Writing Slumps- Cause and Effect

Hey guys!  A while back I posted and said I was going to try an experiment… Right around Christmas too.  Well, you only learn from experience, right?  Well, turns out, posting right around the holiday season is not very easy, so here I come, a couple weeks late.  Oops!  Well, as per promise, I tried to think about my WiP as much as I could over the holidays.  Actually, though, I didn't think about it until after New Years, at which point I was beginning to really feel behind, and guilty for being so, so I began to analyze why I was avoiding it.
So, I've been writing 500 words every day as a challenge from the Write Chain (Look it up, it's super cool!), and as I wrote every day, I was painfully aware that every morning I woke up and planned to work on my WiP, and every night I had put it off till nine at night and ended up typing 500 words on some random project on my phone as I lay in bed, all the lights out, bedtime being postponed by my 500 words.  Now, the other day, I was sitting on the couch watching an interview on Youtube with a ballerina, something I stopped doing a while back because I began to want to be a ballerina (trust me, I am no ballet dancer), and I knew in my heart of hearts, I wanted to be a writer.  So this time, watching this interview, I, once again, began to want to be a ballet dancer.  Then I got angry with myself.  I couldn't even write the book I had wanted to for half a year, and now I was pining after something I really didn't want to do.  So, I figured, if a ballet dancer had made me want to be one of her kind, then I could find writers and bloggers who inspired me to be who I was meant to be.  I looked at articles, took notes, and I unintentionally began to revise my book to be better as I went along.  This is where my conclusion comes in.
I have realized, in these last two weeks, that my book was too underdeveloped to be in production just yet.  I realized that two characters serve no purpose (so they're going to be extracted and put into a folder, because I want to use them later), I was telling too much, instead of showing, that if I switched from my 3 person PoV to a single Main Character, I could add a lot more interest and the characters would have more reason for conversation, that some creatures I had created were ludicrous, that my settings were too vague, the theme was not very strong at all, it wasn't serving the purpose I wanted it to, and I needed a better, stronger plot.  This thing was as broken as Jamie in the Bionic Woman.  I needed to make it stronger, faster, and better.  The 6 million dollar novel.  (Sorry for the lapse into 80s culture, I'm all better now, I promise).
  That was why I couldn't bring myself to write it, I had no direction, and I knew that it wasn't living up to it's full potential.  Honestly, I hadn't believed that my novel would undergo the drastic change so many authors had said that their novels had done.  Silly me!  Now it's back in the preproduction stage, missing two characters who I fired and the plot is under reconstruction.

How about you?  Have you done a novel overhaul?  Are you planning on it?  Any tips of your own for writing slumps?  Let me know in the comments!

Viola June HFA-DGN

On the First Day of NaNo Prep My Novel Gave to Me...

Hey guys!  So I decided to do a blog post series on NaNoWriMo preparation, and because I'm way too excited for the holiday seasons, I am naming each post something akin to the 12 days of Christmas, though it might be 31 days, or it might be 2 (let's hope not).
So First, why participate in NaNoWriMo?  Well, there are plenty of good reasons, and you can find them all over the web, or even come up with some of your own, but here are a few of mine.
1. A strong sense of accomplishment at the end.  Honestly, it feels so good to be a winner.  If you're still in High School or younger, you could do the Young Writer's Program (YWP) and set your word count for what you think you can do, or you could go for the 50k, or even shoot for more, if you're up for it.
2. It kills your inner editor.  Why am I excited about this one?  Because I believe in small goals.  Let me explain.  I like to have checkpoints periodically spread out through everything, because if I don't, then I look at the entire project as a whole and get discouraged as I take "forever" to complete it.  Using a book as an example, The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas.  This is a long book.  Not as long as some, but still long.  It can take a very long time to read it, and without chapters, I would never have finished it.  Reading a chapter a day is doable (Though with this particular book, I finished it in three days because I couldn't put it down), but what happens if there aren't any chapters to finish?  You get discouraged because it seems like you aren't getting anywhere fast.  (This is mostly hypothetical for example's sake).  With an inner editor, you go back and fix your typos, correct clunky sentences, and rewrite character's lines over and over again till they sound like the character.  You sit, blocked at a certain point in the book because you can't climb the hill nicely.  Without an inner editor, you get a first draft like my current one (which shall never see the light of day, by the way).  The amount of typos, out of character sentences, and clunky sentences is embarrassing.  (This is probably because last NaNoWriMo I killed my inner editor stone dead.  When editing time comes around I'm gonna need a major miracle).  So since my inner editor is dead, I can finish the first draft sooner.  Checkpoint no. 1.  Then I edit the first draft of all typos.  Checkpoint no. 2.  You get the idea?  Cutting the steak into small pieces is easier to eat than stuffing the entire thing in your mouth.
3.  It's fun.  Okay, this can be opinion, but as a writer, writing, is fun.  Writing in a semi-social, extremely encouraging "you can do anything and we're all here to help you" is amazing.  I honestly didn't know that writers were all super supportive of each other until I joined NaNo.  People make it fun by making sure that you know that they believe in you.  Even if you procrastinate until two days are all you've got left, I've heard of someone who wrote the entire 50k in those two days.  (Also, Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 450 [about 46k] in nine days)  Some great authors have written entire novels in 6-8 weeks, (Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is one of them) and the word count is way above 50k.  So you can do it!  1,667 words a day, isn't actually that much, all things considered.  You may be thinking "But I'm not like that", but how do you know, if you've never tried?  In the words of my favorite band, Superchick, "Failures are flyers who touch down, only they know what it's like to leave the ground." and the song (Rockstar) goes on to say that it's okay to fail sometimes, as long as you try, and keep trying.  Honestly, it's fun to fail for the first time in NaNo because you see that this gigantic community of writers, don't judge you.  They understand the challenge, and that everyone is different.
4. It's a reason to drink excessive amounts of coffee, sit around in sweats and a t-shirt all day, and write.   Okay, I don't need a reason to do this, because I do college online and sit around, drinking coffee all day, in sweats and a t-shirt, but what I like about NaNo is it's a celebrated action.  I'm just kidding... sort of.  When you do this in your daily life, you get dressed up to go to social events.  When you do this in NaNo, social events are write ins on Youtube, and they expect you to be nice and comfortable for it all.  Anyways, it relates back to No. 3.  They (Wrimos) understand.  And that is very amazing.

So now that I've rambled for a bit about why, I'm going to talk about some prep in this the first installment of "The days of NaNo Prep" (Yeah, I just made that up)

On the first day of NaNo Prep my novel gave to me… An idea.
Whoop.  Yep, that's it.  You can't write anything without an idea.  So this fancy schmancy idea is a genre, and a basic setting,  or maybe a character, or maybe even a single line of dialogue that inspired you to write a book centering on it.  Mine was the genre and the setting.  This NaNo I'll be writing historical fiction (yeah, yeah, I know, I've already dug myself a hole with all that research) set in the Great War (WW1), and actually, I got the moral of it, which is a little bit of a different take on the conventional method of looking at forgiveness.  This is all very hefty stuff, so I'm probably going to mull it over for a few days, whilst brainstorming (and researching).
So how does one get an idea?  Well here's a few of my suggestions, and ideas.
1. Go for a walk.  Whaaaa?  Yep, I said it.  Leave the house?  You bet.  Look about at the trees, listen to the wind (or swelter under a blazing sun, depending on where you are), and just generally be aware. Think about what ifs, and such, because, what if you get a story idea that really inspires you?  Also, exercise and clean air (Okay, where I live the air isn't exactly clean, but it is refreshing from the stuffy house) are great at clearing your head and opening new thoughts.
2.  Look at items in front of you.  Right now.  Yes, now.  You probably have your device (whatever you're reading this on), some sort of piece of furniture, maybe a few embellishments.  I have a coffee table, pencil box, binder, three books, three coffee cups, a water cup, some hair stuff, scissors, and some other misc stuff.  What story ideas can I get from that?  Maybe a character wake up every morning and drinks their cup of coffee.  What they don't realize is every morning, their cup is clean, and they didn't wash it.  So they're taking for granted that someone in the house loves them enough to clean up after them every single day.  They can go on to realize that you don't miss something until it's gone, when they realize one morning their coffee cup isn't where it normally is.  It's still on the table, still dirty.  Then you can have a bunch of subplots and stuff.
3. Listen in on people's conversations at your local cafe.  People watch.  You can get a lot ideas just from the daily life happening around you.  You just need to open your eyes (no.2) and ears (no. 3) .  Pay attention, and take notes (not necessarily literally).  I wrestle with my brother, quote endless movies with my family, break out into song with my entire family (Actually, literally.  Me, my brother, and my aunt made one of our friend's mom look back at us from her conversation with my mother in confusion when we all broke out into some song together).  So what story ideas can I get from my daily life?  Maybe a character sings all the time, until one day somebody they look up to tells them to be silent for once, and they live the rest of their life endeavoring to climb out of the insecurity that one person, who had a lot of influence over them, tossed them into.  There is so much you can get from life by just paying attention.

So what do you think?  Do you have any specific ways you like to find inspiration?  Or reasons you like to participate in NaNoWriMo (if you do participate in NaNoWriMo).  Let me know in the comments section!

Viola June HFA-DGN

Writing Slumps: The Ins and Outs

Hey everybody!  So recently I've been in a writing slump, and, climbing out of it, I realized it probably would be a good time to talk about it.
What is a "writing slump"?  It is when you literally do anything else you can (Seriously, I reorganized my entire kitchen, bathroom, and my room is cleaner than it's been in months) in order to avoid writing.  Then when you do get yourself to sit down at that desk with your laptop, alphasmart, typewriter, pen and paper (pencil?), whatever you use to draft your novel or short story, you find you have "Writer's Block", and can't pump anything of good quality out.  Don't worry, I've been there too (see above), and I know how it feels.  Oh my word, do I know how it feels.  Well, worry not!  We'll get you climbing out in no time.
So how do you get INTO a writing slump?  A few ways.  One, don't write; get out of the habit of writing daily and just stop doing it, letting your manuscript simply sit there for days, even weeks on end.  Two, you come to a halt in your writing where it's really hard to write the next part; I've been here too, don't worry.  Places like I don't want to portray my character as the big meanie (because he's my baby!) and have to go through this mental process where I tell myself he HAS to do it to move the plot along.  Or maybe your character is in a really hard situation and now YOU have to think of a way out while using the "Q factor".  Three, you just get lazy and want to take a break from writing, but this sort of relates to no. 1 above.
So I really want to expound a bit on number two.  What is the "Q factor"(Taken from James Scott Bell's book, "The Art of War for Writers")?  The Q factor is based on James Bond, 007.  He has a friend that he just calls "Q" that at the beginning, middle, SOMEWHERE in the movie, Q gives him his gadgets.  That way when he pulls out a laser knife, dangling above a pool of sharks near the climax, you know and don't question where the thing came from.  I firmly believe that "Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating." (from Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling), and as such, my characters end up in a lot of trouble that I have to think of a non coincidental way to dig them out, and let me tell you, every time I hit one of these spots, I have to fight the writing slump blues.
Now, for the getting out part.  This part there are a few options that help in the final battle, but overall it just leads back to your main antagonist (not literally).  Just like your character, the thing that motivated and antagonized them to get on this road is the thing they have to go back and face, but along the way the character gets upgrades, preparing them to meet the thing that beat them in the first place.  It's like Inigo Montoya from the Princess Bride.  He confronts his main antagonist, but he wasn't strong enough and failed, then he went and became the best sword master (Actually, a Wizard, the rank beyond master, but that's another subject entirely) in the world (aside from Westley), then came back and killed his main antagonist.  In essence, that's what you have to do.  You were beaten by one of the three things listed above, and you can do as many writing exercises as you like, but in the end you will need to face that scene, or getting back into a habit of writing.
So, what are some methods to gear you up to fight your main antagonist?  Lets take a look:
1.  Find little writing prompts around the house and sit down and write a page about the prompt.  Not only will this give you material to use for later, it gets your writing muscles exercising again.  What do I mean by "find little writing prompts"?  Simply that.  I'm at my desk right now, and I look ahead and see what's on it, I find a plastic mic, sticky notes, pens, watercolor brushed, organizer boxes, kleenex, etc.  What kind of prompts can I get from that?  Lets take the plastic mic and write a scene with it.  Make it as crazy as you can (Not about the plastic mic, just about something you see some whereabouts).  For instance, I would probably have a machine going and the main character takes the plastic mic, the only thing on hand and nearby, and he/she has one chance at this.  They take the mic and toss it, and it misses, bouncing of an obstruction.  It flies straight up in the air, hanging for a millisecond before plunging back down and slamming down on the concrete.  (No coincidences, remember?)  Every thing is over now, the MC has lost, and then, they wake up from a fitful sleep, drenched in sweat.  (No, I DO NOT make a habit of having everything be a dream, I'm against it, but I couldn't think of anything to do in one sentence and I'm giving you advice, not a story)
2. Take five minutes and write everything you can about a character, setting, or plot point.  Only one at a time, mind you.  This gets you all hyped up about it, and excited to get writing again.  You remember why you started the story, and it's helpful in getting you ready to face the antagonist.
3.  Take a moment and drag your book back to the plot board.  (Kicking and screaming, if you must).  See if there are any new angles you can explore, or expound.  I recently added a forest, and that's kind of big, so it helps.  This also gets you excited again.  (I'm getting hyped just writing about getting hyped)
4.  Write.  *Gasp* yeah, I know, right?  This is where you face the antagonist and just do it.  Just write your story.  Especially if it's just the first draft!  Because the first draft is where you dump everything onto paper, and the second draft is where you rearrange and cut and add and stuff.  You can write your character learning they can fly and come back and change it later.  Throw Murphy's Law (Anything bad that can happen, will happen) at them.  Throw the most wild thing you can at them to add spice.  Then don't worry about it!  You can, and probably will, come back and change it later.  Or you can write sensibly, but where's the fun in that?

So what do you guys think?  See anything I missed?  How do you get out of writing slumps?  Let me know in the comments section!

Viola June HFA-DGN