The way Hawaii is supposed to look. It doesn't look this way lately. Hasn't in a month or more. 🙁 (I shall return with a regularly scheduled blog post tomorrow….) 
Writing frenzy
Gawd, I love it when that happens! When the words just spill out and the pages are piling up and I don't even care if it's crap because I'll fix that later (I hope anyway). Friday was one of those days! I wasted too much time in the morning, as usual, hitting the blogs and loops. I also had to deal with a kitten (rapidly turning into a cat) who only that morning discovered that, yes, he could reach the countertops in the kitchen. Not good for me, because now I have to get up 100 times a day with the squirt bottle ready.
But after a couple (or four) hours of other stuff, I clicked on the WIP. I read for a little bit, edited here and there, and then plunged into the scene in progress. And the words actually came out! I didn't sit there staring, wondering what happens next. I didn't know what happens, but the characters were of a mind to tell me. Love that. Wish it happened every day.
Just started rereading Linda Seger's Creating Unforgettable Characters. It's been a few years since I read it and I'm really pleased at how fresh it seems, even though the movies she talks about are pretty old now. (Jeez, I saw “Gorillas in the Mist” in the theater; “Out of Africa” too.) I like to peruse my writing books from time to time, but I don't get hung up on them. (It's always fun to encounter a new writer who just read Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. It's a fabulous book, but a newbie can be a tad overzealous after reading it.) 😉
Other books to read: JAK's new one, of which I have a personalized copy. Yay! Allison Brennan's book is on my pile, still reading Wuthering Heights (had to force myself to put it down), and have a JoAnn Ross book here…..if only I could figure out how to do without sleep.
Hope to see some sunshine this weekend! It's been far too long without it. We had a few minutes today where the sun came out, and I could actually see blue sky out toward the ocean. It didn't last, but at least it didn't rain. I am sick of rain! Diamondhead is green instead of brown, so that's nice. That's about the only nice thing I can think of at the moment. 🙂
Hope you have a good, productive (or at least fun) and sunny weekend. 🙂
Why blog?
A writing friend (and fellow Aloha Chapter member) recently sent me an email that said, paraphrasing: I've been reading Miss Snark for the past hour and I'm hooked. Other than the brief visit I made to your blog recently, this is my first experience. I don't understand why people write blogs. Why do you do it?
You know what, I don't know precisely. I started this blog in June 2005. I forget why, I forget how I decided to do it, I forget which blogs I read before I did it. Partially, I thought of it like an online journal, just a place to type up my random thoughts (beats my handwriting any day). And, wow, other people might read my random thoughts and say things and we might have discussions! Who wouldn't like that?
::snort::
Okay, when I got over that idea, I just sort of found a groove and started having fun. I enjoy the interaction, not just the comments on my blog, but the blog surfing I do and the discussions taking place throughout the writing/publishing blogosphere. It's like being able to pal around with other writers, hang out with editors, ask agents questions, eavesdrop on cool conversations, etc. Oh, I admit it's tough to think of things to talk about sometimes, but then other times I get a gift–like the conversation with my friend in Mexico. Blogging about that was good therapy because writers understand. Not to mention it's just funny to think someone can be so obtuse about publishing. 🙂
To me, blogging is community. I enjoy being a part of it. The idea that even one person reads my post gives me a thrill.
So why do you do it? What makes you type up that post every day (or week)?
Happy St. Paddy’s!
| You're 10% Irish |
 You're not Irish. Not even a wee bit. Not even on St. Patrick's Day! |
Oh dear. And here I thought the Irish saved civilization…..
What non-writers really think of us
I was wondering what to talk about when Providence intervened in the form of a phone call from a friend (yes, he's really a friend, and I do love him regardless of this paraphrased transcript). Friend is in Mexico, soaking up the sun while I watch the rain pour down here in Hawaii. He called me from poolside:
F: How's your writing going?
Me: Great. One of my mss finalled in a contest, the short story collection is coming out soon, and I've got some ideas on the burner.
F: Are you writing about anything important?
Me: I think so, yes.
F: But how is your work any different from all the other books out there?
Me: It's called Voice.
F: Yes, but do you have anything to say that hasn't been said before? Is this worth doing?
Me: If you're asking if I'm working on a literary piece that will make you mope around for a week pondering the meaning of life, no, I'm not. But yes, I think my stories and my characters have something to say, even if it is genre fiction. [said because friend is a professor and not because I think there's anything wrong with genre fiction]
F: If you're any good, then why doesn't anyone want to read it?
Me: [gritting teeth] It's not as easy as shipping the mss off to New York and then raking in the bucks, dear. Sometimes it's timing and luck. Sometimes it's your idea or execution. The next one might be it. [didn't bother to mention I haven't actually shipped anything anywhere recently]
F: Take such-and-such. It was his 10th novel that hit big, but his previous 9 got published even if they didn't make a splash.
Me: How do you know he doesn't have 9 more under the bed that never saw the light of day? First novel doesn't usually mean FIRST novel, you know.
F: Why don't you dash off some short pieces for [insert major magazine markets here]? That'll get your name out there and then when you send your work to NY, they'll want to see it.
Me: Gee, why didn't I think of that? Surely it's infinitely easier to get, oh, say COSMO to publish an article by little ‘ol me than to get a mss request from a NY publisher!
F: Exactly. Dash off 30 or 40 of these pieces, get them published, and then submit your novel. You're not getting any younger.
Me: I'm not even 40 yet.
F: Yeah, but time is of the essence. You'll never make it if you don't do it soon.
Me: [gnashing teeth, performing deep breathing exercises] Think I'll keep doing what I'm doing for now. I have confidence in myself.
F: [I can hear the shrug over the phone] Whatever, but I still think you should get your name out there.
Me: [murder would get my name out there; too bad he's in Mexico] Well, I've got some things I'm doing for now that I think are good. Blogging, a website, active in my chapter–
F: But that's not enough. You need a blitz campaign, you need to publish these short pieces, fling as much shit against the wall as possible and see what sticks. Get your name out there any way you can.
Me: [man, this murder idea is sounding GOOD] Yeah, okay. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, I see what you're saying, mm-hmm. Oh hey, gotta run. I want to dash off a piece for the New Yorker and see if I can get it in by this afternoon.
F: (Thanks, Mauricio. Put it on my tab.) What? Oh, yeah, just got another beer. Okay, talk to you later. Let me know how the New Yorker piece works out.
Me: You'll be the first to know.
[Head to kitchen. Dump tequila, ice, and margarita mix into blender. Crush with a vengeance. Back to computer with icy drink. Open file. Think. Stare. Give up and go to bookcase. Ah yes, A WRITER'S GUIDE TO POISONS…..]
Please do what I tell you!
Do your characters refuse to cooperate? Are you typing along when, wham!, someone reveals depths you didn't know they had? Something that has the potential to change everything? I love that and I hate it. Love it because it's cool. Hate it because it usually means I may have to rewrite a lot of stuff.
Did I mention I'm on the third rewrite of SEDUCING EVANGELINE? The first time, it wasn't going anywhere. The second, it was going, but the wrong direction. And then I realized I'd given the hero the wrong job, the heroine not enough motivation, and the conflict not enough zing. Now I think I have it right and still I get stuck. I have a subplot involving the heroine's relationship with her sister that is giving me fits. I don't know why. I know why they are estranged. I know they have to work on the relationship. But I don't know how much of that is important to the central problem of the book. And I hate the part where I have to write the scenes, knowing I may lose them in the end anyway. I don't have a problem cutting, but I hate to do the work in the first place if I'm going to cut it. Catch-22, dammit.
(I'm reading Wuthering Heights for the first time ever. OMG. I don't want to put it down. How did this sheltered woman write this story? It's brutal and ugly and amazing and beautiful all at once. What talent.)