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This Video about a book looks quickly at The War of Art.  It’s an excellent resource if you need that creative kick in the butt!

 

You can purchase it on Amazon here.

There are two thing that I’ve been doing that have helped push me over the 40,000 word mark during NaNoWriMo.

Caution: this is the first time that I’ve ever done this.  Other writers and winners of NaNoWriMo may have better advice.  This is just what has helped me.

1.  Plan wide.  The plot of my book is rather sprawling.  This provides me a multitude of creative options to explore.  As soon as I saw the canvas was wide open, I began to put the brush down and see what the colors looked like on there.  This might not be the case for you.  And some books are only based on a small world.  Stephen King’s Misery really only deals with two characters and most of it takes place in a single room.  You still feel like a world has been opened, but when you step into you feel confined, by design.

2.  Write deep.  Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird offers a great concept.  She discusses a one-inch picture frame (I have referenced this before).  This means that when writing, I just focus on that particular scene, and that conflict going on in the scene.  I become discouraged if while I’m writing a scene I start to think, “Well what about what happened in another scene?  What about this character in relationship to that?”

Stop.

Focus on the sensations of that scene and take your reader there.  Make them a third and intruding party on a private conversation meant for two.

This is all I have.  Keep writing. Put one word down after another and committed to coming back after you’ve produced the clay that will become your sculpture!

When you sit down to write, other voices invade your creative space.

Here is what I have been telling myself despite these grating voices:

I knew that I wanted to be a writer in 3rd grade.  It’s all I’ve ever dreamed of becoming throughout high school and I was pretty decent at it.  But I never – I repeat – never pursued it until now.  The thing that pushed me over the edge was the realization that I’m only losing time.  Unexplored passions become paths to bitterness.  Pursuing the dream of being an author has opened up a cool and fragrant place in my heart that I had forgotten about.

So let’s shut three more voices up today, as we push through with our writing.  Here are some offenders:

4) You’re losing control of all the details.  This one bothered me most at the beginning.  It’s easier to deal with three or four characters, and one central location.  But I added a second world, that has three sub-worlds, a transportation system, a government, a different food system, past relationships, broken families, etc…It’s hard to track this.

This voice stands on the rooftop and says, “Order order!  This is getting messy!  Fix it NOOOOOOWWWWWWWW”!

This voice speaks in the morning.  I often feel like I’m going to a huge family reunion of 600 people.  I’m certain there’s a connection to everyone, but it takes a handful of conversations to figure out who’s who.

To this voice, I say, “Let’s make a note and go back later.”

I believe that if you just make a little note in your word program, or Scrivener (which is amazing, by the way), you can just clean all that up in the edits.  I think we agonize over those things on purpose to keep us from the main goal of getting those words out.

5) Your book is so similar to __________________ and no one is going to buy it.  Income may be a motivation for you to finish your novel and I can’t say I’m entirely against that.  I want to pursue publication and expect to be paid for writing this novel, but that’s not what keeps my butt in that chair filling the screen with words.  When you’re think of salability, this voice materializes with hard logic.

It says, “Someone’s been reading Tolkein!  And everyone is going to know.  Ohhhh, just started the Harry Potter series?  Know how I know? Because I can tell in your writing!”

Here’s what to say to that voice:  So what?

Everything is like everything.  You’re influenced by what you love to read and watch.  If you love movies with rich characters and low-tech culture, you’re probably not going to write a great Sci-Fi novel or historical narrative.   You’re apt to go with what you know.  So don’t be afraid of that.

It’s impossible to avoid the influence of other things you’ve read/watched/heard.  But don’t discount the influence you bring to this type of story.   Your voice has never been heard in that setting, and you can’t make it come alive (unless you’re plagiarizing directly, you dirty cheat).

6) You don’t have any clue how this is all going to come together.  This is where I am right now and it’s an odd spot.  I have all these people in this world doing different things.  Then a whole different set of people in another world started doing other things.  They each have their own agenda and none of them are really telling me about what they’ll do next.

“Oh man,” the voice says, “you had an idea of what was going to happen but now you’re in a whole other place!  So much for planning!”

The rebuttal for this is: my story is true, and that’s all that matters.

I’m not producing a plot, I’m following people and the plot they make themselves.  I’m not making a melody here, I’m telling the story of these people and there may be a sour note or two.  It’s an odd place to be, but I’m curious to see how it shakes out.

Here’s what I believe:  If I don’t know what’s going to happen and I”m excited to see, my reader will be too.

For instance, I sat down on November 1 with a character that was going to be a big hero of the story.  On November 5, that character died.  I was shocked, but it fit right into the motivation of another character and provided conflict fuel that threw the story into overdrive.  I still look back on that character longing to write about them, but someone else’s motive in the story made it impossible for them to survive.

Your passion has to be louder than the voices.  Yes.  Passion.

The fifteen mornings that I’ve spent in front of a blank page have been transcendent.  I’ve stolen moments from every day life to gaze upon a world and characters that exist to fulfill a greater story.   I don’t say that to sound  sensational.  I truly mean it.  I love my day job.  I am passionate about it.

But this is a dream that’s been in the basement for too long.  After decades, I finally thrust that cellar door open to find it.  I’m happy to announce it breathes.  It’s alive.  And so am I.

At any rate, tell those voices to quiet down and do more watching than dictating.  See where these people with their individual passions are taking you.  Keep writing and don’t give up.  I waited 25 years to take this dream seriously, but I’m like a kid again in just under 30 days.

The most difficult thing so far about writing a novel in one month happened around the 25,000 word mark for me.  It was the voices – and what they said.

Now, don’t get freaked that I’m saying this.  I don’t mean I heard them audibly, but it was an invasion of my inner quiet moments.

As a new fiction writer, I’ve found value in learning to silence myself and allow whatever is floating in my head to drop to the page.

The voices I hear while writing are the opposite of creativity: They are fixed on sabotage.  Here are the phrases each voice likes to repeat.

1) This it the best thing ever written.  Yeah, you didn’t think I was conceited did you?  Well, I’m actually not.  This voice booms when I find those ten awesome words out of the hundred awful words.  He tells me to rest on my laurels and not make such a big deal out of sitting in that chair and letting what’s inside come out.

He says, “Dude, lets just go get that mansion now on the way to that six-figure book deal.”

Nice try, french fry!   From what I’ve read of the writing process, this is the one of the easiest parts – just getting it on the page.  What follows is the re-write, where I get the opportunity to step into the holes I created in this plot, the agent query, where I get to hear how I’m not special, and the editor, where I get to hear how my stuff is cool, but worthless apart from professional intervention.

Those descriptions of the process are exaggerated to make a point, but this book is far from done if I want to put it on a Barnes and Noble bookshelf.

2) This is the biggest piece of crap ever written (I seriously shouldn’t even be allowed to own a computer because of how bad it is).  Yeah, I’ve heard this guy far more than the first.  This is when self-doubt kicks in and you realize that this thing you just gave birth to not only has extra limbs, but it’s got wings and it’s flying all over the freaking delivery room causing chaos.

This voice says, “Wait, you’re actually going to let people read this?  Really?  Why don’t you just poison the town’s drinking water while your at it?”

I don’t know how other authors look at it, but I truly look at what I’m doing in this stage as producing raw material with hidden gems therein.  I’ve texted some of my friends and beta readers a line here and a quote there.  I stand back and think, “Wow, that’s pretty cool that I wrote that, but yuck!  Who put all this garbage before and after that?  Oh, wait, that was me as well.”

3) Whoa, if __________________ knew you were doing this, they would laugh!  This voice has a fancy way of saying that your creativity is useless.  This is especially true if you’re like me, and have never written a book before.

This voice comes in many forms, and it usually takes the tone of someone else.  It says, “Oh, so you have time to do that, but you failed this project at work?”  Or, “Wow, I can’t believe that you are still doing that.  That’s kind of a waste of time.”

The rebuttal: those people don’t need to know.  And this is the most important lesson that I’ve learned: if you’re doing this for any other reason than for you and for the thrill of it, you’ll not have steam to finish.

You can’t estimate the value of your passion based on someone else’s measuring tool.

Some do things for money.  Others for attention.

I’m writing for the writing.  Even if I throw this thing into a (digital) trunk, on November 30, I’m going to say I wrote a fiction book.  It only took me 25 years and 30 days!

We all only have a certain amount of time.  When we say we are too busy, what we are saying is, “I’ve said yes to all the things I possibly could.”  That’s a truer statement.  Not having time is an illusion because all have time for the things that are important to us.

My entire life, I never had time to write.  I talked about it.  Dreamed about it, and one time, I got close to starting to write.  But I never had the time because I consider myself leading a very busy life.  Then, I discovered a cold truth about the way I was speaking about my schedule.

“I haven’t got time” is a lie.  This statement undermines the fact that those who are writing somehow have more time than I do.  We’ve all made this statement before about things we can’t find the time to do.

Yeah, that’s right.  I thought you all had 24 hours, but somehow, I’m stuck with only 12!  What a sorry chump I am.

I realized that in order to add in time to do NaNoWriMo, I would have to sacrifice something else.

I would like to share with you only two specific things that I gave up to make time.  By the way, I don’t believe you find time, or have time, but you make time. I only gave up two things in order to make time for NaNoWriMo

1) I gave up the gym until my novel is done.  I love working out, and I’m not saying I won’t try to sneak it in, but writing during this season is the top priority (This bought me 45-90 minutes every other day).  I know what you’re thinking.  He looks like his body is still beach ready! Thank you for noticing, but it’s on a sabbatical from the free weights in the month of November.

2) I stopped watching Netflix.   This is sad because I only just discovered Parenthood.  I’m pretty shocked no one told me about this life-altering gem earlier.  With a little bit of regret, I decided I would forgo a month of me crying to write this novel.  Sorry Craig T. Nelson, your charming and uncouth ways will not dissuade me from creating worlds.  Crosby, your cavalier attitude towards life and love are adorable, but there is so much conflict racing through this novel of mine.  I  must put you and Jabbar on pause and see what happens with you around Christmas time!  (This allotted me about 20 minutes per day. This is an average because, like you, I tend to binge watch or not watch at all).

That’s it.  Those are the two things that I’ve quit to make time.  Think about doing an activity audit and see where you can get some words down.  You’d be surprised how many things you do on autopilot.  Keep writing, and I’ll catch up on Parenthood with you after Thanksgiving!

I have been listening to podcasts, watching YouTube videos, and talking to writers about the craft.  But the most effective tool that I believe a writer can use does not involve studying writing.

It’s reading.  Plain and simple.  Nothing alluring.

Stephen King says the two things a successful writer must do is write a lot and read a lot.  In my opinion, writing helps you find your voice, reading helps you develop the tone to your voice.

Why is it so valuable to read a lot?

1) Every book you’ve ever read and enjoyed remains a part of your experience.  Yes, those treasured texts that you’ve read time and time again become bookmarks in your psyche where your imagination takes rest stops to relieve itself from being totally original.

2) You’ve learned what to do and what not to do from books that you’ve read.  Our minds already contain the ingredients that we love and don’t.  We need to flesh out what makes those techniques special – or what makes them altogether avoidable.

3) Situations you’ve read about that move you will spark creativity.  I don’t need to elaborate much here, but every story you’ve ever connected to becomes a springboard for a potential plot line.

For instance, I grew up reading and loving Stephen King.  One of the elements of the plot of my NaNoWriMo novel borrows slightly from the concept of one of his earlier novels, Misery.  The part of the plot that sticks with me is the obsessed fan doing harm to the novelist.  It’s a little flip-flopped for my story considering it’s the obsessed fan harming the would-be novelist.  And the novelist is not being held captive and tortured (in that way).  If I didn’t mention Misery, you’d probably not know I was even influenced by it; but my mind pulled that out of its own creative file cabinet.

The moral of the story: if you feed your imagination, it will fill your pages.  Keep writing and don’t stop reading!

You’re busy.

Yeah, you are.

I’m sorry, but I’m not sorry.

Your life isn’t going slow down for you to write.  Your kids aren’t going to give you a month off of raising them.  Your boss isn’t going to come into your office and tell you to take the month to work on something you’ve always wanted to work on and give yourself a break from the priorities of the office.  Your health isn’t going to cooperate; it’s cold and flu season, so count on a sinus infection or two.

Oh, and if you live in America, there’s Thanksgiving, which means that you can throw a couple days out the window while you travel and stuff yourself with turkey and Aunt Edna’s mediocre stuffing (no one ever told her that Stove Top was better, and no one ever will).

But I’m here to tell you that you’re looking at your busyness the wrong way.  When it comes to NaNoWriMo, the busyness happens to be a blessing.

I decided to begin NaNoWriMo this year knowing that this is the busiest I’ve ever been.  I’m going to give you several things I have on my plate (but I am sure you’re busy too, I’m not undermining you, I’m simply telling you this is the busiest I’ve ever been in my life).

• I just finished up a nonfiction book proposal and am in the process of querying agents to try to sell it (completely unrelated to NaNoWriMo).
• I am in the process of preaching the biggest and most involved series at my church that I’ve ever done (including 21 days of video content released on a daily basis).
• I am editing the videos for an upcoming church service that’s video-based (minimum of 20-25 hours of work).
• We are preparing the site for a $10M sanctuary and as of right now, I’m the lead on the project.  I have some gifted people I’m working with, but I’m still the point person.
• I am facilitating two Dale Carnegie Courses on two different evenings.  Each session is 3 and 1/2 hours not including prep or administration time.
• I started this blog and committed to writing it for 30 days.
• I have two kids under two years old.

So, when I put it in writing, I feel pretty overwhelmed just typing it.  But, believe it or not, if I wasn’t busy, I wold have trouble participating in NaNoWriMo.  This is also a theory offered by Chris Baty in his book, No Plot, No Problem.  He’s the creator of NaNoWriMo.  He knows why it works.

With all that being said, can I tell you why busyness works to your advantage.

1) Prioritization becomes a matter of survival.  I have to set my day according what is most important, and next to my time in prayer in the morning, those words I’ve been laying on paper have become my highest priority.

2) Elimination becomes easier.  When you’re busy and you’re trying to knock out 1,667 words per day, you say “no” to a lot.  In another post, I’m going to tell you what I’m giving up right now.

3)  Revelation of what’s going on in your heart surfaces.  If this is important to you, busyness won’t keep you from it.  And I’ve found that on the things that I’ve given up to do this, my heart wasn’t as serious about those things as it is about the writing.  Next to my ministry work and my time with my family, the words are my thriving passion.

So, you’ve read enough.  Now get busy!  I mean, cut through your busyness and slay some pages.

Welcome to Video About a Book: On Writing by Stephen King.

 

 

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Keep writing!