Practice Makes Perfect

Or at least, deliberate practice makes you pretty darn close. If you stick to it long enough.

That's the key to life, isn't it? Sticking to things. Making habits. Keeping habits. If you want to become something, do something, you have to stick to it long enough that you can actually accomplish something within it.

I suppose that's what school is supposed to be about. Teaching us daily so that we can learn things through incessant drills and annoying schedules. We grow to dread the stuff so much, we hate growing up and learning that we're going to have to do the same mindless stuff to make a living, too. And to learn things outside of work? More annoying schedules forcing us to do dreaded drills.

But if it gets me to my ultimate goal of becoming a world-renowned writer? I'd do just about anything.

In that vein, I'm designing a schedule for my writing, to improve myself. And I need some honest opinions to help me along. What would you say, from this blog, are my weakest points? What skills would it benefit me to study in repeated drills to become a better writer? What would you say I'm the worst at?

I really need honest opinions here. Criticism would be wonderful. I just want to know where to start on my journey to becoming a better writer!

Writing quote of the day/month/year: “One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”
― Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums

The Sweet Smell of Success!

 So, I did it. I turned off the internet and wrote over 3000 words yesterday and today. And it felt GOOOOOOOD!

I'm so happy to have done it! I accomplished what I set out to do. Okay, so only two days are done and there are twenty-eight left (it's so depressing when I say that), but I did it for two days! I am officially 6000 words richer than I was just yesterday when I posted on this blog. So, no matter what happens in the future, I have still come out the better for this exercise.

And let me tell you, to successfully finish something important is the biggest high ever. I feel like I could run a marathon right now. I'm skipping, I'm twirling, I'm happier than I've felt since I was knee-deep in my book two months ago and loving it.

I have to say, I think this idea rates among the best I've ever made. Even if I don't finish the book by the end of the month (which I still am going to try to do), this has made me love my work again, and that is no small fete!

The challenge feels exhilarating, to say the least! So my (unasked for) advice of the day is: if you're having an attack of the doldrums, can't seem to discover that inner spark that you had just a little while ago, challenge yourself with the almost impossible and watch yourself blossom with success. It worked for me (so far).

I've come up with a work strategy to help me write every day. I start by setting up an area on a desk of some sort for my laptop to sit on with the notebooks I've made outlining my idea nearby, preferably open. I have to pull up a comfortable chair with some sort of pillow to keep me nice and relaxed. Then, I play light classical music in the background, to help me think and drown out the distractions of the world around me (they say classical music improves your brain function, and after much experimentation of my own, I believe it). After that, I shut off the internet and pull up my book on the computer. While I work, the urge to pull the internet back up to look up some fact or do some research on some moment in the book overtakes me at least once or twice. But I persevere and refuse to allow the treacherous heart to lead me unto temptation.

I'm sorry if I sound all braggy. But I'm just so excited! Do you know how many personal goals I've set and failed? And, so far, I've done what I set out to do on this one, and the success has me feeling like I could fly!

Well, thanks to all my readers for tuning in for another installment. Sorry it came so late in the day, but I wanted to get my 3000 words done for the day first.

Here's some questions for all my readers: Have you ever set a challenging goal for yourself and found yourself exhilarated by the work? Have you ever set a challenging goal for yourself and failed miserably? Did that make you feel depressed (it has me)? What kind of challenge would you relish in your life right now?

Here's a video that had me dying laughing the first time I watched it. I could NOT get over this chair! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

And, to finish, the writing quote of the day:

A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one.  ~Baltasar Gracián

Tools of the Trade

So, you may have noticed, I'm a writer. As a writer, there are certain tools I use to work my trade. I thought I'd share a few with you, and if you have any you also use, I'd LOVE to hear about them. 

Well, to begin with, I am an outliner. I write general plot outlines, chapter-by-chapter outlines, character backstories, character breakdowns, maps of all the places my characters go within the story, culture breakdowns, creature details, plus, in Dragon Marked, I'm inventing my own language.

So, I have to have a lot of advice and help on working on this HUGE project. Some of the things I've used for help:

-The Anatomy of Story By: John Truby has projects at the end of every chapter to help flesh out your story or idea. They can be a little annoying, but have opened up whole new scenes for my storyline. Will these scenes make it to the final version? Only time will tell.

-Worldbuilding Questions By: Patricia C. Wrede. If you know anything about fantasy, you've probably heard of Patricia C. Wrede. I have long adored her books in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. And her worldbuilding questions are practically necessary for any self-respecting fantasy writer to use.

- Character Breakdown By: Charlotte Dillon (www.charlottedillon.com) This is a free chart to breakdown the characters you wish to place in your story. Now, it is EXTREMELY detailed, but you can take out whatever you want and still have a pretty good picture of who and what your character is. I don't know for sure if this will make my characters more 3-D, but I do know that all those vague ideas I already had for my characters are fleshed out in this process, so it should be good for something.

- The Language Construction Kit By: Mark Rosenfelder. This is both a book on Amazon.com and a site for great, FREE advice on creating your own language. I'm so glad I found this site, as I have not a clue where to begin on creating your own language, but am determined to do it for this book.

There are a few more sites I've used but can't recall at the moment. Suffice it to say that I have piles of research notebooks, loads of files on research, and am just starting the prologue of the book. Pitiful isn't it?

I told you before, though. I want this book to be perfect. Or, at least, as close to perfect as I can make it. So, I've gone a little overboard. Doesn't everyone?

Seriously, this idea lit a torch under my bum. I hadn't written anything for like a year or more, I felt depressed and despondent from my recent loss of a job, and then this idea hit me like a bolt of lightning. It drove me crazy until I capitulated. I would write this book. And I would do one heck of a job with it.

So, I threw myself into the work with everything I have and have lasted this long. I WILL finish this book. I WILL get it published. And I WILL make all this time and effort worth it.

You can bet on it.

Anyway, if you have anymore tools you'd like to share, I'd love to hear them. I know there are tons more out there, I'm just so swamped with what I have. If you'd like to search for even more, try 100 Amazing Writing Tools You Never Knew You Needed. A lot of them look really cool, and I think I might try a few...if they're free.

My computer, google, and my virus detection program says all the above links are clean, and all except the books (The Anatomy  of Story, The Language Construction Kit) are free. Hope all this helps all you fellow writers and have a wonderful day! And please comment with any additional tools you've found. You know I'd love to see them.