I know I’ve been quiet lately. At least blog quiet. I’ve taken a long break from the submission process for Cheater, but plan to start up again this month. And the most important thing is this: I have been writing. A lot. I’ve found a great rhythm and balance between working part time and writing part time, and have been happily delving into a YA novel I wrote as a 13 year old. It needs a lot of work – but the bones are good. It’s been fun (yet angst inducing) to return to the teenage world. Mostly fun. And I have to say, I love the voice I’ve found, and it is so easy, scarily easy, to slip into my inner teenager. This character is flowing over with potential, and I can see myself writing many, many stories with her. Changing my focus from searching for an agent back to craft has been rejuvenating. Just what I needed to do some revising on Cheater and jump back into the toil of the querying process!
Sage Advice July 23, 2009
Over the past several months, Alexandra Sokoloff has been doing a series of posts on the craft of writing. Here’s a link to her Table of Contents. Seriously good stuff, for writers and for anyone interested in how to tell a story. And if you ever get a chance to hear her speak or take a class with her, do it. She’s a brilliant teacher, a talented writer, and an all around cool person. Enjoy!
Currently Reading: THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruis Zafon.
Five Questions You Must Ask Yourself May 2, 2009
Writer’s Digest puts out an online magazine that I get via email. A recent magazine had an article that listed five questions you, as a writer, must answer in order to succeed:
1. Who are your favorite authors and why?
2. What do they do that grabs your attention and keeps you turning pages?
3. What keeps you coming back to your favorite genres?
4. What compels you to write fiction/ memoir/ poetry?
5. How will you make sure that your own work grabs and keeps your readers’ attention every bit as well as your own favorites capture you?
At first glance, it seems easy enough. Any time reading or writing comes up in conversation, I light up and babble away. Storytelling and stories are easily my favorite subjects. But now I’ve found myself really pondering these questions; trying to dig deeper. The article emphasizes that we writers should answer these questions with relish and in great detail. So, writers, have at it.
Lighting A Fire May 1, 2009
Wow – has it really been a month since I’ve posted? Whoops. Time got away from me. The good news: I’ve gotten back to writing regularly. Just not blogging.
So, my local writers’ group has been meeting every other week for 3 ½ years. All of us are working on novels, so we read and critique scenes from those novels and occasionally one of us will bring in a short story. Recently, we realized that we were all getting a bit… lazy. Stagnating. We’d gotten away from our habit of consistently having something written for our read and critique sessions. In my case, I’d gotten comfortable/lazy enough that I started bringing subpar work – unpolished work that I would have normally been embarrassed to show to my group. And more than once over the last several months I didn’t have something prepared. Luckily, we all still show up to offer critiques to those who have something to read. But, we all needed a bit of a kick in the tush.
We decided to give ourselves writing assignments. We actually did this about a year ago; at that time we realized none of us had ever written a sex scene. (ooh – I bet using “sex scene” as a tag will drive a ton of traffic to my blog…) So, we all hooked up a couple of our characters. It stretched the boundaries of our writerly muscles, and I’m definitely less intimidated now by the prospect of writing sex scenes for future novels. Last month, we had to put our characters into awkward, and in some cases socially unacceptable, situations. As we all know each other’s characters pretty well, we chose the situations for each other. My innocent yet self-assured YA character had to succumb to peer pressure and try drugs. Another member’s stoic character had to hit his wife. One character had to turn to prostitution for money, one emotionally disengaged character had to become emotionally vulnerable in front of his love interest, and another character who’d never shown any sexuality had to get caught masturbating. Yes, we all cringed at our assignments. And we all pushed our characters much further than we would have if we’d never assigned ourselves this task. But we all managed to tap into a realm of our characters’ psyches that we’d never before considered. A couple of us (me included) liked our scenes well enough that we are considering incorporating them into our books.
To the other writers’ groups out there: what are some of the things you do to keep things from going stale?
My Writing Schedule March 30, 2009
For my “real” job, I’m a physical therapist. I work part time at the clinic, which I realize is incredibly lucky. So, on my days off from physical therapy, I write, with every intention of making this time worth it.
Here’s the writing schedule I aspire to:
5:45 The alarm goes off. I bounce out of bed, well-rested and eager to begin a brand new day.
6:00 I’m in the “gym” we’ve set up in our garage, where I get a killer work out.
7:00 I shower and get ready for the day, just as I would if I were going to work. I fix my hair, put on makeup, and wear shoes. This is a great psychological method for improving motivation and productivity.
7:45 I eat breakfast and get caught up on the major news, because it’s important to be a good, well informed citizen of the world.
8:15 I meditate to quiet my mind and allow calm and positive thoughts to center me.
8:30 I arrive at my desk and do a writing warm up exercise.
9:00 I work with enthusiasm and energy on my current project.
12:30 I suddenly realize I’m a bit hungry. I’ve been so absorbed in my writing that I don’t even realize it’s lunch time. Lunch is a random assortment of tasteless and uninspired fuel, but that’s okay, because my mind is lost in the world I’ve created, and words are flowing quicker than I can get them all down.
12:37 I’m back to writing.
2:00 I take a walk at this time to stretch my legs and neck, get some fresh air and sun, and give my mind a bit of time to ponder some things. I take a 1 ½ mile loop around our neighborhood, admiring the brightly colored flowers, enjoying the scent of orange blossoms, and feeling a general satisfaction with the writer I am becoming.
2:30 I’m back to writing. I might check some of my favorite industry blogs, or check in with Absolute Write. But mostly, I just write inspired stories of beauty and depth.
6:00 I’ve had a wonderful day and am satisfied with what I’ve accomplished. I pour myself a glass of wine and begin to make dinner. I have a relaxing evening with my husband.
Here’s what a typical day looks like lately:
5:45 The alarm goes off. I reach over to hit the snooze button, and in doing so, knock my watch onto the ground. It breaks. I hit snooze for an hour or so.
7:00 I finally drag myself out of bed and put on my work out clothes. On the way to the garage, I stop in the office to get my laptop so I can watch The Daily Show while I’m on the elliptical. As I sign on, I see that I have email, and realize that another minute cannot go by without me checking to see who has written to me and why. I check my messages. Some of them are notifications from Facebook, so I go to Facebook and end up reading everyone’s updates, seeing who has thrown what animal at me, taking a test to find out what mythical creature I am. Eventually I find myself looking at pictures of people I don’t even know. It’s 8:30.
8:30 I do my workout while watching the Daily Show. When that’s over, I surf the internet between biceps curls and squats.
9:30 I’m frakking starving, so I sit down to eat and read the paper. I get annoyed with the news and turn to Dear Abby and Ask Carolyn. I become saddened by the state of our world. I read Dilbert and get a little laugh. Then I pull out a novel to read while I finish my cereal.
10:15 The morning is half way over and I’ve accomplished nothing. I berate myself and rush to the shower.
10:45 I slip into yoga pants, an old T-shirt, and slippers. My hair begins to dry into a frizzy mess of a mane that would barely be fashionable in 1973.
11:00 I sit down at my desk and realize it’s an absolute disaster zone. I clean my desk. Which means rearranging all the piles into differently sorted piles. I sort my pen container.
11:30 It’s almost lunch time, so I might as well go online and check the industry blogs. I go online and check my email. Then I go to Facebook. Then all the world fades away and I am sucked into an internet vortex of information, bright colors, videos of kittens playing and fat men dancing, advice on the best toenail polish for your skin tone. I come to and realize I’m reading about how Paris Hilton chose the name for her dog. What’s happening to me? Where am I? It’s 1:00.
1:00 I eat quickly, because now I’m really behind. The crap food I eat instantly gives me heartburn.
1:30 I stare at either my computer screen or a blank page for 20 minutes. Then I remember that the ridges on the doorframes have not been dusted in I don’t know how long. It’s horrifyingly unclean, and I must clean them today. I do this.
2:00 I briefly consider going for a walk, but instead I take a nap on the couch.
2:30 I wake up. I decide I need a change of scenery. I walk to the coffee shop 50 yards from my front door. I ask for a mocha – not too chocolately, please! Only one little scoop! The barista glares at me and gives me an extra chocolately mocha. I sit down with my notebook and ponder whether perhaps he doesn’t like me because of my frizzy hair. I drink part of the mocha and throw the rest out. I go home and take a couple of Tums.
2:45 I examine my hair in the mirror. It’s embarrassingly frizzy. I try some product in it, then try pinning it up a few different ways. It ends up in a ponytail. I realize I’m avoiding writing.
3:00 I sit down with a blank notebook, thoroughly disgusted with myself. I manage to write half a page before I decide that my idea blows. I decide I must look up a better word for “strolled,” so I go online. I have more email. And someone on Facebook commented on someone else’s photo.
4:00 I extract myself from the internet and write another half a page, and it’s worse than pulling teeth. It’s pulling out my toenails with my teeth.
4:30 I spend a bit of time coming up with status updates for my Facebook page. I play with the wording a bit.
5:00 I consider quitting, because clearly the day is a bust. But then I decide I must write more. I stare at a blank page for thirty minutes.
5:30 I start on dinner and spend the evening irritable. I resolve to do better next time.
New Ideas March 19, 2009
There is nothing quite like the joy of a new idea. I love it. The way it wakes me up at night and bangs around inside my head without relent. Characters take shape, conversations occur, images form, all quicker than I can write them down. I recently bought a digital voice recorder on the advice of a writer friend and this helps – especially for those moments when I am unable to physically write (somehow it just doesn’t seem safe to grab a pen and paper while driving to and from work over the Coronado bridge). I’m not short on ideas, but often I’m too quick to shoot my ideas full of holes: not creative enough, it’s been done too many times, how would that ever develop into an actual story…. I’m not always kind to my writer self. So when a Shiny New Idea comes along and won’t let up, and even I can’t find a reason why it’s not worthy, it becomes my own version of heaven.
National Grammar Day March 4, 2009
Yep, that’s right. It’s National Grammar Day! So get out there and do some good talking.
Seriously, for grammar lovers, this is a great day. Remember, good grammar is hot. So while you elevate your discourse in celebration of this day, try this: get rid of “like” and “totally.” Eliminate them from your vocabulary, unless of course you are actually talking about something you like. You’ll be amazed at how much smarter you sound.
Confident or Delusional? February 27, 2009
J.A. Konrath has a great post on the difference, sometimes a very grey area, between a confident writer and a delusional one. Check it out, here.
Work in Progress: Memoir February 24, 2009
I, like so many before me, am joining the memoir club. I intended to start on my memoir four years ago, but kept getting sidetracked by other projects. But now I am finally working on it. I’ve struggled with how to write it: the crux of the story focuses on the time I spent living in Paris and attending a French language school, but also integral to the story are my adventures with several French friends while they were in San Diego in an English immersion program. I’m not quite sure how to frame the story – chronological seems boring, so I’ve settled, for now, on framing it in Paris, with flashbacks to the experiences in San Diego. At this point, I’m not going to worry about it. I’m just writing; I’ll piece the puzzle together when it’s on paper.
These memories, and how best to write them in a story, have been swirling around in my head ever since my time in Paris five (!) years ago. I’ve written clips of narratives over the years, but only now am I diving head-first into the pool of memories. Time, many more trips to France, and marriage to a Frenchman have affected the way I interpret my experience there and have tempered my approach to this memoir. Funny how that works. The memoirist writes as two authors: the person they were at the time, and the person they have evolved into. I think it’s good that I’ve waited to write this story, for I feel it will be a much better book now than it would have been had I written it right away. So far, my approach is to write what I remember, then to compare this to the extensive journals I kept. It’s a fun time to revisit. I only hope I can capture the passion I feel for Paris, for the French language, for the people of France, for traveling, and on a more personal level – turning 30 and learning how I wanted to define my life.
Southern California Writers’ Conference Part Deux February 23, 2009
I always come away from SCWC inspired and ready to launch myself into my writing, and this year was no different. Thank you Michael and Wes! Stand outs for me were classes given by Phyllis Gebauer and Midge Raymond, both authors and writing instructors. And Val McDermid, author of 25 novels and owner of an instantly loveable Scottish accent, gave a witty and inspiring speech Saturday night. To my dear online writing group: Craig Berger, Lauren Hartney, Jeremy James, and Grace Yang – it was so good to see you all for our annual meet up! TJ Turner – we miss you! When are you coming back? And to Mike Crowe – good to actually get to see you, instead of just hear you (you know what I’m talking about). And finally, Rich Howard – good to finally get to know you and hear a bit about your book. I look forward to future successes for all of us! Now get to writing!
