The Perfect Ending

When I first think of an idea, I normally think up the following things:

1) The Main Character

2) The Climax

3) The Ending

These are the things that normally come to mind as soon as the idea pops into my head. If one of them is missing, I conjure them up before I start writing. I find that these three things provide a nice, bare skeleton in which to base the story on.

The main character is probably the most vital of these three things; I always have an idea of what a character is like, how they behave, and the development they have to go through during the story, even if I can't put these things in to words. (And I normally can't. Not at first, anyway.)

The climax, despite being second on the list, is probably one of the very very first things I come up with. In most cases, it's actually where the idea stems from in the first place. If not the climax, it's at least a key scene in the story. It's the scene that I spend the entire story anxiously building up to, and the driving force behind all of the time and work I put into it. Sometimes it changes as the story evolves, but most often, it doesn't. If there's one scene that stays the same from draft to draft, it's probably this one.

The ending, however, is a little more tricky. The previous two factors pop into my head instantly, without hesitation, and they rarely change as I continue working on the story. The ending, on the other hand, is probably the thing that changes the most.

I always have an ending in mind as I'm writing. This is mostly so that I can accurately build up to it, insert foreshadowing and whatnot. That becomes really hard, though, when I change my mind on how I want it to end when I'm halfway through the first draft.

I know, I know: this is what first drafts are for, right? I'll revise it later, so I can always go back and change it. But that doesn't make working out the conclusion to my world any easier.

I'm a sucker for happy endings. That's my problem. There's nothing wrong with happy endings, obviously. But I love my characters and care for them so much that I'm often overly eager to make everything work out for them. The ending then comes out too forced or just plain corny. (Not that there's anything wrong with corny. There's just a time and a place for it, and sometimes my story is not it.)

As many of my friends will tell you, I stress about how to end a story for a very long time. I'll often have several different scenarios, which I'll run by most of my writer (and non-writer) friends, asking for opinions; "Which ending do you like best?" "Is this a cop-out?" "How is your knowledge on sphere-shaped magical projectiles?" (I don't think I ever got a proper response on that last one.)

I flip flop between each ending constantly, thinking only in terms of what I want to happen to my characters. It wasn't until recently that I figured out that the best way to determine an ending is to write it.

As you know (because I won't shut up about it), I recently finished the first draft of The Neutral. (Which I have yet to begin revising, but I digress.) Before I reached the epilogue, I had been flopping back and forth between three different possible endings. I won't go into too much detail, but let's just say that one was the perfect, fairy tale "happy ending", and the other two...well, they were not. Very satisfying, but not quite at the happiness and rainbows stage.

And it was almost entirely for that final reason that I wrote the first perfect, happiness-and-rainbows happy ending in my first draft. I wanted to see everything work out. Once I finally wrote it, though, and saw the scene play out before me, it was...

Well, not as good as I envisioned it.

I have yet to read it since then, but given past experience, it'll probably seem even worse when I finally do get back to it. Actually seeing the words form, instead of imagining what the scene might look like, has greatly affected my perspective on the story itself and what it needs. The entire story, in fact, often differs greatly from what I picture in my head at first.

I think the moral of this story is that you shouldn't set your heart on a particular scene, or ending, for a story until you've at least written it out once. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. In the end, you have to do what's best for the story (even if your fangirl heart continues to plead for the happiest of endings).


Until later,

- Justyne

Adventures in Waiting (Random Story Time!)

I have learned only one thing this past week: I am a very, very impatient person.

Over the past several weeks / months, Jimmy (my precious laptop) has started blue-screening on me. So, last week, I logged onto the Dell website and ordered myself a brand new desktop computer.

Fast forward to Monday; I got a call from Purolator, saying that I was to receive a package from Dell Canada on March 19th (Wednesday). I was so excited, it was almost ridiculous. I'm talking jumping up and down and bouncing off the walls excited. (More so than usual, anyway.) I spent all day Wednesday waiting for the truck, and, when it was late, a good chunk of Thursday doing the same thing. When I saw the truck pull up, I opened the door before the delivery guy even made it up the front steps.

Never in my life has waiting for something been so difficult.

The only problem was, the package that I thought contained my new computer only contained the monitor. So now, I have a monitor sitting on my desk with nothing to plug it into, while I wait for the actual physical computer to ship. (I'm pretty sure it hasn't even hit the truck yet, since my credit card has yet to be charged for it.)

I think it's safe to say that this was probably the biggest disappointment of my entire life. My dad laughed at me when I told him about it. (He was clearly more amused by the situation than I was.)


READER PARTICIPATION TIME! What's the longest you've ever waited for something, what was it, and were you struggling as much as I was to be patient? Comment below!

Until later,

- Justyne

Prepare Yourselves...

...for Camp NaNoWriMo.

If you'll recall, I attempted Camp NaNoWriMo last August; with, uh, somewhat less than successful results.

The first round of Camp NaNoWriMo 2014 is coming up next month, in April, and I think I'm ready to give it another go.

I think one of my favourite parts about Camp NaNoWriMo is that is has more options than the regular NaNoWriMo. You have the option to write a novel, or a script or collection of short stories. You can set your own word count, be it the traditional 50,000 or 25,000 or 100,000. It makes the challenge more interesting; everyone's working not only on different stories, but in different mediums and at different lengths. (This year, I'm working on a novel told through a collection of short stories, all based on fairy tales.)

Another thing I like about it are the cabins--completely optional, but really cool. Last summer I was introduced to a whole new online writing community, that have since helped me power through my writing in sprints. Cabins are a great way to meet new people, who are working on projects similar to yours. (You can also request specific cabin mates, but what's the fun in that?)

Writing in a group is fun. It was something I always loved about my creative writing class, and continued to love during Camp NaNoWriMo last year. (Even though most of my cabin mates lived in the UK and thus were always sprinting at times I was unavailable for.)

If you've ever wanted to participate in NaNoWriMo, but the 50,000 word goal was too daunting for you, I would suggest giving Camp NaNoWriMo a try next month. Set your own goal, and come join in on the fun!


Are you participating next month?

Until later,

- Justyne

Rewriting (and Why You Shouldn't Fear It)

Friday night, I successfully finished the first draft of a certain novel I've been working on for a couple years now. (Cue excuse for not blogging on time...whoopsie.) This is the first first draft that I've finished in quite some time--the last time I finished the rough copy of a manuscript was probably the 8th grade. (Which was abandoned before the revising and editing process even truly began.)

The problem I had for the longest time (and still struggle with now, sometimes), is that I thought the revising process was something to be feared. I always shuddered when my English teacher would announce a mandatory major revision in our written work; You mean I actually have to rewrite something?! But I put so much thought into these words!

And I did--too much work, actually. I second-guessed every sentence, double checked every word as I was writing it. I formed the next sentence in my mind before even considering writing it down. I would spend so much time working on this so-called "first draft", stopping every few paragraphs to go back and change something, that I would eventually get so sick of working on it that I would consider it "bad" and move on to something else. Each new project was just as doomed as the first.

I lived at the mercy of my inner editor. I just didn't know what, exactly, that was yet.

The first year I discovered NaNoWriMo, I struggled. A lot. So much so that I didn't make it far past the 14k mark. How am I supposed to keep writing this?! I'd think. I need to go back and change everything before I can continue!

While I managed to get the hang of the whole write-first-think-later mindset the following year, I still struggled to keep the act up after November was over. It's not November anymore! I'd think. I don't have to write so recklessly! It's why my manuscript, only half finished at the end of NaNoWriMo 2012, was left collecting dust until the following year.

Writing recklessly, I realize now, is the only true way to write a first draft.

It wasn't until about January (or maybe even February, if I'm being totally honest) that I finally gathered up the nerve to tackle the still-unfinished manuscript, stuck in the eternal first-draft limbo that all too many of my projects endure. (Even after two NaNoWriMos--two!) It took a lot to gather the courage to write without looking back, long after November had come and gone; it took a lot of word sprints, a lot of forcing myself to sit at my desk, and a lot of running away from my family to get it done.

For a long time, I thought that the editing / revising process was restricted solely to grammar and sentence structure; that rewriting large chunks--and in some cases, the entire story--would make the whole writing process far too long. I was scared that if I couldn't write it well the first time, how would the second time be any different?

Now, I realize my mistakes, and I think I've finally gotten into the habit of writing NaNoWriMo-style all year round. It's still hard to squander that inner editor of mine, but at least now, it's possible; and I have a finished draft to prove it.


Fellow writers! What's your most feared part of the writing process?

Until later,

- Justyne

One Year

Tomorrow will mark one year since I started blogging. 52 weeks since I dusted off the blog I created back in high school, 365 days since I quit overthinking everything and just wrote. So much stuff has happened this year, I don't even know where to start.

I embraced my limited knowledge of blogging, choosing to just dive right into it instead of worrying about what I was doing wrong.

I reverted to a 9-year-old mentality, abandoning the conventionally "smart" option of a back-up plan and making writing my first priority, as it should have always been.

I dropped out of university, and subsequently recovered from a spontaneous (and unintentional) 10-week hiatus.

I successfully blogged every day for a month. (Something I hope to repeat this year.)

I began sharing my writing with all of you, occasionally, through this blog.

I won NaNoWriMo, for the second year in a row.

And today, I settle down and prepare to finish the first draft of a novel; the novel I spent the past two Novembers working furiously on, and the first novel draft I will have completed since the 8th grade.

I've learned a lot, this past year. A lot about myself, about my writing, about the world around me. This blog helped me more than I ever thought it would, helped me figure out things that I needed to figure out.

I'd like to thank you, all of you, for reading through my jumbled thoughts over the last 12 months. I appreciate it, really I do.

Until later,

- Justyne

50 Book Pledge

Today, I'm going to tell you all about a nifty little website I discovered last year: 50bookpledge.ca.

When I was younger, I used to read a lot. (But of course, you already knew that.) As I grew up, though, I sort of...stopped.

Okay, I didn't stop entirely. But I definitely started reading less. In all of 2013, I read a total of 12 books--and that's counting one I read for my English class, and a barely-100-page comic book.

Considering I used to read the same amount in a month, this was pretty embarrassing. What makes it even worse is that I had planned to read 50 books that year. Which brings me back to the website.

Basically, the idea is that you set a reading goal, or a pledge, for how many books you're going to read that year. The average goal is 50, but you can change it to 25, 75, 100, or even more if you're feeling super ambitious. The idea is that, each time you read a book, you log on and record it onto your "read" shelf. It helps you keep track of all the books you've read, gives you neat little badges whenever you reach a landmark (like "First Book Read" and "Ten Books Read"), and is basically the thing that counts your books and lets you know when you've reached 50 (or whatever your goal for the year was).

You also get a "To Be Read" shelf, that you can add whatever books you want onto it and then move them over to your "Read" shelf once you're finished with them. (My TBR shelf had 30+ books on it, last time I checked.)

I first signed up last year and failed miserably. This year is a looking a lot better, though, as we're nearing the end of February and I've already read 10 books. Go, me!

If you love reading, but feel like you haven't really had time for it lately, I would suggest giving this website a go. Now I find that the thing I look forward to the most is adding books to my "Read" shelf. It gives me a sense of accomplishment.

If you want to see what kind of books I'm reading, you can check out my profile here.


What books are on YOUR TBR shelf? Let me know in the comments!


Until later,

- Justyne

Distractions (Part II)

About a year ago, I wrote a blog post about distractions. 12 months later, and I'm still getting as distracted as I was then. (And I still have a Sims game open in my taskbar. Some things never change.)

Here are a few new-and-improved tips to avoid various distractions:

1. Chase everyone away

Of course, if you have sisters like mine, this isn't exactly easy. Try putting a "do not disturb" sign on your door--and lock it, if you can. Keep your phone on silent and stay away from instant messengers, like Facebook and Skype. Make sure everyone knows that your writing is important, and you need time alone to get it done. Hopefully they'll understand and leave you alone. If they don't, well...

2. Designate a special "Writing Zone"

Maybe you work best in your room, or in a library or a coffee shop. Either way, get your butt down in a chair somewhere--preferably away from the television--and get to work. This can also help you get away from certain pestering younger siblings, you insist on knocking on your door even when you specifically say not to. (I'm looking at you, Mackayla.)

3. Turn the music off--or, get some playing

Maybe you work better in complete and utter silence. Or maybe you're like me, and the quiet drives you absolutely insane. Figure out which applies to you, and create playlists that match. Maybe you like movie soundtracks, or a collection of songs that help inspire the story you're writing. Either way, cranking up that music can help block out other noises around the house that could distract you.

If you prefer to work in silence, though, finding a really quiet place to work can be hard. Try a library, if you can; if you can't, for whatever reason, I would suggest listening to some white noise or rain effects to block out the TV playing in the next room or gossiping family members upstairs.

If you just like background noise, like me, I would definitely recommend Coffitivity. It plays the hustle and bustle you would normally hear at a coffee shop or restaurant, without actually having to leave your house. (Perfect for a hermit like me!)

4. Habit helps

Back in November, I made it a habit to write 500 words when I first woke up in the morning. Personally, I find that making a habit out of writing makes it easier to focus, and harder to get distracted. If you work on a story regularly, as well, it's a lot easier to fall back into the rhythm of the plot each day, rather than going days or weeks without spending time on it.

5. Sprint, don't marathon

As I discovered during last NaNoWriMo, working in sprints inspires more productivity than trying to focus for hours on end. Ten, twenty, and even thirty minute sprints allow me to stay focused a heck of a lot easier than if I try to block out my distractions for an hour or more. Write for half an hour, do some laundry. Write for ten more minutes, clean my room. Spreading out your writing time in smaller increments throughout the day still allows you to get a lot done, while making it easier to focus and concentrate enough to actually be productive.

And finally...

6. Un-bookmark Tumblr

Just do it.


Do you have any more tips for avoiding distractions? Have any of these, or the tips provided in my last blog post, worked for you? Comment below and tell me!


Until later,

- Justyne