Blog Chain - Get Directions First

This round of the blog chain was started by the ever awesome Eric who wants to know:


When was the last time you just sat down and started writing, 
with nothing but a whisper of an idea to guide you? 
Did you find it easy to do or did you find yourself struggling for a more organized story?

My first thought was that I couldn't remember the last time I did this, at least in regards to novels. When it comes to my novel writing, I don't ever just sit down and write anymore. I used to. Wrote two books this way. I finished the first one 5 years ago...and I'm doing the last (hopefully) round of edits on it right now. The second book I did this way is still waiting for an extensive rewrite.

I have three or four other novels that have a few chapters each that I won't finish until I sit down and plot. With novels, I just can't write like that anymore. It makes the editing process too long and too extensive and honestly, I don't know that I could just sit down and write with nothing but an idea.

However...

That only applies to novels. When it comes to poetry, I can't think it out. I just let it come. Picture books as well. I'll have an idea and I just sit and write.Yes, there is more editing, however these are short projects that don't take long.

I do enjoy just sitting and letting the words flow though. This is probably why I love doing those writing prompt exercises, where you are given a few words and have to make a story out of it - or the poetry games where you are given several word tiles to form into a poem. It's challenging and fun and it allows those creative muscles to stretch without having to worry about the editing that will be involved if I don't think it out beforehand :)

How about you? Do you ever just take an idea and run with it? Or do you think and plot out everything first?

Check out Margie's blog next to see what she has to say :)

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Do What You Don't Want To Do And Get What You Want To Get

This seems to be my mantra lately, but it's a good one. There's a lot of things I don't really want to do...but I want the end result. So *shrug* you do what you gotta do.

Diet? Not fun. AT ALL. But I've been doing it anyways and doing really well. Cleaning my house? Blech....but...it's really nice waking up in the morning to an empty sink and not tripping over piles o' crap on my way down the stairs. Doing what I don't want to do has been getting me what I want to get. A size down in my jeans and a clean (mostly) house.

So, I decided it was time to apply this to my writing.

I love writing, I really do. But sometimes, a lot of times, it just feels like work. It's daunting thinking of the days and weeks of pouring out words that need to be edited and rearranged and cut and rewritten and edited again and again...and again. :)

But the end result is so worth it. There is seriously no feeling in the world like looking at a clean, polished, finished manuscript - a story YOU wrote that you know is GOOD. It's just beyond awesome.

I want that. I want that finished manuscript. I want to sell it and see it published.

But to do that, I've got to put in the work. I need to do what I sometimes don't want to do if I want to get what I want to get.

So....I guess it's back to the grindstone :)

How are you guys doing on your projects? What do you do that you don't want to do in order to get what you want to get? (and how is that for a mouthful LOL)

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More Things I Learned From My 7 Year Old

So much about surviving in this business depends on attitude. Rejections, critiques, reviews...they can all get to you if you don't have the right attitude about them. Keeping a positive attitude can be anything but easy.

But it is possible to have a positive attitude about anything if you choose. Something that was brought home to me as I watched my 7 year old open his presents on Christmas morning.

He's a cute kid on any morning, but this Christmas, he was so flippin adorable I almost couldn't stand it. He didn't stop smiling once, not even when things didn't really go the way he wanted.

For instance, he and his sister received desks (she for her art, he for his science and art projects). They were both very excited about them, and about the presents stacked on top. Now, these presents went along with their desks (they were filled with office supplies, crayons, markers, stickers, etc). And since they both always get in my computer paper for their projects, I thought having their very own stash of paper would be fun.

My son unwrapped his paper (it was the first present he unwrapped) and when he saw what it was, he said, "Oh you gotta be kidding! Paper?"

Now, he could have said this as "Oh you gotta be kidding, paper?" *insert sarcasm and exasperated eye roll*

But it was said with a laugh and a smile. He put the paper to the side (instead of chucking it across the room) and moved on. Some kids would have reacted with a much different attitude. (And he has since had a lot of fun with that paper, so it's all good) :D

My favorite moment of the day came a few minutes later as he was going through his stocking. He found a box of those storybook lifesavers (which Santa forgot he didn't care for). He held them up, smile from ear to ear, laugh in his voice, and said "Awesome I hate these!"

Now, I think he was saying "awesome" and then realized what it was and switched to "I hate these" - but either way, he didn't throw a fit, he didn't even look disappointed, he just put them down and moved on. And gave the rest of us a good belly laugh at the same time :D

It got me thinking. How do we react when something doesn't go our way in the writing world? What do we do when a request that looked so promising comes back with a rejection? What do we do when a manuscript we thought was clean and polished and ready to go comes back from a critiquing with so much red you can't see the white of the pages anymore?

I realize everyone is going to have a moment where they want to quit, hit delete and never write again, or shoot off a nasty email to the person who sent that rejection or critique. It's natural and totally understandable to feel supreme disappointment. We pour our hearts and souls into our work and it hurts when it doesn't make it.

You can't do anything about how other people view your work. You can't make an agent sign you, or make that editor buy your book, or make your crit partners send your manuscript with a big smiley face and a "PERFECT!" rating.

But you can politely thank your crit partners and move on, even if you cried yourself to sleep over their comments, even if you'll never use one of their suggestions. They took time away from their own work to read yours. Just say thank you with a smile on your face and move on.

Got a bad reject? STAY AWAY FROM THE REPLY BUTTON. Resist the urge to tell that agent/editor that they don't know what they are talking about. Maybe they don't. Maybe passing on your book will someday be the biggest regret they ever have. I'm sure the people who passed on Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling and John Grisham give themselves a little kick every now and then.

But it doesn't matter. This business is subjective in the extreme. Everything depends on getting the right book in front of the right person at the EXACT right time - over and over again. You can't control any of that. But you can control your attitude when disappointment comes your way. You can have a minute of mourning for the shiny possibility that didn't pan out....and then put a smile on your face and move on. Bigger and better things will be waiting for you if you have a good attitude and keep on going. A bad attitude will burn a lot of bridges and wear you down.

If my son and thrown a fit over the paper or the unwanted candy, Christmas morning would have been miserable for everyone. There were much better presents under the tree, more delicious candy in the toe of his stocking. But he never would have found that out if he'd stopped unwrapping after the first disappointment (and to be honest, his attitude about that paper was so good I'm still not sure if he was disappointed or not).

Bottom line - you are going to wade through a lot of coal before you get to the good stuff. Having a bad attitude about it will make the journey miserable for you and everyone you are involved with. A good attitude will make even crappy candy and stacks of computer paper a lot more fun, and it will make finally finding that shiny new bike under the tree a much more rewarding moment.

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday! :) May our new year be filled with good attitudes and awesome rewards for hard work :)

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Tutor Tuesday - Settings

Whether you are creating your own settings while writing fiction or analyzing settings while writing non-fiction, this story element is an extremely important part of the equation.

Let's look at non-fiction first. You have to analyze a story for an essay and you decide to look at the settings of your piece. Some stories have more pronounced settings than others. In some books, the setting is more of a subtle background, the stage on which the actors play, while in others, the setting is almost a character in and of itself.

Say you are asked to write a literary analysis of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Some questions you may want to consider when analyzing the setting of this book are:

* What is the time period? Would this story have worked better set in a different time?
* What is the location? Would the story have worked better elsewhere? Are several locations used in the story? Do they work? Would a specific scene have worked better in another setting? If all the scenes are set in the same location, would the story have worked better set in several different locations?
* What season is the story set in? If it is set in winter, would it be better set in summer? Does the season echo what is happening in the story? (example: Do the love scenes occur in the summer while the trial occurs in the winter, or vice versa?)
* What time of day is it when important events in the story take place? Do the sinister things happen at night while the happy things happen during the day? Why do you think this is?

While the setting may seem like a simple part of the story, it can actually have a huge impact on what is going on. The events detailed in The Scarlet Letter either wouldn't have happened or would have happened in a very different way with a very different outcome if the story had been set someplace like the farthest frontier outpost or an indian village or in the southern states...even during the same time period.

The setting of a story, not just the physical location but everything about it (time of day, season, outside (forest or beach) or inside (and what type of building if inside)) can greatly impact the success of a story. Thoroughly exploring this literary tool can be a great start to your literary analysis.

For fiction, you can ask yourself these same questions as you are creating your settings. Are you creating the best setting for your story? Would it work better somewhere or some time else? Are you giving enough detail for the reader to see the setting without going overboard?

This one can be important. In the first draft of my first novel I described my character pulling up to her home and spent 4 PAGES describing in minute detail every nook and cranny of the house. And I did that several times throughout the book. I was convinced if I didn't give the reader all that description, they wouldn't be able to see the location.

But you know, readers have great imaginations. Give them enough to get them grounded, to let them know what your world looks like, without drowning them in pages of description that they'll never read. I generally start skimming if there is more than a paragraph of description, no matter how beautifully written. Chances are, your readers will too :)

What is your opinion on settings? Do you like long, descriptive passages that describe every detail, or do you like to set things up in your own imagination? What is your favorite literary setting?

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A Lot of Words Thursday :D

Crowding is what Keats meant when he told poets to "load every rift with ore." It's what we mean when we exhort ourselves to avoid flabby language and clichés, never to use ten vague words where two will do, always to seek the vivid phrase, the exact word. By crowding I mean also keeping the story full, always full of what's happening in it; keeping it moving, not slacking and wandering into irrelevancies; keeping it interconnected with itself, rich with echoes forward and backward. Vivid, exact, concrete, accurate, dense, rich: these adjectives describe a prose that is crowded with sensations, meanings, and implications. 


But leaping is just as important. What you leap over is what you leave out. And what you leave out is infinitely more than what you leave in. There's got to be white space around the word, silence around the voice. Listng is not describing. Only the relevant belongs. Some say God is in the details; some say the Devil is in the details. Both are correct. ... Tactically speaking, I'd say go ahead and crowd in the first draft — put everything in. Then in revising decide what counts, what tells; and cut and recombine till what's left is what counts. Leap boldly. 


— Ursula LeGuin

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The Sound of Writing

You know, writing is so much more than just a visual experience for me. I see the scenes play out in my head, I see the words I type and love to read them, of course. But there is so much more to the act of writing. The smell of the paper and ink as I shred my manuscript with my brilliant red pen. The feel of the paper beneath my fingers. The taste of my blood as I suck on yet another paper cut LOL (I toldya...I'm kinda klutzy sometimes) :D

But what, you may be wondering, are the "sounds" of writing that I love so much? Well, I tried to find a clip from You've Got Mail to help me illustrate, but apparently, I'm the only one who totally got what Frank was talking about when he went crazy over the sharp retort that sounded when he struck his typewriter keys :D Couldn't find a clip.

It's not the sound of a typewriter I love, or even the sound of a keyboard. It's the very specific sound of the keys on a laptop being struck. The sound they make when I type. I seriously wanted a laptop for that specific reason. For other reasons too, of course. But the first thing I did when I got my laptop was type like mad, just to hear the sound. I like the sound of my regular keyboard on the family's computer okay....but the sound of my fingers hitting the keys on my lovely laptop (or any fingers hitting the keys of any laptop for that matter) ahhhh, sweet dulcet tones!

The other sound I love...a quill scratching across paper. One of the reasons I loved writing my second book so much was that I wrote it by hand, using those gel pens. They make a very similar sound to a quill...that lovely scratching as they move across the paper. I LOVE that sound. I'll scribble nonsense for hours just to hear that sound.

(p.s. conversations like this are why my husband thinks I'm crazy) :D

Are there any sounds of writing you love? What other aspect of writing do you love, besides the visual part of reading your words?

NaNo stats: still behind...working to catch up. Did get 1366 words out yesterday, so a fair showing, though not enough to get me to where I need to be....here's hoping I do better today! :D How is everyone else doing?

Oh! And major book giveaways going on today!! And I mean MAJ.OR. Over 180 blogs are participating, each one doing their own giveaway. Here is a link for the list of those participating. Good luck everyone!

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Finding the Time

So, the weekend got away from me once again :) I was on the OA yesterday talking about how I find the time to write (which, obviously, I don't always lol) But here is an abbreviated version of that post for anyone who didn't see it. Happy Monday everyone!

1. Carry a notebook and pen, a recorder, laptop, etc so you can jot down notes if you think of something even if you don’t have time right that second to write.

2. Get chores and errands done in a timely manner – get them done first thing, then any spare moments that come along during the day are free for you to write.\

3. Treat it like a job. Sit down and do it every day no matter what, no matter how many words you manage. Just get something done every day. It is not always important WHAT you write – that is what editing is for. What is important is that you sit down and DO IT. Butt to chair, fingers to keyboard (or pen to paper). When you least feel like writing is when you need to do it the most. To aid in this:
• Make a writing schedule - choose a time when you can sit and write every day and when that time rolls around SIT AND WRITE
• Set goals - set a realistic goal every day and do everything you can to meet it

4. Prioritize your activities – use your spare moments wisely. Decide what is the most important to you and what can be sacrificed to get a few more words in.

Author Kenneth Atchity said:

Every human being has exactly the same amount of time, and yet consider the output of Robert Louis Stevenson, John Peabody Harrington, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury,William Goldman, Neil Simon, Joyce Carol Oates, Agatha Christie and John Gardner. How did they accomplish what they have? They weren’t deflected from their priorities by activities of lesser importance. The work continues, even though everything else may have to give. They know that their greatest resource is themselves. Wasting time is wasting themselves. When people ask them, “Where do you find the time?” they wonder, “Where do you lose it?” 

How do you find the time to write?

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Give Yourself Some Credit

(REMINDER: Stop by the Operation Awesome Blog and become a follower for a chance to win a ton of books and a possible gift certificate! We are up to 4.6 books that I'm giving away already! (I will of course round up to the nearest book since I wouldn't want to send someone just part of a book) ;-) To enter, be or become a follower on the OA Blog and leave a comment on THIS POST or THIS ONE on my blog. Contest ends Saturday!)


One of my favorite quotes on writing is from Steve Martin, who said:


I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper. 


I think we, as writers, can get so caught up in the revising and querying and never-ending quest for perfection in our work, that we don't give ourselves the credit we deserve for accomplishing the huge task of actually WRITING.


Before I actually sat down and tried to write a novel, I had no idea the amount of work that went into it. I had this idea in my head that I'd sit at my computer for a month or two, crank out the novel, go through it a couple times to check for typos, and that would be it. I'd have an incredible book ready for publication. So when I finished my first book, it was a huge celebration. I was so excited. I felt so PROUD.


Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd spend weeks, months, and even YEARS agonizing over the exact right word. I had no clue that there were all these little "rules" I should follow, like trying not to use adverbs, finding ways around using the passive "was", cutting unnecessary dialogue tags, swearing off info dumps, building story and character arcs, and on and on and on.


I knew how to write. I've always been good at writing. But I had no real idea how to CRAFT my stories.


The problem was, now that I knew that writing a story involves so much more than just WRITING a story, I began to focus on everything I still needed to do instead of giving my self credit for what I had already done. Sure, I still got an excited thrill writing THE END on a first draft. But part of me was heaving a big sigh as well, because I knew it was just the beginning.


Yes, my first drafts are generally nothing more than guidelines for the "real" book that will be revealed after I cut or rewrite nearly everything. But I need to remember how AWESOME it is that I can get a first draft out at all. There are so many people out there who sit down to write a novel who quit four chapters in. Or who finish the book but never look at it again, never revise it, never edit, never rewrite over and over again.


And most of the writers I meet do this. They focus on everything they still need to do, which is good and necessary, but we need to remember to give ourselves a little pat on the back for accomplishing the massive task of taking a huge stack of blank paper and turning it into an amazing possibility.


Do you do this? Do you forget to give yourself credit for your accomplishments? 


Your task today - give yourself a pat on the back...'cause you know you deserve one :)

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Blog Chain - My Favorite Mistake

This round's topic was chosen by the lovely Laura who wanted to know:


Regarding your writing career, what’s the best mistake you’ve ever made and why?

Well, as most of the other awesome people in our chain have mentioned, I've made them all, some of them repeatedly. However, despite the sometimes spectacular mistakes I make, I think the worst one (which turned into the best) was when I quit. Now, in my defense, life had thrown me a huge curve ball. My daughter was born two months early and spent the first seven weeks of her life in the hospital - which was 45 minutes away from where we lived (if there was no traffic). My husband was working 90 + hours a week at the time and we also had a two year old that needed my attention.

So, I definitely had cause to take a nice long break. But I let that break drag on for two years. I had a novel that I was a few chapters from finishing. It was my first book, and when I started it, I was totally in love with it. I couldn't wait for my son's nap time every day so I could dive back in.

Over those two years, I thought about it often, wanted to get back to it, and then found an excuse not to. Eventually, I sat down and finished it...in just a few weeks. And I was hooked again. Have been ever since. And I'll never make that mistake again. Writing gives me something I just can't get from any other aspect of my life. It lets me escape into another world. I can exercise my brain, challenge my abilities, indulge in my love of learning and creating and reading and so many other things.

I've met incredible people, some of whom are now my closest friends. And I've become ME. Before, I was my husband's wife, my children's mother, my parents' daughter. I had degrees, I had jobs, and hobbies and friends. But I didn't know who I was yet. I was still searching for what I wanted to be when I grew up :)

When I started that first book, I got a taste of it. I got a glimpse of the person I could be, of the life I could have. And then I let other things get in the way. Important things, yes. Unavoidable things, of course. But I let it go on too long. I talked myself into believing that everything and everyone else was more important. And you know, sometimes they are. And that's okay.

But I will never make the mistake of letting YEARS go by without writing again. It's too much a part of me now. I am glad I made the mistake of giving up - because now I know what's at stake and I'll never do it again :)

What about you? What is your best mistake?

Be sure to check out the awesome Eric's answer before mine and stop by the always fabulous Kat's blog tomorrow to find out what his best mistake is.

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Quote Thursday with K.M. Weiland

 The first thing I do when I hit a speed bump in a story is to start asking questions. The reporter’s old standby “5 W’s” (Who, What, Where, Why, When) come in plenty handy for novelists too, particularly “Why?” and “What if?” Keep asking long enough, and, eventually, you’ll find the answers.


                                     ~K.M. Weiland



For a chance to win this CD, comment on any post this week. 1 point for each comment (one point per day). Entries taken through Friday and winner announced on Saturday!


CLICK HERE TO BUY CD






K.M. Weiland writes historical and speculative fiction from her home in the sandhills of western Nebraska. She enjoys mentoring other authors through her writing tips, editing services, workshops, and her recently released instructional CD Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration.

Find her at her website and blog.

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QuoteTuesday with KM Weiland

Allowing our impatience, frustration, and artistic insecurities to convince us we’re wasting our time is far too tempting an escape. But don’t give in. Don’t abandon a story just because it isn’t working. Stories never work in the first draft.


~K.M. Weiland 


CLICK HERE TO BUY CD 
For a chance to win a free copy of the CD, comment on any post this week. 1 point for each comment (one point per day). Entries taken through Friday, winner announced Saturday!





K.M. Weiland writes historical and speculative fiction from her home in the sandhills of western Nebraska. She enjoys mentoring other authors through her writing tips, editing services, workshops, and her recently released instructional CD Conquering Writer’s Block and Summoning Inspiration.

Find her at her website and blog.

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What Did You Expect?

First of all, nope, no new words...my Potato Man says it all....



Buuuuut that will hopefully be changing today :D

Right now, I actually have a question for everyone out there...is your writer's life what you thought it would be? I know before I began this journey, before I decided to really start doing this "for real", for publication, I had this vision of what my life as a writer would be like.

And boy was I wrong LOL

I imagined myself putting my kids down for a nap or for bed, or sending them off for school, and sitting down at my computer and immediately pounding out pristine prose that only needed a quick proofread and a few minor tweaks. Everyone else would love it (okay, I knew not EVERYONE would love it), and I'd have offers pouring in the moment I sent queries out....

Well, I was a little more realistic than that :D but seriously, the way it really is and the way I thought it would be are very far apart. I honestly had NO idea how much work goes into writing a book. Didn't understand that I would agonize over the perfect word...that I would be WAITING forever for everything...that the rejections would sting as much as they do (and that there would be so many of them LOL).

I also never imagined how incredible it would feel to have someone read my book and LOVE it....how exciting it would be to sign with my agent, or the complete euphoria (followed and forever after mixed in with terror :D ) that would accompany my very first sale to a publisher, or the happy obsession I'd feel staring at my brand new cover :)

Everything about this crazy world of writing is just so much MORE than I ever expected, both the good and the bad.

So I'm wondering, is it everything you expected?

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Blog Chain - The Grass is Always Greener in That Other Genre...

Happy Monday Everyone! I get to start off the week with another entry for the ol' Blog Chain. This topic was chosen by the fabulous Margie, who wants to know:


How did you come to write your YA genre (e.g. contemp, fantasy, etc.)? AND (yep, it’s a 2 parter), if you weren’t writing that, what genre would you be interested in exploring?

Answer Part 1:

It just sort of happened LOL Okay, I started out writing adult historical romances. They are what I grew up on, what I love, just about all I read. I got my first degree in History. I love it, I soak it up. And romance - it's just part of who I am. I very seriously doubt I could write fiction without a tinge of romance :)

Then one day, I finally gave into several friends' urgings to try reading YA. And I totally fell in love with it. I love the pacing, the sweetness of the romance involved, the fun story lines. I was hooked. And ideas for YA's started popping up in my head.

I tried revising my first historical romance into YA. Then I wrote a YA Urban Fantasy. And after several false starts and despite a file of ideas for more Urban Fantasies, I've decided I'm going to stick with my first love, history. The majority of my ideas are historical. It's what feels natural and what I think I'm good at. And combined with YA, I've got a genre I absolutely love to write.

I still read more paranormal/urban fantasies than historicals - but for writing purposes, I am a YA historical writer.

Answer Part 2:

Well, I've sort of explored other genres already. As I said, I didn't start out in the genre I'm in now. And I have a few unfinished straight contemporary manuscripts as well. I just lose interest in them quickly.

However, I am lucky because I already write other genres; namely picture books and non-fiction. Both of which I love, and one of which (so far) I've found success in.

So, that's me - writer of YA historicals, picture books, and non-fiction (writing help books at the moment). Oh, and I dabble in that poetry thing on the side ;-)

Head back to Laura's blog to see her writerly tendencies, and don't miss Shaun's answers tomorrow!

How about you? What do you write? Have you tried on other genres? Or would you like to?

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Blog Chain - Worth the Hassle

This round of the ol' chain was started by our awesome Eric, who wants to know:


What do you find to be the most challenging aspect of being a writer? What is your greatest reward from writing?

Fabulous question. There are a lot of things about being a writer that are hard. Juggling writing with kids and family and jobs, dodging queries, revisions, edits, revisions, bleeding-red critiques, more revisions, W.A.I.T.I.N.G., querying, submitting, pressure, and all that other wonderful stuff that comes with the territory.

But for me, the hardest part is actually FINISHING.

I'm great at ideas. Great at starting a project. This is why I have 4 or 5 novels with three or four chapters a piece, two finished novels in various stages of revisions (for the 100th time), two half written non-fiction proposals (one of those accompanying a half written NF book), a barely begun novel in verse, and half a dozen or so picture books.

Christine always tells me I'm spinning. LOL I just have a really hard time sitting down and focusing on one project long enough to finish it. I really don't know why this is. I'll think about my WIP all day long, have tons of ideas I want to implement, scenes shooting through my head that I can't wait to get down...but when I go to actually work on all that, I generally pull up my files and then sit and think....and then check my email....and then peek at Facebook real quick....and then get distracted by my kids or husband or that cute movie on HBO I really wanted to see. Something always comes up.

It's kind of like exercise. I really want to do it. I can visualize the incredible end result if I keep it up. I enjoy it while I'm doing it and feel spectacular when I'm done. It's just getting myself to apply butt to chair and fingers to keys that sometimes evades me.

I think this is why I work so well under a deadline :) I'm literally FORCED to work. I enjoy every second, don't get me wrong. But yeah, I do better with the cattle prod approach :)

My greatest reward? Well, I won't lie - getting a agent and selling my book were pretty awesome rewards. Seeing it on a book shelf will be even more cool, I'm sure. But really, the thing I love more than anything is sending someone something I wrote and having them say, "OMG! I LOVE this! Send me more!" or "I am loving this so much I stayed up until 1am. I couldn't put it down!" or "Hurry up and finish! I can't wait to find out what happens, you're killing me!" or "My professor gave me an A on my paper and said it was the best paper she'd read all year!"

Hands down, nothing beats that. There is nothing more rewarding for me than experiencing the pleasure other people find in reading my work or knowing that I helped someone pass their class or write an awesome paper. Absolutely nothing tops that for me.

How about you? What do you find difficult about being a writer? Anyone out there want to challenge me for the Procrastination Championship? I betcha I'd win :D What do you love about being a writer? What keeps you on this crazy roller coaster?

Don't forget to go back and see what Laura had to say about being a writer and stop by Shaun's tomorrow to see what he both loves and struggles with :)

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Blog Chain - Worth the Hassle

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Ten Word (plus a few) Tuesday

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. 
— Scott Adams 

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Ten Word (plus a few) Tuesday

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My Pot Boileth Over

I was talking to my dad yesterday, jabbering on about how happy I was to have completed another chapter in my new book and he said something along the lines of "I don't get how writers can just sit down and start writing. How do you go from cleaning the house to just sitting down and writing?"

I wasn't sure what to tell him for a second. Because the short answer is - you just do :D I did say that I try to treat writing like a real job. I'm on summer hours now, but once the kids are in school, I'll have a more set schedule of hours that will be exclusively for writing. But that still doesn't answer his question. Because he wanted to know how I could look at the clock, say "time to write" and just sit down and do it. How did I flip the switch mom/wife/whatever else to writer?

After I thought about it longer, I think it's because my stories are always bubbling right below the surface. I don't ever stop thinking of storylines and plot twists and characters and settings and scenes (or new chapters or tips or sections or books for NF). Even when I'm thinking of or doing other things, my projects are still there, just waiting for me to pay attention to them.

I don't ever stop being a writer just because I'm also being a mom, a wife, a pianist, a tutor, a referee, a maid, a nanny, a chef (albeit a bad one), a Sunday School teacher, an editor, a sister, an aunt, a daughter, or a friend. The writer in me never goes away.

So when I sit down to write, no matter what else I've done that day or just finished doing, it doesn't take too much effort to get back into the project at hand. Sometimes it needs a little coaxing, a minute or so while I reorient myself. But generally I find, even if I'm not in the mood to write, if I sit down and just start reading what I've already written, the project comes alive again. I find an error that needs fixing or a new scene or solution presents itself and I get sucked right back in.

It's not so much flipping a switch as taking the cover off a boiling pot. The water is boiling whether I'm paying attention to it or not (p.s. boiling water and I don't get along...mostly because I do have a habit of not paying attention to it) :D

How does it work for you? Can you go from being a "normal" person to writer person at the drop of a hat? Or do you need some time to acclimate?

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My Pot Boileth Over

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Thirty Word Thursday

What no wife, [husband, partner, friend, or significant other] of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he's staring out of the window. 
~Burton Rascoe

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Thirty Word Thursday

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Ten Word Tuesday

I do not like to write — I like to have written.
~ Gloria Steinem

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Ten Word Tuesday

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Dreams Undefeated

My mom sent me a inspirational article she'd found somewhere. The final line said:


The truth is, you're not defeated until your doubts and regrets take the place of your dreams.

I'm embroidering this on a pillow somewhere, tattooing it on my forehead, spray painting it on my office wall. Anything necessary to keep this in mind. Why? Because the reality of a writer can be tough. So often our doubts and regrets get in our way. It can be hard to push that send button, to give your manuscript to crit partners, to put it all out there when there is a very good chance it's going to get annihilated.

Are we going to get rejected?  You betcha.

Are we going to have crit partners hand us manuscripts that are so shredded the paper barely holds together?  Yep. Been there, done that, will do it again. Soon (love you guys) ;-D

Are we going to have agent after agent and publisher after publisher say "No thanks, it's not quite good enough?" Oh yeah. Frequently.

Will we have readers and critics hate our books and give us scathing reviews?  Definitely.

Do you have a file full of unfinished manuscripts that you've started and then banished to the dark recesses of your sock drawer?  Probably more than any of us would like to admit :)

Does all of this equal failure, collapse, DEFEAT?

Oh no. It most certainly does not. Why? Because no matter how many times we get knocked down, we get back up. We write more words. We send out more queries. We revise for the thousandth time and then we sit down and revise again. The more we do it, the better we get, the better our chances are of finally succeeding.

We are never out of the game unless we take ourselves out. Only when we are too afraid, too disappointed, or too pessimistic to continue on are we truly defeated. NO ONE can defeat you. Those rejections can't defeat you. Those bleeding red manuscripts aren't defeat. They are opportunities for improvement.

I've heard those who say that no matter how hard you try, you won't make it. The odds are too steep. There's too much competition. The market is too tough. And anyone who tells you otherwise is just being nice or overly optimistic. Well, all of that may be true.

But I know one thing for certain. I definitely won't make it if I stop trying. I was scared stiff to send my non-fiction book out to agents. I didn't have the platform. I had the experience but didn't have the "professional" background. I did it anyway. And I'm watching my dream come true. Someday, I'll see a novel with my name on it on those shelves as well. If it never happens, well, it won't be because I let my doubts get the best of me - because that would be something I'd regret the rest of my life.

The reality is, our chosen path is hard. It's downright brutal.

But the truth is, you're not defeated until your doubts and regrets take the place of your dreams.

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Dreams Undefeated

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Thirty Word Thursday

The labour of writing and rewriting...is the due exacted by every good book from its author, even if he knows from the 
beginning exactly what he wants to say.
~ G. M. Trevelyan

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Thirty Word Thursday

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