Okay, I have to admit something that I'm not ashamed of, but wouldn't otherwise share. I received a Barnes and Noble gift card for Christmas from my brother-in-law. I'm thrilled. I love gift cards. I love Barnes and Noble. The problem with me and gift cards is that I've always been the person to really weigh my options and be sure to make the best possible choice before spending anything.
So...I wandered the store for 30 minutes and couldn't find much of anything I just had to have (mostly because I just received a Kindle from my dad and it's already full of books). Then, I had a little light go off in my head that said, "hey, Margaret, why don't you look at the writing books?"
"Okay," I said and then stood there completely paralyzed like a dog waiting for the go ahead to eat the bone on its nose. I know I've mentioned my love of the library before. Well, I honestly stood in the middle of Barnes and Noble on a horribly busy day thinking, "where is the 808 section?"
That's right, I'm fully converted to the Dewey Decimal system. Confession made.
Welcome to 2011
Just a quick Happy New Year to all. I hope everyone reads as much as they want, writes as much as they can, and enjoys the time we have together. For me New Year's day is kind of like Thanksgiving as I reflect on all that I have going right in my life and find ways to foster that feeling into the other elements that are a little less than ideal.
By now I'm about 80% done setting my goals (not resolutions) and look forward to kicking some literary ass and taking some names this year with writing, revisions, and submissions. I hope you have as much inspiration and gusto to do the same. Enjoy this day and the others still in front of you in 2011!
By now I'm about 80% done setting my goals (not resolutions) and look forward to kicking some literary ass and taking some names this year with writing, revisions, and submissions. I hope you have as much inspiration and gusto to do the same. Enjoy this day and the others still in front of you in 2011!
Why No One Needs Resolutions
Tomorrow is the last day of the year and by this time everyone around me and on TV is talking about resolutions. Everyone decides to quit doing something or start doing something else. Then, by February, all bets are off and everyone has gone back to “normal.” Resolutions are only good with follow through, motivation, accountability, and reward. Anyone can say they want to lose ten pounds. I can say that and probably could afford to lose more than that, but saying it and doing it are two different beasts of burden all together. One is a cute little kitty that looks appealing and fluffy. The other is a vicious lion with blood streaking through its fur and zebra skin still dangling from its teeth as it growls and swipes at the sky with its red tinged claws out.
The Big Annual Breakup
I’ve come to realize NaNoWriMo is like a bad boyfriend. You go running around having a great time and things are pretty hot and heavy. You’re seeing each other every day, but not to the point that you’re sick of seeing them, and then, in an instant, it’s December first. Your boyfriend, Nano, has broken up with you, again. He’s gone; the dates, the late nights together, the time spent talking about your feelings/thoughts/characters, and even the cute way he used to count your words with a bar graph. The relationship is all gone.
Sending the Fledglings Out of the Nest
Tomorrow I send out the first of many fiction submissions in almost a year. Hey, life happens. Am I a little nervous? Well, yeah. Of course I am, however the business of writing involves a lot of rejections before you start getting acceptances so I'd rather start getting material out there and receiving rejections already so I can get that much closer to an acceptance.
The best thing about this is that I already know exactly what story I'm going to start revising next and I already know exactly where I'm going to send it. This makes things much more steady, holding the wheel and steering straight ahead, not looking back or getting distracted. I wish these little stories luck, and while I hope for but don't expect instant publications, I look forward to the critiques (from those who give them) to keep pushing my craft and sending these little birds of stories out into the world.
The best thing about this is that I already know exactly what story I'm going to start revising next and I already know exactly where I'm going to send it. This makes things much more steady, holding the wheel and steering straight ahead, not looking back or getting distracted. I wish these little stories luck, and while I hope for but don't expect instant publications, I look forward to the critiques (from those who give them) to keep pushing my craft and sending these little birds of stories out into the world.
NaNoWriMo 2010 is complete
Here I am, victorious to my word count beast and I'm thrilled to death to get so many good stories out of NaNo (25 is now my new total for the 52 Story Pick Up). If I could I'd lay in the sand somewhere (because I don't like snow) and run my arms and legs back and forth to make an angel, I would.
There's both a sense of accomplishment and relief that comes from writing so many words in such a ridiculously short period of time that confirms you must be crazy to do such a thing. So here I am...TA DA! Done!
So, do I take a break? Hell yeah! I'll give myself a few days to let the fingers cool and then the real challenge begins. Writing more new material and revising what I have. My hopes are to clean up one story at a time and send it out into the world like a little fledgling bird hoping one day it will fly back to me with a check in its beak instead of a rejection letter, but only time, energy, and revision will tell.
There's both a sense of accomplishment and relief that comes from writing so many words in such a ridiculously short period of time that confirms you must be crazy to do such a thing. So here I am...TA DA! Done!
So, do I take a break? Hell yeah! I'll give myself a few days to let the fingers cool and then the real challenge begins. Writing more new material and revising what I have. My hopes are to clean up one story at a time and send it out into the world like a little fledgling bird hoping one day it will fly back to me with a check in its beak instead of a rejection letter, but only time, energy, and revision will tell.
This clip is for me, but you can use it too.
I love Elisabeth Gilbert's writing style in Eat, Pray, Love, but I'm afraid a lot of people probably don't know she's written other stuff. Her collection of short stories, Pilgrims, in particular is a set of slice-of-life stories that are really amazing in construction and characterization, and they motivate me to get closer to my characters to tell their stories. That being said, anytime I need a boost of writing or a pep talk I turn to this clip of Gilbert and I'm washed with inspiration and enthusiasm to get writing. So here it is, this clip is for me, but you can use it too. If you're a writer, this may be the best 20 minutes of your day and it's so worth it.
Through Story 20
I'm writing, and I'm writing, and I'm writing. I have to be honest I'm ready for NaNoWriMo to be over. I really am just so I can have a couple days of a break. This is however a marathon, not a sprint, and that's true for NaNo as well as writing as a whole.
As for progress, I'm getting a lot of stories written and about half of them I feel really positive about without having had a chance to revise yet. That's my bread and butter; the revision process. It's taken years to get to the point that I really trust my own judgement to revise my work and know what isn't working, but for now it's those "shitty first drafts" to quote Anne Lamott, that I need to get out from under me. So, until next time, but for now I have to get writing.
As for progress, I'm getting a lot of stories written and about half of them I feel really positive about without having had a chance to revise yet. That's my bread and butter; the revision process. It's taken years to get to the point that I really trust my own judgement to revise my work and know what isn't working, but for now it's those "shitty first drafts" to quote Anne Lamott, that I need to get out from under me. So, until next time, but for now I have to get writing.
Story 4 & 5: Cows, Birth, Houses, Death
I'm clumping stories four and five together because I wrote each of them back to back in two days. Not because I'm trying to force things, but because I'm trying to force things for the NaNoWriMo challenge. Story four focused on a girl in the snow heading out to retrieve a wandering cow. It was...okay. It's not literary gold, but there were some good lines in there. As the story goes she finds the cow and it promptly begins giving birth in the middle of the snow just as a bear is seen roaming nearby. With some heavy revision, this story could turn into something.
Story 3: The thing I thought I wouldn't do but I'm doing.
So story 3 is done and lacking. Not completely lacking, but something is missing that's for sure. However, what story 3 is or isn't, has nothing to do with this post. Here, I'll give you a little back history: in case you haven't heard of it there is a thing called National Novel Writing Month (aka: nanowrimo) that happens in November. Through http://www.nanowrimo.org/ you set up a free account and for 30 days you write 50,000 words which should be a good start for anyone with a plot line and desire to write a novel.
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