As the holidays and year-end tackle us in full force, I am reminded of something very important. I spend so much time planning, scheduling, writing, editing, and working on book-related tasks that sometimes I forget why I love what I do. Sometimes I forget that I am Heidi Angell, not Heidi the writer, Heidi the Storyteller, I am not my story. Do not lose yourself.
I have seen some of you out there doing the same. You are lamenting not hitting your word count goals. You are crying that you absolutely hate your characters. Some want to scrap your work and just start over.
Suddenly so many of my writer friends are saying things like “This is horrible, I suck, I can’t DO this! Whatever made me think I wanted to be a writer?”
Kick those negative thoughts to the curb! Take a deep cleansing breath. Take a moment to remember why you love this, why you wanted to do this.
Even though I am stressed, even though I am scrambling, even though I have this horrible fear that I am going to totally flop on my face and fail, I am also exhilarated by the people rallying around me to help, I am thrilled as I read through the work I am fixing and go “Hot damn, that’s actually pretty good writing!”
Writing is an adventure, publishing is an epic adventure. And the key part of an adventure is that we have to open ourselves up to danger. We have to struggle, we have to fight. Unfortunately, we don’t live in the fantasy realm, and it isn’t guaranteed that if you just stay true to the path, you will eventually make it.
But if you don’t stay true, then you can never make it, right?
So, here’s to the madness that is this profession of writing. Here’s to the chaos, the stress, the tears, the hair-pulling, the deep depression, the highs, the exhilaration, and the hope.
Remember, no matter how you feel about your current WIP, don’t let those negative thoughts reflect on how you feel about yourself. You are not your writing project. You are you, and from me to you:
If you are feeling overwhelmed, take a step back. Remind yourselves what it was that inspired you to write this story. Share your favorite bit you’ve done on your project so far with your fellow writer in the comments below.
NaNoWrimo. This is one of the most popular events in the writing world. It is huge, with over 312,000 participants in 2016, but only 34,678 completed their 50K word count goal and earned the badge, according to the NaNoWriMo 2016 annual report. That’s just around 11% of participants who “won”.
Now, don’t get me wrong, everyone who participated and got more words on the page is a winner in my mind. But wouldn’t it be cool to get that nifty little badge, and be part of that 11% who actually finished their word count goals?
Uh, YASS! So, here are 5 fast and hard tips to get you well on your way to winning that shiny badge with, or without, the support of a community. Set Word Count Goals
1 Set Word Count Goals
And stick to them. Now, most NaNo support groups will tell you “Plan on 1,666 words a day. That’s all you need to meet NaNo.” And it’s true. It really is. But what if life happens? You KNOW life will happen, so if you set your word count goal for that, and you miss a day, or you fall short one day, or 4, or 6 then you get off track, and when you get off track, you get discouraged, and suddenly by day 15 you’re 15K words behind goal, and who can make that up? I know. I’ve been there.
But you don’t have to be. Sit down and look at your calendar and plan accordingly. The first year I did NaNo I was in my senior year of college with final papers due and exams in the first week of December, had two kids not even in school yet, and I was working a full-time job. I managed to finish 50K words no problem. No, I am not Superwoman. But I am a super planner. I knew that I wouldn’t have time for three days around each paper due date. I knew that I wouldn’t get a lot of writing done over Thanksgiving break. I knew that I couldn’t commit to 1,666 words a day. But I did know that I could carve out specific blocks of writing time each week. And I did. And I figured out the number of words I needed for each of those days, and that’s what I shot for.
Things aren’t any easier this year, as I have joined the executive team at OWS and we are in the thick of planning 2018, have several huge marketing events we are planning in November/ December, I have a blog, and 9 books that I need to promote on my own time, am planning on a long road trip the week of Thanksgiving, and the list goes on.. (See, I am a neurotic planner. Some would say it’s my most redeeming feature. My kids would disagree!)
I know that I have 22 days that I can carve out writing time. For a couple of those, I will spend 6 hours stuck in a car, tap, tap, tapping away. I have carved out 180 hours of writing time in that busy schedule. (Hint, I cheated and suckered my boys into doing NaNo with me this year, so I was able to schedule some of that “writing time” as “family time” and do some write ins. The hubs is even chipping in to do the music and food. Win/win/win!) With 180 hours, that means that I need to average 278 words an hour. I set up my NaNo time in my calendar, and based on how much time I have allotted to each of those days, I set my word count goal for that day.
2 Plan Ahead
I didn’t get to do this as much as I wanted this year. But I am also working on a sequel story, so I should be ok. However, when it comes to NaNo, the achievers plan out their storyline, character traits, etc all way before. I know, I am in several writing groups and all of October there were posts about NaNo. See, the rule of NaNo is that you have to write 50K words during that month. But there is no rule against pre-planning. So do as much pre-planning as you can. Even if you are a “pantser” and don’t like doing all of that, but letting the story just “come to you” at least give yourself the beginning and end to work with, and maybe 2 or 3 pit stops along the way. Pantsing is fun, but it won’t get your story where it needs to be in 1 month.
And don’t just plan ahead with your story-line. Plan ahead with your writing. You set those times, stick to them, even if you hit your word count goal for the day. Keep writing. Because let’s be real, it is a heck of a lot easier at the beginning of NaNo than it is at the end. You can and will be able to write a lot more the first week than you will the last week. For NaNo 2015, my word count goal was 2K words a day. The first several writing sessions I actually wrote 4-5K words a day. I let that flow and energy run. I was way ahead by week 3. But life, as it does, threw some unexpected curveballs my way. Extended family decided to come for Thanksgiving, seriously cutting into my scheduled writing time. I lost 4 of my planned writing days to that. But it didn’t matter, because I wrote ahead I still managed to finish NaNo with more than my 50K word count.
3 Put It Off
No, not the writing. Lol. nice try! But anything that slows down your word count. Need a new character that you didn’t think of in your pre-planning? Worried about details that you need for a scene to make it come alive? Need to know exactly how parkour works for a chase scene you are writing? Any other time, I would go and do the research on the fly as I am writing the scene. I am a linear writer and researcher. But not during NaNo. Don’t do that to yourself, or you will lose precious writing time.
Instead, use a couple of neat tricks to get around this. When you don’t know a character’s name, just call them something generic. I go with JD (John/Jane Doe.) Lol. Something quick, short, and easy to find and replace after Nano when you sit down to do the fleshing out and editing of your amazing work. But what if you have more than one character? JD2, JD3. It’s really pretty easy.
Hit a spot that needs research? Make a note. I like doing NaNo in Google docs because I can just real quick highlight the section and add a comment “Research Parkour.” boom, keep writing.
Have an area that you know you will need to flesh out? Do the same.
But, what if it is an IMPORTANT part of the plot. Surely, then you need to stop and do the research, right? Well… this is one of those where you need to weigh where you are in your word count goals, and how much time you have to do the research. Don’t let it get you lost down the rabbit hole that is the internet and put you behind. If it is integral, but you are behind schedule, move on to a different scene. (Or, you can choose to work through the tangle and risk missing your word count goals, because at the end of the day even if you don’t win the badge, you are on your way to an awesome story, and whether you hit the 50K word goal or not, you still have more words down than when you started.)
4 Never End at “The End”
This is actually a tip that I use even when I’m not doing the mad dash that is NaNo. Writing sprints are a common recommendation for authors who struggle with the whole “butt in chair” problem. They are great with a group, as Jo Michaels recommends in her article “Writing Sprints: What and How”, or you can do them on your own using your phone timer. The one thing that no one talks about with a writing sprint is that you should aim not to end a scene at the end of the sprint. Same with any of your writing sessions. I never quit writing at the end of a scene or at the end of a chapter.
I know, this is counter-intuitive, but as I am one of very few writers I know who never struggles with staring blankly at the screen for what feels like forever trying to decide what to write next, perhaps it’s worth heeding this advice.
Here’s why. As satisfying as it is to finish that scene and put your pen down (or close your laptop, in my case) and walk away, when you sit down next to write, where do you start? You have to reboot your brain along with your laptop. You have to look over your notes (if you’re a plotter) and figure out what scene needs to happen next. That all takes sooo much time. But if you are in the heat of the moment, writing the scene, the story is flowing. The juices are there. You’re already warmed up. You finish the scene and you have a pretty good idea where it’s going next. Get that next scene started, push it out there. Give yourself at least enough that when you read the paragraph before you write next time, it will fast-boot your creative juices and as you finish reading it you just know what needs to come next.
Seriously, never have I ever sat down to write on a work in progress and not been sure what to write next. This works.
5 Don’t Give Up
Nothing worth doing is ever easy. This is my mantra for life.
Developing the Never Give Up mentality will carry you well in every facet of life. NaNo, like a lot of things, always sounds like it will be fun, exciting, glamorous. But when we get into the thick of it. (I’m looking at you, week three of NaNo) it is far from glamorous. It is a hot zombifying mess of self-doubt, lack of sleep, story detours, and fear of failure. If you let yourself, it is so easy to quit.
But don’t give up. So what if you still have 30K words to go, and there’s no way you can make it? Well, if you quit now you will end with only 20K words and a sense of failure. If you push through the desire to quit, even if you only manage 20K more words and you miss NaNo by 10K, you are still 40K words towards your finished novel.
Yes, you may think that this story is crap, it is unsalvageable, why even keep trying. That’s just the lack of sleep talking. You might be looking at a lot of editing and re-writes at the end of NaNo, but don’t start that now. Keep pushing through to that word count. It will be worth it. I promise. Worry about the re-writes in January after a well-deserved break.
Sure, you are so sick of your characters fighting with your inspiration at every turn. We all get that. It’s like living in a very small box with a whole bunch of people for a month. Even the ones you loved at the beginning, might make you want to kill them. Hey, if that makes you feel better, go ahead, kill a few. I swear, I bet George RR Martin kills a lot of characters during NaNo. Again, after that well-deserved break, during re-writes, you might decide that they deserve to live. Worry about that later.
Keep fighting through the muck and the yuck. It will definitely be worth it.
And if you need a little extra support (Because, let’s be honest, who doesn’t?) come join Author Anonymous We will be doing a lot of great NaNo support groups throughout the month, including word sprints, write-ins, and complaining about how exhausted we are. Misery always loves company. But we will also be building incredible bonds going through the trenches of NaNo together. It is totally worth it.
Shakespeare was wrong, names are important. So when creating your characters for fiction work, it is important to give them character names that suit their personality. Unless, of course, you are trying to be ironic. Like naming a big, hulking, girl Grace. Either way, this is an important step to developing your character and should not be taken lightly.
I always have a hard time with character names. I want to name my characters something original and creative. I loathe generic names like Bob, Joe, Jeff, James and Tommy. But you cannot have all of your characters have super-original names. It is emotionally taxing as an author to find so many original and creative names. Keep in mind that strange names can also lead to confusion for your audience. For example, in the Harry Potter series, I had Hermione pronounced in my head Her-meee-on. Boy, was I frustrated when she demonstrated the pronunciation in the book as Her-my-oh-neee!
Another example is my main character for Elements of a Broken Mind. Her name is Clear Angell. I had to re-write her introduction because several of my testers were confused as to why I had capitalized clear. And I may have to change the last name because most people don’t realize it is pronounced Angel. Curses!!
Can you imagine how hard it was naming my children? That is how hard it should be for you to name your characters. Your characters are your creation and in a sense your children. You want them to have original names that will stick with the reader long after the book is over. (Laura Croft, anyone?)
Naming Tips
How do you go about picking a name? You have your lists, right? Now, go bookmark one of those online baby name sites (my favorites are Baby Center and Babynames) and look through the names and their definitions. Find one you like that suits your character. If you already have a name picked out, check it in the registry. Sounds easy, right? Hahahahaha!!! I am working on a Zombie story and have changed my main character’s name ten times. I can’t get past the name part.
The name is probably the first introduction of your character and before you get a chance for the audience to
get to know them, they will be automatically imbued with certain characteristics that your readers will associate with that name. Some of those you cannot predict because they are based on personal experience. But some of them will be almost universal standards based on the meanings of the names.
You also need to pay attention to your setting when naming a character. For example, if one of the characters from Pride and Prejudice had been named Tiffany or Lana that would have been weird! It would have caused a mental bump for the readers. They might not have realized why it was awkward or uncomfortable for them, but they would know that it broke the spell that was being weaved by the author. When you look up the name on your baby name site, they will have an origin listing. The origins of a name will aid in your determination of whether it is appropriate for your character, setting, and plot.
Character names need to work together, defining their relationships with one another. For example, twins often have names that sound similar, like Jen and Julie. To do this with two friends in your story may indicate a deeper bond than just friends.
Despite its lack of commonality in reality, we like couples’ names to flow together. Having two very incongruous names, like Toby and Graciella, for your main characters may be awkward if they are to have a romantic interest in one another. But having names that are too similar, like Jeff and Jen, may be banal. It is important to make sure that the names work together, like Romeo and Juliet! (But please do not decide to go with Rome and Julie, unless you are doing a modern re-take of Romeo and Juliet… even then… maybe not!)
Do not neglect this very important aspect of your writing. Make sure you get the right name for your character so that people will care to remember them! What are some great character names you have come up with? Worst character names ever? Share in the comments below!
For those of you who don’t know, the month of July has been one long list of volunteer service at my house. From cub scout day camp to letting one of my closest friends crash on my couch, it has been a very hectic month. The biggest volunteer project I had, came in the form of creative director for my neighborhood’s summer connection program. All of these volunteer services have forced me out into the world again after thoroughly enjoying almost a year of working from home, setting my own schedule and having as much time for my craft as I desired.
This month of volunteer work reminded me of several lessons I experienced in my younger years and that I would like to review with you. 1. Not everyone appreciates art. 2. Think big, work small. 3. Work is hard! 4. Commitment is key and 5. Emergence is real.
Not Everyone Appreciates Art
OK, this is kind of vague and not entirely true. What I did learn is that not everyone likes art, not everyone realizes how hard art is and not everyone will think “Wow, she is an author! That is so cool!!”
The first day of my volunteer project, I did not know what to expect. (A common feeling with any new job.) But I remembered my many encounters as a child with authors whom I had never heard of before and I thought these kids would be impressed that I was an author. Nope. Not even a little.
It was… disheartening. I had spent the last year of my life building my career, getting an agent, writing my little brains out and this group of kids were wholly unimpressed that I was going to be giving five hours a day, five days a week of my time to help them learn my craft and (I had hoped) inspire them to follow in similar footsteps.
There were days when I just wanted to scream with frustration. I was barely able to maintain my blog. My creative energies were completely sapped and it took everything I had to force myself to do some editing in the evenings after chasing 30 to 60 kids all day. I would be lying if I said that I got much done.
I had to re-develop the tough skin that I protected myself with in college when people would laugh at my dreams. I had to bite back tears of humiliation and frustration when the children said insensitive and thoughtless things like. “So, basically you are a stay-at-home mom.” Or “My dad can’t find a job either.” Ouch!
Think Big, Work Small
This is something my dad taught me during summers when I would help him with work. It applies to every facet of your life. The gist is that you need to be able to see the big picture and at the same time focus on the small tasks that will get you to the big picture. It is really important to have that big picture so that when your original small steps have to change (as they invariably will) you can adapt them to best suit the big picture.
When I signed on for this volunteer project, I had planned activities for children ages 5 to 12 years. That was what I was told. No one knew how many kids there would be in the program, but I figured that there would be other volunteers to help with projects. I planned big. I had craft projects, a plan to work in groups and have the kids make their own movies, an art show at the end for the parents to see all the work the kids had done. I planned on making a huge difference in these kids’ lives. (In one month in the middle of the summer? Yeah, I was a little naive.)
Then I got there the first day and found out that my mother and I were the only volunteers signed up and that one lady from the city was going to be there every day… and we had 66 applications for the program. 66 kids to three adults… oh my!
And what an unruly group of kids, let me tell you! I had kids from three or four years of age, to teenagers up to 19. How was I going to keep all of these kids engaged and entertained with only two other people to help? Let alone teach anyone anything?
With my big plan still in mind, I adapted the activities as best I could to ensure that it would engage a much larger age group and.. well, there were many days that we had to change plans at the drop of a hat because the children just weren’t interested in what we were doing. There were some days that we ended early and there were many days that we spent more time outside while they played with the sports equipment.
Work is Hard
Now, I guess because I love what I do so very much, I have become a bit immune to this concept. I have been writing for so long that it just comes to me. I haven’t suffered from writer’s block in years and I gravitate toward art that I know. But writing is a job, just like any other. People think that artists and creative types don’t really work. They think of their times in art class and their times in creative writing and they think we do what we do because it comes naturally to us. It’s easy.
I taught an important lesson on our first day. I first asked them how many of them liked to draw, and how many liked to write. Several hands went up for drawing, but very few went up for writing. A lot of hands did not go up at all. I asked one kid why she didn’t raise her hand and she said she didn’t like to do either. I asked her why and she said, “because I’m not very good at it.” I told them that very few people are good at anything the first time they do it. It takes an average of 10,000 hours to become good at anything. That applies to anything in your life. Art, craftsmanship, school work, playing a musical instrument. Everything.
So many kids would ask me to help them with something we were doing because it was hard. Then they would sit back and expect me to do it for them. I wouldn’t do it. I would offer advice and encourage them to do it themselves. When they would get upset about the way something turned out, I would encourage them to start over and try again. Practice makes better, but perfect practice makes perfect.
Even if something is hard if you like what you do it doesn’t necessarily feel like work. That doesn’t mean it is easy. Work is still hard. That just means that you love what you do!
Commitment is Key
In this world of instant gratification, commitment has become a dirty word. Very few people have a commitment to anything anymore. But without commitment, you will not get anywhere in life. If you quit because it is hard or because it is taking longer than you thought or whatever reason crops up, then you will never reap the benefits.
I told the kids this but had my own personal trial by fire about halfway through the program. The adults were exhausted. The kids were very hard to manage, and the program wasn’t what we had anticipated. The city had initially offered to pay me because I was basically acting as the program director, but then they couldn’t find the funds. We had a couple of groups that were warring with each other and the heat was getting to all of us.
One day, I overheard the kids talking and they used a racial slur… a racial slur that could only apply to me or my family as we were the only ones of that race in the room. After all the time I had given and all the energy I had put into the program they were talking this way about me?! Well, I was under a lot of stress because of several other things going on and though I am not usually one to cry, I burst into tears. Which gave the teenagers something to brag about. They had made the white lady cry.
They were incredibly disrespectful about the whole thing and my mom totally lost it. She was done. She was not coming back. She quit. I can understand why she did what she did and would be lying if I wasn’t tempted to do the same thing. I had a lot on my plate. My house was a disaster, I had other people that needed me. My work was suffering and these kids were completely disrespectful and it just wasn’t worth the time.
But I had committed myself to this project. When I had calmed down, I realized that there were only four or five kids involved in the situation and there were 30 or 40 who had nothing to do with it. What would I accomplish if I quit? I would re-enforce racial stereotypes, I would give my children a reason to have racist feelings. I would effectually abandon a great group of kids, because of a few troublemakers. I stuck to it. There were days that were really hard. They thought by making me cry, they had broken me. They pushed harder to get rid of me. But those that wanted me there, that appreciated what I was doing, reached out more. In the end, even the ones who pushed me away were glad I was there, and when I offered a program teaching these kids how to use computers to create art, that core group that gave me such a hard time were some of the first to sign up!
Emergence is Real
Ok, so for those of you who have been out of school too long, Emergence Theory is the concept that the whole is worth more than the sum of its parts. The idea that the value of a home is worth more than each individual piece of wood that went into building it.
In this case, I went in and worked for four weeks with a group of kids from a low-income area. The point of the program was to keep these kids off the street and keep them from causing mischief. In the beginning, there were only three or four out of 66 that I would have said were worth anything. There were maybe ten that were too young to be able to tell. I was working with a tough crowd.
When it ended last Friday, I wanted to sigh with relief that it was over, but I was also proud. I walked out knowing that every single one of them had the potential to be great. Every single one of them had a gift or a talent. They had grown on me.
We as a group had overcome racial tensions, had learned great and wonderful things together, had created a community. They had motivated me, the one who wanted to quit on the second week, to give even more of my time to help them become better and to teach them more. We built each other up and as a group, we became worth more than even the best of us and had made the worst better than they were when we started.
I didn’t get the paycheck and I didn’t get much work done, but I learned so much from these kids. In the end, despite the hardships, I wouldn’t trade this summer’s volunteering for anything. There are some things I might have done differently, but I would sign up again to help next year in a heartbeat. The reminder of life lessons was worth more than the city wanted to pay me anyway!
I am putting together a free e-book for all my fantastic followers! It is a compilation of some of the activities the kids and I did to help inspire their creative side. I hope that you will find it useful as well. My goal is to have it out to you by the end of August!
In the meantime, what lessons have you learned (or re-learned) this summer and how can you apply it to your craft? Please share in the comments section
I would just like to say, that this is by no means a comprehensive explanation for every writer motivation out there, as we are all unique and creative individuals. However, why we write tends to be a common discussion among many of the writers I know. There are a lot of people who write, but not all people who write are writers. That being said, I wanted to take a moment to discuss three common reasons writers admit feeling driven to write because I personally am tired of the stereotypes of introverts curled up in cabins in the woods or tortured souls. (Or nutjobs who torture others. We only do that in our books, people!)
So, after nearly 15 years in the writing community, here are the most common reasons I have seen for writer motivation:
Mode of Expression
I think for most writers, words are an innate mode of expression. When we think of stories, often, the words are what drive us. We who write love the words and the ability to shape feelings and thoughts in such a manner that others can relate. While often people think that writers are able to do this because they feel more/differently than other people. If we felt more than other people felt, then they could not relate to our writing. But our ability to express those feelings that others feel, but are not able to express themselves, is what makes us unique and is what makes people read what we write. Even though they might not express themselves the way we do, they can relate to our expression and that is what makes it real for them. Now, for many words may be the first step in their mode of expression, but they may not be the main way that their work is displayed. For many, those words will go on to become video content, webtoons, movies, games, or something else combining a visual element. While those people are writers, they are also something else. Storytellers
The Need to be Storytellers
Another reason we write is to share stories. Most writers don’t write because they desire fame, fortune, and notoriety. Most of us write to tell stories. We want to enrich the world with new ideas and concepts. We feel a passion for our stories or perspectives and we want to show others that, much in the way that new parents show off their kids. We create through a labor of love for the material and the characters and we want the world to meet our characters and feel the same way we do.
Whether our medium is a blog, a vlog, short stories, novels, nonfiction, graphic novels, webtoons, spoken word, shorts, television, films, theater, speeches, courses- so many mediums that all require the passion of storytelling and often start with the written word. We want to tell a story that creates all the feels. It is much like having a child. The pain and labor that goes into creating it, the passion to share this beautiful thing you made, the dreams of how this beautiful thing will change your life and the lives of all it touches, the hopes for what it will become.
I think this is why many writers have a hard time with negative reviews. I mean, how would you feel if someone called your kid ugly? And our works are like our children. We spend so much time and energy making them, expecting little monetary reward in the end. (Sounds like parenting to me!!) And it is just as fulfilling as parenting too as any writer who is a parent can attest.
Sure, there are those who go into writing because they hear it’s easy. But they don’t last long. Because even for those who love it, it is not easy. It is frustratingly, beautifully, chaotically messy, and complex with brief moments of brilliance where everything just comes together. But it is not easy.
There are those who are told they have to publish- researchers, some colleges require staff to regularly publish, entrepreneurs, speakers, coaches all are told that publishing a book is the way to drive audiences to support their true passion. But unless they are a writer inside this is viewed as a daunting task to keep their true mode of expression intact.
There are those seeking the fastest path to Fame and Fortune. After a few books when they don’t feel like the next Hot Ticket, they move on to the next “fast path”.
Some just have one all-encompassing story they feel compelled to tell and once that is done they never feel the need to write again. There’s nothing wrong with that. We have some amazing one-hit wonders in the writing realm.
Because We Must
I can honestly say, and I think most writers would agree, that even if I knew my writing would never be published and I would never get paid, I could never stop writing. Sure, it is nice to receive some compensation for what I have done, but it is so much more rewarding to see someone smile or tell me that they love my character, or that they were not expecting that wild twist. I don’t write for the paycheck, I write to relate to others. Although I will (probably) never have a lot of money from writing, I will be far richer for the difference I have made in others lives. Unfortunately, some feel that because of that attitude that so many in the arts community in general have, we can be paid less. We shouldn’t be paid less simply because we’re compelled to do it. But that is why My Blood, Sweat and Tears are No Longer Free
That is why we write.
Do you have a different perspective? Did I miss a common trend for why writers write?
Feel free to share in the comments below.
Until next time,
Keep Writing!
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How do you go about picking a name? You have your lists, right? Now, go bookmark one of those online baby name sites (my favorites are 
