Writer's Block - We All Have It

Hello everyone. This is LaVel Moorehead. Today, I want to bring up the topic of Writer's Block. What is it and how can we as writers overcome it?

I just read the article "How to Get Past Writer's Block" by Stanton Rabin. Ms. Rabin published 6 books since 2008 and helps writers prepare their manuscripts for submission. I love her take on Writer's Block. She says that we all have it; the way that people describe Writer's Block as "insurmountable" instead of surmountable. In her view, we all have problems in our writing, whether you're a seasoned writer or not. We just have to get through it.

How do you define Writer's Block? Ms. Rabin defines it in two ways. One, the writer has a psychological block. This psychological block deals with fear and failure. "Oh, I don't want anyone to see my work. Oh it's absolutely terrible. Yadda, yadda, yadda." I've said that to myself a thousand times. Writers write manuscripts and many go in the trash bin because they don't like the work or they understand that it needs improvement. So, understanding that writing doesn't mean that with one manuscript you're on the way to success and stardom is key.

An example Ms. Rabin uses in the article relates how students feel intimidated in writing a scene that requires a lot of emotion. She points out that this intimidation may be a way that we as human beings deal with conflict. Ghosts of Russian czars in a scene that Ms. Rabin wrote in "The Curse of the Romanovs" reminded her critics from her previous book. The ghosts told her main character Alexi to "give up," a reflection on how she felt before. Writers like myself need reminding that not everyone will enjoy our work and that criticism is part of the game. That's just life. Ultimately, we need to move on because someone out there will enjoy our work and we need to work on improving ourselves, not absorbing lies that we are useless.

Another main issue is the storyline. Is there a bump in the road of your story that you can't seem to pass over? Well, Ms. Rabin has some advice here. Alexi & his sister Alexandra plan to rescue 11 prisoners in "The Curse of the Romanovs." However, Ms. Rabin couldn't understand how they would get the prisoners out of a well-protected fortress. How, how, how would they pull that plan off? In the end, the author was inspired by Sherlock Holmes story "A Scandle in Bohemia" where Holmes uses a smoke bomb. Ms. Rabin was able to implement the smoke bomb in her story for her characters. Sometimes, writers just need to sit back and think and not worry too much. The solutions will come, only if we think the plot points through. Worrying won't help, it'll just stack on other worries where you're worrying about worrying. How's that for a tongue twister? Worrying wastes time. You just need to move on.

Before I go, let me leave several points that Ms. Rabin says that writers should consider (and some are shocking!)
1. Contrary to popular wisdom, don't "write what you know." -She says this because this may unconsciously place blocks to where you don't want to write about your past or you don't look at the work objectively to see if it's written well or not. Personally, I don't mind writers "writing what they know," but it's definitely good to look out for what she says.
2.Know that it's OK to abandon a writing project. - I've dealt with this personally this past summer. I started on the project "Pharador" thinking that everything was going to be brilliant. It wasn't. Once I looked at my manuscript and saw diverging plots such as virtual reality, mythical creatures, a magical land outside of Earth, I knew that I had to change course. Sometimes, it's advisable to stay on course and tweak your story, but sometimes, you should just change course.
3. Don't edit yourself too much while you're working on a first draft. - This is VERY interesting. Usually, we want to edit and revise immediately. For a manuscript, writers can save a a whole bunch of time by moving on to the next chapter. You can edit and revise later.

So, what do you think about this topic? I will attach the link to this post. Have a wonderful day. I will come back with more great articles and updates on my novel. :)
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=8aaa3f92-f7f5-425b-b45c-431ec38a6585%40sessionmgr111&vid=2&hid=119&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=31259234
Peacec. :-0)

"What are you doing in my room?!?"

Hello everyone. This is LaVel Moorehead. I promised to get back to you sooner than later. Can I tell you something? These past few days have been hectic for me. I mean, combine non-stop reading with a tired LaVel and you get the picture. It's been hard for me to write, but I had the courage to write last night. No matter what, I made a promise to myself that I would write something in my book. It doesn't have to be anything lengthy like 5 pages, it could just be a paragraph or two. I need to keep the creative juices flowing and that means staying in my work for the long haul. :)

Now, where are we? Oh yes, you may be asking "what is the title all about?" Well, one of my characters is freaking out. Apparently, someone entered this character's room...I take that back, this character's house! Why? Of course, you will have to read it of course. But it doesn't make sense. I titled chapter four of my book "Ghosts" because there are a couple of "apparitions" appearing in this chapter. I won't give out what they are, but one of them appears in my beloved character Alexis Sinclair's room and another appears near an invisible house that only 3 young children can see. Cool, huh? It's a mystery that must be solved and one that I must write to the very end.

So, I must get back to my writing. I will post a couple of articles today that I found interesting concerning Writer's Block. The main challenge posing me is regulating myself and keeping a consistent framework to where I have time for my book. It's easy to wake up later because I want to rest my pretty little head. Well, time is limited and I won't have much time to write because I must balance it with college work. I would love to talk to other writers about how they balance their lives with their writing. That would be an interesting subject to take on. Okay? Have a wonderful day and enjoy the sunshine.

Peace. :-)

Finished Chapter Three & My Thoughts

Hello everyone. I told you I would have a quicker update, didn't I? Well, I finally did it. I finished Chapter 3 with 10 pages! Wonderful. I wondered when I would have time to finish it and I took time this morning to write as much as I could and I succeeded. :)

One of the main objectives that writers (this can be applied to anyone really) is to manage your time wisely. Sure, that sounds obvious but most people don't put that into practice very well. It's easy to get up late in the morning right before class instead of getting up at 7 am and knocking out a couple of pages or so of writing. That's what needs to change. Writers need to prioritize what's important to them and if writing is indeed a central focal point in their lives, they need to ensure that it becomes methodical.

So, what was chapter three about. If I could sum it up in three bullets, it would be: a dream, clever wizards, and an evil plot. Just for your information, the picture of the lake at the top is where the dream takes place, but the dream occurs in the dead of night! ;) It's a bit of a tricky chapter because three characters have the same dream so I want to tap into some of their thoughts that they have about the dream. "How will this affect me" is basically the main question. This chapter is the diving point for my novel because it sets up the suspense and drama where the main characters understand that they have an enemy. They don't really understand who are whom their enemies are, but they know they're out there and are planning to conquer them. Thus, the main characters realize that they need some help & protection to confront the unknown. Exciting? I think so!

So again, I'm at 70 pages now. I hope to hit 100 by the end of this week, but it isn't certain. I'll edit the chapter somewhat and refer back to my outline so I feel confident on where the story goes from here. I'm very excited as you can tell. This is where the action begins. This is where the characters start to bond together and learn more about each other. It's their time to shine.

Also, if I can leave a bit of advice which I may have said before (but I'll say again) will be: don't go into your piece trying to perfect it. All you'll do is say to yourself "this is rubbish" and never come out with any sense of accomplishment. Don't be so hard on yourself. Writing is a PROCESS. That's why you EDIT and REVISE. Yes, don't be lax, but don't think that you are supposed to be Jane Austen on the first go. Relax and enjoy what you're doing.

Okay? Well, I hope you're having a good day. I sure am. I'll be back with more updates and more advice to help writers. Have a wonderful day! Peace. :0)

The New School Year...and My Book!

Hello everyone out there! How ya' doing? :) This is LaVel Moorehead speaking. I've been gone for a while but wait no more. I'm coming back with more information on the progress of my book & the vision of my writing.

So...how has my writing been going? Very good actually. I've been immersed in the beginning of a new college year (Sophomore, yay!) I'm trying my best to get my bearings before I dive back into my novel and I may take a stab at it tonight. I'm in a scene where three main characters have an identical dream about an evil, evil wizard who plans to steal a magical object. Will he succeed? I don't know, but when I finish my novel, you'll find out of course.

This summer has been such a refreshing reminder for me. Like I said before in my first blog post, I've been a writer since I was little. So many people including my parents and friends complimented me on my writing. I've always enjoyed fantasy authors like C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein, and Christopher Paolini and I've always wanted to write a fantasy book. I even tried writing one in seventh grade and the results...were not so stellar. I'm afraid to ask my mom for the manuscript which is probably locked in the basement. How about I don't ask her? Wonderful. :)

Anyway, after my parents gave me feedback (feedback in which they told me the truth in love) that my story needed a whole lot of work, I became discouraged. I thought that I wasn't a good enough writer. "What if I'm wrong? What if others are supposed to be writers? What if I'm just fooling myself?" Such negativity discouraged me from writing stories in later years. It wasn't until freshmen year of college that I took a creative writing class. Working with other writers replanted my old dreams in my head. I knew then that my dream and my desire hadn't fled away. It had just hidden under the rug of fear and now it's time to take it out.

So, where am I now? I've written a prologue and two lengthy chapters which have come to 60 pages. I'm estimating that when I'm done the third chapter I will be at 70 pages and from my vantage point, the novel will be at least 500 pages! Daunting, huh? I don't mind writing a lengthy book, but my PERSEVERANCE must be put to the test.

So, can I give you a sneak peak of my book? I promise I will. :) I still need to get my writing up and running, but I need to balance it with my school work and other endeavors (hopefully, less distractions). If you've forgotten, my novel is called "Dragon Earth." Well, what should I say about it? It's an epic quest...it's a little bit of coming of age. Someone asked me before if it's allegorical. In a way it is and in a way it isn't...some mythological elements are in and a smidgen on theological elements. But, let me tell you that the story takes place in and outside the real world. That was one of the debates I had raging in my mind before writing this book. Should it take place in an imaginary land or the real world? I won't tell you exactly what I mean, but the story flips back and forth. I think it may stand out in this regard and I hope others like it too.

What's one piece of advice I could give concerning Writer's Block before I leave? I want to say a couple of things. One, return to your outline and your written manuscript. Grab a piece of paper and a pen and sit down. Are you happy with your manuscript? Why or why not? Asking these critical questions can shed light on why you're not writing and move from there. Talking to other writers about your thoughts and ideas can expand wisdom on what additional steps you can take in your work. There are a couple of road bumps that I foresee in my work that I need to work out. Thus, I'll need to take a sip of my own medicine!

Another short piece of advice (and something I'll expand on later) is what I call the "Demon Mindset." All the time, we can be bombarded with thoughts like "Oh, you're writing sucks," "your vocabulary isn't good enough," "you need more time for your writing to mature," "yadda, yadda, yadda." Well, I always say that there's a piece of truth to what the demons say. Obviously, you're vocabulary and writing will mature over time, but that doesn't mean that this isn't your time to shine. All and I mean ALL writers have to start somewhere and one day, they didn't just pick up a pen and paper or a computer and become a gifted writer. Writing takes time. And the more you and I understand this, the better.

So, I hope these words encourage you. I'll have more frequent blog posts up to detail how my writing is going. Now, I must finish a book review for my fellow author Greg J. Down's "Mordred." Wonderful! And perhaps, the scene where my characters stumble upon an evil plot...dun dun dun! So excited. Well, farewell my friends and I hope to see you again soon.

Peace! :0)

Historical Fiction vs. Other Genres

This is an article that I posted for "The League of Extraordinary Scribes," a wonderful writers circle which inspires me to write. It's about the difference between historical fiction, alternative historical fiction, and contemporary fiction. I hope you like it. :)

***
Hello League! This is Vincent LaVel Moorehead and I want to thank Elizabeth Dresdow for giving me the opportunity to write this article. Originally, she writes and posts articles for Historical Fiction this month, but because she's tied up in many matters, I have decided to help my sister out. Love Elizabeth, she's a dear. :D



I thought I would ask the obvious question: what is historical fiction? What is it y'all? We'll, here are a few bullets I'll share about the matter.



-Historical Fiction deals with a REAL historical events like WWI, WWII, Vietnam War, you get the picture.

-Characters have a portrayed realistically in their time period. Whether it's their clothes, their colloquialisms and manner of speaking, whatever, has to accurately reflect the time.

-One historical author Walter Scott suggested that "historical fiction" versus contemporary would be 2 generations apart from the present. A generation averages about 25 years. :0)

-Basically, the main characters in a historical fiction story are fictional. Yes, there can be characters than are historical, but mainly the protagonists are fictional players in history.



Examples of popular historical fiction books are: "The Grapes of Wrath" by, "Gone With The Wind" by Margaret Mitchell, "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathanael Hawthorne, "The Color Purple" Alice Walker and "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. I've been meaning to read "The Book Thief" because I've seen it in stories and online all of the time and I've heard its praises sung over and over. :) These books topics events such as The Dust Bowl, the Civil War & Reconstruction, Soviets invading Afghanistan in 1980's, etc. There's a wealth of good historical fiction books that I encourage you to read and here's a link for you to look at some if you wish.

http://www.onlineclasses.org/2010/06/01/100-all-time-best-historical-fiction-books/



Now, I want to clear some things from your mind by asking what is "alternative historical fiction," "fantasy," or "contemporary fiction?" :) Let's see:



Alternative Historical Fiction- This is like historical fiction reversed. Yes, the protagonists are fictional, BUT events in the story are not the same as history. An example would be that the South wins the Civil War or Martin Luther King Jr. is still alive. It can even reach into the bowels of science fiction or Steampunk. Issac Asimov wrote the story what if" where a couple explores alternate realities. Cool, huh? Phillip Roth wrote "The Plot Against America" in 2004 where President Franklin D. Roosevelt was defeated in his 3rd bid for President of the United States. Steampunk novels employ settings where people use steam like the Victorian era instead of proper electricity. It's an interesting genre that I haven't looked in too much, but some Steampunk novels are "The Proper Machine" by Neal Barrett Jr. and "Infernal Devices" by K.W. Jeter.

Look here for more Steampunk titles. :)

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6720180.html



Contemporary Fiction - Probably the easiest out of these definitions. This kind of fiction takes place today or in the recent past. It has historical overtones, but violates the "2 generations or more rule." :0)



I want to leave you with a link to the article "What are the rules for historical fiction?" by Sarah Johnson, a professor at Eastern Illinois university. I know that several scribes want more information on how to get their HF writing up to scratch and who knows...there could even be a contest with historical fiction!

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6720180.html



Tell me what you think about the article and I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. God Bless. :D

Guest Post from Author Greg J, Downs

Hello everyone! Today, I have a special guest who would like to share his own journey with the art of outlining: Greg J. Downs. :D He's my age by the way and impressed me to no end; has written two books, the first of which is "Mordred" (I will release a book review soon & I know Greg has waited patiently for it) and "Brother Thief." So, without further ado, here is Mr. Down's article. :D


"How NOT to Outline"
By Greg J. Downs

Hi all, this is LaVel's pal Greg. I saw his post on outlining recently, and it really started me thinking about my own horrible, horrible battles with outlining my work. These thoughts swam around in my head for a while before finally deciding to spill out on paper... er, I mean my Word Processor... and now they've grown into a blog post. LaVel has graciously permitted me to take up his blog space with this, so I'll try to make it worth your while without devolving into one big marketing push for me ;)


I am a full–on, 100%, purebred NERD. I love all things fantasy and most things sci–fi, and this love in turn has produced two novels over the course of time– both of which have been incessantly plagued with outlining difficulties. I'll use examples from each to make points about the subject of outlining... mostly by saying DO NOT DO THIS. (See, this should be making you feel good about yourself already.)


Point #1– Everyone outlines, even those who think of themselves as seat–of–the–pants writers. Everyone starts with an idea, right? I started out by wanting to write a story about King Arthur. Then I decided I wanted King Arthur to be the bad guy, and Mordred, the traditional villain of the legend, to be the good guy. When I sat down to write the story, I decided (in my head) that the best way to make King Arthur the bad guy was to have him order the death Mordred for no reason at all (that Mordred could tell, anyway).


See? I already had a sort of mental picture in my head... and that is the simplest form of outlining.


Point #2– Do not not outline. Yes, I used a double–negative. Take that, grammar class! Anyway, what I mean by saying that is: if you want to write a novel of any length, outlining is essential. While writing my little anti–King–Arthur story, my outline read something like this: “Mordred's village is attacked by the knights of the round table and his parents die, so he runs away into the forest and meets the lady of the lake.” Okay... that little one sentence outline took two 10–page chapters to write (that's 40 paperback pages).


My point? Stories grow. They're living, breathing things. You need to outline your WHOLE book, if it's a book you're writing– and short stories/novellas/novelettes are the same. You also should outline as detailed as you can without losing the fun of the story, so you have an idea of just how long the darned thing is going to be. Now for most people, 1 line of outline will NOT equal 1 chapter of book– that's probably a problem only I have. But you need to know where your story is going, no matter how much space your outline takes up.


When I realized that (more or less) any single sentence I wrote in outlining would become a chapter, I quickly scribbled down a few more sentences to bring my story to a close (I thought it would be a short–story series at the time). Long story short? Mordred fought the forces of King Arthur and Avalon for 30 more computer pages before escaping from a sinking island, saving the King's deadliest knight from death–by–evil–witch, and generally kicking butt everywhere he went.


And guess what? I realized I wasn't done.


Point #3– Outlines are written in easy–cheez, not stone. I'd written about 40 pages of story from a paragraph of outlining. There were still a bajillion strings left untied in the tale, and suddenly I knew... deep within the nerdiest corner of my heart... that I really could write a book. 40 pages... that's like a quarter of the way done, right? So one night I stayed up REALLY late and wrote a four–page outline of my book. I would have to change some things in the original 40–page story, to make it flow better, but so what? (You can tell I'd already forgotten the 1 sentence outline = 1 chapter rule.)


My re–write of those 40 pages ended up being 70 pages. At the end, it looked NOTHING like the original story. My first outline? Useless. My four–page outline? Useless, too. The story had morphed as I re–wrote it, so that I had to write a 3rd outline! This annoyed me hugely, but I've since learned it happens with everything– and I mean EVERYTHING– I write.


My new book? Something like 10 outlines, all very different from each other as the story changed mid–writing.


What I'm trying to say is that while I know I just told you outlining is essential, I didn't tell you the whole thing. Outlining is important, but just like stories, outlines grow... and change... and sometimes DIE A BLOODY DEATH!!!! So if you need to change your outline, do it! If it requires changing huge chunks of story, change them! Or maybe, if that would be too painful, find a way for your new outline to incorporate what you've already written– find a new reason all those prior events are important.


So, what have we learned today, class? Numero Uno: Outlining is natural and unavoidable. Numbah Two: If you want detail in a story, you need a detailed outline. Number Three: Outlines are like transformers. They were made to look cool, no matter what shape they're in. So transform them at will.


_ _ _


About Greg: Here's where I market myself to you poor people who actually suffered through that whole lecture :P I'm a young author with one book available for the Amazon Kindle and another on the way. To keep track of my writing, 'like' the pages for my books, at http://on.fb.me/mSopPP and http://on.fb.me/p97MbP, or follow my blog at http://bit.ly/ovSDvP. Want to know how that King Arthur story ended? You can buy it as an e–book at http://amzn.to/qoEG1u. Good luck to all you writers out there, and God Bless!


So, what did you think about Greg J. Down's article? Post below on my blog and tell me what you think!! I tell ya', I loved every bit of what Greg had to say. :D

My View on Outlining

Hello everyone. It's great to be back on my blog and I'm sorry that I've taken a longer break than I expected. But here I am! :)
So, what have I been up to? Outlining, of course! Well, how could you have known that? I've been on a wishy-washy journey trying to find the right course for my novel. Originally, I started writing my novel originally titled "Pharador" but for some reason, I felt stuck. Now why would that happen? Why would little LaVel with all of his passion and desire for writing feel dead in the water? Because I wasn't prepared for the novel. Sure, I wrote a few pages of notes for the novel, but I wasn't prepared for everything that comes with adequate OUTLINING, some research, and good advice.
What I've learned is that I can place writers into two categories: a "seat of the pants" writer or an outliner. "Seat of the Pants" writers prefer to just write whatever comes to mind for their novel without any concrete outline. Sure, they may jot a couple of things down, but they take an idea and run with it by writing as much of their story as they can. Outliners on the other hand feel the need to sit down and give some sort of structure to the plot of their novel. Usually, these writers list what will happen in certain chapters and as much character background as they can.
For myself, I learned that I have to outline. Yes, some plot points and details to the story may come later down the road and it's exciting to have spontaneity. Some scene that you weren't thinking about before may come a day or so before you write another chapter for example. However, if you know what destination you're trying to head to, you can finagle the routes to get there through outlining. I sometimes think of writing as problem solving because there are times when I outline and think "Hmm..how do I get to this point? How does so-and-so obtain these magical objects or what relationship does so-and-so have with this person?" These are questions writers have to ask themselves, and if you write the answers down in an outline, it won't be as hard as trying to make it up as you go.
So I will leave you with a quick tip. For my book, I started with a "rough outline." I took about three blank sheets of computer paper and wrote down approximately 26 chapter titles for my book. Then in bullets, I wrote what will happen in each chapter. Afterward, I gathered 26 sheets of paper for my "chapter sketches" and wrote in more detail what will happen in each chapter. I think it's better to elaborate on what will happen in each chapter so it's not as difficult as looking at a few bullets and wondering where to go from there. So, don't feel discouraged. Outlining takes some time, but it's rewarding in the end. I will definitely write more on outlining so stay posted.
If you have to know the new title for my book, I will share it with you. Here it is...the title for my book is called "Dragon Earth" and I'm every excited about it! So, get out your pen or computer and start outlining! :-)