Novel Archives - Page 4 of 17

August 20, 2014August 19, 2014

Changing Focus from Why I Can’t to Why I Can

I’m back working at the regular day job as of Tuesday, and I should have taken a picture of how my last day of summer vacation began: a pile of laundry the size of Texas; a to-do list dressed up with a post-it marked up with more to-do’s; and a couple of wheezing kids (mean ol’e late-summer allergies).

But really, this whole day-before-work-begins-again-how-will-I-get-it-all-done (!) frenzy/panic didn’t come out of nowhere. I’d been grooming myself into such a state for weeks. Every time I opened my notebook and wrote for a page or two, I fed the beast.

Monday. Busy. Work, Drs. appts, gymnastics, people for dinner.
Wednesday. Gymnastics. B-U-S-Y. Want a nap.
So much to do, hardly have any time.
Hurried
Rushed
anxious about money
distracted
too busy
feel like I’m procrastinating
Saturday. Focus. I need some.

The gymnastics class was my daughter’s but the angst? All mine, and you can be certain that underneath all that journal-speak was the invariable complaint, “I never have time to write.”

This time of year (and any time of year), I could give you a thousand reasons why I can’t write, most have to do with time or energy or level of confidence. This week, though, I read an email from Notes from the Universe that redirected my thinking a bit:

What happens when someone worries?

Basically, they think of 100 reasons why something might go wrong.

[or might not happen]

And all of those thoughts then struggle to become things, sometimes overriding their more constructive thoughts. . . .

Have you sat down yet and listed 100 reasons why it…

[like writing that novel]

…might come to you easily, fast, and harmoniously?

I think you should.

So, okay. I won’t flood you with 1oo reasons why I–or let’s say YOU–can write, but I’ll get the conversation rolling.

Because you want to.
Because that story idea hasn’t died off yet.
Because you’ve come too far in that draft to turn back now.
Because the other day you wrote for two hours and maybe finished two paragraphs, but they were really good paragraphs.
Because your kids believe you can.
Because your dad believes you can.
Because your kids are old enough to stay home alone for an hour or two.
And there’s a coffee shop nearby.
And you like coffee.

… Let’s hear your reasons why the writing is possible.

Need more pep talks? Check out Lisa Rivero’s “Get Serious About Writing: The Blog Series!”

* * *

I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
~ Duke Ellington

July 23, 2014July 22, 2014

Writing about Place

It’s not just about showing the reader a particular exterior landscape. It’s about giving them a particular interior landscape. ~ Cathy Day, “Teaching Tuesday: Setting”

If you’ve taken a writing course or workshop, you may have been given the prompt, “Where I’m from.” The first time I wrote with those three words in mind, I went back to a place and time in my youth when I was just beginning to notice family dynamics, beginning to identify but not quite understand:

Where I’m from is a two-lane road that winds into a cul-de-sac where the house on Hix still stands. As the front door opens, a long, low creak breaks the silence and makes you wonder, for a second, why we never bothered to grease the hinges.

The house is full of light and seems peaceful. And, it is most days. But down the cold, tile steps of the entryway and off to the left is the kitchen. There, bathed in the morning sunshine, I sit with my mother and her mother and the Sunday paper and watch them cut out coupons.

No one speaks, yet there is heavy presence. Not angry, but resigned. Weathered. Cognizant of something fragile, I eat my cereal with care.

Without my grandmother asking, my mother gets up and refills their cups of coffee.

“Can I get you some breakfast, Mama?” she says.

“No, baby, I’m fine.” Then quiet again, except for the sound of scissors tearing into paper.

It’s funny to see what details come to mind when writing about place (whether you’re interest is fiction or non). There’s so much I could have described: the two-story house with floor-to-ceiling windows, the pasture out back, and the creek beyond. But, it makes sense after I read Cathy Day’s quote above why I might consider more intimate details. I appreciate those kind of details even more, after studying this article by Dorothy Allison on place (published online at Tin House). Allison breaks it down with clarity and power:

[Place] is who you are and what is all around you, what you use, or don’t use, what you need, or fear, or want.

. . .

Place is not just what your feet are crossing to get to somewhere…it is something the writer puts on the page–articulates with deliberate purpose. If you keep giving me these eyes that note all the details–if you tell me the lawn is manicured but you don’t tell me that it makes your character both deeply happy and slightly anxious–then I’m a little bit frustrated with you.

. . . . Place is emotion. . . .

Place is people.

I’m thinking a lot about place these days; I’m writing historical fiction, where the landscape is integral to the story. As I struggle to bring into view the time period and what characters see on the outside–the exterior, I keep thinking about the aspects of the character themselves that will breathe life into their interior landscape as well.

Questions that appear at the end of Cathy Day’s post help, questions which certainly probe a writer about the “brick and mortar” details but ones that help the writer investigate deeper. Such as:

What are the conflicts between neighbor and neighbor?
Who is happiest about living or being in this place? who is least happy? (I might add: why?)
How “modern” is it in comparison to the world around it? Is it behind the times? Or does it have its finger on the pulse of fads and fashions? Do the people here look up or down at any other place?

Click HERE to read more of Cathy Day’s post, and HERE to read the full lesson on place by Dorothy Allison.

What strikes you most about place?

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April 3, 2013July 21, 2014

A Little Late to the Party

Is that Next Big Thing blog meme still making the rounds? I sure hope so, because I was tagged weeks ago and I’m just now getting around to joining the fun. Thanks to Paul August (a prolific poet) for mentioning me in his Next Big Thing post. Go take a peek at what’s in his sights, a chapbook of his poems entitled, Apologizing to Fish.

Speaking of apologizing…I don’t mean to make excuses, but (the inevitable “but”), there are two reasons why I waited so long to write my NBT post: 1) all my writing friends have been tagged and been more timely in their posting (when you procrastinate, you miss the party) and 2) I find it difficult to talk about a project I secretly fear may never be finished (there. I said it).

Earlier this year, though, I wrote about my new rally cry, fearless writing, and I realized that filling out these questions is yet another way to take a risk: share your hope, imagine The End in sight.

My Next Big Thing

1) What is the working title of your book? The Company Town.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book? During a visit to a historical site, an old iron smelting town in Upper Michigan, I stepped into one of the laborers’ cabins and felt the weight of more than just history. It was the pull of stories from the people who had lived there. When we drove home that day, I wrote feverishly in the back seat of the car, trying to re-capture every sight, feeling, thought that came to me when we walked the grounds.

3) What genre does your book fall under? Historical fiction.

4) Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? I barely survived the first draft. Thinking about a movie rendition is like dreaming of how I will spend those lottery earnings when I haven’t even bought the ticket. Girl, stay in today.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? One sentence? Don’t we get a page and a half of tiny type with skinny margins to write a synopsis? One sentence! Argh! I’m already over my quota with this answer, but here goes: A young woman mistakes a bustling factory town for a safe haven but finds she can’t escape her secrets and can’t ignore the Company’s own dark truths.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? To that I’ll just say, I hope no agent is reading this (or that weak one-sentence synopsis) right now. Lordy.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?Too long. I kept trying to craft the perfect ending, until I thought, Oh for crying out loud. Write the last scene as you see it and be done with this. A first draft is a FIRST draft. Once I got over my angst, I reached the end in one sitting.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Here are my ambitions: Anna Solomon’s The Little Bride, for the way place sets the mood and becomes its own character and Jenna Blum’s Those Who Save Us, for the way history propels the story.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book? Photos of the laborers who lived in the cabins, and a book by Sarah Cowie, The Plurality of Power: An Archeology of Industrial Capitalism, which discusses all that was uncovered from underneath the surface of Fayette, markers of class structure and separation in even the smallest of communities.

10)What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? I don’t know, perhaps photos?

Slag Beach, the Company dumping grounds.

flowers on slag beach — Flowers growing on Slag Beach today.

Now, I’m directing you to a post by Rochelle Melander on her Next Big Thing. She got creative with the task of answering the list of questions and turned her post into a writing exercise for anyone who’s considering a project or envisioning their writing journey. Take a look, see where the Next Big Thing takes you.

* Book and pen photo credit: mconnors on Morguefile.com