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MAD Tue Writing Prompt: Creepy Attics #ASMSG #WritingPrompt

attic

I’m going to go on record and openly admit it- One of my biggest fears are dark attics. I hate them. They drive me crazy. Everytime I have to make a trip up there I rush to get everythign down that I need to get down, and then I rush to put everything up that I need to put up. I just know one day I’m going to move a box and standing behind it will be a little girl, dressed in white, with blood running down her eyes. So I’m tossing it out- Here is my my writing prompt today. The attic above, the toys, the clown, and something is wrong with life below… Happy Writing!!!!

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I’m a NaNoWriMo failure

WOW!!! It has been a while since I have said anything. Not that I don’t have something of value to offer, it’s simply life has been busy. My son turned one, work picked up, and… Well let’s just the holidays are busy around here, but I’m back, with a new schedule and lots of things to discuss.

Before moving on let me just say this- I’m ready to admit it. After two years of trying, I have come to realize, that I am a NaNoWriMo failure. That’s right. For two years straight I have failed at writing 50,000 words in the month of November.

It’s not that I want to fail, it’s just something that seems to happen. Last year my excuse was: “I have a newborn with colic.” Most everyone seemed to accept that as golden. This year it was: “Man it’s tough to write with a toddler.” And it’s true, it is tough to write with a toddler. But those are just excuses. The truth is- I’m just not a NaNoWriMo writer. And you know what- That’s okay.

I have discovered that when it comes to writing there is no one way. You either find a way that works for you, or you don’t. Some succeed in one approach while others find a whole new direction. The point- Never give up, never look back, and do what is comfortable for you.

Every year I read blogs from folks that are discouraged by the fact that they can’t succeed at NaNoWriMo. For some reason (despite how much they plan in advance) they always managed to hit a brick wall. Well for two years straight I have not only hit that wall, but slammed right into it.

Now don’t get me wrong. I did manage to write twenty three out of the thrity days. And I did hit close to 17,000 words on my WIP. So it wasn’t all a waste. But I would rather focus on my way, vs the NaNoWriMo way. Why- Because it’s just not for me.

Now, moving on… I’m very excited about 2014. I have lots of short stories I worked on in 2013 that I feel are ready to go out. I haven’t sent them to beta readers yet and my wife hasn’t had a pass at them either, but they are there and finished. I think I’m looking at putting about four of them out. So hopefully I can get them all published by October sometime. Well that’s all I got- It’s freezing cold here in Edmond Oklahoma so if your in the same boat I in- Stay safe, stay wram…

J.J.

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Summer Reading

Well summer has come and gone and fall has officially arrived. In Oklahoma the weather is cool and crisp and holding in the mid-eighties. My Yankees will more than likely miss the playoffs, my Sooners are off to a great start, my eleven month old son is in to everything, and congress is still fighting like a bunch of morons… Some things change and some stay the same.

I didn’t do a ton of writing this summer. I decided to let my tank re-fill and spent a lot of time catching up on some reading. It was a wise move on my part, because having a young son- Well the free time just wasn’t all that available. So I figured I would just take today’s post to share with everyone some books I read and enjoyed… Here they are in no particular order.

1.       Wool by Hugh Howey

2.      Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill

3.      The Shining by Stephen King (A Reread)

4.      11/22/63 by Stephen King

5.      Iscariot by Tosca Lee

6.      Legion by Brandon Sanderson (A Novella)

7.      The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson (A Novella)

8.     The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

9.      Courted by a Cowboy by Lacy Williams (A Novella)

10.    NAS4A2 by Joe Hill

I have to say that 11/22/63 was probably my favorite on the list. Being a big Stephen King fan I must say that it is probably the best he has put out in years… Joe Hill’s Heart Shaped Box was probably the creepiest of the lot I read and would highly recommend anything by him…

This fall’s reading list is not quite as large partly because I plan on writing a lot this fall, but if anyone has any good options I’m open to them…

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Leave a Little in the Tank

I have a bad habit of letting the gas in our cars run low. Most times it reaches that point when the light has been on for about two days and it’s time to pull over and fill up. One time I found myself having to pour gas in the car from a small portable container meant to be used in the lawn mower. Call it procrastination; call it laziness, in the end it’s all the same.

Ernest Hemingway once said: “I learned never to empty the well of my writing, but always to stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that feed it.” 

I love this quote and do my best to follow it in my own writing life. There are some days when I struggle to find five hundred words to put on the page, and on other days I could write three thousand. That’s the thing that most people don’t understand about writing. Stories don’t always come alive with simple ease.

Writing a novel is a long, grueling process, and is often times very exhausting. I have found that learning to take it at a simple pace is the best way. That means ending the day when it’s time to end; when there is still something left to give. You may know what comes next; you may be dying to get that next scene written. That’s great… But from my experience, sometimes sleeping on it allows you to wake with a fresher outlook on what may come next…

So think about that the next time you hit that wall- Leave a little in the tank, and never let it run dry…