Progress/Goals

I thought after spring break I wouldn't have the time/energy to write as much, but it's been quite the opposite. I've been very productive. Since my last posting, I've written a short story, edited 3 chapters in my novel, edited another short story, and started brainstorming my next novel (which will be about life/death again but for YA). I'm super excited to start on the novel, but I got a dozen other projects to take care of first. I find the more stuff I have on my list, the more productive I am. I also feel more creative. If I don't feel in the mood to write, I'll edit. If I'm not in the mood to edit, I'll write. If I'm not in the mood for either, I'll brainstorm ideas for other projects. One of my favorite writing activities involves looking up names and their meanings. So much fun! Names are so important. Make sure you love (not like) the name. Especially for your main character.

:-) Happy Tuesday!

Goal of the week- finish editing novel!

After-Editing-Enlightened Phase

You know how you can tell when you've written something worthwhile? After you've done a billion edits and it's near-perfect, you usually think to yourself: Yay! I've finished, now I get to start on something else.

But sometimes you don't think that.

Instead you think: Oh, I'm really going to miss that character.

You want to go back and relive the excitement you felt when you wrote your first draft. You want to somehow turn that short story into a novel so you can play with characters and cause additional chaos to their once-normal lives. You wish so-and-so hadn't been killed, so they could come back in a sequel. You mourn them like they're real people.

And that's when you know you've written something worthwhile.

So, the question of the evening is...if you love a story so much (short stories as example) is it alright to go back and continue it? What if it's perfect as a stand-alone piece? But you're still aching to write more. Do short stories series work? What about a prelude?

Or is it better just to take the spirit of that story and put it into your next story/novel?

Right now, I'm having problems letting go of a recent short story I wrote. I love it so much, I can't stop thinking about when I work on other stuff.

The connection

Do people draw a blank when they look at you? Do people really know you? How can you tell? How can you tell what's real and what's not? When they smile, is it genuine or are they really screaming inside?

When reading a book, especially one that's in 1st person, you know exactly what's real and what's not (or at least you think you do). The way a character flinches his eyes, or turns his head, or feels extra blood pumping to his cheeks in embarrassment...we read that, we connect with that, and we wonder why we don't always notice those things in real life. Are we not paying attention? When people talk to us, are we really listening?

Do you ever have so much on your mind, that when you read a book, you're basically skimming through the pages until something exciting happens. For all you know, you could have skimmed over vital details to why that character thinks/feels/acts the way he does. In life, if you skim over someone and just look for the "cool" things, you may find yourself not knowing them, not understanding them when they're upset or in a funk or crying.

If I could relate to my characters the way I relate to everyone in life, I think I'd be a stronger writer and a stronger person. I'd know people, I'd relate better. I'd understand them. My mind would open.

Make the connection.

Passion

Ever read a "How to Be a Writer" type of book? I've read a few this year. Common lessons- avoid adverbs, widen your vocabulary, use the exclamation point sparingly, and only use the 1st person narrative if the main character has a distinctive voice. And...in order to BE a writer, you must have passion.

That's the best piece of advice out there. You must have passion and if you don't, find another career. A writer will not stop writing. Just like a drug addict can't stop doing drugs. Seriously, it would take more than an intervention to stop me from writing. You'd have to kill me first. But please don't. Not until I'm published. ;-)

I could write more about this, but I'm so ready to work on my newest novel "SNOW FLOWER" that I'm cutting this blog short. Adios!

Things that irriate me but could be ideas for short stories/novels

1- When restaurant managers interrupt your meal to ask you how everything was
2- When grocery store cashiers say nothing to you, and you feel awkward saying thank you when you leave
3- When hotels won't let you book with them unless you stay 2 or more nights
4- When movie ticket prices go up
5- When my hamster cage smells after I just cleaned it
6- When your purse is so crammed, you can't even get your wallet and people stare at you funny
7- When people tap their feet during a movie
8- When stores advertise a great deal but you have to buy something else to get that great deal, so then it becomes a good deal or an okay deal and you're stuck with a product you don't want
9- When it rains during your jog
10- When children cry when you're waiting in line for a prescription

That's all I can think of for now. But I'm thinking if I can combine a few of these things, I'd like to make a short story called "FML."

Patience

"Be patient."
"But Mom, I want it now! Why can't I have it now?"
"Because you have to learn to be patient."

Does this exchange of words look familiar? Many not word-for-word the same, but you've heard it a million times throughout your life, especially during the early stages of childhood.

The last sentence is the tricky one. You have to LEARN to be patient. Patience cannot be taught. Parents can say it a thousand times over, you'll never grasp it, even when you're an adult.

Why the sudden need to talk about patience?

I've been thinking about all the things I want in life. And how long I'm willing to wait for them. I hear dozens of girls say, "If I'm not engaged by the time I'm thirty, I'm never going to have kids." While I'm not among those girls, there are things in life I'm not willing to wait for. There are things in life I AM willing to wait for. And then there are things I'm not entirely sure whether it's worth it to wait for.

Grad school, for example. This is the second year I've been rejected. I still have a little hope for a few schools who have yet to reply, but overall, I'm pretty sure I'm not going. How do I feel about that? Pretty crappy. I cried a lot yesterday. But despite all the drinks and the rum (just a glass), I managed to edit my short story, write a song on my guitar, and write 500 more words in Seaweeds. I was able to continue my passion without an acceptance letter to grad school. So does that mean I'm going to re-apply next year? Maybe. Am I going to put my life on hold in the meantime? No. Will I continue to write, query, and get rejected from agents? YES. YES. AND YES.

Rejection is a big ingredient to patience. We're rejected before we're accepted. And sometimes it takes a long time to be accepted. Look at love. How many guys break your heart or flat out ignore you? How many years do you spend single (but hopefully independent and strong) before the right guy comes and sweeps you off your feet? Maybe you'll be 31 when it happens. Maybe you'll be 23. The thing is, you don't know. It's a mystery. And from a writer's perspective, any good piece of fiction will have a little mystery.

Life needs to be mysterious, otherwise it isn't exciting. Years from now when I look back on my life, I don't want to think "Oh, my life was so boring, meaningless, no one accepted me." I want to think, "Wow, I put myself out there and got beat up. I worked my ass off and it's paid off." Paid off, how? I don't know. Maybe I'll be married. Maybe I'll have four awesome kids. Maybe I won't. Maybe I'll be a published author. Maybe I'll be a famous cookie-maker. Or maybe, I'll be a paraeducator who makes just enough to afford rent and lattes, and has a hamster. BUT I'll never stop writing. No rejection letter can stop that. That's the one beauty of writing. Only you can decide when the story ends.

Enjoy the journey, not the the downfalls.

And appreciate the tears. In order for life to grow, it has to rain.

April Fools Day

April Fools Day is either your favorite day of the year or the day that pisses you off the most.

Usually, I dig at the chance to play a joke on someone without it back firing on me. I haven't done such a good job, but at least I have a new idea for a short story. An April Fools joke that leads a girl to slaughter everyone in Starbucks. It'll start with the girl killing everyone, followed by the police trying to figure out why she did it, and then comes the truth...! I don't know what the joke will be yet. Maybe something to do with her not making it into grad school, but really she did.