Tag: writing

Writing from Start to Finish

On By Stephanie IngramIn Writing6 Comments

If I have learned anything during my writing adventures, it is the fact that I never know exactly where to find the next story. Coming up with ideas certainly isn’t a problem. I’m bombarded by them all the time and I take inspiration from some of the unlikeliest of places. The part I struggle with most is taking those ideas and figuring out which to keep and develop and which to tuck safely into the notebook for later. Sometimes the choices I make don’t lead me down the right path.

Probably this is why it takes me so long to get from “Once upon a time” to “Happily Ever After”. Just because I’ve written in excess of 50,000 words, this doesn’t mean that I’ve written a story that is worth reading. This doesn’t mean that I’m going to slap a title on it and push it out into the world hoping for the best. Maybe I should? I don’t know.

I’m struggling with this more now because I’ve already spent months on a single story and I have written it in its entirety more than once already, altering the characters and the actions in order to achieve a story that I like. And I don’t. I don’t like it at all. Okay, so this isn’t completely fair. There are parts of it that I really like – love even. There are little gems here and there that I wish I could share with the world separate from the work in whole because they make me smile or chuckle. I wish, wish, wish that I could pinpoint what isn’t working and figure out a way to fix it, gosh darn it. Why does it have to be so complicated?

Admittedly, I despaired quite a bit. I wondered if I was even cut out for this crazy writing thing? Maybe it would be easier to just quit and move on to something else. What? I don’t know. I milled around the house for a bit, bored and restless, and itching to sit back down and write because well, I’m not sure what else to do with myself if I can’t get words from my head out of my fingers. (This is a strange affliction that I have.) So, I rationalized it by convincing myself that the real problem was a lack of focus and if I just kept at it long enough, I’d work out the problems in the story and I’d get this thing finished and ready for the world. (It would be a relief just to get it out of the way so I could move on to something else.)

Guess what? That approach didn’t work either. Forcing myself to write something is about as effective as not writing at all and the more I tried to push, the more I started to hate what I was doing. Ugh. Not a good place to be. If I’m not enjoying the words I pour into my story then it’s going to show. I’m not clever enough to cover it up. I started to ask myself what would happen if I publish a lackluster story? Could I live with disappointing my readers? No, probably not. I don’t have the heart to publish something if I’m heart really isn’t in it.

It became rather clear that I needed space between myself and the manuscript or else something bad was going to happen. Something that would ultimately end with my computer smashed to pieces. (And that’s just the start.) I didn’t want to give up writing entirely so I tried to appease the irrational creative side of my brain by working on a novella while I let my unruly novel simmer in the corner. I picked up something I’d started a long time ago and started playing. (I have better results when I tell myself I’m only playing.)

Funny thing happened. I’d abandoned this novella because I didn’t really know where it was going. (Typical problem for me.) I loved the start, got a little cloudy in the middle, and then jumped ship when I didn’t know where else to go. That’s okay. I enjoyed re-reading the entertaining beginning and I was intrigued by my own characters and the world in which I’d placed them. I wasn’t sure I could unravel the middle but I gave it some thought….

And came up with an answer! One simple plot fix in my novella and I started writing in a frenzy. Madness. All of a sudden, the characters became people and their situations drew me in closer. I wanted to know more. I answered questions. I created. And lo and behold, I fell in love all over again. That little story that I had hoped to develop into a novella has taken greater depth and meaning than the novel I left to simmer. Go figure. I was focusing on the wrong story all along.

I’m not really sure how I feel about this. I’m excited because I see so many possibilities that didn’t exist a day or two ago. I’m happy because I’m writing again and feeling productive. But another part of me is sort of frustrated that I wasted so much time trying to force one story when my heart belonged to another. Not that I’m in a big hurry but still… I like to think that when I’m done writing a story, I’m going to feel proud of what I accomplished but what I’m discovering is that there are no guarantees when I start a story that I ever really want to finish it.

Then again… maybe when I finish this one, that unruly novel in the corner will be ready to place nice? One can only hope.

Six Sentence Sunday

On By Stephanie IngramIn Six Sentence Sunday, Writing4 Comments

How could I not participate in a fun activity like Six Sentence Sunday? Third week and I’m back for more. My first two weeks I focused on my current WIP titled Ghosts Don’t Wear Silk Stockings and I’ve decided to go with another six from that same manuscript today.

Brianna is caught in quite the dilemma. The man of her dreams has asked her to marry him and she would give anything just to say yes and embrace her happily ever after. Greer, her ghost friend, on the other hand has warned her that Dan is evil and she needs to break up with him NOW. What to do?

This part is one of my favorites and I hope you like it as much as I do…

***

She didn’t want to admit it but Greer had a point. Something about Dan’s reluctance to invite her to his house rubbed her the wrong way. The hotel was a sweet gesture but it couldn’t go on forever. Then what? If she married him, would she gain entry into the forbidden zone or would she still be kept at arm’s reach? There were a lot of questions that begged answers before she could commit to a guy like Dan, even a drop-dead gorgeous, melt in your mouth guy like Dan.

***

 

 

I Am Not That Writer

On By Stephanie IngramIn Writing1 Comment

This is the last post that I will share from my older blog. Originally posted in February but just as true today, this is probably one of my favorites. Happy Friday!

***

 I would love to be the type of writer that meticulously plots and creates outlines before sitting down to write a single chapter. I would love to be the type of writer that fleshes out interesting characters with the aid of character sheets or questionnaires, knowing even the smallest detail like what my MC’s favorite food is. I know there are people in this world that don’t feel comfortable writing a single word until they know everything – beginning, middle, and end.

I am not that writer.

I would love to be the type of writer that can sit down and craft a compelling story without the aid of an outline or character sheets, the type of writer that pulls ideas seemingly from mid-air. I would love to be the type of writer that can start with a basic idea when I sit down to write chapter one and never finish typing until I get to ‘the end’.

I am not that writer.

I would love to be the type of writer that follows a specific writing schedule, adding a set 2,000 words to my work-in-process every morning until finally it is complete or typing away furiously for an hour or two per day until I tear myself away and attend to other tasks.

But guess what? I’m not that writer either.

So this probably the point of the blog post in which you’re asking, “Okay, Steph, are you sure that you’re even a writer?”

I wonder the same thing from time to time but since the voices in my head always bring me back to tell their stories whether I want to or not, I guess the answer is yes. Like it or not, I’m in this thing.

So, what kind of writer am I? I don’t plan and yet I can’t seem to get from start to finish without a plan. It makes you wonder how I ever manage to do anything at all, doesn’t it? Which came first – the chicken or the egg? The story or the plot? I guess when it comes to my own writing style, I am a strange hybrid of both.

First, I sit down and I write. I don’t know my characters and I have little to no idea of the plot. Basically, I have a scene in my head and by some strange compulsion, I won’t rest until I get it on paper. Sometimes I get so excited by my idea that I can’t stop writing and before I know it, I’ve racked up as many as 10,000 words over the course of a few days.

And then all of a sudden, I screech to a grinding halt…. My characters fall flat, DOA. The plot? It no longer makes sense. I could keep going but what’s the point? I forgot where I’m going and I know that I’ll have to go back and scratch probably 90% of what I’m writing. Nevertheless, like the fool that I am, I persevere and I’m rewarded by moments in the story that surprise even me but getting those moments is slow and arduous and I have to sift through a lot of doo doo to get them.

Then it’s time to take a huge step backward. I close the document and pick up pen and paper and yep, you guessed it. I start outlining! I do rough character sketches. I brainstorm possibilities and figure out a proper beginning, middle, and end. I make decisions about what I’ve written that I can use and what I can’t use. I fill out index cards for scenes. I take meticulous notes.

Wouldn’t it be easier to just start with the brainstorming and outline you ask me? Yes! It most certainly would but remember, I’m not that writer. As much as I would love to save myself all the time and effort by planning before I write, I can’t get a real feel for my story until I actually sit down and start writing it. But then, if I sit down and write, I can’t just keep going until I reach the end either. I get as far as I can until no more words come out.

Crazy and bizarre? Absolutely. But that’s just my style.

What’s your style?

Those Who Walk Unseen

On By Stephanie IngramIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Here is another one originally posted by me on blogger waaayy back in January of this year. (Why does that feel like a lifetime ago?) I didn’t realize how much I like this post until I recently re-read it. Maybe it’s just that I like thinking about all those unanswered questions? Even though I wrote this post in January, I’m still working on that second novel. Gosh darn it, why is it taking so long? I should have that thing published and in your hands by now, surely! 😉

***

Last week I wrote an entry about life existing in other parts of the universe. This is an exciting possibility. But what if we didn’t even have to leave the planet in order to find other forms of life beyond those that we’re already so familiar with finding from day-to-day? What if gates to “other worlds” really existed right in our own backyard?

Science fiction likes this idea. “Portals” take characters from one world to the next in an instant. It’s a convenient way to get around the physical limitations of building a spacecraft that will enable us to travel the universe within the astronaut’s lifetime.

I’ve always had a fascination with the “unseen” and the possibilities that could exist. Have you ever seen a ghost? Some claim they have. Is it so improbable that the energy that makes up our existence could not echo even long after our earthly form has turned to dust? Do ghosts have the capability for rational thought and control over their own actions? Maybe. Maybe not. Why are some of us more sensitive to this energy than others? And anyway, what really happens when we die?

So let’s assume we don’t want to accept that ‘ghosts’ are some remnant of human life. What if, instead, we choose to believe that there is essentially a world of beings that can walk in our world unseen? Maybe they keep trying to contact us but for whatever reason, our minds are closed to their existence and we continue to look the other way?

Surely, there will be a few of us that come into contact with these beings even if later we question our sanity. Maybe some of us believe that our lives were touched by the intervention of a guardian angel that watches over us? I like to think that we are all interconnected in ways that we can’t begin to understand and there is a lot to our world that remains unseen. The rest of you probably just think I’m a little loony. That’s okay, too.

However, if you’ve read my book, you already know this is a premise that I love to explore. Yalen comes from a world that exists in tangent with our own but that we aren’t the least bit aware of … except for those rare exceptions. I had a lot of fun thinking about new possibilities for guardian angels. My next book will have some fun with demons.

What do you think about the concept of life existing unseen amongst our own?

 

Six Sentence Sunday

On By Stephanie IngramIn Six Sentence Sunday, Writing5 Comments

Happy Six Sentence Sunday! I enjoyed participating so much my first week that I’m back for more. I decided to stick with the same WIP from last week (Ghosts Don’t Wear Silk Stockings) and fast forwarded a bit into the story. Here I leave you with a brief interaction between Brianna and her ghost-friend, Greer. She’s just had a run-in with something rather unpleasant and seems to think that Greer should have been there a tad sooner…

***

“This is the thanks I get for saving your life?”

“Took you long enough.”

“I was busy.”

“Busy? You’re a ghost. What on earth could you possibly have to do that’s more important than haunting me?”

***

Thank you for indulging me for a few sentences. I look forward to sharing more next week. 🙂

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads!