Over-analyzing as a Writer | Olivia J

"Writing is an underestimated art. You are painting colorful images in people's minds by using words of black and white."

In literature class, what is most likely the first word in a set of questions on a worksheet?

Analyze. 

One of the largest elements of a literature class is to analyze the characters, the writing, the plot, the author's intent. This involves taking the actions and the words of the character or author to derive meaning or understanding from it. 

Translating this to being an author, this process works the same, but in the opposite way. The author must choose the precise words and actions to portray the right message, whether it be through a character or through word choice. 

As an avid reader and writer, I'm in this analyzing mindset constantly. 

Naturally, I carry this into my daily life - or, more accurately, reality. Because this is how I've been trained - by teachers or by my own practice of writing and reading - to see people, to see the world through this analytical lens of literature. 

However, people aren't characters. Life isn't a novel. And by applying this analytical lens to life, problems arise. 

Obviously. 

Because the goal of overanalyzing is to make sense of people, their words, their actions, and of things that happen in life. But sometimes people do irrational things. Sometimes life doesn't make sense. 

Sometimes no amount of mulling over people's words or considering their actions will make anything make sense. 

Sometimes it takes the grace of God to just do - to just be kind even when your heart wants to lash out because holy hell it just doesn't make any sense.  

And somehow, the over-analyzing, the assumptions just fade away with a little prayer and a lot of loving your neighbor. 

~

Preachy? Sure. True? Hell yeah. 

Just some revelations from your friendly neighborhood human,

~The WordShaker

A List of Doubts for Future Me

"The pain taught me how to write, and the writing taught me how to heal," -Harman Kaur

I had massive doubts concerning A Cactus In the Valley, but look where we are now? But I didn't write them down, mostly because I probably didn't give them the time of day or didn't want to verbalize them.

But now that I'm struggling through a new novel - and messing with the slog of scholarship applications and college stuff, I wish I had written down those times I felt awful, doubtful, useless. 

So, for future Olivia. Either when I'm looking back with rose colored glasses, or writing a new novel or pursuing a career and wish to find solace in knowing that these were just feelings, and that they've all passed I've done it before, so I can do it again. 

So. For future me, yeah. 

And totally not because I'm feeling like a shitty writer at the moment. 

~

1. My characters will always be underdeveloped, my writing always floundering, my plot always incomplete. 

That my characters will never become as alive as Terra or Wyatt, or as any of my other characters from any of my other stories. That what I'm aiming for in my writing will never stick. It seems to be such a monstrous, insurmountable task that I'll never complete. 

3. My story will never be good enough for my standards, much less for anyone else to read. 

No matter how much I work on it, it will never be perfect. And I'll never be happy with it. Which breaks my heart, because I have such a deep love for my other stories, but I have yet to fall deeply, endlessly, ferociously in love with this story. And I want to be so in love with this story, but I'm not yet. 

4. This isn't the novel I should be writing. 

I'm scared that I should be working on other projects, namely a few novellas and a trilogy that I had cooked up. I'm scared that the story itself isn't ready yet, that it's too underdeveloped for me to jump right in. 

5. My story will never stick. 

I'm so worried that no matter what, I'll never be able to work on my story to a place where I believe the story, to where I feel the story. To where it makes me laugh and cry. To where the characters jump off the page and I can't bear to do anything else. Where I'm never uninspired. 

6. I'm not actually a good writer - just good compared to the people around me.

This is a big one. Because what if I get to SCAD and find that, amongst the great, I'm only okay. What if I'm not scholarship worthy? What if I'm not bestseller good? I guess I've put all my eggs in one basket. 

~

All in all, a part of me knows that these doubts will subside and that I will come to accept and love my story, and to push through and finish. 

But right now, I just have to write and write and self-loathe and pray that everything will be ironed out. 

The only reason I know this is because that's what happened with My Life, Your Life, and Other Dumb Things, and A Cactus In The Valley.

I just wish I had written it down. 

~The WordShaker

NEW VIDEO: All About My Novel | #OliviaJisPublished

"Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself."

Haven't made one of these videos in a while . . . mostly because I'm pretty bad at them, and my editing software went kaput on me. 

But the video I made is all about my novel, obviously. It's a take on my original blog post I made about it here. 

This is the updated version with some more info about my novel.

Ideally, there wouldn't be a massive WeVideo watermark, but, like I said, I was using Windows MovieMaker, and that had worked just fine for my last two videos. But once I realized it was discontinued, I had to come up with something else. 

So the free version of WeVideo is all that I got. 

All About My Novel |#OliviaJisPublished

follow me on Instagram @olivia.j.the.wordshaker

Get ready for an onslaught of #OliviaJisPublished posts. September isn't that far away, people. 

~The WordShaker

The Small Things ~ A Character Study

"Find what causes a commotion in your heart. Find a way to write about that," -Richard Ford

In the novel I'm currently working on, Amelia gives a list to Roman for him to read whenever he feels down. It ends up being the framework for what they do to make someone in the group feel better. 

~

a list of good things 

by Amelia

-music. the windows down, blasting kind

-the taste of chocolate when that's all you're craving

-the night sky, when it's darkest out and you can see all the stars

-being there for someone

-fall leaves and their colors

-hot tea, a good book, and the sounds of rain

-local cafes with gourmet sandwiches

-the laughter of someone you love

-fairy lights

-the one thing that makes you want to be alive and on this earth

-this list

follow me on instagram @olivia.j.the.wordshaker

Amelia loved the stars, the sea, the open road, and summer heat, windows down, wind-in-your-hair rock music. 

Amelia hated small talk, the crushing brightness of winter afternoons, and most people, some of the time. 

Roman loved the ebb and flow of classical music, and the way that it fell like rain from his fingers. 

Roman hated walls, abandoned playgrounds at night, and himself.

Bailey loved the cold of a lake and the laughter that seemed infectious as it passed through others. 

Bailey hated upturned noses, dirty snow, and the way her brain would swirl like milk and betray her. 

Elliot loved the way his favorite musical could always make him cry, and how Bailey would never make fun of him for it. 

Elliot hated the snickers of mocking laughter, actual Snickers, and the man he called his father. 

Alice loved the sand under her fingernails, the nervous sweat of a crush, and all things involving Coca-Cola. 

Alice hated the grip of uselessness, skinned knees, and her feelings. 

Nick loved the electric thrill of leather and dirt, and her. He loved her. 

Nick hated the sighs of unenthusiasm, candid photos, and anyone remotely like him. 

Together, they were a collection of oddities, an antique shop from the future, but never the summation of their broken parts. Like a puzzle piece, like flowers growing through cracks, they found a place. 

That place wasn't perfect - it was just as wrought and bent as they were - but it was a good place. A safe place, like a little handmade, painted vase in a world of mass-produced pots. 

~

So. I guess that's a bit of a sneak peek of my novel. I've been working on it a lot more lately, and hell, it feels good to be getting elbow deep in creating again. 

~The WordShaker

Chapters of Our Lives | How Writers Handle Life

"Blessed are the weird people: poets, misfits, writers, mystics, painters, troubadours, for they teach us to see the world through different eyes," -Jacob Nordby

My last novel was about surviving. But this one is about living.

My last novel, titled A Cactus In the Valley was about two teenagers working through their issues while surviving in the desert. It was to show that no matter how bad life is or how bad life has been, that we can always overcome. That there is always hope to conquer anything. That no matter how bad life can get, that it can always get better.

This novel, which has yet to have a title, is about six teenagers, each struggling with a different aspect in their lives. While it does deal with them struggling, it has more emphasis on them living - experiencing, loving, just being, appreciating the good and where they are in life. That no matter how bad life can get, or how bad life already is - that it can always be good. Something about life is always good, even when the hurricane rages on and the whole world is crashing down around you.

My point in this is that each "segment"of my life is a story. Everything I am, everything I learn, goes into all of my novels. And, I think, as writers, this is how we deal with things, how we tie everything in life into a nice little bow and send it off. A culmination of our lives, of a season. 

The past six months, maybe even year, have been a novel in the making. But when I was going through it, I hated it. I didn't understand why I couldn't write. 

And now, to send off this season of my life, I need to write about it. As painful and as raw as it might be.

~The WordShaker

Success as a Writer | Olivia J

"Writing is a dangerous profession. There's no telling what hole you may rip in society's carefully woven master narrative," -Danielle Orner

Recently, I've revived some of my wonderful beta readers. Yesterday, one of them finally finished my novel, way ahead of time.

One of her comments at the end of the last chapter was:

"Honestly, it's been a while since I got emotionally invested in a story like I did with this one. You are a brilliant writer, and I'm so excited to see where you go with this beautiful work of art. When you're a famous author someday, I will have the privilege of being one of your biggest fans. This story was so powerful and full of messages that aren't easy to read, but need to be shared. Thank you for pouring your heart and soul into this book. I am confident it and all of your writing  will go on to inspire people for generations to come."

This comment almost made me cry. Nothing - and I mean nothing. No paycheck, no award, nothing - can compare to the feeling that your reader got it. They fully understood what you were trying to convey, and it impacted them.

This is true success as a writer. Many people think when I say I want to be an author, they think I want to be the next Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. And truthfully, it would be nice, but the fame and the money isn't what it's all about. 

And sure, being a household name means more people will buy and read your books, which will make the story have a larger impact in numbers, but true success as a writer isn't determined by the number of copies you sell, or how much money you make. 

It's determined by the souls you touch and the lives you change. This cannot be quantifiably measured, by any statistic, any paycheck. It's the impact you make on others, and yourself, that matters. 

Now, writers, go get people to read your work - because the most satisfying thing is knowing your art -the very thing that helped you heal your heart and soul - reached across the great human divide and healed someone else's. 

~The WordShaker

PEOPLE not Plot Devices | Tip #1 To Writing Dimensional Characters

"Stories are just data with a soul," -Brene Brown

One of my biggest pet peeves (and I have a lot of them) is when a character is a plot device. And I don't mean when a character is used as a plot device, meaning that there is a specific instance when a character is used to further the plot instead of an event, etc. 

This most often manifests itself in the form of a manic pixie dream character. 

If you've ever seen any media ever, then you probably know what a manic pixie dream character is. It is defined as:

a idealistic character, usually a female, whose sole purpose is to show another character the good in life and to teach them lessons on how to 'live"

*sigh* Now, I've found that this applies to male characters just as much as female characters. Some examples include:

Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars, Alaska Young from Looking for Alaska, Will Traynor from Me Before You, Margo Roth Spiegelman from Paper Towns, Sam from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Theodore Finch from All The Bright Places

And these are just examples from YA. 

Even if you have everything else that makes a good character, but are still struggling with the character's sole purpose being a plot device, I have the one trick that will turn your quirky and likable love interest into a dimentional, stand-alone character with a purpose. 

1. Give them a GOAL. 

Not only this, but a goal that doesn't have to do with the character they're trying to 'change'. 

A goal will give your character a purpose in the story, a purpose to solve the case or to make it out alive or to fight the dragon. 

This is important because after said character is done being a plot device, they usually die because they've served their purpose.

However, if you give this character a goal, they'll have a reason to keep living, they'll have a storyline outside of the main character. 

And this is super important - it allows the character to stand on their own, like any actual human being. 

Because art imitates life. 

Or is that the other way around?

Enjoy writing your purposeful and dimensional characters, friends!

~The WordShaker

NEVER DELETE YOUR WRITING: Advice For Writers

"Writing is 5% talent and 95% persistence," -Unknown

One upon a sixth-grade Olivia, I wrote a Hunger Games fanfiction. And, quite frankly, it was gold. It was feels-y and well written (by sixth-grade Olivia’s standards) and so much fun.

But then, I deleted it. I must have had a brain aneurysm, because I hit ctrl+a and then backspace for some stupid reason. And since then I’ve been searching and searching for this fanfiction, and I was wanting to find it because it had a scene in there that I wanted to study and reread. However, I remembered that I DELETED IT. Gone forever.

And I narrate this sad little tale to you all because, writers: I beg of you, DO NOT DELETE YOUR WRITING. Because sometimes you’ll want to go back and read it. And enjoy it all over again, just as much as when you wrote it.

I know because I recently went back and reread significant sections of my first novel.

Believe me, 90% of it will be crap. You’ll cringe over your poor word choice and unclear sentences. You’ll shake your head at the stupid decisions your characters make. And, ultimately, you’ll think “holy chocolate chip cookie dough, what the frick frack, crack-a-lack, h-e-double-hockey-sticks was I thinking when I wrote this?” And you’ll feel like a shitty writer for a hot minute.

But then, you’ll realize that you feel this way because you’ve improved. You begin looking at your writing with a critical eye, seeing ways you can improve it, which is good!

But the best part is when you find those little gold nuggets in a sea of pyrite. Those scenes where the characters are brilliant and three dimensional, those scenes where the scene moves and climaxes beautifully, those scenes where the villain is pure evil, where the emotions connect, where the writing is eloquent and effective.

And that. That is where you appreciate your characters, your stories, and how far you’ve come. And it gives you a reason to keep going.

So, my dear writer friends, NEVER DELETE YOUR WRITING. Because when you read it later, you never know what great things might come out of it.

~The WordShaker

When Your Story Isn't Done With You Yet

"Sometimes, only paper will listen to you," -Pulchritude Press

A writer's gotta write.

And lately, I haven't been doing much of that.

With my novel in the beta-process and the two stories I have ideas for are sticking as well as throwing paper darts at a smooth wall, I have found myself focusing in on my blog, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

But still, I feel useless, inept, when I don't have a story to throw myself into. And even though the beta-reader process sucks more often than not, I still find myself clinging to these characters, this world. With my last novel, I found myself having a sense of catharsis, and when I got it done, the passion for it faded. I didn't have this urge that I have with this one for people to read it, for it to be polished and perfect, to get it in to people's hands.

But I can't seem to move on to another story, even while this one is in a lull concerning it's author. I guess Wyatt, Terra, and the endless desert of their lives aren't done with me.

Which is totally fine by me.

Blessing and encouragement to you all, writers!

~The WordShaker

Writing a Novel is Easy - It's the Editing that Sucks.

"I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose," -Stephen King

Something I've learned about myself is that I can write a first draft in a breeze. About a year, and I have a mess of a first draft - but it's done.  Full of long and hard hours of cranking out emotions and characters and words.

And I thought I would just have to polish the plot, add a few things for depth, and clean up the grammatical errors and such.

But no.  Editing sucks so much.  It's boring.  Clicking through paragraph after paragraph to just change a word.  Formatting?  Shoot me in the foot.  Spelling? Gag me with a knife. And don't even get me started on the actual hardest part which is cutting scenes, reworking paragraphs, changing backstories, adding scenes.  Pounding and melting and shaping my story like metal in a hearth.

I hate it.  I hate it because it's boring.  I hate it because I love developing a story, I love writing scenes and spending time with my characters.  But with editing, I get to do none of that.

One of the reasons that I have been spending more time with my blog is because now that I have finished my story, I truly have nothing to write. And I have to write.  It's a way of life. If I don't empty my mind, I'll surely go mad.  And without a story, it feels like I am on the brink of insanity.

And having nothing to write fills me with an odd feeling.  Without a story to weave, what is my purpose?  It feels like everything meaningful in my life has been sucked away now that I no longer have a novel to focus my energy on.

Writing it is the easy part.  Because that's exactly what I am - a writer.

Plotting is slightly harder, since we're fabricating something from nothing.  But it's doable.

Editing is shit. It's unfun and dull and boring. Devoid of emotion and like sweeping a floor. Menial and awful.

The only way that I can keep myself motivated to edit is the potential my story has.  If I keep my eyes on the prize, maybe then the bloodshot eyes and hunched shoulders and unenthusiastic work wouldn't be so menial.

Because my words are anything but.

~The WordShaker

The Problem with Passive Main Characters

"Writing is the painting of the voice!" -Voltaire

Since this forthcoming weekend is going to be jam-packed, I am posting today. Enjoy!

Recently, I read two YA novels:  The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks and Ship Breaker by Paulo Bacigalupi. While I recommend both of these novels, one is, in my opinion better, because of one simple fact:  their main characters.

As the title states, I will be discussing the problem with passive main characters.  Never heard this term before?  Well, I think it's a real problem in a portion of today's literature. An active main character, well we probably can all think of examples, since they are so common. But an active main character is one who takes action when something happens. They don't just react, they act.  They are the main driver of the plot and the story, because they are the main character. For example, my characters have to react to the circumstances around them, but most of the time, this also causes them to act. To do something.  And we all want to see our main character do something, whether they are male or female, young or old,  a dog or an alien, we all want to see them be brave and take action and be involved. Why else would we read it if we didn't like the main character, and didn't want them to succeed. Linus from The Bunker Diary is a good example of this. Him and six other people have been kidnapped and are now trapped in this completely white bunker.  They are then being manipulated with their freedom and basic needs by an unnamed man called Him.  And, of course, they spend the story trying to survive and get out of this bunker. Linus willingly forms relationships with these people, reaches out to help them despite themselves. He always takes action.  Especially when he first arrives, he is the only captive, but is always active in the way that he handles himself.  Instead of spending his time sulking and letting things happen, he seeks out answers, sometimes ending up with unfortunate results.  But even though he fails over and over again, it is still entertaining and inspiring to the readers. While he had his emotional moments, those didn't distract from moving the plot along with the secondary characters, and him working with everyone else to get them out.  Even though they were stuck in a plain bunker with nothing to do, Linus is always thoughtful and active, a basic need of every good character.

On the other hand, a passive main character is one who, essentially, does nothing. This doesn't mean this character is a doormat, or reluctant or unenthusiastic.  These are character traits.  Passive, however, refers to a characters actions.  Or, lack thereof. Passive characters normally react, instead of act.  An example of this would be when Terra first sees her deceased father.  What she does in this instance would be a reaction. However, when Wyatt extends his hand to her, she decides to take it. Even though both of these are small actions, they both show that it is just as important for a character to act as it is for them to react.  However, you cannot have one without the other.

Also, passive characters as main characters in stories take backseats, almost as if they are watching the plot unfold, and they are just bystanders. A good example of a passive character that I have read of late is Nailer from Ship Breaker.

First, I liked the book Ship Breaker - there are some things it does very well.  The writing is exquisite and stylish,  the setting is descriptive, enthralling, and immersive, however, Nailer, the main character, leans to be very passive. Despite his mostly timid, reluctant, and quiet personality, he is still very passive in the things that he does in and for the story.  This is shown in many scenes, where his friend Pima makes most of the decisions, and he is only there to help.  His primary involvement is just because his father hates him, and abuses him. The problem is, is that Nailer doesn't seem to have much of a mind of his own. He's very smart and calculated, and is an expert at playing the game of life, except he never takes action based on this.  We never see him personally succeed or fail, because he is not the driver of the story.  He mostly reacts and is forced by the plot to do things.  Like I said, there needs to be a balance of a character acting and reacting, and in this novel, there isn't a whole lot of that, unfortunately.  And since timidity and reluctance are negative personality traits, one of the points of the story is to get him to overcome these parts of him, which he never does.

And now to what I'm really getting at:  The Problem With Passive Main Characters.  The problem with passive main characters is that their inaction shows us that they don't care. That they are utterly apathetic, and that they'd rather be gouging their eyes out with spoons instead of being there.  And, at times, this is understandable, but there needs to come a point where this passive main character realizes their situation, and decides to take action because there is no other option but for them to do so. The main problem is that these passive characters don't care.  They don't care much about anything or anyone or even themselves.  And this is all we want to see them do, is to care about something. We want to see them give a shit, because when someone does, they do something about it once said thing is in peril, ultimately setting a good, hearty plot in motion.

Over all, The Bunker Diary was a great novel with an odd ending (I won't spoil it for you.  You need to go read it yourself because it's amazing), and Ship Breaker was a good book with some annoying imperfections.

Happy reading,

~The WordShaker