That New Story High

I know several of you love to work on more than one project at a time-- either writing one project while editing another, or writing multiple manuscripts at the same time.

I don't.

It's not that one way is better than another. It's more of a one-way-works-best-for-you-and-another-doesn't kind of thing. I tend to put all my focus into the book I'm writing, then decide what book I'm going to write next. While I'm editing the first book, the second book percolates. When I'm mostly through editing, I pour my focus into the next book.

I've been revising for MONTHS. I love revising. I really, really love it. Revising comes with its own special high, just knowing that your book is that much better than it was before you started the revision.

But amidst the revision highs, I had almost forgotten how sweet the NEW BOOK high is. That high when you wake up in the morning already thinking about it. That high when you figure out the next scene. That high when the writing just works. That high that comes from creating a slice of the world that hadn't existed and bringing to life people to populate it. That high from creating something out of nothing. Know what I mean?

Where are you? Living off a writing-induced high? Or looking longingly at the memory of it? Or, even better, I'd imagine, living off dual editing and drafting highs? Gosh, I hope you've got either a writing high or a revising high going on, because there's just nothing quite like it.

Quotes and Cookies: Great People

Many thanks, Tara of Tara Tyler Talks for the Blog on Fire award!

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

Mark Twain

I love being a writer because the writing community is chock full of really great people. People who make you feel like each person's journey to becoming great is a group effort. Everyone pulls each other up together. You are all truly amazing.

Just one of the million reasons why I love you guys!

If I could send you all real cookies instead of just virtual ones, I totally would.

Source Link

Have an awesome weekend, everyone!

Stick Wars Castle Defense

First of all, I'd like to thank Lynn(e) from The Submission Process for the Blog on Fire award. Thank you, Lynn(e)!

Secondly, I loved, loved, LOVED reading everyone's comments on yesterday's post about what genre and age group you write for! Make sure you check out the updated graphics. I think you'll find it very un-scientifically interesting. If you didn't a chance to leave your genre and age group yesterday, I'll update the graphics for a few more days. For some reason, colorful puff balls make me happy. :o)

Okay. I live in a family of gamers. As the only person in my family who didn't get any of my husband's genes, all the talk about what race, class, and spec a new character should have, getting exp, picking up armor.... above and beyond me. I couldn't play an mmorpg (massive multiplayer online role playing games, for those of you not familiar to the lingo) any more easily than I could dance in a ballet.

One day, I was in a creative slump. I hadn't written in days, and I wasn't sure I could even pull myself out of it enough to try. My son came up to me and said, "Mom, want to play a game with me?"

I groaned inside. Mostly because I hate long games. "What kind of game?"

"Stick wars. We each draw a castle, then draw things to defend it with."

Immediately I thought about Paladins, Druids, Shamans, Mages, Warlocks, Hunters, Elves, Dwarves, Undead.... and the talk about having one character that's a healer, one that's a tank, one that's a damage doer.... It took about a second and a half of imagining this game before my head wanted to explode. "Uh.... I'm not good at that kind of stuff."

"No-- it'll be fun! We each only have five minutes to draw, and you can defend your castle with anything that will scare off the enemy."

"Anything? And it's all about speed?" Okay, that game I can play.

So here is our game in all it's awesomeness. The instigator of the game didn't want his posted on the Internet, but my other son let me, as long as he could remain anonymous. :)

Now, I'll admit: he nearly had me with all those archers, spear men, snakes, spiders, bramble fence, thorn moat, fog, elven warriors, and impenetrable castle walls.

I think may have him beat, though. It was the confined spaces that turned the tide my direction. That, and having those butterflies drop the science fair project on the unsuspecting hordes. Those are scary things indeed.

And when we were done, guess what? Not only did I have a fabulous time with my sons, I realized it had kicked me out of my creative slump IN FIVE MINUTES FLAT.

Moral of the story: Sometimes stepping out of your comfort zone and doing something out of the ordinary can reward you in ways you never expected.

The Way We Are: Dump your Genre and Age Group into the funnel

In writing, the rules are pretty much the same, no matter your genre and no matter the age group you write for. Sure, an incredible amount of things that have to be different with every genre and every age group. But the bones— they’re the same.

Just like writers. We’re the same, too! Okay. We just might be vastly different. But it feels like we're the same. The bones of a writer are the same. But even though we’re all the same, it’s still fun to see where we are different. Like the differences in what genre we write and what age group we write for.

So let’s hear it!

Are we writing vastly different things from one another, or a lot the same? I think it’d be interesting to know. Leave what genre and age group you write in the comments, and as often as I can, I will update the graphics to reflect the comments.

Me? I write middle grade adventure. Sometimes it's tinged with fantasy. Sometimes a little science fiction. Sometimes a little mystery. But ALWAYS a lot of adventure.

Can’t wait to find out what everyone else writes!

I've Got a Theory: What's in a name? LOTS.

My theory is based on another theory. That theory is called the "Theory of Deadly Initials." Maybe you've heard of it. It was published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, and said there's a link between the lifespan of human males and their initials. Basically, if your initials are positive (like W.O.W. or A.C.E.), then you'd tend to live 4.8 years longer than people with initials who didn't really spell anything. If your initials were negative (like U.G.H. or D.U.M.), then you'd tend to live 2.8 years less.

You write your initials a LOT over the course of a lifetime. Every time you do, if it's positive, it's kind of a You Are So Cool shot in the arm. If it's negative, it's like a You Stink shot, right?

So here's my theory. You write your last name MUCH MORE than you write your initials! So your last name can have a HUGE impact if it is an actual non-name word, or similar to an actual word.

My maiden name is Wheeler. Is it any coincidence that my dad was a race car driver? That he built hot rods, dune buggies, custom cars and race cars, and fixed wrecked cars as a side job when I was a kid? That my sister manages a car parts store? That three members of my family are in a car show club? That my brother restores classic cars? That nearly every member of my family owns more vehicles than they have licensed drivers? Hmmm....

And that's just one example. The one I'm closest to. I'm sure you can think of several others.

So if W.I.N. makes you be more winning, R.A.D. makes you cooler, F.A.B. makes you be more fabulous, D.U.M. makes you feel dumber, O.A.F. makes you feel clumsy, and B.A.D. makes you feel terrible at everything, then what does having a last name that is also a word mean?

How does it influence what you do, or more importantly, HOW PEOPLE VIEW your possibilities, personality, temperament, stability, and a host of other things? If initials make such a difference, than so can having a last name like Hart. Mason. Parker. Woods. Bright. Cross. Twiggs. Feld. Knight. Price. Law. Butcher. Archer. Cook. Young. Stone. Steele. Farmer. King. Singer. Best.

Does it matter? What about that last time you had to pick a doctor? You stare at a list of doctors your insurance covers, knowing nothing about them except for their names and phone numbers. How do you choose? That's right! Their name! (Unless you're researchy and you don't like to go into things blind. Or if you're choosing based on the ease of memorizing their phone number. Both are also entirely valid methods.)

The truth is, it does make a huge difference.

Which means that the names we choose make a huge difference on people's impressions of the characters we write. Choosing a name that doesn't really have connotations isn't a bad thing-- it's more of a neutral thing. But you can choose a name based on its connotations, good or bad, and that can make an incredible difference in people's perceptions of that character.

Choosing a character's last name is pretty incredible. When else in your life do you get to actually choose a last name? Last names can be hugely powerful. We should wield that power well.

How do you choose characters' names? By their connotations, or just by how cool they sound?

The Scientific Proof

Scientists conducted a 20 year study in 27 countries, which is pretty darn huge! Massive, even. The study and its results make me happy.

The study found that the number of books in a family's home has a greater determining factor on how much education a child will get than anything else.

Anything!


Before this study, scientists believed the education level of the parents was the greatest determining factor. But get this: having books in the home is twice as important as the father’s education level.

It's more important than what country the child was born in.
It's more important than the father's occupation.
It's more important than the country's political system. Or its gross domestic product.

The study found that, “Having as few as 20 books in the home still has a significant impact on propelling a child to a higher level of education, and the more books you add, the greater the benefit.”

And having a 500 book library in your home versus having no books is the same as the parents having a university education versus having a 2nd grade education. Can you even believe that?


So what does it mean? Well, lots of things, but two that are pretty great.

First, if you have kids, ever plan to have kids, or are a kid yourself, you have a great excuse to go buy more books!

And you can tell parents (either now if you already have a book published, or later if you don't yet), "Buy my book and your kid will go to college!"

:o)

Quotes and Cookies: Writing is Your Choice

First off, I need to tell you guys how much I LOVED reading all of your How Old Were You stories on Wednesday. They're all downright inspiring! It made me all kinds of giddy to read them. One commenter, Iain from Iainspiration did a post to tell his whole story. Check it out!

And holy canoli was this a busy week! Anyone else SO GRATEFUL that Friday is here? Got a craving for some cookies or a fabulous quote? Me, too. Let's get to it!

"No one is asking, let alone demanding, that you write. The world is not waiting with bated breath for your article or book. Whether or not you get a single word on paper, the sun will rise, the earth will spin, the universe will expand. Writing is forever and always a choice - your choice."

~Beth Mende Conny

Kinda puts it into perspective, doesn't it? The world won't end if we don't write. We will survive if we don't write (even if it really doesn't feel like we would). We create those stories the world needs because we CHOOSE to. It's our choice, and if we're going to make such an all-consuming choice, then you can bet we are going to do THE BEST WE CAN.

Because that's what writers do.

(Oh, and we also eat cookies.)

http://www.itsfordinner.com/recipe/hershey-kiss-cookies

Have a wonderful Friday and a great weekend!

Guest Post: Lani Wendt Young

Today rocks. Like, a lot. Wanna know why? Because Lani Wendt Young is here! I was lucky enough to discover her blog a few months ago, and I've been stalking her ever since. She's amazing, her blog is amazing, she hails from the land of The Lord of the Rings, and she is on her book tour for her newly released book, TELESA. Take it away, Lani!

As a writer who writes too many different things all the time – I am often asked: “Where do you find the time and the drive to write? How do you overcome writer’s ‘block’?”  Such questions are a puzzle to me and so my answer is 105km and 14 hrs long…

Two years ago, I had a crazy idea.  I wanted to put together a women’s team and run in a 105km relay that went around the main island of Samoa. It was crazy because at the time I couldn’t even run around the parking lot without stopping to gasp for breath. But I was determined. I convinced some other moms from my church to be crazy with me and we started training.

For 5 days a week over three months, we would meet at the crack of dawn to go for a 5k run. I use the term ‘run’ very loosely since, at first, we did more of a shuffle, which then accelerated to become a waddle, which then after a few weeks, became a jiggly, joggly sort of jog. Did I enjoy it? Hell no. I hated every minute of it. Many times, I only went because it was my turn to drive and pick the team up. Other times, I only went because the rest of the team was honking their car horn outside, waiting to pick me up.

The 2009 Dream Team at the finish line, Apia Samoa (I'm number 34 in the middle).

But after 6 weeks, something strange happened. (No, I didn’t transform into a stunning athletic muscle machine. I wish.) I found myself waking up early on Saturday mornings…wanting to go for a run, itching and edgy for a run. Huh? By Wk 9, I was going for a run TWICE A DAY.  And when I got the flu and couldn’t train for a week? I was raving mad. As if someone had bought all the Diet Coke on the island, leaving me with nothing but coconuts to drink. By the time the Perimeter Relay came around, I was running twice a day, sometimes 6 days a week. But more significantly, the running had become as essential to me as eating. Sleeping. Brushing my teeth. I wouldn’t dream of going a work-day without it.  It took our team 14 hours to complete the relay, running from 2am to 5pm the next afternoon. Many times during that relay, I wanted to puke and die. But many times, I was also running on an exhilarating high as I gloried in feeling like  – I could run forever and never stop.

Writing is just like that. If you want to BE a writer, you don’t ‘find time’ in your busy schedule to write. You make time. You start with a goal. A crazy dream. ‘I want to write a romance. A best-selling thriller. A children’s book. A memoir about my grandmother...’ You set aside a time and a place every day that you are going to write. You start off small. Shuffling, waddling baby steps to get you building the consistent writing habit. You write anything and everything. Start a journal. A family newsletter. Write down those bedtime stories you tell your kids. Record your family history. Write long, chatty letters to friends. Start a blog AND THEN STICK TO IT.  The best thing I ever did for my writing career was to start a blog – it forced me to assert and accept responsibility for my writing. Your blog readers can be like that relay team of runners who force you to stick to your crazy dream by bugging you every day for your latest piece of writing. At first, it will be hard. You will probably hate it. Complain. Whinge and whine looking for excuses NOT to write. But if you keep at it, doggedly, persistently - you will hit that point where you can’t imagine a day, a moment, without writing. When you’re not writing, you will be thinking about it. If you have an unruly mob of children like me, you will dread the weekends because it means less writing time. ( And don’t even get me started on the horror of school holidays…aaargh!) You will write because you feel like you will die if you don’t. You will write because you are a writer. And that’s what writers do.

A Very Sad Footnote to this Writing Story: In the past 12 months, my first book of narrative non-fiction ‘Pacific Tsunami Galu Afi’ was launched. My story ‘The Beast that Came from the Sea’ was professionally recorded for radio and broadcast in 54 countries. I have blogged 5 days a week. Completed a collection of short fiction which has just won the Fiction Award in the 2011 International USP Press Competition. Finished my 450 page urban fantasy YA fiction novel TELESA and started on the second. Written numerous children’s stories that are published in the NZ School Reading Curriculum. All while being the slave mother to five fabulous children. However, I have not been running anywhere. Not even in the parking lot. And it shows…

Thanks for stopping by, Lani! (I don't know about you guys, but I think that picture shows she is an athletic muscle machine.) I definitely recommend checking out her blog. She posts five days a week, and somehow manages to be hilarious and well-written with every single post. I kid you not, I would read anything Lani writes in book form because everything she writes in blog form is stellar. Check it out! Sleepless in Samoa. Lani's book TELESA was just released, and you can buy it on Amazon here.

Have a fabulous day everyone!

The Way We Are: How Old Were You?

A few weeks ago, I was fascinated by all the Spark stories I read! (I bow down to Christine Tyler. It was an act of sheer genius on her part to think of doing the Sparkfest.) One of the things I loved the most was hearing the variety of ages everyone was when they first decided wanted to be a writer.

So let's hear it! Inquiring minds want to know.

poll by twiigs.com

Go ahead and mark your vote, then feel free to elaborate in the comments!

As much as I love hearing stories of people who were, I was not a kid when I decided I wanted to be an author. I wasn't even a teenager. In fact, it wasn't until my baby started Kindergarten that I figured it out. Once I made that decision, though, I attacked writing with a ferocious determination unlike anything I've ever done before. And the determination has only gotten stronger every day since.

(But for probably the ten years before this, my hubby would say, "You should write a book." I'd give him a look that was equal parts That was random, and What makes you think I can do THAT?! Apparently he believed I could do it way before I believed I could.)

So tell me your story! It'll make me a million kinds of excited to read it.

I've Got a Theory: The Need for Stories

It's Tuesday, which means I've got a theory! Funny how that always happens on Tuesdays...

So here's my theory:

EVERYONE has a need for stories.

I work at an elementary school, and a particular group of sixth graders from three years ago were especially memorable.

One group of girls, determined to kill off a section of grass by year's end, sat in a circle in the exact same spot each recess and chatted. Every so often, I'd wander near and eavesdrop. I'd catch things like "You are NOT going to believe what he did!" and "Are you serious? That's CRAZY! So what did you do?"

A second group of kids always played a game that seemed equal parts Dungeons & Dragons, and every fantasy book they'd ever read. They would decide what kind of character they were going to play, what special abilities they'd have, what the epic good-versus-evil fight would be, and then they'd act it all out.

One group traipsed to the ends of the playgrounds and fields and back, while the other sat unmoving. They both did the exact same thing, though. They created stories.

At a writers' conference a couple years ago, Tracy Hickman talked about this same thing. About how, when we see something with an incomplete story, we fill in the gaps. And it's true! If we walk into our favorite grocery store and see someone sitting on the sidewalk with their back against the building, face tear-stained, clothes nice but mud-crusted and torn, our minds start forming a story as to what happened.

(Right? Did you start making up what had happened to this person?)(And if you thought of something interesting, I want to hear about it in the comments!)

Tracy Hickman even took it one step further. He asked us to imagine a world where there were no stories. [Pause... pause...] Then he said, "In your head, you just started writing the story of the place with no stories, didn't you?"

BUT.

Think of the story you thought of with the person at the grocery store. And about the world with no stories. Those girls killing the grass weren't talking about the square root of pi. And the D&D kids weren't talking about elves skipping through the forest. So the REAL theory is:

Everyone has a need for DRAMATIC stories.

Some people definitely have a greater need than others. (Writers probably have the greatest need of all!) But we don't want those stories to be things we experience all the time. We want stories outside our range of normal. We want them to be the things we either don't experience often, or the things we'd never experience on our own.

People NEED stories. So how freaking cool is it to be a writer?