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?

Creating Characters

Hello guys!

I was trying to think of what this blog post would be about, when I thought, why not just talk about what you're doing? So, I'm in the midst of fleshing out all my characters for NaNoWriMo. I figure, I'll talk about my process for that.

Now, I know everyone's process is different, but bear with me.

Names

Names, names, names. Names are *very* important. Sometimes, I get them right on the first try. (Damon, Alucard, and Nicholai in Mortality have been named thus for eight years.) Other times I have to rename, and rename, and rename again until the feel is right for the character I want. (Devin's name has changed *many* times, but now I think it's right.) 

When choosing a name, you have to think of what genre you're writing in. My NaNoWriMo is written in a modern setting, so the naming isn't as difficult as it is with a fantasy setting. I have names like Jonathon, Garret, Alyson, and Abigail. But the one I'm most proud of is Sarah-Juliet. The name seems to not fit her at all, but that's why I like it. And it's why she hates it. 

If you're writing fantasy, it's a bit more difficult for naming. If you've got multiple countries/continents/areas, the names will sound differently for each place. You've got to figure that out or all the names will sound the same. In Mortality, all my vampires have, understandably, older sounding names. My main human character's name is Devin (a male name), her brother's name was Deron, and her mother was... Lina, I think. (They only showed up in a very important flash back). Two human twins I need to rename. I couldn't think of anything so they're Coral and Drell. 

Personality

Personality. This is the most important trait of a character, in my opinion. If you're unsure of your character's personality, the writing will be unclear. (A *big* source of much of my editing. I wasn't sure of a character's personality throughout most of the novel so far.) You don't necessarily need it before you start writing, it will develop as you write, but *please* edit it in in the beginning. 

Something I like to do is to give them a contradictory personality. Sarah-Juliet, one of the first person POV characters. Is self-loathing, but selfish. Filled with hatred (for herself and others), yet pities both Supernaturals and Humans. And... well she's the only character I have fully fleshed out. I can't wait to learn about the others. 

Physical Description

Arguably the least important, at least to me. In your novel you should *never* spend a block of text of pure description. (Unless, that is, it's NaNoWriMo and you need word padding.) You know, for the longest time, I couldn't describe Devin in Mortality. I *think* she's blond. Maybe has green eyes? Like I said, it's not that important to me, especially not in the rough draft. 

However, I'm writing out full physical descriptions for my NaNoWriMo characters this year. When I insert physical description into a story, I use individual things. Like eye color, or hair color, or height. For me, those three are the most important descriptors. Though weight can sometimes be in that list, too. 

Other

Some genre's, like high fantasy or supernatural, have some special powers, or magic. Often, that needs to be clear from the beginning. Magic plays a large role in Mortality. Magic binds her and another character together. Magic keeps her from dying, and warns against danger. etc. 

In my NaNoWriMo novel, this is the first time I've actually had to describe a car. So Sarah-Juliet drives a '76 Chevrolet Camaro. It's old. Not well taken care of. Doesn't like to start. Also, the Supernaturals are kept track of by GPS tracking tags. But some have been missed. They stay deep underground. Figuratively, not literally.

Well. That's all I got. Good Luck this November! (You know, if you're a NaNo'er.) 

Cheyenne

Food For Thought

What's your process for creating characters? 

Do you come up with characters before, after or with the plot?

Why You Shouldn't Care

Hello all!

I'm going to start this post with a few stories, but bear with me. I have a point. I promise.

Now, if you've read my first post, *ahem* Briony, you will know roughly my age. So keep in mind I've been in the work force for three- almost four- years. Mostly fast food. My first story is when I was 15/16 years old, at my very first job.

• It was a small, family owned business, so I worked with pretty much the same people almost everyday. There was one girl I recall who *really* didn't like me (some of you may already see where I am going with this post, but let me finish). I had no problem with her, so I went about work as usual. Almost a year later I finally asked why she didn't like me. She gave me a legitimate reason. I worked to fix it. We never had a problem again. 
• My second job I had few issues aside from my last day (which is another story ENTIRELY). My third job was at a McDonald's. I think I worked there all of three-four months? In that time, most the people I worked with loved, or at least tolerated me. However, one girl disliked me extremely and it was causing problems. She'd outright ignore me, but that wasn't the issue, it was a problem when she'd ask me to do HER job, while I was helping or doing something for a customer, but I digress into run-on sentences. I asked her one day, and this is pretty much the conversation verbatim. "Do you not like me, or something?" "No, I don't." "Okay... Why?" "I dunno. It's just the way you are." I walked away and don't think I ever spoke to her again, but then again I quit like a month after that. 
• My fourth/fifth job (I went back to my first job for a couple months after my third, but then we moved.) I worked at a taco place down in Texas. Still in school, I worked night shift. There were a couple girls I had issues with, but one stands out. She didn't like me. It was obvious. I didn't say anything until she snapped at me one night. We were both on drive-thru and she took off her headset to take care of something in lobby. Shouldn't be a problem, right? She was still working, after all. My issue is, it wasn't her job to take care of lobby, her job was to do drive-thru with me. I asked her to put the headset back on. She comes back with something snarky about there being no customers. It irritated me. But I let a manager take care of it. Texting her later I asked why *she* didn't like me. She said I was bossy. Really? I'm bossy for asking you to do your JOB? (I actually told her this. She didn't like it.)
• Now we come to the incident that spurred this entire post (because I'm bad and forgot to write up my post before work, I hand wrote part during lunch and am now typing the rest.). I work at walmart. I don't care that you know that, it has nothing to do with this post. Nor am I criticizing it. But anyway. A guy I work with, doesn't like me. (Starting to see a pattern here, eh?) I don't know why. I don't care why, though I AM curious. I have no problem with him. He's a pretty cool guy, just has some issues of his own. I can understand that. Everyone has issues of some sort. Now, I'd only just figured out he didn't like me. Like... the night before last. 
• Last night at work, I was messing around with him and another employee. I don't think Terry will mind if I tell you his name, he's cool. So I was kinda messing around with Employee A and Terry. Stuck my foot out when they passed to "trip" them. (I don't think I ever actually touched either of their feet, was just messing around.) An hour or two later, one of the managers calls me in to talk. She does the whole schpiel about safety in the work place and how they know I was messy around but that it could cause an accident. Yadda, yadda. (She called me "bubbly", and while I'm not too sure about that, she said I light up a room. It made me feel good.) It's a mild pat on the wrist. I'm fairly certain at this point who complained. I'm sure you are, too. 
• Now. That normally wouldn't bother me that he went to the bosses. But some of the stuff he "jokingly" says to me, could warrant sexual harassment charges. But I'm not vindictive, and like I said, I think he's an alright guy. I would like to talk to him about this, but haven't had time/opportunity to get him alone. I may, I may not. 

Alright. Story time is over. 

How could this pertain to writing? You may ask. 

Well, I told you those stories to tell you this. And it's a harsh truth I think many burgeoning authors need to know right off the back; I just thank the life I've lived that I learned this lesson early (It's the way I am, after all). 

Not everyone is going to like you.

Some people could downright hate you/your book. However, there will be the people who absolutely adore your writing. Learn this. Know this. Write this down and stick it on your refrigerator. The sooner you learn it and take it to heart, the easier rejection will be.

That being said, I have never faced rejection of my writing before, but I have no doubt I will, and you will be among one of the first groups of people to know how I truly take it.

Happy writing, tomorrow's post will probably be something about NaNoWriMo, or the other writerly things one of my previous posts talked about, or something about cats, I haven't decided yet.

Cheyenne