Preparing for Camp 2017 - Part 4

Today's Earworm:
Today's date: March 27, 2014

So...I was going to focus on Bad Dog, Mean Bunny, Follow Me Down, and my Untitled Prompt Story...

I don't think I'm really going to be able to do that juggling act this round. Not because I don't want to, but because I want to focus this round. That means that I'm going to actually probably focus on Black Veiled Saviour and Bad Dog at the most. I'm not going to do a lot of plotting for the stories either.

Now, hold on, don't go complaining and pouting at me for focusing on two of my stories instead of bouncing around between stories. I decided to focus on the two stories instead of just bouncing around because that's how my mind is working this round.

It just means that I want to work on a certain amount of stories instead of having a wide variety of stories to play with.

This does not mean that I'm going to not work on other stories. I'm just more likely to not work on them actually work on them.

But since I'm less than a week away from April starting (4 days and counting actually), I will be setting up the two stories because I do have ideas for them and getting ready for things to come.

So, what's the stats on the stories as it is right now?

Black Veiled Saviour
Words Currently Written: 11,047
Chapters Currently Written: 8

Mean Bunny
Words Currently Written: 14,876
Chapters Currently Written: 7

I will try to keep you updated on word count and how much I've added to eat story as April goes along.

Right now, I'm going to get ready for today's writing marathon. Here's hoping to fun.

How Stories Come to Be For Me

Today's Earworm: The Damaged Ones by 9ELECTRIC
Today's Date: February 27, 2017

So I was reading Stephen King's The Bazaar of Bad Dreams story collection and before each story is a note about that story.

Well, in the note before the story, A Death, which is story 6, he talks about how sometimes stories come to him. He also talks about how a story comes to him in parts, a cup and a handle in the note before story 3, Batman and Robin Had an Alteration.

This...this sparked a thought in my head because he talked about how he often had visions of a kind of a character gathering. He talked about The Hair of Harold Roux by Thomas Williams which offered a metaphor, or a parable if you want to think about it, where there is a fire with a single character sitting there. And more characters would come with more fuel for the fire until they're all shown by the fire.

Well, apparently for A Death, he saw a man with a man trying to read a newspaper by a kerosene lantern.

And then of course, I'm going "How do I come up with my stories?"

Thus, this blog came to be. Because I have talked about my Plot Hike (which is how I build a story up instead of the Plot Moutain) and somewhat on how I get my stories, I wanted to actually talk with you guys on how I come up with stories.

Note: I am publishing this blog post on my livejournal fanfiction update page, so if you somehow found it there, no, I'm not stealing my own post from myself. Don't worry.

So...how do I come up with my stories?

Actually, any kind of way.

I've been known to just randomly think up an idea. Take Black Veiled Saviour for example. It's a murder mystery with undertones of homosexual romance, and it's one of my favorite stories in work. And the idea was sparked by Black Veil Brides song Saviour. It gave me Bo, who is one of my main characters as he thought about his future lover, Alexx.

It was a very interesting prospect, so I went back and relistened to the song. This time, I got an image of Alexx, in his original form since he's since changed a few times, of him sitting down and writing a letter to a fan of his musical group.

I wrote that story and if you go to my livejournal, here, you can read it.

For a few other stories, they actually started out as a role play that I was doing with friends. Take Follow Me Down. It's what I call a modern day dark fantasy kind of story. It started out as a role play with a few friends that kind of bombed because some things went down and I don't speak with one or two of the people any more.

It was based off a darker version of the Alice in Wonderland world, but has since changed to a point where it's not based off of anything but itself and history for a few of the character types. I'm still world building and figuring out characters, but I have a good base for the story itself, which is nice.

I also just...daydream them into existence. I'll be listening to music and playing solitaire or I'll be watching something mindless (or anime, one of the two), and suddenly I'll get a scene in my head that I'll play out. It gives me a jump point to create a story from since it's usually the first chapter and/or scene in the story.

From there, I build the world accordingly and figure out the characters by writing small bits and pieces here and there.

It's all about what I'm doing at the time. Stories do tend to just pop up in my head and then disappear if I don't write them down. But if I'm meant to write or I write it down, I'll poke at it and figure out what I want to do it.

After all, I'm not Stephen King. I can't wait for the cup to my handle when it comes to my stories and novels guys. It just doesn't work well for me to just wait.

To note: Next monday I'll be starting my Camp Nano prepping for April! Yay! Fun times to come. I hope you take a few minutes and check out that blog post and join me in the fun of writing.

My question for you guys is: how does your stories come to you?

"Write ONLY What You Know!"...Err, no

Today's Earworm: Dream On (cover) by Blacktop Mojo
Today's Date: February 20, 2017

So, I'm sure most writers when they've started out has heard the whole "Write what you know" line right? Well, it's not inherently wrong. It's really not! I promise. It's actually good advice. You should write what you know.

What I'm not fond of is the fact that a lot of people, such as teachers, fellow writers, and just those who are in our lives, all seem to use this saying in the wrong way. You can usually hear it. They say "write what you know" but you can still hear that "ONLY" in there, can't you?

It's grating. Cause you may not know something but you still want to write it, don't you? Well then, write it.

And here is where there's going to be a bit of well meaning sarcasm. You do know...that there is a service online called Google right? You can open a new tab and type in google.com, which will take you to a search page. From there, you can type in what you want to learn about and find hundreds of pages of sites that can tell you all about that subject.

Or you know those buildings with all those books? Where you can get a card and borrow those books for a couple of weeks? There are a lot of books about all sorts of subjects in that building. It's called a Library.

And you know, learning about something new? That's called...research.

Okay, I'm done being rather sarcastic. Something about people not remembering that we never stop learning. Even as adults. If you're not learning something, it can get really, really boring in life.

What I'm saying is that even if you don't know a subject, you have a wide variety of ways to learn about that subject.

You want to learn about the paranormal? Go to google, go to Bing, go to the library. Lookup 'paranormal', 'ghosts', 'supernatural'. I'll bet you ten to one that you'll find more than a few options.

You want to learn about fairies? Again, go to google, bing, library, where ever and look up 'fairies'. You'll find a lot of options again.

You have a lot of options at your finger tips guys. It's not that hard to find that information. Even before the internet, I was able to discover so much about my favorite subjects. Books were my best friends. Book stores, libraries, yard sales, what have you.

I researched.

And I learned.

What? Did you think Tolkien know everything about the beings that he wrote? No. He used his life to build the world that he created in his stories, and memories of the books that he enjoyed through his life to create the beings within.

He learned about that world as he built it.

Do you think your favorite author knows everything about their story when they first start building?

No. They to learned, researched, what they are writing. They build and grow. They don't say "Oh, I don't know this so I can't write this".

So when I hear "Write only what you know!", I have to say "No". I'm going to write what I want to write and I don't know anything about that, I'll research.

It's the 21st century, guys. Ignore the idiots who try to stunt you and learn what you want to know.

Let's Talk...Info Dumping

Today's Earworm:
Today's Date: February 13, 2017

Yes, I know, I'm doing quite a bit of the Let's Talk Series, right? Well, the reason why is because I'm rewriting the Settling Down to Write Series and I want to get most of them done before moving on to something else.

But why am I here to talk about information dumping and just what the hell is it?

Well, it's what it sounds like. It's when you dump a lot of information into a short space of time. Or in a piece of writing, when you put all of your information into only 2 to 10 paragraphs. When you write a story, you want to tell the story, but that includes building up the setting, the characters, the plot, and kick starting it all.

But you want to spread the information out. You don't want to just go "here, have all this information about the main character and the setting that you're going to forget because there is just to much".

Look, we retain information a lot better when it's introduced slowly and it's woven in around the story itself, which we're enjoying.

So when a sudden flood of information happens, it throws off a reader and makes it hard to remember those details. Which doesn't exactly make a reader want to read the book after that.

Which is a bad thing since as writers, we want them to read the book. And then, hopefully, tell their friends to buy and read the book so that we can make more money to continue to write amazing books that will have them coming back for more.

But how do you stop just dumping the information out?

It's actually very easy to dump the info so you might not notice it...until you go back to reread it. So, as to stopping it while writing it, you need to keep a note on what you've introduced during that chapter and what you need to yet introduce. And then keep an eye out just chunks of text filled with thoughts and ideas.

It's all about keeping introductory points down in each chapter. For me, as a rule of thumb, I tend to keep it to one to two interconnected introductory points.

What do I mean by that?

Well, in the prologue of Bad Dog, I introduce my Idiot Villain and what he is doing. Pretty much I have him sitting in his 'home' and going over a list of herbs and ritual items that he needs. That's an interconnected introductory point. It's introducing my character and introducing what he is doing at the moment.

Another chapter has him burying a body and meeting a werewolf after he has done so. Again, these are interconnected introductory points. Even if they don't look like it at first glance, they are.

Unfortunately, I have something like 10 introductory points that all branch off of one point in the first official chapter. I need to figure out what points I want to go over in that first chapter and go through the other points later on in the story, spread out.

Dialogue is your friend for a lot of things, but you also need to weave in the details that make up the world into the story itself.

It's kind of annoying trying to remember to weave instead of just going "here, have at it". As easy as it may be to just give a reader all of the details, again, it turns them off. So, remember to edit. Spread out your points. And keep an eye out for an information dump.

I'm still fixing my own dump. A week after I found it.

Bouncy Brain and Writing

Today's EarWorm: We Have It All by Pim Stones
Today's Date: February 6, 2017

So the last couple of weeks I have a bad case of what I call "Bouncy Brain". It pretty much boils down to when you can't really focus on anything much less a single story that you're supposed to be writing.

Yeah. Doesn't always happen, but when it does happen, hooo boy does it hit and hit hard. As it has in the last week. I have actually cleaned my room (and mind you, I shifted rooms in December okay?) up some more. My shelves are now pretty much organized and covered in books, knick knacks, and clothes that I wear since I don't have a working dresser any more.

But that's fine.

What's not fine is the fact that I can't focus on anything. Seriously. It took me like an hour of going between files to find something to write on the 28th of January okay? It was that bad. It gets kind of ridiculous really. I currently have three different tabs open to various files and my fellow Writing Groove chatters are all highly amused by the fact that I'm complaining about my bouncy brain.

...Okay, it's closer to bitching, but I try to toe that line. I'm not that mean.

Hell, if I could focus, I would be reading something from Necia that she sent me to get my opinion on. As I told her, if I felt I could focus on her story for longer than ten seconds I would be all over that. I would have shut my computer down, I would have phone in hand and I would be buried under my blankets are I read.

Yeah, the Bouncy Brain is strong with me now.

But...where does my bouncy brain come from?

Well, it comes from the fact that I have, as I've spoken about before, Adult Attention Deficit  Disorder, or AADD. Mind you, I'm used to ADD but I forget that I am an adult and that I do have AADD instead of just straight up ADD. It all comes out to the same thing but my version is less ruled by hormones and is, most of the time, controllable. And if I was on medication, I wouldn't be taking what most teens and pre-teens take.

Or at least their strengths and amounts.

For me though, as I've told a few people, when I get a bouncy brain, it's like my ADD (Yes, I'm pretty much dropping the Adult A from that because it's easier for me) and my OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) are duking it out in my head. On one side, I want to write. On the other I want to clean and write and read and plan...well, I'm sure you can see where I'm going with that.

It is also compounded by the fact that I have hypergraphia which is rooted in my OCD.

If you don't remember what hypergraphia is, it is the compulsive need to write. It can have its origins in Bi-polar, OCD (as is with my case) and other mental issues. It's pretty much an outlet for our brains.

For me it's connected to my OCD and it's something that I've had since I was a teen and starting high school. What started out as English assignments and badly written poetry turned into a real love of writing and an unfortunate need to do it.

Often.

Every day if possible and for hours on end.

So when I get bouncy brain it drives me insane. Well, more insane than what this world is doing to my white-knuckle hold on that thread.

Of course, I suddenly have a new dystopian novel running around in my head. Not like I don't already have a duology sitting around in my head.

Okay, to move on from my complaining, right now I'm in the "ooh! Shiny!" phase of my bouncy brain. Which means that it took me two hours to write this short little piece while watching one of SHN Horror Networks Resident Evil playthroughs (Resident Evil 6 pt 1 to be precise), rereading through "Bad Dog" and writing down the information on there, and moaning about bouncing brain.

So for now, I'm simply going to ask: Have you ever gotten bouncy brain? And if so, how did you deal with it? Tell me. I'm curious. :D

Monthly Writing Update - January 2017

Today's EarWorm:
Today's Date: January 31, 2017
Next Update: February 28, 2017

This is the first round of my Monthly Writing Up. This will happen on the last day of every month. That means if there is 28 days in a month, it will be on the 28th. If there are 30 days in a month, it will be on the 30th. If there is 31 days in a month, it will be on the 31st.

I'm sure that you get the idea yes?

Anyways, this is the first round and I'm still figuring out how I'm doing this, so work with me and comment if you find this easy to read.

Thank you.

I'm not really sure on how I will end up with the lay out but this is the first try. I'm pretty much going to do a day by day hit of what words I got.

So, let's start this round.

January 1: 1,579
January 2 to 5: No words. Busy
January 6: 250
January 7: 1,679
January 8 to January 11: No words
January 12: 1,868
January 13: 1,404, Edited
January 14 to January 16: No words
January 17: Edited, 203
January 18: No words
January 19: 1,596
January 20: 2.030
January 21:
January 22
January 23
January 24
January 25
January 26
January 27
January 28
January 29
January 30
January 31

Let's Talk...Image and your Writing

Today's EarWorm:
Today's Date: January 30, 2017

First and foremost I must apologize for language but there isn't really many ways of saying some of what I have to say guys. There isn't enough OOMPH in them. 

My my, has it come to the end of the month? Yes, yes it has. While you're reading this, I am most likely at my doctors, talking to her and doing my thing. That is, as long as you're reading this the day that it goes up.

To move away from my doctors appointment, let's talk about the image that a writer projects and how they can differentiate from what a reader may think they are.

Okay, say you find a writer who writes the creepiest, spookiest, mind bending horror that you've ever seen. Your first thought, most likely, will be of a person who is Gothic. They must wear all black, forsake the sun, and live in a world of darkness and horror. They're sarcastic and have the driest, darkest humor in the world and hate everyone who doesn't share their thoughts and opinions.

Right?

Wrong.

They don't?

Not to toot my own horn, but no. Okay, yes, I'm Gothic, but I can't really do the whole Gothic look since my skin hates daily makeup. But I try whenever I can really. I am actually a very nice person. Yes, I can have biting humor but that comes more from the way that I was raised and the fact that I have a bunch of male cousins who hated the fact that I could insult them in all sorts of ways without them realizing that I was.

I have so many cousins. Like...2 first cousins are girls okay? I had to learn how to smack down egos after all. But my family is also full of sarcastic, and you'll have to excuse my language here, assholes, so it's also a kind of learned behavior.

But outside of family and close friends, I'm really rather nice. Or I can fake nice if I don't like them for whatever reason. It's called "Social Politeness" and "Manners".

See what I mean about me having a sarcastic streak running through me?

But truthfully, thinking something of a writer is kind of a stereotyping.

Another example: a fantasy writer. Your first thought is D and D, Magic the Gathering, and a house filled with fairies, dragons, and wizards in books, statues, and clothes.

A mystery writer tends to be someone who is forever reading case files and talking to cops about how their jobs work.

A sci-fi writer must be a massive geek writing in their basement rooms while their mom's make them dinner, right?!

Nope. All of that is wrong. On so many levels.

I actually don't just write either blood filled horror stories, or mind-fucks that can leave you shuddering for days (and I have done that before), but I also write Dystopia Post- and Pre-Apocaylptic, Erotica, Paranormal Romance, and, for shits and giggles, mystery with a splash of romance.

I'm not a one-trick pony and most writers aren't. Not fully. Yes, they stick mostly to their chosen genre, but other genre's slink into their stories or occasionally

So how do writers work against stereotyping?

We network. We socialize. We utilize all of the possible platforms available to us. At least when we have time and we're not slaving away for your enjoyment.

Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Snapchat, Youtube...the list goes on and on and on! We have so many options of interacting with our fans in a fast way outside of e-mails, blogs and websites.

But we also go to writing conventions, various other kinds of conventions where our writings would be welcomed (genre conventions like YaoiCon for those who write homosexual based stories, Sci-fi and horror conventions, and others). It's a matter of what we write and what we do.

What we, as writers, do have to project is an image of professionalism. Our writing, our novels, our works are our business after all. We have to be professional. We have to have a certain attitude that we show to the rest of the world, especially if we're just starting out and don't have many readers.

After all, honey draws more than vinegar. And I'm not talking bees.

But if a writer has a shit attitude, then it's going to come out in a variety of ways. A tweet that shouldn't have been tweeted. A facebook rant that is just the wrong idea to put up. A bad timed social hissy fit.

In this day and age? This follows a person around and for a writer, who needs to be able to interact with their readers on, at the very least, a polite level, it hurts their business, new or old.

Cause really? No one wants to deal with a writer who is an asshole of the highest caliber okay?

I know I certainly don't, and I have dropped writers like a fresh out of the oven and still in the aluminum foil hot potato for their bad attitudes. There are somethings that I can forgive. Liking a bad candidate for the current political season, liking a horrible book, having a bad opinion, that's all fine.

The moment you treat a fellow human being like shit? Or you do some mud-slinging? We have issues. And I'm less likely to read you.

Doing anything that's just wrong? And I ditch you without saying goodbye. Your books are gone from all of my platforms. Your twitter/facebook/whathaveyou are unfollowed/unliked and blocked. Your name becomes a fuzzy memory for the rest of my life: It's there, but only enough to remember that no, I don't want to spend my good money on your stuff.

And that's the same thing with a lot of readers.

So a writer needs to project a face of being polite and, if at all possible, and of being well educated. Especially in this day and age.

Because it's the writers who see the way things are and we're the ones to offer an escape to those who need it by offering worlds in their chosen genres.

So, writers, Image is everything to your readers. And remember that your opinions are just that: yours. Don't fall into the "my opinion is right and you should all agree with me" kind of image. That will just be screwing yourself after all.

Readers, you can disagree with a writers opinions. That's fine. And if you don't agree with them but you still enjoy their reading, feel free to stop following them on social media but keep up with their writers facebook pages (which are usually free of anything but writing related things, or at least I hope so) and their websites.

Just remember: Image. Is. Everything. To both the writer and to the reader.

A New Year and a New List

Today's Earworm: Fear Not This Night by Freya Catherine
Today's Date: January 2, 2017

If you want to compare this list with the last list (2/1/2016) go here. There really isn't much change outside of me going more into details as to what the stories/series are going into and the state of each book.

Now that I've said that, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that you are warm and cozy at this time and that life is treating you semi-well.

And that you're staying safe. Seriously you guys.

Me, I'm trying to get something done this year. I have a list, which will be at the end, of the  books I'm hoping to work on right now.

So let's go over what I have going on shall we?

And once again, the setup is this:

Title:
Genre:
Pairing styles: (M/M, Poly, F/F, M/F, none)
Books in the series (if a series):

Status

Minimum words planned for:
Notes on the story:

Rewriting/Editing/Note Taking

Title: Untitled
Genre: Romance
Pairing styles: Male/Male (M/M)
Books in the series (if a series): 1

Status: Rewriting

Minimum words planned for: 24,000 (1,100 words per chapter)
Notes on the story: This is still my Lex/Rose story and no I don't have any kind of title for it. But I have gotten through the note taking and have written out a new outline for it. It's somewhere around 24 chapters planned out. 

This story was originally 11 chapters in length and when I'm done with this first rewrite, I plan on printing it out to go through it and tear it apart. I do this because it allows me to get away from the computer to edit it without worry. So it's going to be very interesting.

Title: All You Need
Genre: Romance
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): None

Status: Note taking/Outlining

Minimum words planned for: 11,000 to 22,000 (1,100 words per)
Notes on the story: In the current version of this story, there is 5 chapters. I want to expand it into something like 10 to 20 chapters in length.

I want to expand on the world and change the names of the characters and build up the history for a few chapters before I introduce the main characters. I have 5 chapters planned out already but I don't know if I'm going to keep them or replot those first chapters out. But I do know that I'll be rewriting and writing quite a bit when it comes to this story.

Title: Untitled
Genre: Romance
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): None

Status: Noting

Minimum words planned for: No idea.
Notes on the story: This one I'm still making notes on because it's so old. I think I might have to print this one out and work from there. It's going to drive me up a wall, I can tell you that. 

Cause it's doing that to me now.

Series Already in the Works

Title: Shades of Red series
Genre: Horror/Paranormal Horror
Pairing styles: M/M, F/M,
Books in the series (if a series): Planned so far is 3

Status: Book 1 in rewrite/writing

Minimum words planned for: 50K (1,100 words min per chapter)

Notes on the story: Yes this series is still in the works, but I'm having quite a bit of fun with this story since my original story is printed out and I'm working from that along with the original file that I did find after the great Flashdrive Reformat. 

I am working on what book 2 is doing but outside of that, this particular story is coming along rather nicely.

Book 1: Crimson Shadows - WIP

Book 2: Drips of ?

Book 3: ?? 

Title: Honey Drops Series
Genre: Romance/Sci-fi/Fantasy
Pairing styles: M/M, F/M, Poly, F/F
Books in the series (if a series): 6 books planned plus a book filled with bits and stories that didn't make it into the main story line
Status: Book 1 - WIP
Notes on the story: This series is being a pain in the ass but I'm working on planning it out. It is still a total of six books plus another book that fills in stories that didn't make it into the main book series for whatever reason. Mostly stories that came to me as I wrote the story that fill in some history. Or gives you interesting bits of interactions between characters.

Bk 1: Nix's Story - In progress
Bk ?: Cho's Story
Bk ?: Kain's Story
Bk ?: ?? Story
Bk ?: ?? Story
Bk 6: Final Book

Title: A Living Zombie series
Genre: Dark Comedy/horror
Pairing styles: various
Books in the series (if a series): 2
Status: WIP
Minimum Words Planned For: 50K
Notes on the story: Big Bertha Rides Again!

Okay, inside joke if you don't hang out with us in the Forward Motion chat room or the Writing Groove chat room and J.A. Marlow is around.

But I have reintroduced myself to this story and I am going to work on this story. It's a lot of fun considering that this is pretty much "A zombie keeps his mind" kind of story. Which I've seen a few times out there (but I've never actually watched/read any of them seeing as I'm picky about my zombie movies/shows/stories).

I'm going to have fun with this though.

Book 1: WIP
Book 2: Planning

Title: Don't Look Series
Genre: Paranormal Horror
Pairing styles: Various (but not really a focus)
Books in the series (if a series): 4+ books
Status: Writing
Notes on the story: I actually started a new first book for this series called "Thread the Needle" which builds up the world into what it is in the main story. It will be going into the family's history and the cities history and all of the good things. So that's going to be a lot of fun to do because it's...going to get kind of sexual for this first book since a lot of the magic in the first book is sex magic.

But there will be other types so don't go thinking that this is a poor excuse to write smut you guys.

Bk 1: Thread the Needle - WIP
Bk 2: A Delicate Thread - WIP - On hold
Bk 3: Twine the Soul
Bk 4: Spin a Yarn

Title: The Ages Series
Genre: ...superheros?
Pairing styles: various
Books in the series (if a series): 8 books
Status: Writing
Minimum words planned for: 50K Per book
Notes on the story: I'm actually on chapter 32 of book 1. I have 36 chapters planned for this story and once it is done I'll be putting it to the side to let it sit and gather some dust before I work on getting it edited and rewritten.

Because this needs a lot of work.

So very much. But it's going to be worth it.

Bk 1: WIP
Bk 2: Planning
Bk 3:
Bk 4
Bk 5
Bk 6
Bk 7 - Final

Title: Untitled Story
Genre: Horror/Paranormal/Supernatural
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): 2
Status: Writing
Minimum words planned for: 50K
Notes on the story: I'm quite a bit into the first book and I still don't have a good name for it, but that's about normal for me. I have an idea of what it's going to do and I'm still calling it my Mean Bunny story.

Go figure.

Bk 1: WIP
Bk 2: Bellamy's Story - Planning

Title: (Working title) Retail and Supernatural
Genre: Comedy-Horror
Pairing styles: M/M, M/F (not really focused on them though)
Books in the series: 4 planned for, more on the way
Status: Bk 1 WIP
Minimum words planned for: 35K per
Note: This is my brand new baby and I started it for NaNo 2016 but other stories came to be the focus of my month. Such as my Ages bk 1. I have no idea just how long it's going to be but I know just what I want to do with the series and how it will go.

I can tell you right now it starts pretty light hearted, but as the series goes along, things get really dark.

I love it.

Bk 1: Bad Dog - WIP
Bk 2:
Bk 3:
Bk ??
Final Book

Title: Untitled
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): 2

Status: WIP

Minimum words planned for: No idea

Notes on the story: This one was dumped on me by the beautiful and lovely Jennifer Amriss while we were chatting in her Facebook fan page. And of course she knows that I have this thing for writing naughty things going on, so she handed it to me.

And then ran away. 

Claiming she didn't need another damn PNR on her plate. So there's that.

It's going to be a Vampire/Half-Angel pairing and despite how much I've talked about the first sex scene, it's not going to turn into an erotica. Why? Because there will be, I'm thinking, one or two actual on-screen sex scenes. And those are kind of needed due to plans and plots.

Now if I could choose which starting scene I'm going with, I would be happy. 

Stories That I'm Not Working on Actively Right Now

Title: "Magical Girl" Series
Genre: Fantasy/
Pairing styles: F/F, M/F
Books in the series (if a series): 2 books
Status: World Building
Minimum Words Planned for: 40K
Notes on the story: Yes, I am still working on this world. It's taking me time because I want to have something of a world going for this.

Bk 1: Planning
Bk 2: Planning

Title: A Magical Taste Series
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Pairing styles: Various
Books in the series (if a series): 2 to 10 books
Status: World Building
Minimum Words Planned for: 50K per book
Notes on the story: I still so very much want to do this series but I need to finish off a couple of my other stories before I dive into this rich and diversified world. Because it's going to span all sorts of characters and the such.

I shall have fun.

Bk 1: Forensic/witch
Bk 2: Artist/seer witch

Title: A Family Pack
Genre: Romance/Supernatural
Pairing styles: various
Books in the series (if a series): ??
Statu: World building/plot building
Words minimum planned for: 50K per book
Notes on the story: Actually I need to figure out my notes for this and get is figured out how I want to tackle this series but it's kind of sitting there for the most part since I'm not wanting to do something typical but I still want to do something interesting with this series.

It's just going to take time.

Title: A Twist of Fate series
Genre: action/adventure/survivalist/romance
Pairing styles: various but not the focus
Books in the series (if a series): 2
Status: World building/plot building
Words minimum planned for: 50K
Notes on the story: I had to actually put this to the side. Not because I wanted to but because things go really busy and it's going to take some time in getting around to actually do some research on virus and the such.

But I am working out the plot. Slowly, but surely.

Stand-Alone Stories

Title: Follow Me Down
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): just the 1
Status: WIP
Words Minimum planned for: 50K
Notes on the story: Ah, my baby. I do plan on working on this story come 2017, but I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with it.

The history behind how this story came to be kind of messes with me but I love the story line. So it's going to be fun trying to cut that history away from this book.

Title: Black Veiled Saviour
Genre: Mystery
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): 1
Status: WIP
Minimum Words planned for: 50K
Notes on the story: I'm working on this and I think I know where I'm going with it, so this is going to be fun to write on once more!

I'm so happy to have an idea on how to get things going.

Title: Untitled Prompt Story
Genre: Horror/Paranormal
Pairing styles: nothing truly important
Books in the series (if a series): stand alone
Status: WIP
Minimum Words Planned For: 30K
Notes on the story: Ah, so what to say about this. I'm going to work on this story as I go along because I need to recreate the outline and fill out the story line itself otherwise this is going to drive me up a wall. So I'll be doing that this year.

Fun times.

Title: Untitled
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pairing styles: M/M
Books in the series (if a series): 1 (for Now)

Status: Planning

Minimum words planned for: Not a clue
Notes on the story: This is a holiday themed one where I wanted to tackle the whole "Santa needs a wife before becoming Santa Troupe". It's actually really interesting and I know who the love interest is, I just have to figure out a few other bits and pieces. Yes, joy. This pounced me near the end of 2016 okay? It was NOT happy making.

Nope. But I'll write it.

What Am I Focusing on in 2017?

I have a couple of lists actually, so how about I give you those lists? 

My lists have changed so often in the last month that I've given up having just several lists and narrowed them down to a few of the stories that I am going to really focus on.

Rewriting/Notes/Ect:
Ages Book 1 (I'm hoping by the time this goes up I'll have the last 3 chapters done)
Lex/Rose
All You Need
A Butterfly's Dream

Focusing on:

Bad Dog
Mean Bunny
Half-Angel/Vampire PNR
"Alive" Zombie story
Honey Drops bk 1
Crimson Shadows
Santa Claus PNR
Follow Me Down
Thread the Needle
Black Veiled Saviour
Untitled Prompt Story

Not that long of a list and it helps me to narrow my thoughts down to what I want to finish. So here's hoping that I get at least a few of these off of my list as 2017 progresses. 

Special Edition: Novels and Stories

Today's Ear Worm: Bauhaus "She's In Parties"
Today's Date: December 12, 2016

Okay, so this is kind of a special The Writing Process blog but yet it's not. It's about...the time that someone takes in writing a novel. And mind you, I wrote this back in September, but I had other things to post.

And this is more geared to the readers of the world, not the writers of the world. Because as a writer, we know how much work goes into a novel.

Though I swear if I hear "But writing is so easy and fun!" from someone the world may explode. It won't be pretty okay? Cause those types of writers tend to have some rather poorly edited stories out there.

Which is just URGH! It's enough to make a person rip out their hair.

First and foremost: What is a writer?

Well, when you put the word Writer into a Google Search, you get the following definition from them.

writ·er
ˈrīdər/

noun 

noun: writer; plural noun: writers
a person who has written a particular text.
"the writer of the letter" 

a person who writes books, stories, or articles as a job or regular occupation.
"the distinguished travel writer Freya Stark"
synonyms: author, wordsmith, man/woman of letters, penman; More

So there you go. It's someone who sits down and puts words to paper, or in the case of the modern age, puts words to writing program in a form that creates interesting worlds or information for those who read them.

But there are all sorts of writers out there.

There are those who write articles of all sorts, from literature to English Language to Science to Education and everything in between. There are those who write poetry or who write self-help books or This Subject for Dummies. There are writers who write to sell their stories and there are those writers who write for a fandom.

Fanfiction writers that is.

But there are still others who create these amazing worlds on their own and share it for free or on their websites.

And that's the beauty of the internet you guys! We have all of these beautiful, wonderful delightful stories and worlds and information at our fingertips.

But...as a reader...do you ever wonder just how much the writer behind those worlds' put into each story?

I mean, really think about it?

Not really, I'm betting. Not a lot of readers do. They see that they have this story on their computer, in their hands, or just a tap away on their tablets and phones, and they're good. Until they find that the story isn't done yet, or is on hiatus due to issues. Or something.

Then they sit there and go "Where's the rest of it?"

And yes, this is actually going to be, mostly, geared towards an readership that gets their stories from such sites as Fanfiction.net, Fictionpress.net, Adult-Fanfiction.org (Must be 18 years of age or older to join much less be on this site), and ArchiveOfOurOwn.com (AO3). But in a way, this to can be geared towards the publishing world to.

Now, when a reader gets a story, it's usually been written, edited, rewritten, edited some more, gone over by a couple editors/beta readers, edited some more and then put out there. Or in the case of published books, edited and rewritten to a point that looking at the first draft and the final product, you wonder how it came to be from the trash pile of the first draft.

But they don't really see that. All they see is that there's a good story there and it's not done or it's done but the next book/story in the series isn't out and won't be out for however long.

I'm sorry to say, this has happened way to often to me as a fanfiction writer. I put out a new chapter and am promptly asked:

When is the next one coming out? Will it come out tomorrow?
What? No. No it won't.
Why? You have the entire story written so why not?
Just because I have the entire thing written doesn't mean I'm going to kill my self posting how many chapters is up. That and I post one chapter at a time so I have time to write other stories and get things done. That takes time.
How much time?

And yes, that was a real conversation that I had with someone. It was interesting and actually kick started this idea a long time ago.

But I never had the time to write it because hey, research is needed.

Let's break it down shall we?

Question 1: How long does an average novel take to write?

Well, first of all, it all depends on length. The average novel is somewhere between Sixty (60) thousand and Ninety (90) thousand words.

Now, let's say someone of average speed writes about 5 thousand words in a day, six days a week a minimum.

This is a job you guys. We need to make money.

So 5,000 times six means that in a six day period, they will write 30 thousand words. That means they can write a full first draft novel between 2 to 4 weeks.

Wait a minute though: This is a PERFECT scenario though. Writers don't often experience a perfect scenario though.

So let's go for a little bit more of a realistic number. 2 thousand words a day average, 7 days a week, between life and obligations in any way possible.

So 2,000 times 7 gives us 14 thousand words a week. Times 14,000 by 4 and you get 56,000 words a month. That's actually about average for what I get in a good month myself. Usually.

On average, the first draft takes a month minimum to write.

Okay, so question 2: Is the novel done after that month?

Not even close. Sorry to say it guys, but not even close. Even the most prolific of writers usually take up to six months to have a novel ready to publish. But they have this amazing team behind them and while it's sitting there, they've already started to write the first draft of their next book.

Some writers take years to get a book ready for publishing. They also tend to have a backlog of books that are just finishing going through the editing process.

Myself when I get to that point? I'll have at least one series fully written, several others with at least one book written and editing, and a bunch of stand-alones to fill in some gaps. That's my plan. It's a good plan to since I'm not doing the traditional route, but it also means that I'm liable to have about 10 different readers and editors for the damn things.

Then what are you doing with the novel?

Well, first of all, I'm letting it flee from my brain. All of my notes are packed up and put away, the files are saved, moved and tucked out of sight, and I forget about it for anywhere from two weeks to a month.

Why? Because I want to come at this novel to rewrite or edit it with fresh eyes. I know some writers who edit it a few days after they finish it. I could never do that actually. Not really. It would still be to fresh for me to be objective enough to tear it apart.

Yes, I said, tear it apart. I'm going to sit there and make my manuscript bleed red. I'm going to do it at minimum 3 times. With at least two full rewrites that will take me around 2 to 3 weeks to do each time.

I'll then send to my editor and wait for her to make her little green marks and her comments while I work on the next story.

It's a never ending cycle of write, write, edit, write, rewrite, write, edit, write, wait for the editor, write, and then edit some more.

Once I get the file back, I go through all the pages (usually around 200+ pages on a long fanfiction and just as much for an original), and fix the little things, catch a few others, rewrite a few sentences.

Then it's ready to go out.

Question the 3: But does that work for saleable publishing writings though?

Yes actually. Because it's the same process that the better fanfiction writers employ. And the same process that a published author uses. The difference is: the published authors usually have those who are paid to focus on their book and to tear it apart for them even after they themselves tear it apart.

Fanfiction writers are usually the ones who tear their own works apart to put them back together before a volunteer beta goes over it for them.

A good story is good because of the time taken to edit it. Writing the first draft is like putting up the foundation, basement and skeleton of a house. The potential to be something great is there, but it takes that editing, the detail work, to make it truly worth anything.

4: So how long DOES it take a writer to get out a story or book?

That's actually a really good question.

And one that depends on the person. On average, a fanfiction writer who lives their lives and have things going on will have a story once every month or two. Or if they're like me, and they have a story fully written and spread out a chapter to every week or so, they're already working on the next story if they're still writing.

For me, and this will probably carry over into a publishing career, I will have a story ready to read in about 6 months to over a year. But it'll be added to the queue for publishing.

Guys, readers all over, we love you. We love your reviews. But we want you to understand something. We take a extremely long time to get a book or a story just right for you guys, so to see a review demanding the next chapter right now is just kind of like telling us that our work is good but our time should be dictated by your needs and wants.

Calm down. You'll get your story.

Just let us writers know that you're loving the story or book. Reviews are our lifeblood after all. And keep patient. We'll get it out there. It just takes us time to get it to where it's not bleeding red each time we take a damn editing tool to it.

National Novel Writing Month 2016 - Pt 5 And Final Thoughts

Today's Earworm: Now or Never by Age of Days ft.  Sal Costa and  Cody Hanson
Today's Date: December 5, 2016
Word Count Widget

NaNoWriMo Status: Won!
Total Words For This Month: 51,515

Final Thoughts: A quick note on all of the music chosen for the weekly earworm was chosen from my Spotify NaNoWriMo list (which is a permanent list and changes every so often because I go to it occasionally outside of November, April, and July). I can link you to the list, but you can also just look for the bands. They're all wonderful.

What to say? I have finished Nano nearly 8 days ago, and the final word count came out to be just over 51K! Not bad for all of the trouble that I had for this month.

After the first week and a half, I had to turn my attention to a couple of other stories that I was working on before Bad Dog. One of them is Ages Bk 1. I'm on chapter 33 out of 36, so I'm almost done with the draft zero. I know that there is going to be a lot of rewriting in it, but I want to let it set until about April or May before I print it out and start to do the rewriting on it.

Which will most likely be by hand. Which is going to be fun. Ugh right?

Right.

Now, as for the coming year, I do have a post about what I'm going to do for 2017 but for now I'm working on a few things for this month. I have started a new Christmas based story but I'll be working on actually work on building the damn plot before I start writing on it. Why? Because I want to have plot beyond just what I have.

I have apparently started working on Paranormal Romances (PNR).

Thank you, Jennifer Amriss. You helped to reopen that particular door to that genre. It's not a bad thing, trust me. But I'm quite happy with it.

I'll keep you updated on what is going on with each of the stories that I'm working on, I promise. :D

Keep a look out, starting January 31st, for a monthly update on word counts and what I've worked on for that month. And keep a look out on January 2nd for the blog post for what I'm doing during 2017!

Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, Happy Holidays and may your days be blessed and bright.

National Novel Writing Month 2016 - Pt 4

Today's Earworm: I Did It For Love by Age of Days
Today's Date: November , 2016
Word Count Widget


This week is kind of a blur so I don't have much to actually say so I'm going to just summarize this weeks information.

Nov 21: 3,244

Nov 22: 3,341

Nov 23: 0

Nov 24: 2,741

Nov 25 1,872

Nov 26: 0

Nov 27: 2,930

Total words so far: 48,783

So as you can see I am pretty much almost done. Since this is currently written around 3PM on Sunday, since I'm not going to be home most of Monday, I'll probably have claimed my words and my prize.

So swing by my NaNo Page and check out what I have going on! 

Next week I'll have an actual blog post but the last few days have not been kind to me. Ugh.

National Novel Writing Month 2016 - Pt 3

Today's Earworm: Bombs Away by Age of Days
Today's Date: November , 2016
Word Count Widget


And another week to deal with this shit. I am not feeling well, but this is about normal for me during colds.

Once more: word counts.

Nov 14: 0

Nov 15: 3,127

Nov 16: 1,591

Nov 17: 1,511

Nov 18: 1,449

Nov 19: 3,420

Nov 20: 307

Total words: 34,661

Day 14 included me running up to Gilbert with my friend for her pain treatment and becoming Casper the Ghost. Literally my cold came back and knocked me flat. She came out, still giggly off of the anesthesia and goes "You're white".

And I was. I was straight up white. With no pinkish undertone, which is normal for my skin tone.

Yeah, so. Day 14 got no words but me falling into bed about 6:30 to 7 PM and not getting out of bed until about 11:30 the next day. 

Day 15 was me playing catch up. I caught up.

Day 16  was okayish. I wrote some. Worked on some new ideas. Created a new story with the help of the lovely Jennifer Amriss. I now have a new M/M PNR on my plate. (PNR being Paranormal Romance)

Day 17 was another good day just to lounge around and write on things. So I did.

Day 18 was pretty good though for a while there it was like pulling teeth, but I got the words. Then I did some editing.

Day 19 was really good to me. 2 chapters and another bit of editing because the next day I got nothing.

Day 20 was a near zero count, but did get like 307 words on the new PNR story. Just no idea what to do with it or where to go with it so I'm kind of sitting here playing around with it.

But I'm still happy with the amount of words I have gotten so far.

National Novel Writing Month 2016 - Pt 2

Today's Earworm: Too Late  by Dead by Sunrise
Today's Date: November , 2016
Word Count Widget

So I'm liking the way last week's post ended up. I decided because I liked it, I'll keep it like this.

Let's start with the word counts again.

Nov 7: 1,478

Nov 8: 1,750

Nov 9: 3,305

Nov 10: 1,199

Nov 11: 2,015

Nov 12: 1,785

Nov 13: 1,763

Total words: 23,256

Day 7 was good. It worked well enough for me. I wrote another chapter in Bad Dog and made myself giggle. It was a lot of fun.

Day 8...well, if you were watching the shit going on there, yeah, you know how I'm feeling. Life is going to suck big time next year. Sighing so hard. But I did get words before I got up to the cluster fuck.

Day 9 was spent not doing much beyond writing and hiding from the world. My cold is not happy with me and I'm not happy with the world. It can fuck off for all I care. It was still a good day though.

I got two chapters typed up and saved, which makes me happy. 

Day 10, well I'm still sick on this day. I have added sneezing and coughing to my sore throat but I've been taking cold meds as needed and sipping good tea. I'm staying away from most social media so if I seem quiet that's why. I have issues and right now all off this stuff is making my issues have issues.

But still a good day of writing. I watched SHN Horror Network's "Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs playthrough" while writing. He doesn't do commentary while playing through his games and the videos themselves are usually all one video of the full playthrough, so it makes rather nice background noise.

Just...keep in mind the name. He does horror/thriller games. 

Day 11 was me laying around and puttering through a chapter. Which is about normal for when I'm sick.

Day 12 again was me laying around and puttering through a chapter. I felt like death warmed over but I got a long chapter and a good jump start on Day 13's count.

Day 13 was me writing a full chapter and preparing to head with my friend to an appointment today. So while you read this, I'm probably in Gilbert right about now, reading a book and ignoring people. Seriously. Just ignoring people.

But again, got a good jump on tomorrow's words while I wait for my IPod mini to charge up (the sucker takes 3 hours each time I kill the battery).

So far, I did pretty good this week on the word count and I'm very happy with this fact. 

Preparing for National Novel Writing Month 2016 - Pt 4

Today's Earworm: "Eyes" by Kings 810
Today's Date: October 24, 2016

I don't really know what to say. I'm exhausted is the first thing that comes to mind.

The second is that I'm on a binge watching all sorts of documentaries on things. Ghosts and spirits and the such.

Fueling the thoughts for Bad Dog. Which is good yet bad since I'm still fighting with myself in regards to working on it. I can't. Not until the first of November and it's a week away yet.

So I'm kind of sitting here. Sick. Exhausted. Binge watching documentaries. Working on Bad Dog. And trying not to toss people off a cliff.

I hate the build up towards the next round of Nano. I always end up twitchy and growling. And I've been very anti-person lately. Which is kind of surprising but yet not?

Okay, so let's me tell you what insanity has been going on and how it has been utterly *censors the line of curse words that would make a sailor sniff in proudness but comes down to messing* with my life.

1) My friend is currently trying something to help with her chronic pain issues. She doesn't do needles and since these are  about an inch long going into her back, she needs to be put under which means I have to go with her.

2) I lost my outline for my short piece set! I'm crying. I need to clean up some more and hope to find the bitch. I can hope yes?

3) As stated above, I have been very anti-person lately. I don't know why but it's starting to make me twitch. Which isn't good.

4) Depression has attacked me a bit but I'm working on getting through it.

5) The muses and will to write has been fluctuating.

I'm hoping though that by the time November comes around that I will be back on balanced ground again.

I'm hoping.

Anyways, I got thinking about if I've ever told you guys about my writing process...

And I don't think so! At least not in the last year. I've talked about my Plot Mountain (found here), but I don't think I've ever quite gone over what I do after that.

Well, let me explain that since I'm getting prepped for Nano in a week and the process after is just as important, if not more so in some cases, as the writing process.

Please remember, that what may work for me may not work for you. So experiment, learn, discover. Don't be afraid to find a new way if your current way just doesn't work for you.

Step 1: Write the First Draft

I went over this in my Plot Mountain Post all those months before. I write that first draft.

Step 2: Ignore the First Draft

Depending on the story and size that I wrote, I usually ignore that first draft from anywhere from a week to six months. Why? Because I want to forget what I wrote in that first draft so I can come back to it with fresh eyes.

Step 3: Reread (groan) over the first draft and make notes on changes like I'm a reader.

This is just what it says. After that time of forgetting the first draft, I stick the draft into a GDoc, make sure it's accessible on my tablet and sit in bed with pen and notebook to reread it while making notes.

I look at it like I'm a first reader (thus why I ignore it for so long) and I have to give this writer an honest critique. But then again, I'm meaner to myself and tend to rip the story apart in my notes.

I did this with my current M/M novella (which I'm in step 4 and 5 right now for it). It took me about 6 pages of legal pad paper; front to back; to write all the notes.

Step 4: Write out a new outline

This outline will include the old chapters and new chapters I want to insert.

For the old chapters, I tend to make notes on what I want to insert into them and if I want to split a chapter into two chapters instead of one.

For the new chapters, I make sure I know just how they would fit into it as I go along. This will be a long process because I'm going back and forth between the first draft and my notes to see just what I need to do.

This also includes about 5 different colored InkJoy pens so I can color code things.

Step 5: Start to fill in those chapters and write out the new chapters

AKA: Rewrite round 1.

Yep, time to rewrite. It's not fun. Nope. Not in the least. But I will do it! My page will bleed RED from this first round of rewrites.

Step 6: REWRITE!

This time I'm going from start to finish and literally rewriting each chapter to fix things such as tense, wording, some grammar (not really expected at the moment), characterization and making sure it all flows together.

It will take me anything from a month to four depending on length and how often I work on doing the rewrite.

Step 7: Rewriting AGAIN

Okay, this rewrite is pretty much a combination of step 3 and 5. I'm going to read through it after about a week of not touching it and making notes before inserting what I need.

It's pretty much a lighter version to help start to tighten things up.

Step 8: Actual editing

This is the step where I sit down and go through with grammar and punctuation in mind. I sit there and don't read like a writer or a reader (like above), but this time as an editor.

I had to train myself to stop from worrying about most editing bits during the last 7 steps. Thank you, NaNo for training that out of me.

This takes me about a week or two to finish from beginning to end. It's not that extensive.

Step 9: Send it to a first reader and get their opinion on the story.

I usually have someone in the background waiting to read my story and go over it, critique things and the such.

Step 10: Go over what they say and insert and maybe do some light rewriting.

Once I get that information back from them, I sit there and fiddle around with things, filling in holes or making it clear that a hole is there for a good reason for future books depending on what I'm working on.

Step 11: Repeat 9 and 10

Just that. I repeat 9 and 10 a few times (usually with more than one reader) and then I get to this step.

Step 12: Edit then send to editor/beta and forget about it.

This is where I wait for the editor to go over it, make their notes and tell me what I need to fix. I usually send it after I do another quick once over to catch anything.

Step 13: Fix what needs to be fixed.

I fix what needs to be fixed and once I get it to a point where I'm happy with it, where it reads well and looks good, it's done.

Yeah, 13 plus steps later (because sometimes there's a couple more rewrites and edits in there).

Now mind you, I figured this out over the course of my fanfiction writing career and I can tell you that yes, it works just as well for when it comes time to editing original worlds.

Again this may or may not work for you. If it works, great! I'm happy. If it doesn't or just parts works, that's all good! I'm happy you have discovered what works for you. As I have. We all have our own processes. 

This is just my process. 

So for now, I will see you next week with the start of Nano!

Preparing for National Novel Writing Month 2016 - Pt 3

Today's Earworm: 9909 by Danger Silent
Today's Date: October 17, 2016

So I've been thinking about what to write about this week's prepping. And really? I had no real idea what to write.

Then someone asked in one of my closed NaNo groups "What is ADHD/ADD like?"

I got thinking about that. I know that I've talked about it before on twitter and on facebook, but I myself have ADD. What is ADD?

Again, ADD/ADHD is Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

And it does just like it sounds: It's a disorder where a person finds it hard to focus. All of those "I have focus...SQUIRREL!" memes are a funny way of saying it, you guys. There's a good reason why I have thirty things going on at a time. And why I have a dozen projects going at once.

But really? What does this have to do with preparing for NaNo?

It actually has a lot to do with preparing for Nano. Did you know that most often than not, I have my blogs ready to be posted at least a week before hand? And I tend to fiddle around with what I'm posting for the following week. It's so I know for a fact that I have something ready to post.

Now, what does it feel like to have ADD/ADHD? Well, it's different for everyone.

For me, it's like a normal adult having too much sugar and caffeine in a short time. I'm bouncy and jittery. I can't focus without putting some effort into it. I have to have something going on in the background to help me keep that focus once I found it. Usually it's a movie or show or some kind of music.

I don't react to caffeine and sugar like someone who doesn't have ADD. Caffeine tends to help me focus, sometimes, if I'm really tired, wakes me up when I have it along with some sugar and food. Just to keep the balance in my body. I could drink coffee all day and still go to bed at a decent hour.

But when I can't sleep (and I often can't until I'm so tired I'm seeing double), it's not because of the caffeine or sugar. Hell, I've had issues sleeping when I was just buzzed enough on wine (really, really fruity good wine to, cause hey, I'm a picky woman about my wine) to feel that nice sort of sleepy. The reason why I can't sleep?

My mind is overworking again. It's not shutting up. And not even sleeping medications work all the time. They work sometimes and I can't take them too often otherwise my body gets kind of used to them, which kind of defeats the purpose of taking said sleeping medications. I've been drugged up on morphine before (back when I've had my gallbladder taken out mind you) and still been unable to fully rest.

And if you've ever had morphine, you know that you will be OUT once it truly hits your system. It hit and I was still laying there, counting tiles and trying to get my brain to shut up, please and thank you.

This is what I feel every day. All day. And it makes preparing for Nano a bit of a pain in the ass. I'm not joking you.

I literally have this down to a science now. I kind of have to since otherwise things get...messy.

Let's break it down.

Week 1:

- Shift through all of my DVD's (which I've expanded this year by 9, give or take 1) and make a pile for the coming month to rewatch.

- Start a playlist (on spotify this year) for NaNo. Start going through songs I like and adding it to playlist. I'm usually looking for a certain tone.

- Create or update the GDoc that I'm going to use. Do the same with the file and folder for the saved story.

Week 2:

- Panic just a touch. Just a little.

- Continue to build my playlist.

- Go through some more of the DVD's if I haven't finished it.

- Start making notes on the outline as I need to. Usually this means bouncing ideas off of one of my friends. It's kind like throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.

Week 3:

- Panic a bit more.

- Continue to forever built my playlist. I swear. I need to build it up ever more.

- Make some more notes. This time, it's more like throwing lime slices at the wall to see what sticks. Citrusy, annoying, and a pain in the arse to clean up.

Week 4:

- Panic once more. Then drag myself out of the state of panic to discover there is a distinct lack of tea.

- Find money (somehow) to buy a thing or two of tea. Tea and coffee if I'm low on it. Usually I have enough tea to last me at least the first week until I can get to the store with new monies.

- Flail around a bit with my fellow Nanoer's in Forward Motion chat.

- Plot some more. Or rearrange the outline. Whatever I'm happening to do.

- Set up the NaNo blog outlines for the coming month. This means I set up my usual setup for the days.

IE:
Date
Word count for that day
Total Word Count for Nano
My thoughts on that day.

- Flail around some more.

- Maybe rearrange my DVD pile. Find a few extra to add to it.

- Arrange paper, pens and pencils. (Actually I've already done this, mostly, when I went through my pens. And if you follow me on Twitter, you saw those pictures).

This round, I have an extra post since Nano starts on a Tuesday this time, so that'll be loads of fun.

But that's pretty much what I do. And between all of that, I write. I write on other projects. I write e-mails. I write tweets. I write facebook posts. I write comments. I write.

All to prepare for everything to come.

So yeah, ADD has a lot to do with my prepping since I have to set up so much and combat the need to go "Ooh, shiny!" at random times. Which is never a good thing.

Writing...Even When You Don't Wanna

Today's EarWorm:
Today's Date: September 26, 2016

I'm sitting here and thinking about how life can just suck all the inspiration out of a writer. In my case, a change of seasons has brought on a cold and I'm living in mostly a daze of cold meds so I can stop sneezing hard enough to jar my entire body, making my back spasm in hate.

Life isn't all that kind.

For the last few months I have had more days with no words than days with actual words because it's been so busy. Appointments, ER visits, shopping trips, birthdays, days of just trying so hard to get some sleep.

It all sucks the inspiration right out of you.

But that doesn't mean that I don't have some kind of word count going on each and every day. Drabbles, short pieces, and handwritten pieces that I'm not going to count until I've typed them up onto my computer have all been done.

But this is something that, I hate to say this, takes practice to get down. You need the willpower to pick up that pen or pencil and put it down onto paper, or to pull out your GDocs on your phone or open the file on your computer and get those words.

You need to commit yourself to it.

Let's Talk Pantsing VS Outlining

Today's EarWorm:
Today's Date: August 22, 2016

So let's talk writing and Pantsing VS Outlining said story.

Why am I going over this thought process? Because I have my ex-retail worker turned supernatural hunter story that is giving me bits and pieces of story and no real outline as to what is going on and when it needs to happen.

No, instead it's giving me bits and pieces for the damn thing.

Yeah. Joy. Fun. Really...

Not.

BUT! It did give me an idea for this weeks blog. Pantsing VS Outlining.

First, what is Pantsing? And what is Outlining?

Well, pantsing is a writing term that is defined as "writing by the seat of your pants". Pretty much you're writing whatever comes to your head without any kind of plan.

Outlining is the writing term for planning out your story from start to finish in a linear fashion. Pretty much you have something like the following examples. (Note: This is actually how most of my outlines end up looking like, either or.)

Example 1:

1. Character's Name
• Plot point
• SubPlot Point
• Plot point
• SubPlot Point
• Plot Point
• SubPlot Point
2. Character's Name...

Example 2:

1. Characters Name/Scene Name
• Plot point that's more a short summary of what is to be written on during the chapter. This allows you to just write an idea down but still leave it with some flexibility to go in and change things as you write.
2. Characters Name/Scene name...

Okay, so we know what outlining and pantsing is. Which one is better?

Actually...neither is better. 

Say what now?

Don't get your panties in a bunch. It all depends on one factor: The Writer. I know some people who can't outline for their life. It either kills their muse or they just can't figure it out if they try. I know other writers who can't write without one. The story doesn't work for them.

For me? I tend to go with whatever the story calls for. For my ex-retail worker story it's kind of a mix of pantsing and outlining it. I have 2 chapters written already and know what I'm going to do in about six chapters, but I don't know what I'm doing in those six chapters, so I'm pantsing them (somewhat) while I write it.

I know that the story itself is going to be shortish, around 20 to 50K in length and leads into two more books. 

And I'm still mostly pantsing the damn thing.

But...I thought you outlined?

I do. But not all of my stories come with a handy outline and even then I tend to outline about 10 chapters and write notes down for future plot points along with where they land in the future of the outline. 

This story is just mostly pantsing it. But I tend to outline.

In fact, I tend to outline in my files depending on where I'm writing the story. Since I write mostly in google docs (mostly for the fact that I can haul the sucker around with me on a mobile device to write when I don't have my computer), I can do that. 

With that way, I tend to go with the Character name/Scene with a summary paragraph/sentence. It works for me.

But I have to say this (and if you follow me on Twitter at @SLStrailo) you'll know that I don't consider either way superior to the other. I've done both exclusively and found that I work best if I'm fluid in how I plan out a story. Depending on the story, the length, and the amount of information I have for the plot will state on how I go about doing my planning for the story.

So, for example, take When My Eyes Close. I am outlining about 5 chapters past the chapter that I'm writing, which is normal for my outlining. I have my notes for future plot points to.

But for the ex-retail worker story (yes, I still have NO name for it), I'm kind of writing as I go. The same goes with the next part of the current series of short pieces that I'm working on called Murder and Lust. I don't really know what I'm going to do with it, but I know that I'm going to continue this series and work out what I want to do with the book series.

Again: I don't consider either Pantsing or Outlining to be superior either or. There is no right or wrong way to plan and write your story.

This is just me putting forth what they are and how I use them for my own writing. I mix. Others pants. Others outline. Yet others used to outline but now pants, while others used to pants but they now outline their stories. 

Guys, it's all about you and how you feel when you go to start a story. It's what works for you and for your stories. Don't try to shoehorn yourself into one or the other. Find what works.

And if flying by the pants while you write is your thing, embrace it.

Or if you need to plot out every single little detail of your story, work it! You plan to your hearts content.

Just get those words out. Write that novel that is lurking in your head and your heart and your soul. Do it. Go for it. 

Now I'm going back to cursing at this story. I have some rewriting to do.

If you want to, don't forget to follow me at Twitter, on my Facebook Page, or my Tumblr Account! I don't bite and I love to talk with my readers and followers. 

Enjoy yourselves you guys! Write. Read. Live!

Post CampNaNo July 2016 and Preparing for NaNo 2016

Today's EarWorm: "End of Me" by Ashes Remain
Today's Date: 8/15/2016

So I had to sit down and really think about what I wanted to write for today's blog.

I drew a blank.

Then I remembered that I had started a list of ideas for future blogs just in case I don't have an idea ready for the next blog. And the first subject on that list? "Preparing for NaNo after Camp". Thus this post was born!

For all of those who follow my twitter (@SLStrailo), you know that I've been working on a series called Murder and Love/Lust (yeah, I still don't know if it's going to end up being love or lust). It's a short piece series set pre-books. Said books really don't have a plot as of yet, but I am working on that.

I have characters. That's part of the harder part of the battle for me when it comes to writing.

But now that it's been a couple of weeks since the end of July's Camp National Novel Writing Month, with me sliding in under the deadline like usual, I'm turning my eye to November and what is going on there.

To be truthful...I have no idea. Absolutely none. Whatever.

No...wait...I have some ideas. But I'm not sure what is going to happen, so we'll have to see.

Let's go over what I have in options.

Thread the Needle

This was actually started as my April 2016 Camp, I think, but it came to a stop because I started working on others and need to figure out just what I'm going to do with it since things are a lot different then our world.

Which is kind of interesting since I'm going to have a lot of people crawling up my ass for messing around with history. But hey, that's the beauty of writing fiction.

The Retail Worker Turned Supernatural Hunter

Again, if you follow my twitter, you've seen me complain about a new series. Originally it was going to be with a homicidal poltergeist, but then I started to get bits for a werewolf and shared those bits.

From there, I changed the plan because I was getting that instead of homicidal poltergeist.

Fun times.

Crimson Shadows Rewrite

Actually I've been meaning to get back to this story but it's always been kind of on the backburner. I just need to pull out the original story and made some more notes about what I want to do with it if I do go with this one.

I know what I want to get to, and have the first three books mostly thought out, but seriously? It's driving me up a wall.

Superhero Series

I'm actually not sure where I'm going to be on book 1 when it comes time but it is on that list to finish it off before working on another story. So we're going to see where I go in the long run.

When My Eyes Close

I started this story last year, but I haven't picked it up yet, but I've been doing a lot of things lately. So it kind of fell off to the wayside while I did some rather...interesting research. I have a lot on my plate but now I have the research done and I know where I'm going (mostly) with this story. It's just going to take a bit of time to do this. Fun times.

Anyways, that's my options and thoughts. So we're going to see what I need to do for the NaNo. I have a couple of months and some time to think about what I'm going to do, much less plan for it. So here's hoping that I get SOMETHING done yes? I can hope. I really can.

Can you hear all of the sighing going on over here? I swear that if I sigh any more someone is going to pop up and ask if I'm yearning for some long lost love.

Or vampires.

Yeah, like I haven't heard that before. >>

Anyways, I'll keep you up to date on what I'm doing in regards to this. Keep an eye on the countdown in the bar next to this post and please feel free to comment. :D

And if you have any ideas for what I should write on these blogs, please, leave a comment with a suggestion!

I tend to answer.

Thank you for your time!