IWSG

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! To join click HERE!



This past month has been very trying. 

I have really found myself in a place where I struggle to make since of it all. Between the loss of my dog and several other things happening around the same time, I truly have been in a state of reevaluation. 

I guess in all this is not a bad thing. We should all sometimes step back and try to understand why we are where we are and how we can change that.

I guess I am just finding it hard to focus on the things that I truly want to focus on. 

Maybe it is just a matter of time. 

I mean, in the end decisions will be made and things will carry out their own course. Hopefully by the time the next IWSG comes around I will have a much lighter and happier post to give.

Fingers are crossed.

I hope everyone is well. As always, have fun and keep writing.

Sad day.

Today I am sad. 

Sad seems a paltry word, but it is one I will use.

A friend I have had for nine years died yesterday. I don't wish to talk about how because it is too painful.

It is pretty devastating for me and I guess I am writing this as a way of getting it out somehow. If writing is therapy then let's hope this is therapeutic.  

I hope everyone is well and please keep the beings you care about close to you, there is no telling how long we have with them. 

Toddler Smash!!

The past few months have been hectic as they tend to be lately.  The one plus to this had been that I'd gotten a lot of writing done. 

Well I am sure you can see where this is going. 

It has been so crazy that I wasn't doing something I always do which is back up my files. I had been writing on Light Bringer(third book in the LB saga) and notes on two other stories. 

So my youngest, who will be two in March, is very mobile now. He is enjoying his free roaming time. My laptop sits beside me by my desk so I can charge it. Well, one day I was letting him run and play and he decided to run around my chair and his foot hooked the cord to may laptop. The whole thing came down. 

I made sure he was okay and then set my computer down. He was upset because the fall scared him so I didn't really check the computer. I grabbed him up and made him happy again. 

It wasn't until I went to write that I noticed the the plug that goes into the computer was bent. I've had it happen before on other computers and they tend to bend back in shape. So I tried to do that and a large blue spark shot out and the metal broke.

Now my computer won't turn on.

I looked up getting a new cord and the one they have doesn't match up to my computer and it is seventy dollars. There is also one on Amazon that is closer and is only seven bucks. I think I will try the latter. I just hope the computer itself will be fine. That is a lot of writing that I will be losing. 

Anyway that is the joys of my life at the moment. How about you? Ever have a child break your computer? Ever lose writing because you didn't back it up? As always, have fun and keep writing.

For all those struggling to work out and eat healthy.

For all those struggling to work out and eat healthy. 

IWSG

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! To join click HERE!

Emotional Writing/ Structured Writing


I think a lot of new writers fall into this.

I hear a lot of people say things like, "How do you get in the mood to write." or "I wasn't feeling it today."

These are indicators of an emotional writer.

How do I know?

Because I am one myself. 

It isn't a complete negative, but it does have many downsides.

An upside is most of your writing will be charged with the emotional state you find yourself in. This can make for some great scenes.

Like I said though, there are downsides. The biggest being that when you are having a bad time your writing often suffers. 

Personally the last year and half has been one of the more emotionally hard times I have had in a while and my writing has suffered for it. So what is to be done?

Well, I am making the transition to being a structured writer. Instead of waiting for the muse to strike me I have set times on a semi-flexible schedule that I am supposed to be writing. I make myself turn on that computer and I write.

It is still a struggle, but it is working. 

Most of the writers I admire and who have found success, model their work off of this type of writing.

I hope to follow in their footsteps.

Anyway that is what is going on in my writing world. What kind of writer are you? As always have fun and keep writing. I will leave you all with this inspirational video.

The flip side.

If I am to be fair in my blogging, I feel I have to write about the flip side of what I spoke about last time.

Having the right people in your life is very important even on small levels. The other side of that is those people that seem to suck the life out of you.

We have all had them in our lives or maybe still do. 

They are the people that always know whats best for you and endlessly give advice that is more about their own self-gratification than actually helping you.

They are the people who have no real ambition for their life, but still want to tell you how to live yours.

There are also the ones that only bring negativity to you. Sometimes it is drama from their own life, or talking down about anything you do.

These people are a constant in life and they don't appear to be going away anytime soon.

I think sometimes we feel obligated to stay with people even when they are toxic. Sometimes we don't realize they are toxic until way too late.

My advice on this is to take stock of your life. Look at the people around you, find out who makes you happy, who lifts you up and then find the ones who are doing the opposite and create as much space as possible between the two of you.

Life is short and you are the only one responsible for making yours a happy one. 

Anyway not the lightest blog I have ever written, but I know that we have to be active in our own lives. As always, have fun and keep writing.

Writing analogy.

Hey everyone, back from the holidays. Hope everyone had fun. 

I enjoy working out. It comes in ebbs and flows, and I am not always the healthiest person, but it is a pretty constant in my life. I have worked out solo before and can manage, but I have found that having a partner can greatly improve what you are trying to do. 

It is interesting that writing is much the same. Most see being an author as a solitary thing and often times it is, but there are very good reasons why you should surround yourself with the right people. 

Pushing yourself.

When I work out alone I have my goals and I try hard to meet them. The problem is, it is so much easier to make excuses when I get tired or things become hard. Having that person there that is on your level truly helps because if they do the set and finish it out it pushes you to put the extra work in.

Writing is the same. That is why Critique Partners are so great. They can push you and give you the drive to push that story a little farther. They can be there to offer encouragement when you feel like you are failing. 


Getting help.

Sometimes when you are trying to grow in an area while working out, asking a trainer or other people in the gym for some advice can really help take your game to the next level.

Again writing has the same thing. Editors and beta readers are important because they are outside people who can see what you are doing and offer their opinions on things that are working and things you can improve. 

In both it isn't necessarily that you can't do the work, but having someone on the outside that can see the things you may be too close to will always be a benefit. 

Helping others.

I love working out with people who are new to it. It can help my confidence and also help me understand why I do things the way that I do them.

Pretty much word for word this applies to writing. Giving advice can help us put into words our writing process and it can give that little boost when we are feeling down.


Writing is often a solo activity. Working out and trying to be healthy will always come down to you making the right choices yourself. Still, the people we choose to have around us will often have a large hand in whether we succeed or fail. 

Anyway, it is great to be back I hope everyone is doing well. As always have fun and keep writing!!

Busy month.

Hey all this is a pretty busy month so the blog post have slowed down. I am sure all of you understand. I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas or a happy whatever else. I hope everyone is enjoying the season.

This will be my last post for this year. It has been an interesting one, but I truly can't wait for 2016, lots of big things. 

Anyway, wishing you all well, see you next year!!

IWSG

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! To join click HERE!

I am not sure of other people's experience with "new" writers. When I say that it isn't from a place of looking down on them, I mean it as someone who has yet to finish a piece of writing fully. Someone who has written, but maybe is not clued into the writing world. 

I've had several times where someone has come to me and asked me opinions on writing. I remember what it was like for me when I had asked others for advice. Sometimes their words were not so much helpful as  they were overwhelming and sometimes crushing. 

I always managed to push past and I think that is probably true for most people, but I tend to keep it in mind when I dish out advice. To me it is very important to keep the person writing, it is the only way they get better. I try to point out the good things and fun things and the stuff about writing that can really make it worth it.

The other day a friend came to me and I have known them for quite some time. They have mirrored my journey through writing in a lot of ways, only they have not made that step to really dedicate themselves to it.

This person made some comments about writing that were basically alluding to the fact that they might as well do that because it would be easier than what they were doing with their life. Now anyone who does this seriously knows one thing is never said about the writing process—"It is easy". 

It is pretty grueling at times and can take a lot out of you. Not even just finishing a piece of work, but getting it out there and keeping yourself and your work relevant in people's minds. I was torn between 'setting them straight' and what I normally do. In the end I decided that I knew this person well enough to give a little hard truth. 

I guess my question for this month's IWSG is, how do you go about giving advice and when do you take the kid gloves off?

As always, have fun and keep writing. 

Update Post!!

UPDATE

The Book

So as you may or may not know, I had a "working" copy of my third installment to the Light Bringer's Saga a few months ago and I trashed it, or at least most of it. It didn't work and I was rushing myself and trying to force it. Well I have been working on it pretty steadily and feel I am about 70% done with my draft. I might even have it finished by December 1st. I have wanted to get this story out for quite some time, but it is the resolution to many things that I have built over the course of the series and it had to be right. 

Having said that I have have another book waiting in the wings and can't wait to start work on it. I already have about 30k words done on it so really I am just waiting to jump back in. If you are interested in learning more jump back to 2013 by clicking HERE. 

The Store

So I have post about my wife's store before.

 She makes really cool jewelry. 

I have also talked about my clay figures before. 

Well they are all in the same shop now. 

Anything from rings and necklaces, to Dragon's and Batsy Cats. Also because I know people :D if you enter the coupon code Bax20(caps don't matter) you can get 20% off your order, good until Dec. 15th. So if you like handmade, unique jewelry and figures or know someone who does. Click here and check out the store. Layla's Trinkets.

Something Cool

So if you are not following S.K. Anthony's blog...get on that lol. But also something really fun happened over there. I personally love watching YouTube for anything about books. Discussion, author interviews, book reviews, anything really. So it was really cool to see S and her friend and fellow author Raymond Esposito bring us Writer's After Dark. A fun new YouTube channel dedicated to all things books. Go see them argue over which is better, Romance or Horror?!

Something Inspiring

This may be slightly hard to hear, but I thought it was pretty cool. Alan Moore( Watchmen, From Hell, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ) talks about writing and publishing. 

Anyway I hope you guys found something in there you liked. How is your writing going? Did you need some gift ideas and found the store to be that fix? Planning on checking out Writer's After Dark? I hope everyone is enjoying their November. As always, have fun and keep writing.

Chest of Awesome!!

A new feature on the blog where I want to present awesome things from my month that I want to share with everyone. Could be anything, but I want to try and do it at least once a month.

ROUND 1

The first is this awesome book. Anyone who knows me, knows I love Harry Potter. I also love reading to my kids. My oldest read for themselves now, but my youngest I get to read to all the time. He is still a little young for this book, but when I saw it I had to buy it. 

It is actually the full book, but it is filled with awesome little pictures of the world and the characters. I can't wait for my little buddy and me to read it together. 

ROUND 2

The next awesome thing is this book by Raymond Esposito (<--click me). I actually won this in a contest a while ago, but my reading pile is massive and I just got around to reading it. I will admit that I am not a huge consumer of all things Zombie. I love the Walking Dead, comic and show. I also love the comedic movies about zombies like Shawn of the Dead and Zombieland. 

Still even I can tell that this book was a refreshing take on the "zombie" thing. I put that word in quotes because...well go read and find out. Honestly the book was really great and I enjoyed it thoroughly. This is the first book in the Creepers Saga and after reading I am thinking of rearranging my to-be-read pile to read the second one sooner. 

Find the books here

BOOK 1

BOOK 2

BOOK 3

ROUND 3

The last thing in this post is something I am getting back into. Writing is my first love when it comes to art, but it is not my only love. Many times when I get deep into a book I need some kind of artistic palate cleanse. Sometimes I paint, sometimes I draw, but I also started to make things out of clay. It is actually really fun, but I had to stop to focus on my writing. Well last night I got the itch and so I made this new little green dragon.

  Anyway, what do you guys think of the HP Illustrated book? Do you like zombies? Anyone got some art to share? As always have fun and keep writing. 

IWSG

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! To join click HERE!

Derivative. It is a word with pretty negative connotations. When people say it, you can just picture the person rolling their eyes and scoffing.

I understand to a degree. I know that as you read more, it becomes harder to find that original thing. I do have a problem though condemning books for being similar to other books.

I have two major points on this subject. The first is this. No matter what idea you have it has to conform to a story and doing so will change it. I mean as long as you are not specifically plagiarizing something your story will be different because it is yours.

You could grab three writers give them the same story idea and get three completely different stories. We are the greatest resource of a story because the information is filtered through our minds and our experiences. 

My second point is that everything is new to someone. 350,000 babies are born a day, trust me I Googled it. So just think of how many new readers we get all the time. There are people who read Inheritance Cycle and it made them lifetime readers. Does it matter than that The Dragonriders of Pern series came first? I don't think so. I think what is important is that a writer finds their readers. Maybe a younger writer will bring a new perspective to an old story.

At the end of the day being a great writer is more important than what you are writing. If you love vampires and feel you have a great story to tell then tell it. Zombies? Go for it. Post apocalyptic story with a female lead? Hey you are brave, but go for it. 

At the end of the day writing trumps all. There are readers waiting for you. You just have to get good enough to reach them.

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well, Thanksgiving is coming soon. As always have fun and keep writing.