The Set Up

This is the current 'Stack' as I call it. It's everything I need-except for the computer and a cup of coffee- to sit down and write. This one does have a few extra things like my kindle and planner which I don't Really need to write but it's nice to have them close at hand.


First up is a Fiction book I'm reading on the Right. Called Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Let me just say I did NOT pick this up because it was on Oprah's book club. I didn't even know it was on there until I looked it up on Amazon literally three seconds ago. I'm not very far but it seems good so far. Second is a Non-fiction book I'm reading called Outliers by Malcom Gladwell which has some pretty interesting stuff. This was recommended to me by a good friend who said it was really interesting. I'm not really a non-fiction reader but this has a lot about work ethic, goal setting, and over all being good at things that could easily be applied to writing.

Third we have a few books on Writing. In the middle is Living Write by Kelly L. Stone. I'm only through the first chapter because I'd like to get into a serious writing habit before I move onto my "Writer's self-image" This came with a CD which I instantly played and completely laughed at. It's like deep breathing and self mantras and weird stuff so I don't think I'll be using that. On the left is Reader's Digest of Short StoryWriting Volume II. I'm mad at this book because I got it at Half-Price Books for about five dollars, and I was thinking Wow what a deal but then I go look it up on Amazon for a whooping $1.75 so I haven't even opened it yet. So far from skimming it I'm noticing its more about story writing in general rather short story writing. The third is Louise Doughty's Novel in a Year. This is more of weekly pep talks rather than"it's the 52 week where's your freaking Manuscript" it's more of finding yourself and finding time to write. Which is good in some degree but I was really looking for

a check list kinda thing.

Here is a combo of my flash drive with all my writing things and a stack of note card with scenes for my novel on them. Of course my kindle, my planner, my journal, and the blue is part of an exercise I'm doing for Living Write from chapter one where I write down all these negative thoughts about my writing and I turn them into good thoughts. It's super Dr.Phil and dumb but I just really wanted another excuse to but another Moleskine.

Well that's about it. If you have any questions or suggestions or if you'd like to share tips leave a comment or shoot me and e-mail. Thanks!

Journaling: why you MUST do it

My mom kinda laughs at me when she sees me writing in my Journal. Then I tell her Mart Twain, Benjamen Franklin, Lewis and Clark, and the Queen of England herself all keep/kept Journals. As a writer you absolutely MUST have a journal. Writing in a Journal is not writing like you would for your blog or novel. It's writing when you're not worried about sentence structure or verb variation It's you on the page. Don't get me wrong you can certainly use your Journal for working through scenes and character write ups but don't worry about editing what you put in your Journal. Getting into the habit of Journaling is like any other habit. You just have to do it everyday. I use journaling as a sort of warm up to my writing. It lets me keep my everyday emotions separate from my writing emotions. That may not make sense but what ever. Journals are a great place to plant ideas and let them grow as you work with and/or around them. I have a good five pages in my journal full of "Story Ideas" every time I get an Idea it gets scribbled down fast as I can manage so I don't lose it and it's tucked away until I choose to work with it later. Recently I had a journal entry that I developed into a Short story and It worked wonderfully. There's just so much your journal offers for you to pass one up. You're going to make mistakes and that's OK. It's your Journal. Use it everyday no matter if all you did was wake up and troll YouTube videos. You can draw, mind map, create, scribble, doodle, jot, plan, play with styles, work with emotions, and think all in the papers you hold as your journal. Get a Journal. I mean NOW. Make sure you'll write in it. (you all know my obsession with moleskines) Use a pack of stapled together copy paper and a pastel for all I care just get something you can write your thoughts in so you can refer back to it later. You don't want a file of half done word documents brushed into a corner of your computer. Get a pen and a notebook and get Journaling!

Tools Every Writer Needs

Every writer has a tool box of things they use. Here are a few every writer should at least try out.
First is a moleskine. These notebooks are prefect for collecting ideas on the fly and just beg to be written in. There seems to be an entire community of artists and writers dedicated to the little things. They come in many sizes and even colors. I personally like a Large Plain Hard cover. It's big enough for me to actually keep up with but small enough to bring around with me. I'm also starting to like the Hard covered graphing paper kind but I haven't used it much yet.
The second tool is a Stumbleupon. It's a downloadable toolbar that feeds you new websites on subjects you pick with a click of a button. There's everything from teen life to Buddhism in the subjects but I keep my topics simple. Writing, Books, Clothing, and Health. This gizmo can be a little time sucking though. Just like Twitter you can easily lose a good hour or two of work time flipping through the almost endless pages of new things.
Third is a smart phone. I recently got mine and I've been able to link my face book with my Kindle and blogger. Things just seem to work better when they're all in sync. I have one app called Diaro. It's basically a Password protected diary. I keep little snippets of ideas and thoughts and pictures here and refer back to them when I'm at my computer. I like the password too so nosy friends don't have to see that I called their backpack a cat turd with straps.
Fourth is a Library card. If you don't have one of these you can never call yourself a writer. Free books on almost every subject for borrow. Oh did I mention they're FREE! Sure you've got to keep up with due dates but whats another date on a calender. If a book isn't in your local library they'll send it over from a different one or even buy if so you can borrow it.
The fifth tool is those 5X3 index cards. They're perfect for writing down your scene list. My current scene list is posted on about 70 5X3s cut in half (I guess that makes them 1.5X2.5 but what ever. You can change the order of things easily and without losing to much precious writing. (Imagine writing an entire scene just to throw it out in the second draft. Heart Breaking.) I keep my cards together with those silly Bandz all the little kids love. It keeps em together and in order.
The Sixth tool is a book. Writing Fiction for Dummies by Randy Ingermanson and Peter Economy. My mom literally laughed at me when I made her buy this but I swear it's like my writer's bible. Everybody has something to learn from going over the basics again even if you're the best writer in the world. This covers everything from character development to plot structure a definite must read for writers of all Genres.
I hope this list has been helpful and that you've picked up a few new tools and things to try out with your writing. Shoot me an E-mail at follow.the.journey.now@gmail.com with tips, ideas, feedback or what ever. Till Next time:)