All week I've had a song stuck in my head. Usually this can be ultra-annoying, especially if it's the jingle to a product I don't use, or it's something truly awful like, "The Wheels on the Bus" sending me instantly back to kindergarten and the smell of tempera paint and the brown vinyl mats we used for naptime (ah, naptime). On the good days, however, a certain song or piece of music seems to help me glide through my days, filling me with the urge to create and make sense of my life. That's how it's been for me these last few days.
It started on Sunday night. I was listening to the radio when I really should have been sound asleep (no wonder I want to nap all the time). Just before I drifted off, I heard a few lines from the Cat Stevens' song If You Want to Sing Out from the film, Harold and Maude
.
Not only did the song make me even more wide awake than I already was, it made me suddenly obsessed with the thought that I had never seen that movie. Worse still, I wondered why I hadn't heard any Cat Stevens' songs for years and years. The song then dissolved into an ad, but not before it was firmly installed in my brain and I knew I was going to have a difficult job getting rid of it.
By Monday afternoon I was still humming along. I'd also done a bit of online Cat Stevens research, looking at pictures of his own cat and reading the entire story of how he became Yusuf Islam, which of course was very interesting, but by now I was ready to move on, nice song or not. The tune was on the verge of becoming downright irritating, and I had to get to the real reason for why I kept hearing it. So I went to the place that always helps me out: my journal. After a few false starts the answer was very obvious: the song reminded me of being a teenager, and my current WIP is about--teenagers. Duh.
As I continued to listen, I could hear the sound of all the emotions and hopes and dreams teens have always had, no matter their decade or century. As a writer of young adult fiction, I believe that no matter how hard their cynical veneer can sometimes be, young people are essentially optimistic and eager to explore the world. The possibilities of what they'll become are endless, and that's what I'm trying to express in my latest WIP. At the same time, I realized the song was telling me what I could do as a writer and artist, too. The song's lyrics are all about how you can do anything you want to do, the perfect message for both me and my characters.
Rather than being sick of the tune, I'm grateful to have discovered what has become my book's "theme song." It's one I can use every time I get stuck or veer away from my plot too far. Of course, I can't actually use the lyrics in my book, but that's okay too--in fact it's even better. Having a little song to inspire me will find it's own way to appear through my characters' thoughts and actions. It's a nice piece of "inside information" and I have every reason to believe it appeared for the good. Writing is full of lucky happenings, and music can be a very helpful source to make sure you get plenty of those happy occurrences.
Tip of the Day: The first time I tried writing to music was in the fourth grade. Our teacher put on some classical music and left us free to create, a wonderful experience I've never forgotten. Yet it's also something I don't do enough, and I miss it. Over the next few days, experiment with some music you don't usually listen to. Set the radio to an unfamiliar station and try a timed writing, either as part of your current WIP, or an entirely new freewriting exercise. Have fun--you may be very surprised at what happens.
One of my goals and resolutions this year is to spend 30 minutes a day on marketing. While it may not sound like a lot of time, 30 minutes a day can add up to some pretty impressive figures, and is also something that is entirely do-able in between the rest of my day's schedule and demands.
The key to making 30 minutes an effective use of time is to stay consistent and treat my daily marketing half hour like any other business appointment: I set a clock on the desk, start on time, and conclude the "meeting" as soon as 30 minutes is up. Penciling in an "appointment with myself" in my planner makes sure I show up for the meeting, and it also makes sure I don't go beyond the allotted minutes and into the burn-out zone--a surefire way to make me want to cancel tomorrow's meeting.
To help me get to work the minute I sit down to market, I've brainstormed a list of activities that can easily be accomplished in 30 minutes. As more ideas come to me I'll add them to the list, but so far this is what I've come up with:
- Make a list of 12 book reviewers with addresses, requirements, and policies.
- Package up 2-3 books to send for reviews, complete with cover letters, author bio and photo, and any other related materials.
- Spend 30 minutes finding new blogs for return visits or to follow.
- Visit 3 blogs, comment, and/or follow.
- Research and make a list of 12 agents for future manuscript submission; include notes about why I chose these people.
- Write my own review for one of my books. (This may sound strange--but it's not about praising yourself, it's closer to writing a good synopses that allows PR people to know what your book is about if they can only read--and comment--on a few pages.)
- Brainstorm 12 blog ideas with log-lines for future use.
- Pre-write a blog post to have on hand for emergency.
- Design a new trailer or video about either a book, workshop, or writing-related activity.
- Work on a trailer idea--get it finished.
- Make a list of 12 ways to use or place trailers or videos.
- Plan out a blog tour--what would it be about and what will I offer?
- Contact blogs to ask if they'd like to be on the tour, or simply would like a guest post at any time.
- Spend 30 minutes on one social network or author's site. Get to know the people I interact with.
- Design a 30-minute workshop based on one of my books that can also be expanded to 1 or 2 hours.
- Design a bookmark. Brainstorm a list of themes so I can have a variety for different groups, places, holidays, etc.
- Do the same with a postcard.
- Brainstorm a list of places to send cards, bookmarks, other freebies.
- Address, stamp, prepare cards for mailing.
- Brainstorm 12 new places to sell books, offer a workshop, or be of assistance in some way, e.g., volunteering at a writer's conference.
So there's 20 ideas and it's only January 11! Having my list pre-made has also helped me avoid any excuses of being "too busy" or "too tired" to accomplish a task that is really one of the most important of the writing day. Hope the list gives you some good ideas of your own, too!
Tip of the Day: Because I'm a Libra and have trouble choosing which marketing idea I want to follow on any given day, I've written each idea on an index card which I then turned face down and put in a pile I keep shuffled. Every day I draw one of the cards from the top and follow the instructions provided. Not only has this turned my 30 minutes of marketing into something of a game to play, it's also brought in a nice element of surprise that keeps me from dreading (or avoiding) a particular task I might not like so much as the others.
Happy New Year, everyone! Hope this finds you all ready to start the new year right with some great goals, manuscripts, and of course plenty of inspiration to keep those pens moving. Personally, I like the sound of "2011." For some reason it makes me feel very business-like and organized. In order to stay that way, I'm keeping my goals simple this year:
- Publish my eighth book on June 30, 2011.
- Edit and revise Book #9 to be submission-ready by January 2012.
- Write 3 pages every day on new ideas, WIPs, poetry, or screenplays.
- Take 30 minutes a day for marketing.
- Help more writers and artists to achieve their goals by sharing as much of my writing and experience as I can. Which brings me to:
Blog Prize Give-away! Starting today until the end of the year, every time I get 50 new blog followers/subscribers I will create a random drawing to give away a "Writer's Workshop in a Bag." So that nobody is left out, existing followers will be counted, too. Workshop-in-a-Bag consists of:
- 3 books on creativity and writing.
- A new journal.
- A new pen.
- Writing-related goodies such as index cards, prompts, and bookmarks.
- All packaged in a colorful, large-sized canvas tote.
And I'll do this from today until December 31, 2011 every time I get 50 more followers/subscribers. So what are you waiting for? Follow or subscribe today!
Tip of the Day: Yes, start the new year by following my blog and be eligible to receive the give-away. In the meantime, make sure you've charted out your creative goals for the year. You might find it's helpful to start with just a couple of your most important goals and then add to your list later in the year once you know your time and energy levels a little better. Good luck!
I love to read--probably way too much, but as another year comes to a close, I am filled with gratitude for all the wonderful books that made my time spent reading extra-special. I don't think I read a single book I didn't like on some level, but as always there are some books that stand out for me and that I know I'm going to remember for the rest of my life. So in no particular order, I'd like to share with you the best of the best. These are:
Best Novel A Valley of Betrayal (Chronicles of the Spanish Civil War, Book 1)
by Tricia Goyer. If it wasn't for Twitter, I don't think I would have had the opportunity to learn about Tricia and her excellent books. So I'm delighted to have a venue to tell you all how much I enjoyed discovering her entire list of titles. For my initial purchase I chose A Valley of Betrayal, the first in a trilogy set during the time of the Spanish Civil War. I based my choice on the fact that although I have a degree in Spanish literature, I actually know very little about the civil war beyond the murder of poet Federico Garcia Lorca. However, thanks to the wonderful characters and strong writing in A Valley of Betrayal, my understanding of who was fighting whom, and why, was greatly enhanced and deepened. The characters and plot line were so compelling that immediately upon finishing the book I had to zoom back to Amazon.com and order the next two in the series, and needless to say, they are just as good as the first book.
Best Young Adult Novel The Luxe
by Anna Godbersen. From the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, I then plunged into the social whirl of Manhattan 1899. What a wild ride that was! And what a super book this is for teen readers of all ages--and who isn't a teenager somewhere in their secret heart of hearts? The Luxe is another book that is part of a longer series of four (I seem to have been drawn to series this year, probably because the writing was so good in all of them I couldn't stop at just one book). The best way I can describe this particular title is by saying it's like Little Women with bad girls meets Project Runway a la Henry James and Edith Wharton. The clothes, the settings, the misbehaving characters... I was totally captivated, and of course I cried buckets at the end.
Best Short Story Collection Cliffs of Fall: And Other Stories
by Shirley Hazzard. Hazzard is one of my favorite writers, so when I learned of this collection I just had to read it. Many of the troubled relationship themes presented here are ones that are explored in more depth in Hazzard's novels, but as little stand-alone pieces--sometimes no more than a sketch or a vignette--they are quite perfect. A keeper, for sure.
Best Novella The Tropics: Child of a Storm - Caught in a Rip - Hurricane Secret
by Mary Deal. Several months back I wrote an entire post about this incredible book which contains three related novellas (series, again!). You can read the post here, but before you do, I just wanted to mention that Mary also has some fabulous island- and tropical-themed photography that is the perfect complement to her writing. I knew she was a talented writer, but seeing her photography and has brought my memories of her stories to vivid life. Exquisite!
Best Nonfiction People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil
by M. Scott Peck. I hope you never encounter genuine evil in your life, but if you do, this is the best book on the subject I have ever read. For many years I have struggled with the question: Is there really such a thing as evil? And for just as long I have tried to think of so-called evil people as "crazy" or "willful and stupid." After reading this book, I am now convinced that evil does exist and that there can be no other explanation for some people's behavior. The book is also an excellent resource if you are a writer, and can help you to understand that there is a very real difference between the story villain or antagonist who simply "does bad things" and the character intent on destruction. Highly recommended.
Best Poetry Return from Erebus
by Julia McCarthy. Ah. Poetry. 'Fess up, all: When's the last time you picked up a book of poetry and read it from cover to cover? If it's been a while, here's the perfect book to get back into what I consider poetry with a capital P, aka "the real thing." Not some pretty lines strung together or journal entries broken into verse or opening a vein and seeing what happens on the page, but seriously structured language that delivers surprise after surprise. Reading Julia's work is like opening some kind of wonderful origami puzzle box that with each new unfolding leaves you astonished at the rightness of it all. Buy this book. Now!
Special Mention Necklace of Kisses: A Novel
by Francesca Lia Block. Weetzie Bat and her extended family have long been some of my favorite characters ever. For a long time I resisted reading Necklace of Kisses because I didn't want to think of Weetzie as a grown-up. Now I think I was supposed to wait because every so often the right book falls into your hands at the right time. Soon after returning from a trip to Los Angeles, I found this book on sale at Borders for a dollar. How could I refuse? From the minute I started reading it felt like I had just walked or driven through every scene described in the book, the same places I had explored as a child and teenager long before Block even started writing. Block's descriptions of Los Angeles are, in my opinion, the best ever written and after reading them I was compelled to devote a dozen or so pages in my art journal to record and collage my own impressions. This story is sheer magic and that enchantment has stayed with me all year. Loved it!
Tip of the Day: It's fun to keep a record of your reading. It's also a valuable exercise to discover what your reading tastes are and why. I like to save a few pages in the back of my journal to jot down titles, authors, and a couple of lines about why I liked (or didn't like) a book. Not only is this good information to share with my book club and reading friends, but it helps me define my publishing niche. For 2011 it might be a good idea to start an entire journal to keep track of the year's books.
In the meantime, Happy 2011, everyone--wishing you a great new year of books, writing, and creativity!
Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope this finds you all ready to celebrate the holiday with joy and a renewed sense of childlike wonder. Because that's what I consider the best gift of the season: our chance to get in touch once again with our child-s(elf), the one who believes in miracles, hope, and universal goodness.
Like many people, Christmas holds a lot of memories for me: funny, confused, sad, exuberant. The memories cover a lot of ground, things like the time I wasn't allowed to be a reindeer in my first-grade Christmas pageant, and instead had to be a "stationary snowflake." I remember feeling so crushed: reindeers got to wear antlers made out of tin foil and run around the auditorium, two by two. All I got to do was stand still and wave a tissue paper snowflake--a TORN tissue paper snowflake. Then there was the year my little brother was born the week before Christmas and my grandparents were staying in the house with us as well as my chain smoking "Auntie Mame" who'd come to seek refuge in between divorces (complicated story). I guess we were too jam-packed in our little house: the adults suddenly had a scream-fest, knock-down, "you're gonna get it" argument over towels of all things, and I remember hiding under my bed and thinking Christmas wasn't supposed to be like this.
But then there were the other years when the cookies got baked, the fireplace worked, and even the California weather cooperated by being cold enough for us to wear sweaters and have a "real Christmas." Those were the good years, and I still remember the thrill of opening my favorite presents: books. Heidi, The Wind in the Willows, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Around the World in Eighty Days... Oh, how I loved, and cherished, those books. I still do! In fact, I'm going to go re-read one of them in a few minutes.
And that brings me to what I guess I really wanted to say here, that a great portion of how we enjoy the holidays rests on the memories and traditions we bring to them, and no matter how bizarre those memories are, they can be turned into something special and meaningful through our writing and artwork. Every time we pick up a pen or a paintbrush, we have the opportunity to go back and help that little child-s(elf) to have the happiest life, or birthday, or Christmas, or Hanukkah ever. So go out there and spread joy to the world with your creative spirits. It's been an honor to have you all visiting my blog this past year; thank you each and every one!
Tip of the Day: What are your holiday memories? Perhaps you'd like to start recording them in some special way, either through writing or artwork, or both! Whatever you choose, I wish you all a great day tomorrow of good times, good friends, and good memories.
Now that Nanowrimo is over for the year (at least for me), I took the extra time these last few days to finish up the two art journals I have been working on since New Year's Day. For my final entry, I decided to write about what I had gained from keeping these volumes--it was a lot! For instance:
- Art journals gave my writer's group a purpose and a theme to keep us all focused on a shared creative goal. For 2010 we chose "Travel," mainly because there were so many ways we could interpret the word, from actual on-the-road traveling, to individual life journeys, to placing our fictional characters in unknown and foreign settings, e.g. Paris, 1930. Travel also gave us a multi-faceted prompt for the accompanying artwork we created.
- From the class and the journals, I gained confidence in art making. I could experiment (and fail) without having to explain or apologize for why things "looked the way they looked." In his book, Writing Poetry from the Inside Out,
poet Sandford Lyne refers to journals as private studios. In my art journal, I could experiment in private.
- Art journaling for 30 minutes before working on my WIP, or before making a piece of pottery, centered me. It was meditative and helped me to get rid of the "noise" I sometimes find following me into my work space, you know, things like, "Buy milk. Reply to e-mail."
- Art journaling gave me a weekly class to attend over the summer; I love being a student. Homework assignments encouraged me to keep journaling.
- I felt part of a community of art journalers. I am so inspired by these creative souls.
- I found a wonderful way to outline my writing--with pictures. Although I have always used magazine cut-outs to illustrate my characters, scenes, and especially my book cover mock-ups, this year I found I was able to go much deeper. By creating multiple collages that followed my plot chapter by chapter, I was able to express my story visually before I wrote it. When it came to the actual writing, it seemed to just flow straight from the pictures.
- I gained a lot of insight into what I believe is the future of the book, especially with the increased use of e-readers. I feel certain that books are eventually going to be illustrated throughout with both still and moving pictures. Working with an art journal is a great way to prepare for what may be the next step for all of us who write.
- Looking for ways to make my art journal interesting, I learned techiques I would never have tried before: rubber stamping; colored pencil on black and white photocopies; drawing and painting onto backgrounds such as papyrus and mulberry paper.
- Which also meant I learned some new techniques to share in my own workshops.
- And because I had to go shopping to buy these fun items, I had no excuses for avoiding Julia Cameron-style "artist's dates."
- My finished art journals have given me some deeply personal, but quite wonderful "picture books" for my own appreciation and enjoyment.
Reaching the last pages of these two latest art journals was much more emotional than I thought it would be, similar to the end of any great adventure that took me to places I never thought I'd go, but that also turned out to be some of the best times of my life.
There have been so many journals of various types throughout my life, each one completely different and each one my "favorite" in some way or another starting with the first lined, spiral notebook I bought in London from Boots the Chemists on Regent Street. In it I wrote about friend and author Hugh Cook and his raincoat (well, he did tell me to keep character notes!); I wrote about someone's gray eyes that later were assigned to the character of Ravenna in my book Better Than Perfect
; I wrote the story that I'm still writing over and over every day of my life--the story of me. Every character, thought, idea, setting that has been a part of my novels, my poems, my drafts, my screenplays, my Christmas cards has come from my journals. What would I do without them?
Tip of the Day: Wondering what to give for the holidays this year? Art journal supplies can open a beautiful world for someone special. Maybe even you!
Yes, there really is a Week 5. I call it: Getting Life Back on Track After Nanowrimo. And the first thing I want to do is congratulate everyone who reached--and passed--that 50K goal (me, too!). Good job, writers. Good job, also, to those who did their best to stay with the program but for one reason or another found themselves lagging behind. Take heart; you've got some word counts you didn't have before the month started, and with any luck you have some great ideas and plot lines to keep working on until you reach The End.
For the five years I've participated in Nanowrimo, not one year has been like the other. Not just because I wrote wildly different types of stories and worked in various genres, but because of what I wanted to do in Week 5. Some years I continued to work furiously to add on another 50K words. Other years I just wanted to read and sleep. This year I want to put my manuscript to bed and carry on writing the WIP I was working on in October. To do that I still have to place my Nanowrimo pages in binders, make some notes to remind me what the story is actually about for when I do go back to it, and I need to spend some serious time re-reading the earlier WIP. I also want to evaluate some of the things I learned from yet another month of non-stop, first draft writing:
- Not everyone wants to write novels. And that's okay. More than once I found myself reassuring writer friends and student newbies that it's fine to discover you're a nonfiction writer at heart. Follow your passion--write what compels you to keep going.
- We all have different endurance levels. There is no "one size fits all" when it comes to the word counts we "should" have finished by the end of each writing session.
- Self-discipline and scheduling; what works, what doesn't? If Nanowrimo encouraged you to find the perfect time of day to write, don't let go of that. Cut out everything else, but save that precious slice of time when you're at your most productive level.
- Subject matter and genre. My Nanowrimo story, Into the Woods, was a murder mystery. While I enjoyed the foray into puzzle-solving and giving my characters dark secrets, I still found myself wanting to break the rules. When it comes to fiction, I'm a literary writer at heart and my job is to stay true to everything that means.
- Writer's groups. While I was writing, I kept thinking how much I would have enjoyed learning from other mystery writers. When I'm ready to start my rewrite, I plan to look for a mystery critique group. You might want to explore joining a group that supports your new-found genre, too.
- Then again, because of my "rule-breaking" I found myself being something of a lone wolf. Writing without critiques from others might be the best way for you to trailblaze your own original path.
- Writing tools. My Alphasmart Neo was, yet again, my lifesaver. I love that little machine. I also found I loved orange ink, calligraphy pens, and the most expensive legal pads money can buy.
- How do you react under pressure, otherwise known as "a deadline"? For some reason, I felt incredibly unpressured this year. It could have been because I was also at my most prepared: outline, character bios, and backstories were all in place before November 1.
- There's no room for perfectionism in Nanowrimo, and there's no room for it in any first draft. "Just write, don't think" should be our mantra every time we sit down to write any draft.
- Sleep is highly over-rated--at least when you want to reach a goal. I got up an extra hour earlier than usual each day and not only did I improve my word count, I think I felt more productive all day long. I've decided to stick with this new schedule and I'm excited about it.
- What are your "avoidance" tactics to stay away from writing? This year I was pretty good about putting my writing first, but there was one day when I decided to wash the kitchen curtains instead. Writing would have been much more fun, I can assure you.
- Renewed knowledge that yes, I can do it, you can do it, we all can do it. We're writers. Given a task, we deliver. And that is the one and only secret to getting published: words on pages.
Tip of the Day: National Novel Writing Month is intense, exhilarating, fun, and draining. Give yourself a break for at least a week: read, rest, doodle, dream; and if you do want to keep writing--pamper yourself along the way, you deserve it!
