#batkatblogs

Happy Wednesday writelr! It’s a gray cozy day, I am indulging in some fantastic sapphic Star Wars fanfiction, and I am still on track with my writing goals!

And since I no longer feel like death crud monster of sick, I am going to put them up here, on this blog, into the universe, to track and try and hold myself accountable to. If you have some goal you want to work on too, hit me up! Let’s work on them together! Life is too short and crazy to do this by yourself! 

1. Read 20 books

Last year I read 18, so two more doesn’t feel completely ridiculous, especially if I can remember to bail on books I’m not enjoying instead of dragging through them. Currently I’m at 1 read, and oh my, what a read it is. I am sundered by this book and I cannot wait to tell everyone I know about it.

2. Write at least 450 words a day, 6 days a week

Last year I had an idea to spend the last sleepy hours of New Year’s day cozied up in bed with my laptop, writing whatever I could on what little steam I had, and no more. Whatever that number was became my new minimum for the year. Because if I could write that much IN BED (where I am least productive) after a long day, then I could certainly write that much when I’m grumpy or sad or sniffly or otherwise Not Feeling It. This year, the number is 450 and so far, so good.

3. Finish re-drafting my manuscript for the Nth time by December

It’s time. There’s one or two crucial story decisions I’m still waffling on, but dag gummit I just need to make myself decide and see it through and put this book child to rest. Currently I am just shy of a Big Middle Turning Point. I plan to push through this round of work by spring and take on my draft at least one more time before December. This is by far my most ambitious goal, but I cannot overstate what it would mean to have finished this thing for the time being.

4. Finish a query letter draft for said manuscript. Finish. A. Draft.

Because no agent will be able to judge my book if they can’t judge my query letter first. I need to stop letting my heart-crushing anxieties stand in the way of this one. So, if my manuscript is put away by December, I have a month to do this thing with little time for stalling. We’ll see how that works out.

5. Make time to do writerly playing around/generate new material at least once a week

It’s easy to get sucked into the vacuum of my One True Project, but writing broadly is good for the creative muscles, and I’m going to want something new to hurl myself into after I set my book baby down. I have a lot of ground to cover, but changing things up at a regular interval shouldn’t be very disruptive. It might even help keep me from getting exhausted with my book.

6. From that material, write 1 short story

Because this is now a thing I can do! I proved to myself that my short fiction abilities aren’t a once-and-done fluke and, honestly, I got a lot of pride and joy out of Death is Only the Beginning. So, I’m at it again. And this time I have all year! 

7. Organize my pre-writing/outlining process

Because if I am going to get all of this done, I probably need a better system than the non-existent one I currently have. If you have any tips or ideas, let me know.

8. Share the journey

With you beautiful internet pocket people, with my friends, my family, and the wonderful IRL writing communities I’m fortunate to have in my city. I’m not naturally adept at this, but I am trying. Hopefully I can keep it up.

I rang in the new year with a head cold and laryngitis, so setting goals and looking back on all the things I’ve learned over the past year have been on hold for the first week of ‘18. But here we are today!

It’s Monday, I’m 7 for 7 on my daily writing goals (more on that in another post) and in spite of 2017 being a slow, lackluster mess, I really did learn a bunch of important things I hope to carry with me into the new year! In no particular order:

1. I Can’t Do This Alone

Maybe this is a no-brainer for some people, but I spent almost all of 2016 and the early parts of ‘17 trying to be the most independent writer who ever independently writer’d. And then it was time to fill out my MFA applications, and guess what I needed? Three letters of recommendation. From people who were not that one friend I begged to read my second draft. And as I descended into my eyeballs in panic and frustration, I realized: of course, you goof! Even if it’s just you and your word processor at the desk day in and day out, your writing isn’t a one woman job. You needed people to learn from. Even if it was all books, advice posts, and trial and error, you needed the people who made those things. And now you need to share your work with some people for perspective. You’re going to need people to edit, challenge, and cheer you if you want your work to find a published home. 

Let me tell you, friends, it was a terrifying realization. I struggle with being vulnerable, and I fall into the trap of feeling terrible about not being able to handle things on my own more often than not. But here’s the thing. We all depend on each other for something. Life is less of a struggle when we work together. And making a connection with another human who knows the feeling of ‘it’s 2am and I’m paralyzed by all the narrative choices I could possibly make’ and actually thinks my niche gay story ideas are cool is a beautiful soul-lifting feeling that I never want to deprive myself of again. 

2. I can write short stories!

I don’t think the full extent of my angst for short fiction has ever made it to this blog, but it is deep. I had nightmares about having to cram my sprawling narrative arcs into six pages for class during college. Four expensive years in workshops and I managed to churn out O N E respectable story with a healthy dose of help from my instructor. It’s been a real ordeal. But this past fall, I put myself to the task again. Was ‘Robot Story’ an undergrad fluke, or did I have the chops to make this A Thing? To find out, I took a generative writing course, I followed some of the process tips @shaelinwrites gave in one of her videos, I set myself a deadline, and...I did it. I am a writer who can write short stories.

Is this a weird silly thing to be fixated on? Kinda. But we don’t always get to pick our complexes, folks. And now I have a new literary skill to hone.

3. Writing will never not be hard

Speaking of hard work, between chugging through my latest novel manuscript revisions and churning out an honest-to-god short story, I came to the acceptance we all have to face sooner or later: there is no such thing as ‘when this gets easier.’ It’s work. It’s fun, thrilling work that saves my sanity, but it’s work. It will always be work. And that’s okay.

4. Turn rejection into a game

I’ve seen this one peppered throughout several writeblrs, and with the completion of my short story last fall, I decided to put it into practice to see if it would take some of the sting out of rejection letters. And it did! Because of the way SFF publishing market is structured, I can only send out my story to one magazine at a time. Currently I’m up to 3, but you better believe I’m going to collect on the 20 rejection letters I promised myself. 

5. Education will always be important

As you might have noticed from my other points, I figured some of this stuff out because of awesome people who share their awesome knowledge on the internet, who teach classes open to local communities, who are generous with their exercises, and their time. Because when there is no ‘done’-ness to writing, the journey of learning is constant. There will always be something new to try, or something old to revisit because there’s only so much one brain can keep track of at a time. So whether it’s keeping a drawer full of exercises, an always-growing masterlist of tips, or finding a few affordable classes to take near by, it’s best to always be ready to learn.

6. Persist

At the end of the day when you look back on your WIP, you’re not going to be able to tell when the words were flowing like magic and when you were plucking out your sentences one key at a time. In the end, there’s just going to be stuff that works and stuff that doesn’t and it’s all going to have to be revised anyway. So for me, the takeaway is to stick to my regimen even when I’m not feeling it. Little steps add up, and sometimes you can get through your sprawling gothic adventure novel twice in one year without realizing it.  

7. Be open

Because of course! How is a girl supposed to find a kindred spirit if she keeps everything to herself all the time? If we are all in this together, and I do believe we are, then I have to speak up too. About my bad days, my good days, my random confessions and my idling ideas. About the things that matter, about myself, and everything in between. Sometimes it can lead to a better understanding. And even when it doesn’t, it’s always better to be seen than to render myself invisible.

Remember when I said I developed some of my writing habits as a teenager? Those were good times. But, being a teenager, there were a lot of times an instructor, peer, or web post (like this one!) would tell me to do a thing, and I would make a face like this.

Sometimes, their well-meaning advice wasn’t for me. Other times, they were just right, and I was too busy being thirteen to realize. Is their advice right for you too? Maybe! If you’ve heard these tidbits before and haven’t tried working them into your habits yet, give them a try and find out!

(For the Top 5 Writing Tips I Wish Someone Had Told Me, click here)

1. WRITE EVERY DAY

This one gets a lot of controversy because writing is hard and so is life. But rather than take this mantra literally, I have come to interpret it as, ‘make writing a top priority in your day.’ Because as much as we love writing, it’s not going to make itself happen if we just wait for it to sit us down. We have to take the lead in this creative relationship, friends. So, schedule yourself a designated block of time, carve out some space in your day away from distractions, and go! It doesn’t need to be long. Even thirty minutes of non-stop writing can make a dent in your project

Personally, I block out 1-2 hours at the end of my day, six days a week. No matter how late, no matter how tired. Just an hour at the desk to keep my habits strong and my story moving.

2. GIVE YOURSELF SPACE

After you finish your first draft of your novel/story/script/etc, it can be tempting to go straight into revision mode and start polishing off the rough edges. To this impulse, I say stop. Right now.

Returning to revision too soon can make it harder to make objective decisions about your project. You are more likely to feel locked into your early choices, miss extraneous plots/characters, and pass over weak sentences. 

Take a deep breath. Step slowly away from your creation. Take a walk. Enjoy the sunshine. Go socialize. Have a nice dinner. Tell all your friends about your big accomplishment, but leave your creation at home to chill without you hovering over it. Both of y’all need space. Wait until you feel like you can really decide what’s best for your story, even if it means changing something that will require a lot of work, or losing something that you really liked when you first wrote it. 

For me, this usually takes the form of 2--6 days, but every writer should choose a breathing period that works for them.

3. LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR STORY IS TELLING YOU

Let’s say you started out thinking that your novel was going to be a zombie action thriller with car chases, fight scenes, and minor counts of vandalism. But every time you get down to work, you pump out thoughtful, soul-searching contemplation and pages of philosophical dialogue. Or for some reason those action sequences turn out as the weakest and least enjoyable part of your story. Maybe you even find yourself actively dreading having to write them. Well, friend, I have some news for you.

Your story is not an action story.

Sometimes our instincts pull us off course from our plans, and that’s okay! Writing is full of surprises and if your story can surprise you in a way that’s exciting, that’s a good sign. Don’t try to reign in the natural evolution of your project because it doesn’t match the first idea seed you have in your head. Plan with the natural flow of your story, not against it.

4. SET YOUR INTENTIONS BEFORE YOU BEGIN TO WRITE

This wasn’t told to me, exactly, but in one of my college workshops, we were instructed to write our plan for our writing session atop each daily entry, and comment on how we thought we did afterwards. And you know what? I got more writing done in that class than I ever had before. More so than in any other course I would take after. Because I was writing with intention.

We all get anxious about looking at a blank page, we have scenes and revision tasks we aren’t the most excited about doing. But get done they must. And if you sit down and write, “Today I am going to work on the train scene. I have one hour,” that is what is going to happen. Writing time is precious, so don’t waste it!

5. WRITE FOR YOURSELF

Life is short and writing is difficult, friends. If you, for any reason, are writing a story that does not serve yourself in any way, stop and consider what you’re doing all of this for. It is a wonderful, admirable thing to try and speak truth to power with your narratives, to represent lives that are often ignored, to do something that is simply different. But if your heart is no longer in the process, then it may be time for a break.

On the flip side, if your heart is in the game, I hope that no matter how many rejection emails, how hair-brained your ideas are, or how famous or obscure your stories become--you keep going. Give yourself that joy.

Fall is here! NaNo planning season is in swing, reading periods are opening, holiday breaks are just in sight, and much writing is being done. I’ve been feeling especially retrospective as I go through another slog through my novel draft and begin planning a brand new shiny one, so I decided to make a list for myself (and anyone engaging with their writing implements of choice) of the top 5 writing tips I wish I had been told/had to learn the hard way.

Full disclaimer, these may be some of my rules to write by, but they may not be for you. A lot of writing process and theory boils down to ‘you do you.’ But if you’re looking for a place to start, or you haven’t tried these approaches yet, give them a go and see what happens! The worst you’ll learn is that they aren’t for you, and that is still something. Also, it’s possible that someone tried to tell me these and I didn’t listen. Developing writing habits during your teen years is like that. So without further ado...

1. PLAN YOUR SHIT

Do you have a main idea sentence? A detailed outline? A list of motives? A web that spans your whole wall and looks like something out of a crime thriller? A few key concepts written down somewhere you’re trying to turn into a narrative? Awesome! That’s a plan!

One of the most infuriating misconceptions about writing (especially when it comes to long-length projects) is that you can sit at your desk and simply regurgitate a fully-formed narrative without any preparation besides making sure you have enough tea to sustain you.

Even if you are feeling your way through your story on gut alone, having an idea written down that you can physically go back to can help keep you focused and get you re-centered if you become lost.

If nothing else, it’s certainly not going to hurt.

2. NOTHING IS GOING TO COME OUT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME

Seriously. No matter how many manuscripts you’ve finished. No matter how long you’ve been writing. No matter how much you may like what you’ve initially written. I know most people learn the concept of revision in grade school, and maybe I am just particularly hard-headed, but this is one I have to continue to tell myself. You cannot think your way through perfecting your book. Words have to come down. It’s going to be messy. But that’s okay! Drafting is for bringing your idea into existence, revision is for making it beautiful.

3. YOUR STORY IS NOT WRITTEN IN STONE

Unless you’re locked into an iron-clad deadline with a publisher or something equally awesome (in which case, congrats!), you are not bound to a single thing in your story. That plot point you’re still iffy about? That scene you kind of hate? The entire setting? Entire characters? Everything except the main idea? Those can be gone in an instant if you want to make that decision.

So often I sink days and days of writing into forcing a particular scene or mini-arc in my novel to work that just won’t. Nine times out of ten, it turned out that there was something fundamentally off with the scenario that didn’t further my plot or my character arcs. So I scrap the whole thing and make myself approach the problem as if it’s shiny and new. What if instead of having my monster jump scare my heroine in the first scene, I save her for the end? What if the vampire-fighting nuns are super helpful? What if we try something completely different??

The point is, if you know something doesn’t work, you don’t have to make yourself miserable trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It’s okay to circle back and start fresh.

4. YOU ARE NOT TOO GOOD FOR SAID

Dialogue tags help clarify who is speaking for the reader and convey any crucial character information to help keep the scene moving. Your amazing, scene-moving dialogue is the star of the show and they are the little props that help prop them up and keep the reader engaged in the action. And said, despite the bad rep it gets in some circles, is a strong and serviceable word that does just that. It doesn’t pull attention away from the words. It doesn’t slow down the action. It conveys who is speaking. And really, most of the time, that is all you need. Dialogue, especially good dialogue, will convey its tone on its own without fancy tags most times. Try to only use your whispers, groans, exclaims, and ejaculates for special moments when the heightened attention is necessary or when something unusual is happening that your reader needs to pay attention to in order to understand the scene. They’ll stand out more, and the rest of your dialogue will be able to stand better on its feet.

5. WRITE WHAT YOU WANT

If, for any reason, you have an idea that fills your heart with excitement but you stop yourself from doing so with any variation of “no one wants to read that,” “that doesn’t count as literature,” or “I should be writing about X instead,” stop. Stop that right now. Life is too short and writing is too difficult for you to force yourself into someone else’s idea of what your story should be. However many times it’s been done, however generic it seems on paper, however weird or ambitious or scary or silly it seems--if you want to write it, WRITE IT. Because no one is going to write that story the way you will.