Writing Archives - Stacy Lyn Jensen

What Makes a Good Mystery Story?

investigation board with photos maps and cutouts showing connections

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I have discussed the basic elements of plot several times. Most plots have the ‘event’ that happens that causes the story to begin. Then, we have rising action, where the protagonist tries and fails to do the thing, and then we have the climax where the big confrontation happens, and then we have falling action, resolution or conclusion and then the end. If you can keep those things in mind, then you can write a good story. There are other things that make a story, right? Like, the ‘event’ at the beginning needs to be compelling enough to keep the reader engaged. The protagonist needs to have real stakes in the story, they can’t have just stubbed their toe. That’s not a reason for an adventure. Mysteries, however, are a whole other beast. Not only do they require to be a compelling plot with rising action, a climax and falling action, but they also need to have the mystery at the core that the reader should not be able to easily figure out. A mystery author needs to have the ability to keep their readers guessing the entire time. So that brings me to my question, what makes a good mystery story?

1-The Crime Must Be Interesting

Said another way, the crime that the protagonist is investigating should be something that the reader wants to understand. If it’s “who took my stapler,” maybe that will work, if all of the characters in the office are compelling and interesting and have reasons why they took the stapler. However, most readers of mysteries are used to murder being at the core of the story. If you don’t want to write about murder, then make the crime an interesting one. Make the characters (like I’ve already said) compelling, give them reasons why they could be guilty.

2-No One Should be too Innocent

Nothing is more upsetting to mystery readers than being able to pick the guilty person from the first chapters of the book. Or pages of the story, if it’s short. There should be some skeletons in everyone’s closet. There should be multiple possible killers or guilty parties.

If you are not a reader of mystery and you are looking to write in the genre, I would suggest that that is a bad idea, I don’t know if there is a finickier bunch of readers besides maybe sci-fi enthusiasts. If you don’t understand the tropes of the genre, or the things that have been overdone, then you aren’t going to be able to write a story that people are interested in reading.

3-There Should be Red Herrings, but not too Many

You should be able to write a story that leads readers in the wrong direction, but that also rewards careful readers. The point here is that you should use foreshadowing in such a way that when a reader gets to the end and finds out the who in the whodunit, they maybe are surprised, but they aren’t angry because they were tricked.

4-The Crime Should be at or Near the Beginning

Whatever mystery is occurring in your story, it should be right at, or near the beginning. This can happen as early as the prologue or in the first chapter. You can call the crime the ‘inciting incident’ if you want. For example in the Italian Job, the movie starts with a heist that goes wrong and one of the members of the group dies, while another one runs off with all the money.

Since that happens right at the beginning, the audience is hooked into the story and wants to get revenge along with the protagonist throughout the rest of the story. I don’t normally use movies as reference, but this one is a very easy to see example of what is meant when you’re putting the crime at the beginning. A book example would be in Cuckoo’s Calling, the very beginning of the book goes through a model dying by maybe jumping maybe falling off a balcony, and then it skips time to introduce the main character, a PI who the readers follow as he investigates the crime. In the book, the beginning leaves it ambiguous enough that the reader is unsure if the model jumps or is pushed.

5-There Should be Several Possible Suspects

We can’t have two, or three. I think at least four people that may or may not have done the crime is a good number. Just think, if you need to pick between two people, it’s a fifty-fifty chance, right? Put another person in there and it gets more interesting, but one more, and then it’s like okay…any one of these people has a reason to have done it.

I’m not saying they all need a lot of time, but well thought out reasons are good. Like, the person who was killed owed them money, or maybe there was an old grudge. Stuff like that.

6-The Victim Should be Interesting

The victim shouldn’t just be a victim. They should be a whole person. They should have an interesting life: friends, relatives, enemies. If they are an adult, they should have a job or a career. Maybe they are an addict, or they gambled. Interesting quirks or habits make them come to life (even though they aren’t alive in the book) and give you more to work with, as far as why someone didn’t want them to be alive anymore.

7-The Investigator Needs to be a Main Character

This happens in a lot of different ways. Maybe the person who is investigating is an amateur. Or maybe they are with an agency, or police, or a PI. But someone who is performing investigative work needs to be a main character. You could also have other main characters in the story. You could have the victim’s significant other, you could even do some POV from the person who committed the crime as long as you don’t give away who they are and spoil the ending for the readers. But mystery readers enjoy investigating along with the investigator, so knowing how the investigator thinks, or what they see that is unique and different from what other people see will help the story feel more “real” to the readers.

So that’s what I have so far. Let me know if you feel like there is something in the what makes good mystery story article that I missed.

Here is the list:

1- The mystery must be interesting

2-No one should be too innocent

3-There should be red herrings, but not too many

4-The crime should be at or near the beginning

5-There should be several possible suspects

6-The victim should be interesting

7-The investigator should be a main character

Writing Creatively Regularly

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I was texting with my brother the other day. We were discussing our creative endeavors. He was talking about how he hasn’t felt inspired to compose a new song (I’m not sure if compose is the right word when it’s not classical). I asked him if musical prompts are a thing and told him how writing prompts have helped me. That writing creatively regularly is so important, but sometimes reading is the only thing I can get done at the end of the day.

It got me thinking, what things help to write creatively regularly? What are the best tips? Here are a few of mine that I keep coming back to when i find myself in a rut, or so tired that I can only think about reading for a few minutes before bed.

1- Fast Fiction

Just write a paragraph (250 words). It’s like when you begin exercising, you don’t want to try and do a 10k if you’ve been sitting on the couch for a year; you need to start small. Or, if you just don’t have time. You can probably write a paragraph at the end of the day.

2- Writing prompts can be your friend

Not inspired? Grab a vague enough prompt that you can go anywhere with it. There is a subreddit for writing prompts. This website has some interesting generators about plots. I haven’t tried it, but it could be fun.

3- Journaling is writing too

Don’t have any ideas? You’re still living. Think your life is boring? Well, describe what is so boring about it in detail. What did you have for breakfast and lunch? Did you go to work and talk to boring co-workers? What did you talk about? What did you do when you got home? Did you walk your dog, play with your cat, feed your fish, or take a nap? Those are all things that you did and that you can write about. These writings are all practice. If you’re new to writing, it’s good to write about anything and everything.

4-It’s okay to write ‘bad’

If you have an idea, but you’re afraid it’s too “stupid” or “bad” or “overdone” or something, write it anyway. It’s okay to write the thing. It’s okay for it to be littered with errors, and it’s okay for it to be something that you don’t want to show anyone. You still wrote it; you did it. It’s also okay to be proud that you finished it when you finish.

5- I’m afraid that AI will eat my words

Me too, friend, me too. But the monster isn’t going anywhere. So the choices are either stop writing or just deal. I’ve decided to deal.

6- Write at the same time every day

I like to write after everything is wrapped up for the day. So, the kids have done their homework, gotten bathed, dinner has been made and eaten, etc. Some people have a morning preference. I find, for myself, that having writing to look forward to is good. But if you dread the task you can front-load it.

7- It doesn’t need to be special

One of the best tips that I’ve been given is that writing doesn’t need to be special. You don’t need a huge desk in the perfect light or the perfect pen, laptop, or program. You can write with a pen that’s almost out of ink onto a coffee filter, and the words will still have impact. If you are struggling to write because you need everything “just so,” let go of the idea that writing has to happen in a perfect world because all of us are imperfect with lives that are even more so.

8- What is your best tip?

Finally, do what works for you. What is your best “writing regularly” tip? I keep on getting into and then falling out of writing. And even though I preach about how important consistency is, I struggle to maintain it myself.

Silent Hill 2 Review

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I recently played through the Silent Hill 2 Remake; at the end of 2025. Since I didn’t get to this until recently, I am a little later to the party. However, it is a horror classic. So, I would like to write my thoughts out in this Silent Hill 2 review/interpretation of the story.

Originally coming out in October of 2024, Silent Hill 2 Remake was developed by Bloober Team and published by Konami. Expectations were very high because the original game is considered to be one of the greatest horror games of all time. People thought that it was either going to be an awful game and that Bloober Team would never make another game again from the shame of the thing. Or, that it would be an amazing remake and everyone would love it. Luckily, it was the second.

Because I am an Xbox gamer, I had to wait for an entire year from the time it released until it was available on my system. In that time I was able to watch some of my favorite streamers play the game, and talk about the game and I watched as everyone talked about how the game was true to its roots, and how well it played, etc.

What is Silent Hill 2 Remake About?

Silent Hill 2 Remake follows James Sunderland as he goes to the town of Silent Hill. James goes to Silent Hill because he received a letter from his deceased wife asking him to meet her in “our place.”

Sparsely populated is the town. There is a suffocating fog. The residents are monsters. Some of them have sexy boots on, some are all legs, and some of them have stitching all the way up their bodies and they crawl on the ground. James finds a few other normal people, but they are battling their own demons.

The other world. When Silent Hill changes into the other world, it becomes rusty and the people that are in it change as well. The enemies in the other world are similar and they fight similarly but they look different from the ones in Silent Hill.

What’s really going on in Silent Hill 2 Remake?

My take on what is happening. I believe that Silent Hill represents a type of Limbo. Or purgatory for James. I can’t say if James is alive or dead during the gameplay. But I believe that he has an immense amount of guilt and other unresolved issues. During the gameplay he has to resolve/come to grips with/admit that they exist in order to move on or not.

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James enters the world, looking for someone that he lost. In the first scene, we see him staring at himself in the mirror. It’s as if he doesn’t know how he got there. His car is there, but in the game, he never gets into it; he never drives into or out of Silent Hill. His looking into the mirror could represent how things are backwards, upside down, or otherwise reversed for him.

Characters in Silent Hill 2 Remake

As the game goes on, we meet Angela, who is also looking for someone. Her mother. Angela keeps on repeating “have you seen my mama” which makes her seem like a young child even though she’s an adult. James first encounters her in a graveyard, which indicates that she’s also searching for someone who has passed away. When he asks Angela if she would like to come with him for safety she refuses and acts oddly afraid of him. Later in the game, it is revealed that Angela killed her father after he did something awful to her. Angela is a representation of fear and how dangerous fear can be when it’s backed into a corner.

James meets a woman named Maria, who’s the next important character. She looks like his wife. But she acts and dresses very differently. Gamers have discussed the meaning of Maria for years. The consensus I found was that she represents all the physical wants/needs that James had, but was unable to get because his wife was sick in the hospital.

The next character is Laura, a little girl who says that she knew Mary, and who makes life difficult for James in Silent Hill. Near the end of the game, Laura gives James a letter that Mary wrote to her and it talks about how she wishes that they could go and live together like they talked about. So, the letter makes me believe that Laura represents the future that Mary wanted. The family and normal things that she didn’t get to have.

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The final character is Eddie. Eddie is a representation of the darkest parts of James. He gets offended easily, he eats junk food and over-reacts. My interpretation is that Eddie is the extreme version of all of the dark desires that a person could have. He killed people who made him angry, and he thinks everyone is out to get him. He has similar coloring to James (blonde hair and blue eyes); it’s as if he’s a reversed mirror, a foil showing James, “this is the worst you could be.”

Silent Hill 2 Remake Review, Thoughts on Themes and Interpretations

This game is a great example for something that you can play/interpret multiple ways. Anyone can play the game and think “oooh creepy” and then finish and shrug and enjoy the experience and move on. But someone that is really looking to dive into the game can get a lot out of it.

There are numerous interpretations of the game, many things that I haven’t explored yet for myself. I watched a video that stated that James’s wife is in the car. However, I didn’t see or notice her in there. But it definitely is possible.

My belief that he is dead is based on the weird state of the town, and how impossible time moves, the way that he harbors guilt, but he can’t face what he’s done. The other people in the city, except for the child, Laura, have guilt. I do think that they are all there to reflect different aspects of James back to him, and help him to come to his realization that he killed his wife.

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I have read other stories where the protagonist has a hard time coming to terms with the fact that they died. A lot of weird things happen around them, and they just accept it. By the end of the story, they do come to terms with their own death, but it takes a lot for them to realize that they died and they are in limbo/purgatory. I feel like James is in the same situation, where he is being punished for the sins he committed during his lifetime, but he hasn’t yet come to terms with the fact that he’s dead.

Another option that people brought up is that he is going to commit suicide. He has killed his wife, and she’s in the car. And he plans to drown himself in Toluca Lake. Also, the letter he has, apparently, is blank by the end of the game. I didn’t check it at the end. Also, I didn’t think to check it when I got close to completing the game. Furthermore, I got the “leave” ending where he and Laura leave together. I’ve only played through once, and so I haven’t gotten any other endings.

First Draft or The Blank Page

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I’ve talked about going to a webinar where the idea of doing a zero-draft was discussed. And I definitely still find the idea intriguing. However, first drafts are on my mind a lot lately. I feel like that’s where my life is at. I’m in a first draft stage.

What does that even mean? Well, as most writers are painfully aware, you have to write through that awful first draft before you can start editing and polishing. Recently, I made it through a master’s program, and I’m feeling very proud of myself on one hand; I’ve accomplished something. But, I’m now looking for a job in my field and facing a lot of unexpected free time.

I’ve written three drafts of my resume. Let’s just say that. I don’t even know if I’m past the first draft of my resume. So, on one side I’ve had this big accomplishment, but one the other I’m feeling very intimidated. I’m trying to get into a field I’ve never worked in before, and I don’t want to go back to my previous job because I felt very burnt out.

I keep on thinking about it like I’m on my first draft of this new life. I can’t say exactly what the final draft is going to look like, and all I have right now is potential. Which means that anything could happen, and on one hand, that is great. But on the other hand, I’m not the kind of person that is a fan of lasting uncertainty.

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Back to first drafts, the blank page. If you sit with the blank page and never write anything on it, nothing happens. Right? If I decide to never put in for a job in the field that I just got a degree in, no one is going to hire me. I’ll still have to pay back all the loans I took out, but I’ll never get anything out of that education.

Now, if we write the story; get that first draft down. We can go in and edit it and change it to be what we want it to look like. The glorious thing about writing is that it can always be redone. With my resumes, I can write several versions that emphasize different accomplishments. And that is the beauty of language. You can talk about customer service, communication, or cleaning at the same fast food job, depending on what kind of job you are looking for. You could even discuss fiscal responsibility, if you wanted. It’s all about how you present the information.

In a first draft, maybe you can only think about one character, maybe you can only see their perspective. But when you are going back through, you realize that another person needs to have their view in the mix as well. It’s completely something that you can do. You can add or subtract or completely re-vision the entire thing in subsequent drafts. The important part is getting past the blank page.

You have to start. I have to put myself out there in order for someone to hire me. Anyone that is writing, that has a story to tell, it’s okay if it’s crap. It’s okay if it’s cliché, just write and finish the story you need to tell and then look at it later. Also, don’t try to use AI for anything but some grammar help. It will take away your unique voice, that’s just my thought, but it’s another article for another day, I suppose.

If you’ve read this far, thank-you! If anyone else is looking for a job right now, I hope you find everything you are looking for in a role.

Also, if anyone is planning to do NaNoWriMo, let me know if you’d like me to post my progress every day. I know that the official site is not up, but I’d still like to write every day next month.

Beating Radahn

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At this point, I’ve been playing Elden Ring for around a hundred hours. I’ve beaten the first boss, Margit. And the second boss, Rannela, with her weird egg. And now, I’ve also gone and done a beating [on] Radahn.

I found that the area after Stormveil Castle. The Academy of Raya Lucaria was particularly difficult. I ended up having to farm runes. I did this several times before I was levelled up enough to get through the Academy and those sorcerers.

After the Academy, Caria Manor was relatively easy, and then going into Caelid was scary, but doable.

But, Radahn?

He was the hardest boss I’ve faced so far. I’m not certain how many times I fought him. I kept jumping off my horse, Torrent. It wasn’t too hard to get the strategy down for fighting him.

The strategy is simple, but the execution is hard. The strategy (at least for me) is to grab all of the NPCs available, and then shoot Radahn with either Loretta’s Great bow or Rock Sling. Keep riding around and keep grabbing the NPCs as they become available. Stay out of his range, run if needed, and shoot at him every chance you get. It was using this method, and by being very careful, that I was finally able to beat him. Every time I got close to him, he would kill me. Using this method, I was able to beat him. If I can beat him, anyone can beat him. It really takes patience and willingness to change your attack method as you figure out what works.

When I finally beat him, it was a surprise. I wasn’t expecting it would happen.

Going into the depths and getting the mimic wasn’t very difficult. This game is weird because sometimes things will be so hard, that I have to find another way, or look up a strategy, but then, other things will be surprisingly easy, and I’ll get through it without a problem. It’s this weird balancing act where sometimes I’m so frustrated at how hard it is, and then I feel awesome because of how good I am.

At this point, I’m in Volcano Manor, but I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to finish it. I also need to go to the Shaded Castle. And then, I suppose it’s up to the Capital. That’s after the Lake of Rot, once I find that Mushroom outfit, of course.

Stormveil Castle

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Right now, I am around a level 40. I wanted to discuss a couple of things that happened between the Castle Morne experience and Stormveil Castle, but I feel like Stormveil ends up coloring everything else. I’ll try to go through everything.

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Before discussing Stormveil Castle

Irina’s Quest

First of all, I still get annoyed every time I think about going all the way through the Castle Morne quest, talking to Irina, delivering the letter to her father, and then she dies anyway? What kind of game is this, what kind of world is this, what is going on?

What is the Story of Elden Ring

Actually, to bring up another point. What is the Lands-Between? Is it Limbo? Are all the player characters dead, but have yet to be judged? Is that why religion plays such a large role in the game? The “lands between” is just such an interesting name. The fact that we are playing as a “tarnished.” What does tarnished mean, how did we get to be tarnished, what tarnished us? I know that all the big bosses are demi-gods. But why were they dead, and why do they now need to be killed?

What is the Lands-Between

Also, what are we doing for the world of the lands between? I’m hoping that these questions will be answered in gameplay. That the story will lay itself out for me to understand. Because right now, I feel like I could make up my own backstory for my character, how they came to be in this limbo, how they died why the lands between is in the state it’s in, and my own story would be just as valid as anyone else’s. However, I’ve heard that the story for the game is in the item descriptions?

So I may check out all the items I have and see what they have to say, what can I piece together. It is kind of intriguing to me to be placed in a game where the only bit of story that’s actually told is the very beginning. And I find it even more fascinating that a world-famous writer collaborated on this game, and there doesn’t really seem to be a scrap of actual story that I can find, so far. I wonder how may GRRM fans picked up the game, expecting political intrigue and to be told a story of a family or anything similar to his work, and then were disappointed when the game made them work for the story.

Stormveil Castle

Okay, I’m going to stop discussing my strange ruminations now. Onto Stormveil Castle.

I surprised myself by being able to beat Margit in one go. I didn’t expect to beat him on the first try and was shocked when it happened.

So when I went into Stormveil Castle, I thought that I was good. I figured I was going to be able to meet every challenge in the Castle, and it would be no problem.

Issues in Stormveil Castle

My first major issue was knight that is inside a door that gets shut behind you when you go in. It took me several tries to beat him. Then, after him, I missed a site of grace, so when I inevitably died, I was back at the outside of the castle again.

Then, the birds. The birds with the exploding barrels. I died to them so many times that my son started making fun of the sound of my character when she’s dying. But I kept on pushing. When I finally made it to the courtyard, I was able to sneak up the stairs and I didn’t have a huge problem with an area that was I really worried about going to.

The next thing that I didn’t realize I needed to be concerned about is the pots. I didn’t know how tough the big pots are when they start spinning. I didn’t die to any of them, but they were harder than I thought they would be to kill.

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Another section I went to was the under-part of the castle. I was able to kill the rats just fine, but there was this weird like serpent dragon thing that I died to like three times before I just ran past, and I was able to touch the bloodstain to move Rogier’s questline forward and just leave the area.

I did also kill a giant like a bunch. He was a lot easier to kill than I expected so I did it a bunch.

Beating Godrick the Grafted in Stormveil Castle

When I got to Godrick the Grafted, I did use the warrior princess lady for help, along with my own summon. I was able to beat him after three tries. The first try I got pretty close, the second one he killed me right away, and then the third one I beat him.

At this point, I haven’t played in a couple of days. But the thing is, I looked up where I’m supposed to take Godrick’s great rune, and I have to go back through Stormviel Castle, and I’m just dreading some of those areas. I’ll probably try it out this weekend.

Final Thoughts

I feel like I’m getting better at some things, but I do want to learn more faith magics. One other thing is that I need to find an outfit that will allow me to stand out in battle, because I will get confused as to who I am when I’m fighting.

Castle Morne in Elden Ring

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I am currently sitting around level 34 or so. After I spoke with Kenneth Haight, I decided to go ahead and check out this Fort he needed to be cleared out. I struggled with that a bit, but I was able to get Fort Haight cleared, and I got half of a disc thing.

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Making my way to Castle Morne in Elden Ring

I then decided to travel down the Weeping Peninsula. I wasn’t ready to take on Stormveil Castle yet.

I enjoyed the area. First, I fought a demi-human in some ruins and got her staff. Then, I went up a tower or two. After that, I was able to finish out a catacomb and fight the boss. This area helped me feel like I was getting the game, I was doing better, I was handling the enemies. Feeling like things were going well.

Meeting Irina near Castle Morne in Elden Ring

As I got closer to Castle Morne, I met a girl with a blindfold on, her name was Irina. She asked me if I’d deliver a letter to her father. I agreed. I hoped that her father would come to her quickly.

When I first entered the Castle, I came across a gigantic pile of burned bodies, with a bunch of feathered demi-humans dancing on their corpses. The demi-humans were not difficult to fight, thanks to the wolf summons that I’ve been using. I was able to kill them after a few tries.

Inside Castle Morne in Elden Ring

After I went up a ladder, things got more difficult. There were some of the demi-humans flying, and I wasn’t sure how to do a jump attack. I just had to make due. I was able to fight my way through. Once, at the top, I found Irina’s father. But, then I remembered that I needed to fight the boss before delivering the letter.

I was very nervous about the boss, because I’d heard that they are the “first real boss” but then other people say it’s not the first real boss. So I wasn’t sure exactly what the difficulty level was going to be. I did summon, and it took two tries, but I got it done. I was very proud of myself. But then, when I went to go back through Castle Morne in Elden Ring to give the note to Irina’s dad, I died like four or five more times, so I guess it all worked out.

Fighting the Boss of Castle Morne

The boss for the area moved strangely, and I think that the best way to go is to be aggressive. I’m finding that that is the way to win fights, to be aggressive, don’t hang back, get in there and swing. I’m sure it’s not going to work with everything, and I’m still figuring out how to get away, but it’s working better than hanging back.

What’s Next

Right now, I need to work on figuring out if blocking is even for me, or if I just need to get better at rolling, and I need to get better at knowing when to use my Ash of War, my heavy attack, my light attack, or my spells.

So that was my adventure working my way through Castle Morne in Elden Ring, I’ll update to discuss Stormveil Castle, but it may be more than one post because it’s a big area, and I’m worried about getting through it in one piece.

Elden Ring: The Beginning

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I’m a late to the game. As with most things, I’m late to begin playing Elden Ring. I just started the game last weekend, and after I started, I read about a journaling technique that is used to help you learn. So I thought it would be fun to journal my way through. To see if it helps me learn the game. So here I go, journaling my Elden Ring experience.

Journal for Elden Ring

Basic Info

I’m using a Samurai. I’m currently at level 17, and I don’t dare go near anything that looks like a boss of any kind. So far, I’ve talked with Varre (sp?) at the very beginning, and I found Blaidd today. I spoke to a guy who was a bush. I also have my horse, Torrent, my Ashes of War, and my summon. Furthermore, I was able to locate the temple that allows me to get the glorious physick today, as well.

Today’s experience playing Elden Ring

I died a bunch today from falling. I actually ended up leaving a bunch of runes behind because I kept falling in the same spot, and I got sick of getting the runes and then falling again. Generally, though, I am starting to feel a little bit better about fighting. But I don’t dare face anything that is on a horse, or has a name.

I also, when I was going under some ruins, heard someone that needed help. But, I looked and looked, and I couldn’t find them, so I will be going back to that area to see if I can find them. I don’t remember what they said their name was.

I also found the map for West Limgrave, and I got some kind of axe something. Not sure exactly what that is for yet. I was able to upgrade my weapon as well using a smithing stone.

Future Goals for Elden Ring

I am trying to make it to Caelid so that I can beat up the white dragon that is sleeping so that I can get a bunch of runes and level up. I also want to make it to a spot that has a big ball that if it falls off a cliff, I get a bunch of runes for as well.

For now, what I would like to be working on, while I’m trying to get to Caelid is to get better at aiming at enemies, because I always forget to do that in the heat of battle. Also, rolling, I need to get better at rolling out of the way or blocking.

Final Thoughts

The other thing, is how do I decide if I want to upgrade Faith or Intelligence? Or Arcane? Or all of them? Do I just find a spell or a weapon that needs one, and then go from there? So many questions. Elden Ring is very big, and I have a lot of questions that I can only answer by going through the process of playing.

The Long Way: An argument for not taking shortcuts

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I think we’ve all come across a million videos about a shortcut for better bread, or a worksheet to help you outline in ten minutes. I was thinking about this last night, and it occurred to me that no one is arguing for the long way. So, I’m gonna do it. Here you go, an argument for not taking shortcuts.

When was the last time you read an inspirational sports story? Did it talk about the athlete–who has achieved so much in their life. That they decided to call it quits every day a couple of hours early; and how they didn’t show up sometimes? Or did it talk about their shortcuts? No, these stories are always about the amazing perseverance, grit, and endurance the athlete has to reach their amazing level of success.

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Author or Hobby Writer

The long way

When you think about your writing goals, are you the kind of person that is looking for a quick fix to put a bandage on a problem for the moment? Or, are you the type of person that is looking to master your craft? The difference in these two ideas is really the difference between the author or the hobby writer.

Mindset Differences: The long way

A person with an author mindset. When faced with setbacks on their writing journey; they will for solutions. For example, if they are mentally exhausted and cannot imagine writing to their 1000 word goal. They may decrease the goal for a time. So, instead of writing 1000, they are writing 200. This may not allow for fast progress. But it will be progress.

A hobby writer may decide to stop writing for a while, or maybe they’ll see if they can find some tips and tricks to help them. But since the writing is a hobby, it’s not that big of a deal if they decide to stop for a while.

Rejection differences

When facing negative feedback, or rejection, there is going to be a difference in mindset between the author and the hobby writer as well. When receiving negative feedback, and author will take some time to process and then look back at their work to see if the thing makes the piece stronger. It’s also possible, when faced with several pieces of feedback from different sources, they may sort through them to find the ones that work best with their overall goals.

A hobby writer may find feedback to be a difficult and painful process, they may feel personally attacked or ridiculed. It is not that an author doesn’t feel these feelings. It’s simply that the author can put them aside in order to make their work stronger. The same basic things happen with rejection. The author can take it as part of the process and then move onward. The hobby writer will have a hard time with rejection, and take it as a rejection of themselves as a person.

Finishing a Draft: The Long Way

Once the author has finished a rough draft, they will put it away, and then start the revision, re-writing process after some time has passed, and they have gained some distance from the work. A hobby writer, once they have finished a draft, they may be so excited to revise that they start right away, or they may want to start querying/submitting, or they may even self-publish right away.

Everyone starts somewhere. Everyone wants to use shortcuts/has used shortcuts. The difference between a hobby writer and an author is time, experience, and mindset. It is perfectly fine to be a hobby writer. It is perfectly fine to be an author or aspiring author. My point here is that the long way around is normally the best way to get to where you want to be.

There are no shortcuts for writing and reading. Is there a time when you couldn’t hit your writing goals? What did you set them at so that they felt attainable?

stacyadmin

Rewrite: Pancaking

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I recently finished a draft of my current work. I also changed computers and am not sure how to get my word processing program to work on my new one. Because I don’t want to worry too much about the draft I had. I knew it was full of problems.I’m going to be rewriting.

Awhile back, I went to a very small writer’s conference (I don’t know if it would really qualify) in my town. One of the classes there was about doing “pancake” drafts. Essentially, you do a full re-write with each draft.

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While I don’t want to re-write my project more than once. I will be completely writing the story over now.

Reasons for Doing a Pancake rewrite

I have a couple of reasons for wanting to rewrite the story instead of revise. They are:

One of my main characters is lacking motivation. In order to fix that, I need to change a bunch of stuff.
Sometimes, my characters are just talking, it’s a little boring. I think that I can make those parts more active.
My antagonist needs a better reason to act.
I’m thinking of pulling a POV character, and possibly changing the POV completely.

The idea of a pancake draft is you completely put away your previous draft. Meaning, you aren’t looking at the last draft. You aren’t checking on how things are working out from draft to draft. You are simply going to write again. The nice thing about doing it this way, is that you already wrote the story. You know how it goes; you are just ironing out the kinks.

I would suggest not using a pancake draft if you have a really nice draft that doesn’t have large problems that need fixing. I would also suggest doing it with caution, because writing an entire draft is a lot of work.

Finally, I decided to do a draft this way, not only because I wanted to try it out. But, because I feel like my work has some good things. It has many problems and will benefit from a full rewrite. Let me know if you’ve ever done a pancake draft. If so, what did you think of it? Did you feel like your next draft was stronger?

Stacy Jensen

Stacy has a Bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in Human Resources Management from USU and is currently working on her masters in Learning Experience Design. When she’s not busy with school or her home life, she loves reading all things horror and sci-fi fantasy, and writing, writing, writing.