Busting at the Themes

Choice.  The many choices in life are to do things way A or way B, or way C, etc.  But even when you have all those options in front of you, if you think you are being smart by just not doing anything, you've secretly been duped into choosing.  You are just trading one choice for another, instead of how you do something, you just decided whether or not to do something.  You just can't escape making choices.

My first novel is the idea that sparked everything.  It is what awakened me as a writer.  I remember spending hours at coffee shops and can still marvel at how the words just poured out of me.  I easily got in around 2000 words a day if not more.  And then I stopped.  I chose to stop.

I stopped because I continually read that the first novel I pour my heart and soul into will probably be crap, and I'll need to throw it in a trunk somewhere and move on.  That first labor of love, will be something I look back on and possibly shudder at the idea of having given birth to something so shabby.  The end won't work quite so well as I thought, the characters that I lovingly molded from the blank pages might be painfully one dimensional, and plot holes will be found big enough to drive an 18-wheeler through.  It will never be as beautiful and perfect as I first imagined it was.

And that scared the bejeesus out of me.  I didn't want this story of mine to be disfigured because of my ineptitude.  I wanted it to be as golden and perfect as it could be.  I wanted to become a better person before I started it again.  I wasn't sure if I was going to be good enough for it so I let it go, but told myself I would come back to it one day.  

Yet every day I thought about my idea.   I continued to add to it and sculpt it in my mind.  How should the main character react to this new world?  How will the other characters react?  So much so that I realized nothing else I have written has excited me as much as this story did.  And that is when I realized how potent the theme of the story was.  At least on a purely me level.  

A number aspects of my story have to deal with the consequences of choice.  Not a super original theme, but one that resonates loudly within the story arch, character development, and the plot.  It could even be seen in an artistic flourish that I have planned that may or may not ever come to fruition.

And I have chosen to write this novel... finally.  I'm not really sure how it will turn out, and I am still unsure if I have grown enough as a writer to tackle this story.  But my mind will continue to work on this story whether I write it or not.  And if I don't get it out of my system, my inaction, my choosing to not write will keep me from feeling as passionate about the other stories I do actually want to write.  And those stories will lack the feeling they need from me.

I know the passion of the story will eventually wear on me and may die.  I also acknowledge that the only thing that will get me to the end will be pure determination and stubbornness, but I need to get this story out of me.  

My advice to aspiring writers?  Write that story you first wanted to,  as early as you can.  Your excitement of that idea might overshadow the enthusiasm of other works, and that lack of passion will show. And even if you mess it up, remember: as a writer your world will be filled with editing and re-writes, why should you're first novel be an exception?

Choose to write!

Online Literary Magazines

Not every story you write will be a novel. Or maybe it will, I don't know I'm not a psychic. Personally, I find that not every idea of mine that floats through my head has enough plot for me to flesh it out into a full fledged novel.   I'm not sure if that is because I'm a terrible writer or just a lazy one.

Whatever the case may be, I'm thankful for that.  Sometimes it feels like the only story I'll ever finish will be these short stories.  But I feel like the more stories I can complete form start to finish the better I can see where my flaws are when developing story arcs, pushing character development, and of course honing dialogue.

But what can you do with your short stories once they are done? Getting a book of short stories published can seem next to impossible unless you are an already established author.

Writing excuses (told you I was obsessed with them) also introduced me to an online literary magazine called Jim Baen's Universe. Sadly, by the time I had listened to the podcast where they introduced this e-zine it had decided to close its doors. But the editor, Mike Resnik, was kind enough to have a farewell blog that points aspiring authors to other reputable E-zine, most of which appear to have what SFWA describes as professional pay rates.

List of  E-Zine Links after the Jump:

Aspiring Author: My resources

I'm a little obsessed with a podcast made by writers called: Writing Excuses.  I figure, the more I can learn from people in the industry (specifically those who write fantasy), the better I'll become as an author.

So, how does listening to this podcast make me a better author? You might think since I'm an actively listening I'm not spending my time writing.  And while that is an excellent observation there are times when I am not able to write but can actively listen: in the car, working, jogging. So, listening to a podcast by writers, for writers, is actually a great way to fill in those times when I'm not actually in front of a keyboard.

Writing Excuses provides tons of tips and tools that make me a better writer such as: how to properly keep your pacing and guidance on building your own magic system there is so much more there that they talk about.  Because being an author isn't just about being a writer.

And the feedback i hear from these three funny guys and their various guest hosts all seem to follow the advice I've read elsewhere in other reputable blogs.  Nowadays, being an author means you need to strongly edit your work before sending to an agent, establishing an online presence as soon as possible, and learning to market your writing not just to publishing editors, but also to your target audience.  All of this can be a lot of work even if you aren't a self published star like Amanda Hocking.

So to any other aspiring writers out there, I would strongly recommend this podcast.  Even if you don't plan to write in Fantasy/Sci-Fi, the information they provide is nearly universal.  And most of all: free.


What have you got to lose?