How to write

One thing that will always be true is that no matter how old you are you are never too young to learn something. This has been especially true for me this past month. You see, I was one of those kids who wrote stories and poems at five years old. I wrote my first story, literally when I was five. I wrote another in fifth grade, called Baby Adventures. Don’t worry, I won’t be publishing it. I don’t even remember what happened to it!

I have always been considered a talented writer and have always taken creative writing classes throughout school. I even did a bit of student journalism in high school.

But I came across a man that I feel I should have known but have only become acquainted with this month. His name is John Truby. This man is a master teacher when it comes to helping writers understand how story actually works. While I have always had an instinctual talent for storytelling no teacher or instructor truly helped me to understand how stories need to be put together, and what the rules are, even if you want to break them. You can’t break rules and be successful if you don’t know what they are. While some of the creative writing classes I took as a teen were fun and helpful in firing my imagination for writing more stories none of them actually delved into the mechanics of writing. Truby revealed something in several videos in which he is being interviewed, that many writers don’t understand; most writers don’t understand the genres they are writing in or how a story is supposed to work.

Truby was the teacher I wished I’d had when I was a young writer. He knows genre and story through and through and how to explain it easily. Listening to him I felt something click in my mind when it comes to the cursed Writer’s Block issue. Writer’s Block is not a psychological issue. It is a problem with the story mechanics.

The two times in my writing career that I suffered from Writer’s Block, both times coincided with either a major personal or family crisis. However, when I examined the issues I was having with the manuscripts, there were serious issues with the plot mechanics as well. Once I was able to get myself together mentally and emotionally, I could take a good look at what wasn’t working and make the needed changes. Those were the few times I ever really revised a story. In fact, I’m in the midst of one of those “times” right now. Future Fantastic is coming along nicely. When I work on it, I often get “in the zone”. I didn’t feel this at all nor did I have a good outline for it when I first started the first draft back in 2019. Writing “in the zone” is when you know the story is rocking!

John Truby has two books on story, The Anatomy of Story and The Anatomy of Genre and he also offers audio classes that you can buy and listen to on your own time. I have at least one right now, the class on Myth, and I’m getting another one soon. I think his books should be required reading for all writers. Had I heard of him decades ago I think my writing career would have blossomed. I would have gotten a better grip on story mechanics. As it is now, after forty years of writing and having written nearly twenty books since the advent of the indie publishing revolution, I think I have a good grip on how to write a decent story now and I have no interest in a traditional publishing deal. In fact, perhaps it’s a good thing that I couldn’t get published before. With indie publishing, I control the rights to all of my work and that’s just how I like it. So maybe Truby came just in time for me.

But any and all new and young writers need this man’s wisdom and tutelage. I will write more of my own thoughts on John Truby next week. One thing that is wholly new to me that he has mentioned is the idea of the female mono-myth. Most of us know the male mono-myth, which is the Warrior Myth. That is the archetypal path discussed in The Hero of a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell. I have that book and I always find it enlightening for ideas. Or just for understanding certain aspects of human culture. But there was a mono-story myth that came before but in a cultural sense was wiped out by war-like societies and that is the female mono-myth or what I will call the Heroine’s Journey. he says that this myth is distinctly different from the male version that most people are already familiar with. Truby gives an example of the female mono-myth in The Wizard of Oz.

I used something close to this in my Secret Doorway Tales series without even realizing it. More to come on this subject. Until then happy writing!

SCI-FI EBOOK AND KINDLE GIVEAWAY

I’m participating in a science fiction ebook and kindle giveaway. Need a new kindle? want a new kindle or just want to free science fiction reads? Enter your email address for a chance to win!

Click this link to enter!

The Red world trilogy

I feel as if I have a responsibility here. I tend to talk quite often, if I speak at all about my books, about the Mission series. But not so much the Red World trilogy. However, the RWT is, so far, my magnum opus.

The RWT was inspired by the Bible, Mesopotamian religion and culture (that would include the Bible since it also came out of Mesopotamia) Sub-Saharan African cultures and kingdoms, ancient Rome, ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and even ancient Slavic, Saxon and Germanic culture. Esoteric cults and many other religious themes have also informed my imagination for this trilogy. They give flavor to the story but in no way do I claim to be making straight, allegorical comparisons in the story. But above all the first influence was Frank Herbert’s Dune series. I even copied his “chapter sayings” at the beginning of certain chapters and also a glossary and appendixes in the back and special Notes From the Author.

It was a lot of work to write this trilogy but it was very exciting and a lot of fun too! So, next month I will be examining the trilogy on this blog. Nothing too overwrought and drawn out but just something to help any readers who might see this blog, have bought the first book in the series, and wonder about my writing process in writing it. Happy writing!

SFWA is calling sci-fi and fantasy authors!

So twitter IS still useful then? I guess so! The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer’s Association is calling for mentors! If you are interested in mentoring new writers, whether you are a Master Storyteller or a new indie published authors, you have something to share with others! Sign up with them for their career mentorship Program! The next session begins in March!

Here’s the link! Happy writing!

Lights of langrenus

Something is rotten in Langrenus.

Or technically, north of the city.

Bob has settled down into work and family life but beneath the surface things have changed. He's a secret agent now, building a budding network of people searching for the alien shadow groups on Earth and working to stop the coming alien invasion from beyond the solar system. But for now, all of that is far away.

The Boss, the mysterious head of Vartan, Inc. sends Bob back to the moon city of Langrenus to investigate the Transient Lunar Phenomenon, which has changed pattern and intensity over recent years. No one knows why. At first, Bob suspects he's been sent on a fluff mission. But the more he investigates, the more questions are raised in his mind as to what is really going on. The heart of the problem lies within the lunar mining communities and the increased frequency of the beautiful lunar lights are the result of something far more sinister than Bob ever imagined.

Buy Mission: Lights of Langrenus!

Flight to mars!

Download Flight to Mars for free!

Bob Astor is a Quality Assurance agent working at Vartan Inc. Lately his days have been stressful, to say the least. Butting heads with upper management has put his career on life support. A surprising change in circumstance has Bob going on a business trip to the moon city, Langrenus. On the way, he meets one of the delegates on board the Starbird, a desperate man with a dark past and a very dangerous secret. Through a mysterious series of events Bob finds himself in the middle of an interplanetary crisis that no one knows about. These secrets could change - or destroy - all human life on Earth. The key to the answer of the crises is on the Red Planet, Mars. It's up to Bob, the burnt-out Q. A. agent to rise to the occasion and stem the dangerous tide coming from beyond the solar system.

Download Flight to Mars for free!

Darksome nights of the soul

There have been times when my writer’s block had gotten so bad that I went through several years without writing anything. This happened almost thirty years ago when I had my first nervous breakdown. At that time, the issues that led up to it were personal. I pulled through. The after-effects I suffered from that fallout lasted for decades but I pulled through, I think, a stronger person than before with more wisdom and insight into myself. I started writing again and submitting my work. Some time afterward, came the indie writer’s revolution, as I like to call it. During this time I was more productive as a writer than I had ever been in my life. I learned a lot about myself as a writer and I began to truly understand how my own creative process worked. I also learned that I could earn a living as a writer if I learned the necessary things to keep me in the game. Dean Wesley Smith taught me that.

Then came a massive, terrible family crisis that battered through us like a wrecking ball. I dropped everything to run to the aid of a sibling. Her life completely fell apart and she was no longer able to handle life. I was watching someone I love walk through a Dark Night of the Soul. I nearly lost my own job trying to help her. i also went through some financial issues at the same time that impacted the situation even further.

It was then that I realized that while it is important to give aid and comfort to family and friends in dark times of need, it’s equally important to not lose yourself in their night. I stopped writing once again even though I still had a book in a series to finish. I simply dropped off. I lost interest in my website and business, my books, writing new work, and even in my subscriber list on Mailchimp. In fact, Mailchimp had closed my account and had gotten rid of my mailing list and I had no idea until a year and a half later!

Needless to say, that wasn’t the right way to go about things. And though it’s difficult to know how you will react to a disastrous event, what I have learned is that forcing myself to write on a regular schedule no matter what is happening in my life is as important for my creative mind as prayer during dark times is for my spiritual mind.

We all will go through a Dark Night of the Soul in this fallen and dark world. But there is always a path to get back on track towards the sun and refusing to let everything in your life to crash may help you get back on track sooner to equilibrium and better self-knowledge.

Follow your own path

When I first started in indie publishing back in 2011, I was still stabilizing my creative process for writing. I’m an outliner/architect. I’ve used this process over many years. I know many writers reject outlines and don’t like using them. I understand - this way of writing doesn’t work with their creative process. But it does very well for me, unless I’m writing a short story. In fact, in most cases, I believe that I was able to write and finish and publish as many works as I did between 2011 and 2018 because of this process. You have to understand your own process and follow that. Just like many writers dump on using outlining, for those of you new writers out there who are architects and do use outlines and enjoy this process, or even find it necessary, don’t listen to the chatter against using outlines. I understand that sometimes as you grow and change as a writer your process may change and that’s fine. But if you still find that writing an outline for your story is important to your process, don’t let anyone tell you that you shouldn’t do it.

Dean Wesley Smith, a writer that I have a lot of respect for and have learned a lot from doesn’t like outlining, and I disagree with him on this. It’s one of the few things on which I disagree with him. Besides that, his advice has been invaluable to me as an indie author. One thing I appreciate about him is that he tells writers what they need, and what is garbage advice out there on the interwebs that they need to ignore. Such as people purporting to be proofreaders, editors, or whatnot, who are just hustlers out to make money off of indie authors’ backs. I can’t tell you how many people pretended to be editors, who had no clue how to edit a book.

Keep to your path and to your own process and don’t follow someone else’s unless it actually improves your writing. Happy writing!

stress as creative meat

I’ve had terrible stress in my life at times. Sometimes, things became so hard that it ended in a nervous breakdown. This has happened twice in my life. I had a particularly bad week at work last week and also this morning. A drunk, violent and belligerent neighbor for some random reason decided to target my apartment unit for an attack this morning. I don’t know this man from Adam. His behavior became so out of control that I had to call the police. When someone is trying to break down your door or mess with your lock to get inside to attack you and you have no idea why - this is disturbing. When this person is a man and you are a woman who lives alone, this is frightening.

The police never showed up, by the way. I’ll speak on that another day.

I’ve already informed the management. We’ll see what transpires next week. Anyway, when I was much younger, such incidents would have thrown me into a full panic attack. I still have issues with anxiety and feelings of dread that come on now and then but I can handle them better and they aren’t as severe. But these experiences reminded me of how important prayer and using these incidents as impetus for creative inspiration actually are. I know it is hard when you are in the thick of it, to see the silver in a sour situation but that is where throwing yourself into creativity becomes imperative, not just to remain productive (and not letting everything fall apart like I’ve done in the past) but to retain your sanity.

I am quite sure that I will use this incident and the one at work last week for a scene in my next series. Tragedy, unpleasantness, melancholy and miserable situations can be grist for good stories.

In fact, I think most writers, and creative people in general, have experienced this and would agree. Bottoms up and happy writing!

Plans for 2024

So, I’m back. There are a lot of new things going on in indie book publishing these days. I’ve been away for a long time and even lost my email list, regrettably. I’ve only found this out yesterday when I had to create a new Mailchimp account. I can’t complain or blame anyone else but myself, but I’m not upset about it. It just means it’s time to start over and that is what I’ve done.

In case you haven’t noticed yet, I’ve revamped my website. It was time. Certain works will be free downloads on my website and of course, I’m working on finishing Future Fantastic. The goal is to have that last book in this series published by August or September. I’m also gathering research and brainstorming ideas for my next novel series. I also have plans for a cozy cat mystery or a YA novel. But you won’t see anything on the cat mystery and the YA book until 2025. Lots of things are cooking and mentally and emotionally I’m now in a good place. It reminds me of the first days of my indie publishing venture when everything was so new and exciting and anything was possible!

Something I’m looking into is Substack. It looks interesting. I do wonder if I should be there since I have my own blog. I do like the idea of serializing some of my work though, so we’ll see. I will probably make the first two books in my Mission series free.

These are just some musings, but the Great Indie Journey goes on and I am, once again, excited to be on the path.