Blog Archives - Crossworlds

Tuesday Tips: On "writer's block"

1/31/2017

Do you have "writer's block"? Nope. You don't, and you never will. Let me tell you right now, writer's block is a myth.

I've always hated the phrase "writer's block." It honestly makes me cringe. Maybe because it sounds so cliche. I mean, I didn't want to call myself a writer at first because I didn't think I liked or was good at writing, but secondly because the term "writer" comes with a whole load of stereotypes I want no part of.

But I'm getting sidetracked, as writers do. I'll take any other stereotype before I say "I have writer's block" out loud. I just have too much pride, and you should too.

You do not "have" writer's block. It is not a disease. It's not this huge weight, this impossible to cure condition that prevents you from moving your hands on a keyboard. But once you tell yourself you "have" writer's block, suddenly you do put that weight on your shoulders. Suddenly it's this enormous excuse to give up. So never, never tell yourself you have writer's block. Ever. Then, try out some of these tips:

Identify your real problem. If you're just starting out, and are faced with a blank page, that problem is usually perfectionism. This can get in the way during any step of the writing process, but it's very common at the beginning. Give yourself permission to write crap.

There are several things you can do if you feel unfocused, and perfectionism isn't the problem
First, check in with yourself. Maybe you've been sitting at the keyboard for endless hours, and you haven't eaten, slept, or showered in the recent past. Get up and take care of yourself before getting back to work. You'll do much better rested, clean, and with a full stomach. Remember, you are just tired, you do not have writer's block.

Read the story from the beginning. You'll find little things you've forgotten about, and the clear path will reveal itself. Remember, you are just a little fogged, you do not have writer's block.

Clear your head. Get off the internet, get away from your phone, and just write for a set amount of time. I find setting a timer for 30 minutes to shut out the world and write works well. Remember, you are just distracted, you do not have writer's block.

Get Inspired. Remember your two golden rules: read more, and write more. If your current work in progress is giving you trouble, try something new. Google writing prompts, or even just try journaling. Take a break and read a book. Try drawing your characters. Remember, you do not have writer's block. The real world is always trying to tone down your creativity. Don't let it.

Monday Music: Say Something, Pentatonix

1/30/2017

I keep saying I love acapella, but yet I haven't posted a single acapella video for Monday Music yet. We're long overdue, even though this blog has only been going for a few weeks. Okay, technically this isn't true acapella because there's a cello, but Pentatonix has already established themselves as an amazing acapella group, so I feel okay about it.

Anyway. This song is one of Eva's. You can imagine who it's dedicated to.

Wednesday Word: The Mansion's Twins Inspiration, Part Two

1/25/2017

A World of Dreams

I knew "Strangeness" was just a phase. I knew childhood magic was something that faded away, and I desperately wanted to hold onto it. How? Write down everything. So that even when I was older, and started to forget how I felt, I could re-read everything, spend a day in the stories, and start to remember again.

This is how Crossworlds started to form on paper. It was my pretend world based on wishes, dreams, and imaginary friends. I always wanted a twin sister. I wanted to live in a mansion, and always had dreams about exploring mansions. I’ve always loved the idea of other worlds being real. Magic being real. Everything existing, somewhere. I'd pretend I could talk to Ellie and Savannah though the mirror on my dresser.

Once I started putting these ideas in notebooks, I started to think I could form a story out of them. And that’s where more elements came in. How about we just take some common elements from fantasy books and just flip them upside-down? Normally we’ve got an old man mentor character. I’ll give you June, the queen of the East who is actually hundreds of years old, but in the body of an eight-year-old girl.

June (in the middle) and her advisors.

Normally we have a hero who's main goal is to kill the antagonist? Let’s have these heroes be all about rebuilding, and being a symbol of light. Normally there’s one male hero? Two girls.

Senka Twins!

I found power and joy in writing I didn't know was possible. I didn't think of it as writing. Writing had always been hard. Unpleasant. Work. This just felt natural.

I wanted to build the world I wanted to live in. Write the book I wanted to read. I took the seeds of everything I loved and planted them across the shadow cave. I knew to have a real story things couldn't be beautiful all the time, so I had to wait for those seeds to grow. Include other parts of my life that weren't so lighthearted. But the dreams seemed a good place to start.

Tuesday Tips: Reading like a Writer, Part One

1/24/2017

Identifying your Pet Peeves

A lot of writing tips focus on what to do, but it's equally important to know what not to do. Now, there are great books on the subject, like "How Not to Write a Novel," by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman.

Personally, I don't like spending a lot of time reading books on how to (or how not to) write. Plenty of tips pop up on the internet every day (like this!), and I'd prefer to read fiction books. If this is also your style, all you have to do is learn to read like a writer.

One way to do this is to notice while your reading what annoys the crap outta you, so you can avoid it in your writing.

Here are some of my reading pet peeves, in no particular order:

1) A description of a character taking a shower. For some reason, some authors think a shower scene is the best place to show off their descriptive skills. But despite their confidence, all the shower scenes sound the same. She "felt the hot water pour over her body," etc... I know what it's like to take a shower, why am I reading about it? Is it really significant to the plot, or even character development?

2) On a similar note, I don't need to read about anyone getting reading in the morning. I don't even like going through my own morning routine, I'd rather sleep in. So when I read about morning routines, they make me want to go to sleep.

3) An action scene coming to a halt so characters can sort out their relationship issues. If you're surrounded by danger, it's just not the time. The relationship will seem insignificant compared to the mortal peril. Plus, leaving the discussion until later builds suspense. Will they ever make things right? Will one of them die before they can fix things? Stopping the action to let them work things out is kind of confusing. Did those bad guys stop chasing you? Did those guns stop firing? Why? I can't focus on your dialogue when I'm wondering where everyone else is. That's not suspense, it's just confusion.

4) Over the top descriptions. Stop showing off and tell me a story. I'm not saying you can't have beautiful descriptions, but there's a line between beautiful and slow. If your showing off, it takes me out of the story and drops me into a high-school English class, where some annoying kid is reading their paper out loud to prove they're better than all of you peasants of average intelligence.

5) Love triangles. I think this is my #1 pet peeve, especially when the story slows to rotate around this all important emotional dilemma. How will she choose? I care so much! And it always has to be dragged out, and the girl turns into a drama queen who cries all the time, when realistically, she could just be upfront about it. She could let one guy down gently. Or, let them both down gently. I mean, GROW UP! I don't care if you're sixteen, you're better than that! UGH! Seriously, if I see a love triangle, nine times out of ten I will close the book. Now, there is an exception. If the drama is kept on the side, the main character handles him or herself maturely, and the plot is excellent, then I can tolerate it enough to keep reading. Still, I can't think of a time I ever enjoyed reading about a love triangle.

6) That poor girl who is stunningly beautiful but has no idea until someone takes pages and pages convincing her. Let’s face it, if you’re hot, you probably know it. That doesn’t mean you can’t be humble about it, but it’s probably not a big issue.

7) On a similar note, that poor girl (or guy) in a fantasy story who's main problem is too much magic--how will you control it?? These too-beautiful, too-powerful traits are just not relatable, and really make readers roll their eyes. We just feel soooo bad for you!

8) Love stories where nothing happens. My favorite love stories are usually the unexpected ones, between two minor characters that develop a relationship while assisting the main characters. Personally, I don’t think relationship development is plot. Relationship develops through plot.

Yes, a lot of these have to do with love stories. Why? Because love stories are, in my opinion, very difficult to get right. In the real world, people who fall in love act like idiots, but I don’t want to read about a couple of people running around being stupid.

I'd like to note that these are just my pet peeves, and yours will probably be different. I'm not saying that these are going to ruin your story, and if you really want to include one, that's up to you. Like, if I had never read any vampire book before "Twilight" I'd probably list vampires in my reading pet peeves. But we all know that real vampires in a fantasy story won't automatically destroy everything. The idea is to identify your pet peeves so you know what not to put in your book. Your audience probably includes people much like yourself, so chances are, the things that annoy you will also annoy them.

Mansion's Twins

Mansion's Family

Dawn's Acapella

Acapella Angels

Monday Music: Empire, Of Monsters And Men

1/23/2017

.I love Of Monsters and Men, and I'm sure more of their music will be featured on these Monday posts. This song reminded me of "Stories of the Early Days" from the first time I heard it. Claire and Dimitri creating their empire.

I thought this would be the perfect way to announce that "Stories of the Early Days" will be published later this year. I don't have a date set yet, but I do have the cover:

Wednesday Word: "If I Wake" Book Review

1/18/2017

Today I wanted to review "If I Wake" by Nikki Moyes.

When I first started reading, I though, "Ugh, this is gonna be a rip off of 'If I Stay.'" Yes, the main character is in a coma, and trying to decide whether or not to return to the world. But as I kept reading, I thought, hey, here are some distinguishing factors. Oh, wait... Not just some... A lot! Like, the entire plot...

Now I can't believe I even had that thought in the first place. This book has much more depth, and I have to say I enjoyed it 600 times more than "If I Stay." Couldn't put it down.

Our main character, Lucy, is bullied in school, and feels helpless and invisible. But every year on her birthday, she travels back in time to meet her dear friend Will. Every time, she meets him in a new time period and is accepted into his family. Every time, she only returns to her normal life after she dies in the past.

The book has themes of kindness, both in the past and present, driving home the message that kindness will always be a powerful force no matter when or where you are.

The characters are all so well developed and well-written, they'll all be in my head long after I finished the last page. They were all real enough to be kids I could have known in high school.

I feel like this is an important book for everyone to read. I was seeking a fantasy/adventure/time travel book when I picked up "If I Wake." Not only did it deliver on all of those accounts, it did a fantastic job getting its message across. Small kind gestures can go a long way. Everyone is on their own journey with struggles we know nothing about.

Also, I appreciated the little touches, like the girls having ridiculous "unique" names, and Lucy's definition of a synonym (she's absolutely right).

Honestly, I feel so many things when I think about this book, I can't put them into words, and it's terribly difficult to write a review. But the bottom line is this:

This book needs to be on everyone's shelf. Get it HERE. Right now.

Tuesday Tips: Starting Out, Part 1

1/17/2017

Do you need an outline?

So, you’ve decided to start your book. You’ve been reading a lot, and you think if write how you talk it can’t be too hard to start. Then you face the blank page. What now?

Well, you have a couple of options. You could begin writing, right now, or you could start with an outline.

This is a question writers always argue over. What works for one person won't work for everyone. So no, I can't give you a yes or no answer to the outline question. I can only give you three questions to ask yourself.

1. How complicated is your story?

A short story with a basic timeline and only a few characters probably won't require much outlining. The more complicated things are, the more useful and outline will be.

2. Is your story subject to change?

Outlining gives you a plan to follow. If you keep changing it, you'll have to re-work your outline as well as your story. However, having the outline will probably make those changes easier to keep track of. Which brings me to our final question:

3. How much time do you want to spend on this project?

The world of “The Mansion’s Twins” was not going to be part of any story at first, it was just an imaginary place for me to play when I was younger. It was all meant to be for fun, so I got to know a lot of places, and a lot of characters, before I even started an outline. And I did that FOR YEARS. Maybe you don’t want writing a book to take years.

If you outline more, and stick to your outline, writing your book will be a much faster process. If you want to spend the time playing in your story world, and falling in love with it, you’ll take more time, but possibly have more fun.

Personally, I consider myself a “light outliner.” I do like to have a plan, but it’s always a flexible plan. This method does take longer than making a detailed outline from the start, and sticking to it the whole way through, but I like it because it gives the story more opportunity to grow. Sometimes, I’ll think of a better direction to take the story in, and end up scrapping my old outline.

Always write when you feel the inspiration to. Don't force yourself to sit down and write an outline when you have a scene in your head. And if a story you're writing turns out more complicated than originally planned, you can always pause to make an outline anywhere in the writing process.

Trust your instincts, and remember your two golden rules. Read, read, read, and write, write, write!

Monday Music: Fly, Nicki Minaj ft. Rihanna

1/16/2017

“I am not fly, I am levitation!” I don’t think any other song sums up Ellie more. Cassandra’s dream of flying was passed down to her. Of course, Savannah’s singing with her, but this is Ellie’s theme song, particularly in The Mansion’s Family.

Wednesday Word: On Expectations

1/11/2017

As I've mentioned, I'm in love with Jenna Marbles. I love her perspective on life. I've found that my best experiences were some that I walked into with zero expectations. This perspective also helps with smaller experiences, like going to see movies. Soooo many movies lately have got bad reviews before I went to see them, but I decided I wanted to see them anyway. Miss Perigrines Home for Peculiar Children. Not the best reviews--leading me to have fairly low expectations. And you know what? I loved it.

What I wanted to discuss was another way to apply this. Jenna mostly talks about how to let go of your expectations of the world. I wanted to write about letting go of the world's expectations of you.

(This gap signifies a gap in time, and stuff I started to write but then deleted, and then went crazy looking at jobs and degrees and isn't this ironic that I felt all the expectations while thinking about how I shouldn't?)

While I was writing this, I started to feel it. What the hell am I doing? I have a degree in psychology. I work at a grocery store. And yet all I want to do is be an author, because that's what makes me happy, and that's what gives my life meaning. I don't want to spend a ton of time, effort and money for something that might be better than what I'm doing now, but won't really be fullfilling. It wouldn't be for me, it'd be what other people expected me to do.

It all comes down to this: What do you want out of life?

Well, personally, I just want to make sure my mark on the world was more positive than negative. I want to make people happy. The best way I know how to do that is by writing books. One of my goodreads reviews said The Mansion's Twins brightened up a rainy weekend. That's completely amazing. To improve the day of a complete stranger.

Dawn's Acapella might have a similar positive impact. More than one review said it should be in anti-bullying programs at schools. Just to have that said is amazing.

These are just my personal experiences. The world puts a lot of presure on all of us. If you have smart parents, you're expected to be smart. If you were good at football in school, you're expected to continue with it. But what if you don't like it anymore? What if you want to try something new? People will question your choices because of what they expect you to be.

These are their expectations. Jenna does comment on this in the video. Go ahead and listen to them, but them let them go.

I mean, think about Nathaniel in Acapella Angels. He set the expectation for himself that he would be a strong warrior and win Cassandra's heart. But that's not at all who he was. If he had just let that go, he might have been happy.

Follow your own heart. And while you're trying to let go of other people's expectations, make sure you're not pressuring another person the same way the world pressures you.

I know I'll write more of my personal thoughts on this is a later blog. For now, I think I'll leave it that. Letting go of expectations will bring us all more happiness.

Tuesday Tips: Write how you talk

1/10/2017

Ever read a book where the author seems like they're trying to imitate Lord of the Rings? Or show off a complex vocabulary?

Sure, there's a time and place to be a little more formal. You don't need to like, literally write how you talk, like, um, all the time. This especially won't work if your writing for character in the past, or if they're very different from you. Royals aren't going to "stay in and chill" tonight. Or if there's a profoundly important object, go ahead and give it a little more attention and description.

But don't dedicate too much description to ordinary things.

Sometimes I'll be looking at books on amazon, and the synopsis details a very complex plot, yet the book is less than 200 pages. Alright, great! This means they cut right to the action, right?

Yet when I read the preview, the story opens with a very detailed description. Like, the most important thing to know is how shiny, soft, and luminescent (I mean, really?) the character's hair or whatever is. Or, the details of the carvings on stone in a room we're never going to return to.

I didn't pick up this book for you to prove to me you know big words. You promised a good story. Tell it.

To these authors:
"It is my desire for you to cease your obnoxious activity."

Um. I mean, "I wish you would stop doing that."

Also, being casual gets you moving. You’ll be getting words on the page a lot faster, because you won’t be trying to be super formal. This is a great way to find your own unique voice as a writer, and your own personal style. You already have your own voice. Nobody else talks just the way you do. This will also make your dialogue more genuine.

I know it can feel weird, especially if you're still in school. English classes teach us to be a little more formal.

But now, you're writing for yourself (and if you're not, please ask yourself who exactly you're doing this for). You get to do whatever you like. Creating your own story is one of the most freeing experiences there is. Don't let yourself be held back.