New Foundations

This is a new beginning. I moved to San Francisco two weeks ago because let's face it, I was going nowhere fast living with my parents and I needed to make a change. Now, with my commute cut in half and no more interruptions from four members of my family on an hourly basis, I can feel my mind opening up to more possibilities. 

Of course, I can't entirely blame my family, or being in the suburbs, or the lengthy commute to the day job for my lack of inspiration. Inspiration, after all, is a frame of mind and I suppose I was just too lazy or weak to put myself there in the past. So now, I am choosing to be different. I'm getting back to working on my writing - both my fiction and my travel writing projects along with this blog, which is also getting reinvigorated with a new, more personal perspective. This is now going to be more about my journey from travel-website-marketing-intern and novelist, screenwriting and travel-writer wannabe to something entirely different. I hope you enjoy the ride - and the pictures of my perfectly located apartment below.

St Peters and Paul Church which is very close to my new place!

I love the ledge and the light fixture
in my old-fashioned flat.

Make your Writing Goals and Accomplish Them

Set specific goals to increase motivation and achieve success now!

With writing, success takes more than just talent, it also takes a lot of work. The motivation to sit and write, especially a long project, can be hard to come by. However, if you set yourself incremental goals, specify how much you want to accomplish in each period of time you work, and keep at it, you will start seeing real results.

One way to plan your steps to writing success is to use page counts or word counts. If you know approximately how many pages/words your project needs to be, this is even easier because you can simply divide it up. This is the technique used in for NANOWRIMO, the organization that challenges contestants to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of november. Divided equally it's around 1,667 words per day, which is challenging, but doable. Even if you don't know your ultimate wordcount goal, however, it can still be useful to set a minimum balance or average daily or weekly word count goal. When you do this you will be able to measure your success, and you will feel like you've accomplished something each day, which can help you keep your motivation level high. That's a psychological fact, by the way.

Another way to do this is to break it up in terms of scenes. If this is your preference, it can be helpful to have a fairly detailed outline so you know how many scenes you need, and where you are in the story.

Personally, I find it helpful to alternate between these two methods of project break down. I'm more likely to base it on wordcount when I don't have much of an outline, or when I'm doing a shorter piece. I base it on scenes when I do have a good outline. I also may combine the two techniques for my longest projects. Trying to get a specific amount of scenes done at certain points in the process, while at other times I just strive to maintain a certain word count. It's up to you because as long as you do have specific goals covering short periods of time, you will accomplish a lot, little by little.

~C.J.

Practice Makes Perfect

If you want to improve, write as much as you can, even if it starts out horribly.

If you've been reading the countless articles, letters, and stories written by writers about writing, you know the ever present suggestion that practice makes perfect applies to writing just as much as any other craft. To learn to write you have to, well, write. The more words you put down the closer you will get to being a word artist. The more sentences you create, the better you will be at manipulating their structure. The more stories you craft, the more interesting and dynamic your characters and plots will become.

Right now perhaps you are waiting for an idea, or for inspiration. Maybe you're making up excuses about not having time. Maybe you think you need to take a class first. While a class, more time, and ispiration can certainly help you write. They won't turn you into a writer. Only you can do that, and only by consistantly practicing in one way or another.

You can practice by freewriting, practice by finding prompts, or even practice by copying the style of others. And though all of these things may not be publishable, and actualy likely won't be because they will be sloppy or to similar to another story, you will be learning something. You may also find that ever elusive inspiration.

I will be posting exercises in another section of this blog that will help you start practicing, so stay tuned!