Writerhood

Perks of Plotting

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are about the same as usual. The dumpster fire is at a constant simmer with random public flare ups whenever the administration wants to distract us from whatever evil they’re working on that particular day. Trying to destroy the budget? Oops, the public is getting interested. Let’s turn the protests in LA into riots and activate the Coast Guard then immediately send in the Marines! Ugh. Anyway. I’m not here to rant. I’m just here to talk about writing. If you’ve been following along, you should know I tend to be a pantser when it comes to writing. I hate outlining. It feels too restrictive to me. But apparently plotting has some perks! So, I’m going to ramble about that today.

I’ve been feeling like writing lately, so I decided to pull out the Unnamed Cozy Mystery (UCM) and try getting back into it. Since I’m usually a pantser, my main concern was that I wouldn’t have any clue where I was planning to go with it, but I had approached this novel differently when I started it. I did a beat sheet for it (go read Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder or any of the Save the Cat! Writes a… Novel interpretations if you don’t know what that is). It’s a vague and messy beat sheet, but it’s mine and I understand it. And boy howdy did it save me a lot of stress. I wrote 1,100 words on Monday with no problem other than the usual “did I use that super common word that I use every day right?” or “is that one word or is it hyphenated?” etc. crap.

My favorite part is that I even included page numbers of where specific stuff is supposed to be given the length I’m aiming for in this novel. But that sounds super restrictive! It’s not, though. It’s just a reminder that those beats will most likely fall somewhere around that point. It doesn’t have to be perfect. If it’s too far off, the book length either needs to be rethought or my pacing is too wonky. This is just the first draft, so it’s not something I’m adjusting for right now, but if I ever finish the book, it’ll help me make decisions during the editing process. For now, it’s all just helpful reminders of what direction I was planning on going when I came up with the story.

As far as the actual story goes, I have a few beats that are super clear because those were the triggering ideas for this book, but most of them are like “Rainn and her cohorts track down loose ends and question suspects, crossing people off their list left and right. Meanwhile, renovations begin on the hotel and outbuildings.” which is meant to take up about 80 pages. This makes the pantser in me happy because it allows the story to grow organically with pretty minimal directions.

Anyway, I’m enjoying the structure I built for writing this story despite preferring to wing it most of the time. Let’s see if I can keep it up. Have you tried a beat sheet before? How detailed do you get? As always, feel free to share your thoughts and questions here or on my social media pages!

Bad Writer

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are quietly terrifying. Nothing is particularly bad for me currently, but we’re still in a dystopian horror story, so I can’t feel anything near calm. Anyway, as you well know, I’ve been a horrible writer for a long time now. A couple of short stories and random scribblings over the past couple of years do not a writer make. I’ve tried different things to get back into it, but I’ve failed repeatedly. I don’t really know why. I’m just lazy is what I keep telling myself. Writer’s block is a bitch. I just need time after so many rejections. Etc. But how do I fix this? How do I fix me?

I’m not just lazy. I know I’m generally a lazy person, but not when it comes to work. I went through something similar with reading when I was younger. I spent a few years voraciously reading everything, then one day I just stopped. I had no problem completing reading assignments for school, but whenever I picked up a book for fun, I couldn’t do it. Over the span of like 5+ years, I only read a handful of books for fun. Then, I randomly got back into reading. I don’t read anywhere near as much as I did, but I still read at least 20 minutes a day for fun on top of the time I spend reading for the monthly reviews. I don’t hesitate to write letters or stuff when I need to, so I know it’s not laziness. I don’t think it’s burnout either. I don’t know what it is.

I also know it’s not writer’s block. I know what I want to write and I’m not even opposed to doing it on most days. It’s like my brain prioritizes the book review reading and won’t let me write until I read, but then doesn’t want to write so late in the day. It’s more like self-sabotage than writer’s block. I suppose I really need to decide on a schedule and stick to it, but it’s hard.

Needing time after all the rejections is a good excuse, but I know it’s not really a factor at this point. Maybe the first six months or so it was. I’m not that sensitive, but hundreds of rejections (granted there were some really nice ones in there) with only a few acceptances is bound to get anyone down and questioning their life choices. But when does it become too much time? I’m well beyond that point and I know it.

Anyway, enough rambling. All I really wanted to say was that I opened the file of the book I’ve been thinking of getting back to and I had one of those moments. You know the one. That “Where’s the rest? Fuck… I have to write it…” moment. I’m not promising I’ll write it, but it was a nice feeling and I have been fiddling with the outline to update it.

Tattoo Ideas

~ shawnaborman ~ 2 Comments

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this lovely Wednesday? Things here are okay, I guess. Trump’s America is hitting super close to home (like next door kind of close) and I hate it. But there’s nothing I can do, so I’m trying to think about better things. Dad and I were chatting (I don’t even remember about what) and he mentioned piercings, but I don’t want any piercings (on other people they’re great, just not a me thing), so we somehow got onto tattoos from there. Anyway, I always told myself I’d get a tattoo when I got published for the first time (anything, not just a novel), but I never did. Then it became “I’ll do it when I get my first full length book published.” We’ll see if that ever happens. Now, maybe it will just be an “if I survive the dumpster fire that is the current administration” reward. Despite never doing it, I still have ideas, so I thought I’d share them with you. We should all take some time to think of something happy.

1. The kanji for sakura (cherry blossom) with some cherry blossoms. Something relatively small. I don’t really have much in the way of an actual design. I’d just let the artist come up with something.

2. A Sailor Saturn inspired image designed by my little sis (Jenae). It would probably need tweaked by the tattoo artist, so I might be better off finding someone who specializes in anime tattoos (they do exist), but this is all just daydreaming, so it doesn’t matter right now.

3. A Sailor Uranus inspired image designed by my little sis (Jenae). There are also versions for Pluto and Neptune if I get crazy.

I also wouldn’t mind something Gambit/Rogue related. But no idea what. What kind of tattoos would you want to get? Are you a planner or someone who randomly picks something? Someone who needs their tattoos to be meaningful or someone who just likes pretty things? As usual, feel free to leave your thoughts and comments and questions here or on my social media pages!

Year End Goals

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Not much going on besides end of year stuff. There’s not really much to ramble about. I’ve been trying to think of ways to get this blog more active. I don’t read fast enough to do a review every week. If you have ideas, feel free to share them. But for now, I think I’ll just ramble about my plans for the next couple of weeks. It’s nothing exciting. Just trying to get motivated for next year. So, here’s what my December looks like in no particular order.

1. Benefits stuff. I just had my yearly meeting to assure the state I’m still cripple and need the benefits I receive. The nurse is supposed to come out on Friday so they can do even more paperwork assuring the state that I am indeed still cripple. After which, I’ll keep pestering my case worker until my plan is approved so we don’t end up in the same clusterfuck that was 2024. But that’s a rant I don’t want to get started on. Deep breath. Big smile. Scream into the void. That’s it. Everything is fine. Moving on.

2. Reading. I have one more book to finish for reviewing this year. I’m a little more than halfway through it. I’m also reading one “for fun” book. I would like to finish it before the end of the year, but I’m not going to rush it. It’s supposed to be fun. And I’ve already passed my book goal for 2024, so yay me. I’ve read 37 so far, which means I’ll at least end the year at 38. For me, that’s great.

3. Open the files. Starting in January, I want to get back to writing a novel. Before then, I need to read over what I’ve already written (only one chapter) and study my notes. Yes, this one has notes! There are character names/descriptions and a broad strokes plot outline with key points planned out. I just need to refresh my memory and decide if I want to tweak anything before I let the characters destroy my lovely little mystery with their own ideas.

That’s it, really. There’s also a vet appointment for Sophia (yearly check up) and we need to schedule one for January for Bonnie, but that’s it. (Mardi doesn’t go until April for anyone wondering about her.) What do you need to do before January? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts or questions or whatever here or on my social media pages!

Mindless Games as Productivity Tools Follow Up

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are about the same as they’ve been. Not great, but it could be worse. I’m getting a late start on this post because I had a meeting with my case manager and another team member about the government crap. Ugh. But anyway, that just means I’m tired and not really into blogging today, so this will be short. Yay! I suppose I’ll ramble about the fact that I wrote words on Monday! Only about 400, but I did the thing. I also did it while playing my mindless games. A few posts ago, I mentioned that the mindless games have actually helped with my reading productivity, so I thought I would try it with writing. Does it work?

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure yet. It took a long time for me to actually bring myself to start writing because I started a new short story, so the page was blank. Well, not technically blank. I always throw in the header with my contact info and word count like it’s ready to submit, plus a throwaway title and my byline. Sometimes, that’s enough to trick my brain into thinking the story is already in progress. But most of the time, I suffer from blank page paralysis. That first sentence is just so much pressure. And it doesn’t help that I’m the type who has to start at the beginning. I can’t just jump to a random scene then go back and fill stuff in. That’s just not how my brain works.

But once I got started, the system seemed to work. I’d set up a battle, write while it played out, then eventually set up another battle, and somehow at the end of the night, I had 400 words. I even stopped to eat dinner and watch some tv, then started up again with no problem. That’s super rare for me. I usually just cram in the words and when it’s dinner time, it all gets shut down and stowed away for another day. So, even though it’s only been one day, I’m kind of hopeful for this system. I even got my reading done that day. We’ll see if I can keep it up. Any words are better than none, so I’m trying not to focus on a specific word count yet. I’ll add that in later if this system keeps working.

What kind of stuff helps you write when you just aren’t feeling it? As always, feel free to share your thoughts and comments and questions here or on my social media pages!

Mindless Games as Productivity Tools

~ shawnaborman ~ 1 Comment

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things are still not sorted out here because the government is so very slow, so I’m not in a good mood, but I don’t want to rant. Instead, I’m going to ramble about one of the mindless games I play. Namely, Hero Wars. Ever since I started playing it, I’ve noticed a major increase in my reading productivity. I’ve been finishing reading the review books up to two weeks early (like next week’s book, I finished on the 13th instead of the 25th like planned) and not because they’re fabulous books as you know. It’s weird and sounds like a lie, but hear me out…

Hero Wars is one of those games where there’s like 50 things to do every day on top of the actual game and leveling up characters. A lot of these things are done with the auto setting permanently engaged, so you’re forced to stare at a bunch of characters battle for two minutes without actually doing anything. You can also turn on auto on the regular parts of the game which is useful when you’re just trying to collect items to level up your characters and are therefore playing the same level over and over again. It honestly gets boring, but I enjoy it nonetheless.

When I was about to give up one day because I had to read, I decided to just let the fight play out while I read. Then, after a few paragraphs, I went back to the game, set up the next battle, then read for a few more minutes. And I just kept flipping back and forth between the two which meant I never had enough time to get bored with either. I limit myself to only doing this with books I’m going to review, because doing two “for fun” things at once just seems like cheating. But it’s weirdly effective. I don’t dread my daily reading anymore. I can read as much as I want, then get a thirty second break to do something fun when I start to get bored with the book. It’s like a tiny serotonin bomb that makes the next few paragraphs or pages feel less like a chore (even when I really enjoy a book, reading can be difficult to focus on). So weird.

I’m starting to wonder what else I could apply this to. Maybe writing. I’ve only tried it while blogging a couple of times. It’s not quite the same. With the blog, I’m usually feeling pressured to get it done since I’ve waited until the last minute, so tiny serotonin bombs don’t really help. But perhaps with regular writing, it would be more helpful. I think I’ll try it.

What are some weird things that help you become more productive in certain areas? Are they limited to specific things, like helping with reading or writing? As always, feel free to share your comments or thoughts or questions here or on my social media pages!

Women Authors Part 2

~ shawnaborman ~ 3 Comments

Hello, hello! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? Things here are fine. Mardi got groomed yesterday, so she’s a new pupper. That’s about all the interesting stuff going on right now. Anyway, I thought I would continue in the same vein as last week by sharing 5 more women authors. The only difference is that I am acquainted with these people. So, shameless friend/mentor promotion!

1. Nancy Holder. She doesn’t really need an introduction. Aside from being an amazing human being and writer, she’s an awesome mentor.

2. J.R. Dawson. Another wonderful human being and fabulous writer. She also encourages my love of demons with a twist. And my love of villains in general. And there’s the fact that we torture each other with FMA memes. I think I’ll keep her.

3. Renee S. DeCamillis. A fellow Capricorn and lover of sharp pointy things. She writes horror as well! This is a picture of her upcoming book. You should follow her for more information about it.

4. Theodora Goss. Another mentor and awesome writer. Along with some of my favorite novels, she also writes beautiful poetry.

5. R.M. Romero. A lovely person and wonderful writer. On top of gorgeous stories, her book covers are always entrancing.

Feel free to share your lovely lady authors here or on my social media pages! I’ll be back next week with the monthly book review.

Phantoms from the Sky: Shameless Self-Promotion

~ shawnaborman ~ Leave a comment

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this first Wednesday of March? Things here are good. If you stalk me on social media and saw the cover release a few days ago, you were probably expecting this. Shameless self-promotion time! Remember that anthology from Rogue Owl Press that I mentioned back in February? It has a title and a cover and a pre-launch page for the Kickstarter! It’s called Phantoms from the Sky and the Kickstarter officially starts on March 27th, but if you go to the link above and sign up to be notified on launch, I’d really appreciate it. Following the project helps a lot.

I think that’s everything for this week. Please follow the pre-launch page if you can and expect more shameless self-promotion regarding this anthology in the near future!

I’m Old… 38 Things…

~ shawnaborman ~ 7 Comments

Howdy, howdy! How’s everyone doing this wonderful Wednesday? It’s that time of year again. That time where I get older and everyone seems to notice for a few days, then I just go back to quietly aging every second until next year when everyone notices again. Yay! Actually, my birthday isn’t until Friday, so I seriously considered skipping this post this year. I’m lazy and coming up with 38 random things about myself is… well… it’s a lot. But I’ll try. Let’s see how far I can get.

1. Let’s just jump right in with an unpopular opinion. I don’t like fudge. If I wanted to eat a cube of sugar, I’d eat a sugar cube.

2. I’m currently obsessed with the song Afraid of the Dark by Chef’Special and have no idea way. It’s not even a very good song.

3. I’m not a big tea drinker, but I like looking at fancy tea sets.

4. It’s currently January 9th and I’ve written four days this year, not including blog posts. I’m not writing a lot, but at least it’s something.

5. In those four days, I’ve almost completed a short story. One more day should do it, plus a day to read through and flesh it out. Should be done before my birthday. It might not be good, but at least it will exist.

6. I find myself actually wanting to write the past few days. It’s weird.

7. My favorite colors are purple (heavier on the blue than red), teal, and silver.

8. I’m reading The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec for fun.

9. I’m also reading Clover Hendry’s Day Off by Beth Morrey to review at the end of the month.

10. I’m getting shepherd’s pie for my birthday dinner. Be jealous.

11. I’d rather be watching TV than doing this. Actually, I’d rather be doing just about anything else.

12. Enza sent me some stuff from MarieBelle chocolates and the brownies came in a lovely blue tin. I think I was more excited about that than the goodies. I love tins and I don’t know why.

13. I still don’t like pumpkin spice. I try it every year thinking maybe I’ll magically love it, but it’s always just meh.

14. I bought a nice sweater in November and still haven’t worn it. No reason to. But I bought it anyway.

15. I cry when I’m angry, but not really when I’m sad. It’s annoying and that just makes me cry more.

16. It has taken me over an hour just to get this far on this list. Needless to say, finding things to say about myself is not my forte.

17. I’m craving hot chocolate. I have hot chocolate. I just keep forgetting to ask Dad to make it.

18. It’s weird when people ask for my opinion like I’m supposed to know what I’m doing. I assure you, I have no idea. I’m just faking it.

19. I randomly think of the drunk chick who belted out happy birthday at me in a club bathroom then promised to slit the throat of anyone who said I was anything less than beautiful.

20. So many random drunk people stories. I don’t miss going to clubs and being surrounded by them.

21. I do miss going to anime conventions though.

22. I love pupusas.

23. My minion made me a skull and she’s sitting on my desk and her name is Hel.

24. Candy Corn is just wax with sugar in it.

25. I’m tired. All the time. Until it’s time to sleep, then I’m wide awake for the next three hours reliving something stupid I said or did five years ago.

26. I never kept a journal for more than a few days and I don’t understand how people do it. Nothing interesting enough ever happens to me on a daily basis to keep a list.

27. Sometimes, I want to pull down the tequila and sip on a shot, but then I wonder why and decide it’s not worth the trouble.

28. I sit and listen to the dogs bark then tell them I don’t believe their stories when they’re done or ask them to tell me more.

29. I haven’t watched anime or read any manga in a long time.

30. My favorite non-food smell is that smell after you cut a piece of wood.

31. My favorite food smell is probably roasting garlic.

32. I like grape soda. There’s nothing quite like that fake grape taste. Certainly not real grapes.

33. I’m thinking about rereading The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings this year. The past few years, I’ve randomly reread series, so maybe it’s time for those books again.

34. In lieu of new TV, Dad and I have watched a bunch of the old Perry Mason (can’t find all of them), all of Columbo, and the original Star Trek. We’re currently working through Star Trek: TNG, Murder She Wrote, and Monk. Plus stuff on BritBox and Acorn TV.

35. I can’t decide if I want to read The Midnight Library or Mexican Gothic as my next fun book.

36. I’m making Dad watch the new Percy Jackson show. I like it so far.

37. I also like orange soda.

38. I randomly want some flan, but it will pass.