Questionable Writing Advice

Hey everyone! Today I wanted to do something different instead of giving writing advice, I wanted to talk about bits of writing advice that have always frustrated me and the more I write the more it bothers me. Look, not every bit of writing advice out there is going to be good. Hell, some of the advice I give won’t work for everyone. But these bits are pieces of advice that I see pop up all the time that drive me absolutely mad. But, as always, this is just my opinion. Sometimes this advice helps people a lot. For me though… no.

1. If you don’t write every day then you aren’t serious about your writing: Now, let me just explain that I think that writing every day is a good thing. Hell I’ve given the advice of trying to stay consistent with your writing because yes, it is important. I’m not saying that the advice “try to write every day” is bad. But, and this goes for most advice that is judgemental instead of helpful, it isn’t realistic to claim that everyone should have the chance to write every day. Most times when I see this advice it’s coming from full-time writers who have the time to write every day. But if you are just starting out, you still have a job or school to go to… there will be days where you don’t have time to write and you can’t make time to write. I’m a major introvert who works her hardest to make time for writing and even I can’t do it every day. Saying you’re not serious about writing because you miss a day, or even two or three, doesn’t make any sense. In that same category…
2. There’s no such thing as writer’s block, you’re just making up excuses: AGAIN I can see where this is coming from. I do feel like I do this sometimes where I just don’t want to write so I write it off as writer’s block and don’t work. But… that’s not always it. I’m not one of those people that claims to have a muse, or claims that my characters just aren’t talking to me so I can’t write, but some days I still can’t write. This is especially true when I’m in university and I get my brain into such a logical mode because of classes that creativity just doesn’t come to me some days and I cannot write properly. Sure, I could force myself to write. But it would come out so bad that I would have to rewrite it anyway. If you are going through a long period of being unable to write then yes there is probably a different issue that you have to look at. But if you just have a day where your brain can’t really work on writing then it happens, and it drives me crazy to see people just blanket write off writers block as laziness.
3. Any piece of advice that is treated like gospel: Okay now I know this one is vague but honestly it’s my biggest issue with writing advice. There’s a reason why in all my blog posts I put some sort of qualifier like “this is just my advice and it might not work for you” and that’s because I know that all writers work differently and not everything will work for everyone. Everybody has a different process and everybody works differently. There is no set way to write that will be universally good, so when people give advice as “you have to do this if you want to be a good writer” it really rubs me the wrong way.

The interesting thing about all these points though is that I see where they are all coming from, I see the intention, but sometimes the way we word advice to people can give a different meaning. I know that I can do that sometimes too. The good news is the writing community is huge and it is filled with people who want to help other writers, so there is no shortage of different perspectives. Talk to people, find out what works best for you and be the best writer you can be!

Writing with Mental Health Problems

Hey everyone, so today I’m not going to be following my normal blog format because… well, anyone who follows me on twitter knows that I have not been having the best week. To keep it simple I have been having major issues with my anxiety and depression, which has stood in the way of my writing. My word count for the past week has been 0, which is really hard for me as someone who can be such a perfectionist when it comes to working. So I just thought that instead of forcing myself to write a normal blog post, I’d just talk about what happens when this sort of thing happens to me. Maybe some of you can relate, maybe not.

When I am mentally healthy I consider myself a hard worker at best, and consistent at worse. I hold myself to a goal of AT LEAST 500 words a day, which isn’t a lot but if you have a really busy day that wasn’t the best than it’s at least something. Most days I get around 1k, or more. On good days 3k, on great 6k. But again, I always get things done. Until I fall into my depression really hard. I have days where I can get depressed and I know it, but I can usually push through and keep working. But sometimes it isn’t so easy.

For context, this week-long depression started off with some personal issues with friends that put me in a bad place. Add on top of that my first week at a new job, which as many people can attest to, is very stressful on its own, made worse by my social anxiety, and then finally on top of all of that getting sick. Not a great week, and it plunged my mental health into the toilet. If I look back at what I have accomplished this week, all it has been is going to work and that is about it. Otherwise, I’ve been focusing on keeping myself afloat and not falling further and further into the depths of depression. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love writing, it is my life, and especially these past few months working on this WIP has been the best time I’ve had in a long time in my writing.

I think I thought about that WIP like… three times this week? I couldn’t focus.

That is hard for me. Again, as someone who pushes myself and does not like to see my own limits, it can be really hard to accept getting no work done. It comes with this feeling of guilt that is hard to explain to someone who doesn’t already understand it. I know that I can’t write, but I feel like I should have anyway.

But, today is a new day, and today I am going to get back to writing. I am still not the best, I still have these lingering issues with depression and anxiety that I sometimes feel like will always be there. But… Writing has always been something freeing to me. I don’t think I would be alive today without writing. So, I’m really going to be pushing myself tonight. But I don’t regret this past week, sometimes focusing on your mental health is all you can do and as much as it might suck, it is necessary. So, I hope everyone who is facing the same problems I have can find that light soon, and if not just take care of yourself. There is always a brighter side at the end of the darkness.

Thanks for reading. If you want to share your experiences for others then feel free to leave a comment. If you’re interested in my writing then you can follow me on here or on twitter @charleywriting.

Tips on Writing Moral Complexity

Hey guys! Today I will be… well, if I’m being honest, just barely scratching the surface on my favorite topic in writing, moral complexity. I’m not going to say I’m an expert at it, it’s actually a topic that I am working hard at learning every time I start to write. But, I have come across some things that at least I believe helps when trying to write a morally complex character. As always, take this advice with a grain of salt, but if it helps then great!

1. Good actions don’t need to excuse bad actions: This one is a big one to me because so often it seems that people think that a bad guy doing something good starts to redeem him automatically. That isn’t the case at all. Actions can be completely separate from each other and it doesn’t mean that the person has changed. For example, I have an antagonist who is a bad person, he murders, he’s bloodthirsty, he has done a lot of terrible things. But when I write from his brother’s perspective, I show that he is kind to his brother, protects him… but this doesn’t excuse what he’s done. I’m not saying that morally complex people can’t be redeemed, but the good actions that they do have to be correlated with the bad. They have to atone for their actions in a way that directly links back to what they’ve done wrong. If a guy kills a bunch of people, but then he volunteers at an animal shelter, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a good person. On that note though…
2. No one is entirely good or bad: It is a fact of life that no one in life is perfect, but also no one in life is entirely horrible in every aspect of their life. Bad people don’t just sit around plotting out their next bad deed. No, they have lives, and sometimes in those lives, they are doing something that is good. On the flip side, no one is entirely pure or good. Sometimes good guys can be judgemental, or straight up mean. In some cases with your plot, good guys will kill unfairly. Nothing in our world is black or white when it comes to morality, so why would it be that way in your world?
3. Treat a characters actions as they are: That may not be the best description but basically what I mean is this: If your good character does a bad thing, treat it like a bad thing. If your bad character does a good thing, treat it like a good thing. You don’t always have to be adding on little things like “Well yeah he killed someone, but he’s still good so it’s okay!” like no, he killed someone, that can be seen as a bad thing. It’s actually frustrating as a reader to see a good guys actions get excused just because he’s someone that you’re supposed to root for. Same with an antagonist. Seeing writers add on things like “Well yes this was okay but she’s still terrible!” like… have some faith in your readers on this. They’re smart and they will be able to see the nuance of the characters!

Anyway, again this is just things I’ve noticed, and again this is just barely scratching the surface of any of this. It’s an interesting topic though, one that I love.

If you liked this post then feel free to leave a like or a comment, or follow me on twitter @charleywriting. Thanks for reading!

How I Start the Writing Journey

Hi everyone! Today my blog is going to be a bit different. You see, usually when I post tips and tricks they are something that I think, though they are not hard and fast rules, they can help anyone who is struggling with a certain topic. This post? Well, it’s more about how I specifically start writing. I know it won’t apply to a ton of people, and be warned there’s a high possibility it won’t work for you because everyone thinks and works differently. But I figured that sharing my experience might be useful! So, here are the different steps I take when first starting to write a book.

1. Having a concept or question: One of my creative writing teachers once told me that all stories start with a question. For example: “What if magic was real?” or “What if dinosaurs existed modern day?” Your book is there to answer that question! It helps to think of things in these terms because then you have a goal for your book, to show a certain situation. For me though, my books start with a concept. For example, the WIP I am working on now, The Last Dragon Rider, started from a dream. I didn’t dream up any of the plot though, it was just the image of a giant black dragon flying around a castle. For my last WIP, Chronobound, it was the concept of killing someone just by using their name. I built the world around that and went from there.
2. Have a rough plot outline: I am not an outliner. I’m a pantser! If you don’t know what that is it is someone who doesn’t outline or plan extensively. I don’t recommend having nothing panned though. For me, it’s just a matter of knowing the beginning, middle and end. If I have that then it’s just a matter getting there, which I can find out along the way. If I do get really stuck though it can help to deconstruct, go from the end to the beginning.
3. Plan out your main characters: Don’t plan out everyone when you’re first starting out, but know who is absolutely essential for your story to work. You’re going to want to add more characters that just what is essential, but if you plan out the essentials first then you can work out dynamics and figure out what you need to bring the story to life.
4. Just start writing: Seriously, this sounds so cliche but if you don’t write you will have nothing to work with. So get on it! I always start kind of blankly when I do start writing, which I know a lot of authors hate doing, but to me there is nothing more freeing then just having a blank page and an idea of where I’m going. But whether you plan a lot or a little, you won’t get anywhere if you’re too afraid to actually write, so get to it!

And that is going to do it for this weeks blog! If you liked it then feel free to give a like or a comment, or follow me @charleywriting! Thanks for reading!

Tips for Writing Romance

Hey everyone! I have written about romance a couple of times on my blog already, but what can I say? I love love! But no really it’s just a complex topic, one that I myself am learning a lot about often. My current book, The Last Dragon Rider, has one main romance, which is oddly enough one of the first books I’ve written that has a romance like this. That might sound weird, but I’ve never been big on writing romance. So, it’s taken a lot of studying and learning to learn how. But, I think I have, people seem to like the romance I’ve built! Of course, I don’t know everything, obviously, so just take these as general tips then hard and fast rules!

1. Don’t be afraid to make it awkward: Romance isn’t always smooth and storybook as, well, storybooks can make it look. It’s awkward sometimes, people don’t know what to do sometimes, especially if they are just getting to know each other and ESPECIALLY if they have never been in a relationship before. Taking from my own personal experience, I’m still very awkward and unsure about things in my relationship, and we’ve been together for three months. Most people are! It’s realistic. So don’t be afraid to add in some of those awkward beats as your characters fall in love.
2. They should be happy together: This should go without saying, but I’m still going to say it because how many times have you watched a movie, or read a book, where the two main characters are completely miserable around each other, always arguing, and then they just have one big kiss at the climax and they’re suddenly together. When you date someone they should be happy, so why wouldn’t you give that to your characters? It’ll make people root for your couple more.
3. It should serve some sort of purpose in the plot or for your characters: This is why I used to not write romance. I always used to think it was just a waste and unnecessary, and it was because I was always consuming media where they threw in a romance subplot for absolutely no reason. It’s a huge complaint with a lot of people, a perfectly fine story getting derailed because two characters are randomly in love and it takes up tons of time. Now I know that not all writing is like that. Romance can serve many purposes, either for plot relevance, character building, or thematic purposes. Just make sure it does something and you’re not throwing romance in for the sake of romance with no other reason. Make it fit!

Anyway, that’s it for this week! If you liked the blog then let me know with a comment, like and follow, and follow me on twitter @charleywriting! Thanks for reading!

Handling Fear and Self-Doubt

Hey everyone! It’s Monday, which means a new blog post! Today I will be talking about a topic that I have seen brought up frequently in the writing community and that is one of fear, and doubting your writing. I have had to deal with this a lot as I have written, as most writers have. It can sometimes feel debilitating and make you not want to write at all. But if we want to be writers then we eventually have to get over our self-doubt and write, share our writing, and improve! Still, it can be hard, trust me I know. But here are some tips that I have learned to help deal with self-doubt.

1. Always remember you are still learning: Writing isn’t really something you can perfect. Look at the most famous, well-regarded writers, and they still say they are learning every day, every time they read or write, and they are well established. Whether you are in the beginnings of your career or are already published, you can always feel that doubt, but just remember we are all human and we are all still learning. No, your writing isn’t perfect, and it shouldn’t be, no one expects it to be perfect. You’re on your writing journey and sometimes you learn differently, slowly, but with every step you take you get better and closer to where you want to be. You won’t get there by not writing at all.
2. Your writing is boring to you because you know it well. Sometimes self-doubt can come in the form that your story is just so boring. I know I’ve felt that, a lot. I think that it’s dull and bland… but then I show it to someone else and they love it. It’s because I think about this story all the time, I know everything there is to know about it. Your readers won’t. They’ll look upon your story with the same wonder and interest as you first did when you started working on it.
3. Show your writing to other writers. Showing your writing can be absolutely terrifying. It is opening a part of yourself up that you may have never had to show before. I know personally, I have an issue showing my writing to a lot of people because I’m afraid if it isn’t perfect then they will think I’m crazy for wanting to be a writer… But I don’t have this issue with other writers. You see, that is what I love the most about the writing community. Everyone gets it, everyone knows that you are still learning and that your first drafts won’t be perfect. General people might expect perfection but writers will see past the flaws to encourage you. If you need some help and need some opinions but you’re too afraid to show your writing to your friends, there are lots of writers out there who are willing to help, and they’re encouraging too! I can’t tell you how much this has helped my confidence in my writing.

Anyway, those are just four tips to help you overcome your self-doubt, but the most important thing is to just keep working. Again, you won’t get to where you want to be by NOT writing, by not reading or learning writing skills. So keep at it and eventually it will pay off. You’ll be where you want to be, and your confidence will grow.

Anyway, if you liked this blog post feel free to give it a like or leave a comment, or follow me on twitter @charleywriting! If you have any suggestions for future blogs feel free to leave them in the comments. Thanks for reading!

Editing Your First Draft

Hey everyone! Back here with an actual normal blog post for once and I figured I would write about editing, specifically editing your first draft! That’s what I’m in the process of doing right now, and I’ve done it multiple times in the past, so I’ve picked up a few tips that I want to pass on. Be warned that these really apply mostly to the first draft, and even though some can be used throughout the process, later down the line you’ll have to use other people to help you edit and this is just the preliminary shaping of the story? What do I mean by that? Well…

1. Keep in mind that your first draft is just a base: The metaphor I’ve always used with first drafts is that they are a lump of clay. You’ve gotten all the materials you need out of your head and now you need to shape it. But… if you were an artist shaping clay, you might not keep it in the same lump or block shape that it was when you got it like that. You’ll change it, a lot. Sometimes that means changing huge plot points and deviating from what you’ve had written. My first draft of Chronobound is entirely different from the second draft because I realized all the problems with draft one. It was hard to accept that I would have to structurally change what I have already written, but it needed to be done. The first draft is a base for you to really flex your creative muscle and change what you need to.
2. Find out if you’re an underwriter or overwriter, and work on that: I’m an underwriter. I know that about myself. What that means is that I don’t write nearly enough. I leave out a lot of setting and character details on the first go that I then need to really work on adding for the second draft. Seriously, my first drafts are mostly so bad because they are so bare. But some people are overwriters, they write way too much that has no use in the book and they have to cut it down. Figure out what you are and pay attention to that while editing. It will give you a focus and help a lot.
3. Don’t be too hard on yourself: I know that first drafts tend to be bad. I mean, unless you’re someone who edits as you go, most times it will be really bad. There’s a reason why most writers will admit this. But hey, if you got your first draft out then that’s a huge step. Don’t be too harsh on it, look at it as an opportunity to improve your writing instead of a huge mountain to edit. And enjoy the process! I know personally the second draft is often the most fun part of the writing process for me, I enjoy it a lot.

And those are my tips for editing your first draft! I could probably write more on this because it’s a LONG process, but again as I said it’s a fun one.

But if you liked this post feel free to leave a like or a comment, or follow me on twitter @charleywriting. And if you have any suggestions for future posts let me know. Thanks for reading!

I’m Back! (Update)

Hey everyone! I am back from my unannounced and unplanned hiatus!

I wasn’t planning on leaving this blog for so long, it just kind of happened. Basically I went back to Vancouver for a month and things were way busier there than I anticipated. I didn’t really have the time or motivation to write blogs, I couldn’t think of anything to write anyway, so I figured that I would just take the time to rest up and come back fresh once I was back home! And here I am, back home.

I haven’t taken a break from everything though. I’ve actually been writing like crazy, finishing my first draft of The Last Dragon Rider and already getting 17k words into the next draft! It’s been an exciting process and it’s definitely a WIP that I am feeling more and more confident about as the day goes on. I also got a Critique Partner, which most people involved in the writing community know about, but if you don’t it is someone who you can discuss your WIP with, exchange chapters, and help each other grow.

But now I am back! I still am looking for a way to post more on this blog, more than just writing tips. My life isn’t exactly thrilling to blog about but my writing might be, so I’ll try an incorporate that more into posts because people do seem to like reading about someone’s more specific experiences than just vague writing tips. (At least, that’s what I’ve noticed in the trends of my blog) Anyway, I’m still going to post every Monday, so look out for posts, and as always if you have any suggestions for posts feel free to leave them in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Writing Dialogue

Hey everybody! I have not been online as much because I’m back home in Vancouver! However, I am back and ready to write some blog posts. Today I thought I’d look at a suggestion that I got and probably one of the more interesting things I’ve found in writing and that is writing dialogue. Now, I love dialogue. I am not the type of writer that will write tons of scene setting and detail (although that is very important) I would much rather write dialogue and character interaction. Because of that, I have worked on getting to know dialogue and how people talk, I’ve looked into the topic myself and learned certain tricks for it, so I figured I would pass these onto you!

1. Is the dialogue realistic and natural? We’ve all seen bad movies or read bad books where characters will speak in these poetic ways and spout off dialogue that sounds like it belongs in a hallmark card, unlike anything that anyone on planet earth would actually say. It can be important to have your character say important things, important plot details or revelations, but remember they are just a person. They won’t always speak in such a way that is intensely quotable, they won’t go into a conversation and drop random bits of information that everyone already knows. For example, my biggest pet peeve is when people have their siblings call their siblings “brother” or “sister”. I have two brothers and I have never said “hey brother” to either of them. So, although it may be useful to convey their relationship, think if it sounds natural first. Natural, normal sounding dialogue should take precedence over everything else because trust me, your readers will notice out of place, unnatural dialogue.
2. Make sure your characters have their own unique voices in their dialogue. Sometimes characters will speak weirdly and they will be overdramatic. A weird quirk of a character I had once, he never used contractions in his speech because he found it improper. To go off my last point, it’s more to make it sound natural within the character’s voice. If you have a six-year-old, she probably won’t be swearing up a storm. Even more than that though, even if you have two characters who are the same age, same demographic and gender, they still shouldn’t sound the exact same. Listen to people talk sometimes and you’ll notice they all speak differently. They have their own word choices, own inflexions. You can get a lot of that across through your writing and it will just give the character more life.
3. Make sure it is accurate to the time you are trying to portray. Don’t use modern slang if you are writing a historical drama. Don’t make modern-day teenagers talk in Shakespearian rhyming couplets. Make sure to read other books from these times so that you can more properly learn the word usage and what you can use instead of just going off modern day standards. Many people never talked like they do in modern day, a lot of words are newer than you’d think, so just make sure you learn these little things so that you don’t break immersion.

That’s all I have for today! If you liked this post then feel free to leave a like and a comment, or follow me on here or @charleywriting. And if you have anything you want to see a post on feel free to let me know in the comments or on twitter. Thanks for reading!

Summer Writing Goals

Hey everyone! I feel like I just did a writing goals for April, but good news, I hit that goal of 50k words and beyond, now at 56k! Since I don’t want to do a blog post on my goals every month, I thought instead I would write out my goals for the summer all today. The reason I chose today is because, well, I’m travelling tomorrow, so I don’t really have the time to write a proper blog post.

So, as I just said, I’m at 56k, and as I think I’ve said before my plan for this current WIP (The Last Dragon Rider) is to have it be around 75k by the end of the first draft. I want this done by the end of May, which I think is well within my reach and actually think I could reach that well before then.

The second draft I need to expand A LOT and I could see it being 100k+ words, and I want to do this over the rest of the summer. I don’t have summer semester, no classes, so while I am working it isn’t as mentally taxing on me so I’ll have a lot more energy to write over this time. Hopefully by then the book will be polished enough to send it to some beta readers to get more opinions on it.

Between those two drafts as well I might take a couple weeks away from the WIP just to clear my head. This is actually lowkey a writing tip: Before you edit take some time away from your manuscript to get some distance from your work. During that two weeks I might look at one of my last two WIP’s, Forest Game or Chronobound, and see what I can use from those and maybe even improve on them.

But that’s my summer goals! Do any of you guys have them? If you like the blog feel free to leave a like or a comment or follow me on twitter @charleywriting. If you have any requests for future blogs leave them down in the comments. Thanks for reading!