WIP Wednesday - Interrupted by Notes from the Universe

The universe is telling me today - to read, to sit, to ponder, to think, to just be.  Especially when Nora Roberts releases a new book into the universe.  Life stops when one of her books arrives.  

Chasing Fire

I think the problem with my reading life lately. I needed a Nora fix. *sigh*

Plus I received this note from the universe this morning

Robin, it's the way you think. That's your purpose. It's never been about what work you choose, what gifts you develop, or what niche you fill - let these be for your pleasure.

Think as only you can think, which will lead to feelings that only you can feel, from which connections will be made, lives will be changed, and worlds will come tumbling into existence.

Thanks,
    The Universe

Not much to report on the ROW80 front. Check out everyone else's progress here. 

Happy Writing and Reading!

 

WIP Wednesday - Just keep swimming!

Just Keep Swimming!

You just gotta love Dory! I'm swimming right now, in the midst of doing taxes and also working on class stuff. The module this week in Humanities - Kantian and utilitarian ethics. According to Kant, motive is the operating force and actions are based upon what you think you ought to do based on a sense of duty versus the right or moral thing to do. Pity or compassion doesn't play a role.   Utilitarianism is the ethical concept that says what is right or good is what brings the most happiness.  When faced with a choice, take the one that will make the most amount of people happy.  For example: Given the choice to save one person or five people from being hit by a train, save the five and let the one die.  Or if there is one person you can throw in front of the train further up the tracks that will save them all, do it.     

So right now I'm contemplating the question: "consider Kant's requirement that other people be considered as ends in themselves and not as means to an end.  Can you think of any cultural or economic practices that might seem to violate this principle?"      Fun huh! 

Also started working on the taxes.  Yes, I know. Should have started long before now.  I have excuses.  Discovered the version of Quickbooks we have at the shop, doesn't want to work on my windows 7 laptop for whatever reason.  Figured, no problem..... installed turbo tax at work to import the quickbooks file into it.  Something screwy there too.  Didn't want to do it.  Que the violin music, please.   Just have to do it the old fashion way, and printed off all the reports needed and will  manually enter the information.    So...... that's what I'll be working on for the next few days.  

In the midst of all this, re-evaluating the first quarter of home school curriculum, making some changes and refreshing myself on how to be a better mentor to my 5th grader.  I've had a decided lack of patience lately, which doesn't fair well, when trying to teach my wonderful child.   Which is one reason I decided to reread Thomas Jefferson Education.  

I'm continuing to write everyday and making progress.  Getting a little bit closer to that final scene of Red Thief.  The morning pages are going well and helping me work some frustrations out on the page.   I'm in week 7 of The Artist's Way - recovering a sense of connection.  One of the tasks is make a collage.  Collect 10 magazines, set yourself a time limit and go through, cut out images that reflect your life and interests.   Make sort of a pictorial autobiography.  Shouldn't be too difficult, right.  Unless all you have is Writer's Digest, Writer, Bookmarks, Air and Space and Reader's Digest.  *facepalm*   As a result,  I kind of went on a subscription bing of magazines I've been wanting, but never got around to it.  Subscribed to Poets and Writers, Sunset, Coastal living, Smithsonian, Conde Nast Traveler, and Old schoolhouse.   Happy Happy Joy Joy! 

I haven't had a whole lot of time to write any reviews. Heck, I haven't had a whole lot of time to read for pleasure. However, I just started "Heart of Deception" by M.L. Malcolm for TLC Book Tour coming up on April 4th.  

Speaking of reviews, you may have already seen this, but if you haven't, you should.   It's a great reminder to authors of how NOT to respond to a negative review.  This author melted down, telling commentors and the blogger to  'f' off twice when he refused to delete the review and in my opinion just killed her career as it were. Amazingly unprofessional but educational for the rest of us.

Sometimes God calms the storm.  At other times, he calms the sailor.  And sometimes he makes us swim.  ~Author Unknown

Just keep swimming!  

WIP Wednesday and Row80 - did somebody mention the tortoise and the Hare?

Slow and steady wins the race!

I have steadily been plodding along with Red Thief, writing half an hour a day and actually finding more of my main character's back story being revealed. Helpful little tidbits which assist with the story. Aha moments! Love those! I am making progress and methinks the first draft will be finished by the end of Row80's  first quarter.

I'm still in week 3 of The Artist's Way -  Recovering a Sense of Power. The chapter is all about anger, synchronicity, shame, dealing with criticism and growth.  Thought I don't feel like I've ever lost my power, so to speak, I'm learning all kinds of interesting things.   I've been sharing tidbits with my hubby along the way. We are both great believers in synchronicity because it happens quite a bit in our lives.   Just like Artist's Way coming along at a time I needed it.  Week 3 is going to take me two weeks because it's taken me just the week to read through the chapter. I remember things better if I write them down, so taking lots of notes.  Interesting tidbits to share:

"Anger is meant to be listened to. Anger is a voice, a shout, a plea, a demand. Anger is meant to be respected. Why? Because anger is a map.  Anger shows us what our bounderies are. Anger shows us where we want to go.....   Anger is meant to be acted upon.  It ns not meant to be acted out.  Anger points the direction.  We are meant to use anger as fuel to take the actions we need to move where our anger points us." (pg 61)

Synchronicity.  Is it God or coincidence?  Depends on what you believe.  Jung said it is "an apparently meaningful coincidence in time of two or more similar or identical events that are causally unrelated."  I love what Cameron has to say about it: 

"We like to pretend it is hard to follow our heart's dreams.  The truth is, it is difficult to avoid walking through the many doors that will open. Turn aside your dream and it will come back to you again.  Get willing to follow it again and a second mysterious door will swing open." (pg 66) 

Remember the old adage be careful what you wish for or prayer for, because it just might come true.   Cameron also says 

"Understand that the what must come before the how.  First choose what you would do.  The how usually falls into place itself." 

Criticism is always hard to take, no matter how it's put.  Is constructive criticism really constructive?  My son is a burgeoning artist. He loves to write and draw and we try to encourage him as much as possible. I don't want to kill his creativity and do the best I can so support his efforts.  However, when you've seen the same drawing half a million times, or another fan fiction rewrite of Mario, it's difficult.   Cameron provides some great advice regarding criticism.

Pointed criticism, if accurate, often gives the artist an inner sense of relief...  Useful criticism ultimately leaves us with one more puzzle piece for our work..  Useless criticism, on the other hand, leaves us with a feeling of being bludgeoned.  As a rule, it is withering and shaming in tone; ambigious in content; personal, inaccurate, or blanket in its condemnations.  There is nothing to be gleaned from irresponsible criticism."   pg 72

We've all been the subject of useless criticism and unfortunately I've seen a bit of it, not only in real life but  online as well lately. It serves no purpose, just alienates people.   So I'm learning how to provide useful criticism and seeing the benefits of it already.

Lots of tasks this week including paying attention to non nurturing habits, nurturing friends, feeding your inner compass with an artist brain activity and looking at the trait of people you admire.  Homework!   I love this quote in the sidebar of the chapter:

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.  And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost."  Martha Graham

So I'm taking off the blinders and paying more attention to what's going on around me. What about you? Are you are believer in synchronicity or serendipity. What do you believe - God or coincidence?

My goals for the next week:

1) Write morning pages every morning during breakfast
2) Write 30 minutes a day on Red Thief
3) Complete week 3 tasks in Artist Way.
4) Read and post review of Angelology by Danielle Trussoni for TLC book tour March 1st.
5) Come up with H theme for Sunday's post for 52 Books blog week 9

Check out everyone else's progress here

WIP Wednesday -- Week 7 of Row 80

1st round - January 3rd through March 24th

We are halfway through the 1st round of Row 80 and I'm still plugging away.  I feel like I'm making progress with the first draft of Red Thief, even though I'm only writing a couple pages or about 500 words a day.   I am writing every single day.  There have been mornings I've gotten up and so wanted to just read a book during breakfast and just go into veg mode and hang out online for while.  I have withstood the temptation however and have faithfully been writing my morning pages.  Talking it out on the page, stream of consciousness style and just letting it all hang out there seems to be a good positive influence.  I save the reading as a reward for finishing my morning pages and my writing in the morning.  Unplugging until 4:00 every day is working well too! 

However, I feel like I need to do more. You ever get that feeling. Like you aren't doing enough.   I'm about ready to sit down and write up a to do list like Judith of 365 has done.  Maybe if I am seeing things being checked off, then I will feel like I'm accomplishing more.    

Speaking of accomplishments  -- I got a A in my Short Story Class.  Happy Happy Joy Joy! 

I came up with an idea and not sure if it is a good one or just plain crazy.   Since I write everything long hand, considering the idea of using the typing up phase as my edit process.   I have a couple free weeks before my next class starts and I could be using the extra time to be typing up what I've written so far.  But I don't want to get bogged down.  I want to keep going forward with the story .  So I'm going to keep going, finish the story, then type it up.  It will be considered my first edit phase.  So this first round is totally dedicated to just writing.  The next phase will be editing and research.

I started Week 2 of The Artist's Way and really enjoying it.  It's all about getting rid of the 'crazymakers' in your life - the toxic negative people who do their best to distract you from writing or making positive changes in your life.  I have to say we've done a pretty good job of eliminating those type of folks from our lives and we limit our interactions.    Not only does Julia Cameron have some great insights, the tasks are really opening up my eyes and imagination. Also I've been trying to figure out what to do for artist's dates.  I love trying different food and my hubby is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so is my son.  So on one of my work days, going to be taking myself out to lunch and trying different things.

Completing the various tasks is helping me provide some suggestions to hubby and helping him make some some positive changes.  Between ROW80 and The Artist's Way, I'm doing great.   Plus through the rowers,  I've discovered  a few new to me authors and am enjoying reading their works. 

Goals for next week

1.  Complete week two of Artist Way

2.  Continue writing at least one page a day on Red Thief - 75% done.

3.  continue doing Morning Pages

4.  Write review of Green and post

5.  Research books with Greek setting and/or by Greek authors for Week 8 of 52 Books weekly post.

Check out the blog hop here

WIP Wednesday - building up writing muscle

Happy to say Red Thief is progressing nicely. Still don't know my word count because I haven't typed anything up yet.  My short story class will be over with the final next week and I'll have a free couple weeks before my last class starts, in which to work on it.   Yes, I have one more class left and I will have my Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies.  I'll still debating whether I want to go after a Masters in Fine Arts or just take some writing classes. 

I just received "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron, the inventor of morning pages. It is a 12 week course in "discovering and recovering your creative self".  My goal this week is to just read through the book and familiarize myself with the whole program.  The morning pages are working for me currently and seem to be helping my memory, which is a good thing, plus keeping me on track with working on my WIP in the mornings, rather than sluffing off. 

With the end of January, came the end of the 31 days to Better Writing Habits from which I learned quite a bit and will be useful in the future.  Something that I had never thought about was toxic language.  One of the topics was how toxic language can hinder your writing.  Words such as can't, should, have to, impossible or need to are considered toxic because they take away your power.  They are negative and limit you. 

Use “Can” Instead of “Can’t”–You can do anything you want to do. You can do anything you set your mind to do. It’s been proven over and over and over again. So say “can.” “I can be a writer” and “I can write this novel.”

Use “Want to” Instead of “Should” “Have to” or “Need to”–When you use the phrase “want to” you’re making a choice. It’s no longer being forced on you, you are choosing it. There is power in the phrase “want to” because it shows you have a desire to do something. So say “I want to be a writer” and “I want to write this novel.”

Telling yourself you should do something is taking away your choice. Telling yourself you have to do something is extra pressure and most folks when you tell them they have to do something, will do the opposite. Do you need to write or do you want to write. You don't need to, you don't have to, but you want to. You are making a choice to write because you want to. Getting rid of the toxic language gives you back your power.  I had never thought of that, so taking out the toxic language and replacing it with more positive - I want, I can, I will.

My goals for the next week:

1) continue morning pages

2) write one page a day

3) Read through and preview  "Artist's Way"

4) Post review of Forsaken by Shadow 

How are you doing with your goals?  Click here to see how everyone else is doing.

WIP Wednesday - getting in a groove

How long does it take to form a habit?  In my case, I'd have to say about 3 weeks.  I am now (drumroll please)  writing every single day.  The morning pages have helped tremendously in stopping me from getting on the computer during breakfast, then getting caught up the internet.  I'm also getting up a little bit earlier so on Monday and Thursday I have time to write before getting ready for work. Once breakfast is done, I work on my current WIP and it may only be half an hour a day and writing one to two pages, but it is progress.  The story is suspense with a bit of romance thrown in but hadn't been able to figure out the romance part. How to get my two main characters to really 'see' each other.  Found the solution, wrote the Aha moment and now the interest is there, so now have something to work with.


Between Better Writing Habits and The morning pages, it has also freed me up from having to create every single blog post from scratch sitting at the computer.  I now have several  notebooks dedicated to one subject: morning pages, blog, writing notes and Red Thief.  I'm finding it helps me use my time more judiciously on the internet, however there are still those days that I just have to veg.  And you know how sometimes you eat one too many of the same type of candy and after that you can't even look at them.  Discovered having one veg day on the computer, leads to the same effect. 


Happy to say I accomplished my goal of getting completely caught up with book reviews.  I decided to review the books I read for the A-Z challenge besides any books read for book tours.   

My goal for now - continue to work on Red Thief until it's done.  

How is everyone else doing:  Check out the blog hop

WIP Wednesday: Lent and our personal writing challenge ala Nano style

  

What does Work In Progress Wednesday have to do with Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent? 

Both James and I have been neglecting our writing lately.  We did so well during National Novel Write month, writing every morning and working toward the goal.  We would both get up in the morning and after breakfast, sit down and right for an hour or so.  For me, working on the 50,000 word goal  and for James, writing and finishing his fan fiction story about the super Mario Brothers.  He figured out exactly how many chapters and pages he had to write to use up his 120 page notebook and did exactly that.  Lately, we both have been getting on the internet after breakfast and before you know, it's time to do lessons or whatever else is scheduled for the day.   James is giving up the internet for Lent (his choice) and I'll be limiting my online time.   

We decided that Lent would be a good time to do our own personal novel writing challenge. We have 46 days including the 6 Sundays.    I'm going to shoot for 50,000 words and try to finish Eyes in the Ashes  and will have a daily word goal of approximately 1100 words. I discovered I work better with goals and deadlines.  James will shoot for writing every day and finishing his story, another fan fiction tale about Mario and Bowser, by the end of Lent.   When he's done, he wants to post the story online and I'm going to set him up with a blog for him to post a chapter a week.

How has your writing been going lately?  Great or having a mid winter slump?   If you need incentive and want to join us, let me know.  I'll be reporting our progress periodically throughout Lent. 

Work In Progress Wednesday - 2010 Year of Writing Deliberately

I decided 2010 is going to be my Deliberate Year!  Ever since I heard about Jennifer's idea of the Year of Reading Deliberately, the thoughts started rolling about in my head about being deliberate with not only my reading, but also writing as well.   Plus being deliberate with my health since watching my blood pressure and eating choices, especially after that choking scare.  Happy to say I was pleasantly surprised when I stood on the scale yesterday that since I've given up pepsi's and chips, it resulted in me dropping 8 pounds.  

Then I receive this wonderful email from Chris Baty.

Dear Writer....

I ran into your 2009 NaNoWriMo novel yesterday, and it said that you two are currently "taking a break." I offered my condolences and mentioned that I'd probably be seeing you today. It quickly scribbled out a note for me to give you. The note seemed kind of personal, so I didn't read it. Here it is!

"Hi! Come back to me. I'll be better this time, I promise!".....

....So here's my proposal. What if we pick one of the promising stories we've started and set aside, and then spend 2010 finishing it up and making it great?"   

Hence the birth of The Year of Writing Deliberately was born.  Deliberate - "Done with or marked by full consciousness of the nature and effects."   How often do we go through our days on auto pilot, not giving conscious thought to what we are doing.  Never fully in the moment, but thinking about what needs to be done next, splitting our attention away from what actively doing at the moment.   So, what does this have to do with writing?    I like writing and seem to do plenty of it -whether blogging, class work, lesson plans, business letters, etc.     For each of these things, the outcome has be letter perfect almost from the get go.  You edit as you go and make sure all the grammar and punctuation is perfect.

Writing a novel is different because the first draft is free flowing thought - getting it all out there on paper first, then going back once, twice, maybe half a dozen times to edit until you are happy with it.   It's been an interesting experience and I now have 3 works in progress.   My first nano Floating on the Surface is resting, waiting for me to get back to it.  I decided to rewrite the entire thing this year and worked on it until Nano 2009.  The story is at a turning point in which I either have the action take place in a shorter period of time (which my characters seem to be lobbying for) or spread it out over a longer period of time.   I discovered when you veer away from what the characters want, they rebel.   

My Nano 2008 Winter's Illusion is on the shelf and I'm going to let it stay there until I finish the other two.  I took more time finishing Winter's Illusion and think it going to need a couple edits, but no major rewrites.   I'm looking forward to going back and rereading.

Nano 2009 The first draft of Eyes in the Ashes is about 60% done and I'm already thinking about editing it because about 15% of it is filler.   I ended up writing two different scenarios in the middle of the story.   I wrote scenes for both scenarios so it's a mess, but now know which direction want to take.   But the first part is good and will keep going.  I'm going to go back over what have written so far, take out the filler, and continue from there.  Father sat down one night when I stepped away from the computer and started reading the story.  I thought he would lose interest after a couple minutes, because he did with Floating on the Surface.  He doesn't read fiction, but he got captured by the story and can't wait for me to finish so he can read the rest of the story.  High compliments indeed and really made my day!

So, my first goal will be to finish Eyes, then get back to Floating on the Surface.  I'm going to commit to writing everyday.  Doesn't matter how many words or pages, just as long as I commit to sitting down and writing for at least an hour, giving the story my full attention.  During nano, I had a goal of 2000 words a day and managed to accomplish that because I didn't turn on the computer, didn't check my emails, didn't blog until I was done writing for the day.   I dedicated my morning to writing, before Father and James got up for the day and the daily distractions started.

So for my 2010 Year of Writing Deliberately, I will dedicate my morning to writing.   Every morning!  I found I have to write every single day because when I start differentiating between writing on the weekdays only and taking off on the weekend, by Monday morning, the resolve isn't there.  Then I have to work on Mondays, so justify not writing because I only have an hour before work so go online.  And so on and so on.

I love writing!  I love putting pen to paper and letting my thoughts flow and I amaze myself sometimes.  I look at it later and say "wow I wrote that."   I will be sharing my progress weekly since you all help to keep me accountable.    If anyone wants to join me in the Year of Writing Deliberately, let me know.

What works do you currently have in progress and what are your writing goals for 2010?

Work in Progress Wednesday

I've finally got past whatever was blocking me from writing and have made some progress on the rewrite of Floating on the Surface. Not as much as I like, but enough to get my imagination in gear again. I found a great picture the other day that just captured me and just had to make a new book cover.

Cool! Really sparks my imagination. National Novel Write Month will be starting in just 31 days, so have to get back into the habit of writing at least 1667 words a day. If I start shooting for that amount every day, by the end of October I should have most of the rewrite done. I'm working my way back up to it. Day light savings time ends on October 31st and setting the clock back an hour will help. It will help me get back in the habit of getting up at 6:30. As long as I get up a couple hours before the rest of the household, I'll have my quiet time to write.

I've been working on character outlines and world building for Eyes in the Ashes and coming up with some interesting ideas. It's definitely going to be a murder mystery and I'm trying to decide if my setting will be small rural town in California or Texas. I like the idea of it being a small western style town with wooden boardwalks. A town with character as well as a lot of characters. When I was writing my 2nd WIP, the extra characters and subplot sort of developed as I went along. So we'll see what happens.

I'm getting really psyched. I think I may try Lazette Gifford's outlining idea - phrase drafting. Thanks to Debbie of Inkygirl.com for reminding me of it. I had read about a couple years ago but forgot about it. My bad. But with all I've learned since then, I think it is a really good idea now. That way I can capture some of the thoughts that having been coming to mind. Otherwise they just turn into fleeting thoughts and poof they are gone. I've discovered as I get older, that unless I write things down immediately, it will be lost forever in the ether.

I find this saying by Marie Antoinette intriguing:

"There is nothing new except what has been forgotten"

Who wants to join me for Nano this year?

Work In Progress Wednesday - Nano on the brain

Hosted by Kate of The Lovers, The Dreamers and Me

I have NaNo on the brain today. Isabella, my main character for my next WIP3, which I planned on starting in November has been knocking on the door lately and getting pretty persistent. Just imagine someone standing there, staring at you, looking at their watch and tapping their foot...impatient, not wanting to wait any longer. I'm far from done with the rewrite of F.O.T.S. but Samantha stopped talking to me a couple weeks ago. I don't think she liked the way I ended the last scene. I was ready to move on, she wasn't. Result I haven't gotten any writing done. I may just let the two leading ladies duke it out and see who wins.

Time for a come to Jesus meeting with my muse. I did come across a great post today by B.J at Enriched By Words called Procrastination or Preparation? Wonderful article, as always, in which she quotes from Roy Peter Clark's book "Writing Tools" which I've added to my wish list. The jist is what we think is procrastination is preparation. All that writing we do in our heads - rehearsal for the real thing. I need to do a bit more rehearsing. Hopefully I can get the majority of the rewrite for F.O.T.S. done this month (if my characters cooperate), then in October concentrate on outlining and developing the cast of characters for WIP3.


Which brings me to --Da da da da:

New 2009 Badges for Nano available at Nanowrimo.org
Designed by Graham Dobson

What do you think? Puts finger to lips - Shhh! Don't let Mr. Dobson know I asked, but would someone please explain what that first doohicky is?


As Mork would say "Na-Nu Na-Nu"

Work In Progress Wednesday

I'm happy to say I'm making progress with WIP1 - Floating on the Surface and have finished typing up everything written so far. It gave me a better idea of where I was in the story, which helped unstick whatever was stuck and I was able to get back to working on the story this morning.

Nifty Word Meter

I'm currently on Chapter 17 and have written 21,567 words. My plan is to write in the mornings and type it up in the afternoon. I spent some time this morning thinking about changing the title and will most likely have to wait until the story is finished. I came up with some alternatives:

"Touch of Ashes"

"Silent Shards"

"Splintered Memories"

"Souls Tears"

"Fallen Dreamer"

What do you think?

Today Jody of On the Path has a wonderful post about making time to write and she asks "do you need more writing time? Or do you need to make better use of the time you already have."

I definitely need to make better use of the time I already have. I have a tendency to get distracted by just things, my guys, cats, birds, nature. It's all a matter of focus and removing the distractions and not turning on the computer unless I'm done writing. I'm definitely can't multitask while I'm writing. Nor can I work on more than one writing project at a time. Multitasking is Terri's question that came up on the Query Tracker Blog Chain this month that several writers are part of and I read religiously. Many interesting writers with different perspectives - very enlightening. I have no problem multitasking at home or work, juggling many different tasks at the same time. But when it comes to writing - if I tried to juggle more than one story at at time or tried to channel more than one set of characters at a time, I'd probably go nuts. :) Must be a completely different mind set.

What about you? Can you focus on more than one writing project at a time?


Work In Progress Wednesday is brought to you by Kate of The Lovers, The Dreamers and Me. If you would like to participate in WIP wednesday, write up a post, head on over to Kate's and leave in a link in the comments.

Work in Progress Wednesday - The process

Work in Progress Wednesday

Hosted by

Kate of The Lovers, The Dreamers and Me

Thinking out loud!

Do you ever get in the way of yourself sometimes? Do you ever find that when you talk about something, explore your feelings out loud, then make a decision and then change your mind later, that you feel foolish. I do. I used to do the whole thought process thing internally and ultimately when things happened to change my mind, no one would be the wiser.

Well, I've gone and created a lot of work for myself. I really don't know what my word count is since I've been writing out the story and haven't been typing anything up. Finally dawned on me what a stupid idea that was, because now I've gotten bogged down and want to go back and read what I've written so far. Part of its typed up and the rest in a notebook. I've come across posts by a few bloggers who mention that they write in the morning and type up what they written in the afternoon or evening. What a wonderful idea so when I'm caught up, will start doing just that.

Yesterday while at work, browsing the blogs on my lunch and dinner break, I came across "Having Fun with Book Covers" at Kt literary (thanks to H.L.)

1. Go to Fake Name Generator. The name that appears is your author name.
2. Go to Random Word Generator. The word listed under “Random Verb” is your title.
3. Go to FlickrCC. Type your title into the search box. The first photo that contains a person is your cover.
4. Use Photoshop, Picnik, or similar to put it all together. Be sure to crop and/or zoom in, as desired. I used microsoft publisher and microsoft picture editor.
   
5. Post it to your site along with this text.

Spin seems apropos to what I've been thinking about concerning my writing. My brain has been spinning, going round in circles. Where am I going with this book that I'm writing. Why am I writing it and what do I want to do with it. Is it just a hobby to do in my spare time or something to be taken more seriously.

I'm a babe in the woods, so to speak. I honestly have only been writing since 2007 when I decided to join in National Novel Write month. I dabbled occasionally over the years but never tried writing on a regular basis. Now I do and find myself thoroughly enjoying the process - imagining and writing, reading as much as I can about the creative process, learning how to write, following the path of other writers and how they write.

I ran across a few posts that really stood out, spoke to me. Made me pause and think.

Elana asked the question "are you in it to win it? Whatever "it" may be." Stopped me in my tracks and I had to think about it. Why am I doing this if I'm not in it to win. Do I want to be published someday. Heck yeah - I can't deny that thought has always been in the back of my mind. My husband's too. Since I started writing, he's been behind 100% providing encouragement. He doesn't want me to go the self publishing route - but go the whole nine yards and get an agent, go through the process. I know it won't be easy and even if I get rejected, (however many times that may be) at least I will have tried. However, for now - winning it means reading the words I have written and know that "Wow! I did that!"

Paula of Elegant Lion had a few profound things to say as well in her post "I am a writer," with a quote from Anne Taylor:

"I noticed that whenever I become conscious of the process, the process grinds to a halt. So I try not to talk about it, think about it, write about it - I just do it."

Isn't that the truth. I keep getting in my own way. I want writing to be like reading is to me. Reading is as necessary to me as eating, sleeping, breathing. If I don't read, I get cranky. It's my escape, my relaxation. I want writing to be the same way, to be essential, to be as much a part of me as everything else. I just have to persevere because perseverance is what makes a writer successful. Karen Stephenson of the Freelance Writer's Database reminds us that

"Beethoven was deaf.
Ray Charles is blind.
Thomas Edison had learning disabilities.
Terry Fox was a runner who was an amputee living with cancer.
James Earl Jones was a stutterer.
Helen Keller was deaf and blind.
Stephen Hawking, world-famous physicist has Lou Gehrig's disease.
Albert Einstein had learning disabilities.
Vincent Van Gogh was mentally ill.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was paralysed from polio.
Martin Luther King Jr. lead the civil rights movement."

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing." -- Abraham Lincoln

Work in Progress Wednesday

Alrighty, I'll admit it. I've gotten very little writing done this past week. And you know, as soon as I decided to set the deadline for the end of September, everything went ppffft out of my head. Writing the past couple days has been like pulling teeth. I was ready to move on to a new day and write an exciting action scene and my characters kept pulling back, saying "hey, we are not through talking here, yet. This scene, right here, the way you thought it out before, write it." Strawberries!

I was going to try and keep writing the story down until the end, but at this point, I need to type up what I've written so far and get a better handle on it. What seems right at the time, flies out the window on other days. I need to see the story in print and go from there. I also started thinking about next November's Nano and that I need to get back in the habit of writing on the keyboard which is how I did the first two. Otherwise it will be slow, slow going. I may be writing 1600 words a day, but then stopping to type up the day's work will slog me down. I do all my blog posts that way - thinking them out as I type. So I going to catch up and get it all typed out. Somewhere in the process, it will loosen the thoughts processes up and we can go forth with the story.

In one of the articles in July's The Writer "The Big Bang Approach" by Jill Dearman, she says something that really got me going. The acronym Bang stands for B - begin, A - Arrange, N - nurture and - Go. She mentions in the exercise for Bang for n -nurture

"Imagine the spirit of your character hovering over your desk as you write. She tells you, 'yes, you know me very well, better than my best friend, my spouse, my shrink! But there's something you're still missing about me... 'let your character speak in the 'I' voice and tell you what you still don't see. Do five minutes of freewriting or 500 words which ever comes first."

Just the mental image of my character hovering around, looking over my shoulder while I write really popped my imagination. There's also a quote by E.L Doctorow that I really like.

Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.

Work in Progress Wednesday

Yes, I know it is Thursday and I really don't have that much to report other than I'm writing, writing, writing but it seems to be going slowly, slowly, slowly. I'm giving myself a goal to finish the rewrite by the end of September, otherwise it will keep dragging on and I'll never finish. I finally realized I'm the type of person who has to have a deadline and someone to hold me accountable, otherwise it will be left to fester and I would be forever putting out fires. The reason for the deadline - October is going to be reserved for researching my 2009 Nano story "Eyes in the Ashes.". After nano I will be editing my 2nd nano piece and let "floating on the surface" (title to be changed eventually) rest. That's the plan, stan.


Used to be a time I would never even think of working on more than one book at a time or even be writing a book and I'm imagining my grandmother saying "don't put all your peas in one pot." So, it was a good thing Michelle highlighted Rachelle Gardner's "Write another Book" post yesterday. It came at a good time.


Rachelle says:

"I work with a lot of first-time authors, because that's part of what I love to do. But something I'm learning is that we may be doing you a disservice if we contract you when you've only written one book. Yes, writing that book was a huge accomplishment. And if your very first book garnered positive attention from editors and/or agents, that's even more of an accomplishment. It's terrific!

But it's not enough. The hard truth is that it takes a lot more than one book to really know "how to be a writer." So if you get contracted after that one book, over which you slaved for years, and then you're under the gun to produce another book on a deadline, what's going to happen? You are going to have a very, very difficult time.

Keep Writing."

Great advice as always.

Yesterday while perusing my favorite bloggers, I received a wonderful surprise from not one, but two bloggers. Wendy at Wendy's Minding Spot gave me this. Thank you, Wendy.





And from Annie at Annie Writes About Writing.




The award originated from The Scholastic Scribe in celebration of their 200th post and to share bloggy love with 5 extremely deserving scribblers. And if you are a recipient of their award, they would like to know about and have a Mr. Linky set up to add your name. Also check out who the very first 5 recipients of the award.

There are rules that go along with the award and they are:

1) Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends. Done - see below

2) Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award. That would be Awesome Annie. Thank you Annie.

3) Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award. Done

4) Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor! Done

5) Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog. Done

Do you know how difficult it is to just pick out 5 people? Even if your name isn't on the list, it's in my heart because I appreciate each and every one of you. Okay- enough mush. On with the naming.

Awesome Annie - I'm sending it right back to you.

Magnificent Michelle of The Innocent Flower

New found friend - Beautiful B.J. of Enriched by Words

The joyful Jody of On the Path

and last but not least

Another beauty - B.J. Anderson

I probably am duplicating some folks who have already received this award, but these are just 5 of the bloggers (both old and new found bloggy friends) who have encouraged me with my scribbling.

Work in progress wednesday's brought to you by Kate of the Lover's, the dreamer's and Me.

Work in Progress Wednesday

What great timing. Just as I sat down to write this, the mail lady delivered a package to the door. My order from Writer's Digest arrived with the 2009 Writer's Market, The Pocket Muse and The Little Red Writing Book. They were having a great sale, plus free shipping. Who could pass that up.

My WIP1 is going slowly but surely still. I still haven't started typing anything up again yet. I really would like to finish writing the story first, but I know at some point, the desire to start typing and editing will catch up with me. I do go back and reread what I wrote the day before, add or expand, then continue going. Do you ever have the problem where you can't read your own writing. I go from a from legible scrawl to tiny scribbles by the end. Plus starred bits and lines pointing elsewhere and put this here notes, etc. I've been writing everyday, except did take the weekend off since we were traveling and visiting with family. Monday my brain was mush and completely blank. However, I did have an epiphany over the weekend over something that has been in the back of my mind for quite some time.

When my mother in law died, we came across her notebooks of a historical romance story she was writing. I didn't understand why there were several notebooks with the same story rewritten several times. Now I get it. They are her drafts of the same story. Unfortunately, she didn't date anything so we don't know which edit is what. For now, they will continue to reside in a box in the garage until we find the time to decipher her notes, lists and versions.

So, this morning I'm reading "A Writer's Book of Days" by Judy Reeves and the word for today is Kiss Your Frogs. She says "it happens to every writer: sloppy, rambling, unintelligible, boring writing that is going anywhere but where you want. It's the frog-kissing phenomenon of creative writing and it happens to the best of us, even to seasoned pros. If you write at all, know that you're going to produce some stuff that's way to the left of good, lopsided and croaking on some withering lily pad." Which is why I'm getting the desire to start typing up what I've written the past couple weeks. I want to improve upon, edit it, make it sound better. But in essence, this is a first draft since it's a 95% rewrite, so I'm resisting the urge. Get it out there and then edit it. It is much better than the first, since I'm listening to my characters. Well - most of the time - we have had a few tug of wars.

The tip of the month from Amy Hempel is "instead of moving horizontally on the page, stay with the one moment or revelation and go down-down-down, vertically, deeper into complications, keep going down and uncovering harder things to say about the same thing." I've been skating the surface with Benjamin so far, not really giving an indepth look into his character. So this sounds like a good idea, because they are at the part where he and Jacob are discussing why Jacob didn't tell he and his brother about Samantha. Jacob is the typically younger brother in which he feels his brothers were always trying to interfere and tell him how to do things, even as a adult. He needed his brothers to see him as an adult, and he had a bit of growing up to do as well. Plus going back to my last WIP Wednesday when I was trying to decide on Benjamin's background, I decided to make him a retired detective and the scenario occurred, much like Sam's in which the police were there, but too late to stop her from getting hurt. However, in his case someone died. So, that's where we stand right now.

In purusing "Pocket Muse" I came across this:

"I once heard a college student in Waterville, Maine, ask visiting writer Ron Carlson how one knows if one is really a writer. Ever the showman, Carlson delivered an entertaining riff about the distractions writers put in their own way, all day, all the time: leaving the room to get coffee, check the mail, get coffee, walk the dogs, go to the bathroom, get coffee, look something up, get coffee. Then, dead serious, he summed up the whole enterprise in a line I have never forgotten: "The writer is the one who stays in the room."

Be the one who stays in the room.

Work in Progress Wednesday is brought to you by the lovely Kate of The Lovers, The Dreamers and Me. To see how everyone else is progressing, go see Kate.

Work In Progress Wednesday

Work in Progress Wednesday is brought to you by the lovely Kate of The Lovers, The Dreamers and Me.

Last week was unplugged week and I managed to write everyday, just not on my WIP. I worked the first three days on my story and the rest of the week working on my midterm. This week, I have been writing about 3 to 6 pages each day. I discovered the secret to my writing diligently every morning is to not allow any computers to be turned on until I'm done writing. Which mean, James can't get on the computer, nor play wii until I'm done writing. However, the wii has been relegated to the garage for an indefinite period of time, until certain behaviors improve, so that really isn't an issue right now. You know, I never got it before why people limited their kids video game play time to the weekends or only allowed them to play 30 minutes in the afternoon, when everything else was done. I do now.


I'm having him concentrate on writing a story or drawing during that period of time. He's a good writer and since he loves Godzilla so much (even though all the movies have been shelved as well...too much swearing which was rubbing off on him) he's been writing lots of stories about Godzilla. He has his own blog called James Godzilla Page and he would like to have some followers. Please check out his stories and leave a comment or too. He would be delighted.

I digress. I've been writing every day but haven't typed any of it up yet. That is going to take some time. The story is progressing - slowly but surely. I'm not quite sure if I want Ben to have the same background as before or change it up a bit. In the original story, he was considering becoming a priest, but changed his mind and decided to concentrate on his sculptures. Samantha and he feel easily in love and there wasn't any conflict. She liked him instantly.

Right now in the second draft, she doesn't like him so much because of his attitude about her and his brother. Ben thought she and his brother were living together as lovers, and that she kicked him out. But actually his brother was helping her after she was injured in an attack. His brother keeps this from him for some reason. The reason is still a slight mystery to me as well. That's something else brewing in the back of my head. Ben's background seems like it should be different to mesh with the story. For some reason I want him to have a background in law enforcement and he quit due to some heavy duty stuff happening. Maybe got shot himself or killed someone in the line of duty and it was all just a bit much for him. So now he pours his emotions into the sculptures he creates. And it's because of his background that his brother never told him anything about his relationship with Samantha. Plus it would play into the latter part of the story, when the bad guy comes back.

So Samantha isn't exactly liking Ben at this moment. That's where I stand right now and each day reveals a bit more. It's interesting what pops into my head while writing. I think I need to sit down and create an interview with Ben now that I'm thinking of changing his entire background.

It's my day to man the shop today, so I've got to get ready for work. If you'd like to participate in Work In Progress Wednesday, or see what everyone else has accomplished this past week, go see Kate.

Happy Writing!

Work in Progress Wednesday

I am still plugging away here, working on Floating on the Surface or as my husband so humorously and lovingly likes to refer to it as Pond Scum. Note to self: Come up with new title - quick.

Yesterday Nathan Bransford came up with a great revision checklist which once I read it made me realize exactly why I am practically rewriting this whole puppy.

"Do you have enough conflict?" - Nada, zilch, zero. They didn't have a conflict, just a quiet disagreement and I didn't let Samantha get angry. Disappointed, but not angry. Did I give her free reign to express all those emotions that instantly came to the surface. Nope. That's all changed.

"Does the reader see both the best and worst characteristics of your main characters?" Oh, they will now.

"Is there sufficient description that your reader feels grounded in the characters' world?" Working on that now. In the first draft, there was an over abundance of description, which felt pretty dry. Now I'm making sure to see the world from Samantha's perspective. What would she notice as she walks through the town or a room or the forest.

"Do each of your scenes make dramatic sense on their own as well as move the overall plot forward." I am trying to remember this one. To make each scene matter, to carry the story forward. The story is progressing but it is slow going however. I'd plan to make the story cover a long period of time, rather than everything happen in a week. I started with an event that happened 3 years prior and now have moved forward to the present, however, I'm still on the same day with a couple scenes left to go. Part of the problem has been I haven't had the time to write every single day. I'm trying to change that. Next week, I've decided to join B.J. in have an unplugged week in order to concentrate on my writing. Wish me luck!


If you'd like to see what progress others have made or want to participate in WIP Wednesday, head on over to Kate's.

Work In Progress Wednesday (errr, Friday)

How did it get to be Friday already. It has been one of those hectic weeks with lots of stuff going on, but just don't feel like much has gotten accomplished. I managed to write all of a 1000 words again during the week and have to figure out a better way to schedule my writing time.

My writing time in the morning disappeared due to Wii Mario Kart. Yes, let's blame it on the game and James wanting me to race him every morning. There goes an a hour and then it's time to start lessons. Or clean the bathrooms, do laundry, or help father decide on what color led light to go with for his blinky warning light on his preamp. Have I mentioned the difficulty of writing when your spouse works at home a couple days a week, rather than going into the office. And likes to use you as a sounding board. However today I managed to write more than I did all last week. Yeah! Of course, I've been at it, off and on since 9:00 with several interruptions. We had a brohaha over the Wii because of bad sportsmanship, so the game has been shelved for the next week. But, the muse has been flowing today, so powered through.

I picked up three new writing books and came across a wonderful website that hopefully will help me improve my writing, plus give me some incentive.











Interesting so far!











The Voice of the Muse by Mark David Gerson. I love the cover and it starts with

"Whatever you believe about your talent, your skill, your imagination or your creativity, if it contains one ounce of doubt, let it go. You are a writer -- of power, strength and substance. Repeat that. Aloud if you dare.

I am a writer of power, strength and substance.

Again:

I am a writer of power, strength and substance.

One more time:

I am a writer of power, strength and substance.

I'm going to write that out and tape it on my computer. Affirmations are wonderful, when you remember to use them. Also picked up "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss.

Discovered the website Writing Forward which has a great exercise called "Sensible Writing Exercise" an exercise to help you write with more sense -the 5 senses.

I'm finding I have a lot of beats in the story...The movement of the characters as they talk, but not totally engaging all five senses. There are some great writers out there who make it seem seamless. It's something I need to work on.

In one scene, Samantha is sitting in the park talking with Benjamin. She is sitting in the sunshine, observing life going on around them. So I sat outside on the patio, closed my eyes and opened up all my senses. I paid close attention to the feel of the sun on my face, the warmth sinking into my skin and bones. The sound of the breeze rustling through the bushes, birds singing, traffic off in the distance, the laughter of the neighbors next door. The smell of peppermint. The tickle of the cat's fur as she brush up against my leg. Now I just have to figure out how to get that all on paper as part of the story without it sounding contrived. I'm hoping the Sensible Writing Exercise will help. I'm going to try it right after I'm done with my homework. :)

If you'd like to see what progress others have made or want to participate in WIP Wednesday, head on over to Kate's.

Work In Progress Wednesday

I didn't make as much progress this week as I wanted. Distractions abounded and only wrote about 1300 words. Finished one chapter, but I keep wanting to add to it or change it. Slaps hand. Don't edit, just keep going. I think what's been hooking me up is even though this is a major rewrite, keep thinking I should edit along the way. I realize it isn't going to be perfect and will be going through few more edit runs. I should probably treat this as the first draft of new story, even though I'm pulling elements in from the original.


How much information is too much information when characters are meeting for the first time? I'm trying to figure out whether Samantha should remain somewhat of a mystery to Ben or be more forthright. He has some preconceived notions about her and his brother. She really feels like setting him straight on a few things, but how much is too much? Which will move the story forward -- demystifying the role his brother has played in her life, or keeping the mystery and forcing the brothers to have a serious talk.

I'm brainstorming as I write this and thinking that she should tell him just enough to let him know he is wrong, but not give all details so he has to talk to his brother about it. Thank you. Sometimes it just helps to think out loud. My husband does this a lot. He'll start thinking out loud, trying to figure out a electronic doohicky problem using me as a sounding board. This gets quite interesting, especially when it goes over my head. It leads to the conundrum- do I want to ask questions which will lead to (pardon the analogy - its the best I could come up with) an explanation of the theory of golf, rather just telling me to put the ball on the tee. Or just let him talk it out. Genuises - make life interesting. But I digress.

The writing process. I've been reading various blogs this past week and what stuck out this week was Rachelle Gardner's "First Things First - Don't put the cart before the horse" post. One thing she said is

"There are seasons in a writer's life: Seasons for focusing on the art and craft of writing, and seasons for focusing on the business of writing. And seasons where it's appropriate to spend time on both."

Made me think about where I am in the writing process and the most important thing for me to do right now, is concentrate on writing. I'm not anywhere even close to the thinking about getting published. She mentions in her post it is more important to focus on writing and learn the craft, which I wholeheartedly agree with. As she so aptly puts it - I am still a freshman writer. I like that term. Which means I still have a lot to learn.

What have you learned today?


If you'd like to see what progress others have made or want to participate in WIP Wednesday, head on over to Kate's.