Rani Divine's Blog, page 35

Do what you do

While last week we spent a few days talking about things that you shouldn’t do, as a writer, this week I wanted to do the opposite. So, I’ve picked out three things that I think you should do, three things that I think are important for every writer. And the first one, as always, is the obvious one.
Write Whenever You Can
But here’s the thing. I don’t just mean write a lot, or spend the majority of your time writing, or even focus on writing more than you can anything else. I mean, whenever you have an idea, try to spend some time working on it. It’s important, so you don’t lose your idea, so you keep your stories going in the best possible way.
A lot of the time, we write from idea to idea. Which means sometimes writers can end up sitting around waiting for the next idea to come along. That’s what I’m trying to avoid, by suggesting this.
I mean, you should write down your ideas, whatever they are. Whether they’re in this story or the next one, write them down. Don’t just write in one story, remember? We do better when we’re working on more than one project at a time. That’s how I see it. And sometimes, we get ideas for one thing while we’re working on another, and that can make us wary about writing them down, because it’s not the project we’re primarily working on.
That might have gotten confusing, so I’ll say it again, this way:
No matter what project your idea is for, make sure you write it down. Maybe spend a few minutes on it, try to flesh it out and get a better idea of your idea. Figure out if it’s something you can use, later on down the line, or something you could turn into a different project altogether. That happens too, you know. Don't discriminate against any idea, no matter what it is.
Just, make sure you write. As often as you can.
You’ll get ideas in your everyday life, from time to time. You will. And you should write those down, too. Just pull out your phone and jot down a few notes, enough that you’ll be able to sit down and work on it for real, later on.
We get better at writing, when we write. We get better at holding onto our ideas, when we do our best to keep track of them.
So write whenever you have the opportunity.
Keep writing. Always. Write down your ideas, your horrible ones and your great ones. Just, write. Never stop writing.
That’s the ultimate goal anyway, isn’t it?
[love]
{Rani D.}

Focus

For the final in our first week of things you really shouldn’t be doing, as a writer, I want to talk a little bit about myself. Yeah, yeah, we bloggers do that a lot. It’s pretty normal, right? Well, what I’m going to talk to you about isn’t as normal as I think it should be. And that’s what I want to discuss.
Don’t Focus On Only One Thing
Seems a little backward, doesn’t it? Most people will tell you that you should really be focusing on one thing at a time, on getting this one short story done before you work on that novel, or on finishing this novel before you can start on the next new thing. But I don’t think they’re right.
See, as creative people, we tend to have a mass of ideas in our heads. We have so many ideas, a lot of the time, that we’re nearly full to bursting. We have ideas about our ideas, and so many projects lined up that we can’t even count. We say things like, “someday, I’m going to write a story about this,” or “when I’m done with this book, I’ll work on one where this happens.” And really, we should.
For me though, working on only one project at a time, is impossible. I just can’t do it. I can’t sit here and only work on one book, only think about one thing that needs to get done or wants to be made into something new.
Ask anyone who knows me.
I always have at least two projects going at a time, and it’s where my creativity thrives. I get the best work done when I have a lot to do, when I have a mass of projects on my shelf, and I’m working on them all at once. It’s a process to keep them all straight in my head, but it’s really a lot of fun, and it’s a great challenge for my creative mind.
So really, I don’t think we should only be working on one project at a time. I think that’s limiting, lacking. It prevents us from really exploring the depths of our minds, the gravity of our creativity. And I know we’re capable of more than that. We’re capable of writing two books at a time, of editing one book while we’re writing another. We are.
People may tell you that you’re not. You may even tell yourself that. But I think you’re wrong.
See, creatives thrive when they’re creating. We just do. So how much more would you thrive, when you’re creating multiple things?
I’m serious!
If you’re creating, creating, and creating, would your brain be doing better for itself? Wouldn’t you be growing and stretching yourself beyond what you think possible? And wouldn’t that make for a better version of you, and greater versions of your work? 
I think so. 
So do it. Don’t just work on one project at a time.
Try it out.
I like it. A lot.
[love]
{Rani Divine}

Avoidance

In a week of don’ts, there’s one thing that I really want to tell you not to do. Honestly, it’s something that I used to avoid doing, because I have so many other things that I need to do, and it ended up going by the wayside. And I’ll tell you right now that it was a mistake, and that everything about my creative side has gotten much better now that I’m actually doing this again.
Don’t Avoid Reading
You’re a writer, for goodness sake! Why would you avoid reading?
But a lot of us do, and I have. No judgment here, no worries. I’ve avoided it. I’ve thought it wasn’t important, and decided to leave it behind because I already knew what I wanted to write, and I didn’t want to read someone else’s story, I wanted to read mine. I thought I could expand my craft on my own, outside of the books that are already on the market.
That was not a smart move.
I know sometimes it can be hard to find something good to read, something that you want to pick up and read all the way to the end. Yeah, I know very well how that is. I have a lot of books on my shelf, that I read to chapter five and then put down because it couldn’t hold my attention. I know how hard it is to find something you like out there, when there’s so much on the market.
Thing is, if we don’t read anything ever, how can we expect other people to? How will we know what other people like to read, if we never read their recommendations? Why would other people want to read our book, if we won’t even consider reading theirs?
That’s actually a good place to start. In this day and age, you probably know a few people who’ve published works, or are in the process of publishing works. Well, go find some of them and read their books. There’s your incentive. It was written by someone you know, and you’re supporting them, the way you hope they’ll support you.
Whatever you decide to read, the point is that we can’t avoid it forever. Eventually, you’re going to have to pick something up and read it. If you want to get better at your craft, you need to read. If you want to know what other people are reading, what interests the general public, you need to read. If you want to be a good writer, and someone who supports the system that you’re getting yourself into (whether you decide to self-publish or go the traditional route) you need to read.
So go grab a book.
Me? I’m reading through The Lord of the Rings again, because I haven’t read it in ten years. 
What are you going to read? 
[love]
{Rani D.}

Snip

This month, I had trouble deciding what to write about. When you’re close to 500 blog posts, and you do frequent guest spots on other blogs, sometimes that happens. So I thought maybe we’d go back to the beginning, a little bit. This week, I’m going to be talking about some things that you shouldn’t be doing, as a writer.
Yeah, this month is for writers.
Today?
Don’t Write in Snippets
What’s a snippet? It’s a little bitty piece. I usually define snippet writing as spending only five minutes on your craft at a time, or by writing on your phone or small electronic device, because usually this means writing a lot less than you would be on paper or on a computer.
Now, I want to preface this by saying that there’s nothing wrong with snippets. Really. I write a lot of snippets here and there, and some of them actually make it into my work. But the thing is, they shouldn’t be your primary form of writing.
Usually, when we come up with a good snippet, when we finally sit down to write we end up struggling to fit this supposed nugget of gold into the work. And a lot of the time, the work suffers for it. We force things to make our nugget beautifully work within the piece we’re constructing, when all along, the piece didn’t want this nugget to begin with.
About eighty percent of the time, in my experience, this is what happens. And about ninety percent of the time, I end up having to cut those snippets out, when I’m in the editing phase.
Who wants to do that?
They’re hard to work into a story, hard to fit together, and often don’t go anywhere at all within any given story. They can be a good starting point, but they should not be the primary form of our writing. We shouldn’t be depending on nuggets of gold to get our writing to the place where even we think it’s readable.
If that’s all we’re doing, then we’re doing it wrong.
Our whole work needs to be readable, needs to be to the point that people will want to read the whole text and not just skim for those snippets, those nuggets. We need to focus on the text as a whole, and not just on these little bits.
And yes, that means you’re going to have to spend a little more time on your craft. But you know what? You should probably be doing that anyway.
[love]
{Rani Divine}

Twelve

By now we know well that creatives tend toward the introverted side of things. We just do. It’s strange, sometimes, just how introverted we are. But sometimes that introvertedness can be our downfall, the thing that prevents us from doing what we should be doing. We talked about it a little bit on Wednesday, but it goes deeper than that, as well.
And that depth, my friends, is where my final suggestion comes in.
Go on an Adventure
Vacate your life, go somewhere, do something you wouldn’t normally do.
I know, it sounds terrifying, doesn’t it? I thought so too, until I did it. Last year, as most of you know, I got to go to Europe with my mother. It was my first trip out of the country, and it was hers too (unless you count Canada, but when you live in Minnesota it doesn’t really seem like another country).
It was a trip completely unlike anything I’d ever done before, full of new experiences that have honestly changed me. I’m better able to talk to people, to make myself do things I wouldn’t normally do.
But there’re a few big things that this can help with, when it comes to creativity.
When you go somewhere and do something new, you can easily get some new ideas for things your characters can do. Maybe you’ll see a new profession, or get a better idea of what it really is that your characters do for a living. Or perhaps you’ll find some new inspiration for your painting, your sculptures.
By going out like this, we get a better and firmer understanding of the world as a whole. It helps to understand what’s really going on in our characters’ minds. It helps us to really see and feel what our landscapes should look like, to truly understand the truths of texture. And it helps us to become newer and more interesting versions of ourselves. Strange as it may sound, it’s true.
Since we got back from Europe, I’ve felt more creative than ever. I have ideas crammed into my head, so many things I want to write about, paint, and draw. And I honestly feel that it’ll be the same for you, if you have your own adventure.
Even if it’s not going to Europe, even if it’s just going to a state you’ve never been to before, have yourself an adventure. We all need them, now and again.
We really do.
Stay tuned for next month’s topic, to be announced on Monday!
[love]
{Rani Divine}

Eleven

Introverts unite! …separately, and in your own homes.
How many times have I read that, and how many times have I agreed with it? That’s the thing about being a creative. We tend toward introversion, toward staying by ourselves and doing all the things that we need or want to do. Especially when those creative juices are flowing, sometimes it’s easier to just be alone.
But sometimes, that can have the exact opposite affect than we hoped.
Experience Life
We creatives often spend far too much time inside, and we forget there’s a real world out there. We do our work, we keep our heads down, and we create. It’s what we like to do, how we prefer to spend our time, and so it’s how we do life.
Trouble is, for a lot of us, it can be impeding our creativity. Especially writers, and even portrait artists. Our work thrives on knowing people, on seeing them for what they really are. But if we never leave our homes, if we never see people, how would we ever know anything about them? How could we possibly hope to continue in our craft, never expanding our repertoire?
Truth be told, we can’t.
So, if you want to stay creative, and keep creating, get out of the house. Don’t forget that there’s a real world out there, to go and have some real experiences. Go make some friends, go do some things that aren’t generally considered creative.
I honestly believe that it’ll help you to be more creative, when the time comes.
As I’ve said before in this series, art imitates life. It always has, and it always will. But if you want your work to truly stand out, you need to understand life—from every aspect, even the ones you’re not fond of. Perhaps especially those.
For you writers out there, please remember that your characters are not all like you, and that they’re not all the same. They are all unique, and they all need to have their own quirks. But you need to know some quirks, if you’re going to write them.
And for you painters, you artists, remember that no two trees look exactly the same, that no two people are identical—even the twins. But how would you be able to depict them properly, if you haven’t been out in the world to see them?
So go out, my friends. Explore the world. Have a life.
Too many of us don’t.
[love]
{Rani D.}

Ten

This week, I’m offering up my last three pieces of advice when it comes to how to maintain your creativity during a month that tends to sap it away. It’s been a fun month for me, a month when I’ve really gotten to try out some of these things, to show just how well they work. It’s been a month full of creativity. Unlike the past two months, this month I’ve written two chapters nearly every week (that’s 16,000 words a week), which is back to what I used to write a few years ago, before life got busy. How awesome is that?
So today, I offer my personal favorite way to maintain your creativity:
Listen to Music Without Lyrics
Some of you won’t like this. I know, because I’ve suggested Two Steps From Hell to several of you, and several of you have responded with “You listen to weird music.” Yeah. Maybe I do. So what? Your music is probably weird to me, too. My point still stands. Here’s why.
Music with lyrics can often draw us out of our creativity and into the words of the song. We end up writing to the mood of the song, to whatever its lyrics contain. Sometimes, that’s not what we’re going for. Actually, a lot of the time it’s not what we’re going for.
However, music without lyrics does exactly the opposite. There’re no words to draw you away from what you’re doing, and it can really set the tone for what you’re working on. It’s like having a soundtrack to your book—and really, how many of us dream of that happening?
I strongly suggest listening to soundtracks themselves, or epic music (some of my personal favorites are James Newton Howard and, of course, Two Steps From Hell). They help to write, to paint, to create, by evoking emotion and idea through the notes instead of the words. It helps to prevent your being drawn out of whatever you’re doing, by having no lyrics to distract you. In fact, this style of music really helps me to ground myself and concentrate on the things that I’m doing.
Right now, for example, I’ve been listening to a lot of Helen Jane Long. Her music is light and breathy, emotional and full of feeling, and it perfectly matches what I’ve been writing about.
Nope, I’m not going to tell you what that is.
But try it out. At least give it a go. You don’t have to listen to it all the time, just when you’re in your creative zone. Find some on YouTube. Give it a go.
You’ll be glad you did.
[love]
{Rani D.}

Nine

All week I’ve been telling you things that you should watch to hone your creativity and keep those ideas flowing, and I thought I’d carry on the theme into one more thing you should be watching. It’s a thing every writer should be watching, because none of us ever perfect it. Some of us are better than others, but it’s always a work in progress, and it’s never as good as the real thing.
Watch People
See, humans are dynamic. No two of us are exactly the same, and that’s very difficult to convey on a page. It’s easy to get stuck writing the same people over and over again, because they’re the people we’re comfortable writing. But eventually, we have to step outside our comfort zone and into the reality zone, and remember that there are literally millions of different types of people out there, and we have all of them to choose from.
By watching people, of every age, gender, race, what have you, we hone our skills in creating them. We can’t create what we can’t see. So watch them. Watch what they do, and take notes on what they’re doing. 
If someone words something interestingly, write it down. 
If they have a weird gesture they make with their hand, write it down. 
Whatever you see that you think you might possibly be able to use, write it down. 
You never know when it might come in handy.
I’ve honestly been doing this my whole life. People are fascinating to me, and I just really enjoy watching them. It helps that I can read lips. And yes, that might seem like eavesdropping sometimes, but I’m really not paying attention to what they’re saying as much as I’m paying attention to how it’s being said. That’s the thing that interests me.
For me, I’m always looking for new ways to expand dialogue in writing. For you, it might be something else. Maybe you’re an artist and you’re looking for a new face, or a new angle at which to paint. Watch people. It’ll come to you.
It’s really the best piece of advice I can possibly give you, when it comes to things to watch. It’ll give you a plethora of ideas, and it’ll be highly entertaining. I can promise you that.
Happy weekend, everyone! I’m cutting this short so I can get mine started. ;-)
[love]
{Rani D.}

Eight

Okay, so now we’re knee deep into the start of the year, and I really hope we’re getting better at keeping those creative juices flowing. There are a lot of things to distract us in life, but we have to keep going. It’s the law of the Divine. Rani Divine, that is.
Horrible joke.
Anyway…
Watch Fictional Television
Bet you didn't see that one coming! Most people tell me that television is the enemy of good writing, that it spoils everything on a very deep level and turns everything into the same drivel. But I don't think they're right. 
There’s a lot that we can learn about what people are looking for in a good book, by knowing what they’re looking for in a good show. At least, I’ve found it to be a good gauge for what people are looking for. If you disagree for yourself, so be it, but you’re a creative so I’m not sure you count anyway.
Back on track: Remember that these days, people like serials.
Don’t know what a serial is? Allow me to explain.
Remember how in older shows, like Star Trek or MacGyver, a whole story was contained to one short episode. At most, the plot extended to three episodes, and that was usually reserved for season finales or openers. These days, we don’t do that anymore. We do serials. That’s where the storyline, the plot, is continuous throughout a season, or throughout a show. I’ll use Stargate as an example, because I know that one. Seasons 1-8 of Stargate are not serial. You can pick out any one episode and watch it, without having to know too much about what’s going on in the background. But if you watch an episode from the middle of season 9, you might get confused. There’s a new villain, and things change with that villain from episode to episode. The show was now a serial. 
People don’t want their stories contained to a single episode anymore, generally, but they do like the episodic nature of story.
We can use that, we writers.
Try writing your stories in an episodic nature. Think of your chapters as episodes of a television show, where they each have to have an arc, a plot, but they should all center around the same story (so your chapters are your episodes, and your novel is your season). And if you’re not sure how to do that, well then, you’re just going to have to watch more television.
Oh, darn. ;-)
But really, that’s what we can learn from fiction—and that's just the beginning, if you think about it. Fictional television is also a great place to find some new ideas. There’ve been a lot of very out-there stories going on on telie lately, and it’s our job as writers to sift through them and find some usable material (because many of those shows were very obviously not usable).
That, my friends, is a good reason to go watch some TV. 
See? I just gave you an excuse to be a couch potato sometimes. You're welcome. 
[love]
{Rani D.}

Seven

I really hope that a lot of you will agree with me on this one. I’m a huge fan of BBC’s Planet Earth series. Seriously, I watch those over and over and over until I can quote it, and then I keep watching. But really, it’s a great way to make sure I don’t stop doing what I do best.
Watch documentaries
Like I’ve said before, everything we do has to be grounded in reality. It really does, whether you want it to be that way or not. Nothing you can do about it. We have to have everything grounded, or else it’s too far out there for most readers to understand, and very few people will really understand what you were trying to do with your work.
We don’t want that.
So, watch some documentaries.
If you need to get better at your battle scenarios, watch some stuff about the World Wars. If you need to know about the world under the waves, go watch Blue Planet. There’s tons of stuff out there for you to choose from, and a lot of it is great material. Plus, there’s a boatload of it on both Netflix and Hulu (and Amazon, for those of you in that crowd), so you have no excuse not to watch it.
I find it quite helpful to have it on in the background while I’m working, so I can channel what I’m hearing into what I’m doing. Plus, a lot of the narrators have very soothing voices, which is just really nice to listen to.
But you’re probably after some specifics on this one.
See, there’s a lot that we sci-fi/fantasy writers can use in documentaries, especially in the animal kingdom. Again, everything needs to be grounded in reality, so use reality as your springboard. Need to make an alien? Watch Blue Planet or Planet Earth, and mash some animals together. Need to design a spaceship? Find some cool bugs and make a ship that looks like them. I’m telling you, it’s a great way to really solidify what things look like in your head, so you can fully explain them to your readers.
And artists, don’t think you’re out of this one. You can use the real world as a way to inspire you, as something that can influence what you’re painting or drawing or sculpting in some new and exciting ways.
Try it. Documentaries are great.
Yes, I’m a nerd. I’ve never denied that.
[love]
{Rani Divine}