Why hello. It's the FIRST FRIDAY of July. 

I'm going to let that sit for a second.

The first Friday. Of. July.

Right?

Anyway,  Bailey/PrincessEditorB/TheCritiquePartner/my getting kicked-out-of-math buddy
and I do this First Friday deal where we blog on said day. It's a way to keep us motivated to blog for fun. Last month, we talked about the "writing junk drawer". Today, we're talking about our "writing toolbox".

So, what are a few things I have to have in my toolbox while writing?

Well, it kind of varies in what stage of writing I am in. 

The obvious: Computer or paper and pen. Although, really, I prefer all three, as I scribble notes while working. I also like lined paper and some blank printer paper as I sporadically jot down cloud mappy thingies (ask Bailey). 

If I'm in the first draft phase, the above is usually sufficient along with coffee or tea and water (I'm pretty panster with first drafts). If I am revising or rewriting, I definitely need the paper and pen as well. 

While this isn't a huge must-have for those first drafts, it really has become a major part of my toolbox when I'm in the later drafts: My plotboard. I can make do with printer paper that I can jot things down on if I'm not writing at home, but having the plotboard is preferable.  What is my plotboard? It's a giant whiteboard that takes up a good portion of one of my walls. When I'm in the rewrite/revise/planning stages, I really need to be able to see the whole picture--which is what the board does. Plus, I can change it as much as I need to and not feel guilty about wasting paper.

A few other things I like to have available, or in my toolbox so to speak: sticky-notes (although, I have a love/hate relationship with them due to curling...BUT Bailey has introduced me to mostly-sticky sticky-notes, which sounds like the shit, see her post), different colored pens (like those sharpie pens) or stickers (especially if revising/planning).

So, what about you? What things must you have to write/what is in your writing toolbox?

It's the FIRST FRIDAY OF JUNE. WHERE IS THE YEAR GOING????
Since it's the first Friday of the month, my friend Bailey and I owe you/ourselves/each other a blog post. The topic for this month? The WRITING JUNK DRAWER

So, what is in my writing junk drawer?
I'm planning on organizing this drawer pretty soon (seriously), but as of now here a few things in what I've labeled the "junk drawer"
-Stickers: I have star stickers and dot stickers in various colors. I use these for my revision process. I color code subplots. I'm planning on utilizing these for character color coding as well. Each chapter has a "card" that I put on my plotboard, and then put the corresponding stickers on. It's a nice  visual for me to see what's missing, what is silent for too long, what has too much going on etc....
-A hole punch. Doesn't really need explaining. I hope.
-Some flashdrives. One that looks like a zebra because why not.
-Staples (which have been there since I got this desk, because I don't use them)
-Post-it notes.  I have these everywhere, so I don't really have any explanation for that.
-A staple remover. See the above staple note.
-Earphones that hook around your ears. They are for running. I have not yet tried them, but think about them every time I go running and my earbuds fall out.
-These super awesome alligator clips that each have a word on them (some say 'read', some say 'keep', some say 'file'). I love these, but I'm not sure how to incorporate them yet?

What is in your writing junk drawer?

Don't worry. I'm not a week behind. Since both Bailey and I had a busy last week, we decided to do First Friday on, well, the second Friday for this month. Just go with it. First Friday is a blog thingamajig my dear friend and CP Bailey and I started as a way to encourage us to blog more frequently, with the other goal being to enjoy said blogging.
Today's topic (thanks Twitter for the feedback!) is Pet Peeves of the writing kind. In particular, over blocking and the overuse of dialogue tags. 
I know we all can relate to the dream-sequence-as-introduction and the describes-self-in-mirror loathing. Those two things definitely land on my writing-related-shit-that-pisses-me-off lists. Since we all already feel the unhappiness in those areas, I decided to focus on two other pet peeves of mine:

1) Over Blocking.
Example One: He stood. He walked across his room to his door. He opened his door. He walked down the hall. He saw his dog drinking of the toilet. He kept walking and turned down the hall. He reached the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee.


Example Two:  The brick floors under his bare feet made him want to jump back in bed, but instead he made himself march to the door and down the hall. Slurping told him the dog had found the toilet again, but he beelined for the sizzling coffee pot before he even thought about dealing with the dog. 


How does example one make you feel? 
Ok, so 2 isn't a great example, but it works for my point. 
Blocking is, essentially, what your character is doing. It's the actions and movements (walking, crossing the room, opening the door etc). Writing needs blocking.  Blocking gives us context for characters and our settings, and how characters and settings interact with one another and themselves. Without it, we would have lots of dialogue and facial expressions and exposition. We would also be pretty confused. Blocking has a purpose, and sometimes it can be required to set context, and other times it can help add layers to a scene. 

The problem becomes when we get all this stiff, telling blocking movements instead of showing. See example one. Sometimes, brief telling blocking works. We don't need major detail every time a character walks across his room for example.  Too much of that, though, is when things fall flat (and annoying) and tend to tell  more than show.  Example two gets us from the bedroom to the kitchen with (a little) more showing (we can figure the floors are chilly, and we get more of a feeling for him, the frequency of the dogs toilet-drinking etc). I picture stick figures in example one, and, in the very least, slightly more dimensional clothed stick-figures in example two. If you think about characterization, senses and showing while blocking, it can help provide more natural-feeling choreography to the scene. 
PS. I got really worked up over blocking. I will be writing a post complete on good blocking. 


2) Over Dialogue-tagging 

While I'm a little more lenient on an overuse of "said" a million times in a dialogue scene, since readers tend to almost ignore that word, seeing dialogue tags when they aren't needed irks me.  Also, dialogue tags that are not "said" can get to me unless a) they are used sparingly b)the author is the shit no matter what c)the tag fits the character or scene perfectly. Anyway, while an overuse of creative tags can be irksome, my main point in this peeve is simply overusing the dialogue tags in general, when they aren't necessarily.
Let's pull some logic here:

A) The dialogue should give us an inclination to the character. This doesn't always happen, of course, but there are times when we can figure out the character based on what he/she is saying. 

B) If you have only two characters talking, and you're blocking (see what I did there) and whatever else makes sense and isn't jumping all over the place, then we don't need a "it said" (the "it" was just for Bailey- go read her peeves after this ;) ) after every piece of dialogue. THERE ARE TWO PEOPLE. We can figure this out.

C) If you have dialogue followed by an action, see above. Example:
L writes down a sentence with an ambiguous pronoun.
B grabs her by the collar of shirt and begins shaking her. "Ambiguous pronouns must die!"
I promise, I'm not going to be like "Who the eff said that?"

D)
"Hi," she said.
"Hi," her friend replied.
"I hate butterflies," she said.
The other girl said, "I know."
"They're so creepy with wings and shit," she said.
"Right," her friend said. 
"I also hate goats," she added.
"Goats or demon goats?" she said.
She said, "Both."

HOW ANNOYING IS THAT? I can't even continue the example. Also, yes, I know there is nothing but dialogue there so it's not a good example, but that's the point. Even if we blockified and facial-expressionified and leveled up that scene, all the tags would still be hair-pulling worthy. 

What are your pet peeves?

It's the first Friday of the month, so that means… It’s First Friday.

What is First Friday, again? Expect a page for more information soon, but in short: First Friday is a blog hop my dear friend, Bailey, and I started in order to help us get more into blogging. It’s meant to bea fun and thoughtful way for us to look at various things related to our writing. I’ll be creating a page soon, so please check it out in case you want to join us.


Today’s theme is inspiration: What inspires our current writing projects?


So, I wanted to share music that I find inspiring to a few of my projects. This doesn't mean I necessarily listen to music while writing--sometimes I do, sometimes I find it distracting--but these are songs that make me feel my project. It's insta-storyland for me when I hear these songs. 


First up: SummerTime Sadness by Lana Del Rey.

This songs fits my dark fantasy so well. Not necessarily the lyrics, but the vibe. It has a particular atmosphere, and it puts me in my story. This project is still in the way early stages, so I stay pretty tight-lipped about it. But it’s a fantasy, and it’s a somewhat dark fantasy, and this song kicks butt. 


Second: Power Trip by J. Cole.

*Please note this song does have some explicit language


I don’t have a title yet, but this song gets me in the mood for writing Shane’s book--the next Whatever It Takes novel. The novel focuses on Shane--he’s a hot mess, let me tell you--and takes place after Fierce. That being said, the Whatever It Takes novels do NOT have to be read in order or as a series. Each novel stands on its own. Anyway, Shane is just...Shane. He’s got a lot going on, he gets pushed to his max and this song just has the right vibe.



What do you find inspiring for your writing?