NaNoWriMo

An ironic situation occurred Saturday, the day I made my presentation on gender POV to the group.

The day before I had been looking into NaNoWriMo (National November Writer's Month), considering whether or not to join up, especially being as busy as I am with so many other things, and only having about two hours a day to write.

Then, in the gift I was given for presenting, was a book by the man who started NaNoWriMo! Of all things!

Those who don't know what NaNoWriMo is...you sign up at NaNoWriMo.org, where a community of like-minded writers await. As soon as November 1st rounds the bend, you find time to write roughly at least 1,6667 words per day until November finally closes its eyes to sleep. At that point, exhausted, bewildered, hopefully exhilarated, you will have finished a 50,000 novel. All you win is recognition, but isn't that what we're all looking for anyhow? To say, I've finished a novel. In a month! Yipee Skippee!

And then you'll spend the next two years revising and editing it.

Anyhow, I'm considering joining up...in the spirit of camaraderie and deadlines. Plus, I can't help but feel that receiving the book is a sign!

Write What You Know - Part 2

Today I received an unexpected piece of mail. Last year I contacted an organization that helps adoptees and biological families register with the appropriate agencies and assist in connecting separated families.

I signed up with the state registry and subsequently received an I.D. registry number earlier this year. Today I received non-identifying information from the state's department of health. I'm amazed at how much it's hit me that I can finally say that I know who I take after.

What a premise for a story! I've toyed with the idea of writing something like this, but wasn't trusting that feeling. However, the thoughts that ran through my mind as I read the paper were amazing in their clarity and power. Needless to say, I'm stunned.

I guess I'm going to take more time to let all this sink in and then feel out a story from it. Before I got married, I wrote a little book for a boy that a co-worker was adopting. I sure wish I'd copied and saved it, but I just made the one copy and bound it myself. It was good, made everyone cry! I'm not going to let my fears and not-so-low self-esteem stop me from trying again.

Write What You Know

I've always been told it's best to write what you know. My question is how do you do that without identifying real-life people in your characters? The topic I know most deals with my two youngest adopted children and their 'disabilities' brought on by short-stature and the organization we belong to that is such a support system.

I've recently remembered that I had a whole story written about a family with two such children in it. Where is that story, you ask? Beats me! I don't have it on this computer or on my flash drive. I haven't found any hard copies either, except for a few handwritten pages in a small journal.

Thinking back on it, though, I may have unconsciously 'lost' the mss because it was too revealing. At least, to me it was. However, now I think that it'll be one of my better books because I don't leave much to my imagination. I've put a few dreams as well as embellished some actual events into the story and I believe it's pretty good. Without my knowledge of adoption procedures and the short-statured organization, the story would fall flat.

So the remaining question is, how do I complete the story without hurting my kids? They've said they wouldn't mind being in a story as long as I didn't give them any romances, or make them out to be monsters or weaklings. This story definitely doesn't do that. Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill? Maybe. Probably.

I just have to take that leap of faith in believing in my talent. It's one of the hardest things for me to do with all the past negative feedback I've gotten from family. All comments have been about wasting my time on a 'hobby' that won't amount to anything productive. Not one of them has read anything I've written.

With the support of my writer friends and my newest friends in another fellowship, I believe I'll become a published author and a good one at that!

Finding Inspiration--Part II

I enjoyed Dee's recent blog about finding inspiration from newspaper headlines. Great idea, considering what Rachel Barnhart told us about the school board at last month's meeting!

I, too, have been one to use headlines for ideas. Both of my published novels reports in the newspaper. Arthur Shawcross called it 'taking care of business' back in the late 80's-early 90's. Others called it murder of 11 women. The apathy of our community and police department was the germ which grew into Captain Marvelous.

A local businessman's fatal overdose, and subsequent manslaughter trial for his two cohorts who delivered the last speedball because, they claimed, "he begged us to do it", became Try Just Once More. Two sad parts about this particular story:
1. in his constant search for the instant relief brought only by addictive substances, the businessman probably did beg his using pals to give him the hit that ended his life in a seedy motel room known for catering to the drug trade.
2. his family knew nothing about his drug use. Imagine receiving a middle of the night visit by the local gendarmes who tell you your spouse/partner/father/brother/best friend dropped dead after a shot of cocaine laced with Drano.

But I digress . . .

Lately there have been some very funny commercials on TV: the couple sitting in front of the TV set. She speaks in [what I think is Olde English]: "You may converse with him on the morrow at the bowling of the balls. For tonight we shall feast and revel." He grabs a giant bowl of popcorn and asks, "I love feasting and frolicking [or words to that effect]; is this [popcorn] the limit of the feast or is there more?"
I love it.

A second is the baby sitting in front of the TV set while an adult male practices on a putting green in the background. With much waving of hands and scowling, the kid calls him a shagasaurus. Hoot!!! Who dreams up this stuff?

Siochain,
Kat

To Twit or not to Twit

So it all comes down to social networking. As writer's we write so this shouldn't be hard for us to write here and there. The problem is time. Time to write and time to promote. This past week, I found time to write not one, but two short stories, I am going to market them to some magazines. I had to edit part of story that I put away months ago. And I have been writing for the examiner. But I haven't had time to write on my wip. Perhaps it's about managing my time.

This leads me to social networking. I am finding the more I write for the examiner the more I need to promote it. I facebook it, sometimes I email friends to check out the cool profile and Q and A. But should I be twitting it. It seems like leaps past all the rest of information.

Do I need to be twitting? Will it draw more attention to me thus promoting my name. As writers is this important to get our books written. I'm sure we don't use as accomplishments on our Query letters, I have X followers on my blog. X friends on my author facebook and X followers on my Twitter.

Thus saying I think the more people read your work the more they will remember your name so Social Networking is important. We do it all the time, hand shaking, word of month, loops, blogs, and the list goes on and on. So my questions is when do you know your ready to twit or not to twit. Does anyone know the answer to this question?

Find Stories from Headlines

A lot of writers claim to get their stories from the headlines. I decided to test that theory by today’s (Sunday) Democrat & Chronicle. Front page reads, City School District considers change in money distribution.
Doesn’t sound very exciting, but I thought I’d play around with some scenarios.

1. Two school board members battle over what programs get funding. Heated arguments spill over to the local coffee shop, where Amy Miller and Thomas Gilbert find love and compromise.
2. School district cuts funding for a music program. Sheila Hart finds a creative way to keep her program alive.
3. It’s no mystery why school board member Lois Bennett is fighting change when the money is being funneled into her secret account.
4. When parents picket city school district, sparks fly between single mom and Officer Wilson.
5. Teachers march on Albany to protest funding. Coach Rob Mitchell picks up fourth grade teacher Maggie Jones, literally, when she sprains her ankle.

Guess it works.

Book Signing from Heaven

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. It's great we now have some male members (oops that didn't sound right) should be : men as members (still not good.) How about we have guys in the group? Yeah, that's the ticket.
I have to tell you about my weekend. On Sat I went to Sam's club (alone, never did that before)and bought a bunch of goodies. And Sunday my daughter Kelly and her boyfriend Kenny helped me set up a table in Izzy's Restaurant on Buffalo Road.
At 12:30 people started pouring in. And I do mean pouring in. I've done lots of signings but there were more folks at this one than all the others combined.
This was more than the book of my heart. It is the book of my life. All the years Bill and I shared. Good times and even the minor troubles (roof leaking, water heater dying and the garbage disposal refusing to dispose)were still fun because we lived through it together.
And, I learned a valuable lesson. How to publish yourself. Not as rough as I thought it would be. No walk in the park, but not agony. And the great part is the royalties are all mine. Granted it costs, but not the same as other presses. My royalties from my fiction books wouldn't buy a happy meal. I wouldn't advise self publishing a first book, but once you know the ropes, it's the way to go.
I also learned I have more than one type of writing in me. Thought I was just fantasy, but not so. Who knew?
LCRW is a significant part of this discovery. The group helps to spread your wings and to learn attempts are not failures, just steps to success.
If anyone has any questions please feel free to pose them. Sounds like you bend questions like pipe cleaners, but you know what I mean.

Dreams

I've always had a vivid imagination. Many times it has gotten me in trouble. So when I decided to become a romance writer I thought I had it made. NOT!

There were no story lines or characters or scenes to put down in writing. I kept drawing a blank. Then the dreams started. In my dreams, I became a different person and lived that person's life. The dreams kept repeating until I put them down on paper. Each time I put everything from the dreams on paper, another dream would soon surface.

At first I didn't think anything of these dreams. There were just an annoyance I wanted to be rid of. It was several months before I realized I had the bones of a story. From then on the process changed. As I settled in to sleep, I would bring up the current story in my head and run through it as I drifted off. This brought more of the story out for me and I was able to keep recording it.

The first inkling I had anything worthwhile to write came in my senior year of high school. We had an English assignment to write a one-page Halloween story. I received an A+ for my effort, the only one in the class to do so. Another assignment was to write a speech on a person in history. Since my older brother was an avid history buff, I went to him for advice. Armed with his recipe card box filled with quotes and a scrapbook on Robert Kennedy, I wrote a speech that won a school contest.

However, I was home sick when it was time to read my speech, so friend did it for me. Since I couldn't speak, my speech wasn't allowed to go on to the county level.
With that background, I knew there was a chance I could write something worthwhile. All that was missing was that spark, that inner muse. My dreams.

After a disheartening discussion with my husband, who doesn't believe my writing is anything other than a time-consuming hobby, my dreams are all I have to keep me going. I trust in my dreams. They haven't let me down yet. With perseverance, determination and better time management I will achieve my goal of becoming published.

Written by Patti Olesik.

Taking Chances

I’m new to writing. I don’t bring the confidence born of a college education or books and articles published for all to see. No one would consider my writing deep – with texture and nuance. Much to my chagrin, I don’t have the skill to write gorgeous text – I’ve tried. There are no layers to my prose.

I write scenes. The longest piece I’ve written is 8700 words. The two stories I’ve sold are 987 words and 1573 words. The prospect of a novel scares the bee-jeepers out of me. I can’t grasp the concept of writing 80,000 words. EIGHTY THOUSAND WORDS.

Yet, I’m now working on a novel. My friend, Phil Tomasso, convinced me that my scenes are chapters. All I have to do is write enough scenes and I will have a novel. It’s still intimidating, but I have nine chapters of 1200 words each. Only 70,000 words more.

Poetry – not a fan. Perhaps I’m shallow, but if I have to work to understand what you are saying, you aren’t doing your job. However, after hearing Pat Gore’s poems (during numerous writer’s group), I discovered I don’t dislike all poetry. Her poetry moved me more than I thought was possible in 200 words.

How has that affected me? I wrote a poem. I’m the guy who hasn’t written poetry since high school, and never voluntarily. Now I have written TWO poems. Pat has shown me that, in twenty-five words, you can evoke an emotion strong enough to bring you to tears.

Generally, I only read fantasy. To date, I have written science fiction, shape shifter, humor, serial killer, romantic adventure, and alternate reality. My novel is a YA fantasy with two girls as the protagonists. (It has yet to be determined if I can pull that off.)

I’ve grown as a writer. I’m not good, yet, but I’m twenty times the writer I was three years ago, when all this started. And, I discovered that I may have a talent for critiquing. (NOT in-depth, technical, your preposition is dangling, critiquing, but forty-three pages ago you said XYZ so you can’t FGR now.)

I no longer make my friends read everything before I present to a writer’s group. I’m more confident of what I can do, more relaxed with my writing. (And, frankly, my friends hate fiction and never “got it.”)

NONE of this would have happened if I hadn’t taken chances. Hadn’t put myself out there for everyone to see. For everyone to say, “It would work better if you….”

Bottom line, it is sooooo worth it. Get out there and take a chance. Write.

Finding time

I always thought when I "retired" from my day job, I would have all the time in the world to write. Hah!!

I didn't figure on falling in love with my first grandchild, then offering to provide child care when her mother returned to work as a school counselor. Of course, as things go, my sweet Meredith did not remain an infant, nor did she stay the lone grandchild for long. I [we] now have three, with a player to be name later this year.
And, then there is my tote bag business which demands a fair amount of attention. Adding to the equation are my editor responsibilities.

At the moment, I have approximately six hours spread over three days to edit manuscripts. I use my two days off to make tote bags. The other two days and evenings, I write. In her most recent posting, Kim mentioned "chores" which are as important as the actual writing itself: self-promotion. It does me little good to create the next NYT best seller [hah!] if no one knows about it or me. There are author loops which deserve attention; blogs for special interest groups; workshops for writers to plan and present; and for me which is most fun--inventing characters.

I wish you all the time you want to write--with none of those pesky little interferences like kids, housework, cooking, laundry, yard work.

Siochain,
Kat

Priorities

I'll be going along the lines of the last member's post...finding time to write.

Like everyone else, I'm busy. I'm a stay-at-home mom of children who don't like to sleep, yet the only writing time I have is during "nights and naps." That's about 3 hours a day altogether, and some of that time I spend catching up on emails or rifling through reference books.

One night a week (for six weeks a semester) I teach a writing class...one night a month I facilitate a writers group, then there are various critique groups I'm involved in. As my free time becomes pared away I wonder, when do I have time for fun?

Of course, reading and writing are fun (and I read at least a half hour a day), and I love to cook. But I want to be a sucessful writer, so most of my free time is devoted to improving my craft. After taking care of my family (which will forever come first), it's my number one priority.

Successful Formula

Yesterday’s horoscope stated that the successful formula is imagination plus work. What I haven’t figured out, is which is more difficult.
There are days when I have dialog running through my head, but no way to get to the computer. Other times, I’ve sat in front of a blank screen waiting for my muse to show up.
Best writing times for me are early, when ideas are fresh. A quiet house with no distractions is a blessing. There’s nothing worst than a ringing phone or a needy cat.
Finding time is always a challenge. It’s a rare day that writing comes first. It’s often squeezed in between work and chores.
Back to my horoscope, I need to come up with a plan. I’ll jot down notes as inspiration hits and devote time for writing only.

Living Life to the Fullest

I hear lots of people talk about what they would do if they had a day, a week, a year to live. But often times when we’re told we have a day, a week, a year, we’re told because we’re sick, our expiration date is coming up and we’re at risk of spoiling. And in your last day, week, year, when you’re sick, is not necessarily the time to jump out of planes and visit Paris and climb mountains. Your precious few last moments are usually spent in a bed with tubes attached and machines sustaining you. You try to get your affairs in order and you try to spend what ever time you can with your loved ones while trying to ignore the inevitable death floating about your head. Then your loved ones are left lost, missing part of their own identity, struggling to maintain day to day, struggling to find out who they are without you.
I hear lots of people talk about what they would do if they had a day, a week, a year to live. I see less people living as if they knew their expiration date, taking advantage of life while it stills pulls strong in their veins. And I’m guilty of this far too much myself. How many times have I blown off a party or gathering because I had to work late or was so tired from work that I could barely keep my eyes open on the drive home. How many times have I let my boss make me feel pressured to have a “perfect” branch, that there’s no excuse to not to have a perfect branch (not possible by the way), and I stay ‘til 9 or 10 at night doing paperwork that I couldn’t do during the day because I was trying to be 3 different people. I barely remember what some of my friends look like anymore, I never get to see them.
Can one really live life to the fullest? Is it in our genetic code to be able to live each day, each week, each year as if it were our last? Are we so fearful of death that we think we will live forever, denying the inevitable and in that denial of death avoid life? Can we embrace simple joy in what ever we find? Can we live guilt-free and regretless?
Posted by Konnie Collins

Inspiration

Where do you get your inspiration?
My first full length novel was inspired by a dream, or rather a nightmare.

A few ideas I found when listening to Country music. I've found ideas from other novelists work.

One writer wrote about how he can find at least three ideas from just the front page of the paper. It's true. Check out the front page, see how many ideas jump into your writing brain.

As your working on your WIP do you have other stories and characters running around your brain? What do you do about that?

I have a hero running around in my head, and a title/line in the book. I'm not going to tell you...you'll just have to wait for the book. But he's just waiting there, waiting for his turn on the pages.

I need to keep writing, so I can get all these stories out. I love it!!!