"Everyday" vs "Every Day"

I found this article to be interesting on the Writers Digest website, it goes into the use of the term everyday as compared to every day. As writers, we have all probably run into those moments where you aren't sure which is correct. This article will help! Click here to see the article

Here's a quick summary of it if you don't want to click on the link above:

"Everyday" is an adjective that describes on object. "That is an everyday item."

"Every day" is an adverbial phrase. "Every" is describing "Day". So, "I wake up every day and fluff my pet llama."

That's pretty much it. Hopefully it helps you out. Comment below, share, let me know about your writing ventures.

-Matt

First person POV.

Alright,

So I am trying my hand at first person POV. Normally I stick to some kind of 3rd person... it is, I believe, one of the most common POVs that writers use. But in an effort to flex my writing muscles, I decided to punish myself by switching to something new for a bit!

First thing I'm noticing about switching from 3rd to 1st, is that I feel a lot more repetitive... all of the "I" and "my, "me", whatever, seems to stand out more than any of the equivalents in 3rd. Another thing is sharing information. There isn't really any jumping into the thoughts of others, since you are sticking to the perspective of your main character. Everything needs to be told from his/her perspective, and that makes for an interesting exercise. On the bright side, I have read and believe, that writing in first person makes it easier for the reader to connect to your character, since you're describing things a lot more intimately, and can convey attitudes towards objects more directly.

If you have never tried writing in first person, check it out, even if you don't think you will like it!
If you have written in first person before, or do it regularly, please share your experiences in the comments below! Tell us what you think! Or if you would like to do a guest article feel free to send me a tweet @matttaylor1776 and we can talk about potential topics including first person pieces!

Good luck! Like and share this blog post if you found it interesting, join in the conversation!

Matt

Dry spell...

Alright, this post really isn't about a specific writing topic. I am just flustered with not being sure whether I should start writing a new manuscript, or continue with my revisions and editing... Boooooo I'm not sure.

What do my fellow writers do when they have a dry spell?! (A writing dry spell...)

-Matt.

Writing for Fun

Alright, so I listened to the latest Writing Excuses -check this sweet podcast out here:

http://www.writingexcuses.com/

It was an interesting topic: Writing for fun.

Often times, as writers, we can get caught up in:
"I need to finish this project simply because it's a deadline to meet."
"I need to write this to make money."
"I can't work on that idea because it is silly and won't make me money."

Sure, there are writers that write just for fun, and there are others who write with the intent to make money off of it, admittedly I am the latter. There is nothing wrong with that. If you are writing to make money, good for you, hopefully it is successful! If you are writing just for fun, good for you! Do what you enjoy! My message is mainly for the crowd who is writing for money.

Don't forget to have fun with it.

My bet is the first time you started writing, was because you found the task fun. If you didn't get any joy out of it, why would you do it initially? You don't want to take the craft that you've worked so hard to polish up, and suck the fun out of it. The day you write begrudgingly, simply because you need to, is the day it becomes a job just like any other job. So, take the time to work on that silly idea, write out a few scenes of that thing you don't think would sell. Because in the end, it's still practice.

Every time you write you polish things up even more for the day you are working on that big seller idea. Brandon Sanderson himself admitted he has plenty of things that he never intends to publish, Stephen King probably has tons of ideas as well that will never be published -not because they can't (that guy can publish anything), but because he wrote them to be silly, to have "fun". I guess what I'm saying is that having fun, doesn't equate to not being productive. At the very least, you are honing more of the writing craft.

Who knows what else you'll discover along the way.

Follow me on twitter! @MattTaylor1776 I will follow you back, I promise. Like and share this post! Comment! Share your thoughts, I'd love to hear from you!

-Matt

"Heedless" is out! and other news.

Well, my short story "Heedless" is out. Book 1 of the Jax Jensen Trilogy. I would post a link to the amazon page, but there are plenty scattered about I don't want to overwhelm you all with links. Book two has gone off for editing. And I have started revising book 3.

As for nonwriting things, I saw the third Hobbit. I'll just leave it at this: I liked the first one in terms of story/progression more. But this one had the greatest amount of action and "cool" scenes. There were plenty of "what the heck" moments scattered throughout though.

On the Warhammer 40k front, I have started a Blood Angels army, those guys look pretty cool. I know a lot of individuals are hating on the codex, but, I actually don't mind it right now!

Did you guys see the hobbit? Any fellow 40k players here? My writing friends, any updates? Let me know!

Follow me on twitter to chat! (I follow back) @MattTaylor1776 , or comment below! Like and share the blog!

Love you all!

-Matt

"Heedless" Short Story Progress: With pictures of book cover progress.

First concept: Very comic book looking, more cartoon-like

Earlier Concept: Testing out crimson uniform.

Heedless Semi-Final Cover Concept: Black uniform, black duster, medals and badges still need to be added.

Alright so in the next week or so, my first short story, "Heedless", will be up for preorder on Amazon Kindle! My friend Joshua made this lovely piece, you can see more of his work at http://www.joshuapapaleo.com/ .

That is the main character in the story, Jax Jensen. These three short stories I am releasing are going to be a preceding trilogy to a series of novels featuring him and his universe (which I have been calling the Jensen-verse... its a working title...). I can't decide what to call the short story collections, I was thinking "The Jax Jensen Trilogy" so, Heedless would be scrawled across the top, then beneath would read "Book 1 of the Jax Jensen Trilogy". My only issue with that is, what do I do with the longer novels once those are out?"

What do you all think? Eye catching? We are trying to decide what to do with the background, right now, as pictured above, it is just a black to grey gradient. (Or should I say grey-dient -hahaha!)

Anyway, comment below and let me know what you all think! I would love to hear input, if you like the artwork, go checkout my buddy Josh's site, it is still in its early stages, but I know he has some stuff up there right now. He will be doing the next three covers as well!

Follow me on twitter! @MattTaylor1776

I love talking to new people, especially those who share my interests! So, if you want to talk about writing, war gaming, or anything really, just leave a comment, shoot me a tweet, send me a pigeon!

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Finished NaNoWriMo 2014!

I finished NaNoWriMo this year, at a word count of: 50,537 words!

Boy it was a challenge. But it was a good experience, being encouraged to write an entire novel in one month. I didn't really hit that lull some writers get when you hit the mid point in your story, because I didn't really have time to get tired of the idea. I'm glad it's over, it was a great feeling of accomplishment, ready for 2015!

I wrote a novel with a female lead, which was different! It's weird as a male to write a female roll, I'm never sure if how I'm saying something, or the details my character is noticing, is genuinely what a girl would notice. Example: My mom pointed out the waitresses ring tonight at dinner because she thought it was pretty. My dad and I never even looked at her ring or hand to see if there was any jewelry. The novel is set in 1865 America, but the civil war has stalled out since the southern generals used more defensive tactics to mitigate the differences in manpower. The main character is a gunslinger who hunts down monsters, and the magic system in this world is called Cattlemancy, which is temporary augmentations granted by little vials of brewed liquid taken from the cattle and mixed with voodoo Indian rituals to result in a specific enhancement for a certain period of time. Anyway that's all I'm going to say about it for now. Back to formatting my first short story for kindle, will be releasing it later this month! (December)

Did you guys participate this year? What was your experience like? Let me know in the comments below!

Follow me on twitter and I'll follow back! @MattTaylor1776

Thanks,

Matt

Tyranid Tuesday

Alright, so some of you may know that I play Warhammer 40k, it is a tabletop war game set in the grimdark future of the 41st millennium! I have roughly two thousand points of Eldar, and with the release of the new Tyranids have decided to start a Tyranid swarm!

It is a daunting task though, so many awesome models, I'm not sure where to start. Definitely out of my comfort zone as far as play style goes... my Eldar are lightning quick and unleash an ungodly amount of firepower... I was to make these nids close combat focused -as their fluff would suggest... if you have never heard of Warhammer, check out the two videos I have linked below... they serve as thoughtful inspiration for science fiction writing, and many writers may find their lore and the other lore intriguing!

Eldar Lore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64PdT7nnALo

Tyranid Lore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsHRsuMW9_0

anyway, comment below if you are excited for the new models! Or have found the two videos above interesting/inspiring for any of your world building!

For the gamers out there, I am thinking of making a swarm using the new sporemines. Taking 6 as my troop choice (2x3 units or 3x 2 units) and drop podding in 3 fex. The mines will drop and contain the enemy, or disrupt their lines, then the fex will drop and wreck vehicles and everything else while being covered by the shooting of the pods and the flyrants... think it'll work?

-Matt

Follow me on Twitter! @MattTaylor1776  I will follow back I swear!
Like and share this post, become part of my little writing community!
If you are participating in NaNoWriMo add me to your writing buddies! = MatthewTaylor1776

NaNoWriMo Day 3!

Alright, so we are three days into NaNo... everyone still breathing? Check your pulses. Stretch your legs. Brace yourself for more... MoMoWriMo (More More Write More?)

Anyway, I fell a bit behind due to Halloween. Derek needs more pressure into starting, I think he is scared, so tweet him words of encouragement! @derekdyer_WF

Comment below and let me know how your WriMo is going!

-Matt

Short Stories!

Short stories are a growing trend among all authors, new and published alike. While old publishing methods arguably did not favor production of short stories, new publishing practices with the advent of the eBook market (Here's lookin' at you Kindle/Amazon) are enabling all writers to produce and distribute short works to a massive audience. Here are some benefits of short stories:

Earning Potential: With the ability to put out multiple short stories within a short length of time, and sell them at a price that most full length novels are being sold for. Shorts offer a great way to make quick income. Per word, a short story can make more money than a novel. Shorts also offer multiple selling options. You could sell: Short 1, Short 2, Short 3. Three options right? Well consider a 4th option which won't cost you anything but a few extra minutes, sell a collection of the first three shorts as a value bundle. More often than not a reader will pick up the first short, and if they like it purchase the collection instead of individually buying the other two -which works out great for you, if you stop to consider what is actually taking place.

Bridge Between Novels: Alright, so you wrote Novel 1, and are getting to work on Novel 2. Meanwhile your loyal fans and ravenous readers are chomping at the bit to get at more of your work. To see other aspects of your world, and to be taken on more adventures. You can use short stories to sate the hunger of your followers while you type away at Novel 2, whether its to include short side stories or introduce other characters.

Networking: Short stories offer a great way for you to network with other writers and readers. You can use it to hook new readers onto your work, or to develop writing skills. Plenty of websites like Figment, and Wattpad service thousands upon thousands of new writers and offer readers looking for the next big thing a source to scour. (Shameless plug: My buddy and I who also run the blog "Wordsmiths Foundry" have made an account on Wattpad where we will be sharing shorts/flashfiction randomly. http://www.wattpad.com/user/WordsmithsFoundry)

Writing habits.

Alright, so I was just thinking about the habits I have when I go and write... specifically, I feel like I can only get good quality writing in either at night, or at the local coffee shop. Also, it seems to help if I have a nice drink such as some milk, tea, whatever.

I'm curious, do any of you have any writing habits you maintain? Do you find you only write well at X time of day? Or time of week? "I only do my best writing on Tuesdays... if I start at 12:05 pm." That's absurd but, hey, someone may have a habit like that... Its all mental... right?

Comment, share, and let me know what your favorite writing habits are!

-Matt

Got my second edit back!

I received the second edit of "Heedless" back from the editor at CreateSpace. Unfortunately due to some cosmic mistake (or just an error on my own) I had resent the firsts draft of the story. So I essentially have just gotten my original story revised two different times.

I probably should have vouched to keep the same editor. Maybe she would have caught the mistake. Either way, I got the service I paid for! At least I can compare both now and see what each editor picked out.

Do any of you have interested editing/editor stories?

Comment below! Like and share!

-Matt

Posting Schedule

Alright, this blog is missing something... A POSTING SCHEDULE. Thinking Monday and Friday. Good idea? Any day you guys think would be better? Let me know! Comment below!

Interesting Folklore

Alright, so I was stuck trying to come up with some new ideas for future writings... and started looking into different bits of folklore! My buddy clued me in on this recent comic called Manifest Destiny (https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/manifest-destiny). Pretty sweet concept, just ordered the first trade paperback off of The Amazinz. (Amazon...) Manifest Destiny is pretty much Lewis and Clarks expeditions here in America, but with fantasy elements such as minotaurs and other creatures of the fay.

I will give it a read when it arrives and post my thoughts! In other news, Kim Jong Un is missing... for the past month... do you think that has anything to do with James Franco and Seth Rogen?! Thats a reference to their upcoming movie The Interview.

What folklore have you used to help inspire your writings? Anything you would like to share? Comment below! Share the blog! Grow our community!

NaNoWriMo is coming up!

Alright,

Who here is getting ready for NaNoWriMo? When you will fill your month of November by frantically throwing words on paper until you hit your word goal, generally 50,000 words. Full disclosure here, I've never done NaNoWriMo from scratch. Last November I just started halfway through by counting a story I had already been working on... don't judge me!

This year. It begins.

I shall grab NaNoWriMo by the horns, wrestle it to the ground, and pummel it mercilessly until it cries for mommy -or it will be the other way round. (Here's hoping it isn't.)

Anyway, if you have any intention of participating in NaNoWriMo, comment below! How are you preparing? Doing world building now? Outlines? Just brainstorming in general?

http://nanowrimo.org/

Above is the link to the NaNoWriMo website! Check it out!

Good luck to all of you! Don't forget to share this blog, comment, like, whatever! It's a community and I look forward to hearing from all of you.

Happy writing, (Thats my new closing... sounds better than 'thanks!', right?)

Matt

Writing Interesting Characters: Quirks and Hobbies.

Alright, so one thing that I hear talked about a lot, is character creation and making characters that seem well rounded and not flat.

One interesting thing I have learned to do through the various books I have read on the topic, as well as the pod casts and videos I have watched is to give all of my characters interesting quirks or hobbies.

By giving a character a hobby, coin collecting for instance, you add a new dimension to that character. They aren't just existing with only the current happenings of the story to define them, but have something they care about besides the problems in the plot that add more depth. One I have used is dirt collecting. In my fantasy novels, the first mate of the ship -who is a dwarf- collects a little vial of dirt whenever he travels to a new location.

Now to you and me, dirt may seem boring or pointless. But it makes that character seem a bit more real. Why do they collect the dirt? Who knows, he just likes to do it. But I can relate to collecting and so can plenty of others. In real life I like to collect the squished pennies from the penny crushers whenever I travel somewhere new. It gives me something to look back on and remember fun trips I have gone on. My dwarf happens to keep all of his dirt vials in his cabin, on a rack, so maybe he likes to sit down and think about past adventures. Plus, dwarfs and earth (maybe a bit too cliche), am I right?

Besides that, you can use their hobbies to introduce new plot complications, or solutions. Maybe the dirt collector really knows his stuff, so if there's an issue where soil must be identified he can help out and still be believable. Maybe his collection goes missing - bam! new task for the characters to do. Time to catch the dirt-napper.

Anyway, that's just a quick little thought I had on the topic. Wanted to share it with you all, nothing earth shattering or revolutionary, but useful.

Happy writing!

Matt

Here are some useful Hashtags for connecting with other writers on Twitter!

#1K1H (write one thousand words in one hour)
#AmWriting
#AmEditing
#AmRevising
#CopyWriting
#EditGoal
#Editing
#IndieAuthor
#MyWANA (writer’s community created by Kirsten Lamb)
#NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month is held every November)
#RomanceWriter
#ScriptChat
#WIP
#WordCount
#WriteChat
#WriteGoal
#WriteMotivation
#WritersLIfe
#WriterWednesday
#Writing
#WritingBlitz
#WritingPrompt
#WritersBlock
#WroteToday
#WW

Revisions update!

Alright, so the first short, "Heedless" is going through its second round of editing. Pretty exciting, although I'm not sure what more could be changed. If anyone is interested in reading it and giving some feedback that would be great. If there is an artist out there who would like to take the challenge of making a cover, that too would be great.

How's everyone doing? I hope you're all having a great week. I'm trying to find things to write while I go through revisions... easier said than done...

-Matt

Got my first line edit back!

Well great news! Editor had good things to say, made some changes that I think will really help the story flow better and tighten it up! 2 more overviews to go. No progress on the cover art though, my last cover artist bailed due to other things he had to deal with, so hopefully I will find a new one soon!

How has everyone else been?

-Matt

Sent "Heedless" off for editing!

Well, title says it all! I sent "Heedless" off for editing. Trying out CreateSpace. The service so far has been great! I shall let you all know how the rest of the process is!

-Matt