Head Over

It was time to snatch my own domain name. Head on over for joconnorwrites.com for more posts!

Listen Up

About three or four years ago I wrote a satirical happy-go-lucky essay in response to a slew of depressing high school-like fiction I was reading in my creative writing class. To do this I picked the cheesiest happy song I could find, Miley Cyrus's "Dream". Now, before I lose all my credibility as a person and writer, I want to say that this was more of an experiment than anything.

Before this essay I had scheduled my life so that when I had to write I could type out a complete draft in one sitting. This was getting less and less possible. I decided I would use this song as my anchor, play it (very) low in my headphones and see if by listening I could easily fall back into the voice I had started with. The funny thing was that it worked. I listened to the song about 400 times by the end of the final draft, but I hardly remember hearing anything.

Everyone is different, but if you find yourself having trouble getting back into a writing process after stepping away for a while try to create yourself an anchor. For me, it's music, but maybe there is something else you can do to help yourself pick up where you left off.

I've since learned that the qualities of the song don't really matter so long as the song or playlist remains the same. Basically, I could have spared myself the embarrassment of unintentional "Dream" hums in class, but in case you were curious, yes, I did listen to Miley while writing this post.

401.

Struggle Through It

Earlier this week I talked about how sometimes, as writers, we have to move on from an idea, but what happens during the initial idea phase when you have a really great thought, but you can't seem to get it on paper? In your head, the idea is flawless, but the connection between your brain and your hand seem to be severed or, at the very least, temporarily not on speaking terms.

There have been many times that I've struggled through my writing, but it seems that the more challenged I am by something, the better I do. Good writing takes work. Maybe on the first go around you just want to throw all your ideas out onto the page and worry about perfecting them later. Maybe you're like me and you watch the blinking line on your screen a thousand times before coming up with the perfect way to say something (which you will probably change later). Either way, struggling can be a good thing if it is the right kind of struggling. Let me explain what I mean.

When I good struggle it is because something I am writing is particularly challenging and in some way personal to me. I am struggling because in my mind I know exactly how the scene I am describing should feel to the reader, but I find it difficult to put into words. When I bad struggle it is because I am trying to make a story something that it is not. This mostly happens when I'm given a prompt that requires a certain ending (I hate these). As a writer, it is important to let your characters and conflicts drive the story, your hand should simply facilitate that process. When I try to take over, I bad struggle.

I think the most important thing is to remain self-aware. You have to know when you are struggling and why. If it is a bad struggle, move on and let the story do what it wants. If it is a good struggle, hold on, push through, and let the magic happen.

Move On

During pitch meetings it is really easy to get really excited about an idea. Sometimes, I'll be so confident in myself that I can't wait to share the brilliance that I've come up with, but sometimes, life can be humbling. I used to think the worst that could happen was negative feedback. I thought this until I went through a session with no feedback at all. When people give you feedback, even if it is negative, it can help form a new idea or strengthen an existing one. No feedback is the opposite. The white noise makes you feel like not only is your idea awful, but also that no one can come up with anything constructive to say about it. These are the moments that I truly experienced something my professor told  my class during his first lecture: Know when to move on. Sure, I'd like to think that I'm an idea superstar, and sometimes I might be, but half the battle is knowing what can be worked on, what can be saved for later, and what should just be thrown out.

For me, this time, it is back to the drawing board.

Apply Yourself

After what seems like weeks and weeks of preparation I have finally submitted my application to Tracy Locke's Summer Copywriting Internship Program. I am very excited at the idea of working, learning and growing as a creative mind and hope that I have the chance to join their team. Wish me luck!

Photo by Sally M

Revise

This week I had my first writing critique in grad school. My previous experiences with critiques were often filled with unnecessary praise and little actual critique, but this was the exact opposite. The students and the professor started out with a couple positives but then they dove right in to the negatives, as they should.

Much of what they said I agreed were issues. It was nice to have another voice confirm my suspicions. Some things, though, were issues that I had completely overlooked. I gave myself a night to mull over the good and the bad and when I woke up I decided that I was going to give it another go. I wanted to see if I could fix the problems while maintaining the core of my story.

What happened was amazing. New, interesting characters. Plot twists and seeds I could sprout later. After only one revision my story had gained so much.

I have always been a fan of revising my work, but I'm now noticing how important it is to have other writers give it a once over. I mean, having a friend or a parent look at what your doing can be great, but in my experience it is only the writer that can detect the most minute of inconsistencies and really help propel your story forward.

Down the line, when the work I am currently writing is completed, I look forward to my fellow writers tearing it to shreds because I think once I put the pieces back together the story will be stronger, more captivating, and better for having been broken.

Photo by Matt McGee

Keep the Business Side in Mind

Photo by modenadude 

This weekend I started writing the first draft of my first novel. Usually when I sit down to write I only think about the creative side. I think about what story I want to tell and don't really care too much about the other factors. Today, however, when I sat down to write I had a voice in the back of my head reminding me to know my audience, to make sure what I'm writing is marketable, and to still infuse my creativity into it.

Managing the business and creative side of writing can be a bit of a challenge. You don't want one part to overwhelm the other, but you also have to be conscious of both. I don't think I will ever be the type of writer to write something just because I want it to sell, but I think it is important to keep in mind. Whenever I think of potential projects I have to be passionate about them in some way in order for them to be successful. 

If you are writing only for yourself, write on, but if you have a vision of your book in that little book store around the corner, or on Amazon, it would be good to keep in mind that this is something that someone else will need to want to read. Ideally, even with this in mind, it will still be something you would read, too. 

Neglected

As my lack of writing on this blog would suggest, I have been a little missing in action as of late. The break from school, and writing, was much needed and I feel like I will have a fresh perspective coming into the winter quarter. The way my schedule if shaping up, it looks like this blog will survive in a weekly format. Hope everyone had a good holiday. I know that, for me at least, it is time to get back to my normal routine and to start writing again. Sorry for the unintentional hiatus.

Happy 2013!