B.B. Palomo's Blog: Unpopular Writing Advice

My Writing Space

I am so excited about this fun collaboration with Bridget Messi [click for her author bio

We have been cooking this up for a while and the day is finally here! I have met so many amazing authors since releasing my debut novel The Blood Society and Bridget is one of them! She is super positive and fun to talk to. She is also always willing to help out with questions and I enjoy our chats immensely.

After talking a bunch, we decided on sharing our writing spaces! What’s the same about them? What’s different?

When I sat down to blog about my writing space I had to consider…where do I write? When that list became too long, I considered instead, where do I NOT write?

Being a mom, time is beyond valuable to me and I find that I have to steal moments everywhere to follow my passion. This is not an inclusive list of my writing spaces, but I think it paints a great picture of how chaotic it can be!

My Desk:

I love this space, but in all honesty, I rarely use it. I hoped to spend more time here, but since COVID I have also been working from home at my day job full time and it has kind of put a damper on the space. Now I view it more as my office space for work, rather than for writing. I do hope that changes soon though! This was a 9/10 but now its kinda a 7/10.

The Couch:

This is where the majority of my writing takes place! I gravitate here for comfort and to be close to my family. Sometimes it messy like in this picture and sometimes it’s just me and my laptop, but either way its one of my favorite spots to write! This gets a 10/10.

My Room:

Let’s just pretend for the next two I inserted amazing pictures of a put together space. It is near impossible to keep tidy as my sweet daughter like to reorganize constantly.

AH, those late nights. You have that awful kink in your neck from sitting cross-legged on the couch, hunched over trying to get those last few words out, and suddenly inspiration sparks. These are the days I look up and it is past 1 am and I know I need to get my butt to bed, but I also can’t disengage so I take my laptop upstairs and get comfy while I pound out those last few scenes. I give this space a 6/10.

The Closet:
I can already tell you this gets an 8/10 for quietness and creativity. I don’t find myself in here often but there are days when its all I can do to get out a sentence between my toddler, husband, and furbabies. Just like moms hide in the pantry for their snacks, I steal 10 or 15 minutes in the closet to not be overstimulated and finish an important scene.

Places not pictured: The kitchen, car (when I’m not driving of course), on vacation, on airplanes, and pretty much anywhere I get a burst of inspiration lol

I had such a blast putting this together! Be sure to check out Briget Messi’s blog post to see her writing space as well!

Here is also a link to her debut novel Red Siren which is available now! Don’t sleep on this one–am I using this phrase right?

As always, thanks so much for stopping by and check back regularly for more writing updates and advice!

B.B. Palomo

Welcome to ‘Unpopular Writing Advice.’

Hello!

My name is B.B. and I am the author of The Blood Society, the very first book in my Department of Vampire Extermination Trilogy. 

I have spent the better part of my life telling myself I would never be able to follow my dreams because of the non-exhaustive (but very exhausting) list of excuses below:

I’m not good enough.People won’t like me.People won’t like my stories.I’m too scared.I won’t be successful.People say the niche is dead.Someone has already written a book about vampires, magic, aliens, faeries…etc.I’m not good at it.

If you’re still reading this, maybe some of these ring true for you too… 

The fact of the matter is, so many people feel one or more of these self-made excuses above. Now, that’s not to undermine those feelings because they’re very real and the effects they have are even more legitimate. 

As someone who has been professionally diagnosed with severe anxiety, depression, and PTSD, I understand all too well the way these thoughts can affect your life and dreams. Even if you don’t suffer from disorders similar to these, the feelings occur naturally and I am here to remind you they’re totally normal and okay, but you cannot let them control your life and actions.

In my quest for support, I came across a lot of posts, blogs, and videos on all the things wrong with writing which was more discouraging than motivating. I started to feel like I was the only one who liked certain genres or writing styles which of course convinced me I must be an awful writer and had no business pursuing my dream to publish my own stories.

Recently, that changed for me. 

After having my daughter Emberly, I realized that I would be spewing hypocritical advice to her as she grew older. I knew I wanted her to believe she could do anything, be anything and achieve whatever she put her mind to, but I would be saying that knowing that I didn’t pursue any of my own dreams. 

How could I say any of those things without feeling like a liar? How could she trust and believe in me and thus herself? 

I could do the age old, “do as I say, not as I do” talk, but was that truly what I wanted?

So began the countless hours of finishing my incomplete draft. The sleepless nights, the feelings of wanting to cry and pull my hair out. Then the rewriting, and rewriting again, then plotting the story when it didn’t work (I know I cry just thinking about how backward that is) and rewriting yet again wishing I would have at least attempted a half-assed plot to begin with, pushing against my pantser ways. 

Which brings me here, to a blog I again tried to talk myself out of creating.

My reasons?

Who would want advice from an author who hasn’t published yet? (though that changes in August, the thought will just morph and stay with me.)You will make spelling and grammar mistakes because you’re not a strong enough writer. People won’t like it.You don’t have the same advice as others.Your advice is not helpful.

And again, the list goes on…

However, here’s the thing. 

IT DOESN’T MATTER. 

I’m going to say it again for the people in the back. IT. DOES. NOT. MATTER.

That’s right, I said it–– twice. It doesn’t matter what my brain tries to come up with to get me to believe I am not good enough. I am good enough…and so are you! 

And that’s what I want to share with you, the writers and authors that are struggling to remember that, you only have to be good enough for you. 

Do you like the genre?

Do you like your story?

Does what you’re writing make you happy?

Then do it. Write for you, not because you might become famous or make money off of it. Write because you have stories that you cannot bear to keep from the page. 

Sure, money and fame sound great in theory, though I truly believe if that’s the only thing you’re in this for, your stories will reflect that. 

Now that I have rambled on, here’s my conclusion.

I want to create a blog that uplifts and encourages writers to pursue their dreams and finish their work whether that be to publish or hold on to. My goal is to publish posts that remind us that writing is subjective, and everyone has different tastes. It will never be a one size fits all, so advice should be given and taken that way to avoid deterring people from exploring their creativity.

So, without further ado… 

Welcome to my blog! 

Unpopular Writing Advice 

B.B. Palomo