To outline or not to outline?

So for the last couple days I've seem to hit a wall with my writing. I sit down and I start to write but the words didn't seem to flow like usual and I felt like my story was becoming stagnant. Up to that point I had always written on the fly just whatever ideas came into my head I put down on the page but I've seen now that that way has added to the snails pace that my writing has been going. I've done some research and some writers outline and some don't I thought that I was a no outline kinda person but today on a beautiful Idaho day I decided to take a walk in the park near my house and sit down and try to outline. And it worked!! It felt easier to create events in sequence and then create the dialogue and action based on bigger events to work toward. And so today from outlining I think I've written my best scene yet! So my advice would be try both methods see which one works the best! but I think outlining really helps to create a good structure for your writing and to help speed up the process! So take a second a write out some ideas in sequence, they don't have to be long explanations just write down and visual each scene as it happens then as your writing work on filling the gaps between them you'll see how much easier your writing becomes when you have scenes to build towards!

May your words flow freely and your pencils stay sharp!

Whats this thing all about?

So I wanted to make a post that sort of clarifies what I want to achieve with this blog. Like many others I've found that writing can be a very hard task to do alone and like a lot of people I use the Internet because it's an amazing source of information. What I want to do is not only to document my transformation as a writer but to make a place where other writers can come and learn, and read, and find answers to questions that they might have. I've learned so far that writing for me isn't something I just do. Like reading, or playing guitar, or watching a movie but writing has become a way for me to be myself and to express myself in ways that other things can't help me do. Everyday sitting down and creating something that I myself have conceived in my mind is such an amazing feeling. And I want to be able to share that feeling with others that might be to hesitant or not confident enough in themselves to take that leap. So I need you, the people that read this to help me to extend my invitation to other writers. If you know people interested in writing or someone who has talked about it lead them here. Show them a post anything but this blog isn't just for me. It's not just something to help me put my thoughts down but its a place where others can come and learn from the things that I've done and the mistakes I've made. Because you never know that person that you help might be the next Shakespeare or C.S. Lewis or J.K. Rowling. But even if they aren' at least you've helped someone to do something that they've have up till now only dreamt of doing. Help me help others.

May your words flow freely and your pencils stay sharp!

Writing is just like anything else.

Did you know writing takes some real time? I didn't really know that till after a week of writing I seemed to have gotten no where. Maybe a page or to but what I've figured out is that writing takes specific time. You can't just go through your day writing little bits at a time, spread out over a whole day. I mean you can but you won't get as much quality writing time in. But if you set a time say maybe two or three hours that you delegate just to writing you'll will see some big improvements in the amount you can write. Make yourself a comfortable place to just be alone and write and you'll be amazed at the content you can create. By delegating a certain time you can put more effort in to the task at hand. Clear your mind of all other things and just envelope yourself in your story. Another thing I have found helpful is setting daily and weekly goals.  Goals can help you visualize what your after and better motivate you do achieve them. Goals like reaching a certain number of words or reaching a certain point in your story by certain dates. These can help you to stay motivated and work hard. Motivation is a big factor I know for me sometimes you just don't feel like writing or "Oh I'll just write more tomorrow" but you HAVE and I repeat HAVE to push through that. Writing everyday even if its for a shorter amount of time will help you get through those little speed bumps cause if you make excuses for one day they will just continue to roll over to the next day and so on and so forth. If you don't feel like working on a specific piece one day work on something else, the biggest thing is you're writing every day. Just like any sport or activity it takes practice to get good at it it's the same with writing but sometimes we don't see that. Professional basketball players get good because their in the gym every day and so professional writers need to be sitting down in front of a pad of paper or their computer every day. Professional sounds like a big term, not all of us are professional writers and neither am I but practice is the key to being good at anything so if you want to become a good writer then practice is just part of the deal. Writing is like anything else it takes time and practice.

May your words flow freely and your pencils stay sharp!

The world we live in.

There are things all around us that captivate us whether its a beautiful pink rose, the rustling of autumn leaves, the smell of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. The thing about writing is the world is your giant box of descriptors. Everything around us can be used if we just look hard enough and open our eyes to them. Today for example. I am a student at Northwest Nazarene University and in our chapel service our choir sang. The music was absolutely gorgeous and while sitting and listening to them sing an idea came to me for a scene in my book. Using things like this can open doors to new ideas and the best thing to do is write them down. Even if it seems like what your writing doesn't mean a lot like the bright color of a fire hydrant but the point is your practicing seeing. And you never know maybe someday that bright red fire hydrant will make its way into one of your stories, you just never know. One way I've learned to work on this skill is by taking a walk. Set time aside to just walk and observe, pay extra attention to things that you don't usually pay attention too. And when you get back write them all down, write down all the things you remember. You can't imagine the new things you will see, the new smells, the new sounds, the world is full of amazing things and sometimes in our busy day to day lives we miss those things. Doing this can help you see the world you live in more clearly and by doing so more clearly create a world for your readers. So takes some time, open your eyes and see what you might of been missing because what you've been missing might help you to truly see.

What's in a name?

Chris, John, Amy, Alex, who do you think of when you hear those names? Probably people in your life, family, friends, neighbors, your archenemy. Names are powerful and choosing a name for your character or characters can be a daunting task. Everyone has certain predispositions about names because of experiences that they have shared with those certain people and as a writer you think about that. Well I guess I don't know about others but for me picking a name or names is important. Names can create or break emotional attachment to the character and when your writing you want people to empathize with your characters to form a bond with them throughout your work. I mean think about this names for example, Harry. You can't tell me that Harry Potter wasn't the first thing that came to you mind. Or for some of you older folks When Harry Met Sally which is understandable. Name recognition is a powerful thing and creating a character like that can help put your book or whatever type of work that you're doing out there. Names can create a type of environment around a character that wherever that character goes it brings it with them. Boldness, creepiness, attraction, evil, or good those are just examples and if you can create a character and name them accordingly you can create a famous or infamous character. Which makes me geek out because I just think that is really cool! For me right now some of my characters have a [Insert name here] and the search still continues so good luck and search hard for the perfect names.

A Writer's Reality??

What does that title even mean.... Well it means two things and I chose it for that very reason. If you read the description of the blog you might of been able to pick up on this but if not here is an explanation. A Writer's Reality is two things one its the reality of actually being a writer which for me right now is a lot harder then it seems. Writing for school your always under a deadline and it always has to be a certain length but writing for pleasure I guess you can say seems to go a lot slower. Mostly because the idea your creating is an every changing thing, when it comes to a specific topic say for school you can read about it, you can research it and you can pretty much know everything about it. but when your writing a story straight from your imagination it's a lot more difficult to fully understand everything thus making the process slower and longer. This frustrates me at times because I feel as if I'm not getting anything done. But this truth has help me press on and it's the fact that there are probably millions of people that believe they can write and they think that they have a book in them or a poem or whatever but they don't actually do it. They just tell themselves that they can. But I'm actually writing I'm actually going through with what I want to do and that means I'm one step ahead of all those other people and when I'm done writing my novel I know I'll look back and be glad that I did. Switching gears to the second meaning of the title which is really more self explanatory but A Writer's Reality is the attempt to create a new reality for your readers so that they can immerse themselves completely in your writing. Every story that I read I rate it by that very thing. It's ability to transport me into the story as if I'm a spectator in the events unfolding. I don't know about all of you but reading for me is one of the best escapes and now writing is helping me to create my own escape not something that someone else has created but a world all my own. And that for me has been an awesome experience so far. So my final thing is if you want to write and you believe that you have something to write then do it, don't sit in the "I think I could do this" stage but take that chance and do it.

Here's a sneak peak!

The hallway extended into absolute darkness, doors lined the walls. "Where are they?" Nathan thought. He could hear their voices but every door he opened revealed nothing but empitness. Nathan could feel his heart rate rising. Panic began to grip his body. "Mom! Dad!" he screamed "where are you? I need you, I can't do this alone!" Nathan woke with a start as thunder cracked its mighty whip and lightning flashed outside his window. "It was only a dream" he thought. It had been three years since his parents George and Lily Rodrick went missing. The police searched for months but no information was found on their whereabouts, it was as if they just vanished.
Nathan wondered how this could have happened to him and his family, they were so normal. His father was an office worker in downtown New York and his mother taught night classes at the local community college. The three of them had lived in a small two bedroom apartment. They had lived there since Nathan was two years old, but 6 days after his twelfth birthday is when everything changed.
So many police, they searched every room, every square inch of the apartment but they found nothing to aide the search for his missing parents. The apartment became a prison for the happiness that he once had. The night after the police search his uncle came and picked him up from the police station and from then on that is whom he stayed with. His uncle Steven lived in a small town in upstate New York with his two daughters Marie and Jennifer. Every summer he stayed with them and during the school year he traveled to a boarding school called Hamshire Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Nathan sat up, his mind slowly pulling itself back to the present. His room was still and quiet. He leaned over and looked at his clock. It was 3:00 a.m. He had five more hours until his first class, but the harder he tried to forget his dream the more difficult it was to fall asleep. His mind swirled with questions. What did it mean? Could they be alive and trying to contact me somehow? His parents voices still echoing in his mind. "I miss them so much" he thought to himself, and in his sadness his mind became still and sleep overcame him.

Writing it all down.

Write.Stop. Read. Edit. Write. Stop. Read. Edit. I talked to an old high school teacher recently and she warned me against this type of writing. The reason is because it hinders the creative process. And it stops ideas from flowing from you mind in the order that they come to you which can lesson the strength of your content. The most efficient way of writing a novel or anything for that matter is getting it all out! By doing that you complete the idea and once you get everything out then its time to look back over it. I know I really struggle with this and its from growing up in a "get everything right the first time society" we have such an expectation about how everything looks and if it doesn't look right we have to fix it but in the writing process there is a time to write and a time to edit and they are completely different. So new writing style = Write. Write. Write. Write. Write. Writing finished. Edit. Edit. Edit. Edit.

Understanding the craft.

Words, there are millions upon millions of words in this world. Words of different languages, different meanings words are what shape our understanding of things. Words are all around us. and understanding how to use those words and what they truly mean is imperative to creating an all encompassing reality in your story. an awesome quote from one of my favorite movies V for Vendetta is said by the character V. "Words are of the means to meaning and for those who will listen the enunciation of truth." every time I listen to that line it hits a chord somewhere. In a sense he means words are freedom they let the mind travel through the imaginary world. It lets people think and open their minds up to new ideas. That is what I want my writing to do I want people when they read my work to SEE. I want it to open their eyes to something that they had never seen before something that can rocket them away from their current situation and transport them to a place that changes the way they perceive the world. I want my writing to bolster the imagination of people because imagination creates change. Imagination, creativity, and ingenuity can be catalysts for this ever changing world to push it in the right direction. For some including myself believe that writing is something that only talented people can do and for the most talent plays a huge factor but nothing is done without practice and be able to create words and story in this way will take hard work that I'm not looking forward to too be honest but I know it has to be done. Practice in the sense that I'm using it is not the forced practice of school I'm talking about something that opens up your creative senses something that forces you to think without fear of the thoughts that crawl into your mind. Practice in this sense is the pathway to creating something that makes those who read it "open their eyes to see and their ears to hear and their hearts to change". I can thank Jesus for those words taken from the book of Matthew. Think about that for yourself, think about how words impact you everyday. And maybe together we can use the power of words to fix this world.

The story of my life.

What makes an exciting story? I sort of touched on this in my last post. Is it action, love, transformation? There are so many different things that occur in a story, take our lives for example our lives are ever changing ever evolving stories even if we think of them as that or not. They are filled with love, hate, excitment, sadness, and a continues barrage of decisions. Everything pushes us towards and shapes who we are. Something I'm struggling with right now is how can I write a story that I enjoy when I don't enjoy my own story. I'm not talking about my family or my friends or my circumstances but I'm talking about myself. Up till today and probably but not hopefully in to the future I was and am an unmotivated, lazy, procrastinative person. I can't explain why I guess I was born this way and even now its kind of wierd to admit these things about myself but all my life I've done nothing and up until now I never fully realized that. There have been amazing things that have happened in my life, amazing people, amazing events but I know now that I've taken it all for granted. The scariest thing that you come to understand about life is that it will be over sooner than you think. and now I've been thinking of all the time I've wasted. What has it all added up to? What at this point in my life do I have to show for the previous 19 years? Not much. I see now that I'm at a crossroads of a very important decision to continue on this path or change directions and make something new of my life something I can be proud of. The journey that I'm on to become a fiction writer is more then writing and creating a new reality for my readers but its also a journey to understand my own reality and what my life is and what it can be. To answer my own question I believe that there is no form to an exciting story, yes there are certain elements of stories that draw us in and keep us reading but for the reader is an individual no one but themselves can understand what truly makes them happy. and if your life story makes you happy and what you do makes you happy then that my friend is one exciting story. Whoever is out there reading this don't let yoursef be stuck in the place that I've been stuck for my whole life. Make that decision to change not for others but for yourself so that when your time comes you can look back with no regret. Leave nothing unfinished, run every race, turn over every stone, and live life to the fullest.

Drama anyone?

What is the most enticing part of a story? is it the action, the love, the transformation? yes but I think the biggest grabber of someones attention is DRAMA! The event or events that are so filled with emotion and so heart wretchingling sappy that you cant help but feel for the character. I just spent an entire evening watching Gossip Girl with my girlfriend and no I didnt choose it she decided to watch it and I wanted to do what would make her happy but the point is shows like that live off drama its the main reason people tune in week after week. and it creates a reality of Thank the Lord my life isn't like that but even though we watch it for that very reason because we like living through characters. Its as if were living our lives through anothers eyes delving in and becoming all that is that certain character. Be real with yourself everyone has a favorite character from a T.V. show/ movie. Even when you were a kid cartoons like Tom and Jerry it was all based on how Tom was gonna try and catch Jerry each episode even though you knew he never would. Its the same with DRAMA! We know its going to happen but yet we still let it shock us. Why is that? Maybe once I understand this I might actually be able to write a beginning scene that makes my readers want to keep turning the pages. Cause after all isn't that what writings about? Keeping your reader interested the whole time their reading your work. One can only hope.

Creating a character.

One insanely hard part about writing is understanding your own characters. I think for me right now I have sort of naiveness towards my character because im just writing to write but how do I create a story without truly understanding the character for which im writing. I have to step in his/her shoes I have to become someone else or even multiple characters for the entirety of a book.

Putting it on paper.

Translation of ideas from your mind to the paper is more difficult then I anticipated its not the idea thats hard but an idea that has weight. Something you can carry on for a few pages if your writing a childrens book but how much weight does an idea need to write a novel? Or am I just overcomplicating things by putting so much pressure on one single idea to get me through an entire 300-500 pages. But I mean it seems that all other writers, the ones that write something of woth have an AHA! sort of moment. What does it take to come up with an idea like that? Talent, Formal training?

Where do ideas come from?

Originality.. I think thats the biggest thing I'm struggling with right now. I know that all the books and things I've read create a treasure trove of ideas and scenarios but how can I put my own story down when all the others are crowding in my head. Names, places, plots its like there is so much in my head that I can't find something that I can actually sit down and write about. I think that stems from the fear of being regected I know that not all ideas are A+ but who wants to be told that what they wrote sucks! Not me thats for sure so I guess the thing now is to get over that fear and just write what comes into my head without bias of the words or ideas. wish me luck.

The Journey begins.

Writing has always been fascinating to me as a kid I loved to read and it just dawned on me that shouldn't a love for reading fiction translate into loving to write it? It only seems logical. Who wouldn't you want to create a story that maybe thousands of people would delve into and become engrossed in the reality that you shaped inside your mind. Seems like a dream to me at this point and it seems like a hard road ahead if im ever going to see that happen.