I’ve started working on the revision for Witches. Which means I’ve done two chapters so far. It’s…interesting. The first few chapters are pretty clean, actually. I’m altering my old voice to my new voice, but I usually write first-person these days, and this story is in third-person…which is a bit of a challenge for me. If I didn’t need multiple viewpoint characters to tell this story, I would definitely be changing the POV as well. But I don’t think a story written from the viewpoints of at least four characters would work that well in first-person. (Plus, that’s pretty confusing.)
So. Two chapters down, 67 to go.
I’m considering the idea of graduate school when I finish my bachelor’s degree next December. My school offers an online master’s degree in journalism, which is intriguing to me. I believe words have power. And journalism, or at least this degree, can help me to use them. So. Mulling that over a lot.
I also got some writing done today on Siren Song. Win! I broke the inertia all the way around today. It’s been a good day.
(I do not own this image, but the words are TRUE.)
Have you ever taken a break from writing?
I have. To be honest, the “break” I just finished up was more of a three-year hiatus than anything. There were a lot of reasons for it–depression, a major health issue, school–but that doesn’t make me feel any better about taking it.
The thing is, I miss writing. An ex of mine used to tell me I needed to write if I started getting too grumpy, and that’s probably true. (Kind of explains my moodiness lately, as well.) Blog-writing helps stave off the attitude somewhat, but getting eyeball-deep in fiction will almost for-sure “cure” the problem.
(I do not own this image.)
I’m eager to leap back into the thick of things, to pull a blanket of words over my head and just snuggle into them. Except, of course, I have no idea where I was going with the Siren story….
Not to mention, I want to revise Witches, and I haven’t touched it in years.
So, I think a bit of planning is in order, first. Wait. Pre-work. I meant pre-work. I already have a plan: do all the things! NO. No. I need an idea of where the story is going, first, before I dive in and start writing. Otherwise, I’ll end up with another 300,000-word monstrosity to revise.
Okay, new plan: HTRYN for Witches, brainstorm a general outline for the Siren story and work through HTTS for it. Okay. I have a plan.
So…School is out. Vacation is over. Real life has started again. That means it’s time to get back to writing. Yay! In that direction, I went through the “Writing” folder on my computer on Sunday.
And found 67 pages of a story I don’t even remember writing, for NaNo 3 years ago. I read probably 15 pages before I believed that I actually wrote it. It’s a YA about the Sirens and Spartans, but set in the here-and-now. It was kind of like having an out-of-body experience, reading through something I have no memory of writing. (The writing took place about 6 months pre-stroke, and I stopped when my depression got really bad).
Yesterday, I found the story notebook for my newly rediscovered story. That’s the good news. The bad news…in it is one piece of paper with 40 words on it. Mainly character names. No plot ideas, no outline, nothing else. Also some printed out research on sirens and the like. It appears that I will be basically starting from scratch, because, let’s face it, I’m totally sucked into the 67 pages of MS I have. I was seriously like “Did I write this? It’s really good!” Guess what just got bumped to the top of my to-write list?
That’s not strictly true. I want to get going on The Fall again, too. I’ve only got a few chapters written, and I need to change some stuff that my Muse gave me over the past few months when I wasn’t supposed to be writing (my Muse is, apparently, a rebel). An outline would, perhaps, be helpful. Or, heck, even a basic idea of where the story was going. At this point, I’m flailing around in the fog, only able to see two steps in front of me.
I also discovered a tiny bit of another story, along with its notebook and partial outline, as well as a good bit of notes for a third story. I think 4 WIPs is a bit excessive, even for me. My Muse either fainted from excitement, or went on strike, I’m not sure which.
Let’s not forget my to-be-revised list, which grows ever longer. Sigh…Think I’m gonna start with Witches, though. Cutting down that 300,000 word behemoth is going to be…tricky, but the characters are talking to me. Or, possibly, I’m hearing voices….Yeah, it could be either one.
Writing question of the day: does anyone else juggle multiple stories at the same time? Some tips would be helpful. And very much appreciated.
The week before last, I hiked the Grand Canyon with my best friend. The original plan was to do the Rim to Rim hike (start on the South Rim, hike down, across, and up the North Rim). That’s not what happened. Instead, I got dehydrated pretty bad on the way down—despite drinking 80 oz. of water (with electrolytes) and snacking on salty foods—so we ended up at the ranger’s station so I could get checked out, since I didn’t have the “normal” signs of dehydration. Then, we stayed overnight at the bottom of the canyon, at Phantom Ranch, and hiked out the next day.
Longest two days of my life.
But I did learn some things on the hike.
“Grand Canyon miles” are not the same as “regular” miles. Not at all. I’m sure the altitude was affecting me more than I could tell at the time, but it took us something like 2 hours to go 1 ½ miles on the way up. Seriously? Yes, I know we were hiking up the freaking Grand Canyon, but both of our trackers said we’d been something like 5 miles, not the measly 1 ½ miles the posted signs claimed.
The most beautiful part of the hike, the bottom half of Bright Angel.
Hiking the Grand Canyon is not a good way to get over acrophobia. I am terrified of heights. Hiking down the Kaibab trail, which is basically 7 miles of stairs down the face of a cliff, is not a therapeutic way of dealing with this fear. My BFF kept saying things like “Oh, how beautiful. Look!” My response was something along the lines of “Nope. Take pictures. I’ll look when we get back.”…while staying as close to the wall of the canyon as possible, eyes glued to the two foot of ground immediately in front of my feet. My mental reply was more like “Absolutely not! I’m clinging to the side of a cliff and you want me to appreciate scenery?! The only scenery I’d appreciate right now is the flat ground at the top of this canyon. I DON’T CARE!”
Side note: I’m still afraid of heights.
Just above the first stop on the way down Kaibab.
Heed the warning signs. There are signs posted everywhere, at the top of the canyon, on the way down, everywhere, warning people not to hike to the canyon floor and back. They are correct. You shouldn’t do it.
I don’t care how beautiful it is—and it was absolutely breathtaking—nothing is worth the complete misery that was this hike. 7 ½ hours down 7 miles of uneven “stairs” on the side of a sheer cliff, 9 miles up a more-gradual ascent up through a ravine (We took an “easier” trail up. Ha. Where “easier” means “still virtually impossible and insane. But not quite on the very edge of the freaking cliff.). There were times I considered jumping off the cliff, just so it would be over. True story.
Beautiful, yes. Repeatable? No.
This hike is what hell is like. Hiking up, or down (which is worse) interminable switchbacks on the side of a cliff, with no water, while demons run along behind you, stabbing you with a pitchfork at every step. That is what this hike felt like.
Bottom line: I’m glad I got to see the Grand Canyon. I’d have been even more glad to see it strictly from the rim. If you’re ever tempted to hike it, don’t. It’s not worth it. No matter how pretty it is.
I think this was on the way up, but I really can’t remember.
This semester is finally over! I’m thrilled, to say the least. It’s funny, I couldn’t focus on writing with school stuff floating in the back of my brain, but the last two weeks, I’ve been feeling the writing itch going stronger, so I know the Muse is ready to get back to work. And so am I. This first “off” week, I plan to get everything situated and organized, and figure out exactly what I intend to work on this summer (Yes, I have to have a plan.). Then I’ll get started.
So, finals are next week, which means I’ll (hopefully) getting back into the writing thing in a couple of weeks. Until then, I have essays to revise and a portfolio to put together. Eep.
It’s strange, considering I’ve never thought about a piece of writing as representative of my capabilities as a whole. Perhaps that’s because I generally write novel-length fiction, not short pieces. Long pieces of writing are easier to see as a whole, not as pieces of a whole, so looking at my writing in that slightly different way has been a learning experience.
I’ve finished the first draft of my long final essay–about my feelings on organized religion and why I feel the way I do. I’ve selected two essays to use in the portfolio–one a fictionalized account of two brothers in Hurricane Katrina, and one an account of my experiences with race in my hometown. (That one is pretty personal, but I am so happy with how it turned out.) I have to pick at least one more piece to include, which will probably be a literary analysis. Then I have to revise all of them and put the portfolio together.
So, I’ve been doing writing. Just…a horse of a different color, if you will.
(I do not own this image. Image by Alquiler de Coches courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons.)
It’s funny to me, just how big an effect your brain can have on the creative process. Like, I have no problem at all with conjuring up worst-case scenarios. They often keep me awake at night, actually. You would think that being in a mental funk wouldn’t interfere with the brain’s ability to be creative, since it’s so good at picturing horrible things.
But that’s not true. Instead, for me, it seems to have the opposite effect: if my mental state isn’t optimal, I can’t be creative to save my life. It just isn’t happening. The Muse goes on a (mental) vacation, and is not available for comment.
Currently, my Muse is probably on the beach somewhere in Bora Bora. Hammock. White sand. Blue water. Refreshing drink. Sounds about right…
So, I’m taking a short break from writing because of work and school. This session, I’m taking American Lit (blech) and The Art of the Essay (required for English/Professional Writing majors). I was not thrilled to be taking the class, as I’m really more into fiction writing than anything, but it hasn’t been so bad. We’ve read a few interesting selections, including “How it Feels to be Colored Me,” by Zora Neale Hurston, whom I’ve never read before. (No, not even Their Eyes Were Watching God. But guess what’s on my Kindle now…)
Obviously, we have writing assignments every week in this class. The normal, literary analysis-type assignments I don’t stress about, but a few weeks ago, the assignment was to write a short essay, emulating the style of one of the writers we’d covered. Suggestions for topics included issues in popular culture and natural disasters. My Muse grabbed onto that idea, and since I’ve lived near New Orleans, naturally Hurricane Katrina was my topic of choice.
So, I wrote my short essay about two brothers who didn’t evacuate before the storm, and who are now trapped in their house, listening to nature rage outside. I was pretty happy with the essay, but completely unsure what the professor would think of it. I’ve been waiting for the grade for two weeks, and I finally got it back.
I made a fantastic grade, which is awesome, but the professor’s feedback was even better. He said, “My goodness this is great. Homerun! What a terrific writer we have amongst us. Again, you have a unique ear–an ear that all great writers need to have. Nice pitch, tone, vocab decisions. Impressive. ” And, also, “Wow! impressive opening. You really have an ear for narrative voicings.”
Obviously, I’m happy with the grade, but the encouragement I got from the professor’s comments is even more valuable to me. I’m totally inspired now!
You know how I’ve decided not to worry about writing at all for the next four weeks, until the semester is over, so I don’t risk a brain meltdown? Turns out that taking an “official” break from writing has my Muse playing with story ideas.
Yep. True story.
Apparently, my Muse can’t wait to get back to work on Witches–which I haven’t looked at in years, and Chasing Shadows, which is more recent, but still not something I’ve thought about in like a year. Looks like I’ll be taking those two stories apart and revising them this summer. Plus working through HTTS with The Fall. I’m actually really excited about working on Witches. It was the first thing I started writing. I love the characters to pieces. I love the world. I love the plot. I even have the first draft of the second book written as well. I think the draft of Witches I have is over 300,000 words, though, so clearly there is a lot of work to be done, sigh.
But the Muse is stoked, and already at work in the back of my mind.
I’ve decided to give myself a little vacation. A mental vacation, actually. I feel like I’m on the verge of one of those burnouts where I can’t focus on anything and give up on everything, so it’s best if I put some things on the back-burner for the next 5 weeks or so (until the semester is over). There’s too much going on, and I can’t seem to focus. I can’t afford to let school slide–or work–so it has to be writing.
I’ve been trying to get to work on How to Think Sideways and Holly’s Motivation class, but I keep getting busy with other stuff, then stressing over not doing the writing stuff, so until I finish out the semester, I’m giving myself permission to not write. I still intend to blog some, but my brain can’t handle anything else right now.
When the semester is over, and I have no school work to distract me, I’ll tackle HTTS, the motivation class, and probably HTRYN as well, for a solid 3 months. Until then, I’m just going to hang onto my GPA–and my mind. (Maybe write some free verse poetry in there, too.)
Tomorrow Is Another Day 