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I love writing. I love music. So it only makes sense that I would use them to create an analogy.
When someone decides to learn an instrument, say piano, they don’t expect to be as good as this when they first sit down, right?
So why do we as writers sit down and expect to write like Tolkien on our third draft?
Be Content With Baby Steps
One of the first real songs you will play on an instrument is “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” It’s nothing fantastic, but when you manage to play a recognizable tune for the first time, you have a moment of triumph.
Writing is the same. You start with simple stories, clichés, and not much of a clue what you’re doing. Then you begin to progress, learning more and more about techniques and terms. You get better, but you still make mistakes.
It’s normal to take baby steps. It’s good! Don’t rush ahead of yourself and try to do things you aren’t ready to yet.
Practice Makes Better, Not Perfect
No matter how much you practice, you will never, ever be perfect. Even masters of music still make mistakes.
That’s what drafts are for! Everything you write, whether it ever sees the light of day or not, is making you a better writer. Every time you pick up your pen, you are practicing your art.
But practice isn’t practice unless it’s consistent.
Practice Must Be Consistent
Someone who wants to learn piano can’t practice only once or twice a month. Sure, they might learn some things, but they’ll have a hard time recalling the skills they learned three weeks ago the next time they go to practice.
While I don’t think you have to write every single day to be considered a writer, you do have to write consistently and frequently. Maybe it’s only once or twice a week. Or maybe you can only write on the weekends.
It doesn’t matter.
You simply have to write consistently.
Music and writing share a lot in common–they are both art forms, they express thoughts and emotions–but they also take time to master. No one becomes a pianist in a day, or even a year.
With dedicated practice, you will soon move on from the basics and begin composing your own symphonies.
Oliver’s Travels!
Oliver didn’t have to travel far to watch the birds in our backyard.
Output requires intake, and literary output requires literary intake. Wordsmithy, by Douglas Wilson, page 30.
I think all of us have experienced creative burnout at some point or another in our writing journey. Whether it’s simply running out of ideas or the inability to write at all, burnout is no fun.
When you face this monster, the best way to conquer it is by getting more inspiration. But finding inspiration isn’t just like sitting out in a thunderstorm and hoping to get hit by lightning.
It’s more like intentionally tying yourself to a lightning rod in the middle of a storm cell.
Though it’s a little less dangerous. 😉
Where does the inspiration to write stories come from? Other stories of course!
Like Douglas Wilson said above, you need to absorb storytelling before you can write.
There are a few ways to do this:
Read Books!
Reading is the best way to fill your creative well. Not only can you enjoy a good story, but you also can discover different styles of writing.
Just like a musician listens to music before attempting to compose his own, a writer needs to read.
Don’t just read in the genre you write! Explore fantasy, historical fiction, contemporary, re-tellings, even non-fiction! You heard me right, reading non-fiction can improve your fiction writing. 🤓
Listen to Audiobooks and/or Audio Dramas!
Nowadays, everyone is busy. And sometimes, we don’t have time to sit down with a big tome.
But you can listen to audiobooks or dramas while commuting to work, washing the dishes, or cleaning the house.
If you want to listen to a classic, you might want to check out Librovox. They have free recordings of many classic books.
I personally enjoy audio dramas a bit more than audiobooks. Dramas are a little like movies without the pictures. They have different actors for each character, sound effects, and music.
Watching TV!
TV is full of stories, whether it’s a show or movie. Even the Food Network competitions my family likes to watch are stories.
This is a great way to listen to dialogue (noting what is natural and what is stilted) and to watch body language. You’ll start to notice how people act when they are stressed (nothing like the Chopped kitchen to raise your blood pressure!) or when they achieve something big (like winning the million dollar wedge on Wheel of Fortune).
While reading can be more of a solitary activity, you can most likely convince someone to watch TV with you. 😊
When you increase your story intake, your writing output will get better. And you’ll find new sources of inspiration.
No thunderstorm required.
Oliver’s Travels!
Oliver stowed away and joined me at my latest band concert at an ice cream social.
He enjoyed playing in my flute case.He even got his own scoop of ice cream!
(Photo credit: Mom)
Oliver Twist: A Lesson on Satisfying Endings+Meet the New Blog Mascot!
Warning: This post contains spoilers for Oliver Twist and Star Wars: A New Hope.
Dickens’ classic, Oliver Twist, is a novel full of darkness and despair. But that evil is lessened by the hope found in little Oliver himself. No matter the tragedy, he maintains his sweet, hopeful innocence.
Because of these incredibly dark themes, the ending needs to be bright and happy. Otherwise Dickens’ readers would be depressed for days.
While I personally enjoy bittersweet endings the most, I was satisfied by the conclusion of Oliver Twist.
How did Dickens pull off this “happily ever after” ending?
The Good Guys Win
As humans, we have God’s Law written on our hearts. (Romans 2:14-15) Even an atheist knows that murder is wrong.
Because of this, we have an innate sense of justice. We want to see good win and evil be punished. Dickens understood this and used it to his advantage.
He doesn’t cheapen the ending by making the heroes win too easily. They have to overcome many huge obstacles in order to achieve victory. Oliver finds a home. Rose finds love. Mr. Brownlow finds the long lost family of an old friend.
The Bad Guys Lose
The antagonists in Oliver Twist are utterly despicable. They tried to corrupt Oliver, to lead him into a life of thievery. And after 400 pages of watching them spread their influence, we’re ready to see them punished.
Bill Sikes, the murderer, is dead. Fagin, the ringleader, is in prison, waiting to be hung. Mr. Monks leaves the country and travels to America. Mr. Bumble is in the workhouse.
After the last page, we can breathe a sigh of relief. None of these characters will be back to torment Oliver anymore. They are all dealt with. There is no loose villain running around. (*cough* Unlike the ending of my first novel. *cough*)
How can you create the same kind of ending in your own story?
First, determine what your reader wants from the ending. If it’s a romance, they’ll want the two characters to get married. If it’s a mystery, they’ll want the culprit to be found.
Each genre has a certain set of expectations.
After reading the dark themes of Oliver Twist, I wanted a happy ending full of hope for the future.
Of course, there will be stories where you don’t give the reader what they want.
Deal out justice to the villains, or at least give them closure. Sometimes killing the villain at the end of the story is not what you need to happen. Perhaps you’re writing a series and he or she needs to return in book two.
If that is the case, be sure the reader leaves with a sense of resolution. Meaning this, don’t let the villain just slip off the page never to be see again until book two. Sure, leave a teasing loose end, the kind that people love, but don’t leave a glaring plot hole.
For example, at the end of A New Hope, Darth Vader is flying around in his Tie-Fighter somewhere. But we still feel closure because the Death Star is blown up. Yes, Vader disappears for the remainder of the story, but the main threat has been destroyed.
In Oliver Twist, Monks goes off to America. He disappears. But the other antagonists, the more active ones, are all dealt with.
Don’t just settle for the easy way out by killing off your antagonists. Like I said in the previous point, sometimes it just won’t work to kill them at the end. Sometimes you need to handle them another way.
Maybe they are in prison for life. Maybe they are exiled.
In Oliver Twist, Mr. Bumble doesn’t die at the end. His status in life is simply lowered. He becomes one of the workhouse people he had taken advantage of at the beginning.
It will take a lot of effort to craft as great an ending as Dickens did, but with a lot of practice we can do it ourselves!
Meet Oliver!
Oliver the cat, that is. 😉
With his green eyes, tiny bow-tie, and one white paw, what’s not to love?
Oliver loves to play with the coins on Scrooge’s desk.
When it’s time to play, his favorite place is Madame Defarge’s knitting basket.
His favorite place to nap is in the folds of Miss Havisham’s wedding gown.
Last weekend, my mom and I went to the Taylor University Professional Writing Conference again. We went last time and met DiAnn Mills!
And as I usually do, here is a recap post (with pictures).
(header image from last year)
Day One
We left on Friday right after an early breakfast. I drove the whole 3 hours there, including through the maze of construction.
Before the first session began, Mom and I perused the book tables. While we were doing so, my friend from the last Taylor conference, Rebecca, found us. We had kept in touch and were excited to meet up again. That’s the second time this year I’ve started a writing conference off with a hug!
Rebecca and me!
After several sessions on platform, plot, and characters, I had a one-on-one appointment about social media. One-on-ones are personal appointments with various speakers, agents, or editors attending the conference.
We talked over my email list numbers and she said they were really good! Thank you all for making that happen! ❤
One of the keynote speakers, Bill Myers.Angela Hunt, the other keynote speaker.
Then we had dinner in the college cafeteria. Mom almost lost her sandal because the floors were so sticky! We sat with a Taylor grad and she said the floors have always been that way. Her theory was they cleaned with soda.
After dinner, Mom and I went to a group meeting with other fantasy writers. There were about 25 other people in the group and we talked about our writing struggles and shared some resources to help with those issues. This was the first time they had done this at Taylor and I really enjoyed it. It was very encouraging!
Mom and I stayed at a hotel instead of the dorms on campus. We were just about to go to bed when the fire alarm started going off.
Mom went out to the lobby to see what was going on and learned someone had taken a steamy shower and set off all the smoke alarms.
Needless to say, it took a while for me to calm back down.
Day Two
It is a truth universally acknowledged that when you come across a strange statue, you must take a picture with it.
We ate breakfast in the cafeteria. I got a piece of bright orange bread. It was orange creamsicle flavored and I only had one bite.
The orange bread of doom.
After a couple other sessions, I had another one-on-one appointment, this time with Angela Hunt. She and I talked about my recent struggles with Checkmate, plotting, and some “weasel words,” which are words that add nothing to the story or are simply vague. I had gone to her session on “The Plot Skeleton” and we discussed using that outlining method to fix Checkmate.
I brought a sample from Checkmate and she pointed out some flaws as well as some highlights! It was very encouraging and helpful to get a critique from a professional author.
I also brought one of her books that I had read and got it autographed!
Then it was off to lunch. Angela sat with us! I had a blast talking with the other two young people at our table about writing. (One of them was in the fantasy group the day before.) There was an ice cream machine so I got to make myself my own cone.
Overall, I really enjoyed going to Taylor with Mom. I got some good advice and hopefully made some new friends!
Fun Fact: On the way home, we stopped in Van Wert, Ohio to get dinner. Van Wert is named after one of the three men who captured British Major John André, a spy who helped Benedict Arnold. There’s a sign right by the Arby’s we ate at, but I didn’t get a picture of it.
When I was younger, I don’t know where I thought books came from. I remember being frustrated that the next book in a series wasn’t out yet and that I *gasp* had to wait.
When I started writing, I was under the impression that real writers sit down at their computer with a cup of coffee, type up a couple chapters of perfect prose, and finish their book in a week or so.
It all seemed so simple. I knew how to type. I knew how to construct sentences. I’d read a bunch of books. How hard could it be?
Really, really hard.
And if you, like me, have believed the lie that writing is easy, I want to encourage you with this truth:
Writing is incredibly hard.
Super encouraging, right?
Writing isn’t for the fainthearted. Just like learning an instrument, it takes dedication, passion, and persistence.
Some days I’d rather clean the bathroom with a toothbrush instead of writing. Some days all I write is trash and deserves to be thrown into a bonfire.
But if that was the end of the story, we wouldn’t have any writers.
Since there are thousands of writers out there, obviously there must be a better side to writing life. And lucky for us, there is.
Writing is incredibly fun.
Some days I can’t stop writing. The words just flow from my fingers. Some days every sentence I write is pure gold and I’m sure my novel is better than any that Dickens or Lewis wrote. Some days I’d like to forgo eating so I can keep writing.
Days like those make me think that writing is easy. I feel like a “real writer.”
But then the next day comes and with it storm clouds that black out the sunshine of inspiration. Every sentence becomes drudgery. Discouragement swallows up all our confidence. Writing sucks.
This is the point where writers groan, “Why isn’t this working?” And here, many people give up.
This is the greatest juxtaposition of the writing life.
I like to describe it like the waves in the ocean. If you’ve ever been to the beach, you know that the sea is never still. There are continuous waves. Some have enough power to knock you down and others barely lap at your feet.
Writing is like that. You’re trying to build a sandcastle at the edge of the sea.
Between the waves, you make a lot of progress. Little bouts of discouragement sweep away some of the sand. Then a big one comes and destroys your motivation to keep building, to keep writing.
And here you have two choices:
Give up
Keep going
You can just abandon the sandcastle to the waves. Or you can build a wall around your castle to protect it from the water and keep going.
Sometimes there will be longer times when writing is nearly impossible. It’s like at high tide. You can’t get to where you were before. You might even be back to where you started your writing journey. And sometimes, high tide will last longer than expected.
But the ocean always returns to low tide. You won’t be stuck in the hard part of writing forever. Soon the moon will draw the waters back and you’ll enjoy writing again.
And the discouragement of high tide makes the productivity of low tide even sweeter (though it’s still salt water).
Just like a good book, life has unexpected turns and “plot twists.” And recently, I had one of my own.
After much prayer and thought, I have decided to lay off working on Checkmate for a while.
Let me explain why:
When I first started writing CM, I had very little knowledge of writing. I was arrogant and rejected a lot of the advice that I received. I wanted to do it my way, so I did.
They said don’t write fantasy for your first book. I wrote fantasy.
They said don’t have more than one POV for your first book. I had four.
They said outline, it will make it easier. I scribbled out an outline to say I did it, then threw it out the window.
While I don’t regret writing fantasy, I do wish I had stuck to one POV and spent more time plotting. I took on too much for my first attempt at a longer project.
One of the main flaws in my thinking was this: “Because I’ve read so many books and seen so many movies over the years, I don’t need to study plotting.”
Wrong.
Some of my friends can testify to me saying that to them. But as I started editing CM and looking at it from a critical perspective, I started to notice the flaws.
Because I hadn’t plotted, the storyline isn’t correct. And I also realized I had the wrong main character all along. I had never connected to the supposed main character, but really liked a secondary character. It turns out that the secondary character is the actual hero of the story.
While I’m sure that at some point I’ll be able to fix the problems with CM, I can’t do it right now. And there’s a point where trying to fix it will just make the issues worse, much like trying to untangle a pile of yarn—the more frustrated you get, the tighter the knots become.
I haven’t spent as much time as I should have studying the craft and learning about writing. There’s a lot of things I don’t know and a lot of things that I need to practice before I would try to implement them into CM.
I’ve been working on CM for two years. And I love every second I poured into writing it.
I’ve learned a lot and had tons of fun creating characters, crafting plot twists, and just simply writing. I learned how to write consistently, how to write when I don’t feel like it, how to bounce back from burnout, and many other valuable lessons.
While I’m really sad about giving up CM, I know taking a break will make me a stronger writer. In a few months, I plan on re-evaluating and see if my thoughts are still the same.
So, what will I be writing now?
Well, ever since I started this blog, it’s taken a backseat to CM. It’s time to invest more time and energy into writing posts. I’m tired of scrambling to write posts Friday so they can go up on Saturday.
But no more.
I’m working on a “vision statement” for blogging, to help me hone my focus and serve you all better!
Nonfiction writing is going to become more of a priority for me. I’m hoping to guest post more often and maybe get published on theReb again!
I’m also going to start brainstorming a new novel idea to practice on. I want to work on something without any tangles already in it so I can get better at writing. Then I can take what I learn and apply it to future novels, or maybe even CM!
I’m certainly not going to stop writing!
I hope you continue to walk this writing journey with me, plot twists and all!
Where’s Glendale?
This will be the final “Where’s Glendale?” post. Since he’s from CM, Glendale is also going on break. But this part of my blog isn’t leaving! In a couple weeks, there will be a new “blog mascot” up to the same antics as Glendale.
After a library program, there were a few tiny glow sticks left over. So I brought them home for Glendale, who decided to have a “lightsaber” duel with Yoda.
When I first joined the writing community, I was pretty much clueless when it came to writer jargon. When people talked about MCs, word sprints, and ships, I just skipped over those posts until I finally got enough courage to ask what those words meant.
Once I learned the terms, I started using them in my everyday conversations with my family. Then they had to ask me what they meant. 😅
So, I hope this quick guide will help you (whether you are a writer or not) to understand some of the slang us writers throw around.
Character Arc—A super basic definition is the inner change a character goes through over the course of the story. For example, in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, Edmund goes from being a brat to being a noble king.
Charries—Slang for “characters.”
50k—Writers like to share word counts and the most common way is in the thousands. A book hits novel status around 60k.
Love Triangle—A love triangle happens when there is one girl who has two boys she likes (or who like her). Then she has to decide who she wants to be with. Or vice versa, one boy who likes two girls (or they like him). I’m not a fan of these.
MC—This is one I use all the time. It simply stands for “main character.”
NaNo or NaNoWriMo—A yearly event in November where writers try to write 50,000 words in a month.
Pantser—Someone who writes without an outline, i.e. by the seat of their pants. (more on pantsers)
Plantser—Someone who is a combination of planner and pantser. (more on plantsers)
Ship—I personally don’t use this one, but I know lots of writers who do. A ship is when you take two characters you think should get married and mash their names together. For example, there are a lot of people who think that Kylo Ren and Rey are falling in love (they aren’t, they’re either siblings or cousins 😉). So, they call the ship, “Reylo.” Weird, right?
WIP—Work-in-progress. This is whatever the writer is working on at the time. Sometimes, we have multiple WIPs at the same time.
Word Sprint—Now that I know what these are, I love doing them! Word sprints are when you and another writer set a time to write together (usually around 30 minutes or so), then after the time is up, you share word counts. Some people view them as competitions and try to get more words than the other person. Others use them for concentration and accountability purposes.
Word War—The same thing as a word sprint.
While this certainly wasn’t an exhaustive list, I hope it helps you understand more of the “slang” in the writing community.
Where’s Glendale?
After abandoning his attempts at piano, Glendale found an instrument his size–a cello! Just don’t tell him it’s a Christmas ornament.
Eliana tagged me for the Liebster Award, so without further ado, here it is:
The rules:
#1: Acknowledge the blogger who gave it to you and display the award.
#2: Answer 11 questions that the blogger gave you.
#3: Give 11 random thoughts about yourself.
#4: Nominate 11 other bloggers and notify them of their nominations.
#5: Ask your nominees 11 questions.
Thank you Eliana for the Liebster Award! Check out her blog here!
Her questions are in bold and my answers are in normal text.
Who are your top two favorite book characters?
Jace from The Ilyon Chronicles by Jaye L. Knight
For number two, it’s a tie between Prince Caspian and Reepicheep the mouse.
What is the yummiest candy in your opinion?
Chocolate. I also really love jelly beans and Peeps. (the marshmallows covered in sugar that come out around holidays)
Have you looked at clouds much? What is your type (e.g. nimbocumuli)?
I haven’t looked at the clouds very much. I’d have to say cumulonimbus. They’re just so cool!
Do you wear hats much? Why or why not? And what kind of hat?
I wear baseball hats all the time. (Go Indians!) Usually to keep the sun out of my eyes, or just to hide underneath of them. 😉
Is your head in the clouds a lot or are you sensitive to the real world around you?
Totally in the clouds.
Where do you get photos for your blog?
Most of them I get off of Pexels.com but a few of them are my own. The Glendale pictures I take myself, but my mom has taken a few for me.
What is your favorite bird?
I love birds! Maybe chickadees or peacocks. Or falcons.
What is your favorite number?
I like number 3.
What did you want to be “when you grow up” when you were younger?
My friend and I were just talking about this the other day! I wanted to be basically everything—firefighter, police officer, veterinarian, Jedi, etc. I never wanted to be a doctor, though. I hate all things medical. XD
What do you want to do “when you grow up” now?
Write and work at the library! I’m doing both right now. Well, I only volunteer at the library, but working there is my dream job.
Favorite school subject?
Either writing or reading.
And now for eleven random thoughts about myself:
I hate seafood.
I love baseball.
I’m afraid of butterflies.
I have eleven plants that are currently alive.
I don’t know how to swim.
I want to go somewhere like Montana to look at the stars.
I’ve never been overseas.
I almost always have my hair in a braid.
I rode my first major inverted coaster this year.
I want to learn to play cello.
I’ve never been to Boston in the fall. 😉
I don’t know eleven bloggers, so if you haven’t done the Liebster Award before, I hereby nominate you. 😃
The 11 questions for you to answer:
Do you enjoy yard work?
If you could re-paint your bedroom, what color would it be?
Have you ever been to the Pacific Ocean?
What is your favorite Narnia book (or movie)?
In general, do you like books or movies better?
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Why did you start blogging?
Have you ever been skiing?
Do you have any autographed books? If so, which one(s)?
Are you afraid of spiders?
Would you rather eat shrimp ice cream or a bacon milkshake? Why?
Tell The Story Challenge!
The rules:
Pick an image out of the choices.
Write a short story, poem, or whatever that applies to that image.
Choose some other bloggers to do the same challenge.
Give your nominees a few more images to choose from.
I haven’t seen a blog tag like this one before, so I’m super excited about this! Thank you, Caleb, for tagging me! You can read his blog here!
Out of the choices, I picked this image, and wrote a poem about it.
The Hope Prose podcast is dedicated YA Christian books – the authors who write them and the readers they inspire. We upload new episodes once every two weeks and hope to leave our listens with sparks that ignite their own stories–whether their own or fictional. We want our podcast to be a place that inspires you to live a life of creative purpose through reading, writing or maybe even singing. Words are kinda our thing, and communication is one of the most powerful gifts God has given us and we want to stoke the fire in your own faith and creative journey.
About the host(s):
Tara K. Ross is a perpetual Toronto suburbanite, despite her best efforts to escape. She works as a school speech-language pathologist and mentors with local youth programs. She is blessed with a ridiculously supportive family that grants her time to create stories which tackle the interplay of faith and mental health. Her debut novel, FADE TO WHITE, will be published in the spring 2020. When Tara is not writing or reading all things YA, you can find her rock climbing the Ontario escarpment, planning her family’s next jungle trek or blogging.
Rebekah Black is a young writer from Southern California who is a lover of all things bacon and books. She is the co-founder of The Wilting Rose Project, an online girls’ ministry, contributor to The Rebelution, Fervr, Top Christian Books, and is a staff writer for TheLife.com. Her love for books borders on an obsession, but she regrets nothing. When she is not reading you’ll most likely find her either playing piano or guitar, working on her next novel, baking up healthy treats for her insanely supportive family, or fangirling over her favorite band, BTS.
I know Rebekah Black through The Young Writer’s Workshop and I’m super excited about this podcast! I love listening to podcasts (or audiobooks) while crocheting and with this one being about Christian YA books, what could be better? I’ll definitely be tuning in for new episodes when it launches on July 8th!
