Change in plans.

So I finally decided that I was going to just keep the title to the story I was going to submit and deal with it, but last minute another story I wrote caught my eye in my "writing" folder and I read through it. I had to hold back a couple tears and decided I would send that one instead. I like the title better, but other than that, I'm not too sure why I sent it instead. Hopefully it was a good decision. Only time will tell. I have been writing faithfully for my novel. Also today I started a memoir that deals with a certain time in my teenage years. I'm not sure if it will amount to anything more than a personal cleansing, I guess only time will tell. Taylor Swift's song, "Mean" got me going with it. I'm not even sure that it actually is relevant, except the word mean. Anyway, only time will tell if it's worth cleaning and sending.

In reading news, I recently finished the Ender's Game quartet for the second time. I sincerely love everything Orson Scott Card. It was his writing that really made me love Science Fiction and want to write it. I am going to re-read the Ender's Shadow quartet also, but first I am reading The Hunger Games Trilogy, by Suzanne Collins. It was recommended to me by a co-worker and is good so far.

I am sincerely happy right now to have the time to read and to write. Sometimes I don't think people understand that I need an open mind to write, or that reading will help me get a better understanding of how plot, character and form fit together. Well, it's time to pick up my book and a glass of wine. Night.

Problem of the day . . . of always

Titles. I can never figure out what to title stories. I always give things working titles so I remember what they are as I am writing them. However, working titles are simply cheesy and not thought out, and yet I rarely change the title once I'm done. So the question of the day, or possibly the century is this: how do you choose a title? I tried the obvious to solve my dilemma. I looked at books on my shelf and thought about why they are titled the way they are. Some obviously tell you what the book is about, some give the theme, some are simply one word, like Pastwatch (Orson Scott Card), others are long, like the short second life of bree tanner (Stephenie Meyer). How does an author choose? How do I choose? I want it to grab attention, because I admit to often choosing books based on title, cover, and referral so I expect others to do the same. Since no one has read my stuff before and it's a short story with no cover art, I need a killer title. On that note, if anyone reads this and has any idea at all about ways to choose titles, please comment. I am lightly begging. Thanks. Till next time.

. . . and then it hit me!

So I've mentioned that I have been working on a novel, recently I've come to realize that parts of it aren't flowing the way I want. I feel like it's too quick and things won't make sense to whomever may or may not someday read it because while the back story of my characters is in my heart (or wherever a writer keeps the soul of their characters) the reader won't understand their motivations. I have come up with a new idea (besides the obvious of editing it and adding more "now" material where necessary). I am going to include inserts or chapters of flashback setting up where life started and how relationships changed. Where it starts, in medias res, is perfect (I think), but with that (and I should have known this) I need to clue the reader into everything else. So here's to writing all of the inserts and the more difficult task of coherently inserting them into what I already have. After that and some careful expansion/editing on my part, the scarier and more challenging part will come: what to do with it. That, honestly, is probably still a while down the road. My goal: (and I can't believe I am sharing this with everyone who may or may not read this, but I would like you to hold me to it) Is to finish at least a rough cut of the (first?) novel by the end of the year and (maybe) have a clue where I need to go from there. Crazy.