The Enhanced Skills Guide for Procrastination Writing

Its crunch time for your literary work of art and the deadline is approaching
lightning fast. Whether it’s for a Blog, Novel, or NaNoWriMo, you’re more interested in a YouTube video of cute and cuddly sloths. It’s no big deal you can get it done later, you’ve got time and besides you work best under pressure so what’s the hurry. Well if you have said I have been there and done that, you have excellent procrastination skills!

Oh I almost forgot I was supposed to write a stint on motivation; not how to procrastinate like a ninja and still manage to get your project done in the nick of time. I guess I will have to save that for another post. Now let’s get down to the dirty scoop on how to be motivated, even though I want to procrastinate and go look at the cute sloths right now… Oh look a shiny new light bulb!

First off procrastination can be used as a means to provide motivation; the trick is to stay on topic. Researching aspects of what you will write is a great way to put depth into your writing, watching videos on the topic can spark some fresh ideas. Talking about what you will write or have written can offer different perspectives that can help keep the creativity magma flowing when it becomes stagnate after looking at cute sloths. The thing is you can procrastinate and keep motivated!

There are so many ways to keep motivated that quite frankly you would be reading for days if I name them all. This is only a small fraction of what you can do to stay motivated and feel free to leave in the comments below of what helps keep you motivated.

1. Motivation is just another word for inspiration. If you are lacking in motivation to write, perhaps you are losing inspiration for your plot, character or theme and maybe you need to revisit those sections and change it up, by maybe killing someone in the plot, or throwing them into an inter-dimensional rift; well at least revisit your work and see if the project you are writing is really the right one for you. If you find things that you’re passionate about, writing becomes easy.

2. One of the things that can kill your motivation to write is expecting too much. Maybe you've set a goal for so many words a day or pages a week and it is too daunting. One of the things that helps get over this is do not think about how much you need to write and just write. It does not need to be perfect. Don’t worry about getting it right…just get it down. First drafts usually suck. That’s why second, third, and eighth drafts exist. Aim for excellent results, but don’t set the bar too high at first. Having a sloppy but finished first draft is far better than having no draft at all Try organizing some ideas on sticky notes, napkins, sugar packets in the middle of a restaurant (Yes I have written an entire poem on sugar packets because I had nothing to write on) post them around so that you can submerge yourself with ideas and motivation.

3. Eliminate distractions, whatever they may be. I deleted my Facebook account because I was too distracted and my writing suffered greatly. This may also apply to those who need to turn off their cell phone and, if possible, their internet connection. Escape from people who demand your attention. Each distraction pulls your focus away from the task at hand.

4. Be accountable for what you write, it’s hard to be unmotivated when you have people eager to read what you’ve written. Join writing circles, attend a silent write in a Goggle+ Hangout, and go out with your local writer’s clubs such as NaNoWriMo and Literary+. Get others to put a bit of friendly pressure on you to help keep the imagination station from stalling. Post your goal on your blog and post regular updates. It’s important that you not just post the goal but also stay accountable with the updates. Encourage people to ask you about your goal if you don’t report your progress.

5. Where you write matters! If you are in a place that you are distracted, too comfortable in the sense it will make you fall asleep such as your bed, or if you are in an atmosphere that does not enable you to write such as a significant other asking every thirty minutes if you’re going to play World of Warcraft with them; not naming names. (Tj) It is impossible to be motivated and inspired. If you are in a quiet space surrounded by nature or books or something of that environment, you will be able inspired and motivated to write!

At the moment the number one thing that has been motivating me to write is the company I keep, and donating most of what I sell (90%) to the MS Society of Canada. The more I write and the more people take notice and donate to me, the more I can donate to a place that holds dear to my heart. I provide proof of where the money goes via online registration and pictures as I am sincere and honest, but it is my driving force that helps me keep going even through the toughest of times when I am unable to write due to pain. My other inspiration to keep writing is to breathe life into my characters as often they become their own entities, and I am the person solely responsible to make sure they have an opportunity to step out into the world.

I shall go look at cute, cuddly and adorable sloths now! And as I always say… “A procrastinator’s work is never done!”

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More about A.K. Flynn:

Salutations! My Name is A.K. Flynn, I'm a 27 year old bright eyed bushy tailed Child and Youth Worker to be, who is very ambitious and absolutely in love with writing all sorts mind perplexing Fiction. I also tend to pour my emotions out on the screen as it is the only thing that keeps my hectic life sane. As of right now my website and second novel seems to be a major focus and writing is my major outlet so it all pans out perfectly. Oh did I mention I was a redhead? Well now you know! So you know my writing has got to be good, because redheads are very spontaneous... (runs off into the distance babbling to herself)

Links:
Blog: Inside The Perplexed Mind of a Dreamer
G+ profile: A.K. Flynn

Literary+ is a writer based project brought together and lead by Shen Hart. It brings together passionate, quality self-published writers to help each other promote their work, bringing more readers to every member. It was sparked by the simple fact that there are many top quality self-published authors being over-looked because they do not have the time and resources to efficiently and effectively market and promote themselves. With ambition and passion, Literary+ will take its members to the heights they deserve through a tight-knit community of like-minded writers.

His Face All Red

A few weeks ago, I read the webcomic "His Face All Red" by Emily Carroll
(http://emcarroll.com/comics/faceallred/01.html), which possessed me to write this:

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How could you be so well, brother
How could you be so right
When I killed you with a push, brother
in the woods, that night

As we gather in the tavern
The crowd around you grows
And I cannot understand, you see
How nobody there knows
That the man who stands before them
Though he seems like brother mine
Is no relation to human men
with beastly light he shines

I was trying to be hero-ish
That day deep in the woods
To emulate my brother dear
The way that all men should
But my jealousy was stronger
than my bravery that night
when I killed my bother in the woods
Killed him there without a fight

How could you be so well, brother
How could you be so right
When I killed you with a push, brother
in the woods, that night

For a fortnight and a fortnight more
a beast had roamed the land
killing livestock, wrecking fences
Like a hammer from Thor's hand
When my brother lost his holdings
I stood up to hunt the beast
Facing laughter from the townsfolk
For of brothers, I was least

But he stood up there beside me
"We shall bring the terror down"
And the laughter then subsided
As we stood before the town
And that night we walked the forest
Walked the woods all quiet and dark
And my brother talked to loudly
And our way he did not mark

How could you be so well, brother
How could you be so right
When I killed you with a push, brother
in the woods, that night

Then we came upon a shadow
Dug so deep into the ground
The scent of lilac floating
like from ladies in the town
As we knelt to see the bottom
He the greater, I the least
From trees around came growling
There he found us, had the beast

Without thinking, I ran far away
Into the woods that night
And when I finally did return
My brother'd slayed the blight
"Twas a wolf, that's all" he said to me
"A wolf, he laughed so gay
And I knew that all the town would be
So grateful the next day.

How could you be so well, brother
How could you be so right
When I killed you with a push, brother
in the woods, that night

As we laughed I stepped around him
as if to see the beast up near
But then I spun and hit him
Twice and thrice, from the rear
When the work was done, I dragged him
His face all dark and red
To the shadow in the ground
and let him fall, for he was dead

Then I carried back the beast
To the town on shoulders wide
And a scrap of coat all bloodied
That my brother wore that night
"We had split up," I told the townsfolk,
"The beast devored him all,
"But I killed the monster then,
"And avenged my brother's fall."

How could you be so well, brother
How could you be so right
When I killed you with a push, brother
in the woods, that night

And they cheered me then, the villagers
even my brother's wife
And though I feared another attack
Through the night survived all life
People thanked me and consoled me
For my loss and bravery
And my brother's farm and animals
Were given then, to me.

So I slept the sleep of innocense
No dreams to stir and toss
And three days did pass without a death
Three days without a loss,
But on the third day from the woods
My brother walked from there
"Thought I was lost," he said so loud
"But my brother led me here."

How could you be so well, brother
How could you be so right
When I killed you with a push, brother
in the woods, that night

And as the townsfolk cheered and laughed
I knew it was not him.
His wife was fooled, the mayor too
But I knew t'was not my kin
For though he looked just like the man
I'd known since I was born
It could not be my brother slain
His fine coat was not torn.

So now my dreams are scarred with fear
And sleep I cannot make
His face all red I always see
Red when life I did take
And every night I see him there
out in the emtpy fields
He's digging down so very deep
And shadows he reveals

How could you be so well, brother
How could you be so right
When I killed you with a push, brother
in the woods, that night

Now every morn, I stumble in
To break fast in his home
But he will not deign to look at me
So now the woods I roam
And finally one night I find
The shadow in the ground
And down I climb the putrid walls
To see what can be found.

When I have reached the bottom
Of the shadow well so deep
And with the lantern flickering
I will find what I do seek
My brother's body, slumped across
the floor, his face all red
But as I reach to touch him, his eye opens...
He's not dead.

How could you be so well, brother
How could you be so right
When I killed you with a push, brother
In the woods, that night

Batman Killed My Mary Sue - When a Character is Just Too Dark

Today, fantasy author JD Savage will be providing his unique take on things as part of the first ever Literary Plus Blog Tour!

Batman Killed My Mary Sue - When a Character is Just Too Dark

All the world loves a villain. We love to see him revel in his, (or her) own evil-ness. We love to watch, sometimes through parted fingers, the debauchery and vile doings of the world’s most wicked of foes. For, he must be a foe to the hero, someone who is just slightly less powerful, someone who can achieve victory beyond all hope. Someone to save us from this delicious maniac.

The delight in creating a villain is intoxicating. The chance to let go of all of those social rules and moral wrongs is a liberating thing. It allows us as writers to plunge ourselves into the darkest of pits without fear, because we know the stalwart hero will win in the end.

But sometimes, there is a danger in creating the villain that may slip past the unsuspecting writer. That danger is in the making of him. Because a villain must appeal to some part of us. The bad guy must have something about him that makes him relatable, something to anchor him to the reader, even if it’s merely a sense of style. To make the villain so wholly evil as to have no redeeming qualities is just as dangerous as creating the Mary Sue - that character with no flaws, no mistakes in her past and no choice but to do the right thing.

Both become tedious for the reader because there is no surprise. If we know Mary Sue will uncover the bad guy’s plot, we can live with it, as long as there is some question about what she’ll do about it. If we know she will certainly do the right thing… well… why am I reading this again? The same is true for the villain.

Consider this: A henchman brings forth the child, kidnapped as a central plot point. The villain kills the child. There’s no where to go now. The hero must avenge.
But, if the henchman brings forth the child, and offers him up for the slaughter and the villain stabs the henchman, woah! Why? The child has blue eyes, and the villain’s mother had blue eyes. The villain reflects on his mother’s cruelty toward him as a youngster.

Oh, now I want to know more. I’m turning page after page, hoping for more glimpses into his back story as he carves a bloody path through the adults that stand in his way. Why does he do this? If the villain and I share traits, what keeps me from becoming just like him? How close to the edge am I really?

With some aspect of the villain’s character creating doubt about where he sits between good and evil, there is a chance of redemption. Will he take that final step, or will he see the error of his ways? Whatever makes him human, whatever creates that balance between good and evil, no matter how heavily weighted to one side, is what keeps us glued to them and their actions.

That connection is the same for the hero. Comic fans know Batman won’t kill, but it’s his propensity to go right up to that line he won’t cross and lean waaaay out over it that keeps such a character in the pantheon of heroes. It’s the tragic back story that drives him. It’s that drive that creates the tragedies he has endured since becoming who he is. He can’t quit, but he knows he should because of all of the death and cruelty his being a hero has created. And I’m turning pages like they are on fire.

The propensity to write a character as being so evil as to be beyond redemption is strong. For many writers, myself included, I want to create a situation that has the audience cheering for my protagonist. The logical course to take is to make the antagonist so dark, so wholly beyond saving, as to let the reader share my revulsion with him, and cheer his comeuppance. But without that spark, without that pathos or humor or endearing quality, the reader will know the end of your story long before the last page. If that happens, there’s no reason to expect that they will be reading the first page of your next effort.


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Literary+ is a writer based project brought together and lead by Shen Hart. It brings together passionate, quality self-published writers to help each other promote their work, bringing more readers to every member. It was sparked by the simple fact that there are many top quality self-published authors being over-looked because they do not have the time and resources to efficiently and effectively market and promote themselves. With ambition and passion, Literary+ will take its members to the heights they deserve through a tight-knit community of like-minded writers.

"The Seeds"
This is not your grandmother's fairy tale. A fantasy novel that turns the genre on its head, "The Seeds" follows Trooper Angus Mayweather as he is thrust into the conflict faced by twin sisters Dartura & Varia, Generals of the Tarol Nation. As the sisters uncover a new threat from an old enemy, Angus must do what he can to help as the Tarol Nation faces all-out war.