Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Sharpening the Creative Mind #IWSG

The IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh. November's co-hosts are Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Ann V. Friend, JQ Rose, and Elizabeth Seckman. Please follow the other participants.
November's IWSG optional question: How has your creativity in life evolved since you began writing?

A person prone to daydreaming and even more vivid dreams, I've always felt creative. Writing, however, was not something I was interested in doing for a very long time. Yet the characters were there, and after ten years of online roleplaying games, I delved into writing my own works.

There were starts and stumbles. I had, and still have, so much to learn, but each day I feel like I grow more creative. I delve with more purpose into the characters I create and their complex lives. I can't imagine not spending time with them. They help me piece together our world.

As for insecurities, I am slowly making more progress after months of working on Elements of Untethered Realms as well as going through an autistic burnout. I still am exhausted most weekends, but I'm working toward writing more regularly.

What are your insecurities this month?

So last month, I was working on a short story as well as planning to set my sights on the next Untethered Realms' anthology. I didn't touch my plans for UR Worlds, but I did complete one scene out of three in my short story. Unfortunately, I still have not completed said story in time to submit to a certain anthology.

The good news is I am making progress in the story, which was named "Fade In... Fade Out" but is now called "Paper Faces." The story leans toward YA contemporary romance and was loosely connected to the town from my Once upon a Nightmare collection. Now I'm going back through and adding some Paperist touches because I've decided early next year to release "Paper Faces" as part of a short story collection titled Folds in Life and Death. The collection will also include the stories from my paper magics' world that are previously published: "Folds in Life and Death" from Parallels: Felix Was Here, "Paper Lanterns" from Mayhem in the Air, and "The Folding Point" from Spirits in the Water.

I am also trying to keep up with writing a bit a day, so I've set a 15 minute writing goal every day for the month of November. So far, so good. With any luck, I'll finish the first draft of "Paper Faces" and will be able to start outlining Entangled for UR Worlds.

What are your goals for November? Good luck to those participating in NaNoWriMo!

2018 Stats
23,144 words written
46,303 words edited
381,387 friends' words edited

24 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Sorry you didn't get it done in time for the anthology. (And would you believe there was a story submitted called Paper Faces?) That's cool it will be part of your collection though.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

You can do a lot in 15 minutes.

Chrys Fey said...

Paper Faces is a great title!

I have really vivid dreams, too. I can even direct some of them...change them as they go. They definitely help with stories and getting new story ideas. :)

Computer Tutor said...

I like that title--Paper Face. That evokes lots of images. Maybe it inspired your progress. Me, I'm buried in editing that isn't going as well or as quickly as I had hoped. Sigh.

M.J. Fifield said...

Hooray for feeling like you grow more creative each day. I've been feeling like I'm getting less creative by the minute these days, but I hope it passes.

15 minutes a day is a great goal. Like Diane said, you can get a lot done in that time frame. May you be pleasantly surprised at the end of the month!

And I, too, like the Paper Faces title. Best of luck with it!

Cathrina Constantine said...

I also learn something new each day with my writing. Being creative helps tremendously, of course. It's funny how realistic dreams shape our writing. Wishing you great success with those 15 minutes. I might have to try that because there's so many time restraints on me lately.

emaginette said...

Use those creative muscles. That said, don't injure yourself. Overworking them may not be that good for you.

Take care of yourself first. The rest will take care of itself.

Anna from elements of emaginette

Tyrean Martinson said...

I loved that Paperist story in the Untethered Realms anthology! I'm looking forward to reading another one.
I love the way you wrote about daydreaming and spending time with characters to figure things out!
Have a wonderful November!

Carrie-Anne said...

Good luck with your story collection! Short story collections are so underrated and underrepresented these days.

Sarah Foster said...

I like the 15 minute goal. Getting a little bit done every day is better than nothing! It's hard for me to push myself to write every day so I should try something like that.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Good for you on the time issue. I have a hard deadline from my publisher for the novel I'm working on so I'm trying to write every day too.

Anonymous said...

I'm the same. I've always been a daydreamer and thinking up stories, but it wasn't until 2010 that I actually got into writing them down.

Juneta key said...

I didn't get mine done in time either. Great post. Happy IWSG Day.

Fundy Blue said...

Your short story collection that you plan to release next year, sounds intriguing Cherie. I remember your story in the Parallels anthology; the folding and releasing of the lanterns and the souls they carried was unique and stayed with me. Wishing you energy to ease your exhaustion!

Chemist Ken said...

You may not have finished your short story, but it sounds like you're still being pretty productive. Congratulations!

cleemckenzie said...

There just needs to be more time, doesn't there? However, you're making the most of yours.

Natalie Aguirre said...

That's great that you feel like you're growing as a writer and are setting small goals that you can handle with your work and health issues.

Diane Burton said...

There just aren't enough hours in the day to do all that we want. Everything I've written from way back when I started (about 25 yrs ago) has been practice. Each story is better than the one before. So, keep writing. But most of all, have fun.

Christine Rains said...

So glad you're getting slowly back into writing. We need time turners to get anything done these days! :)

Heather R. Holden said...

Ooh, Folds in Life and Death sounds like a fascinating story collection. Best of luck with it, as well as your latest story, "Paper Faces"!

Sorry to hear you've been so exhausted and experiencing burnout, though. Hope getting back into a regular writing routine goes smoothly for you!

Nas said...

Happy that you are slowly getting back in the groove of writing!

Nick Wilford said...

Sounds like you're getting there, which is good to hear! Just keep taking one step at a time.

DMS said...

I think I need to steal your 15 minute a day writing goal. I need to get moving with my writing and life has been so busy. 15 minutes might get me going and I will definitely have more words on the page than I do now. :)

I love the title Paper Faces. Best of luck with it!
~Jess

M Pax said...

Hope you're feeling better. I haven't started my UR story either. Haven't finished my novella. Haven't made progress in Backworlds. Siiigh. Lately, I'm just burnt. Then I feel more stress over not getting much done. I will remedy that soon.