Tag Archives: writing advice

Coffee & Conversation: What traits do you think lead to success?

03 Monday May 2021

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What traits do you think lead to success?

The traits that I feel are most important to success in the writing industry are: social acuity, endurance, and thick-skin. Keep in mind that my own success is debatable, depending on your definition of success and that most of this is from what I’ve observed within the industry.

1) Thick-skin

There are a lot of rejections in this industry. Some of these rejections are impersonal, leading some people to feel downtrodden because they don’t feel like they’re being read or considered. They don’t feel like they’re even getting a person on the other end. So the rejections feel automated.

Some of the rejections are personal, which can feel even more personal depending on what’s said. Some point out flaws in a particular story, while others point out flaws in writing ability. While still others might even go as far as pointing out potential flaws in the author themselves. And these are all, generally, from strangers across the world, people who you have no idea whether they have the training to be saying what they say or even if they’re someone whose opinion should be taken.

Not only do you get told NO a lot, but we also get reviews. Reviews can be sweet and wonderful and the best things in the world. Or they can be downright cruel, some of them going as far as deriding the author instead of the work.

On top of rejections and reviews, many authors seek out critiques in order to try and improve. Some people can handle critiques. Some people can’t. [Also, some people give helpful critiques and some people…don’t.] Continue reading →

Coffee & Conversation: What are some of your good writing habits?

12 Monday Apr 2021

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What are some of your good writing habits?

Because I discussed my bad writing habits a couple weeks ago, I thought it only fitting I also discuss some of my good writing habits as well.

1) Divide Stories Between Notebooks

Organizational-wise, coding each story by notebook allows an easy method of finding the information I need for any specific world or novel or even short story. This cuts down on how much time I need to search for what I need. Allows me to only have to carry around one notebook at a given time. Gives me a method to the madness that is all the stories I want to write or am in the middle of writing.

The only negative aspect of this method is that sometimes I might not have the appropriate notebook at hand and I desperately need to write something down so I won’t forget it. This means that bits of information would end up where they didn’t belong. But I counter this quite well with assigning a couple of specific notebooks to being “catch-all” notebooks, wherein I can cross out information once it’s been used or relayed to its proper place.

2) Work on Something Every Day

This is one that a lot of writers resist against and I’m never sure why. You can be a writer whether you write one day of the year or all 365. Doesn’t much matter. However, you’re not going to get much done if you only write one day a year, which is why I like the method of crafting a habit out of writing.

By crafting a habit, where my brain insists on needing to open certain documents, create new words or edit old ones every single day, I’ve made it almost impossible for me not to accomplish things. Stopping is far worse than slowing down. I must keep the wheels rolling if I want to remember what I was doing and why I was doing it that way. Otherwise, things start to disappear.

Thus, I get my butt in the chair in front of my computer every day. And if I can’t, then I wander with a notebook jotting down notes. And if can’t do that, I have a nifty writing app on my phone and a bunch of stories there as well. Doesn’t matter what is going on in my life, I always have a project at hand. And if I don’t, then I make one that fits that dead space.

3) Cycling

Not the bike cycling, the writing cycling. Every time I sit down to work on a project, I never start where I ended. I go back to the top. Maybe not the very top, as in a novel that would be impossible, but I’ll go back to the top of the chapter, top of the scene, top of whatever good breaking point there is from my last writing session.

Then I read from there, altering, editing, tweaking as I read, and then, by the time I get to where the words end, I’m immersed in the story enough that the new words begin to flow. This method of going over your work each time is called cycling, because you’re passing back over it again and again.

Some people don’t prefer this method because they see it as editing, which takes a different part of your brain. But to me, this is just me seeking flow, altering the course of the words so that flow isn’t disrupted.

This generally also means that by the time I’m done with a story, particularly a longer one, that I have a decently clean draft with which to work. And that’s something I love since when a story is done, I desperately want to move on to something else that requires creativity vs a critical eye.

~Emmi

Coffee & Conversation: What are some of your bad writing habits?

29 Monday Mar 2021

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What are some of your bad writing habits?

I have a couple of bad writing habits, a few of which are minorly problematic, and a few larger ones that I’m not entirely sure whether they give me more work, or less.

1) Not Writing Linearly

Most of the time I do write the beginning at the beginning, but often, once I get that first part down, I will jump ahead, write an emotional or exciting scene that I can’t stop thinking about. This means that I will have breaks throughout the draft, empty spaces where the words peter away. Normally, these breaks will slowly get filled in from the beginning going forward, slowly but surely soothing out the draft as I push toward the end. Sometimes there’s a specific scene that I’m dreading writing and so it sits like a gaping, festering wound. Usually those scenes are the ones I had to completely rip out of my WIP, which is the cause of my frustration.

In terms of the positives, this method means I’m getting a lot of words down on paper during the moments I’m most excited about it, adding to my motivation for the story, pushing it along.

In terms of the negatives, this means that I will be forced to do some major editing of those same scenes later one once I’ve completed every word that comes beforehand because there is inevitably wrong information because of changes I’ve made within previous scenes.

2) Not Outlining Before I Begin

Most of the time, I get an idea and I start writing. There’s a feeling involved when getting into a character that encompasses a style and voice and without that, it’s impossible to write the character. This means that oftentimes, I will set a character up with a problem, throwing them on the page and telling them to go-go-go, solve the issue! But without any clue as to how they’re going to do that. Continue reading →

Coffee & Conversation: Would you rather be hated or forgotten?

10 Monday Aug 2020

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The Book That Was Forgotten

There was this book once that I read and thought, meh. Didn’t go back and touch the author’s other stories and instead moved on.

About a year later, I saw a book that interested me. I bought it, read it, and thought, it’s okay. Not amazing, but definitely good enough to read through a couple more of the author’s books.

I later discovered that I’d already read one of this author’s books because it had been saved in my ebook.

I don’t remember this author’s name, only a few vague details about the books.

The Book That Was Hated

Then there was this other book I once read that I thought, wow, this author is a sexist, bigoted asshat.

Never bought a book from that author again.

I do remember that author’s name.

The Books That Are In Question

Now, obviously, if I had a choice my books would be remembered and liked (can I say loved?). That would be the best outcome. But in the decision between Hated or Forgotten, I’m torn. Continue reading →

Coffee & Conversation: What do you like to discuss with other people?

03 Monday Aug 2020

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I like to discuss difficult or erroneous plotting or character issues. Though discuss might not be the best term for what I like to do when I run into trouble. It’s more of a talking-at someone.

Here’s what I’ll do:

1) Get the person caught up with all the characters and setting and what’s been happening and what might have happened or what kinds of things are going to possibly happen and who the people are and what kinds of things they’re motivated by, and so on and so on… [This is usually answered with confused stares that attempt to look polite.]

2) Answer questions that all my pronoun usage, non-linear narrative babbling has caused.

3) Pitch my problem and all the reasons why it’s a problem. Usually I’ll state somewhere in there that my story is a mess, that it’s unsalvageable, that I’m a horrible writer, etc. All the boring, melodramatic stuff that spills from our mouths when we’ve hit a figurative wall. Continue reading →

Coffee & Conversation: What do you think should be censored?

18 Monday May 2020

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Personally, I’m in the camp that any and all adult fiction or non-fiction should not be censored at all for the adult population.

But you’re probably aware I purposefully said the word “adult.”

I think most people (or at least I hope most people) would agree that children’s fiction should not have high (or perhaps any) levels of gratuitous violence, sexual activity, swearing, hate, etc. And that’s simple enough to say when the child in question is reading board books, picture books, chapter books, etc.

But things begin to get slightly dicey when we reach middle grade, where certain levels of violence or difficult situations may, in fact, be favorable to show coming-of-age story lines or excite children who want to read about dragon-riding or dinosaurs or space battles where the heroes come out on top.

Then there’s YA, strictly in a camp all its own. And that camp is a complete and utter mess, if you ask me (which you weren’t, but I’m answering anyway).

YA, despite its moniker of young adult, is generally considered aimed at children between the ages of 12/13-18. Which, again, if you ask me, is a pretty huge disparity. Children at age 12 might not even have begun puberty, where at 18, you’re not only considered an adult in most countries, but you’ve probably been faced with many adult decisions concerning your own health, sexual activity, future, life choices, relationships, etc. One would hope that at 18 you’d have enough past experiences, enough common sense, enough knowledge to think analytically. Sure, you’ll still make mistakes, but we all do at any age.

However, I have a distinct problem with YA authors aiming their books solely at that higher range audience and forgetting that children as young as 12-13 will also be picking up and reading their work. No, I’m not going to say that all violence and sexual situations should be removed. However, I do adamantly believe authors of YA have just as much responsibility as any other children’s fiction author.

LET’S TAKE AN EXAMPLE: Continue reading →

Coffee & Conversation: How do you handle two-faced people?

11 Monday May 2020

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Not in your real life; I’d think that’s a loaded question with too many answers to count. But in writing, things are a tiny bit simpler. Tiny bit.

There are two main different situations where you might find yourself writing a two-faced person.

THROUGH POINT-OF-VIEW CHARACTER

This situation can be as complicated or as easy depending upon how self-aware the character happens to be.

An incredibly self-aware character, one who knows and accepts their two-facedness, can easily show their true colors through their interactions with other characters and through their own internal thoughts. Their internal thoughts will align completely with their actions, giving the reader a double whammy of explanation. This is where you can write simple, uncomplicated statements, such as “He/I lied” or “He/I didn’t care who he/I hurt” inter-spaced with other, longer internal motivation that will bolster the character’s actions and give the reader a complete sense of what kind of character they’re dealing with.

This is, by far, the easiest two-faced character to create. However, if the character is completely morally ambiguous, you’ll have a much more difficult time convincing the reader to have empathy for him. To improve empathy, you’ll have to show his likableness by 1) having him engage in ‘nice’ or ‘kind’ behavior, 2) by showing other people enjoying his presence or comparing him favorably, or 3) by giving him a clearly defined motivation that readers can identify with.

A character lacking in self-awareness (a type of unreliable narrator), will cause slightly more difficulty given their actions and their thoughts will not align. This is the character who thinks of himself as correct, moral, or a victim in situations rather than a perpetrator. A character who does not take responsibility for the negative outcomes of his actions because he believes in his own false narrative. In this situation, you can’t write “He lied” ever because as far as the character is concerned, he isn’t lying. Continue reading →