Wattpad?

Hello Lovelies,

Today I wanted to take a moment and reach out to you. As many of my readers are not only consistent, recurrent individuals but also writers themselves, I figured it would be best to raise the question to the table and see what kind of response I got.

Do any of you know what 'Wattpad' is?

I had this website recommended to me on my last post. They recommended it as a means of increasing visibility of my works as it seems that some writers have been discovered through Wattpad for both book and movie deals. On further review via their Wikipedia entry, it seems they've been around for about 11 years and are a primarily mobile site. Further inspection reveals that they've probably got a couple million readers that are flipping through the respective pages.

So the question that immediately occurs to me: Should I trust them?

At its face, the idea of being available to a great number of readers that are out to READ my works is incredibly enticing. At the same time, I have nothing more at the moment than a simple recommendation.

As it stands, I accept that my stuff is improving but still needs work. Yet, at the same time, the ideas I have are my own and, even if I might royally screw up something here or there, it's my writing that I have the right to alter and correct. I'm immediately worried about the idea of submitting and posting my works on this random website under the guise my intellectual property might be forfeit because of the medium that it's being provided. In other words, I don't want to create copyright and ownership heart aches in the future.

With that said, I intend to investigate them further, however I trust your opinions and would like to add any first hand accounts to my consideration. Do any of you have experience with or exposure to Wattpad? Good stories? Bad stories? I want to know if it's worth it to work with this site.

Thank you.

- RB

Lost - Final Part

    ClunClunClunClun
    The marines ran down the hall at full speed.
    Having exited the hive, their boots clunked heavily on the hard metal of the corridor and their armor rustled as they moved.
    While the rotten egg smells had gone, there was a now a bizarre scent of anti-septic cleaner that had been overwhelmed by the stench of blood and excrement. The results of the fighting. It covered more of the walls and floor than any of them cared to think about.
    Cecilia clung tightly to Gordo as they went.
    To her amazement, he never tired. He was like a statue of man and muscle and determination. Even with her in his arms, he never even seemed to slow and he always stayed in the center of the seven other marines.
    A precious package protected on all sides.
    "How long, corporal?" the woman yelled as they ran.
    "Two minutes, Sergeant Raynor!" another man shouted in return.
    A screeching roar echoed through the hall and the beast that it came from was almost instantly blown away; the echoing booms of five pulse rifles exploding all around her. She tried weakly to cover her ears, but they had barely recovered from their last onslaught and the jackhammer thuds made less difference than before.
    The monster made a single heavy thud followed shortly by an undignified squelch as one of the marines ran through its remains.
    "Right here!" the corporal shouted.
    They turned hard and barreled down the way at top speed. It was only then that Cecilia realized that the constant klaxon that she had expected to hear was now fading. It was replaced with something else.
    Voices.
    Human voices.
    There were screeches and roars and the occasional boom of a pulse rifle, but the echoing sounds of people quickly grew louder and louder. The sounds of congregation. Of panicked people talking quickly. Of babies crying and people shouting and the sounds of people hurriedly shuffling about.
    "Private! Report!" Raynor yelled.
    "Civvies are boarding now, Sarge."
    "The hell took so long? We're supposed to be leaving."
    "Took those techies longer than expected to put the hunk of junk back together. Was supposed to be decommissioned, ya know."
    "So I keep hearing." Raynor growled through her teeth. "There's a little medbay on the shuttle right?"
    "Sure."
    "Five minutes more." another marine yelled.
    Raynor slapped Gordo's arm.
    "Alright, Gordo. Get her on the ship. Hawk. Follow them and give her a once over."
    "Sir." a female marine responded.
    "We'll hold the line while the rest of them get loaded. Be ready to drop what you're doing if we have another wave of these assholes make a break for it. I think they know what's coming."
    "Sir." Gordo said in confirmation before dropping his voice to a slightly more gentle tone. "Alright, little lady, let's get you some painkillers."
    Cecilia whimpered in response and felt tears begin again. This time it wasn't pain. It was joy. Raw and unmitigated, she felt entirely grateful for the huge man holding her and the men and women around her who promised to fight to the last breath to keep her safe.
    Gordo and Hawk made for the ship.
    She felt them shoving past people. More than a few of the other passengers barked and guffawed for a moment, but quickly silenced their complaints as Gordo and Hawk pushed their way through. They were all panicked, talking rapidly and easy to upset, but no way were they going to pick a fight with the marines. Certainly not marines carrying an injured civilian.
    Soon they were through the shuttle and Hawk was closing the door to the medbay while Gordo gently placed her on the table. The fear and chatter quickly dimmed as Hawk latched the door.
    "Easy, girl. We got you." he crooned reassuringly.
    "Thanks Gordo." Hawk said as she approached Cecilia.
    "No problem." he responded before softly taking Cecilia's hand in his own gargantuan paw.
    "Alright, honey." Hawk said in a quiet tone. "Talk to us."
    "Cec...cecilia..." Cecilia offered weakly.
    "That's good. Your name's Cecilia?"
    Cecilia nodded in response.
    "Alright Cecilia, my name is Private Juliana Hawk and the big guy who carried you here is Private Romero Gutierrez."
    "They call me Gordo." he offered with a soft chuckle and a hand squeeze.
    "Only cause you're so fat." Hawk said sarcastically.
    "Ha! My old CO tried to make me run once." Gordo snarked before leaning down close to Cecilia's ear. "Once."
    Cecilia giggled a little at the dumb joke and immediately doubled over in pain. Her voice escaped in a half scream but the two marines were there to hold her.
    "Easy sweetie. We got you. Relief's coming." Hawk said. "Don't move."
    She felt a prick in her arm and, at once, a wash of euphoria, numbness, and just a hint of nausea ran through her whole body. It spread from her arm to her stomach and up the back of her neck to her head just as her fingers began to tingle.
    Cecilia let out an audible moan as her entire body physically relaxed.
    "There ya go." Gordo said with a laugh. "That's the good shit, ain't it?"
    "Mmmyea." she moaned softly.
    "It's alright, you're safe." Hawk said reassuringly with a soft touch to her hand. "We're gonna do some tests. Scans and such to make sure you're not bleeding out on us inside. But first I need to know, did they do that to you?"
    "Do wha?" Cecilia asked drearily through the haze of drugs.
    "The aliens. Did they do that to your eyes?"
    "Eyes? What about my eyes?" she asked, reaching up tentatively tentatively to make sure they hadn't been plucked out.
    Hawk quickly took her hand.
    "They're still there. You're ok. I'm going to guess you were blind before all this happened?"
    "Blind?" Cecilia confirmed with a half of a nod. "Blind."
    She waved a hand in front of her eyes and made a rude noise with her lips before saying, "No lights on."
    Cecilia could hear both of the marines audibly sigh in relief.
    She let out another moan as a fresh wave of drugs bounced around inside her brain. Those same silvery gray eyes slid shut.
    She could hear Hawk talking and she could feel Gordo holding her hand, but it didn't register anymore. She felt the shudder of the ship as it roared to life and a soft lurch as the ship left its dock. It didn't matter though.
    The drugs were too powerful and she was too weak at this point. And, more importantly, she was safe.
    She was going to be ok.
    Cecilia slipped away into a deep, dreamless sleep.
    She was safe.

"I never studied Writing..."

Hello Lovelies,

I was speaking to a friend the other day and it really got my brain buzzing.

In short, the conversation had to do with a rather delicate social issue; racism in America and how its misconstrued not only by the 'bigoted' party but by the parties who try so hard to fix the problem that they essentially make it worse. I won't go into the finer details, but the friend in question was incredibly passionate and started talking at length about wanting to write a book on the topic as a means to help educate others on the idea. As I understood it, he'd already worked within a lecture environment a couple of times and wanted to put his thoughts on paper.

The question that I directed at him? Why didn't he?

There was some brief back and forth, but the cliche that we reached is the same one that I've actually started to hear more and more as the years press on.

"Well, I never really studied English in school/college.", or "I didn't take any writing classes.", and even "I'm not sure if I'd do any good."

I bet you know the point I'm about to make, but I feel it needs to be said.

Writing is a window into your soul; into your passions and your love and your hate. It gives a platform to stand on, a boom mic in one hand, and a flag in the other. Much as painting, drawing, singing, poetry, and any other creative expression in the world, writing is just another means of putting yourself out there, for better or for worse, for you and the world to see and understand where you're coming from. It can be done for a purpose, like I hope my friend will, or it can be done because your brain is often too full of nonsense and needs to be drained, like I often deal with.

However, what it does not require, is a Doctorate in English.

While I'm sure my older sister would disagree, as would any Doctors in the Subject, let me explain.

Writing, like anything in the world can be learned. There are classes that will help and there are people that can lead you, but that doesn't mean you are restricted to sitting at a desk listening to some professor drone on and on about the theory of subjective adjectives. Everyone learns in a different way and no two learning methods will be useful for any two given people.

I provide myself as example.

Now first, let me accept that I'm no Shakespeare. I don't doubt I'd benefit from classic training, but as it stands the extent of my "writing classes" are some high school English classes THAT I HATED WITH A PASSION. Everything else has been self taught. Hell, if you were really bored enough, you could follow that learning process just by going back and reading some of my old content and moving forward through time. You can observe my improvements (or failures) even over the course of a year with just an afternoon of reading and a large pot of tea.

The reason I bring this up though, is more and more recently, my friends refer to me as being a writer. Not that I mind, but I've realized they do this as a means of separation, not necessarily as a recognition. It's a means of saying "You know more than I do on this subject" and while I would love that to mean what it sounds like, it's meant as a degradation of their own character and capability rather than a reflection of my own.

In short, they feel that there is something special that they lack; some training or understanding that they never received that I somehow did.

This brings me nicely to my point: that's horseshit.

While I could probably write a book on WHY it's fucking stupid to degrade yourself into believing you missed some crucial college course to being successful in something you love; or I could simply sit here and stroke egos and spout cliches about 'just go do it', I'll just share how "I go do it" as an example.

One: I read. A lot.

But probably not what you think.

I do indeed have a shit-ton of books at my house. I have a lot on my kind and audible account too (as mentioned in my previous post). But writing isn't necessarily all about reading novels. I have read web comics religiously and I'm sure I will again in the future. I also read actual comics; Dark Horse, Marvel, DC...whatever. I read the news. I read blogs (as I'm sure plenty of you know). I read captions. I read letters. I read bills. I. Read. If there is written word, paying attention to what is being said and how it is said will give you an insight into writing.

To that point: Difficult reading DOES NOT EQUAL good writing. That's not to say there are classics that aren't loquacious and verbose as a dictionary smoothie; but always consider what those words MEAN. Why use "chronic periscapular hyperalgesia" when you could say "shoulder pain"? A well worn thesaurus isn't always a good thing.

Two: I write.

No shit, right?

But that doesn't mean I sit here punch out novels. Any of my normal followers can tout that I'm a horrible human being with an incapability of keeping a schedule.

No, instead, just as mentioned before, I simply let words flow. This wordy and astute piece of silliness is a perfect example. I will scribble down articles and content for no one in particular. I will write down a comment or question, just to see it. Hell, my biggest help is probably the weirdest: I host Dungeons and Dragons because it lets me concoct stories for my players to get through.

In short. I just write.

Lastly: I listen.

There are better writers. There are better authors and publishers and editors and people who HAVE studied and HAVE done things I will never accomplish. These people are not my enemy. I trust many of them to be professionally and painfully honest. I listen to their complaints and criticisms and I read their comments when they bleed the red-pen of death across the page and I consider it. Some might be mean and personal, but some might have astute information you've never considered.

So, in conclusion, just let yourself be. Let yourself read and write and or draw and paint or build a bike or whatever you want to do! Sometimes classes help, sometimes they don't. Sometimes you can teach yourself something, sometimes you can't. Be open to the experience around you and inside you and let yourself push forward. You'll be surprised by what you can do.

Planning for the Tour

Hello Lovelies,

With the end of the public chapter releases for Xenophobia, I want to start thinking towards the future. Whether it be six months or a year down the line, my thought process is now on a) finishing Xenophobia and its respective editing and rewrite; and b) planning how to release and sell the story.

I've done a number of other smaller short stories that have been released simply through the Kindle online store. However, I realize that this one definitely deserves more love than a few random tales (call it maturing as an author from scribbler to writer).

What I'd like instead is to go through the appropriate channels to garner viewership and readers. I've obviously already been getting feedback here and there from readers, but now I want eyes in a different way. Obviously I can do things like paid-for marketing, but I feel there's a much better opportunity through being able to speak to people who care about books and their content. Things like interviews and blog tours in the blogspot writer's community immediately come to mind.

With that said, I wanted to know if any of you have ever done something along that line. Have any of you ever done a blog tour? Or an interview? Or maybe something else that I'm not thinking of? For those that have, did you find them particularly useful or rewarding?

Right now I'm just trying to build a gameplan and I would love to hear your opinion and experiences, particularly from established writers (that's not to say I don't want to hear from our lovely serial readers as well!) Thank you, Lovelies~

- RB

For the Sake of Comdy - Open Book Discussion

Hello Lovelies,

Today I wanted to take a moment to talk about Comedy.

Anyone whose read my work for more than a few days can pick up on a very obvious theme. I tend to like the dark. I like horror and suspense and things that go bump in the night. I'm most comfortable when my characters have their hearts racing or when there's some kind of drama going on. Overall, the comfort zone for my writing is just in the serious and spooky.

That said, easily my weakest link in my writing has to do with comedy. Sure, it's easy to throw in snark and sass; hell, I have plenty of life experience to pull from on that one. When it comes to  experience, I've dealt with enough roguish devils with a sideways smile and a sharp tongue to make me want to beat them all to death with a lute. Yet, I don't have anything to draw upon for making a character legitimately funny.

With that said, I've been starting to look around. A chain is only as strong as the weakest link afterall and, while I can certainly keep my head in the dark and broody forever, I'd like to be a bit more well-rounded as an author. I've been reading pieces about writing comedy to little effect so far. I've been considering sitting down and trying to really watch and break down comedy movies and books to identify what makes funny...well...funny.

But here is where you come in. Obviously I can research all the livelong day (and have been), but it's always much more enjoyable to engage in a dialogue and build off the of the knowledge and the experience of all of the wonderful readers that we have. We have plenty of talented and amazing writers in our readers, so I wanted to ask for today's Open Book Discussion:

Do any of you have issues writing comedy? Yes? No? Likewise, what has helped you improve?

Making Some Changes

Hello Lovelies,

So, as you may have noticed, there is no new fiction today. Instead, if you take a look around, you should notice that there have been a few changes. Some of these were inspired by commentary I received from readers, others were ones I've been meaning to do.

First and foremost, the current popular story "Smithy" now has an official main page where you will be able to find all of the book's chapters. It will be regularly updated as more chapters come out and, down the line (if and when I finish the book) it will have Amazon links and things of that nature. BUT, if you'd rather go piece by piece, all "Smithy" chapters will have links forward and backwards so that you may read at your leisure without the need to reference the "main page".

After that you will notice that we have added a number of tabs to the top of the website. Aside from the previously mentioned "Smithy" page, we now have "Don't Break the Chain", "Short Stories / Flash Fiction", "Open Book Discussions / Writer's References", "Site News", and finally "Writer / Editor: For Hire".

The majority of these tabs are pretty self descriptive and will take you to the main collection page of the associated pieces. Any pieces that are created to "not break the chain" will go under the DBTC tab. These can consist of literally any writing project that doesn't fall under a larger category. "Short Stories / Flash Fiction" has to do with any one-shot tales that won't be expanded upon any further. "Open Book Discussions / Writer's References" will act as a location for any articles that are set up having to do with the art of writing and is meant to help fellow writers. "Site News" will entail pieces like this! I.e. telling you what's up. Finally, "Writer / Editor: For Hire" is a tab for any individual wishing to commission my services.

Last, but certainly not least, you will notice two new icons there on the right side of the website. Again, very self descriptive, but the icons link to our website associated Facebook and Tumblr sites. In this way, those individuals that partake in either of these forms of Social Media might enjoy our updates and, for Tumblr specifically, our writing tips that we come across.

That is all for now. Thanks for taking a moment to read and we promise we will return to our regularly scheduled program tomorrow!

 

Open Book Discussion / Writer's Reference - Main Page

Open Book Discussion / Writer's Reference

---

Not all writers come out of the womb with pen and paper in hand. Actually,

 I dare say that none of us do. Instead, we have to learn, we have to share, and

we have to experiment to find out just what works. Here is a collection of reference

pieces and discussions about the art of writing. Maybe it can help you too.

---

Inspirations - OBD

Why do you post Chapter by Chapter? - OBD

Your own Worst Enemy - WR

Words of Encouragement - WR

Character Descriptions - WR

Inspirations - Open Book Discussions

Ever since I've started to try and rededicate myself to writing and creating, one of the major problems that I run into is having something to write ABOUT.

At a glance, it's very daunting to think "I'm going to try and produce SOMETHING everyday". You wonder if you will have the ability. If you're going to produce anything worthwhile. You stress whether or not you can even keep yourself going to do it more than a few weeks. 

I can say that one benefit I've given myself to ease my concerns is giving myself a day off on Friday so that I might have a bit more of a set schedule with a day I can rely on. Aside from that, providing myself the "Open Book Discussions" as well as the "Don't Break the Chain" posts gives me a way to break up my thinking so that I'm not dead set on HAVING to produce a constant flow of narrative every day.

Of course, the ironic part is that the more I fall into the habit, the less daunting it seems. In fact, I'm starting to experience something I haven't for a long time. Inspiration. Not twinges of desire to create, but a real, solid hunger to write based on something I see or hear.

Kaleo - Way Down We Go

Here's a great example:

Way Down We Go was a song I heard on the radio that got my blood flowing. The song is amorphous enough that I don't doubt many people might here different things, but the feel for it for me was "Bogs". Maybe it's because of growing up in the Southern United States, but the song makes me think of twisting, overgrown water ways and dark, moonlit swamps with hoodoo witches in the mist. It makes me think of longing and loss and night and monsters hidden in the deep places of the waters and woods.

To that point, it's got me currently beating around SOMETHING inspired by it. Not sure if it's a short story or a flash fiction or what, but you should see something come of it soon.

That brings us nicely to the whole point of the Open Book Discussion:

What are some things that really inspire or have inspired you to create?

It really could be anything. Maybe it's a song (as seen above), or a movie, a book, something someone said, something you saw...really anything! What out there has or does set your soul aflame and make you want to create something new? I'd absolutely love to know!

Don't Break the Chain in favor of Perfectionism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRtV-ugIT0k

So, I'm going to be upfront here.

I have developed some really bad habits.

Compared to where I was a year ago, I have been writing drastically less. While I keep making excuses and going through small bouts of HOORAH! where I try to write and peter out quickly, I'm generally just not staying motivated. Part of it has to do with stressing about doing something 'right' but part of it comes from simply not keeping focused.

That said, I'm going to be trying something a little different...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiwTq5DV1dA

Also, quick shout out to Dan and Arin. Love you guys!

While I'm not sure about the entire concept behind 'not breaking the chain', I think the idea behind just doing anything to keep the rhythm flowing isn't a terrible one. My thought process is always looking for something that is, for lack of a better term, "marketable". Because of this, I seem to get stuck in a rut of thinking "I should try this" followed by "I can't do it." or "I don't have time." and it just goes into a tail spin of staring at my computer screen and getting nothing done.

Here's what I'm going to try. Of course I will continue to work on my given novel ideas. I believe I will attempt to focus on the Smithy story as I feel particularly attached. But I will also attempt to do Open Book discussions about any relevant writing topics that strike me as well as OTHER writing. This other writing may be big or little (one thing that grabbed me is just snagging a writing prompt and running with it for a short story) but it has to be SOMETHING. This way, it forces me to stay focused.

At the moment, I want to hold myself to four times a week, but I'm not sure if I can maintain it. Maybe three? I'm going to have to see how my work and personal schedules TRULY effect my writing schedule when I'm trying to maintain consistency.

That said, just a quick status shout-out about where we will be going from here. Thanks everyone!

Your own Worst Enemy - 07.04.16

Hello Lovelies.

Today I wanted to talk about one of the major blocks you will run into when it comes to writing. Many people out there like to write about a number of different factors. Some popular ones include: how you must ALWAYS write to avoid writer's block, write what you know, how you must write for yourself like no one is looking, etc. However, today I'd like to talk about some problems with these foundations. Additionally, I'd like to address accepting what AND how you want to write as well as simply letting yourself do so.

To explain, one of the things that I often see is encouragement to young writers to constantly write. Write like you're going to die tomorrow. Never let the words stop pouring from the tap! If you make sure to write a thousand words a day, you'll be a published author by next week! But where is the reality in that? Inspiration and motivation aren't an ever flowing stream and, much like water from a well, will simply run dry. That's not to say that a well stays empty forever, but having the understanding enough to LOOK into the well first to see if there's water sounds like a pretty good start.

So, first and foremost, if you're sitting at home stressing about writing your next thousand words, I have a recommendation. Don't. Take a moment. Take a breath. Get a coffee. Go for a walk. Talk to friends. The wellspring of writing is fed by the waters of life and experience and if you simply whittle away in front of a keyboard aching to be a writer than it's unlikely you will get anywhere if you have nothing to draw upon. No water equals no well. No motivation or experience equals weak, if any, writing. Let yourself live. Let yourself breathe.

That brings nicely into another core rule: "write what you know". Now, some people understand this and some people don't, but the idea behind "writing what you know" refers to the idea of drawing upon your own experiences, as mentioned above. Some people take this very literally, thinking that in order to be able to write about a racecar driver, they must race themselves to "get into the character's head". Other people understand this to be a much more metaphysical concept. "I have felt heartbreak and therefore will share a story about having one's heart broken," this writer might say to a friend. But hereso again, we must examine the wellspring of experience.

Maybe your own life was pretty easy? A mom, a dad, a dog and a car. A good job later in life and a significant other that treated you well. Happy friends and happy life. Nothing noteworthy whatsoever. What do you draw upon? At the end of the day, writing what you know is a recommendation based on the idea that experience and tragedy breeds the ability to tell a good tale. And they aren't wrong. Those with experience have EXPERIENCE that others don't.

BUT, what this concept ignores is the power of imagination. It ignores that most writers are what they are because they are so very thirsty, not just to share their experiences but to experience more. They want to see and do and know things that they've never done. To use the well analogy again: trying to limit yourself solely to your own experience is like having a well full of water and only allowing yourself one glass of that water. It may be sweet and tasty, but it's limited. Let yourself dream. Let yourself imagine. Explore worlds and realms and feelings you never thought possible. If you don't like the taste of the water, dump it out and try a fresh glass.

The last bit is probably the most subjective. "Write like no one is watching." This idea comes from the fact that many people feel judged when they write. They often believe that their work has little to no merit and sharing it will result in mockery of the work they've done. They worry that people will discount their tiring hours of labor and everything they hope to achieve. Therefore, many writers feel very nervous about sharing or the idea that their work will be shared. This is well and good, but discounts one major problem: some writers are simply motivated by the opportunity to share.

Ironically, this one really rings home for me. Anytime I've been encouraged to "just write" I generally ignore the recommendation simply because it won't have an audience. Authors like myself are fueled by the commentary. By the criticisms and praise. By the good and the bad. This is one of the truest examples of "no one size fits all". Some authors do well never sharing their works. Others will be unable to get off the ground because they need the motivation and the criticism and the compliments to validate what they are doing. So, if you find yourself writing at home and questioning "Why am I doing this?" that very well may be your answer. You might need to switch it up so you can make SURE you have an audience versus the other way around.

Last, but not least, this brings us to the point that isn't spoken about so often: accepting what and how you write. Every author is different. Everyone has different needs and wants, motivations and experience, goals and end games. For some, they are satisfied by scribbling away in a basement with a journal. For others, their ego-maniacs with blogs telling others what to do. But for many, it's somewhere in between, and trying to force yourself into any one role based on any one expectation can easily be one of the most damning things you do to yourself. For many of us, the very act of writing is a learned process that we use for our own gains to share our experiences. We take what was given to us and make it our own while simultaneously making it like those writers and books we look up to. We ache to make a place in the world through the unique alteration of 26 letters that every other writer has used.

But, many of us limit ourselves based on the ideas of what should or shouldn't be written. Perhaps you are a science fiction enthusiast with an ache to write some romance? Do you go for it or simply wait because you're busy and it's not your normal genre. Perhaps, as noted earlier, you are motivated by being able to write for others, but something occurs to you that you aren't able to share. Do you write or let the feeling pass? Maybe you're just a giant, dirty pervert who likes penning down your most horrible fantasies yet you never, ever want to share it. Do you keep those thoughts in your head or put them down to enjoy later?

It doesn't matter what YOUR answer is, so long as there is an answer. One huge writing block that often doesn't get addressed is simply the fact of accepting the feelings you get and writing what and how you want. Don't be forced to follow a code and don't ignore your desires because they are outside of the norm. Some of your greatest ideas can come simply by playing with something you don't often touch. Maybe you want to create something completely different and just haven't had the heart to admit it yet.

Writing is expression. Whether that's an expression of yourself or an expression for others to see, denying any given facet of it will limit you the same as removing one's arm. You may be able to function without it, you may not, but you will not function the same as if you had both arms.

With that said, go out that and do what you want. There are rules to live by, but writing isn't one of them. Use them as a guide. Use them to help. But never use them to limit your own love and creativity. Let them drive you forward, never backwards. While you might trip or stumble, you will never fall.

Library in the Dark idea

    So, I’ve been thinking about a little project. I would argue it’s a weird cross between the mystery the idea of LootCrate, Gamefly, and “Blind Date with a Book”. The name behind it (at the moment) is “Library in the Dark”.

     The basic idea would be some sort of a subscription fee (let’s just say monthly $15 books or something) and you choose the genre. In turn, you would receive an unknown book of that respective genre monthly until you either stop or decide you want a different genre. (I’ve thought about doing a multiple genre kind of subscription, but I’m not sure how the prices would really work yet…maybe 1 for $15, 2 for $25, etc. kinda business.)
  
     Last but not least, and here’s where my brain is really buzzing, I’m not sure if it should be Lootcrate or Gamefly, in that you should be able to keep the book forever and just keep getting more stuff OR to be able to keep the book if you want it for an additional fee and return it in exchange for something else if you don’t want to keep it.

     What do you guys think? I feel like some people would really like this idea, but I’m not sure where to take it. Input would be greatly appreciated.

Words of Encouragement

Hey all.

No story today, but rather just a few words of encouragement for my fellow writers or anyone who wants to BE a writer and just can't quite get the courage up.

Remember, not everything boils down to how many words you get on a page or how many hours your spend tapping away at a keyboard. Part of writing, a large part actually, is allowing your brain to process and consider. Something a lot of people run into is they'll run into Writer's Block and then stall to a complete stop because they don't know what to do and they feel worthless for not writing. A cycle begins where you can't think of what to write and you hate yourself for not writing, you then feel worse and can't think of what to do next and the process starts itself all over again.

I just want to say "It's ok to relax sometimes."

A lot of people now a-days are powered by the Protestant Work Ethic whether they realize it or not. Since birth, through school and work, people have it ingrained that if they aren't PRODUCING then their time has been meaningless. This is powered by that old manufacturing mindset that time spent doing anything but making A THING is wasted.

However, for writer's, you have to be able to take time to create. Words are nothing without meaning and, if you don't have something meaningful to work from than you're, at best, free-writing.

So please...let yourself think. Let yourself relax. Let your mind wander to your thoughts and your passions. Let it twist upon your perversions and your secrets. Enjoy everything that you have available to you no matter your background and let everything you hear and see and smell and touch and taste inspire you. Just let yourself BE.

If you feel the need to write, than write! But if you are beating yourself up because you open up a blank word document and simply stare at a flashing icon, just remember that's it's ok to let yourself be.

You are a writer. Now let yourself write however you need to.


P.S. This applies to ALL of you artist type people. So all of you drawers and painters and game designers and anyone else who just needs to take a minute to breath so your mind can do what it does best: it’s ok to take a minute for yourself. You’re all amazing.

Writer / Editor: For Hire

Writer / Editor

For Hire

 _________________________________________________________

To those that are interested: I would like to provide my services as both a 

Writer and an Editor. I have a great deal of experience in both avenues due

to my own personal interest in the field and have decided to share that

experience with those who desire it. Allow me to craft you a fantastical
story or simply help you clean up your own work of literary art.

      Pricing       

•  Writing (by word)
• $3                         100 - 500 words
• $5                        500 - 1000 words
• $9                       1000 - 2000 words
• $15       Per 2000 word increment above and beyond
  
  
• Erotic / Pornographic Writing (by word)
• $5                         100 - 500 words
• $8                        500 - 1000 words
• $14                     1000 - 2000 words 
• $20       Per 2000 word increment above and beyond
   
• Editing Services (by Hour)
• $10            Copyediting / Proofreading
• $15                    Transcription 
• $20               Research / Fact Check

       Writing Competencies     

While I consider myself well-versed and highly adaptable, I am particularly

talented in the realm of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Erotica. These are the areas

that I have the strongest background and therefore where I have the most ease

in Writing and Editing. Any fields that I am unfamiliar with will be researched

professionally and thoroughly to insure accuracy and enjoyable material.

Additionally, I'm more than willing and able to produce either original content

or works directly related to other pieces of fiction (read: Fanfiction).

      Restrictions      

I am generally very easy-going with regards to writing restrictions, however I do

have two particular no-no's. First and foremost, any works that unironically and

blatantly spread a hateful and genocidal agenda towards any particular group of

individuals, living or dead. Two, any works of an erotic nature that feature extreme

sex acts including piss, shit, diapers, incest, vore, gore and pedophilia as these are 

unfamiliar and uncomfortable to me and are not a topic I desire to research.

      Guidelines      

• I reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.
• All Payments must be made through Paypal for the security of both
  writer and customer.
• You are welcome to contact me through any social media medium,
  however you can contact me directly at RBPublishing@outlook.com
• Payment is to be provided before the final product is submitted
• Projects that are canceled before completion will have a charge
  based on the percentage of work completed before cancellation.
• E.G: a 2000 word project that has had 500 words written will
  be charged the respective $3 of a 500 word project.

Writing Inspiration - 09.26.15 - Picture

Look at this photo and consider how or why this forest looks the way it does.

You are welcome to delve into fiction, science fiction, fantasy, or more.

Write a story or at least a detailed explanation for usage in a story creation.

 

Writing Inspiration - 09.22.15

"A demon has suddenly begun to

follow you around town...Why?"