Author Archives: Amy K. Nichols

About Amy K. Nichols

Amy is an author, artist and designer. Visit her writing site at www.amywrites.com, and her media design site at www.quirkygirlmedia.com.

Do The Work

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I’ve just written a list of things I need to get done. Things hanging over my head like a piano dangling from a flimsy cord and I’m standing on a big, red X.

Hate that feeling. Kinda.

Instead of doing the things that need to get done, I do the dishes. The laundry. Dust. Scrub the baseboards. Write to my second cousin twice removed whom I haven’t spoken to since I was eight.

Why?

Fear. Resistance.

If I do the things I have to do, I step into the unknown. And the unknown can be scary.

All the things I need to do are writing related and the outcome of my doing these things might just be wonderful. Like, dream-fulfilling awesomeness with a bow and a box of chocolates.

One thing I’m learning about myself in this writing journey is that sometimes I’m far too comfy living in the in-between. Dwelling in the possibility (to twist a favorite quote by Emily Dickinson). Right now I’m in a solid state of MAYBE. To take the next step forward will lead me either in the direction of YES or NO. MAYBE is ripe with possibility. I could stay in MAYBE forever, living in the tension of this piano hanging above. But, let’s be honest: staying in MAYBE is just NO in disguise.

So I enlisted some help in the form of a book. Do the Work, the follow-up to Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art.

You need to read The War of Art. And then, a couple of months after you’ve read it and your rocket boosters begin to sputter, read Do the Work.

Whereas The War of Art explains the battle you’re in any time you set out to accomplish something that will better yourself and/or the world, Do the Work gives you a swift kick in the pants. Tells you to get off your butt and, well, do the work.

This book exposes all of your excuses and leaves you with a lighted path toward your destination. It tells you how to get started, how to get finished and how to get your project out the door.

I need this book right now. That piano is looming over me. I’ve got people waiting on me. Heck, I’m waiting on me.

The dishes are done. The laundry, too. All my excuses are stupid obstacles I’ve put in front of myself to keep me from doing what I need to get done. I need to give fear the finger and get on with this show.

Now, too, this blog post is done. And I have nothing left to do, but…

Do the work.

500 Club (5/24)

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Welcome to Thursday and the 500 Club!

Before we get to today’s prompts, here’s a quick recap of the rules.

  1. Choose one of the prompts below.
  2. On your blog, write a 500-word story or scene based on the prompt.
  3. Post a teaser to your story in the comments below with a link to where we can read the rest.

Ready to write?

Here are today’s prompts:

1. Write a sleepless night. Dismiss your initial ideas and gravitate toward the unexpected.

…or…

2. Write a story that begins: “In an ideal world, [NAME] would [ACTION]. This isn’t an ideal world.”

Have fun!

Leg Day, Part 2

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We’re writing a Round Robin story this week, each taking a turn to write a complete story in three posts. The crazy thing about this game is we don’t discuss the stories head of time, and we never know what to expect. It’s like playing tennis blindfolded. S. C. Green got things rolling with Monday’s installment. You’re going to want to read that first, or this post won’t make a whole lot of sense. Amy McLane will be wrapping the story up on Friday, so be sure to tune in. Now, here is the continuation of Leg Day.

Leg Day, Part 2

Char’s hands fell away from the wheels of her chair. “Say that again?”

Her father gave up trying to smile and his mouth turned to a straight line across his face. “There’s been a glitch. In the system.” He wheeled his chair forward. Char inched hers back. “Something about the release records.”

“But nothing’s changed.”

“I know.”

“We haven’t moved. Our information should be the same as last—”

“I know.” He leaned forward, tried to touch her arm. “I told them—”

She flinched away. The smell of bacon sat like rust on her tongue. “So, what does this mean?”

“It means your number got skipped. Your legs. Your legs went to another kid.”

Char gasped and her father spoke quickly to help cover her hurt. ”I put in a formal grievance. And I’ve petitioned for two leg days next year.”

“What?!” Char lurched her broken chair toward the door and covered her mouth with her hand. Wait another year? This couldn’t be happening. She was going to run tomorrow. Climb. Dance.

“Your wheel,” her father said. “It’s broken.”

“So what.” Char’s jaw ached, her teeth grinding. What would she say when the others asked? What would they say when they saw her without legs on Leg Day, stuck in her damned chair?

Char banged her fist against the wall, hard. Twice. She wondered who the stupid, jerk-face kid was that would get her legs. Undeserving. Having legs when it wasn’t their day.

“It’s times like these we have to remember to be grateful,” her father said. Char closed her eyes and tried to not listen. “At least you have Leg Day. Think of the Faceless. You could be hooked up to tubes your whole life. Blind. Deaf.”

She ignored how his words tugged at her gut. Looked instead at the foot rails of her chair. Imagined bones wrapped in sinew and muscle, strong enough to take her away. Stronger than mechanics and synthetic skin. She’d run farther, faster. Faster than the decay of time. She’d out run every disappointment of life.

But the foot rails sat empty.

“What about Cleo and Eddie?”

“Oh.” Her father coughed. “There were no glitches with their records. As far as I know.”

There was no stopping her tears then. “It’s not fair.”

“No. It isn’t.” He wheeled himself back toward the kitchen. ”Come eat dinner, honey. I made it special. You’ll feel better. Then we’ll fix that wheel.”

Her eyes watched him move out of sight, but her mind saw only Cleo and Eddie dancing. Their feet touching the grass. The sun on their shining faces. And her, in the house, suffering After Day on Leg Day. The thought alone caved a whole through her chest empty enough to swallow the world. There was no way she’d be able to bear it.

Unless.

To be continued…

The Worst Writing Advice I Ever Ignored

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There’s a lot of writing advice out there. A lot of it is great. And some of it is B-A-D, bad. Like many things in life, you have to take writing advice with a grain of salt. Always trust your gut.

My first real foray in writing was in 2004. I jumped in with both feet by participating in the 3-Day Novel Contest, an adrenaline filled writing fest in which writers try to write an entire novel between Friday midnight and Monday midnight over Labor Day weekend. It’s crazy. I loved it. I finished my novel by deadline, turned it in and…won third place.

I was shocked. Thrilled. I took it as affirmation that I was meant to be a writer.

Knowing that the novel I’d written wasn’t first place material (yet), I asked an acquaintance in my book club to read it and give me comments. I didn’t have the network of writers I have now, obviously. But this woman was very well read and worked in communications. I felt confident she’d give decent feedback.

Imagine how I felt then, after the high of placing third in the 3-Day, when I read the note — the only note — she’d written on the manuscript. In essence, it suggested I use my energies elsewhere.

Any enthusiasm I’d had for the story fizzled away. I put the novel away and didn’t look at it again for years.

Only recently have I realized how much stock I put in her opinion, and really for no good reason. And only recently have I thought about that novel and seen that, while it still needs work, it’s something I shouldn’t have given up on. That I won’t give up on.

The worst writing advice I was ever given was to not pursue writing. I am SO glad I didn’t heed that advice. That I trusted my gut and didn’t give up on my dream.

If I may be so bold as to offer you advice now… Always scrutinize the advice you’re given. Regardless if it comes from someone you trust, always trust your gut and your passion for your dreams more.

500 Club (5/3)

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Hello, Thursday! Hello, 500 Club!

Before we get to today’s prompts, here’s a quick recap of the rules.

  1. Choose one of the prompts below.
  2. On your blog, write a 500-word story or scene based on the prompt.
  3. Post a teaser to your story in the comments below with a link to where we can read the rest.

Ready to write?

Here are today’s prompts:

1. Write a scene in which a character loses one of his or her senses, either temporarily or permanently. Choose any POV you’d like. 

…or…

2. Rewrite an ending you hated into the ending you wanted.

Have fun!

Up and Over the Query Letter Mountain

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I used to read angsty blog and forum posts written by frustrated writers who were toiling over query letters and think, What’s the big deal? You write the letter, you send it off. Clearly they were making mountains out of mole hills.

Then it came time for me to write one.

And I got it.

What a nerve-wracking, nail-biting, anxiety-inducing venture that little letter is. Turns out those mole hills loomed rather large after all.

I questioned everything. Was I professional enough? Too professional? Overly personal? Cold? Desperate. Did I capture the essence of my book? Holy cow, what was the essence of my book? Hang on, I wrote a book?! In a blink, I’d over-analyzed everything and was totally out-of-whack.

Then I remembered a little book I’d downloaded a while ago that I thought might come in handy one day.

Elana Johnson’s From the Query to the Call. Great book. Filled with practical information and examples of winning letters. I only wish I’d remembered it when I first sat down to craft my letter.

If you’re about to enter the querying fray, check out Elana’s book. It’s free on her website. Seriously, it will lead you through the madness. (Thank you, Elana!)

The other resources that have been wonderful are Amy and Kate, my two writer friends who are also writing query letters right now. We’ve been workshopping each others’ letters. So helpful, getting feedback from people you trust an who want to see you succeed.

So that’s this month’s confession: my query letter is out in the world. *gulp* I hope it does what it’s supposed to do.

Now I find myself joining those angsty writers obsessing over response times and acceptance rates and all the other things that drive us writers bonkers. Turns out you tackle on overly-tall mole hill, and there’s another one right there, waiting to be climbed.

A Writing Lesson from Sherlock

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There’s a TV show I used to watch, back in the days before I took writing seriously. BBC’s Coupling. Some shows made me smirk and others snicker. Coupling is one of the only shows that has made me laugh out loud. The writing was brilliant. The writer was Steven Moffat.

Imagine my joy, then, when it was announced Steven Moffat would be taking on Doctor Who after Russell T. Davies. Huge relief. Oh good, I thought, the show will be fine. *exhale*

And then, like an extra pressie on Christmas morning, along came BBC’s Sherlock, with none other than Mr. Moffat at the helm.

Sherlock blew me away. And it taught me something about writing. Namely, that passing dialogue can be used to plant plot seeds along a story line.

Elementary, right?

(Sorry. Had to.)

One of the things I love most about Moffat’s story lines are the clues he hides along the way. Little gems that seem at first like throw away lines, and only later — on second and third…and fourth viewing — are seen for the foreshadowing omens they really are. This is particularly true in the final episode of the second season of Sherlock, The Reichenbach Fall. I want to give examples here, but…well…spoilers.

Okay, fine. Here’s one. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, don’t read. In fact, I’ll put it in white text so you’ll have to highlight it to read it and then you can’t blame me for the spoilers, deal?

Spoiler example here:

In what seems a transition scene in The Reichenbach Fall, Sherlock startles Mrs. Hudson. She says, “Oh Sherlock, you made me jump”. Seems like a throw away line. Passing dialogue. Fill. Until you get to the climax of the show, and what you realize is that little statement, “Oh Sherlock, you made me jump” is LOADED with foreshadowing. 

Kind of gives you goosebumps, doesn’t it? 

See? That’s brilliant. And it happens again and again throughout the show.

That’s the kind of writer I want to be. Beyond tone and setting, I want even my passing dialogue between characters to do as much work as possible. To become road signs for what is to come. To be on the page and yet invisible such that the reader will want to read the book again just to find those markers missed during the first read.

There’s only one way I’ll learn how to do this, you know. Only one way to really understand how to effect this trickery in my own work.

I’m going to have to watch Sherlock again.

And again.

And, as Sherlock would say…observe.

P.S. – Sherlock will air on Masterpiece/PBS beginning next week. Check your local listings.

3 Things I Need to Stop Doing and Write Instead

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Every writer has the best intentions. (I’m going to finally write that novel. Yay me!)

A lot of writers have overly ambitious intentions. (I am going to write a bestselling novel this weekend. Just watch me!)

And many writers get in their own way. (I’ll get back to that novel after I finish this level of WoW. *yawn*)

Me included. I don’t play Warcraft, but I do find that a lot of unnecessary things suddenly become very important when I’m starting a new project.

Call it Resistance. Call it fear. Call it laziness. Whatever it is, I need to call it out and get back to work.

Here are the 3 things I need to stop doing and write instead.

1. Internet

Stupid internet. Stupid, wonderful internet. Why must you be so shiny? So often I start a new story, new page, new sentence and then, boom. As soon as I get to that first hesitation where that initial idea runs its course and I have to think up the next thing, I flip open a browser page and see what fascinating bit of distraction there is to entice me. It’s like a nervous tic. A foolish consistency. It’s much easier to see what pictures from Pinterest people are posting on Facebook than write that next sentence.

I need to stop avoiding the hard work and start writing.

2. QueryTracker

QueryTracker is awesome. What an incredible resource for writers. I love it. I’m kind of addicted to it. Especially the “watch” feature. Now that I’m querying agents, I’m checking my watch alerts, researching who reps who and what, adding agents to my lists. And that’s all well and good. But I’m spending too much time reading other people’s updates about agents than writing my new project.

I need to stop obsessing and start writing.

3. Worry

I worry. There. I said it. All kinds of thoughts fill my head when I’m writing and when I’m not. Am I a hack? Will I get an agent? Will the agent who requested the full like my novel? Is this the new project I should be working on, or the other one? Am I getting the tone/voice/setting/mood/sentence structure of this chapter right? What if I don’t find an agent? Should I self-publish? What if I’m just a hack and not good at this? What if the world is ending and I’m wasting my time writing this book? Ugh. It’s an endless battle.

The thing about writing, though, is it brings me such joy. And if I can ignore the worry wart in my brain and write, I’m transported out of that mindset altogether. Writing is a great remedy.

I need to stop worrying and start writing.

What do you need to stop doing so you can start writing?

500 Club (4/5)

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Can you believe it’s Thursday already? Time for the 500 Club!

Before we get to today’s prompts, here’s a quick recap of the rules.

  1. Choose one of the prompts below.
  2. On your blog, write a 500-word story or scene based on the prompt.
  3. Post a teaser to your story in the comments below with a link to where we can read the rest.

Ready to write?

Here are today’s prompts:

1. Write a suspenseful scene, using tone, setting and dialogue as your building blocks. Avoid being heavy-handed and obvious. Whether or not you resolve the tension at the end of the scene is up to you.

…or…

2. Write a cafe scene. Avoid any and all clichés.

Have fun!

Setting Fires

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Confession: I’ve been setting fires.

I’ve been sending out query letters. Writing new chapters. Plotting new novels and scheming up new stories. I’ve been ramping up my coding skills and mapping out new media projects.  I’ve been adding artwork to my gallery at Society6, and creating new content for my freelance design work site. I’ve been sketching and painting and sculpting and dreaming.

All of them, little fires.

Now I’m fanning the flames, wishing them all to gain traction and run wild.