So many tools, so little time

Sometimes I get in my own way. Or should that have read 'more often than not I get in my own way'? Whichever it happens to be at the time I really need to work on that and so I turn to tools to help me through.

Example 1:

        I start writing a book, a good solid one this time, and I put it aside because the little demons in my head come out and say, "You're not good enough. Your other book only sold 50 copies and the reviews were abysmal." Instead of squashing that little voice and telling him to shut the fuck up I give up. Fast forward six long years and I mention to my bestie (waves at Shelly Bean) that I write and I'm in the middle of something. She says, "Read some to me," and I do. She convinces me that it's good and I should keep going. I do some digging around later and I come to find a very useful tool/game/game changer called: 4thewords.com
 

With this site, you get to battle monsters (personal ones and the ones they provide you with), go on quests, create a home, and build community, I love it. And the price (all good things come with a price) can't be beaten at $4 a month! If you were to play World of Warcraft that's $14.99 a month!!! And with that, you don't get anything accomplished. If you ever decide to come join in on the fun use my referral code and we can be friends (PVEZF57463).

Example 2:

       

I'm a pantser! Proud and tall (and oddly enough shrinking every year)! For those of you who are like, "A what now?", here's what a pantser is:

 An author who writes their story without a plan or an outline ie) fly by the seat of one's pants. 

I have written Blue Rose Night so far (up to chapter 16) in this manner. But once I got into where I'm going to have six characters in the room at the same time I was like, "OMG WTF am I doing?" Several of the characters have ZERO backstories. I have been putting off writing the story because I have to do this and I focused more on keeping up with the class that I'm taking (Paranormal Romance Writing, you can never get too much information and this is a great way to grow as an author), and trying to slowly work my way through the plot in my head, which was not working very well with me being at a standstill.

In my class, they talked about something called The Snowflake Method and how it was a great way to plot out storylines and get a good foundation under you. I was like, "Plotting, who needs it?" and I breezed through the article that they cited. Then the guy talked about this program called Plottr. I read more, watched some videos, and said to myself, "Self, this might be a good way to get past the block you're having."

I did a bit of digging around, reading, researching, price hunting (another really fair price), and more video watching and really, really liked what I was seeing. The plotting software that I had used only allowed me to have three characters, this one allowed me as many as my little heart desired. Since they had a 30-day free trial I said, "Why not?" and dove in. There are some points that I'm still rather unsure of, but guess what... I plotted out the rest of the book all the way up to Chapter 26! Now all I have to do is add all the juicy bits. Who knew. And for only having been a part of this program for a couple of days I'd say that's pretty damn good.

So, when you find something you love, don't allow yourself to be in your own way. Use tools, have fun, and enjoy what you do. You never know where it's going to lead you.

And in the interest of full disclosure, I get NO form of monetary compensation from either of these tools. I do however get crystals if someone uses my referral code (PVEZF57463) for 4thewords.com.