I keep getting surprised by characters who just have presence. There's really no other way to describe it. I didn't really expect for them to be as forceful a character as they are, but they add richness to the main character in how we can view her relationships with them. The one that just popped in today should be interesting to explore as the new chapter progresses. I'll have to think about how to keep her in the storyline. She's just got too much attitude to let go :)
hotmail crack webThe title says it all. I think I picked up a nasty little cold on Saturday that just wouldn't leave me. I spent the last two days just lying in bed and reading when I was home. I could not look at a computer.
I finally was able to kick it into gear this afternoon and get three pages written before I had to head back out to a meeting. Had a nasty surprise when the car didn't even want to make the attempt to turn over. The guys at my battery place are soo nice to me. Of course the fact that this is the second time I've been there in three months would have nothing to do with it. They think they can revive the battery, so hopefully this visit won't be as expensive at the last one.
When I got home, I was seriously considering just heading back to bed and lying around, but I cooked up the stuffed pork loin I had picked up the other day and eventually got back to work. I was able to finish up the third chapter, so I'm happy, but I'm a bit leary of it. I'm not going to worry about it now though because I'm too close to it. I'll go back later with a fresh eye, and hopefully a critique partner and figure out what's bugging me about it. I did figure out that I'm roughly on track with the page count, so I'm feeling better about my schedule. I think I might actually have something to market when I go to the conference in July. Yeah!!
I received my Romance Writers Report (RWR) in the mail today. For those who don't know, it's the newsletter for Romance Writers of America. Anyway, one of the articles is by agent Irene Goodman, titled "7 Habits of Highly Effective Authors". The first tip is "Write on a schedule". This immediately struck a chord in me.
I've noticed that on weekdays, I tend to do my writing between 8:30 pm and midnight. Somewhere in that time frame, I usually write for about an hour or so and get my page count. I didn't get home until 9:30 tonight and didn't really feel like writing because of the long day. While I was winding down and doing catch up stuff from being away from home all day, I flipped through the RWR. I saw this and it stuck with me. I was online with friends chatting, and I looked at the time. It was in my time frame, I really should write. The second tip: "don't quit", especially when you really, really feel like it. Well, for tonight, I really, really felt like it, but I had done that the night before, and I couldn't let myself do that again. And I didn't. Luckily my friends helped by kicking me out of the chat room ;)
Writing is habit forming. I don't feel as good about myself if I haven't written a little bit of the story and then come here and added another entry. It's almost like an addiction. When you've done more than you expected to get done, and the story is really flowing, I just can quite describe the high that feeling produces. And then when the story just feels like it has stopped, you start questioning if it's ever going to come back, and what you have to barter, like maybe your soul, to be able to write just one more page.
I was reaching that point right before I got the idea for Seasons. I was really beginning to question myself, my abilities, and even my sanity. It is not a good feeling, but you must do everything you can to work through it. Like starting a few stories and throwing them out. Another little tip from Ms. Goodman: exercise your writing muscles. But, you have to know when to stop working out and just get down to work. I am very grateful that I've been able to find and develop this ability within myself over the last few years, and I plan on making it a lifetime habit.
Well, I spent the day with my family. Woke up at my sister's as my car wouldn't start since I stupidly left the lights on while at her birthday celebration (I should use this in a story sometime...hmmm). As I had been up until 3:30 trying to figure out ways to start the car and get back to my own apartment, without success, as soon as I did get home, I fell asleep for three hours. BTW, car is working as fine as it ever did before this. By the time I woke up, I had to make some dishes for the little Superbowl party that my one brother hosted for me and the younger brother. Of course, we then stayed over there fairly late, so no writing got done today unfortunately.
I did think about my writing though. I'm finding that while I really like the way the writing is going, I'm not sure if I'm really showing the readers why my main character is doing what she is doing. This is partially due to the format that I've chosen to write Seasons in. Actually it's almost totally due to that fact.