Showing posts with label publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label publishing. Show all posts
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Chasing Dreams
Hello!
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! As you may have noticed I haven't been able to post as frequently as I did. I've recently been running in too many directions trying to accomplish a great deal, but in reality accomplishing very little.
I am an Independent Writing Consultant and am working to build my portfolio so that by the time I graduate, I will have some work waiting for me. It's always a good idea to try and get work in your field of interest. Somehow technical support did not seem to fit into those plans. I also realized that this transition would require a tremendous change and an equal amount of risk. With that thought in mind, I made the decision to try and focus on my "true" job. Being a newbie is difficult. There is no word-of-mouth; no one to give you references. Everything hinges on the kindness or faith of someone unknown to you, someone to give you that first opportunity. It is also a wonderful challenge because it fosters excellence. A person just starting out has everything to prove and much to lose if they don't succeed.
I am gradually updating my site (www.crampedwriting.com) to include my new job which entails a variety of duties: proofreading, copyediting as well as substantive editing. Eventually my site will have the details about the different tiers and the costs. I'm also able to offer assistance with writing-related questions, and make suggestions when appropriate, for certain aspects of marketing.
This is a very exciting time, but as you can see, does not allow for the upkeep and maintenance of two blogs. Therefore I will be discontinuing this blog and using strictly the www.crampedwriting.com one. I apologize for any inconvenience this change creates, and I hope you will all continue to visit me at my "new home". I prefer the variety of options for the wordpress blogs and look forward to being able to help and touch-base with everyone a bit more efficiently.
Thank you for all your patience and understanding! I'll be running a promotion next month as well, so please don't forget to check out the new site. I want to make sure as many people as possible have the opportunity to submit an entry.
Have a great day!
Monday, November 12, 2012
Learning From NaNoWriMo
It's been a while. I've neglected you for a couple weeks now. I promise it was not intentional. I just decided to take the craziest ride of my life, and bit off more than I can properly chew. I reached a critical point, not long ago, where my synapses went into overdrive. I realized that if I kept working full time, catering to family, and attending school, I would have no time to actually write. For an aspiring author, this is obviously distressing news.
Not distressing, that term is not strong enough. I'd probably say it was catastrophic news. This came after many other issues had decided to make their way to me and plop themselves onto my already full plate. The only available answer was to quit my job and NOT get another one. Crazy? Yes, very. Necessary in my case? I think so. The true question is what happens from here?
As things stand, I'm not finished with my B.A. in Creative Writing. I wanted to have my degree before I was in this position. We all know how plans are though; they never go where they are supposed to. I'm still taking my classes (I actually only have a few semesters left, which will no doubt fly by) and trying to make my way through the possibilities of earning income, which is in some way related to my field of study, rather than throwing away my time at a job which will not build a portfolio. Somehow, "I can help fix your internet", does not seem to garner points on a writing resume. Weird. It has been a long couple of weeks crammed with various duties. Things are beginning to settle down, so the real struggle begins. Oxymoron, I know.
I've been doing NaNoWriMo this month, a very valuable exercise in writing insanity, which will hopefully produce something of quality. In addition to this, I need to edit another manuscript (my first edit!). It is probably time to drag out all those nifty writing links I've been saving up for the future. As they say, it is "go time". I've already learned that this journey is not for the scared, or the faint of heart. It is not for those who dream of a "someday". NaNoWriMo is teaching me that every moment is THAT moment, every day can be a step towards "someday". I've always been able to write without worrying about writer's block (this may be due to my ADD-esque writing style), but NaNoWriMo challenges this. To meet my goal, I need to write a certain amount of words per day. If I fall behind, I have to write more during the following days to catch up. The writing lags and it can be depressing watching the spillage of word junk accumulate on the screen. I can understand the desire to stop at that moment. To go hide from the manuscript you are writing and which seems to mock you and your dreams. Don't hide though! Keep going, press onward! Truly, it is a pain in the butt, yet it works.
Writing is a sport. You heard me...(figuratively speaking). A sport requires intense training, dedication, perseverance and practice. Sound familiar? I thought so. Writing takes skill, but if you have the determination, you can learn to acquire the skill. If you want the "trophy", you have to do the work. No one ever expects to have a perfect sprint, or three-point shot, without first working towards the completion of those goals. As writers, we cannot expect to write the perfect book, or even the perfect scene at the first draft. NaNoWriMo is teaching me the value of pressing on, though the work might be substandard, to reach the end goal of completing the first draft. Once the first draft is done, I'm able to go back and edit. More practice. You can always rewrite once you finish, but if you get distracted or depressed about the work, you may never finish. Remember to allow your writing to suck. Don't look back, keep going. Whether you're doing NaNoWriMo or other writing, keep going. There's obviously times to take a small break, but if you find yourself avoiding your story, you'll probably just have to plunk yourself down and continue to write. Then make sure to give yourself proper credit, no matter how crappy you feel your writing is, for the dedication and perseverance you exhibited in finishing a manuscript. That is a HUGE accomplishment, whether you were able to do it in a month or ten years.
It starts with just the dedication to write something each day. Perhaps writing thoughts in a journal, or creating a poem would be a good start. If you dream of writing, it is NEVER too late to begin. Minutes a day. I wish you all the best luck and will continue to share as much as possible of this crazy journey. If you've never done NaNoWriMo, or are not sure what it is, check it out!
I want to know about NaNoWriMo!
Not distressing, that term is not strong enough. I'd probably say it was catastrophic news. This came after many other issues had decided to make their way to me and plop themselves onto my already full plate. The only available answer was to quit my job and NOT get another one. Crazy? Yes, very. Necessary in my case? I think so. The true question is what happens from here?
As things stand, I'm not finished with my B.A. in Creative Writing. I wanted to have my degree before I was in this position. We all know how plans are though; they never go where they are supposed to. I'm still taking my classes (I actually only have a few semesters left, which will no doubt fly by) and trying to make my way through the possibilities of earning income, which is in some way related to my field of study, rather than throwing away my time at a job which will not build a portfolio. Somehow, "I can help fix your internet", does not seem to garner points on a writing resume. Weird. It has been a long couple of weeks crammed with various duties. Things are beginning to settle down, so the real struggle begins. Oxymoron, I know.
I've been doing NaNoWriMo this month, a very valuable exercise in writing insanity, which will hopefully produce something of quality. In addition to this, I need to edit another manuscript (my first edit!). It is probably time to drag out all those nifty writing links I've been saving up for the future. As they say, it is "go time". I've already learned that this journey is not for the scared, or the faint of heart. It is not for those who dream of a "someday". NaNoWriMo is teaching me that every moment is THAT moment, every day can be a step towards "someday". I've always been able to write without worrying about writer's block (this may be due to my ADD-esque writing style), but NaNoWriMo challenges this. To meet my goal, I need to write a certain amount of words per day. If I fall behind, I have to write more during the following days to catch up. The writing lags and it can be depressing watching the spillage of word junk accumulate on the screen. I can understand the desire to stop at that moment. To go hide from the manuscript you are writing and which seems to mock you and your dreams. Don't hide though! Keep going, press onward! Truly, it is a pain in the butt, yet it works.
Writing is a sport. You heard me...(figuratively speaking). A sport requires intense training, dedication, perseverance and practice. Sound familiar? I thought so. Writing takes skill, but if you have the determination, you can learn to acquire the skill. If you want the "trophy", you have to do the work. No one ever expects to have a perfect sprint, or three-point shot, without first working towards the completion of those goals. As writers, we cannot expect to write the perfect book, or even the perfect scene at the first draft. NaNoWriMo is teaching me the value of pressing on, though the work might be substandard, to reach the end goal of completing the first draft. Once the first draft is done, I'm able to go back and edit. More practice. You can always rewrite once you finish, but if you get distracted or depressed about the work, you may never finish. Remember to allow your writing to suck. Don't look back, keep going. Whether you're doing NaNoWriMo or other writing, keep going. There's obviously times to take a small break, but if you find yourself avoiding your story, you'll probably just have to plunk yourself down and continue to write. Then make sure to give yourself proper credit, no matter how crappy you feel your writing is, for the dedication and perseverance you exhibited in finishing a manuscript. That is a HUGE accomplishment, whether you were able to do it in a month or ten years.
It starts with just the dedication to write something each day. Perhaps writing thoughts in a journal, or creating a poem would be a good start. If you dream of writing, it is NEVER too late to begin. Minutes a day. I wish you all the best luck and will continue to share as much as possible of this crazy journey. If you've never done NaNoWriMo, or are not sure what it is, check it out!
I want to know about NaNoWriMo!
Sunday, August 12, 2012
What Beginning Writers Can Learn From Stephanie Meyer
Ah, Stephanie Meyer and her world of sparkly vampires. Many people will be gagging as they read this title, some will be affronted by the mere mention of her name in relation to literature. Today, I am not discussing anything regarding the merits or mistakes in her books. For those of you who found sparkly vampires insipid and irritating, I recommend checking out her book The Host, instead. The Host is more evolved in terms of character development and psychology.
Today, the reason I am bothering to step into the maelstrom is to share her down-to-earth representation of how Twilight originated. She is amazingly humble and in this video interview a number of things stood out. As a "beginning" writer of sorts, I find it very inspiring to see the similarities between her published books and my own writing process. It is a short video, so I'm going to expound on what I derived from the video. It is really interesting to note that when she wrote the book, she had absolutely no intentions of ever sharing it with the world.
Here's a few things from the video that I found interesting and/or helpful:
1) Write down your dreams. Whenever I have vivid dreams, I always try to find time to write them down.
2) Be curious. Ask the next questions, "what if my character had an abusive childhood?", or "what makes this character unique?"
3) Take away the pressure of performance if you can, just engage your curiosity so you can complete a story
4) Be excited about finishing a story, it's an awesome feeling, even if you know you need to redo half of it
5) Don't be afraid to ePublish or submit your manuscript. You might get rejected, but it's better than never trying.
6) Don't worry about audience too much, your audience will make itself known
7) Try to find a support group, whether it is friends, family or solely online
8) Ignore the haters (not mentioned in the video but definitely applicable). If your goal is to sell copies of your book and you accomplish that goal, ignore harsh criticisms and let yourself enjoy your success
In addition to these things, I would say not to give up. If writing is something you really like to do, you will do it even if you are not a well-known writer. Hopefully, you will enjoy a measure of success if that is your goal, but a writer will write no matter what. It brings joy, and in my case I feel it helps me keep my sanity. Never underestimate something as simple as a dream or nightmare, you never know when a full-blown story may pop up. The timing on finding this interview is very interesting to me; this past week I was inundated by extremely vivid dreams which had absolutely nothing to do with anything I read or watched. It was very encouraging to hear that Stephanie Meyer's successful Twilight series was born under similar circumstances.
So, take heart writers! You do not have to be a literary guru, you just have to tell a story that other people want to read. Pick up that pencil and keep writing! :)
That is all for today!
-Ninjawriter
Today, the reason I am bothering to step into the maelstrom is to share her down-to-earth representation of how Twilight originated. She is amazingly humble and in this video interview a number of things stood out. As a "beginning" writer of sorts, I find it very inspiring to see the similarities between her published books and my own writing process. It is a short video, so I'm going to expound on what I derived from the video. It is really interesting to note that when she wrote the book, she had absolutely no intentions of ever sharing it with the world.
Here's a few things from the video that I found interesting and/or helpful:
1) Write down your dreams. Whenever I have vivid dreams, I always try to find time to write them down.
2) Be curious. Ask the next questions, "what if my character had an abusive childhood?", or "what makes this character unique?"
3) Take away the pressure of performance if you can, just engage your curiosity so you can complete a story
4) Be excited about finishing a story, it's an awesome feeling, even if you know you need to redo half of it
5) Don't be afraid to ePublish or submit your manuscript. You might get rejected, but it's better than never trying.
6) Don't worry about audience too much, your audience will make itself known
7) Try to find a support group, whether it is friends, family or solely online
8) Ignore the haters (not mentioned in the video but definitely applicable). If your goal is to sell copies of your book and you accomplish that goal, ignore harsh criticisms and let yourself enjoy your success
In addition to these things, I would say not to give up. If writing is something you really like to do, you will do it even if you are not a well-known writer. Hopefully, you will enjoy a measure of success if that is your goal, but a writer will write no matter what. It brings joy, and in my case I feel it helps me keep my sanity. Never underestimate something as simple as a dream or nightmare, you never know when a full-blown story may pop up. The timing on finding this interview is very interesting to me; this past week I was inundated by extremely vivid dreams which had absolutely nothing to do with anything I read or watched. It was very encouraging to hear that Stephanie Meyer's successful Twilight series was born under similar circumstances.
So, take heart writers! You do not have to be a literary guru, you just have to tell a story that other people want to read. Pick up that pencil and keep writing! :)
That is all for today!
-Ninjawriter
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