Author: edohertyauthor (Page 3 of 4)

NaNoWriMo

October 4, 2015 / edohertyauthor

It’s that time of year folks! Time to get ready for National Novel Writing Month.

If you don’t know what National Novel Writing Month is, I suggest you look it up. One whole month of a lot, and I mean a LOT, of writing. 50,000 words in the month of November. It’s insane. And it’s glorious.

This will be my fourth time participating. I’ve won the other three times (I’m a crazy person. If I set a goal for myself, I do NOT give it up), and it’s always a terrifying start. I mean, 50,000 words? Who says I can even write 5?

It can be a slog too. There are days when I don’t feel like writing. When everything I put down on the page I feel awful about. It almost hurts to write. But I do it.

Because at the end, I have an almost shiny new novel. And bragging rights.

Of course, I always take the month of October to prepare (and last year, I was preparing through September as well). I like to jump right in on November 1, get as much done as possible so that I can just write for those thirty days.

I’ve done very little planning so far. I guess I should get started, huh?

Does anyone else do NaNoWriMo?

Music needed!

September 25, 2015 / edohertyauthor

So here I am asking for some more advice.

I love music, but I have my own niche. That niche, surprisingly enough, is showtunes. I can’t get enough of them. (No, I have NOT listened to Hamilton yet. I WANT to, so bad, but I want to wait until I actually get to see it. If I ever actually get to see it.) They’re fantastic because they tell a story. And they have some great voices and melodies that go along with them.

The problem is that I don’t venture too far away from my niche. I listen to some indie, some classic rock, some instrumental movie soundtracks. But I have a problem finding new music. Especially finding new writing music.

I don’t like my writing songs to have too many words in them. It can get distracting. Yes, I have writing music that DOES have words, but I’d prefer the instrumental stuff. A lot of movie soundtracks. (The Theory of Everything was the soundtrack of my last novel.)

So how do you find new music that fits the genre that you want to get into the headspace of? So far, I’ve been having a little bit of luck with Youtube. Should I look more into Pandora? Spotify? Something else?

The easy way out or the road less traveled?

September 17, 2015 / edohertyauthor

Do you ever get a great idea for what you’re going to write (yes, I know that I just updated about writer’s block, but something came to me in a dream! No, really.), and you get so excited, and then you sit down to write it.. and there are all sorts of problems?

A part of me hates the beginning of the writing process, all of that planning. Because it can be so hard, a complete obstacle to getting to the fun part. You have all of these ideas, but you need to make them make sense, right? And sometimes that is just not fun.

Do I keep going? Do I keep planning this wild story in my head? Even with this giant obstacle in my way? Or do I stop? Search my brain for something easier to write? Less difficult.

I don’t want to say that I am running away from a challenge. But with a new job and a new apartment, should I write something that comes to me easily? Save the difficult stuff for when life settles down a bit?

Will life settle down a bit?

And more importantly, will I ever stop asking questions on this blog?

What do you do when you have writer’s block?

September 6, 2015 / edohertyauthor

Stuck sick in bed the weekend before school starts is NOT where I want to be.

I’m feeling lethargic (and not just because of this nasty cold). I have some intense writer’s block right now. I’m chipping away edits on my first novel (editing is such an arduous process, and I really hate it), but nothing new is happening. I have seedlings of ideas, but none that make me sit at the computer and WANT to write. I’ve tried, but I don’t like what comes out.

So I guess this isn’t a blog so much as a request for advice. What do you do when you have writer’s block? How do you get your inspiration?

Welcome. Will I be?

September 2, 2015 / edohertyauthor

The school year is about to start here, and because of that, I have been attending a lot (and I mean a LOT) of meetings for teachers. These meetings help us make sure that we are prepared for the year, that we have plenty of icebreakers that we can use for our students, and that we know how to welcome the year and the students with open arms.

For me, the welcomes are the scariest part of the year. I suffer from a little bit of social anxiety, and it’s hard for me to make connections with other people. (No, I’m not sure why I became a teacher either.) So I just keep thinking about how terrible it would be if I am unable to make connections with my students.

What if I don’t understand them? What if they don’t like me? What if I don’t like them? What if I’m a miserable failure?

I had these same thoughts last year. They turned out to be unfounded. I didn’t connect with every student, but I loved them all. I made connections. I worked hard for all of them, and I think they liked me all right.

But it’s a new year. New school. New students. I know that I won’t work any less, but those worries nag at the back of my mind. Will it be enough?

Overwhelmed: A Teacher’s Life

August 25, 2015 / edohertyauthor

Do you ever get so overwhelmed with something that you can barely sit and do anything?

I start school in about a week and a half. It’s great. I am excited, and I know I’m a decent teacher. I mean, yes. It’s nervewracking. Will the students like me? Will I make any sense? Will I teach them everything they need to know? Will they like me? My class?

I’m kind of confident about all of this.

What has me overwhelmed is all of the preparing. I have to make lesson plans and get school supplies ready… (and being a new teacher, I only get a half a day in the school before school actually starts! That makes no sense). As soon as I get something done, I remember something else I have to do. My to-do list is never blank.

I know I’ll get it all done. I’ll make it happen, as long as I focus. But I keep staring at the to-do list, feeling the butterflies in my stomach. How am I supposed to focus when my brain is going in circles? Why can’t I have a day without this worry?

Writer’s Block

August 20, 2015 / edohertyauthor

There have probably been thousands or millions of blogs written about writer’s block. I hate being one of those people who adds to it, but I can’t help it. I’m so frustrated. I spend weeks planning a new story, and I start writing… And it all falls apart. This is the second time it has happened in the past few months.

I know I shouldn’t push it. I don’t want to push it. When I write, I want it to be something I’m proud of. But I have so many ideas in my head that I want to get out on paper. And I want to publish books. Plural. But how can I do it when I’m stuck?

Lately, I haven’t been able to find any time to write. And when I do think about it, my brain gets overwhelmed and crazy about all of the other things that I need to do in my life. I can’t even bring myself to finish editing the novel I actually have done.

How am I going to be a writer if I can’t get anything out onto paper? It’s just so completely frustrating. What do I do?

Where I learn to be better at constructive criticism…

August 12, 2015 / edohertyauthor

It’s only taken a couple of years, but I finally, FINALLY, convinced one of my friends to beta read my first novel. She read it in a night (which, I mean, I don’t write super in-depth stuff, no surprise), and she kept on texting me about how much she loved it, how great it was (not to brag or anything).

And I trust her. She’s one of my best friends, and I really trust her.

This morning, she sent me her notes. I read them first thing when I woke up. And I felt… angry.

Your main character needs some more obvious flaws.

She has flaws! Are you not reading? Her shyness? Her anxiety? ARE YOU NOT READING?

This part makes no sense.

Well, of course it makes sense! You read it in a night. Maybe you read it too fast.

My initial instinct was to be angry with her. Shouldn’t she think my story is perfect?

No. Of course not. And after a few deep breaths (and maybe a mile of running at the gym), I started thinking sensibly. She told me how much she liked it. Her notes were an attempt to make it better. So that when and if I publish it. It’s a GOOD book.

I might not use all of her ideas. But some? Some make sense. And maybe I am upset that my book isn’t perfect, but. I’m coming around. I can fix it.

Of course, that means revisions. (Ugh)

And what am I going to do when I publish it and more reviews start streaming in from anonymous strangers?

Exhausting summer

August 1, 2015 / edohertyauthor

By day, I am a teacher (though I much prefer my fancy “by night” title as a writer), and so because of that, summer should be my favorite season, right? Warm weather, no work, relaxing.

Except that I am a 20-something teacher who has yet to find a permanent job. I run a summer camp in the summer. You know, so I have money to live and whatnot. It’s long days in the heat and sun. Long days with dozens of kids, anxious parents, injuries, and hormonal young staff members. Long days of trying to make soccer and tag interesting for 8 hours a day. Long days of trying to make it a unique and pleasant experience for each one of the 60-70 kids who attend the program each day.

And I. Am. Exhausted.

It is 8:30 on a Friday night. I have already slept an hour since coming home from work, and I am planning on crawling into bed and sleeping in a few minutes.

Aren’t I supposed to be wild in my 20s?

Kids say the darndest things

July 23, 2015 / edohertyauthor

Working with kids is not easy. I can’t tell you how much it drains me, especially at my summer job, where I work with much younger kids than I do on the regular. So often I have come home from work and just wanted to pass out that I haven’t been able to write. In fact, it hurts my eyes to read or look at anything. It’s a taxing job. But there are great moments: making kids laugh, and getting hugs, and getting silly little gifts on your birthday.

Then again, there can be some… interesting moments when it comes to working with kids. Especially when you are a newly-minted late-20s person on your birthday. Things like:

Being told on your birthday that you look like you’re going to have a baby. Are you going to have a baby? Oh no.
Being given a birthday card that has a cake on it with 36 candles. And the number 36. The kids think you are 36.
On that same birthday card, seeing one of your major flaws drawn for all the world to see. I mean, you know it’s there and you come to peace with it, but you still don’t like it flaunted in your face.
Being given a My Little Pony doll, being expected to know what it is, and having no idea.
Being given 70 donuts. Literally. They gave me 70 donuts. (Munchkins, but STILL.)

Don’t get me wrong. My birthday was great. Still. Kids have a way of bringing up things that you don’t want to think about, don’t they?