Writing Update
Writers Block
I should start this by saying that I don’t believe in true writer’s block. I do believe that you can get obsessed with a story and frustrate yourself, that your mind wants to tell other stories or wants to feed you things that don’t work for this problem. But I don’t believe in actually having NOTHING to write.
So with that intro out of the way… I have been having writer’s block when it comes to these blogs. The Sunday blogs are super easy for me to write as I already have notes and recordings of my gaming sessions so all I need to do it cut it into manageable bits and then write the story out. Easy.
But every week I have to stretch and think about what will I write for Wednesday’s post? I mean I thought forcing myself to have a set date for set posts would keep me honest and working hard, and while it has focused it me, I often have trouble with my topics.
What’s gone so far…
I have written several articles about character and world building, two subjects I LOVE to talk about, but as this blog has little in the way of comments (to be fair a few of my readers DO comment on my Facebook instead of here), it feels less like a conversation and more of me just pushing my opinion out into the ether.
So, we’ve had writing blogs, we’ve had blogs on my influences, and we’ve even touched on mental health and being an introvert. Two weeks ago, I wrote about Cannibalism in film and how it often lacked TRUTH. Truth (all CAPS) is defined as portraying characters, setting, and the story as REAL, even if they are completely fictional/fantastical. They need to feel like real people, and they need to interact with their world with honesty.
Where will it all Head…
Currently I am in my Masters Program, working on a novel for my thesis, and getting my “learning on.” I have a LOT of writing on my desk, a LOT. So, these posts will become harder and harder to commit to… but that is part of the purpose of THIS site. It is to inform my readers about what I am doing, where I am going, and also so I can flex my academic muscles and tach people about writing. That is one of my ultimate goals with the Master’s degree.
To this end these Wednesday posts might be shorter for a while, they will occasionally be replaced with academic essays, and I might even start to put up Historical papers/facts/ thoughts. History is my other Academic love (as I’m sure I have mentioned in many other posts). I will keep pushing for content to be continuous and hope that the handful of you who are faithful subscribers will not be bored or upset with me.
Current Progress
Few weeks ago, I put up a list of work to finish. This weekend was a great writing weekend for me and I managed to knock out 4716 words in two sessions on chapter 7 of my WIP, working title Ash Lands. I’m going to try and find a widget to put on the side bar that will track my word count. That way it will always be visible whenever anyone comes to the site.
I have also come up with the idea of adding an epilogue to my novel to appease some of the readers who read the prologue and first chapters of my book. To explain, my WIP has 5 POVs with the chapters changing which story I’m telling… so we follow five people to the same destination via different paths. But in the prologue, I decided to have an extra POV, a character who basically starts the events that lead the other five people into racing across the Ash Lands.
About the 6th Pov
All of my prereaders were very upset after reading the prologue to discover that chapter one is nearly 6 months later and the character in the prologue is gone from the rest of the book. I tried to blame it on George RR Martin, after all he is the one who does the singular POV per chapter with a disposable POV in his prologues. I pulled the idea from a master. But my classmates apparently liked the character. So, epilogue, the return of Atticus and I think it ill be both satisfying and annoy people twice as much.
Therein we have a new discovery, I think I enjoy trolling my readers a bit… and I wonder how many other writers do the same? I have found myself alluding to previous novels I wrote in this same world, but they were scrapped for various reasons. Partially I want to showcase the depth of the history of the world and mention so many events happening in the decent and near past adds to that depth. Also, I consider it ground work for future novels/novellas/shorts, kind of testing the waters to see if I get feedback about these stories.
I also have a habit of instantly gaining ideas while I’m writing, no matter what I’m writing. For example, usually when I write these blogs, I come up with 2 or 3 extra ideas for next weeks blogs. Different ideas to explore.
Unfortunately, I’m not coming up with much in the way of new ideas right now, what few I’ve had I have instantly explored, as I’m sure you can tell by the meandering steam of consciousness that is on the page.
Wrapping it up
I said these would be short for a while and thus they will be… I haven’t talked about much at all but it’s what I have right now. Classes are going well, I’m writing almost daily for the first time in a long time, and I will continue to try my best to keep the words flowing over these pages. Hopefully, many of you will stick it out with me and we will grow together.