New Website

Heya folks! Long time no post (whoops).

I just wanted to make a quick announcement that I will no longer be using the Writing Emer blog. Instead, I've got a shiny new website. I would be so honored if you'd make the jump with me.

Much love,
Emerson

Hellooooooo 2012!

Happy New Year, everyone! Never mind that I'm a few days late; it's all good in the long run. I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season and no one needs too much recovering time.

The worst part about the holidays, in my opinion, is returning to work afterwards. Talk about dragging my feet. I had so much time over the last few weeks to veg and mull over some new ideas and then Monday hit and bam! I had to start getting stuff done for the next two weeks so I don't fall behind while I'm away from the interwebs. Another news point there: going to miss posts on the 11th and 18th on account of family visits. But I'll get this monster up and running again soon, don't worry!

New Year

Last night, I could have sworn it had been longer than a week since I posted here. I guess it's just been a really long week. Which is funny because I haven't been in  holiday panic or anything. It's just been work and plugging away at life. Woohoo!

I'm not going to be posting next week, just so you know. It's between holidays and I'm taking the time to recoup and rev up my creativity for the new year. Next year I'm going to finish polishing Savior and get at least a rough of another full manuscript. That's my goal. In addition to, you know, surviving work and life in general. Woohoo!

Who's ready for 2012?

Permanent Muse

Last night was the last meeting of my critique group for the year. How weird is that to think about? It feels like just a few weeks ago when I was heading home from Alaska for the last time. This year went by in a blur, am I right?

Anyway, I came home from critique group last night, made a cup of tea, settled myself in the best writing chair in the house (it's got big, wide arms for propping books or plates of snacks on) and was immediately attacked by a cat. As in, the big fuzzball jumped on my keyboard, shoved his chest in my face and demanded love. Then I got distracted by the beauty of the moon. Finally, I opened up my work in progress and pounded out a few paragraphs. But that, by far, was not the highlight of my night.

The best part of the night? That feeling that I knew exactly what I was doing. I mean, I didn't really know where my plot was going, and this is obviously a rough draft, but that feeling of knowing that I'm on the right track as a writer. My prose is solid for the most part, if occasionally a bit purple. My dialogue is great, my characters generally believable. And this is what I'm meant to be doing, maybe not for a living, but definitely for a hobby.

Writing is so important to me. And I'm extremely grateful to be out of my "ugh, I should give up" funk. I sincerely hope that anyone else who has been fighting creative blockage recently finds the new year brings you all sorts of inspiration and renewed passion. May 2012 be the year we all find our permanent muse.

Overdone Uniqueness

You know those ideas you think are fantastic so you start work right away and get halfway through a manuscript before realizing that it's already been done a zillion times? An idea like "A young girl doesn't realize she's a lost princess/demigoddess/leader/powerful sorceress/chosen one until so-and-so comes along, recognizes her and takes her on a grand adventure, and they fall in love along the way."

Yeah, I got one of those last night right before bed. Still trying to work out how to make it unique and interesting versus just another "lost princess" tale. For those of you who have rewritten popular plots (fairy tales and the like), how did you manage to make yours different from everyone else's? Was it a spontaneous difference or did you have to work at it?

Don't Give Up

You know those days when you wonder why you're writing? You wonder what's the point, if your story's never going to be polished enough to be published, if your characters aren't coming across on the page as they live in your head. You're moments away from trashing your manuscript or work in progress and quitting altogether.

I have three words for you: don't do it.

Even if no one reads your work, even if writing is hard right now, or you don't think your story's going anywhere, don't give up. Writing is a process of the soul. It can be cathartic, and you can write yourself in and out of moods if you pay attention. Your story needs to be told, even if it's just in your notebook or on your computer. It doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be yours.

One of my favorite authors, Gail Carson Levine, tells us to never get rid of any of our writing. Save everything so you can go back and see how much you've improved, or pull an old idea and rework it. I'm a big believer in this. Everything you write is a part of you; it's like pouring your imagination onto the page. If you get rid of it, it's like throwing your very ideas away. No idea is bad enough to deserve that.

When I was in this position a few months ago--ready to trash everything I'd ever written and pretend I was content doing something less creative--a friend sent me maybe the most inspiring thing I've ever seen. It's a website that lists the failures and successes of all of these people we all know: Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Frank Sinatra, Dr. Seuss. None of them gave up; why would you?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm going to keep this post short and sweet:

For all of you in the States, happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a great holiday filled with family, friends and good food. And don't forget to be thankful for all the blessings in your life.

What am I thankful for? A lot. My friends and family, the ability to read and write what I want, my overstuffed bookshelves, my job, my imagination, the world, the universe--the list is practically endless.

So go out this week and see everything you take for granted in a new light; what would your world be like without it? And remember to show some gratitude!

Point of View Problems

You know that time when you wonder if you've really chosen the right point of view for your masterpiece? Yeah, I hit that. Last night, my critique group pointed out that I have a decided lack of internalization from my protagonist, which makes it hard to feel really connected with him or the world. I suppose that's one of the risks you run when you decide to write in third person; all I know is that I'm deathly afraid of info dumping or getting far too into a character's head and getting rambly.

So I write in third person and struggle through the omniscient/limited fight. I'm working on finding a way to add more character thoughts without seeming too forced, but I'm also wondering if I shouldn't have written this book in first person. I really, really hate writing in first person (probably because I don't read it much) but it would likely help to immediately get in the character's head. And I've always been curious to try writing an alternating point of view story.

Has anyone else struggled with point of view like this? Which PoV do you like writing in the most and why?


P.S. If anyone has any job openings they know about, would you please let me know?

NaNo Check-In

Liiiiiiiiiiifeeee! Mwahahahaha!

Ahem. Sorry about that. I'm just so excited to have an excuse to do something besides writing or work. I mean, I'm writing here, but it's not on my NaNovel or even a piece of fiction, and that's refreshing. Week two of NaNoWriMo, 20,000 words in, and I'm dying.

My motivation has gone and disappeared, even though the story itself has reached the brilliant plot overload that I generally reach in the middle of a really good first draft. It starts with "I have no plot!" and evolves into "Oh, writing gods, what have I done? There are far too many subplots to even know what the main plot is!" Eventually, after several rewrites, that gets boiled down into a single main plot and, maybe, a handful of subplots. I did it with Savior; I do it with every good piece I write. So I suppose it's a good thing that it's happening here.

But it's so frustrating! Dang you, characters! Why must you have lives of your own?! *Shakes angry fist*

Anyone else participating in NaNo and having the Week Two Blues? Or anyone else have major plot disorders in anything they write?

It snowed again today. Rather a lot. So I am cuddled in bed with two cats (definitely makes for a crowded bed), working diligently on my novel for NaNoWriMo. My goals for this year:

• To write every day, no matter what, to kick start my daily writing again.
• To write something that's good enough to actually go back and fix up later, instead of being so terribly dreadful I can't look at it again without cringing, like all of my other NaNo manuscripts. 
• To finish the story (and, if I'm lucky, hit something in the range of 75-100k words). 

To all those bopping through your first week with me: you can do it! Don't give up! NaNo is about getting something written. Anything. It's something I've been struggling with lately. 

To all those laughing at the crazies trying to write a whole novel in a month: thank you for being more sane than I. 

Carry on. 

Snow Day!

Bam! It's winter! It was such lovely fall weather all week last week, and then the snow hit last night and hasn't stopped yet. It's a heavy, wet snow that's weighing down all the poor trees with their leaves still attached. And I'm not entirely sure where my snowboots went, so running out to whack the snow off the branches as best I can in my hiking boots without socks has definitely proved to be an experience. But I'm too short to get the bulk of the snow off, which has be a little anxious. I'm sure it'll be fine, but I'm a worrywart.

The good news, I suppose, is that all the snow has somehow messed with the internet (or, you know, the internet's just being weird and slow), and the cable, so it's definitely a writing day. Huzzah for getting rid of distractions! My plans? Make another cup of cocoa (my mother makes the best homemade mix, and with a peppermint, it's absolutely delicious!), cuddle up with a cat and try to pound out a chapter or two.

Also, NaNoWriMo starts in five days and eleven hours, as of this writing. Eek!

Planning Between the Coughs

You know what the worst time to get anything done is? When you're sick. Sniffles and coughs and aches abound, but you're still expected to get into the office and do your work, or sit at the computer and write your daily word count. Needless to say, I've been terrible about that daily word count thing when I can't focus. Oh, well. It should be over soon.

Just in time to start planning for NaNoWriMo! This will be my seventh time participating, and hopefully my fourth win. For those of you who don't know, National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) is a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. That's about the size of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I'm hoping it'll help get my writing habit back on track this year, but I'd also like another rough to work on. I lost two of the three 'winning' manuscripts when my hard drive crashed a few years back, and I haven't had the desire to go back and fix up the last one yet. Eventually, maybe. For now, I'm planning something new and different, set in a world I'm already familiar with. It'll be an interesting time working on three different manuscripts at the same time, certainly, plus work and social time and, you know, being a human being.

I'm sure it will be worth it, though. Anyone else want to try with me?

The Writer's Bane

On a cold, rainy day such as today, what is a kitty to do except jump up and sleep on his mom's computer, despite the fact that she had only just gotten up to fetch a glass of water and had every intention of returning to get some writing done?

–ººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº˜ººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––ææææææææææææææææ––––æ˜æ˜˜ææ––––––––∆∆æææææææ∆–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––ºººººººººººººººººººººººººººº–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––˙æ-6dr

(The above is Blizzard the cat's masterpiece in the middle of my new manuscript. I hope you enjoy it. Poetic, isn't it?)

Random Rambles

Last night was the first meeting of my new in-person critique group. I'm so excited! Everyone involved (even those who couldn't make it to the meeting last night for various reasons) is fantastic and I'm really looking forward to getting into the groove of actually turning stuff in again. That's yet another plus of critique groups: accountability. I don't know about you, but I feel guilty and terrible if I don't have something to give to the group just because I was lazy that week. Busy, on vacation and sick are acceptable excuses for the most part, but can definitely be abused, which makes me feel guiltier. So I have to write at the very least twenty pages a month, hopefully more. That'll be so much better than what I've been doing recently! Woohoo! Who wants to join me in a happy dance?

And on the "oh, no, I have no time; what am I going to do?!" side of things: National Novel Writing Month is fast approaching. For the last few years, I've had at least an inkling of what I want to write. Last year, I even had characters and a vague plot and some pretty intense world building before I went in, and I won for the first time in three years. This year, I have nothing. Nada. Not even a specific character I really want to work with. There's still almost a full month left, but I'm starting to get nervous. Can I really work on three different books at the same time? Which one will have to suffer to get a NaNo out? And I can't just not do NaNo, when I've attempted every year since my sophomore year of high school (that's six years, for those who are curious; and I've won thrice). I guess it's time for some major brainstorming! Maybe I'll try a new genre this year or something. Anyone else trying NaNo this year? I could use someone to word war with.

Imaginary Friends

I saw this great shirt in a catalogue yesterday that made me laugh so hard. Because it's so true. The quote: "Writer's block: when your imaginary friends stop talking to you." I don't know about you planners out there, but I have had characters hijack my stories so often it's ceased to be a quirk. It's the way I write. I think the story's going on direction and then BAM! Someone informs me that they're pregnant or gay or have a dead brother that they want to bring back from the dead.

There were two major ones with Savior (that I remember) that made me want to smack my characters. The first was that, after three years of working on this story, my protagonist pops up and says that his name wasn't really Trick, after all. It was Araeli, but he had changed it at some point to honor his brother's death, and wanted me to include that fact if I could. So I did, when I rewrote the entire manuscript. Then, this past spring when I was reworking the first hundred pages or so, Kel informs me that he had a cat that really ought to still be living with his brother and could be an important plot point. I tried my darndest to work that stupid cat in; I tore my hair out over it. In the end, I couldn't make it work. I don't think poor Vysni even got a mention, though I do have some fun ideas including her for shorts or prequels, if I ever make it that far.

Then there are the brilliant times when you're walking around (downtown, at work, around the house, at a writer's conference), talking to these insane beings that live in your head. Out loud. Please tell me I'm not the only one that does that. When they spring a plot point on you in the middle of the shower and you scream something incomprehensible at them because it either solves all the things you've been struggling with for the past year or creates even more chaos, and then your mother races up the stairs to make sure you didn't accidentally cut your arm off with the razor, is a particularly fun time. Especially explaining to her afterwards what really happened.

Non-writers just don't seem to understand the insanity that happens when working with characters who are supposed to be so real and believable. Part of being a good writer is creating these believable people to act in our stories; so why do we get incredulous looks and insane name tags when we bring up the fact that these characters really control the story, not us, the authors? Is it really so difficult to fathom?

Hello. My name is Emerson and my characters boss me around.

Distraction!

You know of what I have far too many? (We’re going to ignore that awkward sentence structure in light of it being grammatically correct.) Distractions. You know what I love but really should hate with the passion of a thousand dying stars? Distractions.

My favorite distraction? Text-based role-playing. It’s addictive for the writing-influenced mind, I swear. I suppose it could be compared to World of Warcraft or Dungeons and Dragons (I’ll admit to playing the latter, but I’ve never tried the former), except it’s all done with words. It’s all written out. There are no dice to throw or graphics to load, just a good, old-fashioned story to write with your partner(s). It's so helpful for throwing ideas around and a bit of world-building on occasion, definitely character development. What better way to get to know your characters than by sticking them in random situations with someone else's character, after all? 

But there's an inherent problem here. Well, two, really. 1) It's addicting and time consuming. 2) It's a distraction. There have been several times when I wander around thinking about a story and realizing I'm plotting out my characters' next moves in a role play when I should be working on something like figuring out how long it takes to get from one country to another in my actual story, especially without falling into the "Horse as Motorcycle" syndrome. Don't get me wrong, everyone needs a break from their work now and again. But this gets ridiculous. And, I'll admit, there have been times when I'm so sucked into a particular plot line with someone else that I neglect my book(s) for weeks at a time. I tell myself I'm still writing, so it's okay. 

Except that it's not okay. Yes, the role plays are fun and helpful on occasion, but they're not helping me get my book written. (With the sole exception of the one plot my friend and I are attempting to turn into an actual book eventually.) So here's my confession: My name is Emerson and I'm addicted to distractions. 

That's step one in recovery, isn't it? What's step two? I have no idea. For this, it's probably turning the internet off for a while every day and forcing myself to actually work. Otherwise this is going to be a very long, very slow, very painful process. 

What about you guys, all three of my readers? What are your worst distractions and how do you overcome them? 

Quite Possibly the Maddest Thing I've Ever Done

Almost exactly a month ago, I started a new piece. It's super duper different from Savior, as I'm attempting to make it an adult epic fantasy, for the hell of it. I wrote a bit about my inspiration for it over here. The original idea was to write the minstrel character from the song I linked to, going to war and all that fun stuff. Then I added magic and craziness, to make it an actual fantasy piece (and because I love magic). I had a vague idea of the cause for this epic war, but nothing solid.

Then I came home from the conference last Sunday with this desire to add two more point of view characters, just to play with it. I've been wanting to attempt a story with multiple points of view for a while now, why  not try it with this one? So I did. Neither of them are as developed as the main PoV character at the moment, because I just started them, but they've already given me the cause for the war, the main antagonist, and an insight into the initially 'evil' country that started the war.

Only problem is now this story is going to be huge. And it no longer follows the inspirational song basically at all. That makes me a little sad, but oh well. The story's got plot now! That's kind of important. And I've always wanted to write something that included both sides of a conflict as 'good guys.'

So let's hope this experiment works! Anyone else had a story veer sharply from the original intent after a single decision like this? Or is that a pantser thing?

What I learned at the RMFW 2011 Conference

Because I like lists and this feels like it ought to be in list format, here we go! In no particular order, some of the things I learned at the conference last weekend. The bold ones are really important things that everyone should know.

Conference Roundup

This year's Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer's (RMFW) conference was so much fun! I somehow found the guts to not only pitch but to sit at a table full of agents and editors one night, gather a fantastic group of people together for a critique group (if any of you guys are reading this, you're awesome!), and just put myself out there more than I normally do. Not to mention I learned so much from the fantastic workshops all weekend long; everything from how to write a good pitch, to how to use archetypes in a story, to different communication styles believable characters can use, to bartitsu--a Victorian fighting style that ought to be used more in steampunk.

It was fabulous to see so many faces I recognized from last year! And absolutely wonderful to meet so many amazing new people. We all need more writer friends, right? Or is that just me?

As soon as I catch up on the sleep I lost this weekend, I hope to post some of the more interesting or important things I learned this weekend. For now, though, I think I'm going to go attempt to figure out which characters want to be my secondary viewpoints for the new piece that I decided ought to have alternating points of view this morning, take a nap, and hope that I'm more coherent when I return!

RMFW Conference

Two more days before the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer's conference. This will be my second year in attendance and I'm totally looking forward to it! This post is lucky to exist, as I'm taking a break from finishing up the critiques for the critique session on Friday to write it. 

Why am I so excited for this conference? It's really the only one I can afford to get to at the moment, for one. But the opportunities a conference includes are absolutely fantastic. This time, for example, I signed up for a critique session with Jennifer Unter (and I'm psyched that the lovely Jess of Falling Leaflets is in my group! Yay!), have a pitch session with an agent (I won't know who until I check in), and I've promised myself to sit at an agent or editor table during dinner one night to rub elbows. All this on top of the fantastic workshops and panels and lectures and the ability to just mingle with like-minded crazies. I say that with the utmost respect. I'm of the firm opinion that all writers have to be a bit of good crazy, after all. At least, they are if they're serious about their craft. 

Needless to say, the Saturday post will again be missing this week, as I will be eyeball-deep in overwhelmingly fantastic information in a hotel across town. Maybe I ought to choose a different day to update!