I think I’ve come up with a plan to get back into my writing. I’ve been slacking lately and I can’t let that continue. Before I dive into my novel and short story ideas I think I will do a few days of prompts. I need to get my imagination and writing brain back into word shape. Even on this blog I’ve been really grasping for topics lately. Comparing hair and puppy training to writing. I can do better. (Unless you like that sort of thing.) I was thinking about taking a writing class. Writing classes were helpful when I was in college but I realized all the professor would do is use one page prompts as the homework assignment. The impending due date helped and having people to critique your work but I don’t think I need all the extras. I need a steady writing schedule.
It is always good to start off with a plan or an outline to organize my thoughts and know what direction to charge forward. It’s time to get my butt in the seat, my hands on the keyboard, and unlock a door the stories need to escape. These untold and incomplete stories have been driving me crazy. They’ve been trapped for too long. So wish me luck. I struggle with distractions and procrastination. I hope to find the motivation I had a year ago and start find writing schedule again.
I think it’s been two years since I’ve gotten my hair cut. Not good. I know. I didn’t know who to go to without spending an exuberant amount of money. But I needed a haircut. The only way my comb made it through my hair was with a lot of tugging and some ripping sounds. I went to the place around the corner and made an appointment. I cut off maybe six inches and it feels good. It feels light, free, maybe a bit wild but looking healthy. I know now I’ll get a comb through it and it will curl more when it dries.
I haven’t had many bad experiences with my hair. I have always been clear about what I want done and so far most have listened. Also, hair grows back and mine grows fast. Why did I wait so long to get my haircut? Fear. Entering a new location, meeting the hair stylist, and sitting in the chair can all be scary. I had to stop avoiding feeling fear. Just like the writing or editing life. With writing I had to stop fearing rejection, rereading my past work, and cutting writing that didn’t fit even if it sounded good. Fear is there to protect us from pain. There can be more pain never trying. Fear can help writing. It can be used as energy for inspiration. I didn’t think I would have an article this week. I had nothing to write about. This haircut inspirited me and reminded me that I have fears of trusting new people with parts of me but not letting those fears take charge.
While my hair looks good I have learn not to strive for perfection with my writing the first time around. I can continue cringing while reading but not stop editing. There may be a promising sentence that can make all the difference. I might have reached trying to find similarity with life and writing. However, I’m glad I did and do something that scares me. Next time it will be easier.
Naughty Dog has done it again. I just finished playing The Last of Us on PS3 and I am blown away. Late start, life, and responsibility kept getting in the way but I’m so happy I continued to come back. Seriously once I started playing, I don’t think I had a choice. The story line was amazing.
A fungal infects humans and spreads. Twenty years after the outbreak civilization has dramatically changed. Infected humans are everywhere and survivors turn and kill one another for food, weapons, or whatever they can get there hands on. Joel, a survivor is hired to help Ellie, a fourteen year old girl, travel across country. They meet few people that help along the way but what they face is a dark, brutal journey of infected, renegades, and cannibals.
Without spoilers I will tell you the first 10 minutes of the game will most likely have you in tears. I know I was fighting them back. For the rest of the game the characters and their relationships are developed gradually and with such care that it really helped me feel for them and keep playing. I have to complement Naughty Dog on writing dialog, especially between Joel and Ellie. They share real and touching moments that got me deeply invested. It also lead to some suspenseful scenes. This is not the standard, shoot through everyone, game. You are encouraged to sneak around your enemy. The sneak option left me on the edge of my seat with moments where I forgot I could breath while playing these scenes. (Yeah, I’m one of those type of players.) I just kept saying, “Someone’s going to die”.
One of the hard parts for me was the scene I played Joel, hanging upside down while waves of enemies come at you. I did have trouble with the shooting in this scene and some others. But I’m not always a good shot in any game (Not an expert gamer.) so I really liked the sneak option. It is a kill or be killed sort of world. The violence and killing Joel commits seems like a man who has been doing this job too long. I was shocked by the ending. Warning: SPOILERS. For those who plan to play and/or haven’t finished and are reading this, stop reading here if you don’t want to know the ending. I don’t think I can be vague anymore.
Okay. So, I was expecting a dismal end for one or both of the characters. At the end, some of the things Joel does is just hard to watch. But I understand his state of mind. No longer transporting a package, he is more like a father and he will do anything to protect Ellie. And Ellie trusts and believes everything Joel says because look at all they’ve been through together. Does she know? I don’t think so. I believe Ellie would die to cure humanity and Joel knows. That’s why Joel lies. I was not disappointed. I liked it.
Wow this almost sounded like a review. That wasn’t my intention. I just finished the game and I needed to get all this out.
I write better at times away from home. Is it the clique atmosphere that makes the brain click and starts it running with poetic verse? Or is it the different location. The place that is not your own. New sensations? If it’s the nature noise and the city quite or the drown of the city’s loud buss and the stillness of the rural areas. Away, the words come. The mind loosens up. There is distance between your T.V. or fast internet and you can’t drift away from the page. The clock’s clicking doesn’t echo or count down but the word count increases.
Sunday, my Other and I adopted a puppy. She is a 3 1/2 month mutt and she now has a home with us. We named her Lana. She is gentle, sweet, and starting to get into trouble but we all keep teaching and learning. Even if it would make a good excuse I can’t give up my writing schedule with my new arrival. Instead, I’ve adjusted to writing when she’s napping. (Puppies nap a lot). While going through the puppy training steps I couldn’t help think it’s like the writing process. (Now, bear with me.)
Have a safe place. For Lana, it is her crate, under a table, or behind a Christmas tree. I am happy to report by day three her safe place is her pillow, carpet, and crate. And this shy dog just needs a few minutes to adjust to new situations. For me, it’s my desk, the living room couch, or Starbucks (I like the hustle). I find my distraction is less in these places but it took me some time and experimenting to figure this out. I remember trying a local library once and it was a waste of time for me. One time the librarian working knew me and wanted to chat. I tried to explain what I was doing but it leads to more conversation. Another library I happen to run into someone who remembered me and wanted to catch up. Trail and error but we are finding where we are most comfortable.
Set a schedule. It’s best with a new puppy to set schedule for walking, feeding, and playing/training. With writing it is best to set a schedule, for writing, editing, and story outlining. Maybe morning you write best, and after lunch, you edit the piece from three months ago. Great! Keep it up. You’ll start to notice you write or edit most those times with speed and ease. Both schedules teach the puppy or brain when it is time to do your business.
Be consistent. My puppy is improving every day with her daily schedule of walks, encouragement, and training she has learned her name and where to pee/poop. I constantly struggle with being consistent with my writing schedule but I have been improving. I know I need to keep up writing five days a week (for you maybe writings every other, after or before work) but I seem to do that for a month and stop. But I keep trying and I’ve seen improvement. Also, I see what my writing is like after a long dry spell. Less description and imagination. It is best to keep writing so your brain knows when it’s time to turn on and get those creative juices flowing. Don’t wait for inspiration. Your work will be few and far between. Write every day and inspiration will come more often and when there is paper and pen.
Don’t overdo it. Lana training has gone far in the few days we’ve had her but we have tried to limit what we teach and for how much time. She’s not going to learn anything tired. We try to not train for too long and try to notice when she is tired. A tired puppy won’t learn anything. Don’t want to stop all the good writing vibes but your brain needs time to rest and reboot. Sometimes when I finish writing a scene I put the story away. If I have more ideas in what direction to take the story I’ll write a next section outline and step away. Be patient. By letting my brain rest I find the next day I can write that scene longer and with more excitement then if I kept going. This is not always true. I have written two or more scenes in a row but after many writing sections, I have learned to listen to my writing brain and sense if it’s getting tired and if it can go the distance of the next scene. It’s exciting but remember, it takes time. Don’t want to give up completely because you’ve mistaken overwork for writer’s block.
The puppy is waking up and it’s time for my writing brain to rest. Below is a picture of Lana (the real reason you’ve been reading). Enjoy and continue writing.
I want to write but when I sit down all that fills my paper is tears. The pen cuts deep. It skips past the words I need and leaves me alone with scribbled mess. No character comes to mine. No scene with the scent of nature or city. No story.
Just tear it up and toss it out. Another useless day. Glassy eyes with mirror reflection of failure. The fight is gone.
I woke by springing upright in bed. The screeching sound first coming from my dreams then somewhere in my room. The glow of my cell phone reflecting erie shadows onto my walls. Thank you NYC emergency service alert for the potential flood advisory in the area. My warning: I am awake. With this extra time I thought I would be using for sleeping I figure it was time to write on this thing.
I’ve been slacking on updating this blog. First, I thought I had nothing to write about. Second, I been procrastinating with the help of Skyrim. That game has a way of wasting hours without me even knowing they passed. The fighting and finding items in quests suck in my attention. Even the slow activities (black smithing, enchanting, and selling) seem to fast forward my clock. The true time suck, the new cable box not displaying the time. Before the disappearance of the cable clock I was focused on the game and the quest but always with an eye on the time. Now, my line of vision has no clock to nag me with how much time I spend playing. It’s true for my writing too. When I put up the full screen document view and I have a supply of words I know I need to get down, time is not an issue. Cover the computer distractions (mostly internet browsers) along with the clock and I’m writing. I realized, typing this out, the clock may be my enemy. I wonder if it’s just the digital clock or would the same time hover happen if I had a analog clock over my desk or T.V. A theory to test one day with my game play not my writing.
I have an account on both sights and I was thinking of using one and deleting the other. I been trying to cut down the number of social site’s I’m a member of and two communities where I can post my creative work seems excessive. Which to keep and which to throw away?
I have posted one poem on WritersCafe and receive a few comments. I was thinking about posting the same poem on Wattpad and see if I get more advice but the “Are you sure you read the terms” pops up and it makes me jumpy. When posting on the net there is always that fear your hard work will be stolen, hated or lost but why is Wattpad making sure I’ve read them? Is there something buried deep in lawyer language saying I’m selling my first born? (Trying to be funny here but seriously is there?) Also, does anyone really ever read the terms and conditions? (Eddie Izzard joke.)
But what to do? Have you experience on either or both writing sites? Which do you like and why?
My mind has been weaving yarns. But it’s not just my mind keeping me awake. My body twitches and itches. I’ve been up for over an hour tossing, turning, covering and uncovering. It was when I looked at the clock and I realized the last time I looked it read 4:55. Now it says 6:15 and I had to get up. I am a spider in the web until my eyes burn and I try to sleep again.
Who is participating in National Novel Writing Month? I’ve been thinking about partaking but sometimes I feel maybe I should be working on my own novel then just race writing. Some have said I should try to speed write my next novel but I don’t think NaNoWriMo should be used with something I care about. But some seem to be taking this month to work on the story they’ve been putting on the back burner. I always figured NaNoWriMo is a time to try anything. Stuck? Aliens land or a time machine or cab with hot celebrity. I’ve done that kind of writing now I think I want to focus on my story.
I’ve been working on my outline and now I’m reaching a wall. I’ve been figuring I’ll write what I have. I hope, as I get closer to the end of what I’ve outlined, I’ll have more direction where to go in the story. I don’t want some race or daily word count decide or pressure where my story goes. NaNoWriMo could be a good way to step away from my story and just have stressful fun on something I don’t fuss over. Knowing me I’m thinking NaNoWriMo is just procrastination. I still have a few weeks to think it over before I choose. To the ones that have decided, I read a great quote the other day. For writers and wanna be authors out in the world:
“Don’t quit. It’s very easy to quit during the first 10 years. Nobody cares whether you write or not, and it’s very hard to write when nobody cares one way or the other. You can’t get fired if you don’t write, and most of the time you don’t get rewarded if you do. But don’t quit.”
Random Thoughts 
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