Trial and Error

Many lessons face us each day in our lives. Some are simply and easy. Others are hard. Then there are some that just plan out have us pulling out our hair. The ones that are hard, and have us pulling out our hair are most of the time taught to us by the age-old adage of Trial and Error.

So, I asked myself what exactly does that saying mean. To me, it pretty self-explanatory, because when I hear it, I automatically think of trying something new. Trying something new, means you have to learn how to first. Best way to learn is by doing. But by doing, we have to accept that mistakes will happen, till we learn more about the new thing.

This adage got put to the test in my life recently. As I’ve mentioned in a few other post, I’ve been working with outlines. I knew about them, but they hindered my creativity. Or so I thought. Anyway, the latest idea, which most likely will turn into the first book I release after the Journey Series comes to an end, I decided to use an outline. Started out with one style, but it didn’t’ feel right. Started to toss the idea of using one, but was determined to see if it was me, or if it really did block my creativity. Second outline I tried, didn’t work either. Went through a few more, before it dawned on me that it wasn’t the outlines themselves. It was they weren’t tailored to my writing style. I then set down and designed my own layout, taking ideas from what I’d learned and read, combing them with the items that I liked to know and keep track of while I’m creating. By the end, and through Trial and Error I had come up with one huge individual outlines ready for me to test out. And as of right now, I’m testing it out for the first time. Complete results are out, but initial thought was a bit mind blowing.

Can anyone say strange feeling? It felt wired and wrong. At first. Then I realized those feeling came from not being use to it. It takes repeating something over and over before it starts to feel natural and easy to use or do. In fact, I’ve heard to learn something new, you have to do it for thirty days before it feels normal. Maybe, by the time I complete this story, and use it on a couple more, those strange feelings will fade to the background. Good thing about it, once I get accustom to it, I feel it will definitely help me be more productive. Always a good thing.

Hope all has an amazing week. Remember keep imagining and letting your creativity expand into new wondrous ideas.

Julia Matthews

www.juliamatthews.webs.com

Pantsing vs. Structure

Hello all,

Did I say “Pantsing”? Just what in the world does that term mean. As a writer, it means you write by the seat of your pants. No layouts. Simply sit down and write. This is what I did for the Journey Series, and it was difficult, cause I found myself having to go back and reread different sections to make sure everything flowed as smoothly as possible. Sometimes I even had to change thirty of forty pages just to fix the mistake I made. Can anyone say Time Consuming and Frustrating? I can and did. That set me into looking for ways to structure my stories. Of course, it wasn’t working for me to begin with. It made me feel like my creativity was tampered or being held back. Like anyone with change, I fought it. By the time I got to fourth version and second complete revision of that version, of book three of the Journey Series, I was dead set on finding away to structure my stories without tampering my creativity. It took me combing bits and pieces of each references book that I read and studied to create a structured outline to test out. I’m in the process of doing that now, but from what little bit I’ve done, I can honestly say, it’s a lot easier than just pantsing it. 

Hope all have a great and upcoming week.

Remember keep your imagination open and growing. Take time to read and get immersed int it.

Julia Matthews

Goal for the blog.

Hello all,

My goals for the blog is to make one post a week. Unless, I run int to some kind of technology snag up, or unexpected family issue, all post will be up by 10 AM on Mondays. 

Have a great day,

Julia Matthews

What exactly is my blog?

Hello All,

My blog is a way for my readers to get to know me a bit better, as well as to understand how I come up with each story. I hope that my readers can gather how much my writing and stories mean to me by all of this. The blog will contain tid bits of advice of writing technique I'm leaned and are learning. Updated information on my current and past books. Information about other authors and their releases. Some of my post will hopefully even help other upcoming authors or self-publisher.

Like most things in life, writing and self-publishing grows and changes each day. To maintain on top of that, I'm continuously learning and advancing my skills. I hope this shows with each update I post and each website change I make.

Hope all my readers and upcoming readers find the information on my blog interesting and helpful in someway. More importantly I hope they remember that imagination lives in us all. Some hone it better than others, some accept it easier and some fear it. No matter which one you are, I hope each and everyone learns and grows in their creativity.

Feel free to let me know what you think of the new blog as well as anything regarding my writing and website.

Enjoy each and every post,
Julia Matthews