Blog Archives
You know you are addicted to writing when …
Every time I turn around I read another article telling writers not to quit. Years ago, I realized I can’t quit. I’m addicted. So to help others recognize the signs that they most likely have a writing problem, I have compiled a list. 
You know you are addicted to writing when …
1) It takes up all of your free time.
2) You would rather write than do anything else.
3) You neglect your housework and tell your kids, “Give Mommy just one more minute.”
4) You lose sleep because you’re thinking about the next time you’ll be writing.
5) You go to meetings with people who have the same problem.
6) You’re thinking about the next draft even before you have finished the one you’re on.
7) If you are unable to write, (because of illness or obligations) you get antsy.
8) You blog, tweet, Facebook, talk, email, and dream about writing.
9) Rejection makes you write more.
10) Every day you tell yourself you should just quit … but you can’t.
So, do any of these sound familiar?
Love and Laughter,
Dorlana
Concept, Characters, and then Story. Oh…
Call me crazy (You’re crazy) but I didn’t realize, until this morning, that I need characters before I can plot out any of my story. I’m working on my romantic comedy series, and I have the first book finished, and I’m 10,000 words into the second one. I’ve been trying to get a vague idea for the story-line (at least the first chapter) for the third book, but my mind refuses to go there. And then it dawned on me, I don’t have my characters yet. (Each story in the series will be concluded and will have different main characters.) And now that I think about it, I realize my process has always been concept, characters, and then story.
The concept seems to be what I think of first. With Jaclyn’s Ghost, which I started writing nine-years-ago, the working title was Old Ghost and my concept was: A ghost, who has existed in a building by himself since the 20s, has to deal with a new modern-day ghost. With The Princes of Tangleforest, I had the fairy tale, Rapunzel and mind-control, but I also had an image: a new boy in a new neighborhood sees a beautiful girl at her window with blonde flowing hair, but he doesn’t see her at school.
My characters usually come to mind second. I’m not a character questionnaire profile type of writer. The thought of it makes me cringe. But I do have a basic understanding of the characters before I begin to write. They have a name, a gender, and a personality but that’s about it. Sometimes I don’t even know what they look like. In Silverweed I never gave Scarlet a hair color. By the time I had finished writing, in my mind, she was dark headed, but I never did add it to the book because after I’d asked several prereaders what color hair they thought she had, they all said a different color. Which I thought was very interesting. Anyway, I learn about my characters as I write them, but I at least need a basic understanding of their role in the story.
My conclusion: I can only write the first chapter after I have a concept and characters, then I can plot along the way. So it looks like I will have to be patient and figure out who my characters are (I may have to even wait until I’m finished with the rough draft of book 2) before I can figure out what is going to happen in my third book. Like I always do … apparently.
Love and Laughter,
Dorlana
