I know Nothing about Ending a Story.

Oh man, so much has happened since I stopped posting.  I wish I was better able to stick to goals such as writing every day, but for some reason I just haven't had the motivation.  I could make a bunch of excuses, but that's just what they'll be read as: excuses.

I moved two weeks ago, and now I've set up base in lovely Ventura, CA, and the weather is wonderful and the beach is wonderful and my bookshelf is up and it's wonderful and suddenly I had the strongest urge to write.  So I've set a new goal for myself: I AM going to try and write every day, even if it's for just an hour or two, even if it's just a sentence, I'm going to try and write something.

....And this time I mean it!

Ha, I know, how many times have you heard that from someone.  All I can really do is shrug and try my hardest this time, and promise myself not to give up and hope for the best.

Another goal I've set for myself is to finish up my outline.  The ending has been so very vague and so very up in the air that I decided to just suck it up and get something more solid down on paper.  Of course, a vague, three-paragraph end turns into ten or so pages of an ending outline, but once that's done my main characters will finally have some direction.

I've noticed that my main characters have started to almost wilt in their rolls because I don't have much of anything for an end thought up yet, and I've come to the conclusion that it's because I'm wilting without an end.  This needs to be fixed asap.

What is your next writing goal?

I know Nothing about Outlining.

It's actually not something I like doing, if I'm going to be oh-so-honest here. However, it is needed, big time. Especially when writing lengthy pieces like novels, although I tend to think outlines are great not matter how long your story is going to be.

Even with outlines it's hard to keep track of characters; who they are, what relationships they have, how they're connected to each other. For example, in George R.R. Martin's fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire (A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows), there are so many characters it's hard for the reader to keep track of who is who and what they're doing and to whom they're related. G.R.R.M. is able to keep track of them pretty well, which amazes me to no end, but he had to have had trouble. I can just imagine the notes upon notes upon notes.

If you've started a story and have yet to do an outline, there's a very large chance you will become stuck or stranded or stilled in your writing. Not to say that there aren't people out there who can plow straight through, no outline needed (I'm impressed, it's a talent I wish I hand), but it's rare. So if you're in the beginning or middle of your story and can't seem to move forward, I strongly suggest trying an outline. It just might inspire you and help you along.

I'm someone who has to skip around in my writing a lot, as I've stated before in an earlier post. Outlining helps me do this. It's like taking notes down for that research paper you have to write for school or for a speech you have to dictate. Forgetting thoughts about your story is easy - it's just as easy to write them down, and you'll be glad you did.

My story has already changed so much from the original, I don't recognize it anymore. It's a good thing, and it really goes to show that outlining is always going to help you remember, change and adapt to an even better plot and even better characters.

So try out an outline. It couldn't hurt. :)

I know Nothing about the First Sentence...

It's true that the first sentence is one of the most important that you'll write in your novel, short story, etc. Without that grab, the reader is (usually) bored right off the bat, which, yes, is bad news.

In a recent post over on Gaiaonline on a topic entitled "The First Line," many people posted up their first sentences to share with others. I loved reading through them, because it really was a good example of both sentences to use and sentences not to use (more so the later, but hey, we're mostly amateurs over here). Head over yourself to check them out and see which ones grab your attention.

There are a billion ways to start your story, a billion different sentences to chose from. "So how do I pick one I know will draw people in" you ask? I have some suggestions, but keep in mind these are of opinion, and you may completely disagree with what I'm about to say.

First of all, I like a story with some good old action in it. Now action doesn't have to be a battle or some kick-ass fight going on. It doesn't have to be someone running for their life, or someone dying in the midst of war. Action can also include things like a heated/interesting argument between friends, enemies or children and parents. It can include someone in the middle of a sports game, or someone stumbling onto something unusual or scary or interesting. It can include something humorous or sad. The worst though, the absolute worst sentence wording to start with is in the middle of absolutely nothing. No action whatsoever. Things like "My name is such-and-such and I live in this-place." Or friends simply having a conversation about what they did last night, and that's it. I also dislike background info-dumps, but that's a whole other discussion topic for me to really get into. My stance is: when it comes to first sentences, SOMETHING has to be going on.

Prologues are just the worst for beginner writers, and I know this because I am a beginner and I have written prologues before. They're usually written with way too much background information, or add no meaning or purpose to the storyline in any way. A lot of beginning writers think they need to have a prologue. My advice is to wait on the prologue until you've finished writing the story. If after that you think it's missing something - add it on. But most of the time you'll find you've written what would have gone into the prologue into your actual story - spread out and consistent - and you'll be much more satisfied.

Anyway, what are you're opinions on first sentences, and which ones did you enjoy from the gaia post? I'd love to hear your first sentences as well. :)

I know Nothing about Plowing Straight Through...

...from beginning to end.

I simply cannot do it.

I have a best friend who is also writing a novel, and she started at the beginning and is steadily working her way right through it. I'm amazed that she can work in a way that I just don't understand.

I tend to get really excited about certain scenes. Let's face it, some are just more fun to write out than others, and for good reason! Because I get excited about how a specific scene will be, I will type out my favorite scenes first and then string them together. I'll have to leave it up to the second run-through to clean up any mistakes or inconsistencies that happen from scene to scene. Which is okay. :)

I find that writing out the scenes you like best first, or the major scenes, or the most exciting to you as an author helps the writing process to move faster than it normally would. My best friend is still far into the beginning of her story, where I'm somewhat nearing the end (still a bit far off, however T.T). Of course, I also started mine much sooner than she did, but I feel the rate of pages/words being typed when we sit down is large in difference. Not that there's anything wrong with it. It's all up to preference.

How do you write up your story/novel? Are you like me or like my best friend? Can you simply plow straight through your novel from begging to end, or do you skip around like a crazy person? I'd like to know. :)