Free eBooks from Hydra Publications This Wednesday & Thursday

Posted on May 1, 2012 by

Hey you! Yes, you! Do you like free ebooks? Of course you do! You’re in for a special treat because on Wednesday, May 2nd and Thursday, May 3rd, a number of titles from Hydra Publications will be free for you to download through Amazon.

Hydra is a small publisher of fantasy, science fiction, and speculative fiction and will be the home of my steampunk novel, The Exile’s Violin, this fall. But until then, why don’t you head on over there and check out some of the great free ebooks that are available. One of my favorites is The Universal Mirror by Gwen Perkins. Now stop wasting time and go pick up some great books!

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A New Way of Looking at Elves in Fantasy Literature & Games

Posted on April 30, 2012 by

I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy and playing games like The Witcher 2 and Dragon Age: Origins lately, and I find myself focusing on elves. It’s fascinating to see how much Tolkien influenced the depiction of elves in popular culture. Even within this all-encompassing version of elf-ness, there are many different angles that could be explored to create something new within the fantasy literature sphere.

Common depictions of elves

So these games and books got me thinking: elves are always kind of depicted the same way, but even in these similar forms, there are issues that nobody really explores. For example, elves are usually “similar to humans but fairer and wiser, with greater spiritual powers, keener senses, and a closer empathy with nature.” While games like Dragon Age portray them as persecuted, second-class citizens, that wiser/fairer bit is generally accurate. In addition elves are usually immortal or extremely long-lived. This fact is what inspired this post.

If elves live longer than humans, then why is it a common theme in fantasy literature and games for elves to have a smaller population than humans? You commonly see elven characters saying things like, “Humans multiply like insects” or “humans are short-lived people with no connection to nature.” Why is this?

It seems to me that an author could create something really interesting if they explored the underside of “elven culture.” While they are normally serene and harmonious, sometimes authors portray elven society as rigid and socially stratified. There’s so much potential there: a society where you live a long time, but are kept limited in the role you’re able to play.

Elven societies in fantasy literature

Also if men multiply quickly, then why don’t elves? Apparently Tolkien wrote about elven reproduction and sexual norms in “Laws and Customs among the Eldar” in The History of Middle-earth, but I haven’t read it so I can’t elaborate. But still, you’d think because they live for such a long time that elves would be having children like crazy. Do they only have one set of children or something? Why do you rarely see works that focus on elven overpopulation? Think of the social implications of that.

Or if elves don’t have lots of children, is that because they have an extremely low birth-rate where their pregnancies, eggs, larvae–I don’t really know how these made up beings breed–rarely carry to the full term? If that was the case, that low birth-rate would influence almost every level of society.

Imagine if a writer explored these things in a fantasy setting. A stratified society dominated by reproductive issues like a low-birth rate or a high infant mortality rate would at the very least be different from the standard “elves as wise, harmonious nature-lovers” you see so often.

Other fantasy tropes and races

What other fantasy races would you like to see explored from a different angle? Sick of technologically-inclined dwarves that mine for treasure all day? What about blood-thirsty orcs or hungry halflings? Let me know in the comments.

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Symbolism, Fate, Fantasy, (And Yes, Star Wars, too)

Posted on April 23, 2012 by

Today’s guest post comes from fantasy author Rachel Hunter (no relation as far I’m aware). Her novel, Empyreal Fate — Part One of the Llathalan Annal Series, is coming soon from Hydra Publications. Now onto the post!

Greetings!

First of all, a large ‘thank you’ to Mr. Hunter for allowing me to post a little something to his blog. It is an honor to be here, and I am thrilled for the opportunity to post about a topic that intrigues me: Symbolism.

What is it and why do we care? First of all, according to the first definition from Dictionary.com, ‘Symbolism’ is “the practice of representing things by symbols; or of investigating things with a symbolic meaning or character.” Indeed. And most of you are probably thinking along the lines of this:

Symbolism

And yes. Perhaps what authors write is completely random and without deeper purpose. Perhaps there is no other reason that the Weasley family’s hair color is red, Gandalf transitions from “Grey” to “White”, Thomas Covenant starts out with a sour disposition, or a certain stone was left overturned – other than the fact the authors woke up one morning and thought, “Aha! I know the most random details to apply, and apply them I shall!” Well – perhaps it’s the psychologist in me, but I disagree. Although not every detail or characteristic in a work is necessarily crucial to the plot, there generally is something relevant or telling that may be gleaned from it. The interesting part is determining whether or not one is reading into the psyche of the actual characters – or into the author her/himself. Now that’s the fun part to determine.

Symbolism can take many forms: colors, shapes, characters, personalities, seasons, events, creatures… even the direction the wind blows or the way a lake ripples in a breeze. But what does it mean? That, my friends, is up to you. The reader – whomever you may be. And that is usually the part I find contention with regarding English teachers and their crticial analysis of various works: it is not that something is supposed to mean one thing or another; rather, it’s the importance of what the symbol means to the reader. The reader is the one who takes the meaning out of a work and carries that meaning inside of her/himself: however great or small the impact. But it is interesting to note the generalizations of certain symbols and the meanings they indeed carry. For example, some common interpretations of symbols are as follows:

  • Seasons:
  • Spring: birth/renewal/“awakening”
  • Summer: maturity/growth
  • Winter: death/stagnation
  • Fall: aging/decline
  • Colors:
  • Purple: royalty/confidence
  • Blue: calm/serene/detached
  • Green: hope/growth/renewal
  • Red: emotion/passion/bravery
  • White: purity/innocence
  • Nature:
  • Water: regeneration/cleansing/renewal
  • Sun: vitality/strength
  • Cavern: womblike/secretive/mysterious
  • Direction:
  • North: hostility/alienation
  • South: warmth/expression
  • East: youth/renewal
  • West: old age/decline

Of coure, there are far more generalizations than that – and those are merely simple observations. It is another thing altogether to delve into the “whys” of particular actions and/or events. Or – “What does (insert object/person/event) signify?”

Throughout my readings, I have identified several symbols that hold particular meaning to me. But, again, the interpretations of one may be completely opposite in meaning to another. As an example, I would like to share a few interpretations of others relating to various works that I have found quite thought-provoking:

Mark Murdoch interprets the ‘Eye of Sauron’ (as found in JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series) quite interestingly. Here is what he has to say:

“Sauron lacks corporeal form and is depicted as an all-seeing eye at the top of an obelisk-like structure. The all-seeing eye is an ancient Egyptian symbol traced back to the solar cult of Aton and is commonly associated with power groups like the Illuminati and the Freemasons. Note, too, another Egyptian connection: Egypt was known as the black land, and Mordor is also the black land.

Sauron then can represent the dark force behind the power elite who have ruled civilization throughout history. The Freemasons use the eye to depict The Great Architect of the Universe, the demiurge or, as the Gnostics refer to him, Ialdaboth, the false god.

As the all-seeing eye, Sauron sweeps the land in search of the ring and in search of knowledge. Here is another clue. For as Freemason Francis Bacon stated: knowledge is power. The all-seeing eye seeks power, seeks to control and dominate all it beholds.

All of this — the dark lord, the false god, the power-seeking ruler — leads us back into ego territory again: the all-seeing eye or all-seeing “I”? Even the phallic obelisk on which the eye is perched is representative of the pronoun “I.”

Yet Sauron is not just another representation of the ego. Sauron represents the capstone eye to a pyramid of power. For as Tolkien tells us of the power of the One Ring, no matter who believes themselves to wield it, it is ultimately Sauron who is in control. All of the magical rings were bound to his One Ring.

This suggests that all of our individual ego strivings towards power flow upward into a greater network of power from which an elite few can control the many. We see this revealed today. The greatest threat to individual freedom is centralized, corporatized power — the New World Order.

We are all wired into Sauron through our rings, our individual egos.”

Todd McCaffrey – son of Anne McCaffrey (author of Dragonriders of Pern series) – takes note of the various cultural differences and beliefs relating to the dragon. He sums up mans’ general fascination in a brief interview with NPR:

 “I think dragons are a really fundamental embodiment of our wishes and dreams,” McCaffrey says. “They are incredibly powerful,” he adds, “and they embody the best of humans and their aspirations.”

Dragon's Fire

Justin Bruce shares his opinion of religious and historical influences in George Lucas’s Star Wars:

“Although not quite as powerful in Star Wars as the symbolism of religion, I believe that there is a strong historical influence behind many of the scenes in the film.

In religion, I compared the character of Darth Vader to Satan’s second-in-command, Beelzebub, because Vader takes orders only from the Emperor Palpatine, but is in command of virtually all of the destructive forces operating from the Death Star. Likewise, Beelzebub is in command of Satan’s legions of fallen angels, or more specifically, demons. Since World War II, many have classified the actions of German commander Adolf Hitler as Satan-like due to his extreme evil qualities and persecution of the Jewish. Hitler was effective enough at commanding his forces that most actually enjoyed the horrible acts that they carried out on the prisoners of war in their captivity. Although it is not likely that George Lucas intentionally designed Darth Vader to be perceived in this manner, with the other comparisons between historical events and Star Wars, it is not difficult to place him in this role.

After escaping the Death Star, Luke Skywalker must return to destroy the center of evil operations before it is within range of destroying the rebel encampment. After receiving the initial strike from evil forces at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, that set up World War II, America was forced to retaliate with strikes on the enemy. Just as the Jedi strike on the Death Star was a valiant effort against overwhelming odds, many of the strikes in World War II suffered heavy losses, but were overall successful. The Allied bombing raids on Berlin, Germany, from November 1943 to March 1944 were effective at damaging the city, but almost 600 bombers were lost in the strikes. This is reminiscent of the strike on the Death Star, in which most of the Jedi fighters were destroyed, but the center of Empire operations was annihilated.

The historical aspect of Star Wars that I have found most comparable to the German forces in World War II is the title that Lucas has given to the Empire soldiers. They are known as Imperial Storm Troopers, just as Hitler’s soldiers were called Storm Troopers. I find this far too close to be coincidental, and this strengthens the symbolic link between Adolf Hitler and Darth Vader.

Whether George Lucas intentionally intended these religious and historical allusions in Star Wars is uncertain, but many have felt their presence in the film. This interpretation is probably one reason why Star Wars enjoyed so much success as a science fiction film.”

Enlist Today

At the same time, my novel – Empyreal Fate – has its share of symbolism. Although I shall not spoil anything for you here, I will mention that the Laymeur flower (as depicted on the cover) lends nicely to the concept of ‘Fate’. But again, it’s all perspective. Although readers may find various connections and interpretations that I have not even thought of, I hope that the relationship between the two is readily identifiable on an abstract level. If not, I would be thrilled to discover what readers make of the relationship – what they internalize – as well as what they make of the other ‘hidden’ elements. Just remember: whatever the work and whatever the subject – a symbol attributes meaning through the lenses from which the reader views it. Not all interpretations are the same, and there is no “right” or “wrong”. Rather, the significance of a symbol comes in when once decides for himself: what does it mean to me?

Empyreal Fate - Rachel Hunter

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Characters Count: Keeping Them Consistent

Posted on April 16, 2012 by

Engaging characters can make or break any story. You could have the coolest setting in the world  and a mind-blowingly awesome plot full of ups and downs, thrilling twists, and a dramatic conclusion, but they would amount to a fat load of diddly (squat optional) if your readers don’t care about your characters.

Readers Notice Inconsistencies

I just finished going through the first round of content edits and revisions on The Exile’s Violin. One of the common threads that ran through the editorial notes centered on my characters and their…character (for lack of a better word). I’d written them behaving one way earlier in the book, but by the end they were reacting to things in ways that just weren’t them. I didn’t keep my characters’ character consistent. And if my editor noticed, you can bet your ass that readers would pick up on it too.

Novel writing

For example, my main character, Jacquie, comes across as a no-nonsense type of young woman, one that may have anger issues, in the opening chapters. However as I was reading later chapters, she was doing things that were completely out of character. Trying not to cry after a setback instead of getting angry. Feeling ashamed instead of not caring what other people thought–especially when she hadn’t done anything wrong. She didn’t have that spark that made her interesting in the beginning.

Avoiding Flat Characters

All the writing advice gurus talk about making sure your characters change and grow–avoid flat, two-dimensional characters! But there’s a difference between character growth and inconsistency. You better break out your red pen and do some rewriting when you see these kinds of mistakes.

Red pen

Having a character learn to care about other people rather than just themselves, that’s growth. When two characters develop romantic feelings for one another in an organic, unforced way, that’s growth. When a character hates eggs in chapter 2 but then spends the rest of the book only ordering omelettes, that’s an error. So when Jacquie starts crying all the time (seriously it was embarrassing how many times I’d put that in there), it looked like her behavior was coming out of left field. I rewrote those sections to have her keep her original attitude. As a result, her character stayed more consistent, but still retained room for growth.

You can turn inconsistencies into genuine growth though. Using that egg example: you could add reasons into the story, plot points, dialogue, etc. that shows why that character learns to love eggs to the point where they’re eating omelettes for every meal. That would be growth.

It’s all about how you present it to the reader. You can show them a character’s behavior in one instance and say, “This is fact. This is how my character acts.” That’s all fine and dandy. But if you then show the character acting differently in a similar situation and say, “This is fact. This is how my character acts” they’ll call BS. No author wants to have their readers call them out on something like that. It’s just plain embarassing.

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Starting the Revisions Process

Posted on April 3, 2012 by

I just got the first round of comments and suggestions back for my debut steampunk novel, The Exile’s Violin. This is super exciting and scary at the same time. On the one hand, the initial feedback I got in the email with the manuscript notes was good. The word “riveting” might have been used in the first sentence. So yes, that’s always positive.

Still I haven’t opened the marked up manuscript file yet. I’m kind of scared to do it. I mean before I read the email, I was afraid that my editor was going to read my manuscript and think, “Bleh, why did the company agree to take this mess on? This isn’t worth publishing.”

I mean that didn’t happen. And besides, if an editor really thought something was that bad, then my manuscript probably wouldn’t have been good enough to get accepted and to this point anyway. So that fear is just irrational. I know.

So why haven’t I opened the file yet? I don’t think I have “Editor-Phobia” as outlined in a guest post by Muffy Morrigan on Christine Rose’s blog. I’m not afraid that my editor is going to completely cut my voice out of the story. No, I think the thing I’m worried about the most is that I have an irrational fear of my own writing.

I don’t like the sound of my own voice on recordings. And similarly, I don’t like rereading things I’ve already written and revised on my own. And finally, despite all the advice that says to do this, I also hate reading my stories out loud. For some reason just thinking about reading things I’ve already written makes me cringe. It’s something I have to get over. If I want to keep growing as a writer, I know I’m going to have to learn to look at my works with a more critical eye.

Well if there was ever a time to toughen up and just get to it, this is it. My book is an actual thing that is being published. It will be a product people can buy and read. But if it’s going to get to that point, I got to take this first step. Who knows, it might end up being fun, and undoubtedly it’s going to make The Exile’s Violin stronger.

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Repost: When Mass Effect 3 and Doctor Who Collide

Posted on March 20, 2012 by

This is reposted with some minor adjustments from my gaming-related blog over at Destructoid, but I thought it was worth sharing here.

The original article talks about how the interactivity offered by videogames made me feel in ways that books, TV, or movies couldn’t. There’s definitely something powerful at hand when you can take ideas from one type of media and apply them in another. Mass Effect 3 wouldn’t have affected me emotionally if they hadn’t used good characterization and storytelling techniques perfected in places like books.

When Mass Effect 3 and Doctor Who Collide

Originally posted on Destructoid 3/19/2012

I want to talk about Mass Effect 3, but don’t worry, I’m not here to talk about the ending; I haven’t gotten that far yet. Instead I want to talk about how it made me experience one of the most awesome moments in gaming ever. Better yet, it combined my love of the Mass Effect series with my love for Doctor Who. There will be spoilers for those playing through Mass Effect 3.

Mass Effect is one of my favorite series of all time. I played the original back in 2011, years after it was released. I’d heard the name of the game before that, but nothing about more about it. I picked up a deeply discounted used copy and decided to give it a go. I’m so glad I did. Despite certain flaws, the game grabbed hold of me. I loved the space opera story, the meticulousness of the in-game universe and backstory, and the music. (The soundtrack deserves an article all its own).

As soon as I finished the game, I bought a copy of Mass Effect 2 and proceeded to play it through twice back to back. I enjoyed its many improvements and loved its character-oriented story. My companions became my friends, especially ones carried over from the first game: Tali and Wrex.

At first I felt like the character interactions in Mass Effect 3 were lacking compared to Mass Effect 2, and I missed seeing my old squadmates. Then I got to the Tuchanka mission and everything changed.

You go to Tuchanka to earn the krogan’s support by curing the genophage (basically a sterility plague) that’s affected their species for years now. But there’s a twist. Another species–the salarians–implores you to sabotage the genophage cure because they’re afraid that once the Reapers are defeated, the krogan will go on another bloody rampage across the galaxy like they’ve done in the past.

Since I’m playing as a Renegade, I decided to do the “evil” thing and agree to sabotage the cure. Several times during the mission I had to lie to my companions, including Wrex, about my intentions. I know it’s just a game, but it was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.

In order to rationalize my decision, I ended up turning to Doctor Who. In that show, one of the running themes is that everything has its time; everything dies at some point. That’s what I told myself as I progressed through the mission, inching closer to the point when I’d stab Wrex and his entire species in the back.

I thought: The krogan had their time before. They devastated their world with nuclear war. They got a second chance when the salarians uplifted them. Then they blew it again with the Krogan Rebellions. It’s just their time to go now. Everything has a time.

I told myself that over and over until I reached the mission’s climax. I was in a crumbling facility with the salarian Mordin (also one of my favorite characters) seconds away from deploying the genophage cure. Mordin decided he had to make sure it deployed properly. The game presented me with a terrible choice: let Mordin go cure the genophage and potentially unleash the krogan on the galaxy again or murder him and basically doom the krogan to a slow extinction.

My resolve crumbled. Then in my mind’s eye I saw Matt Smith (the current Doctor) standing there in his coat and suspenders. His head is lowered and he’s saying, “Everything has to end sometime…” Dramatic pause. You think he’s going to go through with it, condemning an entire species to death. Then this song kicks in. The Doctor looks up with a maniac’s grin on his face, he points right at the camera and shouts, “…but not today!” Then he saves the day.

As soon as I saw that in my head, I leapt to my feet, pointed at the TV and shouted, “But not today!” My girlfriend in the next room probably thought I was crazy. It didn’t matter that I was ruining my pledge to play as a Renegade; I couldn’t bring myself to betray a friend, murder another one, and condemn a species to death on a mere possibility of a future disaster. I let Mordin go cure the genophage. And then the game ripped him away from me.

That mission affected me deeply on multiple levels. I felt so much for these fictional characters that I couldn’t betray one of them. Then I was devastated when another one was taken from me. But multiple types of media are able to make you care for fictional characters, so it couldn’t just be the fact that I cared.

No, Mass Effect 3 really brought home how the interactive nature of videogames allows the player to experience feelings that TV, movies, or books can only show them. I’ve watched all six seasons of the current Doctor Who, but I’ve never had a moment where I felt like I was in the Doctor’s shoes. This Tuchanka mission did that to me. I felt like I had the weight of galaxies and entire species on my shoulders.

I feel like that kind of experience has to be unique to videogames. Movies and books have played with my emotions before, but nothing quite on this level. Rather than absorbing things passively, I had agency (within the confines of the game’s mechanics and narrative of course) and the ability to change things on a galactic scale. Mass Effect 3 was the perfect game to make me experience something like this because of how well the characters were written and presented since the first game. I doubt I would’ve felt the same way if this type of decision had been presented to me in a different game.

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You Got a Book Contract, Now What?

Posted on February 23, 2012 by

Last night it really hit me that the process for getting The Exile’s Violin published is far from over. Over and over in my head I kept hearing myself say, “You got that contract. Now what?” I have a feeling that I’m not alone and many first-time authors are asking themselves that same question. So really, now what?

As a writer your job doesn’t end once the ink’s dry on the contract. It’s not all hookers and blow (that can come later if that’s your thing). You still have a lot of work left to do.

Usually what comes first is a round (or two or five) of content edits. Content edits are when an editor reads your manuscript and looks for problems with character development, pacing, plot, structure, names, and continuity. Usually things like spelling, grammar, and sentence structure are overlooked at this stage.

For the most part, this is where all the heavy lifting is done with rewrites and revisions. An editor will make you realize you spelled something one way in chapter two and three different ways in subsequent chapters. They’ll help make your characters more rounded and interesting. A good content edit can help turn a good book into a great book.

Great now that the revisions are done, your job as an author is done, right? Guess again Lazy McLazyperson! (See, a good editor would make a note that that’s not a very good character name) Now it’s onto copy edits and line edits.

I may not know all the semantics between copy edits and line edits, but I know that this stage is all about the words themselves. Now your editors go over your manuscript with a fine-tooth comb. They look for spelling mistakes, grammar, sentence structure, and a whole host of other things you probably weren’t thinking about. I’m an author! I throw words on the page and it’s art! Yeah, not always. Sometimes what you think is a wonderful, poetic sentence is just a gurgling mess of adjectives and dangling participles.

Well now the book’s edited and ready to be printed. Time for hookers and blow? Nope! Unless you have a contract with one of the big six, chances are you’re going to have to do some–say it with me–marketing! You got blog tours to arrange, reviews to solicit, blog posts, interviews, press releases, and animal sacrifices to the Marketing Elder Gods to make. Plus you gotta get busy writing that sequel!

As an author you may think your job’s done once you write the book, but it’s really just begun. And that’s what kept me awake last night. But with the proper planning and hard work, this process doesn’t have to be overwhelming. (It can just be regular whelming) I need to remind myself of that. Then maybe figure out who actually celebrates with hookers and blow. That’s a thing big celebrities do, right?

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Ten Silver Bullets Available Now!

Posted on February 7, 2012 by

So this is all rather sudden. Last week I found out my short story “Blood Moon” was accepted in the Ten Silver Bullets werewolf anthology by Adam Millard and Crowded Quarantine Publications! And now that same anthology is available online! Ten Silver Bullets is available for Kindle through Amazon, or you can find it on Smashwords.

“Blood Moon” tells the story of a private eye on the job in Prohibition-era New Orleans. Except he specializes in cases that aren’t quite…normal. You’ll have to read the story to find out more, but the werewolf theme should give you a hint of where the story might go.

Crowded Quarantine is a UK publisher, so this is doubly exciting for me. I’ve never been published across the pond so to speak. I also have an electronic copy available for review, so if you’re interested contact me.

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The Kindle and Changing Reading Habits

Posted on February 1, 2012 by

While reports are all over the place about whether or not Amazon’s Kindle Fire sold well in Q4 2011, I can say without a doubt that Kindle and other e-readers are completely changing reading habits. At the very least, my Kindle Fire has changed my reading habits in just a few short weeks. But what does that mean for me as a reader and as an author?

Personally, I love my Kindle. It’s the best Christmas present I’ve received in a long time. With the ability to wirelessly download books pretty much anywhere, I’ve found I’m reading a lot more than I was in the last year. It saves me the hassle of having to either go to the library or a bookstore. Both libraries and bookstores suffer from physical limitations: not enough shelf space or not having certain products in stock. And ordering physical books online has its own drawbacks too: you have to wait for them to arrive and sometimes things get lost in the mail.

Since I got my Kindle, I’ve downloaded more books in just a little over a month than I’d purchased in probably the last six months. Because of that, I’ve also read more than I had in the last six months. I’m able to carry multiple books with me at one time. I can take it work and read on my breaks. I can take it with me to the tire store and read my multiple books while I wait for the mechanics to put new tires on my car. The Kindle is an amazing tool for helping me, as a reader, read more books and from a wider variety of authors. (I make a point to try and read books by indie authors along with bigger names).

But what does this all mean for me as an author? Well technically, I don’t know because I haven’t published a novel (yet). But with millions of people owning Kindles and other e-readers I can see the growing importance of ebooks. I used to be a staunch traditionalist. I swore I’d never give up buying paperbacks. Now my tune has changed a little bit. I still love physical media, but I can see the positives associated with ebooks and other digital media. And if I’m able to be swayed, I’m sure there are millions of other readers out there who feel the same way.

I used to only want to see my work appear in print, and not in digital formats, but that doesn’t make sense anymore. To ignore ebooks and e-readers would be a huge mistake, especially if you’re a first-time or indie author.

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Saying No to Fun Things; Saying Yes to Writing

Posted on January 26, 2012 by

Who doesn’t love weekends? I mean, I sure do. They’re great. You get to go out with friends, watch TV, play videogames, do sports type things, go on dates, and so on and so forth. What about weeknights? Isn’t it great to kick back after a long day at work and read a book, play some videogames, or watch some TV? You bet it is! Of course there’s one problem with all the activities I just listed: where’s the time for writing?

I feel like this a trap a lot of writers (including myself) can easily fall into. We all have friends, social lives, and significant others. We tend to have other hobbies and interests other than just writing. All of those activities, people, and hobbies take up time. So how do you balance all of them and still find time to write? You have to learn to say no.

It’s tough; nobody wants to say no to their friends when they invite you somewhere fun. Nobody wants to force themselves to write on a night after work, when the words just aren’t flowing. But sometimes you have to.

I fell into the bad habit of putting off writing. If it was a weekday I’d tell myself, “Oh I’ll write extra tomorrow” or “Well I can always write a ton on the weekend, so go ahead, watch that episode of Top Chef.” But then it’d be Saturday and I’d get invited to go hang out with friends. I’d tell myself that I had all day Sunday to write, so once again writing would take a backseat to everything else.

Writing is a craft, and it takes practice and dedication to get better at it. I desperately want to get better because I want to get more pieces published, and eventually support myself by writing full-time. I had to take a hard look at how much (or little) time I was devoting to my craft. It was painful to finally acknowledge that I was doing myself a disservice. But in the end, it’s been worth it. Since I realized what I had to do to get better, I’ve been able to make progress on a novel WIP that had been sitting dormant for months as well as begin rough plotting for a new novel.

How do I do it? I say no to fun things. When my coworkers go out to lunch: I say no thanks (Pro tip: always be polite when you decline doing fun things). I spend many of my lunch breaks writing. (Pro tip #2: Dropbox is a lifesaver because I don’t have to take a flashdrive with my most recent WIP to and from work) When I get home I only let myself watch a limited amount of TV and I don’t let myself go to bed before I’ve hit my word count. I write more even if I’ve already hit my word count goal during my lunch break. When it comes to weekends, I try to get my writing done during the day while I’m doing laundry or something rather than just playing videogames.

It isn’t always easy. Laziness is an extremely alluring option. But if I can learn to say no to fun things and activities, you can too. It’s the only way I’m going to improve, hone my craft, and one day get to do the thing I love full time.

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