Writing Warrior Wednesday! ~ Writers are Athletes

In high school and even in real life we categorize people as either athletic or not athletic. This categorization is usually the result of your physical form or your abilities to play a sport. Personally, the only sport I ever enjoyed playing was volleyball and I wasn’t that great at it. Must admit, I had a killer serve!

So that would leave the rest of us as the non-athletics and more into the brain sciences like writing, math, science, art etc. Obviously, I am using generalizations to illustrate a point here, I know of lots of very athletic people who are mentally brilliant.

Being put in either category athlete or non-athlete comes with some standards. Typically, athletes have problems sitting still for more than ten minutes at a time, while non-athletes can binge-watch five hours of Stranger Things without lifting a muscle (except for the occasional drink or snack). Athletes are constantly hungry and or eating – non-athletes will get so lost in whatever project they are working on and forget to eat until 1 am and then scarf down bowl of cereal just to say they have eaten something.

My point being, both scenarios are misconceptions and absolutely wrong. Writers are just as much athletes as actual athletes and here’s why. The word athlete means - a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.

Professional athletes, while getting paid way too much to play a game – in my humble opinion—work hard to be in top physical form and thus perform at their peak at all times. This means a strict regiment of diet, exercise, vitamins, and sleep. Many will even tell you it is the worst part of the job. However, they realize they need to fuel their bodies to fuel their activity.

So do writers! You require mental strength – discipline, skin of steel, and focus. Mental agility – the ability to keep track of plots, sub plot, characters and flow. Mental stamina – the need to be able to juggle lots of ideas and put them in a cohesive form and / or write when the rest of the world is binge watching TV or sleeping. All of this, not to mention everyday life. Most of us are not full-time writers, we have jobs, families, PTA, volunteering, night school etc.

So like athletes we need to keep our brains and bodies is top form to enable us to do the impossible – write 100,000 words, edit, rewrite, publish, &market.

As I said above, like athletes we need to make sure we are treating our bodies and fueling our minds as much as a physical athlete would. Which means, eating right, taking our vitamins, getting some regular exercise and scheduling time to sleep. We also need to make time for some much-needed fun! Relaxation and appreciate for where we are, what we have accomplished, and all the blessings our lives have to offer.

Being a writer, published or not is hard freaking work! Ignore people who think it is easy, a hobby or even a pastime. “Oh, you are a writer, that is a cake job.” BULLSHIT! It is mentally and physically difficult and you need to acknowledge – I HAVE a DIFFICULT job!

So, take care of yourself. Your brain and your body. Like it or not -- one is directly linked to the other and being conscious of this fact will put you ahead of the game! You are Writing Warriors and deserve to always be at your best to produce fight the good fight! This will also help with warding off negativity, stress and anxiety. A balanced life is a good life.

Could I have put more cliché’s in the post --- probably, but you get the point!

So how do you do it all? We will talk about that soon. For now, go take a walk and eat some vegetables for goodness sake!!

I love to hear your feedback! Leave a comment and let me know what you think and if the post was helpful! If you want more information, or assistance shoot me an email at writesromine@gmail.com or ping me on Twitter @AmyJRomine.

Come Find Me!

Don't have a Kindle, no problem. I've got you covered! Read eBooks on your phone, tablet and computer no Kindle Needed!

Writing Warriors Wednesday ~Your Kernel Idea!

I lead a local Writing Group called the Writing Warriors. This is a wonderfully collaborative group of amazing people looking to connect with outer writers and hone their creative process.

In our first meeting, we discussed the foundation for any story, poem, a piece of art, music, blog post, new business, new invention – just about anything. The Kernel Idea!

This is the moment your creative brain latches on and the hamster wheel starts spinning. There is a rush of excitement and even giddiness at the endless possibilities. Many people take the idea and run with it rushing to find a piece of paper and start writing.

Here’s the challenge – 25,000 words later many people forget what it was that got them excited in the first place. They can no longer see the forest through the trees and the excitement fades away.  They have lost their kernel idea.

The word idea can mean lots of things to lots of people. For a writer, the idea is what the story is about. This is different than the Kernel Idea. The Kernel Idea can be anything, a quote, a smile, an interaction, a piece of dialog, a scene in a movie, the melody of a piece of music, a memory – you get the point.

When you look at your current WIP, ask yourself – What was my kernel idea? What was it that sparked my adrenaline-fueled decision that I could write 100,000 words about this?

For me, the kernel idea for my current WIP Finders came from the movie The Conjuring. Specifically, the real-life love story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, the first publicized ghost hunters. That developed into the flurry of questions and thoughts about how would two people like this meet and go on to be the first well-known paranormal experts? This is where I started developing the story, based on my kernel idea.

This is the anchor for not my story but my inspiration. My jolt of magic that made me sit up and say – oh yeah that is good!

Once you have identified your Kernel Idea the next step is to take the story and filter it down to two sentences. Your logline. These two are directly connected as they keep you focused. Every scene, theme, action, and climax should reflect your logline and your original inspiration.

I am not saying this is going to be easy because it’s not. It is a challenge for any creative person, experienced or novice) to take all that story and swill it down, but well worth it! The development of the logline is essential to keeping your creative mind focused and centered.

A great resource for examples of amazing, and sometimes, not so amazing, loglines are movies! Except in movies, they are called taglines. You usually see them on the movie poster. During our group, we played a little game where I would read the logline of a well-known movie and the group would guess the movie. It was a great laugh and a great way to demonstrate the impact two or three sentences can have when summing up your work.

As an exercise, I challenge you to identify the kernel idea for your current project or recent publication and also attempted to write out the logline. Tweet me what you come up with @AmyJRomine or post it to the #WritersCommunity hashtag on Twitter.

Here is a couple a resource to get your brain working on your logline.

http://www.filmdaily.tv/log…/top-box-office-logline-examples

https://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/films/the-40-greatest-movie-taglines-ever/83728

Also, MUST recommend The Novel Writers Toolkit by the Astounding Bob Mayer who first introduced me to the Kernel Idea in his book 

I love to hear your feedback! Leave a comment and let me know what you think and if the post was helpful! If you want more information, or assistance shoot me an email at writesromine@gmail.com or ping me on Twitter @AmyJRomine.

Come Find Me!

Don't have a Kindle, no problem. I've got you covered! Read eBooks on your phone, tablet and computer no Kindle Needed!

OMG Plot Hoarder Revealed!

One of my favorite ways to fight the nagging of procrastination and get my blood flowing is to go back and read over past manuscripts. Although I am not sure you could really call them that-- more like attempts at manuscripts. 

In reading them it is easy to see at times how far I have come, it is also easy to see how far I have yet to journey. One of the funniest things I've found in past tales is my inability to not put something into the folds of the tale. I had to have everything and the kitchen sink in there. Every piece, scrap and tiny bit of any tale I had ever found in the past was wrapped into this monster of a project.

Then it hits me, like two-ton A&E commercial, I am a hoarder! I am a plot hoarder. Yes me, I have a writing disease that causes me to writing without focus! I take everything I have piled up, the millions of ideas, I gathered as a yearling artist, and crammed them all into one little slip of a story. 

There are several reasons for this as I now realize, one being the lack of an overall theme. Theme was always the word that makes me wince, it is the one aspect within the confines of writing dogma that I had more or less rejected. It wasn’t until recently, via a Kristen Lamb blog, specifically about ‘getting primal with your plot’, that I smoothed my ruffled feathers about what it means to have a theme. Kristen made me realize, that I was making it more complex than it actually was. I was simply getting in my own way because I didn’t get it and my writing showed it. 

When people would ask me what my book was about I would in effect get tongue tied and not be able to say anything in response. I was of the thinking that I was too close to the plot, the characters, the way they all co-existed in my little brain there was no way for me to sum up the theme of the book in just a few words. BUZZ!  Wrong Answer!

The truth is that I couldn’t sum it up because it was a jumbled fracking mess, with no structure. I, in my infinite ignorance, was making it too difficult trying to throw every plot twist, and ah moment into a story that in fact closely resembled the blob. Why was I making it so difficult? Why couldn’t I just see that I needed a theme, cut everything else away and be done with it?

First off, I was a know it all, young, writer, who thought there was nothing anyone could teach her that she didn’t already know. I am a natural after all. NOT!  

Solution? Boil it down. Go primal, rip away all of the extra crap and what is left? Usually a single word or two. To illustrate my point, I will use my own books as the examples.

Trust Me – Serenity Lost                      Family Loyalty/Love / Don’t get killed

Trust Me – Veiled Deception                 Don’t Die / Love / Protect loved ones

Trust Me – Jaded Promises                   Revenge / Love /Protect Loved Ones

Tarot Series – Shockwave                    Love / Vengeance      

Tarot Series – Backlash                        Love / Protect Loved Ones/ Survive

Tarot Series – Fallout                           Love / Survive

You Never Could Be                             Love / Sex / Trust

Little Angels                                        Love/ Trust / Don’t Die

That’s it, too easy right? Well no it really isn’t.  If you take these words and use them as your compass you will be able to in turn focus your manuscript and rip away all of the useless crap. Now, don’t so nutz and start deleting everything! Please don’t! Yes this is an aspect of my hoarding I will not release. If it made it to the page it is worth the ink. Maybe not now, but it will fit in somewhere, someday. Alright back to our little experiment. The ultimate self test is to translate the categories to the story plot, right? Okay we will try one. Little Angels – FBI Agent falls in love with her partner / FBI Agent cannot trust anyone while undercover / FBI Agent has to bring down the bad guys and not die. Hot Damn it worked!

See, it works! I dare you to prove me wrong! And or to test your own manuscripts, how focused are your plots? Can you complete the challenge?

Check out awesome author Kristen Lamb and her warrior writers on her blog!

 
Come Find Me!

Don't have a Kindle, no problem. I've got you covered! Read eBooks on your phone, tablet and computer no Kindle Needed!

For Writers Only - Julie Cameron

 
 Julia Cameron who wrote The Artist's Way, begins each day with 'Morning Pages' -- three pages written as fast as possible without lifting the pen from the pad (yes, by hand) and in those Morning Pages she puts down whatever is on her mind or in her heart....She tosses them unread into a knee high pile and what matter if they never are seen by mortal eyes?
Now she begins to write. 

 

 ~ For Writers Only, Sophie Burnham



Come Find Me!

Don't have a Kindle, no problem. I've got you covered! Read eBooks on your phone, tablet and computer no Kindle Needed!

Procrastination or Inspiration?

As a writer the easiest thing in the universe to do is procrastinate.  

You can find any reason to not write.
Too tired, laundry is piling up, the bathroom needs to be cleaned, you need to go to the store, weeds need to be pulled, the fly buzzing around the room is too distracting, kids need me, too loud, too quiet, no inspiration. I have used them all.

Fortunately, I've broken out of the sticky web of procrastination. Not saying that I don’t fall back every now and again. However I have realized that my procrastination will actually stall my creative flow. I am in essence putting my muse on mute. I have learned that if you keep it silent for too long, when you do turn the volume back up you will find nothing but silence.

I love people that tell you they are ‘working up to’ something. I have learned it is code for ‘I have no freaking idea what I am going to do’. But that’s okay. We've all been there, when the ideas and the flow seem just out of reach, so why waste time staring a blank screen? Why spend precious hours writing useless prattle? If the inspiration isn’t there, it just isn’t there…right?

See, here’s the thing…staring at the blank screen, believe it or not, is not a waste of time. Writing gibberish does more than give you sore shoulders. These seemingly useless exercises can in fact amount to brilliance. How? Because you are doing it! You are focused on your task. You are allowing your mind to wander to all of those wonderful places where the kernels of inspiration collect. Given enough time and patience they will pop and you were soar!

I have said it a million times and I cannot stress it enough. The reason I do is because I don’t want anyone to miss out on the chance of brilliance! If you are going to write, than write! If you are going to write a song, write it! If you are going to conquer the world, get to work!

Someone once said that ‘Procrastination is the ruin of the brilliant man’. And while I'm not going to go to that degree, I will say it is a slippery slope. So mind your balance and open the door for brilliance, it's waiting!

Come Find Me on Amazon!

My Intellectual Crush

If you Google Intellectual Crush Definition, a whole bunch of stuff comes up. The only actual definition I found is in the Urban Dictionary:

A crush on someone that developed because of admiration for the person's skill/talent/intellectual abilities etc... Often used to clarify that crushes of the same gender are more or less platonic and not sexual in nature.

I have a few of these crushes, and I have mentioned them in previous blogs. 

These people inspire me, and make me sigh with the brilliance of their minds!

JJ Abrahms

Seth McFarlane

Joss Wheadon

George Clooney (although this one could go either way)

I am adding someone to the list. This is not done without serious consideration as it is very few who reach this status in my world but Oh Nelly I am in love…

His name is Bob Mayer, and if you have an eye on my activities you know I have been gobbling up his media like Christmas candy! Those who do not know who Bob Mayer is, let me introduce you. His bio on Goodreads: A West Point graduate, former Green Beret and NY Times best-selling author and motivational speaker/consultant. He is the Co-Creator of Who Dares Wins Publishing. He has written over 45 titles under his name and his several pen names, including Robert Doherty He has co-authored several books with Jennifer Crusie.

He is also the owner of a wonderful blog titled after a remarkable novel, Write it Forward, Who Dares Wins!

So what is the attraction? He is a teacher, and a real author. Not one of those people who says they are an author and puts out a bunch of books to help other authors just to make money. 

His books, his theory, his thought process makes sense to me. It isn’t bunch of hooey to fill pages, it is black and white.  I have been meaning to read several of his books for almost a year now. I recently discovered the text to speech feature on my Kindle and holy hell I am an idiot! I am kicking myself for waiting as long as I have to read the man’s books! I could go into a long explanation as to what his books say and suggest but honestly, just go read them. I am being sincere about this, if you hate them I will refund your money!! LOL!

I am going to branch off for a second to try and explain why this is such an impactful moment for me. I was published in 2010 and since then I have released eleven novels.  I have learned so much about myself, the business, the web and the world. I have been gathering all of this information (and there is a lot to process) to try and plan for the future, what it is I want, what I need, and what is possible. 

I discovered I am a writer (go figure) and I want to be the BEST writer I can be. I want to learn, expand, grow, hone, define, and perfect my abilities.  Knowing this and doing something about it are two different things. I am 42, not a spring chicken, but I have the hunger of a 23 year old eyeing the world to conquer.

Mr. Mayer has written 45 novels (more now I think), he has been writing for 20 years, he has been on the best seller list, and he literally (not exaggeration here) sells about 1500 books a day.  So now my interest is peaked, right? Wow, who doesn’t want to be like him? Thus the reasons I initially bought his books. Let me make a clarification, I bought his non-fiction books – 102 Solutions to Common Writing Mistakes, and the Novel Writer’s Toolkit—both looked promising. 

I just finished them and I went a step further and put Mr. Mayer to the ultimate test. I bought and read one of his fiction books, ‘Don’t Look Down’ co-authored by Jennifer Cruise. 

Hell he may look good on paper but can he deliver the pros?

Uh, yeah, he can.

Seriously, he can. 

Wow, so not only does the man speak my language, as in he was able to penetrate my concrete noggin to enable me to ‘get it’ as far as my writing, he is also really good at the craft. This sounds like an oxymoron, but it is all too often people who write how to books cannot actually write fiction to save their lives.

So now I have joined the cult, I am an avid reader, follower, and supporter of Bob Mayer and all he does. The man is a freakin’ genius, and I can only hope to be half the writer and or business person he is. 

If you are a writer, READ his books, if you are a READER, read his books, I love romantic suspense and I started with ‘Don’t Look Down’ and I loved it. As a writer I started with 102 Solutions. I have posted reviews on all, and I highly recommend them to anyone who wants to learn and grow in their craft.

So THAT my friends is an intellectual crush!

Ba-Zinga!! --Oh did I tell you Sheldon Cooper is on the list as well—hahaha!

Live, Love, Learn--Everyday

Find Me on Amazon!