Life after NaNo

I've completed my goal and won the event, and what a relief not to have that hanging over my head.
It was fun and it was not, but it was good for me. I was forced to do what I should do anyway and that is to write every day.
So now, the challenge I give myself, is to continue on, writing as if I had a deadline, writing as if I really mean it.
Today I did something that will motivate me to stay with it. I signed up for the LDS Storymakers conference in May; not only that, but I signed up for the Publication Primer workshop beforehand. I did boot camp last year, and learned so much that the chance to do something even more intense was more than I could resist.
Now, whenever I think "Oh, I'll write tomorrow." I will be reminded that I have to show up in May, and act like I'm a serious writer. I do not like to be embarrassed, so I will be more likely to sit my bottom down and work at what I love best, instead of puttering about the house doing whatever else distracts me.
Does anyone else besides me, have to force themselves to do what they love to do? There is a sure sign of insanity in that isn't there?

NaNoWriMo to the rescue!

I've actually written for two days in a row and have a whopping total now of five thousand and something. This novel challenge is just what I needed to jump start my lazy bum and get me typing out those words. I feel great! Only 28 more days of this and I should be truly back in the habit and ready to get those books out to there to the publishers and agents again.

I'm FREEEEEEEE!

Okay, so I always start out good and get bogged down in the middle, but I have actually won this event several times, so I'm going to do it again this year. Really, I am, why don't you believe me?

Anyway, to all my fellow crazy NaNo's out there... Write On!

Snap Out Of It Norma!

So I haven't written anything for months... my life still isn't any closer to being in order than it was back when I said that I would write as soon as I got things in order. Enough is a enough.

Today I'm going to shove the clutter off of my writing desk and write. I'm starting with this blog entry. Well, okay, I'm sitting on the bed because the desk is full, but you get the idea. I'M WRITING SOMETHING!
Life is better already just for having made the decision to stop putting it off and just do it.

Goal: Write something, anything, at least five days a week. (I can do that.)
I have peaches to can and laundry to do, but that will just have to wait.

I'll let you know how it goes, (I promise), unless I break my neck tripping over the pile of clutter on the floor by the desk, in which case, I will try to blog from my hospital bed.

Yup, I'm committed. I should probably be institutionalized, but committed will have to do for now.

Invisible

Picture me gasping as I drag myself away from the word processor on my mop water soaked knees. "Must... clean.... house..."

Needless to say my WIP is going slower than I would like, and I'm having withdrawals.

I've been away from my computer a lot lately due to company and other of life's interruptions. So not only haven't I written, I haven't been keeping up on my online presence. Not that anyone would notice, as I'm not much of a presence anyway...

I've noticed that I am invisible in cyberspace. Other people carry on friendships and conversations merrily, but when I happen to have a comment and post it, nine times out of ten there's no response. Now, I know that I'm odd and maybe what I say doesn't make any sense, but you'd think someone would at least pipe up and say "Huh?"
The silence is giving me a complex. #doIhaveBO?

Spring Cleaning

I've finally been blessed with one of those rare days when there are no scheduled outside events. Oh joyous opportunity! I can now catch up on all the stuff I should have been doing while I was running around crazy.

I used to find these sort of days as an opportunity to do something fun and adventurous. Now, I'm just excited to get the wash folded and the ironing finished. What have I become? Is my life really so mundane that laundry is the pinnacle of self fulfillment?
Have I become so immersed in my family and other peoples' lives that I have lost my own?

I honestly can't think of anything I'd rather do than get my housework caught up today. But... that's not such a bad thing really. Yesterday I got my garden mostly planted at last, and even though it is a late spring, it's still spring, and it's done, and I feel good. I know I'll feel good when the house is cleaned up too. No adventure could make me feel any better than that... So spring cleaning, here I come.

Feeling guilty, not groovy.

I am a quiet person. I make no excuses for that, but after reading some posts this morning from my friends blogs, I think maybe I should post a little more regularly. At the rate I've been going, Blogger is going to drop me as an inactive account.

I haven't been much more diligent on my WIP either. I hadn't written anything for several weeks, until yesterday. I have been going through a sort of subtle depression I think. I read too much, watched too many movies, and generally did anything to avoid my life, including my writing.

I made myself write yesterday and felt so good after, that I cant figure out why I was putting it off. It seems I always put off the things that are best for me, like eating healthy, exercise, personal time and writing. It's crazy, it's got to stop.

So I'm turning over a new leaf. I'm going to make myself write every day for at least an hour, five to six days a week. I'm going to write first thing in the morning, while the girls sleep in and Jeff has already left for work.

I'm also going to post on this blog at least once or twice a week. Hopefully that will help to keep me thinking like a professional writer. It will force me to organize my thoughts and think about my life and how it's going. Who knows, maybe it will become a daily thing and I'll actually have something to say for a change... or not.

Capturing Personalities in Your Writing.

In my humble opinion it's our silly little quirks that make us who we are. I need to capture more of that in my work in progress.

For example, I was thinking about how different my girls are from each other. They've all grown up together, and yet they are as different as rubies and pearls. As I thought about what makes them different it helped me to see how I can develop my characters and make them more interesting. I'll try to illustrate what I mean.

For fun, let's do a hypothetical case study. Keep in mind that I am going to exaggerate for literary purposes.

If I were to, say... ask one of  my girls to clean the microwave.
It would go something like this.

Emily. would passively put me off for a time or two but would eventually do it out of grudging obedience. It would take her six times longer than normal people because she would not be able to stop until she had removed every molecule from every crevice, dismantling and reassembling the appliance in the process. Then she would research the properties of microwaves on her laptop, and share her findings with me.

Dee would have to be captured in a large butterfly net, to hold her still long enough that she understood that I meant business. After which she would grudgingly do the job. She would zip through it, removing the top surface of grime and declare that it was clean. Of course, to her it really would seem clean, so it would not tickle her conscience in the least. Then, she would declare in her best Disney princess singing voice, "♫I'm done!♫" as she danced out the door to her next play practice, speech meet, or other social event.

Mary, the straight A student, would try to convince me that beings of higher intelligence should not have to do menial chores, and surely Emily and Dee are the more logical candidates. But, after high political debate and either bribery or deep threats from me, she would do a serviceable job in a very efficient manner. Following the tramatic event, she would growl at me as she went out the door to tell her friends in the neighborhood what a mean mother I am.

Small insignificant events can reveal a great deal about a person. Sometime I forget this as I write. Not that I think I should put in trivialities to build character, but that I need to remember that every event can show me something new about those people in my head.

Monday Again

Monday again and I say to myself, "This week I will be better. I will write every day. I will keep the housework up. I will..." Well, you get the idea. It seems like the weeks fly by and I'm busy busy busy, but I can't seem to see that I'm getting anything done. This blog being a perfect example.

I kept saying, "Tomorrow I will think of something worthwhile to say on my blog." But then another month goes by and nothing of notable worth happens in my life and now I have reached a point where it's sort of embarrassing to write anything here.

Is my life really that boring? I wish I could say I was bored. I can't remember the last time I was at a loss for something to do. The trouble is, that what I do all day, is all stuff that seems to have no lasting impact. There is always another dish to wash and another pair of jeans to launder. There's always some event that some girl needs her Mom to take her to, or some help that the hubby needs with his business... (Funny, I started a blog for him, but I didn't write on my own.)

Well... this week I'll do better. I'll write every day. I'll catch up the housework. I'll get the taxes done. I'll clean out those corners that have been driving me crazy all year. I'll train the dog not to bark. I'll be a better cook. I'll learn to play the piano better. I'll be a better Mom. I'll... ... ...

Ah crum. Maybe I'll just go back to bed.

1-11-11

Seemed like a good day to post something.

I've been putting it off because I don't like to share bad news.
Yeah, that's right, Leatherwood Press now says that they don't know how to market The Watchers of Sionon and they are probably going to drop me.

So I was looking for a publisher when I found them and I can do it again right? Who knows, maybe they will still take a chance. It's still a good book and just because it doesn't fit into a nice little genre mold doesn't mean it won't do well.

But for now, I'm tired of banging my head and I'm going to give it a rest. I'm putting the Watchers trilogy back on ice and I'm working on something that will be easier to sell...

Not telling yet, but I'm very excited about it. I just finished reworking the first chapter and it's phenomenal! I think I will enter it in the First Chapter competition at the LDSstorymakers conference in May.

New Year 2011

This year looks good for me. My book is getting published, and though that makes me a little nervous, I can't wait. As for other goals this year I can just look at last years. They are lose the weight, be a better mother-housekeeper-wife and of course write some more books.

I love this time of year. I get to start fresh and plan big. Today I am setting up a new writing desk. This one is just for me with no STUFF on it that isn't mine. I can set up my writing and not be annoyed that others move it or bury it under thier clutter. It will all be MY clutter.

The first thing I'm going to do on my new desk is finish the first complete rewrite of book 2 of the Watchers series. I hope to finish it before I have to do the final edits on book 1. This could be tricky as that is coming out supposedly in February. But I never hear from the publisher and I have to have something to do to keep my mind off of it or go crazy.

My goal is to write every week day, to treat my writing as a real job and not somthing I squeeze in between the rest of my life. I'm looking forward to a great year!