Giving Some Love

...to the writing blog, because sometimes I'm a little "sporadic." I've been writing, I have 14K at this point, but I am also bouncing back and forth between writing and editing an existing story.

 The only real thing holding me back, is ME. I have the story plotted out, I just need to sit down and get it out of my head. Not worry about making it fabulous, just GET IT DOWN on paper, so I can then start editing and changing and giving it what it needs.

That's my M.O.: Plot it out, Get the bare bones written, then go back and add the meat. And Spices. And gravy. ;-)

Now I'm hungry.

Soccer Practice is Good for Writing

I've been getting some serious writing in lately--because of waiting in the car! I On Mondays and Thursdays I spend an average of 1 1/2 to 2 hours in my car, waiting to pick up kids! It's a writer's dream, let me tell you. I just listen to my classical music station and plunk away in the car, and when the day is over, I download about 1-2K into my manuscript.

So, there IS an upside to living in one's car! Nice to know!

Doin' It Old School.

If you're like me, you're easily distracted. You get on the computer to write, and you look up something on Google to research, then you find yourself checking email, surfing, etc, and 30 minutes pass and you realize you got on the computer to WRITE, not SURF.

I am not so bueno at disciplining myself to stay offline. I think it's a common problem. One writer friend of mine wrote the bulk of her novel in a small closet, with no Internet! ;-)

So, I've gone back to my Alphasmart Neo. It's a 2-pound, lightweight keyboard, and it's sole function is word processing. No Internet, no frills, no games. Just WRITING. I take it in the car to soccer practice, or when I wait in the super long line to pick up my kids from school, I have it in bed, on the sofa with me when Hubby and I watch TV, you name it. And then I just hook up to my Mac and it downloads everything I typed, into the document.

And I'm not wasting my time surfing. Old School is looking pretty COOL.

Revisiting.

I finished reading this weekend, and pulled up a WIP I've been working on. Started reading. Suddenly, I was in my heroine's world, again. Wrote 2K on Sunday. I will write more today. I had to read my synopsis to get reacquainted with the plot (thank goodness I wrote it all down!) and I'm moving forward with it.

It's something different, and I'm not even sure how I feel about it yet. I figure I should purge it out (most of my novels are the results of "itches" I can' scratch) and get it to a few trusted readers, to get their opinions.

Nothing ventured, right?

I'm Not Getting Any Action.

Okay, out of context that could sound bad! ;-)

I mean, I'm not writing lately. I've been critting a ms for my cp, and I've been editing, but the well has dried, temporarily. I need to restock it. I think reading a great book will do the trick. I downloaded A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES a few days ago, and it looks like today I finally get to start reading! After I clean the kitchen and do laundry, of course, heh heh. :-)

Here's to creative recharging!

Living Vicariously Through Google

I've lamented this before--as a stay-home mom to four kids and a husband who goes on business trips, I don't travel a whole lot. And a bunch of my stories are set in lands NOT the U.S. (I just submitted a full request to an editor about finding a lost city in South America). So, how do I write about these locales?

Google. I love it.

There's Google Earth, and the street view feature. You can walk around any mapped street, and get a feel for the terrain. There's Flickr, people post their great shots of places and people and you can see what they see. There are countless websites (some personal, some professional) where you can glean almost every fact you want. I've found that the more SPECIFIC you are with your Google search, the better your chances at finding what you need. I've rarely been disappointed.

My favorite feature? Whenever I make up a word or term, I Google it. If it doesn't get any hits, I know I've invented something original. THAT is the best.

It's such a wonderful tool. I've written one novel set in the U.K. and Egypt, One in the U.K., one in Mexico, and I've been able to accomplish this through Google. I don't care what people say about it, I LURVE it! Google Rocks.