Tag Archives: inspiration

Days of Winters Past

21 Monday Dec 2015

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kittne December has passed in a whirlwind of no snow, which for Chicago is very unusual. December is a very busy time of year for me. Not so much in the way I would like, because I wish it was more writing intensive than it actually is. Work gets very busy, because we have fellowships that are being worked out, and interviewees to fly in and all that so I spend a lot of time working on travel things for my work. And then there’s my office’s Holiday Party. I’m in charge of it, from drinks to food to decorations to music to room reservations and all that’s in between. The only think I’m not in charge of is the alcohol. But naturally, all that needing to plan out, and then actually do day of, means that I’m running lots.

All the running means that I’m not really doing much in the way of writing, because I don’t really have a lot of time to think. But at the same time, after NaNo and all that push, it means that I get a small break in my life so I can kind of recharge on the writing front. I still have high hopes of finishing my NaNo novel before the new year begins.

And later this week (or the way my life goes, next week), I’m looking to post about my goals, both reading and writing wise. Because I want to try and really stick to with more of each.

Are you going to post goals for next year for writing or reading? Let me know in the comments!

New November, New Challenge

03 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by in NaNoWriMo, Personal Thoughts, Writing

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tea It’s that time of year again. Where the world narrows down to one mug of caffeine of choice (coffee, tea, coke, all three mixed together?) and the words on a page, and how fast you can get them down for the next 30 days. Or, while I type this three days into the event, 27 days now.

That’s right. It’s NaNoWriMo. Or, for those that don’t know the lingo yet, National Novel Writing Month. 30 Days, 50,000 Words.

A challenge I have accepted for the last nine years.

And for the first seven of those years, I was a complete and total Pantser. Which, for me and my writing style, may be why those first seven years I really failed at finishing my 50,000 words.

What’s a Pantser you might ask? It’s someone that starts NaNo with little to no plan and just writes by the seat of their pants. Usually they have characters, maybe a semblance of an outline, but they let the characters drive the word count and just run with everything that happens. It’s a well used way of writing for some people out there.

I have found, through trial and serious error, that it’s really not my cup of tea for writing. If I don’t have a general outline to keep me on task, my characters will usually run themselves right into a brick wall, and I’ll spend the rest of my November trying to find a way to write them out of it. Which doesn’t do much for the actual word count itself because I find myself having to back track and edit in order to fix everything.

While I don’t like everything planned out to a T, I do need a serious outline in order to make sure I don’t end up at a dead end in the story. Something I can periodically check and look at in order to go yes, I am on the right track this morning. Or, no, I need to curve my kids to head toward where I need them now, because this section is taking far too long.

The last two years I was able not only complete NaNoWriMo with my 50,000 word count, but it also meant that I was able to finish a novel I had been working on for quite a long time. The novel went through two serious outline and plot revisions before it came out into a rough draft that’s currently on my editing desk.

This year I’m starting a new novel, and I’m really hoping that I can achieve both finishing NaNoWriMo and my novel at the same time.

So how about you, dear readers? Are you a Pantser, flying where the words take you? Or are you a Planner, keeping your kids on a loose leash to make sure you get where you need to go? Leave a comment and let me know!

Writing, ever Writing

02 Sunday Aug 2015

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Warning! Rambling Ahead – Kind of a stream of consciousness post.

Sometimes I’m just not sure how other authors do it. They just have book after book coming out, and I’m stuck with just a very small collection. Granted, life hasn’t been exactly kind to me recently in the letting me write department between my dad dying, and now my mom contracting a serious medical condition. It’s left my head nearly constantly in migraine land, and my will to do much at all almost nill.

But I’m not sure watching other self publishing authors come out with books every few months helps me either. How does that work? Did I just decide to get my self publishing-ness out there too soon because I only had two finished works and a notebook of ideas that are either on my ‘to start’ list or on my ‘started but not complete’ list? Or is it just that my pace, especially with life is just slower all together.

I know I should probably stop worrying about others and focus on what’s currently in front of me, which means writing and taking care of my mom. But, well, as nearly everyone knows, the internet is hard to stay off of sometimes, and once you’re online, it’s really easy to pick up bad habits like watching things.

This week I’ll be headed out to a campground, with some sketchy wifi that only works if you’re in the right spot in the camp barn, and nearly no cell service either. (gotta love nature, and just proves that if the cell companies promise you they’ll reach everywhere – they’re lying because this little campground barely gets anyone service provider wise)
Mom and are are trying to get away some, leave work behind, try and relax and breath in nature. The weather is even supposed to be dropping to the 70’s for us so it shouldn’t be too hot or humid.

I’m hoping to try and get some of those works in progress complete, or at least limping closer to completion. Maybe take a stroll through my ideas and either flush some out, or narrow some focus down so that I can work at a productive rate.

Focus has been my hard thing as of late. Too much noise, too much going on, too much emotion that I’m bottling up. Not enough outlet, and not enough energy to ignore the white noise. I have been told by friends, take one day at a time, which is great advice, but I think she was still too broad, and that I need to start working on taking an hour at a time to really try and get things moving. Maybe once I can get moving again, it’ll help my motivation in all things. Because it’s not just my writing that’s suffered, but my performance at work and the state of the house – and the fact that we never cook anymore. I LOVE to cook, and we’ve been doing take out nearly every day for lunch and dinner – and if not ordering fresh just re-heating the left overs.

I want to get back into cooking, get back into those delicious smells not coming from the front door, but from my kitchen. It’ll not only save on the wallet, but it’s healthier over all too. The biggest thing I need to hunt down are some easy recipes. Things that can be prepped and cooked in about 30-45 minutes, because after I get home from work I have little to no energy.

So once I’m hope from camping, that’s going to be one of my priorities – finding recipes that I can cook for us after work.

Have a recipe you think I should try? Leave it in the comments.
(Though note, anything shrimp is a no go because we both hate shrimp)

Music – Imaginative Inspiration or Destructive Distraction?

31 Thursday Jan 2013

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Music. It’s an expression of how we feel, it’s a way to tell someone something (if they’re listening) when we don’t really know the words, and sometimes it can change how we feel – for better or for worse. I think almost everyone has those playlists that when they’re sad they listen to them, or if they’re in a mood to bounce around an be happy there’s a playlist for that too. And Goddess knows that iTunes and Windows Media player have only made it easier. I still remember the days when you had cassette tapes. And if you wanted mixed artists, you had to create your own mix tapes (and if you’re wondering, yes I still have some cassettes. Specifically my Muppet’s tape. Mahna Mahna is too good a song to ever let go and there’s something special about listening to it on tape.)

Needless to say, being able to store all your music on a harddrive and mix in match in as many playlists has become an amazing asset. I even have a sleep playlist because I can’t sleep in complete silence but I can’t just sleep to anything either. And with Pandora, and similar websites, you don’t even need the music on your harddrive anymore. It’s just that easy to have music at your fingertips, for whatever you need. Which brings me to the point of this post. Writing playlists. I’ve seen a lot of authors talk about how this song or that song inspired them while they wrote, or that they have a playlist or a specific kind of music that they listen to while they write.  Or sometimes it’s not just to write but to inspire specific characters.

Kim Harrison has lists of music that she feels, or fans have suggested, bring to mind specific characters. Carrie Vaughn actually lists the playlist that she listened to while she wrote each specific book in her Kitty Norville novels. And these are just a couple of the authors I read and love who do this and make it well known. I’m sure there are a lot more out there who do.

But it makes me wonder a little.

Am I one of the few that can’t do music when I write?

While it seems to help a lot of authors get in the mood or find that missing piece to be able to get the words to flow more like a moving river than a babbling creek, it does none of that for me. It’s actually the exact opposite for me when it comes to most music. Instead of being a beautiful help to my work, it actually takes away, distracts me, and makes sure that almost nothing will get done on my writing. If it’s lyrical, I end up singing to it and forgetting to type or losing my thought because my brain is concentrating more on getting the right words out. If it’s non-lyrical, my brain tends to pick apart the music on a level that only a musician can. It’s not to say I don’t enjoy the music, far from it. I have a large collection from J-Pop/anime to country to metal to classical to jazz. My newest obsession that I found because I adore Apocalyptica has been 2Cellos, specifically this song they play – and the electric cellos are so cool too. I absolutely love music. Just… not when I’m writing.

And yet oddly enough, through old episodes of Reba on the tv and I can write up a storm. Go figure.

Part of me is curious if anyone else out there is like me, not necessarily in the why but specifically in the fact that they can’t do music while they write either. Feel free to share your thoughts, comments, or experiences.