3 Ways to Know That You Should Kill a Project

     Last week I talked about how to become a popular writer. Also related to writing your book, finishing it and knowing how to get it out there, this week I will be talking about letting a project go. Every project that you work on will have its ups and downs--it is inevitable. But how do you know if that "down" is reason enough to stop a project? Should you just keep going with it, or is it stuck? Here are three ways to tell whether or not you should kill a project.

     1.) All Feedback is Negative

          If you have given out your manuscript after each of its drafts, and still the majority of the feedback is negative, you may want to reconsider moving forward with it. Not everyone will like your book, and that is okay. However, when the people that you have trusted with reading your manuscript and giving you feedback are suggesting that you reconsider, they might be right. Sometimes a project gets to a point where you would have to do so much work to get it where it needs to be, that if no one seems to be liking it, perhaps you should move on. Don't let this get you down, though. For all you know, a great book might be coming right along, and you would never know unless you move on.

     2.) You Aren't Feeling it

          Now as I said previously, every book has its ups and downs. At some point in your book you will probably either hate it, or come close to hating it. This is perfectly normal. You are looking at it through a microscope smaller than any other microscope. You are going to see every imperfection a thousand times more disgusting than it really is. Sometime it will annoy you so much to the point of making faces at the truly obnoxious parts. But this will pass if you keep going with this book. Eventually you will see that nothing is perfect, and that editing will fix a majority of issues. However, if this my-book-sucks feeling keeps going on for a long time, then you should step back and look at your book, its plot, and where you see it going. Can you see this being a majorly popular book? Can you see yourself marketing it? If not, then it might be time to move on.

     3.) You See Something Brighter 

          If when you are writing your book, you think of a new book idea and can't stop thinking about it, then either you have a case of writer-boredom, or that new idea really is better. If it is the first case, then this is fine! Like I said, there will be low points in your writing. Those points will pass if you keep writing. Write down your great idea and work on it later. I've worked on more than one book at once and trust me, it isn't the greatest idea. Put that idea aside and focus on your priority  the book that you are already writing. If your problem is the latter, then you should consider moving on. If the book that you are working on seems dull or lackluster, then you need to consider a few things. First of all, think about whether the book that you are working on is worth continuing. Does spending months and months more on it make your stomach cringe because you think that you will be deathly sick of it? Does the idea of a new book make you smile or make you want to type a million words a minute? It will be different for everyone, but really consider it. Which book would you rather be writing? 

     If all or any of these things are relevant to your writing situation, then you should consider moving on to a new project. This might make your stomach turn because of the time spent on your book, but sometimes moving on is the best thing for a career. 

     Good luck!

    -Elysia Regina

4 Reasons Ideas Stop

          Over the course of a life of writing there are ebbs and flows of creativity. Sometimes there is an explosion of ideas, other times the ideas dry up leaving a fear that they will never come back. But there are many reasons for why ideas stop. Here are a few:

1.      You may need to write more down.

          Just get ideas out of your head so there is space for the new ones. The mind can only concentrate on a few things at a time and if you aren’t using your mind to create new ideas than you are only dwelling on the old ideas. The mind has to flow. If you bottle it up then it can’t discover new thoughts.

2.      You have grown up in your writing.

         Remember the days when every idea sounded brilliant and possible? Have you looked back on some of them and thought, “Wow I would never do that now.” The days of accepting just any thought that catches your eye are long gone. But that’s a good thing. It means you are no longer willing to run with just any thought that flits through your mind. You’re sophisticated and waiting for the right ideas to hit you and when they do you love them because they are more mature and fit your style perfectly.

3.      You are forcing ideas.

          This happens when you stress about not having ideas and you attempt to create out of stress. Sometimes this can work. There is nothing like a deadline to ensure a finished product. But sometimes this doesn’t work. Creativity flows. It doesn’t march to a beat. And if it is forced too often it may rebel altogether. Take a deep breath and don’t worry about when you will get your next idea. Because the best ideas come when you’re not expecting them to.

4.      You’re looking for the wrong ideas.

          Sometimes you don’t understand yourself as well as you think you do. You might want to be a writer in a certain genre or write about certain characters, themes or plots, but we all have areas we gravitate toward and sometimes they don’t include the areas we want to gravitate toward. We may want to be funny or mysterious or literary or romantic, however this doesn’t mean we are. It can seem right to push yourself to finish an idea, but if it is the wrong idea it will flow like iced concrete and look just as pretty. You will spend your days frustrated because the piece won’t do what you want of live up to your imagination. This is because you are trying to do something that is not you. Your mind doesn’t work that way. But your mind works in a different way that will be even more satisfying because it will flow and it will be beautiful. 

          One thing to remember: It’s okay to run out of ideas. You are still creative! And one day you will be energized again and the ideas will flow. You just have to wait.

-Christina J. Adams

Writing Myths

There are some common misconceptions about writing. As I beginning writer I often clung to the ideas I had heard popularized in order to make myself feel more like a professional. Perhaps you do that too, maybe without even realizing it. Because these myths threaten to ruin the joy of writing, allow me to debunk of few of them.

Myth #1: You should not listen to music when you are writing.

Some really fabulous authors cannot listen to anything when they write. These people often like empty rooms and forbid interruptions. They may even wear earplugs. If that is you, then cling to this standard! However, if you are the type who likes to write at the local coffee shop or who finds yourself dreaming up plotlines when you are hanging out with friends, it is unlikely that you actually have problems listening to music. In fact, music may inspire you.

Personally, a coffee shop teeming with life and some good music have the potential to spur creativity to life on a day when it otherwise would have seemed dead. I tend to listen to music I know by heart or wordless albums. I encounter times when I need a still house and some rainfall by which to fine-tune a section of my book. Usually, however, I find myself around people, checking Facebook in between paragraphs, and listening to music while I write. I engage with life in order to keep life in my writing. Do not be afraid to do the same types of things. There is no one correct way to write.

Myth #2: There is shame in online research.

A lot of people—usually non-authors—will tell you that to use Google or Wikipedia as the primary source of research for your novel is cheating. Excuse me, people who say this, exactly where did you do your research for college and/or high school papers? Did you go to Paris when you had to write a one page paper on the French Revolution? Or did the library and the Internet serve as valid means of research?

Here is the grain of truth in the lie: hands on research is always better. When describing how it feels to ride a horse you will be better served by experience than research, but in a one paragraph description of a city or an event in history, Wikipedia is your best friend. It offers concise, useful information that can be gleaned in a moment instead of in weeks of travel and thousands of dollars of expense. It is a flawed notion to believe that all Internet research is inherently weak. Do what hands on research you can. It broadens your perspective on life. Yet also do as much Internet research as you can.

Myth #3:  The key to good writing is good reading.

This would be the truth if it were phrased, “A key to good writing is good reading,” for reading is absolutely essential to the writer. Let it also be noted that it is not enough to have read books. You need to be reading books. At times when life gets busy and I have exhausted my literature budget I ignore this principle. Without fail, my creativity stifles and my writing skill decreases. Always read.

So where does the myth come in? Being a reader does not—sadly—make you writer. Some raw talent, good habits, and a whole lot of practice make you a writer. The good habits include—but are not limited to—1) plenty of reading, 2) consistent writing in a variety of genres, and 3) allowing feedback of your writing.

Myth #4: You have to make a living to be a real author.

This is a terrible standard to try to live up to. Like a curse it slowly pecks away at creativity, inspiration, confidence, and originality as the writer desperately tries to find a way to make a living off the craft they used to love. There is no surer way to make joy perish than to demand an income off a career that should, by all rights, take years and years to build. My friends, money is not the obvious reaction to good writing. Most authors are not famous until long after they are dead. If our only hope was money this would be very depressing, but—instead—we should love writing enough to do it even without an income. If money comes, hurray! If it does not, we are still real authors, with valid things to say and real talent with which to say them. Set your sights not on dollar signs but on increasing your skill in order to impact the world around you. That is what makes you a real author.

-Jessie Mae Hodsdon

Popular Writers: How to Become One

     

    We all aspire to be them. We want to be the writers that write our favorite books--the Orson Scott Cards, Stephen Kings, J.K. Rowlings and Ernest Hemingways. They write the books that we nearly idolize, and say the award-acceptance speeches that we admire oh so much. They are the popular writers.

     Every writer has the possibility to become a popular writer. YES, you do. Have some confidence in yourself! Now when I say that any writer can become a popular writer, I mean that. However, you need more than a dictionary and a keyboard to do so. Just because you are a writer and because you have the potential to be a popular one doesn't mean that it will be handed to you. Besides hard work and determination, here are some steps to help you become a popular writer:

     1.) Write something that you are proud of

          You can't become popular and read with something that you wish was totally different or are embarrassed of. You need to get your manuscript to a point where you like it--love it, actually. Sure there will be times when you hate it--I think that every writer goes through those times--but you need to get through those times with a manuscript that you are in love with. If you don't love it, then you will come across as completely phony when trying to make other people love it. 

     2.) Show others your work

          If you want to become popular and published, you need to show others your work. When I started my first novel, I was worried that people wouldn't like it and that they would judge me for it. But I showed people! Sure I cared what they thought, but I wanted critiques. You will need critiques, too. Without them you will never know how to improve. Without them you might go out in search of an agent or publisher, and get turned away embarrassed. Your readers could have helped you correct the little things in your manuscript that made the publishers turn it down

          I can't say this enough: SHOW OTHERS YOUR WORK. You need to. It might hurt a little when somebody says that they don't like it...that your characters are dull...that your plot is empty or that it's boring. But you know what? It will feel a lot better if that comes from a friend than from a publisher. And publishers normally just say thank you but no thank you without a critique. Give it to your trusted friends, let them read it, then go fix your manuscript based on those critiques.

     3.) Do your research

     

          So you want to become a popular writer. You walk up to Random House's front door and ask to talk to the Editor in Chief. This won't work. Like seriously, it won't. If you show up with your manuscript in tow, complete with a cardboard Staples box, you will probably just get laughed at. Do your research, please. A big step in having your book read is to get a good agent and publisher, which means that you need to know where to go and where to look. Send your manuscript somewhere that you know accepts YA, or whatever your genre is. Figure out if they will take unsolicited manuscripts or not. Do your research.

     4.) Keep working

          Once you get your manuscript published, you need to keep writing and you need to market your book. Publishers rarely do a lot of marketing for their books that aren't written by already bestselling authors, and many times it is left up to you, the author, to get readers. This means book tours, speaking at libraries and schools, blogging about it and even maybe doing some fun contests on Twitter. 

     5.) Use social media

          A great thing that our generation has that the last didn't, is social media. Use it to your advantage. Before even getting published, try to build your following on your blog, Twitter or Facebook. If people know about you beforehand they will be a lot more likely to buy your book once it's released. Plus, then people can Google you and see that you didn't just show up in the industry. The time spent before publishing will be worth it.

          To sum it up: Get published (I know, easier said than done), market yourself, and get lots of feedback before publishing. It may seem like a long road, but you're on your way. If you have the ambition and talent to become popular, you can do it. There must be some way that the bestsellers became bestsellers, right? 

          Keep your head up!

          -Elysia Regina

5 Ways to Know You’re Not an Intermediate Writer Anymore

         

        Here are the marks of the next level of writer. If you breezed by 4 Ways to Know You Are a Writer and passed through 4 Ways to Know You’re Not a Beginning Writer Anymore, then this may be where you are. Here's how to find out:

1.      You can teach writing.

         This happens when you have gathered and studied enough knowledge on writing that you can teach on writing topics without completely relying on others. You can pull from your own experience to help those who are not quite as advanced as you are. There may still be the occasional beginner’s work that completely baffles you, but on the whole you can identify or recognize what an unpolished work is missing and how to fix it.

2.      You’ve started to run out of new ideas.

         There is a creative high that comes from being a beginner and intermediate writer. But as you move through the steps growing deeper in your writing style and personality, there comes a time when you realize you don’t have as many ideas as you used to. The possibilities of writer’s block loom right around the corner and things don’t flow as well as you remember they did. This though is a sign that you have matured. You’re more careful because you don’t want to waste your time with an idea you know you won’t use later.

3.      You have worked on a piece of your writing until you are sick of looking at it.

         This is especially important because it means that you cared enough about your writing to want it to be perfect. So you worked and worked on it. You added a word here changed a word there and then changed it back. You’ve done this so many times that you are now certain your piece will never be perfect and it makes you sick to look at it. You are right it may never be perfect, but as Leonardo da Vinci said, “Great art is never finished only abandoned.”

4.      You know what works for you.

         Wading through the flood of advice on writing out there is difficult, but you’ve tried the different approaches: Outline vs. Creative flow, Character interview vs. Just see how it goes, or Index cards vs. Notepads. You have recognized a pattern in the way you craft a piece whether you should start in the beginning and move along linearly or jump around writing whatever scene you have the passion for. You know what makes your writing easier and what makes writing more like work. And because of this you have become a sufficient professional. 

5.      You can write even when you’re not inspired.

         It is normal for a writer to write when inspired, when the ink flows through page after page, but to write when you’re sick, tired, frustrated and uninspired this is the sign of a mature writer. It takes discipline and self-control to buckle your pants to the chair and churn out the words. The amount of words is not important because it’s all about the dedication and determination.

These are the signs of a maturing professional writer. Have any resonated with you?

-Christina J. Adams

Tapping Creativity

          Creativity beats in the heart of a writer. Our worlds, our characters, and our ideas flow through us in the day and night. The more we write, the more intense they grow. Regardless of what we are actually supposed to be doing with ourselves we find our thoughts drifting to our writing. We pour our energy and spirit into every word and concept. At times we find writing to be compulsory.

While this constant flow of creativity is an author’s ally, it can also be his destruction. The message we authors so long to communicate can consume our minds. The events in our characters’ lives can begin to seem more real than the events in our own lives—and most certainly more interesting. Writing can distract us from our work and our more meaningful relationships.

Both in the lives of the writers whom I mentor and in my own life as a writer I have found this to be true. Many authors battle deep feelings of melancholy as they create their most beautiful work. Writing comes at a cost. Do not let that scare you off. Writing also has the great potential for beauty and can have a mighty impact on the world around us.

Now that you realized the dangers of writing and have decided to press forward anyway, you should have two questions: 1) how do I remain sane? and 2) how do I harness creativity for good and not evil?

I am glad you asked… The answer to one question is the answer to the other. Here are some steps you should take.

1) Work through an issue. Never allow a problem to remain unresolved at the end of your book (unless you intend to expound upon it later in the series). It is not only poor writing; it is dangerous to your mental health. Writing can be a positive outlet for the ideas raging inside you. Through it you can guide readers out of a problem in their own lives, while you simultaneously do the same for yourself.

Without struggle (and, I believe, victory) a book would not be worth reading. The best manuscripts are written by authors who truly understand the struggle, but also portray the sweetness of triumph. So do not be surprised that you are bearing much of your own life story as you tell a tale and do not be surprised that, at times, it hurts to do so.

2) Keep the character list small. I know—believe me I know—it is hard. You protest that you have too many good characters (you even call them essential) to remove from the story. Truth is, the more characters you have, the less developed each can be. I learned this the hard way—after publication. Too many characters run your book and, notably, your mind into the ground with exhaustion. They can even keep you from being able to move on to new stories and worlds.

I am well aware that the term ‘small’ is relative. I leave it this way on purpose. Writing is not about regulations and pre-determined quantities of characters. Instead of picking a set number, I suggest asking yourself what a character adds to a story and if the same purpose could be fulfilled by a character you have already developed. The very act of examining your characters should help you choose the right ones and (sigh) remove the wrong ones.

3) Do not spend too much alone. Writing is by nature solitary work. Yet we cannot write if we live a meager, solitary existence in an abandoned tower. It is essential that you talk with a variety of people to portray realistic characters, have actual experiences from which to draw imagined ones, and see real places which you can incorporate into your descriptions of fictional locals. Even better, being out in the real world keeps the melancholy from gaining a foothold.

Do not forget: writing should always be a joy. While there will be difficult times of writers’ block and pain for what you must portray, in the end writing should make your life better, not worse. As creativity brims inside you, revel in the journey of expressing it. Dream on!

-Jessie Mae Hodsdon