My husband has pointed out that trying for 2000 a day would be a good amount if I was actually a full-time writer, but since I am still looking for a job...
{sigh} I hate that I can't just do what I want already. I am 47 years old. I waited until my kids were grown and now I just want to be irresponsible!!
But the fact of the matter is - you can't live without money, and for the near (or even God-forbid, distant) future I must continue to make money of some kind to keep the debt collectors away.
Balance is the thing that is needed here and 2000 words a day isn't balanced - that is more than you need to accomplish the NaNo goal of 50,000 words in a month.
So what kind of goals are reasonable?
Which targets are motivational and which are distructive?
I don't know - but watch this space while I struggle to find out!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Finding Time and Space to Write
Time management is a big bug-a-boo for me. My days just seem to get away from me. I plan an dedicating a day to writing and find that groceries need to be purchased, or the car needs an oil change, or the library books need to be returned.
When you are working for someone else there is a boss who commands your presence - outside forces that demand compliance. No matter the chores that need completed at home, you must get up, go to work and attempt to accomplish the rest in the eves and on the weekends.
The problem with writing is that the creative juices don't always flow on a daily schedule. Some mornings my writing is brilliant at 9am - others it is execrable.
So - I am trying a new way of insuring I write everyday. It doesn't matter when I start, but I will keep writing until I have completed 2000 words. On good days I jump right out of bed (inspired by my dreams) and have the 2000 words by 11 am. Other days I don't get started with any real writing til 4pm. It doesn't matter as long as I make the word count.
It seems to be working pretty well - except for this Blog. I think I will start a daily '1st thing in the morning' post. It may mean that much of what I write here will lack a sense of coherence as I am not always at my best in the AM but at least it will solidify the habit.
When you are working for someone else there is a boss who commands your presence - outside forces that demand compliance. No matter the chores that need completed at home, you must get up, go to work and attempt to accomplish the rest in the eves and on the weekends.
The problem with writing is that the creative juices don't always flow on a daily schedule. Some mornings my writing is brilliant at 9am - others it is execrable.
So - I am trying a new way of insuring I write everyday. It doesn't matter when I start, but I will keep writing until I have completed 2000 words. On good days I jump right out of bed (inspired by my dreams) and have the 2000 words by 11 am. Other days I don't get started with any real writing til 4pm. It doesn't matter as long as I make the word count.
It seems to be working pretty well - except for this Blog. I think I will start a daily '1st thing in the morning' post. It may mean that much of what I write here will lack a sense of coherence as I am not always at my best in the AM but at least it will solidify the habit.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Blame the Woman - an Age Old Game Continues
It has long been the habit of male dominated societies to blame women for things that go wrong, but this really takes the cake!
Seriously now?
I apologize Denver for that last snow-storm. I went down to check the mail in my PJs.
Seriously now?I apologize Denver for that last snow-storm. I went down to check the mail in my PJs.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Dealing with the S-E-X Word
I have just written a book that I know many members of my own family are going to dislike.
There is cussing in this book, which is bad enough. Worse, there is S-E-X. Between people who aren't married! With multiple partners. Even that dreaded M word - masturbation.
I have always found our American attitude towards sex to be mystifying. Today I came across this article that explains the bi-polar relationship with sex and passion in modern America.
So, as authors do we cave to the puritans or the flirt with the hedonists?
This world is nothing if not diverse. There are people in all parts of the world making decisions every day that I may or may not agree with. People are comfortable doing things to their bodies that horrify me, worry me, turn me on and make me curious. Sexual pleasure is taken in forms familiar and unthinkable, frightening and intriguing.
When it comes to my writing, I have decided to allow my characters to dictate their own behavior. This means that sometimes they shock me and other times their prudery annoys me - at least it is as honest on the page as I can make it.
I can look my family in the eye and say "this is the book I intended to write and my characters act true to themselves."
There is cussing in this book, which is bad enough. Worse, there is S-E-X. Between people who aren't married! With multiple partners. Even that dreaded M word - masturbation.
I have always found our American attitude towards sex to be mystifying. Today I came across this article that explains the bi-polar relationship with sex and passion in modern America.
So, as authors do we cave to the puritans or the flirt with the hedonists?
This world is nothing if not diverse. There are people in all parts of the world making decisions every day that I may or may not agree with. People are comfortable doing things to their bodies that horrify me, worry me, turn me on and make me curious. Sexual pleasure is taken in forms familiar and unthinkable, frightening and intriguing.
When it comes to my writing, I have decided to allow my characters to dictate their own behavior. This means that sometimes they shock me and other times their prudery annoys me - at least it is as honest on the page as I can make it.
I can look my family in the eye and say "this is the book I intended to write and my characters act true to themselves."
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Families - The Ultimate Writing Destroyers!
Yes.. I am guilty.
The GrandBoys look at me with their big brown eyes, trembling lower lips, and please, please, pleases and I cave.
I rationalize that 1500 is not that far shy of the 2500 word daily goal.
I promise that I can get back to the writing after the boys are tucked in for the night.
I make excuses about the fleeting hours of childhood.
In other words, I am guilty of letting my family destroy my writing time.
Luckily for me, this only happens occasionally. My normal situation is that of an empty-nester living in a small apartment that requires little upkeep. My husband and I live simply and this allows plenty of time for writing and composing.
What I struggle with is the requests from family. You know the type:
"Eddie, you don't have a job, could you come stay with the GrandBoys/niece/nephew for a few days?"
My next challenge is learning how to manage these requests and keep writing. I can generally write anywhere as long as I have a relatively comfortable chair, a nice cup of tea and my iPod.
I will just have to find a way to keep schedule when I am not in my own house.
Is that a Grandson I hear calling?
I rationalize that 1500 is not that far shy of the 2500 word daily goal.
I promise that I can get back to the writing after the boys are tucked in for the night.
I make excuses about the fleeting hours of childhood.
In other words, I am guilty of letting my family destroy my writing time.
Luckily for me, this only happens occasionally. My normal situation is that of an empty-nester living in a small apartment that requires little upkeep. My husband and I live simply and this allows plenty of time for writing and composing.
What I struggle with is the requests from family. You know the type:
"Eddie, you don't have a job, could you come stay with the GrandBoys/niece/nephew for a few days?"
My next challenge is learning how to manage these requests and keep writing. I can generally write anywhere as long as I have a relatively comfortable chair, a nice cup of tea and my iPod.
I will just have to find a way to keep schedule when I am not in my own house.
Is that a Grandson I hear calling?
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Finding a Comfortable Place to Write
My apartment is compact. I have a desk, but no proper desk chair so writing at my desk can be uncomfortable. I sometimes write sitting on my chase lounge which can be comfortable... for a while.
I sometimes write sitting at my pub style kitchen table. Comfortable... for a while.
I sometimes write sitting in a rocking chair, or on the piano bench... for a while.
In the end run all of these options choose to be uncomfortable and the flow of my writing is interrupted by protesting muscles and joints.
The most comfortable space for long sessions of writing - my bed.
One day I hope to be able to afford a custom workstation and high-tech ergonomic chair. Until that bright day I have taken to spending all day in bed.
Sounds decadent no?
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Can't Be Brain Dead on This Job!
One of the interesting things I am learning about writing as a 'full-time' career is that you can't have brain dead days.
When you work in an office, unless you have a micro-manager, it is generally possible to fake it through a day when the brain isn't quite firing on all cylinders.
This is not the case when you are writing. If you are brain dead the words on the page are DOA.
I suppose that experienced writers probably set aside certain tasks to do on those days that the synapses just aren't firing.
I don't know. I can't really think of what to do. I'm having a brain dead day!
When you work in an office, unless you have a micro-manager, it is generally possible to fake it through a day when the brain isn't quite firing on all cylinders.
This is not the case when you are writing. If you are brain dead the words on the page are DOA.
I suppose that experienced writers probably set aside certain tasks to do on those days that the synapses just aren't firing.
I don't know. I can't really think of what to do. I'm having a brain dead day!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Verbosity with a Purpose
During revising we are encouraged to Cut Cut Cut. Concise prose is highly valued.
I see that, I really do. But I am a major fan of Dickens and Gabaldon. I like wordiness. The more sensuous the words on the page, the more I enjoy the book.
Partly this comes from my early childhood reading experiences. My Mama read Dr Seuss stories to me practically from birth, and I learned to read at age 4 by bugging my older bothers to share the books they were reading in school. Consequently, I had a VERY developed vocabulary and reading ability at a young age.
The summer before my fourth grade year I ran out of books. We lived 30 miles from the nearest library and only went into town once each month. I had read everything on the shelf at home as was driving my mother insane with whinging. Finally, in desperation, she pulled Shakespeare's Complete works off the shelf and challenged me to read it.
She said, "You won't understand it the first time you read it, but just go back and re-read it until you do understand."
She was looking for a good way to get me off her back. It worked. I grabbed the dictionary and the Works and disappeared for the remainder of the summer.
I read it, and read it and read it again. The first time it was mostly gobbeldy-gook. The second time I began to get a sense of the rhythm and flow. The third I began to grasp the plots, and by the fourth time through I was completely enamored with the elegance of the language and the power of the stories.
In the end run, we must right what we know. I know and love words. My goal now is to communicate this well enough that others who feel the same will provide the market for what I write.
Of course I am still cutting, tightening and polishing my work. I just doubt that the word concise will ever be applied to my writing!
I see that, I really do. But I am a major fan of Dickens and Gabaldon. I like wordiness. The more sensuous the words on the page, the more I enjoy the book.
Partly this comes from my early childhood reading experiences. My Mama read Dr Seuss stories to me practically from birth, and I learned to read at age 4 by bugging my older bothers to share the books they were reading in school. Consequently, I had a VERY developed vocabulary and reading ability at a young age.
The summer before my fourth grade year I ran out of books. We lived 30 miles from the nearest library and only went into town once each month. I had read everything on the shelf at home as was driving my mother insane with whinging. Finally, in desperation, she pulled Shakespeare's Complete works off the shelf and challenged me to read it.
She said, "You won't understand it the first time you read it, but just go back and re-read it until you do understand."
She was looking for a good way to get me off her back. It worked. I grabbed the dictionary and the Works and disappeared for the remainder of the summer.
I read it, and read it and read it again. The first time it was mostly gobbeldy-gook. The second time I began to get a sense of the rhythm and flow. The third I began to grasp the plots, and by the fourth time through I was completely enamored with the elegance of the language and the power of the stories.
In the end run, we must right what we know. I know and love words. My goal now is to communicate this well enough that others who feel the same will provide the market for what I write.
Of course I am still cutting, tightening and polishing my work. I just doubt that the word concise will ever be applied to my writing!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Disgust, Disgust, Disgust
I just read about a video game that is about rape!?!?!?
In what universe is this ok? I understand the protests that you can't really regulate artistic expression - but really?!? It is ok for young men to play-act RAPE? I have long felt that video games are dangerous in the same way pornography is - small doses do no harm, but repeated exposure and obsession can lead to real mental problems. Garbage in = Garbage out.
So how do we fight back?
In what universe is this ok? I understand the protests that you can't really regulate artistic expression - but really?!? It is ok for young men to play-act RAPE? I have long felt that video games are dangerous in the same way pornography is - small doses do no harm, but repeated exposure and obsession can lead to real mental problems. Garbage in = Garbage out.
So how do we fight back?
Monday, March 29, 2010
Search for a Pen Name Part 2
Well, I don't think you can choose a pen names these days without googling it to see if any other person has claimed that name.
Looking just at the two options using some form of my own name reveals that Eddie Louise is already me - ie I have an established web presence (including a review in the Scotsman of an opera I wrote the libretto for. The only other Eddie Louise of note is a black male with a mugshot on line. Most importantly, no-one has the domain name eddielouise.com.
Louise Michaels is a bit more problematic, as there is an artist by that name and she has claimed the domain name.
So, unless I choose to go with a name unrelated to my own, Eddie Louise it is.
As a side note, Deuce Roadkill has announced that he is the secondary star of a YA novel. Evidently my 1950's heroine (whom I haven't met yet) is obsessed with the many adventures of Deuce Roadkill and is patterning her behaviors after him to the consternation of her conservative father and stay-at-home mom. Like most ideas I have that come at inconvenient times, I will note it in the small blank book I carry everywhere and save the story idea for a rainy day.
Looking just at the two options using some form of my own name reveals that Eddie Louise is already me - ie I have an established web presence (including a review in the Scotsman of an opera I wrote the libretto for. The only other Eddie Louise of note is a black male with a mugshot on line. Most importantly, no-one has the domain name eddielouise.com.
Louise Michaels is a bit more problematic, as there is an artist by that name and she has claimed the domain name.
So, unless I choose to go with a name unrelated to my own, Eddie Louise it is.
As a side note, Deuce Roadkill has announced that he is the secondary star of a YA novel. Evidently my 1950's heroine (whom I haven't met yet) is obsessed with the many adventures of Deuce Roadkill and is patterning her behaviors after him to the consternation of her conservative father and stay-at-home mom. Like most ideas I have that come at inconvenient times, I will note it in the small blank book I carry everywhere and save the story idea for a rainy day.
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