Today, I vow...

Monday seems to be the perfect day to renew the promises we make to ourselves when it comes to our writing. I know it works for me. Lately, despite all the fabulous advice I've gotten from conferences and author signings, I find myself letting physical barriers prevent me from reaching my set writing goals. Like my laptop--I can't use it like a laptop anymore. The power cord (second one) is failing, so it has to be on a flat surface in order to work--with the cord wrapped tightly underneath to maintain a taut connection. It's also having serious software issues, and I know I'm going to have to scrape together some money to get it fixed soon.

But I had a solution to that problem. I can either move the laptop to the desk or simply use the desktop. Have I done it? No. Why? Well, my shoulder has been acting up and causing me a great deal of pain. Sitting at the desk will only make it worse.

See what I mean? On the surface, they seem like legitimate reasons. But in reality all you're looking at are excuses. My mind is about to burst with all my characters have been throwing at me. But I haven't put it down.

The truth is none of us is ever going to find that perfect groove; the moment in the day where we're free to write without distraction in that ideal spot in our world. It doesn't happen. Those moments don't fall into our laps. We have to make them happen. And sometimes, we have to fight for them.

So, what goals are you putting off? Let's all work to make them happen.

Good Advice from Anita Stansfield

By Christine Thackeray

Two weeks ago I went to the Storymakers Conference and although I was taught many great things, it was the words of Anita Stansfield that have stuck with me over and over during that time. I was so impressed by her honesty on what it takes to be a writer/full-time mom and the keys to making it work for the whole family that were, for me, priceless. Here's a brief overview of MY PERCEPTION of what she said. I'm sure that if Anita read this she would go... "I didn't say that." Yeah, I've added my two cents, so here goes.

PRIORITIZE:
She began by saying that the first thing you need to do is decide your priorities. In order to be a writer she realized she had to sacrifice a lot. She asked us to write down what is most important in our lives, not in large sweeping categories, but specific subcategories. For me, the first four are: Relationship with God, my husband, my children, church callings and writing. Soccer mom, PTO participant, cub committee volunteer (unless it's a calling), scrapbooking, interior designer, gardener, etc. all take a back seat right now.

CUSTOMIZED CONSISTENCY:
Next she said that you have to have a writing goal and that you must write everyday. While SOME authors have a daily minimum, when you're caring for a family, you may not have the ability to be that rigid. Look at your other obligations realistically and set your goal so it challenges you but doesn't bankrupt yourself or the family. Some weeks will be strong writing weeks but if you've got kids with needs you may have to put the writing aside except for a half hour or so.

IT'S ABOUT RESPECT:
THIS ONE I LOVED!!!!! Anita said that it was important her husband and children respected what she did. (Now this is me) Some mothers are huge scrapbookers, some love to sew, some care so much about the house that the kids have to take off their shoes before they can step in the door and aren't allowed in the front room but on special ocassions. Other's spend hours prepping meals and cooking. Whatever gifts you mother has, kids and spouses need to respect their contribution. For writer's it means allowing her to have the time to complete a project. When the final edits come, everyone has to work together so that she can finish. This is something you have to teach your family- that writing is part of who you are and as long as you keep it in balance with other responsibilities, your family needs to respect this part of you.

FILLING NEED:
In order for the above respect to work, as a mother you must show equal respect to your spouse and children. We do this by fulfilling their needs. Anita said she keeps a list of her children's names. When they come home from school, she asks each child, "What do you need?" When they say "Nothing" and sulk away, she realizes they made just need her time but usually they know if they don't ask, it won't happen. When she is ready to take a break, she goes down the list and follows through so her children know they can count on her. After discussions with her husband, he agreed he doesn't need a perfect house but he does need a clean path to the bathroom and dinner on the table when he comes home. (We are married to very similar men, I think.) It's unrealistic to think with the time she takes writing that she would be able to keep the house perfect all the time but she can fill need and get everything done she wants and NEEDS to.

WHAT YOU GIVE UP
Anita was very honest that you give up a lot to be a consistent writer. She said it had been years since she sat down and watched TV. She said that she could never be one of those moms who do everything because she was writing. There have been many times where she had to say no, but she said her children have ALWAYS known she loves them and that they are more important than her writing, but her writing is important enough to sacrifice for and she has.

I want to publicly thank Anita Stansfield for her great advice. It really is a sacrifice but writing is part of me that I can't deny and it's cool that my sweet family has given me that opportunity to pursue it. Now I need to start that list thing.

Making and Breaking Goals

Things have been hectic in my neck of the woods--or rather, they've been hectic keeping me away from my neck of the woods, which has made trying to complete my writing goals difficult (but maybe if I weren't so easily distracted that wouldn't be such a problem). After the Storymakers' conference I decided that on days I don't have other large commitments that I need to make a goal to write at least 3,000 words. That's less than two hours of writing if I plan what's coming next while I'm cooking, cleaning, or gathering eggs--that should be totally doable most days, even if I do have a five-hour commitment?

Of course, when you take out the days when I had to be out of town for work or book signings, Sundays, and the day I had a long patient transfer on the ambulance, it didn't leave a lot of extra days for writing.

On day 1 I managed 3,145 words.

Day 3 I squeezed out 1,450--I'm still not sure where the rest of the day went, but by the end I was just glad to have written *something*.

Day 5 I wrote 7,000! Woot! the only problem is it was on the wrong MS! Of course, I do need to work on Danny's story, but it wasn't the one I was SUPPOSED to be writing on (Though the new first chapter totally rocks, though, so my local monthly critique group will be excited to see it next week). *sigh*

Today I had intended to get some writing done (I don't count my numerous blogs), but there was animal housing to rearrange, cakes and bread to bake, a kitchen to clean up, and a zillion, trillion little things around the house that weren't done because I was out of town for a few days.

I have this beautiful goal of having a rough draft done on Grayson's book before the end of June. That should give me time to do a quick rewrite on it (or at least makes notes about rewrites) before I finish Shelly's book with my critique group and have to have a new project. Now if I could get Danny and Tia (and her irritating mother) to stop yapping at me and feeding me new scenes and situations I didn't realize existed in their story, I could focus on Grayson and the project he and Olivia are about to undertake, and the secrets they're both keeping.

It can get pretty noisy in my head when all of my characters start talking, but I'm going to use a firm hand on this one and make Danny and Tia wait for a while. Olivia has some big-sister meddling to do.

The Blind Side

My sister told me to see it. My best friend told me to see it. But as life goes, it wasn’t until it was #1 in my Netflix queue and arrived in my mailbox that I actually saw this critically-acclaimed film.

Let me just say: I loved it! Loved every moment. The fifteen I spent in tears. The five I spent laughing. The ninety I spent lying in bed after it was over, thinking about resilience, about love, about doing something. I quickly got online and found a copy of the book the movie is based on.

A day later, I heard about a reality show starring one of the teen suspects in the highly-publicized slew of celebrity home burglaries. This show follows the life this teen. It shows her buying clothes, getting pedicures, and visiting her attorney.

No one is telling me to watch this show, and I’m not thinking I’m going to, I’m sorry to say.

As a storyteller, I pay a lot of attention to the stories being told--whether it be on book or magazine pages; or on movie, TV, or computer screens. There is great power in stories. And for me, the stories that show us the good in the world, and in turn, touch the place in our souls that makes us want to add to that good are those that need to be told more and more.

It is a great joy to be a writer, a storyteller. But for me, I also feel a great responsibility. To take the good of what I’ve seen, and sometimes the good of what I’ve hoped, and make sure it makes it to the pages of my books. To make sure that even though my characters may like their pedicures, I always acknowledge that cute feet are only as good as the path they’re walking.

So, here’s to walking a good path, lending a good hand, and being the best of what we’ve read and seen and heard in the stories that shape us, day after day.

What Makes a Bestseller?

by Rebecca Talley

What makes a bestseller? Is it ingenious marketing? A riveting story? Who you know?

I've been pondering this question. I think it's two-fold. First, and foremost, we must have a strong story, one that's worth reading. We can, and should, continuously hone our craft by attending conferences, taking classes, reading how-to books, and reading other novels. Each subsequent book we write should be better than the last and we should strive to always improve our writing. But, is that enough?

Even if we write a stellar book, who will read it if no one knows about it? Along with writing that amazing book, we also need promotion and marketing. We need to get the word out and let the world know we have this spectacular book. We can do this through blog tours, interviews, signings, emails lists, contests, websites, etc.

But, what about when we do all this and we still don't have a bestseller? Is there a "secret?"

What do you think?

Funny thing about humility. Just when you think you've got it, you've lost it . . .

by Rachael Renee Anderson

So a friend asked me to take a look at her manuscript. Aside from correcting a few minor grammatical errors, I also reworded things, crossed out sentences or paragraphs I felt were unnecessary, and even added phrases. I felt like I was helping to improve her work, make it better, or simply show her what I would do.

Then, as fate would have it, a discussion on the ANWA critique boards caught my attention. It concerned the word “was” and the general consensus seemed to be that most writers considered it somewhat of an evil word—or at least far too passive to be used overly much. Considering the first sentence of my current WIP is: “He was a baby,” I took an interest in the discussion, even submitting my sentence as a “How would you change this?” example.

One author wrote me back, asking for more information, and eventually came back with a “I would write it like this” suggestion. Now, to some people, her suggestion might have been a good one, but for me, it was a no-go. It sounded much too dramatic and rather silly for my tastes.

It was then that I came to the shameful realization that I had gone about critiquing my friend’s manuscript the wrong way. I was trying to change her “voice” to match mine, and how pompous was that? Each book/author is unique because of their voice, and I was trying to take that away from my friend’s work.

So the next time she asked me to take a look at a few chapters (can you believe she asked me again?), I changed the way I “critiqued.” I tried to take a “reader’s” perspective, rather than a “writer’s.” Instead of making changes to her book, I would write, “this sentence doesn’t flow well for me,” or “I’m still confused here,” or “Love this! Now you’ve made me wonder about . . .”

That way, she could analyze her manuscript from a fresh perspective—what someone might think having never read her book before or know anything about her story. It allowed her to fix troubled spots in her own way—not my way. It enabled her to retain her voice.

So my shout-out to all writers is this: Amplify that voice of yours, make it the best you possibly can, and don’t ever listen to anyone who wants to change it. No one can do it justice the way you can. After all, isn’t that what makes books so amazing? Not one of them are alike—thanks to the unique voice of each and every author.

Peek in the Past--Yay for Pitman's!

We lived in Hale, Cheshire,  England for the rest of my years at home. Gradually, as I grew through teenage years filled with school activities (homework, sports, and exams), childhood dreaming gave way to more adult activities like dating, going to secretarial college, and job hunting.

I have to admit, grammar school was a happy time for me. I didn’t want it to end, but at the same time, couldn’t help feeling excited at the freedom ahead , and getting away from rules and regulations (or so I thought).
 

The first thing I did was join a drama club. It seemed like a natural progression from creating stories to actually living them. My acting wasn’t very good, and I had trouble learning lines, and projecting my voice, and keeping a straight face; but apart from that I really enjoyed myself. I was in several shows, either backstage or onstage, and learned more about life during that time than any previous year.

My mind opened to areas I’d never before considered. Unfortunately, not all of them were good. I learned about different lifestyles, viewpoints, ethics, and behaviors. I also learned not to judge, not to drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes, and not to believe everything at face value.

This maturing process continued long after leaving the drama club, and laid the foundation for some core beliefs that eventually brought religion into my life—a story for another post.

Secretarial college in Manchester was not my idea of fun. Book keeping was part of the curriculum, and since mathematics in any form froze my brain, I was always bottom of that class. Learning to type on those heavy old manual typewriters was another pain. But I’m grateful for the experience. It for sure came in handy when I began serious writing much later.

My saving grace was Pitman’s shorthand. At that I excelled. Those cunning little shapes caught my imagination and I soon learned to write them fast. The only problem was translating them back—an important skill if anyone was ever going to hire me. I doubted that pages of squiggles would impress, no matter how fast I wrote them, if I couldn’t type them back equally fast. It all came together, eventually.

And so I became a secretary, ready to explore the world. America was as far as I got, but more about that another day.