3 Ways to Make it Over the Wall

Hey readers! You know what today is?

AWESOME WRITING INFO THURSDAY!


This is your brain exploding because you are so excited!

 Today, I'm going to let you know about a little something called The WALL in writing. Yours could come in any color, at any time, and its just waiting to pop out at you!

Yes, this DID just pop out of the ground to kick you in the guts.

The Wall is when you get to a point in your writing and you think "Man, this sucks. I think I'll just give up now because no agent is ever going to want to see this piece of shit." You then contemplate burning your manuscript, stomping on it until it cries out 'Uncle', then tossing it off the highest building you can find.

This person was probably working on an epic story and most likely trapped in the 1998 Matrix.

 Never fear, dear readers! There are ways to get over this! I've come up with three solid ways you can bring that wall down! None of which require a Trojan Horse.

or Brad Pitt as Achilles.

1.) Talk to a trusted friend!
You may think this has potential to be awkward. Maybe your friends don't know a whole lot about writing stories, or good story structure, but they could still be a huge help. Sometimes just saying the problem out loud allows you to get a fresh perspective on it. Tell your friend that you want them to be the Romeo to your Juliet in writing.


Just ignore that little 'death after three days' bit.
 

2.) Gain inspiration from other forms of art.
Writing does not exist in a vacuum. You could get excellent ideas by watching movies, reading other books, or looking at some fabulous photography. You would be surprised how many times I have been sitting, thinking that I'll never get my story done, until a see a great picture. I get excited to write all over again. Try to watch movies/read books that are in your genre and stay away from any movie that involves Nic Cage! There is nothing to be gained there.

There are no words. Drive Angry was an abomination against creation.

3.) Go for a walk
Yes, you read this right. I want you to detach yourself from the keyboard, shake out those old bones, and take a walk. Stephan King says this is his favorite way to get over that block. He says the 'boys in the basement' can work while your mind and body are busy. He just says to bring either a recording device or a small notebook so you can write down any ideas that come to you. You never know when magic might strike!

Raise your hand if you would hike the shit out of this place with me.

Those are my three sure fire ways to get over the Writing Wall. If you are having a serious case of Writing Wall, these remedies may not be right for you. Consult your doctor if symptoms persist or get worse, you start to rock in corners in fear of your story, or you enjoying running around town completely naked screaming the "British are coming." If these symptoms occur, the best idea would be to take a break from your writing, at least a week. Rest and relaxation will be your best remedies.

Good luck writers!

Happy Writing!

Come and Get It entry!

Hey everyone! This is not Thursday, so you know this is not a writing advice post. Today, I am blogging about the awesome Come and Get It contest going on right now at Cupids Literary Connection found here.

It's a great contest where 100 people post their query and their first 250 words and people go and critique it, including judges and agents!!

OH MY GAWD! JUDGES AND AGENTS WILL SEE MY SHIT!

I got in (basically by the skin of my teeth because of SO many awesome writers). I am eagerly awaiting some feed back on my entry from amazing people. Maybe, just maybe, awesome people like you!

Seriously though, I want you to read it.

Unlike most writers, I thrive off critique. I only want to enhance my writing. Seeing as how I am going to be entering into a *basically* life or death match with an agent's inbox tomorrow, I'm looking for some thoughts. The agent has agreed to tell all those who query her why she is passing and I don't want my reason to be because my stuff sucks. My wittle writing heart may break.

Little known fact, writer's hearts are made out of candy.

I want to stay as far away as possible from the 'you suck' bitch-slap. So fly, fly my minions and read my entry found here! Just click the bolded 'here' and it will spirit you away into the magical world of my story. Let me know what you think and I'll repay you with cookies or cake or s'mores! Maybe not any of those things, but you'll get all my love :D

Watch out for tomorrow's post of AWESOME WRITING ADVICE!

As always,
Happy Writing

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen

So, I sort of suck at keeping a constant blog day. I've decided that Thursdays are now going to be AWESOME WRITER INFO DAYS! I hope you read that in an action movie overview voice, complete with Michael Bay-like explosions.

Today, I want to talk about something that is extremely important in writing...critiquing.

Critiquing is hard, I am not going to sugar coat it for you. You've work, no slaved, over your manuscript and you decide to put it out in the world to get some feedback. Then someone gives you a little criticism and it's like being slapped in the face.

NOTE: This is a bad critique. Most people do not say this so DO NOT TELL OTEHRS THIS!

You thought your MS was a beautiful, bouncing baby that the world would enjoy and now someone is telling you it is ugly. Don't they know how hard you worked on it?


"Your baby is so....alert!"-Erica O'Rorke, author of the TORN trilogy on finding something nice to say when critiquing.  

This is a perfectly acceptable first response to a critique as long as you don't act upon it. Yes, it feels like a nasty sting the first time you read it, but there are probably some valid points in the critique. Unlike a real baby, you can go back a change the parts others don't like. You can trim off the eyebrow...er...adjectives...and tighten up the voice work. All problems in writing are fixable, so don't stress out :)

Remember, most of the time, people just want to help you. They are giving you advice from what they already learned or are letting you know what pulls them out of the story or strikes them as being odd.

These types of critiques are INVALUABLE.

 They let you know what readers really think about your novel and can help make your manuscript stronger overall. You can't assume you know it all, because most of the time you probably don't. If you find yourself getting really bent out of shape because of a few critiques, you need to step back and have yourself a tall glass of harden the hell up as my new friend Jessica would say.

It just so happens I have some on tap!

Unless someone is being downright cruel, there is no reason to not at least think about what they've said. The writing community is actually a pretty tightknit group. They want to see each other succeed and most don't want to make you feel bad. While it is hard, you need to actually think about what others are saying, not ignore them all together. We just want to see you get published!

You need thick skin as a writer. People will not always adore your work. Agents might not, editors might not, readers and Amazon reviews might not, all of these people have potential to not like your work. They might have suggestions for you to make it better and you should never ignore them. Put on your +50 armor to critiques and think about what each person has said.

This keeps harsh critiques from hurting you...and also might keep the ladies away if you wear it out in public.

So, if you have joined a critique group, competition, or conference that has a lot of critiquing involved, be prepared and don't overreact to the small stuff. Take in the critique, think about it, and decide if it is right for you.

That's my sage advice for the day!

Happy Writing!