In writing, as in life

You know what I've learned? That in writing, as in life, it's much easier to learn something first and do it right. But more often, as in life, you learn something by doing it wrong the first time. And sometimes the second time. And third. After that, you might just be stupid. (Here's your sign.)

I have a feeling there's no finite list of those things, and ten years from now, I'll still be doing many things wrong--at least the first time--and then looking for solutions I file away to use ahead of time the next time. In writing, as in life.

Fortunately, it seems, the things get smaller and easier to fix the longer you stick around and the more you pay attention.

So, I'm about 50 pages shy of being finished with my outline. In (some of) my moments of "This task is so boring I think I'll go read 50 blogs instead," I've tried to do some bookkeeping activities. Like ... how many scenes are in this story? How many in each POV (point of view)?

Which kind of leads me to curious questions like, "How long should a scene be?" and "How many scenes should there be? ... per POV?" And, a least common denominator, "What the heck is a scene anyway?" It seems simple enough, but strangely, the answer is trickier than you'd think.

I know there aren't hard and fast answers to these questions. However, I do believe the majority of published writers have gotten there because they've figured out the "magic" for getting certain things right. Fortunately for novices like me, many generous folks taken the time to share some of that magic through books or articles--some freely available on the Internet.

I found a couple of pieces tonight by Holly Lisle while taking a look at these questions. I haven't read any of her books, because I don't typically enjoy fantasy or sci-fi, but more often than not, my Google searches for writing craft answers have led me to her site. She gives short, conscise, and extremely helpful explanations. And often they're even funny, which earns extra credit in my book.

These are the ones I read tonight:

Notecarding: Plotting under Pressure (Hmm ... might try this FIRST next time!)
Scene Creation Workshop -- Writing Scenes that Move Your Story Forward

There's lots more to explore on her site, too. I like this one:
Creating Conflict: or, The Joys of Boiling Oil

So many lessons, so little time ...

Blogging the midnight oil

Seems like I always end up posting on here somewhere between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. Back when I first started taking my writing seriously, I spent this time working on my first manuscript...which is languishing at the halfway mark in a file somewhere. Then, I worked on my second one late, late at night as well. Hmm, which is languishing at the end of a first draft in a file somewhere.

With this third manuscript and the privilege of being able write "full time" for the most part, I've gotten into the habit of mostly writing during the day. It was a difficult transition for this night owl, but I think it's pretty engrained finally. My writing has benefited, I think, although I sometimes miss those late night sessions where my brain just seemed to float completely into the story and it was almost like being in a trance or something. There have been some scenes I've written for LOTH where I really needed to be in that mode and so I did still write late at night, and I'm guessing that will never change completely. But, for the most part, it feels really good at the end of business hours to see I have accomplished small writing goals.

Yet, I haven't been able to change my biological tendency toward being a night owl in the extreme so far. So, I tend to find myself giving into my inner writer and posting on my blogs or posting comments on others or emailing friends late, late at night.

I'm not sure why I felt it was important to tell you that. I must have fallen into a trance. ;-)

I finished reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen last week. Wowsers. I see now what all the fuss was about. I've meant to read it for several years now...since it came out, actually...but had been unable to locate a copy at the library and wasn't ready to part with the moolah. Got a copy for Christmas from my wonderful in-laws, though, and finally arrived at this book in my to-be-read pile last week after sprinting through The Memory Keeper's Daughter. Well, if that book was a series of sprints, Water for Elephants was a marathon. I couldn't put it down. I have my reading spaces in the house which I won't divulge in detail here for pride's sake, but Thursday evening, I carried it with me everywhere, finally sinking into my couch around 8 p.m. to finish it while everyone was doing their usual post-dinner, pre-bedtime stuff. My husband laughed at me because I'm not sure he's seen me quite that immersed. I seriously couldn't put it down. Anyway, I can't quite put a finger on what made this book so "unputdownable." You'll just have to read it for yourself, I guess.

Now I'm close to finishing Breaking the Silence, by Diane Chamberlain, one of my favorite writer bloggers. I'm racing through it, too.

All three of these recent reads have the gripping combination of historical setting interspersed with current day (flashback, really, although less so in Memory Keeper's Daughter), conflict specifically tied to those settings, and engrossing characters that I love. As an aspiring writer, I should probably listen to that.

Whoa-oa ... halfway there ...

I reached the halfway point today in the detailed outline of my WIP. Two hundred pages condensed down into about eight so far. Shew. I think this is going to be an extremely helpful tool when I'm finally finished. I'm already seeing the gaps, places where I've renamed characters accidentally, and spots where the conflict needs to be cranked way up.

The tasty sandwich at my local coffee shop today helped a lot, too.

I'll probably trek over to the public library again tomorrow. I got a lot done there yesterday. The only problem with working away from home without a buddy is when you have to go potty. It's a pain to have to pack everything up just to make a five-minute detour. There were two LDS guys on mission hiding out in the library, too (it's been really cold here this week), and I almost asked one of them to watch my stuff. But, they'd been there a few hours already, and sure enough, when I returned, they had headed back outside to their waiting bikes. And for all I know, maybe they were just dressed like missionaries, waiting to steal computers from unsuspecting persons such as I. Naw, probably not. :-D

Out and about in blogland

I think I'll talk about other people again today in order to direct you away from asking me questions about how much I got done again this week. (Cough cough)

So many of my favorite bloggers just had some good stuff to say this week. Barbara talks about the simultaneous disappointment/relief of finding out that her project just wasn't going to work, and moving on to a new one. I love her candidness.

Diane made me laugh with her post about why she won't write your life story. I commented that I'm not even published and people who know I'm writing tell me I should write their life story.

Carleen got me all excited about music, which truly doesn't take much, yet there you go. Her upcoming debut, Orange Mint and Honey, is just around the corner, (February 14, I think?) and is going to be a Target Breakout Book.

I walked around Target yesterday afternoon and felt alternately excited and overwhelmed about how many intriguing books they have on their very small shelf space. Excited because, well, books just do that to me. Call me a dork. Overwhelmed wondering if little ol' me will ever get to be one of those. (Yeah, I know, finish the book, Julie. That's the first step. Heh.)

Gail and I are reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter (Kim Edwards) for our mini book club at the moment. (Mini, as in just the two of us, and we talk about it while we're walking trying to move the sack of potatoes.) This is an absorbing book. Twists and turns at every juncture, and yet a steady pace, which has got to be a hard thing to pull off.

I did have some success in all of my resolutions this week, except I think I gained back the weight I lost in one meal at Carino's Italian Grill last night, so I can't move the counter just yet. (Darn that Gorgonzola cheese.) I also spent a whole evening napping in front of the TV instead of staring at the laptop computer. Perhaps I can actually do something another night. I bought this amazing little paint by numbers kit at Toy Joy in Austin several months back--you basically paint your own reproductions of some semi-known works on these tiny canvases. I intend to get that out and have some artist's dates with it soon.

The elusive end of the story (a/k/a breaking the rules)

I'm still struggling with the last few scenes of my first draft of LOTH. I know I'm within about 25 pages of a complete first draft, and yet the words are not coming. I have a fuzzy picture of what I think is supposed to happen and how it's all neatly tied up, yet it's like pulling teeth to get the scenes down on paper.

I'm wondering if it's because I really can't know for sure how it's going to end until I do my revisions and make sure all the ducks are in a row, all the characters are present who need to be, all the points of view are the right ones, and so on.

Or, maybe I'm just lazy. Not sure. Maybe it's Maybelline. Or Facebook.

Anyway, in spite of my tendency to want to play by the rules here (i.e., write that crappy first draft to the bitter end, no matter what), I've started to revise. Well, what I'm doing first is a detailed outline of everything that's happened, who is present, where it took place, and so on. I should be able to have a pretty clear picture of the story as it is right now when I'm finished with that, and will be able to start cutting, adding, moving around, ramping up the conflict, and, you know, "killing my darlings." (But only if they have to go. Sigh.)

I'm planning to spend a big chunk of both quantity and quality time tomorrow and I believe I'll give myself a little while to see if those scenes will write themselves (in a manner of speaking). But if they don't flow, I'm moving on to serious revisions. It's time to get the show on the road. January is more than half over!

No matter how we try to follow someone else's suggestions in this crazy job, what they (whoever they are) say is true--what works for someone else may not work for me.

So, anyone else out there in writerland have this problem, or is it just me being ... um, me and not you?

It's a small world, after all, so why not check it out?

Kathy Holmes raises an interesting point about social network sites (Facebook, MySpace, etc.). Do you join? How many? Which ones? We "old" folks are always one or two steps behind the high school and college students with these sites, and they are always moving onto a new one just when when the 'rents figure out how to sign up and sign on and see what their kids are up to. (Xanga used to be all the rage, right, but when's the last time anyone under 21 updated theirs?)

I got an invitation to join Facebook yesterday from a fellow college alumnus, and contrary to what I'm sure is my son's assumption that I signed up just so I could spy on him (mwah ha ha...), I actually decided it would be fun to see how many folks from college and grad school and high school were signed up, too. (TWO from my high school class, by the way ... including me. Hehe!) I've had a few fun catching up conversations already. It's a little less intimidating than sending a random email, and certainly less pressure for everyone if all you want is a little "Howdy, good to see you are still alive, and wow, your kids are cute and big!" type conversation. You can always continue on in private, longer emails if you care to.

At any rate, I'd think it certainly can't hurt as an apiring writer to expand the radius of people you know, or keep in touch with old friends, with the obvious caution that you don't do it only for that reason. People know when they're being used, but the people you know are also some of your best marketing resources when they trust you. (Hence, a disclaimer: If you read this after browsing to it from Facebook, I promise I really do want to see how you're doing! I'm not a you-ser!!!)

Wow, this is totally off topic, but Laura Prepon just came out on the Craig Ferguson show. I am really enjoying October Road here in the midst of the writer's strike and other shows winding down as their last recorded episodes show. October Road had kind of a shaky start last year, and I was only vaguely interested, but the storylines are really picking up some speed. I love the pizza girl/agoraphobic pair and Eddie and Janet. Prepon's on-again/off-again thing with ... um ... yeah, the main guy, whatever his name is, is still a little too predictable.

Guess I should add that show to my Facebook. Heh. See how smoothly I transitioned back to the topic? But, that's all I really have to say. I have to go check my wall.

Yep, another caution--we already spend too much time away from the page with blogs--wait until you see what a timesucker Facebook is! Of course, it's only been one day. Give me a few days and the new will wear off. :-D

Thinks to thought about

I like Elizabeth Berg's article about her New Year's resolution. It reminded me of my own resolution to spend less time on the computer at night and more time reading actual books, only she said it a heck of a lot better. When I read something like this--her description of the way a book feels and smells--it reminds me of the reasons I don't think paper books will go away any time soon.

I just surveyed my 10-year-old, who claims lately not even to be that excited about reading, yet has a Nintendo DS Lite (Crimson!!) as an extra appendage, whether it seemed more exciting to read a book on a small handheld computer screen where she could flip pages with buttons or to hold a read book, and with no hesitation she said a real book. She couldn't exactly tell me why, except to say she just liked having it right there with her, and anyway, the screen would probably give her a headache. I asked if she liked the way a real book felt and smelled and she looked a little embarrassed when she said, "Yes."

I gave her the thumbs up.

I liked the reminder that purchasing a book costs less than going to the ballet or a hockey game, for instance, or for me, sometimes less than a movie ticket, and certainly less than most concert tickets, but we hesitate to spend this money for some reason. Like she said, reading a book takes more time, too, and can be passed around to others freely. What a deal!

For the record, I'm typing this on my new computer! I think I've finally made the transition from the Velveteen Hoss to S!N!T! (Shiny New Thang).

I'm making very little progress on my own resolutions so far, but very little is better than none at all, right?

Zzzz......

Migrating to a new computer shouldn't be this hard. I've spent the last two days backing up files, re-installing software on the new computer, and trying to transfer files using Windows "Easy" Transfer. Yes, I put "easy" in quotes on purpose. Still not finished. All I really want to do is take the new machine to the coffee house tomorrow and work on writing. Simple enough, right?

You'd think.

Oh, for the old days when the old computer simply crashed and burned and in desperation we ran out and got the new one at a ridiculously high price and started over. There are certain good things to be said about doing it that way. Sustainability, schmustainability, right?

Naw, I really rather not lose my files and start over, and it's amazing that: a) I paid about a quarter for the new machine of what I paid for the old, and the new has more RAM and stuff, and b) even more amazing that the old one is still kicking along quite nicely, but is just rather huge and heavy.

And yet ... I'm still weary of this boring task. I suppose I should be grateful. Really, I am.

A little blog detour

I write two blogs--one that's kind of a journal of my writing journey, and you have landed here. The other is what my friend Gail calls my "life blog," where I write about movies, music, family, and sometimes just naval gaze (like I don't do enough of that here, right? But still ... )

Because I know some of you guys read only one of my blogs, I sometimes like to double post if the topics fit. Sometimes they really don't fit in both places, but I would like you to read them anyway. To that end, I am directing you over to julielayne to read about my 2007 hero, because even though he doesn't have anything to do with my writing per se, he's still an inspiration to me, and inspiration is what keeps us going, right?

One of these days, I figure I might have to combine my blogs into one again, but gosh, I would have a really hard time deciding which way to go, so for now, I'll continue on with my split personality.

Brand New Year

Happy New Year. The holidays are over, and it's time to get back to work.

My "goals" (resolutions, I guess, but that sounds so painful) for the year are to:

1) Submit at least one full manuscript to agents. Soon.

2) Lose 30 to 40 pounds. OUCH. The same 30 to 40 pounds I lost about seven years ago, durnit. Now, I know it's common to see weight loss as a resolution, but honestly, this is the first time ever I've put it down as one. In fact, I rarely make New Year's resolutions, much less make them public. But, this means I'm serious. I have too many health problems in my family history to shrug it away for another year, so I am making myself accountable to myself, and making myself vulnerable by putting it out here like this. I can't stand to make a self challenge public and not get it done. (Remember NaNoFiMo? Mwa Ha Ha ... Works every time.) Anyway, see how I've added a new counter over there on the right? I'm too lazy to look for one that counts pounds instead of words, so use your imagination, please.

3) Become more confident in my writing voice/learn more about "who I am" in that area. I'm planning to take Barbara Samuel's Voice 2 class to that end.

4) Last, but not least. And this might be the hardest one ever. Maybe more than losing weight. I plan to turn my computer off no later than 7 p.m. at least three nights a week. I still need to pick the days, but I believe doing this will be positive in several ways.

• First, I spend a lot of time in the evenings just surfing and basically wasting time ... all in the name of learning, of course, and yet.
• Second, I would like to have more reading time. I read about an hour every morning and every evening before I go to bed, which may seem a lot to you, but for me, that's hardly living.
• Third, I just want to be more present with my family and husband in the evenings, and this is a way I can start. Our coffee table looks pretty ridiculous with all four laptops sitting there every night. Hehe. (Mine. Ahem, both of mine ... long story. Todd's. Ryan's, since he's home for the holidays.) My mom says Todd and I look very romantic sitting side by side on the couch staring at our laptops every night, and she's not talking body parts.

So, yeah, it could be an interesting year. What amazing things could come of all four of these resolutions? Stay tuned to find out.