Journaling

Well, I have not yet succumbed to the flu, this A-Z Challenge, my editing, nor the new idea that is tormenting my brain. I'm alive and kicking folks, very much so.

Journaling is something that everyone seems to recommend. I've never seen a quote on Pinterest (or anywhere else, for that matter) that said "Don't journal!". So many authors (published and non) say that journaling is so important.

Personally, I've always journaled on and off. I still have a bunch of unfinished diaries from when I was little. Truth be told, they are the funniest things ever. When my cousin visits, sometimes we read them out loud and every time, giggles fill our lungs where the air is supposed to be. Most of the entries are on how much I hate taking naps, how much I love my mom, how mean my mom is, how much I love my mom again, how much I love Barbies and Polly Pockets, and the list goes on and on. Later on, the entries evolved to writing about the fun my best friends and I had and my crush and how much he was totally in love with me, because, let's be real, an eleven year old and a fifteen year old is NOT weird.

Now, when I journal, it's mostly thoughts and feelings, about people and life in general.

Journaling is a great way to just keep life in order. To just breathe in and out, and be who you are. It's all about self-discovery. To truly journal is to embark on a great adventure, one of finding out so much of who you are. It's also a fabulous way to work on your writing voice and discover your strengths and weaknesses, both writing and otherwise.

I have a tendency to get caught up in the heat of things and to react RIGHT AWAY. I have a thirst for justice, for things to be as they are supposed to be. Unfortunately, I have caused people I love to suffer because of the hastiness in which I have reacted to things in the past. Journaling has really helped me to pause and self-reflect before responding or retaliating.

For my Harry Potter homies, it's sort of like Dumbledore's pensieve. I use journaling as a way to "get out" my excess memories and emotions. It helps me to see things differently and calm down and, ultimately, just enjoy life more.

It's also perfect for when you need a break from your characters. You can take a needed escape (because, seriously, we all need it sometimes) from your WIP and yet still be writing.

Do you journal? What do you journal about?

Interesting: Keeping Readers Hooked

(Posting this a few hours early just in case I'm next to submit to the stomach bug that is rapidly taking down my family, including relatives who have come to visit. If I disappear for a day or two,  I can probably be found at the nearest toilet or in my bed and will return asap. Anyway, please keep my family and I in your prayers!)

Keeping readers hooked is quite simple, really. There are two main rules that I follow:

1. To be interesting, you must be interested.
2. Write what you know.

I have those moments when I'm writing and writing and writing and I feel like I'm just trudging through trenches steeped in thick mud. I'm really not going anywhere, and I'm just writing word after word for the sake of writing word after word. My dialogue is flat and nothing is even happening. I stare at the screen with a sagging jaw and glazed over eyes and snap at any of my dear little siblings who come near me.

Well this, kids, is what I what I would call an UNINTERESTED WRITER. Would you agree? Or perhaps, to but it more directly, a bored writer.

No no no no no! Writers are literally the most interesting individuals on the planet! We have worlds in our heads, people! We create people, places, and things! We think outside the box! We're crazy, we're insane! We're extraordinary!

We certainly do not subscribe to the notion of boring. It's simply unacceptable.

So why suffer through a scene when you can just...change it? If the scene isn't interesting to you, its creator, it's not going to be interesting to anyone else.

"But Anne Marie," you whine. "What if it's a major scene in my novel, like the climax or something?"

Well then, goodness, you have some re-plotting to do.

Of course, we are going to not always be able to write the high action scenes. If that's all you want to do, then you should probably be writing a comic strip. But regular day-to-day life is incredibly interesting! There are so many possibilities that can flow into your story...if the scene you've planned on all along just isn't grabbing your attention, then don't be afraid to change it up. We writers excel on breaking the rules and going to the least expected place. I guess you could say that it's what's expected of us.

Secondly, WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW. This was a writing rule that confused me as a kid. I wrote a lot of fantasy then, and I certainly didn't know kings and queens and have personal experience with falling in love with princes. I was like eight or something, for Pete's sake (why always Pete?)!! How much was I supposed to know, as an eight-year-old?! If I was going to follow that rule, it didn't give me a lot of options for writing material.

I woke up. Did school today. Talked to my mom. Ate food. Went to bed. Yay. The End.

I came to discover that it's not the plot at face value that we are supposed to know. As a writer, I am most successful when I am able to channel my feelings about life, my personal beliefs, and even my experiences into my story. This doesn't mean that I need to write a memoir, but that I underscore what main plot I have with themes that I believe in, that I find important. I can develop characters that struggle with the same virtues and vices I struggle with, things that I, a real person, can relate to. That way readers, other real people, might also relate.

Another thing I do while writing is put in versions of things that have happened to me. For example, really good friend breaks my heart? Oh, that is so going into my story. But perhaps it doesn't happen to said character the same way it happened to me...just something similar. More on that later this month--stay tuned!

If you're writing about things that you are passionate about, you're going to be interested. You're going to be hooked. You're going to want to keep writing.

When a writer wants to keep writing, a reader is going to want to keep reading. (It's like that whole If You Give A Mouse A Cookie thing. Sort of. Okay, maybe not really. It's late.)

How do you keep your readers hooked?

How To Kill A Character: Or Rather, Why

Welcome to yet another post from AM Station for the A-Z Challenge...no, kids, we're not done yet! Still have...a lot more days to go...so...much...blogging...

I am TIRED. So much blogging lately. I have to admit, my MS has been suffering this month due to my attentiveness to my blog. But that's fine, as I've definitely neglected my dusty little corner of the internet in the past, so I suppose I'm making up for it. I'm certainly proud to have made it this far, and it's been such a blessing to have interacted with so many incredible bloggers!

So, How To Kill A Character, as told by Anne Marie Schlueter.

First of all, consider your motive(s). Why are you killing your character? Because it's fun? You morbid person...I like you ;) Is it because J.K. Rowling killed Snape and you just have to take your anger out on SOMEONE and ruin his/her life like Rowling ruined yours?! SAME. Or perhaps because it's just something that's done in writing? I can relate.

Like everything we write, we need a reason. We need a good, solid, realistic reason for every single action that our characters make, for everything we authors throw their way. We need to take into account how this one action is going to affect each character and, of course, the story in its entirety. Basically, we need a pretty good reason to oft a character.

The reasons previously listed are not good reasons. I confess, I've bought into them before. Especially the second one (*whimper* But Snape....). However, they are quite shallow excuses for ending a life(even a fictional one). Our stories deserve better, as do our characters. I used to just kill my characters just because, perhaps for the shock factor or something. While death is a part of life (which is what books are about typically, right), there is a time and a place for death.

When I decide to kill a character, I consider a few different things. First, am I doing this just to surprise my readers? Second, is this furthering the story in some way, in particular, is it furthering character development? Third, is it necessary for the character to be alive in order to advance the plot? Fourth, is the death realistic?

If the answers to these questions lead me to the murder of a character, then I begin to consider how each character will react in a way that suits their respective personalities. People do crazy things when in grief...the craziness can be turned up or down, too, depending on the timing and gruesomeness of the death. Be sure to take that into account. Also, if cheesy dialogue is something you struggle with (my dialogue is the worst when my characters find out about a death), try reading it out loud to see how it sounds.

Lastly, I figure out how my characters will each handle the baggage of the death long-term. Pretty self-explanatory.

As previously stated, death is a part of real life. Therefore, for our writing to be realistic, we must have a place for death. Just be careful not to overuse it, and to think through the reasons why. The book Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher is a great example of how death affects characters differently. It is definitely worth a read, for many reasons, but certainly character development being one of them.

While we're on the subject of death, here's a cool infograph on how to cover up a murder.

What are some reasons you kill your characters?

Getting Published, Not: Guest Post by Faith Hough

I am very honored to host the brilliant Faith Hough (check out her blog here). Faith is an incredible writer-mama and is the queen of multi-tasking. In addition to that, she's actually also my cousin =) Anyway, without further ado, may I present to you the genius of Faith Hough!!

When Anne Marie asked me to write a post on “Thoughts on Getting Published,” my first reaction was, “Well, I don’t know anything about getting published. I’m not published yet.” But the truth is I know a whole lot of stuff about not getting published--and how great it is.

Yes, you read that right. NOT getting published is the best thing that ever happened to my writing. Each of the hundred-some times it happened. Here’s why:

Maddie and Faith

When I finished my first book, I was rip-roaring excited to send it off to a publisher and see my hard work enshrined between two hardback covers. I decided to enter a contest for unpublished writers first, and a few months later I found out that my story was a finalist. I gleefully, glibly, and gullibly sent it off to an editor and started my daily mailbox check.

A year later....my first rejection. I was crushed. Much chocolate was consumed. I cried. My one-year-old first born rubbed my cheek in bewilderment. With my own bewilderment, I re-opened my manuscript, prepared to be wowed by my writing prowess and angry at the fools who turned it down.

Instead, I noticed a major grammar error on the first page. A few pages in, I saw a historical inaccuracy. After ten minutes or so of reading I realized I used the word “felt” far too often. The writing, instead of stunning me, looked amateurish and stilted. It was nowhere near the level of the new book I was working on.

Fortunately, most writers have this exact experience, and we all realize how much better we are for it. A few unfortunate young writers hit just the right spot in the market and are able to get their first books published far too early--because the publishing business is indeed a business and they’re there to make money. When I chuckle at the bad writing in published, highly successful (and oft-ridiculed) books, I now try to remember that, “There but for the grace of God go I...”

I do believe the grace of God has plenty to do with it. Certainly I’m not the only writer who has given in to falling to her knees and begging God to “Please please please please please let them publish my book!” like a three-year-old begging for candy. But just like I know that too many jelly beans would be bad for my toddler, God knows that success at the wrong time would be bad for me.

My more recent works (I’ve written five complete novel manuscripts altogether) are more polished and sophisticated than that first foray, but I’m still trying to be grateful every time one of them is turned down by an agent or editor. Sometimes God allows me to see the advantages of His timing. Sometimes I’m left in the dark. But as He’s never been wrong so far, I figure I owe it to Him to “be thankful in all circumstances.”

One of my literary heroes, Madeleine L’Engle, dealt with this same issue. Her agent submitted A Wrinkle in Time over a period of ten years, only to meet with rejection after rejection. A few nice editors told her how much they liked it but were afraid to publish it for various reasons. She was crushed. At one point she decided to give up writing and try working on making better pie crusts instead...until she was distracted from her despair by trying to figure out exactly how she could portray it in words. Finally, at the end of those ten years, a chance meeting brought her into contact with an editor from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He loved it. He told her not to expect to make any money from such an odd story, but he decided to publish it nonetheless. It went on, of course, to win the Newbery Medal, sell over ten million copies, and become a lasting favorite of generations. In her book A Circle of Light, Madeleine acknowledges her debt to God for allowing all those rejections and for saying “no” to her prayers year after year. Clearly, His timing was perfect.

Of course all writers want to be published; if we’re bothering to write, which is no easy task, we want our words to reach as many people as possible. But I advise you not to worry. Make good art--and leave it in God’s hands. Take every rejection as an opportunity: to hone your skills, to study the great writers, to develop trust. To build up life experience which can only better your subsequent work.

And if you’re currently in the submission trenches, I do hear that you can order chocolate from Amazon via Subscribe and Save... Chocolate always helps. :)

Finish Your Story

As I write this, I am under a heap of blankets in my bright yellow bedroom. "Believe" by Mumford & Sons is playing for the fifth or sixth time. My window is open a crack, and it just started raining. The birds are still singing, though, and the forest my window overlooks is desperately reaching up to the sky for water, buds just dying to break open. The sky is gray and my house is silent. It's going to be an amazing writing day.

Welcome back for another A-Z Challenge post, here at AM Station. If you've been here before, wow, thanks for coming back, you must be crazy, too! If you're new to this insanity I call my blog, brace yourself.

Growing up, I had a tendency not to finish my stories. This wasn't due to laziness (well, maybe a little), but mostly due to the abundance of ideas that plagued (blessed?) my brain. It was so hard for me to just stick with one thing, especially when there were so many things to write. In fact, I didn't start "finishing" my stories until recently.

Like most problems in life, it is important to identify the places where you are likely to fail so you are prepared. Writing a novel/short-story/whatever is the same way. What are the obstacles that prevent you from finishing your novel?

For me, my list would look something like:

1. Too many ideas
2. Laziness
3. Intimidation (of writing a novel, of not finishing)

Once laziness and intimidation got on the scene, writer's block is sure to occur. So, how do I beat these challenges and press forward? I set a battle plan, which resembles this:

1. See if I can incorporate any of the new ideas into whatever project I'm working on.
2. Write down the ideas that have been exploding in my brain.
3. Take a break from my WIP and just do a little outlining or planning for a new project.
4. Keep writing. No matter what.

Another thing that disabled me from completing a story for so long was the fear that it wasn't good enough. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that everyone struggles with this one in some form or another.

Well, of course it isn't good enough to be a bestseller or be published. But right now, it's good enough to be a first draft. And that's exactly what it is supposed to be. 

If this is something you're struggling with, just KEEP WRITING. Push past insecurities and other ideas swimming around in your brain, and cling tight to your story. Also, sometimes it helps to hand whatever you're writing to a writing friend to look it over. THE WORLD NEEDS YOUR STORY! So go write! Perseverance always pays off.

Experience with Edits

Happy Easter Monday, dearest readers! Quick announcement pertaining to following: it has come to my attention that for some reason GFC wasn't allowing people to follow the blog...the issue should be fixed. I hate technology.

But, onto more pleasant things! Actually, not really, because today's topic is quite a painful one, for me, at least. However, writing is a whole mix of things, pleasant and not-so, jumbled together in a pot, that produce an addictive product. I am unable to stop, even if I don't like some aspect of it.

Before I finished a complete draft, I looked forward to editing like a kid (okay, let's face it, like I) look forward to Christmas. Probably because I was anticipating refining my novel in order to ultimately finish it.

However, it was not so simple.

After about a week of editing, I had become so disgusted with my manuscript that I set it aside entirely for a month or so. I wasn't getting the automatic rush of seeing my writing fall into place that I got while drafting. I felt like there was so much to fix and that nearly all of it was unfixable. It was just so messy! I couldn't keep track of it all and it made my head hurt and brought tears to my eyes. Why was I finally being beat by the simple stage of editing?!

More days passed with the manuscript shoved to the back of my mind. But it was always there, like a test I would eventually need to study for or a worksheet I'd eventually have to complete. Something I was running from, something nasty.

Finally, I came to realize that this mentality was not healthy for my writing, or for me. I was intimidated by the whole of my story and all the changes that had to be made. But I was not taking into account the brilliance of the story itself, the characters I'd fallen in love with, the reasons I'd started writing it in the first place.

Drafting is an instant gratification experience for me. I love to see the pages and the chapters pile up, to see the blood sweat and tears poured into it, and the story develop. I don't get that when I have to delete things and re-write. I am likely to get overwhelmed by everything produced by the drafting stage and scream at my MS "I FINISHED YOU, ISN'T THAT ENOUGH!?" Unfortunately, I doubt that agents and publishers would react positively if I shouted such words.

Eventually, I was able to focus on what's in front of me. I made a list of what was wrong, and focused on one thing at a time. Like life, not everything is going to happen at once. And like my story, my edits need pacing. I needed to pace myself in what I was fixing, so I didn't burn out. Also, I needed to stop expecting the unexectable from myself. It's not logical or healthy for me to believe I can fix everything in a day. Lastly, I needed to remember the reasons why I started writing this particular story in the first place. I needed to let the love of my story, my characters, and ultimately writing fuel me.

To sum it all up, when you're cleaning a kitchen, you focus on one aspect at a time. Perhaps first putting food away, then wiping down the table and all the counter tops, moving onto sweeping, next washing the dishes, then drying, and finishing off by putting it all away. Try having this mentality when refining your masterpiece. And don't forget why you're doing it. Because you love the look of a clean kitchen! Those sparkling counter tops and appliances...oh wait, I mean, because you love your story! Those incredible, real characters that the rest of the world needs to know.

How do you edit your manuscript?

Don't Tell, Show

(mwahhahaha velcome to my secret lair of the internet vhere I vill attempt to complete zee A-to-Z Challenge vith my very own zeme: VITING.) I have no idea what just happened, so don't ask. Weird things happen with Anne Marie early in the morning.

This has been my greatest struggle as a writer. What? Being weird?

No, stupid, keep up. Telling and not showing. I mean showing not telling.

I hated hated hated HATED this rule so so so MUCH. I did not understand how one simply cannot tell. I have so much to tell! How could I just show it?! I'm a writer, not an artist for goodness sake.

When I took a creative writing class freshman year (best. class. ever.), this was something we definitely touched on. But I needed a blueprint, a handout, some sort of exact instruction! Because I did not understand why telling got such a bad rap.

I just love looking back at old writing and seeing how much I've grown. Even from reading things I've written less than a year ago, I can tell how much I learned.

Showing not telling was something that I learned gradually. There wasn't a formula I applied to suddenly become incredible at it (which I'm still quite far from. Being incredible at it, that is).

Since I've learned the art, I purpose that we rephrase "show don't tell" to "show over tell".

It's okay to tell. In her book This Is Not A Writing Manual, Kerri Majors discusses how a teacher once told her that it's perfectly okay to tell, as long as your telling is working. Some writers are masterful at telling. Like Kerri, my telling does not always work. It usually doesn't. My showing is more captivating and fills out the story much better.

Show over tell is the difference between telling someone about your best friend and actually introducing them to your best friend. While both are perfectly lovely, the later is the more desirable.

I think this quote sums it up quite nicely:

https://writerswrite1.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/quotable-anton-chekhov/

If showing over telling is something that you're struggling with, I encourage you to spend more time with your characters. Define them more, or "flesh them out". Show them squinting in the sun rather than saying it was sunny, show them sweating and panting rather than saying it's hot, show them holding back tears rather than saying that their hearts are breaking.

On another brief note, thank you all so much for reading my blog and for the kind comments! You all make me smile. Have a blessed Easter and I'll see y'all next week!