Tag Archives: Writer

How I’m ignoring things that disrupt my writing.

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As a writer, there are many times when I’ll be compromised by disruptions.

I’ll be working on a project, and, BAM!

New story idea, new way to adjust or improve the current project, a way to fix previous project. That’s the moment I want to scream, but don’t.

I’ll write down what the thought, idea, or whatever and get back to what I was working on.

It hasn’t always been this way.

It took me a while to ignore those things.

That pretty new thing sounds wonderful, but it will take you away from your current project and you’ll never finish a book!

I’m only 10k in on a new project and my brain has made multiple attempts on sacrificing the current project for another one.

It got to the point where I had to take a step back. Think about why my brain was doing that.

I came to the realization that there is a story I want to tell with another book, but I have pushed it away to focus on the current project. The other book is connected to the one I talked about here.

I’m trying to focus on writing something that is terrifying this year.

In other projects I didn’t do that until the second draft, but after discussing my writing with my wife(always my rock), she said I should go as dark and horrifying as possible. That’s something I’ve been afraid to do. Mostly out of fear of judgment. My wife told me, “Why care about what someone will say when they won’t read the actual book only the blurb?”

This changed my writing. I’m working on not only improving those things and the prose but shoveling those thoughts out with the trash.

I have a better grasp on my writing than I ever have before and avoiding shiny objects, not caring what people think and enjoying the whole process of writing, yes, even editing, is making me a better writer.

Anyway, have a good weekend and happy writing.

Finding your voice.

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There is always talk about voice. But there isn’t a great description of what it is.

I’ll give it to you easier.

Voice is that part of your writing that is you. That little part that sounds only like you.

Here’s how I do it.

I only have the things I’ve experienced, the life I’ve lived and I pull from those things.

We each have the moments we’ve experienced in our lives. Each of us can only think like ourselves, with those thoughts, we’re able to find our voice.

When you think about how life was growing up, when you’re thinking about what that time you ate dinner at your friends house and their family interaction was vastly different from your own, those are the types of moments you should pull from.

The awesome thing is, you can write with that type of knowledge in every genre. Everyone gets uncomfortable at their friend’s house. All of have been there at some point. Use it.

How you perceive the world around you is different from how I do or anyone else. Use that perception and build your characters with it.

While building you’ll discover a voice that is authentic to only you.

A journey to get done…

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Recently, I’ve become aware of the improvement in my writing.

It happened by my wife reading the first chapter of the book I wrote in December.

She commented on how different and how much it improved upon a separate fantasy novel I wrote a couple of years ago.

To see my wife, who has shared my writing journey as my biggest supporter, pushed me the hardest to improve on how far I can push the scare factor or the limits of what scares me to put on the pages, enjoy and compliment me on improvements, makes me smile.

As a writer who is working toward publishing, this year if everything works out, I believe being honest and working on what you’re afraid to write is important.

I didn’t always feel that way.

I didn’t want to write what scared me. I didn’t want to push the boundaries of what I was comfortable with.

Now I am.

Pushing the limits of our own creativity is important. To me it is singularly the most important thing we can do.

I’m working on something new and if you follow me on Instagram, you know where I’m heading with this one.

I have a lot of stories to write and I hope you’ll continue, or begin to follow me.

Happy writing!

Update and all that.

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So, it’s been a couple of weeks, alright, it’s been more than a couple.

Anyway, here’s the update on the book I’ve been working on, and that I’ll be querying this summer.

It’s in its 4th draft, 4.2 to be exact. I’ve taken my wife’s notes, gone over them. Fixed consistency errors, grammar errors, and issues with the story. She also suggested things about a certain character, which I fixed.

As of this morning I’m at 60k with this draft and will be starting the third section when I write today.

In the beginning of the editing, I got stuck.

I misunderstood my wife’s suggestions.

Believing, incorrectly, that she was recommending a full rewrite. At that moment, I wanted to cry.

I didn’t want to rewrite 80,000 words.

We talked it over and I had it wrong, which was a huge relief to both of us. The worst part about it is I’ve been misunderstanding what she was asking through all of the books I’ve written. Yep, all 7 that she’s gone over.

She’s started on the one I wrote in December and should be done with it by August.

In the meantime, I’ll be querying this one over the summer.

I have an idea for the next book and I’m super-excited!

Have a happy rest of your week and happy writing.

Editing break

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I’ve been thinking about taking a break for a while.

Now that I’m staring at a self-imposed deadline for the current novel, I realized in order to get it where it needs to be, I have to focus on one thing.

This will be my last post for a while.

I plan on taking at least two months to get the novel where I want it, though it may take longer.

If something amazing happens, I’ll drop in, but after this post, I’ll be working to finish the horror novel I wrote in August.

I hope you all have a pleasant and productive spring and early summer and hopefully I’ll see you in the summer.