Faithfulness in the small things

Believe it or not, I am still working on my NaNo Novel. Very slowly - I am only at 20 thousand something words - but I am determined to finish it. Both because I have people asking me to finish it and because I want to show myself I can do it. What I should really do is pretend it is November and make myself write 1667 words every day. But instead I am writing here and there.

Lately, I have been trying to write more. Because - the other day I was praying. And I was asking God to bless my writing and to please help me get published this year. And a verse came to mind - or was it when I was reading my Bible next? - either way - that verse, Luke 16:10a: He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. . . .

And I was officially convicted as I felt God prod me, with words something along the lines of the following: You are asking for publication, yet you are unwilling to spend even a few minutes every day writing. I have blessed you with both the ability and desire to write, but you play games on your phone instead. Why do you ask for more when you have not even used what I give you?

Well, that was sufficient to silence me. And so I have been striving to be faithful with little that God may trust me with much. Sometimes that has still meant only one sentence a day - as in the past couple days - but even pulling the story out briefly helps me maintain view of where I am and reminds me of what I need to do.

So remember - build from the bottom up. Every little bit helps.

Developing Characters

So, I have sort of taken a break from editing. But only sort of. I bought this book called Writing the Intimate Character and have been going through it with Picture of the Past in mind. It has actually been incredibly helpful - it not only talks about how to develop characters but has exercises in the back of each chapter to help you implement it. I have been forcing myself to do each exercise whether I feel like it or not and have amazed myself by how much more I feel like I know Elizabeth, whom, as you know, I have been struggling with since the beginning.

It turns out, even she has some uncertainty underneath her proud and confident exterior. Due in most part to how often her father moved them around and her need to constantly have to make new friends. That is not to excuse her behavior, of course, but it did increase understanding of her constant need for admiration.

Some of the exercises have taken me out of my comfort zone or even just exhausted my brain, but it may be the best thing to happen to my book and its characters.

15 Minute Challenge - Day 5: Developing Characters

I've been having an issue with my main character in Picture of the Past almost since the beginning. I didn't like her. I didn't intend for anyone to like her at first, but to gradually sympathize with her as she changed - but I didn't like her even when she changed. She seemed so - flat. So single-minded. So one-dimensional. In short, she seemed like a character, not a person. I've been reading lots of books and articles about how to improve this because, in my mind, she is multi-dimensional. She has struggles, internal and external, and she is someone who can grow into such an incredible daughter and sister - but I just can't seem to translate that to the page.

One good thing about implementing these additional scenes, is that they are forcing me to write more about her. More scenes about her, more viewpoints about her - and I think I am slowly beginning to figure her out more. I am still not pleased - but I think I'll get there. One thing I need to remember is that this is my character - not the character that all the articles tell me I have to write. All the books and articles say your heroine must be sympathetic. But that isn't true. There are plenty of heroines that are not sympathetic until the last. So if she is selfish and unlikable in the beginning part of the story, that is who she is - trying to add sympathetic elements only makes her seem more fake until she actually begins to change. Besides, she really doesn't seem to like it when I add in things about her that aren't true. Believe me, I've tried.

Day 5 of the 15 minute challenge involved writing a scene wherein she is angry about doing servants work, the boys don't pay as much attention to her as she thinks they should, and her mother was just about to give her a lecture on what it actually means to be a lady when the timer went off. I don't know if it will actually go into the story, but she is doing a good job of reminding me that she is just a spoiled little rich girl at first and I shouldn't be trying to make her into something else.

15 Minute Challenge - Day 2 - Getting Back Into the Mindset

I have a lot more free time than usual tonight due to my husband being gone for a guy's night and having nothing in particular scheduled. I was going to go to the Library of Congress to do some research and writing, but it is a dreary, rainy night, and I decided I really did not want to leave the house. So, instead I made myself a pot of tea, turned on some Jim Brickman and am doing my writing here, with no people around.

I am taking advantage of my extended period of time do go through the book and note everyplace I think needs more scenes or which parts need to be "shown" instead of told. There are a lot! This is really helping remind me of where I left off a few months ago, when I started doing piecemeal research that I just never had enough time to concentrate fully on. I feel like I am beginning to remember what I wanted out of the story. Once I finish marking potential scenes or areas that "tell" too much, my goal is to write at least one of those scenes. But even if I don't get the scene written, going through the book itself counts as the "15 minutes", right? I hope so, since I've already been at this for half an hour!

I feel like I might get more use out of this editing style than going through the book and changing page by page and feeling like I never make progress. Everyone has different book editing styles, or so I have read, and I suppose you simply don't know which yours is until you try! Good luck to all you other first-time-book-editors out there in discovering your style as well!

15 Minute Challenge - Day 1

I read it over and over again. 15 minutes a day. Write at least 15 minutes a day. To the extent that I half roll my eyes when I read it now. I know, I know. Okay? It's not my fault that I had to . . . [insert whatever I am busy with that day]. Then there is the plaguing thought that maybe I'm not a real writer. Maybe I don't care as much as I should. Maybe I am just a failure all around. Maybe if I truly cared enough I would make the time. That's what everyone says. If you really care about something you make the time for it. But I do care about it, I know that in my heart. I just - shy away from it sometimes. I consider it extraneous and feel like I am neglecting other duties when I spend too much time on it. I am trying to refocus that - yes, again. This will be a constant subject, I'm telling you!

This weekend, I woke up surprisingly early on Saturday for how little sleep I've gotten over the last week - early as in 9:30 - and in a reading/researching/writing mood again. So, I grabbed a writer's digest and started reading it. And I ran across an article talking again about the whole "write 15 minutes a day" thing. Whereupon I immediately felt my normal guilt that I didn't make a point to do that, and a little resentful. But there was a follow-up comment that really resonated with me. It was "You have to stay in the story." Or something along those lines. The basic idea is, if you force yourself to work on a story for 15 minutes a day, you will continue to know what it is you were in the middle of, how the characters were feeling, what you were trying to figure out, and all that. And I was like - hmm. That is a good point. It isn't just about the discipline. It is about staying with your story. And I do have that trouble when I go back to a story after awhile, getting back in the heads of the characters and what I was trying to do with that particular section that makes no sense.
So. I have decided to make a goal. I am going to aim to write for 15 minutes a day for a week solid. And to blog every day about how it went and what I wrote about. This is my attempt to be disciplined.

So, I meant to start yesterday, but it passed so fast! So, instead I started today. And I opened a document and began writing in potential scenes to work into Picture of the Past to amplify characters. Trying to get back into the mindset. It may have been past 11:30 PM, but I still did do the 15 minutes!

Rejected

So, I officially got my first rejection letters this summer. As well as my first rejection "damned with faint praise", which was made slightly less painful by my association of that with Emily of New Moon. Slightly. You can read all the magazines and books in the world "prepping" you for rejections by the hundreds, but there is still nothing like casting your eyes over those words, trying to gently tell you that your work sucks via a - well, what would have been a typewritten slip at one point and is now a generalized email.

This means I have officially reached a new status, though, right? That I have submitted to "official" enough places to actually get a rejection? Anyway. I have had more than one person tell me this story is good, so I am going to try again. . . only, I realized I am probably not trying for the right audience. I was pitching it as a literary piece, but it has definite Christian undertones (being, after all, a Christian) and, further to its condemnation in the eyes of the world right now, it ends happily. You know that everyone likes the dark pieces right now that give you shivers and make you feel kind of ugly inside and like you can never look at humans the same way again. I don't get that trend at all. I like to feel uplifted after reading, even bittersweet if it is a sad ending. But I digress. So I realized I should be submitting it to Christian short story magazines.

Want to know something I didn't know until this week? THERE ARE NO CHRISTIAN FICTION SHORT STORY MAGAZINES! At least, none that I can find. There are tons of Christian or spiritual blogs and magazines in general - but they all want inspirational articles of true stories, devotionals, or whatnot. Fiction? Psh. Apparently they think it is  a waste of time. So I am a little at a loss and mildly considering starting my own Christian fiction magazine.

Anyway - for all you other new writers out there. You may think you are prepared for rejection letters, but don't be afraid if it still crushes your spirit when you start getting them. Pick yourself up and move forward. Don't think about throwing out the manuscript entirely (*coughwhowoulddothat?cough*). Don't assume you are a terrible writer and your friends are just biased (*coughwhaaat?cough*). Just keep moving forward - and maybe reassess the market to which you are submitting - although, according to all the articles, you can still expect lots of rejections. What a lovely life I have to look forward to!

I just have to keep inspirational quotes around me. You should try it too.

How to Survive National Novel Writing Month

There are so many (seriously, SO MANY) articles and posts and blogs and comments dedicated to this subject, that I'm not even going to try to compile "the best" ways to survive writing 50,000 words in a month. Besides, "the best" is always subjective. Every writer has things that work specifically for them. So this is dedicated to ways that I intend to (or have in the past) use to get a 3rd win in row.

• Remember that you are the only one reading what you are writing
• This is probably the most important thing for me. I have this habit of writing something and instantly wanting to rewrite it, or thinking it is too stupid, or inaccurate. Remember - YOU are writing, and YOU get to decide if anyone will ever read it (which they probably wouldn't until you edit it in January anyway). Don't get distracted thinking something is dumb. Just write what you want how you want and keep going. 
• Reward yourself
• When I really don't feel like writing, but need to get in my word count, I reward myself. For instance, say I really want to be reading this awesome new Clive Cussler book I just got. I force myself to write between 300 - 500 words (pick a number and stick to it), then I get to read a section in the book, and write the next 300-500 words, and so on until your word count is finished. It is a slow method, but I have found it pretty effective to ensure I get my words in. You can do the same with a TV show. Write, watch for 5 minutes (or a predetermined amount of time) and then watch again. It helps force you to keep writing no matter what because you want to get that word count in so you know what happens next in your book/movie.
• Write in timed spurts
• Sometimes I will set the timer for 5 minutes and force myself to keep writing during that five minutes even if I just end up describing an elaborate sunset because I can't think of anything else to write. This not only gets word counts in, but, because you are being forced to write without thinking because you are not allowed to stop while the timer is going, it has occasionally broken me out of areas I am stuck. I might go back and rewrite it later, but for now, as long as I am out of the stuck area or that sunset sure looks gorgeous, it still adds an aspect to your story that wasn't there before. 
• If you work, bring a computer or notebook to work with you.
• Do your work, but every now and then (perhaps once every half hour?), turn to your computer or notebook (notebook is more subtle) and write 1-2 sentences. Minimal effort, but you'll be surprised at how many words it can result in, thereby encouraging you when you sit down to your "real" writing session.
• Change up the scenery
• Try writing in different locations (unless that distracts you). I like occasionally finding a coffee shop and crashing in a corner to write. 
• Write with noise cancelling headphones
• I live in a tiny apartment and it is just me and my husband. There is no extra noise, especially if my husband knows I am writing, yet for some reason, when I put on my noise cancelling headphones (usually with my favorite writing music), I get lost in my world and am far less easily distracted from anything around me.
• Pretend you are telling someone the story
• When you are stuck - you simply don't know what to write next, and the whole writing with a timer thing just isn't doing anything for you, close your eyes and pretend you are telling this story that happened to you to someone else. What would naturally come next? Whether it seems like it is skipping a bunch of detail or going far too much into detail, write it down. What would you tell them next?
• Turn off your data
• If your data/internet is turned off and you aren't getting notifications of things happening in the world, there is nothing to distract  your eyes or ears. This, especially combined with the noise cancelling headphones, can be a killer combination for immersing yourself in your new world.

If you, like me, are crazy enough to try NaNo yet again, I hope these tips help!