If You Don't Have Time, Write Poetry

This week has been extremely busy at work. I have been staying late to get the store ready for opening. What does this mean for my writing. I have been finding it difficult finding the time to invest in my fictional writing. This is going to have to change if I am to write a 50,000 word novel next year. 

One of the things I do when I am not sitting in front of a computer is write haiku. I might be waiting for one of my kids or sitting in the car on my lunch break. I will pull out my notebook and write a haiku or two. I use whatever is going on in my life at the time as inspiration for my haiku. It is amazing what you can fit into 17 syllables.

You don't have to write haiku in these short spans of time. You can write lyrics or sonnets or even a few lines of free-verse. It doesn't really matter what you write as long as you are forcing your mind to be creative. If you can do this, maybe you can reset your creativity so when you do go back to the longer piece of fiction, there will be something there to write.

Getting Ready for NaNoWriMo 2012

This year will be my 8th or 9th year participating in National Novel Writing Month. I have a blast every year attempting to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. I find that it is nearly impossible for me to complete the challenge. I think the furthest I have ever gotten was about 30,000 words. This year I intend to go all the way. In fact I am planing to go to 80,000 words. I want a full novels length.

I have a simple plan to get to the number of words that I want to get to. I am going to write a daily journal of my main character. You are going to get to see the life of this man through his eyes and through his thoughts.

What I like about this format is that I can write the book in really short sections. I figure if I can write about 220 words for each day for the whole year, I will have an 80,000 novel (220 words x 365 days = 80,300 words). 

To get the story across, I will probably write more than 220 words per day. It will be more like 300-500 words average per day. If I can do that I might even end up with a 120,000 word novel. That will be great.

I am trying to plan out an arc that will work itself out over the course of the year. I want the main character to meet a woman and find her fastening and worth taking the time to include her in his year long project. I guess this is going to make this story a romance. We will see how it comes out.

Flash Fiction Rejected

I got a rejection today for one of the pieces of flash fiction I wrote a couple of weeks ago. They were right. They did get back to me within three weeks. The response was a standard "Thank you for your submission, but it is not right for our publication." rejection.

That is OK. I am already working on my next piece of fiction and hope to submit it soon. It is due at the end of the month of October. From everything I have read, you should not listen to the rejections as they come in. You should keep sending out new writing as you write it. As your work comes back rejected, you should find a new market to send it to and keep it out there in the world.

My intention for my rejected flash fiction is to read through it again and to see if there are any improvements I can make, then see if I can find somewhere new I can submit it. It is flash fiction, so the places I can send it to are limited, but I am sure I will find an appropriate market to send it to.

So Close to the Finish Line I Can Taste It

I am about a thousand words from the end of the short story I am writing, yet I don't want to sit down and finish writing it. I don't know what it is. It might be the fear of writing a bad ending. It might be the fear of having to send off the finished piece to see if I can get it published. It might be I don't want the story to end. Whatever the case, I still need to sit down and write the ending of this story.

Here is another problem that I come across when I am trying to finish a story. I find myself thinking about several other different projects I want to start instead of doing what I should be doing. I should be writing the end of my short story. Right now I am finding myself thinking about the month of November and what I want to write for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).

I need to think about what must be written. I need tho think about how I am going to force myself to sit and write till it is done. I think I am going to have to carve out 2 hours of time with an egg timer set and the will to sit there till the two hours are up or I finish my short story.

Hmmm....

I think I am going to go make a sandwich.

Trying to Understand the 7 Point Story Structure

I have heard about the "7 Point Story Structure" on several different podcasts now about writing. I thought I would take a few minutes and see if I could break into the idea and apply it to some of my future writing.

Where did it come from? I think the idea has become popular right now because of a series of YouTube Videos where Dan Wells, Author of "I am Not a Cereal Killer" teaches a class about Story Structure. Here is the fist of those videos. You can watch the rest when you have time:

According to him there are 7 Points you should visit when you are creating structure for a story. It could be for a short story, a novel, a roll playing game or anything else you might be able to come up with. Those points are: A Hook, Plot Turn 1, a Pinch, a Midpoint, another Pinch, Plot Turn 2 and a Resolution.

He says your story should start with some sort of Hook. You need to catch the imagination of the reader. You also have to be somewhere other than where your Resolution should be. What does that mean? You should know what your resolution should be before you start writing. Preferably you will want your hook to be the opposite of where your resolution will be. This will give your story something to strive for.

Dan also states that you should know what happens at the Midpoint of your story. This is where your characters learn something about the Resolution, and makes the decision to go towards the resolution. You have to know where the characters make that turn so you can figure out how they can get to the Resolution.

Next we have to get from the hook to the midpoint. To do this we need some kind of Call to Action. That will be the first plot point. There has to be something that gets the characters out of the hook.

Next you need a plot point that gets the characters from the midpoint to the Resolution. This is usually something that happens that gives the characters what they need to make the Resolution happen. They need that something otherwise they will loose or the point of the story will be lost.

Finally you need a pinch before and after the midpoint. The pinch is something that happens that puts pressure on the characters. Usually you want the pinch in front of the midpoint to show the characters just how bad things truly are. Then there needs to be a much bigger pinch after the midpoint. This is where the characters lose something or someone extremely important. They are beaten almost to death or they find they are completely surrounded with no way out. This is when the plot turn 2 comes in handy.

So I thought I would take the liberty to rename the points for my own benefit. Then I think I will use this system to help me plan out my next short story. Here they are:

1. Hook the Reader
2. Call to Action
3. Something Goes Wrong
4. Reveal the Answer
5. Everything Goes to Crap
6. Last Piece of the Puzzle 
7. Resolution

There is So Much Out There to Read

I discovered a used bookstore a few weeks ago in the shopping center I am training at. For a used bookstore I found their prices a bit high, but maybe I am used to buying my books from resale shops and places like Goodwill. These days I don't ever pay much more than $1.50 for a hardcover. There are just too many books out there to read, and being that I am a slow reader, I will only ever read about 6-10 books per year. (Maybe I should take a speed reading class)

Outside of this used bookstore, they keep a small rolling rack of books they know they can not sell. So they have a sign on the front of the cart with the word "FREE" written on it. I have taken about 10 minutes at least once a week looking through this cart. Yesterday I found a few old volumes of "Reader's Digest Condensed Books" I picked up two of them that seemed to be in really good condition. Then this morning, I started reading one of them.

The story is called "The Secret Project of Sigurd O'leary" by Martin Quigley. It was included in the second volume of the 1959 edition of Reader's Digest Condensed Books. It is set up as a journal, written with a month and date for each entry. It is about a boy and his older brother making a life for themselves after both of their parent's died.

The story was set in the 1920's. I am finding a lot of the little things written about fascinating. The boys were punished for low marks on their report card by missing dinner. If they made a B, they missed one dinner. If they earned a C, they missed two consecutive dinners and if they got a D, they missed three dinners. If they failed a semester, they would go all week without dinner. I suppose they would be given breakfast in the morning. I also think dinners were lighter back then. You ate more for breakfast because you needed the energy for the day.

Their main transportation was the Railroad. They hopped on an open car with the hobos. The camped in the woods till they found an abandoned shack to live in. There was no electricity. They heated their homes with coal fires. They ate a lot of beans and bread. It was an interesting time I think.

So, what does this all mean?  I have been told time and time again that I should read a lot if I want to learn how to write. This book has already given me an insight for some of the setting I want to include in a short story I am writing right now. I have found that the more I read, the more I want to write. Just look at the length of this post compared to the posts I have written the last few days.

Also, I really don't like to spend a lot of money on books. I have always thought $28 was a lot of money to spend on a hard cover book. This is why I spend time in the thrift stores in their books section. You will be amazed at what you can find. I find Stephen King books all the time. I found a copy of Anthony, Robbin's book "Unleash the Giant Within." I also found a bunch of Dale Carnegie books. Those are classic and many of them are still relevant in today's market.

If you don't like going to the thrift store, check out the Amazon Kindle store. They always have several dozen books you can download for free. That doesn't include all the public domain books that are available. I recently listened to the "Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin". It was extremely insightful. You will be amazed at what you can learn by reading anything you can get your hands on.

"In" From "Carrie the Musical"

If you have not taken the time to check out the new Musical of Stephen King's masterpiece "Carrie" You should find a way to watch it. I know you can watch old footage from the musical when it played back in 1988. From what I understand is that version of the musical only lasted through 5 performances. It got such bad reviews that it didn't last but about a week.

I have been looking around at the reviews of the new version of the musical. They are saying that the theme is important. Today our youth are plagued with bullies, Kids are afraid to go to school, or they get into fights that get them into trouble that they normally would not get into. I am not sure what this story brings to the kids other than if you are a bully and you continue to push your classmates, eventually they will break and something bad will happen.

The reviews also say that the music is top notch. The performances are amazing and if they could only make the climax of the play as potent as the novel or even the classic movie, then maybe they will be able to create something that will stand the test of time. The problem with the play is the lack of climax. They can't destroy the set every night. That would be too costly. There are not enough effects to make the scenes believable or even scary. Honestly, I still want to see it. Next time I'm in new york, I will make an effort to go see it, Or I will try to get a copy of the DVD when they release it.

Finish and Submit Something You've Already Written

After finishing and submitting the last two flash fiction pieces, I wanted to try something a little bit longer. I came across an anthology wanting short stories between 7,000 and 10,000 words. The theme they were exploring was fights. They wanted to read stories about battles, arguments and fights of all kinds.

I sat down and thought about it. I wanted to come up with something that would make a great addition to the Anthology. I took long walks with the dog thinking about it. I sat at the dining room table with my composition book and worked on a brainstorm tree, hoping something I wanted to write about would come out of it. Needless to day, I didn't find anything worth my while. There were a few good sparks, things that might develop into something later, but nothing that intrigued my passion right at this moment.

This morning, I was thinking about the challenge again, trying to figure out what I wanted to write, when the thought of a piece I was already working on; a piece I intended to turn into a novel popped into my head. What I was writing was a battle between two foes and what their battle was doing to my main character. The thing was, I was already planning to make this section of the novel independent. It was already going to be about 10,000 words. Now I have a reason to finish it and focus it to meet the requirements of the Anthology.

I wonder how many other pieces I can go back to and adjust them to fit what magazines and anthologies want to offer in their markets. Don't get me wrong, I still plant to write new pieces, but when something doesn't come to mind right off the bat, I should be able to find something else that I trunked or is still waiting to be sent out again.

The Art of Darkness

I am visiting a city that I am not familiar with this week. Today I stopped at a shopping center to get some new earphones for my iPod. When I parked and started to walk towards the store, I noticed there was a thrift store next to the Dollar General I was heading to. So I went into the thrift store.

I always go into thrift stores when I come across them. I know that I can sometimes come across clothes that I could use or books that I can't find anywhere else for the price point that these store provide them. Today I spend about a half hour looking through the books at this Resale store. I came across an old book about the writing and life about Stephen King.

I am excited about reading this book. It is focused on the first few books that he wrote. It talks about the first dozen books up to the collection called Night Shift. I am looking forward to seeing how and why Stephen King wrote some of these books. As I read it I will talk about what I learn as I read it.

Flash Fiction Earns Pro Rates

I spent about an hour last night working on a piece short flash fiction for a children's magazine that I found on Duotrope.com. As I stated yesterday, I have been looking for a market I could write a story for. The first market that I looked at only wanted flash fiction. They wanted pieces that were 650 words or less. I took that as a challenge to write something right then.

The first thing I did was a little research on the subject they wanted me to write about. Then I came up with a short premise that could be squeezed into short form fiction. Then I just started writing. At first I was a little worried that I would not be able to keep the story short. By the time I finished writing, I was 20 words below the limit. I was proud of what I had written.

I went back through the story twice and made the edits I thought it needed, then I put the document together by following the instructions on their submission guidelines. Everyone I have ever listened to about submitting a story say that you need to follow the submission guidelines to the letter. Then I mailed it off to them. Now I move on to the next piece of fiction. The funny thing is that the next market that I found, one I think I could enjoy writing is also flash fiction at 500 words or less. Sound like a good project for tomorrow night.

Finding something on Duotrope

I decided I wanted to take a break from some of the things I have been writing and see if I can do something a little shorter. I wanted to see if there is something I could submit to a magazine. Maybe I might be able to sell something to a professional market and make a little bit of real money. 

I have used Duotrope.com a few times. If you don't know what this site is, it is a website that keeps track of all the magazine markets that are taking submissions. The nice thing is you can filter the results to show you the markets you are interested in writing for.

As for me, I want to write something in the science fiction or fantasy realm and I figure if I am going to write anything, I would like to be paid like a pro for it. So I have been looking at the pro markets. The first one I am going to submit to only wants submissions that are, at most, 650 words. They want short folk tales. I am curious what I can come up with to send to them.

I Think I Need to Write

I want to write. I need to write. I sit down and can't seem to make myself think straight so I can write something worth while. I have decided to start putting something down in words everyday. I don't really care if it is a story or not. I just need to write.

How does this pertain to Meeting Stephen King? I think I am going to have to become a famous writer to finally meet him. I am going to have to travel in the same circles to find a moment to talk to him more than just a fan. So now comes the hard part. Writing millions of words that will be published, get me noticed and maybe lead me to a function where I can meet my mentor.

The Rock Bottom Remainders

Did you know Stephen King played in a band called "The Rock Bottom Remainders?" I knew he has been a lover of rock and roll for most of his life. You can tell this by the things he writes about. I had even heard he was in a band, but it was this week that I learned he formed the band with several of his author friends: Matt Groening, Dave Barry, Roy Blount, Jr., Mitch Albom, and Amy Tan.

There was an interview I found on YouTube this week about a final concert by the Rock Bottom Remainders. In that interview he talked a lot about his inspirations in music. He talks about how music affected his writing.  You can Watch the interview here:

It is fun to watch these men and women sing songs that are raw and inspired, most are cover songs that musicians have loved all their lives. They go around the country and sing for charity.  Here is King singing Dirty Water:

2 Movies for Stephen King's "It" a Good Idea?

All the news today about Stephen King has been about the making of one of his earlier novels called "It" directed by Cary Fukunaga. The thing is, they are planning to split the movie into two parts. I am sitting here wondering if this is a good idea or not.

On the one hand there are enough Stephen King Fans out there, the movie will probably make enough money to make both movies. I know I am one of those people who will go out and pay the ridiculous amounts of money to see the films. I just hope they don't make it in 3D.

The story is long enough they will be able to fit it into two movies. I just wonder if it is necessary. Stephen King has problems with Movies and TV because he treats it like a novel. I spends so much time on the world and character building that he loses the short attention spans of people who would rather watch the film instead of reading a book-stop of a novel.

On the other hand I am not sure the story can be successfully split into two. There are so many things going on in this story. I guess they could split it into time periods. The first movie would be about the group as kids and how they all left town. Then the second movie could be about them coming back together as adults to face the one thing that changed their lives forever.

Needless to say, this is going to be a fun couple of films based on one of King's Masterpieces. It is going to be fun, scary and will remind us why we all hate clowns.

Stephen King Seems to be Writing More

I find it amazing how much Mr King is writing these days. I think it has to do with not being able to do as much as he wanted to do with TV and Movies as he was hoping to do. After his accident Stephen was not sure how much more writing he was going to be able to do. He even warned his readers that he might be cutting back on the amount he was writing. That thought was just that; only a thought.

He focused on his dark tower series and completed the seven book series. Then he started releasing nearly 2 books per year after that. The man is a writing machine. Today I got a birthday present in the mail. It was the collectors edition of his book called Under the Dome. It has been out for a while. It is a doorstop at 1074 pages. This is one that is going to take me a while to read.

He recently came out with a novel about time travel and the Kennedy assassination. Then just this month I got a copy of Esquire Magazine that has a new story by King in it. I believe it is part one. the August issue will have part 2 in it. I forgot how much fun it was collecting everything Stephen King. 

I want to take the inspiration of Kings prolific writing and apply it to my own work. I want to write something that is going to inspire me to write even more. I want to create a masterpiece that will live on in people's minds and on their bookcases. I want to inspire myself to keep writing.

To Script or Not to Script

I have been trying to brainstorm what my comic is going to be about. I want to write something that is going to be interesting to read while being fun to draw. I thought I might just start drawing and let the pictures lead me through the story. I am not sure that is the best idea for this project.

I think I have finally decided that I want to script out the comic. I think the script will help me when  go to draw the images. I won't have to second guess what I am doing. All I will have to do is make the images fit the concept of each page. Page after page will begin to shape a complete book and hopefully I will not have to go back to change anything when I am done.

How do I script the comic? I have done a little scripting in the past. None of which was ever turned into anything. I have looked though books like the one above and have determined a simple way to script my book. The first thing I have to do is determine the arc of the entire issue. Once I know that, then I can focus on each of the pages. Each page should have some sort of point. The page acts almost like a scene, a movement that leads into the next page.  

The easiest way to script the page is to go cell by cell. I usually thing about how I want the page to flow. I will sketch out the layout of the page. Then next to that little thumbnail I will write out "Cell One: Whatever happens in this cell." Then I will go on to Cell Two. Sometimes there is only one cell. Sometimes there are six or eight cells. It depends on what I am trying to do.

I think I am going to spend the next few posts brainstorming my ideas for the Meeting Stephen King Comic. I figure since I will not be trying to make money on this project, It doesn't really matter if the world sees my process. In fact making the process public might help someone else who is trying to create a book of their own.

Setting a Solid Deadline to Meet King

Everything I have read about accomplishing a goal says that I need to make a specific deadline for it's completion. If you make a goal without a deadline, then you will continue to push it off to the point of ever doing it. If you can give yourself a deadline to accomplish something, you will have a finish line, a time frame to shoot for.

To advance the concept of the deadline, you can make the finish line more effective if you can offer yourself a reward for completing the goal, and a punishment for not making it. You will find a way to make something happen if you desire the reward or dislike the punishment.

Now you can have people help you by reminding you of your deadline and the self imposed rewards and punishments. If you state your goals to others, then they can hold you accountable. They can be your cheerleaders. Some of the books say that you should not tell anyone, that your goals should be driven by your own personal desire. If you let others in on the secret, your results will be swayed by their opinion.

I think my Goal to meet Stephen King should be something public. I want you to know about my journey. I want to be able to read your encouragement on this blog or on my Facebook Page. Maybe you will have ideas that will help me meet the man. Maybe you will have suggestions to help my project be even better. Whatever the case, I want you there to cheer me on.

Here is my Deadline: I want to meet Stephen King by June 30, 2013. I want him to see my project and want to meet me. I want to be able to sit down and have a beer with him and talk about writing, baseball, music and anything else that comes to mind.

"The Reach" Movie & "The Shining" Sequal Novel

We have a new movie coming out in the theaters, hopefully sooner rather than later. If you are a fan of King's older work, one of his shorts, "The Reach" from The Skeleton Crew is about to be made. King is most proud of this story. He is often quoted as saying this story is the one he would "most like to be remembered for after his death"

The story is about an old woman who knows she is about to die and her visions of what she knows to be ghosts of people she once knew. It is a story that follows her and her journey to be with her dead husband.

I also found out the King is working on a sequel to "The Shining" called "Dr Sleep". This is exciting. I don't know if they should bother making a movie from it, unless it is undoubtedly better than the first movie (personally I love both renditions of the "The Shining". Nothing can beat Jack Nicholson and that crazy face through the door. The Miniseries was closer to the book and was interesting to watch.)

The following is a short clip of King talking about the book and what he is trying to do with it. I enjoy when he speaks to students. I am not sure why he relates to well to that demographic. Maybe it is because he has a teacher's heart. Maybe it's because those are the people who are reading his books the most. They want to know someone else is having a harder time in life than they are at the moment.

2 Deals on King Books I Found Today

I don't like buying books at full price. You will usually only find me at good will or at a used book store when I am looking for new books to read. I love going to Good will because their books are almost always less than $2.

Today I decided to stop by the big chain store Books-A-Million to see what they had in their clearance section. Every once in a while I will find something that I am interested in. Today I found this little treat called "Blockade Billy".

At 132 pages it is a small book containing 2 short stories.  Mr King was able to release a hard bound copy of two short stories all by themselves. Not many people can do this and actually make any money doing it, but King has the following when he decides to release something, hundreds of thousands of people immediately run out and buy it.Because I waited for the masses to get their copy and for the interest in the book to die down, I was able to get this $15 book for $4.

The other book I found, I wished I had the money to buy was the Collectors Edition of "Under the Dome." This book is massive.I am sure it is more than 1000 pages and the cover says it is illustrated. The price at Books a million said $25.

When I got home and looked it up on amazon, I found it for about $10 including Shipping. This was one of those moments I wished I had a few extra bucks in my pocket to make a spontaneous purchase.When I got home I sent the link to some of my family members who are going to want to know what I want for my birthday this year. I love it when I find great deals.

A Hand Drawn Stephen King Comic

I have decided to put together a comic to send to Mr. King. I don't know if he will appreciate it or not, but I will at least give it a try. I am kind of thinking about doing a piece of fan art that might get his attention. I want to do something like the people who made this independent film called, "You Can't Kill Stephen King."

They were able to write and shoot a fan film about the stories by Stephen King. Then they showed in at Film Festivals. Now they have the rights to sell the film, finally getting Mr. King's blessing. I want to do something similar. I don't care if he ever allows me to sell the comic. I just want him to see it and acknowledge it. Maybe even sending me a thank you letter or something.

I think I am going to stick to the 22 page format and make a self drawn, self bound comic book to send to the address he gets all of his fan mail. The hope is that his secretary will look at it, get a laugh and think Mr King might actually want to read it, passing it along to his inbox.

What is it going to be about? I want to write about me, a cartoon overly dramatized version of me trying to figure out unusual ways to meet Mr King without getting in trouble with the authorities. I might go back into my file where I take a road trip up the east coast to see his home town in Bangor Maine. I actually took that trip in 2003 as a vacation for 2 weeks. I got to visit some friends and family along the way. I stood outside the red mansion and took the Stephen King city tour. I never did see him, but it was a fun trip.

Brainstorming Ideas to Get Stephen King's Attention

This blog is one of the ideas I had to get Stephen King's attention. I thought if I could keep a record of what I am doing to meet the man and make sure it was out there on the web for him to see, he might, just maybe, try to contact me and invite me to meet with him. It's unlikely, but the blog will help me keep track of my endeavors.

I have tried to write Mr King in the past, asking for an autograph. I always get a response stating that he is uncomfortable with that concept. He only signs in person. If I ever get the chance to go to a signing, I am going to take my dark tower books for him to sign. This kind of venue is not what I want when I say I want to meet him though. He will not remember me being one of thousands of people he would shake hands with and sign books for in a book store or some larger venue.

What I want to do is create something that I can mail to him, that will make it past his personal assistant, something that will make her say, "Hmmmm. Mr King would get a kick out of this one. I think I will leave it on his desk."

My thought is to make some sort of comic book or sketchbook that will star myself and fictional accounts of me trying to meet Mr King. Then when I finally meet him, he is not exactly what I thought he would be. He would be a crazed maniac or an alien or something even more off the wall. We will see what I can come up with.

Taking the First Steps to Meet the Man

I have been a Stephen King fan for as long as I can remember. A friend of mine introduced me to "Pet Sematary" when I was in Middle School. I grew up reading his work. Every time a new book would come out, I would go out and buy it. I had designated space on my bookshelf just for his books. For many years I was proud that I had every single book he had ever released. Then after I got married and moved into a house in another state, I made the hard decision to sell my collection of Stephen King books. The only ones I kept were the Dark Tower Series and my first trade edition of Carrie. To this day that decision still stings a bit.

A couple of years ago I discovered 43things.com and started making goals about things I want in my life. I wrote down things like becoming debt free and putting the kids through college. One of the things I have always wanted to do is meet Mr King. I started getting monthly reminders via email from 43things.com one of which wanted to know if I had met him yet. Of course I have not. The reminders did however make me wonder, "What can I do to get myself in the sights of the great author. What can I do to make him want to meet me?" To help me figure that out. I started this blog.