When You Just Feel Like Writing…

I feel like writing a blog post today. I’m just not sure what I want to say. So, I’ll just figure it out as I go along. 🙂

Which, by the way, is often how I approach writing fiction. I start with something–usually a scene I can see in my mind’s eye–and go from there. I don’t know the whole story in advance. I’m not even sure what’s going to happen 5,000 words from now. But it’s okay. I just figure it out as I go along. Just like life.

I will say that one drawback of this is that my beginnings can sometimes be rough–a little slow, a little choppy. Sometimes completely inconsistent because I’ve changed things as I’ve gone along. It’s often the beginnings that will need the most revising once I start a second draft. And this makes sense because if I don’t know where a story is going in advance, then I’m just starting to uncover things. It can take me a little while to get going.

By the way, I wrote a guest post on this topic a week or so ago on LaurenSapala.com, entitled Writing Outside The Lines. You should definitely check it out. And while you’re there, check out the rest of her blog. She is a writing coach and in particular works with sensitive intuitive writers, many of whom are INFJ or INFP personality types. She is even running a giveaway right now for her marketing book, Firefly Magic: Heart Powered Marketing For Highly Sensitive Writers.  I’ve read it myself, and I highly recommend it, especially if that subtitle speaks to you in any way.

And that reminds me, I’m shifting around my perma-free stories a bit. Uncover, which has been free since the spring, will shift to a 99 cent price, which I think is good for what is really a novella (but I always call it a novel–it’s 40,000 words/144 pages). I’ve already changed the price at most retailers, but Amazon still has to price match it, so you still have a little time to get a copy from Amazon for free.

The plan then is to get all of my single short stories priced at free. I’ve set them to free at all retailers that will allow me to, and am waiting on Amazon to price match them on their site. Two of them are already free on Amazon (and there are 6 total): Ghost Coach and Ben Jackson. The other 4 are Execution Day, Hail Mary, The Note and Father McMahon’s Confession. They range from between 1,000 to 10,000 words, so if you are looking for a good short read that will take you an hour or less, check these out.

I always like having some stories that are free for people to read. Number one, it serves as a sample of my writing and storytelling, and lets readers see if they want to read more. And, number two, it’s just in the spirit of giving. I think the single short stories are perfect freebies.

Okay, well, I did find some things to write about this morning, and I have to say that my unreachable goal of one blog post a week is really helping me write more often on the blog. Before we know it, it will be time to set more unreachable goals! Happy Friday. 🙂

Amanda Linehan is the author of North, about a young woman on the run from her past, the law and an old adversary out to get her. Her newest release is Bored To Death: A Vampire Thriller, about a 300-year-old vampire trying to restore the balance between life and death. She has published five novels.