Posts Tagged ‘romance’
Agh. So I got the flu. In August. What’s up with that?
And you’d think (and you’d be wrong) that I would use that time to sit at home, curled up in bed, plotting literary masterpieces.
Instead, I went to work.
What’s up with that?
Well, everyone has the flu. Seriously, it made the rounds of the town in less than a week. It lasted about 24-36 hours, made you feel quoozy and then it went away. But, I still went to work.
So I have a wonderful work ethic. Nothing comes before work, no disease/surgery/knee dislocation is strong enough to keep me from my work.
Now, why can’t I apply that same work ethic to writing? Is it because I consider it to be a hobby? A part-time job?
Both, actually.
Which is too bad, because until I change my mindset about writing and how important it is, I won’t be pushing out 4-5 books a year. I won’t finish the 4 manuscripts I’ve got sitting on my hard drive.
So, slap me upside the head, and help me change my way of thinking.
writing. is. important.
there.
=)
carrie
I live a high stress lifestyle. I manage a restaurant, I write, I design websites and design jewelry. I’m not tooting my own horn; I’m just pointing out the opportunity for stressful situations pops up fairly consistently in my life.
Like when the lady cursed me because we didn’t carry the right kind of salad dressing.
When the cat ran off with one of the earrings I’d just sold.
When the guy from Texas wants his logo moved. No, move that to the left. No, down a little. No….
It gets a little stressful.
What do I do when the stress levels peak? Admittedly, nothing takes the edge off like a little chocolate and Jack Daniels. But man cannot live by chocolate and JD alone. (Ok, technically I might try that sometime just to prove the point.) (And I hope you realize I’m joking.) (Mostly)
=)
So when I’ve JUST HAD IT!!! I look for some comedy relief. How?
By watching a funny movie -
Young Frankenstein :
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [to Igor] Now that brain that you gave me. Was it Hans Delbruck’s?
Igor: [pause, then] No.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Ah! Very good. Would you mind telling me whose brain I DID put in?
Igor: Then you won’t be angry?
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: I will NOT be angry.
Igor: Abby Someone.
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: [pause, then] Abby Someone. Abby who?
Igor: Abby Normal.
And I laugh hysterically every time.
Stress level goes from 100 down to 88.
If watching Young Frankenstein with Orville Redenbacher’s Pour-Over Movie Theater Popcorn? It will drop to 72.
Cats :
My cats are insane. When I come home from work, and pull into the lane, the cats are waiting. Lying in the driveway. We’ll creep in a few feet, and Spook (he’s the worst one for it) will walk a few feet forward, then sit. He looks at the sky, the stars, the moon. As if he has no idea there’s a ¾ ton truck sitting behind him with the engine idling. Hubby has to get out of the truck, cursing the entire way, and pick up the cat, dragging it to the front door. I can hear him lecturing the cat in his English accent, and I just giggle. The other night, three cats played the game. Picture my husband trying to gather all three cats pretending to be sound asleep in front of the truck?
Stress level drops to 57.
Books are always a great de-compressor.
Kristan Higgins All I Ever Wanted –
The latest book currently on my nightstand. It’s perfect. I admire the writing, the humor, the wit. I giggle about the prosthetic, the dog, the funeral parlor. It’s so well written I don’t want to put it down, I don’t want it to end. On the other hand, I can’t wait to pick up the next in my TBR pile – Christie Ridgway’s Crush on You.
Stress level drops to 41.
Munchies -
Gardettos –
Nectar of the gods. Just the right amount of salt and crunch. Now if they only made it in a resealable bag. This darn humidity.
Stress level drops to 27.
Email/Facebook/Texting –
A little last flurry of venting, name calling, day sharing, plan making, plot devising, moaning, wardrobe tips and dirty jokes are the final call of the day. (thanks jen!)
Stress level drops to 12.
Lights out.
Sweet dreams, carrie.
=)
Pantser. Flying by the seat of my pants. Flying into the mist.
Usually spoken of quite derogatorily by authors who plot, pantsers write their stories with no outline, no idea of who the characters are or what’s going to happen in the story.
I personally love it.
Words just pop out onto the page, characters develop themselves, plot twists and turns magically appear. Usually.
In the MG I’m currently working on, it’s been 4 chapters of pantsing. And almost every single page has a twist or tweak I never saw coming. It’s been fun. And I haven’t gotten stuck yet.
One of the biggest problems with pantsing is writing yourself into a corner. How did I get here? How will I get out of this? What comes next?
I’ve discovered, with a little help =), that I do really well as a pantser, if I also write an outline covering the major parts of the story. I still surprise myself, and still enjoy the writing process without a black cloud lurking over my head – the one that says but Carrie, what’s going to come next? The outline looks nothing like the rest of the story, but I also rarely write myself into a corner anymore.
I haven’t outlined any of my MG as of yet, but I think that’s going to go on my to-do list this weekend. Just an hour of brainstorming will usually give me enough of a plot outline that I can zoom back in, fly off into the mist, and not have to worry about that darn plot corner.
And I can still have lots of fun finding out what Dwayne’s going to get into next.
=)
carrie
Iowa weather has been sucky these past seven months. Spell check informs me sucky isn’t a real word, but if you lived in Iowa – well, it’s sucky.
December – April brought mountains of snow, power outages, high winds. You might picture me snuggled all warm in my house by the fire, writing brilliant words by the thousands.
You’d be wrong.
You’d be better off picturing me huddling by the gas stove, wearing 13 layers of clothing and shivering so badly that typing on my Alphie was out of the question. Brain freeze does not inspire plotting nor characterization!
We finally moved into spring, that lasted maybe 15 minutes. Seriously. Summer waddled in and it’s basically the same weather as what we had in January, but no snow – just rain. Not freezing – just 100+ degrees out. Now we huddle around the air conditioner, hoping to stay cool.
And again, writing is a chore. We’ve been having violent electrical storms. Major lightning strikes taking out trees and power. And of course, like a good girl, when it lightnings, I turn off my computer and unplug the network cable.
Is this just all Mother Nature’s conspiracy to disrupt my writing? Could be. But she didn’t count on my Alpha Smart. Almost twenty hours of battery time, recharges in a few hours, and works pretty darn sweet.
Bring it on Mother Nature! I’m still writing!
=)
carrie
I’ve been buried. Maybe you haven’t noticed, maybe you’re out surfing all of those other smart ass sites.
That hurts.
But I don’t blame ya, I’ve been busy. Not just a little busy, but overwhelmed actually. I hate that.
On the good side, the silver lining, I have a request I’m turning in today, for a synopses and partial. I hope I’m turning it in today, but since I’m already 10 min late for work and haven’t gotten near the shower yet, that could change.
On the bad side, my back and hip are out from having spent approximately 10 hours a day at the computer – on top of 10 hours a day on my feet. And yes, that does add up to 20 hours a day, and yes, I’m only getting 4 hours of sleep.
I hear the Bride of Frankenstein look is back in style.
On the good news, my cold/sinus infection is finally letting go and I’m halfway through the bridal jewelry I’m making for a friend of mine. My three simultaneous online classes end next week and then I’ll be CAUGHT UP! I’ve also starting writing a YA/MG that’s halfway through chapter two.
So I’m hoping this week, things even out. I hope we have electricity for the entire week, that the sump pump keeps going full steam (heavy rains for the past two weeks here in Iowa) and that my tiny little chapter/synopsis inspires someone to smile and think hey, we’d like to sign her.
Keep your fingers crossed and your umbrella open.
=)
carrie
I think I’m certifiable. I should probably be locked up, away from internet access. It’s for the best.
I work approximately 40+ hours a week at my day job, I work 20+ hours a week designing websites. I also design/repair jewelry in my spare time. I moderate online writing classes for a writers group, I write on three blogs, and I write.
For some reason, I’ve also decided to take three online classes this month, and for some other crazy reason, I started writing two YA novels. At the same time.
Yes, I need to be locked away.
But, can you leave me with my Blackberry please?
=)
carrie
Augh!
Got my synopsis back, with a wonderful crit…thanks Christie! And a few wrinkles to hammer out. I don’t mean iron, I mean hammer.
With a darn big hammer.
But that’s okay. I’m dealing with it fine, and am actually excited to get back to work on the synopsis, because now I feel I have direction. I’m close, this close!!! to having a well thought out synopsis, I’m sooooooo close to having all of the arcs. In just a few well placed sentences – and well-worded! – it’s entirely possible my synopsis will not only make sense, but that it’s RIGHT.
And that’s a huge load off my mind. Huge. Bigger than Refrigerator Perry. (and yes, that’s the only football reference I’ll ever make in my entire life)
So, what’s stopping me from leaping head first into finishing off that synopsis?
Stuff.
You guys have all had stuff, I know you have. Something came up. Family. My dog, my cat. Laundry. Etc. That’s all stuff. My stuff has been work, extracurricular work, and favors owed friends this past week, but the biggest stuff of all?
My new grandson was born on June 21, and transported a few hours later to NICU. That’s big stuff.
Good news is, he’s headed home tomorrow. We’re thrilled. He’ll be recuperating at home with his dad and mom and big sister Ava, but all looks good.
Now maybe Gramma can take a little stress break and finish that synopsis. Er…I wonder if anyone ever thought writing a synopsis would be an activity listed as “less stressful”?
I’m gonna guess no.
=)
carrie
Sometimes a girl can use an extra brain.
It’s not because mine isn’t sharp enough, it is. It’s not because mine isn’t creative enough, it is. It’s because sometimes it’s little wires get twisted and I can’t find a way out of that creativity and sharpness.
Eh?
I know, hard to follow. But here’s what happens. I work on this stupendous story, and it’s brilliant, if I do say so myself. Then someone, usually a crit partner or a friend (hi Jen!) will come along and say why? Why does she do that?
Because.
Because why?
Well, I just don’t know. I’ve thought up this wonderful masterpiece, this book of brilliance, until someone says Why?
Drives me buggy.
Just go with the flow, I want to say. She (the heroine) just does it.
They give me the “look”.
Crap.
What if…..
And that’s where the brainstorming starts.
When inventing a story line, my brain seizes the story idea and runs along the train tracks, thinking this! and then this! and then this! And that parts a blast, let me tell you.
And then I write….and I write this! and then whoa..this! and what happened there this!
And then, someone says….why?
And my brain train derails.
Because it was up there in party central, zooming along with happy ideas and brilliant thoughts and creative maneuvers…but the darn thing never questions – why?
Possibly there’s a brain training course I can take. Possibly I should put sticky notes all over my computer monitor that say WHY?
Or possibly I can just call upon my critique partners and friends and say hey….if this situation happened to you, what would YOU do?
Brainstormin’. It’s not done with just one brain, it’s picking the use of several other people’s brains to get yours back on the track to writing the perfect story.
Got a brain? Fire it up. I’m coming to get some ideas from you!
=)
carrie
So, I’m writing along, minding my own business, when suddenly – and I mean completely out of nowhere! – this secondary character appears. I look at my outline, no…no secondary character there.
Where had this woman come from? And considering she was over six feet tall, why hadn’t I noticed her before?
Has this ever happened to you? I swear I’m not using any hallucinogenic drugs, I’m not typing at 3 in the morning, but there she is.
Sheila. 6’4″ of pure muscle who just walked into my story.
And immediately took over. Like five pages worth – so far! I know I’m going to have to trim her waaaaaaaaaay down, but for the time being Sheila is having a wonderful time gamboling through my story, taking on a gang of hoodlums and dispensing advice.
Looks like I’d better go re-write my outline, because I don’t think Sheila’s going to be leaving anytime soon.
=)
carrie
3,132 words so far!
So, today is the day I’m diving in. Headfirst. Into rock-strewn waters. Without a life vest.
Sounds scary doesn’t it?
Well, true enough.
What am I doing that’s so terrifying?
Well, I just finished outlining the chapters of the book. THE book. The one I’m going to send to Harlequin. I have an outline, I have a plot. My characters are a bit unsure of themselves at the moment, but we’ll get to know each other soon enough. I’ll probably even get on their nerves after awhile.
I’ll be posting updates here and there as I slog along through, or begging for advice or begging for chocolate. I have no pride. =)
But most of all I’m just glad I finally have a direction.
I mostly have a direction.
It’s either going to be a heartstring-tugging-while-still-a-bit-humorous story, or a flat-out-hold-your-sides-laughing story. But either way, it’s getting started.
Today.
Chapter One.
=)
carrie
- Flu you too August 31, 2010
- De-stressing August 21, 2010
- Pantsing It August 14, 2010
- Mike’s Pom Pom’s August 10, 2010
- High Fives! August 8, 2010
