Category: On Writing

Journal writing is kind of like being in a quiet sanctuary, since we’re alone with our thoughts, and we’re writing to ourselves and not for anyone else. With journal writing, we can really dive into our thoughts and emotions without concern of how we might sound to others. Journal writing is really about reflection, of understanding what we’re going through, exploring our experiences, and making sense of it all.

Unlike stories or essays, journal entries don’t have to follow a logical structure. It can be anything we want, really. It’s kind of like writing about a dream we had. It might not make sense to anyone, but it makes sense to us (or does it?). Perhaps a better way to describe it is that the meaning makes sense to us since it is derived from our subconscious, which no one else can access.

Journal writing can be about our day, or it can be about memories, dreams, and musings. It doesn’t have to be shared, and most likely won’t be. It’s a space where we can be ourselves without worrying about editing, formatting, spelling, etc., and where we can express ourselves in a continuous stream of thought.

When we look back on our entries, it’d kind of like reading a time capsule of ourselves at a particular place and time. We see how much we’ve grown, how much we’ve changed, not to mention how our writing has evolved.

After I finish a novel or a short story, I feel drained. It takes everything out of me. My faculties are worn out, and my creative and intellectual energy are depleted. It feels like there’s nothing left to keep me on the path of writing.

But in time, I come back to writing. A new idea crops up in my mind, and so does a renewed burst of excitement.

The whole creative venture repeats itself, and at the end of it, I’m drained again. But I’m not drained forever, because in a few hours or days, my vitality builds up, and so does the will to be creative and productive.

It’s hard to explain, since it would be more logical to stop wearing myself out. Take a vacation–a much needed break.

Of course, all of us need a break to renew our energy, to keep from burning out or giving up. But the real question is: why do we continually invest ourselves in projects which wear us out?

There’s a spark in us that motivates us to innovate, create, write, paint, etc. This spark renews our energy–our will. It doesn’t ever seem to stop. We can never be content with what we’ve made. It would be much easier to be content with our accomplishments, but each spark reinvigorates us, and we strive for more.

Brainstorming is a crucial part in developing an idea for a story or a project. It’s a way to work through the premise/concept before it comes to fruition. In the beginning, an idea feels murky and unclear. It has no clear direction, but serves as an impetus–a springboard for further ideas.

I brainstorm by typing my ideas down in a blank word document. I don’t check for spelling or grammar or consistency. Usually, I don’t even go back to edit it. The point is to get my thoughts out before I forget anything.

Soon, I’ll start filling in the details to scenes and characters. The scenes will have a beginning, middle, and end. The characters start to take shape in my mind as having distinct voices and personalities. Once I finally have a vision of the story (i.e. I can picture it in my mind), I will start to work on the order of the scenes as well as the crucial moments and twists.

Brainstorming isn’t something you do in just a sitting or on a time schedule. It’s something that happens throughout the day when ideas start to randomly crop up in your mind. For example, I could be walking outside or eating lunch and I’ll have an epiphany about a scene or a plot twist. You have to be ready for the light bulb moments, and capture them on paper or type them in your phone before they disappear.

Brainstorming for some people is a visual process. They could draw a mind map, a Venn diagram, a flow chart, or illustrate the concept on a storyboard, etc. It’s a way of developing an idea and bringing the moving parts into harmony. And once the idea has been established and laid out, it’s time to manifest it into art.

Writing helps me to understand my ideas, to work them out, and to channel my thoughts and questions onto the page. And once they’re there, I can begin to make sense of them and figure out what the answers might be. In this sense, writing serves as a way to bring order and clarity to my thinking.

In addition, I enjoy creating worlds and characters through stories, as well as transmitting my ideas through the written word. Writing is like playing a song through words instead of chords. The story is the song, but I’m writing pages and pages to tell it rather than expressing it through musical harmony.

Just as a musician might hear in their mind’s eye the harmony or the lyrics to a song, I see the story through my mind’s eye and how the narrative unfolds. It’s something that comes natural to me, but the real work is in putting the words down on the page.

Learning the craft of writing is similar to learning to play a musical instrument. It takes time to learn the chords, and then to play them accurately and quickly and at the correct tempo for the song. With writing, one has to first write, then edit over and over and over . . . Whereas playing a musical instrument is more about the performance, good writing is like having a good final product (i.e. novel, short story, etc.) that can be read swiftly and understood clearly.

I write first and foremost because it allows me to convey my thoughts and feelings, and that in itself is a tremendous reward. Without writing, I would feel as if I were silenced from communicating in the best way I knew how. To use the analogy of a musician again, it would be like a guitarist who was prohibited from playing the guitar. That would cause restless tension and frustration for want of expressing themselves in the most direct and purest way.

Writing creates a bridge for my emotions and thoughts to the world. People have different bridges which they use to connect with the world in a way that expresses who they are as individuals and creative beings. The bridge we use helps us connect and understand each other rather than remain trapped in some sort of inner prison, isolated and disconnected from each other if we didn’t use our talent(s).

Writing a synopsis for a story can be a challenging task. A synopsis summarizes the story while highlighting important details in the story. Unlike a blurb, which is more like a trailer that’s designed to pique your interest, the synopsis summarizes the entire story from beginning to end.

For my novels, I’ll write several drafts of the synopsis before I get it right. I’m not only writing what the story is about, but I’m pitching the story as well. I want the story to sound fun and exciting to read. I want the synopsis to inspire the reader to pick up the book and start reading it before they’ve finished the summary.

When I read the synopsis for any book, I’m looking to see if it grabs my attention–if it sparks my curiosity. And if it does, I won’t even read the synopsis to the end because I want to find out what happens when I read the book.

A good synopsis describes the plot rather than describing individual scenes or listing all the characters involved. It highlights the story’s arcs and clearly explains the events in a clear and concise way. Even if the story isn’t for me, a good synopsis might convince me to put the book in my wish list.

When reading a book, there comes a point when it’s time to take a break. But if the plot is drawing us into the story, we might say to us ourselves “just another page,” or “just one more chapter.”

It’s one of the things that I love about reading. Not only do stories transport our imagination elsewhere, they grip us–keep us turning the page to find out what will happen next. It’s kind of like when we travel and explore a new and unfamiliar place. We keep going to find out where the road leads, and what will be at the end of it.

That’s what it’s like when reading a book that is really engaging. We’re curious to know what will happen to the characters, how the pieces of the story will fall into place. We keep turning the pages even if we’re tired or have other things to do. It’s all that matters at the moment.

“Just another page” can be 10, 20, or even 30 pages more. And when we finally put the book down, we realize what a rewarding experience it was to read “one more” page.

Normally, it takes me about 5 edits to finish a story. It could take more, of course, but that is the average for me. I’ll describe the process below.

The first edit consists of rewrites and changes to the story. I might change the characters names, the location, and even the turning points. It’s about looking at the overall picture, to make sure that the story is cohesive and that it has a clear beginning, middle, end. The first edit is a structural analysis of the story.

The second edit consists of working on the details and adjusting the scenery, fixing the pacing, etc. It’s not as intensive as the first round of editing, but a lot of edits are still made. I might delete entire paragraphs and change the sentences around. The second edit is about making sure the story is communicated properly.

The third edit focuses on flow and word usage. I pay more attention to homonyms such as “they’re,” “their,” “there,” and I tighten up the dialogue and the paragraphs. It’s basically a refinement edit.

The fourth edit is more like a proofread where I’m checking for spelling, punctuation, and grammar. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I drop words even though I will have read a passage 3 or 4 times already.

The fifth edit is a comparison edit, where I compare the 3rd and 4th drafts using the “Compare Documents” feature in Microsoft Word. I look for the edits I made in draft 4 and decide if I should keep them or revert back to the original (the 3rd edit). It’s a buffering and shining edit.

And before I publish (especially on Amazon), I usually send my story to a reader to have another pair of eyes on it, to see if the narrative makes sense, as well as to check for spelling/punctuation and grammar errors.

With each published story. I continue to improve my writing. I learn from my mistakes and carry the lessons I’ve learned onto the next story. It takes a lot of work and time to revise and edit a story, but it’s worth it to have a polished story in the end.

I used to find it difficult to think of an idea for a story. Later, I realized that the trick is to not try and think of the idea. Rather, it’s letting the idea come to me.

For example, I come up with many of my story ideas when I’m doing something mundane such as washing the dishes, folding clothes, or taking a walk. The idea usually takes on a life of its own once it strikes my mind. It see it play out like a movie, and imagine all the nuances and possibilities of the story.

Story ideas can also be inspired by something in our lives. It could be something we’re going through, or something we wish we could fix or that we had (i.e. magic or special abilities). It could be inspired by what we saw on the news or sparked by something that happened to us.

The idea for a story is something that can come to us from anywhere, but we just have to be ready for them when they arrive. And once they do, we must be ready to cultivate them into stories.

When I complete a story, it feels like a weight has lifted off my shoulders. The completion gives me an inner sense of peace and happiness. All of the hours of work that went into the story has finally come to fruition, and now it’s time to take a break.

To varying degrees, it’s probably the same for people that have completed an arduous project or a work of art. They’re proud of the work they created, but they also feel relieved that it’s finished. The work is an embodiment of their skill and creativity–all the hours they’ve put into it. The same is true with completing a story. It’s something to be proud–an embodiment of an author’s craft, style, and ideas.

But for me, the irony with finishing a story is that the feeling of relief doesn’t last very long. In the back of my mind, there is always the next story to write. The backlog of ideas that I’ve stowed away want to come out. They’ve been waiting in line, patiently, and now it’s their turn.

Sometimes when I complete a story, I say to myself: “No more. This is the last one.” Especially if it was a story that involved extensive edits, depleting my energy and will. At that point, I’m ready to throw in the towel. But in a few days, I’ll pick up writing again.

There is an hour in which a writer writes at their most productive and creative level. Of course, they might write for several hours during the day, but I believe there is a specific hour in which they write at their best. Even if they’ve been writing for hours, it might the second hour of their session or at the end of it. Maybe it’s a specific time during the day, such as 8 a.m. or 9 p.m.

I used to write the most in the evening, but more recently, I’ve started writing in the morning. This is based on when I’m able to concentrate and write the most. It used to be in the evening, since I had put pressure on myself to create/write as much as possible before going to sleep.

But now I prefer the mornings because it sets the tone for the day. It’s a great feeling when I complete a chapter before, say, lunchtime or the afternoon. Even if I don’t write for the rest of the day, at least I had accomplished something earlier.

We’re all constrained by a schedule or work routine. This bears a great influence, since good writing can only be done when it’s uninterrupted. Perhaps a deadline puts pressure on a writer to write feverishly. A deadline can also have the opposite effect on a writer.

Another important thing is a good work environment. Having an environment that’s conducive to writing (i.e. a clean and organized desk), regardless of what time it is, let’s the imagination roam free. But if there is an hour where one writes at their best, they should stick by it.