The Charm of Words

Synopsis

miniatusplusnaki — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:59:50 -0700

So, right now, I’m working on the ‘getting an agent’ part of this whole author thing. And I’ll be honest: this synopsis is kicking my ass. As a result, I’m procrastinating and that’s never a good thing.

The problem is I feel like there’s so much needed to be said in this summary and yet, I should do it in the shortest way possible and that’s not enough! Alongside this issue, my support people haven’t finished the first draft of the novel and so I can’t ask them if the synopsis is ample. What to do…what to do…

Number one rule about synopsis writing, I find, is not to ramble. But that is certainly easier said than done. Number two is to sound exciting. And that seems like it would be easy, but alas! it’s not because honestly, I can’t tell if what makes me excited will make my reader excited. There’s just so much to consider! And there’s many more rules to this whole ordeal so, sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed.

The only good thing about this is I have time. And that’s wonderful. I also have the query letter itself done. In fact, I could modify it and have it sent out already (thinking about it, I probably should do that). But really, I’d like a synopsis prepared just in case.

I feel like perhaps this is my subconscious’s way of telling me to chill out so as not to rush into disappointment. I know I’m in for a lot of disappointment but procrastinating only makes the anticipation worse so I’m not sure why I’m doing it. I suppose I’ll just suck it up and get it done.

Where I am at This Point and Query Letters

miniatusplusnaki — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 17:40:00 -0700

After finishing my novel in Aprill, I did the first few edits and printed the first draft with the help of NaNoWriMo.org and CreateSpace. I did this mostly so that I could have a little keepsake; so that if I get published legitimately I can see how far I’ve come. Now I’m working on my second draft— starting with removing any unwanted
“that”s—and having a few people read the first draft. I’ve also discovered that there’s something worse than editing: writing query letters.

I’ve found that trying to make yourself and your work sound like an agent needs to represent you or else the world will be less awesome for it, is the most difficult thing I’ve done thus far in this process. Query letters remind me of those essays that colleges ask for one to write so that their chances of getting accepted are higher. And I hated those too. Though, personally, they were easier because they weren’t really about something terribly important on a personal level unlike writing about my novel which is practically my child.

The hardest part is making a query sound enticing without being untrue to oneself and sounding gimmicky. It would be easy to make it sound fantastically amazing if I could sound like a cheesy movie trailer without making a fool of myself; This summer… will you be able to handle the action? the heartbreak? THE PURE AWESOMENESS?! that is the PROPHECIES OF THE NOMANI! Experience the Ethe and the Umerid of Daieru in 3D! Coming soon to theaters near you!

But alas!

But there has been some salvation. Query Shark has a great blog about queries that has been a tremendous help and a fabulous resource for me as I try to create the best possibly query for the novel/series. With the Query Sharks help, I’m hoping to start sending queries out soon and I’ll be sure to post more about how that goes. Thanks for reading. Until next time…

Finished

miniatusplusnaki — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:24:25 -0700

A few days ago, I was contemplating writing a blog about how it stresses me out thinking about what I am to do once my novel is complete. But I’m glad I didn’t write it. Not only would it have distracted me from finishing, but it would have been pointlessly depressing; less than an hour ago, I completed the novel I have been working on since November and I couldn’t be happier or more excited.

If one finds themselves in this position, the only advice I can give is to enjoy it. It’s not even close to being over yet, especially if trying to get published is somewhere in the future. But if everything that has happened has paid off, the way it has for me, then there’s no reason not to rejoice in the little victories. I will decide the next step of action I will take some time in May during my editing process. But getting published is definitely in my list of goals. Thanks for support and thanks for reading! Until next time…

The Gypsy's Square: Compiled List of Works

miniatusplusnaki — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:22:26 -0700

The Gypsy's Square: Compiled List of Works :

miniatusplusnaki:

Here are links to my 2 other blogs:

Here you will find short stories and such ——> http://miniatusstories.tumblr.com/

Here’s my blog purely about writing ——> http://nakaneemonique.tumblr.com/

Below is a list of some of my works from my personal blog:

Prose

Pictures

Fear…

For those of you wanting to actually read some of my works.

"If I believe in myself, that’s really all that matters."

miniatusplusnaki — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:21:37 -0700

“If I believe in myself, that’s really all that matters.”

- Random Musings

Getting Discouraged

miniatusplusnaki — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:32:00 -0700

I obviously have not been writing for my blog(s) lately. This has been due to the craziness that is life and also due to the fact that I get distracted by all the projects I have (as aforementioned). However, right now it is about more than just time getting away from me as a writer; right now is about how to keep working while feeling discouraged.

I can’t write this without admitting that I’m incredibly discouraged at the moment to do so. And I’ll even go as far to say that discouragement is a particularly nasty form of writer’s block especially if it’s self-inflicted. If it is, then one cannot simply shake it off as they could had someone else caused the discouragement. But there is something that writers can do when this happens: keep writing. Honestly, that’s all you can do.

If that’s not a good enough solution, there is nothing wrong with getting a little recognition from friends and family. everyone needs to feel good about what they’re doing in order to keep doing it and sometimes it’s okay to ask for help.

What I find also helps is going back and looking what work has already been done. A new perspective is born this way and it allows the mind to halt and think—“Hey! I’ve done this and I’ve done this well before, I can do it again.”

So, here I am trying to fight the discouragement brought upon me by my own self-doubt and I try to hold on to the will to write. It is a difficult and daunting task when one is trying to finish a novel before the month’s end but let’s hope to win the fight. Thanks for reading. Until next time…

Self-Publishing

miniatusplusnaki — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:16:22 -0800

Now, there are posts that should go before this one but as I’m doing National Novel Writing Month this year, I needed a warm up and this happened to be on my mind after reading an article about how Penguin will be entering the self-publishing realm by offering certain services.

Self-publishing, for me, is a very delicate topic and it is very difficult to have a view on it which doesn’t insult writers. Even as a writer, my thoughts on self-publishing are probably closer to what traditional publishers would or should think. To me, writing is an art that needs to be perfected. The editorial process a novel has to go through in order to be published, I think, is imperative. One can be brilliant and talented and wonderful and they would still need editing. It is not supposed to be easy.

With self-publishing becoming more and more popular, that need is becoming less and less therefore diminishing the value of the art. I understand the desire to get the work out there and the desire to have other people buy it and love it. That is part of why my opinion on self-publishing is so muddled: I understand that one just wants to be able to say that they’re published. However, when that happens and when every person on the entire planet is able to publish a book without any real hardships, the art suffers.

I use her as an example much too often, but everyone knows who she is; Stephanie Meyers had a story she wanted to tell. Fantastic. For some odd reason, YA publishers thought they should publish the novel (with very little editing, it would seem). Imagine a Stephanie Meyer in every genre. Imagine thousands of Stephanie Meyer-like people in every genre. That is what self-publishing encourages. It encourages you to tell your story but without the artful skills that were once required of authors to be there. And while Stephanie Meyers was published traditionally, that mistake would be repeated ten-fold with the way self-publishing is taking off.

I have been asked to read novels before by fellow authors trying to get their stories out there… It is not always pretty. Often, their works are confusing and are lacking eloquent language or has too much out of place language or this or that. There are so many problems with these works! And yet, because they can, these authors are selling them anyways when in reality they shouldn’t even think about putting it anywhere for people to read before they go through and do some hard-core editing.

But that is the world that self-publishing is creating. Everyone has a story to tell, yes. But not everyone is a writer. “Everyone is unique. But that is just another way of saying that no one is.” Self-publishing threatens that unique skill set that writers have. It is is turning writers into mere storytellers. I’m actually very sad by the fact that novels are now something of a joke. Something anyone can do without any real hard work or dedication. But, we will see where this road of self-publishing takes the world of literature. Thank you for reading. Until next time…

The Charm of Words

miniatusplusnaki — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 19:50:00 -0700

Writing has been non existent as of late. Life comes fast and is relentlessness in its constant badgering, so writing isn’t happening as much as it should. But I am taking time to write this because I feel like I need to write something.

I visited my blog page earlier and realized that I never explained where the name for this blog came from. So, that’s what I’m doing today. Something simple and something that isn’t too taxing on my poor, stressed out brain.

As an avid reader, I come across brilliant musings from all sorts of authors. About a year ago, I read a book called The Shadow of the Torturer by the well-acclaimed Gene Wolfe. To me, the book was interesting and beautifully crafted (and I really need to finish the series). More importantly, it gave me my favourite quote thus far. The exact quote:

By the use of the language of sorrow I had for the time being obliterated my sorrow — so powerful the charm of words, which for us reduces to manageable entities all the passions that would otherwise madden and destroy us.

Instantly, I fell in love with this. Not only was it beautiful, but the truth in the statement itself held a beauty that I think speaks to many writers. And the influence of that statement is…indescribable.

The charm of words — how we are able to manipulate and craft words and language as if they were clay beneath our fingertips — is astounding. And I named my blog after that quote because that is what I believe is my purpose in life: to charm the world with words. I’m to influence and explore words in a deeper way in order change the world in a positive manner. I feel as if it is my duty to do as Severian did in Mr. Wolfe’s novel to use words to relieve people and myself of sorrow. I just want to make a difference and so that’s what this blog is named for. Thanks for reading. Until next time…

Projects

miniatusplusnaki — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 14:26:39 -0700

While reading has done wonders for my brain these last few weeks, I feel like I’ve taken a step backwards in another aspect of my creative process. It seems that I have accumulated a few too many projects and now, when I need to do something, I have too many thing to do. Here are the projects that I have decided to pile on myself:

Finish Manuscript by November
Two contest pieces; 1 5,000 word story and 1 1,500 word story
A short story deal with the human race (the beginning found here)
Another short story series about empaths (also found here)
Two erotica pieces one fairly short, the other closer to a novella
Not to mention the total of 3 blogs that I try to keep going even though no one follows them: found here, here, and here. (feel free if you’re reading this and have a Tumblr to follow the ones that suit you. One is personal with hints of poetry and photography — done by me, of course —, one is strictly creative writing and one is about writing).

I’m all for being productive but having too many projects is counter productive (which is common sense, so why didn’t I get the memo?) It’s easier when one has to prioritize but even that gets difficult. Luckily, I have deadlines, but I also have other things to take care of in life that make my priorities difficult to manage.

The only remedy I see for this is to neglect certain projects for a while or maybe construct a switch off schedule (by hour, by day, by month…) so that nothing gets left out. Personally, though it pains me to do so — and pisses off the friends that actually care about my writing — would rather neglect works and put all of my focus into one thing before switching off to another. Naturally, this is why my novel has yet to even reach double digit chapter numbers, but, while I can multitask certain things, I cannot multitask everything. So, writers, try not to overextend yourself with a hundred different projects at a time. I fear the craft might suffer from it. Thanks for reading! Until next time…

Reading

miniatusplusnaki — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:54:00 -0700

Writing has been the last thing on my mind as of late and it really shouldn’t be. However, I like to think that even though I’m not putting pen to paper or fingertips to keyboard, that I have been doing something that will benefit my craft.

Most writers start off writing because they read and they love it. It is the most logical stepping stone once you learn how to read in depth that if it intrigues you enough that you begin to write in depth. And it is essential as a writer to continue reading as one works on their craft and so that is what I have been doing. I’ve been reading a book that I’ve been working on getting through for a while but I’m actually bucking down and doing it now. I won’t review this one, as it is the last in a trilogy, but I’ll make sure that the next book I read is review-able.

(For those of you who read a lot, I suggest signing up for Goodreads. You can post your progress on the book you’re reading; make bookshelves of books you have read, want to read, and are currently reading; and write reviews and recommend books to your friends. Nerdy social networking! Yay!)

Reading and writing well, sort of go hand in hand. It’s like peanut butter and jelly, cheese and crackers, chips and dip…You get the idea. Both compliment each other fantastically (obviously) and to a writer, it’s incredibly beneficial to the craft if you read a lot as well as write. Why? because it exposes to you to other works therefore making you more aware of what you want your writing to be and what you don’t want it to be. Though, I will admit that sometimes it makes it difficult not to directly emulate a favourite author but we learn to work past that.

It’s kind of strange though, because you read a lot and you have a talent and appreciation for writing, you’re bound to write fairly well — one cannot write that horribly if they read, but people still do. Stephanie Meyer being the perfect example. She supposedly reads like a fiend and yet her writing is lacking to say the least. Reading is only beneficial if you actually take something from it and learn from it as well as enjoy it.

For myself, it stimulates the creativity the churns inside, keeps my brain moving especially if it’s a book I’m genuinely fond of. There are also books that I’m not entirely fond of until the very end and I find that those books happen to be the most rewarding. So, writers keep reading even if you hate the book. Thanks for reading. Until next time…

The Second Key

miniatusplusnaki — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:17:00 -0700

I’m on Chapter 3. No great feat, but considering I’ve considered scrapping my novel like twice already, I think that’s pretty good. Don’t ask me why I’ve almost given up twice, but I have. Probably still more times to come.

Anyways, today is all about characters. I’ve been trying to write character charts but for me, specifically, it isn’t as beneficial as it is for some people. A character chart really doesn’t have to be a chart. All it is is a very detailed description and back story about one’s characters. So, if I refer to my character chart, I’m not sitting there looking at a chart in PowerPoint. Promise.

I naturally come up with my characters lives when I think them up, but writing them down makes it more solid and it makes it easier to remember things about them and if you need to change something, you can tell whether or not it’s conflicting with something else. It’s helpful to just keep track of them because one can see a character grow from their original state into who they end up being towards the end of the story.

Main characters are easy though. It’s easy to know everything about the person who’s come to mind first. But our next key is intricacies. When first starting to write, I always find it a bit daunting trying to think about every single character and their development. Knowing my character is something I naturally do and it didn’t occur to me until a friend said something to the effect of:

I love how well you know your character and how passionate you are about it.

But the hard thing about it is doing the same thing with every. Single. Character. Having the same passion for knowing them — the insignificant characters — as well as you know the main ones. One has to remember that they are real. One has to believe it because real things are complex — never black and white, always grey…Inconsistent. And if they are black and white, it is to a fault. Anyone can write about a perfect vampire boyfriend but it takes an artist to write about flaws, taking what it means to be human and turning it into something beautiful and sometimes into something horrifying. But with such beauty, comes intricacies because at our core, we are never just beautiful. There is always a dark side that threatens to take over the good and consume us and turn us into the villain that we fear. And as a writer, it is my job to capture it. And next to comfortable writing conditions, intricacies and characters are the next key.

Characters make the story. Sure you need your plot, but would Harry Potter be that great without the array of wonderful characters J.K. has portrayed throughout the years? Okay, maybe a bad example because Harry Potter is amazing in general…but you catch my drift.

Anyways, as an important part of any story, characters should always be less than perfect in my opinion. Or maybe, just perfect alongside their imperfections. That way an audience can relate to them. So, develop them well. Until next time…

Development

miniatusplusnaki — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:34:59 -0700

I think one of my favourite parts about writing is the unexpected developments that take place. Even as the writer, if the story you have molded in your head decides on its own that a story should go this way or that, it will do so and it can astound. Even this blog post, as new as it is, has already decided that today instead of me writing about my character charts, I was going to write about developments. It’s brilliant. Actually, it was more of life deciding it for me, but anyways…

What I mean by new developments is ideas that differ from what one might have in their original though process for their story or poem or prose etc. These make me happy and excited and they are also very important (at least to me) when it comes to working on a new piece.

New developments are important for various reasons. First and foremost, it allows the story —as well as the characters, the setting and the mind of the writer— to marinate in itself, allowing an almost newly made idea to form which is fantastic because it makes you take a step back and explore what can be done and what might be done throughout the course of the story. Secondly, new ideas that seem to be particularly brilliant, enhance old ideas thus causing excitement in the writer which is important to me for two reasons: it allows me to become re-excited for my own story and my work and it allows me to write better because I get legitimately curious and happy to see where the story is going.

Like today! After, being told that basically I’m a hippie for the contents of two of my stories, I brainstormed and revised my idea of the second of the two a bit and instantly became happier with my idea because I’m not a freaking hippie! But more on how I’m not a hippie in later posts.

This new development has added joy in my day and quite frankly, I’m much more excited to be writing this now. Not that I wasn’t excited before…I might have been more excited had I an outline but I’ll discuss why I don’t do those later. But now I have given myself some extra umph! so that’s quite good. The only problem that I can see happening —should anyone actually read this blog for advice— is that new developments aren’t always better developments. Ideas that are too far-fetched and that you have to stretch to incorporate and stretch to make sense aren’t necessarily a fantastic idea; if your idea was already crazy to begin with, especially. Anyways…I’ve got a novel to write. Thanks for reading! Until next time…

The First Key

miniatusplusnaki — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 09:44:52 -0700

Well, first and foremost, thank you all for following me. I logged on today to see a few new people so, for that, I am most grateful.

Now to the actual blog:

One would think that one of the most important things when it comes to writing is your medium — your pen and paper or your laptop, etc. — but really it is your comfort. This is one of those things that one would think is common sense but when I first decided to start working on what I’m writing right now (the new blog and my novel) I didn’t really take into consideration the fact that it is summer in southern California and that we don’t have central air.

Why, oh, why?! is my room the hottest in the house? Sweat makes me uncomfortable. Heat makes my head foggy. So right now, I’m in a perfect storm for me not to be able to write anything that is particularly brilliant and if it’s not going to be be at least semi-brilliant, I see no reason to put it on a page.

Being comfortable in one’s workspace is equally important. For instance, despite the heat, I tried writing outside of my room because it is cooler in the rest of the house than my room. It’s very difficult to concentrate with the noise, I found. Plus, I was sweating (still) and it just wasn’t working. And THEN! (assuming you don’t live by yourself, you’ll be able to relate to this) my grandmother walks into the family room — where I was — and asks me what I am writing. That was really the last of what little comfort I had and I watched as it was thrown into the hot, stagnant air. I resigned from my task and placed my notebook down immediately. The whole experience did little for me except make me realize that I’m much to hard on my grandmother despite the fact that she happens to perform all of my pet-peeves.

Moral of the story stands as this: Be comfortable. I had to move outside in the evening before I could get any work done. If one is uncomfortable, there’s a possibility for the discomfort to creep throughout the body, through the arms, into the fingertips and unto the page before the eyes in a way that makes even the reader uncomfortable. And despite what schools believe (take note of my jab at the education system) being uncomfortable doesn’t increase performance. If you’re super cold, it’s not going to help you, if you hate the cold. If only you could see the mess that is my first draft of this blog post. It’s 10x messier than normal because my brain, due to the heat, has malfunctioned more than it does when I do math — well, actually, that’s a bit over-dramatic because I absolutely hate math…

Thanks for reading <3 Until next time…

The Beginning

miniatusplusnaki — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 18:17:12 -0700

Well, well, well. It seems that I have started yet another blog. However, I think this one shall be a little bit more localized than my others have been. This will be entirely dedicated to my career as a writer and aspiring author. A journey, of sorts, exploring the charm of words when they are manipulated and created perfectly to sway an audience this way and that. I’m trying to master my craft and I kind of wish to have a record of my thoughts while learning new things and discovering things about it. This is me doing just that.
This blog will focus on writing primarily and literature and other things like that. I may do a book review or a poem review or two. I may transfer my poems here too but I probably won’t. For certain, though, I will be discussing things about the novel I’m currently working on. Though it’s currently unnamed, it consists of shapeshifters and magic and crazy stuff that my brain has formulated. It has been in the works for quite some time now and I’m still doing stuff on it. Unfortunately, I can’t give a synopsis right now because I will not know where the story is going until I really get into the thick of it. It’s quite an interesting premise though, I will say that there will be many times where I abandon it for something else temporarily and that will probably get annoying. But c’est la vie, right?
All in all, this should be interesting. And I hope those of you who have stumbled or found yourself looking at this will enjoy my weirdness and the inner workings of a young aspiring author.