Happy Holidays!

Post NaNoWriMo is a time of rest. I mean, I need it. because my wrists are on fire, my brain is exhausted and I feel the need to be extra productive at my day job. Not to mention any graphic design projects I picked up during November and put off until December need to be done.

Most of the time this break is a lot longer than a couple of weeks. Never intentionally, but it tends to happen. As of yesterday, I am back on the writing train. There is no long rest for me this time! As much as I would love to just chill out and enjoy the holidays, I have promises to keep to my readers and my editor extraordinaire.

As for my NaNoWriMo project? Blessings of the Damned is not quite finished. We're so close to the end of the story, but there is still a couple of key scenes yet to go before that one is ready for a read over and the key decision on whether or not I will start the editing process.

As for Feathers & Fae, I am two more chapters into editing.  That means 10 are done and 15 are left to go. I think I may make some significant changes to the ending on this go through. I'll know for
sure when I get there. Of course, here I am writing a blog post instead of editing another chapter. Forgive me? I am still hoping to have Feathers & Fae done by or shortly into the new year so I can submit it to TOR Publishing. (Please keep your fingers crossed on that for me).

This just leaves Depths of Darkness to work on at that point. I hope to make a solid run on that one and have that first draft done early in 2018. At that point, I will have to figure out what to write next between editing this novel and Blessings of the Damn (if it makes the cut). I've been looking at some of my older work and there are a few stories that I have longed to go back to so that they can be rewritten. I also have a few unfinished novels (and one novella) that seem worthy of my attention.

I'll figure out what I am going to do when I get to that point. Until then, enjoy your holidays - whichever ones you choose to celebrate - and I will make a good attempt at enjoying mine. 

After the Storm of NaNoWriMo

Now that you’ve had a little time to rest your wrists you might be wondering what to do now. You’ve written a novel or at perhaps just part of a novel, but you did it. You made it through thirty days of creative insanity. You deserve a break. Although, I am sure there are a few of you out there still writing.

So what do you do when NaNoWriMo is over?

I often feel as though there is something else I should be doing after that first little break. I dedicate so much time to writing for the last 30 days that it seems strange not to be doing it any more. If you’re like me, then maybe you should keep writing. Not at the same pace perhaps, but keep at it. If your novel is calling to you - listen.

If you’re one of the lucky few who finished all the way to ‘The End’ then take a break, get a bit of distance from your novel, then feel free to go back and edit. Don’t be afraid if your writing makes you cringe or if that beginning just doesn’t really work because your story ended up going in a different direction. These things happen. This is why we edit our work, which is a whole different ball park.

Maybe editing isn’t your thing and you feel like you’ve already written enough for now. No problem. Catch up on those shows you missed. Let your friends know you are still alive. Make amends to loved ones for your long absence. Shout to the rafters “I did the thing.” Be proud of what you accomplished.

This is the end of the wonderful, creative insanity that we fondly call NaNoWriMo. I’m glad we were able to do this together. I would love it if you would all take the time to fill out this really short survey.

Now, just like most of you, I’m going to go and sleep for a week. Maybe call my parents to let them know I’m still here.

Keeping up the Momentum

It may be hard to believe it, but the end of the month is coming soon. Some of you may be right on schedule, some will be ahead and some will be behind. Wherever you are standing (or sitting for that matter) at this moment don’t give up. Don’t stop. Why you might ask?

For those of you that are ahead - Keep the flow going and get that story on the page. Just because you have hit or exceeded your goal for the month doesn’t mean you can pat yourself on the back and ice your wrists (as nice as that would be). Set a new goal and see if you can blow that one out of the water as well. A part of NaNoWriMo is to challenge yourself so do just that - challenge yourself and accept that challenge.

For those of you that are right on schedule - I’m impressed. No, seriously, I am. Most people have days where they write less and days where they write more.To stay on track in spite of this is an incredible feat. However, we have today and tomorrow to do something unexpected - challenge yourself to write just a little bit more. Even if it is only 5 extra words a day. Besides, every program counts words differently, it never hurts to have a buffer for the times that the NaNoWriMo word counter seems to come up short. And won’t it feel nice to look at the official count and go “I didn’t just do it, I blew that goal out of the water.”

For those of you that are behind - Take a moment and look at your word count. When was the last time you wrote that many words in such a short amount of time. Have you even written that many words in all the preceding months this year? For most of you the answer to that question is no. So, take this moment and be proud of those words. You wrote them and hope is not yet lost. I’ve seen miracles in the month of November. People who have come up from so far behind to just blow us all out of the water. And even if you don’t have that in you, who cares? Look at what you have done. It’s incredible.

For everyone, the most important point is that no matter where you are in your writing - just keep writing. In the end, NaNoWriMo has never truly been about the number of words you write or even how good your story is; it’s about challenging yourself and delving into your creative depths to bring forth something that may not have otherwise existed. This story, however much you’ve been able to write this month, is your creation. You made that - no one else did. And that is an amazing thing.

Writing is a Journey

Believe it or not we are three weeks into this crazy journey together. Some of you will be well ahead of your goal and ecstatic at how well things have been going for you, but I will hazard a guess that the rest of you are starting to lag a bit. That tends to happen around this time of the month.

In many ways, the act of writing is a journey all by itself. When you start a great adventure, something new, shiny, and exciting your energy is high, you’re feeling on top of the world and you can conquer it all. You are ready to face this brave new world, but as the reality and struggles of your world start weighing you down each step becomes harder.

If you were a character in a story this is the point where things are starting to look bleak. You may not even be sure that you’ll even make it all the way to the end. However, you may not realize something very important at this point. You are the hero. And one way or another you will realize that the journey will be over soon. You will have succeeded simply because you have probably written more this month than any other month this year.

This is a truth that I realize each year that I do NaNoWriMo.

Each year it gets easier for me to find the strength and will to carry on in my story because I have accepted that this is a part of every journey. I just need to take it one word at a time. I can look back to my word graphs of almost any year that I have participated and identify that week three slump.

This is the time where you need to fall back on those tips from a couple of weeks ago. However, the end is in sight. You are almost there. We are almost there.

Even if riches and accolades are not waiting for you at the end of this particular journey you will have something more important. You will have a novel.

Now get back to writing. Climb that word mountain. Before you know it the sun will be shining on the other side.

They Did WHAT?

I am not going to lie to you. If you did a really good job of developing your character they will take on a life of their own. It makes no difference if you are a planner or pantser at some point this is going to happen to you - if it hasn’t happened already.

As a pantser, this can be great - so long as you keep your end goal in mind when you’re writing. Characters that take over are a blessing if you can stay out of their way long enough to be able to document their adventures. Sometimes you may have to poke them and prod them a bit to keep the story heading more or less in the right directions, but never try to force a character like this to do something that they do not want to do. Generally, if your character has taken on a life of their own then trust them to act in the story’s best interest.

However, you can run into trouble if your characters try to take over, but aren’t well developed enough to really hold their own or they are a Mary Sue. I’ll write more about Mary Sues in a bit.

As a planner, this can be terrifying - especially when you’ve spent all this time plotting out your novel just to have your characters hijack the story and take it somewhere unexpected. If they are behaving (more or less) - congrats! You probably considered who your characters were prior to planning your novels. Of course, that doesn’t prevent any new characters from just popping up and demanding your attention.

If you do have a character trying to derail your novel the most important thing to remember is that sometimes you need to follow that muse. The worst thing that could happen is that you end up with a terrible dead end side story that you can delete when you edit. There is absolutely no reason why you can't go back to the point of derailment and follow the story down a different path this time. These are still words and, better yet, if you are drawn to write this, if it is easy to write that dead end path than do so because those are words you can count. And that best case scenario? You end up writing something even better than you had planned. Chances are, though, you will be somewhere between those two extremes.

What do you do about the Mary Sues?

We all end up with these at some point in our writing career. They do not make for the most interesting reading material, to be honest. If you are halfway through your novel and you are suddenly realizing that one of your main characters just might be a Mary Sue then you’re going to have to do some quick character fixes. (Unless, of course, your story is flowing just fine. Then by all means keep writing and fix that character later).

Keep in mind, that no one is perfect. People have flaws, mental and physical. We struggle, we debate, we worry, we get angry for what seems like no reason. Remember your character isn’t just a character - it’s a person. Make sure that this person you created has failings and flaws. Has things he/she/it struggles with and things that they are good at. Make them round and add a few flaws. If you have, after November, go back and fix that first part. Or if you are really mad at your story and nothing is working out for you there is no reason that you cannot ignore everything you’ve written until now and start back at the beginning with your now, more well-rounded character.

In the end, no matter where you stand, the point here is that sometimes you just have to follow the story, and your characters, where they take you. If you try to fight it you may all too often find yourself blocked in what to write next or just plain uninspired by your own story. 

When in Doubt, Blow Something Up

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we hit a point in our novel where we don’t know what to do next or we find our enthusiasm waning or any of the myriad of things that can happen to slow down our word count. These are the moments where you sit there and stare at the page in horror as the minutes tick by.

So what do you do when you are blocked? When the words just won’t come?

The same solution won’t work for everyone, or even every time, but to help you out here are some of the things that I and others have done to help us get those words going again.

Keep moving. And not just the words. Get up and go for a walk or run. Do any activity that allows your mind to wander. Do the dishes, bake the cookies. Yeah, it may seem like procrastination, but sometimes not thinking about your story is when you do your best thinking. Your brain can just try to work on it in the background without your own thoughts interrupting it.

Or just take a break. You are not a machine. Take a break. Have a bubble bath. Take a shower. Give in to your need for that nap. Sometimes, sometimes all you need is to step away from your story and give your brain a break. After all, you’ve been working really hard.  

Change the view. If you can, take your computer to a new location. I often find that when I write at home, I will write less than if I went to a coffee shop or during my lunch break at the office. Sometimes all you need to do is go somewhere different to get the gears moving again. Not to mention that the people and things in your environment can be added to your story. Snippets of conversation can inspire a page of dialogue.

Blow it up. Not literally. There will always be times when you have no idea what you are going to do next in your story. Something needs to happen, but you don’t know what. If it works with your story, blow something up. Have ninjas or pirates attack or just simply ask yourself ‘what is the worst possible thing that could happen in my story right now?’ and write it. If something needs to happen then make something happen. If need be, kill someone (not literally* - just in your story).

Free write. Just write a whole new scene. It doesn’t have to be a part of your novel. Change the text colour to red or white, but leave it as part of your word count. Free writing is just letting the words flow out of you - they don’t have to be about your story at all. Just start rambling away in text until something pops up and you scream “EUREKA!” because you have finally figured out what you need to write. Or stick your protagonist and antagonist in a room and see what happens. Just get some words out and sometimes you’ll be surprised at what shows up when you aren’t trying to control the flow of your story.

Talk it out. Find a good friend or a family member or another writer and just start talking about your story. Talk about what you want to write next. Talk about how you want the story to end. Talk about that one thing (or more!) that’s really been bothering you about your plot or your characters or anything. Just let it and one of two things will most likely happen - you suddenly realize what you need to do or the person you are talking to will ask you that one question or state that one thing that brings it all together for you.
And if you have no one to talk to? Then write out the conversation. Ask yourself the hard questions. Why did it have to happen this way? What if….?

I am sure there is way more that I could write here, but these are the ones that I find tend to work for most people from published authors to first time writers. Find the ones that work for you and use them. And, of course, if you have a great writer’s block breaking technique that works for you, share it!

*unless you can get away with it, but don't blame me if you get caught. It was your decision after all. I had nothing to do with it. Murder is not a recommended outside fictional, literary worlds..

Progress not Perfection

I know for many people that blank page can be daunting. It looms before you begging the question - Are my words going to be good enough? Can I tell the story I want to tell?

There is only one piece of advice I can give you - Don’t even worry about it.

An adage in the writing world applies very much to NaNoWriMo. You can’t edit what you haven’t written.What you are starting today isn’t a first draft. Nope. It’s Draft 0. This is where, good or bad, all you are obligated to do is get the story out of your head and onto the paper (or screen).

Bulky prose. Awkward dialogue. Passive voice.

All those things that you want to avoid writing? Write them. This is not about perfection. This isn’t about telling your story in the best way you can. This is just about telling the story in any way you can.

When it’s all said and done, you can go back and edit to your hearts content. Refine the prose, smooth out the dialogue and make the voice active! But that, as I said, is for later. When you are finished and well recovered from the rush of NaNoWriMo..

Sometimes, you may find that you need to make notes to yourself like [technical word for X] or [research this later] and that is fine! Don’t worry about it. These things happen. Make a note, move on. You can research those things later.

There will be times when you just do not have the words to write the scene you want to write You’re stuck. What now? Once again this is about progress, not perfection. No first draft is ever that good and draft 0 is going to be worse than that. So feel free to write. [I am having a hard time writing this scene. I will come back to it later. Here is what happens in this scene].

Do what it takes to keep moving forward. One of the biggest keys to success at this point is to keep moving forward. Keep the words flowing. Just keep writing.

And, never fear, you can fix that later. 

Little Steps not Big Leaps

Most of the time when I have a huge task ahead of me, like cleaning my house up for some guests that are coming, if I focus on everything that needs to be done as a whole I will often freeze. I won’t know where to start or even how to get started. It’s too much. I can’t do it.

Sometimes the goal of 50K words can seem like a heck of a lot. How are you supposed to accomplish this lofty goal when you have work, school, kids, etc?

The answer is fairly simple. Don’t look at the big picture. Focus instead on one small aspect. Something simple, something you know you can do. If I am cleaning my house I focus on clearing off my coffee table first. It’s not much, but when it is done everything looks so much better already. With writing it is the same - focus on a small easily accomplished task.

Like the daily goal of 1667 words.

If you type about 30 wpm you can do that in about an hour.  At 20 wpm that is less than 1.5 hrs of writing. At 10 wpm that is 2.5 hrs.

Small goals are what gets the job done. Words turn into sentences. Sentences turn into paragraphs. Paragraphs turn into chapters. Chapters become a novel. What stops so many people from accomplishing that first draft is the fact that they are focussed on the big picture of a first draft, but you can’t have a first draft without a first word, a first paragraph or a first chapter.

Break it down. If you can only write 10 words per minute then break up the time you write. I don’t know about you, but I cannot write for 2.5 hrs straight without a break. Still, what is that? 30 minutes in the morning. 30 minutes over lunch. 30 minutes when you get home from work or school. 30 minutes after dinner. 30 minutes before you go to bed.

It’s really not all that much to do. And most people can type or handwrite more than 10 words in a minute.

Focusing on small, manageable goals can keep you from being overwhelmed at what you are about to do. Focus on what you know you can do and everything else will follow suit. If you have more time then give yourself more time. If you can get one extra word over your goal, then do it.

While your energy is high, while every word feels new, shiny and awesome - write more. If you can, get that buffer of extra words early. Things will happen, some days you might not write as much - and that is okay! Just don’t worry about that big picture until you get there.

Do what you can with what you have. It is truly all any of us can do.

Link issues

In case anyone tried, I had a small issue with the link to my official website. It has now been fixed!

Talks and Tips for NaNo Success - Participation

Once a week, I will be posting tips and pep talks for NaNoWriMo success.Since that will be my main focus for the next month and a bit. These articles were originally written for me to share with the other writers in my region, but I figured that it couldn't hurt to share them with all of you. 

I thought I’d also give you a little background about my history with NaNoWriMo

This is my 10th NaNoWriMo. Over the years I’ve managed to complete anywhere from just barely over 50K to well over 100K words during the month of November. There are years where I have planned novels in intricate detail and years where I have received my writing prompts on October 31 at noon. I’ve run the gamut of NaNoWriMo experiences which is why I want to share those experiences with you. 

First post is below. 



Participation is Success 

I didn’t find the forums until my second year into NaNoWriMo.

I signed up for the first time on October 28. Somehow, I managed to make my 50K. That first year, the closest thing I got to interaction with other participating writers was the two friends from an online discussion group who had encouraged me to “give it a shot”. I was stubborn. I had never really tried to write a novel before, but it was a dream that I had had for a long time. So I pushed through to just over 52K.

I was overjoyed that I had written so much and disappointed when I realized that I had no idea what I was doing when it came to writing a novel. I never finished the story which was my whole goal for even trying this crazy thing in the first place.

So why did I come back?

Well, I got that email that told me that there was more to NaNoWriMo than just writing. Great, I thought, maybe someone can help me figure out where I went wrong last year. So, I homed myself to the Alberta::Elsewhere region and was introduced to a new side of NaNoWriMo.

I enjoyed it even more this time. I didn’t finish the novel again, but I had really just winged the entire thing. That year, I got just over 56K words.

The next year, I was more involved on the forums, I attended my first write-in and did word wars online. I wrote about 120K words that year. And I have never looked back. Other than the year I ran out of story before hitting 50K, that first year was the least amount of words I have ever written for NaNoWriMo.

I am not a fast typer. Ask anyone who has ever attended a write-in with me. My numbers per word war or sprint tend to be on the lower end of the spectrum.

For many people, that interaction helps them to be accountable for their words. Not just to the friends and family that they have told about NaNoWriMo, but to others who are going through the same struggle that they are. People that you can be competitive with, if that’s your thing, people who can help you puzzle out difficult parts of your story when you get stuck, people who can inspire, cheer and celebrate the victories with you.

Now, as an ML with a more than full-time job, it is the interaction with others that keeps the words coming. If it wasn’t for word wars and write-ins there would have been many years that I would have failed completely. I would estimate that about 75% or more of the words I write (typically 65K+ most years) happens at an online or in-person write-in.

Over the years, I have made some of the most incredible friends from around the globe that encourage me to continue to challenge myself and grow in my writing.

And maybe, if you’re reading this, you have discovered or are discovering the same thing. Involvement and participation, not just the writing, are one of the biggest keys to success! Besides, NaNoWriMo has never been about winning or losing - it’s about enjoying the creative process.

One step closer

Unless my incredible, amazing editor determines otherwise, I think I can now say the chapters that she asked me to add to Feathers & Fae are done.
Now all I have to do is give them a good personal editing and ship them off to her. With any luck I'll be sending then off to TOR early in 2018. Don't hold me to that though, you know how us authors are.

And of course, another NaNoWriMo approaches. This means a new WIP has been planned. I'm very excited to see if it turns out as good as I'm hoping it will.

I'm going back to my roots on this one. It's a dark fantasy with a horribly tortured protagonist.  

Working title is 'Blessings of the Damned'.

"Sometimes the only difference between a hero and a villain is what side of the line you're standing on.
There was a time when his name was something whispered with fear and awe; a time when he was one of the most powerful men to walk the earth, but that was long ago. Yet still, people feared him though he did little to justify that fear. He kept to himself and lived a quiet, simple life. Until one day, a young girl from a faraway land knocked on his door and asked of him a favour.
She asked him to kill her."

A Long Overdue Update

Sometimes in life things go slant-wise. This seems to be one of those years.

I went on vacation and when I came back I went right into working 13 hrs a day, five days a week. Needless to say, my writing got pushed aside a bit. Okay, maybe a lot.

I am still working on adding those new chapters my editor asked for. At this point, she has even stopped asking me when they will be finished. It's been that bad. And then my best friend got married which made me very happy. Incredibly happy, but that meant some of those few moments of free time were dedicated to helping out with wedding stuff.

So that's been my life. Not much writing, lots of work, lots of things to do, but it hasn't been all that bad.

I am really hoping to get back to writing soon, but in the meantime I took a few minutes to put up a new website. http://www.crystallkirkham.com (Just a note that the redirect to the current site hasn't updated to IE yet. So if that's what you use, this is where it redirects to: https://crystallkirkham.wixsite.com/author).

So, fingers crossed, let's hope I get Feathers and Fae finished this year.

Update on Feathers & Fae

Well my dear readers, you may not get your hands on Feathers & Fae in March like I had been planning. At pressure from my editor I shall be submitting this novel to Tor Publishing withing the next couple of months.

So while I do not have anything brand new to offer you in March, as soon as Feathers & Fae is off my desk, I shall be busting my butt to get another novel up and ready to go! Wish me luck in this new endeavor. I shall keep you all updated.

For all you know, you may be seeing my name in the bookstores by next year. 

Editing. Editing. Editing.

Feathers & Fae is into one of the final revision stages. I've been so focused on editing that I nearly forgot to update my blog!

There was so much I had planned to write, but editing has consumed my life! I'm actually posting this from my phone in bed. Sorry guys!

I'll update you more later! For now, I sleep!

For Updatesake

I have been absolutely consumed with editing Feathers and Fae tonight. It's late. I have to be up in a few hours do you're not getting much.

If ask goes well maybe this book will be available for pre-order prior to the summer. No promises though. I still haven't heard back from my beta readers yet.

I'll keep you updated if course.