I'm gonna learn you something today
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Instructional
I've been writing seriously for a relatively short time (about four years or so) and although my fiction isn't published yet, that doesn't mean I have stopped writing and trying to submit. It's like any other profession - unless you put in the effort, you won't see the results.

But that's not what this post is about. I thought I'd give away a little bit of the secret of "how I do it". My techniques may work for some, and may be completely off base for others. Take my advice for what it is - that of an unpublished writer, struggling to get my fiction out into the world.

I get my story ideas from many different places; I tend to eavesdrop on the conversations of strangers, I people-watch, I like to look at fantsay art, and I watch a lot of historical/educational programming on channels like TLC, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, etc.

Each of these sources spur very different story types. I'm going to run through each of them, and give you an idea of what I'm talking about and how I've gotten ideas from them in the past:

1. Eavesdropping and people-watching
For the dialogue-driven writer, this method can be invaluable. If a certain phrase or snippet of conversation you've overheard is the basis of a story for you, you know what I'm talking about. I don't use this method myself very often, as my characters are usually created first and it's their conversations that get the ball rolling, but I know of many authors who swear by this method.

2. Fantasy Art
This is my biggest inspiration for short story writing. I can find a piece of fantasy art that I like (usually from someone like Boris Villejo or Julie Bell) and then I ask questions of myself about it. If the artist has written a description of the picture detailing what he or she thinks it's about, I usually avoid that - after all, the story will be about what I thnk the picture's about. I ask questions like, "What was he/she doing to get here?", "What is he/she going to do next?", and "What events that have happened or will happen are influencing what's happening to this person?". The best by far, however, is the good 'ole "What if..." question. Take the answers you give yourself for these questions (and any others you may ask yourself about the picture) and voila! You've got a story! Now. Go write it.

3. Television Programs
A lot of my longer works have been inspired by educational or historical documentary-type TV programs. I love watching TLC, Discovery, the History Channel and the Travel Channel. I may not incorporate ancient Egypt into my work in progress (WIP), but I will take elements I've learned from the programs and incorporate them into my WIP. It helps to make your world and the people who populate it feel "more real" when you base them on actual places or cultural norms. Also, you've got a handy reference for your world or culture you can look at any time you need to for that added bit of detail. And people say TV's bad for you. Pshaw.

These are only a few of the tools I've used over the years to develop my skill. As I'm becoming more and more serious about writing as a career and not just a "hobby", I find I'm developing more and more skills every day, learning new things about writing in general and my own style, as well. As a writer, we must learn to adapt. Adapt to everything from family and job situations to our own inner moods.

I hope this has helped a little for any of those who know they have the talent and the ability, but are struggling with the source.

Mark of the Maker update
Mood:  happy
Topic: Writing
I've been working on "Mark of the Maker" this evening, and I'm rather proud of my progress. The first chapter is rounding out nicely after the dick debacle yesterday, and I managed to make some real progress this evening. I'm not finished for the night yet, but I thought I'd put in an update before I forgot about it.

I am officially accepted to the "Stories of Strength" anthology from AbsoluteWrite.com, and I found out today that my essay will appear alongside essays from several noteworthy authors, including Orson Scott Card. I'm so proud to be a part of this. This is the first time in my life I feel like I can make a difference with my writing. I'm so glad Jenna and the AW team came up with this, and that I had the opportunity to participate. And for such a wonderful cause, too!

I feel like I haven't said it enough. Thanks, Jenna.

Word count for 09/22/05: 663

I didn't write anything NEW today, but...
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Writing
I did do what I hope is the final edit on Fever and sent it on to the editor at WildChild Publishing. I'm crossing my fingers that they'll take it. If they do, it'll be my first ever published work!

Cross your fingers for me!

Today's word count: 0 (but with extenuating circumstances)

The search for old friends
Mood:  not sure
Topic: Other stuff
For the past couple of days, I've been doggedly searching for old friends who have scattered, lost in the eddies of time. I ran across one, a Navy man that I graduated from high school with. I *may* have stumbled upon another, a Canadian graphic artist that I corresponded with for many years. I don't know yet - a contact I found to (hopefully) get him a message hasn't responded yet.

It's just too easy to get disconnected these days. One minute, you're chatting along, and then you have to sign off for the night. A day goes by, then another, and before you know it, it's been a month, or even a year and you haven't heard from your friend, and you haven't given them a jingle, either. Friends are so hard to come by, you'd think we would spend our time keeping these relationships going instead of taking them for granted and letting them dissolve into the smoke of memory.

I've just spent the afternoon reading over a five-inch thick pile of correspondence from my Canadian graphic artist friend, remembering how it made me feel to get a new letter in the mail from him. He told me of his troubles, I told him mine; we laughed, cried, and supported one another in our quest to become "an artist" in one form or another. Do we let these things go because they're only temporary by design? I don't want to think that's the case. I'd like to think that life just interferes, and we can't stop it from doing so. "I'll do it tomorrow" is just too easy to say, and too easy to stretch into more than tomorrow.

I hope I get a message back from that contact. I'd really like to reconnect with him, see what he's up to, tell him about myself, become friends again. I miss that.

I'm trying, I really am...
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Writing
I'm working this evening, or at least trying to. My little one, whose bedtime is 8PM, didn't settle and go to sleep until 10PM (even under threat of not going to Papaw's house tomorrow). At 10:30, I finally settled in for some serious BIC time, only to run into a problem with tact.

You see, there is no gentle way to talk about a penis and balls. I don't want to talk about them sexually - the first few paragraphs of this work is about schoolchildren studying a type of magic called "making", where the focus object for the magic is body art, aka tattoos. Their teacher is literally covered in "maker's marks", so he's showing the class as a "this is what you could achieve" lesson. We have both boys and girls in the class, so he must be modest; how do you say he has a cloth over his you-know-what and *not* sound like a seventh grader? Argh.

The thesaurus was no help, either. I'm trying to *avoid* sounding like a seventh grader, not achieve it. All the words they supply for "genitals" make it sound like a bunch of little boys giggling in the corner because Jane said a dirty word. Sheesh.

So, here I am, stuck in paragraph two. I think I'll add a placeholder and hope someone at www.absolutewrite.com/forums can come up with something creative and useful.

Word count for 09/20/05: 753

Interstitial Fill
Topic: Writing
I didn't work on the stated project any this weekend. Why? My husband was home, and I haven't seen him all week. He's gone again, for another week (just this week and the next to go!) which I will use to work on the stated project. For today, though, I did a little "light writing" - about six or seven articles for Constant Content, a web content site. You set the price, they take a cut and you get paid for your writing. Yeah, it's peanuts. But, it is practice, and that's what counts.

I've thought quite a bit about the stated project, though, and I think I've got some good ideas. I think Maker will end up being a worthwile story IF I can get a little closer to my characters. It's not that I don't like them, I just don't know them very well, and there are only a few of them, and...and...well, it's just hard to write about a stranger. I may give it a shot this evening, but I dunno...I might just wait until tomorrow, think about them a little more.

Today's (and this weekend's) word count: 624

Mark of the Maker - The New Project (I hope...)
Topic: Writing
Well, I started my first new long-form fiction piece this evening.

I had been debating for a long time between two very different single-book stories (as in, not a "fantasy trilogy", which is ever-so-popular); Stone Carver's Son and Mark of the Maker. The coin fell in favor of Maker, and therefore, I started that one this evening. I think that while fantasy readers will find some comforting elements in this story, there's a lot about it that's quite different. I won't reveal specifics here, but I think it's going to be an ever-elusive good one.

That's not to say that Stone is left out in the cold. I decided against it because I don't have the time to devote to a lot of research, and I think that in order to give Stone the treatment it deserves, it will need a lot of reaserch. I like the idea of Stone a lot, too; no doubt, when things calm down a little at my house (read: we have a normal schedule again) and once I finish with Maker, I will most certainly return to Stone.

Today's word count (so far): 300

"Defining Strength" - an essay
Topic: Writing
I finally wrote something.

I was up at 7 AM this morning to take the little one to daycare, and then off to the "car doctor" (that's the Toyota Service Center, by way of translation) for some much-needed minor surgery. It took about two hours to complete, so I took my notebook and pencil and wrote a short essay about the definition of strength for the Absolute Write "Stories of Strength" anthology (tentative title) that Jenna Glatzer and the other members of the Absolute Write Water Cooler (discussion forums for the website www.AbsoluteWrite.com) are doing to benefit those in need after Hurricane Katrina.

Louisiana and New Orleans are two of my favorite places in the world, and I was devastated by the destruction of that beautiful city and the suffering of her people. I can't do much when it comes to money (the wretched life of a writer, you know) but I can offer my talent, if that can help in any way. The great Ms. Glatzer and the AW team gave me that opportunity, and I'm proud to say that I've done my part (or tried to) to help the cause. I wrote two essays - one many years ago, on the 1 year anniversary of 09/11, and one this morning. I'm pleased with both, and will be proud to have either piece represent me in the anthology if the editors and Ms. Glatzer deem them appropriate to be included.

The essay I wrote this morning I titled "Defining Strength". It has to do with what strength really means to people, and how our definitions vary depending on our situation and other factors.

Well, so far today (and it's only 10:20 AM!) the word count is: 514

Ok, so...
Topic: Writing
No, I still haven't actually written anything. I did, however, do some pre-emptive editing on an old piece that I never finished and I plan on finishing now. I had originally planned for it to be a novel-length work, but I think I might just keep it as a short story. It was written waaaaay back before I became serious about "that writing thing" (as my mother calls it) and at that time, I knew nothing at all about proper font or formatting. It was a pain, but I got most of it done.

I didn't actually write anything new. Uncle Jim would be annoyed at me calling my formatting "butt in chair" (BIC) time, but I feel like any time you have been productive in some form, be it putting new words on a page or preparing an old page for new words, you've spent some quality BIC time.

So, word count for 09/12 and 09/13/05: 0

A new project, a new outlook, same old procrastination
Topic: Writing
Well, here we go again. This is my first entry ever on a blog. I've never done this type of thing before; even as a child, I didn't keep a journal. I don't think my life's interesting enough that other people will want to read about it. I prefer to tell them stories, make up stuff to entertain. I think I do ok with it, but...

Therein lies the problem. I have a new idea. It's a good one, too. A novel-length idea; it's just too big to try and cram into a short story or one of the other "category" lengths in between the two. So, let's take a look at the list so far:

1. Idea that's interesting: CHECK.

Ok, now that we've got that out of the way, let's explore further. Is my attitude sufficient that I will be able to be productive on this new work that is in the planning stages? I believe so. I'm excited whenever I think about it; I can't sleep at night because I keep going over scenes in my head, changing this or that, listening to dialogue...doing what I do, making stuff up. I'm excited, dammit, and I wanna write it! Back to the list, then:

1. Idea that's interesting: CHECK.
2. Good attitude about idea/drive: CHECK.

Okey dokey. Next? Yes, there's always a next. One more thing that grabs you by the collar and drags you back through the doorway. What's my one more thing? Procrastination. I kick myself every night when I go to bed because I haven't written anything new that's creative (i.e., not an article or something for a quick buck) and I haven't started on this new and grand idea yet. Yes, I have the good attitude I need, what I lack is the motivation. So, it's back to the list again:

1. Idea that's interesting: CHECK.
2. Good attitude about idea/drive: CHECK.
3. Motivation to actually get started: (Um...uh....)

So there you have it. Perhaps by feeling obligated to write here I may actually get started and have something to report. I may or may not post an actual daily word count...it might be a good way to see how much I write when I actually sit down to write. Seeing those numbers increase daily or weekly might give me that extra kick in the tail I need to keep going...we'll see.

For now, though, today's word count is: 0