Deborah Wright

And we're off!

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 02:23:44 GMT

I signed up for NaNoWriMo again this year. I'm working on the mystery I've been creating characters for and plotting for the last few months. I managed to make my first day's goal -- actually a little more -- at 1685 words. Woo-hoo! :-)

There's something freeing about NaNo. I don't know why I've had such a hard time turning off the internal editor during the rest of this year. I'm hoping that getting into the writing habit in November will help me do that, as well as help me get closer to finishing the first draft of the mystery. Both of those goals would be very good to achieve.

The title of this year's novel is the same as I had a few years ago. The story, however, has completely changed. Besides, that previous year I think I got all the way to 1,000 words before life got in the way.

Here's my current version of the "back of the book blurb" for "A Killer Pinot Noir". I'm not satisfied with it, but it'll do as a first attempt:

An independent-minded Special Event Planner, faced with being the prime suspect in the murder of her obnoxious client, must find the real killer and clear her name. With the reluctant help of a sexy by-the-book homicide detective, she saves herself and her career and learns that love can appear even in the most dangerous of circumstances.

Crash! Bang!

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:31:40 GMT

Last night was not exactly the kind of excitement most people are looking for on their anniversary. We were in the middle of a very nice (if I do say so myself) dinner when a huge crash came from the kitchen. The kind of crash that immediately conjures broken glass.

We rushed down the hall to find that the cats had been playing on top of the cabinets. They're usually so careful about brushing up against anything, so I suspect that they were chasing each other. Whatever happened, one of them knocked a clear glass vase off the cabinet. It crashed to the counter where it splintered into a million pieces--all over the counter and the floor. Glass was everywhere, from tiny shards to large chunks. There was no way to tell if any had landed in what was left of my signature salad, so we ended up tossing most of that (we'd each already had a bowl, but we love this salad and usually end up eating the entire large salad bowl full in one meal). We spent most of the next hour cleaning up. What a disappointment.

At least the cats didn't get hurt. And I suppose, if you look on the bright side, neither did we. This could easily have happened while one or both of us were in the kitchen. If it had I'm sure we would have been covered in glass--and quite possibly bleeding.

Guess you have to be thankful for what you can.

Favorite Romantic Comedies

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:58:16 GMT

I was just perusing the DVD shelves, looking for something to watch later tonight and got to thinking about the types of movies in our collection. It isn't surprising that SF and Fantasy are in the lead for most in a genre. Still, some of my favorite movies are romantic comedies. Maybe because they never fail to make me smile. Here are my top 15 Romantic Comedies:

The Quiet Man (my all time favorite John Wayne movie)
American Dreamer
How to Steal a Million
French Kiss
Don't Tell Her It's Me (aka "The Boyfriend School")
The Cutting Edge
The Princess Bride
Sweet Home Alabama
It Happened One Night
Serendipity
While You Were Sleeping
Shakespeare in Love
Emma
The Truth About Cats & Dogs
Two Weeks Notice

How about you? What are your favorites?

A newbie's thanks

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:13:57 GMT

It's odd to be in a position where I'm at the tail end of the learning curve again. I'm talking about writing, here. I've been at the top of my (day) career for so long now--still learning new things, but not the newbie--that it's a bit disconcerting to realize that I have such a long way to go with my writing.

There's an ego thing involved, of course. But hopefully I'm past that (or at least it only twinges very occasionally). I'm humble enough to be able to acknowledge that I've got a lot of room for improvement. In fact, this is one of those areas where I doubt that I'll ever stop finding things to improve.

I'm just thankful that I've found a writing group that's supportive and incredibly generous (most members are already published) to the newbie. I hope that one day I'll be lucky enough to be in a position to do the same for some other writer just starting out.

We hold these truths to be self-evident...

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:50:13 GMT

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Seems like most Americans only remember that first sentence--especially the part about Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. (Something which many sadly interpret as it's all about me, but hey, I'm not denying that I can be as narcissistic and selfish as the next person at times.) The part we need to remind ourselves of is that our government is as it is today through the consent of the governed. We've gotten ourselves here and only we can fix it.

Whew! That was a lot heavier than I'd originally intended. Really -- I only started all this to say, "Happy 4th of July!"

Home Again, Home Again

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:41:39 GMT

We spent the weekend in Lake Tahoe (a family wedding). It was a quick trip, but even so, I'm glad to be home. Sometimes I think those "quick" trips are the hardest. Usually we have a specific reason for traveling, rather than just going on vacation, and everything we do seems focused and more intense somehow.

The Lake was lovely, though the air quality wasn't as crystal clear as it normally is -- all those forest fires in California. It was much better than Sacramento, though. When our plane landed on Friday morning, the smoke was so bad you couldn't see the ground until the plane was almost ready to touch down. We didn't get above it until we were almost at Donner. Still, the wedding was beautiful and the reception was fun.

The cats were glad to see us. Even though we've found a great place to board them that's the equivalent of a feline spa, they were as happy to be home as we were.

Two trips done, two more to go (for me) for the summer. I'll be glad when it's all over.

Early Edition

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:49:31 GMT

My copy of the Season 1 DVDs of Early Edition arrived today. I'm in the middle of watching the pilot. I haven't seen the show in years (my VHS tapes of the original run are long gone), but I'm already struck by how good it is -- how likeable the characters and how well done the stories are. I love that the stories mostly hinge on the fact that Gary is everyman--and he's just trying to do the right thing and get through the day.

I'd love to be able to write stories that make you go hmmm. Maybe one day I will.

Suicide Bees

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 06:04:56 GMT

Apropos of nothing, but kinda catchy, doncha think?

My husband first used it a few weeks ago when talking about the garden -- something about the birds and spiders and the suicide bees that get drunk on the flowers and fly into the picture windows and knock themselves silly. He immediately stopped and said, "That'd be a great name for a band." It's become our catch-phrase. In fact, I'm thinking of changing the name of this journal to Suicide Bees.

Anyhoo...I realized I hadn't written anything in awhile and, after a couple of glasses of champagne, thought I'd rectify that. So, this entry will either be really clever -- or more likely, really embarrassing.

I'm still plodding away on Heir to Murder. Pretty sure that title won't stick, but that's the project name. My goal is to have a rough draft by the end of July.

There was a big turnout at my local RWA chapter meeting tonight. In fact, I think it was the largest meeting we've had since I joined last fall. I'm sure the good weather and long daylight hours played a part. I'm not always certain that I'm writing Romance. I think my stories are more romance (little r) -- romantic elements, happy outcome probable, but romance not the main focus of the story. But I have to say that the writers in this group are very generous with their advice and encouragement. I feel like a sponge, soaking up every bit of information that I can. I don't feel I have much to contribute yet, but I look forward to the day when I can also give back.

Phrase to remember for next month's meeting: 50 cent karma.

Write What You Know...

Wed, 21 May 2008 21:19:22 GMT

or, It's All Relative, Isn't It?

Every time I read or hear this advice, I smile to myself. The first time I heard it (in a slightly different guise), I was in 3rd grade. We'd been told by our teacher that we were going to write a story, with a new chapter or segment each week. And at the end of the week each of us would have to get up in front of the class and read what we'd written for that week.

Now, I loved school dearly and was usually at the top of my class (that was before I knew what that meant) and hadn't gotten to the stage where I dreaded getting up in front of people and talking. I loved reading and writing -- but something about the idea that I'd have to read my story aloud sent me into a panic. What would I write about? I needed a really good story so everyone would like it, but what??? Remember that brain freeze I had last night at my RWA meeting? Not the first time, obviously.

I did what I normally did at that age when I needed advice -- I asked my mom. And she, being the smart woman that she is, passed the buck to my brother. Not my oldest brother, but the brother in-between. The one who wrote. Everyone in the family knew he wrote stories and poetry, that he was creative. My mom figured that if he'd give me advice, that I'd listen.

My brother, five years older and bored at having to talk to his little sister, let alone help her, told me to pick something you know about and write about that. In other words, write what you know. I didn't get what he meant and said so. What happened next still cracks me up to this day. Now thoroughly annoyed, he looked around my bedroom until my pile of stuffed animals caught his eye. Write about them, he said. Write what about them, I asked? Make something up, he replied, and then left to go play with his friends. As far as he was concerned, he'd done his duty.

I stared at my stuffed buddies, wondering what I was going to say about them, and suddenly it seemed like my favorite Teddy Bear was trying to get my attention. The more I thought about it, the more I knew I was right. He wanted the story to be about him. But what kind of story?

Right here is where I need to tell you that at that time I was reading Science Fiction -- my older brothers' adult SF, no less -- for fun. Asimov. Clark, Heinlein. Bradbury. Those were the authors whose books I'd sneak from the bookshelves in my brothers' room and read. My head was full of space ships and aliens and all kinds of fun stuff. Write what I know about, huh? Well, I knew SF (at least that's what my 9 year old self thought). Any bets on what happened next?

You guessed it. I wrote a story about the invasion of earth by evil aliens disguised as Teddy Bears! And, of course, there were the good aliens (also disguised as a different kind of Teddy Bear) who were trying to save the earth from their evil counterparts. There were all kinds of fantastical characters -- including talking birds that helped the good guys by spying on the bad guys.

Each week we read our stories and each week my classmates wanted more than I gave them. My teacher never knew quite what to say after I was done, though she was always positive. Come to think of it, she was positive about everyone's stories. Looking back on it now, I'm pretty sure the whole point was about being encouraged to create something, because I don't think we got graded. I know we never had to hand it in -- just read it out loud.

I wish I had a copy of that story.

So, whenever I hear write what you know, I think, yeah. uh-huh. It all depends on what you think you know, doesn't it?

Ever have one of those moments...

Wed, 21 May 2008 05:53:26 GMT

...when your brain refuses to work? Usually at a time calculated to be the most embarrassing for you?

Tonight I had a couple of those wonderful moments. It was at my RWA chapter meeting during a presentation on characterization by one of our members. They happened, of course, at a point where we were supposed to participate by listing 3 character traits of a main character (presumably from a work-in-progress) and then writing a sentence or paragraph illustrating those traits from the POV of another character.

And what happens? I suddenly have a deer-caught-in-the-headlights moment.

It was completely stupid. I know my main character and her various physical tells and character traits. I've actually written this kind of thing already -- from the POV of the romantic interest in the story. But could I think of more than one trait? Shyeah, right. And could I write even a single sentence to illustrate at least that one trait? Not to save my life.

A few moments later came the next brain fade moment. We were to describe a place (from a list of choices) from the main character's POV in a way that also illustrated those character traits. One of the choices was "Mother's bedroom" -- again, a scene I've already written and should be able to either reproduce or write fresh. And again, I froze.

I don't think I was able to write more than 3 words total. How embarrassing to be in a room of writers and be the only one to freeze like that. Everyone was nice about it, but I still wanted to sink into a hole in the floor.

I just don't do well to be put on the spot like that. If I could've written even a mediocre sentence, I would have. And I would've been okay with that. But my brain didn't just come up with crap. Oh, no. It went completely blank. Words didn't come at all.

sigh.

This and That on Author Web Sites

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:05:39 GMT

Sorry, but I couldn't come up with a better title for this post. *shrug*

I've been following links to various authors' web sites over the past few weeks as I came upon them. Out of curiousity, mainly, because I'm not familiar with most of the writers whose web sites I've visited. I found my initial reaction to each site interesting.

It's obvious that some writers have put a lot of thought into their site. They've either gone to a lot of trouble themselves or hired a professional. And in some of those cases, it's obvious that the designer knew what they were about and didn't just throw a lot of annoying features in because "everybody's doing web2.0 stuff and you have to have it to be current." There's a difference between having an up-to-date design and having a design that uses AJAX or flash or Java or other tech, but is annoyingly not usable.

It's also obvious that some writers have a web presence because they were told they need one, but haven't figured out that a design that looks like it's from the early days of the web when Mosaic was the cool new browser just doesn't cut it (think white text on colored textured backgrounds with very little actual content, for example). To these people, I'd say, if you don't want to deal with maintaining a web site, make it simple. Black text on a white or off-white background, a few graphics and quotes, a list of your books (both in print and out), maybe a few *short* excerpts from your books, and a calendar if you make appearances. Yes, you may need to update it on occasion if you have a calendar, but the rest of that info will remain fairly static. Crisp, clean, simple. Doesn't date you or the web site.

There is, of course, the middle ground. No flash, but a bit more sophisticated in design. I've seen a few of these and they can be very effective. In fact, I'd much rather visit a site that's integrated with a stylish header graphic and clean menus, than the sites that go overboard with the flash intros or the Java applets. Thank goodness for No Script for Firefox--I can turn all that junk off and only enable what I want to see.

Everyone has their own opinion about what makes a good web site design and I'm sure that a lot of people would disagree with me. But when I visit an author's site, I'm looking for a few specific things -- what books they've written, when their next book will be released, what they're working on now, and--maybe--a calendar of events they'll be attending. If there's a short excerpt from the beginning of their books, I may use that to determine whether I'm interested in buying. Beyond that, I don't see the point of trailers (I haven't seen a single one that's made me think I'd want to buy a book or that I hadn't wasted my time watching it).

At least this has helped me figure out what I'd want on my own web site when the day comes that I need one. And you'll notice I used the positive *when* and not the hesitant *if*. ;-)

Defying Categories

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:10:45 GMT

Way back when, it seems like it was easier to figure out genre. At least it was when I was a kid going to the library or the bookstore (and when I wasn't writing). If a novel wasn't mainstream Fiction, it was one of the following: Mystery, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, or Western.

Horror was shelved with either SF&F or in mainstream Fiction. The Western shelves were huge (is there even a separate Western category these days?). I don't think there was even a separate Romance section for a long time at my library--they either didn't stock romance or shelved them with the mainstream fiction, though Tower Books had a separate case for them.

--A tangent--I grew up in Sacramento (Fair Oaks, actually), the original home of the Tower stores and I mourn their passing. The absolute best bookstore I have ever been in was Tower Books on Auburn Blvd. It was huge and carried *everything* in fiction and nonfiction. I could spend hours just browsing in that store, lost in a sea of imagination. The bigger chain stores today, like B&N and Borders, may be prettier inside (Tower Books had linoleum floors and was never as sterile as today's stores), but they can't compare with the personality of Tower or the sheer number of books. Tower felt like a bookstore should feel -- it was *all* about the books.--

Okay, back to genre. Subgenres might have existed, but I don't remember them being talked about much--or maybe I wasn't paying attention--until sometime in the early 80s, I think. Hmmm. Maybe that isn't true after all, come to think of it. Mysteries always had distinct subgenres, didn't they? The cosy and the procedural come to mind, at least. And SF had space operas, though I'm not sure you'd call that a genre or a description. Oh well, this really is all about me, then, isn't it? ;-)

Anyway. I noticed that Horror got more attention and it's own shelves. Westerns seemed to be going the way of the dodo, though Louis L'Amour nearly single-handedly kept the genre alive. And in SF&F, the genre that I used to read most, Cyber Punk was an exciting place to be and other subgenres were also starting to gain momentum.

It seems the same thing was happening in Romance, though I wasn't aware of it, because at the time I wasn't paying much attention. I'd occasionally pick up a book from my mother (over the years she's introduced me to Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz and Susan Elizabeth Phillips, among others), but in general, romance wasn't where I was at.

A funny thing happened, though. The lines were beginning to blur. Romance was taking on fantastic elements (time travel and paranormal -- a term I truly loathe), SF and Fantasy were becoming more...human is the best I can come up with... (Lois McMaster Bujold and Martha Wells). Suddenly it seemed like those hard divisions that defined what category a book would fall into just weren't valid.

So where does a book that combines strong elements of romance with science fiction AND fantasy belong? The SF is time travel--and not just a wave of the hand, but an actual machine and explanation of how it works--with a touch of quantum physics and alternate universes thrown in. Oh, and the machine in question comes from an alternate Steampunk world. And the Fantasy is that within those alternate universes there are worlds where magic is possible. Where the heck does that belong?

Or a mystery where romance is integral to the mystery itself, yet the story would fall apart without the mystery?

Or--well, I could go on and on, but you get the picture. I could play the What Genre am I? game all day, but I guess, at the end of the day it doesn't really matter. All that matters is telling the story the best I can. Figuring out where it belongs will wait until I've done that.

Conflict, or Why We Can't All Just Get Along on the Page

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:00:12 GMT

No, this doesn't have anything to do with Real Life^(tm). This is about Conflict between characters in a novel. This is something that I'm still learning to create in a way that's organic to the story that I'm telling and not something grafted on, because without conflict, well, that story is pretty dull.

I'm beginning to see that this is the biggest issue that I have right now when it comes to writing. I feel comfortable with my wordsmithing. Don't get me wrong, I'm always trying to improve, but I've come far enough in that area that I think my prose (after revisions, of course!) is acceptable. It doesn't get in the way of my story telling, at least, and, on good days, I think I get a glimmer of that thing called Voice. But conflict is still a bugaboo for me.

I've always avoided conflict like the plague in real life--either outright by not getting into situations where conflict was inevitable or by being the peacemaker. To be in conflict, for me, means to be in distress. And that's just not a good place to be.

It's a matter of degree, you see. By being a natural conflict avoider, any conflict to me is bad. So by definition, any conflict I inflict on my characters is bad (and distressing to me). What I've come to understand is that I tend to choose conflicts that would be insignificant to most people and therefore boring to read.

I'm trying to take the admonition to make it worse for my characters to heart. But, boy, is it something that I have to continually work at!

Yoga: Day 5

Snow? In April?!?

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 16:27:41 GMT

I was tempted to title this post Freakazoid Weather. Snow in April. In Salem. Oregon. Really. I know I'm new here, but this can't be normal. A year ago this month we started visiting to explore the area and begin house hunting. I swear the weather was in the 70s during the day and 60s in the evening, with a few showers thrown in, because, hey! Oregon!

So what's up with the snow? I mean, it was eerily beautiful to raise the shades this morning and see the white stuff falling (and sticking!) on the hillside, but it's time to stop now. My poor plants are out there shivering and the bulbs are wondering what happened to the nice warm 70 degree weather they had just last weekend.

Who says global warming hasn't screwed up weather patterns? *sigh*

At least it wasn't snowing yesterday (though it was pretty darn cold) when I went downtown to the Blue Pepper for an all day workshop with my RWA Chapter. We watched and discussed The Hero's 2 Journeys -- the dvds of a workshop put on by Michael Hauge and Chris Vogler. It was an excellent way to spend a very cold Saturday. There's so much information packed in their lectures--so many aha! moments. I took copious notes, but I can see where multiple viewings would be beneficial.

Just as beneficial, for me anyway, was talking with the other members of the chapter. I'm such a newbie when it comes to writing seriously for publication. Yes, I've been writing for myself for years, but somehow that isn't the same. Since I finally made the conscious decision to work towards getting published, I've been struggling with actually getting started. I keep making fits and starts and getting easily distracted. It was great to get the advice of others who have been there--and to hear that I'm not alone. I don't know why, but somehow that makes it all a bit easier.

Pep Talks, Only Not

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:58:08 GMT

Going to the MWV-RWA meeting last night was exactly what I needed to remind myself that writing--for publication, hopefully, yes--is really what I want to do. I needed that jolt of hearing from other writers, both published and not, that I'm not the only one who sometimes struggles.

There are times when I wonder if my writing will ever be good enough to be published. Telling a story in a way that brings the kind of enjoyment to someone else that I get out of reading a good book -- that's all I want to do.

I was also happy to hear other writers say that writing the first draft was the hard part for them and that editing was what they found enjoyable. I've honestly thought I was a freak for feeling that way. Too much time spent in fandom, I think, where many people, even those who use beta readers, rhapsodize about the creation (ie the first draft) and despair over the editing. Geez, for me writing that first draft is like falling on broken glass; editing is where the fun lies.

Yoga: Day 2

Fighting Frustration

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:10:47 GMT

I'm currently in a standoff with myself. I've been letting excuses rule my writing. Especially difficult are "work is too busy/stressful right now" and it's corollary "I don't have any time for more than working, eating and sleeping right now."

The problem is, these are sort of true and sort of false. It's true that work, the work that brings in the bucks, is crazy at the moment. But this is the first time I've allowed myself to use it as an excuse for not doing something. And it's true that I don't have much free time to spare these days. It's how I'm applying that free time that's a concern. My brain seems content to just fritter away the moments available in mindless activity.

Yes, I'm tired. I know what I need to do to change that. I'm more tired of disappointing myself and letting my fears rule me.

Time to make time to write. Bleh. Time to write.

What 5 Movies?

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:44:36 GMT

Everybody's played some version of the "what 5 books would you want on a deserted island" game. This one is a little different.

Picture it--stranded on a desert island with a portable DVD player with an unlimited power supply and only 5 movies to watch for the rest of your life. What movies would you choose?

Here are mine (and yes, they are in order):

1. Casablanca
If I could only choose one movie, this would be my choice. It's been at the top of my movie list for years. It has it all: love, heroism, sacrifice, friendship. What more could I ask for?

2. The Usual Suspects
A twisty plot and great cast. I get something new out of it every time I watch it. Have you been Kaiser Soze'd lately?

3. Raiders of the Lost Ark
The first and best of the Indiana Jones movies. Note that I prefer the original title to the retconned "Indiana Jones and the..." version. This movie spawns myriad quest fantasies every time I watch it.

4. Pirates of the Caribbean (The Curse of the Black Pearl)
The first and best of the Pirates movies. Johnny Depp is amazing. Another movie to fuel the mental story telling (hey, if I'm going to be alone on an island for the rest of my life, I'd better be able to tell myself stories).

5. Big Trouble in Little China
The first 4 movies are probably understandable to most people. This one is a bit of a cult choice, I suppose. I can't help it -- it never fails to make me laugh every time I see it. Silly? Maybe. But don't we all need some silly in our lives?

Every once in a while I have to remind myself...

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:35:03 GMT

I'm at the beginning of this writing journey. I realize that. I also realize that I have a very long way to go. This is a journey that could potentially take years. It's something that I need to remind myself of every now and then. I'm in it for the long haul.

It doesn't matter how long it takes. All that matters is that I don't give up.

Cloud Creatures...

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:28:20 GMT

A perk of having a window seat on a plane is being able to look out at the clouds. It's been awhile since I've traveled east and I'd forgotten just how busy the skies are over the southern states. We landed in Atlanta and then flew from Atlanta to Ft. Lauderdale. I kept noticing these strange cloud formations--long tube-like shapes that reminded me of giant skeletal backbones. It took me a bit to figure out that they weren't really clouds, but the decomposing remains of the contrails left behind by jet planes.

Another image stuck with me, though--that of long dragon-like creatures snaking through the sky, disguised as clouds. Once I saw them as creatures, I started thinking about what it would be like to live in the clouds. Of course, no ecosystem only has a single inhabitant, so I asked myself what other types of creatures would live there. By the time we landed in Ft. Lauderdale I'd managed to sketch out an entire new world. I played the same game on the way home (by way of Dallas, this time), embellishing what I'd started on the earlier flight, including how anything solid could exist in the cloud world.

I don't know if I'll ever use any of this in a story. But whether I do or not, it was a great reminder that the fantastic lurks everywhere. All you need is an open mind.

It was also a great way to pass a boring plane trip. I'll have to remember this for the next trip I take. Who knows? Maybe I'll come up with a world that I just can't help but write about.

What makes an expert?

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 21:48:12 GMT

This is something that I've been pondering on and off for awhile now. It isn't so much that I'm looking for an answer outside myself as something that I'm trying to define just for me.

I'm always a little amazed when someone claims to be an expert at something. What do they mean by that? Do they mean that they've gone to school (college, university, whatever) and studied and now they know everything there is to know about the subject (and have a piece of paper that says so!)? Is it that they've worked in a particular field for years and feel that they have enough experience and background to speak authoritatively on the subject? Have they researched everything they could find and read as many books as have been published about the topic at hand?

Or, have they done something once and feel that that gives them enough qualifications to set themselves up as a self-proclaimed expert? And who am I to say nay? If you've done something, even once, that I haven't then you've certainly got more experience at it than I do.

I guess the reason I get amazed is that it would never occur to me to proclaim myself an expert in anything. Sure, I've got a degree and I've worked in a certain field for years and I've read and researched (in that field and several others) and I've tried to learn as much as possible about various things and yet...I always know that there's something more out there waiting to be learned.

Maybe, though, this is a mindset that I need to change. I think I'll have to ponder this a bit more...

Silk Road

4,881 / 100,000
(4.9%)

Inspired...

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 07:10:13 GMT

We went to a last minute (at least for us) political rally today for Barack Obama. My husband was watching his speech in Portland on TV and they mentioned that he would be in Salem at 1pm. That was news to us--we knew he was going to Eugene and Medford, but not Salem. I guess they announced it a couple of days ago, saying you needed a ticket to get in. If we'd known that we probably wouldn't have tried to attend. Luckily we didn't know that and it turned out that you didn't need a ticket.

So we went to see Senator Obama speak. He was very inspiring and the crowd was enthusiastic. I haven't felt this excited and hopeful about the future in years.

This has been a difficult week at work. Difficult in that I've been so busy that I've been too exhausted to put the time in on my writing that I've wanted. Still, I have managed to get a bit done.

Heir to Murder

889 / 100000 words. 1% done!

Silk Road

2783 / 100000 words. 3% done!

Writing Fast

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:18:35 GMT

Or, NaNoWriMo revisited.

Interesting topic tonight at the MWV-RWA meeting -- How to Write a Book in 30 Days or Less. I found myself agreeing with nearly everything the speaker said. I've participated seriously in two NaNo's (and made a false start in three more). The two times that I focused and wrote 50,000+ words in a month--and I hit 75,000+ the first time--I experienced that writing zone. That place where the words just seemed to flow and you wondered later how you did that and where all those ideas came from. (Of course, it still doesn't mean that what came out either time was salvageable, but the experience was what counted those times).

I also like the Fast Draft idea--a rough draft in two weeks. I'm not sure I have the kind of schedule, especially right now with work, that will allow me to try this any time soon. Someday, perhaps. I can work on the NaNo schedule, though, and I'm tempted to do that.

I was also intrigued by the different reactions to plotting vs. just going for it. The biggest fear that I have about the extensive plotting I've done for Heir to Murder was echoed by several people -- that I'll get bored if I know too much about the story before actually writing it. I'm not just afraid that the story will feel stale, I'm afraid that I'll completely lose interest in it. That's why I made the decision to set it aside for awhile.

The two fantasies are more in line with what I did for NaNoWriMo -- characters, setting and a bare idea of a story. At the meeting I said I'd commit to having two chapters of a first draft done by the next meeting. I'm thinking now that I'd like to commit to having a nearly complete first draft done of Silk Road. My own personal NaNo, as it were.

Also -- penguins? The NaNo group I wrote with used plot Ninjas instead of penguins. When people got stuck they added Ninjas to the story, because, hey, what story isn't better with a few Ninjas in it? Of course, the Ninjas were just a device to get past the stall out in writing. And they worked -- how can you not just go for it and have fun when writing about Ninjas?

Hmmm. I'm targeting this one at 100,000 words. Yikes! Looks like I'd better get going.

Silk Road

2279 / 100000 words. 2% done!

Progress, slow in coming...

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 05:36:24 GMT

I finished the major plotting work on the mystery/suspense novel and I even came up with a working title for it -- Heir to Murder. I'm sure that will change eventually, but at least I have something to refer to for now. I've plotted out the beginning in detail, the major surprises for the middle, and a good deal of the end. I'm sure the middle will need to change a bit, once I get there. That's why I only bulleted what I think are the major surprises for now (even they may need to change). For one thing, I'm afraid of the story getting too stale for me. I'm going to set it aside for a bit and work on another project.

I have two fantasies that I'm seriously working on at the moment. The setting and characters for the first one have been in my head for a couple of years. I think of this one as the Silk Road story, so that's my working title for now. I know it will change, but since the real "Silk Road" gave me the first inspiration for it, that name has stuck. I'm treating this story differently than any other I've tackled--I'm not pre-plotting it. I have some ideas, but I'm keeping them fairly nebulous. I want to see where the characters take me. It's been a surprise from the first sentence. :->

The second fantasy is the one that showed up with a bang in my head after an off hand remark (that I don't even remember now--just that it happened). It's a blend of science-fantasy, steampunk and alternate realities. How's that for an odd mix? I'm not sure exactly what to do with this one--plot it in detail or dive right in and see what happens. So far, the research into exotic particles has been fun. The working title of this one is Shadowlands, a name I quite like, actually.

Those are probably the three projects I'll concentrate on. I have to try not to get too distracted. I think, though, that since they're such different genres, that it'll allow me to keep from getting bored or blocked too badly.

So, progress? It's coming. Slowly, but surely. Even though I may show the progress info about all three, I won't tag a post unless I actually talk about the specific work.

Heir to Murder -- plotting completed
Silk Road -- 1163 words today, 1163 words total
Shadowlands -- in research

Food for thought...

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:33:54 GMT

I'm currently taking an online writing class (I mentioned it in an earlier post). I won't say what it is or who is teaching it, for various reasons. The class is only a month long and I obviously missed the first 11 days due to being on vacation. With over 400+ postings already in the queue when I checked it, I decided that I would just lurk and read the materials--sort of the online equivalent of auditing.

I'm finding that some of the information is quite good. And everyone seems very enthusiastic. Unfortunately, I seem to be rather resistant to a lot of what's being taught. This is going to be one of those times when I really take the admonition to "take only what benefits you" from the class to heart. Too much of the material feels geared to making writing a mechanical activity. Analyze the work and insert [emotion|dialogue|description|etc] here.

Rewriting trite/cliched passages is beneficial, but in reading some of the postings, it's obvious that many people see this as meaning that they need to look for tortured analogies or descriptions that no one in their right mind would consider "good writing." Sometimes I get the feeling that what they really need to be told to do is pare down their writing--go for sparse rather than florid. Make it readable instead of smacking the Hand of the Author all over the page.

Perhaps it's just me and I'm missing something vital. I don't know. All I do know is that I'll be picking very carefully amongst the stones for the few real gems hidden there.

One thing I'm quite happy about, though, is that I took this class online for a small amount of money, compared to the cost of attending a two-day workshop presented by the same person. She seems quite nice, actually. I just think I would have felt very...disappointed...if I'd spent more money and time than this. You live and learn.

If I take any more online classes, they won't be about the writing process. There are a couple that I'm interested in that are closer to being about research topics. But even there, I'll be thinking long and hard about it--the classes definitely take valuable time away from the actual work of, you know, writing.

Hibernation

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:34:30 GMT

It's not just for bears. Some days, especially grey and dreary days like today, I wish I could just curl up under a blanket and sleep for about a month. Maybe longer.

I get the urge to become a hermit. I find it difficult to hold conversations, even (especially?) with family and friends.

I live a rich and varied life in my head and days like this make me want to stay there indefinitely.

I'm not depressed. Just distracted more by the internal than intrigued by the external.

I think I'm one of those weird people who wouldn't go mad if shipwrecked on a deserted island. So long as I could find fresh water and enough to eat, I'd probably be just fine.