No more openings, for now, but they said they’d love to keep me on the list if a spot becomes available.

So both good and bad news there.

AZSFW

Well, I’m not one for waiting around for things I really want, lol, so I got this idea that came into my head: why don’t I start my own local writing group?

My whole thing is that I’d like to actually meet other writers face-to-face, in addition to getting feedback and something that will hold me more accountable to progressing on my novel.  I’m always progressing, but it’s so slooow…  I don’t want to use a writing group as a crutch, but I do think it could be a positive motivator for me.

So.

I went ahead and put together a quick, preliminary website/blog for a writing group I’d like to call “Arizona Speculative Fiction Writers”–or “AZ Spec-Fic Writers”/”AZSFW.”  It’s basically a draft and it’s totally open to input and other people’s ideas, particularly from folks who’d like to join.

Anyway, here’s the website, if anyone wants to take a quick peek.

Right now I’ve been seeking out other writers on a dating site, actually (haha), called OkCupid.  It’s got a fantastic search engine for this kind of thing!  Makes things pretty easy.

So yeah, just sending out some invites right now and seeing who bites.  If it catches enough interest…hey, I just might have a viable writing group on my hands!

In Other News…

I’ve still been crazy busy with my two jobs, though less so with the business.  Next step on that latter one is heavy marketing and networking, which isn’t my strong suit but is really important.  So yeah, I gotta finish putting out some flyers in my neighborhood, for starters, then drop off some business cards to folks who’ve expressed a desire to help spread the word about my business.

In short, I’ve got a LOT on my plate.  Busy busy!

I do hope all my readers are doing well. In the meantime, I’m sure I’ll post more developments later…eventually.

Until then, peace out!

Work, New Jobs & Stuff

Honestly, I’ve been so swamped with finding new work and getting my business running that I’ve completely pushed aside my writing life.

*sighs*

Lately, when I come home from work, I’ve noticed that it’s almost impossible for me to get into the mood to write or edit.  As such, I’ve determined if I’m going to keep at this novel thing, I have to get up extra early and do my writing then.  In the afternoon/evening I find myself naturally wanting to work on stuff related to my business.

So yeah, early morning novel stuff–that’s definitely gonna take discipline…lol.

Inspiration

What actually prompted me to remember all of this was the fact that I just finished playing the new Tomb Raider reboot last night.  Some of you know I’m a fan of Lara Croft, as well other archaeological and tomb-raiding characters such as Indiana Jones and Evelyn from The Mummy series.  I love globe-trotting adventures that are connected to mysteries of historical significance.  This very same spirit runs through my novel, Element 7–in its own fantastical “secondary world” way, of course.

For reasons I can’t explain, few things make me say “stop the world–all else is on hold!” like a new Tomb Raider game would–and that’s Indiana Jones, The Mummy, and new episodes of “The Legend of Korra.”

Silly, but true.

Anyway…the new Tomb Raider game was pretty darn awesome, imo.  And even though it’s set on one island rather than in multiple locations like the old games (or the ones I played, anyway), it’s still epic in its own way.  As you can imagine, after finishing the game I was reminded of my own adventure story, which has gone neglected for too long now…

A Struggle

This editing/writing stuff has always been a constant struggle for me, but now it’s only going to get tougher.  I’m basically going to be working three jobs in the upcoming weeks–one with my current part-time retail position, another part-time job as a contractor for a lady who runs an estate sales business, and then my own business.  So, as you an imagine, squeezing in writing time is not gonna be easy.  (Of course, not playing video games might help. Though, everyone needs a little downtime and a way to replenish their imaginations.)

So why am I doing aaaaall of this?

Because I haven’t been able to find something in my field full-time.

The good news is that the estate sales lady wants to draw in more business so that she can have a full-time team and offer better pay–which means I could eventually drop the retail job and focus on the other one while doing my own design stuff on the side (as most interior designers and decorators do these days, I’ve learned).

It might all work out; it might not.  At this point, though, I’m willing to try just about anything!

Carry On

I don’t know how much blogging I’ll get to do nowadays, but I’ll be sure to keep you folks posted.  I’ve got a lot on my plate, but Element 7 is always on the back of my mind and I’m not gonna abandon it yet after all this time.

As it always has, it will take time to finish the job, but by golly I will finish it!

Addendum: oh yeah!  By the way, I came across this cool new blog called The Archaeology of Tomb Raider, if anyone is interested.

My writing desk.

So I’m actually considering joining a writing group.

:O Whaaa…? Yeah.

Well one, I’ll be expected to come in each week with work done–which, coming up on the last leg of this E7 project, can’t be a bad thing–and two, I could meet other (fantasy) writers in my area.  (Sometimes I find I just want to talk about what I’m writing about but can’t because I haven’t shared the whole story with anyone yet and don’t want to spoil anything.  Plus, it would be nice to be able to talk about airships and elementalism and lobotomy with people who are less likely to look at me like I’m from another planet! *cue X-files music*)

Only problem is the last time I was searching for groups where I live they weren’t so much “in my area” as “on the other side of the Phoenix Valley,” with commutes ranging between 45 minutes to an hour+.

-__- (Such is with everything worth visiting here, it seems.)

Anyway, back then I was on meetup.com, so maybe some newer, closer groups have formed since then.  If not, I’ll have to check elsewhere!

Making The Most Of Writing Groups

I know some of you all have been/are involved in writing groups.  How has your experience been with them?  Got any insights on how they generally work or tips to get the most out of them?

Just sayin’.  I’m totally happy it’s over.

To be perfectly honest, I haven’t done much editing in the past two-ish weeks.  Dealing with other stuff (like saving up and pushing plans for the new business!).  Though, the day before last I made myself jump back on the horse, so to speak, and I intend to edit another chapter right after I finish this post.

It’s a start.

I’ve got a lot on my mind right now, such as what to do about my current employment situation in retail.  The company offers benefits even to its part-time employees, which is nice, but they don’t really pay particularly well…  So, with the seasonal hours withering away with December…I’m wondering if I’ll have to go back out on a job hunt (again) to see if I can’t find something better–even if it’s not remotely related to my field.

…’Cause I really need benefits soon, but I also need to make a suitable amount of money to support my decision to start my own business–not to mention pay off the crapload of student loans I managed to accrue over a few years…

*sighs*

2013 won’t be easy for me, but it holds a lot of potential, folks.  I just gotta be willing to do whatever it takes–including making steady progress with the novel.

So here’s to new (and better) beginnings.

One thing I do want to say is this: one way some of my most recent experiences are actually related to my writing, however, is that suddenly I feel more connected to my characters–particularly my heroine.

I remember when I was working on the last couple of scenes in Element 7 during my heavy edits, I felt really emotional about them because, in a way, I was going through some of the same things that my MC (main character) was: heart-break, confusion, disappointment…

Those are very potent, less-than-desirable experiences.  Though, perhaps going through these things will only help to make my writing that much more potent.

2012 has been a very dark year for me, actually (and most will never understand just how dark it truly was for me).  And really, it’s only been in the last couple of months that I’ve felt those dark clouds start to roll away.  The future–my future–doesn’t look quite as…well, bleak as it once did before.  I’d lost any sense of purpose in my life, but lately I’ve seemed to find some…

The Drifter, by Jack Vettriano.

A Call to Action

I’m sure many writers know that there’s a moment in every epic “Hero’s Journey” story known as the Call to Action (or Adventure).  (This is relevant because Element 7 is, essentially, an nontraditional hero’s journey, folks!)  Typically, this Call occurs closer to the beginning of a story, but…I’m working on a trilogy, and I think my novel actually has two Calls to Action–one near the beginning, and one right at the end.

Why?

Well, there’s got to be something to look forward to in the sequel…right?  (‘Course, gotta leave readers hanging a bit, as well. )

Anyway, the reason I’m even bringing this up is because right now I feel like I am facing my own Call to Action (with starting my own interior design business and whatnot)…and, to be honest, it’s a pretty darn scary place to be.  If I chicken out, then I won’t have a “story” to live out and tell to others; if I answer the call…

…Well, I’ll kinda have to change.

Fact is I can’t continue to be the person I currently am if I want to get to where I want to go in life.  I have to move even more out of my comfort zone than I’ve been doing lately.

Baby steps are great, for a while, but sometimes you just have to take a huge freakin’ leap if you want to get to The Next Level.

You know what I’m sayin’?

Personal (Ironic) Parallels Between Fiction & Reality

So when I first started formulating the basic ideas behind Element 7, I was 19.

I’m 24 now.  (Yes, that means it’s been over 5 years since I started working on this thing!)

Ironically, my main character, Voi, is also 24, so I’m just now catching up to her, lol.  Also, ironically, Voi once made the decision to run her own business at a young age.  She’s a bit ahead of me, in some ways, and lately I haven’t just been looking at her as a hero so much as my hero.

Yes, that’s right–I actually look up to a fictional character.

You see, Voi is a lot more outgoing than I am.  She’s not afraid to do something crazy–like drop out of college to pursue her love of flight and become a stunt flyer then later an entrepreneur.  She’s not afraid to make mistakes–or rather, she doesn’t let fear stop her from making them.  Also, she’s a bit of a pioneer.

Most entrepreneurs are, methinks.

The point is I kinda admire that about her, and it’s only been recently that I’ve been able to relate to her so utterly directly.

It’s kinda neat.

So, as I sit here churning out my last edits before beta reading, I feel that I’m at a special point in my life where I can stop writing/editing from the notes and outdated plans and whatnot and just simply write from the heart.

Hmm…yeah, so no prompt this time!

Like I said, I’ve kind of been in an introspective mood, so I don’t really have a prompt for you readers like I usually do at the end, heh.  However, if you have any comments, do feel free to share!

So yes, I’ve learned how to let go of situations that just aren’t meant/ready to be, but over time I’ve also realized that I’m slowly learning how to let go of words.

Learning When To Stop

Agonizing over every word you put onto the page just isn’t good for your mental health, lol.  It’s taxing and ultimately pointless.  Now, I still think it’s important to carefully think about what you say before you say it–or rather before you put it down on the page–but when you’re writing those words can always be changed.

…And changed, and changed, and changed… (Seeing a pattern here?)

Though, at some point, however, you have to stop, right?

But for me, personally, until recently I didn’t think I’d written enough words to understand when would be a good point to stop because I hadn’t really had enough practice at writing (or fully understand my story).  But some five-and-a-half years later… I feel like I’ve finally gotten to the point where I can think about a scene, write it, detach myself from it briefly then come back to it and make a clear judgment call as to what still needs to be fixed, why, and how.

A long while ago I spent a lot of time just reading through my whole initial manuscript and making notes on what I wanted to change.  Many of those notes ended up helping me to systematically comb through the manuscript and make quick changes…but then there were also a lot of times where I felt it was better to toss the notes to the wind and just wing a complete rewrite of certain sections or scenes.

…which led to me realize that I have a particular preferred method of writing.

Intuitive Writing

I feel like I’m an intuitive writer–which, perhaps, is similar to being a “pantser” but involves more.  You see, I don’t want to think out every little detail before I start because that feels really tedious.  Instead, I actually enjoy discovering certain things by writing them out.  Granted, some aspects of storytelling truly can benefit from a plan or at least some forethought (worldbuilding, plot, characters) to provide a good foundation to start with, but even these elements can continue to grow and/or change as you start actually writing the story.  Also, I find that if I think about something too much or try to force something to work…it usually doesn’t.  Sometimes I just have to let go of my understanding of a scene, take a break, then come back to it without a detailed agenda and just write what feels natural to me.

If I keep my “plan” basic and allow myself room to “play,” then I tend to get results I’m more satisfied with later.

The Bottom Line?

I feel like I’m more or less at the point where I want to let go of the 200K+/- words that comprise Element 7–not because I’m sick of looking at them (though at times I am) but because I can finally find satisfaction in them.  Granted, there are certain areas I’ve edited that still need a bit more work, though I’d say about 90-ish% of what I’ve edited is at the point where I want it to be, as far as plot and character development go.

This is good because that means that after Thanksgiving I won’t have nearly as much work to do on the manuscript as I did going into this first major edit.  Instead, I can focus on silly grammatical and homonym errors, sentence flow and whatnot.

As for now, I’m at 94% with heavy edits.  Only 15 days until Turkey Day!

In Other News…

I have additionally been working on a plan to get my own interior design business up and running–yet another goal for the New Year.  Had to do a lot of research to figure out how much it’s gonna cost me and all the steps I’d have to take as far as paperwork and whatnot go, but it’s all starting to coalesce from a vague OMGTHISISCRAZY idea into something I could actually do.

Scary, but honestly at this point I feel like I don’t have much else of a choice, career-wise… The job market for young, hardly experienced college grads in my field just doesn’t seem to be budging any time soon!

What lessons have you recently learned about writing?

Any particular insights that have come to you about writing in general, or perhaps your own personal process?  If so, I’d love to hear about it!

The Challenge of Writing Action Scenes

I think it’s pretty well-known amongst writers that when you’re writing an action scene you want to avoid using long descriptions (and words).  This creates the feeling of snappier pacing, mimicking the inherent swiftness of action sequences.  The challenge, then, comes in relaying necessary information that gives the reader a clear picture of what’s going on…without getting terribly wordy about it.

Easier said than done!

When I write I see everything as a movie, full color ‘n’ all.  I have this saying: if I can’t see it, I can’t write it–’cause it’s true!  I can also be very detail-oriented, zooming in on certain aspects in attempt to render full three-dimensional imagery, so it’s been challenging for me to weed out less-than-critical details during action sequences when my narration pacing feels like it’s starting to drag.

For example, the other day I was editing a scene that involves four of my main characters who were…well, violently engaging four antagonists, heh.  (Let’s just say there were both conventional weapons, like guns and knives, as well as magic involved.)  Most of everyone was doing something in the scene and it took place in a relatively confined area.  My POV character was in a position to see most of all that was going on, so I wanted to reflect that in my writing, mentioning only what he would likely notice.  Also, sometimes he likes to check on his team members by flashing a quick look over his shoulder or whatnot, so then there was that.

That’s a lot of information to juggle, when you think about it.

As far as I see it, the more props and actors (so to speak) that you have in a scene, the more difficult it’s going to be to clearly communicate what’s happening.  As such, you have to be strategic in what you focus on in your narration, which is usually (though not always) anything dealing directly with the POV character–unless you’re writing from an omniscient viewpoint… o_O

As an example, it might be tempting to launch into description as to what your character’s opponent(s) looks like, but unless something about that person’s appearance hinges on an earlier plot point or provides necessary context for the current situation–oh look, it’s that man with the good-looking smile who you thought was actually a good guy!–it maaaay not be the best idea to include that kind of detail.

This is what I’ve realized over time, anyway.

Linky Linky!

Not long ago, when I was tweeting about working on an action scene, fantasy writer Lindsay Kitson shared with me a link to some articles with advice on writing fight scenes.  The author, Marie Brennan, mentions having some martial arts training (fencing and karate, it looks like).  In any case, you might find the link worth a look!

What do you do to make writing action scenes easier or flow more smoothly?

Well, I take that back.

I do like having a little bit of a plan, but it’s so sparse that most probably wouldn’t even consider it “a plan.”  It’s more like this: “I want [insert big event] to happen in [insert cool locale], where the characters then find/achieve [insert objective]!”  Then I just figure out the rest from there.  And I think this only has a chance at working because it is a quest/adventure series; it’s “mission-driven fiction,” essentially.

Not plot-driven, exactly, ’cause I still focus on characters along the way, but in terms of planning I think of the story in terms of missions…if that makes sense.

So yeah.  That seriously has been my plan for an Element 7 trilogy, in a nutshell.  (“What?  A trilogy, you say?”  Yes, dear readers, you read that right.  Though, I should have probably already mentioned that on my E7 page…heh.)

Planning A Trilogy

Why a trilogy, you may ask.

All right.  Well, I have this thing with numbers, in case you haven’t noticed, particularly the numbers 7 and 3–kinda similar to Dan Brown’s obsession with symbols, though maybe to a slightly lesser degree.  3 is just neat and tidy, in my mind.  I also like to use Platonic Solids in my novel (one in particular, for now, until later books…but we won’t get into that right now.)

So I’ve read only a little about how authors like J. K. Rowling went about their work.  Apparently she took around five years to plan the Harry Potter series before writing it, though I can’t recall reading the specifics about how she did this.  (It’s probably out there; I just haven’t had time to look it up, lol.)  Though, honestly, there isn’t really a lot of advice out there for folks who do want to write a trilogy or series (not in comparison to other writing topics, anyways).  Most times it seems writers are actually discouraged from doing so–at least when they are working on their first novel.

Apparently it’s too “cliché,” when you’re writing fantasy…

As for me, “planning” out a trilogy has kinda just naturally been happening while working on this first novel–like I’ll be in the middle of a scene and think to myself, “Hey, that would make for a totally cool thing to explore in Book II/III!”  And then I just plant the seeds, make a note to water them later and roll with it.  (I’ve actually got probably half of Book II planned out by specific scenes I’ve already written or summarized in my journals, with a few ideas for the other half and Book III still subconsciously cooking in my messed-up head.)

But really, all I’m doing is using that basic formula I mentioned at the beginning three times and designing each end objective so that they tie into one another, leading to the final objective in the last novel, while also figuring out the interconnecting threads (those “ah-ha!” moments) along the way.

I bet some people wonder why it would possibly take 5+ years to plan out a bunch of books, but now I’m pretty sure I understand why…

There Are Just SO Many Little Details That Have Got to Work Together!

Especially when you’re writing secondary world fantasy.  Every piece of invented information that’s in that bad-boy-of-a-series is coming from your brain.  It’s like this giant sprawling 50,000-piece puzzle of your own personal design; everything’s gotta fit together.  And when you do sit down to try and put this puzzle together, it typically doesn’t happen overnight.  Plus, you gotta hand craft all those pieces before that can even happen–nope, none of that computer-aided/die cut business.  So you can’t just toss in stuff willy-nilly because you think it’s oh-so-cool (learned that the long, hard way, lol); everything has got to have a reason for being in the novels–or else you have to work backwards and find a gorram reason for all the dangling stuff to matter.

Harder to do, imo, but doable.

When I first started learning how to write a novel my mind just couldn’t even begin to grasp this concept.  ”Whaddya mean I can’t just throw in what I want and expect it to work? Bah!  Watch me…”  And y’know how that turned out…

Lots and lots of experimental drafts that went nowhere.

But that’s okay! ’cause I eventually figured out how to make all that cool stuff I originally wanted to shoehorn into the same story actually work together–haha! (Or at least I think I have…lol.)  Plus, I learned oodles, like…

The Importance of Foreshadowing

…which, I think, is extremely important when you’re planning and writing a trilogy.  Foreshadowed details provide rhythm and continuity and are like the threads that bind the novels in a series together–along with recurring themes, characters, settings and/or ideas, which all help to create a sense of unity and cohesiveness.  (Sorry, I’m using those pesky Principles of Art/Design again…but you’ll find them everywhere that good art or designs reside.  Writers and literary critics just tend to use different terminology for them, I think.)

You know how excited you get when you pick up Part II of a book, game or movie series and learn that some of your favorite characters are back?  Or the telltale hint, or sometimes outright slap, of a promise that “hey, there’s more yet to come”?  For me, that’s part of the excitement of reading/watching/playing a series; it’s also one of the reasons I want to write one.  (That, and getting to my favorite “candy bar scenes.”)

…Because I just love the characters so darn much.  And the world.  They’re just people (and places) I’d like to come back to again, to experience their adventures through their eyes.

‘Cause trust me, if I didn’t love them I wouldn’t even still be working on this project, haha.  (5.75 years is a looooong tiiiiime to be attached to the hip with the same old ideas…)

So how do you plan for a trilogy/series?

Or maybe you’ve never worked on one before; that’s cool.  You’ve probably read at least one, though, right?  What kind of things do you like about series?  What do you wish authors who write series did a better job of?

I know one of the reasons I started writing was because of my own “fantasy novel pet peeves;” I thought hey, why do writers keep doing this and that?  Let’s write a story that does it different!

I’m not dead, I assure you!  In fact, I’ve actually been getting some editing done, lol.

Last week, since I was (finally) approaching the 75% mark, I figured out how many words a day I’d have to edit in order to finish by the end of the year (about 500).  Then I realized I still have to do another sweep for line edits and stylistic decisions, so I tacked on an extra 100 words per day.  By that rate I’ll be done with heavy edits by Nov. 21.

And since my mother has recently challenged me to finish my current round of editing by Thanksgiving…well, that works out quite nicely.

Editing has been a bit of a mind game for me.  I’ve tried a lot of different ways to be consistent–because the fact is I haven’t been very consistent, lol.  I tried setting higher goals but then felt super guilty when I couldn’t meet it.  Then I wouldn’t get any work done for days…  Though, with the lower word count goal (paltry as it feels to me…) I know I’m able to do it every day, and even if I do miss a day I can divvy it up (or double up) and add it to my goals for the next days so it isn’t so overwhelming.

Seems to be working all right.

In any case, I plan to beat the turkey to the table!

How are you folks doing out there?

I know I haven’t really been commenting much lately–or blogging, for that matter!–though I do still read people’s blogs.  I’ve been researching what it’ll take to start my own business (still struggling with this whole career thing…) so I guess my attention has been elsewhere. *sighs*

Howdy, folks.  Kinda didn’t blog last time! :/

I have no thoughts on anything writing-related at the moment.  However, I have been creative this week.

Some of you may know that I play piano by ear and also that I’m a big Mass Effect fan. As such, I decided to put my YouTube account to use and post a video of my interpretation of a song from that video game series.

Here’s a link to the original song, and here’s my video:

I recorded this on my phone, so it isn’t the best quality video… I should probably use my Kodak camera next time, heh.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!