Keeping the Pressure On

         This past week I was working on a story to submit. I'd work on it a bit in the evening, let it marinade until the next day, and write some more.  There was a 1200 word limit, and I'm not sure how many evenings it took to "cook" the piece, but more than a couple.

        Yesterday evening I sent it off.  Since today is the deadline, I was way ahead, compared to the way I usually operate. (The deadline is Friday? That means I have until 11:59 pm on Friday, right?)

photo by sue-tarr
(This is what I look like as I compose a piece. Hey!  Why did you just snort milk out of your nose?)

       However, as I was tinkering on the story, I had another idea for a different story. The same theme. The same anthology. But while my other story was serious, and a story that spanned more than 10 years, this new idea was lighter, and it was a story that covered only an hour or so in my life.

      I began working on it the night before last, when I would take a momentary break and put "aside" the other story.  Yesterday evening, after submitting the other piece, I worked on it some more.

      Hey, twice the submissions. Twice the chance of getting published. But what was more important in my mind was the fact that I'm thinking more like a writer. I'm keeping my eyes open to story ideas.  The writing I'm doing is leading to more writing. And some day, perhaps, I will have countless pieces out there simultaneously, like Linda O'Connell or Janel Gradowski.  And the more stories that are floating around on editors' desks, the greater the chance I have of being published. 

       And if you want to check out some submission possibilities, ask Donna Volkenannt or Lisa Ricard Claro.  Donna regularly (and generously) shares calls for submissions, and Lisa has a heading at the top of her blog...all you have to do is click on the button, and various paying markets will appear.

      So tonight, I'll be back. Right around midnight. Pushing the limit.  And if you're up late tonight, writing, have a cup of coffee. For me...

If You Open Your Mouth, It Will Go

             Okay, so I failed to pull off a smooth connection to movie Field of Dreams. Sorry. I'm just recovering from a late night (see the later note from the Procrastination Princess) of writing and revising, followed by an evening school event where I had to--please take an anti-anxiety pill now--sing (along with my students).

            ( The stray dogs that were running, full-speed, through your neighborhood, a frantic expression on their faces, their ears looking like they had been torched just a bit...Yes, all the dogs in the St. Louis area have been suffering tonight because of my caterwauling!)

photo by brendan adamson

                A week or so ago, I had lunch with a writer friend. During the conversation, I mentioned I was mentally doing some prewriting on a couple of patriotic submissions for Silver Boomer Books. One was about my dad's experience in the Marines. The other was going to be more difficult. A distant but dear cousin of mine is Ukranian; he spent part of his childhood in a concentration camp. There is no one who loves America more than Serhij. Unfortunately, he never talks about that part of his life...  

               The deadline was yesterday.  Since I put everything off until the last possible minute, I was writing earlier this week, but the story was slow in coming. Serhij was unwilling to answer any questions, and although that meant I was only writing one story,  my dad's tale did not feel as "inspired."  I was tempted to just chuck it. 

               However, I had opened my mouth and said I was doing some prewriting in my head.  If I didn't even bother to follow through, if I simply let the submission opportunity fall by the wayside, would I feel very writerly?

                  I found that as I continued to push through, I discovered a connecting thread that could hold my story together. I crafted a beginning that I was satisfied with, along with a decent ending. 

                   So, when you're on the fence, open your mouth. Bring it into the realm of reality by saying it aloud. And sendyour story where it needs to go...

Maybe I'll Stop Procrastinating...Tomorrow

          Yesterday I went to a St. Louis Writers' Guild workshop entitled "Procrastination," given by Tricia Sanders. Since I am the Princess of Procrastination, I thought I might as well attend.  After all, there was a chance I could discover new ways to put off til tomorrow what I should be doing today.

photo by Srh Vee

         Fortunately, I found the opposite. Tricia shared some practical advice on how to keep our writing on track, such as:

• Write for short intervals--20 or 30 minutes--and set a timer.  (You can go to http://www.cooltimer.com/, I'm told, to get one on your desktop.)  When the timer goes off, you have a set break--5 or 10 minutes--to get something to drink, go to the bathroom, etc. and then of course, back to writing...

• Set up "office hours," hours where you are working and should not be disturbed. (Why do we insist on answering the phone when it rings and we're in the middle of something?  After all, the phone is for our convenience, not everyone else's.  You can always check the answering machine/voice mail, to ensure it's not an emergency.)

• Reward yourself when you achieve a small goal. "When I finish reworking the opening lines of this story, I get to phone a friend/take a walk/do a bit of knitting/play with the dog."  (Do not get in the habit of rewarding yourself with chocolate concoctions.  I've tried this, and now they are going to have to open up the side of my house with a wrecking ball because I can't fit through the doorway. Think about it...)

• Write down your year's worth of writing goals and email them to a writing buddy. Have your friend do the same.  At the six-month mark, send them (via the postal carrier) to your friend.  He/she has six months left to achieve them. 

photo by Don Moyer

      
 What advice do you have for procrastinators?

       And welcome to my three newest followers...Thank you Ellie for stopping by. I hope you continue to read things of interest.
        Welcome Madeleine Maddocks.  You can check out her blog.  (She creates soft sculptures...I'd love to see some of them!)
        And thanks also to Dominic de Mattos.  You can read his blog by going to his blog called Writes of Passage.

Pinch Me, Please!

photo by lens&needle

          In case you missed the earlier whining, along with the backstory, here goes: girl writes story.  Girl sits on her butt for several years, not sending it out yet continuing to whine, all the while certain it's a decent story.  But on her butt she sits nonetheless.

         Enter Barb Hodges and the Saturday Writers.  Girl is motivated to send her picture book manuscript---finally---to a publisher.  Girl sits on her hands for almost four months (so she can't bite her nails in nervousness).

       Girl gets rejected (of course) but she has a Plan B in mind.  Riding in on a majestic horse is Louella Turner, of High Hill Press.  Because Lou is sitting on the saddle behind John Wayne, she has to lean out to see Girl, but manages to tell Girl that High Hill might indeed be interested in the manuscript...

       Pinch me...Is this a dream?

Spying On People, For the Sake of a Story

        Writers often are observing their surroundings, the people around them, always ready to jot something down to use later.  Sometimes the gems they take home are exactly what they saw and heard and smelled.  Other times, the story only exists in their head.  A face, a gesture is all it takes, and the imagination takes the wheel...

photo by Jay Rajamanickam

        A blogger friend of mine, Rohin Kallat, has a post on December 15 called "Imagining Life and Love, In a Moment" that begins on a train.  Since I have never traveled through India, much less on a train, that alone made it interesting.  As the train rolls along--or not--the story also unfurls.  Writers make ordinary moments extraordinary.  Rohin does this.  He freezes a moment in time, and really gets into his own head as a writer.

photo by Jay Rajamanickam

        If you have time, check out his post and make a comment.  We are all hungry for an audience!

          

I'm Part of a Deconstruction Crew

        One of the Donalds (Murray or Graves) wrote that, "Writing is as much deconstruction as it is construction."  I haven't bothered to find the book and page where I originally found it a decade or so ago, so it's not an exact quote, but it made a powerful impact on me.

photo by chigmaroff

       I used to love to have hard copies of pieces, and each new draft would be stapled to the top of the stack.  That way, I could look through the various drafts and see the progress--the scratched out part here, the rearranged part there, and so on.  Now, when my piece is on my laptop/flashdrive (after it's handwritten--I rarely begin a fresh piece via a keyboard), I make changes that result in my "progress" becoming invisible.  With a click of a mouse or a few keystrokes, whole paragraphs or pages can be moved around; the original arrangement falls back and disappears out of sight.

        What tips about the "deconstruction" phase do you have?  What helpful tidbits can you offer up when it comes time to revise?  Inquiring minds want to know...

Windows...A Barrier or an Invitation?

         A Gateway Writing Project teacher consultant friend, a member of the Saturday Writers group, and a fellow blogger, Barbara can look at the most mundane thing and come up with an introspective, thought-provoking post.

       Check out her post on windows.  Think about what windows say about us...Some windows are covered with a kid's fleece blanket.  Some have no shades or curtains.  Did you ever notice that when you look into a home's windows at night, when the lights are on, everything looks cozy and Hallmark-y?

An unusual stained glass window---due to it being a "Roman" cross (resembling an "X")
This photo was taken by me during my trip to France in the summer of 2009. 
(I was searching for Johnny Depp, to no avail...I guess I will become
a stalker at a later date.)

       Barbara's blog is one to check out.  (Her observations about windows was posted on September 13, 2010.)

Blogging...Cheaper Than Therapy

        I spent yesterday evening with my daughter, my granddaughter, and her mother-in-law.  It was delightful; all three of those girls are warm and engaging and intriguing...

       Riley's grandma (I'm grammy) was not sure what a blog was.  Why blog?  What was I getting out of it?

       I began this blog over the summer, when I had some time off.  I wasn't having my voice heard, for a variety of reasons, so I started tapping away on my laptop. 

        It's opened up a whole new world.  There is someone from India whose writing I found and enjoy, thanks to blogging.

       There are a number of writers who are encouraging me and cheering me along, thanks to blogging.

        There are a bunch of teachers who "get it" when we each complain/commiserate about our backs that are breaking yet our spirits have not, thanks to blogging.

        By the way, teachers as well as other writers who have not discovered Robert Brault, check him out. (However, I guess over 60,000 have found him, so I was in the minority until this morning.)  You will laugh, instead of cry.  I have a suspicion he is channeling Aaron Sorkin and Robin Williams and Mark Twain and a whole lot of other brilliant writers/comedians---all that great stuff could not come from one person---but I don't care what the source/inspiration is. It hits the spot.

       Here is one his quotes to end with:

"I was the architect of my dreams but forgot to contract a builder."
                                      ---Robert Brault

       

If You Know Your Character, You Know...

         Something that's stuck in my brain for decades was a nugget that one writer said.  Something like, If you really know the character you've created, you know what they have in their pocket.

          I was thinking of a variation of that last night, when watching The Closer on television.

          The main character opened up her desk drawer and it was filled-to-the-brim with candy.  (She was rooting around for the last chocolate bar...Definitely a kindred spirit!)  She is a high-ranking police official; one of her detectives, when he saw the contents of the drawer, was visibly surprised.

          Nowadays, some of us are stuck at work for such long periods of time, our desk becomes our home away from home.  Perhaps what we keep in our desk is more "telling" than what we have in our pockets.  (And sometimes our desk at home is our place of work.  That would add another layer of meaning, if we examined the inside of the drawers.)

           What can you put in a drawer that would make for an intriguing character?  What drawer contents would reveal important character flaws?

           Please share.  Writers are wonderful thieves...

photo by Winnie_nevrothwen