writings

Looking forward

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The Long Road

Image by Robb North via Flickr

Do you see an empty road, or a new future?

I’d like to think that it’s an invitation to take a new path, one that’s completely open to interpretation.

Of course, in real life I’d never take such a road, not without checking a map or pulling out the GPS I hope to afford one day…

Does that ever happen to you? Where you want to do something but the practical side of you holds you back? That’s sort of how I feel about writing. I love it, I do. I love the feeling of creating a new world and populating it with characters that run away with the story, of finding new plots when you thought there were none, of writing just to see what happens, because I usually have no clue. But then I think of the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in front of seeing the words I’ve put down show up in a book in a bookstore. Sure, there are people out there who are doing really well with the new ebook publishing model. But call me old-fashioned, I want a book with a professional cover printed by a reputable house with my name at the top. And that’s tough to do.

Of course, I have to finish writing the damn thing first. I’m so close–one chapter and an epilogue, which I know some people hate, but I think it’s the best way to wrap up the story–but it’s not easy to sit down and do the planning I know I need to do so the last chapter is the best it can be (for the first time through, anyway 😉 ) There are so many other things clamoring for my time: knitting, crocheting, the iPod apps that Mike always belittles, gardening (yes, it seems I like gardening very much), taking care of the home, working out, and lest we forget, reading. I’m ahead of last year in books but behind during this month, but again, so many things in the way. I need more time in the day, of course.

But I’ve just got to make time. I’ve got to set out on that open road, without knowing what’s ahead. Sure I may have to make some U-turns along the way, and go back to what works, because no one succeeds 100% of the time. But I just have to think of what waits at the end, or even the next fork, reaching little goals along the way.

The long and winding road

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Image by tpeñalver via Flickr

Sometimes our dreams feel so far away, lost upon a crooked path that never seems to lead directly to anywhere we want to go. There are distractions and deviations along the way; when we finally get past those, it seems we’re still slogging uphill like Sisyphus (though hopefully without the boulder).
I say I want to write. I better damn well do it, no matter where that path goes. I should follow it and follow my dreams, but I keep finding ways to stray, and other dreams poke their head in and say, “hey, remember me? how you used to like to do fill in the blank?” and I’ll nod and look longingly at the piano or the easel (the one I don’t have, so the analogy breaks down a bit here) or the web design or the whatever-caught-my-fancy-today.
Discipline, that’s what I need. Anyone know where I can find any?
There was supposed to be a party tonight, but it’s off, so I better use the night to my advantage. Let’s see what happens. Motivation, I’m looking at you!

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Fireworks

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That’s what I was writing about last, anyway, when I finally won NaNoWriMo this year. A day early, whoo!
Usually my word processor thinks I have about 200 more words than the official NaNo validator does, and that’s what I expected this year–but when I validated the first time, just to see where I was (I was at 45.9k or so) I had lost 800+ words. The next time, at 46.7k, I had lost nearly a thousand. That’s no good. But I resigned myself to writing more…and I did it, just now. Huzzah!
NeoOffice’s final word count: 51219. NaNoWriMo’s word count validator: 50127. I can live with that.
nano_09_winner_tall.png
And no, I’m not done with the story yet. Have a teaser:

Continue reading

Why I NaNo

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I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo (aka National Novel Writing Month) since 2004, and I’ve been ML (Municipal Liaison, or the person ostensibly running the region) for three years. I’m hoping for my sixth win at the end of November, so that means I’ve talked about this project for a long time now. But every month at the writing meeting, there are newbies who don’t know what NaNo is, which always surprises me (and shouldn’t by now, since I’ve been going to that group for what, four years?). Sometimes I get the “wow, I could never do that” speech, or the “You must be really crazycreative to do that”, or the “I don’t have the time to do it.”
Well, you can do it, I am relatively creative in the grand scheme of things (and don’t get me wrong, there are lots of times when I think I’m insane for doing it), and most of the time, I don’t have the time to be doing NaNo, yet I just keep doing it. Forsooth, you say, but why?
I love to write, no matter how much of a hiatus I take between writing sessions. When you find that moment when the story comes together without you realizing it, when you notice that you planted the seeds for that climactic moment back at the beginning of the story when you didn’t have a clue about how it was going to end, but somehow your subconscious did, when you finally get to write “the end,” that’s what writing is about for me. Of course, I’ve only written “the end” on one of my NaNovels so far, but you get my point.
So why not just do it by myself? Why subject myself to the deadline of NaNo when I could just write whenever I wanted, however much I wanted?
nano_09_red_participant_100x100_1.pngBecause apparently my muse loves a deadline and will put forth massive amounts of juicy plotlines only when under duress. Also–there are friends I have today that I would not have had I not gone to a write-in with other StL NaNo’ers. There is nothing else like sitting in a caf with a bunch of other writers, trying to write the most words in ten minutes, yelling out that you need a guy’s name and getting a dozen different answers, from the absurd to the just-right, and then hitting your word count quota for the day, then allowing yourself a gooey butter danish…yes, that is pretty much perfect.
The thought of knowing that 100,000+ folks all around the world are doing the exact same thing you are, trying to figure out plot twists just like you are, puzzling over the perfect setting just like you are, is something amazing.
One day I hope something that I start during NaNo ends up being published. That means I have to actually finish one of them sometime, and maybe this year is that time. Maybe not. All I know is that I have to get that feeling when the words flow and I don’t even have to think about typing, because the story has to get out. It’s a huge rush, and knowing there are other folks laboring under the same deadline just to get that same kick makes it even better.
If you’ve got any questions about NaNoWriMo, feel free to ask. It’s the highlight of my year, no matter the sleep deprivation or the frustration when a character refuses to fit into your storyline for them. But be careful, or you may end up in my novel.
Write on, all.

A new place

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It’s hard to believe that I own a house. I don’t really, not for another thirty years, but that I can claim I bought a house is a pretty strange prospect for me.
I didn’t think I’d buy a house on my own. I thought that I’d have a friend or a husband doing it with me. I’m so glad my boyfriend has been around to help out, but it’s just my name on the deed, and it’s a little weird. Eh. I can say I bought a house before I turned 30. I guess that’s one accomplishment that I can be proud of. Sure doesn’t seem like I’ve done all that much sometimes.
There are lots of boxes downstairs and I think I know what’s in most of them. Organizing, that’s what I need to do, yes.
On the fun side, it’s almost September, which comes before October, which means there’s not too much time before November and NaNo. I have a couple of ideas floating around, and while it looks like I won’t get to do a collaboration with my friend, I think I can figure something out. Better get cracking on that research! Yes, writing fantasy does require research. It has to be believable fantasy, you know.
Interested in spending 30 days and nights in literary abandon? Head over to NaNoWriMo and see what all the fuss is about.

Good Fiction

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“The test of any good fiction is that you should care something for the characters; the good to succeed, the bad to fail. The trouble with most fiction is that you want them all to land in hell, together, as quickly as possible.”
–Mark Twain

From the Wyrdsmith’s blog.
I woke up yesterday with the conclusion of last year’s NaNo nearly complete in my head, just before the alarm went off. So of course I had to wake myself up enough to write it down, so I wouldn’t forget it. That story must get done!
Busy day today, which is good. Will take my mind off the issue in need of fingers crossed.

Unfettered

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“In art we are once again able to do all the things we have forgotten; we are able to walk on water; we speak to the angels who call us; we move, unfettered, among the stars.” –Madeleine L’Engle

Thanks to Isaac from my writing group and NaNo.
I think I might have forgotten a plot point for Red Skirts. But I thought of another one–or maybe it’s the same one–so hopefully I’ll end up in the same place. Better remember it this time…
Still looking for a house, yes. Here’s hoping.

something learned

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More pithiness from Neil Gaiman. Gotta reread American Gods sometime.

…I saved the document on the computer, and I realised I’d finished writing a book.
I wondered what I’d learned, and found myself remembering something Gene Wolfe had told me, six months earlier. “You never learn how to write a novel,” he said. “You just learn how to write the novel that you’re writing.”

This housing search has really put a crimp in my reading and writing schedule. I’ve only read 4 books this month so far, and I don’t think I’ve done any writing at all. I know I had some ideas, though…hopefully they’ll wait until figure out my living situation. And when I have a house…maybe I’ll have a dedicated writing room. Here’s hoping.

Not in it for the money

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Want to know how an author’s royalty check breaks down? Read Lynn Viehl’s post on “The Reality of a Times Bestseller” and be either shocked or vindicated, depending on what your viewpoint is…
It took her the better part of a year to get royalty payments on her top-20 bestseller. Sigh.
So no, I don’t write for the money. Shoot, if I did, I’d actually have something polished and finished and ready to send off for submission. I really, really don’t. I write because I love it, because it makes me happy to find that perfect word or find that magic plot point twist that I somehow worked into the beginning of the story without even knowing it. I’m practical (maybe too practical) and I know that even if I was one of the lucky ones I wouldn’t be able to quit my job if I sold a book. But that’s okay.
I am one of the lucky ones who has a good job (even if it doesn’t pay that well) and I have relative freedom to do whatever I want in my free time as long as I get my work done. It’s something that’s unlikely *crossed fingers* to fall to a recession, and I work with some really quality people.
Perhaps I’ll never write a bestseller (even though the Publishing Game my parents made for my gifted class in 5th grade said I would!). Perhaps I’ll have to rethink my stance on self-publishing (especially since I have such wonderful artistic parents). But I can’t shake the dream of someday standing in the company of my favorite authors, holding a copy of my own book. And I don’t want to.
Dream big.
(Guess I ought to write some more on that NaNovel, eh? 😉 )

World Builder

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Check out this amazing video that, as Nathan Bransford put it, shows what it’s like for a writer. Great music and really cool special effects, too:

World Builder from Bruce Branit on Vimeo.
I need to write more.