Your Next WIP

It's a fantastic feeling when inspiration strikes. I tend to get most of my story ideas when I can't write them down. (Most often while sitting in traffic, which is why I've started carrying a tape recorder in my car so I can record myself dictating character conversations. All of these are extremely awkward to play back later, especially when I imitate voices. But I digress.)

But what do you do when the ideas just aren't flowing? How do you jump-start your writing process, whether it's beginning a fresh manuscript or figuring out how to wrap up a current one?

I know a lot of writers use music or Pinterest. My background is in journalism, and I tend to find a lot of inspiration in news stories, several of which inspired my current WIP. I look at breaking news, trend stories, or sometimes imagine how certain events could have played out a different way. Weirdly enough, I also use Google maps street view to find settings in the Northwest -- the only place I've lived, and the only place I feel confident enough using as a setting! (Plus, I love it.)

Sometimes I'll even skim my old junior high and high school diaries, which are now incredibly valuable as a YA writer. I wrote down conversations I had with my friends, which helps remind me how deeply certain conflicts affected me. Most cringeworthy, I'll read the parts where I waxed on and on and on about the three boys I was crushing on that week.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Writing Feats of 2013

It's the eve of 2013, and I'm one of the those people who loves to reflect on a year gone by. Fellow Revision Warrior Rina had a fab post last week about writerly resolutions, and today I want to talk about the amazing writing-related feats we've accomplished in the last twelve months.

When I think back on this year, there are a couple milestones that stand out. I signed with my agent, the wonderful Molly Jaffa, in June, and just last month, I finished the first draft of my fourth manuscript.

But your great success doesn't have to be an agent or a book deal. Maybe you typed THE END on your first manuscript. Maybe you got ace feedback from a beta reader. Maybe you tortured your characters so much you wondered how they'd ever recover. (Okay, I'm guilty of this last one.)

As writers, we spend so much time stressing out, second-guessing, and putting our work down. I've sent emails to (and received emails from) critique partners with subject lines like "scene of DOOM plz help" and "I hate this chapter." I don't know why I'm so hesitant to accept that I've produced work I love, that I'm deeply proud of, that I can't wait to share with the world.

Just take it from this kid:

Think back on the past year. You have undoubtedly created something awesome. So, tell me: what writing-related accomplishment are you proud of in 2013?

Find Your Crutch Words! And Then Stop Leaning on Them

When I’m getting close to finishing a draft of a manuscript, I like to paste my draft into one of those word cloud sites. It’s a fantastic way to see which words you’re using the most.

Minus character names, here’s what my WIP looks like right now! I made it on TagCrowd, which lets you filter out certain words and pick how many words to display. 

This is a first draft, so it’s pretty clear that I have a lot of thinking and feeling, which are signs I’m probably telling too much instead of showing. The breakdown makes it so easy for you to control- or command-F in Word to find all these words, and then figure out a way to get rid of some of them! 

Here are some of the words I see a lot, divided into categories.

The repeat offenders

These are the words that seem to pop up over and over and over. Some can be indicators that you’re telling too much instead of showing – “I look,” “I think” – or simply overusing the word “just.” If you are a writer and happen to not be guilty of this, I bow down to you.

1. just
2. look, stare, watch, see
3. think/thought
4. feel
5. even
6. start
7. really/very
8. realize
9. like/love
10. smile/laugh

The body parts

I searched the word “hand” in a manuscript once and found 200 instances of it. That was nearly every page. After I stopped panicking, I realized there were so many ways to get rid of it. I didn’t have to say “my hand reaches for door” each time someone entered a scene. Also, look out for your poor characters. Don't hurt their shoulders by having them shrug too much!

1. hand/hands
2. eye/eyes
3. lips/mouth
4. breathe
5. cheeks
6. head
7. face
8. shrug
9. nod/shake
10. voice

The sneaky ones

Once I started seeing these in my own writing, I found them in some of my critique partners', too. Characters opening too many doors? Plot points or emotions happening too suddenly? Too much kissing? (I know, not possible, right?)

1. door 
2. room
3. when
4. second/moment
5. word/words
6. silent/silence/quiet
7. “I don’t know”/”I’m not sure”
8. sudden/suddenly
9. well – I tend to overuse this in dialogue, especially.
10. kiss – it almost pains me to put this on the list because I adore writing kissing scenes, but I know I overuse it!

What crutch words do you rely on? How do you go about replacing them in your writing?