My Rules of Writing #1 -- You MUST write!

Been busy with a bunch of things -- Completed the first draft of my second novel in my Urban fantasy series, did a novelette-length story sent in the same universe, started the forth book in the same series and I'm currently working on books three and five. I was nominated for a Scribe award for a story I wrote for an anthology, and worked on a couple of projects for a gaming company I freelance for. What I haven't been doing to writing blog posts. So an experiment, if you will.

I have seen "rules for this" and "rules for that" And that includes writing. So, I'm going to try and my hand at MY rules -- these work for me and may not for you.

 My First rule is "You must write." Simple, clear and on the face of it, makes sense.  After all, how can you be a writer if you don't write?

But for a lot of people who want to write, writing is hard, it's scary, it's time-consuming, I don't feel like writing, I don't know how to create characters and plots.....

Yes to all that. Writing can be all those things. That's why it can be tough. But until you overcome all those objections, nothing's ever going to happen. That story you feel is inside you will never come out.

The first thing you need, if you want to write, is the passion to write. If you don't have that, nothing else I write here will do you any good. You must have the fire inside to write. That's is from inside of you. A teacher or mentor can ignite that passion, but the desire has to be there to start with.

 If the desire is there, other objections can be worked around. With time, get up fifteen minutes early and spend that time writing, or fifteen minutes before you go to bed. Lunch can be a time to brainstorm, or makes notes about a scene that comes to you. Use a recorder to make notes on anything related to your story (Just don't do while driving or other activities that require your attention). SOme people use their phones to write when they ride the subway to their job. You don't need to carve out three hours every day to write -- ten or fifteen minutes is better than nothing.

You have to write, even if you don't feel like it, your stuck in a scene. It's so easy to say, "F**K it! I'm too (insert excuse here) and skip a day. and that day becomes two and two days becomes a week and a month goes by without a single word being written. You must get into the habit of writing every day, for ten minutes, for twenty minutes, for an hour, whatever you decide and what time you can squeeze in. Every word that you write is one more brick in your story, one more step on the highway.

You have to accept that your writing, at the beginning, will suck. That's because writing is like many activities; no one if perfect from day one. There will be days you will look at what you wrote the day
before and wonder what idiot broke into your home and wrote it. But the more you write, the better you will get. You will see flaws easier, make corrections and eliminate problems. It's also vital that as an author, you develop a thick skin.

 If you don't know where to start, write fanfiction. Take you favorite TV, Movie, anime, or any other things and write a story based on the characters and premises of that series. Fanfiction allows the writer to worry about the story itself instead of world-building from scratch. There's nothing stopping you from expanding and adding to the world you're writing it, but when just starting out, it's best to "Stay within the lines" so to speak -- write a story that might have been a part of official universe. Once you're comfortable, the sky's the limit.

You can't sell the fanfic you write of course, as that would bring down the IP (Intellectual Property) holders on you with a cease and desist letter. But there are plenty of on-line fanfic communities out there that will read and review your stories. Yes, there will be assholes out there who will trash your story (Hense, the thick skin mentioned above), but those who review your story are generally are helpful with the comments and criticisms. I would suggest reading fanfiction from other authors in the fanfiction series  and see how they handle the characters and situation. I have written Fanfictions based on both Sailor Moon and Bubblegum Crisis OVA Anime series and a few Battletech fanfics. (I'm now a freelancer with the company who produces Battletech, so I've stopped reading and wring Battletech fanfiction.)

While you're writing, you must read too, read in the same genera as you want to write, in related genera and in genera that is totally different from the one you want to write in. Look for themes you can use in your story, a character archetype, the way the writer expresses ideas. You have to know what else is being written and look for things you can "borrow" for your own story. (There is no such thing as a "anything new" in fiction -- what's new is how the writer uses them in his story.)

This is a lot longer blog post that I expected to write, but it boils down to this: whether or not the passion to write is there inside of you. If the passion is there, the excuses can be overcome. If the passion isn't there, it doesn't matter if you have all the time in the world, a headfull of stories ready to go, and you can crack out sparkling stories in minutes. The passion comes first -- it will be that to sustain you as you build your skills.

I have a couple of more rules in mind that I'll write about in the future. Right now, it's clearing the dust off this blog and getting my blogging time in.


Word Count Update:

I'm a bit behind on this, so here's what I've done in the last three months.

March

Monthly Goal: 46,500 words (31 days x 1,500 words)
Actual Words Written: 48,898 words
+/- Difference: + 2,398 words
Average Words/Day: 1,746.36 Words/Day
Number of Days of More Than 1,500 Words Written: 18 Days (58.0%)

April

Monthly Goal: 45,000 words (30 days x 1,500 words)
Actual Words Written: 19,328 words
+/- Difference: - 25,672 words
Average Words/Day: 644.27 Words/Day
Number of Days of More Than 1,500 Words Written: 5 Days (16.6%)

May

Monthly Goal: 46,500 words (31 days x 1,500 words)
Actual Words Written: 54,706 words
+/- Difference: + 8,206 words
Average Words/Day: 1,764.71 Words/Day
Number of Days of More Than 1,500 Words Written: 24 Days (77.4%)

Year To Date
Word count Goal for the Year (Jan - May): 226,500 words
Actual Words Written: 203,347 Words
+/- Difference: - 23,153 words

April was poor because I spent most of the month revision and rewriting a novel, but I'm on a streak of 40 days in a row of hitting my daily word count from the middle of May through yesterday. So not perfect, but I'm on a good run at the moment.....

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All the Outcast Ops novels I co-authored with Rick Chesler are on Amazon and are part of the Kindle Direct program. African Firestorm is here: Outcast Ops: African Firestorm on Amazon! Red Ice is here: Outcast Ops: Red Ice on Amazon! Watchlist is here: Outcast Ops: Watchlist on Amazon. Shadow Gov is here: Outcast Ops: Shadow Gov on Amazon!

In addition, there is a physical version of Watchlist here: Outcast Ops: Watchlist Paperback

For those in the United Kingdom, Outcast Ops: African Firestorm on Amazon UK!! Red Ice is here: Outcast Ops: Red Ice on Amazon UK! Watchlist is here: Outcast Ops: Watchlist on Amazon UK! and the brand new Shadow Gov is here: Outcast Ops: Shadow Gov on Amazon UK

For anyone else, please check your country's Amazon Website (if there is one).

Also, check out the other Outcast ops novels. Outcast Ops: Game of Drones by Rick Jones and Rick Chesler and Outcast Ops: The Poseidon Initiative by Rick Chesler.

In addition, Outcast Ops novels are on audiobooks! If you're member of Audible, you can listen to them free! The audio versions can be found here: Outcast Ops: African Firestorm (Audible), Outcast Ops: Red Ice (Audible), Outcast Ops: Watchlist (Audible) and Outcast Ops: Shadow Gov (Audible)

The audios for Game of Drones Games of Drones (Audible) and The Poseidon Initiative The Poseidon Initiative are also up on Audible, or though Amazon!

Please read or listen and leave a review!

Craig