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.

Do Outlines Work for Writing Novels?

How Far ahead can you really plan when writing a novel?

I'd like to start with a quote I came across that made me think:

"Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."
E. L. Doctorow

It brought up the question of outlining, knowing what happens next, letting the characters or story take on a life of their own, and everything in between that concerns the process of novel writing. I actually think this quote holds true, even if you meticulously outline, sketch characters, and pre-imagine your story before you actually start to write. Because at the end of the day, if you end up following an outline or plan to a T, you'll wind up going exactly where you expect, and the only real problem with that is that it's precisely what your audience expects as well, and they will be bored.

All the planning and the outlining, however, is still extremely useful. No matter if you deviate from it just a bit, or deviate from it a lot, or scrap it all together at some point. Of course, there are those who work best with no plan at all, but in general this can slow down the process of writing a full novel. It's also possible that this will decrease your motivation. I know this is the case for me. I use outlines to keep me on track, not only in terms of the story, but also in terms of productivity. It lets me know I'm getting somewhere and if I have a sense of progress I am more likely to keep going.

Of course, there is always the point where you better stop planning, and start writing. Otherwise, the absolutely most obvious thing will happen, that is, nothing at all.

"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end."
Ursula K. LeGuin

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.

Fearlessness Gives you the Choice to Succeed

If you want success, you have to stop being afraid and try, because then you will at least have options despite the inevitable challenges.

Perhaps you want to write a novel, perhaps you want to go to Asia, perhaps you want to get published someday, perhaps you want to be a famous travel writer...

Will these goals be hard to attain? Yes. Is it possible you'll never get them? Absolutely. Will you achieve the goal if you don't even try? No way. A lot of people settle for things that are less than what they want in life. Perhaps circumstances just get in the way: you don't have the money, your mother gets sick, you need to work. Circumstances can be valid, they are obstacles to getting our loftiest dreams, and they are hard to overcome. Yet, in most cases where there is a will, there is a way. And in most cases, big dreams are completely achievable despite obstacles.

For the most part, circumstances are just circumstances. They are just excuses. When circumstances get in the way it is because you are making an obstacle into a priority instead of putting your dreams at the top of your list. The thing that is really holding you back is yourself. It's the little voice in the back of your head saying; but what if I fail? What if I make a fool of myself? What if I wind up disappointed? Disappointment is certainly one of the worst feelings, but then again, so is regret. Sometimes you just have to weigh your options. What will you regret more failing or never trying?

If you plan a trip to Greece, for instance, but then your car breaks down and you have to spend all of your money to repair it, you can either decide to start over with saving money again, or you can say, "screw the car, I'll take the bus when I get back". Because you've made the attempt, you have options and you can prioritize. If you never save up, if you never plan to go to Greece in the first place, well then, there are never any options except to never go at all. I leave you with some quotes to inspire you to the path of fearlessness:

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.

--Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice? Up again; you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

--Confucius

~C.J.