Waking up and writing ideas

I woke up in the night and I had trouble falling back to sleep. It happens sometimes. I cannot remember the dream that caused me to wake up, but once awakened my mind wouldn’t shut off. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t stressed out, or anything. There wasn’t a particular thing which kept me awake. Although, sometimes it is stress, or it’s something I am fretting over; however, not this particular time. In-fact, I don’t recall anything which would have kept me awake.

Usually when I awake, it is because the dream was weird or because of a nightmare. Sometimes, go to my laptop and jot things down in the hopes I could write about it later – This is what I am doing now except never jot the idea down, but I managed to remember my thought that could write about the fact that I awoke and that this occurs sometimes.

As a writer, jotting down ideas as they come to you is an important tool in an author’s arsenal. I am sure that many a horror or fictional stories derived from ideas from the author’s nightmares, or dreams. Dreams/nightmares are one of my tools. Another tool is riding transit. For some reason, I write better or more easily while taking transit. One other tool I use is observing my surroundings and watching people. This comes easily to me because I have always been a “people watcher.” I watch people while sitting in a cafe, or on a bench or the grass at a park or at the beach.

This craft of writing is strange.
—Robert Confiant 17 April 2019

I never learned to drive, so I take transit

I am running a tad late this morning. It happens once in a while. There were train issues. I rely on public transit and unfortunately these things happen.

I never learned to drive. My older brother took me around the court once, but that was the extent of it. I could have taken lessons, but at the time, you didn’t have the money. When I finally had the means to take lessons, my eye sight became an issue. So with my Cerebral Palsy and the eye sight issue, I decided not to learn to drive. I lived in a big city, so I could manage with public transit.

When I relocated to Vancouver, I took transit; however, I was confined to the Metro Vancouver area. Except for a few outing with friends, it wasn’t until I met my partner that I got to see some of the surrounding area. I don’t regret anything mind you.

Some people dislike public transit, but I don’t. I kill time productively by either reading, or writing. I write more often on transit and I often joke that if I wish to write, then I should take transit. For some reason, ideas come to me while taking transit and the writing flows easier.

It is quite strange, but it works.
—Robert Confiant 15 April 2019

Plan for the week – writing

I was only going to take Thursday and Friday off this week, but then I decided to take the whole week off as I had the time, and quite frankly, I could use the time off. It has been crazy busy at work and it really hasn’t slowed much, and I don’t see things slowing down in the foreseeable future.

I am not doing to much. I am going to write and to rest. I have an eye appointment early in the week, but that’s it. I am going to write and rest. I afraid, other than the two blogs I maintain, I haven’t done much writing. It’s about time that changed. I am not “stuck” per se, but I have procrastinated long enough. I do not have writer’s block or anything similar. It just feels like a task lately. I am not sure why. I find doing these two blogs to be more of an interest.

Why do writers tend to procrastinate? I am sure I am not the only one. I find this writing craft to be very strange. Some days, the task of writing is very difficult; while other days, it flows very easily. I am finding it easier to write on the blog than it is my next book. Perhaps this is because of the reaction that writing on the blog provides. The number of views and/or likes is like a stimulant. It keeps me writing. The novel writing; however, does not provide me with this immediate recognition. Perhaps the reason I find it difficult to stay with the book is because this acknowledgement is missing. Either way, I know I must get back to writing the book, if I wish to complete it.

The trials of writing.
—Robert Confiant 3 March 2019

Writing ideas

Some of my best writing ideas come either when I am in bed, or riding on transit. When I am in bed, I don’t always get up and not them down (I think I will change this as I miss out on some juicy titbits). A few of these ideas might lead to nowhere in the long term, but a few might lead to some gems.

I woke up last night a few times with the same idea in my head. I never jotted it down while I was in bed, but because I woke up numerous times, and because it was the same idea, I never forgot it (This is unusual; I almost always forget). I noted it after I awoke. I am taking this as a sign that I need to follow this through as far as it will go. It will mean a lot of research and a lot of note taking and story and character development, but I think it will be worth it. If successful, it will be a novel of epic proportions, and my biggest work to date. I still have other works I wish to complete, so I am talking years here (My very long term project).

This writing for a living is an odd venture to take up. I do it because I love to write. I may never be famous, but I enjoy the craft. It took me a long time to find my vocation, but I truly found what I love to do. Everyone should find their passion which make this 9 to 5 existence bearable (One needs to exist, but one doesn’t necessarily have to stick with one aspect of living).

The issue with writing is one never knows when they’ll get an idea, or urge to write which is why I keep a writing app on my phone. If I am in the middle of something and I get the urge to write, then I can note it down, and edited later. As I said, “I do a lot of writings while taking the bus as I have a solid hour to write without any interruptions.” The truth be told, “I get a lot of work for my blog done while taking transit.”

So that’s what is up with me, what are you working on, if anything? It really doesn’t matter as long as you find your passion. If you can find your passion and make it a career, then it’s all the better.
— Robert Confiant 22 February 2019

Article on plotlines

As a writer, I am always on the lookout for interesting articles (sometimes books) on improving one’s writing.

I have discovered an interesting video on Youtube which discusses the importance of plotlines. This is directed to screenplays, but it is relevant to storylines as well. Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLXwzj59mnM.

The video uses the example of the movie “Hidden Figures.” If you haven’t seen the movie, then I highly recommend it.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I.

—Robert Confiant 10 February 2019

Somethings one cannot voice or write about

For those readers who write on blogs, have you ever come up with on idea or story for your blog, wrote it down, but never published it? I have.

When such occurrences happen, do you consider this omission to publish a detriment to your writing, or a kindness in keeping quiet, very similar to, “A lie of omission?” I do.

I must confess. I write a lot of personal topics. I am very open about myself and my life at the chagrin of some of my family. Because of this, I try to protect the people in my life as much as possible. I try never to name names or exact circumstances (under most circumstances anyway). It is this need to protect the people I love and care about that I do not publish every thought or article which I have thought of and/or jotted down in my writing app.

writing

Is this akin to the idea of “A lie of omission?” I believe so; however, I do so because sometimes the truth hurts. Sometimes the truth hurts so much as to tear friendships and family apart. Thus, I keep such thoughts to myself.

My brother, who was in town on business, and I had dinner and two drinks each. While at dinner we compared the crazy price of housing between Vancouver and Toronto areas. After dinner while walking back to his rented car, he observed how easily I got winded easily and he stated as such; he also noted that I gained a lot of weigh. I wasn’t upset but agreed. I went on to explain I that I was working on it and I had lost nine pounds. Later, after he drove me home to the condominium, he came up to see it. He stated that it was kind of small, but a least it had a balcony that we could sit out on (I never mentioned that I personally don’t sit out there much as I dislike heights).

There are some truths some people can voice; there are still other truths which others would rather not hear. When does one know when is it safe to voice the truth and when to keep one’s opinions to oneself? That is the question.
—Robert Confiant 31 January 2019

I am a re-reader

I am a re-reader. If the book is enjoyable, then I will read it again. I do this for movies as well.

reading

Currently, I am re-reader the Harry Potter series; although, I am not doing so all at once. I do read something new between every book, or two.

I am on a young adult genre kick though. Call it, “Indirect research,” as I write YA Fantasy. I do not; however, stick to just the Fantasy genre. I read other types of materials. I find reading this material helpful to my writing as it has been a very long time since I was a teenager LOL.

I read a lot of fiction. I no longer read a lot of non-fiction, but I do have some mythology references, foreign language references, and some writing references. The references come in handy.

When I first got back into writing, and I began to take it more seriously I decided to take a few writing courses. One of my favorite writing courses was a grammar refresher course at UBC. The grammar refresher was very helpful. Although, I still have a long way to go before I become a good writer. I have observed improvement over the years, so I keep at it (Those who are familiar with this blog will know that “Improvement” is one of the criteria for me to remain doing something, or staying with a thing I am currently doing). Besides I love to write.

I am an avid reader and writer. It can be difficult trying to balance my time between these two activities, but I manage. I used to fret if I spent more time with one over the other. I don’t let it bother me anymore as both reading and writing are important.
—Robert Confiant 26 September 2018