January is a hard month for many reasons. First is the weather. In Minnesota January is usually the coldest and darkest month of the year. Leaving us chilled and depressed from the lack of sunlight. But it is also the month we set and break our New Year's resolutions. I can weakly say that I have not failed my 2016 goals yet. However, the January doldrums are pulling at me and my motivation to attack my goals is threatened.
Thankfully I have great support that keeps me going and now a new friend in Scrivener. Many writers are aware of this masterpiece of software that allows us wordsmiths to spill our scattered ideas across a word processing document then reassemble them and eventually write the story. The program has folders for places, characters, notes, and research. And my favorite is the storyboard view when I can see a corkboard of my story's main points without having to plaster my studio walls with post-it notes.
After finishing NaNoWriMo in November and having my first very rough draft, I wasn't sure what to do with it. Enter Literature and Latte and their sponsorship of NaNoWriMo. They kindly gave a discount for Scrivener to those of us that met our 50,000 word count goals. When I didn't know where to start with rewriting my novel I looked to the NaNoWriMo winner prizes. I had heard of Scrivener before, but didn't think it was for me. I like the old fashioned clutter of storyboards and post-its. However, much like my decision to enter the November challenge, I decided I needed something more to finish my first novel.
I've only been using the program for about a week and have a lot to learn about all the tools it provides. So far I am very pleased with the structure that it gives my very disorganized novel. I'm able to enter all my notes, ideas, and little darlings without having to commit to any specific order until I am ready to write. For now my novel is disjointed and only bullet points that mark my main plot and subplots. But being the visual person I am, I can see the story coming together more clearly than it has so far.
So while the weather continues to try to slow my progress, I remain faithful to my project and my goals. Writing is never easy and as writers we are often plagued by fear of rejection and criticism. Still our minds and hearts won't allows us to put the pen down. We must write no matter the excuse, bad day or lectures from our internal critics. And while I fight off the winter blues, I am glad for programs like Scrivener that help me stay focused even if a little scattered.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Feeling Inspired
As far back as I can remember I have loved to create stories whether I made them up entirely on my own or piggy backed on one of my favorite television shows. I would play out my stories in my head or in the pasture with only the horses for an audience. Now that I'm older I still love to create tales only I no longer act them out. I've often thought of where my fascination for creating has come from and I don't have to look far to figure it out.
I have a very talented and creative family including fellow writers, painters, swimmers, dancers, athletes, and musicians. This week I'm especially thinking of my Grandma B who displayed her art through her brilliant baking. I've never tasted a better sugar cookie than the ones Grandma B used to make and her pie, don't get me started on her perfection that wordsmiths like me can't even find the right word to describe just how delicious they were. She really was brilliant and talented. We say our final good-byes to Grandma B this week. Sadness immediately filled me as I received the news of her passing. But the sadness did not last long. I still cry, but they are tears of remembrance for the life she led and the great legacy she leaves behind. In fact, stories of her life will always bring a tear or smile to my face and even inspire me to write.
Stories of living through the Great Depression, young love, destroyed family secrets, salt water taffy, Snickers bars, Dominoes, and an old porch swing instantly inspire me to put my pen to paper. Or a small three bedroom house for ten people with not much more than an abundance of love and discipline to support them. How about a coffee tin full of Valentine's sugar cookies or a boa constrictor as an unexpected guest or a trap door built into the hay loft as a cruel sibling trick. These are just some of the many, many stories with Grandma B at the center. To some her life would appear simple, but in my mind it was nothing short of extraordinary. Thank you, Grandma, for all the love and inspiration.
Who inspires you?
I have a very talented and creative family including fellow writers, painters, swimmers, dancers, athletes, and musicians. This week I'm especially thinking of my Grandma B who displayed her art through her brilliant baking. I've never tasted a better sugar cookie than the ones Grandma B used to make and her pie, don't get me started on her perfection that wordsmiths like me can't even find the right word to describe just how delicious they were. She really was brilliant and talented. We say our final good-byes to Grandma B this week. Sadness immediately filled me as I received the news of her passing. But the sadness did not last long. I still cry, but they are tears of remembrance for the life she led and the great legacy she leaves behind. In fact, stories of her life will always bring a tear or smile to my face and even inspire me to write.
Stories of living through the Great Depression, young love, destroyed family secrets, salt water taffy, Snickers bars, Dominoes, and an old porch swing instantly inspire me to put my pen to paper. Or a small three bedroom house for ten people with not much more than an abundance of love and discipline to support them. How about a coffee tin full of Valentine's sugar cookies or a boa constrictor as an unexpected guest or a trap door built into the hay loft as a cruel sibling trick. These are just some of the many, many stories with Grandma B at the center. To some her life would appear simple, but in my mind it was nothing short of extraordinary. Thank you, Grandma, for all the love and inspiration.
Who inspires you?
Thursday, January 14, 2016
NaNoWriMo 2015, New Year, and New Post
Life has led me on many adventures since my last post in June 2009. But now I'm back! With the help of supportive family and friends, the encouragement of great authors who came before me, a lot of coffee, NaNoWriMo, and a determined character named Andy (short for Andora), I am writing more than ever and loving it.
Over the last six years I have constantly been followed by shadows of characters that were waiting to have their stories told. I tried many times to satisfy them, but life and my internal critic always killed them before I could get the rest of their stories. That all changed when Andora Holbrook whispered from the tall grass of the meadow from my then workplace. She laughed at me with the challenge to tell her tale of missing persons, stolen artifacts, phantom islands possessing resources beyond our wildest imaginations, and the existence of magic. I took the challenge and started writing her story during the summer of 2014. But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get past the first fifty pages. That was until I was challenged by NaNoWriMo 2015 (National Novel Writing Month).
At first I didn't think the 50,000 words in one month was a challenge that was right for me. I had already started my story and didn't want my creative genius to be constricted by a time constraint. No, I was going to write my novel perfectly at my own pace. It wasn't until November 3rd, 3 days into the challenge, that I realized how wrong I was and that NaNoWriMo was exactly what I needed. I needed the fire to be fueled not only with the desire to write, but also to win. Writing 50,000 words in one month is not an easy task especially considering I had only written about 14,000 words in a year. Without thinking twice I jumped in the race and set a pace of about 2,000 words a day. Each day I wrote and every milestone I hit encouraged me more to keep going. NaNoWriMo gave me the surge of adrenaline that I needed to help me reach my goal of completing my first finished manuscript.
Yay, I finished my novel! Well, not quite. I finished my first shitty draft or FSD. And, yes, that is the technical term for the original regurgitation of words that spread across the paper in a clumsy hurry to get all the ideas of a story out before it chokes you. Luckily no one will ever read that monstrosity of a first draft. But even after realizing what I had written was garbage, I had a new commitment to continue with the story. It has to be completely rewritten, but now I know what Andy's story is about and what it is not. When people asked me what my book was about before NaNoWriMo I couldn't answer them even though I knew every detail. After writing it all out I know now what works and what doesn't. I know how I have severely neglected my protagonist while allowing minor players to shine. I know now that little darlings that I thought had to be included must now die. I'm sure I'll shed a tear for them at one point, but in the end I will have a finished novel that successfully tells Andy's amazing story of loss, danger, intrigue, far off lands, and family secrets.
With the start of a new year, I have set goals for myself that will help me keep my promise to Andy to tell her story. They are not New Year's resolutions that are easily started and failed. No, these goals are a matter of such importance that I fear to fail would mean killing all current and potential characters that might linger or ever be born in my mind and soul including Andy Holbrook. I have established daily, weekly, and monthly goals that cut the elephant of writing a novel into much smaller pieces that are easier to consume. So far I'm ahead of my written goals and am greatly encouraged for what this year holds.
Over the last six years I have constantly been followed by shadows of characters that were waiting to have their stories told. I tried many times to satisfy them, but life and my internal critic always killed them before I could get the rest of their stories. That all changed when Andora Holbrook whispered from the tall grass of the meadow from my then workplace. She laughed at me with the challenge to tell her tale of missing persons, stolen artifacts, phantom islands possessing resources beyond our wildest imaginations, and the existence of magic. I took the challenge and started writing her story during the summer of 2014. But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get past the first fifty pages. That was until I was challenged by NaNoWriMo 2015 (National Novel Writing Month).
At first I didn't think the 50,000 words in one month was a challenge that was right for me. I had already started my story and didn't want my creative genius to be constricted by a time constraint. No, I was going to write my novel perfectly at my own pace. It wasn't until November 3rd, 3 days into the challenge, that I realized how wrong I was and that NaNoWriMo was exactly what I needed. I needed the fire to be fueled not only with the desire to write, but also to win. Writing 50,000 words in one month is not an easy task especially considering I had only written about 14,000 words in a year. Without thinking twice I jumped in the race and set a pace of about 2,000 words a day. Each day I wrote and every milestone I hit encouraged me more to keep going. NaNoWriMo gave me the surge of adrenaline that I needed to help me reach my goal of completing my first finished manuscript.
Yay, I finished my novel! Well, not quite. I finished my first shitty draft or FSD. And, yes, that is the technical term for the original regurgitation of words that spread across the paper in a clumsy hurry to get all the ideas of a story out before it chokes you. Luckily no one will ever read that monstrosity of a first draft. But even after realizing what I had written was garbage, I had a new commitment to continue with the story. It has to be completely rewritten, but now I know what Andy's story is about and what it is not. When people asked me what my book was about before NaNoWriMo I couldn't answer them even though I knew every detail. After writing it all out I know now what works and what doesn't. I know how I have severely neglected my protagonist while allowing minor players to shine. I know now that little darlings that I thought had to be included must now die. I'm sure I'll shed a tear for them at one point, but in the end I will have a finished novel that successfully tells Andy's amazing story of loss, danger, intrigue, far off lands, and family secrets.
With the start of a new year, I have set goals for myself that will help me keep my promise to Andy to tell her story. They are not New Year's resolutions that are easily started and failed. No, these goals are a matter of such importance that I fear to fail would mean killing all current and potential characters that might linger or ever be born in my mind and soul including Andy Holbrook. I have established daily, weekly, and monthly goals that cut the elephant of writing a novel into much smaller pieces that are easier to consume. So far I'm ahead of my written goals and am greatly encouraged for what this year holds.
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