Doubts

When I started this blog, I knew that there would be ups and downs. And I knew that there would be a lot of work put into this writing situation, but... I decided to do it anyway. You see, there's so many decisions a writer has to make when they're trying to put together a novel. There are millions of paths that one can choose from. And seeing as I'm a person who can't make up their mind to save their life, this can cause a very tricky predicament.

One thing I've always wondered, but don't hear much about in the writing world is, how does an author choose between two really great ideas for two completely different books? It seems like there would be a very simple answer to this question, but I haven't found one so easy in all my experience with the written word. I have two storylines that I want to do, and will do, but which one do I choose first?

I've been asking around and have received several ideas for a solution, but... it just doesn't seem that easy.

I put a lot of weight into my decisions, maybe more than I should, but I want to make sure that I make the right decision at the right time. For instance, how much book am I ready for? Have I experience enough to write about either of these storylines with credibility? I want to make this as good as it can be...

But it seems I might be putting too much thought into this. Others have said to just write both; "when you get sick of one story, write the other one for a little bit." But I'm afraid that I might not concentrate on one as much as the other...

I have so many doubts that it's choking my creativity... Perhaps, if I step back and choose to shorten my sights on simply writing what I love to write when I want to write it, then maybe everything will just flow...

One can only hope.

My advice to any writers out there that might be reading this, is to write just because you simply love it. Don't worry about making the right decisions. The good thing about writing is that you can always edit it later. Don't change something just because you're scared that it won't turn out the way you want it. Push through and let it fall into place.

You know, I should be taking my own advice more often.

What I Wouldn't Give For...

More time.

I know, I know... I haven't posted anything in a week and a half. I've already begun to wipe the smashed tomatoes off of my computer screen as I write this. Unfortunately, the reason I haven't posted anything is because... I haven't been doing much in the field of writing this week. Unless you count obsessively checking my goodreads account several times a day.

I've been using The Author's Outline (not as much as I should, but I'm still using it), and so far I'm still only in the character summaries. I'm almost done with that part, but I have a lot of side characters to think about, and I don't want to rush this process. If I end up rushing it then I know I'll get about 80 pages into my novel while I'm writing it and then suddenly want to change the whole idea for a better one that pops into my head. I'm just crazy like that...

I must say though, one good thing can come from a site like goodreads. There are a bunch of groups on there for writing and this can get any author feedback on their work. Which is very helpful in my opinion. I've also received a lot of tips on how to outline my book and stop the madness that incurrs too many ideas at once! Exciting, indeed!

Back to the topic I was hoping to discuss in this post: time. I never seem to have enough of it. I've spent half the summer looking for a job and promising myself that I would finish plotting my novel and start writing it. And tomorrow I'll begin my new job. And hopefully, tomorrow I'll get further in the plotting process as well. But the job part has been worrying me. Am I going to have enough time to write? How am I going to balance my job, my family time, my social life, my book, and reading all into my life's planner? How do I pencil all of this in?

I have no idea.

All I can do is keep living life, I guess. And hope that it all falls into place. Of course, I'm going to keep writing. It's been seven years now and I haven't stopped yet, so why suddenly give up, right? I'll still follow my dream and keep working towards that publication date where I find out that my words are going to be publicly printed and sold to the masses, no matter how many masses that might be.

So now that I've cleared that up... Sorry for the late post. As you can see, I've been dealing with some new news in my life and some internal writing struggles that I had to face. But now that that's all over with, I say let's get back to normal! I'll be posting again this week about creating a character and all that that entails. Until then, please... no more tomatoes. The spaghetti noodles miss them far too much!

Catch you later! I'm going to go read some more :)

It's... June!

Hello, everyone (if you're reading this anyway, if not then well... bye! lol)!

I trust y'all's weekends were wonderful and filled with some R&R time. I know that mine was eventful, what with my cousin's graduation and all that that entails (*cough* lots of driving *cough*). And yes, to any of you polite readers who may want to know, the graduation went very well! She didn't trip, but she ALMOST did, which calls for an amazing round of applause on her part. Her brother-in-law suggested she take her "walking stick" with her when she walked across the field to retrieve her diploma. Unfortunately for my cousin, those antics of hers are not allowed in sophisticated ceremonies such as these! Even though I was murmuring in agreement with him (hee hee, love you Em).

Anyway, I thought I should post a short(ish) blog for the kick off of June. Since, let's face it, I've only been doing a post once a week on my records of this writing process. June is a lovely month! Full of sunshine, and summery solstices, and just june-buggy good times! Hmmm, I'm sure there are plenty of things happening this month. Especially in the Stephenie Meyer field! Can I hear a yay for The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner and a huzzah for the Eclipse movie coming out on the 30th? How about a few polite thumbs up[s] for one of my best friends travelling all the way across the country to come visit me?! *yay! huzzah! thumbs up!*

In the literary world, other than the wonderful addition to the Twilight Saga(bare with me if you're not a fan, I'll excuse you for now), another book about werewolves is coming out on the 22nd! It's called 13 to Life: A Werewolf's Tale by Shannon Delany. Yay! I love love love werewolves (as you know).

In the movie world, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief comes out on DVD this month, ALSO on the 22nd, I believe! I'm excited for that one too (I heart Logan Lerman (and no, I'm not 14, but I DO admire his acting abilities)).

So, now that I've digressed all that is happening in the outside world in the wonderful month of June, let's discuss this blog!

So far, this journey has not been easy... Technically I should be moving onto the plot and characters section of writing a novel, but I'm still stuck in Research. Yes, I'm still researching... Bah! If I'm being honest, I'll probably be researching through-out this whole process. Lucky me, right? Besides, I have the characters already down pat, but now I need to focus on the plot. Holly Lisle has this excellent technique with flashcards that I've been wanting to try (I'll post the link at the end of this post) and if you're willing to spend a little cash, Abra Ebner has a book called The Author's Outline... it's around 120 pages of fill in the blank to help writers outline their books. I've been using it and it's crazy good! Thus, begins the plotting part of this whole thing.

Now I shall leave you with this question...

Are you a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of writer? Or are you a plotter?

Suspenseful, isn't it???

We'll come back to this next post! Which will be posted-ed-ed soon!

And here's that link I promised from Holly Lisle's site: http://hollylisle.com/fm/Workshops/notecard_plotting.html

Here's a link to Amazon if you're interested in Abra Ebner's outline help book as well:
http://www.amazon.com/Authors-Outline-Writing-Simple-Starters/dp/0982272561/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275624648&sr=8-13

Agh, sorry the links are so long... I'm new to this whole thing lol.