Author: Fallton Havenstonne

Out of Time

Fallton Havenstonne

There are moments when there is no time left. It could be a project, a deadline, or any situation where we have to have something done at a certain time. Sometimes times runs out and we don’t know it until it’s too late.

When we run out of time, we adapt to it, look for other resources and opportunities. It’s one of those things where there is nothing we can do, since we can’t change time. All we can do is to make it on time the next time and learn from the experience.

But time is in itself, unpredictable, paradoxically. Not that we can’t count time, but we don’t know when time might be up, or what will happen at any give time. Being out of time can mean we ran out of time, or that time has ran out on us.

Seeing and Imagining

Fallton Havenstonne

When we see something, we register it as visual information–something that is tangible and real. But when we imagine it, it’s no longer visual information, but a thought that’s perceived either visually or auditory.

When we write, we’re using the mind’s eye to see into worlds that have no tangibility or realness. It’s as if seeing is turned off and imagining is turned on. It’s how we’re able to conceive of the impossible–the extraordinary.

The same holds true for any medium, whether it be painting, sculpture, animation, etc. We use the mind’s eye to observe something that isn’t there, but which we can bring to life through the art that we create.

Posted in Art

What the Future Holds

Fallton Havenstonne

The future is twofolds. It’s something that we can plan for, and something that happens on its own.

We can plan for what we want to buy, where we want to travel, and the events we want to celebrate. But there’s a hidden reality to the future.

It comes with its unknown–its own sort of chaos. We don’t know if what we buy will be broken when it arrives, or if the place we travel to will be safe, or if the events we want to celebrate will go as planned.

What the future holds is a mystery. There is only so much we can plan for, since everything that is planned comes with its own uncertainties.

So Little Time

Fallton Havenstonne

Time is something that there seems to be so much of. We take it for granted, live as if there is an abundance of it which will never be exhausted.

But who knows how much time we have left, or what setbacks will keep us from accomplishing our goals. Each day that we ignore our goals or waste our time on trivial things, we lose a resource that will never replenish–a resource that will eventually run out on us.

Time is something we have no control over. We cannot fix the mistakes of the past, nor can we redo days we have wasted or missed opportunities. We can focus on the present and the future, utilizing the time we have the best that we can. There’s so little of it anyway.

Writing as Mediation

Fallton Havenstonne

When I write, the process often feels like I’m in a state of mediation. It’s as if my mind is completely laser focused on one thing while everything around me is silent and still.

Writing brings serenity to my mood, and takes me down a path like I’m hiking on a trail through a forest. I know there will be hurdles and difficulties along the way, but there’s no time pressure or anxiety while I’m writing. Sure, there can be frustrations, definitely during the editing process, but it never feels like I’m wasting my time with it. I know that I’m accomplishing something–something I can look back on as a kind of reflection of my thoughts and ideas.

To meditate is to concentrate, to focus, and to block everything else out. When we write, it does the same thing, only its aim is to put words on a page. The same could be said with art in general: painting, music, sculpture, etc. When we create something, we mediate on an idea, vision or sound, which brings peace within us.

Reading Late

Fallton Havenstonne

Reading late at night can either put us to sleep, or it can keep us awake past our bedtime. It’s as if the true test of a book’s grip on us is by whether it puts us to sleep or not.

If a book can hold our attention, even if we’re tired, then we will push sleep aside. We won’t put it down until we’ve finished a chapter or until we’re too tired to keep reading. There are so many surprises and twists in each page that we would rather stay awake than to have a good night’s sleep.

If a book bores us, all it does is speed up the process of our sleeping. I’ve read books like that where each sentence felt more like a chore, an uphill battle to get to the next page.

But when we read, we want to be cognizant of what we’re reading. We want to be focused, alert. Perhaps reading late at night isn’t the ideal time to read. Or if that’s the only time we can dive into a book, then setting a timer might be a good way to keep track of how long we should read. Just slip in the bookmark when the time’s up. Don’t get pulled in, or else we might not sleep until the wee hours of the night.

Learning a New Skill

Fallton Havenstonne

It’s always good to learn a new skill. It expands our knowledge, helps us grow, and gives us new opportunities. But the thing about learning a new skill is that we must invest a lot of time to master it.

Take writing and painting, for example. Each require a lot of time, practice, and energy to master. If we tried to master both, our time would be split between the two. We wouldn’t be as good in one or the other if we had focused on one instead. It’s a sacrifice, of course, but that’s what it takes to master a skill.

Many skills take years to master, such as carpentry, or playing a musical instrument. In the workplace, we specialize because that is more practical and efficient. Someone who know a little about a lot of things doesn’t have the depth of knowledge that might be needed for a particular task. They wouldn’t be as efficient as someone who knows a lot about that task, but knows little about the other ones.

To learn a skill we have no intention of mastering or being the best at, that’s sufficient for a hobby, or a field that we simply want to study for our own curiosity. But to learn a skill that we we hope to master, we must spend more time on it than other skills.

Present or Past Tense

Fallton Havenstonne

Whether a story is written in the past tense or the present tense, it gives the flow of the story a particular momentum. For example, a sentence such as, “Susan runs down the street to catch the bus,” has a different flow to it than “Susan ran down the street to catch the bus.” The former has more drive and energy to it, since it reads as if we’re experiencing the moment with the character.

But there are drawbacks to the present tense. The present tense cannot read like a recollection of a scene. It reads more like a play-by-play account of what is happening, kind of like a sport’s commentator describing a play as it is happening. As a result, the narration cannot be told in hindsight, which would allow the reader to know what would happen later. Rather, the advantage with present tense is that we, the reader, are discovering/learning about the events at the same time the characters are.

Past tense writing has more of an autobiographical effect to it, where the scenes are described like memories or musings. The tension happens not from the action that is taking place, but because of what we’re about to discover as the plot progresses.

Both present tense and past tense can be used effectively depending on the narrative of the story. I usually write in the past tense since I prefer to tell a story that has already happened, rather than one that is happening in the moment.

Sprinkling in Details

Fallton Havenstonne

One exciting aspect about writing is sprinkling in details. Usually on the first draft, the story is bare-bones with just the main ideas laid out. It not until the second or third draft when the details get sprinkled in. They could be about the character’s appearance, personality, history, or about the environment they’re living in.

The details give authenticity to the characters and the world, making them believable and coherent. The details must be important, however. They cannot be random, such as the character’s shoe size or the brandname clothes they wear. They must be details that are pertinent to the narrative, or details that reveal something about the character’s thoughts, actions, or motives.

One example could be a character who is heroic and brave, yet, they are afraid of their own mortality. Another could be someone who is on the verge of bankruptcy, yet, they present themselves as confident and successful. Knowing these details give us an insight into who the characters are. We know what they’re going through, what their struggles are.

Details are especially important for science fiction and fantasy stories, which are layered with descriptions about the scenery as well as how things function in a futuristic or magical world. When we read stories that are layered with details, they expand our imagination, as well as bring us closer to being in those worlds.

Word Count

Fallton Havenstonne

How many words should authors write each day?

This is one of those things where the answer is open ended. Some authors have their own criteria for how many words should be written each day. They might have a certain number, but in the end, is it for us?

In our own case, we must factor in our circumstances. How many hours in the day do we have to write? Do we have other obligations that limit our time to write? Are we writing at night after a long day of work? All of these factors play an important part in our writing goals.

When writing short stories, I usually have a word count goal. It might be 1,000 words, 2,000 words, 3,000 words, etc. It depends on what my writing goal is. Is my focus right now on writing a novel, a novella, or a lot of short stories?

Regardless of what my goal is, here is my experience with word count. If I am writing a story and the word count exceeds my word count limit, then I won’t trim it down if the story is better off being longer. Likewise, I won’t expand on a story if it is better off being shorter than what the word count limit is.

I’m more focused on whether the story is good or not based on what is there. When we edit it a story, we find out what the story needs: what parts need to be changed, removed, or expanded. We might even discover that it needs to be rewritten altogether.

In the end, word count, and even chapter count, are just goals that help motivate me to write. They’re there so that I don’t ignore my writing goals and leave writing in the dust. Besides, writing is the most important thing.