My Writing Creed

I listened to a webinar hosted by Jeff Goins a little while ago that was incredibly inspiring to me. There was nothing new that he said that I didn't already know but just the way he said it, how he pieced all of those thoughts that I've had, things that I learned and writing beliefs that I held into this wonderful picture that made me believe that:

I AM A WRITER!!

One of the biggest things I got from his talk was that you write for yourself first, never worry about who will read it or what they'll think of it. If you love writing YA then write YA but if you are only doing it because it's popular right now and it will be your best chance at getting published then for God's sake

STOP FUCKING WRITING RIGHT NOW!!

He had a lot of other great tips as well, one of them was about creating a writing space. In theory this should be easy, find a spot in your house, fill it with inspiring pictures, quotes items as so forth. I would love to do this but unfortunately there is no where in the house that I could call my own. Also in the spirit of Mr. Goins I decided not to make excuses but instead find solutions so I am making a portable office!

I have a mailbag, leather file folder, pens, pencils, notebooks and my archaic netbook (which when at home I will attach to a monitor and keyboard). I am printing out my creed and putting it in a frame along with pictures of my family. I am also going to get a Lego figurine (long story) as my coach. Also in my portable office will be my worn copy of The World According to Garp and a Webster's Dictionary. No matter where I am writing I will set up my office and that will be my space (okay, it may be a little awkward on the bus if I start bussing to work).

Now, about my writing creed. That picture has the authors that have inspired me, 

• Ernest Hemingway - his beautiful way with words that were sparse yet never lacking.
• Hunter S. Thompson - Truly gonzo and never giving a fuck about what people wanted him to write but instead wrote exactly what he felt needed to be written
• Stephen King - The first really adult author I got into and still love to this day
• A. Lee Martinez - He takes characters and settings to places that completely turn the rules of fantasy on its head without breaking them
• Steve Umstead - His style and skills with SciFi are as great as any contemporarily published author yet he is independent. He opened up the world of self-publishing to me.
• Everette Powers - Another independent author who made me believe that I didn't need to be traditionally published to be read and also someone who proves that self published authors are truly as great as their traditionally published peers, if not better.

My other inspiration is The World According to Garp by John Irving. I bought the copy you see in that poster while I was in the Solomon Islands at a used book store. I have probably read it at least ten times and each time I read it I love it more. The character of T.S. Garp resonates with me as a writer and although his backstory is nothing like mine (I grew up with two loving parents and have never been to Vienna) his writing style and voice is very similar to mine or perhaps I have unconsciously emulated him, either way as a writer I relate more to him than any real writer.

My creed:

There Are Over 7 Billion People In This World

One Of Them Is Bound To Like My Shitty Prose

I Will Write For Them

What it means is that somewhere someone is going to like what I write and I only need to write for them as opposed to writing for the masses. It also means that even if I am the only one who likes "My Shitty Prose" then that's fine I will write for myself.

I hope that my favourite readers will take a moment and go to Jeff Goins' blog. If you sign up you get a really great download called The Writer's Manifesto.

I think it would be great if all writer's made their own creed, if you do one please share it, I would love to see it!

Thanks for Reading

The Writer's Dojo Returns!

The Writer's Dojo is returning to its roots and invites you to join in on the fun! 

When I first started the writer's dojo in 2008, I did it as a way to keep the glory of National Novel Writing Month alive all year long. I loved the camaraderie and support I received during the month of November and desired that same feeling of community every month of the year, in every aspect of writing--not just the drafting.

Beginning February 1st, 2013, the writer's dojo returns to its roots and ushers in a new age of ninjawesomeness. Each month we will open three training rooms at the writer's dojo website. A room for drafters (Writing Month, aka WriMo), a room for revisers (Revising Month, aka ReMo) and a room for those querying (Querying Month, aka QuMo).

We invite you to set your own goals, whether it's to write a thousand words a day, revise ten pages a week, or submit twenty queries in a month, and register your goal in the appropriate training room.

Every Monday we'll post the leaderboard for the previous week, and at the end of each month those who met their goal will be able to post the coveted Writing Ninja Warrior badge on their blog or website.

To help you reach your goals, we have a number of ways to support you:

CHATS: At the dojo every Thursday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.

TWITTER: Anytime, day or night, at #writingninja.

GOOGLE+: Join our community for random write-ins and sprints.

NEWSLETTER: Subscribe to our Ninja News and once a month you'll receive an email with an encouraging note and a list of the top performers for the previous month. There will also be opportunities for giveaways, starting with February's newsletter!

We hope to see you at the dojo as you reach for--and achieve--your goals! If you’re interested in seeing what it looks like, just post it in the text box of your blog and then click on “Preview” and you’ll see the simple message=) Please feel free to add your own thoughts on the matter. I’ll see you all around The Writer’s Dojo!!

It's December 1st, now what? KEEP WRITING!

I spent the month of November frantically shooting words at a computer screen and hoped they'd fit.  They did.  I hit my mark of 50,000 words!  I'm very proud of my accomplishments (as I should be) and also very proud of all of my friends that acheived theres, or at least gave it an honest effort.

Over NaNoWriMo I started off at the kick-off party and wrote my face off until two in the morning.  Tired and butt dragging the next day I managed to sneak in a couple of thousand words the next day and carried on.  I never looked back, never deleted anything and just plowed through my story like a blind dozer driver.  I managed to take a little breather with the mid-way party on the 15th then, did the most insane thing ever, on the  26th, a twelve hour write in.  We spend all day (from 2pm - 2am) couped up in the Wok n Grill at the Roadking truck stop and wrote our asses off!  I threw down over 8,000 words that night and at around 10:30 got up and rang the bell, marking my completion of 50,000 words.  I really want to thank the Calgary Municiple Leads, Naiya Azurewater and Xanateria for their stand-up jobs running the shows, keeping us in line and exceptional support, especially for a newbie like me!  The next thing is the TGIO aka Thank God it's Over celebration but here's the thing:

IT'S NOT OVER

My story hasn't yet concluded.  I think that I am actually only three quarters of the way to the real finish line of the story, my characters are still hanging out waiting for the climax, it's coming, it's building but it hasn't yet arrived.  I need to keep writing.  The 50,000 mark is just an arbitrary goal, a book mark in an unfinished tale.  I must set a new goal, I can't just leave James, Chastity, Brock, Brian, Mary-Jane, Nestor and Glorik hanging out at The Restaurant and the Edge of the Universe (btw, this is not a metaphor, they are actually sitting there) chatting with James' Great-great-great…grandfather while waiting for the formerly kind but now evil General Navy McClintock to find them.  The story must go on.

I know many of you are probably sitting in the same position as me, you've hit the mark, rung the bell and sat back and said, "Phew, that was fun but I need a break."  I hope that you are able to pull your writing brain back together and finish your story, your characters deserve it!

After that, editing, but I don't even want to think about that yet.

Thanks for Reading!

A one night writer's retreat = 5000 words!

York Creek Bed & Breakfast

Box 1029

1213 - 85 Street

Coleman, AB Canada T0K 0M0

403-563-3333

If you ever find yourself in the Crowsnest Pass (located in Southwestern Alberta) you must stay at the York Creek Bed and Breakfast!  I had the opportunity to go down there for work over night.  Ken and Anne are super friendly folks who built the beautiful log home with a wonderful view of the spectacular Crowsnest Pass area.  The rooms were spacious and quiet and extremely inviting!  What an inspirational place, especially for a writer!  (Oh, the beds are crazy comfy too!  They are those adjustable beds which I always figured at the end of the day wouldn't be that comfortable… wrong!)

Last night I arrived at around 5:00, visited for about an hour then with the exception of a half-hour tea break wrote steadily until 11:30!  I accomplished 5,000 words!  I am nearly to the half way mark of my NaNoWriMo goal and it's only the 9th!

Other than the setting and getting several hours of uninterupted writing time, it also helped that the drive down took three hours of which I spent going over the direction my story was going to go so by the time I got "the dinosaur" fired up I had everything planned out!  A writer's best friends is solitude, both for writing and thinking.  They should never be in the same place.

Now, this is not the end of my praise for the YC B&B!  This morning I was greeted with delicious coffee and a feast!  I mentioned that I wasn't a finicky eater and I was so glad I did, here was my breakfast (wish I had taken a picture).  Everything was homemade:

• Toast with French Canadian Pork Pate
• Cinnamon Buns, hot and fresh from the oven
• Cantaloupe
• Bacon
• Ham
• A Poached egg
• Baked Home Fries
• A flowered tomato

Needless to say, I didn't couldn't, eat it all and I did not leave hungry!

Now, I just need to find an excuse to go back again before November is over…

Thanks For Reading

D. Ryan Leask

Am I F*#king Insane? Camp NaNoWriMo and Editing?

What have I done?
Since I learned about it, I have always wanted to participate in the NaNoWriMo (stands for National Novel Writing Month).  Generally it occurs in November and runs for a month.  The goal is to write a novel in a month, or at least enough words for a novel in a month.  That's 50,000 words or approximately 1667 words a day (yikes, when I put it that way it sounds even scarier!).  I recently found out about Camp NaNoWriMo, it's the same thing except they are trying a year round thing and well, I joined.
Now this in itself isn't that bad except just yesterday (well this morning if you count the rewrite of the ending) I finished the first draft of my first novel.  I set out a goal for myself of editing ten pages a day.  Why did I start NaNoWriMo when I obviously have more pressing things I need to do?

Here is my dilemma.  When I was two-thirds of my way through "Death By Putts" (DbP) I realized there was another story that needed to be told, a story about Gavin Petters, the main character that my main character made his career from.  I had a really cool storyline that needed to come out.  I could have waited until I was completely finished DbP but I really think that story should be read after the one I want to write for NaNoWriMo.  Both would be stand alone and you wouldn't have to read one to get the other but there are certain aspects of DbP that may serve as minor spoilers to my idea (tentatively named "Killing Gavin Petters" (KGP). So, in a spur of the moment decision I joined July's running of Camp NaNoWriMo.  I outlined most of KGP today, after all I do already know the two main characters from writing DbP and that one is complete.

Well anyway you know what they say, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

You can find me at Camp NaNoWriMo as DryanRack, I'll be the one attempting to cliff jump into shallow water when I realize that I have bitten off more than I can chew!

Thanks For Reading

D. Ryan Leask

Setting: Writing What You Know

My current most active WIP takes place here in Calgary.  I have avoided using places I know well in other stories I have written because I'm always afraid that the reader won't be able to connect with a place he has never been to or isn't part of popular culture.  Let's face it, although Calgary is growing and is a major centre by Canadian standards, it isn't New York (or even Fargo for that matter).  So here are some question I would like to ask of people:

Where do your stories take place?
How do you introduce your setting?
If you set your story in a well known location (London/New York/Hong Kong) do you assume that everyone knows enough about it to skip over major details?
If you set your story in a less famous place what to you include to familiarize your reader with it?

And here is an exercise:
Paint a picture with words of this vista: