Story Sensei

I started using the website 4thewords.com this month. Originally I had been searching online for a website to help make my writing sprints a little more fun , and found this website. I had actually signed up for it last year, but ultimately decided at the time that I wasn't interested in it. But now, the whole concept of writing in order to "defeat" monsters within a certain time limit was really appealing to me. I only discovered late last year that I love fantasy role playing games, and this is just like that. I’m not sure why, but I really love doing the quests in the game and figuring out how to fulfill the different quests and craft different weapons and armor! I’ve basically been doing lots of sprints throughout the day and the words kept piling up. As a result, it has increased my writing productivity , and unless I have errands to run or I've been hit by health issues, I've been able to get about 3000 words written every day, and some days even more...

I’m really glad I started my daily writing blog. I’ve picked up on a lot of my habits (both good and bad) and my tendency toward distraction has become more obvious to me. I also figured out some tactics that seem to work best for me to improve my writing productivity—I think I’ve figured out (at least a little bit) how I’ve been able to improve my writing consistency, the number of hours I’m able to focus on my writing, and how I’m able to be more efficient at my writing tasks. If you’d like to read it, the Day 28 evaluation is here . Please also be aware, since I’m a full-time writer AND a plotter, the tactics I came up with may not be helpful for every writer.

I was re-reading Write Better, Faster: How To Triple Your Writing Speed and Write More Every Day , and I realized that while I’ve tried the other techniques in the book, I never actually did a writer’s diary. She gives good reasons why it’s important, but I just never got around to doing it when I was setting up my spreadsheet to track my writing statistics. I think it will be good to do this diary because it will be raw data for me—a record of exactly what I did each day for my writing. A review of each day will enable me to record any insights I might discover about my writing habits. With that collection of raw data in my diary, I’ll be able to see larger-scale trends in my writer’s process so that I can adjust and correct as needed, and hopefully improve my productivity. But I thought that my normal Story Sensei blog readers might be annoyed at daily entries with minute detail of my day, so I repurposed one other Blogger blog I had lying around and made it Camy’s Writing Diary ...

Now that I'm over my bout of writer's block, I suppose I'm feeling a little panicked about getting as much done as I can before the next bout of writer's block hits. I know that's very irrational, because sometimes writer's block hits because of some problem with the writing that I have to address, so writing more now might only hasten the arrival of my next bout of writer's block. Even when I was working in biology research, I was always interested in optimizing processes. I've carried that over to my writing, and tried to optimize my writing process over the years. So I did some Internet searches on writing faster, and I found the books 2k to 10k , and 5,000 Words Per Hour . Both books had very good tips and advice. In the 2K to 10K book, I liked the advice about jotting notes in detail about the scene you're about to write. I had never done this consistently, but when I did, I noticed that writing the scene went much more smoothly. I also li...

I’ve been struggling with writer’s block/lack of motivation in my writing for several months now, and I’ve been battling it the way I’ve always battled it before—I sit my butt down in a chair and force myself to write, powering through the blah feeling and writing absolute crap as if I’ve forgotten everything I’ve learned about writing prose. The problem with this is that if the writer’s block/lack of motivation lasts for a long time, that kind of “powering through it” can get really tiring. So I’ve also been reading writing books to try to glean some new trick or technique to use. I read 5000 Words Per Hour by Chris Fox and I really liked his concept of timed writing sprints. I found that the time pressure really helped me to turn off the internal editor and just write. Rather than being stuck on a particular scene or page, I would force myself to just write whatever came to mind even if it was trite and bland, because I can always fix it later. If I really couldn’t think of s...

I just discovered a great resource for inspiration, reminders, and tips for writing. I’ve been in a bit of a plotting rut and so I do what I usually do, which is watch TV shows and movies. This time, I watched the audio commentary for one of my favorite movies, Captain America: Civil War . I didn’t realize that I’d get so many great ideas for plotting, characterization, dialogue beats, theme, mood, and setting by listening to the directors and the screenwriters comment as they viewed the movie. It not only gave me a springboard for my own plot and character ideas, but it reminded me of techniques I’d forgotten about, which helped me in my story structure and character development. It’s a shame that I’m only realizing this now, because it’s a resource I’ve always had, in the movies I’ve bought on iTunes, but never utilized. I’ll definitely be using this more in future. I hope this tip helps you guys, too—pick your favorite movie and listen to the audio commentary. You never know w...

I recently was cleaning out my file cabinets and came across a print-out of this article on writer's block that I'd forgotten about. In re-reading it, I was struck anew with how interesting and informative it is. Or maybe I just liked it because it appeals to the geek in me, since it addresses the psychological and neurological basis of writer's block. Anyway, here's the link in case you're interested: Writer's Block: Is It All in Your Head? by Leslie What

A writer asked me this question: I recently started writing a novel based off a couple friends and I wondering what would happen if we got thrust into a messy world of insane, chaotic, and anything considered un- or supernatural events.  I have already done a bit of tweaking to one character to make her a bit more agressive and aloof, but two other main character (out of four) are rather shy.  In real life, they don't talk much, and while they have come out of their shells quite a bit in the years I have known them, I doubt they'd ever be the type of people to rush head first into a life-or-death fight that could change the fate of the world you see in just about evrry novel on the shelves.  My question is, is it a bad idea to have them in the story?  I think with the dynamic our little group has it would be very interesting as characters, but I don't want them to be critiscized as boring or unoriginal. My feeling is that all characters, whether main or secondary, shoul...

Camy here: I STRONGLY recommend this course! Many of the manuscripts that I critique could use more emotional writing, and this course is the best of its kind in teaching how to write with more emotion, more emotional intensity, more psychologically resonating emotion. TAKE THIS COURSE! This course is designed for writers of ALL GENRES, published or unpublished. You'll work at your own pace, on your own level. EMPOWERING CHARACTERS' EMOTIONS (details below) Presenter: Margie Lawson Cost: $20.00 PASIC members, $30.00 non-members - payable by PayPal Deadline to Register: February 27, 2010 TO REGISTER, GO HERE: http://pasic.net/class_lawson_032010.html CLASS INFORMATION: Would you like to learn how to: Capture emotion on the page? Hook the reader by eliciting a visceral response? Analyze your scenes? Fix scenes that don't work? Increase micro-tension? Add psychological power to a good scene and make it stellar? This power-packed on-line class...

This is my fifth year coordinating the American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis contest for unpublished writers! We just went live yesterday! Deadline is 8 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on March 31st, so get your manuscripts polished so you can enter! Actually, enter by March 15th in case your entry gets lost in cyberspace, so we have time to find it. You must be an ACFW member to enter the contest, but you can join when you submit your entry fee! If you're thinking seriously about being published in Christian fiction, ACFW is a fantastic organization! Here's the website: ACFW Genesis contest

I love the Edittorrent blog, and Alicia Rasley posted this one that I thought was a really good post for those of us who incorporate humor in our fiction: I was reading Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich, and I realized that one reason she's so popular with her readers is that she knows what's fun and spins it out to an enjoyable length. She doesn't just allude to it-- she exploits it. Click here to read the rest of the post

Camy here: I'm especially pleased to post this excerpt because I'm in this book, too! I have a piece on finding and developing your writer's voice, that elusive "something" in your writing that makes the piece uniquely yours. I hope you guys enjoy this excerpt enough that you'll buy the book! All proceeds from this book go to charity. A Novel Idea Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (November 1, 2009) by Various Best-Selling Authors (contributions from best-selling authors including Jerry B. Jenkins, Francine Rivers, Karen Kingsbury, Randy Alcorn, Terri Blackstock, Robin Jones Gunn, Angela Hunt and more) ABOUT THE BOOK: Best-selling Christian fiction writers have teamed together to contribute articles on the craft of writing. A Novel Idea contains tips on brainstorming ideas and crafting and marketing a novel. It explains what makes a Christian novel “Christian” and offers tips on how to approach tough topics. Contributors include Jerry B. Jenkins, Karen Kingsbur...

From Camy: I just saw this program being used today by a friend of mine, and I can tell you it's fantastic. Very easy to use and intuitive. If you have problems: --writing a synopsis or --structuring your novel or --pacing your plot or character arc then this program will help you with that. From Randy Ingermanson: Final Reminder: 80% discount on "Snowflake Pro" ends soon To Readers of my Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine: Just a quick reminder that my 80 percent discount on "Snowflake Pro" ends soon. As I write this, about 24 hours remain before I'll end this special. (It ends on Friday night at midnight, California time.) Snowflake Pro is software to make my Snowflake method faster, easier, and more fun. In the last few days, a very large number of you, my loyal e-zine readers, have taken advantage of this one-time special offer to get Snowflake Pro. Thanks to all of you who've already e-mailed me to tell me how much you like it. This note is just a remi...

Really great post on edittorent: Marks of an Amateur - the Query Letter Are you committing any of these query faux pas?

Writing even a little every day is a really good way to keep your creativity flowing and to keep your productivity up. I have always liked writing prompts because they can be just a short short story or they can turn into an entire novel! Writing.com has a new Twitter account that tweets a writing prompt every day! Click the link below to follow their Twitter: http://twitter.com/DailyPrompt

Here's a note from author Ron Benrey: Janet and I are launching “Fiction After 50” seminars to help late-blooming novelists write publishable fiction and market their manuscripts to real publishers. The first Fiction After 50 seminar is scheduled in Dallas, on July 17-19; the next is in Orlando, on October 2-4. Each seminar is an intensive program -- 2.5 full days of classes, workshops, and guided small-group brainstorming sessions filled with practical exercises -- that will help unpublished novelists refine their novels-in-progress (or their ideas for the novels they want to write) and increase the likelihood that they'll sell to royalty-paying publishers. We’ll also teach many “hurry-up” strategies that can accelerate the process of finishing and marketing a manuscript. For more information visit: www.fictionafter50.com Incidentally, our Fiction After 50 seminars will be "managed" by Free Expressions Seminars and Literary Services, the same group the does the excel...

An old article of mine is on WannaBePublished.blogspot.com today! The Gallup Poll website is fascinating. Okay, I admit, I’m a geek. However, it’s also useful in gathering information about the book business, which is important for a writer. Click here to read the rest of the article.

To Readers of My Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine: This is Randy Ingermanson, with a special note for you. Tax Day has come and gone, and I hope you've survived. This past year has been brutal for all of us. May the next year be better! To celebrate getting past Tax Day, I'm running one of my famous super-slasher sales on my web site store. Everything is 50% off for the next 96 hours. If you're getting a tax refund this year, you might want to consider taking advantage of my 50%-off sale to invest in your writing career. For less than the cost of a month of cell phone service, you could take action that would improve your writing skills for a lifetime. This 96-hour special runs from midnight on Thursday, April 16, 2009, through midnight on Monday, April 20. (All times are California time.) Sorry, but I can't give extensions on this. When it's over, it's over. I don't run these ultra-discount sales very often. The last was in December. In order to take advanta...

Hey guys, My workshop "The Hero and Heroine's Journeys" just got accepted for the American Christian Fiction Writers conference this year! I'll be teaching on--duh--the Hero and Heroine's Journeys. If you've never used the Heroine's Journey, especially, and you have a female main protagonist, this will be a good workshop for you for characterization. The ACFW Conference is in Denver, Colorado this year, from September 17th through the 20th. Information is on the ACFW website . Registration hasn't opened yet, and only ACFW members can attend the conference (but it's only $50 membership fee for the first year to join ACFW, and believe me, it's totally worth it to join! I talk about ACFW here . If you have questions about ACFW, just leave a question in the comments.) They'll announce when registration is open for the conference on the ACFW members email loop. So anyway, I hope you (a) join ACFW and (b) take my workshop in Denver this year!

My friend Danica blogged about some Common Contest Problems , and her post might be a helpful checklist for anyone trying to strengthen those first 50 pages of their manuscript: I'm doing my civic duty and judging some contest entries today. I had really high hopes for this one. In years past, I've read such good entries that I wanted to write the contest people, begging to read the rest of the manuscript. This year, not so much. As I read each entry, I realized that they all had the same problems in common. So I thought, for the writers who read my blog, I'd share the commonalities. Click here to read the rest of the post.