Always stay aware of the things that can bring inspiration for a story. I once pitched an episode for an animated series – though it ultimately wasn’t considered a fit – simply by overhearing a conversation while stopping into an ice cream shop; a girl came in to apply for a job with someone else and was afraid to ask if she could apply for a job without a resume so a friend had to ask for her. Another animated episode I pitched for a series, that was accepted and produced, focused around my experiences as a teacher’s aide when in school. Recently I got a certificate for Library Technician originally hoping where I previously worked might create an archive position or department I could be a part of, and while that didn’t happen, I used all that student experience to forge a character in the ebook THE PHOENIX RISES and my overall library experience to create the book.
So don’t dismiss anything in your life experience, no matter how big or small. You never know what it might lead to.
Finding Time to Write Even When it Seems Impossible April 9, 2012
Posted by shannonmuir in Advice, analysis, Writing.
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This piece is a follow-up to one I wrote several years ago when I first started this blog.
With the day job thing going on – including a 6 day work week this past week – it is getting harder to find time to write. I’m still getting little bits in, but not the volume I did other days. I have to admit it feels really wrong after six months of having tons of time to write. That said, I feel even more wrong if I don’t at least do a little every day. I really do feel a piece of me is missing without the writing.
I really do believe if someone’s meant to be a writer, it is part of who that person is. Writing becomes mandatory, though not necessarily publication. Some people are satisfied with just writing private diaries all of their lives, but still they are fulfilling that call of writer that lives inside them. The most important thing is being true to oneself.
When it Rains, it Pours, They Say… April 2, 2012
Posted by shannonmuir in Advice, analysis.
Tags: ebook formatting, reading, work-life balance, writing
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For months, I’ve had nothing going on but my writing and a lot of reading. Now, it’s looking that writing and reading may take a back seat to other things for a while. First I got offered an interesting book formatting challenge, and now it looks like I may have a day job for a month or so.
My biggest challenge is to still find time to write. I’m a writer first and foremost, even though I enjoy doing all these other things, and to some degree also need to do these other things on a financial level.
It’ll be interesting to see how I balance everything out.
Wisps of Writing Wisdom: The Voices Within March 28, 2012
Posted by shannonmuir in Advice, analysis, editing, wisps of writing wisdom, Writing.
Tags: self-critic, self-editing, voices within, wisps of writing wisdom
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Our self-critic can be our most powerful weapon, or our most dangerous enemy. It can cause us to be cautious and not run head first into disaster; alternatively, it can render us so timid that we do nothing and remain stuck. It can help us scrutinize and edit details of manuscripts on our own until they are flawless without assistance, yet possibly keep us so paralyzed looking for every last possible detail that we never share something with the world.
The balance is knowing when to let that self-critic take control and when to take a back seat. I believe personally that it’s a constantly battle and never something you master. I used to be better at it, but lately I think I need more practice at it. In some aspects I’m holding back too much and in others should hold back more. It’s all about the balance.
Making a List, Checking it Twice… March 26, 2012
Posted by shannonmuir in Advice, analysis.
Tags: checklist, doublechecking, editing, factfinding, publishing, writer, writing
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Yeah, I know, a title like that makes it seem like Christmas (and I wish it was a holiday season). Today’s post is actually inspired by grocery lists. Doesn’t there always seem like something gets forgotten, or alternatively something that gets added either on impulse or remembered while one is at the store? I know I do this and I hear rumors others do as well. In today’s case I forgot something, and even though I live six blocks from the grocery store (actually several stores), when the item in question is something I need to cook dinner tonight that means because I didn’t doublecheck I had to walk all the way back and get it (as well as deciding to pick up a preboxed lunch in the process, now being too tired to make lunch when I got home on top of everything else I already did).
As I walked home, I started thinking about writers and checklists. Whether you’re a “pantser” or a “plotter,” every writer has some form of a checklist. I think it’s pretty apparent with plotters who go from outline to story to editing to getting published; the others start with story and move to editing ot getting published. The big question is, how much do we double – or even triple – check ourselves as writers before moving on to the next step? Sometimes it can feel so good to be done, or a deadline needs to met, that a writer can run on to the next stage without remembering to double check or just breezing through. I know I’m guilty of this sometimes. In the end, the person most hurt by writers not double checking their own writing lists are themselves.
Maybe I’ll unpack this more later once I can reflect on it some more. Right now I just want to settle down and eat that preboxed lunch.
Wisps of Writing Wisdom: Listen to Your Heart March 21, 2012
Posted by shannonmuir in Advice, wisps of writing wisdom.
Tags: listen to your heart, passion, risk-taking, wisps of writing wisdom
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Sometimes there may be a project that you really want to do, and it means a lot to you. Yet getting people to buy into it, especially in today’s day and age when it is so easy to get ideas out there – though maybe not easily as noticed – could be hard. However, if something matters enough to you that you want to do it, my personal belief is that you should give it a try as long as it doesn’t run you so far under the ground you’ll never dig out. My releasing fiction novels now when I am able though I’ve wanted to for years is a personal example for me. For other people it might be developing their own games, or designing their own sewing patterns, or programming new code to create applications. If your heart and soul can’t put the passion aside, experiment and see where it leads. You never know.
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Always stay aware of the things that can bring inspiration for a story. I once pitched an episode for an animated series – though it ultimately wasn’t considered a fit – simply by overhearing a conversation while stopping into an ice cream shop; a girl came in to apply for a job with someone else and was afraid to ask if she could apply for a job without a resume so a friend had to ask for her. Another animated episode I pitched for a series, that was accepted and produced, focused around my experiences as a teacher’s aide when in school. Recently I got a certificate for Library Technician originally hoping where I previously worked might create an archive position or department I could be a part of, and while that didn’t happen, I used all that student experience to forge a character in the ebook THE PHOENIX RISES and my overall library experience to create the book.
So don’t dismiss anything in your life experience, no matter how big or small. You never know what it might lead to.