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lboylecrompton Happy Friday! Write On!
I am FINALLY out of the revision cave! Book ‘C’ was a blast to write and revisions were much easier than my last two books.
Why? I made a schedule and stuck with it. I made myself accountable to someone on my goals. And – nerd alert – for this book, I treated the whole process like an experiment.
Experiments during the first draft:
How many pages could I write a day? Could I add a page more per day? Result: Four pages is a good number for me to hit consistently, especially if I want to make my daily goal during my lunch hour. Try #1K1hr on twitter and give your brain breaks between those one hour sessions if you want to attempt more pages than the day before.
Would my story fall apart if I skipped a chapter and moved to a scene I know comes later in the story? Result: Scrivener kept this manageable, as long as I had notes on what happened before and after the scene.
Does my diet affect my writing? Result: I’ve found the things the docs tell us – fruits, veggies, lean proteins – DO affect my ability to stay focused longer without relying on coffee and sugar after 3. This doesn’t mean getting all tree-huggy with the diet, it’s as simple as having a humus and carrot stick snack around 2.
Butt in Chair or Walking Desk? Result: I’m working on the walking desk (a wish list and research items at this point) but I do have a standing desk. I’ve found standing works better for longer stretches of time…I didn’t need to take breaks to stretch or switch positions like I would if I’m sitting.
Sweet, Sour or Chocolate? Result: All, use not at the same time 
How about you? Have you observed your best writing conditions? Do you have plans to shake up your writing routine?
Originally published at Anne Hale. You can comment here or there.
It’s been a while since I blogged!
Revising and blogging are much like oil and water…when at this stage of the process, the story needs me 100% on one side or the other. More immersion in the story world helps me layer in finer details and emotions. It also drives my family crazy because I’m in that world not this one.
While I finish revising, here’s a tip and a link you may enjoy:
If you need ideas on improving your MC, check out Donald Maass on Twitter – @DonMaass and his tweets under #Maass
If you haven’t visited WriterUnboxed, there’s a great article on first pages and the Gong Show today: http://writerunboxed.com/2011/08/09/surv
When I return from the Revision Cave, who would like to try the first paragraph hook here?
Originally published at Anne Hale. You can comment here or there.
My biggest writing fantasy doesn’t involve contracts or pre-empts, it involves a secluded cabin in the mountains and a desk.
Creating a story with the day to day life can be difficult, especially when we’re in the story, the words are flowing, the characters are whispering witty things and then the real world interrupts. It’s like swimming underwater, comfortable with the water’s weight and silence, only to be suddenly pulled up and out!
The appeal of ‘cabin in the woods’ novel writing is understandable. Who wouldn’t want to have uninterrupted time, quiet and nature while working on the WIP? And if day to day things weren’t enough, we now live in the Always On Age, where information is streamed to us constantly. Personalized information, such as what’s happening in the publishing world.
Authors today have more information at their disposal than ever before. We no longer live in times where the publishing world is the mystical entity behind the curtain. We have a concrete sense of which types of stories certain editors/agents prefer. We know what stories are on their wish-this-was-on-my-desk list. We know what they’re sick of reading, no matter how creative a twist.
This kind of information is an irreplaceable tool…after the WIP is finished.
Yes, after. Because during the creative process, it can become an invisible force guiding the creative process in less than productive directions. Think about it…all that information from websites, blogs, tweets, podcasts, etc. is internalized and goes into the same place as our inner critic/editor/pain in the duff.
It’s hard enough creating and ignoring the inner critic. Too much publishing world information can paralyze a writer from taking a risk, exploring a new sub-genre, trying a new POV. It becomes the reason we play it safe in the WIP and choose a less quirky character because someone fires off a tweet about blind protags with a talent for lock-picking. It influences a choice not to write about a 2012ish event because it falls in the ‘sub-genre of the month’ and editors and agents are tweeting they’re seeing too many subs of that kind.
Some days it would be better if publishing industry remained mystical.
It can be hard to recognize the whys behind a stalled WIP or slow revisions. Sometimes it takes stepping way, way back and evaluating our pre-writing time routines. Are the things we fill our heads with before we empty them on the page encouraging? Do we take in information which will nurture the creative, risk taking side? If not, experiment with different sites and sources of information. Shake up the routine, escape the usual sources of information and see where that takes your WIP!
Originally published at Anne Hale. You can comment here or there.
Doubt. A writer’s worst enemy. Often the cause of ‘writer’s block’ or ‘starting a new book to abandon four chapters later,’ doubt is stealth in how it can derail an otherwise smooth writing life. Eliminate doubt and all our writerly dreams will come true!
Or will it?
I decided to ‘measure’ how much doubt was floating in the Twitterverse this week, to calibrate my perception vs. reality. Our connected online world makes it easy to peek into the writing process and day-to-day of authors from every stage. Fresh faced first bookers, the several books and querying agents, agented but not contracts, first contracted book and those with multiple books and even authors hitting The Lists.
Guess what? Doubt’s on every desk and every mind at some point in the process. It’s part of the process.
Instead of swiping it away, maybe we should invite Doubt in, give it a special spot on the desk and accept it as part of our process. Got doubt? Excellent! You’re ready! Now go write
Originally published at Anne Hale. You can comment here or there.
I’ve spent insane amounts of time thinking Process in the day job, as the software development industry continues pushing for more features and better quality with fewer resources (sadly, it seems we’re no longer engineers or even people, just resources). The last few months I’ve transitioned my team into the Agile Software Development, so it’s not surprising to discover Agile-esque approaches sliding into my writing process.
In the software world, Agile is known for kicking out 100% functional, defect free releases quickly and often (plus other things that would make non-techie eyes glaze over). Think of your writing along these lines….defect free=fewer revisions, and quickly=less staring at blank page time. So how can you incorporate Agile in your writing and writing more productively? Glad you asked!
Let’s start with one of the fundamental blocks in Agile, the User Story. In the software world, the User Story is a brief sentence describing a new feature. For example, say the new feature is a Fix Me button which will correct all my computer’s problems. But that’s not very specific is it? Where does the button go and hat exactly will it fix and how will the button look…? So in Agile, the feature is written from the perspective of the customer, in a form: As a <role>, I want <goal/desire> so that <benefit>
See how this could be used to structure your story? As a <Main Character>, I want <to find the sword> so that <I can save my best friend>
Now the trick is to make sure this User Story works, before moving forward. Once you have this User Story complete, you can forget about it* and move forward with a clear direction of where you’re going. If you take the time to define your User Story – from the big picture story, down to the scene/sequel level, your writing has purpose. And that’s the key to productivity, having clear, concise direction…
*Until revision time, of course! At that point, User Stories are help you determine why a scene isn’t working or why a chapter/character/conflict/etc. falls flat.
Originally published at Anne Hale. You can comment here or there.
Disconnect and all, it had to be done. All the life stuff got in the way of me making real progress on the latest WIP. I was spinning my wheels and didn't realize it, until I looked through my writing log and noticed no forward movement on my story. It was time to make some drastic changes because, let's be honest, the life-life stuff of work and family don't magically go away. Plus, I was also dealing with a bit of why-me-ism which every writer goes through. I'd gotten to the point of possibly not getting out of it.
So now I'm in a good place on several fronts. The day job has rebalanced. The family is doing well. The writing is fun again, it's a daily activity and the quality of the words on some days makes me want to dance. I think this revision pass will be the cleanest, most enjoyable one ever. For those wondering, the book "B" I did the marathon 12 revisions on has been placed far, far away from the desk and mind. Perhaps much later down the road I'll have a handle and lasso on that story and those characters, But for now, there's another set of characters which have captivated me and that's progress. Which was the whole point of my online sabbatical.
It's great to be back and catch up on what everyone is up to :)
- Mood:
happy
We’ve had negative or single digit temps every morning this week! Hope everyone is staying warm!
It’s that time of year to reflect on the last twelve months…this has been my non-blogging year, not by design but necessity. The day-job flipped from sane with occasional bouts of chaotic pushes to the other way around. Seems like there’s always a crisis and never a normal ‘down’ cycle anymore. Hence my mantra of the year : I’m thankful for a job in this economy <bg>. Luckily, we have a two week Christmas shutdown…the 18th – the 3rd will be BLISS!
When I decided my theme of the year would be balance, I had no clue how many curve balls would come my way this year. I discovered a non-rigid writing schedule would work as well as the nose to grindstone pace of the past few years. I found that allowing myself to take breaks in this pre-publication period is healthier. I re-discovered the excitement and joys of revision – no, really – during the SCBWI Western Washington retreat.
So if this was the year of balance, the whispers of change I’ve perceived the last few weeks hint that next year will be my year of change. (Yes, it’s that time of the year, newport2newport !) The events this last year made me question the whys of some of the things I do...it’s amazing how many things we all do without having a real reason! In the 24/7 world we live in, being blasted with ‘news’ at a pace that gives a false sense of importance and with more fundamental issues taking a back seat to starlets, scandals and sensationalism, getting caught in the rip-tide of unimportance happens. Running on auto-pilot happens….the trick is learning to shut it off!
That’s why the quiet time for reflection is important in our everyday lives and our writing lives. Reconnecting with that inner-voice is wonderful…following your instincts…going on a tangent that isn’t…all good! Taking a reflective break – aka the I’m-never-writing-again-period – shed light on some of my mistakes. Some are attitude adjustments I need to make and others are unrealistic expectations (like writing three books a year with a day job). Actually I wrote more than three but it was the same book, different angles. Had I taken time to really look at the core story, maybe that DUH moment I got from Cheryl Klein’s comments would have hit sooner. Or maybe not, could be I needed time spinning circles to strengthen other areas of the craft, like using setting to its fullest. Either way, it’s all good. I look back on this year with a sense of fulfillment, in spite of having no Blue Board Good News to share. My good news was moving forward, sometimes in baby steps, other times in leaps!
I wish everyone here a holiday season filled with peace and joy!
For those pondering their plot or in the haze of word counts can't remember what pot is, check this out:
http://www.arghink.com/2009/10/23/yo-new-j
In two days I'll be flying into Seattle, driving down to the Alderbrook Resort and doing the Western Washington SCBWI editorial retreat with Cheryl Klein and Ruta Rimas! Excited, nervous and ready to do a please-let-this-be-final revision on B.
- Mood:
awake - Music:Rush - Aly and AJ
1. The sunshine, crisp air and leaves changing colors.
2. Plain ole pumpkins, before the carving.
3. The quirks and flaws in my characters.
4. Ivy and Bean and Percy Jackson...for being so LOL entertaining for my two youngest girls.
5. Windows 7 released today!! For anyone in the high tech industry it's always a sigh of relief to get to the end date. And this OS makes up for all the Vista bleck.
