Tag Archives: fiction

Creating Free Time to Write (or Edit)

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I remember all the tipsI found about writing when I was a teenager.  It was all great advice.  It’s just that I didn’t understand all of them.  One was: “Don’t find time to write.  Make time to write.”  For a high school student, this idea was brilliant.  I kept failing to write anything of length because there was always so much else to do.  Forcing yourself to write is one of the best things a writer can do for themselves.

As I quickly approach the district’s summer holiday, I realize there is a new layer to this advice.  It’s one thing to make room for writing in your day.  It is another thing entirely to make room for writing in your life.  I substitute teach and take odd jobs because it allows me to focus on writing and (most importantly) write every single day.  Lately, I only take about two days off a month from writing/editing.  I make the decision to write on a daily basis.  But I also take it into account when i make decisions about my life.

And I wouldn’t change a thing.

With Love,
Richard

66,073 Words in 42 Days

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At 4:45pm today, I have completed my fourth novel.  It took me 42 days to write and is a total of 66,073 words.  That means I wrote an average of 1,573 words every day over the past six weeks.  Although the novel is slightly shortly than I would like it, I will probably take care of that in the editing.  I will wait until tomorrow to figure out how to edit this monster.

Tonight I will rest and celebrate.

8 April 2012: 600 Words
9 April 2012: 2,700 Words
10 April 2012: 4,300 Words
11 April 2012: 4,800 Words
12 April 2012: 8,700 Words
13 April 2012: 9,900 Words
14 April 2012: 10,700 Words
15 April 2012: 11,600 Words
16 April 2012: 13,800 Words
17 April 2012: 15,900 Words
18 April 2012: 17,500 Words
19 April 2012: 20,000 Words
20 April 2012: 21,100 Words
21 April 2012: 22,100 Words
22 April 2012: 25,300 Words
23 April 2012: 27,100 Words
24 April 2012: 28,500 Words
25 April 2012: 30,200 Words
26 April 2012: 31,500 Words
27 April 2012: 33,300 Words
28 April 2012: 34,700 Words
29 April 2012: 36,300 Words
30 April 2012: Halftime Break
1 May 2012: 38,300 Words
2 May 2012: 39,900 Words
3 May 2012: 40,700 Words
4 May 2012: 42,500 Words
5 May 2012: 43,400 Words
6 May 2012: 44,300 Words
7 May 2012: 46,600 Words
8 May 2012: 48,000 Words
9 May 2012: 48,900 Words
10 May 2012: 51,000 Words
11 May 2012: 52,300 Words
12 May 2012: Fourth Quarter Break
13 May 2012: 53,700 Words
14 May 2012: 55,100 Words
15 May 2012: 56,400 Words
16 May 2012: 59,800 Words
17 May 2012: Two-Minute Warning
18 May 2012: 64,700 Words
19 May 2012: 66,073 Words

Reader Contest #1

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As I continue to write, I want a way to say thank you to all of my faithful readers who continue to comment and provide encouragement.  My good friend–Jordan–suggested this contest yesterday.  It is honestly the perfect way to get to know my readers better while rewarding them.

Here’s how it works.  In the next 24 hours, comment on any one of my short stories, flash fiction pieces, or poems.  24 hours from now (4pm Mountain Standard Time on Thursday), I will write down the names of everybody who commented, put them in a hat, and pull one out at random.  The winner will receive a book from my own personal library.  When I read, I mark my books up with comments in the margins–so the winner will get to know me a bit better to.  I will provide the shipping.

For the first contest, I will be giving away “Feed” by M.T.Anderson.  This book is one of my absolute favorites.  Good luck to all my readers!

A Day to Write

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Yesterday was great.  There were eleven of us at the poetry critique this month.  I got a lot of great feedback. Every time I go to one of these things, I figure out what I need to work on.  Coming away from this one, I found two things that I need to work on: Metaphor and Line Breaks.  I was actually quite surprised at the power of line breaks within poetry.  When I reworked my poem today, that was my main focus.  As I write more in the future, I need to work on creating metaphors.  I’m so used to writing stories straight out that I’ve never developed that aspect of my writing.

Wednesdays are a good day to write for me.  I get my normal writing in during the day.  I’ve already reworked a poem and I’m preparing to write more on my novel.  The thing is, my roommates hold a gaming night on Wednesday Nights.  It’s usually reason enough not to be around the house for a couple hours.  That means I’ll have another writing session later today.  My goal for today is to reach 60,000 words.  I am racing towards the end.  I can’t wait to have this rough draft done.  Then I have to make a decision on whether to edit on the computer or on paper.

Fell free to read The Wailing Wall again.  I think the changes made it significantly better.

The Wailing Wall
I wrote this poem following a bad breakup.  I tend to allow my mind to wander…and that usually leads to worst-case scenario thoughts.  The combination led to this poem.  It sat in a folder for more than a month.  I rewrote it twice and finally like it.

With Love,
Richard

Poetry Critique

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Along with my friend–Jordan–I attend a monthly poetry critique.  I’m a bit nervous.  This is our second month and the first time that I will be sharing a piece.  I decided to use “The Wailing Wall” for my piece–partly because it’s short and partly because the others are extremely personal.  I hope to gain a better grasp on how to develop my poetry through these work sessions.  I’ve already done pretty good by writing more often.  Getting the input of other poets will be priceless.

I wrote 1,300 words today.  I ended up combining two chapters into one.  Now I’m getting a little worried that by word count will fall short of 70,000.  Although this isn’t entirely a bad thing, I would really prefer it to be in the golden range of 70,000-80,000.  I do have a short list of extra scenes I could include if I need the content.  I might have to end up using it.  None of them are fluff–I just wasn’t sure how to include them initially.  The editing of this book will be complicated anyway.  I might as well make it even more complicated…right?

With Love,
Richard

Closing Action

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I have about 15,000 words left to write.  Considering I am hitting the final climax over the next two chapters, my closing actions will be about 10,000 words.  I’ve never really thought about this before.  How much closing action is too much?  How much is too little?  In my first two novels, I didn’t think about this much because they were part of a trilogy.  With my third novel, everything was quick so I did the same with the end.

I hate making things back and white.  I know that the outline I have is perfect to conclude this story.  But, as I look at the numbers, I wish the concluding action wasn’t 1/8th of the novel.  I won’t honestly worry about it until I get there.  Too often do I think about the numbers then I realize that certain chapters will be twice as long as others.  I’m just thinking about too much, I guess.  I just need to write, write, write, and wrap this thing up.

Much Love,
Richard

Finishing in Style

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Most writers have a certain scene stuck in their head when they write.  I know I do.  I feel compelled to write because I can see certain parts of my story so clearly.  I know exactly what needs to happen before I can write the scene that I’ve thought about for weeks.  Sometimes it is the beginning of the story.  Sometimes it’s a random part.  Sometimes it is the climax.

I had four of those scenes stuck in my head when I started this project.  Now that I am in my final two weeks of writing, I have written out three of those four scenes.  Nothing is more satisfying that being able to write out a scene in such a way that gives it justice.  It’s a surprisingly hard thing to accomplish.  Sometimes these scenes have been in my mind for years.  When you finally write it out, you don’t want to get a detail wrong.

Damn.  Writing with passion complicates everything.  Hmmm…sounds about right.

With Love,
Richard

50,000 Words in 33 Days

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I have hit 50,000 words in what will be my fourth novel.  Of late, I have done some research and determined that it will fall under the “Commercial Fiction” section (although that section is rather broad).  With 20,000-30,000 words left to work with, I can feel the end of the story building up.  All the characters are in the right spots.  The storyline has progressed beautifully.  I don’t think I’ve even been so happy with my own story before.

Considering I did not have an extensive outline as I wrote this book, I know the edit job will be a bit of a a hassle.  I am already making note of a few of the problems that I have created.  Some of them will be annoying.  Others will be easy.  I’m just glad that it doesn’t bother me all that much yet.  When I was younger, I used to not be able to move on until I took care of every problem in the story.  It’s the main reason why I never finished anything when I was younger.  It’s fascinating how much progress you make in your own writing style with each and every piece you produce.

Much Love,
Richard

Final Chapter Outline

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I finished the second climax of the novel today.  It puts me past 45,000 words.  When I finished, I realized how barren my outline was for the rest of the novel.  Just a few points here and there. I spent a great deal of time finding historical references to make the final 25,000-35,000 words realistic and fascinating.  I think I spent more time outlining than writing today.  But I am in luck.  The final outline is complete.

With this novel, i have accomplished several goals that I have aimed for.  One: I am writing something I would love to read.  Two: I have a stroyline is not linear throughout.  Three: Love is not the central theme.  Four: Only a single character contains characteristic similar to me (and he actually isn’t involved in the story itself).  All in all, I feel like this novel is my most successful one yet.  And I haven’t even finished it.  I still predict that I will be done before the end of May.

Writing through Thick and Thin

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It’s been an up-and-down couple of days.  I spent the entirety of yesterday in Denver, thoroughly trying to enjoy myself.  Unfortunately, sheer tiredness and memories made it almost impossible to enjoy myself.  Luckily, I was able to channel that negative energy into writing and a bit of reading.  I’m gearing up for writing again today.  I hope to channel it once again.

I finished reading “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” yesterday.  I am taking a quick detour with “Looking For Alaska” by John Green before finishing off the series later this month.  The writing style in The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo was incredible.  I loved the storyline even though I don’t care much for mysteries.  I guess when you can write, it barely matters what genre you write in.  One day I hope to be able to do that.  It would be incredible to build up such a craft that I could bring any genre to life.

Some day…