Work Talk=Book Idea

My hubby works in the Army and goes away in the summer to work. So, typically year-round, but primarily my summer is filled with army talk once he gets home to visit.

Army talk is like a foreign language to me filled with acronyms and phrases. After nearly 6 years of being together, I am beginning to understand most, but not all. I feel like I am being taught how to understand my hubby and his friends speak.

Lack of sleep this past weekend, work and hearing army talk made for a great weekend to develop a book idea…not. Currently I have five typed pages of a beginning of a  new book. Not bad. It means I can start handwriting the pages soon.

I am trying to get my hubby involved in my writing, which is tough because its not like he can sit down and write my books for me. Mind you, that would be fantastic when I suffer from the never-ending writers block. This time, listening to him talk and explain his work helped me develop a great idea for a story if it all goes as planned.

This how I see it, whenever my hubby talks about work, that is his language. Whenever I talk about my books its my own language. We mesh.

So far, I hope this novel works out. I like the idea in my head. Beginnings seem to always work out, its just what to do once I am halfway through that I have difficulty with.

I best find a new journal to write in out of the several I have. If I can type this much in two nights then it’s best to keep writing it.

Guess thanks goes out to the hubby for inspiring this book, even though I have no clue how he did.

Book concept: What if you were the one person wanted by the world and you don’t even know why?

Will that stick, who knows. Ask me when I finish….if I finish it.

Book 15 Complete…Time for Some Mental Rest…If Possible

Monday night I finished writing my 15th book. I found this to be a struggle. In highschool I could write two-three books in a year. Now, I am lucky to finish one. After almost a 3 year gap of writing, I have finished two books in subsequent years. A great feeling.

Since Monday night, I have written two paragraphs in one of my other books I am working on. Not due to writers block, but because my mind needs rest. Writing a novel is mentally exhilarating and tiring.

It is the summer and most of my writing does occur now. Other than work and going to the gym, most evenings and my days off I am free to enjoy writing.

People have been asking me to dabble in other genres or change the time period my books occur in. I guess over time (almost 11 years now), I can experiment more with my writing.

The two books I am currently going to work on (if my mind will let me) is the 3rd novel in my detective crime series and the other one is from the pov of a female killer. One challenging, the other comforting.

No, I am not bragging about how many books I have written. It is a personal achievement of my hobby and not a way to brag and show superiority over other novice writers.

My writing tip of today is to take some time and rest. I need to rest, mentally and physically and am doing so right now. Without some sort of rest we cannot write our best. Just a thought.

Time to eat and work on my hobby.

Inspirational quote of the day for me: “Ink and paper are sometimes passionate lovers, oftentimes brother and sister, and occasionally mortal enemies”. ~Terri Guillemets

Show me, Don’t Tell Me

Seriously? This comment has been appearing on every novice writing website and group I have joined where other novice writers give this as advice.
Here is the problem: you cannot show a person without telling them the details. You want the reader to see a scene, you tell them about it. Writing is meant to be to the point and allow imagination to occur as the reader is reading.
I admit, I hate reading books that drone on with setting the scene. I don’t care if the grass is a vibrant green. All I care about is the characters, the plot and how well the book flows.
What’s my advice? Don’t change your writing because a novice writer is telling you to. It’s your novel. Do what you want with it. I think telling a writer something is important if it is meant to be known. I understand some people will “show” aspects of their books.
Maybe its because I am still a novice writer that I get annoyed by comments such as this one. I do not care if I ever get professionally published, I am just happy knowing I have written 14 books.
Mystery novels, or thrillers, require extreme details. But, you don’t have to show people what you are wanting them to see. IMAGINATION people!!! The whole point of reading is to escape and imagine what is happening.
Honestly, when I hear this phrase I think of love, and those type of novels. You always want to be shown something. So here is my theory, show me your writing. Show me the words on your pages. Show me your effort into writing. Just SHOW ME your ABILITY TO WRITE.
If you are a novice writer, listen to me and not them. Most writers feel like failures after hearing this phrase about their work that they have tried hard to write. It’s your story, do as you please with it. I can say, if you have written even 5 pages, I am proud of you for doing so. Writing is not easy, its hard.
Well, I am back to writing. This whole rant about how people assume since they wrote a novel and have been told this phrase that they are experts. WRONG! Only you are the expert on your own book.
Keep writing. I believe anyone can write a novel.

Some Days I Wish I Was an Artist

Writing is a form of art, according to some people. This instance I am referring to painting, drawing and sketching. I have always placed great value in that type of artistic talent and admire anyone that can do it.

Why is this appearing on my blog? I can visual scenes of my books in my head, see what is happening. Yet, I cannot express it properly or fast enough to keep the image in my head.

As a child I could paint, and my mother sometimes mentions that. But, over time writing took that place and that painting ability was lost.

I love writing and I hate it at the same time. Too many opinions. Too many people wanting a writer to do something out of the norm.

Painters, drawers and sketchers do all their work for themselves. No need to ever sell any art worldwide. It’s just for them. Because of this, I am adopting that theory.

Sure, I have self-published two books, but that was mainly to have physical copies of my book for myself, my family and friends. What it comes down to is, I need to return to writing for myself and no one else. I used to write 3 novels a year in high school. Now, it takes nearly one year to write a book of the same length. I get distracted more now then I did before.

This summer I plan to refocus my attention for my writing. Try to change it back to the way it was, except for I will include the hubby more instead of blocking him out like I did back when we were friends in high school.

Challenges will arise, including my horrible talent of procrastination, but I will succeed. If I cannot be an artist and have beautiful works around my place (although, I would really enjoy being able to display my talent instead of concealing it in a storage container), I mine as well be a writer and fill empty journals with words.

Back to battling procrastination. Let’s hope we get the storms we are supposed to get in the Niagara Region. The smell and sound of rain, the flash of lightning and the crack of thunder spark my imagination.

Thanks for listening to my rant. Writers are amazing, but so are artists.

I’m a Writer and I Don’t Write all the Time

Ha! What writer writes all the time? No, I am not meaning taking a break to eat, shower, sleep, go to the washroom and watch one’s favourite T.V show. I am meaning going days or more without writing.

No person is mad to write all day, every day. If people can do this, give me your hands because my knuckles always hurt if I type or write too long.

My normal amount of writing each day differs between none at all-30 pages. Big gap, but realistic. Life is busy and takes away from my hobby. I understand that some people write for a living, so in a sense, they are not included in this because for aspiring novelists, like myself, writing is more of a hobby.

I have joined a few writing sites and have noticed that people make it seem like they write all the time. But, I find that the people that write all the time (and are not getting paid) are doing it not for themselves. People need to realize that writing is mainly for oneself.

I wrote two pages today. Will I write more? That I do not know. I do have other interests that can take over my time. For those writers that do write all the time, make room every day, or take an entire day or two to do something for yourself.