Slow Writing Memes

by J. Lea López

Uh oh... Guess what day it is?

Okay, I won't go there. (But I bet you just said it in your head, didn't you?) Today's post is just a little something fun to get you over those mid-week blahs. Who doesn't like a good meme, right?

My writing process is a little different than some other people. Aside from writing by hand, I'm a slow writer. Quick and dirty drafts don't fly from these fingers. It simply doesn't happen. But there's so many tips, tricks, snippets of advice, etc. encouraging exactly that. I bet you can name a few.

It doesn't have to be right, it just has to be done.

Don't think, don't edit, just write.

Pretty much anything you'll read on a NaNoWriMo message board.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great approach for plenty of people. But it's also a dreadful approach for others. I think it's high time we slow writers have a few sayings or memes of our own to give other slow writers a bit of support.

A lot of effort goes into every word. And I'm okay with that.

We all have to find what works for us with writing. We judiciously apply the writing "rules" because we come to realize they're guidelines more than anything; we find ways to strike a balance between things like genre expectations and the story waiting to be told; we experiment and learn which word processing software works best for us based on what we want it to do. The same goes for pacing ourselves with our drafts.

I've been working with a friend as she works on her current WIP. She's used to the hard and fast word vomit sort method of drafting and can churn out 100,000 words or more in an insanely short amount of time. But she's had trouble editing that down later into something cohesive. With her new story, she expressed some frustration to me about taking longer than usual to get the first draft written. However, she felt more confident about what she had written so far and felt more confident that she was going to avoid the massive wordiness that had plagued her previously. She'd never really considered the possibility that slower could actually be better.

When it comes time to give advice about first drafts, we've all apparently forgotten Aesop's famous moral: Slow and steady wins the race.

I would rather think a little longer and get it mostly right the first time than spit out a bunch of words I'll end up cutting later. Sure, it takes me twice as long, maybe even three times as long, to pen a first draft than some other writers. But I tend to write very clean first drafts. I don't say that to brag. I say it to make the point that it's ultimately the end result--the book--that matters. How you get there is a journey all your own. My pace might not work for you. Yours might not work for me, or for someone else. There's nothing wrong with that. If you're a slow writer, don't feel pressured into adopting a fast draft style if it's going to drive you nuts (which it would for me). I felt awful the first time I attempted NaNo because I couldn't achieve the high word counts the way some other people did. The next year I stopped beating myself up over it because that will never be my process and trying to force myself to do work that way is counterproductive. And guess what? I wrote twice as much that year.

Are you a slow writer? If you are (or even if you're not) hop on over to a meme generator and make some funny, encouraging, or silly writing memes and share them with us! Tweet them to us or share them on our Facebook page.

J. Lea López is a published author of character-driven stories that focus on relationships, from the platonic to the romantic, and never shy away from the bedroom. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

Be Like Nike—Just Do It

By Charlee Vale

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to write about today, and on the suggestion of our own R.C. Lewis, I'm writing about what's most on my mind about the writing process at the moment. I hope you'll find these wandering thoughts helpful.

If you're one of my Critique Partners, you've probably heard the title of this post from me. Probably more than once. It's a favorite phrase of mine when trying to get people past their fears to doing actual writing.

I'm here to talk about a slippery thing today, and something I'm currently struggling with: motivation.

The reason it's slippery is because it always seems to pop up at the most inconvenient times. When you have time to write isn't the time you'll want to. No, the time you'll want to is when you're the busiest and won't be able to. Isn't that the way of Murphy's law?

But what about when you do have the time? When you have those precious hours of free time and you can write. But there's also a new episode of Game of Thrones calling your name, or possibly new music, maybe a TV movie (Like the ever popular SyFy hit SHARKNADO).

Here's the truth: Writing books is hard.

Of course it is, Charlee. We already knew that!—I know you did, but let me say it again. Writing books is damn hard. Finishing books is hard. Sometimes just sitting down to the computer or picking up your notebook will be the hardest thing you'll ever do. But if you want to write, you've still got to do it.

Whatever you need to do for motivation, do it. Find a way that works for you. If you need to make sure you have a dessert-like treat after a set word count, make sure you stock up on cupcakes or candy.

If you're a visual person like me, you may need to find a way to chart your progress so that you can see your novel grow as you write.

Give yourself a time limit to write certain amounts of words, do writing sprints with friends. Be strict about it and make sure that you can both stretch yourself and accomplish your goal. Don't cave just because it's hard.

The number one thing I can tell you about writing, is the AIC factor. That is Ass-In-Chair. Putting in the time to write your book is the only thing that will get it done. It won't write itself. Don't wait for a magical bolt of inspiration to come to you to write, just write. If you do it long enough, something will come.

Whatever stage of the process you're in—drafting, revisions, polishing, querying. Nothing substitues for cold hard time. That may take some sacrifices, it may not, but don't wait for something to happen without you. Make the choice to sit in the chair every day. It's all any of can ever do.

Charlee Vale is a Young Adult writer, photographer, and tea lover living in New York City. You can also find her at her website, and on Twitter, and sitting in her incredibly comfy office chair...drafting. 

Spice Up Your Writing Life

by R.S. Mellette

When I was a kid, daytime talk shows were a different animal than they are today. There was this guy, maybe you’ve heard of him, Phil Donahue. He had a little show in Chicago where he went into the audience to have them ask questions. No one screamed or shouted. The guests were intelligent, and for the most part so were the questions. No one took lie detector tests, and the legitimacy of babies was never discussed. Generally, after watching his show one felt pretty good about the state of human evolution.

For some odd reason I remember seeing a Cajun chef on Donahue once. I don’t remember who he was, but I remember something he said.

“In Cajun cooking, we spice at every level.”

What he meant was, when making the chicken stock, or roux, or dry rub, or sauce, every step gets spiced.

I have taken it to mean that every step of any process needs some special attention. If you write from an outline, then make sure you don’t cut corners there. Spice it up. Make it jump off the page, so when you’re stuck in the manuscript, you can take a taste of the outline and remember what had you so excited in the first place.

If you find you have to add a minor character, give him or her some seasoning. Make us remember that tasty little tidbit. When your characters have to go somewhere, make it a more interesting place.

But remember, spice is, by definition, a small ingredient that has a big impact. Don’t confuse it with flowery. You’re not looking to overwhelm a story, just punch it up a little.

When reading through your work for the millionth time, play a game. Get into your kitchen, bring out your spices, and as you read think about which spice might help in the scene you’re reading. Maybe something unexpected—like some sugar in a salty scene. Maybe something hot. Maybe not. Mix it up.

Spice at every level.

R.S. Mellette is an experienced screenwriter, actor, director, and novelist. You can find him at the Dances With Films festival blog, and on Twitter, or read him in the Spring Fevers and The Fall: Tales of the Apocalypse anthologies.