June Bendiness

It's the 29th May. That means there are only two days left until June. And THAT means there are only two days left until...

*drum roll*

BuNoWriMo 2013!!!

Logo by Joris Ammerlaan Design

Say what?

I said, there are only two days left until BuNoWriMo 2013!

Now, for the uninitiated, I suppose I should explain...

This is a writers blog (well, for the most part, although you will find random posts of silliness sandwiched between the writerly stuff), and if you are a writer, then there is about a 99% chance that you know what NaNoWriMo is. Okay, NaNoWriMo isn't exactly the same thing as BuNoWriMo. Except that it is. Mostly. Well, apart from the cheating thing.

For that 1% of the writerly population that are scratching their heads (or have possibly hit the 'x' in the corner of their screen to get away from the rambling blog post), I'll briefly explain what it's all about.

1 - You write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.
2 - Er, that's it.

The FAB part of this whole WriMo deal is that when you sign up for the madness, you are not only pledging your intent to write a novel in a month, you are automatically thrust into a community of like-minded (crazy) people, who will offer encouragement, virtual cookies, advice, and sometimes pictures of hot men. Okay, that last one is probably just my own wishful thinking, but honestly, cheer leading can take many forms, and if a hot guy wants to wave his pom-poms at me, I'm not going to lie, I'd be very encouraged.

Anyway. The main NaNoWriMo event happens every November, but not everyone has the time to commit during that very busy time of year. In June, however, there aren't any festive distractions, and with it coinciding with many end-of-academic years all over the world, it's just timing-friendlier.

But what was that you mentioned about cheating? Ah, yes... well, actually, it's not that we cheat. We're just bendy. Technically, if you were following the original NaNoWriMo rules, you would start writing your brand new bestseller (what? I can't be optimistic?) on the first day of the challenge. Then you would write at least 1,667 words every day of the month, and hey presto, you have a Jackie Collins on your hands (merely a reference, not a requirement. Not everyone can write a sex-filled soap opera. Not everyone would even want to write a sex-filled soap opera. But you know what I mean. Whoops. Totally digressed there).

But at BuNoWriMo, we are, as I said, bendy. (Actually, so are a lot of Jackie Collins' characters too, now that I think about it). ANYWHO! Bendy for us is nothing like JC Bendy - bendy for us just means that anything goes (EEK...which is kinda like JC bendy. Perhaps I should have used  another reference *shifty*).

You can sign up for half a month if you can't make the full thirty days. You may only need to write a 30k novella, not a full 50,000 words, but that's fine too! You may have ten thousand words buried in your files - now might be the time to add to it and turn it into a novel!

See how bendy we are? The main goal is to stop you procrastinating and get you to DO something. And you know, I just had my first WriMo novel published, so there is always a future book deal to add as enticement. *winks*

How do you take part?

EASY!!

Just go to our BuNoWriMo  page on Facebook, and request to join. And that's it. So what are you waiting for? Come join the bendies!

Never Give Up!

Original image

Hello! Remember me? You probably don't, seeing as I haven't contributed a post here for longer than I'd care to admit. But I am still alive, and I wanted to pop by and give you all a motivational message. *nods firmly*

I am a procrastinator, and therefore rarely manage to finish things that aren't important. I finish the stuff that needs to be done, but not so much the stuff that should be done. It's a lifelong habit, and one that I'm never likely to break.

So when I started writing back in - 2004? 2005? - I never really thought that I could ever produce more than a few short stories. Initially I wrote fan fiction. A really bad first one, followed by marginally better ones. I had a place where I posted a number of short stories - no more than a couple of thousand words long - and I had a few longer length stories, which I updated (in)frequently. Now, to understand the severity of my dithering, I will tell you that I only finished four of the longer length stories, and apart from the first one, they all took a couple of years to write. I unfortunately had an equal amount of unfinished works. So my record wasn't that great.

Now, back in 2009, I finally gave in a joined the NaNoWriMo event that everyone was urging me to sign up to. I also started my own blog - and to further demonstrate my procrastinating habit, it is worth noting that in three and a half years, I'm still a couple of posts away from my 300th blog entry. *shifty*

BUT!!

I did finish my NaNo adventure! Which is GOOD!! Though I proceeded to let it collect dust for two whole years, which is BAD. *shifty once more*

You see how my dithering is a problem? But this is supposed to be a motivational post, and this is the bit that I wanted to share with you.

After letting it sit for so long, I went back and tidied up my manuscript. True, I then waited another six months before doing anything with it, but I was on the right track. Back in September last year, I subbed it to a couple of publishers, not expecting anything groundbreaking to happen. I was, of course, correct, and duly heard back from both publishers in January, saying 'thanks, but no thanks'.

So where is this motivational message?? Well, I decided to send out to another four publishers, and if I had the same response, I decided I would overhaul the manuscript before subbing it further. But shock of shocks, I heard back within a couple of weeks, and it was a big fat 'YES'!! This was early in February, and on April 29th, just a few short weeks away, my NaNo baby will be released as an e-book!

Now, you'll notice that I haven't mentioned the title of my book, or any identifying details at all really, because this post isn't about me. Well, technically it is, as I've told you my story (which is, after all, all about me) but I needed to demonstrate the reasoning behind my motivational meanderings. *nods again*

You see, if I can do it, so can YOU!!

So... never give up, and just keep swimming!

Plotting a la Tart

*gasp*  Has Writing Wednesday Returned?  Maybe... Let's hope so...

So... I'm plotting a book. It might be my fifteenth. Might be my sixteenth... sort of depends on whether I can't help myself starting... I had intended to only write books in June and November this year and to concentrate on EDITING the rest of the year because see... my HABIT is to write three books a year and editing two, and this has left me with an overly large editing stack. It's compounded by the fact that an edited book STILL isn't always READY, and must be RE-edited. GAH! Editing will be the death of me. So I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about one of my VERY FAVORITE THINGS.

Plotting. Now I'm not an outliner. At least not exactly. The truth of the matter is I've used a LOT of different plotting methods, few of which will be found in text books. I've done character sketches. I've used story boards. I've nearly pantsed, knowing only a handful of plot details... And I've learned some stuff. FOR ME, how I plot depends largely on where the story needs to go. Some types of stories need tighter plotting than others. Like WHAT, you say?

Well, say MYSTERY

To write a 'fair to the audience' genre mystery, your audience needs enough information to solve the crime. (and also enough 'misleading', which is to say REAL, but not actually related to the murder, information that it isn't too easy.) This means you have a lot to keep track of. I think it is EASIEST to draw pictures... I generally have my VICTIM, then my list of SUSPECTS, then I come up with two clues for every single suspect. I try to ALSO have a little overlap... a clue that might hook to this or that suspect. See why pictures make this easier?

There is MORE TO FOLLOW

Another one I've plotted fairly extensively is one that is first in a series, not because THIS book is so complicated, but because I wanted to set up characters and scenarios that will be picked up LATER. This is more a 'folder' with notes for each book... not tons of them, but I looked at all future books as I wrote.

Sometimes you have to get it JUST right.

Or if it's IMPORTANT...

The book I am currently plotting has a lot of things I need to get RIGHT if I really want to do this. It's about a school shooting... the weeks leading up to it... who might or might not have been able to tell anything... the mistakes that are made, the care not received. It is just too important to get wrong. So what does careful plotting look like in these two latter cases? Expanding lists, mostly... I put the big details in order, then as small ones fall into place, I add them.

I think when I start to write I will have some chapters with only a single line and others with a couple paragraphs (particularly the stuff I need to research)

It has surprised me that I seem to plan MORE as I get farther into writing. I think some of it is that I tend to already be doing a project when ideas hit and I don't want to LOSE them, but I am determined to finish the project I'm already doing first. So the pending book nagging at me leads me to planning. I still can't do a fancy outline. I am too analytical and the result would sound like a thesis (and who wants to read THAT?) But I suspect I will continue to PLOT before I write...

Planning time

Most people who know me would probably get a good laugh out of the thought that I'd be planning much of anything more than 5 minutes in advance - I'm a hopeless procrastinator and frankly tend to work better under pressure anyway.  However, that really only works for mental projects - term papers, for example (let's not talk about the time my printer decided to stop talking to my laptop at 4:30 AM, okay?).  When it comes to anything physical, twenty-odd years of playing stringed instruments and about a decade of off-and-on distance running have taught me that cramming just doesn't work.  The body is much slower than the brain - while I can memorize 20 Latin vocab words in a minute or three, it takes me weeks to add a couple of miles to my running stamina.  Oh, and then there's the whole I'm-broke-and-so-I'm-making-everyone's-holiday-presents thing I've been doing for the past few years - I may be able to design a pair of socks on my lunch break, but it can take a month to actually knit the darn things.

So, against my own inner nature and kicking and screaming all the way, I'm actually considering planning something else right now (it must be because I've finally turned the heel on the socks).  That would be a novel, of course, since hey, it's almost November and that means NaNoWriMo is coming!  Despite the fact that I've done four WriMos (and "won" three of  'em), I've never actually done one in November when everyone else does - Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday, and then once I picked up the bookstore job, well, holiday shopping hell, anyone?  So it's a busy month, to put it mildly.  But see, I got this idea...

But in order to have even the teeniest chance of pounding out 50,000 words amidst feasting, recital planning, Black Friday and any number of other distractions, I'm going to need a plan.  A good solid plan that doesn't have too many holes (rabbit, black or otherwise) for me to fall into and get lost down for untold aeons, but not so strict that I feel stifled by it and don't feel like I can take a tangent to Terceira if someone feels like going over there all of a sudden (yeah, that was a hint on the topic).  At the moment, I just have a plan to make a plan.  And as far as I'm concerned, that's a good start.

Writing Wednesday: Traffic

Traffic

Every morning we drive to work and every afternoon we drive home.  We have seen tractor trailers jack-knifed and turned on their sides.  We have seen the NYPD pull over speeders.  We have seen emergency medical technicians saving lives.  We have seen bumper to bumper traffic with rubbernecking as its cause.

We did not see the vehicle on our left, coming towards us at 60 miles per hour.  Traffic everywhere.  Boxed in like a caged mouse.  Montage sequences of a wakeful, unreal nightmare. You were gone.

Never did I think that I would have to make this commute without you.



Image acquired from Wikimedia Commons.

Drabble- a story told in exactly 100 words.

Longer Than Expected

You really don't even need to ask. If the question is something about how long the editing took/will take, this is always the answer. Longer than Expected.

It's possible this error has to do with a gross overestimation of my efficiency. And I really do confess to delusions about my own abilities. I'm an optimist and I just always assume everything will be easier than it is. And for the record, people like me get more done because once started, you are sort of committed, where people with realistic expectations know a lot of things will just be time sucks. (yes, I used suck as a noun)

But I think the reality is forgetting. EVERY. TIME. Just how darn much work it takes to clean something up.

Let me tell you about my winter.

2012 began about three days into a ‘final’ polish for LEGACY (the book I intended to (and did) enter in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest). I intended this to take about three weeks—heck, it was just a read, after all. Two things:

1) It took six weeks

2) It ISN’T done. Oh, done enough for the contest, but a major strand occurred to me, so before I’d consider submitting it elsewhere, I have another layer of editing to do (a subplot that ties the other stuff together more strongly)—it should be noted the next revision will be numbered 12, I believe.

Part of the reason three weeks became six is in the MIDDLE of that, I had to start another revision of BEGONIA BRIBE—this book will be the death of me, just FYI. My editor had some things that I just hadn’t accomplished when I turned it in in September.

1) The pacing was wrong—body too late.

2) The gardening themed book was low on… you guessed it… gardening.

The first three chapters had to be done by Jan 31 (the reason for the LEGACY delay should be apparent), but then finishing LEGACY and getting BACK to BEGONIA BRIBE… finishing took to the end of February—not THIS should have been relatively quick, too, but the moving around of the beginning had HUGE ripple effects through the first 2/3 of the book. THANKFULLY, when I finished, my fabulous friend Stacy had time to make sure it wasn’t gibberish.

And then in March I began editing CHRYSANTHEMUM CAMPAIGN, and here we get the more focused view of why these things take so much longer than expected.


CHRYSANTHEMUM CAMPAIGN Edit, Round One

I finished writing my first draft of this December 29 and let it sit for two months (this is good—a couple months equals fresh eyes). Then in March I read it, making what I couldn’t keep myself from marking…

[see, ideally I would just read first, for the big picture stuff that needs changing. But this is beyond my ability]

Because of the marking up, this piece took three weeks—making the smaller edits, and marking the where and the what for bigger edits. That round has a lot of marks like, [look up heirloom fall flowers and describe garden]…

And then I wrote some of the needed scenes and did some of the research, but DOH!

As I read it again and marked the newly edited version, I discovered such things as:

1) Later story needs a character that X, so must be introduced earlier

2) Story suggests Y will be important, but it’s never mentioned again.

See, first time through the book these continuity issues don’t get spotted because it has been too long since first read. So I HAVE to have this second full read that I had completely not accounted for in my planning.

Then the continuity scenes you just noted have to be written (this is where I am now, when I SHOULD have gotten the book to two lovely beta readers on April 1st)

Ideally I’d go through again to polish, but they know it hasn’t been polished—this is a read for feedback on plot, characters, continuity and pacing—not word/sentence level feedback.

I will do that smoothing next round… because after feedback I ALSO will need a three layered edit.

While I wait for feedback, I will do my next round of editing for KAHLOTUS DISPOSAL SITE. Should take me about a week.

How about you? How realistic are you about how long things will take?

[Book covers designed by Joris Ammerlaan]

Muse or Mood?

Writing Wednesday has come 'round again, has it? I'm still not sure I'm in the best place for writing about writing, but so be it.

Actually, I'll start with a question - do you have to be in a certain mood to write, or put another way, do certain moods make it impossible for you to write? An informal poll of some of my scribble-inclined friends (I left the other Burrowers alone for this one, so don't get any ideas) seems to indicate that it's awfully personal - one writes horribly smutty things when depressed, another can't write at all, while a third can only write tragic scenes when she is herself in a very happy mood.

That's all very well for lazybutts like me who futz around and never really DO anything with the writing, but what about writers on deadlines? Even self-imposed ones like NaNoWriMo seem to get results (including, at least some of the time, for lazybutts like me), at least in terms of showing up and stringing the words together. In fact, this blog post is a really good example of the deadline forcing the work. I'm scheduled for the 4th, so I write a post on the 3rd. And since these posts are the only things I'm getting written these days (no, Facebook status updates certainly do not count), I guess that proves the power of the deadline (at least for me).

I'm not sure what I'd do if I were, say, a magazine or newspaper columnist (yeah, I know, dying breed, bear with me) who had an assignment that directly conflicted with events in my own life - can you imagine having to pen purple prose about weddings while going through a divorce, or "how to care for aging parents" if your own have recently died? I doubt journalists are much different from the rest of us in terms of just showing up and doing the job, so I'm back on the idea of the external deadline.

So, okay. I'm lazy. Guilty as charged. I guess I have to find some deadlines, huh?

"I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." - Douglas Adams

Write or Wrong?

Lately, I've been pondering moral issues.

As a historian I frequently come across difficult topics that can be tough to handle professionally. I wrote my thesis on the Middle East conflict. I now teach about World War One and Two. Constantly, I run into issues that are difficult - if not impossible - to handle without passing some kind of judgment. The dropping of the atomic bombs over Japan, for instance. So many factors to consider, making it a very complex moral question.

In my research and teaching, however, the solution is fairly simple. As a historian, you are not supposed to pass judgment. Personal opinions are less interesting than professional explanations and analysis of the issues of the past. Whether something is "right" or "wrong" isn't relevant. It may not always be easy to avoid having opinions, and it may not be easy to avoid voicing them, but at least it is a yardstick we can keep to.

This goes for academic writing, but not so much in other genres.

In fiction writing you will also frequently run into moral issues, and you have much less restraints in terms of what you can and cannot do. You don't have to keep to academic standards or give justice to any sources, unless you chose to, of course. You are free to portray any issue which ever way you want - as long as you are prepared to face the concequences.

Because - even if we as fiction writers have no formal obligation to avoid passing judgment or meddling with complex moral themes, we may still face repercussions. People will still have opinions about the subjects you address, and they will not hesitate to pass judgment on you as the author if they disagree with your position.

Nabokov's Lolita seems an apt example. In this case it is, perhaps, his lack of passing judgment that has caused the controversy - the narrator, a middle-aged man, attempts to justify his own sexual relationship with a twelve-year-old girl. Nabokov found his novel first rejected; and then after publishing, banned many places. Eventually, however, it has come to be considered a classic and a must-read.

Moral issues engage us. This is why it is difficult to convince students that they need to strip their academic papers from them. And this is why controversial books that deal with moral issues frequently are prainsed and banned, often simultaneously. As fiction writers, then, we should perhaps seek to deal with these issues rather than avoid them?

A Short Ramble & A Short Story

Ack... it's 'Writing Wednesday', and already past the deadline of noon. And I have to get ready to leave for my 2-10pm shift at work. Double ack. See, this is where my procrastinating gets me. I put things off until the last possible moment, and while sometimes I manage to pull something out of the hat, other times I don't.

Today is the latter, and so it will have to be a 'Written Wednesday' rather than a 'Writing Wednesday'. Truth be told, I'm not much good at these writerly posts anyway. A procrastinator doesn't really have a wealth of advice to offer, and if they did, they would save it for a rainy day in the spirit of putting things off,

So instead you can have a little Potter piece that I wrote a couple of years ago. After HPANA (my original Harry Potter internet home) went down, perhaps forever, little of my written work remained, but the following is one of a handful of pieces that I managed to salvage. Fortunately, it is one of my favourites.

+++++

Waiting.


Lily sat idly playing with a blade of grass, her expression thoughtful. There was a light breeze in the air, though not strong enough to move her hair much more than a little flutter. The sky was dark, threatening a shower at the very least, if not an outright downpour. Lily shivered. It wasn’t that she was cold, far from it; it was this dreadful waiting that was making her bones feel chilled.


It had been so long since life had seemed normal. It felt like she had been stuck in this – what was it? A half existence? – for longer than she cared to remember. She and James were forced to sit back and wait. The trouble was, they didn’t really know what they were waiting for, or when it would happen.


Their monotonous lives had been interrupted recently when Sirius had arrived. Lily had been perturbed at first by his sudden appearance, but both Sirius and James seemed happy in each other’s company, and even she had to admit that the extra adult company made things a little less… dare she say boring?


Lily sighed again as she watched the storm clouds gather directly above her head. Always it seemed winter here; always a fierce wind, with howling echoes that were reminiscent of wailing ghosts. She shivered again, the unwelcome feeling of ‘someone walking over her grave’ stealing down her spine.


“Why can’t the sun shine just once?” she asked the emptiness around her. But of course, the sun wouldn’t shine just because she’d asked it to. Just as she couldn’t go back just because she wanted to. Back to life, back to normality. If there even was a normality any more.


“Lily, darling, what are you doing?”

Lily smiled. James at least made things easier. Merlin knew what she would have done if he wasn’t here with her. He was almost always cheerful, in spite of their circumstances. Always he was trying to lift her spirits, telling her that soon – soon! – the wait would be over and all would be well. He gave her hope that one day the clouds would lift and the sun would manage to peek through and bathe them all with it’s life-giving light. Maybe she wouldn’t have to play with dried-out grass any more, and would instead be able to pluck a fresh bloom from the earth and enjoy its scent.


She felt James’s arms lift her from the ground and turned to smile at him.


“I was just….” her voice trailed off.


“Worrying? Wishing for something to happen?”


Lily smiled. James knew her too well.


“Come on, love; Sirius is chatting about old times and I need someone to remind him not to exaggerate too much,” said James cajolingly.


“Hmm, mixing things up, is he?” asked Lily, chuckling.


“You know Sirius; sometimes he forgets the finer details,” replied James, rolling his eyes.


Lily nodded and took her husband’s hand. Maybe Sirius’s Marauder tales would dispel some of her agitation. At the very least, she would enjoy the banter between her husband and his best friend.


***

She should have known things couldn’t have been so simple. Sirius had got as far as greeting Lily warmly, but was prevented from regaling tales from his youth by the sudden loud clap of thunder.


“I knew there would be a storm tonight,” muttered Lily.


“Nah, this isn’t a storm, Lily,” said Sirius lazily. “Look, there’s not even a drop of rain. It’s just a little bit of thunder, that’s all.”


Not even a drop of rain. There never was. This place had the constant atmosphere of an impending storm, but nothing more than dry thunder and lightening ever occurred.


“I have this feeling that something’s going to happen tonight,” said Lily, rubbing her arms.


“Look, noth-,” started James, but was interrupted by a familiar voice.


“Hello James,”


James and Sirius turned abruptly, but Lily closed her eyes, even more perturbed by this new arrival than she had been when Sirius had arrived.


“Oh no… not you too?” whispered James, his voice betraying his emotion.


“Yes, me too,” said Remus, though he didn’t sound half as distressed as his friend.


“How…?”


“Does it matter?” asked Remus ruefully. “No, not really. The fact is that I’m with you now. I think I was always meant to be with you one more time.”

Death. Lily shuddered. Even now it was hard to believe she was dead. That James was dead. But they were, and they were stuck in this limbo until Fate decreed that they could move on.


“Don’t look so distraught, Lily,” said Remus gently. “I’ve been waiting for Death to take me since I was nine years old. I’ve lived far longer than I could have wished, and I found happiness before I left life behind me.”


“You did?” asked Lily anxiously. She had worried endlessly about Remus ever since… ever really. He was the gentlest and sweetest of James’s friends, yet he had always suffered. She had feared the loss of herself and James would be his undoing.


“Yes, I did,” said Remus firmly. “I married. I married a wonderful woman who accepted me for who I was and loved me unconditionally.”


“Really? Oh Remus, that’s wonderful! But so sad…”


“Merlin, Remus, I’m sorry mate,” said Sirius, placing a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder.


“You’re too good to have this happen to you,” said James simply. “I’m truly sorry, Remus.”


Remus smiled. “It’s alright. Much as it saddens me, my wife is waiting for me to join her.”


“You mean she’s…?”


“Yes, she’s also dead. Tonight; the same as me. And we’ve left behind a son to carry on the name, too,” he said proudly.

“But that’s even sadder!” exclaimed Lily. “How can you be so accepting?”


“You are,” pointed out Remus.


“Yes, but we’ve had…well, we’ve had a long time to come to terms with it, haven’t we James?”


Remus shrugged. “No point fretting about it, it’s done. And my wife is waiting for me; as soon as I’m finished here, I can go to her.”

“You’re not staying,” said James sadly.


“No,” said Remus. “But I don’t think you are either.”


“What do you mean?”


“We have something to do tonight; all four of us.”


Remus wouldn’t be drawn any further on the subject, but Lily knew without doubt that it concerned Harry.


“It’s happening tonight, isn’t it?” she whispered.


“What’s happening?” said James, sounding perplexed.


“Whatever it is that we’ve been waiting all these years for.”


Remus nodded smilingly.


“What are we supposed to do?” asked Lily, anxious to get things right.


“I don’t know,” shrugged Remus. “But I don’t think that’ll be a problem. I think we just have to be here.”


***


Time was never fast in Limbo, but the evening seemed to go on for eternity. The storm clouds continued to rumble threateningly and Lily wished for the umpteenth time that some rain would fall from those deceptively dry bits of cotton in the sky. The tension was palpable; all four friends were too nervous to say much. They all wanted the night’s proceedings to get under way, no matter what they were.

About an hour after Remus arrived, a small chink of light peeked through the clouds and highlighted a small patch of grass a few feet away from where they were sitting. Lily stood up and walked towards it, feeling somehow that hope was maybe just around the corner. She stooped down to the ground, her eyes drawn to a smudge of white.

“It’s a lily,” she breathed in awe. It had been so long since she had seen her namesake that she had almost forgotten what they looked like, but there was no mistaking the delicate flower that had appeared so suddenly in the previously barren ground. She bent to smell it with appreciation, and fingered the green stem that looked far too delicate to support the luminous white petals above it. For some reason she was reminded of Severus, and she smiled sadly in remembrance of her old friend. Her memory of him was so strong that she even thought she heard his voice.

Look at me…

Lily shook her head, calling herself silly. She took one more sniff of the lily before rejoining the others.

***

Another hour or so passed before it happened. The four friends had been talking quietly when suddenly they all felt something pulling at them. It was very similar to using a Portkey, but the pulling sensation was in their head rather than behind their navel.

All four began walking at once; they all seemed to know where they had to go.

“Harry’s calling us,” said Lily, her eyes shining with anticipation of seeing her son.

“Yes,” said Remus. “He needs us now. He needs our love to guide him through his task. We can help him, Lily. That’s why we’re all here.”


Lily nodded. It was as if she had known all along.


When she saw her son, Lily felt a burst of hope rip through her. The clouds parted a little more, and a few more chinks of light dotted the ground ahead.


This was what she had been waiting for. This was why she couldn’t be at peace. Her son needed one last piece of support from his parents before they could leave the Earth forever.


The closer they got, the more light came through those perpetually gloomy storm clouds. Lily knew with certainty that soon the clouds would dissipate and that the sun would be allowed to shine again. The endless winter would end, and life would be allowed to prosper all over again.


As Lily finally looked face to face at her son, she could almost smell the fragrance of the thousand flowers that would soon cover the dried-out grass that surrounded them.


Winter had ended. And Spring was the most magical of seasons.

***End***

Writing Wednesday: Randomness and Rome

Many do not know that my daughter, Ayanna, went to Rome for the mid-winter recess with her high school.  She spent nine days visiting: Rome, Florence, Pompeii, Assissi, and  Sorrento.  She chose a trip to Italy versus a Sweet 16, smart girl!  She knows I "got her" for her wedding when she is older.  :D

Here is Rome told in pictures:

The National Museum in Rome.

The city park's fountains meet the river. Not sure which park or river.

Locks are placed by couples crossing the bridge to symbolize their everlasting love.  Nice!

The ceiling of one of the many churches the group toured.

Ruins made into a cat sanctuary.  The ruins were caused by the extraction of the metal that supported the columns.  They were recycled and used elsewhere in Rome.

This is the exterior of one of the buildings my daughter toured.  Translation please?

Modern day market stalls in a piazza surrounded by lovely buildings.

A beautiful fountain on a busy street.  Ayanna said they must have seen at least ten different fountains including the Trevi Fountain.

Angels & Demons anyone?  I love this structure and all the angels surrounding it.

This is  . . . *drum roll*. . . the ruins of the Roman Coliseum.

This is my baby girl in front of the Trevi Fountain.  It was dark and I don't know who took the photo.

All roads lead to Rome.  I couldn't help myself.  This is an ancient Roman road that is approximately two thousand years old.  Looks good, doesn't it?

And last is a photo of the sunshine trying to burst out of the cloudy sky.  I have many more photos but will save them for my next post.  That's all folks!

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Beauty of the Fool

So yesterday I was in the midst of a Facebook conversation, where all great mind rushes seem to start, yes? And somebody pointed out the Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert fact of the day... they... the comedians... seem to be the only source of truth these days...

Image from Wikipedia

But this is not new. During the great European monarchies it was the Jester, the Joker, the Fool... those were the only people who could say the great truths without risk of execution by the king. Because of this, Shakespeare used them fairly frequently—they were both a historically accurate detail and a brilliant plot device. Some fools even acted fool, even while they manipulated their masters. Rumor has it Terry Pratchet's Discworld series uses this device—I have had these on my list forever, but my local library selection is either bad, or the books are too popular—I have trouble getting ahold of any at all, let alone the beginning.

So for Writing Wednesday I thought maybe we'd explore characters and techniques involving humor/fools for advancing plots.



Who is Eligible to be the Fool?

You know, I am not sure I think the fool works as an MC, because I don't think the reader can be in on their inner workings. I think the fool works best with a note of surprise. They should shock us. Or else they should make us laugh so we underestimate what they say, having it hit us only later. I suspect Terry Pratchet would make me eat my words, and a fool intent on actually controlling things would be a different sort of character—capable of carrying a story. Mostly, though, rather than a literal fool, I like a sidekick—a close friend willing to give uncomfortable truths and add some humor to an otherwise darker tale.

I've written such a character for my cozy mystery series. Much of the humor is in the form of Annie Schulz, BFF to my MC. And Annie speaks with my Tart voice, advising the heroine to do such things as 'go grope your boyfriend, or I'll have to do it'. But at the same time, she is the strength behind the MC.

Other likely fools however, can appear in surprising places. Consider the strange case of Professor Trelawney. She is an out of touch fruitcake, yes? I used to be fond of the saying, 'she has the sight, but hasn't a clue.' Meaning she could see the future, but was lousy at interpretation. This essay does a nice job of summing it up. Though the essay misses one of the big interpretations:

“When thirteen dine together, the first to rise is the first to die.”

Sybil comes and thinks she makes thirteen. But in fact there were already thirteen at the table before she got there—Peter Pettigrew is in Ron's pocket... and then ALBUS rises to greet Sybil. So in fact her prophecy is TRUE. She just applies it wrong.

And it is things like interpreting the Grim as death that make us not trust her, when it is not a Grim at all, but Sirius, she is seeing. Note she gets much better at interpretation as things get darker—by the Half Blood Prince almost every prediction she makes is accurate, if sherry doused.

Trelawney is a brilliant fool. She is so easy to dismiss. And yet it is her prophecy that sets the entire story in motion—Voldemort ACTS because of what she said, and by his acting, makes it true.

I love the idea that because they are funny, the fool can tell readers things they need to know in a way that they will still be surprised when they prove to be true, later.

What about all of you—have you ever used the fool to enrich your tale?

Unwriting

This isn't really a "Writing" Wednesday post... it's more about my current failure to write, unfortunately. It's not for lack of trying this time - I was all hyped up to give it another go, I swear - see, I went to a lunch on Monday with the lovely Margot Livesey, whose latest book (The Flight of Gemma Hardy) is totally awesome, by the way, and you should go get a copy, especially if you like Jane Eyre, Scotland, or coming-of-age stories. Since I like all three, I signed right up.

So okay, have a pleasant hour of listening to her read and talk (mild Scottish accent, which is always nice), and I'm thinking, okay doofus, you really need to get back to work on some of your WiPs. How 'bout the one that's actually set in Scotland? Okay, why not? I hop into my car to head to work, and oh hello, Bruch's Scottish Fantasy is just starting on the radio. Hey! That's, like, a totally major part of the story, man! Karma says go write!

Errrrrrrrrmyeahno. Sat here with the notebooks for HOURS. I have bugger all to show for it.

I'm A Writer? Me??

 I think there may have been a few wires crossed somewhere, because apparently I am under the impression that I am a writer. I don't know what gave me this idea, because I am probably the least writerly person I know. Most of the time I put writerly things off for as long as I can, and surely this is a sign that I'm NOT a writer.

Writers also have this inbuilt skill when it comes to writing. Unlike me, they don't wrangle with typos and copious spelling errors. And they have magical understanding of grammar. They know all about colons and semi-colons, and those mysterious ellipses. They know exactly what 'first person' and 'third person' is, and don't get them muddled in a single paragraph. They know the proper use of apostrophes, and they know whether certain words are supposed to have capital letters.

And they certainly don't make up words willy-nilly and hope that nobody notices.

One thing I DO have in common with writers is the difficulty in writing a 'pitch' (which, I'm sure you have noticed, rhymes conveniently with 'bitch', an apt description of the pitch process if I ever I heard one).

But other than the tenuous bond over pitch writing, I can safely say that there's nothing much else in common between me and 'proper' writers. When I'm reading writerly blogs and tips, most of the time there's a little hobbit in my brain scratching his head and saying 'eh?' (Hmm, I've forgotten whether that question mark should go before or after the quote. See what I mean? Ugh).

Maybe I am a writer, but maybe I'm also a charlatan. Or maybe I'm just brain-addled over writing this bitch. Er, pitch. And maybe this post would have been better as a 'Who Am I?' post.

Maybe I should go now. *snort*

Image source.

In Praise of the Writing Sprint

Before I get started, I FIRST want to throw out a HUGE happy birthday to Jan! Happy Winter Solstice, sister, and a very magical Birthiversary!!! (and welcome back to the light, eh)



And NOW for the blog... I have a new game I play. I discovered it during the most recent NaNoWriMo. It had always seemed a strange thing to do before, but I've come to love it.

What is it? A Writing Sprint is designating a starting and stopping time and writing with abandon... as fast as you possibly can... Often (usually, even) it is done with a couple friends. I have used Facebook (in fact I created a Facebook Group for it: Writing Sprints R Us), though during NaNo, Lynn Rush told me they ran them on Twitter, too. Somebody calls it and times it (anybody, really).

What does it DO for me? It gives me permission to put everything else off. This is huge. I have a family who can be demanding. I have chores I feel guilty not doing. I can get distracted with the best of them by facebook or my blog (or somebody else's blog)--heck, my religion is digression. But this start and end time says 'this is only for this time. You can get to the other stuff later'. And somehow, magically, I CAN. I can psychologically turn the other stuff off.

HOW do you do it? Well most importantly, you need to turn OFF your notifications. No phone, no email beep, no facebook open, no chat. Then you need to practice THIS phrase: “Not until my writing sprint is over!” Your spouse and children need to get used to this. The first time I said it my son said, “What's a writing sprint?” so I had to define it. “I write as fast as I can for a full hour with no interruptions.” his response? “And you think that's fun?”

Man, oh, MAN do I think it's fun!

Then you need to learn to IGNORE doorbells, phones, drier buzzers. Probably you shouldn't have LEFT anything with a cooking timer going... go get it out of the oven, but FAST. Don't put anything else in until you're done.



Does it WORK? Boy Howdy, does it?! This November, rather than the 51K-56K range of my past I managed 68K. And I managed with WITH Thanksgiving duty (hubby had to work—other years I have that off) and WITH a couple editing SNAFU obstacles. I think I had 6 days over 5K. In the past I might have 2 or 3...

And I've kept going in December—I am committed to finishing my 3rd (and as far as I know final) cozy mystery first draft before the year is out. I've been trying to do sprints about 3 weeknights and then at least 4 over the weekend and I have written 33K in 15 days. (I finished my NaNo on Dec. 5 at 80K)--holy heck YEAH, that means in 50 days I've written 113,000 words. Seriously. Oh wait... less the 2K from before November... so 111,000... STILL! So say YES to the writing sprint! And if you are looking for company, PLEASE join us on FB. (it's open, but it seems people still have to request--don't worry, I will approve you)


If you have trouble fitting writing in, you can do it for shorter spurts too... time twenty minutes. Half an hour. Put the time aside—such a SHORT time, really. Heck, you could lose that much answering a single email. And if you are in a different phase, the SAME thing works for editing—the permission to turn off everything else is pretty universally handy.

I challenge anybody to come up with ANYTHING that works quite this well for fitting words into a schedule.

Do's and Don't's When Writing A Wednesday Post

DO try to get out of it if you are stumped.
DON'T rely on getting out of it if you are stumped.

DO think of a few subjects and strategies for helping you to compose a post.
DON'T think that leaving it to the last minute will help in any way.

DO remember that this is supposed to be a helpful blog to aspiring writers.
DON'T forget that you are an aspiring writer too.

DO try to think of something that is both useful and hasn't been covered before.
DON'T resort to tried and tested means (or fall back on Taffing, even if youknowzitmakezsense like, innit?).

DO try to write something in advance so that you have time to tweak and perfect at your leisure.
DON'T  look at the time and think Crap! I have to get a post up in the next hour or I am doomed!

DO try to relax and take a few calming breaths.
DON'T freak out and start typing the first thing that comes to mind.

DO remember that the post doesn't have to be earth-shattering, and your readers are generally nice people.
DON'T get paranoid and start thinking that your readers are rolling their eyes at your stupidity.

DO remember that as long as you get something - anything! - posted, you have done your job.
DON'T think that the 'anything!' part of the above sentence means you can resort to a silly Do's and Don't's list.

Er...

Image borrowed from here.

Writing Wednesday - writing through rejection and dejection

I decided that I would be brutally honest today. Brutally. Honest. I am sure I'm not alone in having two sides, especially on the blog and off of it. Or in front of people who we aren't sure have our back. Or those that do and  have enough of their own misery not to need any more of it. Especially writerly misery, which is of a very certain, and some might say, self-indulgent sort.
This year, with my writing, I've been a Charlie Brown. And the community I've looked to for support has been a Lucy. I've entered various challenges, contests, etc... and always with a cheerful optimistic outlook. But each time I've come up a chump. I've run forward, ready to kick that football, and lo and behold, each and every time it has been snatched away. Oh, don't worry, I'm not seriously deluded. I know that no one is doing this to me. The thing is I've been behind the magician's curtain in many of these instances. I know how the thing works. I've laboured to choose among many bad and several good entries, or sat on boards that decide who is going to get to breath financially for a bit and who will have to keep on keeping on. And I have found it profoundly hard this year to write through rejection. Perhaps it is because I've also been writing through dejection - my dad died, we had a sudden and horrible reversal of fortune, grandchildren woes and on and on.
I'm not going to leave the story there - how mean would that be? But from time to time I realize that my bloggy persona is one cheery broad - a let's just whistle a tune as we walk through the graveyard sort. And I don't feel like trotting that ego-state out today. I will say what has worked for me and continues to - the support of writing pals. In particular, my writing pal Gwen lifts me up when I am down and I in turn do that for her. Not even my dearest guy can get the depth of writing hell but Gwen can. I also know my fellow Burrowers can do the same. We've shared some of the worst and the load has been the lighter for it.
So, if you are writing through rejection and dejection find yourself a writing pal - as soon as ever you can - whether it is in the flesh or on the web - do it.

Meanwhile (and it does seem a very mean while) I'm writing up a grant proposal. Like Charlie Brown I will go forward optimistically once again into the fray. Here is a photo of my eldest grandson, contemplating snatching victory from the jaws of defeat...

Writing Wednesday (or not)

I have to say, the thought of pounding out a "Writing Wednesday" post right now feels like the epitome of hypocrisy. I've hardly written a thing in months. This is, in part, because I haven't had a day off in months, but there are plenty of writers out there who seem to manage to juggle endless numbers of part-time jobs, children, pets, sick parents or complicated relationships and STILL turn out page after page.

I'm just not one of them.

I'm sitting here at 10 PM, halfway to the flu and trying desperately not to go the rest of the way (I'm probably doomed though, seems like half my coworkers are out), typing awkwardly over a large black lump (aka my cat, Rullie), chugging chai and gazing longingly at the packet of HobNobs I've told myself I can open as a reward for getting this post written.

But I'm not exulting in my NaNoWriMo word count, 'cause I'm not doing it. I'm not editing my last one, 'cause I failed at it. The one before that? It's in the living room, but I can't even bring myself to dig it out and try to polish it. My muse, if I ever had one, has left the building. I know, I know, "if you show up every day, eventually the muse will too." Showing up every day? Oh right, yeah, that'd be work. And writing? That's a job too, albeit one I don't usually get paid for, and I can't seem to make myself add any more commitments to this pile.

So for those of you who ARE NaNo-ing, I salute your perseverance, your word count (whatever it is), your put-the-butt-in-the-chair-ness. For those painstakingly editing their most recent manuscript until it fair cries out to be printed and shelved in bookstores everywhere, well done! English teachers, journalists, college students, congratulations!

I just can't seem to do it right now. Unless you count this. Yay?

Writing Wednesday: December Drabble Contest

That's right, people.  It is that time of year again!

December means so many different things to people around the world. It could mean Winter Solstice, Christmas, Winter Wonderland, New Years' and everything else we can think of.  To most, it is "The Holidays."

In December, The Burrow will be hosting our annual Advent Calendar.

All you have to do is to write a drabble in exactly 100 words based on any/all of these photographs, and email it to 'theburrow360@gmail.com' by November 26, 2011. The winning entries for each of the images will be featured in the December feature.


So here are the images to choose from:

Poinsettias

Peace Tower at Christmas

Winter Wonderland

Advent Wreath

And just for fun- Snowhenge

Good luck and happy writing!



All images are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Speed Writing

So most of you probably know NaNoWriMo started yesterday. I’ve done a couple of these… two NaNoWriMos and two BuNoWriMos, so four books in all. I love this way of writing.

You see, I wrote my first book in about 2 ½ years… and it was over 200,000 words… I am a PRO at thinking every side story merits exploration… yes. I am a tangent queen.

And when I was writing like that, I completely disbelieved I had the kind of style that was ‘a novel in a month’ compatible. I thought… heck… I’m a marathoner…

But in 2009 that ‘plugging away’ wasn’t really working for me and I got an prequel idea for a book I’d been trying to write, and I managed to write my second completed book in 7 weeks… it made me give NaNoWriMo a second thought.

I thought I COULD and I DID.

And I learned something… Stuff I thought I’d share.

Benefits of Writing Fast

1) It is easier to notify family and neglect obligations for a concentrated period of time.
2) The momentum is terrific for word count.
3) You are forced to ignore mistakes and therefore don’t get BOGGED in them.
4) The biggest, for me, is you are forced to stick to the main story line. Side plots that really compliment the story can be added in later.




Benefits of the Group Activity

1) Support
2) Adrenaline
3) WIDGETS erm…
4) Externally imposed deadlines can be more motivating than those we set ourselves.

Tricks for Success

1) The most obvious is DO NOT EDIT WHILE YOU GO! I mean if you want to tweak WHILE you write and can’t help yourself, maybe a word or typo here and there doesn’t hurt, but DON’T go back the next day and reread and fix—you don’t have time.

2) Front-load your word count goals: Stuff comes up. It ALWAYS comes up. There will be a day or two somewhere you need to address an emergency. So while theoretically you can win at 1,667 words a day, you really want to write a little faster so you are a day or two ahead. ALSO, for me, I slow down mid story, so I frontload so that at the end I only have to hit about 1000-1200 a day.

3) For me, a plan helps. BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA… oh, I love a plan. That is not to say I always stick to my plan, but I keep trying to veer back to it so I don’t write myself into a corner.

It's not too late you know... you are only one day behind, and it's easy peasy to make up that much... 1,724 words a day would get you there...  Come on! All the cool kids are doing it!

Coincidences

I don't know what it is about the bookstore where I work, but odd coincidences seem to pop up in the strangest places. Connections you could never have imagined when the event in question first occurred, but which hit you in the face years later with a resounding SPLAT! (The one before the one I'm about to discuss was discovering that one of my coworkers lived in an apartment literally across the street from mine back when we were in college, if you're wondering.)

This week's, though, came about as follows:
1) Bumble into work (exhausted as usual) and get told I have to train a newbie.
2) Teach newbie various bookstore survival skills (including the necessity of reading Not Always Right and making sure that the new books go in the right places so I don't have a hissy fit when I find them in the WRONG place again).
3) Make conversation with newbie (who is, thankfully, intelligent and able to carry on a conversation, 'cause this would all get really boring if she weren't).
4) Discover that newbie attended the school where a friend of mine is the librarian
5) And now the weird bit - she is the very student said friend brought up in a conversation over tea and knitting about writing Harry Potter fan-fiction as a way of breaking in and warming up that writing muscle.

I know, I know, that's a lot of steps, but considering how many of my fellow Burrowers really got going in the fan-fiction arena, it's totally relevant, right? ;-) So I guess my point today is two-fold (which means I get to make a list again, yay!):

(Okay, so it's not that list, but so what?)

1) Whatever the hell you need to write to get writing, WRITE IT. "Even" fan-fiction.
2) Weird coincidences really DO happen, so don't be afraid to write one (as long as it's not the crucial clue in your mystery, of course. Readers don't like that. ;-) ).