Prioritizing fiction in 2017

I spent a lot of time on my WIP in 2016, and I made good progress.

But it was also a chaotic year full of obstacles and schedule changes and lots of medical appointments for Tink and Puck. So there were many times that my fiction writing was pushed back and de-prioritized.

In 2017, I am going to continue to make time to write fiction. And, more importantly, I'm going to prioritize my fiction more than I did in 2016.

I've read a lot of articles and listened to TED Talks and podcasts about time management and achieving goals. And one point that comes up again and again is that achieving your goals is not about rearranging your life or quitting your job (though sometimes it is about that). It's about prioritizing your life so that the things you want to accomplish are at the top of your list.

When it comes down to it, we make time for the things we have to make time for. You may think you don't have an extra few hours in your schedule this week, but what a pipe burst in your home? What if your child were ill?

We make time for the things we have to make time for.

So if you prioritize fiction-writing or writing music or starting your business, you'll have the time you need to make it happen.

Yes, that means that things that are less of a priority may have to fall away. But it comes down to priorities. Is it more important to write another chapter in your book or watch the season premiere of Dancing with the Stars?

You only have so many hours in the day. So you have to decide what you do with those hours. I'm going to write fiction with them. (And some other stuff, of course.)

What are you going to do in 2017?

What are you going to do today?

Backgrounding the funeral book

I'm in the rewriting phase of the coffee house book, which is awesome but also a little scary and very intimidating.

So while I'm working on the coffee house book, I'm also doing the background work for the next book in the collection, which I'm calling the funeral book. I have my list of characters and the skeleton outline of the chapters, and I'm working on the character biographies and detailed chapter/scene outlines.

I did this for the coffee house book, too. Because of the way the coffee house book is structured, it was necessary for me to have a lot of background work done before I started writing. Well, if I'm being honest, it kind of started as a sort of procrastination technique because I was nervous about the actual writing part. But now I don't know how I would've gotten the story down without it. The character biographies let me create the vital parts of the characters relevant to the story and reference them quickly. The outlines keep the story moving forward once I get into it. And since many characters are overlapping in the different stories in the collection, I've created a file for each character so their stories in different books remain true to the character.

Besides, the funeral book background gives me something to work on when I need a break from rewriting.

That being said, starting the background work for the funeral book is starting to push me into that story's world, which, as you can tell from the moniker for the book, is a little bleaker than the coffee house book. And, in that way, going back to the coffee house book is a much-needed break from teh funeral book background work.

It's going to be a hard book to write, I think.

The coffee house book in third-person point of view

Writing has been different since I changed the point of view of the coffee house book from first-person. In some ways, it's been easier to write the stories, but first-person lent itself nicely to exposition with the characters who were on the ramble-y side.

I've had to adjust my thinking in developing the characters and telling their stories. I need to share intimate aspects of their lives and stories while remaining true to the structure and narrator I've established.

The good news is that now that I have the point of view right, the whole process is going much more smoothly, and I'll be finished with the draft by the end of the year.

How's your work-in-progress going?

Remember the coffee house book?

I've been doing a lot of work on the coffee house book in the past couple of weeks (especially last week). And the more I work on it, the more I want to work on it.

I've been working on it (off and on) for a long time. And the structure and story itself has come a long way since the first conception of it. In some ways it's come full circle. In other ways, it's nothing like what I first imagined.

It's been an interesting experience these past couple of weeks. I've been getting into the characters more than I have previously, and realizing the characters I thought would be the easiest to write are turning out to be quite a bit more difficult. For example, I've been struggling quite a bit with the coffee house manager character, but the high-maintenance salon owner who feels entitled was quite easy to write.

It's more than that, though. It's been about getting back to what I really want to do. Because while I love my career as a freelance writer,* fiction-writing is where my heart is, and that's what I really want to be doing.

Right now I have to balance fiction-writing with freelance writing (which is also balanced with all the things I need to do to take care of my family and household), but I'm looking forward to the day I can focus on fiction much more. Of course, I would love to be able to be a full-time fictioneer, but until then I'm happy to steal time when I can. To make time when I need it. To write a little bit every chance I get.

And the coffee house book will get done, along with its companion books.






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*Though I generally call myself a "content journalist" when speaking with potential clients because, you know.

September Writing Goals

Typical task/goal lists

As I said in a previous post, September is a fresh start for me in a lot of ways, some of which have to do with my fiction-writing life. As a result, I've set some goals for myself this month that will help me get the collection back on track. Here's what's on my list for September:

• Finish the character biographies for the coffee house book.
• Write the outlines for at least two additional books in the collection.
• Begin the character biographies for one additional book in the collection.
• Begin the chapter-by-chapter outlines for the coffee house book.

I know it looks like a short list, but each component has a separate list of things that have to be done for that particular item to be done. So it's more than it appears. (Isn't that usually the case?) And as each task is crossed off this list, it will be replaced with a new one so I'll be able to continue pushing forward in the collection.

I think September is going to be a good month.

Chapter-by-chapter outlining

There's a lot of background work
for the collection!

I'm an outliner when it comes to writing. It helps me think about the story as a whole. And, in the case of the collection, it will help me think about the community of the people and their stories, and how everything fits together.

I already have a basic outline for the coffee house book, as well as synopses for the other books in the collection. Since I'm still doing all the background writing and research, what I have is fine for now.

However, as it gets closer to time to actually start writing the coffee house book, my intent is to take the outline a step further by creating detailed outlines for each individual chapter. I think I've mentioned before that the characters are the driving force in the books, and because of this, the simple outline I currently have for the coffee house book is adequate for background work, but is really a skeleton outline. I need to fill in the holes to be able to move forward.

Essentially, what I intend to do is sit down with the coffee house book outline, and write the chapter outlines as if each chapter stood independent of the rest of the chapters (and collection). When I have that done, I'll fit the chapters together within the larger work of the coffee house book (there is a loose story arc that ties the chapters together, after all), and think about how the coffee house book fits into the larger collection. When all those threads are put together, I'll have an extremely detailed outline for the coffee house book, and I'll be ready to start writing!

Not every story needs this kind of outlining. Many stories I've written don't. But because of how integrated everything is in the collection, I think it's necessary to do. Tedious, maybe. But necessary.

Do you outline before you write? How detailed are your outlines?

Even in the midst of chaos, there is writing....

I haven't done a lot of writing-for-pleasure this month. I started a new job career and have had many changes occurring in my personal life, so other things have taken priority. And yet, even as busy as I've been, I can't stop thinking about the coffee house book.

The good news is that after Labor Day weekend, things will be a little different, and I'll actually have time to make time for the collection.

I have been working on the coffee house book a little, here and there, but only moments at a time, and just enough to remind me that I do need to write it, and the stories will never leave me alone until I do.

Examples of my writing task lists

I have a list of notes and tasks that I need to do for the collection. I still have a lot of background work to do for the collection. I need to do some research into a few areas so I feel a little more confident writing about them. More importantly, I haven't finished the character biographies for the coffee house book (or the rest of the town), so that's the first priority. My coffee house book outline is solid, so once the background work is done, I'll be ready for the first draft. And I know a few people who will be eager to read a draft when it's ready.

I wish I could start writing the chapters or the biographies I have, but this collection just doesn't work that way. The characters in the coffee house book are interwoven with each other, and with the characters in the other books. I have to have a good foundation for that before I start writing.

I have started stories that didn't get finished. I've started novels that didn't get finished. And those characters were content in the half-scribblings I did for them, storing the pages away in a folder or a drawer. But these characters are different. The collection is different. The coffee house book has been following me around since 2004, and no matter what else I work on, or where else my writing takes me, the coffee house characters are there, begging to be written. And now I can finally tell their stories.

Seeing characters everywhere

I love to watch people. It's something I've enjoyed for most of my life.

I was very shy as a child, so I often found myself in the enviable position of being overlooked when others were having private conversations. I heard things others didn't. I saw things others didn't. I enjoyed getting to see these private sides of people, so as I got older, I continued to keep my mouth shut, and my eyes and ears open.

Now that I'm older, being this kind of observer has been beneficial to my writing. I still see these private sides of people, and when I do, they are somehow transformed into characters begging to be included in stories. I know it's a writer thing to see characters and stories everywhere, and I'm thankful for that. After all, it's because of my observation I have the coffee house book characters that I do. Most of them are inspired by people I have seen, talked to, or known in my adult life.

Like visual artists, writers see things others don't, and in ways that others don't. And just because you don't write realism doesn't mean you can't use the people and relationships you see every day as inspiration for your stories. Even invented worlds need an element of truth in order to for readers to relate to them, so even non-realism stories can draw on that quirky cashier you chatted with last week, or the always-on-his-phone guy that drops by your neighbor's house sometimes.

If you want your characters to seem real, using real people as an inspiration is a good start!

Of course, you'll want to change the character enough that he or she is unrecognizable, and hat he or she fits into the world of your story. Usually it involves changing more than just a name. But you have to do what's true to your story. Look at the character sketches you've created from your observations and flesh them out. Lots of writers have great advice on how to create characters. Robert Atkinson also has an amazing life story interview in his book The Gift of Stories that I frequently use as a character biography interview.

Regardless of how you create your characters, it all starts with someone you see, or some character trait or quirk that caught your eye (or ear) and just screams, "Put me in your story!" So just keep your eyes and ears open, and your story world will be populated before you know it!

How to prepare to write a series

The coffee house book is not part of a series. It's the first book in a collection of stories, but each book can be read and appreciated independently.

I am, however, also working on a different story line that will be a series. (I know, I know. I promise I'm not brainstorming this other story to avoid the coffee house book.) So I'm preparing to write this series in a similar way to preparing for the coffee house book collection.

The first steps for the series is an outline. I have an overreaching story line in mind, which I'll be breaking into smaller outlines for the individual books. I know some of you start foaming at the mouth at the mere mention of outlines, but in order to maintain continuity, I have to be able to look through notes and make sure I'm in line with where I need to be.

Once I have the outlines, I'll write the character biographies, and then I'll be ready to start writing. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?

For me, the key is making sure I'm consistent throughout the series. I have to make sure that, as I write the individual stories, I keep the overall series story line in mind. For that purpose, I'll be using story cards. I'll write the major series plot points on index cards and stick them on a board in order. Then I'll take the plot points and separate them for the individual books. I'll then use the sets of story cards to develop the individual outlines for the books.

I'm looking forward to working on the series. Of course, the coffee house book has priority, but when I'm ready to start working on the series, I'll have my plan.

Have you ever written a series? If so, how did you prepare for it?

NaNoWriMo Pep Talk: the last half of the month

Today is the 16th of November, which means we're officially in the last half of NaNoWriMo, ladies and gentlemen.

I can hardly believe how quickly it's gone by. I hope you've all been able to get big word counts every day and that you've nearly reached your 50,000-word count goal for the month! If not, that's okay. Just keep writing! There's still lots of time to finish. And even if you don't hit 50,000 words by the end of the day on the 30th, you've got lots more writing now than you did on October 31st, so be happy!

I'm not going to lie--the last half of the month has always been the most difficult for me. Your motivation is likely waning, your story may not be as robust as you initially anticipated, and as Thanksgiving approaches, you may be finding less and less time to work on your NaNo novel.

There are things you can do to keep your story moving forward, unusual as they may be.

If you've written yourself into a corner, well...change the architecture. Make it a dream or something. I know, it may be a cheap escape, but that's what revision is for. November is about getting words on the page.

If you've run out of plot, add a character. Or a conflict. Or transport your entire cast to a new location. Crazy, I know. But crazy adventures call for crazy action.

Whatever else you do, just keep at it. Even if you only get a paragraph down in a day, it's a paragraph more than you had yesterday. And it's a paragraph closer to 50,000 words by the end of the month.

You can do this. I know you can. So close this browser window, open you NaNo novel, and keep writing.

Happy scribbling!

NaNoWriMo Pep Talk: pushing through the mid-month slump

NaNoWriMo is fast-approaching the mid-month mark. Can you believe you've been scribbling for almost two weeks already? Are you at 25,000 words yet?

If you're not, that's okay. The word count goal for November 10th is a little over 16,000 words. And if you're below that, it's okay. Because even if you only have 1,000 words written (or even less!), it's more than you had on October 31st! How is your writing going?

A lot of people start to slow down as it gets closer to the middle of the month. The initial excitement and adrenaline of NaNoWriMo is past, lengthy descriptions of characters and setting are likely already written, and you're getting to the meat of the story. So it gets a little harder to write it.

Keep writing. Keep pushing through, page by page, word by word. If you have to, add more description. Add long, convoluted explanations by your characters. Just keep writing.


It will get better. Because even though the middle of the month can be a nightmare, the end of the month is so sweet! You'll start on the downward slope of your NaNoWriMo mountain. You'll see your word count inching closer and closer to 50,000 and your adrenaline will start pumping again. You can do it. I know you can. All you have to do is keep putting words together today, tomorrow, and the next day. Keep writing.

And then the month will be over. And you'll have written a novel in 30 days.

Sometimes inspiration strikes inconveniently

Writers across the globe are scribbling furiously this month as they participate in NaNoWriMo. It's a fun adventure, and shows writers that regardless of your schedule or situation, you can make time to write about 2,000 words a day, and focus on a novel to get it done.

I'm not officially participating in NaNo this year, but I am working on the coffee house book. Focusing on one story is good. It lets me get into the characters and story. But, as can happen with writers, focusing on one story leads to a new, shiny idea begging to be written. It's happening to me right now, in fact. I have an idea for a story I think would be fun to write--much more fun than slogging through character biographies and background information for the coffee house book.

What do you do when this happens to you? Do you take a little time to jot ideas down? Do you use the shiny, new idea as a way to break from the WIP when you feel stuck? Do you ignore the new idea until you're ready to write it?

NaNoWriMo prep: developing your story

Before November 1st rolls around, it's really a good idea to know the basics of your NaNoWriMo* story. You don't necessarily need to know every detail of every step in the story arc, but knowing you have a story arc (and what it is) will certainly help you as you scribble about 2,000 words each day. You're less likely to write yourself into a corner or be at a loss for what comes next if you already have a destination (or resolution) point in your mind before you start.

Here are a few things to think about as you develop your story:

Beginning


Where does your story start? Do you have an established world or situation that changes at the beginning of the story, or has the change already occurred? What characters are important to setting the scene for getting the action of your story going? How do you want to introduce your readers to what's going on?

Middle


What is the climax of the story? How do you get there? What happens immediately after? How do the characters react to what's going on?

End


How does your story resolve? Does it resolve? What happens to your characters when the story ends? What do you want readers to take away with them from the story? Is there a "moral"? How do you reveal it to your readers without actually stating it?

November is just around the corner. Yes, it may still only be the beginning of October, but time goes quickly, and NaNoWriMo will be here before you know it. What do you know about your story? Is it enough to start writing it? Are you ready for this scary, fun adventure?

*NOTE: NaNoWriMo's website will be relaunching for 2011 on Monday, October 10. This means that it's likely to be a bit laggy as people poke around the site and order their shirts for this year. If you log on, be patient. You can also follow NaNoWriMo on Twitter for updated info about the site and goings-on.

NaNoWriMo 2011: let the fun begin!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's that time of year again.

We're less than 30 days from starting the writing adventure known as National Novel Writing Month. I wasn't originally going to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, but my schedule is going to be changing to give me more time to work on fiction, so I decided I can at least use the NaNo time to work on the coffee house book. (All the work I've been doing on it has been background, so I suppose writing it "counts," doesn't it? Either way, I plan to write 50,000+ words on the coffee house book during the month of November.)

If you haven't already, it's time to start planning and organizing and working on all those background notes you're going to need in order to write 50,000 words in 30 short days. Yes, you can just jump into a story on November 1st without anything other than an idea, but being a somewhat organization-obsessed person, I'm all about the preparation. Wouldn't it go so much more smoothly if you had character biographies and an outline and background notes and a setting map?

Over the next few weeks I'm going to walk you through some of the steps you can use to help prepare yourself for NaNoWriMo 2011. And, before you know it, we'll be smack dab in the middle of a big, crazy, scary, fun adventure. Who needs sleep, anyway?

Good reading or Gag-inducing?

I've been thinking about what makes a piece of writing "good" lately. Maybe it's because I've been working on the coffee house book, and maybe it's because I've been working on a reading list for the fall. (I've been terrible about reading lately, but my schedule is a lot better now!) My reading time has been pretty limited lately, so I don't want to spend time on something I don't like.

But fiction is so subjective that to declare something "good" is hard to do. And if you do decide something is good fiction, that doesn't mean others will agree with you. That said, I think there are qualities a piece of writing can have (within subjectivity) that make it "good."

Engaging. A story has to draw you in. If you read a story and are very aware you're reading a story (unless that aspect is intentional, of course), it's hard to enjoy it.

Suspension of disbelief. Whether the story is realism, speculative fiction, or bizarro literature, good fiction is written in a way that lets you believe that what's happening in the story, however unlikely (or impossible), could actually happen.

Rewards rereading. I've read lots of stories that I've enjoyed, but when I read them again, problems are exposed. On the other hand, I've read stories that I could read every year and take something new from it every time. Good stories can be read more than once.

Emotional. Good fiction evokes emotion, positive and negative. Authors who write good stories are the ones who get you to love the characters they want you to love and hate the characters they want you to hate. Whether you like what's going on in the story or not, you react to it.

What else makes a good story?

What makes a bad story?

Patterned story structure meets the coffee house book

Photo source

Upon the recommendation of Nathan Bransford, I read this post by Jennifer Crusie at Argh Ink about linear vs. patterned story structure, comparing a patterned structure to a quilt that's been pieced together.

This post comes to me at a perfect time in the creation of the coffee house book since a lot of the background "stuff" I'm doing right now deals with structure and how everything fits together with this book, as well as with the other books I have planned in this collection.

In fact, I was just explaining to Hubby last night that I can't really start writing the coffee house book until I have a rough idea of the story lines in the other books in the collection so I know what character is where, who is important when, and what story needs to be told how.

Crusie says:

So in a patterned novel or film (damn hard to pull off), you need to construct pieces that are complete in and of themselves, scene sequences that form complete stories, and then juxtapose them with other pieces to make a pattern so that at the end, the pattern is the meaning of the story. Think of the scene sequences as quilt blocks, beautiful on their own, and the story as the finished quilt in which the blocks disappear when it's finished to form a patterned whole. The blocks are beautiful, but it's the quilt as a whole that's the finished design.

That is what I want to accomplish with the coffee house book, as well as with the whole of the collection. Yes, each book in the collection has its story, and each character in each book has his or her story, but it's how those stories fit together that's the important thing.

The books I'm working on are about relationships and perceptions. They're about how people work and live together in a community, how different community members interact with each other, and what, overall, makes up a community.

I could tell the community's story in a linear structure. I could go through the characters and explain the town and talk about how people interact with each other. But it would be a boring book, that's for sure! At that point, the collection (or the novel, since that's what it would be) would focus on some story arc that links the community rather than what really links a community: the people and their relationships with each other.

As Crusie says, some stories call for a linear structure. (When I first started writing the coffee house book, I thought it needed to be a linear structure.) Those stories don't hold up in a patterned structure. And some stories call for a patterned structure. And those stories don't hold up in a linear structure.

A patterned structure is not easy. You have to know the story really well, be conscious about how the quilt is pieced together (it can't be random), and know how it all fits together. It takes a lot of background work, takes patience during writing, and takes careful editing. But in the end, it's worth it.

After all, quilts sure look beautiful when they're finished, don't they?

The coffee house book is calling!

Now that my beautiful Bunny has arrived, and I'm settling into a new routine with two kids and an increased freelance workload, I'm trying to make time to get back to the coffee house book.

Photo source

It's been bugging me quite a bit that I haven't had the time to work on it. Ideas have been rattling around in my brain, developments have been revealing themselves, and characters have been begging to be written. So in between scribbling about nursing education and wiping snooger noses, I'll be writing about (and drinking) coffee.

I will not be posting excerpts here, but I'll be keeping you updated on the writing process, how the story is developing, and anything else related to writing I can think of. (After all, this is a writing blog. And I've missed updating this blog just as much as I've missed working on the coffee house book.) However, to keep me accountable for the coffee house book, I will be updating with my writing task list often. I'd like to update daily, but I will post my task list at least weekly. And at least once a week, I'll "check in" with progress on my writing life.

Here's my first coffee house book task list:

• Work on character biographies
• Outline chapters for finished character biographies
• Create a detailed description of the coffee house
• Start creating a detailed outline for overall book story line
• Write up the recipes for the chapters

Here we go!

Puzzle pieces are falling together

I haven't worked on the coffee house book in a long time.

Image: nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Part of that is because I was struggling with how to pull it together in order to fit my vision of what it is, and part of that is because, quite simply, life got in the way. In fact, until NaNoWriMo rolled around this year, I wasn't writing any fiction at all for quite some time.

I learned a lot from NaNoWriMo this year. And what I learned prepared me for December 2010, in which I'm reorganizing everything I have for the coffee house book (as well as the funeral book and the wedding book--more info about those to come later), and preparing to start writing in January 2011. This means character biographies, a detailed description of the coffee house (perhaps even sketches, not that I'm really a visual artist), and pages and pages of notes in my notebook.

Thanks to my best friend and fellow writer, Kell, I have a better idea of the bigger picture of my writing, and am much better prepared for it.

Thanks to Hubby, who listens to me prattle on and on about random characters, I have a better idea of how the coffee house book fits together in terms of the funeral and wedding books.

And thanks to my heart sister, Dana, who has been a wonderful encouragement to me, even when I wasn't sure I could write the coffee house book, it's getting done.

Watch out, January. You're going to be coffee-stained.

NaNoWriMo Aftermath: What I learned

I didn't finish NaNo this year. There was, unfortunately, just too much going on in my life to write. I did make time to write about 16,000 words, which I'm happy about, because I did learn a lot in exploring the story I was writing.

I was super-excited about the story I wrote, and I'm glad that's the one I worked on. But in writing it, I realized that it's not really what I want to write. I may still go back to it someday, sure, but it's not who I am right now, at least.

Once again, I'm returning to the coffee house book, but I'm approaching it from a slightly Pondered in Her Heart (this year's NaNo novel) perspective. That is, I'm thinking about how the coffee house book intersects with all the other books I've been thinking about that will be in the same vein. Some characters will overlap, some of the setting will overlap in at least one other book, and they'll be written in the same style.

I'm taking this month to sit down and reorganize the information I have for the coffee house book. Outlines, character biographies, and even the story arc are going to be tweaked this month, and I'll jump into writing on January 1, 2011.

I'm also going to work on a realistic writing calendar for the coffee house book this month. I know that, technically, I can write a novel draft in a month. But I also know that if I take more time it'll be of better quality, and I'll lose less sleep. However, with a writing calendar, I know I'll be able to stay on task better, and you, dear readers, can help keep me accountable for where I am in the writing process.

2011 is going to be a good writing year for me. And it all starts right now.

NaNoWriMo Pep Talk #6: the Last Days

We're in the final days of NaNoWriMo.

Can you believe the month is nearly over already? It seems that just last week I was getting excited about my idea, doing a lot of planning and research, and watching the calendar to in anticipation of when I could start writing.

And now, here we are, at the end of the month, and instead I'm reflecting on the experience, thinking about the story I have (and haven't) written, and deciding where my fiction-writing is going to go beginning on December 1.

However, where I am is not necessarily where you are. Because I have a work deadline tomorrow, I know I'm not going to finish NaNo. That's okay with me. I entered into it knowing I wouldn't. I just wanted to know that I tried, and that I could get back into fiction-writing a bit.

So don't let the fact that there are only two and a half days of writing left deter you from scribbling away. Yes, time is short, but you could still finish!

It's these last days that can be the most inspiring for WriMos. You could be writing away, and have your muse whisper something in your ear (or slap your hands or what-have-you) that sets your fingers flying. You could have a breakthrough with your main character or plot or setting that makes your word count explode.

So keep writing. You could be surprised at how well the next two days goes for you. Don't count yourself out yet because it's not over until the calendar says December first.

Keep writing, and good luck!