Travis Thrasher's Blog, page 40

TT's Ten Rules of Writing #5 (Writing Tip #76)

I've got two words for you, aspiring novelist:
Reckless abandon.
So what if you might never get this book published? Join the crowd.

So what if you spend all this time on a project that goes nowhere? Didn't you say you love to write?

So what if you're not fitting into a box or a brand?

So what if you're doing the exact thing they told you not to do?

What do you have to lose?

What do you have to fear?

If you're afraid of rejection, then don't try and get it published.

If you're afraid of criticism, then don't try and get it reviewed.

If you're afraid nobody will care, then make them care.

If you're afraid nothing will ever happen with this, SO WHAT?

If you like to write, write.

If you want to write a novel, do it with all the passion and excitement you have inside.

Write the story without a care in the world. Don't worry about brands or headlines or sales figures or trends or bestsellers lists. Just write it because you want to write it.

Write it because you love writing and because you have this crazy little story in your head that you can't get rid of. Write to perfect your voice and your style.
Write for yourself and for nobody else. Write for today and not for tomorrow.

Write with reckless abandon because every novelist is truly a bit crazy at their core.

Top 100: #68

"A Night Like This" by The Cure
Say goodbye on a night like this
If it's the last thing we ever do
You never looked as lost as this
Sometimes it doesn't even look like you
It goes dark
It goes darker still
Please stay
But I watch you like I'm made of stone
As you walk away

I'm coming to find you if it takes me all night
A witch hunt for another girl
For always and ever is always for you
Your trust
The most gorgeously stupid thing I ever cut in the world

Say hello on a day like today
Say it everytime you move
The way that you look at me now
Makes me wish I was you
It goes deep
It goes deeper still
This touch
And the smile and the shake of your head

I'm coming to find you if it takes me all night
Can't stand here like this anymore
For always and ever is always for you
I want it to be perfect
Like before
I want to change it all

I want to change

TT's Ten Rules of Writing #4 (Tip #75)

Don't be afraid to let it go.
This goes along the lines of William Faulkner's famous quote that goes "In writing, you must kill all your darlings."
This is the unfortunate reality that I've come to learn slowly over the years. That sometimes, the more precious an idea or story or paragraph or line might be to me, the more worthless it might actually turn out to be.
This isn't always the case, thankfully. But it can be. Since we are the creators, it's difficult to always be able to critique ourselves. That's why sometimes we can have an idea we love that nobody else loves, or we can have a chapter that turns out to be nobody else's favorite but our own. We can love a sentence so much until an editor spells out why it doesn't work.
Oh.
That's usually my response. A surprised oh.
Don't worry letting it go. Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. That's okay. At least you're in the literary woods keeping busy.
Be wary of the things you love too much in those literary woods. Because they just might be the very things you have to let go.

TT's Ten Rules of Writing #3 (Writing tip #74)

Be fearless.

40 Officially Releases Today

40 might not be the best thing I've written or feature the best plot or most interesting premise or even contain the best ending. But it's everything I wanted it to be--a big, beautiful, sometimes bewildering novel about life and death and eternity. I hope you get a chance to take this 15th journey with me.

TT's Ten Rules of Writing: #2 (Tip #73)

Make it about you and your life (even if it's SO not about you and your life).
Yes, the old saying is "Write about what you know."
But I say condense that and make it "Write about you."
In fiction, you can do this in big or subtle ways.
If you're writing a first-person novel about a serial killer, you can still give the monster a personality. That personality comes from you.
If you're writing a historical novel, you can still write about a subject that interests you.
If you're dealing with seasonal affective disorder (which I think I am because I saw the sun for twenty minutes in the entire month of April), you can put this in your novel in a character or a scene.
Whoever you are, whatever you're dealing with, whatever interests you, whatever fears you have . . . these absolutely should go into your story. Because they are the ingredients that give it a unique taste. They provide authenticity and give the story emotion.
Sure, the story might not have anything to do with you. But at the heart of it, it should totally be about you.

TT's Ten Rules of Writing: #1 (Tip #72)

I've got this cool little book called Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing. I thought I'd come up with 10 myself to add to my wonderful tips on writing. These are rules I try to go by with each novel I write.
#1: Don't repeat yourself!
The only people that love having authors repeat themselves are publishers. Especially if that author's book is successful.
I think it's unimaginative when an author takes the same formula and applies it to some different characters in a different setting. Yes, that might be called a brand, but I call it boring.
Today I read a comment to a review of mine that said the following: "I will definitely pick up any new Thrasher novel. I like not knowing what to expect and he excels at that."
I never wanted to write The Promise Remains Parts 2, 3, 4 & 5. I never even wanted to write all love stories. Thankfully, I've been able to do a variety of stories that all have my voice and worldview throughout them.
Staying in a brand and a box doing the same old thing is easy. But it's also colorless and lifeless. Even when I'm staying in the same genre, I try to tell different stories in different ways.

Top 100: #67

"True Faith" by New Order
I feel so extraordinary
Something's got a hold on me
I get this feeling I'm in motion
A sudden sense of liberty
I don't care 'cause I'm not there
And I don't care if I'm here tomorrow
Again and again I've taken too much
Of the things that cost you too much

I used to think that the day would never come
I'd see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear
I used to think that the day would never come
That my life would depend on the morning sun.

When I was a very small boy
Very small boys talked to me
Now that we've grown up together
They're afraid of what they see
That's the price that we all pay
Our valued destiny comes to nothing
I can't tell you where we're going
I guess there was just no way of knowing
I used to think that the day would never come
I'd see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear
I used to think that the day would never comeThat my life would depend on the morning sun.

I feel so extraordinary
Something's got a hold on me
I get this feeling I'm in motion
A sudden sense of liberty
The chances are we've gone too far
You took my time and you took my money
Now I fear you've left me standing
In a world that's so demanding

I used to think that the day would never come
I'd see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear
I used to think that the day would never come
That my life would depend on the morning sun.

Office Shots @ The Tower

Gotta Love Reviews

Short but sweet one found this morning:
"My reading marathon ended with Travis Thrasher's book, Solitary, which must certainly be the single most depressing novel I have ever read. It's supposed to be a young adult fiction, but I can only assume it was meant to reduce the world population by pushing suicidal teens over the edge. The ending was a punch in the gut. On that sour note, I was . . ."
So wait, are you saying you didn't like Solitary?