Writing 101: Spacing Out

I once forgot to eat for 12 hours. Sometimes, people will have entire conversations with me. After I give them a series of monosyllabic answers, I inevitably look up and ask "wait...what did you just say?" I'm not crazy, I'm spacing out. And if you're going to write successfully, you're going to need to learn how to do it, too.

Alone in My Head

The world is never going to shut up for you. It doesn't matter if you crawl into a bunker and lock the door, the world is still going to find you. It's going to intrude no matter how carefully you plan your day and no matter how many rules you make for your household. Closing the door may be symbolic to you, but life is always going to intervene. 

You have to master the art of spacing out. You have to be capable of sitting in the middle of Grand Central Station with a smartphone and write your novel, if that's what it takes. Because sometimes, that is what it's going to take. Sometimes, you're going to have to write while the kids are screaming, phones are ringing, the TV is going and someone's in the background asking a bunch of inane questions about the contents of the refrigerator. Life is like that. The writer has to learn how to leave this very busy, noisy world...and step into the one they're creating on the page.

You have to learn the technique of spacing out.

Turning Off the World

Spacing out isn't easy. You have to focus on the story in front of you and only that. There are going to be a lot of distractions in your ear, but you've got to focus on what's on the page. It is a skill that can be learned; it just takes concentration. Practice it by turning on some music or the television when you're writing. Start out at a low volume, and try to write. Focus on the words and tune out the noise until it's just that: dull noise in the background that doesn't mean anything. As you feel more comfortable, meaning more focused, increase the volume.

Keep practicing until you're able to shut out the world and live solely on the page. It's not going to work 100 percent of the time; there will be moments when a jarring noise or a loud shout will break your focus. But once you know how to let the noise fade into the background, you'll be able to work well anywhere. 

However, I would caution you to set reminders so you don't forget to eat.

Writing 101: Personal Presentation

 If you're serious about being an author, you carefully comb your books for mistakes before you publish them. You agonize over word choices, think deeply about plots and get incredibly picky when it comes time to design and choose a cover design. You pay attention to all the little details when you're presenting your book. But don't think for even one moment that you can slack off in the way you present yourself. In fact, it's something you've got to think about constantly.

Being a Brand

Once you label yourself as an author and start presenting yourself on the Internet through a blog, social media profiles, forums or any other venue, you're no longer a person. Now, you're a brand. You've got to start acting like it. 

Awhile back, I did a post reminding you that you're always an author, even when you're kicking back for some Twitter time. Whenever you're using your author name in any public way, whether on a forum post or even in an email to another author, you need to be thinking about how you're presenting yourself. 

Presentation is Everything

Specifically, I'm talking about all the typos. The grammatical errors, and the lazy punctuation. If you can't send me an error-free query letter, why would I review you books? If I'm reading your post in the forum asking me to buy your book and you're totally ignoring all rules of period usage, I'm going to have a knee-jerk Grammar Warden response. I know it to be true, because I've heard myself say out loud, on more than one occasion, "if you can't capitalize your Is, I can't read your book." 

And I'm really not all that choosy about what I read. I read books across all genres of all lengths based on all sorts of plots, so I'm pretty open-minded. But your average reader? They need a lot more wooing than I do, and they may write you off even more quickly than I.

Everything you put out there is ultimately associated with your books and your writing in general. So if all I see from you is sloppy Facebook updates and forum posts that ignore everything about capitalization and commas, what do I think about your books? That's right: I'm going to think they're sloppily-written, too. It might not be true. It probably isn't true. 

The thing is, I'm not even going to try to find out. That's why you have to think about personal presentation, because I'm certainly not the only reader who feels this way. You are being judged, unpleasant as that may be. So present yourself well, and you will end up selling more books.

Writing 101: If It Makes You Happy...

Have you ever killed a character? Did you cry and sob at your keyboard while writing the scene? Have you ever written a break-up? Did you feel anger and pain and jealousy when the lost love interest turned up with a new love interest of their own? If you're not feeling all these things while you're writing, then I'm not feeling what you're writing. You feel me? 

How Does That Make You Feel?

The best books are the ones that make us laugh and cry. The books that make you feel something are the ones that stick with you. They become special memories, personal stories. I'll never forget the emotional wreck I became while reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (don't judge me). There's a line toward the end of the book, where Professor McGonagall takes control of Hogwarts and tells the students they can stay and fight if they want to. 

I burst into tears. In the middle of a silent room, there's me sobbing. I started to cry so hard, I had to close the book for a few minutes just to gather myself. I loved that book so much, I'm not even embarrassed to share that story. That's a good book. And I guarantee you, J. K. Rowling started to cry and slobber at some point while she was writing the first draft of that book -- stiff British upper lip notwithstanding. 

Because, while I don't know the woman personally, I'm pretty sure she knows the secret of writing great emotional scenes. And here's what it is: you have to feel what the characters feel. 

If you're a writer, it's necessary to go a little crazy sometimes. While you're writing, when you're in that special space, you have to become your characters. You're no longer Self Pubbed, hard-working indie author. You're now your main character, living in that world and breathing that air and going through everything the main character is experiencing. 

And if you don't cry when something happens, or laugh at a scene that's meant to be amusing, you have to rewrite it. Get deeper into the character, try it again and see what happens. When your emotions are engaged, your writing is going to be a lot more realistic. That's the kind of stuff that's going to make me burst into tears at odd intervals in the middle of a silent room. And that's the kind of stuff you want.

Writing 101: Motive

People have a pretty high tolerance for fiction. It's okay to write about a psychotic killer who carves people up. Many fine stories have been based on this gruesome plot device. But it's not okay to fail to provide a motive for those killings. And the thing is, psychotic killers aren't the only characters who need a motive. All of them do. 

Why? 

If you follow me on Twitter, you may know that I spend a good portion of my day watching Investigation Discovery. I can get away with it by telling people it's research -- I write mystery novels. But when I'm by myself and an interesting case is unfolding, I might find myself doing some good-natured (not crazy) yelling at the television screen. Usually, I'm shouting just one word: why?

To me, that's the most important question in every story. Why is the main character in love with this guy? Why is that villain being so mean? Why is this all happening? It's easy to get caught up in writing vivid action scenes, steamy romance scenes and exciting dialogue...and forget all about including a motive. 

Something is driving these characters, and readers want to know what it is. There are lots of different ways to expose motive. Maybe you do it right at the front with an exciting scene. A character who nearly drowns, for example, might spend the rest of the book being terrified of water. The beginning scene that shows that near-drowning explains this fear nicely. Just imagine how the book would read without it. Some writers might wait, and reveal the past drowning more toward the middle of the book. 

It doesn't matter how you do it, only that you do. Every character has a motive, and you've got to know what it is so that I, the reader, can know what it is, too. Whether you choose to spell it out plainly or reveal it through a series of scenes, you've got to show the motive behind the characters.

Otherwise, I'm going to end up sitting on my couch, Kindle in hand, screaming why at your book. And I promise that, when my neighbors ask, I'll blame the whole thing on you.

Writing a First Draft

I stopped by a friend's blog recently to share my thoughts on writing a first draft. Go read it to find out what to do before you start writing!

Insomnia...Sort Of

It's not so much that I have insomnia. It's more about the fact that I can't find the time to sleep, but paradoxically I can find time to play Scrabble. This brings me to the recent revelation I experienced, one night around three in the morning: I'm really terrible at Scrabble. 

It bothers me to the point of distraction...and that brings us full circle to my sort-of insomnia. 

She Was a Scrabble Queen...

So I got this email inviting me to download a Scrabble app. I have a pretty high-grade app addiction, so I couldn't click the link fast enough to start the download. And besides, Scrabble? Of course I'll play Scrabble with you. I'm a writer. I rule at Scrabble. If being a professional wordsmith is good for anything, it ought to darn well be playing Scrabble.

It was with this very superior attitude that I loaded up the app and confidently entered into a game with the person who invited me. And because I am so superior, I wasn't even about to stop there. Why should I battle just one challenger, when words are my stock and trade? One opponent? Ha! You better bring more than a couple of guys to take me down.

So I went ahead and started up 5 different games. Yeah, that's right: my confidence was sky-high. Not only am I a marvel of app-juggling, I'm a pretty intense gamer when I have the time to focus on it. And I know words. So bring it on!

You can imagine what happened next. I began to lose. By a lot. I pit myself against multiple challengers, and I'm more than a little humiliated to admit to you today that I have won a single Scrabble game on my new app to date. Yes, just one game.

It bears mentioning that I downloaded it a week ago.Not only did I lose to the person who invited me to the game, I've lost to multiple random app-users who I like to pretend are J.K. Rowling, James Patterson and another half-dozen authors I admire...but it's much more like they are all in the seventh grade.

So naturally I have been making myself crazy playing Scrabble. Some of my games last for days, and turns may take up to 14 hours before I make a move. No, it's not because I'm studying the board for that long. I've had to set limits on myself, so now I only check the games when I'm caught up on my Tweets, my mail, my forums and the other stuff on my list. It might take 14 hours before I manage all of that in any given day, so that's why.

Of course, it doesn't help that when I do go to make a move, I check every single word in the dictionary and spend plenty of time mumbling to myself in frustration and dismay. The swearing takes up an excessive amount of time. It's unfortunate they can't be used as viable Scrabble words. Then I would rule at the game.

It's been a bit of a bizarre week, I'll admit. I had the mistaken idea that taking random Scrabble breaks throughout my day would prove to be a fun experience, a stress-relieving enterprise. Because I might work for 14 hours without taking a deep breath, this seemed like a perfectly reasonable course of action to pursue. Little did I know I would end up in a confidence-shattering competition with word masters who have gone into the hills of the Himalayas to study the most obscure words ever invented in language...or a pack of schoolchildren with stunningly vast vocabularies. I can't decide.

To put it a bit more simply, the Scrabble didn't help me relax, have fun or relieve any stress. It helped me miss more sleep, as I found myself lying in bed at the end of the day trying to find out if "qi" is an acceptable word (it is). If anything it's compounded my stress, as I have now fallen behind in my newly re-affirmed reviewing schedule. The tale I'm embroiled in now is a very intriguing blend of fantasy and mystery. I'll write a full review if I can stop staring at the Scrabble board long enough to finish it, and I'm making no promises. I'll out-word Bobstar if it's the last thing I ever do. 

Because I'm a writer, darn it...and doesn't that mean I ought to be amazing at Scrabble? I'm going to go sleep on that question as 10-point letters dance by in my nightmares tauntingly. I leave you with this piece of advice: if you decide to play Scrabble online, hope that you'll end up playing against me.

Writing 101: Writing Logistics

If you think it takes a lot of time trying to write a novel, try putting one together after it's been torn into fifteen to thirty different pieces. There's a lot more to being an author than turning out purple prose until your fingers bleed. You also need to pay attention to your writing logistics with every chapter and every book. Otherwise, you're going to get sucked into an undertow of time-wasting document-opening. I know, because for a long time I lived there.

Let's Talk About Documents

The few novels (and believe me, I'm using the term loosely here) that I ever wrote I completely screwed up. I gave each chapter a title, and wrote each one in a separate document. Naturally, I named those documents after the title of the chapter -- not by their numerical value. I'm sure you can imagine what sort of a nightmare this became any time I needed to access an element in the story, like if I wanted to re-read it in its actual order. I'm opening up documents, and getting frustrated....and wasting a ton of time I could've spent writing instead. 

Don't let this happen to you. I had to learn writing logistics the hard way, but now that I have I've got a system that works. Use mine, or come up with your own, but make sure you get it worked out before you write. Then, you won't end up plowing through bizarrely-named documents at the center of a disorganized mess.

First, make a folder for each book -- I'm talking about a separate folder for each. The folder should be the name of the book, or a stand-in name if you haven't titled the work yet. I'll use the main character's name, or a certain word I've associated with the book, as a stand-in. If it's a series, make a folder for the entire series and put each associated book folder inside.

Write the entire manuscript in a single document. I like to name mine manuscript, that keeps things simple, but it makes more sense to name it after the title of the book. Always save a second copy of the manuscript elsewhere on your hard drive, and back it up on a flash drive as well. 

Store all your resource materials for the book in the same folder. This might include your cast list, an outline, maps, notes, timelines, the blurb, whatever you've got. Give each one of these documents obvious names (like outline, map, notes, and so on) to make them easy to access. Back up a copy of the entire folder every time you make changes, so you don't run the risk of losing your work.

Find a simple, straightforward system for keeping your books stored on your hard drive. Writing logistics are pretty boring, but you need them to build a strong foundation for your craft...and to keep yourself from wasting a bunch of time you don't really have.

Writing 101: The Most Over-Used Descriptor?

Because I'm pretty good at distracting myself, I got caught up recently in re-formatting one of my really old books (long story). While erasing unnecessary line breaks, I couldn't help but notice one word appearing again and again...and again and again. It was everywhere, and it was being used the wrong way 50 percent of the time. That word stuck out at me, and I started thinking about how often I've been seeing it in recent months. That's when I realized that it may just be the most over-used descriptor in fiction. This was quickly followed by the revelation that I can never, ever use it again...and I don't think you should, either. Allow me to plead my argument against the word slightly. 

Insert Your Adverb Here

She smiled slightly. "I didn't expect to see you here."

He nudged her arm slightly. "Did you see that?"

I felt the room shake, slightly, as the big truck roared past.

I'm getting slightly tired of all this. 

The examples above are pretty good approximations of recent sentences I've read in fiction containing the word slightly. And honestly, they're all pretty poorly written because of that word. Slightly isn't just an over-used descriptor...it's also a bad one. 

By definition, slight means small, or some derivative thereof -- when it's used as an adjective. As a verb, slight means to treat something or someone as if they are small. For example: "The movie star was slighted by the Academy Awards when she wasn't nominated." 

When you add ly, slight becomes the adverb slightly...also known as the one-size-fits-all word for any writer in a describing jam. Add slightly to any sentence, suddenly it feels a little bit fancier. Why shrug when you can shrug slightly? Why chuckle when you can slightly chuckle? Why come up with a better word, when this one can be shoved anywhere?

Because it sounds fairly horrible, that's why. Let's take the prose and put it into a real world context. What does a slight smile look like? What does a slight laugh sound like? To what degree of pain does one feel a slight nibble or a slight kick, and what would I hear if you let out a slight sigh? 

Slightly isn't a degree, and it's isn't at all a good word. My idea of slightly might be totally different from yours, and as an author you've got to be more specific than that so I know what you're actually trying to convey. Slightly is just too vague, and it's too easy.

Slightly Synonyms

Thankfully, you get to the use the entire rest of the English language to write your descriptive text. That gives you over a million different words to choose from, and I'm going to start you off with a dozen that are perfectly serviceable synonyms for slightly: gently, weakly, ineffectually, somewhat, hardly, imperceptibly, daintily, casually, lightly, marginally, scarcely and faintly. Now, go write!