Tag: self-publish

A Writer’s Corner – Question to all writers: How did writing affect your mental health?

An interesting question came up in the r/writing subreddit. “Question to all writers: How did writing affect your mental health?”
I hadn’t really thought about my mental health during the process of writing a book. But of course, mental health would be affected. After pondering this, I realized it helped, and it hurt.
The first book was cathartic because when I was done, I realized I had put far too much of myself into my character. And that made me examine a lot about my life. Understanding is always a good thing.
But it’s not just about the writing. The entire process affects me in unexpected ways.
I have a naturally nervous disposition, and writing calms me, as does painting or anything that completely engages the mind. That’s the good part.
From the moment I start thinking about a story, no other worries invade my thoughts. Writing is like opening a box of chocolates and wondering which one I’ll have today. Which part of the storyline is speaking to me at that moment? Letting my imagination run riot is like Christmas, and I’m opening one package after another. Ideas careen around unchecked. The actual writing is a challenge I love.

EUPHORIA.
Things start to get tense and nervous jitters begin during the editing, and the tension ramps up after publication. Editing and using Grammarly makes me doubt my writing skills and trust that this machine editor is right and I am wrong.
DOUBT.
Dealing with post-publication completely rains on the parade. I find myself in a state of anxiety and self-doubt, judging myself by the number of sales and reads (or lack of). It feels like I am at work, waiting for a performance review. And I feel like I should have the metrics to judge my success or failure. The worst feeling.

JUDGEMENT.
My next book will be different. I’m reminding myself that I’m in this for the love of it. Some may like it, and some may not. More readers would be wonderful. Sales would be great, but lacking that doesn’t mean it’s not a good book. I’ll keep at it.

A Writer’s Dilemma: “Literally cannot for the life of me sit down and write”

“Literally cannot for the life of me sit down and write”
A writer in a Reddit writer’s forum recently made this complaint.
“So I’ve been stuck on the like in between bits of my story for a while and for the life of me I can’t sit down and write them because I’m so bored! It’s not even that these parts are unimportant or unintresting they’re just not what I want to write in the story at the moment so then I just get stuck and never write. Advice?”

Wow. I went through this very thing last week. Writing was so tedious, and I was stumbling through it, trying to cut through the weeds and find something to grasp onto. Ugh. In the end, I did something drastic. I made a copy of my draft and then took a hatchet to it. I eliminated every chapter that was not essential to moving the story along. Surprise, surprise – a lot got chopped. I cursed myself, feeling that I had wasted an inordinate amount of time, and then decided to concentrate only on telling that story as best I could. Eliminating the superfluous fluff helped me concentrate. Next, for each scene, I stepped into the shoes of my character and did a role play. It suddenly became fun.
Maybe I’ll salvage something from what I cut out, but I doubt it. Sometimes you have to go nuclear. Other times, when I am stuck, I do something else that will be beneficial to this venture, like social media or outlining the next book. I can not imagine how any writer can ‘force’ themselves to write, and if they are stuck, maybe they just need a little change of direction.

One commenter had a wonderful, unique trick for when you become stuck, and I have to share it here:

“Take one of your favorite books. Open it to a chapter you liked. Copy one – four pages of it word for word into your processor of choice – google doc/scrivener project/word file/etc.
Read it back to yourself. Immerse yourself in the words. Imagine the style- dialogue, descriptions, narration, as you think about your own story. Pick a small a scene in your book you haven’t wanted to write. Write a sentence from it in a style similar to what you copied down. If you like it, write another, and another. Let the words come in the style of your favorite book. Later you can decide to keep it, revise it, or delete it.”

This is brilliant and I am definitely going to try it.

Sinclair’s Dilemma – A Misalliance with Love.

“The cool evening air soothed his raging mood as he left the House of Lords. He waved off his carriage and continued to walk towards St. James. The early evening was damp, and he turned up the collar of his topcoat. He had wanted to redeem himself in the eyes of society by working hard and showing himself, to be honest, serious, and reliable.
All of that was ruined now, and he looked like a fool. Like his father! Sinclair felt incensed at the unfairness of it all. He was not responsible for what happened but must do all he could to limit the damage. He must get Rosie to be a real wife, even if he had to go straight to Castle Holme and haul her back to London.”

Excerpt From: Dee Harper Lewis. “A Misalliance with Love.”

Rosie and Sinclair – A Misalliance with Love

“He offered her his arm, and they descended the terrace steps to the long table where sandwiches and cakes had been set up. A footman handed them their cups, and Rosie tilted forward to survey the delicious food arranged on platters. She selected a cucumber sandwich and munched on it with gusto. He thought that her lack of refinement would not do her any favors, and she did not seem to be conscious of it—or to care.”

Excerpt From: Dee Harper Lewis. “A Misalliance with Love.”

A writer’s dilemma: When do you abandon your book?

There was a pretty interesting discussion on a writer’s subreddit where someone was at 30,000 words into their book and ready to abandon it.

I really related to this.

I once abandoned a book at 40,000 words and then realized months later that the book really had no plot, and I hadn’t given the characters any likable personality traits. They were just going through the motions.

I moved on and became obsessed with another plot. That one was finished and published. Maybe one should go back to the basics of why they want to tell a particular story. What is compelling about the characters, and why are they even there? Give them a reason to live and then something to survive.

A Writer’s corner: Stability killing my creativity

“I’ve been struggling with writing (and journaling) in the past few years, basically since my life took a turn and it became ‘normal’.”
A writer in my favorite subreddit related their continued struggles to produce any work. I can very much relate to the frustration and angst behind this statement. I think it is something all artistic people fear.

I stopped doing anything creative when I was living a normal life with a stressful job. The only time I started writing again was when I was either between jobs or when I had a job that gave me hours of downtime. Once, when I was required to travel for work, I ended up with six hours of time to kill per week. I wrote a non-fiction book in that time.

During the pandemic, I started a fiction novel. Creativity requires energy and concentration, and I find it very difficult to work, socialize and be creative. Something must be sacrificed.

That said, I think carving out 30 minutes a day is not too difficult. It will take longer, but in the end, you will have something.

A Misalliance with Love: Ely Cathedral

“The weather was perfect, with the sun shining bright and a cool breeze blowing. Rosie felt exhilarated as she kept pace with the more experienced riders, and they galloped through the vast expanse of marshy flatlands, the soft ground cushioning their horses’ hooves.

It did not take them long to reach Ely, and they stopped in view of the town to admire the grandeur of the towering cathedral, majestically rising above all else in the distance. ”

Excerpt From: Dee Harper Lewis. “A Misalliance with Love.”

Rosie is his target – A Misalliance with Love

Rosie’s choice to live apart from her husband means that she faces unwanted attention for another man.

-A tumult of disordered thoughts raced through her mind. She recalled the intense fear that had gripped her when Sir Gaylord had come too close to her during the estate sale. As she had moved from one room to another in the vast house, he had trailed her, and she had sensed that he was stalking her. Even now, her fingers dug into her arms as she struggled to keep her panicky thoughts under control.-

A Misalliance with Love

Image generated by Canva and digitally manipulated.

At the Theater-A Misalliance with Love

“As they ascended the grand staircase and found their box, she could feel the excitement building around them and eagerly anticipated the beginning of the play.
Lowering herself demurely into a seat and opening an ornate Chinese jade fan, she turned to Alton, aware of the eyes of society upon her.
Since signing the marriage contract, they had not laid eyes on each other, and on that occasion, she had been in a fit of pique. She could not help but smile, remembering the look on Sinclair’s face when it became clear she knew exactly what she wanted and was brave enough to ask for things that her father would never have asked for on her behalf.
“What are you thinking?” Alton glanced down at her curiously, puzzled by the expression on her face.
“I was thinking of our upcoming marriage,” she replied, then a wrinkle formed on her brow. He must think she meant . . . what comes after.
“Are you unhappy with this marriage?” He had seen her hesitate, and a frown and brief flare of disappointment passed over his face.

Excerpt From: Dee Harper Lewis. A Misalliance with Love.

Image generated by Canva and digitally manipulated.

A writer’s corner: Big red flags

In the writer’s forum I belong to, a writer posed the question: What are huge red flags, no-nos, or just downright cringe-worthy things you have identified in books or manuscripts you’ve read?
There were some great answers. The OP revealed that they dislike books with too many characters that remain undeveloped. I second that. Knowing the backstory of secondary characters and the motivations behind their action can bring the story to another level.
Many writers admit that they dislike certain tropes, and for some, the biggest pet peeve was unrealistic dialogue that ‘explains’ too much: info-dumping.
A detailed description of a character’s physical features that are baldly written was mentioned, or when characters are stereotypically perfect.
My biggest pet peeve is setting up a character’s personality, history, and traits and then having them behave completely out of character in order to advance the narrative. E.g., the character is lauded for their intelligence, which surpasses all others, and they proceed to make one dumb decision after the next to move the story along. Or they are rational people who are suddenly, stupidly made incoherent by lust. Just.not.believable.
Contrived activities that are not credible but are added in order to elicit a certain behavior from the character also get my goat.

What is cringeworthy for you?