Writing Tips: How Daily Practice Builds Your Writing Habit

These days, more than a few websites and blogs and social media posts offer you advice on how to finish your novel, easy hacks to getting published, ways to get inspired. And all of that advice can add up to success or to failure depending on how you implement it and what actually works for you.

But if there's one thing I'm certain on, no matter what other advice you receive, know this: Writers Write.

The only way to be a writer is to write. Consistently. Not just that one time, not just someday when you have time. Sit down and write. Fifteen minutes. Right now. Go on. I'll wait.

If you need, you can find a writing prompt somewhere out there on the internet. Or just pick an object on your desk and spend 500 words describing it (ouch... that's such a painful exercise if you've never tried it).

Now, not everyone can write every day consistently, because ... LIFE! But you can surely find two weeks to a month to set yourself a challenge of writing every day and here's why it's a good idea. If you write for fifteen minutes a day for 14-30 days, you will certainly begin building your writing habit. You'll get used to sitting down and cranking out the words for fifteen minutes or whatever your set goal is. You'll begin forming muscle memory and rewiring those synapses from their resistant, at-rest state to a state of readiness and ability.

Writing a little every day will give you the confidence that you CAN sit down and write whenever you want to. And then when your temporary challenge is up you'll be able to set yourself realistic goals. Maybe in real life you only write a few times a week for longer periods. Or maybe five days a week instead of seven. Whatever works for you works for you, as long as you're still writing! As long as you don't let the time slip by you and allow your brain to go back to that state of rest where it's hard to get motivated again.

Writers write. The more you write, the more you will find you are able to write. The more you write, the stronger your ability will become. So sit down and write. Write write write! You'll never be sorry that you tried.

Writing Tips: 3 ways to fight writer's block

Writer's block. The old foe of creative minds everywhere. Standing in the way of completed manuscripts since... well since people began writing, probably!

If you've ever felt writer's block, you know it's a horrible experience. There you are, chugging along on your manuscript when suddenly you freeze. You can't think of what to write next. Maybe you perceive a problem or plot hole and you can't think of a way around it. Maybe you woke up, sat down to write, and no words came.

I've been there. And I still end up there regularly. Usually it's because I'm afraid of messing up my project, and I want to get it right. Well, newsflash, self. I can't get it right all the time. And first drafts are supposed to be messy.

Still, just telling yourself to buck up doesn't always get the words flowing. So what can you do instead?

Three ways to fight writers block

1. Write something else for a while
   Walk away from the manuscript for a little while. Write a blog post. Or work on a different project for a few hours/days. Give yourself some time away and then come back and see if you have any new perspective or ideas.
2. Pick a writing prompt
   The other week I had been dealing with the stress and frustration of writer's block with a current project. So I went to a prompt generator site (two of my favorites are Writer Igniter and Seventh Sanctum) and picked a prompt that would lead me into writing about my characters again. I probably won't use much from that writing session, but the point is to grease the wheels, to get the fingers flying across the keys again, and to get your brain back into that world and thinking about those characters again.
3. Do something completely different
   Occasionally it makes sense to put down the pen or walk away from the keyboard altogether for a short time. Try painting, or take a long walk. Give your brain time to be creative in a different way so that whatever problem you're working through in the manuscript has time to marinate. You'll come back to the page with a better perspective and more ideas.

No matter what you have to remember to do what works for you. And when it stops working, try something different. Writer's block is not a "forever disease." So give yourself time and space to work out the puzzle that has presented itself. You'll be pleased with the results when you finally get back to it.

In Defense of Prologues

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away... you know the line. But let's all admit it. We've read our share of bad prologues. Especially in sci-fi and fantasy, prologues get abused -- a lot. Show of hands: How many of you skip prologues without actually reading them? I thought so.

And it seems the publishing industry is over prologues. Most agents and editors nowadays will tell you to cut that prologue right out of your WIP. Or worse, they won't even look at a manuscript if it has a prologue.

Still, just because prologues get abused and overused so much, doesn't mean they're worthless. Before I get to defending them, though, let's go over a couple of things a prologue is NOT.

A prologue is not...

• a place to store irrelevant back story and force it on your readers.
• a scene that happens in the same time/place as your story (usually)
• written from the main POV of your story (also, usually)

In most cases, novels don't need prologues. The information they contain can usually be dispersed throughout the first chapter without breaking the flow of the narrative.

But occasionally prologues are the perfect place to showcase a piece of necessary information, or a voice that would otherwise not be included. The prologue to Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind, for example, gives us a wider, more omniscient view of the character Kote. Without spilling all the beans at once Rothfuss sets the tone for the novel and for how we should view his main character, a detail that is very important to the telling of the story. 

Star Wars is the perfect example of a prologue being put to good use. At the time that the movies released, science fiction was a relatively unfamiliar genre for the general public. The prologue, therefore, was crucial in setting the overall tone, outlining the basic rules of the universe, and orienting people with the main conflicts that the characters will face.

When well done, a prologue draws us into the story. It cracks the lid on all the juicy awesomeness that's yet to come, calls to our curiosity, and whets our appetites for adventure.

Writing Tips: 3 Reasons NOT to Begin Your Novel With a Dream or a Flashback

Figuring out where to start your novel can be difficult. Where your readers enter the story, what they see, who they meet, will color the way they view the rest of the novel. The first few pages are where the reader gets their footing and learns just what the story is all about, where it's going to take them, whether or not they should trust the voice that is taking them through this foreign story land.

Sometimes, when you're not sure just how you should start your novel, it can seem like a good idea to start with a dream or a flashback, your character remembering something that happened before the reader came along, or something that never happened at all. There are 3 reasons not to do this.

1. The Confusion Factor
   In the first five pages of the novel, you should be setting up your reader's expectations of the character and world that they're going to be sharing with you for the next 200 pages. If you then suddenly shout "just kidding!" and change everything that they know or thought the novel was going to be about, you risk at worst losing their interest, and at least confusing them. 
2. It's been done (and done and done and done)
   You want your story to stand out in your reader's mind. You want to grab people's attention and hold it. If you resort to this trick that everyone else has tried, how well are people going to remember your book in the midst of all the others? Be worth remembering. It may take a little more work, but it's worth it!
3. If it's a flashback, why didn't you just start there in the first place?
   If you absolutely have to start us in the "past" and then jump forward, ask yourself why? Why didn't you just start us there in the first place? For a flashback to work at the very beginning of a novel, the event you're taking us back to must be pretty earth-shattering for your character, but then not matter at all until the current time. The fall of Voldemort and Harry's arrival at the Dursleys' home were both HUGE to the plot of Harry Potter. So J.K. Rowling, instead of having a character remember those moments later, plunked the reader down right there in the moment. She started with a deeply significant event and showed it to her readers, and by doing so, those events had more impact.

Finally, you can choose to do a flashback or a dream at the beginning. If it's right for your book, it's right for your book. But you've gotta wow us with it. Make it a flashback or dream to remember!

Writing Tips: 4 Questions to Ask When Writing Back Story in Your Novel

If you're reading this blog post, you're probably creative. You're probably a writer with an overactive imagination. That's great! You're my favorite type of person. That deep and beautiful imagination is what drives you to do what you do, to write and create worlds for you and your readers to get lost in.

So what do you do when it comes time to share that world with others, when it's time to tell the tale that's been growing inside your fertile mind? People who have the widest imaginations have the hardest time getting to the heart of their story. What details do you include? How much history to you reveal? After all, you've worked so hard to cultivate your characters, who they are, how they and their world came to be. Surely your readers are interested in the details and the back story as much as you are.

And you're right--up to a point. I love discovering the depth of detail and planning that an author has gone through to create the character that I am following and the world that character lives in. The problem arises when I get socked with that back story before I'm ready to appreciate it, before it matters to the story at hand.

If you throw too much detail at your reader too soon, they're not going to know what to do with it. At the beginning of a story, your reader is busy figuring out how things work, who the characters are, what they want most, and what's standing in the way. They're not gonna want to know WHY things work that way... not yet... or the deep personal histories of the characters yet... they don't know to who they're supposed to care about yet!

You'll have the same problem if you throw in too much detail at the end, too. Your reader will likely skim right over back story revealed too close to the ending, in order to get to the "important part" of the story.

So how do you  know what back story to include and where? Here are four questions you can ask when you feel the urge to type out your character's family tree:

1. Is this bit of back story relevant to what's going on RIGHT NOW in the story? (follow-up question: Will your reader understand that it is relevant right now?)
2. Does the back story you're including move the story forward? 
3. Does it reveal something important about character motivation?
4. Will your reader be confused about what's going on without this back story?

If the answers all of these questions are yes, include your back story! If any of these answers are no, you might want to reconsider revealing that back story now.

The last thing you want is for your reader to skim over any part of your tale. It's better to reveal back story on a need-to-know basis rather than dumping it all on your reader when they're not ready for it. The right bit of information presented at the right moment will hook your readers and then they won't be able to get enough!

Writing Tips: Hero vs. Protagonist

When crafting your novel you need three things:

1. A character
2. A goal
3. A problem

Your main character (protagonist) has a goal, something they want more than anything else, but something is standing in their way. In order to get what they want, they have to solve the problem/defeat the monster/overcome the odds. And voila, there's your story.

Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion)

Usually people equate the protagonist with the hero of the story. Even a flawed main character can be the good guy, admired for their bravery, fighting "on the side of the angels." A hero makes sacrifices for others, and often has a sympathetic quality that makes you want them to succeed.

Dr. Horrible* (Neil Patrick Harris)

But what makes a protagonist is not always what makes a hero. Sometimes the most sympathetic character, the one with the most compelling goal, with the most to gain or lose (i.e. the most interesting story) is NOT the hero. It's important to remember that the hero stands in the way of the villain, too, and is ruthless in seeking his destruction. Sometimes, when you put yourself in the shoes of Grendel you find that Beowolf is the true monster.

If your characters have the depth that they deserve, you may find that your villain is just as sympathetic (if not more so) than your hero. Don't be afraid to give him (or her) the lead role for a little while. The results may surprise you.

*Side note: if you have never watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, go do it right now. Seriously, go.

Review: Book Architecture

I just finished reading Book Architecture yesterday, and I am excited to incorporate series grids into my personal and professional editing processes. I appreciated the format of the book, how each element was broken down and given a "real life" example. I immediately began noticing series everywhere.

I recommend this book for people who want to break out of the "traditional" plot formula, or who have already and are now wondering how to make sense of their manuscript. Series, and tracking series in a grid, can help you identify the important elements of your narrative, and can help you organize those elements for maximum emotional and/or intellectual impact.

I'll be going back to read Blueprint Your Bestseller: Organize and Revise Any Manuscript with the Book Architecture Method

It's Writing Prompt Friday!

I'm starting a new event on the Writing Refinery Facebook Page today: Writing Prompt Friday!

I'll cross-post here, too, so that everyone can participate. The idea is, look at the prompt, and write 1000 words or less, just a short piece, that incorporates the prompt. You can post a link to your piece in the comments and I'll make sure to come give you some encouraging feedback!

Here's today's prompt:

Creation is messy

If there's anything being an artist will teach you, it's that you've got to make a mess in order to create. The same is true with writing your novel. It's no less a piece of art in progress than a painting. Sometimes in order to get to the heart of your story you have to write yourself into a corner you aren't sure you'll be able to get out of... this is the novelist's version of a "mess". Then give yourself and your characters a chance to figure out how to get out of the mess you're in. Some of your most creative work can come out of this mess, out of this not knowing what comes next, out of this paint splatter that you didn't intend.

Let go of your need to control every single moment and see what happens with your writing. You may surprise yourself.

mess of life by jesus miguel rosado perdomo

Try something new

In the search for inspiration, the best thing you can do is to keep trying new things.

Read something in a different genre than you usually do.

Go to an art museum.

Write in a different place.

Take a modern dance class.

Do something that makes you consider your world, the world, differently than you would normally. Do something that makes you ask questions. Look at art that makes you uncomfortable and then ask yourself why it makes you uncomfortable. Ask yourself why a lot.

Live in a state of constant questioning and keep blurting out answers until you find one that sticks... until you find one you can't get out of your mind, then follow it and see where it leads you.

Your Turn Challenge Day 6 - Surprise

Day 6: Tell us about a time when you surprised yourself.

Let me tell you a quick story. A year ago I was not a runner. Well, just barely. I had just completed my first ever 5k! And that was a lot of distance for me.

See, I have never been a super active person. I've just relied on a good metabolism to keep me "in shape". Then, one day in 2013 I felt a shift. Suddenly, for some inexplicable reason, I knew that if I didn't get up and do something about it, I was going to die in the zombie apocalypse.

So slowly, in fits and starts, I began to run. At first it was frustrating and hard to do. But I rallied my running buddies around me and with their support I started training for my first 5k. Then for my first 12k, and then for my first half-marathon (running next week!!).

If I had hopped off the couch and tried to run 13 miles, I never would have succeeded. The zombies would have eaten me or I would have died of a heart attack or an aggressive case of the shin splints. But by knowing my overall goal, to get active, and giving myself milestone goals along the way, I'm now able to easily (if slowly) run 12 miles! Who would have thought?

The same thing applies to your writing life. You can't just jump off the couch and write a novel... well, not a good one, anyway. It takes training, commitment, and support. Carve out time, just a little at first, then more and more as you get practiced letting the words flow through your fingers onto the keyboard. Find writing buddies to support you, to cheer you on, to push you from behind when you're exhausted an about to break.

When you look back a year from now, will you be surprised, like I was, at how far you have come?

Your Turn Challenge - What I do well

Day 4: Teach us something that you do well.

Ok ok ok... If I've learned one thing today it's that I procrastinate well. But I don't have to teach you how to do that, do I?

I do NOT enjoy claiming to do things well. I feel like when I do that I open myself up to looking like a royal jackass.

 But... posting for Your Turn Challenge is important to me... and because I recognize that and because I want to honor my truth and my desire, and because I know that Seth is right and if I don't post I've already failed... and because yesterday I told you that failing by NOT taking a risk is worse than taking a risk and failing... I post today.

If there's one thing I do well, it's call myself onto the carpet when it really matters. And this matters. Having a voice, not letting anyone silence us, much less letting the voices in our head have control and tell us we're worthless... it matters.

And so this is what I teach you today, writers. Even when it hurts, write. Especially when it hurts, write. What you get from those sessions, what you give to the world, is a truly great gift.

Now I just hope I can follow my own example.

Writing Motivation

Happy New Year! My three favorite nerdy men are here to tell you to stop browsing the internet, get off Facebook, and get back to writing!

ABCs of Writing Well: R is for Reaching readers' hearts

Good lord, I love Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling is a master of reaching readers' hearts, and her series will stick with its fans for a long time for one simple reason. Characters.

Even as I type this I'm watching The Goblet of Fire for the millionth time, and loving the story all over again. What a well-written world that captures the imagination and a cast of characters that really brings it to life.

**Warning: Possible Spoilers Ahead** 

(Actually, my entire blog may be one gigantic Harry Potter Spoiler, so...Be Ye Warned)

While watching the third movie, based on the third book of the series, The Prisoner of Azkaban (PoA), I was struck with the delayed gratification that Rowling must have experienced as people became familiar with her characters and with her world. As author and creator of her series, the back story and motivations, the hidden scars and deep-seated emotions of her characters were second nature to her. But to the reader, who doesn't know the end of the story, certain actions don't carry the same weight or emotional significance as they do for the author.

An example will help me explain what I mean. In PoA, Harry has a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin. Now, we only receive bits and pieces of Lupin's back story, not learning the full extent of his relationship with Harry's parents until much later. So, during a class exercise with a boggart, when Lupin throws himself in front of Harry to shield him from the thing that he fears most, the full impact of what he does is not quite clear the first time through.

For me, it didn't really hit me until this time through (and trust me when I say I've read and watched this series more than a few times). Lupin's love for James and Lily and for their son runs so deep that he's willing to throw himself into the path of Voldemort...even a copy of Voldemort..., and in the end even meet death...in order to save Harry. And this time around, in finally connecting to Lupin and the depth of love that he has for the Harry, I burst into tears.

Which surprised me...because I had never cried at that scene before. Yet how could it possibly have taken me that long to really see into the heart of Professor R. J. Lupin?

Now...Rowling could have tried to rush me to that point. She could have tried to force more of Lupin's story on me to begin with, so that I would be aware of the significance of that relationship before I reached that scene in the story. But...I doubt, if she had, that I would have had the same emotional connection to the character that I do now, that the power and the impact would have been so strong.

Do you see what I mean about delayed gratification on the part of the author? And on the part of the reader, although I didn't really know what I was missing until today.

My point is, while I understand that, if the reader only knew what you know about your characters, they would love them more...you have to realize that the process takes time. Sometimes it takes a whole series to tease out the depth of love that one character has for another, to get to know and love a character so well that their heart becomes plain...and sometimes the reader has to love your series so much that they return to it over an over again before they really get it, before they really come to appreciate that one character that you feel like gets overlooked time and time again. But, if you're patient, and if you're a good story teller, that moment, the moment that you reach your reader's heart, will be well worth the wait.

6 Questions with James Hunter-Shortland, Fantasy Cartographer

Today I'm excited to share with you 6 questions with fantasy cartographer James Hunter-Shortland! Thanks for sharing with us, James!

Would you please describe what a fantasy cartographer is for people who might not know? Who needs this?
A fantasy cartographer is essentially an artist who makes maps of fictional places or time periods. We're not to be confused with "proper" cartographers, who create maps of Earth using techniques such as GIS (geographical information systems) - they train for a long time and their work is more of a science than an art (though they might disagree). Fantasy cartographers are mainly semi-professional and self-trained. As far as I know, there are no courses or qualifications you can go out and get if you want to create fantasy maps.

The main communities who need fantasy maps are fantasy authors and RPG companies/creators. Sometimes video game developers will have a need for a fantasy map for their game (think Elder Scrolls, Witcher 3, Dragon Age) but most have in-house art teams who will design those. Recently, another cartographer was commissioned to design a tie-in map for the movie After Earth. I was even contacted by an individual who needed "old map" sets of slides for a corporate presentation. So there are lots of possibilities and you never know where the next request is going to come from.

How did you get started doing fantasy cartography? and Why?
I pretty much stumbled into fantasy cartography out of necessity. I was about twelve when I started writing a fantasy novel and realized I wanted a map to go with it. I had grown up with great stories like The Hobbit, LOTR and a series called Redwall, all of which featured these beautiful old style maps inside. I started out imitating my favorite maps, with nothing more at my disposal than a piece of paper and a pencil. Over the years I started to experiment with graphics software. My earliest experience of Photoshop and GIMP was taking movie posters, applying various effects to them and changing the layout. Eventually, I realised that if I could import my maps into PS/GIMP, maybe I could get a better final result than I could achieve by hand.

I don't remember when or how, but at some point I came across the Cartographer's Guild, which is a fantastic online community of fantasy cartographers. There are so many great tutorials on there for all kinds of styles of maps. I started tearing through those tutorials to see what kind of maps I could make. Up until a couple of years ago, I was only making maps for my personal writing projects. It's only recently that I started to make maps on commission.

What's the easiest part? What's the hardest part?
That's a tricky one! I'd say the easiest part of making a map is working out where everything goes and how it all fits together. For example, mountains are like the backbone of a continent and everything else flows down out of them. Rivers are at the mercy of gravity, so they always take the least difficult path, which is usually downhill and around obstacles, not through them. Forests grow around rivers and lakes and so on. Once you get all the rules straight in your head, it becomes easier to know how everything needs to be set out.

The hardest parts, at least for me, are labeling (place names) and anything that requires me to draw anything more than mountain and tree markers! Firstly, map labels are time consuming as there are usually a lot of them. And drawing - I'm a horrible "traditional" artist. While some fantasy cartographers are also great at painting or drawing, I really focus on using digital applications to achieve all my effects. That isn't to say I don't do any manual drawing when I design a map. I do own a graphics tablet which I use to draw in landmasses, create geographic markers and to shade/add in fine details.

What's the most fun project you've worked on recently?
Projects are always a heady mixture of self-doubt, fun and perseverance. There are elements of certain projects I have enjoyed hugely and there are others that I have hated with a passion. There are two projects that come to mind where I really had a fun time.

First was my entry to the One Page Dungeon contest (this year was judged by Ernie Gygax, the son of the late Gary Gygax), "In the Vault of the Howling Palace". I made this weathered paper type thing that was designed to be a page from the journal of a master thief. Needless to say, I didn't win in any category, but I really enjoyed designing that page.

Second was a map called Tar Ebon which I made on commission for author Dayne Edmondson. He had this huge write-up for his world that he emailed to me, which I really enjoyed reading and helped me shape his map. I just really love the colors and the feel of that map - it's a world that I would really love to explore.

How can people contact you if they want to know more?
For more, you can visit my website, The Fantasy Cartographer, or head over to my deviantArt page. I also recently launched my Facebook page so I'd really appreciate some Likes!

What are you currently reading? (Or what's the last book you read?)
I'm currently reading The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and really enjoying it. I also devour non-fiction history books - if there's a castle or a Roman, I'm sold!

--
Thanks so much, James!

P is for Why Point of View Matters in Your Novel

This post is part of my ABC's of Writing Well series. We're skipping O for now and heading directly to P because Point of View is on my mind and I want to talk about it! Ha!

Point of view, when it's targeted correctly, when the author is truly immersed in the voice and character on the page, can create vivid, emotional pictures like this:

The Quorum chamber is low ceilinged and windowless, like a tomb. Candles flicker from sconces set in dusty mortar between gray stones. A squat oak table fills the center, surrounded by red cushions. The air is thick with unyielding silence, and I feel as though the ghosts of weighty decisions and secret councils press in around me, telling me to hush.

Rae Carson, in The Crown of Embers, pulls on her main character's skin to conjure up this slice of perspective on a room in the palace. The room feels oppressive, suffocating, not because it actually IS that way, but because of the perspective and the emotional baggage that the main character carries with her when she crosses the threshold. You can feel her dread and at the same time her need to prove herself, to break free of those who want to use her insecurity to control her.

You'll notice that Carson is writing in first person, a popular method of storytelling in YA fantasy and dystopia these days. First person perspective highlights the advantages of effective point of view in narrative. Using a first person perspective limits your options. You really can't slip into a minor character's perspective or cheat and give the reader details that your main character would never know, wouldn't care about, or wouldn't notice. You ARE your main character. You see what she sees. You tell us what she feels in the moment, and the effect is that the reader is drawn deeply into the scene and into a relationship with the main character.

The thing that's REALLY hard to wrap your head around is that, in order to truly find your story's voice, you have to do those things no matter which POV you choose. Even in third person you can (and should) put on your character's skin and dip into her emotions, using her past and present experiences to illuminate the scene before you. That is what makes inspired writing.

And now for the obligatory example from the pages of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix:

Harry dropped his gaze to the chair in the center of the room, the arms of which were covered in chains. He had seen those chains spring to life and bind whoever sat between them. His footsteps echoed loudly as he walked across the stone floor. When he sat gingerly on the edge of the chair the chains clinked rather threateningly but did not bind him. Feeling rather sick he looked up at the people seated at the bench above.

J.K. Rowling taps into Harry's memories and emotions to paint a picture of the witness stand in the Wizengamot that chills the bravest, most defiant spirit. You can feel Harry's anxiety, his powerlessness in the moment. He is at the mercy of people and powers that are at best disinterested, and at worst invested in his destruction. She doesn't have to tell us these things for us to figure them out. We read it in what Harry notices, what he remembers, and how he reacts to his environment and to the other characters in the scene.

The third person POV advantage is that you can occasionally slip into other characters' heads and write from their perspective as well. But you have to be choosy. Really examine why you need that character's perspective to paint your picture. If you can't come up with a compelling reason for using a character's perspective, stick to your main character. Otherwise you risk diluting the narrative and losing your reader in the process.

If you're having trouble with this, if you find that you keep straying from your main character's point of view into other character's heads, maybe it's time to re-evaluate the story, up the stakes to refocus your narrative and your main character's goals, or decide if your main character is really your main character. It's possible that the story belongs to someone you thought was in the background. Stranger things have happened.

Guest-blogging at DIY MFA!

Today I have a guest post on the DIY MFA community blog. Hop on over and check out my article "Why Hire a Freelance Editor?" Then leave me a message in the comments!

DIY MFA (Do It Yourself Masters of Fine Arts) is a great writers' resource center, with tools and tips for doing your best creative work. They host webinars and courses to help you on your way to a successful writing career. Stop in and see what they have for you!

N is for Never Giving Up

The thing is, sometimes we hate our own writing. Sometimes a project starts out with so much potential and then suddenly you find that it's gone terribly wrong... taken on a mind of its own and traveled to a place that you would never have taken it and that you never intended to go in the first place. That can be exhilarating, or it can be devastating.

At those times you may be tempted to scrap your project altogether... and that's ok! It's perfectly reasonable to take a break from your work and stretch your mind doing something else. Just DON'T throw away what you've already accomplished. Even if you hate it. Even if you think that you'll never look at it again.

Put your work in a drawer (literally or figuratively) and give yourself some space... but NEVER give up on what you've begun. One day you'll come back to it... 6 months... 2 years from now... and you'll have a fresh perspective, a flash of inspiration that will help you to transform your writing into something new. But you can't do that if you don't have something to start with.

So get out there, get writing, and see where it goes! Then, if your project takes a turn for the worse, give it some time, some space... come back to it later. You might be surprised at what you find.

For developmental editing and good writerly advice, visit www.writingrefinery.com and follow my blog! http://writingrefinery.blogspot.com

Written Magic: My Grimoire

Michael Quinion of World Wide Words highlighted the word Grimoire in issue 872 of his newsletter this way:

2. Grimoire
A grimoire is a book of magic that may contain spells, conjurations, instructions for divination and the construction of amulets, and other secret knowledge of a supernatural kind. The examples include such famous works as the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, The Book of St Cyprian, The Key of Solomon and The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage.
The word is French, in the same sense. It began to appear in French-English dictionaries early in the nineteenth century but became more widely known in the 1850s. In French, it was a medieval modification of grammaire, a book of grammar, by which was meant Latin grammar, since at the time there was no other kind. It derives from the Latin grammatica, the study of literature in general, which by the Middle Ages had come to mean knowledge of Latin.
The shift from book of grammar to book of magic isn’t as weird as it might seem. Few among the ordinary people in those times could read or write. For superstitious minds books were troubling objects. Who knew what awful information was locked up in them? For many people grammar meant the same thing as learning, and everybody knew that learning included astrology and other occult arts.

I love the idea of grammar as magic... and not just because I'm a freelance editor and prone to hours of reading. Words are powerful, conjuring images and ideas that can help those who read them change the world, or at least change their perception of the world. Perspective is a crucial part of our ability to survive and thrive. Words can build up and liberate or they can trap and enslave. They must be used wisely.

Quinion's post got me thinking, Do I have my own grimoire for the craft of writing? As it turns out, I do. My grimoire, a notebook I keep while reading books on the craft of writing, is full of "spells, conjurations, instructions for [writing]... and other secret knowledge of a supernatural kind," or helpful hints and encouraging quotes that I find as I go along through such books as Stephen King's On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft  or Betsy Lerner's The Forest for the Trees (Revised and Updated): An Editor's Advice to Writers . The words in my notebook are powerful, they're the key to unlocking creative energy in myself and in my editing clients. They're secrets and experience passed down by generations of practitioners of the craft of writing.

The cover of my Grimoire. "The Lightgatherers"
an original painting by Montserrat Bennett

We endow all sorts of people, objects and rituals with power over our writing, from our favorite authors to the reliability of our computers' operating systems. Why not do something intentional and positive to add power to your writing? Start your own grimoire of your craft and fill it with powerful incantations from people who inspire you to be a weaver of words.

M is for Motivation

Motivation, as defined by Merriam Webster:  the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something : the act or process of motivating someone

: the condition of being eager to act or work : the condition of being motivated

: a force or influence that causes someone to do something

Motivation, as it pertains to writing, can take two forms. First, there's character motivation. I'm going to focus on villains here, because they usually get written as bad for the sake of being bad... and that's not always the best, most powerful, or most plausible way to write a villain.

Understanding your villain's motivations with regard to their actions will not only help you to decide what they do next, it will help your readers understand WHY they do what they do. Readers find "WHY?" very important, and if they don't understand "WHY?" they're liable to lose interest in your story relatively quickly.

It is possible to write a character that has no discernible motivations for their actions (take Iago in Othello, for example). We're not all Shakespeare, though... And even Iago's motivations can be teased out of the play if you want to look VERY deeply into it.

Instead, show us why your villain is bad. What does he stand to gain from his actions? Give us a snapshot of what happened in her past that made her the way she is. Take Voldemort, for example. Throughout the entire Harry Potter Series his most simple and immediate goal has been to kill Harry. Understanding WHY is very important, though, for Voldemort's actions to make any sense to the reader. Also, Harry didn't initially have to understand WHY Voldemort wanted to kill him. But in order to eventually defeat Voldemort, Harry would have to learn everything he could about his nemesis's motivations.

In its other sense, MOTIVATION applies to you, dear writer. Find your story. Make it something you're enthusiastic about. Because in order to succeed with your story, you're going to be spending a LOT of time with it. And if you're not motivated by the sheer joy of being with your story, you're going to find the process of writing, editing, and publishing a very arduous one indeed.

Good luck and happy tales.