C.L. Walters's Blog, page 8
December 22, 2021
My Top 10 Songs (w/Lyrics) 2021
I’ve mentioned I love music. There are probably lots of factors, but one is that I grew up around music. My grandfather and his three brothers sang professionally as a barbershop quartet in the 1950’s.
The House Brothers: Bill, David, Tom, and Dan (my grandpa).
One of the last times they sang together. From left to right, Tom, Bill, David and Dan.
My mom and her three sisters also sang together. My mom was in a band with my dad, and they were worship leaders at church. I grew up immersed in music, watching and listening to performances at every family gathering. Then I participated, spending time performing music with my parents and sister.
My mom and her sisters. From left to right: Terry (my mom), Danice, Susan and Judy.
As a writer, music contributes heavily to my writing process. When I sit down to work on a story, I make a playlist. The playlist is usually a mixture of music with lyrics and instrumental. Last year, Spotify informed me I spent over 85,000 minutes listening to music. That’s 16% of my year. Calculate it out into a day, it’s about 4 hours of my day. And if I’m only awake for an average of 16 hours a day, that calculates to more like 25% of my awake life is listening to music. That’s a lot of time.
I’m a moody listener. My tastes are often in a minor key. Lyrics are reflective, and I adore a vibe. One of my favorite things is to find “new” artists who are just getting started. It’s like unearthing a treasure (maybe a little like indie authors :).
So without further ado, this is the top ten songs I listened to this year starting with the most played. I filtered out the instrumental songs (because there were a ton) and kept it to only the ones with lyrics. Want to hear samples, hit up my Instagram stories. Want to hear them, look up my playlist on spotify “Top Ten Ten Times”. It has my top ten songs with lyrics for the last four years.
Golf on TV, Lennon Stella, JP Saxe
I Never Wanted Anything More than I Wanted You, Kina Grannis
Maybe, Don’t by Maise Peters, JP Saxe
Happy Listening (please buy the artists’ music if you like it) and have an amazing CHRISTMAS!
CLWalters Blog RSS
December 15, 2021
My Top 5 Characters I've Written
If I thought selecting the favorite books from the stack I’ve written was difficult, choosing my favorite characters is infinitely worse. Why? I love (or love to hate) them all, but for the sake of this exercise and not because I don’t love these characters (who are like real people in my head), I will go through with this top 5 list. Here’s the criteria I used to help me decide:
Characters I’ve already written, not ones I’m in the process of writing.
The challenge of writing the character and the overall outcome on the page.
The way the character lingers in my mind after finishing the story.
How the character presented on the page with other characters
This presentation is in no particular order.
Truthfully, Tanner James from The Stories Stars Tell, jumped from the pages the moment I started writing his character. He was funny, daring, and heartfelt, but stuck in his small world. I loved getting to know this character and all the ways that his life influenced his choices. The first scene I wrote with him was the cliffside scene (I posted it to Instagram in a Sunday Snippet, here). The more I wrote Tanner, the more invested I was in The Stories Stars Tell.
Tanner’s antithesis in The Stories Stars Tell also tops the list. Here’s the truth, I struggle to write female characters. I’ve written about this before (want to read that: here), so when I stack up writing Abby, which was really the only other female character I’d written for ten years with Emma, I was able to present a more fleshed out young woman in Emma than I ever had before.
Griffin Nichols-Maxwell Wallace
I have decided to present this couple as a single character. Okay, this might be cheating, but hear me out. Griffin was really hard to write, and difficult to like initially. When you read The Stories Stars Tell (he’s Tanner’s best friend and not very likable) and In the Echo of this Ghost Town, he is so flawed right at the onset. Enter Maxwell Wallace (specifically the gas station-convenience store scene which is the first moment I met Maxwell) and suddenly Griffin popped off the page. As character’s go, Maxwell is the shiny light and Griffin is a grump. She really makes him, but she also makes the story. I could have just picked her, but I feel like it’s their relationship on the page that makes them both so dynamic. So I’m sticking to this choice.
True story: Gabe started out as a fallen angel, and in the original story Upside Down (it’s here on Wattpad if you want to read it but please forgive me. It’s not great. I was just getting started finding my own voice). He was this idealistic, mysterious outsider who was over-the-top heroic. Obviously, I couldn’t get this Twilight wannabe story to work, but I couldn’t figure out why. Not yet, anyway. While revising, I wrote this horrific scene which I can’t divulge here (it’s a spoiler) and I had this minuscule voice in the back of my heart saying, “that’s me.” I knew it was Gabe talking to me, but I was terrified to write that story. It didn’t go with the original paranormal idea, and it was dark. Really dark. In hindsight, my journey hadn’t taken me anywhere where I could have written that story and given it justice yet. I needed time. So, fast forward seven years after I rewrote Swimming Sideways and The Ugly Truth as contemporaries and that scene resurfaced. Gabe said, “See. I told you it was me.”
Seth Peters
I feel like Seth started my whole journey, so he has a very special place in my heart. While I’ve been writing since I was a child, and I've written at least four other books (unpublished) before publishing Swimming Sideways, Seth’s character is the one that wouldn’t stop talking to me. Seriously, he’s a freaking nag. To be fair, if you’ve read Fallen (that Wattpad Monstrosity again), I left him trapped in the underworld, so his nagging was about getting him out (LOL), but then I changed everything up on him, and discovered he was trapped in the underworld in this world, not a fantasy one. Which led to The Ugly Truth.
Honorable Mention:Secondary CharactersI couldn’t leave it there, because I think secondary characters are amazing, and I have some really loud ones talking my ear off at the moment. I figure I’d share some that I was really proud of and loved writing:
Cal Wallace (In the Echo of this Ghost Town & When the Echo Answers)
The entire cast of secondary characters from The Stories Stars Tell. I mean really? Who doesn’t want to read more about Ginny, Liam, Josh, and Danny? What about Emma’s sister, Shelby?
Dale and Martha from The Bones of Who We Are. I especially loved writing Dale.
There’s a bunch of new characters showing up in some new stories I’m working on, but those are top secret for now. Join my newsletter if you’re interested in hearing about those books before anyone else.
CLWalters Blog RSSDecember 8, 2021
My Top 5 Favorite Reads in 2021
As I write this, I’ve read 111 books in 2021 (and I’ll read a few more before ringing in 2022). Have I mentioned how much I loved reading books? My TBR (To Be Read) doesn’t seem to be decreasing since I keep adding new reads. So, narrowing my favorite reads to 5 was an exercise in restraint, which my TBR pile can attest isn’t one of my strengths. I persevered, however, and forced myself to commit to selecting my five favorites this year. Based on those 111 books, these 5 books were my favorite reads in 2021 (in no particular order).
Disclaimer: Not all of these were published in 2021. I think the oldest backlist was published in 2018.
Anxious People by Fredrick Backman
I have probably mentioned that I almost DNFd (Did Not Finish) this book, but forced myself to push through my prescribed 100 pages. Wouldn’t you know it, that last page (100 exactly), Backman sunk in the hooks, and I was caught, reeled in on the line. I couldn’t put the book down after that. The quirky characters suddenly jumped off the page and made me care.
The premise is a robbery gone wrong told from multiple viewpoints, but the story isn’t about the robbery but instead about people, about the ways life takes unexpected turns, and about how each of us—regardless of our circumstances—is really just trying our best with what we know.
There were these moments when Backman could make me cry with a poignant observation and the next line I would laugh out loud because it was so funny. Anxious People was a fantastic read. I LOVED it.
Black Sun was recommended to me by my wonderful, author friend, Brandann Hill-Mann, and I’m so glad I listened. While it was initially a slow start (lots of world building and character development with multiple characters), once I made my way into this world, I was invested.
The premise is that Serapio has been designated and trained to be the Crow God in order to seek vengeance against the watcher clans of Tova. His immediate target: The Sun Priest, Narnpa, during a coming solar eclipse. Xiala, a badass sea captain with magic of her own, Iktan, the assassin, and Ikoa, the crow rider, round up a strong cast of characters in this epic fantasy that left me breathless.
What I loved the most, besides the amazing world building and gorgeous imagery, was the way Roanhorse was able to make me care about all the characters equally. One might think: this is the bad guy and this is the good guy, but in Black Sun, all have shades of flaws and the moral high ground. I couldn’t help but want to cheer for all of them. It’s freaking fabulous.
To add to that, I got my hands on an ARC copy of Fevered Star, the second book in this Between Earth and Sky trilogy, really enjoyed it, and I am so excited to see how Roanhorse completes this saga.
This book took me by surprise. I can’t even remember why I purchased it, but I did, and WOW.
The premise is that Penny, who’s spent most of her adolescence raising her mother, is off to college. She’s not much of a “people” person, so when she comes across Sam, who’s struggling with his own stuff, it’s like the most awkward meeting ever. Penny, however, helps Sam out one evening, and they strike up a text-only friendship, becoming one another’s “emergency contact”. Only Penny finds as their text-only friendship grows, that what she thought was the perfect kind of hands-off relationship is less than what she really wants with Sam—a real one.
What made this book so amazing for me was the character development. Penny and Sam are so fleshed out they jump from the page, flaws and all. The believability is amazing. Choi’s writing is stunning. I loved her deft narrative voice. Finally, the story from beginning to end is flawless. I couldn’t come up with any reason to say it wasn’t a 10 out of 5 stars.
Sometimes those books we “highly anticipate” let us down. I highly anticipated Emily Henry’s follow up to Beach Read (which I LOVED!), People We Meet on Vacation. Now, if you’re looking for Beach Read, that isn’t what you’re going to get with this book, but then it shouldn’t be, right?
The premise is that Poppy met Alex in college, and they become one another’s platonic plus-one for everything (Think: When Harry Met Sally ). Every summer they become one another’s travel buddy, only something happened two years prior that ruined everything, and they stopped talking altogether. When Poppy realizes that she hasn’t been happy since, she decides to ask Alex to go on one more vacation with her and lay everything on the line with him to make it right, and he agrees. Poppy has one week to convince Alex to return to the way things used to be, only Poppy discovers she doesn’t really want things to return to the way they were; she wants something entirely new.
I get goosebumps thinking about this story. I think it might be time for a reread. With the normal Henry style of well-developed characters, she does an impeccable job of balancing truth, romance, and the realism of different kinds of complicated relationships. Emily Henry is an auto-buy author for me now.
I’ve been talking about Jeff Zentner books since reading his first, The Serpent King, years ago (and I won’t stop. If you haven’t read that one, Goodbye Days, or Rayne and Delilah’s Midnite Matinee, get on it ASAP). In the Wild Light was another of those books that I was anticipating, and boy, did it deliver.
Cash has lived in small-town Tennessee with his grandparents, and his best friend Delany. He’s comfortable. He’s worried about his sick pawpaw, but he’s doing what he needs to. When brilliant Delaney gets a scholarship to a prestigious private school in Connecticut, she secures a place not only for herself but for Cash as well, but it means Cash will have to leave everything that makes him feel safe and secure behind. With the encouragement of his grandparents, Cash follows Delany, but will the decision break him or make him?
Zentner’s writing is always heartfelt. It’s like being hooked up to an electric socket and getting zapped with emotion every time I read his work. He fleshes out amazing characters that hit you right in the heart, and his writing is impeccable. As of writing this, In the Wild Light has been nominated for a Carnegie Medal. It deserves it.
CLWalters Blog RSSNovember 30, 2021
My Top 5 of My Own Books
A question I get a lot: Which of your books is your favorite? I usually say “That’s like trying to choose your favorite child.” It’s an impossible question, but it’s also a fair one. Each book requires something different, a little more joy in some ways, a little more work in others. Sweat and tears in different ways that inform the process. So, because of that, there are special nooks and crannies in my heart where stories get placed.
So here are my top 5 books ranked from 5 to 1 and why I put them in this order.
#5 Swimming Sideways.
What it's about: Abby Kaiaulu is hiding a secret that a quick internet search has the power to uncover. Since she’s starting over in a new town, she thinks hiding it is the best option. Except secrets never stay hidden, and when she finds herself in between the It Boy at school, Seth Peters, and the school Freak, Gabe Daniels, Abby discovers she’s at the center of a different secret that will unravel the ordinary world of them all.
This is number 5 on my list because something has to be number 5, right? What I love about it: Abby is Hawaiian. That factor alone makes this story appear in the top 5. I love all of the cultural inclusion. I also love how Abby’s story factors into the other two in this series serving as a catalyst. When I think about the 3 Act structure, Abby’s story is an excellent Act 1.
Why is it number 5? Because I wish I’d been a stronger writer. Abby is great, but I’ve gotten better at writing, character development and narrative structure. I think first books are probably like that for a lot of writers—you see all the ways you can make things better.
What it’s about: Seth Peters, It Boy at Cantos High School, has been in an accident, or was it? As he fights for his life, he relives the past to make sense of his present, and learns that facing the ugly truth of who we are might be the only way to live an honest future.
This is number 4 on my list because the Cantos Chronicles was always about Seth and Gabe and their friendship. I love how this book sets that up. When I wrote this series, it was always for Seth, which is a weird thing to say. Gabe was always heroic, but Seth wasn’t but I didn’t want him to be a “villain” for the sake of it. I kept thinking about how no one wakes up and thinks: how can I be awful today. There’s always a story. So after writing Swimming Sideways, I wanted to think about why Seth was the way he was. It broke my heart.
What it’s about: Gabe Daniels has had a tough life. It got better for a while when he was adopted and had a great best friend, Seth Peters, who understood him. But then it broke apart and he can’t seem to put it back together even with therapy and amazing parents. He’s pretty sure because of the trainwreck his bio-parents started, he was always going to crash. So he walks into the woods with a plan to end it. It’s just that life has other plans…
This was the hardest story I’ve ever written for so many reasons. First of all, the story was so hard. It starts off in a dark place. Second, it moves backward through a timeline which makes it complicated. As a reader we start in the valley with Gabe and as he relives his journey, we vacillate through the highs and lows with him. But I am so freaking proud of this story.
What it’s about: Emma Matthews and Tanner James are each on a journey to redefine who they are based on the boxes they built for themselves in high school. Together, they learn what it means to break down the walls they built to fall in love, to discover who they are, and to decide who they want to be.
If Gabe’s story was one of the most difficult I’ve ever written, this one was the most fun. Emma discovering her own sexual empowerment despite the purity culture message and Tanner discovering his own emotional empowerment despite the toxically masculine culture he’s been living was magical to write. These characters jumped off the page and that was such a fun place to be as a writer.
What it’s about: Griffin Nichols has lost everything since graduation, including his friends, but rather than look at himself, he blames everyone else. Until he meets Maxwell Wallace and she holds up a mirror. When Griffin finally begins to look at himself, the truth of who he was and what his choices have been make him realize he needs to decide who he wants to be.
Why it’s number one on my list: It’s the newest release, yes, but I think in terms of my writing, this one demonstrates the most growth. I am so proud of how I was able to take this flat character from The Stories Stars Tell, and create this dynamic character with depth and complexity. Even better, I was able to find all the ways we could like him, when he wasn’t very likeable. I am so proud of this book. When the Echo Answers didn’t make the list because it’s a companion to this story, but I am really proud of Max’s version of events as well.
October 6, 2021
Road to Echoes: The Letters
Dear Reader,
Truthfully, I’m not in a good place. I really shouldn’t be writing this letter to you, because if it’s supposed to be all “Rah! Rah! Read my story,” I’m going to suck at that.
I had all these ideas about how life was supposed to be, and how I was supposed to be with friends—my chosen family—in it. I had these notions that after graduation from high school, things were just going to get better, you know? Our bro crew moving forward together in all the ways that made us close to begin with, only more. And then it detonated.
Life got smaller. I got smaller.
My friends have ditched me. I’m looking at the shrapnel of my life, unsure how that happened.
I’m angry.
I’m hurt.
I’m alone.
And for some reason, I can’t get this horrible thought out of my head that it IS all my fault.
And it sucks.
So, Rah! Rah! Enter at your own risk,
Griffin
[image error]Dear Reader,
Dad’s moved us again. The summer before I leave for college. Yeah. He picked this dump of a house about three hours from where I’ll be going to school, and when I look at him, I think maybe he’s as scared about me leaving as I am (even if I am ready).
It’s always just been us, you see. Me and my dad against the world.
And now it’s still going to be us. Separately.
With all the moving, I’ve developed this knack: I’ve learned how to be a chameleon. I don’t mean this like I change who I am to fit in or anything, but kind of more like I can disguise myself to avoid being prey, you know? Blend into the world around me. Look, I’m not proud to admit this. My dad has told me to be myself, and I am, mostly. But sometimes, when I look in the mirror, even when I like myself, there’s stuff about myself I don’t really like. I don’t like that I’m not the kind of person people (besides my dad) choose.
Maybe college will change that?
Sorry to be a downer. I’m not usually. Here. Let’s start over:
My name is Maxwell Wallace and I like running, strawberry Slushies (don’t tell Dad), and long walks on the beach. I also really like 80’s and 90’s hard rock music, and I like to laugh. Would you date me? I think I’m a catch!
College, get ready for this girl!
Love,
Max
I’ll be taking some time off from blogging, friends. I’m working on two new books (in various stages) and I figure maybe you’d rather have those instead. Then, November is NaNoWriMo, so I’ll be writing something new. I’ll see you back here in December. Until then, I am so grateful for all of your support. <3 CL
CLWalters Blog RSSSeptember 29, 2021
Road to Echoes: Griffin on Facing Fear
It’s fu…flipping terrifying, but…
Everyone is afraid of something, and if they say they aren’t, they’re lying.
I used to think that not caring would cure me of being afraid, but it was a lie I told myself because really all I felt all the time was fear.
When I looked at my friends, I hid my fear in bravado so they wouldn’t see how bad I felt about myself. I was terrified they’d learn the truth that I was weak. Turns out, you can’t hide stuff like that because the truth always comes out mostly in ugly ways.
Max taught me that admitting you're afraid doesn’t make you weak. It’s exactly the opposite. Admitting you are afraid is bravery.
On Sale now. Releases October 12, 2021
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September 22, 2021
Road to Echoes: Guest Blogger, Griffin Nichols
The next three weeks, Griffin Nichols, the protagonist from In the Echo of this Ghost Town, is doing a takeover of the blog. This has been done with a lot of arm twisting and threats (because Griffin doesn’t like writing), but in the end, he’s agreed. So without further ado… Griffin Nichols.
Available for preorder now.
Choices and Consequencesby Griffin NicholsI’m writing this at 11:46pm the night before it’s due. A choice, and probably not a good one. I know it isn’t the best policy to meet a deadline with any kind of efficiency, and the consequence is you’ll probably get a sh… crappy blog post. Look, writing and sharing sh...stuff isn’t really my thing. Regardless, CL insisted because she has this weird idea that more people should have access to my story, so they should get to know me better. Ummm, okay. Whatever. That’s sort of weird. But I’ll play along. For her. I’d rather just sort of stay in my lane, you know?
She told me the theme this week is choice and consequence. Dude… I know about this sh… stuff. That’s probably why she asked me. My life is riddled with this idea and not only for me, but for my family in general. I mean, look at my dad: gets into selling weapons and drugs and off to prison he goes, leaving us behind. That’s a sh...crap consequence. Has an affair with someone, which results in another kid. All these choices he made that didn’t only affect him, but each of us, you know?
I guess I’ve fallen into the same pattern of being careless with my choices, even if I don't want to think about it. Truth be told though, a few months ago I wouldn’t have even had that thought. I was content to just party with my boys, make fu… stupid choices, and mess sh… stuff up. I didn’t really care about anything except my friends and how we were together. It’s only been since the fight I had with Tanner, my best friend, that I’ve even considered what it all means for myself. It’s weird to think that sometimes bad sh… things have to happen in order for us to open our eyes and see the truth about stuff.
And that sucks.
Choices and consequences come back to patterns, don't they? I was in a party pattern with my friends. It worked until it didn’t, and now I’m having to figure out a new pattern that works better. New choices. Varied outcomes that hopefully put me on a better path. I guess when I got to that place I needed to look at that pattern, and could finally see it, I had to ask myself: what now?
That’s it. That’s all I got. Not super profound or anything. I just figure it is what it is, you know? See it. Fix it. Move on. But look, it’s taken me a while to get to this point, and I have a lot of people in my life now to thank for getting there.
September 15, 2021
Road to Echoes: Strength
Rather than tell you what I think about strength and how it relates to Griffin’s story, In the Echo of this Ghost Town (releasing October 12), I figured an excerpt would be better.
In the following scene, Griffin drives his older brother Phoenix to a meeting and attends with him. When he arrives, he comes face to face with Tanner’s dad, who Griffin has perceived as a villain in Tanner’s story. Given that he’s feeling unsettled in his own skin, listening to Tanner’s dad and other men share their vulnerabilities opens his eyes to something he hadn’t considered about strength.
From In the Echo of this Ghost Town:…I drive Phoenix to one of his meetings and stay with him. I park in a church lot and follow him up the stairs into a meeting room where there are a bunch of chairs set up in a circle on a cheap blue carpet. The meeting fills up with people, all men.
“Griffin?”
I turn at the sound of my name and come face to face with Tanner’s dad.
“Hey, Mr. James.”
He extends his hand. “Welcome.”
I shake his hand. “I’m here with my brother.” I use my thumbs to point over my shoulder at Phoenix who’s talking to someone behind me.
Mr. James’s eyes light up. “I didn’t know Phoenix was your brother. Goodness. It’s a small world.”
“I didn’t know you came to this–” I stop unsure what to say, not wanting to be rude.
“About a year now. The meetings and the community have helped me in lots of ways. Not just with the drinking, but also with other things.”
I shove my hands into the pockets of my jacket and look down at my shoes. I think I know what he’s talking about, but I’m feeling so uncomfortable with how out in the open he is.
“That’s good,” I eventually say.
He smiles, and I see Tanner. “Yeah. I’m better, but you know it isn’t all easy. I have to work hard at being better every day. I’m just glad I’ve been able to start fixing things with Tanner.”
I study him, interested in this bit of information. I know a version of what he did to Tanner and Tanner’s mom. I know what Tanner has had to deal with. I wouldn’t have ever thought Tanner would forgive him.
“We’re a work in progress. Geez. Listen to me going on and on. How have you been?”
We talk about my working for Cal. Tanner’s dad offers me a place if I ever need it, so I mention Phoenix looking for work, and they talk for a bit. The meeting begins, calling us into the circle.
Phoenix and I take our seats. I look across the circle at Tanner’s dad and wonder if Tanner was willing to forgive his dad for all that he did, would he be willing to forgive me?
Phoenix leans toward me, “I don’t know if I can do construction.”
“I didn’t think I could either, but you might like it. It’s like running. Besides, it’s a job.”
The meeting opens with a prayer, a recitation, and a reading. I suddenly feel like I’m in a church service and fight the urge to flee. It’s fucking uncomfortable, and I can’t put my finger on why I feel like I want to run away, but I do. I grasp my phone and think about Max who I know would tell me to calm down and be there for my brother. When people begin sharing—much like Tanner’s Dad earlier—I feel the fight or flight response, afraid of all the feelings.
There are tears. Men sharing. Crying. Offering their stories that reveal their hearts. I think about how vulnerable many of them are and consider how I thought Phoenix was brave for sharing with me. I have the feeling all the ways I’d thought boxing up gentle Griffin and protecting him with defensive Griff perhaps wasn’t brave at all, but because I was afraid…
CLWalters Blog RSSSeptember 8, 2021
Road to Echoes: Attraction
I remember when I was a younger writer, all I wanted to write was romance novels. I loved them. I loved reading them and imagining stories of love found, lost, and found again. Of course, I loved the sex! I read Judith McNaught and Lavyrle Spencer novels like I was eating them for meals. Writing romance was the perfect recipe for this romantic! As I went through my college major (English) classes, there seemed to be this covert judgment on anything popular fiction from horror to action and especially romance. My enjoyment for reading and writing romance never died, but I think it impacted my self-esteem about what I wanted to write.
That’s the thing about attraction, though. While this story isn’t about romantic attraction, what we are attracted to seems to choose us in a way. I was attracted to the stories told in romance novels. Something connected to me on a heart level, and ultimately isn’t that what attraction is? Connection?
So here I am, decades later writing. And guess what, all of what I write could be described as romance. I love love, I suppose. I love asking readers to join me in falling in love, and when it works, it’s magical. I love connecting.
This isn’t any different for In the Echo of this Ghost Town’s Griffin, who is so unlikeable, it was a challenge to actually find a way to make a reader like him (I think I did it! Yes!). And When the Echo Answers’ Max was likable from the first moment she steps on the page in both books. But Griffin and Max aren’t initially attracted to one another. Sure, Max thinks upon meeting him, “...as unattractive as that sneer is, he’s actually cute,” and Griffin thinks, “...not my type…” and yet as their friendship grows, so does their attraction for one another.
Connection. See.
My self esteem for writing romance is fine (no worries there). I’m at an age in my life where I now give zero f’s about most things, judgement included, and I love what I do, but I will always love the story Stephen King shared in On Writing when a teacher looked down on his “Pit in the Pendulum” retelling and asked him why he wanted to “write junk” referencing horror. Her judgement lasted well into his writing career. He wrote, “I was ashamed. I have spent a good many years since—too many, I think —being ashamed about what I write,” even well into his success. He goes on to say there is always judgement attached to creativity.
I’m not sure we can control what we are attracted to, what calls us, or what makes our heart beat just a little bit faster. What I think we can control is what we do with it, how we answer or ignore that call. And here’s the truth: Life is too short to be ashamed about what we love.
September 1, 2021
Road to Echoes: 8 Tips for Using NaNoWriMo to Write Your Novel
National Novel Writing Month, which happens in November every year, is a massive community of creatives using the time like one giant writing sprint. Millions of people start it, thousands of people finish. What sets those who complete it with those who don’t. No idea. This isn’t that kind of post. Instead, I wanted to examine how using NaNoWriMo 2020 helped me to kickstart In the Echo of this Ghost Town which publishes next month (October 12, 2021).
Look, full transparency, I’ve “won” NaNoWriMo four times (and by “won” I just mean met the 50,000 words written in November goal). So far, though, I haven’t published any of those works. In the Echo of this Ghost Town. with be the first. The other 3 projects need so much more work that I have them in the publishing plan queue for the next few years. This is the first time I met the word count goal and used the momentum to finish the book. Interested in learning more about NaNoWriMo books that have been published? Here’s a blog about it and here’s a reel I made.
So how did I do it?
Choose a projectFirst, I had a project in mind before November even rolled around. I started playing around with Griffin’s story in July 2020. I had a general sense of his character, I had a sense of the conflict and the inciting incident (i.e., the fight with Tanner from The Stories Stars Tell), so when I looked ahead at my schedule, I saw the opportunity to commit to writing forward on the draft in November.
The next thing I did was set an overall goal. NaNoWriMo already has a built in goal of 50,000 words for the month. It’s a great milestone to shoot for it you find that motivating. Word counts are cool and I love recording them and seeing the graph climb each day, but it wasn’t the 50K word count I was shooting for, it was a completed first draft of In the Echo of this Ghost Town. So while NaNoWriMo offers a common finish line for everyone, don’t hesitate to set your own goal based on your needs and the best practices within your own process.
Next, I started November prepared. How prepared? I had done some heavy lifting on my character work (completed a template I made and use for getting to know characters and explore their motivations as well as character interviews of each of the characters I knew). I had several scenes written, a rough understanding of what I thought the story structure would be, and the ability to identify mini goals to help me move forward. Finally, I did some research. For Griffin’s story this meant looking closer at abandonment and male culture. Was I finished with the research by the time I got started in November? No, but I’d gotten started.
Next, to hold myself accountable to the daily grind of writing, I set daily goals. NaNoWriMo does this for us. 1,667 words each day over 30 days to make the 50K mark. So, here’s my truth, I don’t find word counts motivating. Sure, I love watching that graph climb when I enter my word count, but truthfully, when I’m writing to a number, I feel sort of paralyzed and boxed in. What motivates me even more, is making my own visual accountability chart to record and color in my progress filled in with my own personal goals.
As part of my preparation, I set the first week with goals. These goals are related to story and scene work rather than word counts. So for example, the first day, I might identify “Griffin & Mom” as the goal. I know that means I need to work on developing a scene that explores the dynamic between these characters. So I sit down that day and write to complete that scene. As I write forward, I adjust and modify the daily goals as necessary to keep the forward momentum. And because characters always surprise me, I need to leave room for adaptation.
This takes commitment and self-discipline. Again. I love to color in my chart., so there’s that for the discipline. But I also know it can be too easy to be like, “Oh I’ll just I write more tomorrow.” I did that for a lot of years (which I think comes down to not having done the preparation). I DO schedule in a few days of non writing (I.e., my birthday [which falls in November], Thanksgiving and the day before are bonus writing days). Just sit down and write.
Having a finished project as my goal (I.e., Griffin’s story) made it easier. I had an endgame in mind. I had a sense of how to get there. Sitting down everyday to write toward that end didn’t feel so painful.
Sometimes there are horrible writing days. There was a day I only wrote 800 words. It felt like every word I typed were droplets of blood oozing through my fingertips. On those days, it is important to be kind to yourself. There are things I try to jumpstart the creativity. Sometimes I change location; sometimes I change medium (I.e., computer to a handwritten journal) , but there are days NOTHING works. Be kind, set a goal for the next day, and give yourself permission to walk away WITHOUT the negativity.
It is always tempting to reread what I’ve already written. I try to avoid this unless I need to to get started or reacquaint myself with a specific plot point. But usually I avoid this during NaNoWriMo. Instead, I focus on the daily goal and if I’m not sure I write that into the draft and then keep moving forward. That is what revision is for.
There is one caveat to this: I will reread what I have written each day in order to allow myself the opportunity to flesh out and develop what I started. I tend to underwrite for NaNoWriMo. So I might write an 800 word scene. When I go back through it and add details and find opportunities to add flesh to the page, it becomes clearer (and adds to the word count, obviously).
Finally, it’s easy to be negative with ourselves. It’s easy to think, “I wasn’t good enough today,” or “I’m not good enough to do this.” I know these thoughts will happen. They happen to all of us, but when you achieve a goal—whether its one you set for a day, or one you set for the week, or one you’ve asked your CP to hold you accountable to meet—celebrate it! A glass of wine, a night out with your friends, whatever it is, celebrate your writing wins!
An example of handwriting to change my perspective and jumpstart the flow when I’m stuck.
Ultimately, NaNoWriMo is a personal endeavor. It isn’t a competition with anyone else but rather a chance to face yourself, which is why I say use your strengths and what you find motivating to get to that finish line! If you’re planning on participating, good luck, and come find me so we can be Nano friends (CL Walters). I’ll be working on the second book of my fantasy and will need all the moral support I can get.
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