Just thinking out loud:

Random Thoughts #1

More advice for the Introvert Writer… oh that was a redundant statement… practically all writers are introverts.

So, I had plans to do another world building post but I think I will let that stew for another week or two. Either way I will lightly touch on that subject here in this post. If you are new here then you can find the first Word builder post HERE. And then read forward.

I had a bunch of thoughts for a replacement post but they were all short and I really wanted to be more thought provoking. But I am currently working through my last term of college to my BA, and then will starting an MFA and as such my time and attention has been pulled in many directions.

So, unless my readers want to read some papers on historical events or perhaps my paper on my I think Frankenstein’s monster is a “Luciferian Construct,” I guess a series of shorter posts might be in order.

[Luciferian Construct is a term I coined while writing my paper, which started out going in one direction and ended up running in a completely different direction. To say that I should have focused better on my paper is an understatement, but it was a good theory.]

On Self Rejection

So I had planned another advice piece where I bare a part of my past and share some stories, like in this POST. But then the amazing Chuck Wendig went and made a brilliant post and said what I wanted to say but only better. So, perhaps I can funnel my readers toward his blog, and the problem with SELF REJECTION.

I made a rather lengthy comment on the blog but I can sum it up here: Basically, I have allowed both procrastination AND progress to slow me down (or make me feel guilty). In other words, I have a novel I’m working on and I go through periods where I am not writing on it… and I feel guilty. To assuage the guilt, I then started writing for this website, making two blogs a week, and I have also spent the last 18 months earning my Bachelors. Now, both of those make the guilt go away… after all I AM writing every day practically.

But I’m still not working on the novel, I’m rejecting working on the novel because maybe I feel like it won’t work, it won’t sell… and then I do all this OTHER writing to say “I’m still writing.”

Isolation of the Writer:

We work alone, even if you’re the type of writer who takes his laptop down to the café and drinks coffee with a bunch of strangers while writing. You’re still isolated and alone. The process can be a hugely draining one.

You’re writing with no feedback other than your own brain, which let’s face facts is normally the worse critic ever. I have yet to meet a writer who is truly neutral toward their output. By and far the most of them are negative critics who think they are a horror show. And then there is the small amount who think they are the greatest gift to writing.

Well that last one is slightly exaggerated but I do know writers who think they are amazing, who think their raw work is near perfect out the gate. While I envy their ability to be oblivious to their flaws, at the same time you HAVE to recognize those flaws so you can improve them. Thinking that the prose is perfect doesn’t leave you any where to go to improve it.

We write alone, we revise alone (not always), and we fight with our inner demons alone. But not always.

Writing Groups:

I long to join a group that is active and proactive about writing, revising, and working together. But like most writers I am crippled with being an introvert, enjoying my time alone, and quickly grow disinterested if my friends (group members) also seem to lack motivation or caring.

Brandon Sanderson teaches an excellent class on writing and the one video in it that I watch over and over is the one where he talks about his Writing Group when he was in college and how hard and how much they all worked together. If you are lucky enough to create a group of people who can all write on pace, who can all encourage each other, and who WANT to stay active… then you have found pure gold.

Personally, I feed off the energy of other people, and I don’t mean that literally, as in I suck the energy out of the room. What I mean, is that I tend to be fine with sitting in my room and working on my writing alone. I even often avoid social engagements and come up with reasons why I can’t go places.

BUT… once I am out of the house and put into a social setting, I tend to find myself having a good time and I start to engage with people. The same thing happens with a new writing group. Even if online, meeting a bunch of like-minded people who want to work on writing and are willing to review and give feedback! Awesome! And then inside of a week or two you find out that people can’t make a deadline and don’t really know how to critique and it all falls apart.

Never the less, we go on:

Everyone is different and I can’t tell you the “one way to make it work.” Because there is no ONE way. As introverts its tough finding people who can fulfill all of our needs. Some people write thousands of words a day and some write only a dozen. We have different speeds, different needs, and different expectations.

But, if you can find a great group of people, if you could make it a weekly or bi-weekly, or even monthly group meeting than you are a lucky person and seriously your writing will improve. I find that when I write different things… such as blogs, game stories, fiction, and non-fiction that my mind becomes more fertile for ideas. I come up with more things to write about and say. More so than if I was just writing one thing. If I was just writing my fantasy novel, I would have all my focus there but I might be making no headway.

Working on history papers though helps me with my worldbuilding and gets me discovering new thoughts, new ideas and suddenly I’m writing lots of notes for later chapters in my book or worldbuilding new cultures into future novels.

Reading what my peers are writing has a similar affect. Seeing how they think and plot, how they write their dialogue and how they think through their symbolism, foreshadowing, and other mechanicals. Gives me a different point of view for how I do my own work. It’s a brilliant synergy that only happens when you get creatives together and they create together.

New Thoughts:

Maybe you noticed that this post kind of went a different way than it was hinted in the opening… maybe you noticed that that seems to happen a lot. Well it’s the way I understand blogging. While I could indeed write essays that have been crafted and researched to merely convey opinion and authority. I tend to find these more stream of conscious posts to be more fulfilling. But maybe you disagree? Would defined and straight up Essays be preferred to my more open and sincere content?

I’m still feeling things out. These Wednesday posts were trending higher and higher each week for the first 4 weeks of the website’s life. And now I’m barely getting any notice. So, is it the content that people are noticing less or maybe it’s because I changed to a set time of posting? Maybe I should post in the afternoon instead of early in the morning? I don’t know.

I’m thinking that I might post a paper or two from across my college terms. I have a wide array of subjects and all of the Essays scored well. So I might do a Friday essay post, maybe every other week for a few months and see if that generates a different level of interest.

Either way, I deeply appreciate those of you who keep coming back every week and reading my words. It is a great feeling to know that someone is enjoying the work.