Category Archives: On the Writing Process

Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? I do. I love making them. I also love breaking them. It’s a time-honored ritual, and who am I to mess that up? But this year–this year I’d like to actually keep a few. I’m O.K. with tossing the old “lose 50 pounds” on there, knowing full well the chances of that happening are essentially nil. I’m not O.K. with not upping my commitment to my writing.

Apropos this time of year, my cousin recently sent me this article (she knows all about my “Make It & Break It” habit, I guess). In it author James Clear encourages us to focus less on setting goals, and more on creating systems of sustainable action that, while leading of course to increased achievement, are not the end in and of themselves. It’s the journey, not the destination, and by taking small steps every day, we’re making progress. Goals imply finality; systems are never-ending–but in a good way.

So here, at least, are my Writerly Resolutions, er, I mean Writerly Systems for 2014:

1. Write an hour every day. Maybe on a book. Maybe on a blog post. Maybe just scribbling on something never intended for others eyes. Whatever. Just write.

2. Blog 3 times a week. Because I *know* my 9 subscribers are breathless with anticipation over whatever I have to say, and also because it will feed into Writerly Resolution #1. (And hey, if you subscribe to my blog and get me up into the double-digits, I will be ecstatic! ;))

3. Read an hour every day. I call myself a bookworm. I certainly have an addiction to books. But, um, well, last year I didn’t read NEARLY as much as I should have, not in fiction, or non-fiction, or research. This will not do. So while I’m not claiming I’ll give up Facebook or Netflix or that blastedly addictive HayDay game, I am pledging that in between all that I will get in an hour of reading a day, at least – which hopefully will get me to my goal of 50 books this year, minimum.

4. Publish a book in 2014, whether by traditional or indie means. O.K., so this one is a goal. A BIG goal. But it’s an intentional one; I can keep dithering on my first book, A Man of Character, forever, doing edits and rearranging words, but in the dithering is hidden procrastination motivated by plain old fear. While revising and editing with the drive to improve the book is, of course, desirable, hiding behind revising and editing as an excuse not to research agents, craft that query letter, and send the sucker out is not.

Whew. O.K. There they are; 3 “systems” and 1 flat-out goal. What do you think? Reasonable? Unreasonable? Better than pledging to run a marathon and drop 100 pounds?

What are YOUR goals (er, uh, I mean ‘systems’) for 2014, writerly or otherwise?

I’ve purchased all the presents and had them wrapped for more than a week. The house is fully decorated, my kids’ teachers have all received presents, and I’ve even begun the cleaning process before we entertain two different sets of company. All in all, I’m ahead!

I have no idea how this happened. I definitely wasn’t expecting it, since I’m still attempting to recover from NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, which takes place every November) and from entering the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart contest.

I’d signed up for NaNo one time previously, back around 2010, when I first announced to myself and the world (O.K., a few select friends) that I was finally going to write those romance novels I’d always said I wanted to write. Signing up was as far as I got, though – I don’t think I wrote one word that November. This time, however, I was determined. All year I’d been futzing around with my first novel, the one I’d finished a complete draft of last December. I’d been tinkering with revisions and edits, but had managed to start a bit of my second book last spring. I dropped it, though, when feelings of “I should finish the first one first” overtook all else.

What better time to pick it back up than NaNo?. And I did. I wrote just over 50,000 words on the sucker in November. I’m not saying it’s coherent, or that when I go back and re-read it in a month or so that I’ll find much worth salvaging. My characters ran off on unexpected paths (really hard for an outliner like me to accept, but I essentially ended up pantsing a lot of the story by the middle of the month). I forgot subplots, forgot key ideas, introduced notions I’m not sure should be there. Whatever. I did it. I hit the goal of 50,000 words and I “won” NaNoWriMo! Hooray for me! But I kind of wish NaNo happened in January, when all of the Thanksgiving and Christmas preparations and excitement were already over. I get that November fits better alliteratively with the whole NaNo title, but gee whiz, it’s exhausting to try to write while also keeping up with school activities and holiday prep and all that. And did I mention I took off to London for the first week of November, too?

So I expected to use December just to detox. I NEEDED December to detox. But then I stumbled across a blog mentioning the RWA’s Golden Heart awards. I’d heard of the Golden Hearts, of course, and knew they were given out to the best unpublished romance manuscripts submitted. That’s about all I knew, but I discovered the contest was open and that novel submissions were being accepted until December 13th.

I’d put off sending A Man of Character anywhere, even though I’d said OUT LOUD I was going to submit it before the end of the calendar year. Of course by that I meant submit it via the traditional querying-an-agent route, and while a contest is, of course, quite different, it was time to put my money where my mouth is, and give the contest a shot. Which meant I had to whip the manuscript into shape, or at least into as decent shape as I could get it. I added some scenes. I cut down others. I reworded sentences. I wondered if the whole thing sucked rocks, even as I rejoiced at scenes that still made me smile. And in the end, I paid the entrance fee, uploaded the book, and sent it off.

I’m proud of myself. While I hope the story does well, I know it’s highly unlikely I will win; the contest accepts about 1200 manuscripts, and I’m still a newbie to this fiction writing thing in so many ways. Still, a girl can dream, right?

All this to say, I’m tired this month. I’m not writing. I’m not editing. I’m not revising. I’m not doing anything except eating absurd amounts of chocolate and enjoying the feeling of not. I’ll pick it back up in January. That second book needs an ending before the revisions and edits begin. There’s always more to do, to learn, to write. But for now, I’m turning from the season of frantic writerly activity to the season of…frantic holiday activity, interspersed with moments of peace in remembering what the holiday is all about.

Blessings to all of you. And please forgive me if this blog post is not particularly well-written. Hopefully it’s half-coherent, but if not, well, it’s an example of the state of my brain right now.

And hey, could you cross your fingers for me? A little extra good luck can’t hurt, right?

I signed up for NaNoWriMo this fall. For anyone who doesn’t know what that means, it stands for “National Novel Writing Month,” held every November, in which participants pledge to write a novel in 30 days – or at least 50,000 words of said novel.

I’d signed up once before years ago, apparently, which I rediscovered while trying to create my account on NaNoWriMo.org. Oops. Guess I didn’t “win” that year. I don’t even remember what, if anything, I was writing at the time.

But this time I was dedicated. I’ve been futzing around with my first novel, A Man of Character, doing edits, adding scenes, and soliciting feedback. That’s all good – although I still need to polish it, write a synopsis, write a query letter, and actually work toward getting the thing published in some form or another, whether traditionally (as I hope) or publishing it myself (if my ‘nobody loves me every agent hates me guess I’ll go eat worms’ fears come true).

Meanwhile, I’ve had book 2, A Matter of Time, on the back burner. I wrote a bit of it last spring, around 16,000 words, and then just… stopped. I felt as if I ought to turn my attention back to the first book – why write a second book when the first one wasn’t “done” yet? Plus life has a funny way of getting in my way, especially since I seek out so many ways to let it. Committing to NaNo was a way to combat that, to say, “I miss the creative experience and I’m going to go back to it,” in spite of all the other things I can and should be doing.

Of course, committing to NaNo and then taking off for London for the 1st week of November (and not writing a thing) was, in hindsight, perhaps not the best way to launch my writing adventures, with the exception of the fact that this second book is set in Regency England. Having spent a few days in London now, seeking out Regency-era sights and sites, I feel I have at least a slight, small taste of the place, which can only help as I write about it.

In any case, it’s been a mad dash. There’ve been writing sprints, slow-dragging-my-fingers moments, one very fun write-in with my local online writing group, the Shenandoah Valley Writers, and much eye rolling and hair wrangling as I realize just what a mess I’m producing. My characters haven’t stayed true to outline. I’m rambling all over the place, bringing in unexpected people and places while also forgetting to weave in key sub-plots.

Fellow writers assure me that this is what NaNoWriMo is all about – the process, the discipline, the act of writing a whole bunch in a short time. There’s December, they’ve reminded me, to sort it all out, to look back and laugh, to start killing my darlings – so many of my darlings, I’m guessing. For now it’s write, write, write. Keep going. Plow forward. Ignore the plot holes. Ignore the overuse of adverbs. Ignore the fact that your characters are probably inconsistent and definitely have a habit of repeating themselves. It’s all good. Just write. Write. Write.

And guess what? I’ve almost made it. I’ve added 38.5K words to this manuscript. I’ve only 11.5K more to go to reach the elusive NaNo goal, to make it to the end. Maybe not the end of the novel itself – I’ve got a lot of threads to tie up, more crazy events to add, a daunting amount of editing to do. But I’m good with that.

Because I haven’t been good with goal-setting. No, let me amend that. I’m GREAT with the goal-SETTING; I suck at goal follow-through. So when I type that 50,000th word, you can bet I’ll be celebrating, no matter where the novel itself actually stands and no matter how much work it will require to start resembling anything of which I might be proud. Because I will have done it. I will have met that goal. And I will be proud of THAT.

As an escapist, I much prefer playing and day-dreaming. But the hours I spend on Facebook and Twitter, while satisfying my social needs, will, of course, never lead to writerly success. They’re time sucks. I do think there’s a place for them, but I need to realize I am my own biggest obstacle in terms of pursuing this dream. Not other writers. Not agents. Not editors. Not publishing houses. I. I am my own biggest obstacle.

In this month of gratitude and thankfulness, I am sending a big thank you to the creators of NaNoWriMo, for realizing how many of us authors need a good swift kick in the keyboard to actually write anything. Many of us spend lots of time plotting, dreaming, and angsting about the books we want to write, and far too little time actually writing. At least that’s the impression I’ve gotten. If there’s anything I’ve learned as I’ve embarked on this writing adventure, it’s that like with many things, the difference between an amateur writer and a professional one comes down to two things: hard work and perseverance.

I’d better get back to it.

Yes, I’ve been quiet here. Too quiet. I know it, and I feel guilty.

On the other hand, it’s summer time. The kids are out of school, and that means they’re home. Or they’re at camps. When they’re home, I’m tuned in to them. When they’re at camp, I’m playing Taxi Van and running around like a crazy chicken. I expected that.

What I didn’t expect was the amount of work involved in having contractors finish off a room in our basement. Yes, they’re doing the finishing – but I’ve been doing the moving and rearranging and sorting and painting (cheaper for me to paint than to pay them). And chasing down craigslist leads and visiting numerous furniture stores. Blah blah blah. My mind is on the Man Cave, not on my manuscript.

All that to say, well, I haven’t written. Anything. I also haven’t finished editing my story. And I can tell it’s impacting me and my drive to write – the flame that scorched me last winter is on low now. My job is to make sure the pilot light doesn’t go out.

I’m looking forward to fall and the kids going back to school. It’s unlikely I’ll get much done before that. I admit it. I don’t work well when on Mom Duty because I feel my brain is constantly pulled in a zillion different directions – and even if the kids don’t need me right at that moment, knowing that they COULD makes it hard for me to sit down and write, for I work best without interruption. I can’t stand starting a project and being interrupted over and over and over again. So I haven’t tried. And by evening my Morning Person brain is so tired the best it can do is consume art in the form of reading or a good TV show, not produce it.

But I’ll be back. I’m visiting family next week, but am taking my manuscript on the plane to proof and edit. My writing group is scheduled to meet in early August. My kids return to the classroom in less than a month. September, I hear your siren song. My characters can’t wait.

August is my least favorite year of the month, anyway. Too darn hot.