Matthew Ledrew's Blog, page 33
December 18, 2017
“Where do you get your ideas?” | House Blog
For me, the simplest answer is:
My Brain.
My brain is a very strange little thing, and it comes up with weird ideas all the time. Some ideas are half-formed and need to be thought about before they become something I can actually work with. Some are fully-formed scenes that merely need a story. Some are just an object or one sentence.
I don’t think there’s a wrong way to come up with ideas. There are probably a vast many different ways that a person can be inspired – and what inspires me might not inspire someone else.
However…
If you’re looking for a longer answer, let’s get into detail:
Where do my ideas come from?
Dreams: I had a dream once about two people fighting, and then one of them running into a building that they knew was going to blow up. That dream became a scene, which I wanted to be the end to a story. So I tried to figure out who those people were, what they were doing, and how they’d gotten to this point. And thus, a story was born.*
Reading Other Books: I was reading a book** and came across the line “and the matter of Mrs. Victoria Mendosa’s mysteriously vanishing thimble and its consequences.” This made me think of what kind of consequences a missing thimble might create, and what it would mean, which lead me to wonder why a thimble? Who had given it? Who had received it? What was its purpose? And then I suddenly had a story.
Random Things: I was on a bus a while back and was watching the scenery roll by. Being from Newfoundland, I love the island’s scenery, but traveling in Nova Scotia isn’t the same. Some parts are okay, but there aren’t a lot of mountains. I realized I missed the mountains. I realized that maybe someone else was missing mountains as well, and maybe they had a story to tell about why.
Submission Prompts: A lot of the time when I’m looking for places to submit writing, they have very specific prompts – and a lot of the time I don’t have anything that fits those prompts. So I have to think about what the publisher wants, what I can bring that someone else might not. This usually goes sideways for me, because my brain is one of those weird ones that immediately jumps to werewolves when you ask me to think about fish.***
Asking ‘Why?’: This usually comes after the first glimmer of an idea, but it’s the one that helps me whenever I get stuck. Why did this person do that? Why is she running away? Why should I bother telling this story? Throw in the other questions, as well: Who are they fighting? How does she expect to win? Where does this all take place? Ask questions, and seek out multiple answers. Try to surprise yourself.
Mostly it’s about recognizing which ideas you should hold on to; which ones you should give more thought to; and which you should pack away to look at later.
It’s about realizing that anything could be an idea, if you think about it.
Also, keep a pen handy so that you can write them down before you forget them.
_____
*Fun fact: I ended up having to write a new ending by the time I got there, because the scene no longer fit the story. But I kept part of the scene in the story as a dream someone has.
**“Dust and Shadow” by Lyndsay Faye.
***fish = water = creatures = teeth = monsters = werewolves.
“Where do you get your ideas?”
For me, the simplest answer is:
My Brain.
My brain is a very strange little thing, and it comes up with weird ideas all the time. Some ideas are half-formed and need to be thought about before they become something I can actually work with. Some are fully-formed scenes that merely need a story. Some are just an object or one sentence.
I don’t think there’s a wrong way to come up with ideas. There are probably a vast many different ways that a person can be inspired – and what inspires me might not inspire someone else.
However…
If you’re looking for a longer answer, let’s get into detail:
Where do my ideas come from?
Dreams: I had a dream once about two people fighting, and then one of them running into a building that they knew was going to blow up. That dream became a scene, which I wanted to be the end to a story. So I tried to figure out who those people were, what they were doing, and how they’d gotten to this point. And thus, a story was born.*
Reading Other Books: I was reading a book** and came across the line “and the matter of Mrs. Victoria Mendosa’s mysteriously vanishing thimble and its consequences.” This made me think of what kind of consequences a missing thimble might create, and what it would mean, which lead me to wonder why a thimble? Who had given it? Who had received it? What was its purpose? And then I suddenly had a story.
Random Things: I was on a bus a while back and was watching the scenery roll by. Being from Newfoundland, I love the island’s scenery, but traveling in Nova Scotia isn’t the same. Some parts are okay, but there aren’t a lot of mountains. I realized I missed the mountains. I realized that maybe someone else was missing mountains as well, and maybe they had a story to tell about why.
Submission Prompts: A lot of the time when I’m looking for places to submit writing, they have very specific prompts – and a lot of the time I don’t have anything that fits those prompts. So I have to think about what the publisher wants, what I can bring that someone else might not. This usually goes sideways for me, because my brain is one of those weird ones that immediately jumps to werewolves when you ask me to think about fish.***
Asking ‘Why?’: This usually comes after the first glimmer of an idea, but it’s the one that helps me whenever I get stuck. Why did this person do that? Why is she running away? Why should I bother telling this story? Throw in the other questions, as well: Who are they fighting? How does she expect to win? Where does this all take place? Ask questions, and seek out multiple answers. Try to surprise yourself.
Mostly it’s about recognizing which ideas you should hold on to; which ones you should give more thought to; and which you should pack away to look at later.
It’s about realizing that anything could be an idea, if you think about it.
Also, keep a pen handy so that you can write them down before you forget them.
_____
*Fun fact: I ended up having to write a new ending by the time I got there, because the scene no longer fit the story. But I kept part of the scene in the story as a dream someone has.
**“Dust and Shadow” by Lyndsay Faye.
***fish = water = creatures = teeth = monsters = werewolves.
December 15, 2017
Faith | The Xander Drew Series
In this thrilling murder-mystery conspiracy novel, Xander’s war with the malevolent mob boss Stephen Fields attracts unwanted attention in the form of Engen, the sinister corporation that gave him his special abilities at birth.
Although Xander has isolated himself from others to keep from being manipulated, Engen pulls in characters from his once dormant past to try and regain control of his life and power. Can Xander overcome some of the most powerful minds on Earth to finally be free of their influence?
Faith (Paperback)
Matthew LeDrew
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Kindle
Purchase (Physical):
Amazon (Canada/USA)
Chapters/Indigo
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Title Information:
ISBN:
978-1-926903-69-9
Release Date:
December 15, 2017
Status:
Available
Book Type:
Paperback (5 x 8 in) / EBook
Cover Price:
Buy Local: $20 / EBook: $0.99
Page Count:
302
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December 6, 2017
NaNoWriMo 2017 | Peter Foote Blog
Peter Foote, one of our esteemed From the Rockers, ‘won’ NaNoWriMo this year, the first year of participation for many Engen Authors. Catch up with his thoughts on the experience via his personal blog!
For the first time ever I decided to take the plunge and signed myself up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) with no idea how I would do. Up to this point I had a hard time finishing a short story in a year, how would I fare with a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days?
I won!
It took until 6:37 pm on Nov 30th for me to do it, but I was able to complete a “zero draft” for a science fiction novel in those thirty days. I say zero draft because it needs a lot of work to be even a true first draft, but all the elements of the story are there and I’m please how it turned out.
Now that I’ve had a couple days to process the experience, there are some things that I would like to share:
I couldn’t have done it…
View original post 421 more words
NaNoWriMo 2017
Peter Foote, one of our esteemed From the Rockers, ‘won’ NaNoWriMo this year, the first year of participation for many Engen Authors. Catch up with his thoughts on the experience via his personal blog!
For the first time ever I decided to take the plunge and signed myself up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) with no idea how I would do. Up to this point I had a hard time finishing a short story in a year, how would I fare with a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days?
I won!
It took until 6:37 pm on Nov 30th for me to do it, but I was able to complete a “zero draft” for a science fiction novel in those thirty days. I say zero draft because it needs a lot of work to be even a true first draft, but all the elements of the story are there and I’m please how it turned out.
Now that I’ve had a couple days to process the experience, there are some things that I would like to share:
I couldn’t have done it…
View original post 421 more words
November 29, 2017
THE ULTIMATE EXERCISE IN WORLD BUILDING | Patreon Blog
[image error]For the last few years I have been using the term ‘World Building’ incorrectly. I always took it to mean the Tolkien-like appendixes and appendices that some authors chose to but in the front and backs of their books, often with maps and diagrams and schematics and character histories that had little to nothing to do with the story at hand, and which I often found exhausting.
However, my fellow author JJ King has recently educated me that this is not the case: World Building can simply be the slow process of letting the reader know what can and cannot happen in your world, a set of rules that you write by and provide information on on an as-needed basis, ideally.
I say that I used the term ‘World Building’ incorrectly because I only associated it with the sort of pedantic info-dumps I try to never do, but apparently this is just bad or expositive World Building. Good World Building can happen organically an naturally, giving small snippets of the larger world in book after book… much like I did with the Engen Universe. I was embarrassed to learn that such a pivotal term had escaped my vernacular, but such is life, we all have our knowledge gaps.
Since then I have spent months ruminating on all the wrong-answers I have given regarding World Building in my previous Writing Panel experiences. After some serious thought, I think I’ve come up with the ideal World Building scenario for those who have an exhaustive world and cast of characters in their heads without knowing where to start – and it works for any genre!
November 22, 2017
FREE eBook – The Theogony by Matthew LeDrew
Theo, and young man with extraordinary talents residing in the horrible mental care facility Black Springs, is taken under the wing of a mysterious woman who claims to know where to find his long-estranged father. Together they embark on a journey through the dessert to discover what’s left of his wandering, shattered spirit.
The Theogony
Matthew LeDrew
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Purchase (eBook):
ePub
PDF
Mobi
Title Information:
Release Date:
October 2017
Status:
Available
Book Type:
EBook
Cover Price:
FREE with Mailing List Signup!
Page Count:
37
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November 18, 2017
NaNoWriMo Round 6!
Over the past 7+ years, I’ve NaNo’d 6 times. Some times I’ve been successful, some times I haven’t, and one time I failed so spectacularly that I’m almost proud.
Below are some observations I’ve made & lessons I’ve learned:
* * *
Year 1 – 2010
Project Type: New Novel
Project Info: A werewolf-type story
Final Word Count: 52,000
For this one, I started a brand new story on November 1. I think I did a rough outline beforehand, but mostly just character sketches and a very loose plot. After 2 weeks I hit the wall hard, but a few days later I managed to push past it. I ended up reaching a conclusion around the 40,000 mark and thought I was going to fail this task, but then I thought of a way to make the story longer and managed to get over 50,000 words. I also wrote a really cool back-story scene that I’m super happy with.
This was my first year, and I consider it my most successful so far. I was working 2 jobs and rehearsing 2 plays, so I have no idea how I managed to do it. (Actually, that’s a lie – I’m editing that story now and there’s a lot of nonsensical rambling that needs to be cut down – but there’s also some great stuff that I got from the aforementioned rambling. Swings and roundabouts, my friends.)
Aside from being super determined to rock my first year, I learned how to push myself and that I could actually finish a story. It taught me that I could write a full-length novel in less than 3 years. As someone who had trouble focusing on one single project, it was a great confidence boost.
* * *
Year 2 – 2011
Project Type: New Novel
Project Info: Sequel to the previous year’s story
Final Word Count: 50,590
I did a bit more prep-work for this one, but not much. As I’d already established the characters, it was easier to imagine the world, but I actually had more trouble writing this one. I think I was hoping to establish the same success as the year before, but the spark wasn’t as bright. I knew that the last year’s story needed work, but hadn’t taken the time to work on it. Also, I was worried about repeating myself, so I was more hesitant to ramble.
But I managed to finish it, even though it was a bit more of a slog. It taught me that just because you wrote the first novel, it doesn’t necessarily make the second one any easier.
* * *
Year 3 – 2012
Project Type: Short Stories
Project Info: An attempt to finish/write 5 short stories/novellas
Final Word Count: 24,356
This year I didn’t have any novels on the go, but I had a bunch of short stories that I’d started working on and wanted to finish. My initial hope was to make each story into a novella of approximately 10,000, which worked for the first two stories, but fell apart after that.
I’m honestly not sure why it didn’t work. Maybe it was because trying to work on five different projects within such a short time frame was too much for my brain. I like to focus on one or two big things at a time, so trying to focus on five small things might have pulled my brain too many different directions. Or maybe I should have done more prep-work. Or maybe it would have been better if I’d allowed myself to work on all of them simultaneously instead of trying to go one at a time.
Or maybe I should have taken the month off instead of pushing myself.
* * *
Year 4 – 2015
Project Type: Reworking a past idea
Project Info: A ghost story
Final Word Count: 568
For this one, I was trying to work on a story that I’d spent a lot of time thinking about. The problem was that I didn’t know when I should set the story. Should the characters be in high school? Junior high? College? Without that detail I couldn’t actually write the story. It stopped me in my tracks.
So, yes, I failed horribly this year. Even though I had a plot, I couldn’t get the opening scene right, so I wasn’t able to continue past 568 words. I kept thinking that if I didn’t figure out how to start, then anything I wrote after this would get trashed if I changed my mind.
But the good news is that I picked this idea up in April and I was able to find a setting I liked. Sometimes you have a great idea, but it needs some time to percolate. Never throw anything out: file it away until you finally figure out what to do with it.
* * *
Year 5 – 2017
Project Type: Finishing Current Work-In-Progress + New Novel
Project Info: Sequel(?) to Six-Elemental + Another story in that universe
Current Word Count: 26,555
I had already started writing my novel and didn’t want to put it aside for an entire month, so I did a word count (~27,000 words), and then recorded anything I wrote past that. My ideal plan was to write another 25,000 words by November 15, and then to move on to the next novel. I ended up writing ~26,000 words by November 16, so woohoo!
Although I’m currently behind on my word count, I’ve been writing every single day. There were times where I wasn’t sure where the story was going, but by pushing myself and thinking about the novel every day, my brain managed to work through it. I wanted to know what was next, and my brain wanted to answer that question.
I’ve been writing slower this time, because I’m considering my words more carefully (I’m very aware that I’m going to have to edit all of this soon). Despite this, I’m not too far behind on my word count.
I succeeded in finishing my novel, so even if I don’t reach 50,000 words by November 30, I’m counting this year as a win.
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November 15, 2017
FREE eBook – Unexpected Stories by Labonté & House!
Five amazing short stories from the talented minds of both Amanda Labonté and Ali House, featuring daring new YA fantasy fiction, links to The Segment Delta Archives, and the enchanting world of Call of the Sea!
Unexpected Stories
Amanda Labonté & Ali House
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Purchase (eBook):
ePub
PDF
Mobi
Title Information:
Release Date:
October 2017
Status:
Available
Book Type:
EBook
Cover Price:
FREE with Mailing List Signup!
Page Count:
31
Related Titles
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Reviews
November 11, 2017
The Symbol to look for for quality- Engen Universe
As our titles expand through the end of our tenth year and beyond, both new and longtime readers have been left wondering: how do we distinguish Engen Universe titles from the other great titles Engen Books offers?
The answer, for our eBook titles, is this special new Engen Universe bookmark, which will be located discreetly at the top left corner of all Engen Universe eBooks, starting soon. EBook copies of Infinity series, Jacobi Street, Reptilia, and The Theogony have already received this addition, with the Black Womb and Xander Drew series’ to follow soon.
The symbol is an easily identifiable mark of not only the quality that is represented in every Engen Book, but also the shared continuity of stories, narrative, themes, and secrets of The Engen Universe!
