Welcome to Manga, Graphic Novels, and Comic Books

I love graphic novels, comics, and manga.

They were some of the first books I picked up and enjoyed reading. They seemed to be the natural extension of the picture book - at least that’s what young me thought. There is a lot more nuance to them than picture books.

My first graphic novel or comic book (depending on who you talk to) was my dad’s Asterix books that he had from the 60s. I found them at my grandfather’s house and brought them home to enjoy over and over again. I really liked Cleopatra.

One of my hardcover Asterix books along with Persepolis and a Haunted Mansion comic book. I was surprised by how much I liked the Haunted Mansion book - though the ending is a little abrupt.

Unfortunately, back in the 90s Astrix was almost impossible to find in the US. I had to wait until my dad traveled overseas for him to bring me back a copy...and that was only if he could also find an English book store.

Thankfully by the 2000s, bookstores in the US were starting to import manga and I was able to start collecting Yu Yu Hakusho. Though some of my favorite manga I found at my local library in the form of Kindaichi Mysteries (where you needed to really pay attention to the drawing to help solve the mystery).

One of my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol., a collection of Zits (one of my favorite strip comics), and the manga My Brother's Husband about a man meeting his brother-in-law after his twin's death.

I’ve read a lot of manga, graphic novels, and comic books, but my knowledge only really scratches the surface of everything out there. I loved the drawings, the stories, and how easy they were for me to read.

And they were some of the first forms of story telling I wanted to write.

Except writing a graphic novel, manga, or comic is a lot tougher than most other media. Similar to scripts for plays, TV shows, and movies, there are a lot of moving parts to graphic novels, comics, and manga. The script can’t just include dialogue, but details as to what is going on in each panel. Consistency is very important.

Directions also aren’t like what you see in movie and play scripts. See writers aren’t always the artists, so the writers need to describe (in detail) every detail of a scene so that the artists gets it right early...instead of realizing later that the character should have been doing x for five panels when they drew the character doing y.

The script for a graphic novel must be finalized before drawing begins...and once drawing begins, changes are really hard to make unless you want to scrap the entire project. When I’m writing a comic script, I have to be conscious of what can fit on a page and how to build tension for when that page is turned. Knowing how to pull off a good transition is takes a lot of practice.

Then there’s the technique of using the panels themselves for story telling. The size, shape, boarder versus no boarder, and even the space between panels all enhance how the story is told. No boarders might show that time is open ended or extends beyond the boundary set up by the page. In consistent panel sizes or jagged shapes might show a character’s or situations’s instability. The spaces between panels might be neutral to show negative space or might be in dark shades to suggest a dream sequence.

Depending on where a person learns about the art of writing comics can drastically change their styles. I’m more familiar with Japanese and manga techniques as those are the books I read most often and I’ve taken classes on their style. European and American styles tend to have similar styles, but there are notable differences in how backgrounds and static lines are used.

Representing time and movement can be particularly challenging. How do you show a static character running? Panel over panel or with lots of lines or a cloud of dust rising up behind them? How do you slow a scene down to a crawl or build tension? Draw incremental movements within 5 panels then make the reader turn the page?

As more writers and artist collaborate, a mixing of styles has emerged. Which makes writing the scripts even more important.

I’ve written before how comic, graphic novel, and manga story telling can be preferred to more traditional text. Some people don’t have words, only pictures to convey a message. That’s okay.

Writing is art, though not all art is writing. If you’d like to try your hand at writing comics, manga, and graphic novels. I recommend reading the final products as well as the production notes and scripts.

I’ve been writing a webcomic for over 5 years (really just for the hell of it) and I’m still learning as I go. Sometimes I stare at my scripts wondering what the hell I was thinking or picturing. Other times, I forget entirely what it was I was trying to write.

But as my one yoga teacher likes to say - “the joy is in the journey”.

If you really want to write a comic, graphic novel or manga - go for it. Search for advice and take a class. Find out what works best for you.

And this ends my writing series (for now). I’ll be out next week. So I’ll see you next time.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please, like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y’all like hearing from me.

Welcome to scripts, plays, radio shows, podcasts, and on screen

Reading plays in school was a lot more fun in a group setting than when we had to sit quietly and read in our heads. In fact my 12th grade English teacher had to find a recording of Hamlet for our class to listen to since we were struggling so much (hearing the actors emotional tones helped).

Since moving back to Virginia (and the pandemic), I’ve come to miss my monthly excursion into New York City to grab a slice of pizza and a root beer before seeing a Broadway play. My current favorite is without a doubt Hadestown. But I’m also happy to recommend Come From Away, Beetlejuice, To Kill a Mockingbird, and especially The Play that Goes Wrong (I saw it three times).

I haven’t seen this on stage, but I love the miniseries adaptation.

Now writing scripts in any form is an art form. That’s why Shakespeare was known a playwright - the “wright” part indicates a type of craftsman. So Shakespeare was a crafter of plays, not just a writer.

When I was in my high school Creative writing class (because two years of this class makes me an “expert”), I learned to write stage places and scripts for movies. Going into the unit, I thought they would be very similar in formate. They are not. Placement of instructions on the page, dialogue, and even when to use italics can vary wildly.

Depending on the medium, scripts can require stage directions, camera movements, lighting, sound effects, possible instructions for special effects, emotions for the actors to express, cut scenes, music, etc.

Needless to say there are a lot of components and this is just for plays and movie scripts. Radio plays and podcasts have their own laundry list of components that don’t completely line up with the above list.

Recently, I’ve started writing a Very short radio play (about 15 minutes) - which required me look up the proper format because it doesn’t follow a stage play format at all. Part of me wants to rearrange the whole thing as a short stage play. Doing so will require me to revamp the whole [bleepin’] format.

And this isn’t even getting into genre bending performance art.

Remember how last week I was writing about poetry and lyrics. Well depending on the genre, a script might require a dance sequence, music, songs, or poetry. Now the script writer doesn’t have to give a ton of direction for this (typically) that’s the director and choreographer’s jobs to determine. For music, you’ll typically have the writer including the written music as well (or they’ll hire someone to do that writing).

I will one day see this on stage, but it’s not a play in the traditional sense. It is a choreopoem.

If you want to write scripts of any kind, I definitely recommend taking classes on it. These are not like the short story or novel forms that we’ve been exposed to since we were very young children. There are a lot of moving parts and people to work with.

(I recently watched a live stream performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by a YouTuber having all of the actors act via Zoom and there is a hilarious subplot that goes into a group trying to create a play and it going terribly wrong. This is one of the better examples of how the script writing process can go. Go watch it, the guy who plays Oberon is the best. Just know that it is over 3 hours long.)

However, if you just want some practice to entertain your friends or practice a bit because your still stuck in quarantine - I recommend first learning about the types of performing arts you will want to write for.

So here’s a list:

• The traditional stage play - probably the most familiar of script writing as Americans at least start learning about plays in elementary school. You’ll need a list of actors, stage directions, setting information, and informations on what the characters look like and how they feel (this list is not comprehensive).
• The stage musical - similar to the traditional play, but with the moving parts of dance sequences and musical numbers. You need a music background to properly write these.
• Movies and TV scrips - not only do you need to direct the actors, have good notes on the setting, lighting, and sounds, but you have the extra component of camera movements. Depending on the budget, you also might get to have access to a nice special effects team.
• Radio plays - lack all the visual components of the stage play, musical, and movie/TV script, but need a little direction in the audio effects and stage directions.
• Podcasts - similar to radio plays (honestly they are the new radio play).
• Experimental - I would only recommend trying to write an experimental script for an advance script writer. These scripts know all the rules of script writing and may throw all of that out the window. 

Note - most scripts have a length equivalent of one page per minute of acting or performing. This isn’t always the case.

Second note - directors might take your script and choose to toss all your directions and only keep the dialogue. Directors get to do that.

And for those of you reading this thinking that actors improvise a lot of what you see on stage or screen - I can assure you they do not. Most actors follow what the director says and the director gets final say on everything.

I’ve seen The Play that Goes Wrong three times and each time it was (almost) the exact same play each time, with different actors.

And remember, I’m not expert on this.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post, or it really pissed you off, please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Poems and Lyrics

In times of turmoil and deep distress, some people are able to produce amazing art. However, turmoil, pain, and suffering aren't necessary. I know I create best when I've been given a nice cup of tea and a warm blanket to curl up under. 

Between the recent protests, COVID-19 still being a threat, and any personal events that might have left your head spinning (I unfortunately have), you might want to put pen to paper to word vomit all your feelings and sort out all your emotions. 

I say do it.

But what do you want to write?

Stories, fiction or non? Letters to your representative and senator? Do you want to stand up before a crowd and give them a speech on how things need to be changed? 

What about writing a song or poem?

A few days ago, Lindsey Ellis released a video on YouTube regarding protest music during the 2000s. Listening to her describe the different songs as well as reading some of the lyrics reminded me of how similar song lyrics and poetry are. 

Quick question, is the following quote taken from a poem or a song?

"Run, run, run away

Buy yourself another day

A cold wind's whispering secrets in your ear

So low only you can hear"

Are you not sure or are you having to think about it. Maybe you've heard the quote before and can't quite place it, but you definitely know that it has a rhythm and beat.

The answer is that it's the song "Kingdom Come" by The Civil Wars (from the Hunger Games soundtrack). If you totally knew that, congratulations you may have a virtual cookie and bragging rights.

Personally, I don't see that much difference between lyrics to a song and words written in a poem. In theory you can set music to both or speak the words out loud without a background. Some song lyrics are first written as poems and have music added at a later date. Some music compositions are used over and over again with different lyrics like the composition for "Turkey in the Straw" (which at one point had super racist lyrics) or is it "Do your Ears Hang Low?". 

The songs aren't exactly the same, but on occasion I'll hear the tune and start singing along using one set of lyrics and switch over to the other set. 

Even the U.S. national anthem under went this treatment. The original words were written as a poem and were later put to music (the tune is actually from British drinking song - go figure) by people hearing the poem  spoken at public houses. 

My point is: there's a lot in common with writing song lyrics and writing poetry.

Until there isn't.

Poetry has undergone a lot of changes. Breaking forms and discarding a rhyme scheme are only two elements that a lot of modern poems shy away from.

Lyrics to songs, however, tend to follow a formula which includes a rhyme scheme, chorus, and a bridge before the ending of a song. This form isn't set in stone and some songs break the trend, but it's hard to get a hit top 40 without these elements.

That doesn't mean that artists shouldn't experiment with their poetry or their song lyrics. Knowing the foundational rules sets the stage for which the artist and/or writer gets to play. Then they break the rules so hard it leaves their critics' heads spinning.

I'll be honest, I'm much more familiar with poetry than lyric writing (even if I do find them similar). I've loved writing poetry since I was a child in elementary school learning all the different styles and forms. When I got to college, I did have one professor tell me that my poetry was too "mathematically styled" and that "I had no soul" for poetry (*incoherent grumbling from behind my computer screen) - we were writing sonnets. I hate writing sonnets.

It wasn't until I picked up Terrance Hayes poetry collection: "American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassins" (which I totally recommend by the way) that I learned that there was more than one type of sonnet. The American sonnet in particular, throws all the rules out the window and only keeps the 14 line limit.

The more I read of other modern poets (the ones they don't make you read in school) such as Nikita Gill (my favorite), Amanda Lovelace, Hasan Namir, Danez Smith, Morgan Parker, and Rupi Kaur, the more I've learned to let words flow like emotions. A lot of the poetry I read is by LGBTQ+ and non-white authors, who write very different poems than what I read in school. I learned about most of these poets at my favorite New York book store: Bluestockings Bookstore, Cafe & Activist Center (which I hope opens up safely after the lock down there ends).

Personally, I prefer the poems and collections I've picked up from indie bookstores and zines. They're much more expressive and emotional - meant to be read out loud or preformed on stage. 

I've since moved away from the more traditional forms of poetry (with the exception of the occasional limerick and haiku) and have let myself write what flows from my mind. Then I madly rewrite the poem. Then rewrite it again and again, until I'm satisfied with it.

Imagine my surprise when my first poem published was one of my more traditional in style and form. 

But my publishing history isn't what's important here. It's understanding that experimenting and blending writing forms should be encouraged. Modern poems that don't have a traditional or conventional form should be taught in schools. Teach kids about the song lyric forms along side odes and sonnets. 

One of the more interesting books I read (long after I left school) was For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide: When the Rainbow is Enuf which is a choreopoem by Ntozake Shange. Before picking up this book, I had no idea what a choreopoem was, but I'd taken a few dance and history of dance classes to understand how to read the stage directions. The dialogue is all poetry, some of it spoken, some of it set to music. Sometimes the women on stage are dancing and sometimes they are frozen statues.

There is a Tyler Perry movie of the work available to stream (I unfortunately haven't watched it yet) and might be easier for some people to understand instead of reading the book. If given the opportunity, I'd like to see it on stage as it was originally intended to be presented.

But now were getting into another form of writing, one which I think I'll have a blog entry on next week. So get ready for scripts: onstage, motion picture, and radio.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to Speeches, Pamphlets, Essays, and Letters

Not every writer is someone who writes fictitious stories. Some writers are known for writing persuasive pieces meant to convey information and draw attention. These pieces can take a few forms, but the ones I’d like to write about today are the essays, pamphlets, letters, and speeches.

The importance (and occasional cross pollination) of these literary works has shaped history. We first learn about these writings in American history with the knowledge of Thomas Paine’s little pamphlet called “Common Sense” - which you can occasionally see re-enacted as a spoken as a speech in Colonial Williamsburg. I learned to write persuasive essays starting in middle school. In high school I studied Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg speech (the famous speech starts with the line “Four score and seven years...”) and Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

These types of writing may not seem as glamorous as writing a novel or play, but they are important.

There are some people who are amazing speakers, but can’t put a thought to paper to save their political campaigns. Many politicians employ a speech writer to put their passionate thoughts together and create a clear and concise platform (whether or not that person sticks to the script varies greatly).

In some instances, speeches by the same speaker or author are compiled into a book. I personally own a book of speeches written and spoken by Greta Thunberg called No One Is Too Small To Make a Difference. It's really cool to see how her writing has changed since she started speaking on climate change.

Pamphlets are not as well known or utilized in our modern era of persuasive arguments. They are unbound books that can be easily carried and shared. Historically, pamphlets were also read allowed or performed similar to a speech - see Thomas Paine again for more details.

In modern days, pamphlets occasionally appear, though usually as some form of marketing campaign. However, they have mostly morphed into online forums and discussion board. While their shorter literary cousin, the essay, continues to be taught in America public schools.

Essays aren't necessarily meant to be read out loud to a crowd and they are often short enough to be combined with several other essays to be turned into a full book. Examples of essays can be found in  Kurt Vonnegut's standalone work: “How to Write with Style", while Roxane Gay's “Bad Feminist” is a collection of essays bound together in a book.

Finally, I want to address to you (pun fully intended) the lowly letter. I love receiving letters from my friends and family in the mail - breaks up the monotony of bills and junk - but there is a bit of an art to letter writing. Letters don't even have to be pen to paper in style, they can be sent via email, printed in a news paper, or left on a social media site as an open letter meant for anyone to read.

Oh, and one of the most famous letters ever written in US history is on display at the National Archives in Washington D.C. That letter is the Declaration of Independence.

Yeah, we wrote a letter telling England to buzz off.

In fact, writing letters to politicians and the government continues to occur even after that little declaration sent King George. I've written to politicians before (usually via email) to make certain that my voice is heard and part of the public record. You can also follow up your letter with a phone call (or vise versa). And they have to listen to you if you cal them on the phone - I had to when I was an Intern for a Representative (one guy liked to call the representative just to sing and we weren't allowed to interrupt him until he was finished). This may have changed (unlikely), but if you want your voice heard and recorded, send a letter.

Especially now that so much is going on between COVID-19 and protests occurring this past week. Because of the virus, some people may not be able to safely protest, but still want to participate and share their grievances with their elected officials. For example, sending your local, state, and federal elected officials a letter asking them to outlaw No Knock Warrants might draw attention to how they have been used to unjustly harm or kill innocent people (such as Breonna Taylor) or demanding that funds be used to investigate complaints against officers who use excessive violence when detaining a suspect.

Not everything a writer writes is fiction. Sometimes it's a persuasive argument drawing attention or campaigning for change. Speeches, pamphlets, essays, and letters all have their place in the literary world and to change the physical world.

Thank you for reading my blog post (or should I call it an essay?) this week. I hope you are all able to stay safe during these trying times.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to the Novel, Novella, and the Novelette

Last week, I wrote about the different types of short stories. And, just like how short stories have been divided into additional categories to include flash and micro fiction, longer works of fiction also have additional categories. When writing fiction, it is a good idea to know where your work falls within these categories to better find a place in the market when you try to sell them (unless you don't plan on trying to sell your stories - which is okay too).

Examples of the different forms of prose and poetry. Some are novels, novelettes, novellas, poetry collections, and even an old pamphlet (that'll be Common Sense).

The three main categories of longer prose are the novelette, the novella, and the traditional novel. Specific word count lengths for each of these categories can be debatable. Some publishers feel that a short story caps out at 7,500, some will allow stories to be as long as 10,000. Once your story enters the 10,000 word range, you've entered into the Novelette territory.

Novelettes have an approximate word count range of 7,500 to 18,000 words - sometimes going a little higher. They might have chapters or breaks in the text to indicate a pause in the narrative. These stories are more of an exception to the rule of publishing.

Novellas, however, are more prominent and a lot more well known to the general public. Novellas have a word count range of approximately 17,500 to 40,000 words. There are many famous novellas known in popular culture and even part of a school's curriculum (here's look at you 1984 and Of Mice and Men). 

Today, I started reading The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and am nearly half way through it already (amazing given how slow I read). I like the quick pacing and am glad that the author didn't drag out the story any longer than it needs to be. Some stories just aren't meant to be stretched to a longer length.

My personal favorite novella is A Christmas Carol. Every Christmas season, I sit down and reread the old ghost story - which I totally recommend doing. Despite the many adaptations of the story to screen and stage, there is something wonderful about reading Dickens's prose. He writes in the same way a story teller speaks. Additionally there are a number of things that most adaptations can't pull off (depicting the Ghost of Christmas Past for instance) or chose to ignore entirely (the Ghost of Christmas Present's rant about how classism).

Finally, there's the well known and loved novel. Many a writer's goal is to see their novel published - including myself. The novel starts around 40,000 words (though the preferred minimum for publishers is closer to 50,000) and doesn't really have a word cap, but good luck trying to sell someone on a novel over 500,000 words unless your last name George R. R. Martin.

An excellent novel for people who like fantasy and adventure books.

Chances are high that you've read multiple novels over your life (a lot for school). I have a stack of "comfort mysteries" - as my dad calls them (I believe the industry knows them as "cozies") - next to my bed at any given time. Novels can be stand alone stories or have long series that span over 50 stories.

Novels are definitely the most well known of the three longer forms of prose. It even has the entire month of November dedicated to their creation. If you've ever heard of NaNoWriMo, this is what is being referenced.

However, you shouldn't pick the form of your story based on what you think is publishable. You should write your story because that is how it begins, progresses, climates, and then ends. Sometimes short stories need to be novelette or novellas. Sometimes a story ends up as a novella instead of a novel. What's important is that it is your story and that it is written to the best of your ability. If you don't hit that novel length, it's okay. Your story might not work as a novel.

If you're curious about novellas or novelettes, I recommend reading a few. There are anthologies created specifically for hosting novellas and novelettes. The books that contain my copies of A Christmas Carol and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are in books that have complied stories of similar length by the same authors. It's given me an opportunity to read stories I might not have otherwise considered.

Until next week!

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome to short stories, flash fiction, and microfiction

So, you may have decided to try your hand at writing during this time. Awesome! More stories and voices are always welcome - especially from fresh and innovative writers. Are you looking to record your memoirs, start a blog, draft a play, or work on fictional prose? What kind of story do you want to tell? Who are you telling this story to?

There are a lot of options to chose from when you decide to take up writing as a hobby. I’m particularly found of working on different styles of poetry (there’s a lot more than limericks, haikus, and sonnets...many don’t even rhyme). Knowing what story you want to tell can help you narrow down what form to choose.

But before you sit down to write that 500,000 word epic novel, might I make a case for a slightly more manageable type?

This being the short story.

The short story is one of my favorites to read and write. As a kid I had many anthologies spanning multiple genres from horror, fantasy, and even biblical. These short stories were easy to read and often had really cool fully illustrated pages.

As time passed, I moved from the short stories, thinking them only for kids, until I was much older and picking up my first copy of Edgar Allen Poe stories. One book of short stories lead into two, then ten, and now I’m kicking myself for only valuing the novel for so much of my life.

I find short stories to be a lot easier to write then novels. Novels require a lot of time to plotting, character development, editing, and revisions. Short stories require all of these things too, but at a much smaller scale - which I find more manageable.

My first publication was a very short story that’s in an anthology. The story I wrote wouldn’t have fit in a longer style. I also wrote the story on a dare.

The short story has the bare bone structure of a novel, but on a compact scale. To practice, I started writing and practicing the form using fanfiction. This is here I learned more about pacing, writing comedy, and found a lot for scaring people. It also allowed me to receive feedback from commenters.

Yeah, fanfiction might have a bad rep, but this practice was invaluable when I was a new writer. However, fanfiction is copy right infringement (unless that work is in the public domain) that most authors don’t mind as long as you aren’t making money. It wasn’t long before I wanted to write my own original stories with my own characters, get published, and make money. In this case I started to go to writer’s groups to workshop these stories and get feedback from different people, some who had already published.

This is where I learned about the three main types of short story.

• The traditional short story - traditional short stories are anywhere from 1,000 or 1,500 to 7,500 words. Occasionally you’ll find a publisher who will take a short story around 10,000 words,  it htthese stories are usually considered novellas.
• Flash Fiction - most flash fiction is between 500 to 1,000 words. Some publishers consider anything under 1,500 words to be flash. They have a beginning, middle, and end - just like short stories. I love flash fiction, but it is a challenge to write.
• Microfiction - known by other categories or names such as drabble or dribble in fanfiction communities and two sentence stories on places like Reddit. Microfiction can hover around 100 words to as few as 50 or as high as 500 words. These stories still need all the trappings of a short story (beginning, middle, end, character development, and plot).

Guess what, you can get all three types of short stories published and get paid for writing them. However, if you’ve never written a flash or microfiction, you might want to get some peer or professional feedback first before submitting to publishers. 

Flash fiction and microfiction are incredibly difficult to write despite their short length. Each word matters and must be used strategically. It can be tough cutting out two or three sentences that you thought would rock the literary world all in the name of meeting a word count.

However, short stories are not for everyone. Some people have a need to write longer prose. That’s okay too. Hopefully, you’ll give consideration to short stories, flash fiction, and microfiction on your journey to write during these crazy times.

Until next week.

Welcome to Writing During the Time of Covid-19

There’s been a lot of talk on social media about people wanting to take up a creative endeavor (such as writing), and having trouble doing it. Though I can’t speak for all writers, I can speak for my own experience writing. And I know that when my life feels completely out of my control, I struggle with writing anything...even in my personal journal.

However, that struggle shouldn’t stop writers (new and old) from trying. All I ask is that writers don’t put a ton of pressure on themselves right now to write the next great novel or classic short story.

I blog to stay sane...

I was recently gifted a year’s subscription to MasterClass. There are a lot of different classes to take and learn from some incredible and accomplished people. The first class I finished was a gardening class (because naturally I would pick a class on plants) by the gangsta gardener Ron Finley. It was fun and entertaining and I was excited to check more classes.

To my delight, there were a ton of classes by famous authors on writing.

Now I’ve been writing for a while, though I’ve only recently had my first publication, and have learned a lot by attending writer’s groups and workshops. Some of the best ways to learn to write is to connect with other writers to better understand the craft (and writing really is a craft).

One of the first classes on writing I decided to try was on writing short stories by Joyce Carol Oates. So far, it’s been a good class and I’m also trying to work through the workbook that goes with the class.

In a past blog post, I wrote about keeping a journal has been helping me during these crazy times. That practice was brought up during Joyce Carol Oates’s class. If you’ve been needing an outlet or are interested in starting a writing project, find a blank notebook (or a half used notebook) and start putting pen to paper. If you can’t find a notebook, I’ve been known to use my notes sections on my phone and tablet to write (for me it’s usually poetry).

I have a lot of journals

However, some of you guys might be interested in starting a writing career while stuck at home with little todo. I think that’s a great idea. Whether it’s a novel, series of poems, or some short stories, writing stories is awesome and we need more writers.

Now, you might be wondering, what about publishing the stuff I write?

To which I would tell you: woah - hold your horses.

Getting published is an awesome goal, but don’t be under some misguided notion that that’s what is going to happen right away when you start writing. It took me years of hard work and learning about the craft of writing to even get my foot in the door. And my experience isn’t that unusual. Rejection will become your greatest frenemy.

If you want to write during the time of Covid-19, do it.

Write anything and everything and don’t worry about publishing. Write a journal, poetry, short stories, novels, or even that weird fan fiction idea that’s been buzzing in the back of your mind (it might not be as weird as you think). I don’t keep it a secret that I got my start writing in fan fiction.

And like I said, don’t put pressure on yourself to write something great. There’s a lot that goes into writing that goes beyond the craft (like emotions).

If you’re interested in learning more about the craft of writing, see about taking an online class, check out one of the many books on writing, or join a writing group (one that’s meeting online) whom are good at critiquing (it’s harder than it sounds). Don’t forget to read as much as you can.

Some of the books in my “to read” pile.

But just know that publishers are going to be flooded with isolation and quarantine stories until someone finds a vaccine for the virus, so maybe stay away from writing those stories.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Until next week.