Always a Next Time

I spoke to a group at the library two weeks ago and had a Q&A session after my talk. One question was: If you write another book, what will you do differently?

I answered that this time I would have a plan before I started.

My first book began with a premise and went from there, evolving as ideas came to me. Some threads led to nowhere and I had to start over. Some led in new directions and I had to rewrite earlier chapters to account for the changes.

I started that novel more than six years ago (or maybe longer, I can't remember) and am still working on it. It has grown completely out of control, with twists and turns in the plot that even I, who should be in charge, am having trouble unraveling. My next step is to create a timeline and get all the action in some kind of order. I am not giving up; I think it's a good story. But in its present form, it is not publishable.

I have an idea for another story and this time, instead of sitting down and typing Chapter One and seeing where it takes me, I wrote a complete synopsis of what I thought the story should be and where it should go. I plan to write a description of each character: physical description, hopes, dreams, fears and desires. A timeline will tell me when each conflict and resolution should occur. This time I will know the ending instead of wondering where the story is going and letting the characters lead me.

Only then will I type Chapter One on my page.

Novel Number One is an adventure and I have enjoyed every minute of writing it. It also is too long, too convoluted and -- well, too messy. It needs organizing. It needs discipline.

Novel Number Two will start out disciplined and I have no doubt I will write it without being sidetracked by a stray thought that maybe this happens and the heroine reacts like this -- no, the heroine will stay on track and not lead me down any false paths. I should be able to complete it in less than a year.

I don't know yet if it will as much fun to write.

Things I Wish I'd Done

I earned a double major in college with credits in both fine art and education. About two years in, I knew my talents were not in painting and sculpture and contemplated switching my art major to English. This was after taking a creative writing class as an elective and knowing instinctively that this was what I was meant to do.

I didn't, however, as the subesquent loss of credits and the need to take a foreign language and a math course deterred me. I might have stumbled through beginning Spanish or French, but I knew I could never pass anything that had to do with numbers.

Years later I took a correspondence course in journalism and followed that with a stay at Duke University for a weeklong writers workshop. If I had had any doubts about my need to write up to that point, they were dispelled then. Notice I said need. Writing isn't something you want to do, it is something you have to do.

I started writing first for a newspaper, and then for magazines. I was thrilled every time I got an acceptance letter. And finally, The Book.

I do think the lack of a degree in creative writing has hindered me in many ways, but I also believe learning to write the facts while facing a deadline taught me something just as essential.

What I wish I had done was taken some courses in marketing. Writing is a piece of cake compared to getting the work out about the wonderful, compelling book you have written. Thank goodness for writer friends who are willing to share their tips. Some I have known personally for several years and some are new friends met on forums, blogs, websites and Facebook.

What I have learned is that I have to toss modesty to the winds; no one is going to toot my horn for me. And if I don't believe in my work, who will? So I blog and brag and sometimes pray that someone will pick up my book and like it well enough to tell someone else...

And try to do better on the next one.

Summer Slump

Maybe it's the heat. Maybe it's the inevitable letdown that follows the attainment of a long-sought prize: what happens next?

At any rate, my energy levels have been so low I haven't accomplished much of anything since our vacation in July. I meant to have my current manuscript in publishable form by September; now it looks as if it may be much later than that, simply because I haven't looked at it in weeks. I have the germ of an idea for a new novel, but I've been too lazy to sit down and write the outline that exists, rather fuzzily, in my brain.

I have managed to keep up with work, and I can point to one rather complicated and long assignment that ate up a lot of my time and left my brain in a muddle.

But, I have ignored some other pressing obligations, such as typing up the minutes of a meeting (I seem to always be elected secretary) and getting my notes ready for a talk I am to give Monday. This is really urgent, and yet I plan on taking my granddaughter to a movie this afternoon. So maybe tomorrow ...

I could name a dozen other things that all cry out for my attention and I am figuratively stuffing my fingers in my ears and pretending not to hear.

This isn't writer's block, it is writer's slump. It's like looking at a basket overflowing with clothes that need to be ironed, and going to the closet to find something else to wear.

Sooner or later, the clothes will need to be ironed and that manuscript will need to be finished.

Maybe when it's cooler.

This room is getting crowded

I know, both from reading and experience, that writing is a solitary occupation.

I suppose that is true enough. Only one person can sit in a chair and face that computer screen (or typewriter, or pencil and tablet if that is your preferred method of getting your thoughts into some kind of solid format).

And it's true no one else can get into your mind and help you come up with your ideas in the first place.

Nevertheless, I've discovered that there is a lot about writing that is done in and with the company of others.

For one thing, I have had support for over 20 years from the Anson County Writers' Club. The irony is that I started the club because of the very quote I used at the beginning of this blog -- I was lonely and wanted to meet other writers. Our meetings include Open Mic and I enjoy hearing what others have written as well as feedback on my efforts.

Then there is my e-mail critique group. Two I've met in person; the other lives on the west coast. We share our writing and help each other over the rough spots, cheer each other on and act as sounding boards for new ideas.

I also joined the Carolina Romance Writers. We meet in Charlotte once a month and enjoy a speaker or workshop that provides helpful knowledge as well as motivation. There is also the opportunity to talk to other writers and get advice.

To belong to this chapter group, you first have to belong to the national -- Romance Writers of America. The RWA just had a convention in Orlando. I couldn't go, but a CRW member posted a daily blog that made me feel as if I were there. And, the monthly magazine is filled with news and tidbits about writers I almost feel are friends.

Then there are the people who post blogs, newsletters, e-columns, Facebook pages and, I suppose, Tweets if I knew where to look for them. Sometimes this much "company" can get overwhelming. I have to shut down the voices clamoring for my attention and concentrate on getting my manuscript as perfect as possible before submitting it.

Yes, writing is solitary. but the business of writing doesn't have to be. Sometimes it can get downright crowded.

From Dream to Reality

I was walking on air the day I received my author copies. The next day I was brought forcibly back to reality as I considered the next step -- promotion. How many books should I order to have on hand when someone asks me if I have a book right there and then so they don't have to order one? Should I invest in promo materials? What ones work best? How could I make mine different and eye-catching?

Then there is the need to set up book signings. I called our local arts council and got on their highlighted artists program for September. I am looking at some other venues such as our library's monthly Brown Bag Book Club where they feature local authors; the writers club I have belonged to for over 20 years; even our cancer support group. I put a notice in the two local newspapers and on our church's Web site. I e-mailed every one I have an address for (for whom I have an address?). I need to find people who will write (hopefully good) reviews.

Frankly, I feel a little silly tooting my own horn like this. but I have learned that if you don't promote your own work, no one else will.

Maybe after I get all this done, I can start dreaming about my next book.

Day Dreaming

Day dreaming, or more accurately, morning dreaming, is what I do when I walk. Our town just opened a new park with a walking trail. Since I can drive there in under five minutes, I no longer have an excuse not to walk every day.

The weather has been unbearably hot, so I walk as early as I can, usually between 6 and 7 a.m. If I'm early, I can watch the lampposts turn off, one by one. Some mornings the sunrise is breathtaking. And always, there is the birdsong.

As I walk, I think about what I'm going to write that day. Mostly now it is revision, so I go over that day's chapter in my mind. If I had a problem the day before, the answer often comes during my walk.

I also daydream about actually finishing the novel, sending it off and acquiring an agent and/or publisher. I firmly believe visualizing something makes it happen.

And, daydreams sometimes do come true. Today I received my author's copies of "Angels Unaware." As I held the book in my hands, I wondered if authors who have published countless books experience the same thrill every time or if they get jaded and toss the books aside with a "Ho-hum, another book."

Yes, I daydream about finding that out for myself.

Column or Blog, the Content's the Same

A few years ago I was working for a local newspaper. One of my assignments -- even before working full time-- was a column called "Confessions of a Yankee Housewife." People still come up to me and say, "You're the woman who wrote that thing about the housewife." Yep, that was me.

Little did I dream that later on the discipline of writing a weekly column (and trying to make it interesting) would turn into the discipline of writing a weekly blog -- and trying to make it interesting. I never thought I had an interesting life. As a child, my adventures were all in my head or between the covers of a book. And yes, I did read books under the bedcovers with a flashlight, innocently thinking Mom didn't know.

Still reading, still daydreaming ... but now I write the daydreams down and call them stories. Having them published is a dream come true.

Sandy