Moving!

So I have decided to move my blog across the oceans of the internet to wordpress. I just like their layouts and simplicity a lot more. I will continue updating, and assuming the transfer worked right, I will have all of my posts, comments and followers sent along with me. Yay!

Anyways the new address, shockingly enough is:

http://www.judyblackcloud.wordpress.com/

See you on the wordpress!

Excited about this!

Time does fly

Oh goodness!

Several days since my last update. The weekend, oddly enough, ate up my free time! Boo! Little writing was done but I have begun revisions on one of my short stories so it can be entered in a great contest. Here's a snippet. Again, graphic content warning.

I almost missed it, the causeof the God-awful scent, but something made me turn to look towards the canal and see it. See him. Or at least I could only assume it use to be a him. The body was leaning against a tree, already starting to melt into the soggy ground. The skin was peeling away, like paper lit on fire, curled up around the edge of what was a head at one point, though it looked like a gunshot had gotten ride of most of it. The hands were turning gray, white moving spots digging in new holes in the rotten skin-devouring everything.

Anyways, moving on from that snippet. Lately I've been having trouble with inspiration. Now I know that you can't sit and wait for the 'muse' to appear and inspire you to write. You will be waiting a long, long time for that to happen and the muse usually doesn't want anything to do with revision or finishing a project for that matter. Inspiration for me is the drive to tell a story. It has to be urgent. I think that's why I like short stories more (to write) than novels.

Something that has recently been helping me to re-ignite my inspiration for writing has been looking up quotes. I love quotes. Right now, the one that speaks to me most is from Neil Gaiman.

"Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people of the world, I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside, inside them they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds. Not just one world.Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe."

That is why I write. Because there are a million stories out there. There is a story in everyone waiting to come out. I even apply this to my characters as well. There is an entire universe to create, destroy and mold into something beautiful, something horrible, into something.

It's been a struggle to keep up writing while working full-time and helping with an internship and other projects but it is what I love. Stories make the world.

So that's my 2 cents. Do you have quotes that inspire you? Anything you do to keep yourself writing?

Writing Tips

So it is November and a ton of people are doing NaNoWriMo so I wanted to put together some tips that I use to keep up writing. Remember that to be a writer you need to write everyday, not just in November so these tips apply year round.

1. End in the Middle of a Scene

I like to end in the middle of something happening. Tonight I ended with the captain of a ship in the belly of her ship, about to show someone a tour of the ship. Not super exciting, but I know exactly where to start. i don't have to stop and think I can jump right into the scene. Ended on a solid note like 'They went to sleep.' Always makes me struggle because then my brain goes in a thousand directions of what could happen next.

2. Read!

Good writers, read. You need to know what is out there, who the other writers are, what publishers you like, etc. Nothing inspires me to write more than a great (or awful) reading.

3. Talk to Other Writers

Writing is often a lonely job, slaving away for hours at a desk hoping that one day someone will read what you're working so hard on. Connect with other writers, give yourself a support group. Celebrate with one another, and mourn with one another.

4. Revise!

When it comes to revise a work, be brutal. Be totally honest. Even if you think it's the most beautiful paragraph you've ever written do you need it? Does it matter what the fountain or gate looks like? Every word should drive the story forward, if something's not doing that, it needs to go.

5. Love what you are doing

Writer's don't write to become famous or rich. Write because that is what you love doing, what you want to do no matter what. Not everyone gets to be a Stephen King or Neil Gaimen, but love what you are doing. If you don't love what you are writing it will show.

What are your writing tips/tricks? I also have a special candle I light before I write. It's a habit now.

How's NaNoWrimo going? I broke 8,000 words tonight, yay!

Some of my writing.

NaNoWriMo goal is going well though I am probably going to stop updating so much about it. Not that I'm ashamed I'm participating, I have a blast and love the thrill of writing 50,000 words in a month, but because as a writer I should already be writing everyday as much as I can.

I'm also planning on contacting one writer I admire a week to tell them how much I enjoyed their work. Writing is a lonely road and it's nice to let people know that there really is someone out there reading their hard work. On that note I have had a few e-mails, twitter messages, etc. asking me to put up some of my own work.

I always worry about putting my work online, especially anything that hasn't been published. Many places will consider something being posted online as previously published (or so several submission guidelines have told me) so I'm going to put up a poem of mine that was published this past year. I do consider myself somewhat of a horror poet so if you have an issue with horror then please ignore the poem at the end of this post. (These are not the droids you are looking for. Anyone get it? :) )

Enjoy and keep up the writing!

Onus


When my daughter
asks about the dog
lying on the side of the road,
I will tell her he is sleeping
with his skin inside-out
because it's too hot
in the Georgia sun
to dream
with your skin still on.

In the morning
she will confess
her dreams
of finger painting
red and white
across her bedroom wall.
No matter how hard
she and I scour
the spots remain
speckled all over
our hands.



Published in The Peacock's Feet Literary Journal, 2010

11/5/10: And, by the way, just noticed and corrected a typo in this poem. Whoops! Silly typos!

And so it begins...

So the insanity that is NaNoWriMo begun yesterday and it's been amazing reading all of the people's excited tweets about writing. The trick is keeping that enthusiasm through the entire month. I'm aiming for 2,000 words a day and I met my goal last night and stopped. Yes, I could have kept writing but I don't want to write myself out on day one. I plan on getting a nice buffer going this weekend. I have to admit it is a little discouraging to see all these 'I wrote 9,000+ words today' posts but I'm happy that people are getting to be so productive. Also, Nanowrimo was #1 trending on twitter yesterday, eeee!!

Anyways, I also read a fantastic blog post yesterday about NaNoWriMo that I wanted to share! It's from Chuck Wendig and it's all about the dos and don'ts of NaNoWriMo. It's a wonderful thing to participate in, but there are some things to realize. You are not going to bang out a novel that's ready to be published on December 1st. As Chuck suggests, consider this a zero draft, a fleshed out outline to help you begin the revision and rewriting process. Realize you are not a loser if you don't win, and that the goal is to write, and be proud of what you are doing.

Anyways, I highly recommend this blog post and all of Chuck's stuff. You can follow him on twitter too (he's hysterical).

How's your noveling going? Word count sound off?

2033!

Last sentence you wrote?

"Well, when I unlock it, it will send out a blade to impale your foot. So just move fast, alright?" he smiled.

Writing Space!

So Nanowrimo begins in just about an hour! Exciting! Though I do freely admit I will be in bed before Nanowrimo begins at midnight and will begin writing after work tomorrow. I already imagine it will be the longest workday possible because I will want nothing more than to be home writing.

I believe I have figured the great war that is happening in my world and that makes me very happy (ideas in the shower are the best!) and eager to begin writing. I have my little writing corner all set up and ready to go and am including a picture! How exciting!

Notice the awesome hot pink chair and pile of papers of notes. as well as a cup of juice (yum!) and a small change jar of Grad School funds! My little memo board is full of things that inspire me and I have a picture of my friends to the side to encourage me! All in all, a very nice little writing hole.

I have also worked out my reward system. You can't really see them in the picture but I have shiny star stickers that I will out on my calendar for every day I meet the writing goal of 1667 words. I also will allow myself to have one Heritage Dr. Pepper for every 5,000 words I make. I love heritage Dr. Pepper (made with real sugar and in awesome cans too!) not to mention that they are very hard to find so that is big motivation for me.

Anyways, I am going to get ready for bed, do some reading and get ready for work. Happy November's eve and let Nanowrimo begin!

The Sleepies

So I have been struck by a horrible case of the sleepies and have dozed off at my laptop a couple times already tonight. So I'm going to call in a short blog post and then off to bed. I went to my region's Nanowrimo kick off party last night and it was so encouraging to see such a large, and excited group of writers there. I'm really excited that Nanowrimo kicks off in less than 24 hours!!

Anyways, I'm going to send you here for a blog post by The Graceful Doe that is amazing! She's listed an extensive series of helpful links to help with Nanowrimo and with writing in general. I'm really looking forward to using this list during November!

Anyways, I'm off to bed to battle the sleepies! Goodnight world!