Sensory Prompt

I wrote this for this prompt.  It's a sensory exercise, and I used the main character from my most recent novel in progress, tentatively titled 'Coming Home'.  It's about a man who loses his faith after an accident kills his wife and community, and he alone is spared.

I did taste as my sense, but I couldn't just stick to one thing... The first section wanders a little, venturing into smell, and the second is actually more of a mini scene than a writing exercise.  Probably won't make it into the book, but still, it's good to have some scenes based on purely sense-related issues.  Senses are a very important part of writing, and I too often forget everything except sight.

Anyway:

Good taste -

The most wonderful thing in the world to Jared Thral was the taste of his wife's skin. They both worked hard, in the fields during the day, exposed to the heat of the sun and the burn of the winds rushing through the valley. But when they were done with a long day's work they got back to the house and Jared smelled of musk and dried sweat, while Satalia smelled of beauty, and purity, and even though the smell wasn't light, or floral, it was so intense and deep that it made his heart ache. He thanked God for giving him the gift of life when he lay in bed with her, his face pressing against her hair, falling asleep with the scent of it in his head. Whenever he smelled freshly tilled earth, he remembered that smell, and the taste of her skin. Like nothing else on earth, the taste of her skin. Fresh and sweet, like the frequent spring rains. She always tasted like she had just come inside from a rainstorm.

Jared stood in the rain, now, and thought about her. As a boy, he had run around with his mouth open when the rains came, trying to catch as much as possible until he was so full of water that his stomach sloshed when he ran.

Bad taste -

Jared smiled, and accepted the offered plate. The very sight of the marda made him queasy, but he ignored the pleas of his stomach and put two of the wraps in his plate. Michae, next to him, smiled.

“Good, Jared! You will remember what it is like to follow the rules of God. Partake of his food, so that he may cleanse you.”

Jared nodded and looked back at his plate. The smell was reaching him now, and it made the rolling of his stomach much more pronounced. The sight of it was revolting, and the thought of it in his mouth, his stomach, made him gag.

“Is something wrong?” Michae asked.

“Sati... this was the last meal that she made for me.”

“Oh. Oh, of course. For Thirdday prayer, I assume. Yes, I remember. The flood happened on Thirdday.” The priest stopped, looked between Jared and the plate of food. “Are you telling me you haven't eaten marda since? Jared, it's been weeks.”

“I can't do this.”

“You have to,” the priest said – gently, but insistent. He was beginning to get irritated. That was not what Jared wanted. He was looking to fit in, here. To find a new home with his people. Wasn't that how it was supposed to work? He was a Devout, as was Michae, as were the people around him, as well as the abbess eating somewhere in the room. He hiccuped, something that was not quite a sob, and picked the marda off his plate and closed his eyes tightly before putting the thing in his mouth.

It was worse than he could have imagined. One taste of the marinated lettuce holding the thing together brought him back to the day that it happened. When he was sitting on the wet ground, throwing up the last meal his wife had made for him, feeling the burn of acid and the salty taste of his tears. He chewed, desperate only to get the thing down his throat as quickly as possible, but it didn't want to go. It turned into a sticky paste, always too large to swallow, a thing that seemed to be made of slime and rotten meat. He heaved, kept chewing. Michae was watching him intently, making no moves to help, saying nothing. He heaved again, gagging as he forced the lump down his throat, almost choking. The taste of it stayed in his mouth even as the solid ball of food sunk down into his stomach, and he grabbed blindly for the glass of water by his plate, trying to wash out every particle of the wretched food.

“There,” said the priest, soothing now that the moment had passed. “That wasn't so bad, was it?”

What is 'Voice'?

This is a question that came up actually quite unexpectedly.  I've been writing a daily writing prompt, at least 500 words of a story or idea for the past couple of days.  Four prompts, total.  Pretty cool ones, if I do say so myself - there's the very beginnings of a story about the University of War, the end of the world, a vivid dream, and an overly clichéd character - and as I've been writing I've had to ask myself why all of my writing seems to sound the same.

These story snippets are all different genres, written from the points of view of four entirely different characters, with different things going on in their lives.  But for some reason, there's a common thread - they all sound like me.

This has been an issue with me in the past, particularly with my first novel, and is something I'm trying to correct as I edit my second.  I guess I just didn't realize, until I started doing these, how much everything kind of sounds the same.  Not just the dialogue, but the descriptions, the words.  Is this my voice?

There are two ways I'm looking at this.  One, it's bound to happen.  I write, well, often, and there is no way to not develop a voice when you write.  It's your style, your signature.  It also means that I'm becoming more aware of how I write, and I'm taking a step back to examine my work, which is definitely a positive for me.  On the other hand, I don't know how thrilled I am with this voice.  I feel like, if I'm taking the same approach to writing every time I sit down to write, than I'm not learning anything, and I should be.  I am not an expert at this.  I consider myself good.  Maybe well above average.  But I don't think anyone is good enough to get complacent.

So here's the plan.  I'm going to take a few steps out of my comfort zone.  Maybe write some things that don't come as easily to me, write in a style or in a medium unfamiliar.  Poetry has been suggested.  So has playwriting, or writing a page of a comic.  Things that I don't know much about, that it would be a good idea to learn.  Maybe writing a story from a completely foreign mind, or just keeping the thought in my head, as I write, to do it differently than usual.

I'll give that a shot, and if any of it turns out halfway decent I'll post it on my off days.  I need something to keep the internet occupied.

Writing Prompts

Hello, everyone!  Today we're going to talk about writing prompts.  I've been doing a daily prompt (just for a couple of days now) at http://www.reddit.com/r/promptoftheday/, and to be a good moderator I've been doing the prompts along with whoever else wants to participate.

I have a couple of questions about writing prompts, actually.  I don't know if they're helpful or distracting.  I know that they're a great way to stretch those writing muscles, and maybe they're a good way to get unstuck if you're stuck on something, but what about when you're right in the middle of a project?  I think, for a writer, anything except for working on your current project is procrastination.  I have a novel in the works right now, and pausing every day to write 500 words on some other idea I've had kicking around for a while just sounds dangerous.

Maybe that's just because these are my prompts that are being offered.  The ideas for the prompts that I'm posting are all coming from my notebooks - notes I've jotted down, pieces of ideas that I've had in class.  I might have this note: cracks floating in the air.  That's it, just one line.  But if I make it into a prompt, I will let that small little note in my notebook win, and I will be forced to figure out what it means, or what it might mean.

I can see this as both a good and a bad thing.  On one hand, I get to flesh out an idea that's been lurking in the depths of my idea book for months, and once I write about it I can check that small little itch in the back of my mind off for good.  But what if it's good?  What if I like it?  I wrote exactly 499 words about a first day at the University of War.  Doesn't that sound pretty awesome?  How do I stick with my boring old novel when I can get sidetracked and write about what's going on at the University of War?

What do you think?  Are writing prompts a good way to get yourself out of a rut, or into the writing mood?  or are they potentially dangerous sand traps for your current work in progress?  Can they possibly be both?  

I'm Back

Hey, folks.

Big plans this year, just getting a bit of a late start.  I know I vanished off the face of the earth last year, but for what were good reasons at the time - my computer was totally busted, unusable, really.  I finished NaNoWriMo and kinda freaked because that manuscript - all 50k words of it - is trapped in a laptop that is over a decade old.  Cannot get it off.  Seriously.  And other things, cumulating in my being pretty much unable to write for a few months.

But I'm back, still writing, editing, etc, and I have PLANS.

I'm publishing them here, so I can't renege.

1.  I'm going to start posting on my blog again.  Three days a week, tues, thurs, and sat.  This is happening, for reals.
2.  I'm going to PAX this year with a short story, printed out (and probably stapled), with my website on it and a link to a self published story available for free on amazon.  None of this has happened yet, but like I said - PLANS.
3.  I'm also looking for conventional publishing options.  I haven't been writing that much during my hiatus, but I have been writing.  Several short stories, more starts that I've ever had, and what could be, if I had about a bajillion more hours, a few novels.  On Tues I'll get a little deeper into what I've been working on, and I'm also trying to figure out how to get this site more out there.  Publish more often, obviously, but I'm also thinking about doing book reviews, maybe some how-tos, anything I can to flex that writing muscle a little more.  I've yet to sit down and come up with a concrete schedule, but each week there is going to be some serious editing time, and some serious looking-at-where-to-publish-this/oh-dear-God-there-my-precious-baby-goes time.  So, yeah.  Stick around.  There's gonna be some changes.

Write It Anyway

Hey, all.  I'm writing today with a pretty specific purpose, for once.  As you know, because I mention it every time I start a new sentence here on Proof of Theft, I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year.  I'm doing pretty well, I'm about a day ahead of where I'm supposed to be, and I'm going to get done right on time, good for me, etc. etc.  One of my friends spoke to me the other day about how she saw an article blasting NaNoWriMo, the whole institution, because their motto is 'quantity over quality' and it gives the go ahead to writers who aren't very good thinking that they can write a novel in a month and call themselves 'novelists'.  I wrote a novel in a month, and I consider myself a novelist (see also my two other books), but I'm also writing my NaNo story with a very clear view of how I'm going to edit it later, make it better, maybe hope to get it published, so I can see where the article is coming from, and also where my friend is coming from.  I think it's a great way to get people to write, but I also think it cheapens the real writers who do this every month, all year, every year.  To be blunt, I think that many NaNo writers are hobbyists.  They write for one month out of the year and think that that's all it takes to be a writer.

I disagree with this.  It doesn't have to be that way, and I feel like we're cheapening the work of writers just to make a bunch of amateurs feel better about themselves.  If you want to be a writer, don't wait for an event.  Write.  I've been on the NaNoWriMo forums and keep seeing threads about how they can't make it, how life is getting in the way, how they don't like their stories anymore, but if you want to be a writer you must write.  You must write!  If you think your story is crap, write it anyway.  If you're discouraged with your progress, write anyway.  If you just 'don't feel' like writing, write anyway.  Write anyway!  I will not be nearly as upset at these people if they just stopped complaining.  I'm lazy, I'm unmotivated, I just can't do it or don't want to.  I think my story is crap, I don't know what my main characters are doing, and it makes me just want to scream.  Write anyway!  What, do you think that real novelists always feel like they're writing brilliant prose and flowery scenes?  No!  Of course not!  Writing is a deeply personal art, you're baring a little bit more of your soul with every sentence, and not all of it can be good, not all of it can work.  That's what drafts are for.  If you're upset with what you're writing, write it anyway!  If you're taking it in a different direction than you expected, run with it!  Write it anyway, and if it sucks when you go back later and read it, then you can change it.  Writing can always be changed!  Argh. 

If you're out there, comment, please.  If you read this, and it made you feel anything, comment.  I know that I'm not really a credible source for these kinds of things, but I've worked very hard for the privilege to call myself a writer, a novelist.  I write every day, I average over 10,000 words a week and that number doesn't include homework, blog posts, edits, or other writing.  I've been doing this for over a year, now, and I haven't slowed down, I haven't stopped.  I have at least six other books that need to be written just off the top of my head, lots of short stories, and believe you me when I say that I will write them.  I feel very strongly about this, about writing, and about being a writer.  If you're out there, and you feel strongly, too, stop and say something.  I hope everyone is having a great Monday, see you tomorrow!

The Tragic Story...

Of my internet.  Readers, I have a sad tale to tell.  A virus has infected my computer, and it's gotten so bad that I can't even use the internet.  Sad, sad times.  But also wonderfully productive...  Hmm.  Anyway, this is the reason for my ongoing odd posting hours and skipping days, for which I apologize.  I'm going to try harder to get a post out every weekday; that was one of my main goals for starting this blog in the first place.

I don't know what else I can say about writing today, except for a very important side effect that I have discovered that writers out there should watch out for - inactivity.  My lifestyle for the past few months has really been best described as 'sedentary'.  I write, a lot, I do homework, The only time I'm moving is when I'm at work, and even then I stand at a register for 4-6 hours.  I don't know if this is just me that has this problem, or if there are other, much smarter writers out there who figured this out way before I did, but I really miss getting my heart pumping, moving, feeling active.  I've also been missing out on a low of new places, new people, and fodder for my subconscious to process into story ideas and character outlines.  Today, for example, I went to a soccer game for my school, where two clubs were playing each other - the ISA, or International Student Association, and the Unification of Africa club.  As you can probably imagine, it was fantastic!  I was hearing languages I had never heard before, I was hearing stories of places and pasts from these people that I might have never associated myself with otherwise, and I was getting a pretty good (though light, I was one of three women and they put us all on defense) workout.  I even took some notes when I got subbed out for the second half.  I'm going hiking on Monday, and I'm really looking forward to that, maybe meeting some people (again) that are totally unlike me, that often wake up early in the morning in November and walk up mountains.

How have you all managed to stay active while doing all of your best work with your butt in a chair?  Or is it something, like me, that you're struggling with?  Let me know, leave me a comment!  I'd love to hear from you, and I'd really like tips on how to beat it, unless the best advice is 'willpower'.  Have a great night!

The Editing Process

Oops.  I tried to do this from school earlier today, and here we are, with a two word headline and nothing underneath.  Sorry about that.

So, I just finished editing a short story last night!  It was also due last night, and it was only through the grace of my teacher that I got it submitted...  This is the big one, folks.  I'm writing for the big time, now, trying to get some actual money for doing this thing that I love doing and try to do every day.  GCC has a literary magazine, which is just awesome, and along with that is the district contest that I'm submitting the same piece to.  It was a hard piece to edit, mainly because of the word limit constraints - max 3000 words for this contest, and my second draft clocked in at a solid 2997.  Here's how I did it, and why I now think that this piece is publishable.  NOTE: I have not actually published anything.  I feel really, REALLY good about this one, but I haven't been published in anything more prestigious than Teen Ink magazine for my crappy high school poetry, so take pretty much anything I say, including advice, with as much salt as will make it palatable.    

First - write it.  I wrote mine in two sittings the same night, about three hours total.  My teacher had asked for a rough draft, so I gave her one, I didn't even look at it from the time I wrote it to when I handed it in.  She had individual conferences with us about our pieces, which were invaluable in helping me out, trying to figure out how to make the thing stronger.

I guess that's step two - have a great teacher, or someone who can read the rough draft and make general comments about how it could be generally improved as a story.

Three - Do a rewrite.  Take a break first, however long you think it needs to be before going back to it with an open mind as as a reader, not a writer, but once you do go back look at the story, read the entire thing first, and then go back and fix anything that doesn't quite match up, or isn't exactly the emotion you're trying to convey.  Basically a quick once over to make sure that everything makes sense, the same kind of thing you do with a novel, except so much quicker because your short story is probably not longer than 20 pages.  Mine was ten, and it still took some time to read it through like six times after every revision.

Four - Take another break.  If it doesn't feel 'done', take as many breaks as you need to.  If you don't have a deadline, who cares how long it takes you between breaks?  A week, two?  A month, if you're working on other projects?  The goal is that whenever you take another look at your story, you don't remember what you fixed the last time.  Don't read it as a writer, read it as a reader.

Five - Another edit.  This is different than the way I plan to edit my novel, where this step and the next one would be switched, but for a short story I really think that your edit should come before the final edit from someone else.  Look at it one more time, make sure that it's as good as you yourself can make it, and send it off to a friend for one, last look.

Six - For a short story I think that any final edits should be from someone else's eyes, since by now you've probably read your own story a half dozen times, and by the time you get close to being done there's no way you can put as much space between you and your work as is needed for a final, comprehensive edit.  My fiancé edited my story right before I sent it off, and I only checked to make sure he wasn't deleting anything important, otherwise I didn't even want to know what he was doing.

I hope this helped!  Really, I feel really good about this.  We'll see how it goes, but not until next semester...  Oh well.  I'll keep writing other stories until then.  Have a great night, everybody!  See you tomorrow!