Writing When You're Running Out of Steam

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

One of the hardest things to do as an author is to write when I don't feel like it. It happens more often than you think. Putting my behind in the chair and my hands on the keys despite not really having any idea how to move forward is so important. I believe it is a major skill in writing professionally.  Not quitting just because its hard is something we all struggle with so I thought I'd share a few ways I encourage myself to tough it out. Hopefully these tips can get you through the holidays without pulling your hair out.

Write or Die is an online program designed to get you through writer's block by providing and timer and stimulus as an incentive during word sprints. There are a few modes...alarms if you fall behind your wordcount, flashing lights, or the softer more pleasant reward mode that gives you pictures of puppies for achieving your goal.  That one is my favorite. You can even get an app for your phone or computer.

Do something creative that has a side connection to writing. For instance, I like to bullet journal. So I find doodling while listening to my book's soundtrack or a writing podcast helps me to think about my story in another way. I almost always works.

Last, but not least, I saw this on Twitter during NaNoWriMo. A woman wrapped some fun gifts for herself in nice paper and labeled them with word counts. So at 5K she got a box of chocolates, at 10K she got a new coffee mug, etc.  I am not above this at all. I can totally be bribed and cheaply, too.

Finally, know yourself and when you write best. Optimize your success by choosing times that work best for you.  Are you a night owl like me? Then set time aside and guard it like a dragon with their horde of coins.  Don't slip something else in you 'should' be doing instead. Your writing time is important and for others to treat it that way you need to as well.

Hopefully you will find one or more of these suggestions helpful. If you have any tried and true tricks to get back on track then feel free to share them in the comments.  Until next time...happy writing!

Grim and the Girl

So I'm rereading James Scott Bell's Super Structure: The Key to Unleashing the Power of Story because I read that and Writing the Breakout Novel by Maass EVERY TIME I begin a new project. I even have a Maass List where I check off elements of my story and the 14 Sign Posts list to make sure I'm hitting every beat of my novel.

I know...I'm a total Planner. My slightly OCD tendencies have been well noted and commented on by my crit partner, the illustrious Erin Kane Spock over at Spock Writes Romance. She is a Pantser through-and-through so you can imagine our conversations.

Something that really hit me this time though, while going over my notes, is the whole FACING DEATH thing that each character has to endure.  Whether it is actual physical death, career death, or even psychological death...the lead in your book faces some permutation of it.

I mean, my main character stares down actual, grueling, torturous death in my series, but the death of her dream...her hope...that hits me harder. It changes her more than toughening to survive does. It steers her choices in a far greater way than just trying to stay alive.

Her character arc just got a new dimension and I hope to really explore that. This got me thinking about an idea for book journaling that I came across a while ago. I think its from Bell, but I can't be sure. Its a way to keep your character from sounding like a mini-you -- you write in their voice, the reasons why they do not want to take part in your story.

I was using it as an exercise to isolate the "argument against transformation" without knowing I'd have an epiphany about my main character.  I had no idea that Charlotte was so broken over what she gives up that it was far worse for her than the prospect of death itself.

I encourage all of you authors out there to try a Character Journal and see what insights, if any, come out of it. I'd love to hear.

Until next time...Go Write!

+Raquel Byrnes 

Its a Steampunk Western Bank Robbery Violin Showdown!

Wait...What?  This week Violinist Lindsey Stirling went viral with a video for her newest violin performance. For those of you that know her name, she did that amazingly cool video for her Violin Dubstep Song, Crystallize a while back in some really creepy ice caves.  So beautiful and haunting. Love it!

She was original and stayed true to her own vision of what violin meant to her. Flash forward to a new recording contract and a tour. Way to go Lindsey!

Well recently she put her own spin on Steampunk this time with a vignette where she fights off bank robbers in a steampunk-western town, with her bodacious bowing. Her song, Roundtable Rival has dancers, horses, weird sound wave ammo, and of course...a great song...

 

---

I got me thinking that sometimes breaking out of tropes or putting a personal spin on one, particularly in writing, can be both scary and tons of fun.  There's something freeing about deciding to dance to your own tune.

As we head into NaNoWriMo next month, I challenge you to let your inner dreamer out and really take a chance on a story you've been too afraid to try.

So what if there doesn't seem to be a place on the shelf for it yet.  Spread your wings and make your own room!

What are you going to tackle in November? I'd love to hear about it!

By +Raquel Byrnes 

At a Crossroads

Photo by MarkSmallwood

I used to love those, Choose Your Own Adventure novels when I was a kid. The seemingly endless ways I ended up dying in the desert was so fascinating to me. 

Flash forward to my current work in progress and I'm back staring at a scene and trying to visualize the countless iterations of, If This...Then This...

And its driving my batty.  

I am not a pantser. I am a planner, outliner, plot-block follower type of writer. But something about this character's arc has me constantly straying from my original plans.  Not a bad thing at all. But a dilemma nonetheless.

She's not so much at a fork in the road as a crossroads. Four possible actions that could lead her to the same conclusion, but by wildly differing paths. I tried to knock one or the other out but keep getting stuck.

I didn't want to waste days, maybe weeks writing out a scenario only to get to the middle or (gasp) the end and realize that it didn't sit well with me. So, being a former computer nerd, I decided that what I need is an IF/THEN flowchart.

I started it yesterday and you know what? I feel like its totally working. I already realized a certain decision didn't make sense and eliminated it. Being able to visually see the path a choice takes the character on is really helpful.

A sample (incomplete)...

I know this may seem simplistic to some, but boy did it get me out of a tough spot. I was spinning my wheels until a simple brainstorming exercise helped me literally see how one path was better than the other.

I am primarily a list type of person so this is new to me and I really wanted to share it with all of you. Sometimes thinking inside the box(es) is what you need to do to push forward. 

Anyway, until next time...Go Write!

How Thor Helped My Writing

SWOON!

I am a geek girl, through and through. I loved comics, computers, and chess as a high schooler...the three C's of social oblivion.

As a writer though, I KNOW that loving the epic struggles and sacrifices of my comic book *cough* graphic novel, heroes has served me well as an author.

Think of your favorite super hero and break down why you love them. Be it movie or magazine, the elements will inevitably be the same. And you can apply those points to your writing to construct riveting heroes your readers with love.

• There are always TWO types of struggle going on.  The external, public stakes type of struggle. Be it aliens or mad men, there is something on the outside of the hero causing conflict.  But there is always...ALWAYS, some sort of inner struggle that pulls the audience in. Betrayal by a brother, loss of family, the ache for vengeance, a secret shame...something makes the hero the way he or she is.

• There is a clear path for them. We know that the hero must defeat the villain. We know that all cannot be lost. We just don't quite know how he will get there, just that he HAS to for the good guys to win. Clear change. Definite Goal.

• It is their soul not their strength that inspires us. We may not have special powers or super speed, but we can have an unbreakable spirit and that is what a great hero makes us aspire to. Someone that never gives up, does the honorable thing despite the cost, and lives for something real and noble.

• Tension and conflict are integral to the story. They fight with people that love them, they are betrayed, they suffer crushing blows to their confidence and still keep going. Comics provide a great blue print for compelling stories. Good books are more than action scenes and bullet caliber descriptions. They are gripping because of the personal stakes.

• The struggle resonates. Great stories of adventure and thrills all have a human core that readers can identify with. Sure we may not all have billions of dollars and cool gadgets, but we've lost people we love and felt helpless. Not all of us have magic hardware, but we've all felt the pain of failing expectations and hurt from loved ones. Human emotions are the core of any good story.

Take a moment to think about your main character. Be it hero or heroine. Do you like them or are they falling a little flat? They may be missing an element that makes them human....even if they come to reader by way of Mars. 

Until next time...Go Write!