Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. Labels: writing
--E.L. Doctorow
A couple of my coworkers think it's very odd when I say that my characters speak to me. They are perhaps worried that it is a sign of mental illness. (Um, I am a writer . . .) But I have to say I treasure those times. That's when I know the story is going in the right direction, or that I'm learning something important about the character.
Take my current WIP (I really should come up with a title for it). I was writing along quite nicely when I suddenly discovered that my heroine has been getting hang-up calls. I had one of those, Hmm, this is interesting, moments. I have no idea who is calling the heroine, but I'm going with it. It adds depth and complexity to the story.
And those are the times I love--when the plot I've created becomes bigger through the writing. I hope it makes things more interesting for the reader as well. Now if I could just get one of the characters to help me with the title of the book.
I wonder who's on the other side of that phone . . .
Every year I buy I handful of writing books. OK, this year it was more than a handful. I found Victoria Lynn Schmidt's 45 Master Characters in a trip to Borders last week. Labels: writing
My verdict? It's the best book about writing I've read all year. I haven't read all of it (yet), but it is packed with wonderful information. The outline of the Feminine Journey has helped me shape my WIP. Amazing stuff--my episodic story is now a story with a backbone. If you're a writer, I encourage you to check it out.
So, I've been caught up in the 70 Days of Sweat. Then on Wednesday, I was writing along and I hit save. I got a message saying something like, "Some characters will be lost if you continue." That was odd, since I'd saved this file before with no problem, so I tried to get out of it. Unfortunately, MS Word shut down completely and somehow deleted the file.
I was a bit heartbroken about it. I told myself to look at it as an opportunity to rewrite the story now that I know the characters and make it better, but it still killed me to think of losing 50 pages. So, I ended up jotting down notes for another story to keep my mind occupied.
In the meantime, I had a couple of friends take a look at my computer to try and find the file. On Sunday, I was able to recover most of the text. Talk about going from trick to treat! Yes, I could have rewritten it, but I'm so glad I don't have to.
Backups. Always a good thing. I knew that, but I guess I needed the reminder.
I have a release date for The Greatest Gift! It comes out December 17. I can't wait to see what they come up with for the cover. Labels: NaNoWriMo, The Greatest Gift, writing
I'm working on a new story now. With each one, I learn more about writing. I think the more you do it, the more you learn. That's the way it should be. Luckily there are good moments to offset the ones that are a struggle. The latest lesson is the importance of outlining. I do little outlining with shorter stories, so I wasn't working with one for my latest story. Then the story expanded, and I'm trying to put it all together. My next step: a new outline to get the story back on track.
In other news, I entered the Brava Novella Contest, so I will be waiting to hear the results along with more than 300 other entrants.
Should be fun.
I'm also preparing for National Novel Writing Month--I can't believe it's coming so soon! Looks like I have a lot of outlining to do this month.
Not feeling so good today, though I feel marginally better after taking a long nap. Unfortunately, I missed out on a fun concert with six bands. I'm kind of vexed about that. Why can't we get sick at convenient times? (Is there ever a convenient time to be sick?) /End Whine.
I've been listening to more RWA conference classes this week. One was on finding your writing style, and I found it quite illuminating. The speaker talked about being a left-brained writer or a right-brained writer, and on the importance of reaching a kind of synergy.
For writers like me who start a lot of stories, finding that synergy means going back to a story and finishing it. Other writers may struggle with the internal editor who keeps them from moving forward in a story until the previous chapter is perfect. Those writers somehow need to tap into whatever will allow them to get the story out.
I'm oversimplifying, but I encourage writers to listen to this presentation if they have a chance: Figuring Out Your Creative Process by Carla Neggers. You might find it as illuminating as I did.
It's Labor Day weekend, and in addition to getting some much needed rest and relaxation, I'm determined to get a bunch of work done on my WIP. I'm posting it publicly, so now I need to live up to it. I do have some fun things planned for the weekend, including family time and some reading, so it won't be all work.
Yesterday I bought the Harry Potter 5 soundtrack. The music for that is great. Anyone else a fan of soundtracks?
The Greatest Gift is in the second round of edits. (Cobblestones Press's standard practice is three rounds.) Waiting for edits is a nervous thing. I always wonder how the editor will like the book, what they will suggest. With all my Cobblestone stories, it's been a wonderfully positive experience. Labels: The Greatest Gift, writing
It's important to remember that your editor is also a reader. For this reason, she's providing invaluable feedback. I'm always amazed by how much better my story is after editing, even though most of the changes have been minor.
This editor is fast! At this rate, edits will be finished by the weekend. Then I get to look forward to the cover.
I finished and submitted the historical story I was working on. It's such a relief to have it done. It's called The Greatest Gift and is set in the early Victorian period. I'll post more about it once I hear back. Labels: The Greatest Gift, writing
I don't usually listen to music when I write, but this story takes place at Christmas, so I often listened to this CD (usually before writing) to get in the right frame of mind.
I sang in choir during high school and college, so I love choral music. Two songs in particular have a haunting tone that worked beautifully with the story: "Gabriel's Message" and "Nativity Tale."
Today I'm going to savor the fact that this story is finished. Tomorrow I'll get to work on something else.
In other news, I've entered the Romance Junkies Writing Contest 2007. I'm not allowed to tell you which entry is mine (it's not listed under my name), but if you have a minute, take a look at the entries and go vote! Labels: writing
Last night I worked on one of the scenes I've been struggling with in the WIP. I added details, dialogue, but the scene just felt . . . flat. So I took a close look at the scene to try and figure out what was wrong. I figured it out almost immediately: the point of view. Labels: writing
The scene is from the heroine's point of view. So I considered what the scene reveals, why telling it from her POV is important. Then it hit me; the scene doesn't reveal anything new, not from her point of view. So I switched it. Now it's from the hero's POV, and suddenly the scene is infused with emotion. It's no longer two people having a conversation. It's a conversation with underlying hope and longing.
One of those moments when the story clicks into place.
Research is fun. It can also be distracting, but at the moment I'm devouring a couple of books that will help with the current WIP. I'm particularly enjoying the one about 19th century women's clothing. Fascinating stuff, and I think it's helped me pin down the setting. Labels: writing
Here's the thing about research. If I do too much of it before I start writing, I get so caught up in it that I put off the actual writing. This is probably because I don't always know exactly what information I need until I've written a draft.
So now I've written enough that I can do some research. I just keep trying to remind myself that I don't need to read the books cover to cover right now to get the specific information I need. Researching just to learn more can be so tempting . . .
Anyone else feel that way?
I'm still working on my historical. I've got the basic story down; now I'm filling it in and working on the transitions that will put the puzzle of my manuscript together. Am I winning? It doesn't feel like it yet. Ask me again in another week. Labels: writing
The good news is I'm pretty motivated to finish. I have several novellas and other projects I want to work on the rest of the year.
Two of my coworkers and I are encouraging each other to write. We bring a little something to share with each other every day. This is nice. I'm the only romance writer; the others are writing historical fiction and fantasy. Still, sharing our work keeps us writing.
I continue to listen to 2006 RWA classes--too many to list. A few of the classes have mentioned using secondary romances to create single titles. This isn't something I typically do, although I haven't written that many single titles. (In fact, I have two WIP that will be single titles . . . eventually.) Labels: writing
Still, writing secondary romances is an idea I resist, I think because I tend not to enjoy them as a reader. Actually, that's putting it too strongly. I prefer not to have them. I've certainly read lots of books where I've enjoyed the secondary romance, sometimes as much as the primary romance. In one or two cases, I've enjoyed the secondary romance more.
But even as I'm reading and enjoying, I sigh inwardly as I get caught up in one story then get jerked to a halt as the next subplot begins. And it happens again each time the story shifts.
What this means is that I'm not likely to include secondary romances in my books. Just a personal choice.
Readers and writers: what's your opinion about secondary romances?
Some subgenres are more challenging for me to write than others. At the moment, I'm writing a historical and I can politely say it is kicking my ass. Labels: writing
I was feeling frustrated about it until I remembered what Nora Roberts said during her RWA chat. One person asked if she'd ever written a book and set it aside because it was beyond repair. Nora's response:No. I will win.
I like that response; it inspires me. So here's what I say to my historical: I will win.
More than a month ago, I decided to enter Samhain Publishing's Best First Line contest. You entered by posting the first sentence of your story; then the editors selected entries to go to the next round. Those people posted the second sentence; once again, some were selected to continue to the third round. And so on, through five rounds. Labels: contests, Tony, writing
There were initially almost 300 entries; last week, these were narrowed down to 10 winners.
I was one of them. Now I'm invited to submit a synopsis and the first three chapters.
I'm very excited; so is Tony. I entered with the first five lines of his story.
Let me start with a little background. I loved the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It was vibrant and original. The fact that I love Orlando Bloom didn't hurt.
I saw the second movie once. I had problems with it for a couple of reasons: first, I didn't love the direction they took with Elizabeth. Second, I thought it tried to do too much. It was packed with plot lines. Don't get me wrong--I enjoyed the movie and found it entertaining. But it lost some of the wonder I'd had in the first movie.
I went to the third movie last weekend. I liked it, thought it was much better than the second movie. It was entertaining, I liked Elizabeth's journey, and Orlando was great. But I don't know if I'll see it again.
Why?
Spoilers ahead . . .
. . . so be prepared . . .
Two words: the ending.
For me, part of the pleasure of the first movie was its feel-good ending. That's not evident in the second or third movies. With At World's End, I found myself thinking about the ending for days afterward. On one level, that makes it a success. But it disturbed me.
Not every movie or book has a happy ending, and that's fine with me. But I'd hoped Pirates 3 would provide a feel-good ending just like Pirates 1.
I write romance for many reasons. One of them is because I love feel-good endings. Life is a cycle, full of ups and downs. Writing romance helps me remember those good times, even when work is hard, health issues are pressing, gas prices are going up, etc.
I won't argue that the ending isn't original. It is. I can't help but admire it on that level. But on a gut level, the movie let me down. It didn't live up to the promise it made--albeit implicitly--in the first movie.
You may disagree, and that's fine. For me, I needed that movie to have a happy ending, and I got bittersweet instead.
It reminded me why I write romance--I love happy endings.
I've had a nice, long weekend, and I've spent much of today thinking. I kept running into a wall when I worked on a certain project, and I think I've figured out why. It's long, convoluted, and personal, so I won't go into it here. I reached a bit of a painful realization, but I do feel like I have some direction again. Ah, the joys of self-analysis.
I'm back to working on Legacy, and I'm going to finish it.
I'm writing the first draft of a new story. First drafts work best for me when I plow through them. I had been working on Tony's story, but it just wasn't gelling. The story I've switched to is moving along nicely--it's unfolding as I go, even faster than I can write. It's a good sign. Labels: writing
I've switched over to the new Blogger system. Hopefully nothing broke in the transition. I can only hope. Labels: blogging, The Seventh Sense, writing
The Seventh Sense is now available! I'm excited about the release of this novella! In fact, I'm having a contest to celebrate. You can check it out on my website.
After a long getting-my-appendix-out hiatus, I'm working on another story. I'm pretty excited about it; I've had the story idea for a while, and had even started writing it, but an element of the plot recently came to me. I think it will bring the story together. I love those moments of inspiration.
Back to it . . .
Long time no write. It's funny how life knocks you for a loop sometimes. A few weeks ago, my dad had a very mild stroke. He's doing a lot better now, but it really shook me. I'm spending more time with my family these days, and I'm finding a lot of comfort in reading and scrapbooking.
The day job is squeezing me a bit right now. Alison Kent wrote a blog entry about being able to write at her job. She links to another writer's blog entry (excerpt below):If you keep using the same creative muscle over and over and over at your job, my personal experience indicates that doing the same type of activity is probably not gonna happen in your spare time.
As someone who is a full-time writer and editor at my day job, I can say that some days it is hard to come home and write. Right now it's not happening at all, because it is a very busy time at work.
The good news is I have several stories in various states of completion--I just have to pick the one I want to go with. Once work eases up a bit, I'll get back to it.
In writing news, I've finished the third round of edits to The Seventh Sense. I'll post the official release date soon.
