Insecure Writer's Support Group: Reading What Came Before

For the last blogfest I participated in, I remembered a character I'd used in a previous flash fiction challenge. Since I thought there was potential in writing from her perspective again, I went back and opened the file for the story, just to refresh my memory.

Oh, horror.

There were typos, the plot was odd, and the overall tone was just ridiculous. The character sounded too young, parts of what she said didn't make sense, and I really should have cut to the chase a bit faster.

That's what usually happens when I read something I haven't thought about for long, or didn't spend a lot of time editing. Some of my writing I can look at without cringing, but the rest of it . . . well, the rest of it shouldn't see the light of day. In fact, I'd be happy if it tumbled into a deep underground abyss that I'd forgotten the location of.

I try to avoid running into this. That's why you'll find me pre-writing flash fiction posts a day or several days before the actual event--or at least trying to. (The above example was written on a bit of inspiration and posted the same day.) That's also why the idea of having a a critique partner read chapters as they come out (which, I gather, some people do) scares me. I rarely if ever write something good on the first try.

Does this happen to you? How do you make sure what you write one day won't seem completely out of whack the next? And do you ever read your own writing for fun?

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Also, I'm guest posting today at Stuart Nager's blog Born Storyteller, about creativity. I hope you'll stop by!

-----The Golden Eagle

A Conversation With My Inner Editor

I'm in a room. The only other things present, besides two chairs and a desk, are my MS and my Inner Editor. The former is sitting in a corner talking with my MCs and the latter is looking at me, arms crossed, toes tapping on the floor.
   "Look, would it be so hard to go over this part--" my Inner Editor starts to say, but I interrupt.
   "I want to WRITE."
   "So? Edit! You need to edit!"
   "But then I'll lose the flow of the writing and'll get bogged down in editing and revisions. You've never written a novel! You don't know what it's like!"
   "No, I've never written a novel. I'm an Editor, Ms. Author. And I say you should start editing! That sentence is horrible. Look at all the atrocious cliches and stereotypes and plotholes you could drive a tanker through!"
   "They'll get fixed later, I promise! Just let me write--"
   "No."
   "Please!"
   "NO."
   "I need to get this part down . . . if I don't, I'll lose all my inspiration."
   "I don't care. You need to fix things. I'm telling you to edit. That's an order."
   I stare. I sit down. I call my MS over from the corner of the room because my IE is so insistent. My MS gets up and tucks the characters aside while I start looking it over, from the beginning.
   But moments later, while my IE is gloating over my shoulder while I start to fix what I've written, I slam shut the computer.
   My IE stares at me.
   "I don't need you looking over my shoulder."
   "It's my job as your Inner Editor--"
   "I'm tired of this. I'm going to write, and you're not going to stop me."
   I open the laptop again and start typing away, ignoring my IE's gasps and call for me to stop adding junk to a horrible manuscript and get back to editing.
   Because I'm exasperated and I decide enough is enough. The constant nattering by my IE is too much.
   "Just sit down!" I snap finally, glaring at my IE. My IE looks back at me, face blank.
   Seconds later, my IE speaks. I think it's because I've gone against the editing, but then I realize it's because of something else altogether.
   "You know, just 'sit down' would have been better. More concise, and you wouldn't have needed that adverb in the dialogue tag. Not to mention--"
   "QUIET!"
   I turn away. My IE, unknown to me, smiles with satisfaction and leans back in the chair.
   Well, my IE thinks, she certainly didn't mince words in that dialogue. And no dialogue tag. Progress!


-----The Golden Eagle

300th Post

Fascinating . . .


Kidding. I'm not doing anything this time, just writing a normal post.

If normal is what my posts are.

I'm here to talk about . . . eh, well, I'm not exactly sure. I could mention my writing. Like the fact that I'm in the middle of editing Part Two and more editing in Part Three while I still need to edit Part Four and Part Five is sitting patiently (or impatiently) while I try to get caught up with it. (I usually edit my posts right after I write them, since I write my books in parts . . .) I've almost finished rewriting a chapter, and then I can move on to Part Three and give it my whole attention.

Or I could chat about the weather. Like the fact that it's getting colder, (although it was rather warm yesterday) and there are bare trees already. BARE TREES. C'mon, leaves, hold on to the those branches a little longer. Snow's not in the forecast quite yet. It's not even October.

Or I could yammer about the fact I like this orchard place maybe 40 minutes away where they sell fruit for a lot less than Wal-Mart. We (my mom and I) got half a bushel of apples there . . . which means there is a lot of apple to eat in the next few weeks. :) They also had some vegetable for a really good price, but we bypassed that because we already had a lot of produce.

Or I could mention the fact that NaBloWriMo is just around the corner and that I still have not written up and scheduled posts for the month. Darn it. I really need to get going on that or else I'll fail this challenge which would not be pleasant . . . for me, anyway. I planned some things and I could type out at least a few titles, but I need to do something else right now.

Or I could tell you that I have four books to read before the 1st, otherwise I'm not going to finish by TBR pile before it has to go back the library, and I DESPISE doing that because I usually read fast. But seeing as I have over 30 (40?) books out (mostly YA, some Adult) I suppose I have an excuse. I'm reading She Thief  by Daniel Finn right now. Good book so far.

Or I could say that I still have no idea what to post about. ;)

-----The Golden Eagle

The First Day of Fall!

Huzzah! 

(Image found online.)

I love autumn. It's cool, the trees are colorful around here, people are back to school, I love the way the air smells, I love brilliantly blue skies, and I also love the holidays that come with this time of the year. I also like this day in particular, because it means the days and the nights are exactly the same length. Isn't that an interesting thing? That the night and the day balance each other out?

Are you looking forward to fall? Hopeful about anything to come?

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I've also been tagged, so here are the questions, rules, my answers, and the list of people I'm tagging:

Your favorite thing about September:

Why September? By the time fall starts it's almost over. But I do like the sense of beginnings and endings.

What you wear in September:

Shirt, (long or short sleeved) pants, (capris or long pants, depending on the temperature) sweater/sweatshirt/sweatjacket, (light or heavy, again depending on the temp) sneakers, (preferably running or walking style) and I almost always have my hair in a ponytail. I don't like wearing by hair down.

Activity you do in September:

Write.

Your idea of how a fairy would dress:

Okay, this is probably from reading too much Fantasy/Paranormal, but I think of fairies as being tall, skinny, cruel-looking, and back-stabbing creatures that wear either tight jeans and sweaters or long gowns/medieval dress.

Your idea of how an elf would dress:

Ditto, although I usually associate them with a being a little less back-stabbing than a fairy, a little taller, and living in the trees or wearing lots of green clothes.

Your favorite tree:

Sumac!

Your favorite September color (orange, yellow, red, gold, brown, etc.):

Gold. That's one of the major things I like about autumn. I'm not obsessed with gold or anything! I just like it when leaves are that color. I don't like the metal.

Your favorite feeling in fall:

Breathing in cold air and crunching leaves. There's something satisfactory about crunching leaves.

And this tag involves adding another question, so . . .

Are you less or more cheerful in the fall as opposed to in the spring?

More, probably. :)


I tag everyone. Yes, this means YOU, but only if you want to do it.

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You know those things that aren't particularly funny but you find amusing despite it all? Well, severely bruising (possibly breaking) my second toe for 2010 did that for me. Especially since the irony of it all is the first toe I broke back in January just finished healing and I have a dance class later today. I was half-snorting half-grimacing after I banged it. :P

*****

My writing has been, for lack of a better word, flopping. I don't know why. I've tried plenty of stuff, closing my eyes, listening to music, arguing with the characters, revising my outline, but I think I'm just going to have to edit (I've got loads of editing to do) and see if anything strikes me while I'm doing it. Garrar. It's frustrating, since I've got ideas bouncing around (they're more like slogging around by now, though) in my head and I HATE writing ahead of where I left off. It throws everything out of balance for me, so I try and stick to writing everything out chronologically.

A final note: I have 87 followers! That is . . . very surprising and very gratifiying. Thank you, my lovely followers, readers, and whoever else is looking at this blog! I do appreciate it. :)

-----The Golden Eagle