tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84517681421160832392024-03-05T23:20:59.446-07:00Working My MuseThis is a writer's journey as he strives for literary excellence.Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.comBlogger441125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-70452286843637658852013-09-04T19:09:00.000-06:002013-09-04T19:09:00.161-06:00The Drought Is Over!It's safe to say I've been struggling with writing for some time now. The words dried up and no matter how much I might have wanted to put something on the page, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Today however, I finally bit the bullet and managed just over 1K words.
Okay, it's not a stellar achievement and the words weren't exactly flowing like a rushing river, but it's a startErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-47932738327240322932013-04-19T23:36:00.000-06:002013-04-19T23:36:01.868-06:00Personality
One thing that makes a character memorable is a great personality. In the dating scene, that might mean you attract others. In writing however, a great personality has to do with how easily the reader can see our character and match that up with the words they use, the actions they take, and who they are. Being an evil person doesn't necessarily mean the character doesn't haveErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-31074705395312676232013-04-18T21:08:00.001-06:002013-04-18T21:08:39.064-06:00Odors
Okay, so odors may be an odd word choice when discussing writing, but it actually is something we need to think about. I'm not trying to say that we need to describe how stinky the antagonist is; rather I am saying that writing descriptive passages full of sensory imagery is a great way to fully immerse the reader in our worlds.
The sense of smell is often ignored, which is tragicErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-10274075361385875122013-04-17T22:58:00.001-06:002013-04-17T22:58:29.975-06:00November
If you're not aware, November is one of the most significant months of the year for any writer. It doesn't even matter where you are in your writing journey because there's something that occurs every November to inspire and invigorate any writer - NaNoWriMo.
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it is an event held annually during the month of November. BasicallyErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-33353530317175175782013-04-15T21:14:00.001-06:002013-04-15T21:14:53.660-06:00Maniacs
Maniacs might seem an odd word choice for a post on writing, but I'll explain a bit and things will become clearer. When I'm writing, my favorite character to create is a maniac. A truly diabolical, loathsome person that makes your skin crawl. Call it my darker side, but it's completely true.
I enjoy the shiver that goes down my spine when a character freaks me out Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-56021219481327298482013-04-14T22:58:00.000-06:002013-04-14T22:58:11.023-06:00Language
When it comes to L, it's obvious to me that this post has to be about language. This is what we writers live for - our love of language and what we can do with it. Okay, so we're storytellers and creative artists who paint with words. But language is the core tool we utilize to get the job done.
I've always been fascinated by languages. Ever since I was little, I've Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-48903658414818704472013-04-13T23:47:00.001-06:002013-04-13T23:47:18.802-06:00Karma
I'm a firm believe in the idea of "what comes around, goes around". It might have something to do with my Dad saying it all the time, but that's not the only reason. I've seen too many examples of people getting what they deserve and I've also seen (in my own life) examples of good deeds eventually being rewarded.
Now you can call it whatever you like but karma seems to fit. Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-39410619731809672362013-04-12T22:37:00.001-06:002013-04-12T22:37:20.329-06:00Juxtaposition
I wracked my brains all day trying to come up with something in writing that starts with J. Finally, I decided to just talk about one of my favorite J words - Juxtaposition. In case you're unfamiliar with this word, it means:
"The act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side."
First off, I just really like the sound of this word. I don't know why. Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-5647592606343743062013-04-11T21:11:00.000-06:002013-04-11T21:11:20.045-06:00Ideas
Ideas are where a writer's stories begin. For example, I can be taking a shower, waking up from a vivid dream, or just letting my mind wander at my day job. Wait, that last one doesn't really happen. I promise.
One of the interesting things about writers is the fact that we can find ideas from just about anything or anywhere. The guy buying a coffee at Starbucks who Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-68069608150419419712013-04-10T21:42:00.003-06:002013-04-10T21:42:43.094-06:00Help
One of the hardest things for most people to ask for is help. It doesn't matter what we're doing. For some reason, most people just won't ask for any assistance no matter how hard the road gets or how important it is that they succeed. Writers are no different.
When I first started writing (back in high school), I made the mistake of not asking for help. I soon found Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-18975464286582086332013-04-08T19:41:00.000-06:002013-04-08T19:41:07.892-06:00Google
One thing I'm thankful for is Google; I cannot imagine being a writer without it. Whether you need to search through names to find that perfect choice or research facts for your story, Google is a necessity. And I can't imagine how hard it was before Google to do any of these things.
Just to be fair, research in person can be invaluable. I actually took a trip up to theErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-9307157800561691092013-04-07T22:52:00.001-06:002013-04-07T22:52:30.088-06:00Firefighting
You might assume the title doesn't have anything to do with writing, but you'd be wrong. Or maybe to be more accurate, it describes what we probably shouldn't be doing as writers. What I have in mind is the tendency to see something wrong and scramble over to fix it. I know I have a problem sometimes with fixating on things, so I assume I'm not the only one.
For example, if IErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-4141060168995000922013-04-06T23:02:00.001-06:002013-04-06T23:02:35.051-06:00Ending
One aspect of writing I've always struggled with is ending the story. One reason is because I used to write without a road map; I just let myself write and let the story go wherever it wanted. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but all stories have to end. And when you aren't sure where you're going with a story, you definitely can't decide where or how to appropriatelyErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-69496057902773914162013-04-05T18:11:00.000-06:002013-04-05T18:11:15.376-06:00Death
Today's topic is death. No, I don't mean my own demise nor am I planning anyone else's. Nope, I'm talking about the death of a character. This can be a touchy subject for some writers because we invest a great deal of time in creating our these fictional people; the thought of them dying sometimes makes our heart ache. Or maybe that's just me.
The first time I Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-89329089302660775042013-04-04T17:13:00.001-06:002013-04-04T17:13:35.942-06:00Comics
Yes, I skipped Wednesday but it is actually on purpose. Right now my Wednesdays are too hectic to manage a blog post, so I decided Wednesdays are my Sundays in the A to Z Challenge. So for a small period of time each week, I'll be a day behind. I'm weird, but no I'm not doing it just to be different.
On to today's topic - comics. And what I mean is comic books, a form Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-15560117123125583482013-04-02T06:00:00.000-06:002013-04-02T06:50:31.926-06:00Biography
Today's post is about biography, specifically writing one for your characters. This entire post may be a shock to those who have followed me from way back. I've been a pantster from the beginning, but I've found true merit in scribbling down some form of biography for my characters. This is especially true of my main character.
I took a writing class some time ago and one Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-89658246427719101562013-04-01T08:13:00.000-06:002013-04-01T08:13:24.880-06:00A to Z - Antagonist
Hello everyone and welcome back to another round of the A to Z Challenge. I couldn't think of a better way to get back to regular blogging than being a part of this fun month-long exercise. I just can't resist the challenge of coming up with a whole month's worth of posts based on the alphabet.
Today's post is about a story's antagonist. This is the "bad guy", the Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-15695415648864873282013-01-02T15:48:00.002-07:002013-01-02T16:31:36.465-07:00A Brave New Year...With No Impending Mayan Cataclysm
Technically I'm a day late in declaring the New Year but I was on vacation for the holidays and I decided to stay on vacation (from everything) the entire time. Now that my year has officially started, it's time to get busy writing. And hey, as the title states there is no impending Mayan disaster hanging over our heads. Imagine that.
On to writing projects. I have Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-42555463525459201882012-12-15T22:41:00.000-07:002012-12-15T22:41:19.236-07:00Cricket Song - A Sample WiPJoseph over at Magicellus asked for a sample of a WiP. I struggled to come up with something I felt post-worthy, but nothing was really working for me today (guess I'm still a bit rusty). But since I didn't want to disappoint, the following is an excerpt of something I created quite some time ago.
Cricket Song
Jimmy woke quickly, sitting
upright a little too fast and getting Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-59529278736795820622012-12-15T00:32:00.002-07:002012-12-15T00:32:47.966-07:00My SympathiesInitially I wasn't going to put up a post about the tragedy in Connecticut. My reason for this was because I felt no words could adequately describe my sorrow over the loss of life. But after thinking about it for some time, I wish to put my heartfelt thoughts and prayers out here. The thought of this happening to my family is more than I care to imagine. To all the Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-84720772721381452422012-12-14T21:32:00.000-07:002012-12-14T21:32:00.134-07:00Welcome To The HobbitBefore I get too far into this, I want to warn everyone I will be putting up some potential spoilers. There's just a few things I have to get off my chest about this movie.
I would consider myself a HUGE fan of both The Hobbit and The LOTR trilogy. I am also a HUGE fan of the movies for LOTR, despite the changes in story/characters/etc. Since I knew they had planned three Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-24612394455615242202012-12-13T15:48:00.003-07:002012-12-13T15:48:50.766-07:00Time To Start OverAfter an extremely long absence, I'm returning to the world of writing. I'm pretty happy to be doing so. I've missed all the fun, I've missed all the people, and most of all I've missed writing. After being away this long (without writing anything whatsoever), I feel like I'm starting over from scratch. This isn't necessarily a bad thing though.
While I was off doing Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-47223595925659028122012-06-20T11:39:00.001-06:002012-06-20T11:39:46.150-06:00Closing My Doors...For A WhileI've been avoiding coming to this conclusion for some time now, but there's no ignoring the facts.  I just don't have the time (or energy maybe) to continue this blogging journey.
I keep finding myself saying I'll create a post and then life rears its ugly head.  Then I feel bad because I haven't done anything.  Then I make myself a promise to do it next time.  And then I pop Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-61881433077419871332012-06-06T11:35:00.001-06:002012-06-06T11:35:28.941-06:00I'm Back...sort ofIn case nobody noticed, I've been unplugged from the writing/blogging world for over a month.  Part of the time was deliberate (when I was on vacation during the latter half of May), but the rest of the time is just unintended absence.
I am very close to finishing up my degree (seven classes) and this has taken up the majority of my time lately.  The papers are difficult to write, but Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8451768142116083239.post-75196108290945207692012-05-02T07:10:00.000-06:002012-05-02T07:10:09.441-06:00Writing Helps Me Write BetterThe title might sound illogical, but it's really not. I had an epiphany yesterday while doing homework. I've been working on papers for an Organizational Management class (yes, truly riveting stuff) and I had to revise a section on one of my assignments. As I agonized over the right way to write what I'm thinking and meaning to say, I realized that my creative writing (and all Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07823808700523297184noreply@blogger.com4