The Author Experience!
I suck...
I haven't kept up with my posts on a regular basis, but for a wonderful reason.
I've begun working on my next project! Actually, I started it before I began writing my memoir, Always-Always, a year and a half ago. Over the past month I have worked tirelessly with researching, outlining, plotting, manipulating and reciting witty and, occasionally, off-color dialogue to myself like a mad man to the point where I'm sure my poor neighbors have given up on me. I expect to see a few "For Sale" signs in their yards in the coming months.
Today, I am beginning a new series of blog posts which will follow me along this journey of writing my first work of fiction in SIX years. My yet-to-be-titled story is something I've wanted to do for some time. It is a Southern Gothic murder mystery set in eerie New Orleans. Without giving away too much plot, it involves many of the same harebrained, well-meaning characters of my first publication, Suspicions. You could call it a prequel.
But, what I really want to talk about here is my writing itself. I've found my writing improving in small bits here and there. I think many writers can agree that with each project comes improvement on some level, no matter how small. Practice doesn't make perfect, that's a load of crap. Nothing is ever perfect. But, I have found that practice makes for refined, progressive steps. As writers, we should always be looking to enhance our craft. A simple exercise in writing a short paragraph. An anecdote a day.
Growing up, I kept journals, writing in them every so often, sometimes daily. They were filled with the tortures of an oppressive teenage rebellion and my journey through depression as I dealt with the loss of my sister.
And lately, I've been thinking about picking that back up. No, not oppressive teenage rebellion, those days are, thankfully, long gone! But, I want to revisit my everyday musings. My thoughts of the present, the past and the, hopefully, bright future.
I may do it here on this blog, or I may keep a separate account.
It is important for writers to work through our thoughts because only when we understand ourselves, our pasts, our hopes and dreams, can we begin to understand the world- how it works, how and where we fit into it all. And, that is what contributes to truly great writing.
I've asked myself, "Well, isn't that what your memoir was all about?" Yes, it was. It was about coming to terms with a new life, understanding my past and how my sister and mother contributed to who I had become and all the hardships I had faced in the first 27 years of my life. But, here I am, 8 months after its publication, and I find myself already in another place. Emotionally, mentally--I am a different person. I can't say I particularly like this person, but maybe as I write, I can come to understand him...
Stay tuned for the next post where I will interview one of my main characters!
T.
Check out my memoir on NOOK & KINDLE --->
I haven't kept up with my posts on a regular basis, but for a wonderful reason.
I've begun working on my next project! Actually, I started it before I began writing my memoir, Always-Always, a year and a half ago. Over the past month I have worked tirelessly with researching, outlining, plotting, manipulating and reciting witty and, occasionally, off-color dialogue to myself like a mad man to the point where I'm sure my poor neighbors have given up on me. I expect to see a few "For Sale" signs in their yards in the coming months.
Today, I am beginning a new series of blog posts which will follow me along this journey of writing my first work of fiction in SIX years. My yet-to-be-titled story is something I've wanted to do for some time. It is a Southern Gothic murder mystery set in eerie New Orleans. Without giving away too much plot, it involves many of the same harebrained, well-meaning characters of my first publication, Suspicions. You could call it a prequel.
But, what I really want to talk about here is my writing itself. I've found my writing improving in small bits here and there. I think many writers can agree that with each project comes improvement on some level, no matter how small. Practice doesn't make perfect, that's a load of crap. Nothing is ever perfect. But, I have found that practice makes for refined, progressive steps. As writers, we should always be looking to enhance our craft. A simple exercise in writing a short paragraph. An anecdote a day.
Growing up, I kept journals, writing in them every so often, sometimes daily. They were filled with the tortures of an oppressive teenage rebellion and my journey through depression as I dealt with the loss of my sister.
And lately, I've been thinking about picking that back up. No, not oppressive teenage rebellion, those days are, thankfully, long gone! But, I want to revisit my everyday musings. My thoughts of the present, the past and the, hopefully, bright future.
I may do it here on this blog, or I may keep a separate account.
It is important for writers to work through our thoughts because only when we understand ourselves, our pasts, our hopes and dreams, can we begin to understand the world- how it works, how and where we fit into it all. And, that is what contributes to truly great writing.
I've asked myself, "Well, isn't that what your memoir was all about?" Yes, it was. It was about coming to terms with a new life, understanding my past and how my sister and mother contributed to who I had become and all the hardships I had faced in the first 27 years of my life. But, here I am, 8 months after its publication, and I find myself already in another place. Emotionally, mentally--I am a different person. I can't say I particularly like this person, but maybe as I write, I can come to understand him...
Stay tuned for the next post where I will interview one of my main characters!
T.
Check out my memoir on NOOK & KINDLE --->
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