Some of you know that i was hit by the writing bug a few years ago when a friend introduced me to Nanowrimo.
i have always been an avid reader and have always loved the world of words; words are very important to me; i love how they can convert an idea, share an emotion, flesh out a character, reveal a secret, paint a picture, create an entire world and so much more.
Nanowrimo made me realise how much i liked to write as well. So i made a resolution to keep writing. Unfortunately, it remained a resolution. i have written in the last 3 Nanowrimos but can’t seem to keep up with writing daily or weekly or monthly or even with finishing any of the stories i have started writing.
i have, however, started following quite a few writing blogs and one of them is The Write Practice. And this recent post, Don’t be a resolution writer, made me sit up and think hard. And i know i am just that, a resolution writer.
It’s the days that don’t inspire that separate an in-shape writer and an unhealthy writer.
So i have been an unhealthy couch-potato writer, sitting in front of my computer reading about writing and about other writers instead of actually putting words down on to paper or in these days, in file.
Why? i was tired, sick, not inspired, too hot, too cold, stressed, too late, too early, wrong music, didn’t feel like it etc… If i am honest, the simple answer is that i have an ideal in my head about how/when i would write; i was waiting for the so-called perfect circumstances to meet that unstoppable inspiration.
BUT…
“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.”
The Write Practice is so right! The will of the writer needs to prevail!
And these are the points i will bear in mind on days i don’t “feel” like writing:
Calling yourself a writer is a privilege that many wish to do, but never will. When that privilege is understood, you’ll take a new approach to your writing.
Look at those times you don’t feel like writing as gifts to practice – like swinging a weighted bat before stepping up to the plate.
Writers write. If it’s who you are, you won’t be able to make any decision other than to write.
So i am writer (not amateur writer, simply writer) and therefore i will write!
syc
PS: i’m thinking of posting snippets of what i write… sometimes, not all the time, to keep me on track, accountable so to speak. Would that be a good idea?
Edited Version of First Book (Photo credit: TheCreativePenn)
… which i really shouldn’t be thinking about at all because i do NOT yet have a finished manuscript! But i went ahead and read this article – Red Pencil Round-Up: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, which i had bookmarked at the beginning of Nanowrimo 2012.
It’s a long article but has many gems. Here are some of the ones which i would like to highlight:
Does that mean you’ll be making fifteen or more passes, beginning to end, through your entire manuscript? Yes, it does.
i read that and my heart sank. It looks like it would take a whole lot more time with head bent low over paper and red pencil in hand than i had thought.
But i see her point. There are so many aspects of a story to look at, trying to look at all aspects in one sweep is just not going to cut it. Can you imagine thinking about plot, characterisation, grammar, narrative, dialogue, setting etc. all at once? Makes my head spin just looking at that checklist of items. :p
i love how the article is written with lots of tips and examples which clearly show you what she means and these examples could even help to generate ideas for your story. Take a look at the example she writes when explaining about the Bread Crumb Trail:
For example, if your character is experiencing cryptic nightmares and you need to convey that her grandparents raised her on a farm built atop a sacred Indian burial ground, don’t launch into a block of exposition about her childhood. Place her in a scene at the farm, have her call her grandmother and question her experiences, create a scene where she digs a secret-filled box out of the attic—choose something active that moves the plot forward and gives you the opportunity to reveal that information in an interesting way.
Here’s one i didn’t know about:
Take a look at your character list. Change any names that start with the same letter or have a similar sound when read aloud. I had one client who didn’t realize she had such an affinity for “J” names until I pointed out that she had Jonathan, Josh, Jackson, Jenny, and Jessie (along with Carolina, Connie, and Kristen) cavorting through her script and it was quite a challenge to keep track of them.
Hmmm… i have to go check my character list. i love names and i enjoy giving my characters names which are full of meaning or at least reflect their personality. It’s one of my favourite parts of the writing process: character creation. Have you come up with some great names for your characters? Wanna share?
i had to smile at her paragraphs discussing dialogue tags. Here’s the one line we all should keep in mind when writing:
Remember: You can’t smile, nod, or wink dialogue, or do anything else physical with the words.
i have never really come across the term “talking heads”. Ok, i have not read a whole ton of how-to-write books yet. But i found the idea hilarious, just thinking about it: a room full of heads just talking. She mentions talking heads in relation to grounding your characters so that the reader gets a sense of place.
This next one is would be interesting to do:
Now, put your plot to the cause and effect test. Start at the end of your story. How did your character arrive at that resolution? What happened before that? What caused that event? What came before that? Work backward from the end to ensure your plot doesn’t go on unrelated tangents. Work backward to make sure there is a logical progression that leads your character from one action to the next.
i suppose if your story makes sense going backwards, it would work going forwards as well. It has never crossed my mind to think about story plot like that.
She also covers research, grammar and punctuation.
And at the end, in Pre-submission Proof, which i most definitely will do when i have finally written and edited my story, i learnt something new and fun to do:
Yes, you need to do an audio check too. Pour yourself some tea, hot or iced. Lean back in your chair, turn up your computer speaker volume, and set the Speech function to read your manuscript aloud. The voice may be a bit robotic, but listening to your story read aloud will help you catch errors even the spell checker missed.
Now i was wondering what is this program she is talking about. i looked at my Open Office Writer and it didn’t have that function. Then i did a quick search on Google and found that Windows itself has a Narrator! Wow! Shows how little i have explored the functions of my computer. So click on your ‘Start’ button, then go to ‘All Programs’, ‘Accessories’, ‘Ease of Access’ and there you will find ‘Narrator’. It should read out loud the on-screen text. BUT…
… i could not get it to work right. It reads out loud all my keystrokes and tells me what window and what buttons are there but it would not read my text document; even though it is a saved file and there is clearly text on the page, it keeps telling me, “Empty Page/Paragraph.” i checked Help, it was no help.
Yet there is hope, i found that you can download a free program to read back to you if you like. See here. i may try that another day.
Well, i hope this has been helpful to you. It has certainly given me a push to finish my story asap, if editing the story is going to take 18 times as long as writing it!
Do go read the whole article, follow the link in the first paragraph of this post.
Today is the last day of 2012 and 2013 is just a few hours away now… what better way to look back on 2012 than a quick summary which is our annual Christmas letter… (i have put in links to different blog posts for more details if you wish to read more about a certain event/happening.)
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HiHi
How are you? Hoping this finds you and your loved ones well and enjoying the Christmas season. It looks like we will be having a green Christmas over here this year; temps have been above 10 degrees Celsius over the last few days. All the snow we had has already melted. But Christmas doesn’t depend on snow, we have Christmas because of Christ.
2012 has been a year of unexpected and pleasant happenings for us.
Last year Sandra closed her book business and faced the frustrating issue of not having her driver’s license recognised. This year, on 6th November, she passed her Swiss Driver’s test. So it is official and legal, she can now drive in Switzerland.
If you have followed us/Sandra on Facebook, you would have seen some postings from our new blog (trippingdifferently.com) and you have also seen postings about the advocate ministry Sandra is now involved in; advocating, building awareness and fundraising for special needs orphans in Eastern Europe, Latin American and Asia. Thank you all who have been such wonderful support for this ministry. If you would like to find out more, please contact Sandra on Facebook or email.
She is also still involved with the Day Away Association for Women and attends the weekly BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). Her German lesson are also a regular weekly feature. She hopes to be able to take her B1 Level German exam in March and be done with German classes after that.
Tobias is in 2nd Grade and still loving school lots. He is doing well at school. At our last contact with his teacher, she said, “If you don’t hear from me, then all is well.” He has finished with swim classes, having gotten his 7th and final badge just before the summer holidays.
He continues with his Judo training and most recently took the yellow-belt test and passed. He is so happy about it. He also entered his first Judo competition in November, an internal one for his Dojo and came in 3rd in his category. We are very proud.
Music-wise, Tobias has started the violin and is very excited about it. Sandra joined him in classes and she is loving it too. The violin teacher is very pleased with their progress since August. They performed in a recital together, just before the end of the school term. So playing the guitar has taken a backseat for now.
Walter still travels a fair bit for work. This year’s travels featured a lot of Africa. Thankfully there are low periods too. The recent Oct/Nov months was a busy time and he was gone most of those months. But he managed to squeeze in a 5-day trip to Singapore to help oversee some stuff at his parents’ place. He still plays as much as he can for worship at church.
Our family travels this year, of course, included our annual trip back to Singapore, where we enjoyed fabulous food and the company of family and friends. In February, we did our ski week in Wengen and had some friends come over for a day, another friend joined us for 2 days and another one was with us the whole time. It was great.
For this year’s farmstay, Tobias wanted his best friend to come along. So it was Sandra, Tobias and Sebi helping out on a farm, not far from the city of Bern, for 3 days, 2 nights. We stayed with a lovely Christian family who also had boys about the same ages. The boys had a blast. So much so, Tobias is wanting to go back for 4 nights next time!
We do have one sad news. One of our Gerbils (they came to live with us September 2011) passed away. We will miss our beloved Nox. But we still have Puddles and hope she will be with us at least another couple of years.
Daddy, Son, Mummy… i love…
That’s pretty much covers 2012 for us. How was your year? Do drop us an email/letter and let us know.
Wishing you a Blessed Christmas and a Wonderful 2013.
With love,
walter, sandra & tobias.
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Looking back, it has been a year of learning and i look forward to putting all that knowledge and new skills into good use in 2013.
Hoping that 2013 would be an amazing year of dreams come true for you and your loved ones.
trippingdifferently 