Creative Writing

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been filling up notebooks with little tidbits of writing. A story line here, the start of an article there. And over time, I’ve managed to stack up about 50 different notebooks of useless information. Then again, maybe it’s not so useless. I can use all that to help with new projects.

Now, maybe I’m the only person who does this, but just in case, all those ideas can be used and reused. I found in one notebook, the idea of writing an article about modern wedding practices from around the world. I wrote it down and forgot all about it. But, now that I look at it again, I can see where that can be turned into several different ideas. For instance, modern practices vs. traditional practices.

For those who write more fiction than non-fiction, keeping dumb little ideas in a notebook is a great idea. I write down all my ideas, no matter how silly they may seem at the time. However, somewhere down the road, those ideas may be the answer we’re looking for to make a good story even better. Or, they may even spark an idea that hadn’t been thought of before.

Also, you can use the same idea over and over again, simply by rewording the piece. Several years ago, I wrote an article on how to start a blog. It wasn’t my best work, but at the time, I thought it was brilliant. Over the years, I’ve reworked that one article at least 3 more times. Each time, I’d add new information while restructuring the old information. In the end, I had 3 very different articles about the same topic.

If you’re a true writer at heart, you never throw away anything. I’ll bet you even have some old napkins or other scraps of paper lying around somewhere with bits of wisdom scrawled upon them. Well, get all those pieces collected and get them put together somewhere safe. You never know when one of those little quips will be your next work of genius.

Ok kids, this is a more personal post than my usual ones.  Why?  Because I’m a bit perplexed at the moment.  I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do the NaNoWriMo thing this year.  I’ve been all geared up to do it again this year, even had my story line all ready to go.  Then, the unthinkable happened.  I had a bunch of people contact me wanting me to do some writing for them.  And the kicker, is that they all want to give me money to do so.

It’s kind of weird for me to think that someone else out there would pay me to write for them.  Why?  Because in my mind, I’m a total goober.  I’m not complaining, just freaking out.  And at the rate things are coming at me, it doesn’t look like I’ll have time to do my NaNo thing.  That’s not a bad thing, it’s just strange that all this should come at this point in my life.  With Christmas coming so fast, I can really use the money.  My dilemma is that I’m afraid that it will all come to a halt about half way through the month of November and then it will be too late for me to work on my book and still make the 50K mark.

It was actually through this site that this all started happening for me.  Check out the comments in my about page.  I freaked when I saw them, and couldn’t wait to get started.  To date, I’ve finished 3 gigs and have 3 more waiting for me to finish.  If this keeps up, I’ll be a happy camper and my family will have a very merry Christmas. 

So, what should I do?  Should I keep writing for these other people and throw out the plans for NaNo, or should I try to do the NaNo thing on top of these paid gigs?  I’m so confused.  LOL.  I mean, giving up the gigs is NOT an option, but giving up the NaNo thing is breaking my heart.  I love doing the NaNoWriMo thing each November.  I get excited about it, I get giddy about it, I make my family cook their own meals during it.  Give me your opinions, I totally value them. 

When I first started writing online more than 10 years ago, I thought I’d never get to the stage where I actually made real money for what I was doing. However, I’m not only doing what I’ve always dreamed of doing, I’m doing it well enough to help pay some of the expenses of my son’s upcoming graduation costs. However, I’m finding that there is a lot more to this than I thought, and that nobody ever talked about.

Believe it or not, there are some down sides to being a freelance writer. Yes, it’s true. For the most part, I’m living my dream, but I’m finding that I wasn’t given all the details to this type of lifestyle. Though I won’t get into all the petty things I’ve run across, I will give you a few ideas of what to look for in the world of online freelance writing.

First of all, I wished someone would have told me when I started this journey that it was going to take me more than 10 years to see my dream come true. Honestly, I thought by now I’d be living in a big house on the hill with a nice car, picket fence, and all the finer things in life. The truth of the matter is that I’m just now getting to the point where I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Another thing I’ve learned over the years is that what’s hot one day, is old news the next. When you write online, you’ve got to be able to keep up with all the latest trends, and know when they’re no longer seen as interesting. And now, there’s all this talk about making sure you’ve got the right keywords in your articles, and the right amount of keywords. Not to mention the fact that you’ve got to produce something unique from those words that doesn’t resemble anything else on the Internet.

I think, though, the biggest thing I’ve learned throughout my journey is that even when you’ve managed to make a name for yourself online, you’re still a nobody in traditional writing circles. Most magazines and other print venues want a sample of your writing abilities. When you tell them that you’ve written for several websites and online magazines, they look at you as though you’ve got the plague. This makes it hard to get anything into print, which is where the real money lies.

That may be the biggest lesson I’ve learned, but the most important one is the fact that you can never give up. If you really want to be a writer, it shouldn’t matter where your work is showcased. Anyone who has the desire to be a writer will tell you that the greatest feeling isn’t so much in the amount of money you’ve made, but in the number of people who have read what you have to say. And for me, that’s worth more than gold.

I can’t believe that November is just around the corner. That means it’s almost time for NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. I’m joining up once again to see if I can be one of the winners again this year. This will be my 3^rd year of NaNo and I’m already working on the basics for my story.

For those who don’t know what NaNoWriMo is all about, it’s really pretty simple. During the month of November, millions of people from around the world get together and try to write a novel of at least 50,000 words. The end product doesn’t have to be ready for publication, just a rough draft. The trick is making the 50K word count by the 30^th.

I won last year, making the word count. It might sound easy, but it’s not. Some people can sit down and have their story done by the middle of the month, but I have no idea how they do it. The rules of the thing are pretty basic. You can’t write a single word of your story before 12:01am of your local time on November 1^st. You can get your basic outline done, have a good idea of what you’re going to write about, and all your characters worked out, but you can’t write any part of the story until the 1^st.

Then, you’ve got 30 days to create a 50K novel. The website is set up to help you along the way. It helps you keep track of your word count, gives you a special page for your information, and even offers a forum so that you can hang out with others working on their novels. It’s really a fun time, but it’s a lot of work.

If anyone else is joining in the NaNoWriMo challenge this year, add me to your buddies list. I’m listed as crsenter. I’m still trying to come up with the basics of my story, but I think I’ve just about got it figured out. But, like last year, I may change my mind at the last minute. LOL

I’ve recently joined a new bloggers forum and have found that there are still a lot of people out there who don’t know how to blog, or don’t know what to blog about. I guess I found this interesting as I thought I was one of the last people on the planet who really got into blogging. So, this post is going to talk about what you should blog about, and how to go about doing it.

First of all, deciding what to blog about is limited only by what interests you. The first thing I usually tell those who are wanting to get into the blogging game is to stay away from the Make Money Online market. Mainly because it is such a competitive market and there are so many others in this niche that are very knowledgeable about the topic.

The best way to get your blog going is to come up with a niche topic that isn’t quite as competitive. Figure out what it is that you enjoy talking about and go from there. Maybe you know some really great gardening tips, or have a love of haunted places. These are great topics to get you started.

Next, remember to talk to your readers. Think of yourself as sitting in a little coffee shop or in your own kitchen, and just hanging out with the rest of the world. You don’t have to sound like an expert. You just need to offer your experiences and techniques in order to get others to keep coming back for more.

The hardest part about blogging is getting visitors to stop by and see what it is that you have to offer. That’s where forums, boards, and social networks come into play. Sites such as Twitter and Facebook are a great place to start. All you have to do is announce that you’ve posted a new article, and what it’s about. Be sure to add your blog’s link in your signatures. It will help those you talk to on a regular basis, find your blog.

Finally, you don’t have to put up a new post every single day. As someone who reads a lot of blogs, my advice is to post every 2 or 3 days. Why? Because it gives everyone a chance to read everything you’ve written without having to go back through days and days of previous posts. Pace yourself and more than anything else, have fun.