So This Is Writing (Happy XMas)

Miss Snark's First Victim blog is asking for original holiday lyrics based around writing. Here's mine:

To the tune of Happy XMas (War is Over)

So This Is Writing

So this is writing

What shall I write now?
The next great bestseller
If I only knew how

And so this is writing
I hope it's not trite
I've way too much back story
Guess I'll have to rewrite

A very wary adverb
Suddenly gets marked out
Let's hope it reads better
Could there be any doubt?

And so happy writing
Pound the desk with my fist
I've got no motivation
For my antagonist

A very wary query
I hope it will sell
Masterpiece or disaster
It's the best tale I could tell

Writing's over
If I let it
Never over
Write

Motivation Isn't Enough

A friend of mine asked me recently, "What motivates you to continue writing?"

That could have been taken in a number of ways. He didn't mean the question negatively, or so he assured me. It helped that he gave me three options to choose from:

1) Did I continue for the eventual recognition? He knows me well enough to know my ego, and how much it likes to be fed.

2) Or was it the allure of eventual money? I've not hidden my desire to eventually make writing my primary source of income.

3) Or finally, was my ongoing motivation the craft itself? Did I continue what I did for the sake of art, or (if you will,) the sake of ART?

To all of this, I replied, "Yes."

First off, I love that he saw all of these as eventual realities. It doesn't seem to occur to him that I might not find success.

Of course, people will eventually recognize how fantastic my writing is. They'll giggle at the right places, cringe at the purposefully cringe worthy sections, and crave more. This will result in my stories selling, and some amount of monetary success. And obviously, none of this will happen without the craft improving. Unless I create good stories, there's nothing worth recognizing or buying.

Honestly, each of those motivations feed the others. And, I've begun to see the motivations bear fruit, to some degree.

First off, I can tell the stories are getting better. Partly, this is due to feedback from my beta readers and occasional publishers. But moreover, I'M enjoying them. I've mentioned before, how I used to believe that being a good reader naturally made me a good writer. Then I'd write a story that might have been good enough, but good enough never is.

The craft is improving. If I'm honest, I'm finally (consistently) writing stories that I would buy and read myself.

I'm also receiving some recognition beyond my beta readers. Form rejections are turning into personal rejections. Stories are making it beyond the first rounds of editorial slush piles and competitions. It's not a given, but it looks like one or more of my stories might make it into a real-honest-to-goodness-professional-anthology. More on that when and if it actually happens.

Oh, and a story finally sold.

Sold.

At pro rates, no less, which is an important distinction. At least, to me it is.

I've self published stories. I've had stories accepted in non-paying online publications. With apologies to those publishers, most of those stories wouldn't have made it in a pro market.

But at least one has. (I'll post about it in January, when it's available.)

All of that means that within this past month, I've achieved, to some small degree, each of those 3 motivations. People are liking my work. Some of that work has sold. And, through writing daily, the craft itself is continuing to improve.

So, now that I've tasted a small part of success, I asked myself which of the options continues to provide the most satisfaction and motivation?

I can't say. All I know is that I'm hungry for more. Hopefully, that's a good sign. I've heard of writers who sold one or three or so stories, and figured they had it made. I'm quite certain I don't. Since starting writing again a little over a year ago, I've been adamant about continually producing and improving. No more shortcuts to success. There's no substitute for striving to get better and hard work.

If I had to choose one I'd pick #3. I'm glad to be one of those writers who enjoys writing as much as having written. At least, I do on most days. And I can immerse myself in a story I'm writing as much, or sometimes more, as I can in one that someone else has written. It's harder, but it's more fun.

I still want to make this my primary income source one day. So #2 remains part of the long term goal. And my ego hasn't been fed all day, so we mustn't forget the importance of #1.

But yeah. It's the craft.

At least, at this moment it is.

Back to the novel...

David Farland, Grounding, and WOTF

David Farland, a judge for Writer's of the Future, wrote an amazingly helpful blog entry, on Grounding Your Reader.

Dave FarlandPresumably, he's pondering the
genius of my WOTF contest entry

It starts thusly:

"Today I'm going to discuss a bit about what I call “grounding” the reader. Quite simply, grounding is the fine art of letting the reader know what is going on. You need to focus on some basics: Who is in a scene? Where does it take place? What is the major conflict?"

Now, I am entered in the Writer's of the Future contest, and am included in the entries he's reading that apparently brought about these particular tips.

He mentioned a few stories that go on for pages without giving a setting. That used to be a weakness in my stories, and panicked, I pulled up the manuscript. *whew* Got out of that one.

Then he mentions not naming the protagonist early enough. Two thoughts came to mind. First, Neil Gaiman wrote an entire novel, "The Ocean at the End of the Lane," without once naming the main character. And, two, I'm not Neil Gaiman.

My story is in the first person. Did I, in fact, name the narraror? Check! Very early on. Good for me. I patted myself on the back.

I waded through each of his examples, assured myself that I wasn't among them, and then thought through the advice for the rest of the story. I think I'm okay there.

Then, I thought about the story I'm currently writing. It's fine too, but needs some tweaks, particularly in the arena of showing the conflict earlier.

Take a look at the article, and let me know what you think:

Grounding Your Reader.

Longhand and Terry Pratchett

I've figured this writing thing out again, if only for the moment. It frightens me to think that, perhaps, I will need to relearn what works every few months.

I love my current method, even more than I despise it. Certainly, it's proving more consistent than what came before.

Photo By LeeGillion

Almost a year ago, when I started this blog, I knew what worked. The writing started anywhere from between 10:00 pm to 1:00 am. It stopped after I'd reached 1000 words. Not much of a method really, but it worked, for as long as I could sustain the pace.

A couple of problems arose. First, I would often get 4 hours of sleep. While the ensuing hallucinations made for vivid prose, some of the plots I came up with could only be understood by the reader similarly being deprived of sleep. Well, that, or (I suspect) recreational drugs.

The second issue was, in spite of consistently sitting down to write, I found myself all over the place with the actual methods. This went beyond experimentation, which I still play around with. What I mean is, I employed no real routine. And, I'm finding, routine works well for me. No. Very well.

Even if I don't want it to. Stupid pen and paper. *sigh*

Here is something I've discovered. I can write on the computer, or with pen or paper. Much to my annoyance, the writing is always better if I write it out longhand first. I think differently in longhand. The scenes flow in a way they never seem to on the computer. I'm a computer guy too, so that's hard to admit.

I learned something else. Given the correct amount of time in my schedule, I do well with word counts. Something that Neil wrote seems to have helped me find the right goal.

Yes. Him again. Neil Gaiman, may he write forever, co-wrote Good Omens with Terry Pratchett. I'm ashamed to say I haven't read much of Terry's work to date, but that's something I'm fixing. Specifically, I've read Good Omens multiple times, along with the graphic novel adaptation of Color of Magic, and also Terry's book on writing.

He's good, but I've been busy. I'm 1/4 through the novel Color of Magic now, and plan to read all of Discworld. Terry is a genius too.

I've digressed again. At the end of Good Omens, Neil mentions that when Terry still had a full-time, non-writing job, he wrote 400 words a night. It was the only way he could work and become a novelist. When Terry finished his first novel with only 200 pages written for the night, he started 200 more words on his next novel.

Brilliant.

I average about 400 words in a writing session anyway. 400 is easy. Well, except when it's harder than hammering a nail with a Phillips screwdriver. It's sometimes easy.

It worked for Terry. I'm making it work for me.

Here is my method:

First, I read. Right now, I'm reading Discworld. It might be one page, or several. Enough to enjoy the story, but not enough to keep me from writing.

Partially this is to study the craft. It also jump starts creativity.

After reading, I dive directly into at a writing session. Sometimes it's at lunch. Sometimes it's at night. The time matters less, because with longhand, I can do it pretty much anywhere that's free from distractions.

I come up with 400+ words on pen and paper. I do this consistently each day. Sometimes I'll do more. One of the first nights I tried this, I matched my previous 1000 word goal. But, I make sure the day ends with no less than 400. Two nights ago, I finished with 380, and it was all I could manage. I counted the words, and realized it was short. Even though one more word would have been impossible, I somehow came up with 50 more for the day.

Eventually, usually after 2 or 3 days, I find that I need a reminder of the story's details. That's when I transfer from longhand to the computer. This has the effect of an additional edit, as I can't help but correct as I type the story out.

On the days I transfer, I typically allow it to count as my writing for the day. Some writers, when editing, are "put-iners," while others are "take-outers." My first drafts tend to be minimalist, so I'm a put-inner. I don't count these words, but after three days, I estimate that I add about 400 if I'm typing out 3 days worth anyway. If I go beyond that, great. If not, it's okay. That's built into my new system.

It's working. A few months from now, I may share a new and improved system. Eventually, I'd love to be doing this full time, and be amused at the notion of only producing 400 words a day.

WOTF Deadline

The deadline for the Writer's of the Future contest is the 30th. I have a completed manuscript to send, but there's a problem. It needs a lot of work. In it's current state, I'd reject it myself, if only for the ending.

This time, rather than try to write the thing perfectly, I went ahead and wrote the end. Now I have something to fix. And, after restructuring the beginning of the story, I'm beginning to see how it should actually conclude.

I'm glad for this deadline. At the same time, it's creeping up pretty quickly. Wish me well.

By the way, check out my other blog for some Doctor Who references: http://s300h.blogspot.com/2014/09/pfft-who-needs-rest.html

New Blog: Regeneration and Transformations

Hi everyone. It's me again. I haven't posted in a while. I'd love to say that I've been too busy writing, and that's marginally true. While I have continued to write, if you took the word "writing" out of the the previous sentence, it'd be more accurate.

Look for some new writing posts in the near future. In the meantime, please check out my new blog, Regeneration and Transformations. Long time readers of this blog, and you know who you are, will be aware of my love for fitness and all things geeky. Particularly Doctor Who things. Well, and Star Wars. And Star Trek. Um... comic books, scifi novels and the Matrix also come to mind. You know what, the list doesn't have to be exhaustive.

Rather than continue to divide my attention here between regenerating into a better body and the writing, I'm starting the new blog to feed my need to share about fitness. As I mentioned in the new blog, I've been ghost writing at blogmutt.com, and getting paid for it to boot. But I'm a tad egotistical, so I want to be able to share some fitness & health ideas as myself.

If you enjoy workouts, eating healthy, or otherwise improving your body, I hope to see you over there. Tune in next time here for a review on blogmutt. That's the plan anyway. I never really know what I'm going to blog until I actually write it.

Live. Achieve. Repeat.

Write. Finish. Repeat.

It's the most simple writing advice you'll find, and perhaps the most profound. It changed my course as a writer, and it just might change my course in life.

Here's what I mean. A common theme of this blog is momentum. You discover the end of your story by writing continually until it's finished. Work ethic beats inspiration nearly every time. Keep moving forward. I blog about that idea frequently, and to a lesser extent, I practice it in my own writing. Because, "life."

Life gets in the way of everything, including living your life. You name it, the issues are there. Drowning in the massive amounts of hours worked. Fighting a lingering illness, and the illness cheats. Reeling from an unexpected loss. Finally, FINALLY, breaking down and buying that 6th book in the Hitchhiker's Trilogy and discovering you were right- it's nowhere near as good as the stuff written by Douglas Adams.

All that can get in the way. If you're not careful, it can get in the way of far more than just writing.

It occurred to me this weekend that life is as much about momentum as writing.

Write, finish, repeat? Yes. Apply the same principles to life and what do you get?

Live. Achieve. Repeat.

Write/Live
Repeatedly, Neil Gaiman has told aspiring writers, "You must write." Too many get this part wrong. I've even had people argue with me over this point. The truth is, if you never write, you never write.

And if you don't live, well that's even worse, isn't it? Admittedly, "live" has several connotations. Here's what I mean by it.

Live to the max each day. This is not simply about enjoying life. It means making positive steps in your life. What's important to you in your life? Writing, family, friends, Doctor Who, church, health? Make sure you're making a positive step in one of those areas, minimum, each day. Most days you'll be able to make positive steps in multiple areas. And you know what you're doing? Living.

Finish/Achieve
Neil also said, "You must finish what you write." This, more than anything changed the way I looked at my craft. I finished lots of stories, and I got better with each one. Hmm. In retrospect, I've kind of moved away from finishing everything I start to write. Guess what the end result has been? I haven't written nearly as many stories since I stopped focusing on that. That's a good reminder.

In life, focusing on achieving has the same effect. Take health. I've written about fitness a few times here, because it's one of those areas I had to focus on. Doctor's orders. And you know what I couldn't do? I couldn't do it all at once.

So, I focused on daily achievements. Regular workouts. Reducing sugar intake. Blah, blah, blah. Once I finally accepted the need, I had mini achievements each day. So far they've added up to 40 pounds of weight loss, with adding muscle definition.

Repeat
It's so easy to just give up. This can come after a great accomplishment, or a painful setback. Both circumstances can make a person sit back- the former to enjoy and the latter to wallow.

But you know what? If we focus on moving forward in life, becoming better at what we do and who we are, we'll achieve far more.

Writing's worth it. So is living.

Tooth: Hurty

Brace yourselves. There's some dental puns in here. Feel free to extract the bad ones.

About 3 or so years ago, I chipped a tooth. It didn't hurt much, after the initial incident, so I figured it could wait. After all, I didn't have dental insurance at the time. Yeah. Time to wait.

Fast forward about a year and a half. The pain grew, and now I had insurance, only they didn't cover major work until after a year of coverage. Would this constitute major work? Heck if I know. Cause you know what? I didn't ask. Instead, I opted to wait.

Sometime after that I ended up switching jobs, which meant I switched dental insurance again. You'd think I would know the drill by now, wouldn't you?

Fast forward again. After getting a cleaning, the prognosis is a root canal, and a filling in the tooth next to it. Here's the problem. For the root canal, the insurance required 100% of the payment up front. That was more unnerving than the procedure. Now, if I had the means for that, I might have gotten this taken care of years ago. No way was I fast forwarding again though.

I took the antibodies, and held off on filling the pain prescription. Here's how that conversation went.

"Do you need pain pills?"
"I don't know. If it keeps getting worse, then probably."
"I'll go ahead and write you a prescription for them. Just take them if you need them."
"Sure thing. And if I don't need them, I can get $5 a pill on the street, right?"

Okay. I made that last bit up.

Instead of getting the root canal in a week, it ended up being more like three weeks. By the end, I'd run out of the antibodies, and started taking the pain pills. No favors for me there. Haven't had any since somewhere around 3:00 am Tuesday morning. They tore up my stomach. Vomiting, constipation, cramps, and those are just the upsides. Even today, I can barely eat from whatever that did to my insides.

To complicate matters, I started putting heat on the mouth. It felt better. Apparently, that's the worse thing you can do- it builds up the infection. Seems like the dentist's office should have told me the whole tooth about that.

Nevertheless, at 10:30 Tuesday, I had the procedure. Dentists don't believe you when you tell them, "I have one of those jaws that don't numb easily." But guess what? I have one of those jaws that don't numb easily. I'd call them names for that, but dentists have fillings too.

She gave me the gum gel, inserted the needle with the heavy duty stuff into my jaw, and then did it again. The second time, it I thought she was trying to disembowel me through my mouth. Sorry, but the constipation wasn't that bad yet.

They told me to raise my hand if I had any problems. So, at one point when I started feeling sensation again, kind of ike someone is trying to pull a nerve out of your tooth, I held up my hand. The dental assistant shook her head, "no" and lowered my hand. I think they gave me more medicine though, because the pain stopped shortly after.

Since then, I've been out of it. My mouth is swollen even more than before. It still hurts, though not as much. Think I'm going to have to get that other cavity taken care of soon. Food doesn't taste the same, and even though I know I have to eat, trying to eat makes me sick to my stomach.

No, I'm not going to try to tie this into writing, except to say, this is why I haven't written for a few days. It's a shame too, as I'd built up some pretty good momentum. I'll get back to it soon.

In the meantime, thanks for letting me vent. This tooth issue still leaves me unfulfilled.

Write What You Feel (and more)

You know that old saying, "Write what you know?" If you're interested in writing, and the fact that you're reading this blog suggests that you are, then the answer is probably "yes."

You've probably also heard multiple remarks about the saying, some funny and others not so funny. If not, I'll give an example and let you decide if it's funny or not.

"Hey Scott. Why do you write these weird stories?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know, like this one about alien cat people who use their advanced technology to invade our timeline, starting the zombie war decades before it originally happened in 2032?"
"Oh. Well like they say, 'write what you know.'"

I know. You saw that coming a mile away. That's the advanced time technology at work.

Here's the thing. "Write what you know," doesn't mean only write what you're familiar with. Otherwise, we'd never have stories about a police box that's bigger on the inside, carrying an alien with two hearts across time and space. And you know what? That'd be a shame.

Write what you know means write what you feel.

Here's some examples. Do you know the elation you feel when you see your child for the first time? Can you recall a time when your heart was torn in two by the loss of a loved one? How about the bone chilling terror of someone sticking a gun in your face and demanding your money?

Write about that. AND HERE'S THE BEST PART! You don't have to write about a newborn child anymore than you have to write about a robbery or anything else from your life. You can, but you don't have to.

Take the joy of the newborn child and use those real emotions to describe the happiness of a long awaited reunion. Take that loss of a loved one, and draw on those feelings when your character looses her job. Take the terror of the mugging and show the fear of dangling over the edge of a cliff.

Write what you feel. Sometimes, even write about what made you feel that way.

I'll add this to it. Write what you feel like writing about. That'll carry you through 90% of your writing duties. Yes, I made that statistic up on the spot, but it feels right, doesn't it? Sometimes, you have to push through as a writer and finish projects (or start them. Or continue them.) However, most of the time, your passions can carry you through the work.

Another example. I wrote a long outline for a story last night. It's a good outline of a story that I've wanted to tell for a few months now, but couldn't figure out what really happened. Now I know. But guess what? It's still not ready. I could have started it, but I didn't want to. Something else was on my mind. That's okay. It'll wait.

Instead, I finished and submitted another story, which I'd also put aside temporarily. And, like my last blog entry, I made progress.

Take those feelings-- the grief, the triumph, the hope and the despair. Which one, or ones do you want to write about? Which idea has you jumping up and down inside? When possible, write about where those passions are. And always, write what you feel.

Slightly New Approach

Life has been, well, it's been too much like life lately. That's almost as great for a writer like me as it is terrible.

Life's woes create powerful emotions to draw from and pour into my craft. At the same time, those woes and emotions war with the will to write. That doesn't even allow for the hectic schedule I maintain.

I hear you thinking out there. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Life stinks. So does mine. So does everyone's at some point. Get over yourself." And you know what? You're correct. If that's all this post was about, then it could be a wasted post. We're making our way to the writing inspiration in just a moment.

And, I'm not saying that life is completely terrible. For instance, as of this morning I've lost 32 pounds from the heaviest I weighed myself. Since, at some point  I stopped weighing myself because it became too depressing, I suspect I've lost even more than those 32.

I'll tell you how I did it, partly because I like talking about it, but mostly because it's a nice transition to the new writing approach.

I made a lifestyle change. I'm not dieting. I'm not doing crazy fad workouts or starvation plans. The doctor said I had to change my lifestyle or take blood pressure medication, and I didn't want to go on medicine for that.

Two changes. That's it. I started eating right, and started exercising right. (It would have been just as accurate to leave off the second "right" in the previous sentence.)

Briefly, the eating changes include increasing my water intake; lowering my dairy intake; removing all wheat and most whole grains; sticking primarily to meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. I only drink water, almond milk, green tea and the occasional milk. I've increased my (good) fats and protein by a wide margin.

As far as the exercise go, I alternate days. The on days includes HIIT, heavy weights usually performed in a circuit and laps in the swimming pool. In the off days I only swim.

Beyond all the built in health benefits (which I've ghost-blogged about with some success over at Blogmutt.com) of these choices, there are two reasons they have worked for me.

Persistence and consistency. I don't miss a day exercising. Eventually I will, and that's okay, the body needs rest. But, you'll find me back at it the next day. Same goes for eating. I allow myself treats from time to time, but even then I try to choose healthier alternatives to my previous habits.

My muscle gains and fat loss were dramatically fast. At first. I continue to see the same changes, although it's more gradual.

Gradual is good.

Light-bulb.

I reached the point in writing where I was writing in spurts, or not at all. More often than not, it was "not at all."

But, as I posted earlier, writing is a lot like going to the gym. In this instance, steady progress that is consistent will lead to results. My new approach is simple. Work on writing every day. I used to hold myself to amounts of time, or a certain amount of words. That worked for me, but only when I could maintain the incredibly busy pace of my life.

Now, I'm not going to let a day go by without working at the craft. Sometimes the words are going to flow super quickly, like the first ten pounds or so that I lost. Sometimes they'll trickle, but the progress will be gradual.

If I make progress in a day, then it's a good day. Just before this blog, I nailed down a 500 word outline to a new story. I'm not usually much of an outliner, but this story required it. I have little in the way of actual prose (just a few lines of dialogue) but you know what I do have? Progress.

Oh, and I also have all those fantastically powerful emotions I started this blog with. They'll come in handy as I continue to write.

Just a Poem

     tomorrow
silently screaming in the
desert of solitude
peeking through slivers
of this empty soul
     just like today

Just Believe: A 100 Word Story

Photo by Lisa Ruokis
CC license

Just Believe

A 100 word story by Scott Hughey

Belief is reality, or so the Extreminators teach.  I can’t take the risk.  In five minutes, every Extreme member will believe humanity never existed.  My job is to stop them.

No, I’m not joking.  They’ve already used group belief to wipe Monthia off the map.  Never heard of it?  They claim that proves their point.  I don’t know, a continent or something.  Check their website.

I have one team believing humans exist.  Another thinks the Extremes are nuts.  A third believes in objective truth.  Let’s hope its enough.  Me?  No, I don’t think it’ll work.  

It’s time.  Let’s see if

Guest Post by C.C. Dowling: Everyone's a Critic

C.C. Dowling delighted me when she agreed to do another guest post for me. She's a fantastic writer, and she uses the word "amazeballs" a lot. Oh, and I'm probably outing her by saying this, but I've finally managed to turn her into a Doctor Who fan too. Thanks C.C. Sorry, I lost your paypal account. Again.

Everyone’s A Critic
by C.C. Dowling

@CCDowling

Ever realize how finding the right critique partner (A.K.A. CP) is kinda like dating?

No? Well, if you’re a writer, you should try it. Finding a CP, that is. I’ll leave the dating advice to another blog.

Finding a CP that is congruent with your style, personality, and craft level is crucial to being a successful writer. I don’t care who you are. Every single one of us has craft issues that we can’t see in our own writing. Why? Because we’re too close to it.

Sorta like how your partner can’t see that the last argument they had with you was completely their fault.

But I digress.

When you’re in a relationship like a writer is with their work, it’s difficult to take a step back and see it for what it really is. Whatever that “really is” may be. That’s where CPs come in. But where to find one?

When you’re dating, there are a TON of sites available to you, depending on what type of relationship you’re looking for. But where to find a CP is less clear.

Side note: Someone really should develop a website called CPMatch.Com. And hey, if this exists, or anything like it, please leave the website in the comments!

I can tell you what worked for me. That might work for you, and it might not. And, it might lead to an even better idea you come up with. If that happens, again, there’s a comment section for a reason. You can thank me there.

If you read the last guest post I wrote, you probably know what I’m going to say. If you haven’t read it, then you can find it here: Three Lessons To Keep Your Readers Up At Night.

Yeah, you guessed it. Twitter. I found almost all of my CPs through Twitter. The writing community on there is amazeballs. Aside from straight up hashtags like #critiquepartner, there are tons of contests. And when you enter them, and you stalk lurk keep up with the threads, you’ll see that people are offering to read your first 250 or your query, if you read theirs.

Heck, you can even offer it first. It’s your writing career. Grab it where it counts.

By doing it this way, you’ll get to:

A.) See what else is out there.  

B.) Test out someone’s material and critiquing style before making a major commitment.            

C.) Meet other writers.

This is the picture Jerry uses for
The Ubergroup. Don't worry. I
don't know what it is either.

The meeting other writers is important. In doing so, I met fellow author Jerry Quinn (@bewarethejabb) who runs a fantastic group on Scribophile (http://www.scribophile.com/) called Ubergroup, where I met the fabulous, and awesomesauce talent of Scott Hughey.

Side note: Scott, payments can be made via PayPal.

It’s also fair that I point out I met my very first CP, and just an all-around great writer, @ABSevan, through a Writer’s Digest first ten pages bootcamp. WD offers all kinds of online resources and classes where you can meet other writers in your genre, and at your level. Check them out (@WritersDigest  www.writersdigest.com.)

Okay, I think I’m done plugging everyone.

Bottom line is, as writers, we need someone who will tell it like it is, matches our talent, and provides useful feedback. Personally, I like my CPs to be straight up honest. Scratch through my crap with a red sharpie, and pat me on the back when I deserve it.

Everyone’s CP needs are different. Just like in a relationship, you want someone who pushes you to grow, meets you where you need them to, compliments your strengths and weaknesses, and wants to see you succeed.

How do you CP? Leave a comment to let us know.

---

C.C. Dowling lives in America’s finest city, San Diego, with her toddler (who plays in the yard with Faeries), her husband (the financial shaman), her Aussie (with mesmerizing blue eyes), and a pet dragon (who is the real reason the neighbor’s dog barks incessantly at night). 

When she’s not working in the field of neuroscience, she’s writing fantastical short stories and novels about blood-drinkers, shape-shifters, soul reapers, and demons hell-bent on redemption. You can find her on Twitter at @CCDowling.

1st Quarter 2014 Writers of the Future Initial Results

http://www.writersofthefuture.com/1st-quarter-2014-writers-of-the-future-initial-results/

Here's the list of Finalists, Semi-Finalists and Honorable Mentions for the 1st Quarter WOTF contest. Quick math with tell you that there were 116 honorable mentions (minus any that requested their name not be listed, or who didn't respond.)

Anybody who can't stand math can skip the next two paragraphs, but you'll still have to count to two.

I wish I knew how many people entered the contest, but those numbers aren't reported. However, I've read that somewhere between 5% to 15% of the entries receive HMs depending on (wait for it) how many good stories they receive.

Using the 116 HMs and the 5% number, that works out to 2320 entries. The number of HMs is probably higher, which would bring the number of entries higher. The percentage is probably higher too, which lowers the actual number of entries. Nevertheless, I'm confident in saying that thousands of people entered the contest, so being one of 115 HMs isn't too shabby. It's a start, at least. I'm aiming higher though.

Anyway, those of you who are DYING to see my name on the list (like I was) will find it 56 names down on the HM list.

Those who can't be bothered to look it up can see copied and pasted here:
Scott Hughey of North Carolina

I aim to please. Well, I aim to please myself, if nothing else.

The happiness of receiving the HM has faded, and I've gone back to concentrating on improving my craft. In fact, just this week I finished my entry for the 2nd quarter. It's vastly improved over the previous entry. Of course, writers are the worst judges of their own work, so what do I know?

Okay. Back to the novel. And maybe another short story or three.

24: Day 9- Live Another Day 11:00 - Noon - 1:00 pm

We interrupt your normally scheduled writing blog to bring you- my impressions of 24: Live Another Day. This is the first and second hour.

Warning: I'll do my best to keep them limited, but there will be spoilers. Update: By the 19:54 mark, I pretty much gave up on not including spoilers.

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0:27- I'm having a hard time breathing. Jack Bauer isn't on the screen, but 24 is!!! I'm dancing on the inside. I'd dance on the outside too, but the restraining order is pretty specific.

1:01- It's Sarah Walker from Chuck! Ok, I found out just yesterday that Yvonne Strahovski played a CIA agent in this season. Good thing too, or the surprise would have been too much. As it is, I'm doing my best to refrain from Chuck references. Maybe they should call this episode Sarah vs the Raging Force of Nature that is Jack Bauer.

3:44- JACK! Guess who's back? Back again? Jack is back. Tell a friend.


6:32- The following takes place between 11:05 A.M. and 12:00 P.M. Are they going to say "Events occur in real time" too? I love it when they say that.

6:37- Yes! He said it! Also, at this point I realize that my use of the streaming video clock for my time is not going to be accurate once we get past the first commercial. I shouldn't have to do math while watching 24. In fact, I'm not. After all, it's not 6:37 in 24 time is it? It'd be 11:06 and 37 seconds. So there. I'm using my video player's clock.

7:10- James Heller is president? Great call, but that spells trouble for Jack. I'd diverge into a writing post at this point, but then I'd have to stop watching.

8:28- Don't worry Mr. President. I couldn't remember your name either until I looked it up online.

Commercial Break 

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14:59- Heh. He looks like Milo

16:30- Sarah is... I mean Kate is being set up as a sympathetic and smart hero. So obviously, that means I'm suspecting her of being a double agent. Thanks Nina. You ruined it for everyone.

17:25- Sorry Kate. It's "by whom," not "by who." What are you trying to pull here?

19:54- Oh man. Jack's not going to take that well. Unless.... I assumed he was trying to stop an assassination attempt, but maybe he's there to rescue Chloe?

Commercial Break 

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23:01- Of course there's an alternative.

23:51- "As long as she lives, she'll never hear the name 'Jack Bauer.'" Pfft.

26:56- I knew I would like Kate. She's a younger, cuter, female Jack. Sort of.

28:33- This guy is either incompetent, or he's helping Jack.

Commercial Break 

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29:10- I said that Kate was like a young Jack. If I really believed that, I'd have seen this coming. Of course she wouldn't go quietly.

31:10- I love it when Jack is in control. And Jack is always in control.

35:50- How is it that we got this far into the episode before a single explosion? It's like they're not even trying anymore. Bam!

35:55- Wow. How did he know? Hmm. Actually, at first I was super impressed, but now that I've typed it- how did he know where to have the accomplice fire the explosion? I guess that's where he was planning to escape anyway. It's mighty convenient. I'll let it slide once, because as I said, Jack's always in control. But you only get one of those.

Commercial Break 

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41:00- Letting Chloe try to get somewhere on her own is going to up the drama, but it feels reckless.

43:10- I love the way the hours end. Always have. Always will. Even if it stretches my suspension of disbelief that you can have a super dramatic moment at the end of every hour.

End Hour 1 - Commercial Break 

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44:13- Chloe is wandering the streets of London. If Chloe were still working for the government, she could track herself using surveillance video and traffic cams. Doesn't London have traffic cams? She really should have stayed with Jack.

47:59- "He broke you out? That's impossible."
"Not for him."

48:50ish- Okay. Now I don't have as much problem with Jack letting her roam the streets looking for a safe place. I guess he really doesn't have any friends.

49:45- I love it. Back in time 19:54... I was right on both counts. Either they're transparent, or I've watched way too much 24 in my life. Or maybe, that's not an "or" statement.

51:54- You can tell these are bad guys because they're listening to rap music.

Commercial Break 

---

59:58- Jack says this is bigger than Heller. And of course it is. Can't wait to see how big the stakes get.

1:00:38- Come on Chloe. Do you really believe that?

1:01:42 Chloe: "I think you should talk to someone in the government." Yeah. I do too. But then, Jack is almost always right. The saying, "You don't know Jack" literally means, "You don't know how to get everything right 99.9% of the time."

1:02:22- Okay. Prediction. Yates is going to target the hacker organization with the military drones. You heard it here first. Well, unless I'm right and you watched the episode already.

Commercial Break 

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1:04:35- I've always liked Heller's character. It feels like he's mistaken here. I hope I'm mistaken too. I'm not though, so good job on the creators of 24 for building the drama.

1:08:53- Wow. This was a quick segment.

Commercial Break 

---

1:11:31- Great scene. This is the best scene without Jack so far. (Every scene with Jack is the best scene.) You could cut the tension with a harsh comment.

1:12:37- OF COURSE she can cut off the feed to the camera in the rear. It's like you haven't known her for 6 other seasons now. Oh wait, I get it. It's exposition. Okay, carry on.

1:13:35- Hang in there man. *snicker*

1:14:57- Jack, making a deal: "Not for his life. For your's." This is going to be one of those classic Bauer moments.

1:17:50- Great. Now he's going to be wounded for the rest of the day. Come on! How do you wound a force of nature?

Commercial Break 

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1:19:45- Doh! Older Jack -  1. Younger & Cuter Female Jack - 0

1:20:12- That was weird. Of course, in London, the traffic and steering wheels are on the wrong side. But telling Chloe to "move over" while running towards what felt like the passenger side disoriented me.

1:20:17- Sorry Mr. CIA guy who just yelled, "We got a man down!" Kate is CLEARLY a woman. Don't they give vision tests to field agents?

1:20:42- Oh good. It just grazed him. He won't be wounded for the rest of the day.

---

Overall impression: I love that 24 is back.
Snarky comment: Sure. Blame the black guy.

Writing and the Gym

WARNING: The following post contains generalizations. It is also comprised of an observation that is so obvious, I'm convinced the comparison has been made several times before. If you wade through the stuff about exercise, you'll eventually get to the observation about writing. It's there. You just have to humor me for a bit longer than usual. Viewer discretion is advised.

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I've been going to the gym, and believe me, the facilities have everything. You can take any number of classes, work with a personal trainer, lift free weights, swim laps in the pool, workout on the various machines, and so on.

The complex is massive, and it doesn't matter what time I go there. There's always multiple people there working out. It would be inspiring, if I didn't prefer working out alone. But, I digress.

Here's a typical workout for me. I'll warm up for 5-8 minutes on an elliptical machine, gradually increasing the resistance. For the last 3 minutes or so, I do intervals of high intensity and low intensity (HIIT for those of you in the know.)

From here, I move to weights. I'll create a circuit of different muscle groups and do as much weight as I can on them up to 12 reps. As soon as I finish one of these, I move immediately to the next. It keeps the heart rate up. Also, each station uses different muscle groups so I can continue to work hard. I'll complete this circuit of each station 3-5 times (depending on how many stations I've set up.)

After all this, I change and go to the pool for laps. According to an authority as knowledgeable as Google, swimming is an almost perfect exercise. It uses muscle fibers from the entire body, using continual resistance.  In fact, on days that I can't do the entire workout I've detailed here, I'll just swim.

The point of my workout is to get the maximum benefit from my time.  Not everybody feels this way. Here come the generalizations.

Every visit to the gym, I see people come in and do nothing. Well, that's not fair. They lounge. They talk and
socialize. This is common behavior in most gyms actually, though I've never understood it. I didn't even notice it at this gym, until I went to the pool.

The area boasts a 3 lane lap pool, a jacuzzi, a sauna, and a steam room. They're all used for socializing more than exercising.

At least one of them used it as an opportunity to pick up women. Women love this. Ladies, am I right? That's why the young woman in question left the area so quickly. She was playing hard to get.

It's possible that some of the people in there have completed workouts. Some of them look quite fit. Others... don't. But they play in the pool, soak in the jacuzzi, and hang out in the sauna. In fact, I've never seen the sauna with less than four people in it.

I've seen them do this for over an hour. They do nothing but relax from before I start my workouts until sometime after I'm done. These people are paying top dollar (I'm not, thanks to my nephew who got me a great deal on the membership) to come to a gym and hang out.

What's the point? Does it make them feel like they're getting fit, to simply be around the equipment?

Here's the comparison. Lot's of writers do the same thing. Heck, I've done the same thing.

I've spent plenty of time thinking about writing, talking about it, reading about it, and daydreaming about what life as a full time writer would be.

Writing is like exercise though. It is, in fact, a craft exercise. The more you do, the better you get at it.

Spending time at the gym relaxing is fine. After a workout, I've gone to the steam room and jacuzzi. The sauna is too crowded. But, and this is key, I've done this after the real work is completed. Otherwise, I wouldn't get the exercise needed to become fit.

Spending time socializing with writers, thinking & talking about the writing, and so on is fine. Doing it, and thinking that you're exercising your writing muscles is no better than spending hours at the gym doing nothing.

Writer's of the Future: Honorable Mention

I finally heard back from Writer's of the Future. I'd entered the contest for the 1st quarter of 2014.

My short story, Finding Home won an honorable mention. That's good news, and bad news. Yeah, I wanted to win, but I'm mostly seeing this as a huge positive.  After all, I learned that depending on the number of "good stories," 5-15% of the stories receive Honorable Mention.   So, my writing is moving in the right direction.

This is also incentive to enter a stronger story the next quarter, and to keep working on my craft.

Writing! Yay!

Best Rejection

Ah, the life of a writer. I'm elated and dejected all in the same time. To paraphrase Walt Whitman, "Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself. No I don't."

My novella was declined, but with a note that it would be reconsidered if it were longer. They liked the story and concept. Essentially, I have a rewrite request and an invitation to resubmit.

Guess what I'll be doing for the foreseeable future?

Character Development Game

Photo by shutterhacks

Have you played the "I never" game?" If not, here's how it's done.

You get in a group of 2 or more people. You take turns saying, "I've never..." and fill in the blank.

For instance, "I've never written a New York Times Bestselling Novel." If you find yourself in a group with Stephen King, Mary Higgins Clark and James Patterson, this is a good statement to start out with.

Anyone is the group that has done the thing that you've never done, has to raise their hand. Or, if you're in college, they have to take a drink. You'll find several ways to figure out who wins the game.

Here's the point. If you're looking for creative ways to create characters, and to learn more about them, have them play this game. Make a list of what each character has and has not done. Better yet, write the scene out, and have them take a drink for each thing they've done. That way you learn their voices AND you know what they're like drunk.

As a bonus, to get you started, I've never...

• Gone backwards in time and killed my own grandfather
• Cut my tongue with a steak knife
• Bitten a vampire
• Enjoyed making small talk with barbers
• Jumped out of a tree to see if my latent super powers have activated yet
• Taken candy from a baby
• Accidentally electrocuted myself
• Purposefully electrocuted myself
• Seen a ghost. Wait. I meant a werewolf ghost.

The Write kind of Puns

Sometimes I amuse myself on Twitter so much, I have to share the results here. Today, it was all about writing puns and jokes:

#WritingJokes

• I read about a troll living under an overpass. There was no overpass though. The book was abridged.
  
  
  
• Reading high-fantasy can be hobbit forming.
  
• Thinking of writing a romance novel. The leads will rendezvous privately in an unexpected plot tryst.
  
• I couldn't see my character's motivation in my first draft. That's why I needed to do a revision.
  
• Thought I had a great story idea: a mermaid who lived in a pond. Turns out the plot was a bit shallow.
  
• I read a story about an 8 foot tall man who meets a real giant. Talk about a tall tale!
  
• Her poetry was so horrible, the judge made her read it out loud to herself. After all, the punishment should fit the rhyme.
  
• Did you hear about the two writers on their honeymoon? They spent a lot of time in metaphorplay.
  
• I'm writing my next novel in my friend's basement. He has the best cellar.
  
• The writer was convicted of plagiarism. His sentence was to hand write "War and Peace." Talk about Carpal Punishment!
  
• I'm always freezing at my writing desk. Probably because there's so many drafts.
  
• I bet Charles Dickens had an interesting spice rack in his kitchen. He had the best of thymes and the worst of thymes.
  
• My first short story was about a woman who maintained a small garden. Too bad it didn't have much of a plot.
  
• When I write longhand, I get #writers cramp. It's a bad case of authoritis.
  
• Did you hear about the backwards #poet? She wrote inverse.

Writer's Digest April Fool's Headline Contest

Hope I'm doing this right. Here's my entry for the April Fool's Contest by Brian Klems.

"A Third Person Arrested in the Dangling Modifier Case." #AprilFools4Writers @BrianKlems http://bit.ly/1jUbnq1 

Yep. That's three puns in 140 characters, making up one headline. Enjoy.

Quick Grammar Joke

The English professor explained that a double negative forms a positive. John asked if that meant a double positive formed a negative.

"No," the professor explained. "Two positives can never form a negative."

John answered, "Yeah, right."

Do's and Dont's

DO: Know exactly what your protagonist wants

DON'T: Let your protagonist have it right away.

DO: Eliminate all distractions before you write.

DON'T: Literally eliminate the distractions, especially if they are your loved ones.

DO: Read your story aloud to see if it sounds right.

DON'T: Read your story aloud while you eat to see if it sounds right. (It never will.)

DO: When you think you're not a good writer, imagine yourself as a good writer and just do what that person would do.

DON'T: When you think you're not a good writer, imagine yourself as a good writer and just write what that person already wrote.

DO: Remember that E.L. Doctorow said, "Writing is like driving at night in the fog."

DON'T: Forget that E.L. Doctorow was using this as a simile.

Finding Time to Write

Who has time to write?

By the look of my local Barnes and Noble, hundreds of people. No... thousands. What's their secret? Beats me. It's a secret.

I've found two things that work for me though.  The first is to set aside a time to write. But if I blogged about that today, this entry would already be over. What's the second method?

I blogged a few months back about Finding the Cracks. When you have spare time, use it to write. And I don't mean spare time, like when you have an unexpected three hours because the cable went out (even though that's an opportunity.) I mean ten minutes. Twenty. I'm talking about the cracks in your schedule.

The difficulty is in recognizing these opportunities.  That's where this list comes in. Here are times you might not otherwise think about as opportunities to write:

1. Do you have children? Do they play organized sports? Are they any good? If the answers to these questions are (Yes, Yes and No) then you have a built in time for writing. Take your notebook or laptop with you to the sidelines and get to work. If anyone gets upset at you for this, that just helps you create more believable conflict.
   
   
2. Work meetings. You've probably been in The Meeting That Would Not Die. Most of us have.  Here's a tip. Always take a writing pad with you. You should do this anyway, so you can take notes. And note taking is a built in excuse for plotting your next novel.  Oh, and here's another tip. Do you make weird faces when you're trying to write your characters' reactions? Then keep your facial expressions at a minimum during your manager's big presentation. I figured that one out the hard way.
   
   
3. Repetitive arguments are a fantastic time to get more writing in.  I'm talking about that disagreement, probably (but not necessarily with a significant other) that never goes anywhere. She says "You're always distracted." You say, "Always is an absolute statement. Wouldn't it be more accurate to say I'm sometimes distracted?" And she says, "What are you doing? Writing?" Hmm. Come to think of it, try to arrange for the argument to take place over the phone. Otherwise, you're more likely to lose.

See? Right there are three quick and easy ways to squeeze in more writing. As a bonus, if they leave single, with estranged children and no job, you'll have even MORE time to write!

My ideas are not only good. They're exponentially good. 

See? Even though this post was time consuming, it's totally worth it. You can thank me later.

Random quotes on writing

Here are some random quotes from people who have successfully walked the path of writing. I started to
categorize them, but then realized they would no longer be random.

• Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.
  (Ray Bradbury)
  
• You can't wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.
  (Jack London)
  
• If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I'd type a little faster.
  (Issac Asimov)
  
• The writer’s job is to get the main character up a tree, and then once they are up there, throw rocks at them.
  (Vladimir Nabokov)
  
• If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”
  (Stephen King)
  

• Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.”
  (Lloyd Alexander)
  
• You can fix anything but a blank page.”
  (Nora Roberts)
  
• A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.
  (E.B. White)
  
• "You can make anything by writing."
  (C.S. Lewis)
  
• I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged.
  (Erica Jong)
  
• If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.-
  (Edgar Rice Burroughs)
  
• "Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards."
  (Robert Heinlein)
  
• There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write.
  (Terry Pratchett))

The Danger of My Obsession

You know the one thing I love more than writing fiction? Well, truth be told, there's more than one. But do you know the particular thing I'm thinking about right now, that I love more than writing fiction?

No you don't. Otherwise, you'd probably be reading something else about now.

Even more than writing, I love thinking about writing. Like several writers with a day job, I imagine what it will be like to have writing be the only work, but that's not what I mean.

I love thinking about the craft.  You know, imagining the characters I want to create, the feelings I want to bring out, the types of stories I want to tell.

Used to be I'd by every Writer's Digest magazine when it came out, along with the occasional Writer Magazine based on the content. And I'd devour them, learning more and more along the way.

If there's one thing I'm good at, it's trivial geek references.  If there's two things I'm good at, you can add obsessing about interests to the list.  Somewhere on the list, if you add enough things that I'm good at, you get to writing.

I adore it. Which means I obsess about it. And there's the danger.

All the things listed that I enjoy doing, from reading the magazines to daydreaming about the craft, they're all good things. The catch is, when I'm thinking about writing, it feels like I'm actually going through the process.  But if all I'm doing is thinking, reading, or talking about it, then no new words actually make it to the page.

Every single day, I have to remind myself to sit down in the seat and do the real work.  This is true whether it's the day after writing 2000 words, or a week after writing 100.

Obsessing about the craft will ultimately benefit me, but only if I turn it into the right kind of action.  Otherwise it becomes a hindrance and a danger to the writing.

You live and learn. At any rate, you live.

(That last line was one of those geeky references I mentioned. Just so you know that I know that I didn't come up with the line.)

Checking in

Hello.

I'm still alive, and still writing. The blog has been neglected though. Soon, I'll post some more about the writing life.  Or just about the writing.

For now, I'm focusing on my goals and finding ways to achieve them.  Back to writing...

Counting Again

Remember my New Years goal? If not, I could make you go back and read it, but I'm nicer than that.  I'm also lazy enough not to go digging for the link, so this is a win-win for everybody.

6000 words a week.  Some marveled at the goal, others scoffed, and still others shrugged in indifference.  None of it mattered.  I had something measurable that held me accountable to the writing.  It was attainable, and challenging.

And I stopped counting.  A few things happened. Editing happened. Life did too.  I found myself surrounded by all these distractions.  Wonderful distractions.  Infuriating distractions.  One, in particular, spectacular distraction that I wouldn't trade for 60,000 words in a week.

What does a writer do though?  Among other things, a writer finds ways to write.  Allowing distractions to stop the work is for would-be writers.

Different writers use different techniques, routines and motivations to overcome the obstacles of life and time.  I count words.  If I'm shooting for 1000 words in a day, and I'm at 800, then I skip the Doctor Who episode and I write 200 more words.

(Side Note.  For years, I've tried to find a way to enjoy Doctor Who.  It's the kind of show I should love, but didn't. I finally figured out a way to like it.  It's called David Tennant. The best Doctor.)

This is what works for me.  So I'm counting again.

And no, this doesn't mean that I wasn't writing.  It means that, I'd work and feel like I was spinning my wheels. I let myself get bogged down too much in rewriting, and polishing the voice right out of my stories.  It means I'd be content with 100 words of variable quality, instead of 800 words of excellent quality.  (I write better when I write quickly.)

Started last night.  Got.. oh, somewhere before 400-500 words.  Call it 450.  I'm too lazy to fact check right now, and I haven't started the wordcount spreadsheet back up again anyway.  If I hadn't been counting, I probably wouldn't have cracked 100.

I'm back.

Hey, do blogs count?  If so, I have a good start on today's work.