Writing and the Holidays

ID-10010787

*

 

It was the night of Halloween and I saw a Santa in a store window. They didn’t even wait for midnight. (And hey, isn’t Thanksgiving sandwiched in there?) So I decided to write about this topic now, rather than next month.

For those who celebrate in December, there are a lot of holidays—and with them come obligations, even if only self-imposed. There are cards to sign, presents to buy—even just figuring out what to give can eat away the hours—not to mention the cooking, the decorating, the office parties, family parties. Yep. To the writer, time eaters.

And that’s okay.

While it might feel better to stay glued to your laptop and not deal with the aunt who offers advice completely contrary to your own or witness the same argument between cousins that has been going on since you were in diapers—don’t. Real life can be mundane and strangely blank after watching all the bright colors of TV and computer graphics, but this is where we gather the good stuff. The stuff that seeps into our pores and allows us to write those pages.

No, I’m not suggesting we use everyone in our stories. I’m suggesting that we acknowledge that December is a crazy month filled with extra stresses as well as joys. Admitting it at least alleviates the guilt at seeing a thin layer of dust on our laptops.

Go easy on yourself. Enjoy the moments. Remember, you can always write in January.

And for those currently gripped by NaNoWriMo, congrats!

 

* Image courtesy of graur codrin at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Yes, I Reread Books

ID-100264744

*

“But why? Why reread a book? Isn’t that boring? You know how everything ends! I mean, if it’s a series and you need to refresh your memory, I guess I can see it….”

“I reread standalone novels as well.” I shrugged. This conversation almost always goes the same way, with a baffled person on the other end of it.

So I’m going to try and explain here. When I reread a story, it’s not about the ending. This is so important, I’m going to give it its own line space:

It’s not about the ending.

There’s a certain tension when I read a story for the first time, because I don’t know how it will turn out and I hope for the best. But after that, it becomes a place to go to again.

Why is that strange? How many people visit the same vacation spot year after year? No one thinks anything’s wrong with that.

I get to meet the characters again like old friends and revel in their adventures, similar to taking the same ride at an amusement park every summer. No one blinks an eye at Disneyworld. And reruns! People watch reruns on TV and buy season DVDs with the intention, I believe, of watching their favorite episodes more than once.

But say you reread books? That’s weird.

So this is the best explanation of why I reread books. I like them and want to experience their lives more than once.

Yeah. It’s weird.

 

 * Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

 

 

Reading Other Writers on the Path

ID-10073138

*

 

I’ve read books that explain grammar and editing. While they offer necessary advice, those are not the ones I want to talk about here. I enjoy reading about writers discussing the journey, the weird, quirky, baffling journey that I’m on as a writer.

I thought I’d share a few of my favorites with you, the ones I’ll pick up off the shelf and dip into, reading where the book opens. In no particular order:

Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg

If you haven’t read this, run and pick up a copy. I remember the first time I began reading it. I was on the subway, squished between people on the long gray bench as the car rattled and swayed. I read a few of her essays and was filled with the sudden strong desire to write and had to close the book. I had to go to work and, sadly, there was no time. But really, how could I not like a book with chapters titled “Fighting Tofu” and “Do Not Marry the Fly?”

For Writers Only, by Sophy Burnham

I adore this book. Her comments are interspersed with quotes from many authors and they give me such a feeling of we’re all in this together and it’s all fine. Some quotes she gathered:

“The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” —Agatha Christie

“Walking on water wasn’t built in a day.” —Jack Kerouac

“I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work. —Pearl Buck

The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear, by Ralph Keyes

We like to think we’re normal. But it’s easy to wonder, in the solitude of our chosen career, whether we really are. The simplest things attack our brains and Ralph Keyes goes a long way to bringing them out into the spotlight and helping them fade away.

One chapter starts off with this:

A friend of mine named Lorraine left an insurance company to become a writer. After a few days, Lorraine called to get some pointers about her new career. “You’ve been writing for a few years, right?” she began.

“Right,” I answered.

“Well, I have a very important question to ask you.”

“Yes?”

“Do you get dressed in the morning or what?”

 

I read these words and a weight shifted off my shoulders. I was not alone in pondering this difficult question. In fact, opening his book at random to see what would be good to share made me realize it’s time to reread this one. See ya next week!

 

*Image courtesy of adamr at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Looking for Magic and Writing Your Way

ID-100139479

How do you see the world? Your street? Your neighbors? Do you observe strangers’ body language and clothing and imagine they’re on their way to rob a bank? Are they en route to perform surgery? Or will they melt into the ground as soon as they turn the corner?

How does it all look when you gaze at something? What does it feel like? Where does your mind take you?

I was eight years old and squeezed into the corner of a tiny elevator with my family. Our eyes were on the elevator door, waiting for it to open. Suddenly, the solid wall I was pressed against disappeared, and I fell through. The only thing that flashed into my head was Alice.

Title Reveal!

The title of my urban fantasy novel is:

Magical Ties (Book One of the Emily Goddard Chronicles)

There’s no cover yet but that’s coming!

So, What’s It About?

ID-100177459

*

 

Sorry, I can’t tell you.

While I’m writing a story, I can’t tell people what it’s about. It’s not that I don’t want to tell. I really, really do. The characters and their adventures are churning inside me like a pressure cooker and I’d love to discuss it. But I can’t. Because I once told the plot of a story while I was still writing it, and something terrible happened. I no longer needed or wanted to finish it—it had its audience. I literally lost that story.

I’ll be happy to discuss the genre, how many pages I have so far, and where I like to write, anything and everything—except the plot.

Actually, now that I think of it, I keep the plot a secret from myself as well. It’s why I don’t write outlines. I tried that once and ended up with another story I no longer needed to write. The sense of urgency was gone. I knew everything that was going to happen so there was no need to write it out. Now, I write outlines after the scenes are written as a way to keep track of my characters. But the future scenes are left blank.

Welcome to the mind of one writer. I once met a writer who loved outlines and others who had no trouble discussing their plot. I’m only able to talk about the processes that work for me but I don’t say they’ll work for everyone. So here’s my piece of advice: If your process works, don’t mess with it. Talk about it, don’t talk about it, outline, don’t outline. But no matter what you answer, remember to smile nicely when you do.

 

* Image courtesy of Boykung at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Multiple Genres? Write Them All

ID-10067574

*

 

I always saw myself as a novelist. Short stories were just too short. And I had no interest in any other form.

So I was caught completely off guard when I wrote a folk song last year. I’ve always said I couldn’t rhyme. Not to mention I have no knowledge of writing music or the business of song writing, for that matter. So sometimes I hum my song and sing the words when no one’s around and then go my way. (Be grateful you can’t hear me sing.)

At around the same time, I watched some blues performances on TV and began writing what I call jazz poetry in free verse. And the imagery rolled out, completely opposite to who I am, with hazy smoke staining the walls and a shot glass on the table.

A short story was required for an anthology and I lopped off straggling plot developments from an unfinished novel idea and made it fit.

And then there’s my urban fantasy novel that’s in the production stage, with the sequel beginning to trickle into my head.

It’s all good. It’s all different. It doesn’t matter if you choose to write three books in different genres or three different types of writing or more. The most amazing thing about writing is that we get to do it all if we want.

Will all of it be publishable? Any of it? Who knows? How will we know unless we try?

 

* Image courtesy of Mister GC at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Getting Prepared: How to Write When You Can’t

ID-100207334

*

 

I got sidelined with a cold that turned into bronchitis. But being a writer means there’s no one else to do the work. Keeping up with a blog and a novel and Twitter doesn’t magically get done by elves when something like this happens. And it doesn’t have to be getting sick that keeps you from the work. It’s anything that’s unexpected and unavoidable—a flooded basement, a friend’s need for your shoulder, a surprise visit from family….The list is endless.

I knew enough not to work on my novel while under the fog of prescription cough syrup and skipped a week here, but managed to continue Tweeting. Then I pulled together a blog entry last week. How? I had two files.

One file contained a list of blog topics and a rough draft for each. The second contained a list of Tweets I wrote ahead of time—either information or quotes I liked. It still took effort to do and a day was skipped here and there, but I kept up my side of the business. That’s the thing to remember. Writing is a business. Are you prepared?

Make those lists. Write those drafts. Make sure you’re covered for the times when there’s no time to do the work. I’d suggest two weeks’ worth of Tweets and at least a month of blog topics. Avoid time-sensitive topics that would be obsolete by the time you need to use them. There are plenty of universal themes and thoughts that are timeless. Do it now. You’ll be glad later.

 

* Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

The Joy of Reading Indie

ID-10073138

*

 

I’m late to the indie game, for three reasons. First, because I have only a Kindle App, any ebooks I buy must be read on my computer. Second, there was an element of snobbery. I envisioned wading through piles of slush and rolling my eyes in despair to find something good to read. After all, traditional publishers have been the gatekeepers, the ones to keep bad writing from landing on the shelf, right?

And third is the cost. I’m a voracious speed reader and I reread books. So there are many times where I’ll get a book from the library and decide it’s something I’ll want to read again, and then I’ll buy it. Libraries don’t stock indie books, whether ebook or paperback. So there’s a higher monetary risk.

Twitter changed my perception. I saw many writers with self-published books and as I read the descriptions and reviews, I realized that it might take a little more work to find something I’d like to read, but that’s always been the case with reading books published traditionally as well.

So I took the plunge and was very glad I did. These are three I’ve read recently:

Alice K. Boatwright’s Under an English Heaven: An Ellie Kent Mystery, a charming, down-to-earth cozy. I look forward to future books in the series.

Edward M. Erdelac’s Merkabah Rider: Tales of a High Planes Drifter, is definitely different. A Hasidic gunslinger who hunts demons in the Old West. I was impressed with the quiet prose that crept into horror so deftly.

Peter John’s Dead Medium, a humorous spin on the afterlife—what if the medium was already dead?

 

*Image courtesy of adamr at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

Sorry, Folks!

Nothing in my head right now except a cold. So…next week? Same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Archives
Recent Posts