Tag: The writing Life

The Writing Life- Research, Part One

Research is a part of any editing process, no matter what kind of book you’re writing. Unless you’re writing a story about your own home town and a person who does exactly what you do or used to do. This isn’t a good idea, because you’re going to be bored writing it. Even if you’ve got a super exciting job, you don’t want to write about it. If you were that interested in your day job, you’d want to be doing it and not writing.

So, get used to the idea of researching. Let’s start, with your shopping list.

1. Highlighters
2. Notebook paper
3. Tab dividers
4. Lots and lots of writing materials
5. Coffee, always
6. A strong and reliable internet connection.

Once you’ve got your materials in order, take a look at your book, and decide what you need to research. I can’t tell you what you’re going to need, because it depends entirely on your book. When I researched my first Woven book, I learned about weaving, spinning, Italy, Japan, rivers, Pittsburgh, archery, basic medical education and Krav Maga.

No matter what you research, you’ll want to keep this in mind; you don’t have to be an expert, but you need to find one. What I mean by that is when you’re researching, you want to make sure you’re learning from people who actually know what they’re talking about. In other words, don’t use Wikipedia as your only source. It’s a great starting point, but not an end point.

Speaking of sources, I like to use the same rules I learned in Journalism. Two sources are needed for any fact. I mean two reliable sources. Not everyone thinks or my friend said, unless your friend’s an expert.

Now, when you’re doing your first read through, keep a list of things you need to learn about. Then, start studying. But not the way you’d study for a test. Remember, the point isn’t to track facts and figures. It’s to evoke a feeling. You want to know enough about a fact to paint a back drop. If you’re learning about a country, look for things that make you say, “Oh, that’s so cool!” Those are the things that readers want to read. Not exactly when the land was first settled.

This process should take some time. How much time is going to depend on what you’re writing. If at all possible, do more than just read. For instance, one of my fictional countries is based on the middle east. Guess who’s learning to cook middle eastern food so that I know what my characters are eating. It’s spicy, by the way. I also bought a loom and learned how to weave. I don’t like it, but I can talk about it now and not sound like an idiot.

Oh, and be prepared to look either like a fool or a terrorist. I’ve got a secret, Broken Patterns is not my first book, it’s my fourth. My third one was a crime drama that included male rape. I had to find out how a rape kit was preformed on a male victim. It made me squirm a lot. In fact, it almost made me throw up. But I had to know.

To sum it up, here are the ground rules.

You’re writing a work of fiction, not a paper. If you’re bored, the reader probably will be too.
But when you have a fact, be sure of it. Otherwise you’ll come off as unprofessional and sloppy.
Immerse yourself in the thing you’re learning as much as you can. Hands on experience is great if sensible.
Just because you learned something cool in your research doesn’t mean you have to put it in your book.
Don’t be afraid to learn about something uncomfortable. If it makes you squirm, it will make your readers squirm, and that may be just what you’re after.
Remember, quality sources, or it’s not true. And I mean the quality part. As my husband just added, I can find two sources to prove absolutely anything from the Kennedy assassination to how the moon landing was ‘faked’.

As a final thought, remember that research can be consuming. It’s fun to learn about new things, or at least it is for me. But at the end of the day, we are writers, not researchers. We want just enough to get the idea, and then get our asses back to writing.

0

The Writing Life- The useful desk

As I write this, I am sitting in my armchair,  with my tablet on a lap desk.  I am the poster child for not sitting at a desk when I write.  Really, I sit at a desk all day at my dayjob, and the desk I have at home is not a great one.

Which is why I am in the process of making plans to build a new one.  Because I need a desk.  Every writer needs a desk.  But it needs to be one designed for your use.  Specifically,  your writing use.

While you might not need to write your rough draft at a desk (I don’t,) you will want to do any other work there.  Here are some things go you want to keep in mind while setting up your writing desk.

1. It doesn’t need to be huge, but it does need to be big enough for the things you need to do.  Which means you need some elbow room.  Personally,  I need room for the lap top, my tablet, and an open composition notebook.   Also my coffee cup and elbows.  This is one of the things keeping me from using my desk right now.  It is just too small.

2. Drawers, there should be a lot of them.  Because you need the room.  Paper, pens, notebooks, post its, staplers, stencils, chocolate stashes.  One thing I am doing on my new desk is putting in shelves, not drawers.  That way I can find and access all of my tools when I need them.  Also, if I need to ask one of my kids to get something,  they can’t sneak and get some thing else, like my chocolate stash.

3. The chair should be comfortable enough to spend hours in, but not so comfortable that you fall asleep.

Finally, if you can avoid it at all, don’t share your desk at all.  Your space is your space, and you need things to be as you left them the last time.  Besides, there is a good chance that you share every other room in your house, you don’t share your desk.

Personally,  I also don’t use my desk for anything else.  I don’t play games, color, write bills, or anything else.  It is my writing space only.

Take some time this week to set up your writing desk.  Then sit yourself down, and start getting some work done.

0

The Writing Life- Editing Shopping List

Don’t lie, you’re going to love this part even if you hate editing.  I’ve never met a writer that didn’t walk into Staples and hear the Halleluiah chorus in their head.

Editing is an intensive process, and it requires special tools.  While it’s true that you only need a pen and a notepad to start your rough draft, you need a little more than that now.  That’s okay, you’re worth it and so is your story.  Besides, if you sat your ass in your chair long enough to produce a first draft, you’ve earned a shopping trip.

So, here’s my suggested editing shopping list.

1. Printer paper and at least two new ink cartridges.  Or, you can do what I do and have your manuscripts printed at a local printer.  It saves me time and money.  It also prevents me from trying to replace the ink cartridge, which I seem to have some sort of mental block over.  Personally, I write out my first draft long hand, then print out my second draft in preperation for the third.

2. Red pens.  As always, I’ve got a great red le pen that I use.

3. sticky notes, to add notes to the manuscript itself while you’re reading it.

4. A legal pad.  I get ideas while I’m editing that I want to address in later parts of my book.  That’s why I keep a legal pad right at my side for stream of conscious note taking.

5. Highlighters.  All sorts of uses for highlighters, and I suggest a five color pack.  I use them for poor dialog, bad phrasing, plot holes, characters acting out of character, grammar mess ups and spelling mistakes.  Some people use them to track plotlines, but I’ve usually got so many of those that I’d need more colors than they make.  Though I will use them to track ploteline importance with the next tool.

6. Index cards.  I use these to make plotline maps, because I can make it bigger as I go along.  What I do, is write the chapter title in the color ink I used for that character’s pov. (one of my org tips for keeping povs in order in draft one.)  Then, I’ll write any plot lines discussed on the index card, higlighted by order of series plot, book plot, sub plot, or character development.  I also make a little note of the last chapter we talked about this plotline in.

7. One big plastic crate, to corral all of my drafts as I go.  I’ll separate them in the boxes I get from the printer, but if you’re printing at home, I advise shoe boxes, or any other box that’s the right size.  No need to get fancy unless you really want to.

8. Coffee, obviously.  At least for me.  But really, I’ll use any excuse to buy coffee.

9. Binder clips.  I use these to hold my pages together in later drafts so I can flip them like a book.

10. Treats.  Editing is hard.  Even for crazy people like me who like it.  I feel better if I’ve got a piece of chocolate after each chapter.

Editing is a big job, and you need the tools to get through it.  I didn’t add any specifics about these tools, because there are a hundred different kinds of high lighters, and you should pick out the ones you like best.

Take some time to pick these things up, and let’s get started.

0

The Writing Life- The Writer’s Planner

Do you have a planner? It’s the start of a new year, so you might have just gotten a new one. If you haven’t, you’ve at least seen them all over the damn place.

Planners are either something basic that everyone needs, or a really unhealthy scrap booking obsession, depending on your outlook on life. I’m sort of part of the second group, but I’m working on it. You need it to remember appointments, class and work schedules, due dates, the whole thing. The more chaotic your life, the more you need a planner. And if you’re trying to fit a writing career into your life, it’s chaotic.

Personally, I use two planners. My fiance and I keep a google calendar that we both add to, so we’re not planning things that overlap each other. I’ve also got my personal weekly planner that’s on paper, journal style that comes with me everywhere. I use this to keep track of work and school and appointments, but chances are you don’t give a damn about that. More importantly, I use my planner to keep track of my writing.

Here are some things I do with my planner that makes me a better writer.

Deadlines

First thing, of course. I like to try to enter contests when I’m not working on rough drafts. Contests have deadlines. I write the deadlines on my planner as soon as I decide I’m going to enter a contest. Because it’s me, I also put a little bomb sticker next to them, so they stick out when I’m flipping through pages. This not only helps me keep in mind deadlines, it lets me know if I’m about to over commit myself. If I flip to February and see I’ve got two deadlines that month, that’s a big red stop sign telling me to not enter any more contests with deadlines in that month unless I’m ready to sacrifice one of the others or have already submitted a piece for it.

Writing dates

I make a date with myself, at least once a week, to go out and write somewhere that isn’t home. I write better then, and can focus more when I’m not at home with the kids, cat and dishes. Not to mention this great new smart tv that’s got Netflix. My goodness, nothing is more distracting than knowing I can sit down and watch all of Firefly any time I want.

I also block out writing time the same way I’d block out time to take kids to the doctor or work. I have to do that thing then, there’s no getting around it. Seeing it on paper makes me feel committed to it.

Projected final dates for big projects

Once you’ve been writing awhile, you’ll get a rough estimate in your head of how long it takes you to do stuff. Take a really big project like writing a book. I know it will take me about fifteen pages to write a chapter, I can write about ten pages a day, so in a week I write about three, maybe four chapters. Because I outlined my book before I started, I know how many chapters are in my rough draft, 60. So, it should take me about fifteen weeks to write my rough draft. So far it’s been eight. Then I know it should take me about six months to edit it, three to write the third draft, three to write the fourth draft after my beta readers read it, another two for a final polish, and then about three weeks to get together an agent packet and start looking for an agent. So, giving some time in there for your beta readers to read it and some cushion, it takes me about two years to finish a book.

Your time will be different, so take some time to consider habits and productivity levels.

Once I have an idea of when my milestone moments will be, like finishing a draft, I write these moments on small sticky notes and put them on estimated dates. Now, this is something I highly advise. I call it a rolling deadline. These are the dates that I think I should be done. But things happen. For example, when I was writing the first draft of my last book, I realized halfway through that I’d deviated so much from my outline that the rest of the book didn’t make sense anymore. The changes were great, so I threw out the rest of my outline, and spend three days rewriting it. That set the end day back a bit.

Daily and weekly check ins

I try to have my days pretty planned. So, once a week I sit down with my planner, bullet journal and binder. (We’ll talk about binders later.) I put my day job schedule down for three weeks in advance, then factor in any obligations like deadlines, birthdays, holidays or things like that.

Then I look at the time I’ve got, and write in my bullet journal what needs done that week. I have to take that calendar into consideration. If I’ve got five appointments that week, I’ve got to know that I’m not going to have time to also write blog updates, work on Woven and still have time to edit my latest short story. Somethings not getting done, probably the short story, so I know it needs to go on next weeks to do list not this week.

I check in with my planner daily, too. Every morning, I glance over what’s still to come this week, and do a quick review of the next three weeks to come as well. That helps me keep in mind that if that contest deadline’s in three weeks, and I don’t have a rough draft done yet, I need some extra ass in the chair time.

I heard a great quote the other day. It’s not mine, but I’ve been saying it to myself ever since. “Your brain is for processing, not storing.” Don’t expect yourself to remember everything. You can’t, you won’t, and something will fall through the cracks. So keep a planner, and see how much more productive you are at the end of a year using one.

0

A WordPress.com Website.

Up ↑