Why I Write

 

On my Burning Embers blog we are discussing publishing this month.  That led me to think about the question above, why I write.

Well, I have been pondering this question a lot as I have been considering how to rebrand my blog, and my other social media presences.  And here is what I have thus far.

I write because I have stories in my head that I will not leave my thoughts until I have committed them to paper.  Some of the stories, such as “The Viscount of Sternboard” or “Excal’Byr” or “I Am Master Serv” were fun for me to write and edit.  My current WIP, “The Cross of Roses,” a Fantasy Thriller novel about a serial killing Priest who uses magic to protect himself, is an exciting challenge to write.  Other stories, such as “Undiscovered Title” I did not enjoy writing for one reason or another.

My mind is full of hundreds of other stories, one in particular is about a post-apocalyptic marine archaeologist, who tries to better understand our present culture without the use of written texts (because everything we do is increasingly digital) from the artifacts we leave behind.  It is a fun idea that I look forward to working on one day, but right now I have other, more pressing stories and projects to work on.

So, in a nut-shell, that is why I write.  That’s it.  Simple as that.  I have stories in my head that will not leave my head until I write them out.  Most of the stories are inspired by my dreams, so long before I ever begin typing, I have an idea about some details of the story, characters, and landscape.

Which leads me to ask my fellow author friends, why do you write?

Editing

The Burning Embers theme for April is Editing.

So, let’s talk about editing.

 

Editing.

I can think of few words that have to power to strike as much fear and dread into the hearts of several of my author friends than Marketing, Promotions, and Editing.

 

But I don’t get it myself.  I have never had a problem with editing.  Actually, to me, self-editing is my favorite part of the writing process.  What I can’t stand is creating original content to a story.  The way I write, I do not have an outline for the story beyond what ideas I have floating in my heads, and the dreams I have had about the individual story.  So I create my story, then I go back and edit the whole thing so the end make sense from the beginning.

 

There are many different types of editing.

There is copy editing which means to “edit (text to be printed) by checking its consistency and accuracy.”

Proofreading, or simply put Grammar Checking and Spell Checking.

Content editing, which is basically a huge overhaul of a story to make sure it is consistent with the series and world-building.  Making sure your characters are consistent, making sure your story flows well, etc.  I personally have never used a content editor, mainly because I cannot afford such a service at present, but I would like to just to learn how to content edit my own work in the future, and how I can be a better content editor when I offer to BETA read for a fellow author.

My personal favorite is BETA Reading.  That is basically sending your pre-publication story to a trusted friend or fellow author to look over your story for anything that may be amiss.  A plot hole here, bad grammar there, someone saying or doing something out of character without the anomaly being described.  When I BETA read a story, I have three main types of comments.  1st, and least common, is proofreading comments.  2nd, and second most common, anything I see amiss that disrupts the flow of a story.  And 3rd, and most common comment I make is my immediate response to a story as a reader.

 

Now, I know I am not speaking in the most technical of terms, and that there exists other forms of editing that I did not highlight.  But for me as an author, the four described types of editing are the most common I come across, and use myself.

While I may not be the best resource for editing knowledge, I have a few friends who I will gladly recommend you to, if you require such services.

So Busy Writing, I dropped the Ball on today’s post!

So here are a few of my favorite book quotes!

What is your favorite quote?

Now on Pinterest

I am pleased to announce that my wife recently convinced me to create a pinterest account, you can find me at

Writing Process

I recently had an unexpected phone call from a gentleman who was asking me about my writing process, and I thought I might share my thoughts about that with you.

My current writing process is to get focused on my task, then write/edit whatever comes to me to write.  When I am working on new project, I spend a lot of my time thinking about the natural progression of the story, and while I am in the editing/rewriting process I spend a great deal of time hitting my head against the wall trying to think of a better way to show the story than I had on previous draft.

But the biggest thing is to just write and work with whatever comes out onto the page.  My draft is never prefect, and I am still learning how to write on a daily basis, so I will edit and re-edit a story hundreds of times before I am content with the finished product.