A Day in the Life of a Writer

Okay, not that I actually know what a NORMAL day in a writer's life looks like. BUT, for the first time since I can remember in forever, I have a full day off with nothing that I HAVE to do - other than go to my chiropractor appointment. Which I did. I have comp time from my work trip last week because I worked so many hours, and get both Friday (today) and Monday off - no PTO required.

So, I have decided to use both days to experiment in the life of a writer, pretend I am a full-time writer and see if I actually enjoy sitting for hours and working on writing-related things. Two days seem like an entire world to me, and yet, at the same time, not quite enough time. I mean, I not only have 3 books I want to work on, I want to do short stories, writing exercises, writing books, writer's digest, blog posts, find places to submit short stories or flash fiction, work on nonfiction articles for company newsletter, and of course, am wondering if I can stay the course when I have more than half an hour to do whatever I like.

So far, I've made a sort of schedule: write 500 words in book I am currently most enthralled with (my 2017 NaNo novel), read an article in writer's digest, 500 words, writing exercise, 500 words, article, 500 words, etc. We shall see how this works. I've been at it for one hour and 15 minutes and am already going off schedule to do a blog post, but still feeling energized and excited for the hours ahead. The atmosphere of a coffee shop helps too. Other people chatting or writing or studying - and the addition of coffee at my side - it just FEELS like I need to be writing. I love it.

Anyway, now that I have shared my joy with you all, I shall go back and finish up the 300 words still due on the 500 word spurt.

A Literary Experience

I went to a literary festival the other day, for the first time ever. It included master sessions, which were rather boring and political (why on earth would you make a literary festival political?), and morning and afternoon workshop sessions, which were much more useful and happy.

I should note that going to this was way out of my comfort zone. First of all, I went alone, so I couldn't hide behind anyone. Second of all, it involved actually discussing writing with people. And third of all, the workshops actually involved talking about what you were writing. So, it took courage to go in the first place - only made worse by the fact that the rental car company had only huge trucks left so I had to drive a truck that took both my hands to hoist myself into in order to even get there since Daniel had the car!

But anyway, the first session on revision was the most useful, but also the most difficult. I had to bring the first five pages of my book - I actually brought 10 because I was trying to decide whether to keep the prologue or not - and THEN they had us actually partner up with a stranger in the class and read each other's writing so we could critique it!! Not going to lie, I probably wouldn't have gone had I known that was why they wanted us to bring some of our book. But I am glad I did it. The gentleman, Sam was his name, was a high school English teacher and knew how to be both straightforward and still gentle. He could see immediately I was almost over a cliff with concern that someone was going to actually read this and took some time to calm me down before reading all 10 pages. But after that, I actually took his suggestions quite openly and calmly and it may be the most useful thing I've ever done in all my writing life. He told me what I had suspected all along, which is that I don't trust my readers so I over-explain things, but then he went a step further and told me that even more than that, I don't trust myself, which adds even more to my over-explaining in my books. He then showed me a couple examples and explained how he thought I could cut it down and what all the writing books had been saying finally really clicked.

He also told me he could tell that I had very good visualization and I was able to set the scene well, and that it was obvious I knew my characters well. I really appreciated hearing that since I kind of thought those were the two things I struggled the most with. He then encouraged me to share my writing more and, just as my husband tells me, that it really isn't a reflection on me if someone criticizes my writing. So much easier to be told than to believe!

But I do feel like I have a much better understanding now of what needs to be edited in my book, at least in the second editing round (I am still only halfway through the first round), and I have learned that it is possible for me to hear the corrections that have to be made and live through it!

15 Minute Challenge - Day 4: Scene Implementation

I know it is technically past midnight, but I am still totally counting this 15 minutes. We had guests over, which I personally think is a valid excuse. But, I did begin writing a scene that I defined as needing to be written! Which, then started to turn into another scene which went longer than anticipated, but that isn't bad - it is helping me get to know my own characters a little more.

It is seeing the main character from another character's point of view, which is always helpful for discovering his or her personality. A little cheesy, but I don't really care since no one gets to see it but me. And that is all for now, since it IS a workday tomorrow.

15 Minute Challenge - Day 3: My Version of an Outline

I've never been a big outline person. It feels so restrictive to me. And I freeze almost more than I do over a blank page if I am trying to outline an entire book. What if I don't know where I want to go? What if I want to see what the characters want? What if I don't know what to put where? How does an outline even work? Isn't this a waste of time? And on and on the questions go. No. I rarely do outlines. Not saying I won't ever - so many people claim they change your life and novel, but for now, I am going to work with methods that actually get me writing.

For the first time, though, I am beginning to understand the index card methodology - you know, the whole write scenes on index cards and rearrange them? I may end up doing that yet. So, I finished what I started yesterday and went through the book, noting areas that I felt needed additional scenes to actually create the story and give it depth. I figured out 54 MORE SCENES THAT NEED TO BE WRITTEN! (*I will not panic* *I will not panic* *repeat over and over*) But on the bright side, I truly do believe that they will make the book better and flow more easily. As it stands now, Elizabeth changes from a haughty little rich girl to a humble person trying to help her family waaaay too fast. It's kind of like, wait - who are we talking about? So things like this ought to fix that.

I realized as I was noting where things need to go that this is where outlines and index cards probably come in for writers who use those. They can see at a glance where those gaps are. I finally understood it. I still think this worked better for me personally - at least where this is novel is concerned - but I think knowing makes me a better writer and better prepared for whenever I finish Ethrill.

Yes, I am counting this as my 15 minutes of writing. I may not have written an actual scene, but at least I now know where I am going with this.