by Jason Joyner | Nov 16, 2011 | Blog, blogging, horsing around, writing
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| “Heading” in the right direction? |
Full disclosure – I’ve never actually fallen off a horse. Not a literal horse. I’m talking about the figurative horse. Of course.
Anyhoo.
Last week the best laid blogging and writing plans were up-ended by crises. Yes, multiple. The different situations are still working themselves out, but some of the consequences are trying to get back to everything.
I’m working on getting regular blog content in here, and missing a week was not in my best-laid plans. Also, I was building up some momentum in my WIP, and it’s thrown me just a little (not as bad as this cowboy though!).
What’s a writer to do?
Get back in the saddle, of course. It is easier for some to pick up where they left off and keep moving. Others have to ease back in. I’ve always struggled with getting back into it if I lose momentum. I lost the last idea I had for a blog post. So as a good writer should, I’m turning THAT into something to write about.
I bet the guy in the picture above sure got on another horse (maybe not that one, but still…). It shouldn’t stop us either. I had a good excuse from last week, but last week is gone, and I can’t use it as an excuse any more. What will get me back in the saddle?
Doing my routine. Get out the cell phone, set the time, and get writing. That turns off the internal editor, and the rules are “NO internet” during this time. It gets me 300-500 words in a 20 minute shot, and that’s more than I’ll get if I putz around, or sit in the dirt feeling sorry for myself.
Besides, if I stay in the dirt, that darn animal might come back for another crack at me.
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What say you? What has thrown you from your game before, and how do you get back up?
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by Jason Joyner | Nov 2, 2011 | Blog, NaNoWriMo, party pooper, writing
Call me Scrooge if you want.
November is the month writers come out of the woodwork, participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo to the uninitiated). It is a great time of fellowship with fellow writers, all encouraging one another to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. There are groups that meet all over the country and internationally. It is a big deal in the writing community.
And I’ve learned I need to sit it out.
I’m not saying NaNo is bad at all. It can help people who have always wanted to attempt a novel to take the plunge and start writing knowing they have company. Experienced writers can use it as a jumpstart to a new project. Technically, it is supposed to be a new project and not a previous work, but I know many people use it as a time to get more writing done.
I’ve found it doesn’t work for me.
I’ve tried it twice now. One time I participated in a group and made some friends there that I still keep up with on Facebook. It just doesn’t help me in my writing. Both times, I’ve plowed ahead trying to keep to the 1667 daily word pace required to finish in thirty days. Both times, it drove me into a wall with my writing that took me a couple of months to get around.
I don’t know why it makes me crash. I’ve realized that forcing it won’t work for me. I was even tempted to try it again this year, but a
good article by my friend Becky Miller helped me identify my problem during NaNo:
…the pace doesn’t allow the new writer to collect himself when the story bogs down, to learn what might be the problem, and to discover how to get out of it.
I will be trying hard in November to keep BIC (butt in chair) and press ahead with my story, especially since I’m in a good place with my plot. I’ll be cheering on all my writing buddies doing NaNo as well. I just won’t be going for the 50,000 goal with you, but best of luck to you!
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Have you done NaNo before? If so, how did you do? Please share!
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by Jason Joyner | Nov 2, 2011 | Blog, NaNoWriMo, party pooper, writing
Call me Scrooge if you want.
November is the month writers come out of the woodwork, participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo to the uninitiated). It is a great time of fellowship with fellow writers, all encouraging one another to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. There are groups that meet all over the country and internationally. It is a big deal in the writing community.
And I’ve learned I need to sit it out.
I’m not saying NaNo is bad at all. It can help people who have always wanted to attempt a novel to take the plunge and start writing knowing they have company. Experienced writers can use it as a jumpstart to a new project. Technically, it is supposed to be a new project and not a previous work, but I know many people use it as a time to get more writing done.
I’ve found it doesn’t work for me.
I’ve tried it twice now. One time I participated in a group and made some friends there that I still keep up with on Facebook. It just doesn’t help me in my writing. Both times, I’ve plowed ahead trying to keep to the 1667 daily word pace required to finish in thirty days. Both times, it drove me into a wall with my writing that took me a couple of months to get around.
I don’t know why it makes me crash. I’ve realized that forcing it won’t work for me. I was even tempted to try it again this year, but a
good article by my friend Becky Miller helped me identify my problem during NaNo:
…the pace doesn’t allow the new writer to collect himself when the story bogs down, to learn what might be the problem, and to discover how to get out of it.
I will be trying hard in November to keep BIC (butt in chair) and press ahead with my story, especially since I’m in a good place with my plot. I’ll be cheering on all my writing buddies doing NaNo as well. I just won’t be going for the 50,000 goal with you, but best of luck to you!
—
Have you done NaNo before? If so, how did you do? Please share!
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by Jason Joyner | Oct 29, 2011 | Blog, books, CFBA, speculative fiction
Jason says: I received this book too late to read it for this tour, but I have started it and will be looking to reviewing it soon. In the meantime, here’s the CFBA Tour promo for The 13th Demon.
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The 13th Demon Realms (October 4, 2011) by Bruce Hennigan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bruce Hennigan was born and raised in the isolated countryside of Shreveport, La., a place full of possibilities for the active mind of a young boy. The fertile imagination he cultivated while playing deep in the Louisiana woods would lead to a lifelong love of creative writing.
In 2006, Hennigan pursued the Certified Apologetic Instructor Certificate from the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. He has become a frequent speaker at regional and state events on apologetics and his strong point is in making these sometimes hard to understand issues easily approachable for the average Christian. Hennigan’s experience in apologetics inspired him to write his new novel, The 13th Demon: Altar of the Spiral Eye, a supernatural Christian thriller that combines science and faith. Now, combining his love for apologetics and his love for the art of writing, Hennigan is pursuing a career as the “Michael Crichton” of Christian fiction building powerful, fast paced stories around the truths of Christian apologetics.
Hennigan currently resides in Shreveport with his wife and daughter. He continues to write and to practice radiology at the Willis Knighton Health Care System. He has secured Jeff Jernigan of Hidden Value Group (www.hiddenvaluegroup.com) as his literary agent and has signed a five book deal with the Realms imprint of Charisma Media for “The Chronicles of Jonathan Steel”.
ABOUT THE BOOK
When Jonathan Steel wakes up on a beach in a raging thunderstorm, naked, beaten, and bleeding, he has no idea who he is or how he got there. But just as he starts to make progress in his slow journey to recovery, tragedy strikes again, taking everything in his new life that he has come to love and rely on.
Filled with rage and a thirst for revenge, he searches the countryside for the entity responsible—an entity called only the Thirteenth Demon. His quest brings him to Lakeside, Louisiana, and a small country church where evil is in control and strange writing on the walls, blood-soaked floors, and red-eyed spiders have appeared in the sanctuary.
As he faces the final confrontation with an evil presence that has pursued him all of his life, he must choose between helping the people he loves or destroying the thirteenth demon.
If you would like to read the first chapter of The 13th Demon, go HERE.
by Jason Joyner | Oct 29, 2011 | Blog, books, CFBA, speculative fiction
Jason says: I received this book too late to read it for this tour, but I have started it and will be looking to reviewing it soon. In the meantime, here’s the CFBA Tour promo for The 13th Demon.
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The 13th Demon Realms (October 4, 2011) by Bruce Hennigan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bruce Hennigan was born and raised in the isolated countryside of Shreveport, La., a place full of possibilities for the active mind of a young boy. The fertile imagination he cultivated while playing deep in the Louisiana woods would lead to a lifelong love of creative writing.
In 2006, Hennigan pursued the Certified Apologetic Instructor Certificate from the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. He has become a frequent speaker at regional and state events on apologetics and his strong point is in making these sometimes hard to understand issues easily approachable for the average Christian. Hennigan’s experience in apologetics inspired him to write his new novel, The 13th Demon: Altar of the Spiral Eye, a supernatural Christian thriller that combines science and faith. Now, combining his love for apologetics and his love for the art of writing, Hennigan is pursuing a career as the “Michael Crichton” of Christian fiction building powerful, fast paced stories around the truths of Christian apologetics.
Hennigan currently resides in Shreveport with his wife and daughter. He continues to write and to practice radiology at the Willis Knighton Health Care System. He has secured Jeff Jernigan of Hidden Value Group (www.hiddenvaluegroup.com) as his literary agent and has signed a five book deal with the Realms imprint of Charisma Media for “The Chronicles of Jonathan Steel”.
ABOUT THE BOOK
When Jonathan Steel wakes up on a beach in a raging thunderstorm, naked, beaten, and bleeding, he has no idea who he is or how he got there. But just as he starts to make progress in his slow journey to recovery, tragedy strikes again, taking everything in his new life that he has come to love and rely on.
Filled with rage and a thirst for revenge, he searches the countryside for the entity responsible—an entity called only the Thirteenth Demon. His quest brings him to Lakeside, Louisiana, and a small country church where evil is in control and strange writing on the walls, blood-soaked floors, and red-eyed spiders have appeared in the sanctuary.
As he faces the final confrontation with an evil presence that has pursued him all of his life, he must choose between helping the people he loves or destroying the thirteenth demon.
If you would like to read the first chapter of The 13th Demon, go HERE.
