The Way We Are: Extreme BICHOKing

You've heard of BICHOK, right? (Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard). It's fairly essential when it comes to writing. Makes everything all kinds of better, right?

Well, maybe not everything...

Because, you know--- sometimes BICHOKing becomes an extreme sport. Especially when you've got an overly demanding muse or an impossible deadline. (I just may have possibly been BICHOKing to the extreme over the past six weeks.)

Okay, maybe not this kind of extreme...

... but extreme in the sense that my butt has been in that chair for a VERY LONG TIME. And unlike other kinds of sports, practicing this one gets you in the very opposite of good shape. (Which brings all new meaning to the phrase "These revisions are killing me!")

Once I decided that I was NOT going to let these revisions kill me, I chatted with a bunch of the Lucky 13s about this. For the 75% of us who hadn't (as one Lucky put it) "spent the last year working my butt ON," they gave suggestions on what worked for them. Want to hear the most popular answer? Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred videos. So in my effort not to experience Death By Sitting, I haven't missed a day of doing them since, even when I wanted to cry every time I walked up stairs. (Every tried them? Look it up on YouTube-- you can start today! Gosh-- I should go into the business of infomercials.)

How about you? Do you BICHOK responsibly and take your exercising as seriously as you take your writing? Or do you BICHOK to the extreme?


photo credit: rr_graphic_design via photopin cc
photo credit: dalioPhoto via photopin cc
photo credit: pdbreen via photopin cc

The Way We Are: Do you stop reading in the middle?

Not every book is for everyone. I think we all get that. Just because someone else is in love with a book, doesn't mean that you're going to like it even enough to finish it. Sometimes......

you stop in the middle. Because why waste your time when there are so many good books out there that you really DO want to read?

Or maybe you don't.... Because who likes to leave things unfinished? Who likes to not know how it ends?

So that's my question for you-- are you willing to stop reading in the middle, or do you have to see it through to the end? Why?

photo by Tomas Fano on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

poll by twiigs.com

As for me, I'm not against stopping in the middle-- I just rarely do. Probably because I rarely pick up a book without first having heard glowing things about it from people whom I know have similar tastes in books as me. Sometimes I PAUSE in the middle... with every intention to eventually finish. (Usually because I have another book to read that's on more of a deadline. Or it's one I've been waiting for.) But I'll admit: I have at least five books at my house right now that I'm technically "in the middle of reading," that have sat there for months. BUT SOMEDAY, I WILL FINISH!

Series, though-- that's another story. I might finish the first book, then have no inkling whatsoever to read the next. My husband though, is "not a quitter!" If he starts a book, he'll stick with it until the series end. Even if that series is a dozen books long. Even if he's not in love with it. I'm not joking.

How about you?

The Way We Are: The book that everybody ELSE has read

Has there ever been a book before that you haven't read, but everyone else has? And I mean EVERYBODY. And you're sure that it's a perfectly fabulous book, because so many people love it. 

By Moses (The Crowd For DMB 1) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

But you haven't read it yourself, because it's just not your cup of tea. And since EVERYBODY has read it, everybody talks about it, but you don't get any of the references. And everytime you hear it discussed, you think "I've really got to read that book! If for no other reason than being able to get the stinkin' references!" But then all these other books that are so new and shiny and that are books you ACTUALLY WANT TO READ entice you, so you never really get around to reading the book that everyone else has. Or that author that everybody talks about.

... and time goes on, and you never quite seem to get around to it.

Anyone? Anyone?

Have you ever read a book, not because it appealed to you, but because you wanted to be in the know? Is it worth it?

Because dang. There's some references I'd really like to get. There are some books I have no desire to read whatsoever, and I'm happily fine to never get the references. But others I'd love to understand why they're loved. In fact, I'd really love to love a few classics written by a beloved author (*cough* JaneAusten *cough* I can't believe I just admitted to not having read her stuff ), but I can't seem to make myself sacrifice the really great stuff in my TBR pile.

If you did read one of those Everybody's Reading It books... were you glad you did? Or do you recommend just staying happily in the dark? (And you can tell me what books you're having a hard time reading. I obviously won't judge. (I mean come on! Look what I just admitted to not having read!) Maybe if you're on the fence and it actually is a *really* good book, someone in the comments will talk you into it. ;))

The Way We Are: Rereading Books

By Vinayaraj [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The bookshelves in my house were overcrowded. Terribly. I had a yard sale a week or so ago, so I figured it was high time to make some serious choices about all the books on my shelves. With each one, I thought Would I ever read this again? (And, because I'm not the only person in my family, I also thought Would anyone else in my family want to read this someday? but that's not really what this post is about.)

I was a little surprised at how many the answer to that question was NO. It was no on a lot of books I LOVE! Why? Well, because new great books are coming out all the time. I don't even have enough time to read all the ones I want, so I really can't justify re-reading books I've already read!

UNLESS..... They're inspiring. You know the kind-- the ones that even if you read just a part, it's so incredible that it energizes you and makes you want to sit and write and never eat or sleep again?

We're writers. That means we buy lots of books, right? (Or at least it means we like to read lots of books.) So how about you? Do you ever re-read books? And, the bonus question, do you keep tons of books that you liked tons, but you know dang well that you'll probably never re-read it, but you just love it way too much to ever get rid of it? Um, yeah. My guess is that as a whole, we tend to have overflowing bookcases. Oh, come on. There's worse things in the world to horde, right?

The Way We Are: Where do you write?

On a totally unrelated side-note, does
anyone else miss the days before
Roni Loren was sued, when you could
use whatever image you wanted, and
be blissfully unaware that you were
doing anything wrong?

In a bed?
In your head?
On a train?
On a plane?
At a retreat?
In a soft seat?
Do you prefer outside?
Or anywhere you can hide?
In secret or in plain sight?
In the middle of the night?
At a park while kids play?
At your neighborhood cafe?
At the library, on a couch, or at your kitchen table?
In a notebook, laptop, or anywhere you're able?

For me, it's at my desktop computer, or on my laptop at my kitchen table. Sometimes at the library, or while waiting for my kids. Yep, that's right. My laptop is almost never used ON MY LAP.

How about you? Where do you find yourself writing most frequently?

The Way We Are: The Hardest Part of Your Novel

Okay, so I've heard writers talk about what's hardest for them when writing a book. For some, it's the sagging middle. For others, it's the weighty beginning. For others, it's the has-to-be-fabulous ending.

They're all their own special kind of hard, it's true. The more I got thinking about which part is hardest for me, the more I got wondering what is the hardest part for everyone else. So how about you? Let's have it!

poll by twiigs.com

 
For me, it's beginnings. Not far behind that is endings. The middle for me is cake! I plot a lot, and do a lot of figuring things out ahead of time, so when I sit down to start and everything wants to pour, it's so overwhelming figuring out how to make it trickle.

What about your hardest part is hardest for you?

The Way We Are: Crazy Googling

Writers google.

That's just the way it is, right? Google and writing just kind of go hand-in-hand. (Or writers and whatever other search engine you use. We'll just lump them into one for the sake of me not having to list all of them, m'kay?)

Sometimes I laugh at the crazy things I google. Sometimes... I get a little worried. You've probably guessed by the name-- THROUGH THE BOMB'S BREATH required some research on bombs. And not just weapons of mass destruction, but weapons of apocalyptic-level destruction. (Yes. In the days of researching that, I kept waiting for Homeland Security to show up on my doorstep! Luckily, it didn't take long before I decided some sciences just have to be invented.)

So what crazy thing comes to mind that you've had to google?

For all you apoc / post apoc / thriller writers out there, I'm including this helpful link. It's a list of all the words you can google that might put you in hot water with the government. Is it a reputable source and is it completely true? I have absolutely no idea! But I saw it and giggled. If it IS true... I wonder how many people they investigate turn out to be writers? Maybe we keep them on their toes without even realizing it. :o)

I wish you all happy Googling! May no one in black suits unexpectedly appear on your doorstep.

The Way We Are: The Day Job

After some of the comments a couple of posts ago, it got me wondering what we all do for our "day job" (whether it's the kind you get paid for or not), and how much that affects our writing.

Does your other job inspire you? Teach you some aspect that's helpful for the whole writing gig? Is it conducive to reading blogs/books? Does it give your brain down-time to plot out your next scene? Did what it took to get that job help prepare you for what it takes to get a book deal? And, okay, I'll admit. Besides being curious about how much your day influences/helps/hurts your writing job, I just love to hear what people's chosen profession is. I find it fascinating!

I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours. :)

For the past whole lot of years, my main job has been that of a mom. Since I write for kids, HUGE plus there. But since kids take a lot of time... writing takes a lot of time... Let's just go ahead and acknowledge that the most awesome job in the world (IMHO) comes with time challenges, and leave it at that.

Until recently, I also worked part time with 4th graders who were struggling with language arts and math. Again, hanging out with kids: huge plus. I miss them.

But my most extensive background comes in computer software--- technical support, testing, and technical writing. Did that help? Hm..... It made me better at problem solving, and writing involves a lot of problem solving, so I guess yes. And although I did write an entire 85,000 word manual on how to use a software program for home builders associations, I can't say it helped. You might think that it would... except for the fact that a manual kind of requires you to have a complete and total absence of voice. And even POV! No using the word I, you, he/she. Sort of a different beast altogether from novel writing.

So there's mine! What's yours? Feel free to tell us your current job, or any in your past. Or, you know. Spell out your resume. That's cool, too. ;o)

P is for Pen Name

In an email thread a couple of months ago, as Lucky 13s, we were discussing pen names. I was blown away when I realized how many of us were using pen names! The reasons ranged from a hard to spell last name, to not wanting steamy writing to be reflect negatively on their parents (which totally made me giggle), to their name being the same as an evil dictator's, to having a name that is much too common to be easily Google-able.

I found the entire conversation fascinating! I seriously had not ever thought there were so many good reasons to use a pen name.

(For the record, Peggy Eddleman is not a pen name. As the owner of a last name that gets misspelled virtually every single time it's written, you'd think I would have considered that. Nope! I just figured Eddleman is a very uncommon last name; Peggy is an uncommon first name. People weren't likely to have to sift through the lawyer Peggy Eddleman, the comic Peggy Eddleman, and the renowned chef Peggy Eddleman to find the author Peggy Eddleman. Know what I mean?)

But anyway, it got me wondering about you guys.

Do you use (or are you planning to use) a pen name? Why or why not?

And if you are, how did you go about choosing what your pen name was? I've got to admit. I think I nipped in the bud the mere thought of whether or not a pen name was a good idea, simply because of how VERY HARD coming up with a name is! I mean, seriously. I have a hard time naming my MCs. I'm supposed to name myself?! I don't think this....

is going to cut it. Turner Sixty North just doesn't have quite the ring to it.

J is for Juggling Blogs

We all read blogs, right? (Well, duh.)

Am I also correct in assuming that we all read a ton of blogs? How in the world do you keep up with them? How do you decide which ones to read? Google reader? Blog rolls? Comments? A list? Topics/titles that interest you? People that interest you, no matter what they write? Ritual of people you check each day? Read some every day? On specific days? Times you read, or when you are procrastinating?

I have a system, but it never feels like it's a GOOD system. (It involves opening everyone's blog who commented on mine over a period of time, ALL AT ONCE (no joke), then going through as many as I can. Then I come back to them at my next chunk of time. It's really important to me to get to the blogs of the people who comment on mine, but it leaves little time for me to get to any of the other blogs I follow. Know what I mean?)

I always feel like there really has to be a better way to get around to everyone's blog that I really want to read! So I would really love to hear how you do it.

And speaking of blogging, this is my 200th post! It feels like there should be confetti or something. Ah, well. I'll just wait for my year anniversary, then plan something that will BLOW YOU AWAY.

The Way We Are: Favorite Writing Craft Books

The Way We Are: Where do you hail from?

Sometimes this blogging world feels so small. I swear I wave at all you guys every morning when I walk out of my house! It always surprises me to find out that you don't ACTUALLY LIVE NEXT DOOR. That some of you are just going to bed when I'm waking up. It's kind of an incredible concept to me. So that's my question this week.

Where do you live?

As for me: I live here. Right at the foot of my* mountains in Utah.

Aren't they beautiful? They're not always snow-covered like this, of course. In fact, they've hardly been snow-covered at all this winter! Between yesterday when I took this picture and today, a lot on the lower mountains has already melted away. But still-- white, green, brown, gray-- I love to call these mountains home.

(*And yes-- they're MY mountains! They've even got my name on them! That mountain there on the left has a big G on it. It's snow-covered and a little hard to see, so I'll zoom in for you.)

(See it? The three mountains to the left of it have a P, an E, and a G. Over a few mountains to the right is the Y. )(....Okay, so only the G and the Y are really there, but still. I'm claiming them as mine. :))

Is the place where you live a forever home for you? Or one for just a little while?

The Way We Are: Publishing Fears

I think we all have fears. Some people's greatest fear might be significantly more or less than another person's greatest fear, of course, but we all have some to some degrees. And it doesn't matter where we are in this whole process-- there are fears to be had all along the way.

• Fear that you might find out your writing stinks when you share it for the first time.
• Fear that you'll never find an agent.
• Fear you'll never find a publisher.
• Fear that your book really needs you to get rid of your favorite part.
• Fear that if you get multiple book deal that you'll freeze up and not be able to write the second.
• Fear that your ideas aren't original/big/interesting/unique enough, or that they don't have enough conflict.
• Fear that if you do make it big, it'll change you as a person.
• That someday you'll find it too easy to quit trying.
• Fear that when you have deadlines, you won't be able to meet them.
• Fear that if a publisher takes a chance on you, that your book won't sell.
• Fear people will hate your book.
• And, you know... about a million more.

I think there are two kinds of fears: bad fears and good fears. Bad fears keep you from doing the things you should be doing. Good fears keep you from doing the things you shouldn't be doing. For example, a bad fear would be letting your fear that your writing stinks keep you from giving your work to critique partners or moving forward with it. A good fear would be letting your fear that your writing stinks push you to learn more and work and work on your MS until it's really ready before you query. The point is, any fear that you have can be used for your advantage, or your disadvantage. It can work for you or against you. The real trick is getting it to do what you want it to do. :)

So what's your biggest writing fear? Is it a good fear or a bad fear?

Although I've had several of those fears and more, I had thought about not sharing mine because... maybe I have a fear of sharing it. :) But how can I expect you to if I don't?! Plus, I've skipped my answer in a few The Way We Are segments in the past, and you guys have called me out on it in the comments. I respect that.

So, okay. Here's mine. I followed this one writer's blog since before she had even 100 followers, and before she got her book deal. I thought she was awesome and I really related to her and I loved her posts. She has a few books out now that have done really well (yay her!) and her followers now number in the thousands. But her blog posts that were once fun and full of excitement when good things happened, are now almost always full of bragging in some form. I guess my biggest fear is if I ever made it big, that someday I might think I'm cooler than someone. You know-- forgetting that it doesn't matter which publishing path we choose to take or where we are on the path, we're really all the same. Every single one of us is just struggling to climb whatever step is our next step. I know we're all doing the same thing, and that no one on one step is any cooler than someone on a different step. I just really don't want to ever forget that.

But you've all got my back, right? If I ever write a post that sounds like I think I'm all that and a bucket of cheese, you'll call me out on it, right? Give me a virtual eye roll or flick to the forehead? I'd appreciate it.

And wow! I didn't know I was asking such a hard question when I started this! Go ahead and lay bare your publishing fears. If it's hard, just know that I'm right there with you on that.



Huge thanks to both LindaK at Excuse Me While I Note That Down and to Nick Wilford at Scattergun Scribblings for passing the Sunshine Award my way. I LOVE sunshine! In a huge way do I love sunshine. Thanks, Linda and Nick!!

Oh, and if you haven't entered in the giveaway for the Advanced Reader Copy of Julianne Donaldson's EDENBROOKE, scroll down to the next post and enter! You have until Sunday night. And yes on international entries, to those who asked. Sometimes I forget that you don't all actually live in my neighborhood! I swear I wave to you every day. Makes me not think to answer questions like that in the first place.

Oh! And head on over to Erin Summerill's blog. She did Julianne's head shot, and is giving one away on her blog! (Your own headshot. Not Judo's.) Trust me. You seriously want this. She's amazing.

The Way We Are: Theme

So we all have a main theme in whatever it is we're writing, right? (Nod your head yes. Chances are you have one even if you haven't finely honed what it is, or even figured out what it is.) Just to make sure we're all on the same page, though, Larry Brooks is going to help us out. On his blog, he defines theme as this:

Theme is how a story touches you. What and how it causes you to think about. How the story mirrors and/or comments upon real life. Theme says something worth saying, even when it’s obvious.

“Love is complicated,” for example. Obvious, but worth saying over and over, and the fodder for an eternity of stories in all genres.

Theme is not concept. Concept is what the story is about dramatically.

Theme resides outside of the story, because it remains when the story is over. Theme is truth, theme is belief, theme is consequence and meaning and importance.

Unlike concept and character and structure, you can actually stumble upon an effective theme without giving it a whole lot of literary thought. It’s almost impossible to write a story about human beings squaring off with problems without a theme emerging on some level.

Since theme is every bit as fascinating as concept is, I want to know what yours is! 

In TTBB, I kind of have two that are a little bit separate, but work together. The first is work with your strengths! I mean, seriously-- are you going to accomplish great things if you focus on your greatest weakness, just because it seems to be everyone else's strength?

The second is a quote I ran across that I love: "There are things for each of you to do that no one else can do as well as you. If you do not prepare to do them, they will not be done." (H. Burke Peterson)

Now lets hear yours!



P.S. Thanks so much to Julie Daines at A Writer's Compendium for the Kreative Blogger Award!

The Way We Are: Groups, Organizations, and Partners, Oh, My!

Writing may be a solitary thing, but I'm pretty sure that most of us don't keep it solitary. We get by with a little help from our friends. (And I want to know if you were able to read that line without the tune going through your head. Seriously.)

Some of the very best kind of friends to help your craft come from Writing Groups / Critique Groups, Writing Organizations, and Critique Partners.

I want to hear about yours! Are you part of a critique group? How long has your group been together? How about critique partners? Have you joined any writing organizations? If you have, now's your chance to pimp them. Tell us what you love about them! Tell us how they've helped you! Is it an organization you'd recommend others join? Is it worth the money?

My answer: 
I am in a critique group, and the five of us meet weekly. We've been together for a little over three years. I wouldn't ever think of writing a book that anyone was going to read without them. They help immensely!

I am also a member of SCBWI. I've heard they are a fantastic group, but I can't say that I've taken advantage of what they offer too much yet, though. If you write YA/MG/PB, they are definitely tops. And I've heard their conferences are AMAZING! They do one in Los Angeles, and one in New York every year. Someday.... SOMEDAY, I will go to the New York one. Hello! Publishing Capitol of the world! Largest children's writers organization putting it on! **Pauses to imagine the photo bombing that could go on there.** Anyone want to join me? How fun would that be?!

The Way We Are: Blogfests

There are a lot of blogfests* going around right now.

(*Don't know what a blogfest is? It's basically this: A blogger / group of bloggers decide on a cool topic, make an awesome image depicting the name of the blogfest, then invite others to join and post about that topic on the same day / same week / over a period of several weeks. You can go to the blog of the host(s), and sign up on their linky list. Then you can click on everyone else's link in the list to see what they wrote about that same subject. Make sense?)

I want to know what you guys think about them! Can't say no to any of them? Don't care? Love them with the fierceness of a thousand starving tigers? Haven't ever participated because you're unsure? Haven't participated because you're not a fan? If you've participated, what made you want to?

I've only participated in two. Sometimes, though, I feel like I'm missing out on all the fun! There's a blogfest I'm considering-- the Blogging from A to Z one. Anyone else doing it? If I'm understanding it right, your first post title starts with an A (or the subject is strongly A-centered). The second day is a B and so on. It has potential to be a lot of fun! But then I think, Ugh. I'll have to post on Saturdays. But then I think, But what if I see everyone's awesome posts? It'll totally make me wish I had.

I swear I'm not this indecisive on everything, guys. Really.

(But obviously I could use a little help being swayed one way or the other. Plus, there's the whole bandwagon effect that can be pretty powerful.)

So I guess I have two questions. 1) How do you feel about blogfests and 2) How do you feel about the A to Z one specifically? Feel free to answer one or both. Or neither. I heart lurkers, too. :)

The Way We Are: Afraid to show

Everyone has someone they are afraid to show their manuscript to. (Right? Or are there fearless people out there? If you're one, make yourself known!)

It might be an agent (or agents in general), your high school English teacher, your best friend, you spouse, your critique group (or a specific CP), your parents, readers you don't know. Even if you usually have no problem with people reading your work, there's usually someone you dread showing. If you hate showing your work to EVERYONE, there's still someone that's harder, right?

Who is the person you've been most afraid to show your ms to?

For me, it was my hubby. It seems strange now, especially since he reads each chapter before even my writing group reads it. But I wrote for a while--- a couple of years and several books--- before I let him read anything. Why? I was nervous to let him read because he believed in me. YEARS before I even got the first inkling to write a book, he believed I could. From day one, he supported my decision to be a writer. He made sure I had writing time. He'd take off work to be with the kiddos while I went to conferences and classes. He encouraged me to write. I guess I was so nervous to show him, because I was afraid I'd show him that his support and belief in me was misplaced.

Lame, I know. And now I'm really glad I got over it, because I love showing him what I write, and I love his feedback.

So how about you? Who was/is your hardest person to show your writing to? Have you shown them yet?

The Way We Are: Character Pics?

Okay, so I know that some of us use playlists for our manuscripts, some of us don't. Some of us know our characters' names immediately, some of us agonize over it for months. As far as outside-your-head inspiration goes, I have one more question.

Do you search for a picture of someone who looks like your character(s)?

Is it one of those things you have to have to start writing? Or do you go out and search when you hit a sagging part in your manuscript, to re-energize you and help you find the focus you're looking for? Or does it matter to you at all?

If you don't look for pictures, why not?

If you do, where do you usually go to find your images? And do you tend to find random people, or do you look for actors that you would love to see cast in the movie of your book?

My answer: I don't. Part of the reason is that I don't think I would ever find someone who not only had the same look, but who had the same look of / lack of confidence. The same amount of sweetness / gruffness. The same amount of innocence / guilt. You know-- all the little things that go beyond a person's features, but that also show who they are.

The other part of the reason is, beyond googling "faces" or searching through a billion photographers' sites, I never know where to look. (So if you've got suggestions, I'm dying to hear them!)

What about you?

The Way We Are: The First

Every single novel had a teeny little beginning. The initial spark of an idea. That thing that came very first that made your brain go crazy with the possibilities of where to take it.

Thinking of your WIP, what element came first for you? 
Plot, Character(s), or Setting?

If you had asked me this question and I had to spurt out an answer without giving it any thought first, I would have shouted, "Plot!" (Because you tend to shout when someone tells you to spurt an answer.) As I actually thought about it, though, it's so not plot for me. It's setting! In fact, when I look at every book I've written, it's been setting every single time. I'm not 100% sure why it is that way for me. Maybe because I like to travel, but don't get to often. Maybe it's because I love when a book takes me somewhere unique. And for the setting to truly effect every aspect of the story, it has to be in my mind from the very beginning.

So now it's your turn! And since a) we haven't done this for a while, b) I'm home writing today, and c) I love pictorial representations of random questions, I say we do this as a picture graph!

Several times during the day (and tomorrow, too), I'll update the graph based on your comments.

Ready, set, go!



P.S. Thanks so much to Colin D Smith for the Versatile Blogger Award, and to Kelley at Between the Bookends for the Two Thumbs Up From a Skunk Award! I feel honored, guys. Thanks!

The Way We Are: Playlists

Even though I don't, I know a lot of people rely on music heavily when writing, and it completely fascinates me. I want to hear about it!

Do you have a playlist for your WIP? Do you have certain songs you listen to when you are writing certain scenes? Songs that fit a specific character? If so, what's your process for finding the perfect music?

Or does it matter less what the song is, just that it's the right type of music?

For me, I write best in silence. If I can't have silence, Pandora and headphones save me. But I have to admit, Pandora works for me like white noise, not as a method of inspiration. Although sometimes I wonder if it's just because I haven't found the perfect music for what I'm writing yet.

How about you? Do you prefer silence, or do you have a hard time writing without music?