WCMarchese

Sometimes there are so many things going on around me that this invisible film seems to surround my mind. I call it The Fog, though there are other names I call it. Mostly annoying. During this time period, the only thing I can do is edit, or simple things. I can write, but most of the time it comes out pretty bad. If there is a deadline, this is the worst. Sometimes it clears just before the deadline ends, which just happened recently. Which is why I’m writing this now.  I was lucky, though. I got out of it just before I had to send something off. I was able to finish and get it out there. Thank God without a muddled mind.  My day job has been very taxing recently and it's taken a bit of a toll on my creativity. I liken it to a picture that is forming on a computer screen. Back when the internet was dial up, pictures came up pixilated, then slowly sharpened as more data came through. That's how my work looks before I edit and sharpen and slap on some u...

We all dream of going back to our jobs one day as a best selling author, not having to wake up at certain hours, making our own time to work, and gloating?  Well, maybe a little. At least to those who said you couldn't do it.  But just going back and seeing what, or where, you came from--how far you've advanced.  How you've achieved your goal.  Thinking about that scenario, my imagination conjured up someone giving a seminar about self improvement.  I imagined someone standing in front of a group, talking to them about how he/she made it, right from where the audience was sitting.  Of course, this imaginary character had an inkling of what he was to become--knew where the road would lead. They wore it as though to become that goal, not the mere worker ant in a huge colony of worker ants.  We can all do this, today. At our jobs. Anywhere.  If you want to be a writer, you tell yourself you are one.  Feel it....

There is a point where a story just might not work. But what to do?  Keep going?  Or do you count your losses and make things simple? (A dd anything else that may help with changing a story.)  Some rewrite, some edit. There are arguments against each, good and bad. If you can make it work, then so be it.  If the story get too complicated, you run the risk of muddling things up. Some can handle that type of writing, keeping up with twists and turns--they may expect it. Then there are those who may struggle.  They might want you to do all the heavy lifting and give them every detail.  It's hard to know what an audience wants, as they vary greatly. There are many people in this world. All walks of life, beliefs, etc. You want to try and cater to all of them.  You may grow a niche audience, and then you will know what they want to read. Do a demographic, if possible. There are many tools out there with social media and such.  There is ...

I don't know how to put this well, but i'll take a wack.  T here is an agreed standard, a collective audience perceives certain things.  For instance. Two characters see something. One makes a joke towards that "something." Now how do you make that "something" relate universally to your reader?  Pop culture may play a role, and the invisible point can be time specific--meaning something at this point in the 50s, won't make as much sense as it does now. Though, if done well, it can still relate.  The joke, or instance, will be weighed on an invisible scale, and the reader will decide if the scene rings true, or not. Is the joke funny? Would that particular character actually say something like that?  So you have the popular joke that a majority of people get. Even those who don't totally get it understand the joke to some degree. Because it rings true, they've heard someone say it, or act this waywin life.  It's like, have you eve...

I was talking to a writer friend the other day, and this crazy thought popped out. You go into this fog, and things happen. Some things you know, some you don't understand. But they happen. And when you come out and your regular brain turns on, you look back and think, was I doing that? Was I in that world seeing those things? This is an abstract subject, but it happens to writers alot. It happens to me. Especially when I go into a day-dreaming trance. These thoughts help you think and create, they help your dialouge ring true, among other things. The trick is representing those crazy thoughts into word for others to understand. In a way, you can say we are interpreters of other worlds we are able to tap into. We all get those awesome ideas, and sees our stories like a movie, but can we get that brilliant masterpiece onto paper in a way that does your thoughts justcie? That's up to your talent and how much you practice your craft. Are you able to harness those t...

I probably hit on this subject before in another post in one way or another, but I've been thinking about it lately and have new thoughts.  I always tell all that come to me when they've been rejected send it on to the next place.  Onward and upward.  Easy to say when it's not happening to you, but you have to follow this. You can't just give up.  It's rough. Even I feel those moments of extreme rejection, a feeling we all go through.  It happens to all of us. Some of the big time authors went through a lot of it. Dean Koontz always comes to mind. He had about 75 rejections after his first short story acceptance.  But why does it hurt so bad?  Maybe because we feel it's personal, even just for a moment. It could be prior experiences that shape this feeling, as well.  What I know is, most rejections aren't because of quality, or anything personal, but simply because the story didn't fit with what the pub had in mind. Maybe the write...

It's midweek yes again. And sometimes I feel I am hefting dead weight. Though there are those moments my mind is going I-think-I-can-I-think-I-can. Sometimes a nice cup of coffee does the trick. Chocolate and  sweets are another go-to. I quit sugar for the most part January 1st, so that's out of the question. So what's a writer to do for some energy? Writer's have gone to drinking, but probably for more than just a needed energy boost. Then there's vitamins amd eating healthy, and it's true, but I can feel the pure energy seekers thinking, oh please. I want something now! It's true, though. Because of migraines I take a B complex and it does give a little boost. But I'd have to say, time and time again. It would have to be coffee. Nice and strong, smooth, and maybe even a leaf, for good measure. How do you get that boost for writing?  Leave a comment in the section below, or hit me up on Twitter @Wcmarchese. Hope to see you there. ...