Write Already!

Tommeh Bell, how do you write?

My writing space

The creative process is different for everyone. For non-creative people they think there is a formula that all of us artsy people use to pump out novels, paintings, musical scores or what have you. 

Pen+Time+caffeine+ sugar= best seller.

No don't get me wrong this maybe the formula that gets it done. I'm not saying it can't, but what I am saying is that its not that easy. Nor is it that easy to nail down. 

The process varies from one person to the next and what works for Jane Smith night not work for you and it certainly might isn't going to work for me. 

My mom is notorious for picking my writing time as the exact moment she wants to strike up a conversation with me. Not understanding that once I get into grove that the slightest jolt will shatter my concentration and the carefully constructed sentences that I have spent countless hours working on. Ok sometimes it isn't that dramatic but most of the time it is. 

Non-creatives think its easy to jump in and out of the head space we have to be in to be our most creative. I mean we should be ale to just sit down and pump out the next great American novel or masterpiece. Its hard to get them to understand how we work. 

Well I know its hard for me to explain to my family how and why I write. The why I write is something I will tackle at a later time. To them writing is a hobby. Something to do to pass the time. Sure they read books. I come from a family of nerds after all. We even all wear glasses just to keep up appearances. However for them being a writer is not a profession. Yeah they understand you can make money from selling your thesis or what have you, but they are constantly reminding me to have a "real" job to pay the bills. 

Hell I still can't get them to understand why I love NaNoWriMo. A competition with no "real" prizes at the end.

So the time to sit down and put down my novel is drawing nearer. Its only been two weeks since the end of Camp NaNo and I've finally gotten my brain to start functioning again. Job training in Chicago during the last week of NaNo not withstanding. Now I have time to actually think,

Sitting down to plot out my current Camp NaNoWriMo novel got me to thinking about how I write. Like the actual physical mechanics of how a story goes from my head to my fingers to the page.

I've read through a few FAQ pages of my favorite authors and "how do you write," is one of the reoccurring questions.  Not I am not comparing myself to Mercedes Lackey or JK Rowling ...yet, but still I know there will come a time when someone will ask me how I write. So here is my answer.

Writing Essentials 

Every writer has a bag of tricks that they use to help them write. They are called writing essentials.
I love my MAC who is aptly named Appa, because let's face it I love Avatar: The Last Airbender. I write on my computer. I've tried writing long hang. I suck at it. Seriously after like a page and a half my hand starts to cramp. Call my lazy if you want to, but that's why I bought my MAC. That is not to say that I plot and outline on my computer. I do that long hand in a series of composition books. I just wait for the back to school sale to by a bunch of them at a time. Staples usually have them for 50 cents in August.

Personally I seem to be at the peak of my creative apex at night. From dusk to the early morning light my creative juices flow like a river. Which is great because I'm a night owl. Its the one good thing I can thank my dad for. I remember sitting up with him during the night having Nightmare on Elm Street and Rocky marathons while my mom was in and out of hospitals. My mom was a sickly little thing when I was younger so we had a lot of time on our collective hands. It was fun times all around.

I guess I can thank my dad for my love of the silver screen and the boob tube as well. That is a different blog entirely. 

The above picture is a snapshot of my writing space. I don't have a dedicated office or writing space just yet. It something I am working towards. As you can tell that's a glass dining room table that is currently under a mountain of library books, plotting composition books and notebook with the odd Scooby movie popping up here and there. 

Unfortunately this table is Grand Central station, the luggage and mail catch-all, the algonquin roundtable and everything in between for our family. So the only time I can catch a moment alone to delve into the lives of my characters and my plot is at night when the rest of the house is slumbering.

Like many writers I have a noveling soundtrack. It used to contain all my favorite hip hop, pop, and R&B songs. Which worked great when I was in my urban fantasy vampire and werewolf phase. That lasted a few years. Now that I'm more into my fairy tale remakes I find myself listening to movie soundtracks. Inception, Lord of the Rings and Alice in Wonderland are my favorites. Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer are my favorite composers.

Writer Fuel

Now that we have a time, and a place, and the music lets move on to the fuel. Writing is just as physically demanding as it is mentally. We are sitting for hours on end typing away or writing long hand. It puts a strain on the back, the eyes, the wrists and hands. Just like any sport you have to prepare yourself.

I like to start with food. I will freely admit that I am a bit of a junk food addict. I like my peanut butter M&Ms, my Sea Salt Carmel gelato as much as the next girl. But I couldn't live like that. So I beef up on my bowl of Special K Fruit & yogurt with vanilla Silk, my special K bars and my Jersey Mikes turkey and bacon subs. Just with any physical activity you have to strike a balance between carbs for sustained activity and protein for fuel. Sugar is literally the icing on the cake.

Sidenote: Life isn't worth living without my Cherry Poptarts.

My Process

This is where we get down to business. The actual writing part. Some people will tell you they are pantsers. Meaning they write by flying by the seats of their respective pants. I thought I was that sort of writer. My first foray into NaNoWriMo showed me I wasn't that sort of writer. I wrote myself into a never-ending loop that nearly drove me insane. 

I am a writer on the other end of the spectrum. I'm a planner down to my French tips. I have to plan out everything. From the characters, to the setting, to the plot, even to the chapter outlines. Me I start with my plot. Not that my story is purely plot driven, but my starting point is the plot. After I've got the bare bones of my plot going I start adding in my characters. During the plotting process I nail down my main character. So now its all about the supporting characters. 

As a side note all of my main characters are African American females. As a black female myself I don't find a lot of us starring in fantasy, sci-fi. urban fantasy books. Hell we don't star in a lot of books to be sure, but I read mostly fantasy so that's what I base my assessment on. The majority of my main characters are POC (people of color). 

Depends on how I feel while I'm plotting on the amount of detail I go into with my characters. Some day I write out full bios down to their favorite color. Other days I just get the bare bone facts cemented. I like to start with their names. I like characters with rememberable names. I would never use Sally, Jane, or Sue as a name. I have a thing for female with male names like Ryan, Kyle, Dillon, Devon. If I can't get the name right I can't picture their face. If I can't picture their face the character never comes together for me. I like to start superficially and then delve deeper into my characters. I've tried to do it other ways and it just doesn't work for me. Which is alright because this is me we are talking about. 

Once I can picture them I can see them in my plot. That's when I can sit down to start outlining my chapters. I can't stress how important that is for a writer like me. If I don't take the time to plot out my chapters I'm liable to just write nonsense till the second coming. My mind had tendency to wander. I keep it reined in with my outline. I know where I'm supposed to go and I have an idea of how to get there. I am not saying that sometimes my fingers don't take a different approach from what I plotted out.  They do. My characters may start acting up and changing the plot around on me or the plot itself might want to go left when I want it to go right. It happens. I do a little bit of pantsing in that aspect. Its ok to let your story evolve organically.

You can't be so set in stone that you don't let your characters and the plot develop on its own. You can always go back and edit later if something just doesn't make sense or if you've written yourself into a corner. 

Some people will tell you to start writing at the beginning and write till you hit the end. Sometimes I follow this roadmap. Sometimes I don't. Especially if I run into writer's block. I find leaving the scene you are in to jump into another one is a cure-all for writer's block. This is where that plot outline comes in handy. Since you know where you need to go jumping in and out of scenes is easy.

That's ladies and gents is how I, Tommeh Bell write. I will address my editing process in another post. Happy writing my Belles!! 

July Camp NaNo Fiction Idea

So I've been wrestling with this plot for an entire month. I first thought of it maybe back in early May and I wrote it down thinking I wasn't going to work on it but then the July Camp NaNoWriMo rolled around and I dusted it off to get ready for the ball.

Title: Grimm Hollows

Genre: fantasy

Protagonists: Dillon Grimm is a girl getting her butt kicked by life. She has a job that is going nowhere she is looking to go. She is a barista at Java the Hut. The job is easy enough and the people are ok for the most part, but she wanted more out of her life. As the daughter of Willow Grimm, the actress who made her mark on the world at age eight a lot was expected of her.

Other Main characters: Lennox, a dragon lord. He is going to be Diggy's best friend and love interest in this tale. The Pixie Queen is also going to play a big role. There are some other roles that I have yet to cast so to speak.

Antagonist: Thalia, the Goblin Queen and her son the goblin prince Devin. Thalia is power hunger and not content on just ruling the goblins under her charge. She is never one to get her hands dirty however and you will never trace anything directly back to her. She rules not through fear as her predecessors did. She rules passive aggressively so you are never sure if it was your idea to kill yourself or hers. Thalia is the first ever goblin queen and

Setting: Majority of the story will take place on the Hollows but some of the story will take place in the fictional town of Wysteria, NC.

Plot: Diggy Grimm is a girl with a plan. By the time she is 18 she wanted to be an international recording artist with a big contract and legions of fans.

Well she is 25 and working at a book store. Don't even get started on her love life. Her last date had more pimples than common sense. Life just seems to be passing her by until she gets a call that her grandfather has died. She hasn't seen him in years but she owes it to him to go to his funeral.

His final act left her with Grimm Hollows. The creepy old plantation house that used to scare as a child. Between her dead end job and stale love life Diggy decides to step out on faith and move into her childhood nightmare.

Strang things are afoot as Dillon tries to settle into her new life. The house magically cleans itself. Dillon swears a bumblebee serenades her at night. Its driving her crazy.

Grimm Hollows is not just a dusty old house. Its a Ever After settlement that protects fairy tale creatures as they live their lives in the mundane world. And Dillon is the new Godmother and protector. A role that she doesn't understand but is willing to give it the old college try.

The Goblin Queen has other plans for Grimm Hollows. She isn't content to just rule Goblin Square she wants all of the Hollows and its inhabitants under her thumb.

And the only thing standing in her way is Dillon.

Point of View: Is going to split between first person for Dillon and third person limited for everyone else.

Story Notes: I think I've cemented this plot. Might have to make a few changes to the plot but I feel its going to be smooth sailing. 

Writing Matters

Camp NaNoWriMo Pep Talk

So my intrepid WriMoers you have sailed through the first two weeks of this journey. The brights lights of NaNoland are on the horizon. You can smell the fried twinkies on the air and you can just imagine how soft the beds are at the inn. And of the feast they are preparing in honor of your win is going to be just as delicious as it is magnificent. Who can blame you? We had a long and hard journey. That tar pit was not fun at all believe you mean. We had a good time as well. We toasted marshmallows around the camp fire and we sang that sill Spongebob campfire song, song. That was actually a fair amount of fun. We lost some members of our marry band of campers. *sniffle* They will be missed. Never fear we will see them again. I promise.

So you are hitting your daily word count and you and your story are getting along like a house fire. Its happening to me too. This is by far the best time I've had with a story in a good while. The words are flowing and your story is pure literary magic. I mean like Harry Potter magic.

Then WHAM!

All of a sudden your fingers won't move. Your palms get sweaty and your vision blurs. That blinking cursor is taunting you. Every blink is a dagger through the heart. That empty page is texting all of its buddies to come over and dance around your writing space because you can't write. Bards are now as I type this singing ballads about you epic writer's block.

You poured your heart and soul into the first two weeks and now your muse is dog tired. She is sprawled across the couch in a drunken stupor with her lipstick smudge across her cheek and up into her hair, and you are sure when she left the house last she had on two shoes. The poor dear can't even rouse herself for 300 words here, 750 words there. Some days your can't even get her to give you a smile.

Maybe you've ran into a major plot hole and you haven't been abel to write yourself out of it. Well my lovely this is the week, right here, right now that will separate the writers from the mice.

Mice scurry away at the first sign of trouble. Loud noises, sudden movement, Scary Movie 5 are all enough to send a mouse running for the hole in the wall. Nice run for the hills at the first plot hole. They balk when their perfectly planned character turns out to be a man that likes to sleep in women's underwear. They quit at the first sign of trouble.

Writers, however, stay the course. We writers are a tough breed. Like the saying goes we are capable of taking caffeine and turning it into the nest great American novel. Or the lastest craze at Comic Con. Take your pick. That's the one I'm shooting for. Writers sit down and write regardless of the vacation time of their muse. She's a flighty bird anyways.

Writers write regardless of how they feel or where their muse is. Mice run away when their story gets hard. They give up when the words aren't flowing like melted butter. So you have to ask yourself, are you going to be a writer or are you going to be a mouse. If you need inspiration or a swift kick in the pants join us on twitter @NaNoSprints or @NaNoWriMo for zany prompts and word sprints. I promise inspiration will strike.

This is going to be the toughest week yet. Wou will be present with all the reasons to quit and give up. The intoxicating smell of lake water and stadium hot dogs on the grill is an evil temptress that will drag you down into the depths of Tartarus before you realize it. Do not go gently into that good night.

Stand and fight! We will prevail I promise you that. You just have to make up in your mind that you are not going to quit. You have to tell yourself that you are going to reach NaNoLand and then park your tush in that chair and write! Write when you don't feel like it. Write when your muse is out all night partying her skirt off. Write when that cursor is taunting you. All it takes is one word and you are further along in your story than you were yesterday.

Write.

And as always happy noveling my lovelies!!

Pitching My Tent

I know its been awhile since you have heard from me and I want to offer my apologies. I've been on my way to Camp and the going was a bit rough in the beginning. So we are moving into the second week of Camp NanoWriMo and I am ahead of the curve ball. I am sitting pretty at 20,012 words. So I am one happy camper.

I am a night owl so I like to write when the iron is hot and for me that is during the night. No wait I like to do everything at night. I guess that's why I love vampires so much. Well certain vamps like the Harris or Ward vamps. I wouldn't want to be a Dracula vampire.

After that happy little tidbit, I got a late start to camp on account of my friend Umar's wedding. The wedding was a lot of fun I have to say. I got to look at gorgeous Desi guys and eat great Desi food so it was camp time well spent.


So it is known far and wide that I am a fantasy writer. Always have been and always well be. I don't know how to write anything else. And I've tried to. I really have. My second NaNo endeavor was a mystery. I did hit 50k but the story was a complete diaster of Twilight proportions.

That is not an exaggeration. Oh how I wish it was. I mean I could barely go back and try to breath new life into by editing it. It was so bad I had to bury it in the backyard while Taps played softly on my ipod.

I guess my brain just doesn't work that way. Though I do love a good mystery tv show or a movie. I learned my lesson then and there. I stuck to fantasy and the ride has been great. Well my current novel is wholly fantasy, but there are murders that have to be solved and I am having the damnest time getting started on the investigations. My mind is fighting me as my fingers hover over my keyboard. It refuses to compete the elements of a mystery.

Which is supremely frustrating because I've read mountains of mystery novels. Hell James Patterson is about to get my kicked out of my home if I can't find a place to put him. So I should know how to do this. I did my outline, worked on all of my scenes and still its like wading through cold molasses. I might take a day to sit down and work through my murders and the investigations. I mean I've got all the Castle DVDs and CSI and Law & Order are always on reruns so I should be able to gleam something that will aid my in my journey to NaNoLand.

That sounds like a great idea. I need to do something otherwise my story is going to stall out and that just doesn't work with me. I will finish this book. I just need to batten the hatches and do the legwork and the research.

Maybe I will get lucky and my muse will have mercy on me.

ML Guide to Going to Camp in the Triad

If you haven't figured it out yet camp nanowrimo isn't an actually camp. *cue violin music* Much to my dismay trust me on that one. I would love nothing more than to pack up my bag and head off to parts unknown with nothing but a desire to get my novel down on paper. However since I am a Municipal Liaison during NaNoWriMo I can't seem to turn off my piloting instinct. So here is a nifty little guide to surviving camp nano in the Triad

The Triad region of North Carolina is home to the furniture capital of the world. High Point. which just happens to be my current home, thank you very much. We are smack dab in the middle of Raleigh to the north and the east and Charlotte to the south, and while we may not be as glitzy and glamours as our state capital and the home to the Bobcats we have a few things going on here in the Triad.


The Triad region rundown:

Best Local Writer Fuel — During camp sometimes we forgo the traditional food pyramid for a more shall we say sugar centric diet, and thats ok. That 8 am run around the lake should work off the late night munching. You are in luck North Carolina is home to one of the world's best regional barbecue epicenters and it just happens that Lexington (the southern tip of the Triad) has one of the best places to get BBQ. The BBQ Center, which has been featured on the Travel Channel, Food Network and UNC TV, has the best banana split in the business. And who doesn't like sitting by a lazy river chomping down on a expertly made banana spilt.

The BBQ Center marquee, much like the Welcome to Las Vegas sign is the threshold for Lexington. Taking you from the hustle of city life, into the gentle embrace of a bygone time. The down home friendly atmosphere will leave you warm and fuzzy all over. It's almost like having tea at your grandmother's house. Everyone is happy to see you and over the moon about making you smile for no reason at all. And many of the regulars get a kick out of NaNoers descending on the place with our army of laptops and our need for pick their brains about the good ole days.

Best Way to Beat Writer’s Block — The best tavern in Greensboro is Natty Greens. The atmosphere is perfect for letting yourself sink into your novel like an old man into a hot bath. Big picture windows that allow you to people watch without throwing off that creepy, serial killer vibe, low lighting, exposed brick walls, frothy beers and lots of people to cheer you on as you cross the finish line. gorgeous art on the walls, mismatched tea cups that you to choose from, and old wooden tables. If you can brave the high temperatures and the air conditioning in your car is working, Natty Greens is the quick fix to the all stop on your brain and your novel.

Best Place to Camp Out — If you are looking for the best place to pitch your tent for the summer then the Bicentennial Gardens is your destination. The city of Greensboro has taken great strides to return the city back to its natural state before the industrial revolution rolled through town and razed the wooded backroads trail to make room the grand dames of the south. There are several gardens to choose from all offering a slightly different feel. Hiking, walking and biking trails snake their ways from one end of the gardens to the other offering panoramic views of budding tulips and wading ducks.

If gardens and nature aren't your thing and beating the heat is the only thing on your mind. Because let's face it when it gets up into the low 100 your novel waves bye bye and seeks relief from the heat like all sane novels should. Then the only cure is Wet n' Wild- Emerald Pointe. The best water park in the Carolinas. From the lazy river to the raging rapids Wet n' Wild will help your mind get out of that fetal position and get you on your way to crossing the finish line. And if nothing else it will be a great distraction and a fun time.

Regional Genre of Choice — Fantasy seems to be the drug of choice for the Triad region. From fairy tale remixes, to relationship break up inspired zombie rampages our Wrimoers take fantasy very seriously. We have a few literary fiction writers, but they always forget their sunblock so I doubt they will see the light of day during camp.


The Can’t Miss Triad Camp NaNo Event

We’re planning something new this year. Normally during camps its a more relaxed atmosphere without any planned events, but as the ML I want to get as many of my NaNoers inspired and involved as all NaNoWriMo activities So we are working on a Picnic in the Park write in that we are really excited about. Let's face it as writers we are solitary home bodies. Give as a quiet corner and a pot of anything with caffeine and we will write till our fingers bleed. As humans one of our basic needs is to have other people and that doesn't happen sitting in a corner. So getting out of the house and going to a gorgeous sitting befitting Scarlett (O'Hara that is) herself seems like a grand idea if I do say so myself.

Camp NaNoWriMo Survival Kit

Camp NaNoWriMo is a month long online writing challenge that takes its participants on the fantastic voyage to NaNoland. This year the Offices of Letters and Light have scheduled camp for April and July. Perfect beach weather in July by the way. Well Camp NaNo is inching closer and closer and I've got my bag packs and I'm ready to go. Well you don't just jump into the car and race off to camp without packing some essentials.

Like any epic challenge its brave participants needs the basics to survive. So these are the things that I bring along for my month of literary abandon. And this is my kit….


Writing Essentials 
my laptop, Appa :)
my plotting notebook
fancy and funky pens
my iTunes NaNo Playlist and Spotify
Doctor Who, Avatar The Last Airbender, Dexter, and Big Bang Theory DVDs
WI-FI
Storyist


Writer Fuel
peanut butter M&Ms
Sour Cream and Onion Multi- Grain Pringles
Lucky Charms and Vanilla Silk
Wal-mart soft chocolate chip cookies
Nutella and texas toast
Ben and Jerry Greek Frozen Yogurt Banana and Peanut Butter flavored
Strawberry Fanta
Cherry Poptarts
hot chocolate


Camp Essentials 
Bug Spray
Mosquito Nets
Good walking shoes
Walking Stick
backpack

Fireflies, S'mores and Rope Swings oh my!

So we are 3 weeks out from the start of the first Camp NaNoWriMo session! I am a tad excited if you can't tell! I never went to camp as a kid because I grew up in Germany and surprisingly they don't do the camp thing during the summer. We traveled and went to amusement parks over the summer. Which was fun but I would have loved to have gone to a creative arts or science camp during the summer. Something about being in a nerdary with other geeks just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside

This year the sessions are in April and July. There was a furious debate about the feasibility of having the camp sessions during April and July.

I personally love the new months. Last year it was June and August. For most kids they are still in school in June and during August families are trying to cram in their vacations before they have to rush back for school to start back. I think april works well for everyone all around, and it gives an opportunity for the Script Frenzy people to have something official to do since OLL canceled Script Frenzy.

I was sad to see it go, but I just never participated because scripts just aren't my thing.

There have been some upgrades to the Camp NaNo site and I have to say I love them. First and foremost you have the ability to set your own goal. Which I think will really work for the people that want to participate but know going in that they are going to be too busy for 50,000 words. It allows them to get that accomplishment in the midst of  the chaos of real life. It also helps those overachievers who know they can blaze through 50,000 easy. Last November my NaNo novel went better than I could have ever imagined. I crossed the 50k mark on Nov. 16. Once that happened the energy just drained out of me. I was able to limp along and win with 62,313 but I felt like I cheated myself in the end. So I'm happy that I can set my own goal because it will keep me pushing and I might just be able to finish an entire novel during the camp. Which has me as giddy as if I had eaten an entire box of red velvet cupcakes.

The next upgrade I think that I am going to like is the expanded option package for the cabin selection. Now we have the ability to set the cabin activity level. Last June I lucked out and got most of the people I requested in my cabin and we worked great together. We created a facebook group simply because we weren't that active in our cabins and in the August session only two of us were active. I like a lot of activity and talking. Especially when I'm stuck and I need help on something. I like having someone as a sounding board or just someone to shoot the breeze with when I need to decompress for a bit.

So I am looking forward to using the site once camp starts.

I was teetering back and forth between two different plots. One was a steampunk, fairy tale inspired throwback noir book. I had all the research done and I thought that was what I was going to do, but then my Castle inspired book kept calling my name. When the sight went live everything just clicked for me and I decided to go with my Castle muse.

Title: Inventing the Grimm

Genre: fantasy

Protagonist: August Grimm. She is a twenty something NY best selling author. She is funny and sarcastic. A real child at heart. Though she doesn't believe in the fairy tales she is writing about. They are just stories to her. She is still in the honeymoon phase of her stardom. Not really believing that its all true, but loving the fact that people love her books.

Other Characters: Ezra is going to be another voice of the book. She is the Fablehaven police chief. Or I may just make her an inspector and make someone else the chief. Not sure if that will change just now or never. Balthazar, the Big Bad Wolf is going to be the love interest in the novel. Not sure if I want it to be a Bridget Jones love interest sort of thing because I am so bad at writing romance or if I'm just going to wing it. There is going to a steady cast of re-imagined fairy tale characters so this is going to be a fun ride for me. :)

Antagonists: The Queen of Hearts and the Sheriff of Nottingham. both of them I am thinking of them as Bonnie and Clyde. They thrive of the psychotic vibe from the other, but the Queen is going to be in charge and the Sheriff is just her knife man. the Queen is going to be a disgraced and penniless monarch living on the outskirts of the city. Sort of like the crazy cat lady with a murderous streak.

Plot: August Grimm is living the high life. She is a celebrated best selling author of the popular Apple White series. A fairy tale detective series based on Snow White. Does August think fairy tales are real? Of course not. Unfortunately for her in Fablehaven fairy tales are real and someone is killing its citizens. Just like in her books. And if these murders are going to get solved Fablehaven is going to need her help...if she can get passed the flying monkeys.

Setting: The initial setting is going to be Neptune, NC, but the majority of the story is going to take place in Fablehaven. The fairy tale capital city. There are going to be some border countries like Oz and the land of the Trolls, but I haven't come up with the name just yet.

Point of View: Third person limited for August and sometimes Ezra and other characters as need be

Story Notes: I am planning on this being a novel series and I've got 4 books plotted out already and I am thinking its going to be seven books so I have to take in account how the books are going to bed from the very beginning. So I can drop little hints and tidbits along the way throughout the books. I want each book to be a stand alone book but I want a natural progression from one to the other. If that makes any sense.