Have you ever been confused about the difference between “farther” and “further”? If so, then fret no longer. The answer is simpler than you might think.

The word “farther” is used in relation to physical distance. For example, if you are forced to listen to John Tesh in the car on a road trip, you may quickly begin to complain that your destination is farther than you thought.

The word “further”, on the other hand, is used in a more abstract sense. For example, you might correctly say that you came to writerinside.com to further your philological education or to gain further insight into proper grammar usage.

However, there might be cases when it gets a little more confusing. If you’ve read more of the book than the rest of the people in your book club, would you say you’ve read farther into the book than the rest of them, or further? Any guesses?

If you said “further,” you would be correct. Remember that “farther” involves physical distance. Even though page 600 of a book may be a couple millimeters farther away from the front cover of the book than page 10, that’s not really the point you’re trying to make when you say you’ve read further into a book than someone else. Rather, you’re saying that you’re further into the story as it pertains to time.

For further discussion, drop a comment or question.

“I would never write about someone who is not at the end of his rope.” ~Stanley Elkin

A wave of weary regret washes over me every time I think about the website I left behind. WriterInside.com has been around for almost four years now, but I have taken so little care of it lately that it has become stale and malnourished. Unfortunately, my own writing has suffered the same fate. In the midst of life, family, and career, I have let the writer inside me slip into a hole, where he’s been hibernating for close to a year.

Maybe it’s not quite accurate to say he’s been hibernating. Perhaps it would be closer to the truth to say that I kicked him into a well, and he’s been screaming, clawing, and scratching to get out ever since.

Well, this past week, I finally lowered the bucket and helped my inner writer back to the surface. Deep in the darkest corner of the Texas Tech library, I shut myself up in a tiny study carrel, dusted off the old manuscript, reacquainted myself with my characters, and began laying down some words again. My story had been frozen in place for so long that it felt a little awkward moving on to the next scene. The new words didn’t seem to blend with the old, and it took me a while to find my rhythm again. But now that I’ve finally gotten these old, rusty gears a-crankin’ again, I’m beginning to fall in love all over again!

Aryn Ravenoak walked the walls of Alphaeon for the last time under a full moon.

This was the opening line for the novel I started writing on November 5, 2007 for National Novel Writing Month. I started another story on the first of the month, but 6800 words into it, I discovered that it wasn’t worth telling. So on day five, I started from scratch.

For those of you who aren’t aware, National Novel Writing Month is a yearly challenge for writers all over the globe to write 50,000 words of manuscript in 30 days. That amounts to about 1,667 words per day. Participants are encouraged to pound out a manuscript without editing, to leave their “inner editors” behind for one month while they focus on just finishing a first draft.

The good news is that I finished 50,000 words; so, technically, I won NaNoWriMo. But the bad news is that I haven’t finished the manuscript . . . nor do I intend to.

Although I ended up falling in love with my characters, I don’t feel that the story itself is worth telling without some major revisions that I don’t have the energy to make. It would be easier to start from scratch.

My current plan, now that I’ve gained a much greater appreciation for leaving my inner editor in the dust, is to finish up a manuscript that I’ve been working on for a couple of years. I’m already 54,800 words into the manuscript, and the story’s been begging to be told.

I have no choice. I have to tell it.

National Novel Writing Month begins tomorrow, and I still have no idea what I’m going to write about! But it’s all good. I’m not too worried about it. After all, one of my favorite ways to write is just to start with a character and a situation and go from there. There’s something very liberating about letting the story take its own course, not knowing what’s lurking around the corner.Anyways, starting bright and early tomorrow morning, my fingers will be typing away, trying to get at least 1,667 words per day . . . and all of this on top of a full time job and a freelance web design career!

Wish me luck!

Thursday is the first day of November, and you know what that means! It’s almost time for National Novel Writing Month!

I’m excited and a little nervous about the whole shindig: excited for obvious reasons, but nervous because I still have absolutely no idea what I’m going to write about, so I might have to resort to my backup strategy.

My preferred strategy for NaNoWriMo is to have a plan, and possibly an outline for my book before November 1 arrives, but it’s starting to look like that’s not going to happen. So my backup strategy is just to start with a character in a ridiculous situation and go from there, writing without a plan. This strategy can definitely be fun. It’s exciting to have no idea what lies around the next corner. But it also makes me a little nervous.

Either way, I’m really excited about November, even though I won’t have much of a social life for 30 days. Anyways, if you’re doing NaNoWriMo too, drop me a line and keep in touch!

As some of you may know, I’m currently working the equivalent of two jobs. By day, I’m a full time Flash trainer for LearnFlash.com, and by night I’m a freelance web designer. So, as you can imagine, I tend to stay pretty busy, especially now that my freelance business is starting to pick up. In fact, I’m busier now than I’ve been at any other point in my life.

So there couldn’t be any worse time for me to stack something else on top of my plate, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do in the month of November. As many wannabe writers know, November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). In November, psychotic writers all over the globe commit to writing 50,000 pages in only 30 days. (Why couldn’t they have picked a month with 31 days??) That amounts to over 1600 words PER DAY!

NaNoWriMo encourages writers everywhere to stop making excuses and start writing! It also encourages you to ignore your “inner critic” for 30 days and avoid doing any editing at all cost! After all, editing is what draft #2 is for! Will NaNoWriMo result in a literary masterpiece? Probably not! But it will get you started in the right direction.

So if you need a boost, check out nanowrimo.com and join the masses of writers who have decided to stop making excuses. The website has a great community forums section, where you can keep up with other writers who are taking the challenge. The forums are a great source of motivation for everyone crazy enough to put themselves through the ordeal!

So go sign up today and look me up! My user name is craigsoup.

Desperate for a good story idea that just won’t come to you? I stumbled on an “idea generator” gadget recently that might be just what you’re looking for. Just click on the “random” button, and it throws together 3 completely unrelated words for you to do with as you will. It may not result in any best-selling novels, but I assure you, it’ll be fun! Check it out!

Do you ever find yourself driven to do something that you just can’t find the time to do? I know, I know, I’m the one who’s supposed to tell you that if you have enough drive to do something then you’ll MAKE the time; but that advice is easier to dole out than it is to follow.

As you have probably noticed, website updates have been infrequent lately. This is because I’m currently wrestling with a full time job while trying to build up a freelance web design business. And I’m doing all of this in an effort to pay off some high-interest credit card debt. (Credit cards are evil, ladies and gents, don’t be deceived!)

This doesn’t leave much time for writing.

Now, if one of you had said this to me, this is the point where I would jump in and tell you that if you really want to write, you’ll stop making excuses and DO IT. Even if it means only writing a couple of pages per week, you must do something.

And that advice is perfectly sound.

So I’m calling on YOU GUYS to help me! Whenever you get a chance, drop me an email by going to our contact page. Check up on me, tell me to get busy, motivate me, inspire me, tell me why you love to write . . . anything to give me a good, solid kick in the literary rump.

And I’m always here to do the same for you.

P.S. And if you’re feeling extra generous, feel free to explore the “click here to donate” button on the right side of the page.

Where and when does your story take place? This question needs to be answered in as much detail as possible before you ever put pen to paper. If you don’t have a good idea of the time and place of your story, then neither will your readers. And the setting for your story should be considered as seriously as though it were another character . . . because in a way, it is. So here are a few tips for fleshing out your setting:

1. Spend some time there yourself. Whether your story takes place in a real place or an imagined universe, you need to set a solid foundation for your setting. You can do this by spending time there yourself. If the place you’re writing about is real, go there. If you’ve never been there, or if you can’t afford to go, you need to either change the setting or do a lot of research.

If the place you’re writing about doesn’t exist, then your job is a little bit easier. You won’t have to deal with all the locals who complain that your descriptions aren’t accurate. On the other hand, you job can also be a lot more difficult, because even though the place doesn’t exist, you have to make it seem so.

So spend some time there. Close your eyes and walk through the forests, wander up and down the streets, shake hands with the locals, visit all the local sites. Pull out a pen and paper and draw detailed maps. Immerse yourself in the environment until you almost start to believe it’s real.

2. Don’t get too caught up in details. It’s important to know and understand your setting, but don’t get caught up in explaining every street crack, every tree and rock, and every stop sign. In the course of your writing, include only the things that the characters would notice.

3. Include all of the senses. If your character is wandering through a suburban neighborhood on the 4th of July, what kind of things would he see, hear, taste, touch, and smell? He might smell fireworks or barbecue. Maybe he sees kids running around and hears laughter and fireworks going off. If it’s a typical 4th of July in Texas, then he probably feels the heat of the sun baking the back of his neck. Including the senses can add a whole new dimension to your narrative.

4. Has it been invented yet? If your story takes place in 1930, make sure your character isn’t carrying a gun that was invented in the 1940′s. Little details like this can destroy your credibility as an author for any of your readers who are picky enough to catch your inaccuracies.

5. Is that what it really looks like? If you’re writing about a place you’ve only seen pictures of, then interview someone who’s actually been there. At the risk of being annoying, ask them very specific questions about WHAT they saw, how it made them FEEL, what they might have noticed that you would only notice if you’ve been there.

There is plenty to consider concerning your plot. Don’t sell a potentially great story short by neglecting to understand and build your setting properly. Remember, your environment is almost another character in your story. Think about how this idea relates to movies such as The Princess Bride, Ocean’s Eleven, Hidalgo, and Star Wars. If the time and place for any of these these stories were less specific or poorly thought out, then the entire story would be remarkably different.

So before you send that manuscript out, take a moment to consider your setting. Have you given it the attention it deserves?