Such beautiful reassurance that cultivating quiet is one task of a writer…
The bee is not the enemy of the flower.
And on a summer day, neither
is the hammock a writer’s foe.
photograph by Bruce Laird.
Monthly Archives: July 2013
Write Your Story
Three words. Write your story.
This weekend I spent three days with a gathering of people who care deeply about children’s literature – writers, editors, teachers, librarians, scholars, artists – at the Simmons Summer Institute in Boston. I am inspired, indeed.
I have so much to think about, to interpret, to consider, and I will journal for a while before I head back to fiction and start catching some story.
But this I do want to share, this nugget that I felt ready to hear again:
Write the story only you can tell. Write the story for which you are the only one, the best one to tell that story. Catch the story that only you can catch.
I am going to write a letter to my own stories, to tell them why I am the best one to tell that story.
Rain
After a week and a half of heat wave temperatures, I awoke this morning to rain.
Seems like every story I write includes real and intense connections to the weather, and today is no exception. I am writing about the rain that keeps the protagonist and her best friend inside when they would rather be out and exploring the world.
Rain. It’s usually about mood, right? But twist that – make it about plot – an unexpected twist.
That’s what I’m doing today. Starting with a girl who doesn’t mind getting wet.
Waking Up Early
Today I woke up early to write.
I did get some work done – outlinining, and the beginnings of a scene – but once little ones start coming downstairs, things really slow down. And then I can’t stay focused, even if a child is reading silently beside me. I think it’s that they can learn how to read, so I worry about them reading over my shoulder.
And I know that my day is almost done. It’s 9:15, I’ve been up for four hours, and my kids are returning from breakfast. My partner takes them, and when they come back I know I can keep working, but somehow when my steam runs out I’m done for the day. Then I have dad’s doctor’s appointment, my appointment to check out the birth center in Swanzey, and then my anniversary evening, which will be like any other evening with the bunch of kids.
So yeah, I can plan one hour of work on each project but I’m lucky if I get that far. Part of learning to write is learning to adapt plans that are thoughtful and ambitious, but unlikely to move forward.
Cataracts
Today Dad had his cataract removed.
I went shopping while that happened. One step into the waiting room and I knew I wouldn’t get any writing done. The TV was on full blast, three friendly elderly women were eagerly smiling at me, and the only reading material was Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter or Diabetes, the magazine.
When we returned from our four hour jaunt, I had my partner get me my computer so I could write. She then went off to do the errands that needed doing. I had 1181 words on my YA piece so I thought I might pound out the last 700 or so.
The kids were in the other room watching TV, which is great, right? I mean, the door is closed so five kids laughter is very far away. But then Dad wanted to watch TV – or at least listen to it. And because he is nearly deaf, the TV in his living room was at super volume. I tuned him out. Then BAM his TV went from rom com to action adventure – he’d switched from TV to DVD player. I was just trying to turn up the volume, he said. Then my cell phone rang (how’s your dad?) and my daughter fell off the bed (my brother pushed me off!). The 30 minutes passed and the only thing I typed was my computer password…
So sometimes we write what our lives allow us to write. I can’t get into my historical novel because I need to do research for that. And I can’t get into my YA novel because I already started something this morning and can’t focus on that. So life is pretty crazy, and I really want to make sure I get work done. So I open up the Craft blog and say this…
Even if I didn’t make enough words, it’s been a story of a day. Let’s see if I can freewrite another 700 before the troops return from the playground. After I go put drops in his eye…
Sigh.
Going to Church
My protagonist just went to church. I guess that’s why I love NaNoWriMo so much – you never know where it’s going to take you. Still some words behind, but I got another twenty-odd days to catch up…
Catching Time
How do you find time when you have five kids home for summer?
Here’s my writing plan for the summer. I’ll tell you how often I meet my goals for the week.
1. One hour of work on my historical novel. Since it is told in verse, that means at least one poem a day and the remainder of the hour may be spent on research. NEVER begin the day with research. That’s what a wise mentor once told me: research after 3pm only. Write first.
2. Camp NaNoWriMo for the YA work in progress. It’s a young adult book that I have 100 pages or so written, but I need new material to revise, so July = 50,000 new words in total. No rereading, no looking back, no revising of existing scenes. It’s okay if it’s something off my outline, but I will not open the old version of it in Scrivener until August.
3. One hour of work on networking. That means blogging, twitter, Facebook, calling friends, or writing with other people. For instance, tomorrow I have lunch with a former co-worker and poet to discuss balancing writing and teaching. That’s the hour. So I will make sure I do the writing in the morning.
So, that’s about three hours of work a day. Here it is dinner time and I’ve pretty much met my goals. The poem is sloppy but has a good symbol tucked inside so I’ll revise for the conflict first thing in the am. The writing for the YA novel is messy freewriiting that happened in six (yes, six!) sessions. I can get 1500 words in about 45 minutes, but the remainder was tough – every pass by the computer I typed as much as my kids would allow.
Two days off a week.
That’s how I get words written. Because you have to catch time, you can’t create it.
Story Catching 