Writer as idenity

Nathan Bransford talked about Writing as an Identity last Tuesday (and yes, I'm just getting around to thinking about it).

The only reason I did was due to a precipitating event. I'm a science teacher by day and I usually don't talk much about my "out of school life". Part of the reason is everyone knows teachers just pull out a cot from under our desks and shut down for the night. The other side is that I have just recently started writing novel length stories. I hate when people (or students) ask when they will be able to read it.

It's not that I don't like their enthusiasm, but the primary reason I write is to get it out of my head. I'd love to be published and its something I'm working toward, but as far as I'm concerned it's the writing that's important.

Unstuck

This weekend I managed to "get unstuck". The dam broke and two chapters came flowing out faster than I could type. I love when that happens!

So what unstuck me?
My outline. This is the first writing project I created an outline for and it's really helpful. That said, I now have to write the next section. The outline says something to the effect of "They destroy the ship".

Yup now all I have to do is wait for the how to pop into my mind. While as a former "pantser" I'm a fan of seeing what connections I can make as I write, there is always the issue of writing things I haven't researched...which leads to me getting stuck.

Here's to positive thinking!

Writing the Tough Chick

Great blog about making tough female characters sympathetic over at Paperback Writer.
http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/2009/04/writing-tc.html

World Building

What are elements of a well built world?
I'm not even going to talk about them all here, but rather try to 'think out loud' through several posts and unstick my current issue with my WIP.

There are a ton of articles and how to's online. They all start in different places, which is interesting. Where do you start?

Every time I do world building I start from a different place, but always with a question.
Why is [this character] the way they are? This is useful because we are all products of our genetics and environment. Is the character human? If not there is a lot more work to do.

Why is [this environment] the way it is? This is an area where I really struggle. I'm a science teacher by day and find it hard to accept bad science in science fiction. Still I can't write a story were it take my MC 200 years to get where they are going. So enter the wormhole (or tubes as I've been calling them in my WIP).
And while doing this, how much jargon is appropriate?

On First Drafts

I'm slogging through my first draft of my latest WIP. First drafts always pose a challenge. This time I spent lots of time thinking through the plot and I even went so far as to do a basic outline of each chapter. Now I'm on chapter 11 and I realize my characters wouldn't react the way I had outlined.

Back to the drawing board or in my case the white board. The white board is the most helpful writing tool I have. Just sitting in front of it and ideas come pouring out of me. So that's this weekend's plan...even though its going to be gorgeous outside. Perhaps a little nature hike will also help unstick me. Its worth a try!

Agent for a Day

My query was picked for Nathan Bransford's Agent for a Day.
I will the first to admit it wasn't ready to go since it was a first draft (and a couple people caught that), but I couldn't turn down an opportunity to get some feedback.
And get feedback I did. A big thanks to everyone who left specific comments.

The biggest thing people didn't like was the sci-fi terminology. How much to include was (is) something I struggle with. I love it when authors just drop me into their worlds, but the query may not be the place to do that. Thoughts?

I'm back to work on it putting all the great advice to polish it up.

Getting stuck

You hear it all the time, when writing is working it rushes out our fingers onto the keyboard. When its not...its likely there is a problem. Identifying this problem is key to getting the story moving again.

Things that cause issues:

1. Not having done adequate research. This will always cause a hitch in your get-a-long.
   
2. Not really knowing your characters (see research)
3. Not really knowing (or following) your plot (see research)

In the first draft I'm a big fan of avoidance, I just jump to the next scene, chapter etc. There are drawbacks to this plan, but if I stop every time I have an issue, I'll never write the first draft. No first draft - no book.