Category Archives: Writing

God likes me liking what I like

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At least, if his provision for my delight is any indication, He does.

Last week, okay, two weeks ago now, our family was in Anchorage. While there I visited this fabulous new/used bookstore called Title Wave Books. Cool name, yes?

I’ve never been in a bookstore before that shelved new and used side by side, really great for browsing. As might be expected, I limited my purchases to titles that had a used copy, since the cost was less, and, well, there were still loads of neat titles.

My first night there I found (and bought):

The last three (*) have been on my amazon wish list for months, the second (Uses) has been on my story-telling radar, and the folktales book (in addition to being part of a useful series I have two books from already) opened with a very thoughtful essay that included insights about the structural differences between male-centered and female-centered tales that gave me an insight I needed for the novels I’ve been writing.

“I was supposed to buy this book,” I thought to myself over and over again as I read the essay and stories.

“I feel so validated,” I kept telling my husband, cycling from book to book. Kid in a candy store just doesn’t cut it. I would take a bite from one, say “This is so good,” know this was the one I would read while Elisha kept me up tonight, then “taste” the next one. “This is so good,” I’d say again, and experience the delicious pain of this type of indecision.

So many choices and all of them good. (If you can give me the context/title of the work with the opposite quote–So many choices, and all of them bad– I’ll give you great thanks, assuming it’s one I’ve read/seen. The line keeps circling through my head).

I felt validated, as I mentioned earlier, because these were all used books. They none of them had to be there, but God allowed/brought together the circumstances that gave them to me to encourage me. And they did.

Writing and Writing

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“Where did you get your copies?”
“Out of my head.”
“That head I see now on your shoulders?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Has it other furniture of the same kind within?
“I should think it may have: I should hope–better.”

I think it was the first two books I read about novel-writing that planted the four most impactful ideas.

  1. Never save anything for your next novel
  2. Don’t expect to publish your first novel
  3. Expect writing a novel to take a long time
  4. Publishers aren’t interested in a one-book wonder. They want to create a brand.

I wonder now if these statements had the most impact on me because they were in the first books I read, or because they are what I most needed to hear.

One of the authors said his first published novel was the third he wrote, but the first two weren’t wasted because (aside from helping him develop as a writer and learn/perfect his craft) having those manuscripts proved to his publisher that he was serious about writing. Eventually he did rework at least one of them for publication.

My challenge sometimes seems to be remembering that I have enough material to make more books. I like that opening quote (from Jane Eyre) because it reflects my feelings about producing more than one work.  I continue to write because it is like moving– I can only be still so long. But more than just having something new to write, I want it to actually be better.

I Made It.

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(Posted simultaneously at Family News.)

Can’t say I’m done, ’cause I’m not, but I did make the 50,000-word “finish line.”

Two nights ago, actually. And yesterday I spent much of the day cleaning house because we were having company for dinner, so I didn’t write anything before “validating” my 50,267-Word document this morning. (You are such a nice little document!) It came in as 50,116 words.

Good enough for me. I did what I set out to do (make word count) and have had a “highly educational experience” that was not frightening or humiliating (I understand many highly educational experiences are one or both). I now have more words on a single story than I ever have before, and I spent more consecutive days on a single project (excluding marriage and children and eating) than I have before in my life.

Since it’s still not done I’ll have to spend some more hours on it before it’s complete, but I’ve got those penciled in for January or February.

The plan for December is to create order in my physical world (this was already manifesting itself toward the end of the month as my word-count slowed and my house got pretty) and enjoy Jay’s time off.

The whole month. *WooHoo!*

I’m hoping to have some time in there to create a semi-formal “pre-school” lesson plan for Natasha. She it just chomping at the bit right now. She has loved poetry since she was 2 1/2 and fell in love with that rabbit poem. We read them between chores this morning, and she was never ready to let me get back to my clothes-folding. Then she went off “playing school” and “reading” both by herself and with Melody.

Ahhhh

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See, playing around with templates can make a difference.

I still don’t know what’s up with wordpress, but from my playing with templates I remembered this one with search and links at the top.

It’s not as organized as some of the others, but with things as they are, it’s doing the best.

~~~

I’m thinking now I might have made a “NaNo” category, but “Developing novel” is doing okay.  It just covers more than my Lindorm story… If you go back far enough.

It’s funny now to think how proud I was of my  13,000+ words I had accumulated on my swan story.  Nearly at 40,000 now on the Lindorm effort, and I have an entirely different perspective on volume.

A little competition is all I need…

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For the first half of NaNo I was riding between or ahead of my two “buddies” that were in the front of my pack of four.

Then I had a few days of Elisha not napping when the girls did, and not wanting to be up until 11+ and my count slid. I still did a little everyday, but that was almost pathetic: less-than 400 2-days in a row, and I fell miserably behind those two.

Like, thousands of words behind them.

So I went poking around until I found someone else whose word count was closer to mine and had a reasonable daily pace (not one of those ignore it for 5 days than write 8,000-types). I added him to my buddy-list to watch his progress and became instantly more productive. I had a goal (Pass this guy) and even better I was at an exciting point in my story.

I’ve been just flying these last two days. I really ought to find a second somebody, so this doesn’t start to look personal ;-9

Anyway, current word-count: 37,351

I’m continually amazed that I’ve now spent this many words on one story. And there’s still more to go. I still wonder if the story will be done (or close to it) when I reach goal.

Another angle of amazed: I’m impressed I’ve stuck with this. Not that I don’t enjoy it (when I sit down and do it I usually do), but there are so many other enjoyments calling for my attention– that piano class I’m attending weekly, for example.  I’ve been glad Jay’s on-board with me, since if it were just me I probably would have found 25,000 enough to be impressed with for now and come back to it later.

Now I know what 37,000 feels like, and about how long it can take to get there. I’m very curious to see 50,000.

Ugh.

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WordPress/this blog is acting weird.

The text isn’t supposed to be centered all down the page, and the links are supposed to be running along-side in that nice empty space to the right.

*sigh*

Oh well. Maybe it will self-correct next weekend when Jay updates the WP version. I’ll get some new templates to play with too. Jay has wanted to be in charge of updates and stuff. So I’m just waiting until he’s ready/free to do it.

He updated the budget this weekend, which was very cool. I am so thankful he sees that as his job.

Word-count sits at 26,810 right now. I haven’t yet been able to get back into the website to update my daily count, so it may be less-accurate than I’d like for today. But at least I’ve made back some time. I only got about 700-words in the two days before today, so I was getting a bit nervous.

Feeling again like this isn’t going to meet my goal of having something to work into publishable material.

Jay encouraged me, saying whatever I end up with, the process of writing itself was being very educational for me, and other useful things that I’ve sometimes told myself, but were good to hear just now.

I asked him to pray encouragement for me. The idea of investing this much time just in “practice” is a little intimidating.

Clipping right along

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Broke 20,000!

Sitting at 20,0058 and still have this evening’s writing time to go. Woohoo!

Updated before bed: 21,394

Just think how much I’d have if I wrote the whole time instead of blog/surfing.

But, then, I do feel the need to dilute this noveling experience a bit. Believe it or not it’s a little intense.

Word count

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I’m at 14,135 tonight.

At least they’re finally married. Of course, that does include the prologue. And the juicily satisfying ending for the step-mother. So maybe it didn’t take as long as I thought to get my beauty to “clean up” her beast (If you knew the lindorm story you’d have gotten that joke).

Next on the to-do list: prove he’s the crown prince (in place of everyone’s favorite princeling they watched grow-up) and our Beauty conceiving twins.

This is the thing I think of at every happily-ever-after: odds are the perfectly shaped heroine will be with-child within a year, and how will that change the sweet romantic picture we are fading out on?

The Current Incarnation

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Last updated 2-5-07

Anja’s step-sister Irene attempts to destroy her by offering Anja to the Queen as a “bride” for a lindorm (type of dragon) demanding a wife.

With magical advice Anja not only survives but reveals the monster as the elder twin prince, “lost” at birth. He is reinstated, and must eventually go to war with his father and brother, but not before his wife is pregnant.

She gives birth to twins, but must still deal with the threat of her power-hungry step-sister. Irene pulls several switches on incoming letters that culminate in another attempt on Anja’s life, supposedly on the orders of her husband. With help, she flees, taking her boys.

A woodsman helps hide them, but Anja soon learns he has troubles of his own. She is ready to “fall” for him (after ending his curse) when a mysterious woman shows up on the doorstep. She instantly intrigues Ivan, leaving Anja more confused than ever.

Kennett (the former lindorm) finds his way to the cottage and reconnects with Anja, returning with her to the palace.

Irene runs for the border.

First Progress Report

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(inserted from gmail later)
Still wanting a dog (less-than 6-months to go…) Was ready to quit about eight times yesterday. Only the first day, too.

Good thing my husband want me to do this too, otherwise it would be far too easy just to stop.

~~~

I started out writing the scene I posted as my excerpt, and that was fun, but then I went back to the prologue to start at the beginning and found that dead dull.

I’m at a more interesting spot now and it’s been easier to write, though I’ve had relitively little two-handed typing time (even now: I’m nursing so this is all one-handed.) I like to think I’ve got a pretty decent 1-handed wpm ;-) even if there are more typos…