Mar 23, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Okay, so I got behind the power curve last night and didn't write a post for today. And though it's early here (7 AM), it's noon on the east coast. Y'all think I'm a slacker. đ
I have nothing original to say today. I've got to head into Honolulu in a little bit, so that's on my mind. I'm waiting for the morning rush hour to be over. We have horrendous traffic on this little island, believe me. If I can avoid it, I will.
So, two things. First, the New York Times is reporting on the move to trade paperback originals for literary novels.
“In the last four or five years, it's gotten hard to publish fiction by lesser-known authors, and even by some better-known authors,” said Morgan Entrekin, the publisher of Grove/Atlantic. And when a book fails in hardcover, booksellers often will limit their orders for a paperback edition, making it harder to sell the author's next book. “When you're taking back 50 to 70 percent of the hardcover copies you shipped,” Mr. Entrekin said, “the stores â rightfully so â are not willing to take another chance.”
As the article points out, many folks don't want to spend the $22 in hardcover for authors unknown to them. $13.95 is more reasonable. And, I gotta admit, I'm the type of person who waits for the paperback. Partly, it's the military mindset: we gotta move with this stuff. I don't need hardbacks taking up my weight allowance. Second, $22 is a lot of money, to me, for one book. I ain't independently wealthy here.
Anyway, read the article. The numbers are interesting, as are the thoughts on the review process.
The second thing is another fabulous blog post by fellow Aloha Chapter member Tess Gerritsen. (I know she's much more than a fellow chapter member, but hey, it gives me a thrill to say she's in my chapter.)
When you write, you are opening a spigot from your brain, pouring out memories and thoughts and dreams onto the page. Leave that spigot on too long, without refilling the source of your creativity, and what you get is a drained and exhausted writer.
That's how I felt when I turned in the manuscript for THE MEPHISTO CLUB. Emptied out of all my creative juices. I call it writer's anemia. Real anemia leaves you weak and exhausted and pale. Writer's anemia is much the same — except that the pallor shows up on the page. Your writing loses all color. Your plot feels dead. Your characters wander through the story like ghosts of themselves.
The only cure is a transfusion — not of blood, but of real-life experiences.
Isn't that the truth? (Oh, btw, Tess uses this post to announce she's going to Libya. Whoa, cool!) Often, I can stay holed up in my house for a week, refusing to go anywhere because I want to work on my book. And I feel it at the end of the week. I don't want to be off every day having coffee at Starbucks or haunting Waikiki in search of stimulation, but I do have to be open to life experiences. This week, I gave up my Wednesday night group. I missed it, even though we usually don't accomplish much. I missed the conversation and the bookstore.
So, today, since I have an errand taking me into town anyway, I'll try to meander back home, maybe stop at B&N or Borders. Borders has a balcony from which you can see the ocean (of course it's a cloudy, rainy sky and a leaden ocean these days, blech). I have taken my Alphie and written up there in the past. Maybe I'll try it today. Or maybe not. Maybe I'll just have a coffee and a magazine and watch the people. Aloha nui loa. đ
Mar 22, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Yesterday was one of those days. You know the kind, the ones where you keep trying to do several things at once and none of them are getting done very efficiently and youâre getting frustrated and depressed and wishing it was tomorrow already because today isnât going your way. If, in looking back at the previous post, I am considering my husbandâs routine and comparing mine, Iâd say it went wrong at the coffee stage. Too many urgent emails requiring attention (chapter and other business). A couple of phone calls. More emails once the first ones were answered. The worst opening paragraph about Mrs. Dalloway ever in the history of thesis writing–wrote it yesterday, today it sucks. And so many things I need to do that are weighing on my mind like the proverbial sack of bricks.
(But, one good email in which I won a book over on Alison Kentâs site! Yay!)
So, as far as new routines, today not so good. I couldnât beat the old system very well, though I limited the blogging once the email took over my morning. *sigh*
I donât have to read those digest emails, I know I donât, but Iâm the kind of person who doesnât throw things away because I might find a use for it later. Likewise, I canât delete the digests unread because I might miss something I need to know.
And therein lies the trouble. The conversations are driving me nuts. They also somewhat reflect conversations Iâve had with individuals, which may be why theyâre pressing my buttons.
Why oh why does everyone think that the ârulesâ donât apply to them? Why do they argue and make statements like, âIf such and such doesnât like the way I do it, then I didnât want them for my agent/editor/publisher/pal anywayâ?
I kid you not, Iâve been privy to conversations that discussed the personal preference for Bookman Antiqua 14 over the old standard Courier New or TNR 12 and how they didnât think they ought to have to change the font. Me, I think if the editor wants it in Wingdings 20, theyâre getting it that way. To hell with what I prefer. (OTOH, Miss Snark says that writers worry about format much more than agents/editors. They just want it readable. Though, over on Anna Genoeseâs site, if you send it to her in Arial, sheâs sending it back.)
But, I guess what really gets me about the rules conversations is that almost universally, people think the rules donât apply to them. Oh yes, they see the need for them, the reason romance is, for example, generally 3rd person POV, but they think they are the special case in which it doesnât apply. They are allowed to write the only 2nd person romance in the history of mankind while the rest of us must follow conventional wisdom. (This isn't the best example, but hey.)
And, by golly, Iâm not saying some of them arenât the exception! But we canât all be the special case. We canât all trot out Strunk and White and say, yes but it doesnât apply to ME because I know HOW to break the rule. Which, inevitably, is what you hear. And can I let you in on a little secret? Most of the people saying it arenât yet published by a major publisher. Things that make you go hmmmm.
I think it does newbie writers a disservice to tell them they can write the story any old way they want without learning what the rules of grammar or even genre are. Yes, even literary writers have stylistic conventions/rules/whatever you want to call it. How many literary writers do you know that exist in a vacuum? No, they often come from academia or from MFA programs or writersâ workshops. Writing is like piano playing. You donât just wake up one morning and do it. You have to learn it and practice it.
Writing can be shaped. I admit that the rules can also interfere with a personâs natural writing style, which isnât a good thing. Perhaps itâs not the rules so much as the timing of the application of them. If a new writer joins a critique group and takes her first chapter and gets told that you canât headhop and you canât include the dogâs POV, etc, and then sheâs at a standstill because sheâs confused and wary and stuck, thatâs not good. I think the secret is that first draft isnât the place to be critical. But thatâs another one of my peeves.
No, we do not all want to sound alike and Iâm not advocating we do. Slavish devotion to ANY rule is probably a bad thing. But, by golly, if Strunk and White is good enough for Stephen King, itâs good enough for me.
But when is something wrong? When is it NOT okay to write 30 pages of the heroine going about her business before she meets the hero? I believe, btw, that Wendy Wax does this extremely well in Leave it to Cleavage. Iâd never argue with her about when the hero shows up on the scene. I also think Nora Roberts writes limited 3rd POV well (aka headhopping) and that a writer like Susan Elizabeth Phillips can write several pages of the heroine telling her backstory to a dog (Ainât She Sweet). Jenny Crusie writes situational comedy plots that no one else could probably get away with, and Marsha Canham can pack a story with history and still make you read along. (Iâm sure we can all think of examples.)
But when is it not okay? Canât we just admit that not even Mozart was born with the ability to write “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” on day one (or day 1500)? Beethoven wrote the “Ode to Joy” at the end of his life. They studied, they worked hard, they learned the conventions even if they did their own thing. Why should writing be any different?
Okay, so that's my opinion. I'm sure there are folks who disagree. And don't even get me started on people who tell newbie writers that you can't write a chick-lit/historical/romantic suspense because the market is saturated or you have to know SO MUCH to do it well so you might as well not even bother. Grrrr.
Mar 21, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Mike and I had a talk over a bottle of wine this weekend. My hubby is the best, most supportive guy in the world. He didn't say to me, “Go get a job.” He never does. But he did say some other things, like “You're spinning your wheels.” How can he tell? Because, he says, when I'm working on something and I'm deep into it, I'm bouncing off the walls when he gets home (in a happy way). Apparently, I haven't been bouncing lately.
So then we discussed our routines. He has specific things he does at work, from the moment he gets his coffee to everything else that happens in his day. At the end of the day, he makes a list of things that he has to do tomorrow. Sometimes, all goes well. Other times, he gets thrown off by an early meeting or an urgent directive from higher up. He understands distractions, but thinks I have too many of them.
My routine consists of coffee, email and blogs. Then comes the writing (my brain won't leap right into the story; I need warmup time). But sometimes I get sidetracked by massive amounts of email I must answer (chapter business), and then I get caught following the loops, which in itself can be frustrating and time consuming. Sometimes I think I should take myself off digest on these things. Except Chaplink.
Anyway. Ahem. I don't shower at a set time. I like the part about being able to write in my jammies, but Mike says I should get “ready” for work. One writer I know gets up, showers, does her hair and makeup, puts on her jewelry, and goes to her home office (she puts comfy sweat clothes on though). I am NOT putting on makeup and jewelry for writing, though I could be persuaded to give the early shower a try. đ I like being an unwashed unpublished (just kidding, Diana!) but I'll see if washing helps me think better. Ha!
We talked about how long the email/blogs takes. I think it averages around 3 hours a morning. Mike said, “That's almost half the work day gone.” Whoa, I never thought of it that way.
He's right, darn him. He says I should look at my day and set it up with 4 hours dedicated to the book, 4 hours to the thesis (which will be over soon enough anyway, especially if I get off my ass and finish it), and take breaks like I would at a job. I can save the house cleaning/laundry/reading/etc until evening. I should either limit the morning email/blog routine, or move it to evening. Yikes.
Now, I've explained that the creative brain doesn't necessarily work when you force it to. Sometimes, you have to stare off in space. He agrees. But, he says, he wants me to give it a try, see if I can work with a new routine. I think he's right, so I'm trying it. Can't hurt.
I'm also taking a hard look at the “other” things I do. I'm going to have to eliminate or cut down some of them. For instance, my Wed night writers' group (we spend a lot of time talking). Once a week is too much for me right now. I have too many irons in the fire (and an impending inlaw visit, part of which will be spent cruising the islands on the Pride of Aloha). I need to finish this book. I want the thesis done before the cruise. I also have personal tasks that need completing. My husband is understanding and supportive, but I know he'd like it if I could manage to spend time with him and take care of household things here and there. No one likes eating soup or grilled chicken 7 nights a week. đ
Interestingly, PBW was talking about prioritizing recently:
Make the work the first priority. I know I keep harping on this, but the writing has to come first. When you're not writing, someone else is. When you're not pitching, someone else is. When you're off getting drunk in the Tiki bar at Paradise Con, someone else is at home mailing out a submission to your editor, or querying your agent.
Oh dear, certainly makes you stop and think, huh? (I can't believe anyone writes this woman hatemail! I love reading her posts.) Writing comes first (or as soon after coffee and limited emailing/blogging as possible). All else is secondary.
Is there anything you've eliminated to get the writing done? Any routine you've hit on that works for you? Share away! I can always use ideas. đ
Mar 20, 2006 | Uncategorized |
The way Hawaii is supposed to look. It doesn't look this way lately. Hasn't in a month or more. đ (I shall return with a regularly scheduled blog post tomorrow….) 
Mar 18, 2006 | Uncategorized |
Gawd, I love it when that happens! When the words just spill out and the pages are piling up and I don't even care if it's crap because I'll fix that later (I hope anyway). Friday was one of those days! I wasted too much time in the morning, as usual, hitting the blogs and loops. I also had to deal with a kitten (rapidly turning into a cat) who only that morning discovered that, yes, he could reach the countertops in the kitchen. Not good for me, because now I have to get up 100 times a day with the squirt bottle ready.
But after a couple (or four) hours of other stuff, I clicked on the WIP. I read for a little bit, edited here and there, and then plunged into the scene in progress. And the words actually came out! I didn't sit there staring, wondering what happens next. I didn't know what happens, but the characters were of a mind to tell me. Love that. Wish it happened every day.
Just started rereading Linda Seger's Creating Unforgettable Characters. It's been a few years since I read it and I'm really pleased at how fresh it seems, even though the movies she talks about are pretty old now. (Jeez, I saw “Gorillas in the Mist” in the theater; “Out of Africa” too.) I like to peruse my writing books from time to time, but I don't get hung up on them. (It's always fun to encounter a new writer who just read Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. It's a fabulous book, but a newbie can be a tad overzealous after reading it.) đ
Other books to read: JAK's new one, of which I have a personalized copy. Yay! Allison Brennan's book is on my pile, still reading Wuthering Heights (had to force myself to put it down), and have a JoAnn Ross book here…..if only I could figure out how to do without sleep.
Hope to see some sunshine this weekend! It's been far too long without it. We had a few minutes today where the sun came out, and I could actually see blue sky out toward the ocean. It didn't last, but at least it didn't rain. I am sick of rain! Diamondhead is green instead of brown, so that's nice. That's about the only nice thing I can think of at the moment. đ
Hope you have a good, productive (or at least fun) and sunny weekend. đ
