Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Writing Life’ Category

Apr 19

Be that Quirky Writer

We writers are an odd lot. I started reading this book, It Takes a Certain Type of to be a Writer by Erin Barrett and Jack Mingo. It’s full of quirky anecdotes about writers and their behavior. My take away is that every writer has a certain set of rituals, behaviors, and tics that makes them create that magic that ends up in their writing.

So I started thinking about some of my own quirky habits.

First, I write 90% of my stuff long hand first. After a long day of working at my computer for my day job, sometimes I just can’t look at another screen. Hand writing my stories ensures that the writing gets done for the day. One exception is the blogging. I always compose these posts on the computer.

Second, I need a good dose of caffeine just before I start. In the winter, it’s black or green tea. In the summer, it’s ice tea. Back in the day, it was a Cherry Coke or Coke Zero, but, ya know, we’re trying to clean up our diet, so that don’t fly no more. The drink not only perks me up, but also is a break between what I was doing before and the writing time. My brain switches over and once I finish, I’m ready to work.

Third, I  don’t like to talk about works in progress. In the past, I’ve opened up about stories I’m working on, detailing plot and character, but I always regret it. So my new rule is, no details until I’m good and ready.

Fourth, I like black ink. I’ll tolerate blue (or other colors), but I prefer black.

Fifth, I used to write my first drafts to music. That habit has changed over the years. Now I prefer silence. Occasionally I will turn the tv for the white noise, but it has to be something that I can tune out like white noise in the background.

Those are all the quirks I can think of now. I’m not too exciting with my writing rituals. I don’t like writing in bed, nor do I pace around like others. My little habits get the work done and I’ll keep doing them as long as they keep working.

Apr 18

About Burnout

Ah! It’s Beautiful Spring Again!

Spring is always a great time to renew oneself. Something about the new flowers, the fresh greenery, and the mild weather makes us all feel refreshed. Awake. It’s also a time when I tend to want to write more. I sometimes have these big, scary goals for the summer and think to myself, “I can do this!”

But this year, I’m trying a different approach. As I stated in an earlier post, I’m working on balance this year. I read lots of articles about people not getting enough sleep, not eating well, not taking vacations, and neglecting their mental health. Everybody is grinding, working on their hustle, and trying to make ends meet by working a bunch of jobs back to back. While I do think there is a time and a place to burn the midnight oil, I don’t want that to be my everyday life.

I believe that sleep is the most important thing you can do for your health. As someone who has gone through bouts of insomnia, not getting enough sleep causes me all kinds of other problems. I don’t sleep, so I’m tired in the morning (and all day long), so I reach for caffeine to get me through the day. I make poor choices on food (opting for things with a quick energy) and find myself tired but not sleepy at night. So the cycle repeats.

Now that I have a better handle on my health, I find myself getting a good 7-9 hours of sleep a day. I’m rested, more focused, and ready to tackle the day. I also find myself making better choices with my diet and I’m more productive. I honestly don’t think I could’ve done a blog post a day for a month challenge a year ago, when I felt so bad. Now look, we’re eighteen days in and I haven’t skipped a day yet!

Working like a crazy person may seem great and might even be fun for a little while, but I don’t think it is sustainable. After 20 years of working a full-time job and writing fiction, I know how important it is to find a balance. Your body only has so much give as you age. And mentally, it can take a toll to wake up and realize that all you’ve done is work and not built a real life.

Same is true for the other side. If you’ve partied a decade of your life away and not gotten serious about the kind of life you want to build, you may be shocked at how much time you’ve wasted not going after your dreams. Burnout from an immature life can be just as damaging as being on the grind all day, everyday.

Maybe that’s why NanoWrimo hasn’t really appealed to me. I’m more slow and steady, with my writing. Other aspects of my life, like getting out of debt, I could go crazy on for a short period of time, but not writing. A few pages, or paragraphs, a day is my speed. The story gets written and I get my sleep. Maybe this is why I am still writing after all these years. I haven’t suffered burnout from it. I write at a steady pace (although not much) and don’t get sick of it.

Balance, that’s where the magic is for me. With it, I can do the impossible.

Apr 16

Should I Submit to Non-Paying Markets?

This is a dilemma many writers have. Should you only submit to places that pay, or do you widen your search to everywhere no matter if they pay or not?

My stance for the past few years has been to submit only to places that pay. My initial publications were at places that didn’t offer payment, but now that I have a few publication credits, I’ve only been focused on paying markets. Problem is, I think I may be missing out. Am I limiting myself by only going for markets that pay? Or is it a disservice to myself and my work by going for markets no matter if they pay or not?

I see the refrain of many successful writers. Never work for free. Money should flow toward the writer.

But a lot of writers feel that when you first start out, and you don’t have any credits, you should submit anywhere. You don’t have the luxury of being picky. You submit everywhere that is appropriate for your work whether they pay or not. Once you have a few pieces out, build a following, and get some experience, then you can start submitting to the big leagues.

Then, I’ve read some writers that say start at the top paying markets and then work your way down. Swing for the fences first and when those markets are exhausted, you move down the list.

And then there are writers who say the only places you should be submitting are ones that pay. Anything else is a waste of time. I don’t necessarily agree with this notion. There are a few places I really like and would love to be published in print (like Conjunctions). Also I think that if you are getting something you believe is beneficial to your career from the publication(maybe lots of eyes on the piece, or listed on Amazon with other writers, or for charity), then it may be worth it to submit.

For now, I’m in the second camp. I submit my stories to the best places first. Once they get rejected, I move on to the second rung journals, and so forth. This way, if a story gets published I don’t have the regret of saying, “Maybe I should’ve submitted to ______ first.” There is a lot more competition for the higher paid places, but moving away from those, I’ve noticed there are more places that I thought that pay semi-pro rates (.03-.05 cents/word) or token payments. Nobody is getting rich, but still feels good to get fifty bucks or so for a story.

I guess there is no one way to get it right. Maybe some of the amazing, non-paying markets offer great opportunities that I am missing. However, I can’t get over the fact that I want to be paid. I don’t work at my day job for free, so why would I be okay with my writing career? And other writers may disagree and build an amazing career build on lot of non-paying credits. Each writer has to make the best decision for themselves.

I may revisit my feelings about this in a few years to see if my strategy worked or not. I’m sticking to my plan and working hard to make all my stories successful.

Apr 15

Adding the Funny

Look At This!
photo from: Department of the Interior

I’m adding the funny back into my writing. My last few stories that I’ve finished have had some real spots of humor. I’m not quite sure why this is happening, but I’m here for it. While serious fiction has its place and I am certainly not going to abandon it, I also find myself leaning more on the strange, humorous moments in life too.

Maybe this decade got a bit too serious for me.

Or maybe I am changing as a writer. (I don’t think so. If you read my story Where’s Rocky? you know how funny I can be.)

I guess it all comes back to my ideas about writing different kinds of stories. I not one of those writers that tells the same story over and over again. My imagination is sparked by so many different things, I want to explore them all. Imagination really is boundless.

And I want to laugh at it. Enjoy it. Delight in it.

Hmmm. Spring has made me more playful and fun.

Bye winter.

Apr 14

How to Write an Amazing Story

I wish I had an answer. I wish I knew the formula that would write world-changing stories. If I did, this would be a different blog.

I heard once that all an artist can do is put work out there they believe in and hope that the right people find it. Trying to make history will not make it so. History is made only after time has gone by, not in the moment. Who knows what will really be remembered a hundred years?

I create stories that I love. I believe in them. I trust that the people who find and read them are those that are meant to. This doesn’t mean I am against marketing or promotion. How else are people going to know what you are creating unless you tell them? I’m mean people who write stories they don’t believe in thinking that is the way to get published. That is a bad road to go down. Putting your name on work you don’t believe in will only lead to trouble later.

Write something you believe in.

And do your best to let people know about it.

Apr 13

#1 Trick for Writing Everyday

You can do everything right. You’re in the right head space. You sit down to write and then –BOOM! – you find yourself drifting off on some day-dream that has nothing to do with the story your writing. What happened? You did so well yesterday and thought you would be ready for the next, but nothing seems to be happening. You stare at the words you wrote yesterday, but nothing else is flowing.

I used to waste a lot of time trying to get back into the flow of the story. Try as I could, sometimes I couldn’t get back the magic that I had the previous day. Sometimes I could push through and get some good work in. Other times, I stayed lost and I resigned myself to getting something written, even something bad.

But a while ago (like 15 years or so), I learned a trick to keep the bad days of writing at bay. (Most of them. I still have a few.) I’ve used this idea consistently and it never lets me down.

I always end my writing day in the middle of a sentence.

If I do this, I always have an easier time finding my way back into the head space of a story. It’s like a pause in the middle of a thought, a metaphorical breadcrumb to the story, that I can restart again by reading back the words I wrote the day before.

I’m not one of those marathon writers that sits for 12-18 hours hammering out story. My brain shuts down around 8 pm. I have a day job. I need to work out and eat food and sleep. Life stuff. So I pause my thoughts a lot when I write. It’s so much easier the next day when I pick up the story. I finish the sentence and then, I usually write another one.

And another. And another…

The only time this fails is when I complete the story. No more sentences to finish. My work around now is to have multiple projects going. If I finish one, I have something else that can be finished. If I get a new idea, I can start that. I always get a new idea. Ideas, as you may have heard, are cheap and plentiful. Completed stories are much more rare.

I find this trick gets me writing every time. Gets me to the finish line. Gets me to my goals.

Good luck and happy writing.

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »