The Finale (BEDS #30)

Another 30 days have come and gone. This year, I failed to post a blog every day in September...but this month was hardly a failure.

While some of the posts I uploaded this month were somewhat...less well-written than others, I posted a lot of writing that I was personally proud of. Even though I had to take a step back for a while, I'm glad that I did--because I know that anything I would have produced during that time wouldn't have been my best.

A lot of things happened this month. But through most of it, I was still able to fulfill my commitment to you guys--and to myself. I sometimes doubt my ability to stick to a deadline, but through this blog I've proved time and time again that I can do it. I can set myself a deadline, and I can pull through.

I get a bit of a break for this next month. But then it's back to the chaos of monthly challenges.

The countdown to NaNoWriMo is on.


Until later,

- Justyne

Forever (Micro-Fiction Monday) (BEDS #29)

There was a gentle snowfall that morning. The sun hadn’t risen yet; not like he would have been able to tell through the cloudy skies, anyway. It was so early that the buses hadn’t started for the day yet, and although he tried to hail a taxi, he had had little luck. So he ran.

                

Running in the winter is an act that requires a lot of talent. It was the middle of the season; the snow on the sidewalk had long since been packed down, trampled by the hundreds of thousands of feet that had taken the same path before him. It made the ground beneath his boots uneven. His feet slipped and slid on the ice, his balance threatening to give out.

                

But still, he would not be deterred. He only had one chance, and he was running out of time.

                

The wind felt like a whip against his unprotected face. His nose and ears were numb, and every inch of his uncovered skin felt stiff in the cold. The cold air went right through his jeans, which cooled his legs down more than they warmed him up. He couldn’t feel his toes anymore.

                

The light of the train station in the winter morning was like seeing an oasis in the desert—but hearing the sharp whistle of the train sounded more like the sound a heart monitor makes after death. Gone.

                

He picked up his pace. He didn’t slow down as he burst through the windowed doors, not even has the snow caked on the bottom of his boots sent him sliding halfway to the platform. He rounded the corner, just as the tail end of the train vanished out of sight completely.

                

She was gone…forever.

~~

Until later,

- Justyne

LOL What Even Is Blogging? (BEDS #28)

I feel like I have two blogging styles.

The first is the one I try to use--the one where I try to be both inspiration and professional, using proper spelling and grammar so that my English teachers don't weep.

The second is the one I fall into sometimes, when I'm tired or really excited or just happier than normal. The one filled with CAPITAL LETTERS and run-on sentences and the one that probably sounds closer to how I speak in real life than the first one ever will.

And then, sometimes, I fall somewhere between the two...which just adds to the confusion.

The first one sounds nicer, looks better and is just a more well-written version overall. The second, though, is more natural...and the one I slip into when I'm not paying attention. (Or when I get riled up, whichever comes first.)

Don't even get me started on blog topics--I've blogged on everything from writing tips to the fall premieres I'm most looking forward to.

Sometimes I feel like this blog has little to no consistency. But which is better? Settling down to one specific topic, or going with the flow?


Until later,

- Justyne

Things That Annoy Me (And Others That Don't) (BEDS #27)

It's pretty much a given that if you choose a less common career path--like writing--people are going to be curious. People are going to ask questions, and a lot of them...well, a lot of them get repeated, over and over. So, understandably, a lot of writers start to get annoyed.

Some of the questions people seem to get annoyed by, though, are ones that I don't really mind. Questions like:

"Can you make me a character in your book?"

I'm amazed that people find this question annoying, to be honest. I love putting little easter eggs in my writing--even if one of them is an actual person that I know in real life. If anything, it gives me a sure-fire way to see if someone has actually read my stuff.

So yeah, if you want, I'll turn you into a crazy serial killer in my next book. It'll make things interesting.

"What are you writing about?"

I actually adore talking about my stories and I will talk your ear off, given the chance. The only issue I have is settling with a simple, short synopsis that will portray all of the information I feel you need to know about it.

(So basically, don't ask me this question unless you're prepared for a solid five minute answer.)

I'd rather people ask me these questions. It feels like they're showing an interest in what I do. I'd take that over any form of negativity any day.

Don't get me wrong, though--over time, some questions have gotten a little old. Questions like:

"Are you going to school?" (Or pretty much any other question regarding my future education / career path.)

Let me start off by saying that this is a TOTALLY LEGITMATE QUESTION. I don't blame anyone for asking it, because it's totally fair ground to ask that. So if you're curious, go ahead and ask; I won't blow up.

BUT. I've answered this question so many times that I'm starting to sound like a broken record. I feel like I should print out pamphlets or something.

"You should write a story about ___!"

Granted, this isn't exactly a question. But still. I don't need help coming up with ideas, trust me. I have plenty.


I don't get asked many questions--which could be good or bad, I'm not entirely sure. I'll add to this list as time goes on.

Writer or not, answer this: what questions do you get asked on a regular basis that annoy you?

Until later,

- Justyne

Writing Out of Order (BEDS #26)

Sometimes I have trouble deciding what order to write my story in. Generally, when I start a story, I already know what's coming--where it starts, where it ends, and a few choice scenes in the middle.

In theory, I have it all planned out. In theory, I should be able to write it all down in no time.

In reality? Not so much.

There are blanks. There are tiny, itty-bitty gaps that fall between the things that I know for sure are going to happen. It's like I know where I'm going, but not necessarily how to get there.

This isn't always a bad thing. The scenes that are stuck in my head are the things that get me excited to start writing, after all. But my entire life, I have found myself writing chronologically. I write things in the order they happen, because that's what makes sense to me. The little gaps are exactly the reason I don't like writing, say, the climax before I've written the rest--because what if something changes? What if some tiny event happens and I find later that I have to reference it later?

Well, I could just go back and change it. But apparently, that would be too easy.

So instead, I write it all in order. I start from the beginning, and proceed through the story as I would like it to play out. There's nothing wrong with this. It's almost more fun this way, because I have the exciting scenes pushing me to keep going.

But then I hit the gaps. I stumble. I struggle. I try to figure out, desperately, what direction the story has to take to get to where it needs to go. I get frustrated. I walk away, and I don't always come back.

So clearly, this is a problem.

I've always been hesitant to write scenes out of order. I'm always scared that if I write the scene I'm most excited for first, I won't have anything to look forward to later. But lately, I've been experimenting with different things, and writing out of order is one of them. I've written several scenes for my WIP that take place much, much later in the story.

On the one hand, writing the big scenes in advance give me something more physical to build up to, which has proved useful. But at the same time, filling in the gaps isn't any easier than it was when I was going the chronological route.

Those pesky gaps, huh. Maybe my outline will help me figure those out.

Fellow writers! Do you write chronologically, or do you write the scenes as they come to you, in any order? More importantly, why do you favour one over the other?

Until later,

- Justyne

7 Things I Want to Accomplish as a Writer (BEDS #25)

As a writer, there are lots of things I want to do. I want to publish a novel, a physical novel that's sold in bookstores and borrowed from libraries. I want to write a TV show script someday, and a movie script, and a play script. I want to publish a collection of short stories and flash fiction, and novellas that sell for 99 cents on Amazon. I want to make a living off of my writing, to be able to support myself and, someday, a family.

But there's more to it than that. There are more, not always visible things that I want to accomplish before I consider myself successful.

I want to make people connect with my characters, and with my stories. I want my readers to see something familiar in these fictional people, these things that remind them of themselves. I want people to read my plot and say, "Hey, I'm going through that!" I want people to be able to recommend my books to others, and tell them that it helped them deal with their own problems and issues.

I want to create characters that kids can grow up with. I want 10-year-olds to pick up a series I wrote, and ten years later, still be following the characters. I want to write a TV show someday, one that teenagers will start watching as they enter high school and graduate alongside their fictional counterparts four years later. I want to give readers someone that can be there, that they can turn to when life gets hard...someone who will be there as they grow up. I want my characters to be an influence on the kind of people my readers become.

I want to inspire people with my stories. I want someone to close my book with a whole new understanding of themselves. I want readers to realize that they can follow their dreams, that they can pursue the career they want to pursue, no matter how unconventional it is. I want someone to start a new project or a new habit because they read about it in one of my books. I want someone to make a change in their life because my book, my story is the thing that motivated them to.

I want to make people laugh. I want people to read a line and laugh out loud, so hard that they cry.

I want to make people cry for sadness, too. I want them to be so moved that they physically can't hold back their tears.

I want to make people fall in love with my characters. I want them to believe in them, to root for them, to truly care about what happens to them. I want people to wish for my characters to be real, because to them, they already are.

But most importantly, I want to make 9-year-old Me proud. I want to be the kind of person that I would have looked up to back in the fourth grade.

I want her to know that we made it. 

What do you want to accomplish? Not just the financials, or the physical proof of "success", but the more emotional stuff. The biggest stuff, the stuff that tends to get overlooked, but means so, so much more.

Until later,

- Justyne

To My Baby Sister (BEDS #24)

Dear Charlie,

First of all: if, in the future, you find that everyone is using this nickname, all credit goes to me. I started it. (Unless you don't like it. Then....blame Mom.)

Second of all: it is imperative that you hug all members of this family, as many times as you possibly can. Make no mistake, now; they will complain. A lot. Every time, in fact. But it is very important that you get into the habit of hugging a lot, because gosh darn it, I need another hugger in this family.

Thirdly: you are adorable. And so small. I'm kind of afraid to touch you, to be honest, because I don't want you to break.

And finally...everyone in this family can be a jerk sometimes. But we love you.


Welcome to the world, Charlotte.

Love,

- Your Big Sister