Writing Challenge: Day 2

Well, today wasn't as good as yesterday, but I still got a bit done. Chapter two is shaping up, but there are still some things that need to be fixed. The voice needs to be stronger. I have such a great chapter one and I'm scared that I won't be able to make it as good.

Why am I so scared of writing?

Writing Challenge, Day #1

I decided to get out of my funk by going to the library to write today. The baby was taking a nap, the husband was playing video games, so everything was under control. I grabbed my wee laptop and headed out.

I got quite a bit written (five pages or so) and am pleased with the results. I have learned that my rough drafts are very rough, but the secret of my writing ability comes at revising time. So, once chapter two is finished (dare I say tomorrow??) I will let it marinate while I work on one of my shorts, and then edit on the ride up to DC over the weekend--that's when things start to shine.

More on revising later...

Winter Blues

Winter is the worst time of the year for me in many ways. Mostly though, it's in regard to motivation. The lack of sunlight hours makes me want to be lazy, sleep, and do anything other than what I should be doing which, right now, is working on GEMMA. I know what I want to do, I know how I need to do it, it's just getting the motivation to do it that's the problem.

I can find a million other things to do. I could be sleeping, watching movies, watching the television shows I've missed. Maybe I should call my mom for the fifth time today. Or, what about cleaning out my inbox, or googling myself or working on my household budget. Maybe I should job hunt...

You see? The list just goes on and on. So my goal for this coming week (starting tomorrow, of course, because I've procrastinated all week this week, why not tonight as well), is to write every day. I'm serious. I need a draft of Chapter Two by Friday PM because I'm going to my niece's dedication next weekend and wont' be able to write at all Saturday or Sunday. So, that's my goal. That, and critique a story that's been sitting in my inbox since October. And run. And edit my short story, "Mountain Done Called Me Home."

So, in the spirit of writing, I will update every day this week, starting tomorrow, in hopes of motivating myself to write. I would hate to have to write "I didn't write anything today. I suck," every day this week. That would be a total morale-killer.

What We Put Characters Through

I've been spending the majority of last night and today (thanks to two snow days) wrestling with what Gemma is going through. I'm in between chapters two and three, after spending a long time discovering that I was indeed starting the book in the wrong place. Gemma is going through something very difficult at the moment.

Here's the problem: she shouldn't be.

This poor girl has been down on her luck since she was born. Now that she's alone in Australia, being followed by two males of the not-so-friendly variety, I just want her to outhike and forget them. She can pick up the pace, put some kms under her feet and just be free of them.

But it can't happen. There's a knight-in-shining-armor moment that must happen. She has got to trust and lean on someone. Ki is filling that role. Unfortunately, Gemma doesn't see it. She thinks she'll be just fine on her own. Hell, she has been for the last few months anyway, so what should be any different now?

Oh, I've cried, gotten sick to my stomach, tried to delete the scene, but I can't. do. it. I'm immersing myself in the Twilight Score, hoping that the music will just get me to push through it, but it's still hard. Still difficult. It still breaks my heart and makes me want to stop writing.

The only thing that is getting me through is knowing that she'll come out of it ok and nothing really bad happens to her. Now, I just have to lower my head, plow through, and get done with it. Putting it off will only make it worse.

...And We're Back

After a long haul of getting used to the new job, the kids at the new job, the other employees at the new job, etc., etc., I'm back on the bandwagon folks.

GEMMA UP-OVER is now on the front burner and firing on all pistons. Man, am I mixing some metaphors or what? Anyway, things are full steam ahead and I'd like to have a draft finished sometime around April. I know that's pushing things like crazy, especially with the musical coming up in January that I'll be working on, but still, a girl can dream, right? I still have a year and a half until my No. 1 Dream Deadline comes and I've got a lot of work to do if I want it to come true.

On another note, I've read the Twilight Saga for about the fifth time and am, once again, completely in love with Jacob Black. Edward and Breaking Dawn be damned. I love me some New Moon Jacob Black and that is that. I certainly do hope, though, if they really go through with making a movie version of New Moon that they don't keep the Jacob from Twilight. Not that there's anything wrong with Taylor Lautner, but he's just not Jacob Black material, IMHO.

Well, enough rambling. Back to some serious plotting for me!

Bon nuit!

The Value of Give-Aways

On Monday, I won tickets to go see Sara Evans in concert. I phoned into the local radio station and won tickets, allowing me to go to a concert last night. Now, I'm not normally a stingy person, but I certainly wouldn't have paid $25 to go see a concert--that's just not what I'd choose to spend my money on. Anyway, because I won the tickets, I went to the location of the concert, the Rockingham County Fair. After a deluge, and the concert being postponed for 45 minutes for fear of the audience being struck by lighting while sitting on metal stands listening to country music, the actual performance began. I was impressed, though glad I didn't spend $25 to hear an hour of singing which I could have heard on a cd and not gone quite as deaf.

Anyway, the point of this ramble is that, as an author, one of the best things you can do to grab the attention of readers, and web-surfers alike, is to offer free things, give-aways, contests, etc. on your website. Since I don't have much published, I have little to no web traffic. However, once things start rolling, I will be giving away books, etc. because it's just nice to give back to the people who support you.

Overwhelmed

I've been at the new job exactly four days and I am feeling so overwhelmed, my stomach is acting up again. You know: the rumbles that act like a fault line in your body, the rumbles that make the voice in your head go "Oh, hmmm...where's the closest bathroom? Like, now?"

Yeah, that's been me for the past two days. Luckily I have learned breathing techniques that keep me safe until I get home (usually). Granted, I have to drive faster than four miles over the speed limit, which could be life-threatening, but, I do what has to be done.

I mean, why am I so nervous in the first place? I've taught for three years. I've taught MIDDLE SCHOOLERS for three years. High school students CAN'T be worse than middle schoolers--can they?

I think the biggest problem I have is just the material: getting comfortable with it, knowing what I'm doing, where I'm going, so I don't have to stop and interrupt a class when I have the earthquake in my stomach that needs to be dealt with and I can't find the bathroom.

I wonder if this is how Stephenie Meyer feels like before she faces a roomful of fans. All these people are here to see moi? Gulp.

So tomorrow through Monday evening I have to get myself under control. I have to find some confidence, I have to find some relaxation techniques. I have to get my head in the game without getting the rest of my body in the game, too!

Ugh. New jobs are stressful!