Writing

NaNoWriMo Advice:

Posted on October 26, 2015 by caseykins

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I wrote last week about my own journey to Nanowrimo.  I wanted to do a second post, though, about some recommendations that I have for sticking it through.  I’m feeling like a veteran at this since it’s my 5th year and all (and I’ve done Camp a couple of times too).  This is my guide to thirty days of writing insanity, specially geared towards first-timers.

  1. Let your family and friends know, and recruit a cheering section. You’re going to be spending a LOT of time alone with your computer.  Make sure everyone knows it’s because you’re an intrepid novelist and not because you hate them or are suddenly feeling anti-social.  Other bonuses include motivating guilt when people ask you how it’s going and you’re inevitably behind, possible dinners and/or candy brought to you by sympathetic pals, and encouragement when you’re feeling deep in the dumps because it’s not working out.  If you don’t have that kind of support system at home, the message boards can be a great stand-in.  So can writer meet-ups.
  2. DO NOT GO IN WITHOUT A PLAN. No, really.  I know there’s this awesome debate about planners vs pantsers and that it’s equally legitimate to be either.  If this is your first rodeo, DO NOT go in without a plan of some kind.  You don’t have to have a detailed outline like a “planner” would, but you should at least know in your head the beginning, some of the middle, and where it will end.  If it’s your first novel-writing experience, I recommend that you steal a plot.  I know that sounds bad at first glance, but it’s totally legit. All you have to do is pick your favorite tale, set it in a different time period, and write away.  A Macbeth/Mean Girls mashup where they murder the alpha-girl, A steampunk Odyssey in a dirigible balloon (one-eyed aliens, anyone?), a Sleeping Beauty on a far-away planet, where she’s incased not in briars but in ice… the options are endless.  Pick a story you know well, and mess with the wheres and whens.  You will thank me in week 2 when the Hatred hits.
  3. Be prepared for the week 2 Hatred. I always think I’m prepared for week 2.  And then I’m always surprised by how authentically and genuinely I loathe the story I’m writing.  You don’t have to like it, you just have to write it.  I recommend the pep talks on the Nanowrimo website at this point, especially Neil Gaiman’s.  Bribery and punishment also work for some.  Although I’ve never used them, I have heard great things about Write Or Die and Written Kitten.  Keep going.  Do not ditch this in favor of another idea.  You will hate it less in a few days, and if you have stolen a plot you probably know how to get to the next thing that happens.  If you have not stolen a plot, you may be feeling at this point like you’ve exhausted all your creativity and/or like your story has gone off the rails.  For this problem, try adding something completely unexpected, something from the prompt message boards on the Nano site, OR just skip to that part that happens super far in the future but that you’re looking forward to writing.  No one said you had to write the book in the right order.
  4. For the love of God, do not re-read your work! It will only end in tears. And in less writing.  There’s plenty of time after Nano to fix whatever isn’t working.  Whatever you do, just keep going and ignore the rest.  Also, this makes draft 2 really fun when you find the horrible things you’ve written and you laugh at yourself.
  5. Make the most of your weekends. Work will get crazy.  Relatives will fly in for Thanksgiving.  You will have that thing that night that you can’t get out of.  It will happen, and the word count mounts up so fast that it will seem impossible for you to ever catch up.  Use your weekends to pad your word count.  Even if you can’t get those extra words in on both days, you will usually have one day to really crank it out.  Make the most of these times and you will keep yourself sane (okay, sane-ish).
  6. It’s possible to write more than you think it is. I did 9,000 words one day.  My shoulders ached and my brain felt pretty fried at the end, but I caught myself up with some word count to spare.  If you had asked me before I did it, I would have said that 3,000 a day was my absolute upward limit.  You are capable of more than you think if you push yourself hard.  Who ever said that winning was easy?
  7. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Give it your all, certainly, but it’s useful to remember a few things along the way.  #1 is that no one will ever see this draft.  It will be bad.  It will be the worst thing you have ever written sometimes.  You are still lapping the people on the couch who have never written a novel, and anyway, all you want is something you can edit.  It’s SUPPOSED to be bad.  If it isn’t bad, you aren’t doing it right.  #2 is that Nano isn’t for everyone.  Not everyone is capable of working like that, and that’s okay.  You are a winner if you wrote more words than you would have otherwise this month, and that’s all that matters.  This is also the reason you should keep going once you start, even if you definitely aren’t going to make it to 50,000.  More words are better words.  Quantity over quality forever! (or at least until draft 2).  #3 is to ignore everyone else’s word count on the message boards.  I’ll tell you right now that those people who have 20,000 words  of a novel on day 2 are either professionals with dozens of books in print, super humans, or lying.  Run your own race against yourself, and just know that the rest of us are mad at those overachievers for blowing the bell-curve too.

So that’s all I’ll say today.  Any other advice I have is probably specific for my writing style anyway.  I leave you to enjoy the Viking hats, the traveling shovel of death, to get acquainted with Mr. Ian Woon, and otherwise revel in the explosion of words that happens every November.  Best of luck!

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On My Love for NaNoWriMo

Posted on October 22, 2015 by caseykins

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This is my annual “I’m doing Nanowrimo” post.  I am, like hundreds of thousands of other people on the internet, going to write a novel in a month.  It’s a giant writing party on the internet and we’re all invited.  You too!  It’s both easier and harder than you think it will be…

I’ll be honest in saying that this might not be the best choice for me.  I currently have 3 Nano drafts that I consider good enough to edit, and so far I’ve only managed to touch one and a half of them.  I’ve been participating since 2011.  I’m about to have a 4th draft of something I probably won’t edit for ages and ages.  It seems a little silly to drop everything else and Nano for a month.  But I’m compelled, you know.  There can’t be a huge writing party on the internet without me.  I get angsty if I don’t join in.

I don’t talk about imposter syndrome much, but there’s a reason that I’m 33 years old and I haven’t pursued writing seriously until about 4 years ago.  I don’t remember where I read it, and I’m sure the thing would strike me differently if I were to read it today, but in a forward in one of my favorite books was an essay.  It mentioned people who grew up in a literary environment, and how they are different from actual writers.  People who grew up in a literary environment, the essay said, probably read a lot as children.  Maybe there were writers in their family (there are several in mine – my grandfather’s bread and butter was covering the Celtics for the Christian Science Monitor), maybe there were lots of books around everywhere.  But in any case, these people dabbled in writing, were bad at it, and didn’t have the stamina to have a writing career.  These were people who liked books, sometimes scribbled things down, and left it at that.  I compiled this essay in my mind together with all the writing advice that basically says “if you can help it at all, do something REAL with your life,” and I left those half-formed scribblings in my notebooks.

4 years ago, I participated in my first Nanowrimo.  A bunch of my friends were doing it, and there’s nothing I like more than a silly challenge that lets me brag about things – especially things like having written a novel.

I signed up, and a flood unleashed.

By the end I knew things.  I had no skills, I had nothing but a small way with words, and yet I had the HABITS of a writer.  By the end of the month, that 1600 words a day was easy to crank out.  I kept going after November.  I signed up to minor in English so that I could get a bit more of a handle on the skill part of things.  I can help it.  I don’t have to write.  I am a product of a literary environment.  All of those things are true.  But it’s also true that Nanowrimo made a writer of me.  I am certain that this novel would never have been written, that the other two novels I’m dying to get my fingers into would never have been conceived, let alone exist as first drafts, had I not joined that crazy no-stakes contest in November 2011.  I am now pursuing a writing career with determination.

The best part?  I get to relive the magic again once a year.  And that’s why, despite the fact that I’m in a terrible place to drop everything for a month, I’m going to Nano my heart out.

Consider joining us?  It’s not for everyone, I admit.  Brian, for instance, is driven insane by the timeline.  He would rather take a week to have a perfect chapter than take a month to have the worst draft ever written.  But if you’ve ever wanted to write a novel, sometimes the kamikaze way is excellent.  It was excellent for me.

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Casey’s Guide to Not Critiquing Like a Jerk

Posted on October 5, 2015 by caseykins

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In its latest iteration of editing, the book is on Critique Circle right now, and I am getting the most infuriating critiques.  For those of you who don’t know, Critique Circle is a members-only online critique group.  You can post things to the Story Queue for 3 credits, and you get 1 credit for every story of someone else’s you critique (more or less).  For those who don’t have a writer’s group, it can be helpful.  I find it’s mixed in the best of cases.  Sometimes I get REALLY GOOD critiques.  Sometimes it’s wishy-washy – not outright bad, but not deep enough to help much.

This time has been the worst yet.  Like, one or two are good.  And then I get this thing where the critiquer wants to tear apart my word choice in nit-picking detail and tell me how all of my phrasing is obviously wrong (bonus points if they re-write the entire paragraph – badly – below).  My favorite was the person who told me they would give me a secret tip that would really punch up my writing – to use other dialogue tags that aren’t “said.”

Now, I don’t mind taking advice.  But absurd advice that is wrong?  Come on now…

It’s still worth the headache, I think.  I’m getting at least one excellent critique per post.  But I thought I also might put together a Casey’s Guide to Not Critiquing Like a Jerk.  Not because I expect anyone to follow it, but because I’d like to vent a little.

Here it is:

  • You are not here to get the author’s thing published. You are here to help the author make the thing the best it can be.  Unless you are an editor of a paying publication, don’t ever use the phrase “Editors are looking for…” or “Editors don’t want…”  Editors are looking for a good story, period.  Are there things that might help that? Maybe. But the best thing about writing is that there are many, many exceptions to every “rule.” If the story is good, someone will pay for it.  You do not need to get hypothetical Editors involved.  It just makes people feel condescended to.
  • You are not here to be a cheerleading section, nor do you need to spend paragraphs bucking someone up or massaging their ego.  Presumably, if a person has given you something to critique they are aware that there are problems with the manuscript and are going to do more drafts of it.  They will be an adult about an honest, friendly critique.  Things like “I’m so sorry, but you will probably need more drafts,” or “Don’t ever stop writing, even though you have a ways to go with this!” are useless (and another point of condescension).  Give your critique and leave the fluff out of it.
  • Word choice, phrasing, and often punctuation are reflective of the author’s personal style. Their style might not be for you, but it is not wrong. Unless you are actively misunderstanding the meaning of something, leave it alone.
  • Know the “no’s.” You don’t have to practice this, but you should probably be aware that high use of adverbs, cliché, dialogue tags other than “said” and passive voice are considered bad form by most MFA programs in Creative Writing. If the piece is working despite this, that’s okay.  But don’t suggest to anyone that they do any of these things to punch up their writing.  Most likely it will not help.  And you will look like an uneducated idiot for suggesting it.
  • Focus more on why you didn’t connect with something than on what the writer can do to improve it.  That’s the most important part.  If you want to suggest stuff, go ahead, but make sure you’re doing the other first. You’re probably wrong about how it should be improved, anyway, since you don’t necessarily know what the writer was attempting to convey.  The where and why is more important than the how.
  • Heap praise on the good stuff. Not because the author needs it after all the crap you’ve told them (although they probably do), but because knowing what’s working can be just as helpful as knowing what isn’t.  It’s so easy when re-writing to just toss everything out the window, or to toss things that are needed in an attempt at making other things work.  As a critiquer, you can prevent this tragedy.  Tell them what you liked.
  • Thank the author for letting you read their work. It takes guts to put stuff out there to be slammed, and you obviously connected with it enough to read it all the way through, even if it wasn’t perfect.  This is the only bit of fluff you’re allowed, so make it count.
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Some VERY Good News

Posted on September 28, 2015 by caseykins

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I had a whole other blog post planned for this morning, but I had to pause and tell you all the great news I received on Sunday.  Are you ready?  Here it is:

My story, Plenty Of Fish, was accepted by Bewildering Stories!  (!!!) http://www.bewilderingstories.com/

It’s set in a 1920s-ish alternate universe where clouds of fish come from the sky each summer.  Small, gifted Hero attends an institute to learn how to catch one.

I’m still waiting on the official date of publication and all, but it will definitely appear in the near future.  I’ve been shopping this story for months now, and it’s something I’m really proud of.  So proud, I was sure it would find a home eventually.  Bewildering Stories has extended it a warm welcome.  I’m thrilled to be among the ranks of their talented writers.  Thanks, guys!

I will shout it all from the rooftop so you can check it out when I have an official date to report.  Stay tuned…

UPDATE: Story drop date is November 16th.  Yay!

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Fantasy Magazines

Posted on September 15, 2015 by caseykins

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This trying to be a writer stuff is so odd sometimes.  I go through cycles of things.  Like, the last month has been a month of rejection after rejection as all my stories came back with a “no, thank you.”  I like to think that I get better at handling this with time, but when they all pile up into a mass… And they inevitably all pile up that way, no matter how spaced out I send them.  I have packaged them all up again, given them a polish, and sent them back out.  Hopefully this time (my fingers are crossed) the news will be better.

Being a fantasy writer isn’t easy.  And it’s not just the writing part (although that’s some of it.  Writing is always hard).  It’s also the fact that a lot of journals don’t take fantasy or speculative things.  I have spent hours upon hours researching places to send my work to.  I thought it might be helpful to others if I threw down a master post of journals that take this sort of thing, so you can benefit from all the free time I seem to have.  Not all of them accept submissions all of the time, so you will still need to keep your ear to the ground.  The other thing I’ve found handy is this site: http://writingcareer.com/.  They have a Tumblr blog I can follow, and fancy reminders just show up in my feed.  They advertise for all genres, but they definitely cover fantasy too.

The list I put together is of stuff that looked good for my own writing.  I know there are other Canadian magazines and Aussie magazines out there (among others), but they don’t all want my American stuff.  Nor do places who print mostly horror. I also didn’t include any contests, no matter how prestigious, that required an entry fee.  Just say no, kids.  The chances of winning are so tiny; why pay for someone to reject your story when you can get that service absolutely free?

Now on to the list of Journals:

Paying Professional Rates:

Paying Well:

Paying Not a Lot:

Paying Nothing/Unknown:

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3Point8

Posted on September 9, 2015 by caseykins

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So, this thing has been going on for a couple of weeks now.  I have been perpetually disorganized this last month, and am definitely remiss in posting this so late. But better late than never, right? I had to wait until payday to buy the book (because I didn’t realize they don’t charge you until it prints) and didn’t feel comfortable plugging something I hadn’t bought, even if I was going to buy it. Um, I mean, I was trying to stagger my release of this blog to help Mike keep his momentum going.  Of course.  Yes, that was my plan all along (shifty eyes).

So here it is:

I’m going to tell you about this good friend of mine.  His name is Mike Melilli, and he’s got a grasp of story that is, well, masterful I guess.  Except that description seems so pale.  I can’t say that I hate him for it, because he’s the sort of guy that is gregarious and unhateable.  I’m sure you know the feeling, though.  That jealousy that someone else has easy command of something you’re trying so hard to learn, while at the same time being floored by it.

I am telling you this because he’s writing a book, and we all know how hard that is.  MUCH harder than anyone who hasn’t done it thinks it possibly could be.  I already know he’s a good storyteller, because we’ve played Dungeons and Dragons/Savage Worlds in the same group together for, oh, certainly over five years.  Maybe closer to seven?  But I haven’t seen any of his writing.  Until now.

Mike is crowd-funding a book through preorders at Inkshare, and if his excerpt is any indication, the book going to be an AMAZING fantasy/thriller mashup. The whys and wherefores that have led him to this novel are his story to tell, not mine, so I will let him tell it.  You can read about him and his novel here: https://www.inkshares.com/projects/3point8?recommended=true.  I’m 100% excited to read the final product.

Several reasons you should buy his book: 1) It’s going to be a really good book.  2) 50% of the profits are going to Forever Footprints, a charity that supports families who have suffered a pregnancy or infant loss.  3) The book is a steal at only $4.99 if you’re willing to sign up for an Inkshare account.  4) If you buy now (before the end of September), it will help Mike win a contest that guarantees he’ll get it published.

Thanks so much for letting me spout off about this.  More books in the world = more readers = a better world.  You can help bring one more into existence, you know.

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It’s Clarion Time Again

Posted on June 22, 2015 by caseykins

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I am participating in the Clarion Writeathon again.  I’m probably participating because I’m a dreamer.  Six weeks in San Diego writing for your life with an amazing group of people sounds like the best kind of experience.  I live through it vicariously every year.  Right now, I cannot go – even if I could manage to get in.  There is no way I can take six weeks off from my job and still have a job to return to.  The mortgage doesn’t like that very much.

But some day, I will get there.  I will need a scholarship when I do. So really, I’m just paying it forward in small increments. Consider donating a bit to help us all out?  Every bit helps, and who knows… maybe you will also be funding yourself for someday.  Or join and write with me.  That’s the best kind of participation there is.  My profile is here: http://clarionwriteathon.org/members/profile.php?writerid=504044

As part of the writeathon, I’m planning on putting the novel up on Wattpad for anyone to read.  I wasn’t sure I should do this, but I’m a big proponent of the fact that if you’re asking people to fund you for writing, they should be able to see said writing.  The Beta draft isn’t done yet, so I’ll be editing as I post.  I’m hoping to post a chapter per weekday, and it will be here: http://www.wattpad.com/myworks/42224637-blue-gentian.  First eight chapters are already up.

When it’s all done, I plan to put out a call for more concrete feedback.  Like I said, I’m not under any illusions that this thing is finished.  I think it’s SUPER close, though.  Draft 9, for those who are counting…  And please, please, please – if you have comments on how to improve the novel don’t hesitate to tell me.

Just a brief synopsis, and then I’m done.

Okay, I lied.  I also want to thank you a million times over for reading this blog, and for reading my stuff.  I get a little emotional when I realize how many of you there are now.  You’re amazing.

NOW I’ll post they synopsis:

Blue Gentian

Blue Gentian:

Salya has a talent for healing, a deep sense of tradition, and a love for the mountain path she travels every day with the band of traders that is her family.  But on the night she announces her Handcalling, when she dedicates her life to becoming a healer to replace her Grandmother, she finds a boy named Bren unconscious and bleeding by the stream.

While nursing Bren, Salya discovers that he is a spy with information that will save the life of the queen of Kwedregiol. Now she is faced with a decision: she can let Bren journey to the white city, alone and wounded. Or she can go with Bren, abandoning her life as a healer, in the scant hope that they will be able to save the kingdom before the assassins strike.

Something you’re interested in? Here’s that link again: http://www.wattpad.com/myworks/42224637-blue-gentian

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How It’s Going

Posted on May 12, 2015 by caseykins

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I haven’t talked about how the writing is going in a while.  That’s because it isn’t really going.  I mean, I shouldn’t say that.  It’s a different kind of “going” these days that feels less like writing and more like reading things and moving words around.  In short, I’m doing a bunch of editing.  All of it with Brian’s help, who is very awesome for going over my novel with me (it’s in much worse shape than I thought, but I don’t think the edits will be impossible).  Next stop Beta readers, maybe.

I set myself a few goals this year.  Goal #1 was to have a finished novel that’s ready to shop around.  Goal #2 was to get 5 short stories published, and one of those five paid for.  I’ll make #1, I think.  I’m on schedule to.  Brian and I will finish going over the novel sometime in June, and then I will have a full 6 months to do all the final edits and write the various synopsis that go with querying an agent.

But #2?  It just dawned on me that the year is almost ½ over and I don’t even have 5 stories written yet, let alone published.  And if everyone keeps things for 2+ months (which they do these days, mostly), then it is likely I won’t make it.  Yikes!  I’m whipping those six-in-six stories into shape as quickly as possible, and trying to write a few more as well.  The more I have circulating out there, the more likely I am to get things accepted.  That’s the theory anyway.  And only two of the six-in-six stories are something someone might be likely to buy, I think.

So I’m editing like crazy so I can start submitting like crazy.  The goal is to have 3 ready to submit this week, and then start writing again next week.  I’m making progress. Now we’ll just all have to cross our fingers that someone will give them a home.

Please?

In other news, Brian’s car is fixed!!!  It is running like a champ!!!  I have 2 hours of my day back and I couldn’t be more thrilled!!!  I like using exclamation points!!!

But seriously, it’s been nice to be able to have a little bit of time in the day, instead of always having to drag myself out the door, and then rush to the next thing, and then the next, until I finally get home (maybe) around 7:00 pm, after leaving at 6:20 in the morning.  And then there’s dinner to cook.

I do miss Brian, though, and it’s only been one day.  I’m hopeless.  I know.

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Six in Six: Wrap Up

Posted on April 1, 2015 by caseykins

So, this is the official end of Six in Six.  The experiment wasn’t entirely unsuccessful, although I didn’t “win” by the rules I set out for myself at the beginning.  One of the stories was pretty old, and they were all supposed to be new things.  Sometimes it just works like that.  If I hadn’t tried to push myself to continue writing something that just wasn’t working, or if I hadn’t caught that horrible cold half way through, maybe I would have made it.  That’s life.  No fancy new books as a reward for me.

But I have 4 stories I will polish up and use for other things.  Yay!

Speaking of which… If you haven’t perused the stories you should feel welcome to – they’re all on the tab at the top, in order from newest to oldest.  I’ll keep them up until May 1st, when I’ll pull them down.

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Rejections of the Better Kind

Posted on March 26, 2015 by caseykins

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I’ve been sending out a lot of short stories, plaguing the editors of various literary journals with them.  I WAS planning on trying to meet a goal of $1000 earned from writing this year.  It has come to my attention, though (mostly through trying and getting rejection letters) that a monetary goal was perhaps too ambitious.  I am now going for 5 stories published, 1 paid for.  That goal still seems ambitious, but it seems like something I can meet.  And it’s mostly about exposure, not dollars.  Much better.

I have gotten to the point where a “no” hardly phases me.  In the early days, it never seemed that I would be able to take rejection after rejection with indifference.  But get enough of them, I suppose… When people ask me about it, I tell them that I’m pretending rejection letters legitimize me as a writer.  After all, doesn’t everyone published have a stack of old letters that say no somewhere?  Shannon Hale has taped hers into a scroll and unfurls it at school events.  Stacey Richter and friends decoupaged theirs onto a chair, a footstool, and some beer cans.  Anita Shrive was going to paper her room with them.

The thing is, I’ve gotten a little happy about rejection letters.  Why, you ask, would I be excited that my stuff isn’t going to be published?  Because I am getting the second tier of rejection letters now.  These are not the cold “we regret to inform you that we cannot use your story” letters.  These are the warm letters that might begin with “cannot use…” but contain a thank you and end with something like “please continue to submit.”   Yesterday I got a rejection that was not a form letter at all, but a nice, personal validation that I was on the right track (although they were refusing my story because they didn’t feel the ending was original enough).  They called the writing “beautiful.” If that isn’t a rejection letter to be proud of, I don’t know what is.

I mean, it’s still not an acceptance.  But on the great climb to becoming a published girl, this is a milestone saying that I am getting somewhere.  I may still be close to the bottom of the mountain, the scenery may all look the same, but I have traveled.  I spend so much time alone at a computer banging my fingers against the keys that it’s hard to recognize sometimes.  But there it is in the nicer set of rejection letters; my progress.

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