Day One

You know how sometimes people say, I wish I had time to pick the roses?

Well, that's what I did with my new found time. Much to my surprise, the knock-out rose bushes on the side of my house had grown so tall that the flowers were touching the roof. I promise I didn't give them any mutant plant food or genetically modify them.

I cut the ones I liked and the photo on the left depicts my shoddy attempt at flower arranging.

And as always I must find a way to tie this into writing or skating or laughter, because someone might say that the banner of this blog is misleading in it's ideals.

So here goes...

I think it's important to be happy and to have free time to do whimsical things such as cut mutant roses from your garden. Because these little things are part of life, and the more of life we experience, the richer our writing will become.

Vision

I have a poster in my home office of Mr. Walt Disney standing on a bleak stretch of empty land. Behind him is a faded dream-like image of the ever-famous castle that we all know as the icon of Disney motion pictures and the Magic Kingdom itself. Beneath the photo is the word VISION in big white letters and then there is a quote under it from Mr. Walt Disney:

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible."

I love this poster because it inspires me. I've recently made some drastic decisions in my life that I think are for the better (aka more time to clean my oven, be happy, cut that second toe nail that keeps digging into the skin of my big toe, play with my kitties more, catching up on weeks of unwatched episodes of Dancing with the Stars, continue crying a little for James Durbin getting kicked off of Idol yesterday, and most importantly write the best book that I can). I hope the outcome of these decisions will allow me to reach my vision, my dream for my life.

Happy writing!

Happy Mother's Day

To all the writers and authors out there that are mothers, and to all the mothers that aren't writers or authors: Happy Mother's Day!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Nearing the End...

I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel despite the fact that this past weekend I had to gut and rebuild the walls of the metaphorical tunnel that is my manuscript.

You know how last week I said the middle of a story is murky? Yeah, well the middle is nothing compared to the last chunk. The last chunk is riddled with pot holes and little demons that chant you suck, this story sucks, and you have bad hair. And I can't tell you how much better it made me feel when awesome author, Libba Bray, confessed to struggling with the very same.

But talking things out with my shrinks (aka critique partners) helped dig me out of some of these pot holes, which are really like chasms full of quick sand.

So I may be a bit incommunicado for the week as I try finishing up this first draft. Happy writing and have a happy week!

My So Called Creative Life...

This blog post comes straight to you from my guest bathroom. Alabama is being pummeled by tornadoes today and my thoughts and prayers go out to all those that are affected by the natural disaster.

Sarcastically Delicious (aka boyfriend) is killing zombies on his phone, Jasmine (kitty #2) is smelling his butt, and Sasha (kitty #1) is napping inside the bathtub, while all four of us are waiting for this tornado warning to pass. 

So now that you're up to date on the weather, here's what's going on in what I like to call my creative life:

1. I've written 41,000 words of my manuscript to date.

2. I'm listening to City of Glass by Cassandra Clare in preparation to read the latest installment, City of Fallen Angels. 

3. I just finished reading Night Star by Alyson Noel and can't wait for the final book to come out in June.

4. I'm about to start reading Possession by Elana Johnson. I'd like to do a fun give-away/contest on my blog to give away this ARC. Any suggestions?

5. As we rushed to the bathroom for cover from the tornado, Sarcastically Delicious told me to bring a book. I thought it odd that he wanted me to have adequate reading material while we waited out tornadoes, but whatever. So I grab my book bag which contains my laptop, writing journals, etc... When I appear with out a book he scowls at me and points out how he has brought the mammoth sized hard cover book, Atlas Shrugged. He emphasizes that I need to bring a hard cover book. Confused by his persistence, I run out into the hallway, and at first instinct want to grab Deathly Hallows, but then I end up grabbing And the Band Played On. When SD sees this thick book, he's pleased with my choice. And I'm just confused. That's when he points out I'm supposed to put the book over my head, for protection. Sigh. I can be so dense sometimes.

What I Do When I'm Stuck

I often find the middle of the manuscript is when things get murky.

The beginning is easy when you have that bright, fresh, shiny idea. You're pumping the words out, on an almost artificial high from the prospects of your new story.

And I don't know about you, but I like to know what the ending is before I start writing. Back in March, Maggie Stiefvater, wrote an excellent post about how to start a novel, and she mentions the importance of knowing the ending, but then she also says at the end of her post to ignore all her rules. I think they're valid rules, and I wouldn't ignore them. She's just being humble.

So, I'm not an expert, but these are some things that work for me when I'm stuck in the murky middle.

1. Close the laptop. Whip out some paper and pen and just start writing. It doesn't matter if you write a massive info dump or if you decide to spontaneously give your main character blue hair. In the midst of all the nonsensical words, you will find the answers that you seek to crawl out of the murky deep.

2. Talk it out with a critique partner. I find these conversations extremely helpful. Oh, you don't have a critique partner you say? Here are some links to help you find one: Maggie Stiefvaters Critique Partner Love Connection, and Agent Mary Kole's blog. Natalie Whipple also has some excellent posts about giving and receiving critiques. If you readers know of others critique partner resources please share in the comments section.

3. Sometimes, it's ok to stop writing for a few days. Just let the ideas stew in your head until you figure out where you story needs to go. This is probably my least favorite method. It has worked for me in the past, but the pesky side effect of this route is that sometimes that one or two days can turn into one or two weeks, and then you start to have a disconnect with your story, and then you're setting yourself up for the My story sucks or I don't know if I can write this anymore, etc...

Hope this helps!

Details on the Writing Group I Braved to Visit

Anita Laydon Miller, author of the newly released middle grade e-book Earthling Hero, commented on my last post that she wanted more details about the writer's club meeting I attended at the local library last weekend. It was interesting. A variety of ages were present ranging from teens to retired school teachers. It was an open forum where people could read up to five minutes of their work. Some read poetry and some read excerpts from flash fiction, short stories, novels, and memoirs. Everyone was super encouraging towards each other. It was great.

The piece that I remember the most was from a memoir written by a retired teacher who struggled with a variety of phobias and anxieties in her life. In particular, she struggled with something called scriptophobia, which is fear of writing in public, and she shared a wonderful story of how she had to write her first check for college tuition in front of a line of strangers. It was a story that didn't just enlighten me on what scriptophobia was but was a story that anyone with a phobia or anxiety could relate to.

I have a fear of empty swimming pools or pools that don't have people swimming in it. As part of my ACL surgery rehabilitation, I had to do quite a bit of pool therapy. I didn't mind it at all, and in fact enjoyed it, except for the fact that there was always someone swimming in the lane next to me or a therapist was sitting on a bench beside the pool. Eventually, my work schedule changed and I had to change the time I went to the pool. Unfortunately, this fell during a time when there wasn't anyone in the pool and no therapist. Needless, to say my pool therapy fell to the wayside. And then I had to explain to my trainer that I hadn't done my pool therapy for three weeks because I was scared to be in the pool by myself. I felt so ridiculous explaining it to him. But hearing this retired teacher talk about her phobia, made me feel better somehow.

Over all, I thought the meeting was a positive experience. The only negative thing I had to say was that I felt like the moderator was putting down traditional publishing. Yes, finding and agent and selling a book is hard and you have to write the best story that you can. I've heard some compare it to winning the lottery. But, when you have novice writers, with bright shiny dreams and hopes, don't just come out and tell them that they will have to self-publish because becoming traditionally published is impossible. There is of course nothing wrong with self-publishing. But, give them the choice. Without any bias, both paths should have explained.

I almost felt like the meeting moderator, who was a writer himself, maybe didn't have the best experience pursuing traditional publishing or something and so he was poo pooing it for everyone else. I usually don't like to say negative things about people, books, or really much of anything on my blog (except if it's about Sarcastically Declicious' antics, because, hey, I have the right), but the way the moderator presented publishing left a bad taste in my mouth, and I don't know if I will go to another meeting. Or maybe I will. I don't know. Really torn about it.