one - thanks to L'Aussie Denise, i found a search engine that's exclusively for writers. no more Google searches for point of view or plot that take you where you don't want to go. instead, you can go to The Writer's Knowledge Base. i didn't look at it much, but the links look exhaustive. i look forward to exploring. i'll try to not let it distract me from writing.
two - i thought i could do the 250 words a day to keep me writing my 3rd draft. life gets in the way and i write like i write - when i have the time and in great gushes of words like the ones that came at me today. when i get stuck, the words stop and the story has to stew in my brain for a few days. and then i gush. you get the picture. so the little button for 250 words a day has come down.
three - that doesn't mean i'm not writing. i'm not sure how many words i wrote today and yesterday, but i'm up to 6800 - and that's after deleting quite a few and putting in some brand new ones. it's all relative. i'm moving forward.
four - after submitting the first few lines of my first chapter scene for an anonymous public critique and getting what i knew was painful but honest feedback from an impartial reader, i went back and tried to fix the scene. i didn't do much, but at least i tried. i'll try again in a few days. in the past i would have thought about giving up writing. i guess i've grown a little in the last few years.
five - after attending a mini writing conference geared more towards writers who want to make a career out of writing, i realized once again that i *do not* want to write a story based on a tried and true formula. that's fine for those who want to sell novels. i'm not negating their work or their reasons for writing that way. it's just not me.
i cannot stay true to the stories that burn their way out of me if i write them using a formula. i have to trust that the forty or so years i've spent reading stories have taught me how to tell a good story. i did it before and i'll do it again. now i'll get off my soapbox.
six - after the same conference, i once again felt like the rock in the middle of the stream that you try to avoid but keep bumping into. nearly all the writers there want a writing career. they want to find an agent or a publisher. it's a great dream. i wish them well.
again, that's not me. i did not go into this writing thing to find an agent or a publisher. i went into it to tell a story and somehow ended up being an indie author. and crazy writer woman that i am i'm doing it again. i'm so glad i have friends doing the same thing this time around. it makes being that rock feel not so lonely.
(oops. i said i'd get off my soapbox and there i went again.)
thanks for listening to my ranting. my header warned you about this. you read my blog at your own risk. maybe i should have warned you first, but i didn't know it would turn into a rant. sometimes i just can't control myself.
2 comments:
All I can say is I hear you, Michelle.
I am not even an indie author. I likely don't fit in the stream at all :/
You're braver than I am, subbing to that critique...my hat is off to you! I don't think I could do that. I hope that you won't let whatever was said to get you stuck.
I admire all you've accomplished- and I know you have many more great stories to tell.
I think of Eldala often. The other night, in fact, I found myself thinking of the stones that linked some of the characters together (trying not to spoil here). Your story stays with the reader.
I don't think I could tell you a single detail about a story written to formula because likely, I didn't finish reading it. Or I hated it so much I immediately blocked it out.
Write onward.
~bru
That's a lot of things!
I didn't go into this to write full time. I just wanted to tell that one story and if someone thought it good enough to publish, then that would be a bonus. (Obviously I got the bonus.) Write for your own reasons, Michelle!
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