like falling off the ladder for the higher we go, the harder the fall. But it doesn’t have to be. Learning the business side, climbing that ladder – it’s a skill set that once embraced creates possibilities and enthusiasm for new goals, new stories and opportunities to realize your highest goal which is that of professional writer.

5) believe it’s a just hobby
If you don’t take it seriously, neither can anyone else and the support you need (time to write, encouragement, feedback) won’t be there. Worse still, you’ve created an environment designed to sabotage your goals. Most of us need to work to pay the bills so we can’t write full time. But treating it like a profession isn’t justy about having endless time – it’s about taking it seriously, setting regular times to write, learning the craft and business. So set your goals and take them seriously. Most importantly, decide what it is you want from your writing – is it a hobby or do you want something more? Then, set your goals accordingly.

6) read 15 how-to books and conscientiously apply them to your first draft
That stopped me cold. I didn’t need to read 15 books, just one how-to at the wrong time gave me a very painful writer’s block that took a week to work through. Of course we need to know craft and basic story structure and a few things which will make revision less painful. But sometimes we must trust we know that intuitively and let the story be told. Whether you outline or not the story must be written with all its flaws and gems all mashed into the manuscript. Revision, not the first draft, is the perfect time to analyze the manuscript and apply all the how-to advice. The danger, however, is that there are books 16, 17, 18 and more, and that the goal of finishing the novel isn’t realized. Revision, like this blog, must come to an end and the best way to do that is to write …

The End

Meeting Goals with Health Challenges

June 11, 2014

mary

The Writing Life 1 Comment

“I haven’t done anything because I haven’t been feeling well.” For some people, this is a convenient excuse for lack of productivity. For others, particularly those with ongoing health challenges, it’s a fact of life that must be factored in to any schedule.

Writers are not one-size-fits-all. For example, at Superstars Writing Seminars, I learned that some successful authors are plotters who outline meticulously, and others are “pantsers,” masters of “winging it” and discovering where the story takes them through the act of writing it. Some authors accumulate word count slowly, day by day; others binge, setting aside blocks of time for intensive, exhaustive writing. And similarly, writers come with different physical capabilities.

Some authors have health challenges that need to be dealt with. These can be physical (ie repetitive strain injuries, neurological issues) or mental (ie depression, ADHD). Having a health challenge does not mean you cannot be a writer. It means you need to create a “game plan” that takes your specific needs into account.

It may mean you don’t produce as fast as someone else might. I’m not going to lie – I’d be more productive without the sprained tendon that’s put a splint on my index finger for the past week. I type more slowly as of late, and I type less–but by taking proper care of myself, I hope to be back writing normally again soon, rather than laid up with permanent damage. I’d definitely be more productive without migraine-induced aphasia, and I’ve spent some time feeling sorry for myself.

In the end, though, given that “a writer without aphasia” isn’t an option for me: what would I rather be? A writer with fewer short stories written in a year’s time, or not a writer at all?

It’s an easy answer.

Ultimately, only you can be the judge of when you’re using your health as an excuse to avoid work, and when you’re legitimately too sick to work. I’ve included below a list of points to think about that have proven helpful for me.

1. Be proactive with your health.

For me, this means not forgetting to take my pills. It means investing in an ergonomic keyboard and mouse and wearing protective armwear to minimize the risk of strain injuries. It means resting my eyes regularly. It means being aware of my posture. It means not eating the foods that trigger my migraines. I can’t make my health challenges go away, but I can do what is in my power to manage them, and I can take measures to prevent any more health challenges from developing.

2. Know your limitations (aka “If I’m too sick to watch TV or read, I’m too sick to write”).

If I don’t have the ability to passively follow a story and understand what’s happening, I don’t have the ability to actively create one. Know what you are physically able to do, and don’t play martyred hero by trying to go above and beyond. You’ll hurt yourself long term. Or, in the words of Jimmy Buffett, “the well-seasoned pro knows how far he can go.” If you’re not physically able right now, don’t beat yourself up – rest, so later, you will be.

3. If I’m not writing because I’m sick, I will willfully not be writing. If I am writing, I will willfully be writing. Either way, these are conscious and deliberate choices.

This is the difference between “I don’t feel able to write coherently, so I will spend the next hour looking at Tumblr / Facebook / Candy Crush / insert preferred entertainment here” and “oh hell where did the last hour go?? I was supposed to be writing!!” The first is a conscious choice that you will not write; you will consume entertainment instead. The second is a lack of discipline, focus, and/or time management.

There is nothing wrong with purposefully choosing to enjoy entertainments, particularly if you are unable to work and redirect the time for relaxation and recovery. There is a problem if you can’t separate entertainment time from work time, or if your online goof-off time isn’t relaxing you. Whether you choose to write on a given day or not, let it be a conscious choice.

I think I’ve had just as many times I’ve said “you know what, I’m feeling stronger. I’m going to go write now” as times I’ve said “You know what, I’ve been here an hour, struggling, feeling more weak and more tired than ever. I’m going to go rest instead.” Either way, I’ve been aware of my body and my needs and made deliberate choices accordingly.

4. Pushing myself for an arbitrary goal to the extent that it damages my health is counterproductive in the long term.

I know a lot of writers who do great by setting a minimum number of words to write each day. I’m not one of them. I tried it, and ended up sick within a month. Why? I pushed myself beyond my sustainable physical limits to meet those word count numbers, became overly fatigued, and ended up spending the better part of the next month too ill to write at all–or do much else, either.

I’ll burn the midnight oil to meet a story deadline or return a series of edits on time, but I won’t do so to meet an arbitrary number. There are some days I cannot write, and I accept that.

So, how do I get anything done?

5. I do my best work by prioritizing writing over entertainment on days I’m feeling well.

If I get up in the morning on a Saturday and I feel good, I don’t immediately turn on the Xbox or open up a comic book. I get on the computer and write. Once I’m mentally tired, I can enjoy video games or comics if I still have energy to do so. If not, I go to bed knowing I’ve been productive. This means I play a lot less Halo since becoming a published writer, but on the flip side, I’m a published writer.

I block off whole weekend days solely for writing. If I’m feeling well, I can get a lot done in 12 focused, dedicated hours. This system works well for me, so I use it. If it doesn’t work for you, don’t use it. Adapt to your needs.

6. I will not write on days when editing what I’ve written will take more time and effort than just waiting to write on a day when I feel better. I will rest and do necessary chores within my ability so when I do feel better, I can focus on my writing.

I have migraine-induced aphasia. That means, when I’m experiencing a certain type of migraine, it damages my ability to use language. I can think just fine, and I feel okay, but I can’t communicate properly.

Here’s a fantasy story about a horseman. If I’m trying to write when I’m aphasic, I will produce sentences that look like this:

Jeogi did the one that uys the up to the house and made yt for to do go.

When I go back to edit, first I have to clean up the spelling:

Georgi did the one that was the up to the house and made it for to do go.

and then I have to figure out what the hell I meant by that sentence. First, by replacing the words that aren’t the words I meant to use:

Georgi did the one that was the up to the horse and made it for to do go.

And then by replacing the phrases used to describe words my brain wouldn’t provide at the time:

Georgi climbed to the horse and spurred it…[idea of movement].

But there’s still incorrect and incomplete phrasing:

Georgi climbed onto the horse and spurred it forward into a trot.

There! That’s a presentable sentence.

That’s also a lot of editing work.

Frankly, I get further ahead by waiting for a day when I’m capable of writing the sentence in under ten seconds, then working hard all day while aphasic and then putting in double time later deciphering and cleaning up what I wrote. I’ll spend my aphasia day getting my laundry done, my house swept and a big pot of soup cooked. This lets me spend my next good day writing, not doing housework.

The moral of this story? Only you can judge your own limitations. There are some people who tell writers to write every day, no matter what, but I bet those people have never seen what 5000 words of my aphasic English looks like. Or maybe you can edit more quickly than I can, and writing those 5000 words of aphasic English are worth it for you. Or maybe you outline on your off days, and write on your strong days.

You can’t lie to yourself. With a little self-awareness, you’ll know whether “I couldn’t work because I didn’t feel well” is true or not. If it’s not true, then you’re only cheating yourself. But if it is true, you have nothing to be ashamed of – you’re doing your best within the scope of your abilities, which is all anyone can ask.

Writing Spaces

June 10, 2014

Brandon M Lindsay

Brandon M. Lindsay The Writing Life Writing Tools No Comments

When I moved to Tokyo late last year, I expected some things in my life were going to change.

Among the more obvious changes were the fact that I would look vastly different from everyone else, sometimes enough to warrant a long, uncomfortable stare, as well as being functionally illiterate. Then of course there was the living situation, the job, the food, the language, the lack of a car, the weather, the… well, pretty much everything.

One thing I thought wouldn’t change, however, was me. Particularly, my writing habits.

Yet after I had gotten settled in to my new life, I found that it was difficult to write. Part of this could be attributed to the change in job. For the past several years, I had worked in a call center, where the word “downtime” usually meant “do whatever you want as long as you stay at your desk.” For me, that meant a lot of reading (and thus inspiration to write) and, when I discovered the power of cloud storage, writing. My new job is rather different. I’m not sitting at a desk anymore, and there is never downtime, especially not the kind that I had before. But I had worked jobs like this in the past and still found the will to write quite easily. I figured it had to be something else.

Tokyo has a reputation for being crowded and cramped, and I suppose in a lot of ways it is. The word “megacity” conjures images of fantastically high skyscrapers clustered together from horizon to horizon, a la Judge Dredd. But Tokyo is pretty normal, especially in the more suburban areas. My apartment isn’t huge by any standard, and I have to get really creative with how I use the space in my kitchen, but I’ve seen smaller apartments in Seattle. Size wasn’t really the issue, but I figured that the root of my problem lay somewhere in my living space.

My apartment came furnished, but by more or less Japanese standards. There was no bed, only a futon (one very different from those you see at Ikea, no doubt) for sleeping on the floor. And there was a couch, a TV stand, and what I thought was a coffee table, but actually turned out to be a coffee table with a heater built into the bottom. This glorious invention, called a kotatsu, keeps your legs warm throughout the winter without blowing up your electricity bill. Provided, however, you are okay with sitting on the floor.

It turns that I wasn’t. I’ve enjoyed western comforts, such as chairs and desks, for most of my life. Sitting on the floor did not feel natural to me, and took a lot of adjusting. I mean, a lot. No, really, a lot (what I’m saying is I never fully adjusted). I thought I would tough it out and learn to adapt to my situation, as one should after moving halfway around the world, but eventually I said, “To hell with this.” And bought myself a desk/chair combo.

What a difference that has made. I immediately began cranking out chapters and outlines and ideas like I was still sitting in that call center, patiently waiting for some irrational customer to complain about the bill they never paid.

You may find yourself asking, “Why didn’t you just get a desk to begin with?” First of all, taking furniture on the train always involves logistical challenges, as well as the occasional dirty look. But more importantly, I didn’t realize how much of an effect my environment would have on my writing until I actually saw the difference in output.

If you ever find yourself suffering from writer’s block and having difficulty getting in the zone, it may not be you that’s the cause. It could be your writing space. After all, your butt is only half of the butt-in-chair equation.

Join Brandon on the blog tour for his recently-released novella, Spear Mother: A Tale of the Fourth World! Spear Mother is the third release taking place in his epic fantasy world. Details of the tour can be found on his website: http://brandonmlindsay.com

Go Big or Stay Home

June 9, 2014

Frank Morin

Frank Morin Goals Motivation The Writing Life 3 Comments

The official definition in the Urban Dictionary for “Go Big or Stay Home” is that it is used to goad someone into an outlandish or awesome act.

It’s a challenge phrase.

This month we are checking in on our progress with the goals we set at the beginning of the year. It’s also a great time to reflect on whether or not we set the right goals. Did we choose to do something beyond the normal and really commit to getting it done? Those are the scary goals, the ones we aren’t quite sure we can meet.

Those are the challenge goals, the ones that drive us to accomplish something.

So you set a writing goal or a personal goal this year? Was it a challenge goal, or was it a safety goal, one designed to make an incremental, tiny step forward, using the same stride used in the past? One that let’s us celebrate repainting the same-old situation?

It’s easy to plod along doing the same thing we’ve done before and celebrate minuscule progression, but sometimes the only way to really get where we want to go is to completely change and try something totally different. To challenge ourselves to take the leap we dream of taking but which scares us to death.

For example, when I first started writing seriously, my first novel took way too long, partly because my writing was just awful, but partly because my schedule did not allow much time for writing. So I set the goal to rearrange my working schedule to allow more writing time. It took a few years and some pretty big risks and sacrifices from the entire family to accomplish that goal, but I did it.

This year I realized I was not taking enough advantage of that newfound freedom, so I set a huge goal of completing four new novels this year. Sure I had started outlining them, but did not have any first drafts completed. And yet, that’s what it would take to reach the next level. So I set the goal and began to work it. Last week I wrote 26,000 words to complete one of those novels on time. One piece of the overall goal is complete. Lots more to go.

No matter our individual circumstance, we can all set change goals and decide if we’re going to go big or stay home. Most people don’t bother.

They stay home.

Most people are content to go to work, fill an honest eight hours, and then literally just go home and watch tv. Those people have a safe existence. They do not have to take risks, do not have to stretch and grow, do not risk failure and ridicule. But they also never go big. They never accomplish challenge goals to celebrate incredible victories and learn to take control of their lives.

Of those who decide to make a change, who say they are going to Go Big, most of them don’t make it. Sure, from a writing perspective some people are just so bad that they simply lack the capacity to do it, but those are the exceptions. Most people COULD write a competitive book if they REALLY wanted to, yet most of them fail. It’s not because they CAN’T do it, but because they lack staying power. Like the graph illustrates, saying you have a great idea is nothing. Starting a book is when we first get some skin in the game but doesn’t mean a whole lot either. Actually finishing a book is huge, but even that’s not the ultimate goal. We want to finish something someone else will pay to read. Challenge goals are the vehicle to take us there.

So what if you have to write ten years before you make a sale? Those ten years are going to pass anyway. So what if you get rejected? The best writers rack up dozens, if not hundreds, of rejections. It’s not the rejection that defines success but the overcoming of that rejection and the continued consistency.

I spoke with Brandon Sanderson earlier this year and when I mentioned I had been writing for almost ten years he nodded and said, “Great, then you’re just about ready to break in.”

Before lightning can strike, you have to make yourself the lightning rod.
Before you can be the lucky winner, you have to compete.
Before you can become an overnight success, you have to work for years to prepare yourself and develop the skills to break out big.

Some people just need a push, someone to challenge them to make a change goal. If you’re one of those, the music video by Switchfoot for their song “I Dare you to Move” might help. Check it out here.

So this month as we reflect where we are with our goals and compare that against where we want to be in six months or one year or ten years, let’s ask ourselves, “Am I going big or staying home?”

Go Big.