Holy crap. I can’t believe it’s been nearly 3 months since the last time I posted. I am so sorry! Quick catch up: I just spent the last five weeks on a serious vacation. It was amazing. I had the best time. I’m all caught up on Game of Thrones (finally), I’ve started a novel that I’m pretty proud of so far and that I’m really getting into.

One of the best things about writing is when you start just knowing things. It doesn’t happen often. You can work on a novel or even a short story forever and still not know all the details. The name of the villain’s parents, the vintage of the wine your character is having with their ridiculously expensive dinner, just what kind of toothpaste a character uses. These are all really silly things, but sometimes you just know them. You may wake up one night in a cold sweat because you’ve just figured out your character’s exact favorite color. And it may not be important to the story. But it may help you understand that character better. These could be the sort of things that prompt motivation. And when you start just knowing your character’s motivation, your whole story really comes together.

I find that I learn most of my information, get most of my best ideas for stories and character development in the shower. The problem with thinking up everything in the shower is that you can easily forget it between the time you think of it and the time you sit down to write it. But if you’re quick, you can do some of your best work when you’re performing an important daily function. Apart from that, I’m beginning to think that a digital recording device would be the most useful tool for me. I don’t know about most writers, but when I’m writing, I talk to myself. A lot. Whole conversations between characters, descriptions of battles and major landmarks… Ideas sound different when you say them out loud. Conversations can actually sound like real conversations between people instead of flat, cookie-cutter dialog. Then again, it could just sound like crap. I don’t know. I’m just like everyone else; my own worst critic.

Anyway, with luck, I’m back now. Looking forward to getting back into the groove of posting. I hope you’re ready.

<3 elegy