The Weekly Wrap 12/31

Monday 12/31 - Spent most of today driving down to Charleston to visit some friends and celebrate NYE. However, after I had gotten ready and was waiting on everyone else, my guilty conscience drove me to start what I hope will turn out to be a two part blog post eventually.

Had some crazy apocalypse-looking weather on the way down. 

Photographic representation of the rest of my night. 

Tuesday 1/1/13 - It's so strange to write 2013. Time flies. To celebrate, I spent the day curled in the fetal position on the couch.

Wednesday 1/2/13 - Today was the dreaded ride back, physically and mentally, to the real world. Coming back after the holidays is like a giant reality slap to the face and I'm never prepared for it. Still broke, still struggling, basically in the same position I was in before I left. No amount of presents or celebrating changes that, but I can pride myself on the fact that I got a legitimate amount of work done. I arrived home and had a near panic attack, so I cleaned out the apartment from top to bottom to alleviate the anxiety.

Thursday 1/3/13 - Now I'm back to work, feeling totally guilty and terrible for those two days I didn't write anything. Some of my Christmas presents are watching me with their judgmental eyes:

Jerks.

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the dont's. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the wont's. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be." 

-Shel Silverstein 

Trying to capture that moment of unadulterated bliss I felt driving down to SC, the whole road open before me, feeling like I could take myself anywhere with my writing. Calm down, breathe. You will make do. It's going to be okay. 

Now get back to work. 

Friday 1/4/13 - Chugging along this morning. Starting to feel that beginning of the year blues where you realize there's nothing really worth celebrating until the summer. 

Saturday 1/5/13 - Had to take Sara to the airport today, made for a sad day. Always reminds me of the quote in Code Name Verity: 

"It's like being in love, discovering your best friend." 

Chapter 4 has really been running me around. I feel like the timeline is all kinds of wonky so I'm having to rewrite a lot of this chapter. 

Sunday 1/6/13 - A foggy, disgusting Sunday morning, perfectly tailored for the moody type of writing I need to do today. I'm really feeling it today, like no matter how much I type, I'm slogging my words through mud and sand and they just keep dragging farther and farther away from what I actually want to say. 

"Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with a painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand." 

-George Orwell

George, you said it today. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining because I hate doing this. I love it when the writing comes easily. It's like giving my mind a complicated puzzle to solve, to see how the final picture turns out, but when it doesn't come easy...Well, any writer can tell you about those dark days. 

I did break through Chapter 4 today so that is one small victory. Chapter 5 is a lengthy sucker, but it's a less introspective chapter. There's more action and I'm excited to finesse it. 

See you next week! 

-E 

The Weekly Wrap 12/24

Monday 12/24 - At my makeshift office at my parents' house. Had some trouble focusing this morning, but got through some of chapter 2. Keep being interrupted by family, but it is what it is. At least they can see I'm working and not just talking about it!

A good pic of Boo, finally! She really is a pretty dog, I swear. 

Headphones to get me in the right mindset (and block out people talking). 

Tuesday 12/25 - It's Christmas, y'all! There's so much build up but on Christmas Day, once the presents are opened, there's plenty of time so I squeezed in some revision. 

Books off my Christmas List!

-On Writing By Stephen King - a really good book on writing that I've only read essays from before. It has some great anecdotes and really solid writing advice. 

-The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - I hope this book lives up to the hype. 

-Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor - I loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone and can't wait to start this. It's the kind of book I'd stay up all night reading just to see what happens next. 

-Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool - Sounds wonderful and it won the Newberry Award in 2011. 

Merry Christmas! 

Wednesday 12/26 - Happy birthday Mom! Chugging along through Chapter 2. 

Thursday 12/27 - Chapter 2 completed! Obviously this one was a bit longer than Chapter 1 (or needed more work). Only like 10 or 12 more to go. Wee! I've been using a voice recorder app on my phone to record myself reading what I've written so I can play back the tricky parts and hear what sticks out like a sore thumb. It's pretty cool. You never sound like you think you do so it's like having another person read my story and I'm able to get lost in it in a way that I never have before. I highly recommend it if you are writing. 

I also put together a recap of my life in 2012 for You Should.

I've been banished to the dining room, probably from all the eye rolling and heavy sighs every time I'm interrupted by a family member. 

Friday 12/28 - A full day open to me! I wrote up a little something fun, took my doggie for a morning run, and got some revising finished.

Here's a little something my friend Sara got me:

It's fun to get writing related stuff that isn't another Moleskin or stationary. 

Saturday 12/29 - It's a rainy Saturday morning, perfect for coffee, working, and reading. Ahh, such a life. I am LOVING On Writing by Stephen King. I blew through 200 pages of it yesterday, sad it's so short. I loved the section about his life because I'm a dweeb and want to know, but his writing advice is solid. Gotta practice, gotta dedicate yourself, gotta work. It definitely isn't a walk in the park. 

Sunday 12/30 - My, my. It's been a busy morning running around, trying to get organized before I have to go into work. I did a little something something on You Should, bought ink, and printed out the rest of the chapters I need to work on. So here it is, Momentum:

I've done the blue paper clips. Still need to do the red (and yes, I color coordinate my chapters depending on whether or not they've been revised). 

And now I'm off for NYE. Have a Happy New Year, y'all! 

10 Odd Bookish Habits

Reading can be an obsession, and as with any obsession, we all do it a little differently. I thought I'd share some not-so-normal bookish habits that I have.

1. I read more than one book at once. I know this doesn't sound too strange, but for most people, they tend to stick to one book at a time before moving on to others. Unless it's a novel I read in one session, I typically have three to four books that I'm reading at one time. For example, right now I'm reading Stephen King's On Writing and Different Seasons as well as Life of Pi by Yann Martel and a couple other stragglers where I started them and somehow lost interest.

2. I read while I'm blow drying my hair. No joke. It's totally weird but blow drying your hair is such a boring monotonous task and I try to squeeze in reading time whenever possible. I've also managed to put on makeup and do my hair while reading. Skillz.

3. I have a system for how I dog ear pages (and I'm not a purist where I never fold a page, sorry, not sorry). Typically, you see people dog ear pages at the top right, but I fold in the bottom corner of passages where I loved the writing and I fold down the top right one to mark where I am in the book. I rarely use bookmarks - I have a tendency to lose them - and I hardly ever keep a book jacket on the book, unless I'm using the front flap to put in between pages.

4. I can listen to music while I read. Sometimes, I prefer it. I'm fortunate that I don't get motion sickness so on long car rides, I fire up my iPod and get some reading done. It's like the book has a soundtrack. I love it.

5. I almost never reread books. Unless it's a beloved childhood favorite or one where I need to reflect, I typically finish a book and that's the last time I see it. It's hard for me to recreate the magic of reading something for the first time and I don't want to be disappointed if the book doesn't have the same effect it had as the first time. I will go back and look at parts that I really loved (see #3).

6. When I buy a book, I read the first sentence and the last sentence first. To me, it's important to end with something meaningful, just as it is to start. I've had people tell me that ruins the book. 1) Authors almost never give away the entire book with the last sentence. That sounds like terrible writing. The book should evolve naturally. 2) By the time I reach the end, I've forgotten what the last sentence was. It's like rediscovering those words and after having spent a considerable amount of time with the book's characters, the ending and last line feel that much more satisfactory. 3) As a writer, you want to see how others do it - how they pull the reader in and how they put the bow on top at the end. It's basically research.

7. I love big chain book stores, particularly Barnes and Noble. I know! I'm learning to patronize smaller, local brick and mortar shops, but Barnes and Noble has a special place in my heart. It's where I learned to love to read, where I spent a lot of time writing (I'm a walking cliche), and where I finished my first manuscript when I was 20. When I was a kid, toys and candy were privileges, but my parents never told us no when it came to books. I distinctly remember coming out of Barnes and Noble, my arms cradling my newest haul, with a coffee (this is probably where my caffeine obsession came from). Going into the bookstore makes me happy (new stories!), exhilarated (one day, my book will hopefully be here), intimidated (omg, one day my book will be here), and angry (really, Snooki published another novel).

8. I confuse characters and plot lines constantly. I have a voracious appetite for reading, but a terrible time keeping everything straight because I read everything too fast. I never finished Harry Potter because after I read the 5th book on a two-day bender, I couldn't remember what happened the next year when the 6th one came out. So I gave up.

9. Some books I simply cannot read in public because I will sob. Mostly, anything written by John Green, the end of a beloved series, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, anything about the Holocaust, etc.

10. As of right now, I do not have a library card. Instead, I prefer to spend obnoxious amounts of money buying books, when I have neither the funds nor the space. Books are kind of sacred to me, so it's hard for me to part with one after I've read it even if I'm not going to read it again (#5). I know, it's absolutely insane and completely cost ineffective. Now, I can say it's because I want to support the author, since I'll hopefully be in the same boat one day, but honestly, I just love having a lot of books.

Here's some research for my Future Unsuspecting Significant Other:

You give me a library, I'll marry you on the spot.

-E

Anybody else have any strange book quirks? Tell me I'm not alone! 

The Weekly Wrap 12/17

Monday 12/17 - Some wise (funny) words from Mr. King today:

"The road to hell is paved with adverbs." 

True story though. Adverbs can be the death of you when you're still learning. If I feel the need to use one, I normally stop and think, is this really necessary? I mean, just try saying "unceremoniously" out loud. If you stumble saying it, you can be sure as hell your reader will.

Spent the morning working through Momentum before Christmas shopping forced me out.

Tuesday 12/18 - No words of wisdom today. At my other office, also known as the bar I work at while on my break between shifts. Go through a chapter and half of Momentum. Getting close to finishing this slow read.

Wednesday 12/19 - A day of freedom!  Started out with some funny biz from J.D. Salinger:

"What really knocks me out about a book is that, when you're all done reading it, you wish that the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though." 

Yeah, most of my favorite authors I want to sit down and have a cup of coffee with. On a different note, I got through the climax of the story and I have to say, I think it's pretty good! Intense. I was surprised that my characters can still bring out that kind of emotion in me. I think it's a good thing.

Thursday 12/20 - Today's quote dealt with something I encounter a lot:

"And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy of creativity is self doubt." - Sylvia Plath

Today I finished up marking and thinking about where I want to edit. It's the first full read-through I've done since finishing writing it so it was interesting to go back over those places. Thoughts: it's good but needs some work in places.

I found in my workshops that when I revise, retyping what I've written is a pain in the ass, but necessary. It helps me get back in the flow of how I felt when I was writing it for the first time, and keeping the issues I have with the piece in mind, I'm able to smooth out the writing and expand. So I cleared off the chalkboard wall, made a giant list of the things I wanted to accomplish in the first chapter and got to work retyping. It sounds tedious, but really it's a good way to get my rhythm.

Friday 12/21 - Oh hey! The world didn't end. I celebrated by not doing anything writing related. In other unrelated, non-procrastination news (ha!), I got an iPhone. Bliss!

Saturday 12/22 - Today I was on the move, packing up my belongings to go and stay at my parents' house for the next couple days before Christmas. Their fridge actually has food in it. Unfortunately, that took up most of my morning, but I got together my materials so I can do some work at home.

Of course my printer crapped out after three chapters so I'll need to buy more ink before printing the rest of it.

Sunday 12/23 - Ah, home at last. I've got a sleepy dog, coffee, and a fire going. Time to get some work done. The first chapter sounds about finished. I'm pretty happy with it.

The Weekly Wrap

So I thought it might be interesting to catalog what I do each week as it pertains to writing. You might not be aware, but my time isn't always spent writing. There's editing, writing blog posts, networking, "feeding my muse" (also known as creative procrastination), brainstorming, etc. I spent a couple hours last week excited to organize a filing cabinet. It's a crazy life I lead.

I thought of this idea a little late, so I'm missing this past Sunday.

Monday 12/10 - I'm a bit of a weirdo and often cannot write at my desk. I don't know why. I like rituals though and preparation, so I've found that if I change when and where I work, I don't get bored. If I had all the money and time in the world, I'd be a total cliche writing in coffee shops. Something about the hustle and bustle of everyday life tends to cancel out my erratic thoughts, much like white noise, and it forces me to focus. So Monday, I'd gotten a small Starbucks gift card and spent two hours crammed into the corner, doing some revising on Momentum. I'm in the process of going through every chapter and marking what I don't like/what I want to change/plot holes. I got through two chapters that night.

Tuesday 12/11 - On my work days, I have to be industrious about my time. I couldn't sleep so I was able to get up at 7 and sit down to work. I've started creating positive habits for beginning to write and one is to update the chalkboard wall in my apartment with an inspirational quote. Today's dealt with revision and is from Truman Capote (author of In Cold Blood):

"I'm all for the scissors. I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil."

It was a dark, cloudy morning which meant I was able to chug through two more chapters in Momentum very quickly.

Ah, 7 AM and my favorite coffee mug :)

Wednesday 12/12 - I was a slacker today. Spent most of the free afternoon sulking on the couch. That's important for writing too, right?!

Thursday 12/13 - I was on the move today! Wrote in the morning, at my parents' house, and while at the garage getting my car inspected. Unfortunately, I tend to get ideas when it's inconvenient for me to actually use them, so I scribbled some stuff down in a handy dandy notebook my girl Sara bought me because I'm a weirdo and have an obsession with pugs.

Yes, it says "Pugs & Kisses"

But I've got a couple posts planned so look for them in the near future! Also, wrote up the FAQ section of this website if you want to check it out. It's all the questions no one ever asks me.

Friday 12/14 - Today, I had planned on getting a lot of writing done. I got back from work and had the whole afternoon open, but as I made lunch, I turned on the TV and saw what happened in Connecticut. I was deeply saddened and horrified by the news of the shooting and I couldn't stop thinking about all the little children who now will never get to open those Christmas presents their parents had been squirreling away under the tree.

Saturday 12/15 - Did a little muse-stimulating today. Met with my entire family to go see The Hobbit in IMAX 3D at the children's museum downtown. I've been waiting for this for a really long time. The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings hold a special place in my heart. The Hobbit is the first bedtime story I can remember my dad reading to us as kids. We still have the book too and it's just like I remember - hardback with a bright green cover. The film was amazing, so much so that I was dizzy half the time because I'm afraid of heights and the characters spend most of the movie poised on a precipice or about to fall off a cliff. Sure, Jackson pumped it up theatrically, but it was so much fun to be back in that world, to see the new sets, to meet the dwarves, and to see, finally, the Riddles in the Dark. It's by far the best part of the movie.

Sunday 12/16 - Today's words of wisdom came from Charlotte Bronte:

"I'm just going to write because I cannot help it."

I finished the Weekly Wrap, wrote up a bit for You Should, and got through three and a half chapters in Momentum. Feeling good about it today!

Chapter 14 - What's Next?

"So, Elle," you ask.  "What are you going to do now that you've written your novel?"

Well, do it again.  What did you think?

The manuscript I'm working on is actually the product of a very cool tradition that occurs every year.  I'd encourage young writers everywhere to get on board and become part of the celebration.

NaNoWriMo.  Or, National Novel Writing Month.

Hosted each November by the nonprofit Office of Letters and Light, NaNoWriMo is a creative effort where participants pledge to write a novel in a month (50,000 words).  There's a handy dandy website to get you started.  You'll get daily word count goals, graphs to show if you're on target, emails with pep talks to get you through, and an online community with forums ranging from plot tips and character development to music playlists for writing and procrastination stations.

It's a month long sprint to the finish.  50,000 words works out to 1,667 words per day or a little over three pages single spaced.  Last year, I cheated a little because I'd written the first chapter or two of Momentum in October, but I wrote the meat and potatoes of the plot during NaNo.  Someone turned me on to the program a week into November and I was side-tracked by Thanksgiving (the big get together holiday in my family) so I did not reach my goal of 50,000 words.  I wrote somewhere around 30,000 which ended up being nearly half of the book.  That's a pretty good stretch for one month!

NaNo is not about writing the best thing ever put on paper (though some manuscripts have gone on to do well); it's about sitting down and doing it.  It's about turning off your inner editor.  It's about creating an online community of young writers who want to cultivate their talents.  It's about connecting minds.

This year, I will be starting something completely new.  It's an idea that's been in my head for a while but I recently had the catalyst thought that made it come together.  Is my plot thought out and outlined? No.  Do I know where I want to end it?  Not at all.  But that is the beauty of NaNo.  You don't have to know.  You just have to start.

Now, writing that much in a month doesn't lend itself to works of art.  Momentum was a hot mess by the end of the month.  That's what the rest of the year is spent doing.  Revision, revision, revision.  But I like to use NaNo to learn to write fearlessly.  Write without a care in the world.  Write knowing there are others out there who are struggling with you and no matter what, don't give up.

That's not all I've got up my sleeve for this coming month.  I've been quiet on this because I've been busy elsewhere.  I am in the middle of Momentum's revision.  I've written first drafts of three new short stories for my writing classes.  They'll need to be revised this month too.  I'm flirting with the idea of going for my MFA in the next year.  I am picking out literary magazines I hope to submit stories to.

November will definitely be a busy month but I'm feeling very clear headed, as clear as I've felt in a long time.

One thing I've taken away from my classes with all my critiques, both good and bad, is that I am in the right place.  Now it is about making it happen.

-E

Chapter 13 - Announcement

I suppose it's unlucky to reveal good news with a number thirteen, but so be it!

So you know that novel I started working on last November?  The one I've been blogging about since I started this thing?  Momentum?  

Um, I finished it.

Cue confetti cannons and streamers!  

Granted, this is a first draft which means no one in the world is going to be allowed to read it (I have to give you my best, not my first go at it!), but for all intensive purposes, the book is written.  Right now it clocks in at about 70,000 words which in page terms, means about 275 pages.  Short, I know.  I wanted to get everything written first before going back to do a serious revision.  I'm sure it will expand as I already have ideas that I want to add to it.  

I'm really excited though and nervous.  This is different than the first manuscript I finished.  There was less of a defining moment where I typed the last sentence, sat back, and cracked my knuckles with a sigh.  This one has been a fight.  It's been like an exorcism trying to find my main character's voice and to give it the authenticity it needs, but I know I have something.  Now I need to fine tune and polish it so it will be presentable to the masses.  

It feels nice.  As a writer and an unpublished one at that, I felt a sense that I would only be able to do this once and when my first manuscript didn't explode like I wanted it to, I was discouraged.  I had to learn to take an idea I'd nursed in my mind for years and set it aside to become enamored with something else.  And to be honest, this feels better.  I can tell my writing is stronger, I was less attached to certain scenes or phrases, and more able to see my work objectively.  As a result, I have a more coherent story with characters who I feel are deeply layered and work with minds of their own.  They are complex and I hope the reader takes away something from each of them.  I want Momentum to be a novel that you finish, but have to take time to process later.  

At the same time, I am definitely scared.  Finishing means I am one step closer to putting this thing I've created out into the world and letting my audience do with it what they will.  They will form opinions, they will not like what I've said, and they will criticize.  However, one thing I am learning is that unless you are writing a journal, you aren't writing for yourself.  You have an audience in mind and at some point, you have to give them what they've waited for.  My writing classes are helping me overcome the anxiety I get when having someone else read my work.  We're all learning.  We all have something to offer and we are going to give each other good ideas and criticism.  You have to take the bad with the good.  You need fresh eyes to look at what you've done because you can't see the mistakes you're making or where you're being so dense, your reader cannot understand what is happening.  

When I told my parents, the first thing they asked was when do they get a copy.  Well, despite my excitement over finishing, this project is not done.  A first draft is only the beginning.  A first draft is throwing all the words you need down on paper.  It doesn't mean I have a packaged product ready for publication.  No one has read the whole thing.  I would be an idiot to try and publish without getting even one other person to give me input.  What it does mean is that I have my foundation.  What I wrote may not necessarily be what I intended, but this is what revising is for.  

My plan now?  

I want to go through and change all of the things I have been neglecting and add in the ideas I had along the way.  I need to cut out the parts that aren't finished at the end or that don't matter.  And I need to get fresh eyes on this thing.  Literary eyes.  I hope to get some connections in the English Department where I am taking classes.  Really, I want a mentor.  Someone to help guide and mold my work and someone who understands the message I am trying to convey.  And that's like dating.  You have to find the right partner.  Until then, I'll be on my own, putting my all into the manuscript and trying to create the best draft I can.

Then and only then, once I have something that I feel is worthy of publication, will I begin the querying process again.  Before, my problem was that I queried too early.  I was too eager and ready to see my name on a shelf in Barnes and Noble and what I had to bring to the table was not up to par.  I won't make that mistake again.  Querying takes research.  It takes time and clever writing.  I need to take what I've done and summarize it into something that people will want to read.  I need to figure out how I want to present it.  

So, in other words, I am far from done.  Writing the book is actually the easy part.  Turning it into something that people want to read (and getting an agent to feel the same way) is where the real work is.  

All that said, I feel really proud that I've completed my second novel (even if the first one is still sitting at my desk collecting dust).  

-E 

And I appreciate everyone's support and enthusiasm.  It's those people who ask me, "How is the book going?" that keep me motivated every day.