BarbsWriteTree

Name:
Location: San Marcos, California, United States

Southern gal living in California. Have been writing since the age of ten and am addicted to the written word. Have stacks of books-to-be-read in almost every room. I teach writing on a volunteer basis and in a paid position. I once worked with foreign customers for an aerospace company; interesting job that gave me great insight into other cultures. Family scattered all over the US so have excuses to travel.

Friday, April 14, 2006

DOES YOUR WRITING PLAN INCLUDING PROSCRASTINATION?

"Confidence and courage come through preparation and practice."
- Author Unknown

Author Sharon McCrumb wrote her first book while working full time, teaching a night class in fiction, taking two graduate courses and trying to raise an 8-year-old daughter. "It's a bunch of crap if you say you don't have time to write," she says.

Actually no one has the time to write. Yet successful authors do it every day, somehow finding the time to meet their writing obligations. I am not a well-known writer but every day (unless ill) I do find time to do something that is either putting words on paper or addressing a related task--research, querying, sending work out or scribbling notes on my latest brainstorming task.

To my way of thinking, there is also nothing like a deadline to make us focus on the work at hand. I'm often one of those "last minute" writers. I do make a writing plan, a time schedule that lists what I need to do and when. I usually have my notes and research done and a first draft--a pretty ragged draft at that. But when it comes down to it, I often procrastinate until a few days (or hours if online) the deadline. Then I gather my notes, the draft and my latest thoughts firmly together and write.

And still, with the admission of pracrastination, I can say with all honesty that writing for publication demands a sincere commitment of time and effort to the craft. You have to want to do it. I want to do it because I love to write. I need to be boosted by that byline. But I still do my best writing under pressure.

Weeks before, I focus on what I want to do with this subject. For most of us, the necessary grunt work that writing for publication necessitates, means we have to have time to research, ponder and draft. My real focus, on rewrites and polishing, comes at the eleventh hour. I must admit that I will probably, till the last writing in the sky, still be lecturing myself each time I have an assignment: Don't wait until the last minute.

Make writing a habit. Even if you "procrastinate" until the last moment to write the actual piece, you must be organized. Just do it. Set aside thirty minutes and write every day even if it is only to make notes, outline, or scribble beginnings and endings for your writing. Maybe setting a certain time of the day will work best for you. Here's where I will tell you to do as I say, not as I do: allow yourself enough time when you have completed your assignment to put it aside for awhile. Going back over it with a fresh eye to revision, makes your work tighter, cleaner, more readible.

How did I do? My personal deadline for this blog was--yesterday.

TIP: Begin researching a topic you want to query an editor with. Outline or write bits and pieces of your article. Have enough material at hand that you can be ready to produce when you get the go-ahead.

PROMPT: Write the first draft of an article or story for a contest with a deadline sometime next month.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

MYSTERIES OF LIFE--AND WRITERS

"Finding the stories is not the hard part. Writing them down is."
- Annie Proulex

I love mysteries--to read, watch and write. Give me a Lee Child, James Lee Burke, J.D. Robb...I could go on and on with good mystery writers as I have many favorite authors in this genre. It is not surprising that I also enjoy creating mysteries.

Having said that, although I love to read mysteries and usually cover at least one complete novel per week and I watch many of the shows on television showing crimes and who committed them, they are one heck of a hard thing to write. I can say that I have written mystery short stories. One in fact, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. I self-published a long-short story, "The Cat Who Loved Chocolate" as a Christmas gift to friends and family. People seemed to enjoy the mysterious tale.

My novel, "Aunt Lutie's Blue Moon Cafe," has a mystery with an old murder connected to a new murder running through it--those small towns can have an undercurrent of mystery just in the looks people pass among them. I guess I will have to wait to see if I hit the mark with this mystery when I hear from the agent who requested to read the whole manuscript. But just because I have written them doesn't make it any easier.

I write what is known in the business as amateur detective mysteries. Mine usually center around an innocent member of a community who is going about her (usually I write these in the female voice) daily business and stumbles upon a dead body or some other surprising crime. When I write a series character mystery, she will have become known in her neighborhood or town for solving crimes. I enjoy the writing from this viewpoint and using small town, everyday life, to show readers that crime can happen in the most innocent of places.

"The Cat Who Loved Chocolate" is a story using characters that I had used in another story and am now writing about in a children's book. These stories are inhabited by two angels, Delilah and Jeremiah, and Marmalade (the cat) is a recent addition to them. The tales are fun to write but I have to admit that I am struggling with the middle of the children's book (working title "Lost Angels") about now and need to delve into more research about the southwest location plus do character sketches of the children involved in solving this mystery.

Do I dare continue? Of course. I have to know how the children clear up the mystery. Will I write another adult mystery? Funny you should ask:

....."You're sure you don't know this child?"
He stops the gurney carrying a gray-colored bag and, at a nod to the EMT, I find myself staring at a tiny white face surrounded by dark curls, a little cherub now blue in death.
I can't do this. Take her away. She's not my Mandy but somewhere there is a mother who, like me, will never be the same from this day forward.
(End of Prologue)

Where do I go from here?

TIP: You must read in order to be able to write. But there comes a time when you need to stop and start writing. Pick a certain time of the day and create a writing habit. Not having an idea is not an option.

PROMPT: A woman in the process of being divorced by her husband, comes home to find him dead on the kitchen floor. What does she do now?

Sunday, April 02, 2006

I'M BACK!

"Stress will kill you."
(ER Doctor, March 21,2006)

I'm back. Back home, back on my feet, back smiling--not 100% as my stamina is still plodding along to get back to normal. My husband tells others that I usually have one speed--go, go, go, drop. Not these past two weeks.

For years I have had easily-controlled high blood pressure. I don't have high cholesterol (my "good" part is 90%). Yes, I could lose ten (or more) pounds but I have felt great. My one operation, for breast cancer, was over eight years ago and I have been cancer free since. So what a surprise to wind up in the ER with many of the symptoms of a mini-stroke (TIA). Who me?

Yes, me. The lady who can't say "no" when people need a volunteer to take on just one more task. Having been brought up with an "old world" (i.e., Depression era parents) work ethic, I went from very responsible employment to volunteering with the same dedication--never miss a day, seldom take a vacation, give 110%, freak myself out when I am running from one task to the other, day after day. In the past months,I no longer found pleasure in the one thing I have loved all my life--writing. I didn't show my stress verbally--it was all internally. A stroke waiting to happen.

I was lucky. Stress did not kill me, or leave any lasting effects. No trace of that little blood clot scooting through my brain could be found. The BP is not quite stable yet--fluctuaring from a little too high from my normal to way too low for my normal but it is much better than a week ago. As I said, the stamina hasn't returned full force yet. But I'm winning the battle in spite of it all.

Except for my writing classes (which I love and never stress over), there is no longer volunteering in my life. After 20 years of giving to others, I am allowing someone else to have their turn. I am beginning a new project while completing a novel and a short story collection. These only have deadlines I set for myself. My inspirational newsletter is a joy and I've already started writing articles for the May-June issue.

Writing will save me--with God's calming hand on my shoulder--and His other hand over my mouth until I prove I've learned the meaning of the word "no" when asked to take on any new task.

Tip: Learn to write tighter. Use contractions in you writing as you do in speaking. Look for those excess words cluttering the pages. For example, set your computer to search for "that, of, just" and eliminate them.

Prompt: Write something merely for the joy of it. Don't worry about a market, or what readers will think. Write for yourself.