G-G-G-Goals!

Goals.

When people wonder what motivates the super-productive, it can be a tricky one to answer. Sometimes, it's not about the creating so much. I've sat down to write just to stay awake so I could be sure I hear the Fed-Ex guy delivering something because gods forbid they ever knock. Other times, it's just a great excuse to drink coffee and move my hands for a while. Or it's a break from crochet or drawing because my hands are itching to go but the threat of RSIs mean it's time to change up.

Sometimes, it's just a choice I make.

Goals (still here) help. I mentioned before the advertising and wanting to do ComicCon are big to-do's even though I haven't been making much money. At writing. I do take odd jobs here and there that means my fish don't starve, gifts are made, etc.

In some ways, I have too many, but I try not to look at the pile-up. There's the UnQuadrilogy I'm still working on. I have several books started with rough outlines for possible outcomes (one of which actually became a short story instead). I have two comic ideas I've been fiddling with treatments for. These aren't just maybes. These are ones I constantly think about, jot down notes for, all while writing up drafts and editing and the other life-ish things.

I'd love to bottle it and sell it. I'd be filthy rich and could afford a studio and employees and just pump shit out like a factory. However, it's a matter of whatever magic formula appealed to me. Like losing weight, it's not just something you can do for a week and, boom, you're done. To build good habits takes a lot of work and it's always easier to just not do it. Like losing weight. I really need to get back to that, but 'tis not the season when I have much else to do. The fish tank and long walks and running up and down the stairs because every truck sounds like a Fed-Ex truck maintains me for the time-being. The tough part is resisting the temptation to bundle up and eat. When you've got the genetic make-up of a she-bear, this body stores everything like it doesn't trust me not to eat for a while. It's not wrong. I forget. But bingeing is a big no.

It's a mental thing. Yeah, I'm mental, but I mostly mean discipline, fortitude, motivation. It takes patience and introspection. If you think sitting to think is wasting time when you could be doing something, then that's likely part of the problem. Thinking is the powerhouse for action. I can't tell you how often planning and brainstorming for an hour had led to typing 2k/hr for 5 hours of work. I managed a 10K sprint in part-time hours. My usual average is a modest 1k/hr so that's a HUGE time-cruncher. The same thing can be apply to your creative pursuits.

If you have an inner critic, you need some sort of ritual to drown them out. For drafting, it's absolutely pointless. When you are building up an idea, your ego, goals, criticism--they all have to GTFO. They'll have their place, but ideally, you need to stop worrying about everything within 10-15 minutes of steady work. If you have the sort of focus to try for longer, then go ahead and stumble for 30 minutes, an hour, but if you really can't get the creative juices in their own arena and your head keeps getting in the way, time to abandon it and try something else.

If you're stubborn (and I am that too), then it's not necessary to completely throw out your plans, but you will want to change tact. I've posted quite a few helpful ways to dabble in writing-related planning, including map-making, character sheets, blogging, updating social media or websites, mind-mapping, brain-storming, Venn Diagrams, eating, drinking, sleeping...

A common area that writers can forget. If you're a busy person, it's even easy to miss how important those things are to how useful your brain and body are. Eat, drink, sleep. Lots of water and, yes, it will make you pee a lot. There's a rule that I broke for years; you know, the thing video game warnings used to print out? You need a 10 minute break from sedentary work every hour. Having to get up to pee is a great excuse. If you find it too distracting, take a notebook with you (or keep it in the bathroom) and jot things down. I've similarly done yoga stretches or made food to eat while attacking a notepad. You think your art suffers for interruptions, wait until your body slows down after prolonged abuse. You could be looking at months, even years where just sitting up in bed is a chore. It's not just an old people problem-- it's a danger in an era of technological convenience.

It's really not necessary to keep lists like I do, but it doesn't hurt. If you just tend to forget, then setting alarms and making lists are good habits to start. 

Sure, it's tough. All of it. Typing fast, pounding out ideas, those are very hard won advantages to working efficiently, trial and error. It's messy. It's less messy once you build up your arsenal, but if what you want is to actually work on those ideas you're wistful to put to work, then you need goals. You need to devote time, however small. You need to plan what resources will make you more efficient. You need to have actual things to look forward to (like getting a booth and ComicCon, planning giveaways, paying for advertising).

Speaking of which, I'm hearing a lot of writers downing on paid advertising, yet some of my more successful writer friends are always drumming up interest in promotional materials, giveaways and... paid ads. I would, however, warn everyone not to dump hundreds into ad-campaigns, no matter how much of a 'deal' it's advertised to be. Start at the lowest priced packages and if they build success, then move up through the amounts. Ending up in the negatives because you think more is better is a common pitfall. Stick with something budget-friendly when starting out. This is advice I see consistently and something to definitely consider if you're on a low budget.

Run-On Sentences, Run-On Mind

Many new writers stumble on the run-on sentence at some stage of their development. As with a great deal of concepts strict grammaticians frown on, this is one of those yellow flag areas that are at least worth looking at more keenly when you spot them in editing. 

What can it say about you as a writer? It hardly means you're inexperienced or careless. What it can betray is a hurried need to connect thoughts without taking a breath, almost begging your reader not to abandon ship. Musicians will be familiar with the term breath-marks which, like commas, guide us both mentally and when reading aloud to... pause and feel the rhythm, connect the words. While I'm personally a fan of fragment chains that connect several events in synch, there are also times when I'm simply showing a reluctance to create the pause of a completed thought with a period. Examples of places I've caught renegade commas and how I correct them?

• She does something but what he does is something else; he gets a semi-colon, not another comma, especially when they have their own adjective and action fragments.
• Her action has many fragment chains, many thoughts. Her new action is different and no longer a part of that idea.
• I really want their actions to happen together so I reflect that—oh, noooo; an em-dash to continue it. Don't use an em-dash to avoid a comma that should be a period.

Use paragraphs as the indicator of what thoughts and actions run together. Use shorter paragraphs to denote a faster pace where you aren't looking too closely. Use longer ones when you want the reader to slow down and contemplate. Visually, this is often an unconscious signifier so trust your readers' instincts more. So what are some ways paragraphs subtly lead?

For one, use it to keep conversation neat and limit those he-said/she-said's. This has its own sub-examples.

• "I'm talking." She picked up the microphone before continuing. "You're listening."
• "You're talking," she commanded, but it was clear she wasn't done talking. "Let me get a drink first."
• "They're talking—" Her look dared him to interrupt. "—but I'm not listening."

Now with the em-dash interruptions come other techniques; you can start the interrupted sentence, use a new paragraph to start a verbal interruption, then yet another so the interrupted can em-dash/speak the rest of their sentence over them. Interruptions can be tricky business in novels since your words and actions are visually sequential rather than able to layer like in movies and other visual media. However, this is one of the ways you can introduce that occurrence. May I add that it's usually a good idea to really cut out any he-said/she-said tags if possible. Try to isolate the speakers to two possible culprits before you use it. 

Example:

Chisa was done with Hara's whining. She stood in front of Hara, an expression demanding Hara's full attention.

"Listen, you whining little mess, you—"

"I really don't need this..."

"—are just going to have to learn to set aside your drama and do what needs to be done!" Chisa tossed Hara the dirty bucket she'd dropped on the stool. "Start with this. These walls aren't going to clean themselves!"

Now that example includes the bonus of the paused speech-action-speech paragraph. In this way, I could avoid insisting that Chisa yelled, said or any other obvious variation, and just focused on her action before continuing. We get pretty quickly that she's irritated so you can trust the reader to pick up on that and focus on the fast pace of a tense moment.

Let me reiterate that run-on sentences are still a yellow flag, not red. Sometimes they work. They can create a cascade of words that leave you breathless. Sentences carry their own rhythms and at times, the effect of a long sentence can actual captivate the reader. Then, a short point can be more powerful.

She ran and ran but, no matter which way she took, there was another door, another wall, so her steps grew shorter and slower, then not at all. She had nowhere to go.

In that quick example, there's even a sort of poetry to the unintentional spacing between 'wall' and 'all' that creates a rhythm in the moment. For some, that subtle use might make us aware of holding our breath or even a racing heart if this is a build in a suspense scene.

You can excuse a busy mind as the initial reason for run-on sentences. Certainly, don't set out to eliminate all of them on your edits. Endeavor to limit their uses to where they might be most powerful. Be more critical of any sentence that exceeds two or three commas. Rework them if they just don't assist in the style or pace. 

Just like the use of fancier words, you sometimes want to save them where they are the exact word for the situation, not just proof you know how to use a thesaurus. While the 'very is lazy' idea is one I stand behind, I'd recommend using 'very happy' if you're writing for an audience that hasn't learned the word 'ecstatic' yet. Young readers are hard enough to snag these days, so limit where they detach from your book to look up a word.

In every case of the word 'rule' being thrown carelessly about advice for writers, there is ripe opportunity to find the exception. Even my trusting nature has learned to believe all rules have exceptions, so don't excuse a trusting nature as reason to accept it as the only good advice. Go ahead and challenge yourself to aggravate grammaticians—write a 50+ word sentence correctly using at least one em-dash, semi-colon, a comma and a period. Why? Because you can. There's a correct way to bend any rule so go ahead and challenge yourself with it. Why not risk doing it incorrectly even?

It wasn't because she hated him or even herself that she scratched his lover's name into his window; for her, it was an affirmation that she had no place in his life—as if she'd ever had a proper place at all!—and this was simply her way of moving on.

Hey, now, I couldn't just pose it to you without attempting it myself, could I? So give it a try. First, sort out how they are used, then create a sentence that can carry on the task. How about... not making much sense?

I've never been that blizzant about purple picklesnarf—my grandmagi would attest to this— but if you never get the opportunity, then disregard what I'm about to say; for the rest of you, I'd caligant to the nearest harsram before Ankersdam before you regret it for the rest of your unnatural lives.

That one sounds a bit Lewis Carrol and Tim Burton writing a sci-fi collaboration, but you get the gist. It's less about making perfect sense all the time and more about having fun with words.

So let your mind run-on from time to time, even if you're normally a very serious writer. Especially if you're a serious writer. Just like the best scientists are creative-minded, being a better writer involves abandoning some comfort zones.

Either way, don't red-flag those run-on sentences. If you want to feel them out, read them aloud using the punctuation marks as guides. Chances are, if you need to stop to take breaths because your style is leaving you winded, that is where you might benefit from a different strategy.

Hope this one serves you well. I might do more posts combining style and grammar in the future. I really enjoyed this one at least. Keep writing, peoples!

From Shallow to Deep

Now, this is going to be a very general bit of advice, if only because there are some methods I've learned along the way work rather well in many ways, but we're not always conscious of how simple it can be to access it.

Blurbs, hooks, basic ideas-- they all have one particular common thread and that's the fact that are deeper than you think as long as you chain them right.

Ideally, we would all hook readers with as little telling information as possible, but sometimes, we just have to dangle a juicy spoiler to stand any chance of doing so. It's always been this way, but there might have been a time where you didn't set out to be an author where you probably selected at least a book or two based on some curiosity sparked with a back-cover blurb.

Maybe you've wanted to be an author for so long that you overlooked how much of a draw that is for some readers. I certainly follow the sentiment that a blind read can be the best experience, but this is also a time where fiction is so full of choice that we can't ignore that people will often skip over our work based on what we don't do to market it, so it may be worth it to cover all the bases.

The first time I wrote a blurb, I didn't even want to give away names. Or plots. It felt like everything was taking away from the grand ideas I'd protected for some big reveal. Yet over time, I would look at that blurb and think, well, there was nothing about it that made me care so why should anyone else? 

If anything, you need to mention at least one character by name or occupation (I have to make an exception here because UnNamed had no named characters at first). Tell the reader what the character wants (or think they want) more than anything. The way your readers may connect can come from many directions-- maybe they relate or don't and want to learn, maybe it enhances the kind of mood they're in, maybe it's just well-written enough that they're willing to take a chance. While you might be able to get away with it, there's often no connection with a vague or generic reference to the 'hero' nor their catch-all purpose of saving the world. Don't be afraid to mention those, but still give it a spin that lets the reader know there's depth. For example, the reader should at least know that the billionaire playboy Tidus is thrust into a world where his charms are useless and those idle fencing lessons in prep school are no match for a full-armored knight with a great sword who is in no mood for his crap.

I get that you probably want any evolution of this 'annoying' character to be a total surprise, but if you ever gain any popularity, people are going to happily spoil everything on social media the minute they read it anyway. Instead, you have to understand that no matter how specific you are with the frame of your story, the part of your skills that make them want to read will only be satisfied in the meat of your story. You can still hide your juiciest twists and plots, but give away some of those early bits in order to entice them into a sense of something different.

Really, how many times in life did you simply trust someone that something works or it's good, only to feel cheated when it's anything but? You may think that someone can take a few dollar gamble, but there are plenty of readers that frequent libraries or borrow from friends because what little they can spend is something they want to reserve for some guarantee that it won't be a wasted investment. Some people would just rather fill their shelves with hard cover masterpieces or their digital libraries with quality choices, so simply insisting it will be worth it and guarding it too carefully will probably not work in your favor.

Start always by answering the simplest questions with any idea. Who is the main character? What do they want? What stands in their way of getting it? What are they going to do about it? Those may not be the exact questions that drive your blurb, but don't get too complex at first. My own best ideas often came from shallow and deep passes, alternating them alike. 

With the Tidus example, I gave you who he is in the beginning, the problem he faces (his own useless skills in another situation), and the antagonist that stands in his way. However, it can grow from there.

Really, since you are the expert, this is where playing can be fun. As the writer, you already know that the mysterious beauty that sends Tidus up against a world he doesn't fit in that the so-called woman is actually the sword-wielding knight and not a woman at all. From there, you can even make it more interesting by asserting for the knight why he's moonlighting as a woman. Perhaps he is undercover, looking for his sister, and it's an extreme annoyance that he has a lovesick man bungling things for him. This is also the best place to assert a niche that may draw an audience or repel the ones who wouldn't like it. The protagonist and antagonist, drawn together time and again, develop romantic feelings for each other. Perhaps in this case, Tidus's feelings don't change when he discovers the woman in biologically male and seeing him masculine might only at first be a point of contention. Not everyone is going to enjoy a story where men are lovers and that's fine. Thinking you can write enough up to that point to make them forgive it just isn't realistic.

Sexuality is a place where people have preferences. Pansexual utopias are... eh, sorry, guys, doesn't sound very open-minded, just boring. There's great debate as to whether people should disclose their sex/sexuality when courting someone they're attracted to (and to weigh in-- yes, you should disclose that because deceiving or withholding a preference that may be important to their identity shouldn't be denied so the pursuer can protect only their own interests. You can't assume love will conquer all. It's fucking absurd). In books, well, it's your call. You may want that to be left to discovery. Ultimately, free speech is something I protect and that includes the right to decide whether or not to use trigger warnings. Although if written words can trigger someone that much, I'm also of a mind to say that reading isn't a risk they should take. In my own experience, facing my fears is an important part of life and hiding from them never did me any good. Guarantees are just not literature's friend either. It's one of those products where even if it doesn't work for me, it's due to taste not malfunction. I can't be mad if I take the risk and it doesn't pan out. Heh, pan...

lol Super late trigger warning: I do tackle homosexuality at least briefly in my second trilogy. True to life, I just happen to have characters that go there. In all honesty, I hadn't planned it that way, but I ran with it. I do try not to 'sneak' that sort of thing into later books. Sometimes you just don't want people homing in on it like it's a prevalent focus, other times, you want it to be a selling point. Some people want to skip past all sexual scenes, some people won't touch a book that even has them. To each their own, but I never wanted to place emphasis on the short sexual encounters in my fantasy stories. They served their purpose which was never central to the plot, just the character development.

Yeah, yeah, I'm swerving off the track but what separates shallow and deep isn't really measurable. I made plenty of mistakes with it because I was unsure and I never wanted the answer to be easy. I became a writer to fill a personal need, but I became an author to learn how to share it. It's not the end of the world if you fumble a bit. Just try not to end up seeming vapid or coy or too protective by being too vague. If you've ever queried, you're close to what it takes to write a decent blurb. For a query, the agent wants to know your story beginning to end in as few words as possible. Take that spoiler filled beauty and reduce it to a general concept. It's going to look... vague. Take the vague words like 'hero' or 'a kingdom' and pop in the names. Usually, the first two sentences of your query contain a great introduction. You may want to delve into later events and even pose them as a question to entice the reader. When the ground shakes and the Black Serpents arise, will Tidus be able to face the one who betrayed him among their ranks?

Maybe said Black Serpents were supposed to be a surprise. Maybe they still are, to someone who isn't you. Throw out their aim in some form even. Maybe they're a secret society of orphans who hate people who have parents. There's probably a lot more to it than that, but it's curious enough that a reader might wonder why.

Giving something of value for free is often where the author starts to draw people in. Though this advice usually applies to things like bookmarks or giveaways, giving someone enough details to make the work irresistible can be just as important.

One of these days, I'm taking that advice for myself. The sad fact is that just accomplishing hard work isn't immediately useful. As an author, I may have to gamble and pay out a lot of money for the mere hope of a return. I knew what I signed up for. I also know where I'm at, so I'm at peace with my situation. Either way, it might be worth it to wait to publish until you're ready to plug into marketing and spending. If you're a lone ranger who just wants to write, well... you can't expect a miracle. DO what you can and enjoy it for what it's worth!

Mad-Libbing It Up and Skipping Ahead

While I can't really talk about my stories while writing them, there are certainly some techniques for fast drafting that I can share with you. This is assuming you're up to the challenge or it's already a method you enjoy but are curious to see if there's some angle you haven't looked at.

Most fast work is sloppy work. Even people quick to whip out books and articles run the risk of putting out work chock full of errors. If your plots are simple enough or if you have a decent handle on grammar, you might be the exception. However, when drafting something trickier, it's entirely possible you can do a rather impressive job of getting it down and making it comprehensible for editing to iron it out.

Hell, I'll even add a bonus section at the end, showing how to throw out quick notes using Scrivener.

Mad Lib!

In a carefully treaded story, you probably stop, research, play with names, formulate those plots carefully... Do none of that; try this instead.

In place of the name or place or other unknown, plug in a word you absolutely won't use anywhere else. Persimmon, whorebag, igloo-- just grab at something off the wall and let it fill the place of something you might hang up on. Not only is it a quick creative nibble, it's a tried and true trick that makes replacing it later super easy. I usually advise to put it in caps too. If you accidentally misspell it then you'll catch it easier on a manual sweep. Keep a notepad or a plain text window open to record the word and a description of who or what it's filling in for. It might be a mini break in the flow but I've never had an issue with it taking me away as long as other options.

Skippy Dippy!

Sometimes, you want to form a subplot, some fun little opportunity for a bond, a development or a murder. You know the transition needs something but the inspiration isn't hitting, even boring you just thinking about it. In Scrivener, I sometimes create a whole new scene tab and leave it blank for later and move to the next solid scene, but if you're using a simple one document WP like Word, just double space, center text in CAPS along the lines of FIGHT SCENE #1, double space again, return to body format and move on.

If you have a solid lead on a subplot then give it your full effort, but if you're not quite into it, either give yourself time to warm to it or ditch it. Trying to force it out is mental constipation. Don't be afraid to rush on parts you're unsure of. You're going to edit later and you won't easily miss a spot you rushed through. You can always use a word processor feature like highlighting if you're sure you want to find it faster to fix up.

Bonus: Quick Scene

One thing I do with Scrivener is take my bare notes and throw them down right away. In a folder I start a bunch of new unnamed scenes, then take that document notes section and jot down any notes relevant to that scene. If you didn't plan, just jot down the quick version of what you hope will unfold. Name each scene something fun and relevant. By default, those names aren't going to pop up in your main document so you can give them spoiler names. Fall of the King, Poison Ivy is Terrible TP, All the Butts are Itchy, whatever. The idea is to set up scenes like you would for a play or movie. I usually stick to staying on one scene block until they change settings, but you can use them to isolate specific plots and perspectives as well.

Use each scene block's note section to type up a rough synopsis. You might be surprised by how fast you graduate into each transition when you've got the general idea peeking on the side. Mostly, I just type up a rough synopsis, but it's a good place to jot down new appearances or places and possible subplots. The Novel template contains subfolders for Characters, Places, and Research but you can make more of these 'hidden' folders to jump to while writing and refer to those as well. I usually find it to be more work than needed, filling all of that out and keeping it updated, but it can work as a style sheet or database just as well.

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No matter how you write, I'd always suggest doing a rough outline of what you think you want from the beginning, middle and end. All stories benefit from structure and you might get stuck a lot if you don't give yourself something to shoot for. In the past, my unfinished stories were often due to running way off course. They would become boring or muddy and it would be difficult to find where I jumped off course because I didn't have any idea what course I was trying to take.

At the very least, do some basic linear plotting. Think of it like a pitch. It's okay if you end up diverting as long as you still have a destination plot. If you originally planned for the hero to die at the end, but eventually formulate a much better idea that you need them alive for, then adhere to the new plot, even if it's as rough as 'hero lives'. You don't have to write everything down. Even if you're pretty forgetful, once you light a fire, you can keep rough notes and still be on a clear path. Even if you're blazing full speed, you may hit lulls. I do this from time to time, where I think the path is clear, but the transition starts to feel like it could be weak or dull no matter how you swing it. You might need to work in a subplot or jump to another character. A chapter jump (switching to another character or even a memory/flashback/dream) can be a natural transition when you need to move a character to another scene. If one path seems stale, go ahead and cut it short and move ahead. Don't come back to it until the idea of writing it is appealing. You may need to rework something before it or find some clever transition. Remember, you can use other characters, scenes, timelines, etc. to blend subplots relevant to the main plot. Sometimes you get caught up in detail you can do without. It sometimes needs help by moving ahead without it. That's the beauty of drafting though. You can write it in any order you need to, so there's never a need to force what isn't working.