Tag: break

What I Learned Writing a Prequel

Prequels are a sticky subject. Some people enjoy them, some people can’t stand them. For the first time, I wrote one, and finished it.

Here’s what I’ve learned.

Prequels Vary:

For some prequels, the main characters are the same as in the rest of the books in a series. For this prequel, I decided to go further back, and only keep a few of the characters, mainly the villains, to explore their backstories. I could have kept the same characters, but it was fun to explore the villains.

Prequels Reveal A Lot:

In this prequel, it was fun to explore the villains before they became the villains, and the main characters that were not in the series for one reason or another. For a while, I wasn’t sure what the motivation for the villains were, but writing them out I found the perfect motivations for them, which will make every other book in the series stronger.

Prequels Can Be Complicated:

Several characters had to meet and change for the series to take place. There were certain instances where it felt like pulling teeth trying to get two characters together or even to get them to meet.

Prequels Can Be Calming:

Writing a book series can vary in ease. As a writer that enjoys writing from start to finish in a novel, it was wonderful to know where I was going and what needed to happen at the end. It was amazing to explore the twists and turns of characters and determining how they get to the end.

All said and done, it was a wonderful experience to write a prequel and see what I could do with characters I hadn’t explored yet.

Writer Life Lesson #10: Take a Break

Writing takes a toll on every aspect of our lives. Whether you call yourself a writer, or a poet, or a reporter, or anything to do with writing, you will start feeling the toll it takes on your body, physically, emotionally, psychologically. Sometimes we feel it more than others. When we do feel that increased toll, sometimes the only option is to take a break.

This week’s lesson is appropriately Take A Break

After Camp NaNoWriMo, which ended yesterday, thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of writers are recovering after a month solid of writing time. Some writers attempted to sprint to the finish, writing several thousand words in the last hours of the challenge, while others finished days or weeks early. Either way, whether they crossed the finish line, or fell short, most of them are taking a break from writing today.

Trying to write several hours a day for a month straight is tiring. Writing, whether we realize it or not, is a full body hobby. Sure, it’s primarily the hands and the brain that do all the work, but we can’t forget about posture and eye strain, wrist cramps, legs falling asleep, and any other complications you may face. In short bursts, the pain and strain are minimal, but breaks are still needed.

Writing seems easy to everyone that isn’t a writer. All you do is put words on a page, right? Not even close. Writers are expected to write one thing after another, be full of ideas, and endless energy to write. All of which are pretty much the opposite.

There are good times to take a well deserved break

Take short breaks between chapters and section breaks
Get a drink and a snack and stretch, move blood into your muscles that have been sitting for a while, but make sure that you remember where you were heading with your plot and action. I tend to leave myself notes at the beginning of chapters and section breaks, just to remind myself. It helps to get back into the writing mojo later. What also helps is writing a sentence or two of the next section before a break.

Take longer breaks between finished works and pieces
I tend to struggle a little with this one. After I finish a piece, whether short story or entire novel, I get that jittery excitement, the urge to start something right away, or sometimes the urge to start editing right away as soon as possible. These are both pretty bad urges, and can cause a rather quick burn out. I recommend working on something else that isn’t writing. I tend to knit, or doodle, preferring something solid with my hands, but other writers play solitaire or online games. Whatever works for you.

So, Take a break for 5 minutes after you read this. You deserve it!