You may have noticed that I've been flailing a bit with this "no holds barred write a billion words every single day get 'er done!!!!" attempt at novel creation. I had the best of intentions, but am realizing that if that were enough, a lot more of us would be churning out 2-3 books a year.
I'm not one for excuses, but I'm a huge believer in grace, so I'm hoping you guys will extend some my way. This month has gotten crazy in some ways I never anticipated (primarily health problems with two family members I love very much, so if you're of the praying sort, I'd be totally grateful for any you want to send in the general direction of Southern Maine) and so my head has not been in the writing game the way it needs to be.
I looked things over and saw a couple of options: I could soldier on, beating myself up when I didn't come through (like yesterday) or I could lie to you all for the next four weeks, pretend I was doing tons of focused, brilliant writing, and then pretend my imaginary novel was languishing endlessly in "revisions." That was too grim to consider. (And stupid--why be dishonest?) The only alternative was to come clean, admit that I'm flailing a bit. So that's what I'm doing. But I also want to say that this is a pause, not a stop. I'm still excited to write, and for us to cheer each other on. But I'd like to re-do the terms of our project, at least on my end. Here's my thought: I'll still post here: writing updates, funny inspirational quotes, general "we can do it!" messages. But not everyday. I'll wait until I have something to say, and then I'll say it (how crazy that this strikes me as an epiphany!)
Thanks for the grace. It means more than you know.
Here's to our amazing books--some of them may take more than 40 days to draft, but I think that's okay. I just read an essay by Graham Swift, where he talks about how his novels take 3-4 YEARS to write. So I think we've got some time :)
Monday, August 10, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Day of Rest
I took a mental health day today. I thought about my novel--entertained one plot idea that seemed a little far fetched, and then another that seems more likely to lead to an actual story--but didn't write a word.
I'm a fan of these weekly breaks. To paraphrase my friend Brian, they give us the chance to look back on all we've done for the past week, around to the beauty of this day, and then ahead to wonder what might come next. Today included lunch at a local vineyard, overlooking the rows and rows of vines as they ran down the hill toward a lake, and then a long nap on the couch (which seemed like time VERY well spent when I saw the score of the Red Sox/Yankees game). THAT DOG got groomed, and I finished a book, which inspired me to attempt to read a collection of essays penned by a Latin-speaking Frenchman in the 1500s (You know the author of the first book is amazing if he's convinced me to try something so difficult with the expectation that I might enjoy it). And in between all of these things, I thought about my characters: what are they doing right now? What are their plans for tonight? How might things fall together in a way that might change everything for one of them? It was fun.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try a new writing routine, getting up extra-early and diving in first thing. I'm curious to see if my mind accesses different things before I'm fully engaged with the rest of the world. It might be a total debacle (like pre-dawn aerobics a few years back) but who knows? It might be the thing that changes everything for me. That's fun to contemplate.
I love this quote from Graham Swift (p. 368 in the book I mentioned above) about beginning a novel:
"What happens is that you are glad that it's beginning, even if it proves to be the wrong thing. You are so glad that it's started that you don't really care how it began or how it will continue. I will get to a point where I feel inside that it is brewing. They you feel two things in conflict: you just want to get on and write, but you can't afford to do that because you must have some sort of shape. So you look for the framework so you can continue to write, while another part of you knows that you are only going to discover some things by the writing anyway. You're in a weird double-bind where neither thing guarantees the other. It's a crazy situation, but I accept the illogicality of it. I'm sure there are many writers who just sense there's a novel there, and make a plan and then write it, but I can't do that. My biggest fear all the time is to lose the real inspiration."
I'm a fan of these weekly breaks. To paraphrase my friend Brian, they give us the chance to look back on all we've done for the past week, around to the beauty of this day, and then ahead to wonder what might come next. Today included lunch at a local vineyard, overlooking the rows and rows of vines as they ran down the hill toward a lake, and then a long nap on the couch (which seemed like time VERY well spent when I saw the score of the Red Sox/Yankees game). THAT DOG got groomed, and I finished a book, which inspired me to attempt to read a collection of essays penned by a Latin-speaking Frenchman in the 1500s (You know the author of the first book is amazing if he's convinced me to try something so difficult with the expectation that I might enjoy it). And in between all of these things, I thought about my characters: what are they doing right now? What are their plans for tonight? How might things fall together in a way that might change everything for one of them? It was fun.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try a new writing routine, getting up extra-early and diving in first thing. I'm curious to see if my mind accesses different things before I'm fully engaged with the rest of the world. It might be a total debacle (like pre-dawn aerobics a few years back) but who knows? It might be the thing that changes everything for me. That's fun to contemplate.
I love this quote from Graham Swift (p. 368 in the book I mentioned above) about beginning a novel:
"What happens is that you are glad that it's beginning, even if it proves to be the wrong thing. You are so glad that it's started that you don't really care how it began or how it will continue. I will get to a point where I feel inside that it is brewing. They you feel two things in conflict: you just want to get on and write, but you can't afford to do that because you must have some sort of shape. So you look for the framework so you can continue to write, while another part of you knows that you are only going to discover some things by the writing anyway. You're in a weird double-bind where neither thing guarantees the other. It's a crazy situation, but I accept the illogicality of it. I'm sure there are many writers who just sense there's a novel there, and make a plan and then write it, but I can't do that. My biggest fear all the time is to lose the real inspiration."
Friday, August 7, 2009
Progress!
I wrote today for a whole hour, uninterrupted. It was spectacular. There was a speaker I'd already heard at the conference, so I went out into the lobby and found a seat on a couch so comfy I wanted to take it home. I pulled out my laptop and typed away, discovering all sorts of interesting things about two of my characters...and one fun thing about myself: how much I like writing about a "bad guy" who isn't all bad. I've always thought that complex people were more interesting, but I never thought about how that's also true in fiction.
Simple people are easier, perhaps, but they seldom have interesting stories. If you want proof of that, check out this interesting/depressing New Yorker article about the real Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter/co-writer, Rose. Turns out both ladies were much more "textured" than a reading of the Little House books-which I devoured in many a late-night flashlight reading session as a little girl--might suggest.
Today's stats: 23 pages/6906 words
Very, very happy.
Today's quote is one I've mentioned before, but it packs a punch when you're thinking about character motivation & development: "Most of [our] vices are attempted shortcuts to love." --John Updike
Of course, this begs the question: What are our vices?
Simple people are easier, perhaps, but they seldom have interesting stories. If you want proof of that, check out this interesting/depressing New Yorker article about the real Laura Ingalls Wilder and her daughter/co-writer, Rose. Turns out both ladies were much more "textured" than a reading of the Little House books-which I devoured in many a late-night flashlight reading session as a little girl--might suggest.
Today's stats: 23 pages/6906 words
Very, very happy.
Today's quote is one I've mentioned before, but it packs a punch when you're thinking about character motivation & development: "Most of [our] vices are attempted shortcuts to love." --John Updike
Of course, this begs the question: What are our vices?
Thursday, August 6, 2009
All the Stats
Today's excuse: I was away from home for 12 hours today at a conference.
Number of people who care about today's excuse (including me): ZERO
Today's stats: 19 pages/5711 words.
Credit due: To Swishy, for her email. Without that, I wouldn't have written at all. And who knows: that one page could turn out to be a pivotal scene (or it might get cut in the editing process) But at least I wrote something! While I'm WAY behind where I thought I'd be on this project, I have to say that I'm learning a whole lot about discipline and tenacity. It's easy to say "writing is a top priority" when I have plenty of time. It's a whole different game when my eyes are falling shut but I still want to get something on the page to keep the momentum going. I'd love to be a writer who dashes off 20 pages effortlessly before breakfast. But until then, I'll settle for being a writer who writes.
Today's quote (one that's unexpectedly had me thinking):
"Stand in the place where you live, now face north. Think about direction, wonder why you haven't before." -R.E.M.
Do you think much about direction?
Number of people who care about today's excuse (including me): ZERO
Today's stats: 19 pages/5711 words.
Credit due: To Swishy, for her email. Without that, I wouldn't have written at all. And who knows: that one page could turn out to be a pivotal scene (or it might get cut in the editing process) But at least I wrote something! While I'm WAY behind where I thought I'd be on this project, I have to say that I'm learning a whole lot about discipline and tenacity. It's easy to say "writing is a top priority" when I have plenty of time. It's a whole different game when my eyes are falling shut but I still want to get something on the page to keep the momentum going. I'd love to be a writer who dashes off 20 pages effortlessly before breakfast. But until then, I'll settle for being a writer who writes.
Today's quote (one that's unexpectedly had me thinking):
"Stand in the place where you live, now face north. Think about direction, wonder why you haven't before." -R.E.M.
Do you think much about direction?
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Back on my bike...
I wrote again today!!! Why does that feel like such a miracle? I had twenty minutes in between other things and an idea popped into my head...and rather than just thinking about it, I came upstairs to the room where my laptop lives and wrote it out. SUCH a good feeling! And I even have a new bad-guy character whose name came from a question I asked on Facebook and Twitter. I tend to do better when things are fun, and so far that's working out well for this project.
Today's stats: 5345 words/18 pages
It's not the world record of literary productivity, but it's progress!
Today's quote: "All fiction in largely autobiographical and much autobiography is, of course, fiction" --P.D. James
Hmmm....
Today's stats: 5345 words/18 pages
It's not the world record of literary productivity, but it's progress!
Today's quote: "All fiction in largely autobiographical and much autobiography is, of course, fiction" --P.D. James
Hmmm....
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Donut
I knew it would happen sooner or later, so I guess it's good to get it out of the way so early in the process.
Today's numbers: 4808 words/16 pages
Yep, that's exactly the same as yesterday, which means that today was a total writing fail. (I can't even count the few notes I scribbled down in an afternoon meeting--and I was tempted to--because it turns out they're illegible. )
Today was packed full of things that needed my attention, from the moment I woke up until now. And while I could cobble together some nonsensical chapter before falling into bed tonight, I've erased enough of what I've written at exhausted moments like this to know that sometimes it's easier to stay put for a day than to wander off in a daze and then have to backtrack for miles because I've veered so wildly off course.
Tomorrow's goal is to do some writing first thing in the morning, so I can knock off the concern that this is the beginning of the end. (I'm sure there's some deep metaphor I should be offering here about getting back on the horse or the bicycle or behind the wheel...but if I could come up with metaphors at this point, I'd hammer out a chapter so I wouldn't have to leave such an embarrassing post!) So I'll leave you with a quote, instead:
"How do I know what I think until I see what I say?" --E.M. Forster
At first I disagreed with this, but as I think back over my writing history there have been many, many times when I've had exactly that sort of self discovery on the page. Interesting stuff!
Are you ever surprised by what you write?
Today's numbers: 4808 words/16 pages
Yep, that's exactly the same as yesterday, which means that today was a total writing fail. (I can't even count the few notes I scribbled down in an afternoon meeting--and I was tempted to--because it turns out they're illegible. )
Today was packed full of things that needed my attention, from the moment I woke up until now. And while I could cobble together some nonsensical chapter before falling into bed tonight, I've erased enough of what I've written at exhausted moments like this to know that sometimes it's easier to stay put for a day than to wander off in a daze and then have to backtrack for miles because I've veered so wildly off course.
Tomorrow's goal is to do some writing first thing in the morning, so I can knock off the concern that this is the beginning of the end. (I'm sure there's some deep metaphor I should be offering here about getting back on the horse or the bicycle or behind the wheel...but if I could come up with metaphors at this point, I'd hammer out a chapter so I wouldn't have to leave such an embarrassing post!) So I'll leave you with a quote, instead:
"How do I know what I think until I see what I say?" --E.M. Forster
At first I disagreed with this, but as I think back over my writing history there have been many, many times when I've had exactly that sort of self discovery on the page. Interesting stuff!
Are you ever surprised by what you write?
Monday, August 3, 2009
Late night check in
I realized last night that I'd been posting word/page count differently than in No Plot, No Problem, setting out what I do each day rather than the overall total (I re-read the chapter where he lays out the daily writing goals and freaked out, thinking that eventually I'd need to build up to 15,000 words a day...)
So from now on, I'll be giving the cumulative total, which will save me from pulling out my remedial math skills each night for all that complicated subtraction (I'm kidding here, but I do think that while in writing mode it's best to rid ourselves of things we're not all that good at, if only because we have an excuse to do so).
Today's numbers: 4808 words/16 pages
Inspiring quote for tomorrow: "When in doubt, blow something up." --J. Michael Straczynski
(I've seen whole self help philosophies based on this exact principle...)
So from now on, I'll be giving the cumulative total, which will save me from pulling out my remedial math skills each night for all that complicated subtraction (I'm kidding here, but I do think that while in writing mode it's best to rid ourselves of things we're not all that good at, if only because we have an excuse to do so).
Today's numbers: 4808 words/16 pages
Inspiring quote for tomorrow: "When in doubt, blow something up." --J. Michael Straczynski
(I've seen whole self help philosophies based on this exact principle...)
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