When it comes to creating something there are so many different mediums to choose from now days. For me a computer or pen and paper work best. But when you choose words to create that still does not eliminate everything. Then there is the choice of novels, poetry, memoirs, screenplays, and I'm sure more than I can think about at the moment.
So how do you choose what to pick from so many choices? How did I choose? Well I guess it just kind of fell into my lap really.
Needing a creative outlet during a summer break while I was still in college a friend, who does spoken word poetry suggested I write knowing that I was studding film. It took me a while to realize that he didn't mean poetry. Yeah I had a slow moment at that. But then a nugget of a story and characters started to form in my head and I started the book Drew.
I didn't start out thinking I would write a novel or what not, but just wanted to get a story down in my free time. Later I decided to take a screenwriting class to know the real starting point of film making. I was studying to be a producer and figured that knowing the creative process of the writers would help make me better producer when it comes to choosing projects that I saw potential in. So, having to come up with a story idea to start my own screenplay, I used the story that I had begun the summer before.
After two screenwriting classes I realized just how much I enjoyed the writing process. I mean I've always enjoyed creating stories. In school I always ended up going over the required page count. What can I say I had a spark of inspiration and didn't want to stop writing till I really finished the story. Page count be damned I say.
Only one problem. I suck at being a screenwriter. I wanted to write what people were thinking, going into so much details that aren't used for screenwriting. In novels you can go into all this descriptive wonderland and what people are thinking. Screenplays not so much. You write what you can see and hear. No feelings, No thoughts. Nothing. If you can't see it and it's not important you don't put it down. Yet you need to have enough down so that the reader gets hooked, giving the filmmaker and actors the freedom to make the roll their own.
Well after much edits and reading over the screenplay that I had so far I realized the story was good, but this medium wasn't the right fit for me. Taking the lessons I've learned from some great writing professors I applied them to adapting what I had to novel form.
It's in this medium that I feel that I can truly explore the world that I've created in my head with the rest of the world.
So that's my little story about why I choose the medium I did. Novels and short stories are what spark my inspiration. But to each there own. Don't know what medium you like? Try them all I say. There is nothing that says that you have to stick to one medium of creativity or one genre. Go with whatever tickles your fancy is what I say. Screw what others say. Let there judgments be damned. Follow the stories or characters that make you happy to write.
Want to write romance or erotica or history or memoirs or horror or whatever else? Do it.
There is one saying that I've never liked when it comes to writing..write what you know. Well where would we be if all authors had stuck with that? There would be no Science Fiction. No Star Trek, no Star Wars, no Twilight, no Harry Potter! Where would the world be with no Harry Potter? I mean seriously.
Then I had this amazing screenwriting professor Juilian Hoxter who now has a screenwriting manual called Write what you don't know. Along with all of his other advice and questions during the class that terrified me every time, since well I didn't know the answer to, helped me create a finished story that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. Write what you don't know. Create a new world that has laws and rules to it that makes it a world that could really be possible. Without those rules anything could happen. And well when you ask why did this happen you need to be able to explain it. Ask yourself all the hard questions as to why someone would do something or why people can do something here but not in the real world.
Anyways back to my point. What to write? Depending on who you are and what you're drawn to then write that. One thing I've learned over the last few years is that when it comes to creating something, the only person that sets limitations on what you do is you. So Write what you don't know as long as it makes you happy then do it. Create something that you are proud to share with the rest of the world.
That's all that matters really. Be proud of the work you put some much time and effort in to. One thing is garanteed, not everyone is going to like your work, but someone will. You just can't control that one aspect in being a creative type, but you can control how you feel about it.
Happy writings in what ever medium or genre you choose. I know Iam.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Finding The Time
One of the hardest things I find while working full time in accounting with an hour drive commute is finding the time to sit down and get quality time to write. I mean I wake up early drive to work for 8 hours then get home as the sun is setting. Exhausted and brain fried I just want to fall on to the nearest comfortable spot and sleep as soon as I get a hot meal in me. But being realistic with my goals in life, to become a writer/maybe lit agent, it means that I have to actually write.
That's what it means to be a writer right? You write. And no one else is going to do it for you. So you have to find the time. No matter how short or long you have, you have to put something on paper. So that's what I do.
After I get home and do whatever needs to be done around the house, I sit down with my hand edited notes, I'd done on my lunch break that has a crewed over time and type them up. Let it be an hour or what not as long as I have something fixed something I feel like I had accomplished my goal. Though all be it I don't always get as much done as I'd like, but as long as I'm moving forward to being able to have a clean enough draft to send out to agents, that's all that matters.
It's all about making progress. No matter how small. You gotta sit down and get it done. Every free moment I have, which isn't much, I try to get something written or edited. Let it be for TALImag or for my own novels. There is no other way to have a finished article or book to be finished. It will take longer than one might like, especially if your focus isn't on your side, but you have to push through it. Muse or focus be damned. You have to push through all that and get down to work.
As much as some people think that you should only write if the muse or inspiration is on your side, that is a load of you know what. Yes writing with your muse or when extremely inspired is an amazing feeling, but it wont work if you want to be prolific and have a nice long career as a writer. Yes, I know I'm not a full time author and haven't been published, but I've watched , read blogs and tweets, from authors that are and have been told/read a lot of different advice over the years, but one thing has really stuck with me. Writing is a job. It's also a business. If you want to stay in it you have to learn sans muse and sans inspiration. If you have a story start working on it. Get something down. Every day. You won't meet deadlines if you only write when your muse wants to. And I'm not sure about you but my muse sure as hell doesn't work on my time table. She works on her own. Usually when I'm busy doing other things. Like driving or at my day job. All times when I can't write. And if you're a newbie to the writing world and get that chance to get published you don't want to start your career with the publishing world as the person who doesn't meet there dead lines. Don't piss off the people who give you the chance to show your work to the rest of the world.
Set your own deadlines and stick to them. Let it be sitting down for an hour and not stopping to go on the internet or walk away from your writing. Or let it be a page count, sentence count, or paragraph count. Set your goals and deadlines and stick to them.
Personally I try not to set such specific deadlines cause I start to dwell on them and the rest of the world end up demanding my attention. Attention that has to be given. So I set myself the goal of getting at least one paragraph done a day. More times than not I can get this done in five minutes. Sweet goal accomplished. I now have time to update a blog, twitter or TALI articles. Or like most times I can get a few more paragraphs done which turns into pages.
That is my goals during the week when I don't have all the time in the world. Weekends are a different matter. This is the time that I can really spend hours at my computer contemplating changes I might want to make to the plot. This is the time that I raise my paragraph count to a page count or depending on what else is going on around me to chapter count. If I can get a few pages done I'm ecstatic. If I can get more than one chapter done. I feel like I've accomplished something that doesn't happen ofter.
You just have to find that little bit of time to block out the rest of the world and dive into another one. 5 minutes for a paragraph or two hours. Just as long as you don't stay ital.
I know it's overwhelming when you sit down and look at everything that needs to be done. Looking at the whole picture is scary as hell. Finding the time to balance a full time job, writing, friends, family, every day house work. Some times you don't think you can do it all. But you can. Just shuffle things around and prioritize. All you need is that little bit of me time to get that one small goal done for the day.
You can do it. Iam. It's a struggle, but I'm doing it. And if I can do it. Well why can't you.
Just remember to being a writer means you have to write. Saying that you're a writer doesn't make you one. Putting a pen to paper or fingers to keyboard makes you a writer. Even if you can only fit in a sentence a day. It still counts.
That's what it means to be a writer right? You write. And no one else is going to do it for you. So you have to find the time. No matter how short or long you have, you have to put something on paper. So that's what I do.
After I get home and do whatever needs to be done around the house, I sit down with my hand edited notes, I'd done on my lunch break that has a crewed over time and type them up. Let it be an hour or what not as long as I have something fixed something I feel like I had accomplished my goal. Though all be it I don't always get as much done as I'd like, but as long as I'm moving forward to being able to have a clean enough draft to send out to agents, that's all that matters.
It's all about making progress. No matter how small. You gotta sit down and get it done. Every free moment I have, which isn't much, I try to get something written or edited. Let it be for TALImag or for my own novels. There is no other way to have a finished article or book to be finished. It will take longer than one might like, especially if your focus isn't on your side, but you have to push through it. Muse or focus be damned. You have to push through all that and get down to work.
As much as some people think that you should only write if the muse or inspiration is on your side, that is a load of you know what. Yes writing with your muse or when extremely inspired is an amazing feeling, but it wont work if you want to be prolific and have a nice long career as a writer. Yes, I know I'm not a full time author and haven't been published, but I've watched , read blogs and tweets, from authors that are and have been told/read a lot of different advice over the years, but one thing has really stuck with me. Writing is a job. It's also a business. If you want to stay in it you have to learn sans muse and sans inspiration. If you have a story start working on it. Get something down. Every day. You won't meet deadlines if you only write when your muse wants to. And I'm not sure about you but my muse sure as hell doesn't work on my time table. She works on her own. Usually when I'm busy doing other things. Like driving or at my day job. All times when I can't write. And if you're a newbie to the writing world and get that chance to get published you don't want to start your career with the publishing world as the person who doesn't meet there dead lines. Don't piss off the people who give you the chance to show your work to the rest of the world.
Set your own deadlines and stick to them. Let it be sitting down for an hour and not stopping to go on the internet or walk away from your writing. Or let it be a page count, sentence count, or paragraph count. Set your goals and deadlines and stick to them.
Personally I try not to set such specific deadlines cause I start to dwell on them and the rest of the world end up demanding my attention. Attention that has to be given. So I set myself the goal of getting at least one paragraph done a day. More times than not I can get this done in five minutes. Sweet goal accomplished. I now have time to update a blog, twitter or TALI articles. Or like most times I can get a few more paragraphs done which turns into pages.
That is my goals during the week when I don't have all the time in the world. Weekends are a different matter. This is the time that I can really spend hours at my computer contemplating changes I might want to make to the plot. This is the time that I raise my paragraph count to a page count or depending on what else is going on around me to chapter count. If I can get a few pages done I'm ecstatic. If I can get more than one chapter done. I feel like I've accomplished something that doesn't happen ofter.
You just have to find that little bit of time to block out the rest of the world and dive into another one. 5 minutes for a paragraph or two hours. Just as long as you don't stay ital.
I know it's overwhelming when you sit down and look at everything that needs to be done. Looking at the whole picture is scary as hell. Finding the time to balance a full time job, writing, friends, family, every day house work. Some times you don't think you can do it all. But you can. Just shuffle things around and prioritize. All you need is that little bit of me time to get that one small goal done for the day.
You can do it. Iam. It's a struggle, but I'm doing it. And if I can do it. Well why can't you.
Just remember to being a writer means you have to write. Saying that you're a writer doesn't make you one. Putting a pen to paper or fingers to keyboard makes you a writer. Even if you can only fit in a sentence a day. It still counts.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The beginning of a story
As I'm sitting here trying to focus on editing Mackenzie Falls in the little free time I have at night, I start to think about a new book idea. More like new characters that are clamoring for my attention. Trying to push my much beloved Ellie and Cole to the side as they say, "Look at me. Listen to me. I have so much to tell you. You've already spent so much time with those two. Come meet me and my world."
Well new character friends of mine, I can't. As much as I'm excited to meet you and want to explore the world you live in I can't. Having set the goal of finishing edits and beginning to send out submissions to literary agents before starting on a new book, I must stick to it. Cause once my mind is set on exploring where these new characters will take me, I will loose precious time and momentum I've put into Mackenzie Falls. And having just crossed that one year mark, I'd like to actually have a fully completed project. Unlike my first novel, Drew, which sits in a finished first draft waiting to be cleaned up and ready to be presented to the world. A world that has been evolving and waiting for the last 4-5 years (from original concept to evolving from book notes to screenplay back to novel all the while the charcters, plot, and location changed). Thinking about it now, the original idea with one or two tweaks could be a completely different story from what it ended up as. Funny how time does that.
Anyways back to what I was saying.
In the last two weeks I don't have one new set of characters that want my attention, but two. TWO! Ahhh my brain is going to explode with all my new imaginary friends that want to have their stories told. I know what it sounds like. Imaginary friends? Um hello crazy person. But think about it. For me to write I have to get to know my characters. I don't per-say actually talk to them or play with them like a child would. In a way though they do talk to me. Showing me the way into their lives as I see their story evolve the more I get to know them. They create themselves and introduce themselves to me. Not the other way round. If I force everything about them then it feels that way...forced and fake.
Some people like to dive into typing up their story right away, but what can I say I do things differently. I like write things out by hand as much as possible, as well as doing a complete break down of well everything. It's practically a dossier. Everything and anything I might need to know while editing or creating. Background on the characters, physical description, medical history, anything that might be a motivation as to what they do, why they do it and what made them become who they are.
Character bio's aren't the only thing that go into what I call my workbook, a 3-ring note book dedicated to that specific project, I also have chapter break downs, story arch plot point charts for all characters big and small, any research notes that I take when I want to be as specific as possible on locations or organizations that I don't know much to begin with. With research for the most part I like to create my own world, so I'll take some information on something and tweak it so that it works for the world I'm creating.
Yes this is a lot of work that gets done before I type anything up or start working things out on paper. But I've done my first book without making a real organized workbook and that is why it's still sitting waiting to be edited. I created a world that doesn't have enough laws and rules in it. With it taking place in a world with super natural creatures I need this things to explain why everything is happening the way it is. Without everything 90% figured out it can get a little messy when it comes to editing.
Or you end up like Iam with Drew. Finished messy product that I now will be going back over with a fine tooth comb creating a new workbook to help me make a better product to put out there. And that will take a whole lot more work than if I had the workbook done before I started. Lesson learned.
With Mackenzie Falls I started the workbook when I was mostly finished with writing it all out by hand and was in the process of typing it up. Or what I like to call round one of edits. I find that when I write by hand that I can smooth things out from between writing sessions or fix a few things that I thought had worked but didn't as I type it.
With Drew, I didn't do that so much. Yes I had things written out, in paragraph format, and bullet points, but it was a bit of mass chaos that only I could read and no one else. So when I sat down at the computer it was expanding the chunks of what I had originally noted. Year's latter most of what I wrote I can't quite understand where I was going with. Also for some reason I had the great idea of using both end of the note book, writing back to front and front to back. Umm weird? Yup. Front to back I wrote out the story ideas. Where back to front was editing notes, character bios, and research notes. Needless to say that a three ring binder was decided to be used after this so that I can take things out and move them around, which can't be done in a spiral notebook.
Yes, I've only worked on two novels, and I'm still learning what works best for me, and I'm finding that each book is different. That with working a full time job and finding time a lunch makes it hard to type things up. (Having to haul a laptop around can be a pain when you only get a short time to work on it) So I like to do things by hand. And for some reason I just like the feel of working things out by hand better than typing things up right away. But when I have the time and focus for it, a pen and paper just don't cut it. I have to crank up the music on the headphones, and type till my brain is completely empty. My characters having been talked to death and we all need a break. But to be honest those times are few and far between, with having a full time job that has a full two hour commute each day, on top of writing for TALImag. I have a full plate. Guess it's a good thing I don't have a real deadline with the books, otherwise I might go a little crazy.
So how do I do it? How do I finish a book in less than a year, with having different ways of putting things together? Well one thing is guaranteed... a workbook needs to be made. It's my map to the new world I'm creating and will always be added to through out the whole writing process. And for now I will keep writing things out by hand before typing them up. Carrying a notebook wherever I go helps me do this. Five free minutes? Add to it. Get home? Type it up. Continuously adding to the page count is the goal. In the end it will get you a first draft.
Write everyday. A page. A sentence. A character bio. Some research. That is the beginning of every story. A character or a sentence that grows in your head badgering you to explore to want to put the time and effort into evolving...seeing where it will take you.
Well new character friends of mine, I can't. As much as I'm excited to meet you and want to explore the world you live in I can't. Having set the goal of finishing edits and beginning to send out submissions to literary agents before starting on a new book, I must stick to it. Cause once my mind is set on exploring where these new characters will take me, I will loose precious time and momentum I've put into Mackenzie Falls. And having just crossed that one year mark, I'd like to actually have a fully completed project. Unlike my first novel, Drew, which sits in a finished first draft waiting to be cleaned up and ready to be presented to the world. A world that has been evolving and waiting for the last 4-5 years (from original concept to evolving from book notes to screenplay back to novel all the while the charcters, plot, and location changed). Thinking about it now, the original idea with one or two tweaks could be a completely different story from what it ended up as. Funny how time does that.
Anyways back to what I was saying.
In the last two weeks I don't have one new set of characters that want my attention, but two. TWO! Ahhh my brain is going to explode with all my new imaginary friends that want to have their stories told. I know what it sounds like. Imaginary friends? Um hello crazy person. But think about it. For me to write I have to get to know my characters. I don't per-say actually talk to them or play with them like a child would. In a way though they do talk to me. Showing me the way into their lives as I see their story evolve the more I get to know them. They create themselves and introduce themselves to me. Not the other way round. If I force everything about them then it feels that way...forced and fake.
Some people like to dive into typing up their story right away, but what can I say I do things differently. I like write things out by hand as much as possible, as well as doing a complete break down of well everything. It's practically a dossier. Everything and anything I might need to know while editing or creating. Background on the characters, physical description, medical history, anything that might be a motivation as to what they do, why they do it and what made them become who they are.
Character bio's aren't the only thing that go into what I call my workbook, a 3-ring note book dedicated to that specific project, I also have chapter break downs, story arch plot point charts for all characters big and small, any research notes that I take when I want to be as specific as possible on locations or organizations that I don't know much to begin with. With research for the most part I like to create my own world, so I'll take some information on something and tweak it so that it works for the world I'm creating.
Yes this is a lot of work that gets done before I type anything up or start working things out on paper. But I've done my first book without making a real organized workbook and that is why it's still sitting waiting to be edited. I created a world that doesn't have enough laws and rules in it. With it taking place in a world with super natural creatures I need this things to explain why everything is happening the way it is. Without everything 90% figured out it can get a little messy when it comes to editing.
Or you end up like Iam with Drew. Finished messy product that I now will be going back over with a fine tooth comb creating a new workbook to help me make a better product to put out there. And that will take a whole lot more work than if I had the workbook done before I started. Lesson learned.
With Mackenzie Falls I started the workbook when I was mostly finished with writing it all out by hand and was in the process of typing it up. Or what I like to call round one of edits. I find that when I write by hand that I can smooth things out from between writing sessions or fix a few things that I thought had worked but didn't as I type it.
With Drew, I didn't do that so much. Yes I had things written out, in paragraph format, and bullet points, but it was a bit of mass chaos that only I could read and no one else. So when I sat down at the computer it was expanding the chunks of what I had originally noted. Year's latter most of what I wrote I can't quite understand where I was going with. Also for some reason I had the great idea of using both end of the note book, writing back to front and front to back. Umm weird? Yup. Front to back I wrote out the story ideas. Where back to front was editing notes, character bios, and research notes. Needless to say that a three ring binder was decided to be used after this so that I can take things out and move them around, which can't be done in a spiral notebook.
Yes, I've only worked on two novels, and I'm still learning what works best for me, and I'm finding that each book is different. That with working a full time job and finding time a lunch makes it hard to type things up. (Having to haul a laptop around can be a pain when you only get a short time to work on it) So I like to do things by hand. And for some reason I just like the feel of working things out by hand better than typing things up right away. But when I have the time and focus for it, a pen and paper just don't cut it. I have to crank up the music on the headphones, and type till my brain is completely empty. My characters having been talked to death and we all need a break. But to be honest those times are few and far between, with having a full time job that has a full two hour commute each day, on top of writing for TALImag. I have a full plate. Guess it's a good thing I don't have a real deadline with the books, otherwise I might go a little crazy.
So how do I do it? How do I finish a book in less than a year, with having different ways of putting things together? Well one thing is guaranteed... a workbook needs to be made. It's my map to the new world I'm creating and will always be added to through out the whole writing process. And for now I will keep writing things out by hand before typing them up. Carrying a notebook wherever I go helps me do this. Five free minutes? Add to it. Get home? Type it up. Continuously adding to the page count is the goal. In the end it will get you a first draft.
Write everyday. A page. A sentence. A character bio. Some research. That is the beginning of every story. A character or a sentence that grows in your head badgering you to explore to want to put the time and effort into evolving...seeing where it will take you.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Long Time No Blog
I just realized that it has been just over a year since I've blogged and well a lot has changed. For one I'm going to keep up with writing here at least once a week covering my writing process, updates with TALI and all the wonders that go with trying to be a published author while working a full time job.
So what has 2012 brought with it so far? Well for Christmas I actually got the first part of my second novel, Mackenzie Falls, done and printed for friends and family. So far I've only heard back from my dad who finished the 117 pages in two days. I got the call with the, "You can't kill off your main character!". I had to laugh since he actually seemed to be really into a genre that he wouldn't normally pick up. Side note my book is more contemporary chic lit, where my dad only reads computer manuels and other techie things. Needless to say that my anxiety of having family read it and not be honest how they liked it was driving me crazy. Though Dad did give me some good notes on double checking some spelling that my spell check missed. *shakes fist at spell check not knowing modern slang and changing things up on me without noticing*
Any who's now I'm working on the second half of Mackenzie Falls so that I can send it out to literary agents in an attempt to take the next step to being a published author. Why not self publish you ask? Well I don't have the time or money to get it to the level I would like. Not to mention that I don't know that part of the industry as an agent does. Maybe I'll go that route if I can't find someone in a few years, but right now I'm going to go the so called traditional route.
So what happened to my first book that I had been writing back all those years ago when I started this blog? Well the Unnamed work, or as I call it Drew, for it's main character, is still waiting in the wings to be edited. It took Mackenzie Falls beating at my brain for attention for me to get enough distance to not end up over editing Drew to the point that I end up killing it. And well I've put so much time and effort into that first work, that I don't want it ending up in the trash forever. This year I'm going to go back and take the things that I've learned editing Mackenzie Falls and apply it to Drew.
What is that you ask? Well my editing process will have to be saved for another blog, since well it's more than just sitting down to clean up a few sentences here and there.
I still consider myself a newbie in the writing world. No matter how much I love it and get twitchy without picking up my notebook, I still got a long long way to go. Then again what author considers themselves perfect? None that I've met. We are always striving to become better writers, bringing people into a world that started in our heads. The more you write the better you get.
Which brings me to some of the best advices I've ever read from a full time author who had been asked from an aspriring author. When the author asked how much do you write and got the response, "Oh, I don't write yet, but I want to be an aouthor" I was taken aback just like the established author. So her response made perfect sense to not only that I dont write but I want to be a writer, but to all writiers. "If you want to be a writer you have to write every day. Not just when your muse inspires you. Let it be a sentice, a paragraph or a chapter. Sit down and put something down on paper. If you don't write. Then you aren't a writer. It's just a dream that will never become a reality." (this is all parafrased but you all get the point)
Sorry got off topic and on a little bit of a rant. Where was this going? Right 2012. Blog, writing. Starting today I will be updating this to give all an update on my writing status as an aspring write. Along with working with the great www.talimag.com an online magazine I work on with some amazing women I met in college promoting imbrasing your curves, 2012 is the year of Emily! Of making things happen. No more just talking about it, but making it happen for yourself. No one is going to hand you a published book that you don't put your blood sweat and tears into. And I sure as hell tend to make this happen.
So what has 2012 brought with it so far? Well for Christmas I actually got the first part of my second novel, Mackenzie Falls, done and printed for friends and family. So far I've only heard back from my dad who finished the 117 pages in two days. I got the call with the, "You can't kill off your main character!". I had to laugh since he actually seemed to be really into a genre that he wouldn't normally pick up. Side note my book is more contemporary chic lit, where my dad only reads computer manuels and other techie things. Needless to say that my anxiety of having family read it and not be honest how they liked it was driving me crazy. Though Dad did give me some good notes on double checking some spelling that my spell check missed. *shakes fist at spell check not knowing modern slang and changing things up on me without noticing*
Any who's now I'm working on the second half of Mackenzie Falls so that I can send it out to literary agents in an attempt to take the next step to being a published author. Why not self publish you ask? Well I don't have the time or money to get it to the level I would like. Not to mention that I don't know that part of the industry as an agent does. Maybe I'll go that route if I can't find someone in a few years, but right now I'm going to go the so called traditional route.
So what happened to my first book that I had been writing back all those years ago when I started this blog? Well the Unnamed work, or as I call it Drew, for it's main character, is still waiting in the wings to be edited. It took Mackenzie Falls beating at my brain for attention for me to get enough distance to not end up over editing Drew to the point that I end up killing it. And well I've put so much time and effort into that first work, that I don't want it ending up in the trash forever. This year I'm going to go back and take the things that I've learned editing Mackenzie Falls and apply it to Drew.
What is that you ask? Well my editing process will have to be saved for another blog, since well it's more than just sitting down to clean up a few sentences here and there.
I still consider myself a newbie in the writing world. No matter how much I love it and get twitchy without picking up my notebook, I still got a long long way to go. Then again what author considers themselves perfect? None that I've met. We are always striving to become better writers, bringing people into a world that started in our heads. The more you write the better you get.
Which brings me to some of the best advices I've ever read from a full time author who had been asked from an aspriring author. When the author asked how much do you write and got the response, "Oh, I don't write yet, but I want to be an aouthor" I was taken aback just like the established author. So her response made perfect sense to not only that I dont write but I want to be a writer, but to all writiers. "If you want to be a writer you have to write every day. Not just when your muse inspires you. Let it be a sentice, a paragraph or a chapter. Sit down and put something down on paper. If you don't write. Then you aren't a writer. It's just a dream that will never become a reality." (this is all parafrased but you all get the point)
Sorry got off topic and on a little bit of a rant. Where was this going? Right 2012. Blog, writing. Starting today I will be updating this to give all an update on my writing status as an aspring write. Along with working with the great www.talimag.com an online magazine I work on with some amazing women I met in college promoting imbrasing your curves, 2012 is the year of Emily! Of making things happen. No more just talking about it, but making it happen for yourself. No one is going to hand you a published book that you don't put your blood sweat and tears into. And I sure as hell tend to make this happen.
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