Change

To be a writer you need to be able to change easily.

Not yourself, but your habits, your character's names, your book's title.

I recently learned that if I write a book before knowing the main problem, the book dies. Yet I've stubbornly persisted in ignoring that, hoping I'd become one of those instinctive writers that "never know where the story will take them."

So I had to change my preconceived notion of what type of writer I am.

The quicker I can let
go of things (the story I set out to write, the beginning that I thought was
good, the dumb bunny metaphor that I loved) the quicker I'm able to move on and
find something better.

~Todd Mitchell

You must be able to adapt. Don't latch onto that sentence that you're so proud of.

Writers need to have a thick skin, not only for critics, but for yourself.

Letting go is hard. But a lot of times, it's necessary.

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The Irony of Blogging

While I was on this little break of mine, I got thinking about how much time I spend on Blogger, which, ironically, takes away from my writing time. (And, oh yes, my personal life.)

Therefore, I'm only gonna publish every MONDAY and FRIDAY.(I'll still respond to any comments you guys give.)

I hope you understand, and I'll check back with you Friday. :)

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Enthusiasm

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

There’s this marvelous navigation system that tells us if our plot is going in the right the direction or not; it’s enthusiasm

If I don’t feel excited to write a certain scene, then most likely that scene has no place in the story.

Today I attempted to write the scene that I felt no enthusiasm towards. I couldn’t write it. Yet the plot depends heavily on that scene occurring.
So I changed it. I tweaked the setting, how the events occur. I added a couple of conflicts, stirred up some secrecy.

I enjoyed writing it, which signaled to me that I was on the right track.

You should never dread writing something. Pay attention to how excited you are to write. Do your fingers itch to scribble it out or do you procrastinate?

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Staying in Character Part 2: Writing in First Person

For some writers (me, for example) it's difficult to have a different voice when writing in first-person.

One of my stories is from a boy's point of view, the other is from a girl's and they sound, if not exactly the same, very similar.
They both sound like me.

So I've been trying lately to create a character completely different from myself and then slip into their skin.

Beforehand, I started writing in first-person before even figuring out who they were. That only resulted in a duplicate of myself every time.
You are looking through their eyes.

What do they think about?
Are they slow and hesitant to make decisions or headstrong and reckless?
Are they optimistic or cynical?
How do they see the world?

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Inspiration Part 3

Inspiration (stopmotion) from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.

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