Serial Stalker

I promise, the title will make sense in a moment.

If you ask one of my coworkers what he does, he will tell you he is a "Serial Stalker", but what he is really saying, is "Cereal Stocker."

See, told you it'd make sense.

But what does this have to do with writing? Well, it's all about the Spoken Word versus the Written Word. When writing, there is little chance for misunderstanding, unless you're using sarcasm, which is a topic for another day.

When speaking, it's often quite easy to be misunderstood. But when writing, what you want to say comes as you want the reader to read it.

So, keep this in mind as you write, not everyone has perfect hearing. When focusing on something else, they may mishear, not hear, or completely misunderstand what is said.

This can lead to some funny and/or dangerous situations.

Yes, today's blog post is short. I slept for nearly 12 hours today. But I'm caught up on my sleep now.

Good day and safe travels.

NaNo Tips and Tricks 1

Okay, obviously I still have NaNoWriMo on the brain.

I couldn't think of anything to do for this blog post, and so fell back on NaNoWriMo. Fortunately, I have much to say on the subject.

Much, I hope, that may be helpful to others. Like you.

It's Not Your Life

Writing is fun. As writers, most of us know this. But it's not always fun. But mostly it is.

NaNoWriMo, week one, is extremely fun! But don't think that means you can completely and totally change your life.

Chris Baty says as much in No Plot? No Problem! and I'm going to reiterate it here.

Don't make writing your life. I know for those such as myself it is a big part. And that's okay. But don't seclude yourself from all of life thinking that all you need is time alone and you'll crank out novel after novel.

That just won't happen.

Without other stimulation, you will have no access to new ideas. Without new ideas you stagnate and write the same thing over and over again. You become old fashioned.

So don't. Do NaNoWriMo, and then go back to the way your life was before. If you find you want writing to be a bigger part of your life afterwards, great! But slowly introduce it more and more, that way your loved ones and those that care about you will have time to adjust.

From the Author

Late post is late. T.T

I apologize, I wanted to wait until I got my new computer, but it didn't get here until 7:30 PM CST. So... late post. 

This will probably be a series of shorter posts as I am trying to plan and what not for NaNoWriMo. 

Not So Ninja Edit

Almost forgot! I was hosted on The Kelworth Files blog here.

Check it out!

Sleep is Good

Like, really good.

I work nights, and can't sleep during the day, so if I don't go to bed when I'm exhausted I will be physically incapable of sleeping until the next night.

Now, I know as a writer, especially if you are a WriMo'er sleep is one thing we sacrifice to get our writing done.

I know that.

I've done it.

But please, make some time to sleep. A whole sleep cycle is an hour and a half. Or, sleep in 45 minute increments. Or look up online how long you should sleep.

Because I'm smart and slept the night before I had to work, I could't sleep at all the day before, so when  I finally got home from work, I had been up for over twenty-four hours. I know some people can go 36, or even 48 with no sleep. I am not one of them. Caffeine stops working for me at the twenty-four mark.

Still Not Convinced?

I know the feeling. 

Depending on who you talk to, lack of sleep could be good for creativity. Some people say opposite. But you know what? Sleep deprivation is not good. For anyone. Today was probably the first time I've gotten a full eight-hours in a week. You know how much creative writing I got done during that week? No work on Mortality. Just some character development for Tainted, and most of that was thanks to the NaNoWriMo forums. 

Now imagine if you did that during NaNoWriMo next month. No creative output for a week? Maybe that's been my problem. 

I have never completed a WriMo with 50,000 words. I rarely sleep a full eight hours. Especially now that I work nights. 

So the way I see it, get as much sleep as you need. You'll be more creative. 

Food For Though

What's your view on sleep and creativity?

My House Is Kinda Clean

Hey Guys!

So I've decided my blog has been too formal. I'll save all the preaching for when I'm actually on the road to being published, how about that?

Now that's not to say I won't be sharing my writing process... I will. I am, first and foremost, a writer. And pretty much my entire life revolves around that fact. Outside of work and my boyfriend... yup, all revolves around that.

SO! Today I was in an odd mood. I was trying to plan my character Jonathon some more for NaNoWriMo. But I decided it'd be a better idea to clean the entire house. You have no idea what an undertaking this is. My boyfriend is a habitually messy person, and I am a habitually lazy person. We don't match well when it comes to keeping a clean house. Also. WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?! I HATE cleaning. Like, you have no idea. But suddenly, my OCD kicked in and I was like... "Wow, this place is a mess."

...I don't know either. But I got most of the living room cleaned up. Cleaned the stove, and tidied the kitchen. Finished off my pot of coffee (maybe that had something to do with the urge? Coffee does strange things to a person. Great things, yes, but strange.). All the while I was listening to music. Then I was like "Hey! I haven't seen Tangled in awhile, I'll pull it up online to play it in the background." *shame*

I love the movie, and sat down to watch it. I've done like three loads of laundry, though, so I haven't been doing *nothing* while it was playing... And I suddenly don't want to clean anymore. Maybe I need more coffee...

Onto the writing point! I don't think any of my blogs will be without *something* to do with writing or a book. It's the way I am. While I was making breakfast this morning (oh yes, I did that too, I never do that), I had a brilliant idea! Actually, two. One for Mortality, one for Tainted.

Mortality. So, the Mortality idea came when I was washing the dishes before making breakfast (pancakes, eggs, and bacon, in case you were wondering). I realized I had so many characters that were mentioned but not fleshed out, and was like... "How do I incorporate them?" So, I was thinking, they're about to go on what is essentially a scavenger hunt for an item that hasn't been seen in centuries so... They split into groups. Follow each of the groups and go from there~! GENIUS!

Tainted. This one came... either in the shower after breakfast or while I was making the pancakes, I don't recall which. It's less ground breaking than the one above, but considering I know less about this novel, it means more to me at this point. So, I was toying with the idea in my head, just mulling it around, and it came to me. Garret isn't Jewel's half-brother, he's an ex-boyfriend. The crazy kind. He got it into his mind that the "party" and sacrifice would win her back and show her the joys of being a werewolf, but when she denies him, he chases after them, still trying to win her back, and also, probably kill Jonathon when he finds out she's falling in love with another man (Jonathon).

Ah... I think this post is long enough. Quite a bit of a rant, there.

Leaving you with this

When do you get your best "eureka!" moments?

What's the last such moment you remember?