Hi Guys,
Sorry! I kind of fell off the face of the earth again didn't I? Well, I'm still here, mostly.
Now, for those of you who are reading, (all two of you.) I have one simple line of advice.
Just do it.
(Yes, I totally made that up...)
But seriously, when it comes to writing there are times when you. just. don't. want. to. Believe me, I know. Hence, why my novel is still in it's second draft... The thing is though, we won't get better if we don't muddle through. Will your writing stink sometimes? Yes. Will you have to rewrite whole scenes sometimes? Yes. Will you want to throw your book out the window and run away screaming? I can't be the only one right?
But, the important thing is that those words are written, we have them on paper (or in a google doc...) we have to just do it or else we will never get better!
Is anyone else doing Camp NaNoWriMo this April? I am, I've had a story in my head since January and only a mere 200 words on paper, I have to do it.
And so do you.
Good luck Writer!
Just do it.
~Libby
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Sunday, February 5, 2017
That Writing Slump
Hey Y'all,
You know one thing I love about writing? It never gets old, I could write for hours every day and never get tired of it.
Ha! As if.
I fall into the 'writers who never write' category way more than I'd care to admit. Sometimes I flat out hate my hobby.
And I love to write like most people love to breathe.
So how the heck do we get past the stages where we just. Don't. Wanna?
Guys, I don't claim to have all the answers, if I did I'd be published by now... but here are a couple ideas.
Take Your Time
I put myself on a very tight timeline for my first novel, I wanted to finish it in a year. Now, that may seem like a lot of time to some of you, but for a young teenager who'd never written anything over 9,000 words before it was very challenging.
And I didn't do it.
Nope, I finished in thirteen months. The last 7 or 8k took about five months of that time.
Yup call me crazy. I had most of my novel finished in about seven months, but it took me thirteen months to finish.
That's owing to the fact I had totally burned myself out. I'd lock myself in my room for hours writing that thing, but the last little bit I wasn't really sure where I wanted it to go and I didn't want to get it wrong, so I let it sit. I invested my time into a monstrosity of a novella where I learned a ton about historical fiction and more than one POV and came back.
Writing became fun again in that time, it wasn't work as it was previously. Don't be afraid to take a breather if you need it. Your writing will thank you.
Now, that being said:
Don't be Afraid to Push Yourself
See point one, it took me four months longer than it should've to finish my novel because I let it sit. Now could the ending be stronger because of that? Possibly, but now I'm trying not to do that again.
We need to allow ourselves to do hard things, if we never do anything difficult then we will never get better.
There's a quote from Dan Poynter saying "If you wait for inspiration to write, you aren't a writer. You're a waiter."
Sometimes we've got to muddle through guys. One of my favorite scenes in my novella is from muddling through. That novella would have never been finished if I didn't muddle through. Sometimes all it takes is a sentence to get our writing juices going again, but once the writing juices start flowing we are unstoppable.
Push yourself, try to write. Even if all of it is deleted in rewrites those words helped you get to rewrites. No words in your manuscript are completely useless.
Write Simple
One of my favorite things for me to do with my friends is they give me a topic, normally a romantic one, such as they meet their true love at the ACT, and I'll write a couple hundred words depicting their scenario. None of those fun little stories are going to make it in my novel, most of them shouldn't see the light of day...
But, they help me get ideas, they help me get into my groove, and they give me the feeling of finishing something.
Your novel doesn't have to be War and Peace Y'all, it can start out as a one hundred word snippet of your friend and a guy you made up on the fly. It can be stupid, it just has to be yours.
Write simple, if you can't think of the beautiful word you want to use just put a simple one and move on, it can be fixed. Don't be afraid to write simple.
Simple plots work too here. Subplots can be added later, just worry about getting your character from point a to point b. Your story may be shorter when it's over but the subplots will add the length you need.
Write simple guys, it makes life, well, simpler. (Sorry that was bad.I'm not really sorry ;) )
Hope this helps!
What about you? What do you guys do to get out of the writing slump?
-Libby
"You can make many plans, but the LORD's purpose will prevail." Proverbs 19:21
You know one thing I love about writing? It never gets old, I could write for hours every day and never get tired of it.
Ha! As if.
I fall into the 'writers who never write' category way more than I'd care to admit. Sometimes I flat out hate my hobby.
And I love to write like most people love to breathe.
So how the heck do we get past the stages where we just. Don't. Wanna?
Guys, I don't claim to have all the answers,
Take Your Time
I put myself on a very tight timeline for my first novel, I wanted to finish it in a year. Now, that may seem like a lot of time to some of you, but for a young teenager who'd never written anything over 9,000 words before it was very challenging.
And I didn't do it.
Nope, I finished in thirteen months. The last 7 or 8k took about five months of that time.
Yup call me crazy. I had most of my novel finished in about seven months, but it took me thirteen months to finish.
That's owing to the fact I had totally burned myself out. I'd lock myself in my room for hours writing that thing, but the last little bit I wasn't really sure where I wanted it to go and I didn't want to get it wrong, so I let it sit. I invested my time into a monstrosity of a novella where I learned a ton about historical fiction and more than one POV and came back.
Writing became fun again in that time, it wasn't work as it was previously. Don't be afraid to take a breather if you need it. Your writing will thank you.
Now, that being said:
Don't be Afraid to Push Yourself
See point one, it took me four months longer than it should've to finish my novel because I let it sit. Now could the ending be stronger because of that? Possibly, but now I'm trying not to do that again.
We need to allow ourselves to do hard things, if we never do anything difficult then we will never get better.
There's a quote from Dan Poynter saying "If you wait for inspiration to write, you aren't a writer. You're a waiter."
Sometimes we've got to muddle through guys. One of my favorite scenes in my novella is from muddling through. That novella would have never been finished if I didn't muddle through. Sometimes all it takes is a sentence to get our writing juices going again, but once the writing juices start flowing we are unstoppable.
Push yourself, try to write. Even if all of it is deleted in rewrites those words helped you get to rewrites. No words in your manuscript are completely useless.
Write Simple
One of my favorite things for me to do with my friends is they give me a topic, normally a romantic one, such as they meet their true love at the ACT, and I'll write a couple hundred words depicting their scenario. None of those fun little stories are going to make it in my novel, most of them shouldn't see the light of day...
But, they help me get ideas, they help me get into my groove, and they give me the feeling of finishing something.
Your novel doesn't have to be War and Peace Y'all, it can start out as a one hundred word snippet of your friend and a guy you made up on the fly. It can be stupid, it just has to be yours.
Write simple, if you can't think of the beautiful word you want to use just put a simple one and move on, it can be fixed. Don't be afraid to write simple.
Simple plots work too here. Subplots can be added later, just worry about getting your character from point a to point b. Your story may be shorter when it's over but the subplots will add the length you need.
Write simple guys, it makes life, well, simpler. (Sorry that was bad.
Hope this helps!
What about you? What do you guys do to get out of the writing slump?
-Libby
"You can make many plans, but the LORD's purpose will prevail." Proverbs 19:21
Thursday, January 26, 2017
You Are Your Own Writer
Dear Writer,
This is a hard hobby isn't it? The range of knowledge and age is vaster than most other hobbies, possibly all. At least, I can't think of another one.
And with age and experience and knowledge, its inevitable that someone is going to be a better writer than us.
I got a dose of this first hand when I entered a writing contest a couple months back. Outwardly, I told my friends that "I probably won't win", but inwardly I fantasized with the judges calling me, exclaiming "This book is too good to not be published!"
But I didn't win.
I didn't come in the top ten.
After that, it was hard to not compare myself to the others. They started writing their first novels at twelve. I wrote ten horrible misspelled pages at twelve. They were on track to be published by fifteen. I hadn't finished my first novel at fifteen.
It's hard to compare ourselves to others, but writer, we can't compare ourselves to others because we aren't others.
We are us.
You are your own writer, Writer. You have your own time lines and milestones. You have your own life story.
God doesn't make mistakes Writer, God's timing is perfect. So maybe I didn't get published when I was fifteen. So. What? God's got a plan for me that is so much better than anything I could dream up.
But, sometimes it's hard to remember that isn't it? Like when a friend can't stand your MC or you have the worst case of writers block this century. (Not that either of those have happened to me...)
It's hard being a writer, Writer. I'm not going to lie, books can only teach you so much in this profession. It's hard, and daunting, and sometimes virtually miserable.
But it's so so rewarding.
Writer, writing is a part of you, you are your own writer. You are not JK. Rowling, you are not Judy Blume, you are not Timothy Shoemaker. (Code of Silence books anyone?)
As much as these people inspire us or as much as we want to be like these people. We cannot look at their time lines and milestones and be discouraged. Because, they are not us.
Writer, comparing ourselves is something we do all the time, but it needs to stop. Your story can't come from Joan Bauer, Writer. It has to come from you. And I think that's pretty cool.
Don't give up Writer. God's got great plans for you.
-Libby
"I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:14
This is a hard hobby isn't it? The range of knowledge and age is vaster than most other hobbies, possibly all. At least, I can't think of another one.
And with age and experience and knowledge, its inevitable that someone is going to be a better writer than us.
I got a dose of this first hand when I entered a writing contest a couple months back. Outwardly, I told my friends that "I probably won't win", but inwardly I fantasized with the judges calling me, exclaiming "This book is too good to not be published!"
But I didn't win.
I didn't come in the top ten.
After that, it was hard to not compare myself to the others. They started writing their first novels at twelve. I wrote ten horrible misspelled pages at twelve. They were on track to be published by fifteen. I hadn't finished my first novel at fifteen.
It's hard to compare ourselves to others, but writer, we can't compare ourselves to others because we aren't others.
We are us.
You are your own writer, Writer. You have your own time lines and milestones. You have your own life story.
God doesn't make mistakes Writer, God's timing is perfect. So maybe I didn't get published when I was fifteen. So. What? God's got a plan for me that is so much better than anything I could dream up.
But, sometimes it's hard to remember that isn't it? Like when a friend can't stand your MC or you have the worst case of writers block this century. (Not that either of those have happened to me...)
It's hard being a writer, Writer. I'm not going to lie, books can only teach you so much in this profession. It's hard, and daunting, and sometimes virtually miserable.
But it's so so rewarding.
Writer, writing is a part of you, you are your own writer. You are not JK. Rowling, you are not Judy Blume, you are not Timothy Shoemaker. (Code of Silence books anyone?)
As much as these people inspire us or as much as we want to be like these people. We cannot look at their time lines and milestones and be discouraged. Because, they are not us.
Writer, comparing ourselves is something we do all the time, but it needs to stop. Your story can't come from Joan Bauer, Writer. It has to come from you. And I think that's pretty cool.
Don't give up Writer. God's got great plans for you.
-Libby
"I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:14
Monday, January 23, 2017
Historical Fiction: Outside the Box
Hey Guys,
Today I'm going to talk about one of my favorite things in the world... *insert trumpet fanfare*
Historical fiction.
There's just something about the way I'm transported to another world that I love about historical fiction.
But for my writerly readers out there (ha! writerly readers. That's funny. :P) How the heck do you make it work? How do you make it new? I mean, there's only so many times we can hear a story of the colonists fighting for Independence before it gets old. (Unless you're me, I love that stuff.)
Think outside of the box
Okay, so this goes for all writing, but it is especially important with historical fiction. With historical fiction you are confined to a box, so to speak, you can't make too much up in terms of world building because it has to be, you know, historical.
So we rely on other ways to make our readers gasp. Maybe we go from the other angle, tell the story about Hitler's niece who was in love with a Jewish merchant... (That's a good idea by the way, I should write a story on that) No one's expecting that because Hitler isn't a 'good guy' Historical fiction is very one sided, we tell the story of the Patriots of the revolution, the allies of WWII, the pioneers from the wild west.
But what about the other side of it? What about the loyalists who were persecuted? What about the people who were fighting with the Axis Powers? Or the Indians who were just fighting for their homes?
Guys, it might take a little bit of research, but those sides can make great stories. Just writing this blog post my writing brain is itching to delve into these ideas. They're new, fresh, and exciting.
Or what about a character you wouldn't expect. Instead of telling the story from the soldier's sweetheart's prospective (This can be done well, but it's pretty cookie cutter) tell the story from his father's, grandmother's or dog's perspective.
I've never read a war story from the POV of a dog... have you?
But, typically, at least I go for what's easy. My unfinished manuscripts are full of cookie cutter historical fiction, Trying to write original historical fiction is hard! It's hard to convince ourselves people will like this, or they aren't bad guys.
Maybe people need outside of the box historical fiction, after all, not all the bad guys are 'bad guys' and a story like that will show us that.
Thinking outside of the box is critical to writing. We can't be Jane Austen, JK. Rowling, or James Patterson, but we can be us. So our stories need to be ours too, even if they are historical fiction.
What about you? How have you spiced up your historical fiction?
-Libby
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" John 1:1
Today I'm going to talk about one of my favorite things in the world... *insert trumpet fanfare*
Historical fiction.
There's just something about the way I'm transported to another world that I love about historical fiction.
But for my writerly readers out there (ha! writerly readers. That's funny. :P) How the heck do you make it work? How do you make it new? I mean, there's only so many times we can hear a story of the colonists fighting for Independence before it gets old. (Unless you're me, I love that stuff.)
Think outside of the box
Okay, so this goes for all writing, but it is especially important with historical fiction. With historical fiction you are confined to a box, so to speak, you can't make too much up in terms of world building because it has to be, you know, historical.
So we rely on other ways to make our readers gasp. Maybe we go from the other angle, tell the story about Hitler's niece who was in love with a Jewish merchant... (That's a good idea by the way, I should write a story on that) No one's expecting that because Hitler isn't a 'good guy' Historical fiction is very one sided, we tell the story of the Patriots of the revolution, the allies of WWII, the pioneers from the wild west.
But what about the other side of it? What about the loyalists who were persecuted? What about the people who were fighting with the Axis Powers? Or the Indians who were just fighting for their homes?
Guys, it might take a little bit of research, but those sides can make great stories. Just writing this blog post my writing brain is itching to delve into these ideas. They're new, fresh, and exciting.
Or what about a character you wouldn't expect. Instead of telling the story from the soldier's sweetheart's prospective (This can be done well, but it's pretty cookie cutter) tell the story from his father's, grandmother's or dog's perspective.
I've never read a war story from the POV of a dog... have you?
But, typically, at least I go for what's easy. My unfinished manuscripts are full of cookie cutter historical fiction, Trying to write original historical fiction is hard! It's hard to convince ourselves people will like this, or they aren't bad guys.
Maybe people need outside of the box historical fiction, after all, not all the bad guys are 'bad guys' and a story like that will show us that.
Thinking outside of the box is critical to writing. We can't be Jane Austen, JK. Rowling, or James Patterson, but we can be us. So our stories need to be ours too, even if they are historical fiction.
What about you? How have you spiced up your historical fiction?
-Libby
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" John 1:1
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Fear of the Food Allergy
Hey Y'all,
Today I'm going to go off the writing course for a bit and talk about allergies.
I was watching a documentary on food allergies a few days ago and a realization hit me with the force of a brick. Food allergies are scary.
Like I guess I always knew they were something to have a healthy awareness of, but listening to stories about how little kids almost died from the same condition as me was almost surreal, as if I'd just gotten to the point to where I wasn't afraid, but listening to those stories caused the fear to rise again.
So now we have two red flags. Being terrified and not being afraid at all. Both of these are trouble, for completely different reasons.
First off,
Being Terrified:
It's kind of obvious why this is a problem, while there needs to be an awareness of 'yes if I eat almonds I can die' but it can't get to the point of 'you ate an almond three weeks ago? Get away from me! Are you trying to murder me?'
That could pose as a problem for making friends. ;p
Psalms 23:4 says "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil for you are with me"
God knows everything that has happened and everything that will happen in the whole realm of the universe. Who am I to be afraid of a peanut when God's planned out my footsteps and is going to take me home right at the very moment I need to be?
Being scared of a food allergy lets it run your life, lets the what if's run your life, and if something else is running your life (other than God) is that really living?
That being said this can lead to another big problem:
Being Fearless
Yeah, sure, being fearless can be a good thing to a degree, but not when it comes to food allergies. I have read so many anaphylaxis death stories that have the words 'did not have epi-pen' in it. To which I respond "why in the world did someone not have their epi on them???"
You see guys, it's all well and good to not let the fear of the allergy run your life, but that is NO excuse to not use common sense. If you have an epi PLEASE carry it around with you, just because something has never happened before doesn't mean something never will.
You still have to be diligent in keeping yourself safe, even if that means sacrificing the invitation to Texas Roadhouse. It's better to be a social outcast then dead right?
So where do we find the happy medium guys? Where is the I have a healthy respect for my allergy?
To be honest... I don't know.
I lean more on the 'being terrified' scale when it comes to my food allergies, but I have recently taken to not letting it run my life.
A few weeks ago I was at a large function, that was supposed to be nut free with LOTS of food, with some friends of mine. While there a group of boys I knew, but wasn't great friends with came sprinting up to me telling me someone was eating peanut butter. I thanked them for telling me and was about to turn around to go the other way when one of the boys stopped me and said "how do you do it? How do you go to things like this"
I'd never been asked that before, but I knew the answer. I looked him dead in the eye and uttered one word: "Faith."
God gave me these food allergies for a reason, and I'm not going to be afraid of something God ordained.
What about you? Are you more terrified or fearless? I'd love to hear what you have to say on the subject.
-Libby
"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you" Matthew 17:20
Today I'm going to go off the writing course for a bit and talk about allergies.
I was watching a documentary on food allergies a few days ago and a realization hit me with the force of a brick. Food allergies are scary.
Like I guess I always knew they were something to have a healthy awareness of, but listening to stories about how little kids almost died from the same condition as me was almost surreal, as if I'd just gotten to the point to where I wasn't afraid, but listening to those stories caused the fear to rise again.
So now we have two red flags. Being terrified and not being afraid at all. Both of these are trouble, for completely different reasons.
First off,
Being Terrified:
It's kind of obvious why this is a problem, while there needs to be an awareness of 'yes if I eat almonds I can die' but it can't get to the point of 'you ate an almond three weeks ago? Get away from me! Are you trying to murder me?'
That could pose as a problem for making friends. ;p
Psalms 23:4 says "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil for you are with me"
God knows everything that has happened and everything that will happen in the whole realm of the universe. Who am I to be afraid of a peanut when God's planned out my footsteps and is going to take me home right at the very moment I need to be?
Being scared of a food allergy lets it run your life, lets the what if's run your life, and if something else is running your life (other than God) is that really living?
That being said this can lead to another big problem:
Being Fearless
Yeah, sure, being fearless can be a good thing to a degree, but not when it comes to food allergies. I have read so many anaphylaxis death stories that have the words 'did not have epi-pen' in it. To which I respond "why in the world did someone not have their epi on them???"
You see guys, it's all well and good to not let the fear of the allergy run your life, but that is NO excuse to not use common sense. If you have an epi PLEASE carry it around with you, just because something has never happened before doesn't mean something never will.
You still have to be diligent in keeping yourself safe, even if that means sacrificing the invitation to Texas Roadhouse. It's better to be a social outcast then dead right?
So where do we find the happy medium guys? Where is the I have a healthy respect for my allergy?
To be honest... I don't know.
I lean more on the 'being terrified' scale when it comes to my food allergies, but I have recently taken to not letting it run my life.
A few weeks ago I was at a large function, that was supposed to be nut free with LOTS of food, with some friends of mine. While there a group of boys I knew, but wasn't great friends with came sprinting up to me telling me someone was eating peanut butter. I thanked them for telling me and was about to turn around to go the other way when one of the boys stopped me and said "how do you do it? How do you go to things like this"
I'd never been asked that before, but I knew the answer. I looked him dead in the eye and uttered one word: "Faith."
God gave me these food allergies for a reason, and I'm not going to be afraid of something God ordained.
What about you? Are you more terrified or fearless? I'd love to hear what you have to say on the subject.
-Libby
"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you" Matthew 17:20
Monday, January 9, 2017
I'm Not Giving Up
Hey Guys,
Sorry you haven't heard from me for a little while, it's tricky stuff running a blog and a life at the same time. :P.
Anyway, today I wanted to talk about giving up on a story...
Has anyone else ever felt like they just don't want to work on a book any more? I'm feeling like that with my NaNo book, and boy, it's difficult.
I feel like I'm letting go to a part of me, because I love that book, but right now I don't have the resources I need to fix it. I'm a 'fix as I go' writer, but I'm trying to do it in shifts in order to make the editing process easier, but I can't do it! I want to go overhaul the whole thing!
Finally, I've decided I'm not getting rid of it, I'm delaying it until I can spend more time with it, because it hurts to throw out your pride and joy, and I'm not one to throw the baby out with the bath water.(That's such a weird saying)
-Libby
"Do not be anxious about anything, instead with prayer, petition, and thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6
Sorry you haven't heard from me for a little while, it's tricky stuff running a blog and a life at the same time. :P.
Anyway, today I wanted to talk about giving up on a story...
Has anyone else ever felt like they just don't want to work on a book any more? I'm feeling like that with my NaNo book, and boy, it's difficult.
I feel like I'm letting go to a part of me, because I love that book, but right now I don't have the resources I need to fix it. I'm a 'fix as I go' writer, but I'm trying to do it in shifts in order to make the editing process easier, but I can't do it! I want to go overhaul the whole thing!
Finally, I've decided I'm not getting rid of it, I'm delaying it until I can spend more time with it, because it hurts to throw out your pride and joy, and I'm not one to throw the baby out with the bath water.
-Libby
"Do not be anxious about anything, instead with prayer, petition, and thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
A brief look at 2016
Hey Ya'll,
Am I the only one who cannot believe that 2016 is almost over? I really cannot, this year has been huge for me from a writing aspect AND an allergy aspect. Go me! :p (sorry guys, I'm a little full of myself at times ;) )
So, being the somewhat prideful perfectionist I am, I've decided to make a list of my accomplishments this year!! (within reason of course...)
From a writing aspect this year I have:
Am I the only one who cannot believe that 2016 is almost over? I really cannot, this year has been huge for me from a writing aspect AND an allergy aspect. Go me! :p (sorry guys, I'm a little full of myself at times ;) )
So, being the somewhat prideful perfectionist I am, I've decided to make a list of my accomplishments this year!! (within reason of course...)
From a writing aspect this year I have:
- written a novella numbering 23,000 words
- finished my first novel at 57,000 words
- Started editing my first novel
- Did NaNoWriMo for the first time, writing 30,000 words
- Won my local writing contest for the third year running in my age group.
(Well I was the only one who entered in my age group this year... but that's beside the point...) - And, written a short story for a nation wide contest
From an allergy aspect this year I have:
- Found a church that will accommodate my allergies that I thank God for every day (or try to)
- Become more independent in keeping myself safe as opposed to relying on my mom.
- Started to become an advocate for food allergies. They ARE a big deal you know... ;p
So.... nine bullet points wasn't as nearly impressive as I was going for, but that's alright, it's good for me to learn early my life isn't nearly as exciting as soon as I write it down. :p
All in all 2016 has been very eventful year for me and my family, I'm very thankful for all the things I have been given this year.
What about you?
-Libby
"And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing out eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith." Hebrews 12:1-2
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