A Response To Why I Write

          A friend of mine, Kate Larking, blogged earlier this week at Anxiety Ink, talking about why she writes. At the end of her blog (which I totally suggest you check out), she asked what our reason for writing was. It reminded me that it's very important to know why you write, even if your answer is only, "I like to."

          Personally, I write first and foremost, because I enjoy it. Writing is frustrating, but I apparently like frustrating things. Just look at who I married if you want a real world example. (Okay, so most of you don't know him... it's a context joke. Just laugh, trust me on this one.) I would like to say that I could stop writing if I wanted to, but I would be lying. I can give it up and distract myself with other things I enjoy, but I always go back to writing, so yeah, I don't think I could stop if I wanted to.  I write because when I write I am happier. If you want to see what I look like when I'm not writing, just look at how I am when I'm not able to work on my books.

Nanowrimo's Key to Creativity that I received for supporting their recent site upgrades by donation.

          Friends have pointed out to me that I choose everything, from my jobs to my technology choices, around what I require for my writing and that I essentially am always working on my stories in my head, even while working or doing other jobs. There is always some part of my mind working on it. I study writing, words and story and each year go to at least one convention to learn more. I also usually take part in a variety of online writing courses, purchasing the Great Courses audio books on the subject when I can't.

          The thing that surprised me to realize this year was that I have nothing in there about publishing. I have changed my life for my writing, but that does not mean that I have to publish. To be satisfied with my life, I don't need to ever publish. Sharing my writing with my friends is and will always be enough for me, even if I dream of more than that.

          I don't know about you, but there is something very freeing about that.

Back After the Unexplained Hiatus

          Well, I am back. And I even have good news to share! I finished editing my novel. I consider this one the second edit, though in reality, it's the fifth, I think, and it will go through another before I send it to my editor. 

         Speaking of which, I actually spoke with my editor a few weeks ago. We discussed my exceptionally flimsy business plan, which is what happens when your plan is, "make this writing thing a business". She brought up a whole bunch of interesting possibilities and suggestions for helping me to make this my career. One of which included the possibility of not releasing any books this year.

          The main part of this outrageous plan is actually based on how people are buying their books now. Apparently, if your book is a series, as mine is, prospective buyers are waiting until you have a few books out so that they have some proof that you can publish. While my second book is written, it is currently unedited. So I'm going to edit it in the coming months, and hopefully have it ready to be looked at next year, so both can go out just a few months apart. It will certainly make the wait easier for you guys.

          One thing she did suggest and I am seriously considering is putting out some of my short stories in the meantime. According to the conference, they are still doing quite well and it would get my name out there for when I do release my novels. That's still up in the air, but expect to hear more on it later.

          Lastly, since my book has been sent to my betas, I have started writing a new book. It's in a completely different genre; paranormal romance. It's about a mage who wants a perfectly normal life, being a sound engineer at the theatre.  Her goals are blocked by an old flame, a former gang member who wants to draw her back in and there is a sexy romance between her a woman she saves. I'll let you know what's happening with that later, but currently I'm 10k in and hoping to finish writing it later this year.

Scalpel vs Chainsaw

          It's a week into April and I'm not even at four hours of my goal yet. Not that I'm horribly surprised. I knew that my first week would pretty much suck. I had a vacation planned with my hubby for our anniversary and I did not have time during the vacation to work on it. Still, I have done some every day that I wasn't on vacation and I'm currently working on it on the other half of my screen. It's my hope to get a few hours of work on it tonight and tomorrow to catch up.

          So today, I am going to talk about something that I've been dealing with this week and that is making the decision to cut your work. Sometimes in editing, you have to cut, not only a few of your words but a rather large amount. I had to do this earlier in the week. During editing, I realized that one entire chapter couldn't be saved. Just to make sure we're on the same wave here, I am not talking about killing your darlings. What I'm talking about is making the decision to slice entire chapters out of work.

          It's still extremely an extremely difficult decision to make. For me, cutting out a line or even a paragraph is a meh, sort of experience. I know I'm making it better and thus, I don't bother sweating the small stuff. Cutting an entire chapter feels a lot different though. To me, it's more like making the decision that all of my writing sucks and has to be reworked. It's even harder if I know that it was a chapter I had trouble writing in the first place.

          I made that decision this week. One entire chapter wasn't doing its job and wasn't doing it well enough to even re-tool the chapter, where I go through and essentially destroy the original chapter, only keep 10% of the words, kill the other 90%, and add new ones back. It's a bitch of a thing to do, but sometimes you have to chainsaw your work, rather than using a scalpel.

          Ah well, time to get back to it.

Camp Nanowrimo

          If you've been following me for any amount of time, then you probably already know that I'm a big fan of Nanowrimo. Though I understand why some are opposed to it, I have always believed that if you're writing, then you're a writer. You may not be good enough to be published; in fact, you may write only for yourself or for your friends. There is a difference between author and writer. You have to be a writer to be an author, but you don't have to be an author just because you write.

          Arguments aside, I love it, but I don't usually take part in the camp's that happen twice a year. Generally, I'm busy, editing or not writing... Even when I do try it, I've failed. This year, though, I have a novel that I need to get done. I've been editing and dragging my ass on it for far too long. I've set myself up for a challenge of 50 hours. That should be more than enough time to finish this novel. Then I can see about getting it to my editor and back again, hopefully in time to publish before this year's WWC in August.

          So buckle up, its going to be a bit of a crazy April! Are any of you joining me? What are your goals for the month?

What I Learned This Week

It's been a while since I did one of these; way too long in my opinion. It's due to me not working on my novel as much as I should be. I'm getting back into it. This month, I've already done almost as much as I have the two months prior combined. Sometimes, the hardest thing is understanding why you're trying to sabotage yourself. Which is what I've been doing. Still, I'm looking forward to getting it done. Hopefully next month. I have signed up for Camp Nanowrimo and put myself down for 50 hours or whatever it takes for me to finish this novel. Hopefully, I'll have damn good news for you each week on it!

That's not what I actually wanted to talk to you about today, though. Today, I want to tell you about what I learned this week. I've been working on my edits and one of my characters is getting a lot more screen time than she was before. Unfortunately, her chapters have never come easily for me to write and these were getting to feel like I was pulling teeth.

About this time, long time blog followers will note something missing... I haven't said which character yet. No, that isn't me being coy at all. It's for a reason.

You see a name is important; very important. Especially for me. Even in my Pathfinder games, I will search for the right name for days, trying to figure out exactly what I want. I will search for names that have the meaning I want, that sound the way I want that name to flow. I look for names that resonate, not only for me but for them and the way they want to be portrayed.

Skylla isn't human, but she was human when she was born. She's a hunter by trade, and lonely by choice. But her name was wrong. It was a Celtic name meaning archer or some type of warrior... and while that's what she is too, it wasn't right. Skylla doesn't sound like a warrior's name. Also, she isn't Celtic. All of the characters from my book have names that we have in our world.

This week, I discovered that Skylla's human parents were from different cultures. Yet she wasn't named from either of those cultures. Searching both cultures I found two names that I quite liked. So I combined both names, not only into the meaning that suits her but into a name that suits her. Her name is now properly Isashi.

The interesting part of this was that it also led me to rename one other character. The name I had given to him was a name I love and one that was the name of a character in a book series I quite enjoy. But the name wasn't his, and due to its French connotations, it sounded like a girl's name. It was confusing most of my alpha readers, especially since that character isn't from a French background. I looked back to what his name originally was. It suited him better and the meaning suited him better. Even better, I found out that it was from the culture I wanted in that area. So, Jocelin is now Deckard.

What about you? Are you a sucker for names? Do you have trouble writing characters that are mis-named or is that by far, the easiest part of your writing process? Let me know, in the comments below.

Baby Steps

          I'm going to start doing small posts to get back into doing this on a weekly/twice-weekly basis. To that end, today's post is just going to be a quick update on where my writing is. I have been writing, nearly every day since I finally finished reading Anne Bishop's latest novel, Etched in Bone. I'd been waiting a year to read it, so from the moment I received it, there was very little writing being done.

          Since then, I've written a rough draft of a new chapter and written some on a new one. Right now these are very rough and honestly, I sorta hate them (one I finished and realized that what I had learned from that chapter was one way NOT to write that chapter), but I think the main issue with them right now is that they feel like puzzle pieces that don't fit. A lot of it is transitions and some of it is the fact that they are still rough, without the faintest of editing yet. I think that once I've worked on them more I'll fall in love with them and as I work on making them fit in with my novel, they will start fitting in a lot better. Right now though, I have the difficult task of working when I feel like I can't write. But I am determined to get this done, and so I'm hoping that these added chapters will be done soon and I can start the editing. I really want this book to be done, sent to my editor and out for the rest of you soon. I also don't want to send out an inferior novel just because I'm impatient. Its a difficult line to walk. Not perfect, but not inferior either.  Hopefully you'll agree with me that its been worth it when you read it.

          But that's enough for now. I'll see you all next time!

Preorders and (Amazing) Purchases

          Bleh, failure after failure... All my fault. February has hit fully, which means painful tendonitis flare-ups and an intense desire to read, forever. Still, lazy doesn't mean I get off scott-free. I have been reading a whole hell of a lot, mainly in preparation for next month and the release of a new book by my one of my favourite authors. Buying that book may have led to me going a bit insane with the books, though... Let me regale you. 

          When Anne Bishop first released Written in Red, an urban fantasy in a not-earth setting, I held off getting it until Christmas of that year and even then, it was not the book I was most excited about. I had a lot of amazing books that year, but Written in Red was one of my favourites. Every year since then, she's released another one, with the final book being released this March, finally. Even after so long, I have been excited as hell for this novel. I've been reading the entire series again, just to make sure that I'm 100% caught up on the entire story before the last one comes out on the 7th. 

          That wasn't the end, though. I found other items that made me drool in anticipation. Spice & Wolf had mentioned an upcoming release last November of a Collectors Edition with all 17 of the past books in it. I was super excited for it, even if the price tag of nearly $200 depressed me. Anyways, as I assume you've figured out by then, I found out that it was being released on February 28th. I couldn't resist, even with the price tag and knowing that I already own all 17 books in physical copies. 

          I received that book today. 

           It's amazing. The book is huge, a near-perfect square. The writing inside is reddish and every drawing of the series has been made larger for this set. The quality is incredible I am so excited. I will probably never read it, sure I would cry if I damaged it. Take a look at my pictures. What do you think of it?

          I am so pleased with my purchase, you have no idea. I have convinced my husband that it needs a velvet-lined stand to display it in. 

          I also found out that Isuna Hasekura has written another book for the Spice & Wolf series that will be focusing on Holo and Lawrence's daughter. Apparently, he's handing over Holo's crown to her, and a full book of her and Cole's adventures will be coming out later this year, or early next... at any rate, I ordered that as well, though I think it won't be releasing until May this year. 

          Then I found out that Patricia Briggs is releasing books as well this month.... I should rise again to continue writing soon, but for today, and for the next week or so, assume that I'll be writing. 

          What about you? With so many books being released right now, are there any that you're super excited about? Let me know in the comments below.