5 Steps to Starting a Novel from Scratch

Okay, okay, these aren't necessarily consecutive, all-inclusive steps that will guide you from the blank page and blinking cursor in front of you to a tidy 90,000 word book. But it's a start. And hopefully it will give you a good idea of how to get started and what to expect as you plow through.

May the force be with you. I don't even like Star Wars, I don't know why I said that. May the odds be ever in your favor? That's better, but hopefully no one dies...

Step 1: Be crazy. 

You need to be just the right amount of insane to come up with a books' worth of thoughts, write them down, read through them, and then berate yourself repeatedly until you questions your whole purpose in life...And then try and convince someone that it's the best thing since The Bible. If you're not crazy enough you will likely get a chapter or two into the book (one or two sittings) think "Well, that was fun..." and put it down forever. That's fine. It's what most people who start a book do, but you need to be prepared to push through that feeling. Write when you don't want to, even if it's just 500 words and it's junk that you'll inevitably throw out in a fit of rage. Eventually you'll get your groove back and you and Stella will have a finished book!

Step 2: Start with something.

You don't have to know exactly what is going to happen every step of the way but, good god man, start with something. As a freelance writer I wrote short stories, novels, non-fiction informative e-books, and I've started several of my own books and it feels like I do something different every time. I've started with no plan except one character (basically me in the flesh...or at least how I like to think of myself...) and a general idea of what I wanted the genre to be. That's right, the genre. I was pretty sure I wanted it to be Young Adult, but I didn't know if it would be fantasy, sci-fi, romance, etc. And then I really liked typing with a potty mouth so I almost threw the Young Adult out the window. Trust me. It doesn't work. Have a plan.

Are the "Great Works" of Literature Obsolete?

This post is inspired by my recent accomplishment: reading Catcher in the Rye. I like classical books as much as the next person, which is to say I mostly just like the idea of reading them and then impressing people with how well read I am.

The thing that got to me about Catcher in the Rye is that it wasn't really about anything. When trying to explain it to my boyfriend here's what I had to say: "Um...it's about a guy who gets kicked out of boarding school and he basically hates everything. He doesn't want to go home to his parents yet so he stays in a hotel and gets beat up by a pimp. Oh, but then he sneaks into his own house to say hi to his little sister and then later he tells her he's going to run away. But then he doesn't."

Ok, maybe I didn't do it justice, but can anyone tell me how to better explain it? I get that the kid didn't know what he wanted to do with his life and didn't see the point in going to school, those surly teenagers... But seriously, are these books actually doing today's youth any good? Is the reason we have them read this stuff in school to get the message? Or to learn how to expertly use spark notes to make it seem like they actually read the book?

Compare Catcher in the Rye to basically anything written by John Greene. I don't necessarily think John Greene is an incredible author but I've read a few of his books and they strike the same societal chord that, I believe, Catcher in the Rye was meant to strike. Teens going through a range of existential crises, trying to figure out what their purpose is. That about sum it up? 

So my question is, should the great works of literature still be used in the every day classroom, or have they become culturally obsolete? I don't know who determines what books are important for kids in school to read, but shouldn't they be reading pieces they can relate to? Is it so important for these kids to be able to decipher Shakespeare or understand the time and culture of Catcher in the Rye? 

Why not push new books with similar messages that may be of more interest to students and foster an overall greater interest in reading? Is there no other love story than Romeo and Juliet? Isn't it just as important, if not more so, to study literature from the past thirty years? Teach students about the issues we were just facing, are facing now, and will be facing. Leave the centuries old plays for some light reading when they're older and it won't completely deter them from the written word...   

All Writers Are Narcissists

Don't get me wrong, I think we're all a bit narcissistic on a basic, human level. But narcissism is the life blood of writers. We, and I include myself to be generous (To me, not to other, more talented writers. Though that would be narcissistic of me, so...), think we have something so unique and profound to say. I don't write to add to the piles of unread material out there, though likely that is where most of my stuff will end up, I write because I have something to say. Or at least I think I do. Sometimes I get half way through and ask myself "What was this supposed to be about again?"

How Freelance Work is Dominating the Job Market

I got a nice email from Elance today informing be that there are now over 53 million Americans doing freelance work! Granted, I believe the number includes people who may only do freelance on the side or a couple of times a year to earn some spare change, but still....okay?

With this huge shift in workforce setting, what does that mean for those of us who freelance for a living vs those of us who don't?

Companies are relying more and more on utilizing freelancers, they often only need them for projects or jobs that have a finite time frame, so it ends up being much cheaper to hire a freelancer rather than a full time employee with all those pesky benefits. 2% of the standard work force positions are being awarded to freelancers.

Crazy Few months...

Wow... I don't really know where to start to fill you in on the last few months...I guess one big bomb is fine.

I quit my job and became a freelance writer!

I'm crazy I know, really. All of my family and many of my friends are terrified on my behalf. I'll start off with saying that I'm fortunate enough to be supported both emotionally and financially by my boyfriend who, though he is probably terrified himself, has been a trooper through this whole "I want to do something that makes me happy," crisis.

That's the gist of it, I quit my job. It should also be noted that I didn't quit in order to become a writer, I quit and then discovered the world of freelance writing mere days before my last day with a paycheck. It feels like I've been doing this for months, though.

Within the first two weeks of writing, I've accomplished more than I had in the last three years of my old job. I have written dozens of articles, product descriptions, and blogs. I've learned about investing in gold, video marketing strategies, and even how to fix a garage door when it gets jammed. I've written my first e-book about art therapy, I've started my own book about how to become a freelance writer (from a beginner's perspective), and I've signed a deal to re-write classical children's stories.

I feel so blessed and, more importantly, SO FREE!

Battles of Westeros

This is my first board game review - I've chosen a rather involved game so people can get a feel for what I'm going to cover and...I just really liked it, so I wanted to talk about it. Get off my back, okay?

First and foremost, for those who are not Game of Thrones fans, this game is a strategy based game set in the fictional land of Westeros, created by George R.R. Martine in his saga "A Song of Ice and Fire." If you haven't read this series or seen it on HBO, go. Come back and finish this after you're done...

Are you back? What did you think? How 'bout that red wedding? Okay, enough, back to the game.

I'm Alive!

So it's been about a year since I started this blog and about 9 months since I last posted. Yep, I was on top of it for a record 3 months and then just stopped one day, about the same time I started a new project at work and lost touch with most of the hobbies I had :/


So, today I've decided to give this another shot, partly because maintaining this blog has helped me tremendously as a writer. Putting myself out there and forcing myself to write things completely out of my comfort zone (and I mean SO FAR out of my comfort zone that I thought I had almost lost it), has made me not only a more well-rounded writer (still amateur, let's not get ahead of ourselves), but a stronger person in general. But I think my favorite part about having the blog is that it really is just a glorified journal for me. I've been able to look at a 3 month span of my life and remember so many little things that I otherwise would have lost. My adventures in reading, writing, gardening, traveling, cooking, and blogging are all documented. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a thousand words are worth...ok, well, a thousand words. But you get the picture.


So here goes my effort to re-energize my blog for myself!


When I last posted, I had set down my novel for the obligatory waiting period suggested by absolutely every author/editor/publicist that I've researched. The thing about that waiting period though, is that it absolutely killed my writing fervor. I consider myself a pretty disciplined person, I told myself I had to write a certain number of words every week and write a certain number of blog posts every week, and I did it! When I had to put it down, I lost interest in it. I've still yet to gain that momentum back. When I stopped writing the book, I had less to write about in the weekly blogs. When I started my work project I had even less time to not only write the blogs, but do the activities I was writing about.


Life has calmed a little bit for me now, and I now feel like I am able to pick some of these interests back up. Some of the things I expect to write about over the next couple months include writing (more short stories and potentially a new novel), books that I'm reading, board games I'm playing - I'm going to review these as an exercise for myself as well as to provide a reference for board gamers, and potentially my journey of starting a small business. This last one may or may not make the blog. I'm getting really interested in it, but I'm going to hazard to say that tax laws and business licenses do not make for the most interesting subject matter.


Regardless of the blog's value, I'm looking forward to jumping back in to the adrenaline rush that is writing and letting myself grow in all sorts of different directions. Here's to a very exciting next couple of months!