Category: On Writing

One of my writing goals this year is to complete at least 20 short stories. I’ve been writing more of them recently, and enjoy creating vignettes and scenes that are either extraordinary, strange, or surreal.

My other goal is to write a novel. Last year, my goal was to write four novels, but this year, because I’m focusing on short stories instead, I will limit myself to one novel. But we will see. Who knows what great novel-length concept grabs me in the coming months.

The length of each short story will vary–according to how much depth is needed to complete each one. When an idea jumps out at you, you have to write it before the idea wanes.

When I write a story, I often wonder how long it needs to be. In other words, how many words does it need to be?

When writing a novel, I know it has to be at least 40,000 words minimum. For a short story, it can be 1,000 words, 2,000 words, etc. The word limit for a story is just the fencing for the concept and narrative. But that fence can expand depending on how much yardage is needed to complete the garden, so to speak.

I often go over the limit of what I set for myself. If I am aiming for a 40,000 word novel, the story will often exceed it. The same holds true for short stories. For the story itself is organic and evolving.

If I take a break from writing, it’s hard to get back into it when I start again. The words come out slowly, and it’s as if I must think about each word before I type it. Only after writing a lot do the words flow naturally from my fingertips.

It’s kind of like with exercising or jogging. In the beginning, one gets exhausted easily and they want to take a break. But after awhile, they can jog for longer distances and in longer intervals. The same applies to writing. It’s a muscle that must be exercised repeatedly in order to have a skill that can produce a serious amount of output. Without the practice, the output is minimal, and the skill isn’t solid yet.

One cannot rely on strong passion or inspiration to produce a lot of prose. That can wear off. It takes discipline and practice to write regularly. When writing becomes a habit, the quantity increases, and so does the skill.

Before I begin proofreading, I will analyze the structure of the story. I will analyze the plot, the characters, and how it all fits together. This takes a lot of planning, a lot of outlining, scribbling notes, and careful attention to detail. After the structural analysis, I’ll begin the proofreading process.

I usually go through several stages of editing and number each document in order so that I can compare the newest version with the last. I do at least 4 or 5 edits on a manuscript, sometimes more, depending on how much I change the story in each pass.

But no matter how many times I edit my story, I’ve learned that someone else will catch mistakes (i.e. a reader or an editor)–even if I’ve read it a hundred times. Why? Because my mind knows the story so well that it doesn’t see the mistakes anymore. It knows what was corrected, and thus, it knows not to fix the same thing twice.

Editing is a long and tedious process. It takes a lot of persistence, focus, and energy to finish each pass. But at the end, having a polished and finished product is worth all the effort.

I used to read the text aloud as a way of proofreading my stories. Now, I will read certain sentences or paragraphs aloud if I notice that the text flows awkwardly or doesn’t sound right.

It’s useful to read aloud to catch errors when a word is missing or if the words are in the wrong order. When you read aloud, you’re sounding out each syllable, each word. You will catch missing letters, or notice that something is present tense when it should be plural (like a missing “s” at the end of a word).

Reading aloud is a useful way to edit, catching mistakes that can be glaring, yet, so easily missed.

I like to use idioms both in dialogue and in the prose. When used in dialogue, it can illuminate the characters personality and use of speech. In prose, it can make the text read like the author is speaking to you directly.

Idioms express an idea through an analogy that gives our words a boost–a sense of style. For example, “It’s a piece of cake,” means that something is easy, but would it have been better to use the word “easy” instead? If one were to write “that test was a piece of cake” instead of “that test was easy,” the former sparks the imagination, whereas the latter simply gives us information.

Idioms can be useful to brighten up conversation or give texture to our writing. But using too many idioms can make it sound like we’re talking in code rather than conveying ideas. Just as with adjectives and adverbs, we must be careful of overuse and redundancy, since it can sound jarring and tiresome after awhile. But if used in the right amount, everything works harmoniously together.

To write on something random, it means that there are no preconceived notions of what it’ll be about. In order for this to be effective (and productive), a routine of writing had to be in order.

It’s kind of like journal writing. Journal writing is about being spontaneous–letting the ideas flow without hinderance, such as pausing to edit. Whereas journaling draws inspiration from one’s own experience, writing an essay, story, or a reflection piece draws its inspiration from the strength of an idea itself. If the random idea(s) is inspirational, it can take a writer down many pages of written words.

When someone gets in to the habit of writing, the ideas will flow off their fingertips, even if they’re not sure what to write about or what the end result will be. They can write as if they were free-styling or playing a musical instrument. In those cases, the words or the notes flow based on feeling and rhythm. The same can happen with writing. It’s as if the thoughts are building up to a crescendo. Afterward, the words take them where the work needs to go.

When we put off great ideas for long enough, they begin to fade. But for how long? Will they be permanently forgotten?

Ideas have a way of floating back to our mind–of reminding us of something that we are seeking. It’s as if they’re giving us a second chance–shouting at us to look in their direction. The wisest thing we can do is to accept the calling and see where it takes us.

But when we’re in the throes of life, ideas get set aside so that we can focus on our priorities. As a consequence, those ideas fade more and more until they become forgotten.

Weeks or months go by, and they might resurface. Or they might sneak their way into another project–pretending that they belong there. Sometimes the ideas are just too good to let go of and leave behind. But sometimes they are so fragile that they can be lost forever.

One thing I do is that I write my ideas down the moment I become aware of them. Even if I write a sentence or a bullet point on a post-it note, that can make all the difference. When I come back to them later (which can be weeks or months), I find that I can either use the ideas or repurpose them for something else.

It’s kind of like an old short story or novel that never saw the light of day. Years later, they could speak to us in a different light–resonant with us now. We just didn’t know it then, but they needed time to grow.

Thinking of a title for a story is a challenge in itself. Usually I will have a working title that is basic and straightforward, but it could change after I finish it. A good example is my short story The Earth Shakes.

The original title for the story was Route 310, but since part of the story happens when the characters are not on that route, I decided to change the title. And before I use a title, I will look it up online to see what other stories have used that title, as well as what’s associated with it.

A title can take days or weeks to figure out. A title has to sound intriguing and it needs to describe the essence of the story. In the process of coming up with a title, I come up with a list. As I mentioned earlier, I research each title to see what’s already been used and how many books have that same title.

After a process of elimination, I settle on the title that doesn’t sound too close to another book (or story), and it has to sand on its own as well.

When I don’t write, I feel as if something is missing–kind of like my day is incomplete without it. I might go for a day or two without writing, but if more than that, I will feel like my creative drive is shutting down–that the ideas that came with it will be lost forever.

And if that happens, I feel like I will go insane (in a figurative sense, of course). It’s kind of like wandering around aimlessly–without purpose. Or to put it another way, bottling up emotions that have nowhere to go. Eventually, they’ll come out negatively, such as in frustration or sadness.

And when I’m at that point, I’m just going through the motions, not thinking about anything deeply or analytically. My voice and ideas aren’t being heard. But with writing, it is an outlet for the creative side of our being, just as painting or playing music is an outlet for an artist or a musician. They are not themselves without expressing this nature.

There have been years where I’ve gone without writing, but I was doing something else that was creative or productive instead. For example, there was a year when I just focused on reading. I wrote very little that year, but I felt I had another outlet for my creative side. I didn’t feel incomplete.

For each individual, there is something that they have a yearning for, something where there is a drive to accomplish a creative goal, whether it is a book, a painting, a song, a website, etc. If we don’t allow ourselves the time to create, we feel restless, anxious, even sad or empty. It’s as if we’ll lose our minds if we don’t do what we feel called to, and the creative ideas that are associated with them will disappear.

So back to the title of this post, “Writing For Sanity Sake.” What this really means is that writing isn’t really about money, fame, popularity, or even being 100% right about something. Rather, it’s an obligation to a creative need–to express the ideas and emotions that are within us so that they exist in reality. And once it exists, it’s as if we’ve added something new to the world.