Eureka! That's It!

I'm so sick of time. It goes too fast. Like my son turned 11 a few weeks ago. E. Lev. En. That's old, in case you didn't know. Which means, *I'm* old. OLD.

Where did the time go? I remember when he was born. When he lost his first tooth. The first day of kindergarten. I remember when he ran his scooter into a parked truck. Got his first round of stitches.

Good times.

Here's the thing. Time fascinates me. I can't stop thinking about it. I have a job that requires me to be on time, no matter what. My lunch is at a certain time for a certain number of minutes. It cannot be moved or extended. Many times I wonder to myself, "What if I just drove away and never came back? What would happen then?"

Last spring, I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. That was a big mistake because A) no one told me it was fifty thousand hours long and B) now I can't stop thinking about what life would be like if time moved backward. It plagues me. Begs me to think of some way to write it into a story. I've written about how time stops for a moment, but I've never made it go backward. There's something about time travel that scares the 1.21 Gigawatts right out of me.

I also find myself speculating on what life would be like if there simply was no time. No way to measure the years of our life, the hours in our day, the minutes we find so precious. My life is run by a clock. Sometimes I hate it. What if that simply disappeared? What would your life be like without time?

I swear I'm going to tie this to the title of this post, which is, in case you forgot, Eureka! That's it!

Do you have anything like this wafting around in your brain? I'm in the middle of a novel right now, but I just know that these floating ideas are going to come together one day and I'm going to have a holy-crap-I-just-figured-it-out! moment where every thought I've had about time will explode into my next novel. I'm hoping this will happen before November so I can participate in NaNo.

Has this happened for you? (The Eureka!-I've-got-it! moments, not the time obsession. *snarf*) If so, how long did the idea stew before coming to fruition? Do share. I've got nothing but time.

Your Life - 4 Sentences or Less

Go!


That's right. It's back to school time. So I want some concise getting-to-know you/creative writing time.


Topic: You
Length: 4 sentences


Here's mine: I would go into the wicked witch's house if it were made of red vines and caramel twix's, death be damned. I don't think there is a situation on earth that doesn't call for laughter. Fiercely loyal and too trusting are two of my personality flaws. When I'm home with my family--well, that's heaven to me.


Your turn!


Go go go!

Slow Down, Dig Deep

A week or two ago, L.T. Elliott made a profound comment on my blog. This is what she said:

"I've noticed in my writing that the scenes that my readers like the most are the ones where I've slowed things WAY down and gotten DEEP into the character's head. For me, when I know a scene's not working, I immediately think this "Slow down, get deep." It might take some re-writes but the story ends up better. That's what works for me as far as spoon feeding. Slowing the heck down."

I think she's so right with these words: "Slow[ing] the heck down." Sometimes I'm so impatient. I can't hardly stand to start writing something new, because I know I can't finish it in one sitting. I've had to really work on the "small steps" philosophy.

Even if I only get 46 words (yes, that was my word count yesterday), it doesn't matter. If I slow down and dig deep, I know they're the best words I can find. I think this mantra will also help me in reducing the number of layers I have to go back and add once the first draft is done. I used to think, "I'll go through and get the emotional aspect on the second pass." But now I slow down and dig deep and find that I can put that layer in as I'm writing--which will definitely save time later.

How do you feel about slowing down and digging deep? Which layers do you find yourself ignoring that you could add in if you slowed down a bit? Dug deeper?

Come on, it's confession time!

Me? I'm working on the emotional stuff. Other things I skimp on: making sure the position of my characters is clear. My crit group beats me up about this every. single. time. (S: "I can't picture where she is in the culvert." J: "Is she like, climbing straight up? I was imagining stairs." A: "I was kinda confused about that too." Me: "Maybe she can just use the fishing line." All: hyena laughing.)

B.L.O.G - What Does It Stand For?

So my boy kidlet and I were chatting the other night. We were talking about my blog (which he and my DH don't understand, like at all). He said, "What does blog stand for anyway?"

I'm thinking, Hmm...

So he goes, "Biological... (cuz, that's really logical. But I guess that's where an 11-year-old mind goes.)...League... (who doesn't need a league? I've always wanted to be in a league. Like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Except I'm not a man. But you get the idea.)...Of... ... ... ... Goons."

Commence hyena laughing.

That is all.

(BTW, he was totally offended when I typed this post and called him a kidlet. He prefers "tween" just FYI.)

(BTW x 2: He said, "NO. Mature tween." Pshaw. And humph. You should see his room. Mature? I think not.)

(BTW x 3: He was next to me during the writing of this post. He is a fan-freaking-tastic kid. He is not offended I said his room was a mess. He knows it is.)

(BTW x 4: What do you think blog stands for?)

Work Hard, Don't Give Up

Dang it. I've done it again. Just when I thought I could give up on this whole writing thing (did you see my post from yesterday?? That was me saying I was throwing in the towel), I was interviewed by a 9-year-old. That's right. A 9-year-old put me in my place.

So these fourth graders come to interview me. They ask me normal stuff like what I do at the school and how long I've been there. What I like most about my job, what I like least, yada yada yada.

Things are going great until one of the cutest 9-year-olds on the planet asks, "What advice do you have for us?"

The answer that came out my mouth: "Work hard. Don't give up."

What I was thinking inside: Oh crap.

So now I have to take my own advice. And it's a bitter pill to swallow, my feathered friends (the kids love it when I call them that *snarf*).

If someone asked you that question, what would you say?

Honestly, Monday...

...sucks.

...is not my favorite day.

...would be better if it were Friday.

We could finish this sentence any number of ways. But I'm going to take a page from Katie's book and go all honest with you today.

Are you ready for this?

Here it is: I'm living on borrowed confidence.

At the moment, I'm not feeling great about myself or my writing ability. See, I've had quite the roller coaster ride with my latest book and what I'm now calling the Query Carnival. And I'm in a low spot.

It sucks.

It's not my favorite thing.

It's not better on Friday. Or Saturday. Or any other freaking day of the week. It's just always sucktacular.

So yeah. I'm trying to enjoy the ride, but I don't particularly like roller coasters. Or carnivals. Clowns sorta scare me. Okay, they terrify me.

How are you guys feeling right now? This very minute? Be honest. It's Honestly, Monday.

So Sue Me

Oh, I know, I know. I said I was going to UnBlog. I did this post way last weekend, if that makes any of you feel better. All right! I cheated a bit and did some of it last night when I found out I had another award. Sheesh. It's just one day!

I received some blog awards, and I thought I'd post them this week. J.B. Chicoine gave me the Kreativ Blogger award. I also received this award from NWA at Chronicles of a Novice Writer. And she's going to the conference at UVU, so she can't remain anonymous forever! Woot! (And mwa, ha ha!) And I got it from Scott Mitchell at A Writer's Blog. And I got it from Katie Salidas at Step 1: Write, Edit and Revise. Then I got it from Lin Wang at Flames and Shadows. And then from Icy Roses at From Elysium. And from Amanda at Ramblings of a Drifting Mind. Thanks a million guys! I *heart* you!

Anyway, this one has rulez. Here they are:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Okay, so I've done or will do all of that. I know you're on the edges of your seats to find out 7 things about me. Here goes.

1. I attended 4 universities before graduating. This wasn't because I kept getting suspended for rowdy behavior or anything. It's just because, well, I like to complicate my own life. So yeah. 4 universities and then I earned my Bachelor's degree. Never let anyone tell you you can't do something.

2. I like to play tennis, despite my whale-ish physique. I think "like" is too soft of a word. I adore tennis. I would play every day if I could. Tournaments and stuff. I'll watch any tennis, at any time, on any channel. I love it.

3. I got married 7 months after graduating from high school. And that came after a 7-week engagement. I don't think my parental units were thrilled. But hey, I'm coming up on 13 years of marital bliss, and neither of us have died. Yet.

4. I think some of my cells are made of potatoes. I love potatoes. Any way you slice, bake, mash, hashbrown or fry 'em. Sign me up.

5. I can play the recorder very well. I even played Jingle Bells at a family Christmas party once. Srsly. I have mad musical skillz.

6. I'm a restless soul. I'm going into my 10th year of teaching. The first three years were spent as an upper grade music specialist. (Toldja about the recorder. I wasn't joking about my abilitiez.) The next four years were in 3rd grade. And this is my third year in the computer lab. I'm already feeling itchy to get another assignment, like if I stay doing something for too long I'll, well, I'll... I don't know, but it makes me nervous. So maybe I'm not restless. Maybe a better word would be psychotic. The jury is still out on that one.

7. I have major food issues--the kind you need a doctor for. For example, I don't like onions, but I simply can't get enough onion rings. I eat tomatoes like apples, but absolutely cannot stomach a cooked tomato unless it's been made into a sauce. My food cannot touch. I will not eat mushrooms in any shape, form, consistency or cooked condition. Nada. I need therapy for my food issues. Or so some say... They know who they are and they don't read this blog. Thankfully.

And...that's more than you wanted to know, right?

Right.

Since I received this award seven times, I'm going to go all wonky on you and nominate whoever I want for the Kreativ Blogger award. These are some of the best bloggers out there.

1. Lisa and Laura Roecker
2. Katie Anderson and Sarah Frances (Plot This)
3. Shelli Johannes
4. Beth Revis
5. Abby Annis
6. Tess Hilmo
7. Suzanne Palmieri
8. Jamie Theler (Bookmom Musings)
9. Aaron Polson (The Other Aaron)
10. Amanda Bonilla
11. Marybeth Smith
12. Ryan (The Life of an Aspiring Writer)
13. Katie Ganshert
14. Jenn (Purple Clover)
15. Kate Karyus Quinn
16. Jenn Johansson
17. Natalie Whipple
18. Jeanette Schneider
19. Corey Schwartz
20. Katie Salidas
21. Scott Mitchell
22. Ben Watson
23. Carol Anne Strange
24. Jessica Nelson
25. Danyelle Leafty
26. Sara Tribble
27. Casey McCormick

So go check them out. Follow. Comment. You won't be sorry.

I also received the Silver Shoe of Sincerity Award, again from NWA. Thanks Novice! No rules except one. The person you pass it on to has to show absolute sincerity in their comments. So many of you do this here on my blog, which I appreciate immensely.

But the one I picked?

Scott Mitchell. He deserves the sparkly shoe for his awesome, well-thought out comments and witty snark. Do witty and snark mean the same thing? *shrugs* I like it.

And Christine Fonseca. Ha! I can pick two if I want. Who's going to stop me? Ooh, blog police! We should totally form a squad or something. Anyway, she gets 'da shoe for always commenting, her unending reserves of patience, and for talking me off the ledge on a daily basis.

Thanks guys!

And one final award. I received the Literary Blogger Award from my good pal, Ali Cross. She's in my critique group and really gets me. The hair, the horrible hyena laugh, all of it. Thanks Ali! Can't wait for Tuesday night! And you should go read what she said about me, cuz it brought a little tear to my eye. Shocking, I know. You guys didn't peg me for a crier, didja? I'm all about the surprise element. I'm kind of like a ninja in that regard.

I also received this award from Jenna at As the Plot Thickens. She had rules on hers. I guess I get to pass this one on to whoever I want.

Hmmm...

How about those 27 people up there? Yeah, let's go with them. Heck, let's throw all reason out the door (I'm the captain of the newly formed Blog Police Patrol. Hey! The BPP! You down with BPP? Yeah, you know me! Ahem.), and say that if your name or blog appears anywhere in this post, you get the Literary Blogger Award. Congrats! You guys know that I read blogs like I breathe air, so I really do nominate you all. The world would be a sad, dark place without blogs.

Have a good one. I swear I'm not going to do any other blogging this week. I swear I swear I swear.

Blogging Vacay

I'll still stalk Facebook, let's not go all rash. But I'm taking a blogging vacay this week. See you on the other side!

Wanna know more about unplugging? Click the picture and it'll take you to B.J. Anderson's blog. Right sidebar, baby. Read all about it.

Holy Lotta Books

Okay, I don't normally enter contests, like ever. But this one is just too much NOT to enter.

Check it out.

This is a sampling of the books you can win in this contest.

The Winner Will Get All These Books.

1. Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick ARC
2. Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen ARC
3. Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters ARC
4. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater ARC
5. Troy High by Shana Norris ARC
6. Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott ARC
7. Reincarnation by Suzanne Weyn ARC
8. Lovestruck Summer by Melissa Walker
9. Death by Series by Linda Gerber (3 books total)
10. a 5 dollar giftcard from Walmart (you can buy yourself half of a book with it, lol)
11. 3 Sarah Dessen books ( Just Listen, This Lullaby, Someone Like You)
12. Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson
13. Fire By Kristin Cashmore ARC
14. Last but not least, I have some extra amazon cards, so I will also include a preorder for CATCHING FIRE BY SUZANNE COLLINS. It will be shipped to on or around Sept 1st (whenever they ship it)
AND a book of your choice (under $15.00 please and it can be a preorder as long as it comes out in September-so many good books get released)

I mean, come on. This is too good to pass up. And you get an extra entry if you tell her I sent you!

And now... I'm unplugging. I swear.

Say It With Me

"Today is Friday, August 14, 2009. It is the first day of school."

Okay, so it really isn't the first day of school. But I have to go back to work on Monday, with the kiddies showing up next Thursday.

Since it usually takes me until about mid-October to manage the madness (see yesterday's post), and since it's unplugged week next week anyway, I'm going to unplug.

I'll see you all on the other side!

EDIT: If you wanna unplug, read more about it at B.J. Anderson's blog. She's the Unplugged Queen. Hereafter referred to as UQ. LOL!

Managing the Madness

Yup, it's true. The day of reckoning has come. For me that means I'm on my way back to work. *shudders* Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I only work part-time and only part of the year. I have zero reason to complain.

Except for the fact that I don't get to spend every waking minute exactly how I want. But who does? So yeah. I'm not complaining, really I'm not.

Question: How do you manage your time so that you can write?


In the summer, I implemented my One Hour Plan. (One hour each of: reading, writing, editing, and Internet surfage/forums/blogs/etc.) It worked pretty well for a while. During the school year, I do not have four hours to devote to my writing lifestyle. So how in the world am I going to keep up?

I thought really hard to last year when I was working. (In case you didn't know, the year goes from September - August, NOT January - December. Just FYI. *wink*) It was hard, but here's what I remember doing:

I read and comment on blogs in short spurts instead of all at once. This means five minutes here, ten minutes at lunch, a few after work while my girl kid watches TV. I'm sure my comments will go down, that doesn't mean I'm not reading and enjoying your blogs.

I read for others (beta stuff) on my lunch break and late at night only. Reading for pleasure: while waiting for my kids at their various sports and activies. A few minutes here, a few there, while dinner is cooking, whenever.

I restrict myself to one writing project. Be that editing or writing something new. Doesn't matter. One thing. Since I am a strict enforcer of bedtimes (including my own) during the school year, I usually have 2 hours at night where everyone under the age of 21 is in bed. This is when I work on my writing project.

All other hours are spent at work, in transit, making lunches, fixing hair, buying sodas, paying bills, marinating chicken, making salads, grocery shopping, harping on kids about messy rooms, enforcing piano playing minutes, limiting TV watchage (yeah, right. Just have to make sure you were really reading!), and / or relaxing on the couch.

Phew.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

How do you manage the madness that is life, work, family, and writing?

The Starting Line

I've seen some discussion on Starting The Novel recently. So of course, I thought I'd throw in my two cents. It usually comes out to be more like a nickel, but whatever. I'm generous, what can I say?

Anyway, I read something really great on Katie Ganshert's blog. (Everything Katie writes is really great. Follow her. Subscribe. She's awesome.) To summarize for those of you who are like me and don't like to click away once I've started reading, she said there are basically three places you can start your novel.

1. Before the Big Event (hereafter referred to as BE). And there has to be a BE. If you don't know what your BE is, you better figure it out BEfore you start. (lol) Katie says it starts with change. Change = BE.
2. During the BE
3. After the BE

I've always prescribed to #3. I like to start my stories AFTER something has happened. Sort of drop the reader right into the hot pot of oil and let them speculate as to how they got there. I think it takes a masterful author to do this, though. If you don't give your reader enough, they'll become frustrated with what they don't know.

So you're back to spoon feeding. You read yesterday, you know what spoon feeding is. If for some reason you were abducted by aliens and didn't read my post yesterday, just scroll down. It's there.

If you choose to start your novel after the BE, you have to be a spoon feeder. Luckily, I've had two children and well, yeah, that has nothing to do with my talent (or lack thereof) of trying to spoon feed my readers. But you know.

What do you guys think? Do you start before the BE? During? After? What are the benefits and disadvantages to each?

Spoon Feeding

Readers are like babies.

Now before you go all postal on me, just relax. I'm a reader. Any writer worth their salt is a reader first. We all read. We love it. So that means you're a baby. (Neiner, neiner!)

Think of babies for just a second. They're small. They can't do much for themselves. They don't know much. They learn in stages.

And that's where I want you to be. Readers learn in stages too. They don't want the whole philosopy and rationalization about how it's better to go to the bathroom in the toilet in the first ten seconds of their life. Babies can't handle that. What makes you think the reader wants the entire backstory of your plot in the first ten sentences? Trust me, they don't.

This is where spoon feeding comes in. I read a lot of manuscripts. I read so many I swear I should move to New York and become a slush reader for a big literary agent. Hmm...maybe I will. No, I won't. I have a teaching job.

Anyway, I read a lot. One of the common things I see is the author trying to shove something down the reader's throat way before they're ready for it. Like trying to feed your newborn baby pork ribs. Oooh, yum. Pork ribs.

Back to the topic at hand. Don't try to force the reader full of information they don't want or need. Spoon feed them. A little bit here. A little bit there. Just enough to keep them interested enough to turn the next page to find out more. That's all.

Another thing I see is the overloaded plate. Like a few pages of background or trying to explain the world or the species or something. Yeah, the reader can't handle that. Babies learn to walk one step at a time. So it is with your novel. Give me one step at a time, preferrably in an active scene. Never just the MC telling me they can feel death. Okay, so I do do that, but the girl feels death and it makes her life more complicated and she happens to feel it right there in history class, so the scene is semi-active, all right? Sheesh. Get off my back already.

And see how fast we morphed into a teenager?

Yeah. So there. Spoon feed your readers.

Two easy things to avoid:

1. Shoving too much down our throats too fast.

2. Overloading our plate with unnecessary information.

So do you get it now? Readers are totally like babies, right? We want to be spoon fed exactly what we need when we need it. No more, no less.

How do you spoon feed your readers?

My Characters...Yeah, All Right. They're Me

Do you create characters based on yourself?

I didn't used to think I did. But I totally do.

Now, see, I'm a pretty straight arrow. The worst thing I do is drive too fast. I'm polite to the elderly. I stop for pedestrians. I register my children for sports and school before the deadline. I'm almost always early. I always did my homework in high school. On time. I love to read. I got straight A's. I was in the marching band.

Some of you have a G-word for people like me. Go ahead. Say it. You know you want to.

Anyway, so to escape my G-ness, I created some characters. I put them in bad situations and laugh at them. Then I try to figure out how to get them out. It's called writing a book.

The thing is, most of the characters I've created are me in some way. Not every way, of course, but one little quality. The girl who can't ever think of a clever comeback (me). The one who wishes they could run fast (me). The one who loves the beach (me). The person who served on the yearbook committee (me).

I find that I can write these characters with authenticity...because they're really a small part of me.

I deliberately have my characters do things I don't, too. This helps me shed some of my G-ness I think. Or maybe it makes me a bigger one? I do not know.

A girl who can control fire (not me). But how cool would that be? The one who has all this rude stuff to say and actually says it (not me). Sometimes her mouth gets her in trouble. The girl who gets all the guys (not me).

These characters are even easier to write for me. That seems weird, like they should be harder because they're not me. But dude, haven't you always wanted to shed your skin and assume an alternate identity? Or is that just me? When I write, I can be anyone. I can be that girl who says exactly what's on her mind. And it's fun.

So maybe my characters really are all me. A bit here. A little piece there. Imagined or real, it ain't no thing. They're all me!

What about you? Are your characters like you? Even a little bit? Not at all? Which is harder for you to write?

Because One Is Not Enough

That's right. I made a blog for blogs. I didn't want all the live feeds to crash this blog again, which I really don't get cuz I've seen some blogs out there that have so much stuff on them you can't even find the post.

But whatev.

I made a new site called Wicked Awesome Bloggers. Check it out. It's how I get to the best blogs on the planet!!

I put this blog in my sidebar (it's been over there for a day or two), and really it's only one more click. There's a HUGE list of blogs I read everyday and then I read even more from my dashboard. Srsly. I need pills or something.

I'm not planning to post over there, like, ever, but you can leave me a comment if you want. Like maybe who you think should be on the list. Or whatever. The list is easily added to and it'll probably change from time to time, but that's it.

Enjoy!