Jumping Off the Cliff

That's what my boss calls it, anyway.

The time has come, since I haven't made the announcement official yet in the blogosphere (though, if you're my friend on FB, this may not be news to you).

I'm pregnant, having a boy, due March 16th.

While I'm super excited (and not at all ready, so I'm glad I still have three months), I'm also trying to be practical. This involves wanting to finish reading work by my author friends before then, finish some heavy editing on my own work, and even possibly start querying before March. I think *fingers-crossed* if I can get my novel in good shape by March, querying can happen at, um, SOME point while the baby's super tiny. Then, if an agent actually picks me up, I'd be willing to bet it wouldn't be while the baby's still so little and I'm so exhausted that I can't open my computer.

Right? *whimper*

So in the next few months, I'll be slashing and burning a minimum of 5K (hopefully closer to 8K), critiquing, blogging, and fitting in as much as (if not more than) physically possible before I jump.

Any suggestions on how to juggle babies/small children and writing and jobs would be both helpful and gratefully accepted.

A Preface to the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge and an Award

Tomorrow begins the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm also a tad frightened by it. I means posting six times per week, and hopefully being able to respond to comments, while in the throes of exams and final projects, deep house cleaning and preparing for visitors for May's impending graduation (not mine, but my awesome husband's).

But, heck, here's hoping.

I've been planning my end of the event, wanting to have as many posts relate to writing as possible. But, because I want to make this interesting, I'm mixing it up a tad. Here's my plan.

I'm going to be asking for random words beginning with certain letters on my Twitter and Facebook accounts. I will compose a list of all the suggestions, and then choose based on a random number generator. Whichever word comes up, I will (somehow) relate to writing.

Stop by tomorrow when the fun shall commence!

PS--Today I'm taking suggestions for the letter C. Have any?

*insert poor segue here*

About a week ago, I received a beautiful comment from Deirdra at A Storybook World, notifying me of an award.

Thank you so much, Deirdra!

ReEdited Again

So I got no reading done this weekend on my stack of novels and memoirs. I printed off my first WIP last Wednesday (11pt font, .5" margins, 1.5 spacing).  I hadn't looked at the thing since before NaNo and had honestly forgotten many things about it.

For reference, especially since a handful of you awesome readers are new after Alex J. Cavanaugh's awesome Top Ten Music Blogfest on Monday (Welcome! And thanks again to Alex for hosting :) I must tell you the brief history of me and this WIP. I started it on 18 July 2009 (don't ask why I know the date; I just do) and worked tirelessly on it and its two sequels until all three were written at close to 450K in March 2010 (don't know this date, though). And then I never let go. And I didn't let go. And I didn't let go. I didn't start anything new...

Well, no, that's not entirely true. I worked on something akin to garbage for about 10 days, which amounted close to 50K of stylistic nonsense. Even the plot was pretty boring. But even so, I couldn't take my mind off of the first WIPx3.

So, like every idealistic new writer, I put my first 250 words on Nathan Bradsford's blog for critique (my entry has not yet been selected), and my first 5 pages up on WriteOnCon.

A. Sobering. Experience.

After only one person critiques my first 5 pages on WriteOnCon, without holding back and essentially telling me the idea had merit but the execution stank like rotten composting roasting on an open fire, I snapped back to reality. I got involved in a critique group, found a fabulous individual critique partner from it, and rewrote the whole thing.

Then it sat. I stopped looking at it in the middle of October. I did NaNo, finished my semester, started another project, and then realized I could finally get back to the original.

On Friday I read 1 chapter. I didn't get any further than that.

That was enough. I realized how all entirely completely utterly horribly wrong some of the basic foundational material was. While the main plot works okay, I have to entirely rework my backstory. I need to make it more relatable.

People had made this suggestion before, but I hadn't been ready to hear it. Three months away from my WIP, and I think I'm ready. We'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, for the three of you who might have read a little bit of it, here's a shot of Emma Roberts (courtesy of EmmaRoberts.net), which is how I picture my MC, Anabelle (minus the blowing of the hair, of course, unless Olivia's around).

How do you edit? Have you had any editorial surprises? How long do you wait before you return to your WIP? How much overhaul do you take to your work? (Please don't tell me that it's perfect the first time! I might have a brain spasm.)

The Social Networks

Yup, that's plural. This post is not about the movie (which I haven't seen).

I first heard about social networking (though it wasn't called that) maybe years ago with Friendster. I created an account, invited some other friends to join, and then had no idea what to do with it. I let it sit there, and finally closed that account about a year ago.

When we got to the university, I opened a Facebook account. This was back in the day when only people with a .edu email address could get an account. Back in the day when each status update automatically started with "is". It was fun keeping up with my friends and making up gerunds and bad progressive-tense constructions ("is liking" *blech*) to create sensible status updates beyond "is in the library". Posting pictures inspired me to take more pictures in the age of the digital camera. All in all, I could easily keep up with it, and was liking it quite a lot :)

Today, however, Facebook isn't enough. For me, I also have this lovely blog, a Twitter account, an account on Ravelry (for lovers of fiber arts), SparkPeople (for those needing a cyber fitness community... this is usually the first to be forgotten by me) and Goodreads. Each one is different (although, I swear I will never full understand Twitter) and serves a different purpose.

But recently, I've been getting more invitations to other networks. Select2gether (I'm pretty sure this one is just spam, though). LinedIn. Academia.com. But where do you draw the line? The people who invited me for the latter 2 are good friends and reputable people, but I can't figure out how these networks are any different from what I've already got.


How do you social network? Where do you draw the line? Or is there no line to draw? Should we all participate in everything with the hopes of inspiring those heavy book sales someday? And if you use a number of different networks, how do you manage everything?

Writing Over the Holidays

Whew! Getting writing done over the holidays sure is hard, isn't it? I've been at my in-laws now close to two weeks, and have hardly opened my computer, much less Scrivener. Granted, I've been reading like a madwoman because, well, I can. But I haven't been writing.

This morning, my husband and I went and spent a few hours at a coffee shop. He wanted to get out of the house to get some work done, and I tagged along to do my own work. And MAN am I rusty. It's only been two weeks, and the words were NOT flowing. I tried editing my NaNo chapters, and realized I needed a new chapter 2.5. I tried working on a new project, and only wrote about 100 words.

The moral of the story: write every day!

Okay, now, that being said, I can't go back in time and write over the past 14 days. I need to get back into the swing of the writing, find the groove and the muse.

So, I ask you: What do you do to find your groove after a break, be it from the holidays or other reasons? Any tips?

Update

I have temporarily extracted myself from cyberspace, and will be AWOL for a few more days, but I wanted to let you all know that I'm still alive and kicking.

1) Got the awesome hair treatment done, and I LOVE it! If you have hair like mine, I highly recommend the Global Keratin treatment (as well as Erin at Rocstar Hair in Chicago).

2) Drove back from Chicago in nasty, horrible snow. I was a little traumatized from the drive, but arrived home safe and in one piece. I have no desire to do any driving for a while, though.

3) My husband, my mother, and I are flying to Phoenix today to visit my in-laws for the holidays. I'm really looking forward to the break and time to eat cookies and work on writing.

4) Future blog posts will include a review of The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors by Michele Young-Stone (which I started in October and finally finished this week), and a review of Scrivener, which I got to use for NaNo. Preview: I loved both. Stay tuned.

5) Upcoming reading for me includes: No Place for Heroes by Laura Restrepo, Junction 2020 by Carol Riggs, The Hating Game by Talli Roland, and finishing On Writing by Stephen King. I'll post reviews of these, too, as I finish them.

What are you reading right now?

Happy Thursday, folks! :)

On Writing Classes

Writing classes are amazing things.  I have learned so much about myself and my writing in the past six weeks.  It has been an invaluable experience, and I am beyond grateful to my instructor.

That being said, I've registered to take Beginning Welsh next semester, and not the next writing class.

Why? my husband asked me.  And when he did, I didn't have an answer.  So I've been reflecting on it, and while I'm not sure I've settled on a great answer, I have a couple mediocre ones.

First, the requirement for these classes--ones designed by MFA students or faculty who teach MFA students--is to write literary fiction.  I don't write literary fiction, and I don't feel like I've done too well at it so far.  I also really like the complications of dragons or witches or extraterrestrials, or the comfort of a cozy mystery.  I'm not the kind of person who has theses on life all lined up in my back pocket ready to be fictionalized.  Not all literary fiction is that, I know, but I feel a great deal of pressure to write something profound that's going to change the world, but I'm not a world-changing kind of gal.

Second, you have to apply to get into the next class.  This scares the toe-socks right off my overly elongated toes.  Seriously, you have to write a cover letter and send in your best short fiction piece.  My short fiction has mainly been limited to this class, and it's not that great.  Would this be a great way to prep myself for the rejection of agent queries?  Maybe, but in my mind it's not the same.  The prof/MFA student teaching the course may have the office across the hall from me (I haven't researched it yet, but it is possible since we share our hallway with the English department), and I might have the reminder daily that I didn't get in.  They can't tell me no unless I apply, of course, but that brings me back to #1.

Honestly, I keep asking myself if I want to push myself toward literary fiction when that's not my forte, even if I'm learning valuable things about craft and style and structure, and I keep not having a good answer.  So, as of right now, I've taken the wuss-way out.  I'll take more writing classes in the future, of course, but for right now I think I'm gonna take a break and try to mold and tweak the skills I've gained from this course.  There's never an end to the learning, but sometimes you need to just step back and take Welsh.

Real World Writing

No, this has nothing to do with MTV.

Yesterday my writing class took a field trip.  Our instructor told us nothing before our arrival in class as to what we were doing or where we were going or how it related to writing.  So we arrived, expectant, and waited for her announcement.

The assignment (and there was no choice regarding acceptance): (i) go to the Student Union and interview someone you've never met about a time when they got kicked out of somewhere, (ii) write up the details of said story, and (iii) fictionalize it into a story of 300-400 words.  And we only got one shot once the person agreed.  She forbade us from interviewing multiple people.

At the words "you've never met", my adrenaline kicked into overdrive.  I'm not an interviewer.  If I were, I'd be in journalism classes, not fiction.  I'm a lock-myself-up-and-write type, and... other people? What's that?  As we left the classroom, another woman from class and I started discussing, first, how this was crazy and we were already embarrassed :) and then strategies on how to find people who weren't trying to study and would therefore be more willing to talk to us.

I guess it worked—once I swallowed my pride and my fear.  The first person I asked not only was willing to talk to me (sitting in the food court with his half-eaten Pizza Hut bread stick), but he had a great story.  Due to confidentiality restrictions required by the assignment, I can't share it, but I will tell you that I laughed the entire time he relayed his story, and that it involved a Walmart and a ripstik.

Feel free to use your imaginations.

This exercise really emphasized the importance of using the real world (as opposed to the Real World) in writing.  Once I got over my initial apprehension, I realized what a fabulous assignment this is.  I'm still nervous about the writing part—even though the instructor assured us that we in no way had to stay true to the original story—but it's taken me beyond my comfort zone and asked me to do more.  That I sincerely appreciate.


What leaps do you take for your writing?  Have you ever been nervous about taking extra steps to make your work more authentic?  How do you push yourself to include the real world (or the Real World if you love MTV)?

Taking the Initiative

Change scares the toe-socks off of my poor little feet.**  I like consistency.  I'm not spontaneous.  I'm bordering on OCD control-freak.

Aren't you glad you follow me? Heh.

So one of my most nerve-raking experiences came a few weeks ago.  And before I tell you what I did, please know that this was an educated decision on my part, two to three years in the making.  It was not rash, and I'm pretty sure I have burned no bridges.

I told my adviser that I don't want to take my PhD exams, I don't want to write a dissertation, and I would much rather be able to spend my time writing fiction.

After much promise to help me through the writing process, giving me no less than four possible dissertation topics, and suggesting the difference in employment opportunities between having a Masters and a PhD, he said, "I'm fighting because I hate to see you go.  It would be insulting if I just said, 'Sure.  Okay.  Good luck.'"  Annoyed as I might have been through the whole discuss, I appreciated his efforts to keep me around.  He's been a great adviser for the past few years, incredibly supportive, pushed me to go beyond where I thought I could go, and got me opportunities I didn't think I could get.  I'm grateful for all of those things in ways I don't think I could express to him.

But, with all of that support and all of the push, I've learned a lot about myself.  I've learned that many of my boundaries are self-imposed, and I feel I can better recognize the ones that are real and the ones that aren't.  And I have a drive toward something I love that I didn't know I had.

So, toward the end of the meeting when he said to me, "There are creative writing class you could take..." and continues to tell me how he knows the prof and could take to him to see if I could take the class, I should have been elated.  But I balked.  Why?  Well, it was a 600-level MFA course.  MFA students go through a rigorous process to get in, submitting portfolios and publication references, etc.  It wouldn't be fair for me to walk in, sit down, and say, "Well, I published a short story in my HS writing magazine in 1995.  I'm also working on a novel, but the professionals who have seen it haven't even seen the first 10K."  Can we say "instant resent"?

But it got the idea in my head.  I began hunting through the English department's course offerings for the fall semester, and found a 200-level course—the only prerequisite being E103, or Writing for Those Who Didn't Learn How to Write in HS—on creative fiction.  Of the four or five section, one had one available slot.

So I emailed the contact to get permission to take the course, despite my lack of "How to Write a Thesis Statement" course.  As of about 3:00 this afternoon, I am officially registered in an intro to fiction writing course with a bunch of 19 year olds.

But the bottom line is, I can hear my knees rattling.  Nerves are a beautifully annoying thing.  I'm not sure what's making me so concerned about it, since the last time I took a writing class was 1999.  I can certainly use the pointers.  I want to write more short fiction to have SOMETHING to list in a query letter for publications.

It's just change.  There's no good reason to be afraid of change, except for the unknown.  That's where I'm at, folks.  Wish me luck!

And wish me luck if I don't get in, too.  I need to find three more hours of something remotely interesting to take this semester :)


How do you deal with change?  What kind of leaps-of-faith have you taken for your writing?



**Disclaimer: My feet are far from little, and I long ago got rid of all my toe socks.  My wearing them was said to scare small children due to my overly large second digit.