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Flying While Falling Down

~ A Writer's Journey Through Life and Other Oddities

Flying While Falling Down

Monthly Archives: March 2016

50 Posts and Counting!

28 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by lengray in Uncategorized

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50 posts, experiences

Well, I got the notification today! As of that last post, I’ve reached 50 posts on this blog. How cool is that?!

I hate to admit it, but I hadn’t planned for this blog to be around for a 50 post anniversary. Flying While Falling Down started as an experiment to see what blogging was like and as a way to procrastinate working on my April CampNaNoWriMo project. I thought that I’d have five, maybe ten posts and then I’d give up on it.

But, it’s turned into a lot more than that. Thanks to this blog, I’ve gotten to meet and share with a lot of other writers and cool people from around the world. I’ve been able to talk abut my thoughts and what I’m excited about without judgement. I’ve learned so much about writing and about myself since I started this blog and I know that I couldn’t have done it without all of you wonderful people who follow me here.

Thank you for making this blog what it’s become. Thank you for sticking by me through missed posts, rants, and depression. Thank you for believing in me. You’re all amazing.

3 Tips For Making the Most of Your Writing Time

28 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by lengray in Writing

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blank page, campnanowrimo, finishing a story, productivity, writer's block, writing, writing advice

7658034524_cea1c4ddba

One of the main problems that I hear of writers having is that they don’t have enough time. And while it’s fine and good to say to make time for writing, it isn’t always that simple. For some of us, work, family, social obligations, or chasing other dreams in life come ahead of our writing. And that’s okay. Sometimes real life has to take precedence, otherwise we would have nothing to write about.

However, just because you don’t have much time for your writing doesn’t mean that you can’t be more productive with the time that you do have. Continue reading →

Camp NaNoWriMo: The Pantsers, The Plotters, and A Bit of Encouragement

07 Monday Mar 2016

Posted by lengray in Camp NaNoWriMo

≈ 1 Comment

CNW_Participant

Well, I got The Email the other day! No, not the email saying that I’ve been published. The email that says that as of March 1st, the countdown to Camp NaNoWriMo is officially kicked off.

What is Camp NaNoWriMo, you might ask? Well, Camp is a huge writer’s party that is hosted on the internet during the months of April and July. Similar to NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, in November, Camp is about encouraging authors to write the novel of their dreams while ignoring family, friends, and (occasionally) their personal hygiene. Continue reading →

Write One, Sub One Progress: What I’ve Learned So Far

02 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by lengray in Writing

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#amwriting, experiences, write1sub1, writing

As of today, I’ve written and edited 4 short stories, 3 poems, and begun to work on a new novella since I started Write One, Sub One. And that’s not even including the six blog posts that I’ve posted since January 1st!

All of this is thanks to the Write1Sub1 Challenge, a challenge created by Ray Bradbury to write (and submit) 52 short stories in 52 weeks. Although W1S1 isn’t for everyone, I’ve learned so much in the past two months! This challenge has helped me branch out into different genres and forms of writing that I would never have considered attempting otherwise. And that’s what I’d like to talk about today.

In the age of self-publishing and social media, authors have to wear more hats than ever in order to be successful. Increasingly, people are seeing writers that are writing anything and everything. A lot of writers, both professional and amateur, have blogs that they post on semi-regularly. Many authors are writing scripts, nonfiction articles, short stories, and essays in order to make ends meet.

And that is what makes Write 1, Sub 1 so wonderful. By working on different things each week, you have the ability to try new things without worrying so much about what is and isn’t working. You have the freedom to experiment, which I think a lot of young writers are denying themselves while chasing their dreams of publication. But experimentation is more than just fun, it can also be a valuable skill in today’s writing climate.

Before I started W1S1, I was looking for a very specific type of idea. It had to be a novel-length work. It had to be fantasy or science fiction. It had to be something that would be taken seriously. Oh, yeah, and it had to be worthy of publication.

To say that I had very few ideas that met these criteria would be an understatement.

Now that I’m only spending a week on each writing project, I feel much more relaxed. Do I have an idea for a children’s story? Let’s give it a shot! How about this psychedelic rant about how shoes are taking over the galaxy? Sure, why not? I wonder what it would be like to write a script…well, hey, there’s a week that I can try it!

For once, I’m casting my mental net as far as I can and learning a lot in the process. That children’s book might reveal a talent that I never knew I had. That rant might be just the thing to practice writing an unhinged character or a story where surrealism is key. And that script? How better to practice dialogue and writing the bare minimum?

Plus, did I mention that I’m having a lot of fun?

 

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