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Writing is Looking Back and Moving Forward

Goodbye summer.

This week, I return to my day job after a summer-long hiatus. I don’t like change, so even a slight shake-up of routine sent me straight to my journal the other day.

As I scribbled down all my anxieties, I realized that the entry I wrote was all too similar to the one I wrote in May – when my day job ended and my summer promised two kids at home – all day – and absolutely no routine. The list from May to August differed in a few details, but the big question remained the same: When will I find time to write?

One thing’s for sure, I’m a consistent worrier.

It’s the endless plight of any writer with a day job or a mother writer with kids. What I’ve found though – in looking back on the last few months – is that as much as I worry about not having time to write, I still end up with a stack of essays and stories in the end. Too bad those essays or stories have little to do with the “big one.” I’ve tucked my novel draft and notes under my arm and carried them from room to room with me all summer. They even traveled with me on vacations. But, I’ve pushed through only a few more pages of that draft.

Still, I’ve been writing, even when time was tight. And, that’s better than not writing at all.

In considering my slow-moving novel, I thought of Jan O’Hara’s recent post on Writer Unboxed where she mentioned wise words from Donald Maass, heard at the RWA Nationals:

If possible, resist the push to rapid production. A good story well told means an audience willing to wait. Reward their loyalty with quality.

Maass’s words do little to ease my worries that I will oversleep tomorrow and show up late (or worse – unshowered) for first day back at work. But, his advice reminds me that writing is simply moving forward — inch by inch, page by page.

Looking back from May to August, I see small steps in progress and moments of synchronicity, when little burning bushes signaled that I can be (and am) a writer. In spite of tight schedules, posts were written, stories were submitted, and connections with other writers were made.

I can view my day job as a  burden that takes me away from writing (though that paycheck and health insurance lightens the load). Or, I can see it as an opportunity: new routines force me to schedule more succinct writing times.

I did it once; I can do it again.

What inspiration have you found in looking back on your writing?
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Repeat Customers: It’s About More Than Just Branding

Good or bad, I saw my hair stylist in a whole new light this week.

It was Wednesday. I was well overdue for a trim, a little shaping. And, I was looking forward to the Rosemary mint shampoo and the head massage when she applied the conditioner.

She washed my hair, and we talked summer and kids. She snapped the drape around my neck and mentioned movies. I sat in her chair, watched her comb, lift and clip, and the conversation turned to books. It was then that I realized she’s more than just my hair stylist.

She’s a Reader.

And, as a writer, I could learn from her.

She said she’s kind of a baby when it comes to reading new novels; she’s hesitant even to check them out from the library.

“I just don’t want to read something I won’t like, you know? I don’t want to –”

“Waste your precious reading time,” I said.

“Yes! Exactly!”

I get it. I have two small children at home. Reading time is hard to come by, and it’s often interrupted. I have to like the story right away, or those interruptions will supersede my commitment to finish the book.

But, then my stylist went on to say she’ll read every book one author writes, even if the stories aren’t that great. Even if the story she’s reading today isn’t her favorite, she’ll still go out and buy the author’s next release.

It’s all about trust, comfort, and familiarity.

Building a platform will help me attract an audience, but more is required if I want to keep that audience. For one thing, I must write a gripping story.

Sure. No pressure. Here’s to learning the craft, joining a critique group, and making a story uniquely mine.

I must also connect with Readers on a personal level. That means interacting with others on social networking sites, giving Readers a taste of my work (while I finish that novel), finding venues to read my work out loud, and – later, when that novel is published – participating in book clubs that are reading my story.

Last, but not least, I must write another novel. There are several authors who’ve written great first novels, classics even, and then no more. There’s nothing wrong with one-hit wonders, but I bet their audience would have bought a whole series of their books.

So, what are you doing to court, and keep, your Readers?

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A Writer on Vacation

Part One: Not Writing

The weight
Of a thick, gray cloud
Pressed down
And choked out signs
Of the sun.

Everything was muted.
“And damp,” I thought.
Like my mood.

When the rain fell,
For the fourth time that day,
It hissed.
It struck the surface
Of the lake
And hissed.

Like I did,
At my husband.
Spewing venomous complaints.

I slammed
Cabinet doors
For effect.
And growled,
“I need space.”

Or, maybe
It was time
With a pen
And paper
That I needed.

So, I turned
to my notebook
And finally,
I wrote.
And, it was then
That the clouds
And the weight
Lifted.

~

Part Two: Discoveries

A day in town meant laundry and groceries and a stop at my favorite used book store. Among the stacks, I was drawn to the old books, the ones with yellowing pages and fragile bindings. I pulled one from the shelf because of the title, another because of the cover, and a third because of the author.

1. Out of the Mist, by Florence Riddell; 2. He Fell in Love with His Wife, by Edward P. Roe; 3. Here Lies the Collected Stories of Dorothy Parker

Each old book holds several stories: the ones written within the pages and the stories of its own history. When I held them, I wondered who bought the book new and who read it first; who passed it on to a good friend, saying “this one, you won’t be able to put down”; and, through how many hands did it travel before it ended up here – in mine?

After a few hours in the bookstore, and three treasures in the crook of my elbow, we drove back to the camp. Feeling inspired, I finished rewriting chapter one of my WIP (phew!).

~

Part Three: The Thrill of the Small Town Paper

My husband loves to read the local newspaper from any small town. I might pick through a few articles when he buys one, but most of the time I stick to reading the book I brought. However, The Munising News – a newspaper printed since 1896 – is one you cannot ignore.

It’s physical presence demands attention, with a single sheet measuring almost a foot and a half wide. And, as the front page boasts, it’s “the only newspaper in the world that gives a darn about Alger County.”

The Munising News

The articles give the reader a glimpse into the workings of a small town, and they provide fuel for a writer’s mind. I’m tempted, for one, to write about the challenges of holding that paper in full spread: it’s quite a workout for the neck when you read it from left to right.

~

What occupies your writer’s mind when you’re unplugged and miles away from home?
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