2012 Photo Challenge: Week 14

Week 14 of our 365 Photo Challenge. This week marks the 100th photo posted for the year.

As I mentioned, we were on vacation last week for the kids’ Spring Break. We flew across the country to Maryland and stayed near where I grew up. Last year, our daughter and I did the American History tour through her school and this year, our son decided he didn’t want to do that. Our daughter is very interested in history and totally geeks out over the Civil War. And since that’s part of the next section that the boy will be studying in school, it seemed a perfect opportunity given where I grew up to steep them in it for the week.

Sunday, we snuck up on the airport and flew across the country to Baltimore, MD, where our first stop was lunch: for some good ol’ Maryland Crab Cakes.

Monday, we went to Harper’s Ferry, WVa., home of John Brown, the abolitionist’s Fort. This historic town is all of about 15 miles from the house I grew up in. We also stopped off by my old high school on the way. Lots of additions, but much of it is still the same.

Tuesday, we went to the Antietam battlefield in Sharpsburg, MD. It was the scene of the single bloodiest battle in American history with 23,000 troops killed that day. My dad was a Civil War buff and I remember Antietam as the “Land of Obelisks” because of the monuments. Turns out, there aren’t quite as many as I remember. Distance from my mom’s house: 20 miles.

Wednesday, we drove part of the way to Washington, D.C. and then took the metro the rest of the way into the city. We got off late enough we didn’t get to do a bus tour of the city to see all the monuments, but did stop in at the exhibit “The Art of Video Games” at the Smithsonian’s Museum of American Art and National Portrait Gallery. We also made a stop at the Newseum and I managed to see more of it than 2 floors this time as I wasn’t the only chaperone willing to take a bunch of 8th graders out on the observation deck overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue. About 50 miles from where I grew up. Can we say all my major school trips went there?

Thursday, we went to Gettysburg, PA and took a guided tour of the battlefield after watching a movie narrated by Morgan Freeman and experiencing the cyclorama. Another 50 miles from my mom’s house. Getting the sense that I grew up in a historically rich area? It’s funny, Gettysburg was always the “Land of Cannons” to me, but they have WAY more monuments than cannon. They’re also doing an impressive job restoring the land to the condition/uses from the time of the battle. This means clearing trees in some areas and planting new ones in others.

Friday, we took the kids down to Chestertown, MD on the Eastern Shore, across the Bay Bridge for what was probably our longest trip of the week: 116 miles. Our destination was Washington College, where my husband and I met 22 years ago. I used to make that drive every week after I graduated and my husband was still in school until I gave up and moved back to the town. I’m not sure if the kids were impressed or not, but we did get to run into a few professors and staff that were still there. Which was a good thing since we won’t be able to make it back for his 20th reunion next month.

Saturday, we pretty much didn’t do anything at all. I dropped the family off at my mom’s and drove about 6 miles to meet another writer at a small coffee shop and spent about 2 hours chatting.

Sunday, we had a lovely Easter Brunch with my mom and then drove back to Baltimore to catch our flight home.

Anyway, that’s just a little bit of the history behind these photographs.

What you see below are links to my flickr set for the photos I’m posting for this challenge. Click on any photo below to go to flickr and then you can navigate through the set with the “Previous” and “Next” arrows at the top.

Sun: Apr 01, 2012		Mon: Apr 02, 2012
Tue: Apr 03, 2012	Wed: Apr 04, 2012	Thu: Apr 05, 2012
Fri: Apr 06, 2012		Sat: Apr 07, 2012

Stop What You’re Doing & Have Some Fun!

Little girl joyously running across the beach — When was the last time YOU had this much fun?

This week for our How I Write series, my accountability group asked, “What’s the last thing you did strictly for fun? Strictly for yourself?”

“Oh, easy question!” I hear you… but take a second and think about it! We get so caught up in our daily routines that it’s all work, work, work. Or at least the same things over and over again. Also, if you’re like me, everyone else comes first. Sometimes this is necessary, pets can’t fend for themselves as easily. Nor can little kids. Even our significant others often need that extra bit of help to get them through their days…

So… did you think that was one question? On first read, I did. What was the last thing I did for fun, for myself? Just for me? You’re kidding right? Let’s see… my oldest was born in 1997… oh wait… no, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But honestly, I do tend to put myself last.

Strictly for Fun

When was the last time you drove down the road, windows open, music blaring and sang along like you didn’t care? Yeah, I can’t remember either.

What about dancing around like a maniac, maniac… oops 80s flashback there. Rolling down a hill or spinning in circles until you were dizzy?

Why do we give these simple joys up?

Anyway… to answer that as one question… I’d say the 365 photo project is probably the last thing I’ve done for fun that’s just for me. I’m so glad Kim & Mel talked me into it! Is it stressful taking a photo every day? I was afraid it would be, but it’s actually been very relaxing. I’ve only had a couple days when I was either so sick or exhausted that it was the last thing I wanted to do, but it felt wrong not to do it. Do I feel a certain pressure to perform and take that “perfect shot” each day? Not really. I’m very fortunate in where I live and I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on my photos, but I’ve also realized that taking and discovering the resulting photos is just something that makes me happy. Don’t get me wrong, I like it when others like the same ones I do, but I find the photos more refreshing than the comments. I have zero aspirations about getting into a magazine, gallery or anything like that, so I’m working on pleasing myself and learning the controls on my camera. My favorite shots go into rotation on my screen saver and make me smile when I walk back through the room.

Strictly for Myself

Now, you could also read “What’s the last thing you did strictly for fun? Strictly for yourself?” as two separate questions. I’m still sticking with the above for the first part… but what about “What was the last thing I did strictly for myself?” That’s a much tougher question for me. Most of my days are still focused on making sure life keeps moving around me. I’ve gotten better about taking time for myself and doing things I enjoy, but I’m also prone to letting my days slide past and then scrambling to catch up on the stuff that has to get done, leaving me stressed and overwhelmed. My mom used to laugh at me because I took my “me time” on Sunday afternoons at the grocery store. It was an hour where I knew my husband would be home with the kids and I didn’t have to do or think about anything I didn’t want to. I could have an hour of near silence! Bliss! Yup, fooled myself good there, didn’t I?

There are two things that I started doing just for me in the past year or so. Once a month, two of my friends from when my son was in Cub Scouts and I go out to brunch. We take a couple hours to visit and gossip and share what’s going on in our lives. These people help ground me and also provide perspective. It’s a nice break from routine and is now something we’ve all come to look forward to each month.

The other is taking one Saturday a month and attending my RWA SD Chapter meetings. This seems like it might be getting close to fooling myself again, but having the day to myself without family obligations and surrounding myself with other writers really helps me recharge and keep the enthusiasm levels high for writing. I’m an introvert, so this sounds counter intuitive, but my chapter is awesome that way. I don’t feel pressured to perform, I can just sit and soak up everyone’s energy and boy does that chapter have it in spades! The announcements for sales, agent requests, contests and good news takes forever to get through! I definitely wouldn’t be stepping out of my comfort zone as much as I have if not for this great group of people. An instant cheering section, a sympathetic ear AND a great resource all rolled up into one.

What? Just two days a month? 24 days a year? That’s all I take and do for myself? It doesn’t sound like much and I’m sure there are dozens of smaller things I do far more regularly, but those are the big ones that stand out for me as being significant and ones that have also made positive changes in my outlook and attitude. The fact that both incorporate the ideas of “fun” and “for myself” make all the difference for me.

Stop what you’re doing & have some fun! Do it for yourself.

YOUR TURN: So… What’s the last thing you did strictly for fun? Strictly for yourself? (Feel free to answer it as one question or two!)

And if you’d like to read about how the rest of my accountability group answered, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Kimberly Farris *
* Angeleque Ford * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney

Spring It Forward

Spring forward. Spring Cleaning. Renewal. Rebirth. Awakening.

These are all clichés associated with spring. Now, we all know that clichés become trite and commonplace for good reason. There’s a universally acknowledge grain of truth in them or tradition builds up and it’s just the done thing.

So… What have I done to spring myself forward this year?

2012 Seems to be the year of challenging myself. This is the first spring in about three years that I’ve felt able to do this. I’m not swamped with my son’s health issues. My focus isn’t bent to making sure he’s finishing every piece of assigned work so it counts toward his attendance or even being split by calls from the health office to come pick him up from school, because his head hurts so bad he can’t make it any longer.

First there was my RWASD chapter’s PALS Challenge where the published authors challenge the PROs to finish a book between February and September. Yup. Jumped on that bandwagon. Signed up to finish a 75k word story, I need to put about 500 words a day toward it. This used to mean about 20 minutes of writing on a good day. Completely doable though.

Next came the chapter’s Spring Into Romance contest (Deadline was extended to March 31, 2012! The contest has a positive reputation for constructive and valuable feedback and is only about $1 per page before postage.) I only judged last year and I’m judging again this year. But, I decided I needed to enter as well this year. It was on my goals list to enter an RWA Chapter contest, and what better place to start than my home chapter. I pushed this one further. I submitted two entries to see the difference between the feedback on the older piece and the newer piece to objectively see how my writing has changed.

Never one to shy away from encouraging others to join her in mad deadline dashes, Bria Quinlan decided to host a #wordfool challenge this year (yup, that’s lots of words by April Fool’s Day). I thought it would be cheating to use the same words I was already doing for the PALS challenge, so I signed up to add an additional 250 words a day to one of my older manuscripts that could use some fleshing out. Again, not a lot, but manageable right now. So far, so good! Even after coming down with a horrible sinus infection this week. I slacked off on the PALs challenge, but even with a 102˚F fever, I managed to find those 250 words. Hopefully, they won’t be too obvious. =)

Use that renewed energy and challenge yourself to take new steps, up your game, reach new heights. Pick a goal, and spring it forward!

YOUR TURN: So… What are you doing to spring yourself forward this year? (This can be in your career, your life, or any creative endeavor!)

And if you’d like to read about what the rest of my accountability group is up to this spring, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Kimberly Farris *
* Angeleque Ford * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney

So… You Wanna Be A Writer?

This week’s topic for my accountability group in our How I Write Series is “What do you wish you had known before you had even started to write? What would you have told your past self? Would you have discouraged yourself or encouraged? Would you have gone a different route?”

So… this post isn’t so much general advice to newbie writers, but more specifically tailored to what I wish I’d known back in 2007 when I decided I was going to do this writing thing as a creative outlet. I was bored and at loose ends during the summer of 2007. I picked up my husband’s copy of Becoming A Writer by Dorothea Brande and was blown away.

The book was written in the 1930s, but here she was in my head, speaking directly to ME, telling me I COULD do this! She believed in me. Total and complete unconditional belief.

Ok. That sounds hokey, but it’s exactly how it felt. And, so armed with that boost in confidence and not much else, I set out to write a Regency-set historical romance, just like the ones I’d been devouring at an astonishing rate. In retrospect, probably not the best plan, but not the worst either. If I’d tried something too simple, I would have been bored easily and not stuck with it. Instead, I’m still eager to tell the first two stories I began the right way. And some day, I’ll pull it off! I’m getting closer all the time.

So…

What do I wish I had known before you had even started to write?

How to better tell a story. I’m still working on learning this one, but knowing where to look for guidance would have been a godsend. These books will be some of the most influential to your writing process and understanding of how stories work: Emotional Structure: Creating the Story Beneath the Plot by Peter Dunne, Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee and On Writing Romance: How to Craft a Novel That Sells by Leigh Michaels. Go read them now.

Also, listen to Dorothea… write daily. The journaling is a good start, but keep it up and try playing with fiction in there too.

Oh, and going Gluten-Free will help instead of losing so much time to the boy’s almost daily migraines between 5th and 7th grade. Push to find the cause, not just treat symptoms.

What would I have told my past self?

This is harder than it looks. What you read in a published book is NOT a first draft. Don’t give up because the first draft isn’t perfect.

PRACTICE, practice, practice. Practice with ideas, synopses, hooks, blurbs. Oh.. and when you download Scrivener, don’t give up on it. It’s far more powerful than you think it is. It WILL help you see and build the structure you crave.

Would I have discouraged or encouraged myself?

I don’t think there are any valid reasons to discourage myself about writing in general. I definitely needed pushed and bless my DH, he’s encouraged me every step of the way.

Valid discouragement would be to avoid time sucks, avoid long stretches of not writing new words or ideas.

I would encourage putting myself out there sooner and networking earlier. Social media is a force to reckon with, but it’s not the only thing to spend time on.

Would I have gone a different route?

I don’t think I would have done things very differently, just sooner. And more consistently.

Life is going to happen around you. You will hit some serious road bumps, control what you can. Don’t hide from the world, don’t stop writing. Find your escape in the ballrooms, the salons, the characters. Yes, it may be easier to just play facebook games, and you may even convince yourself that you’re “helping your DH”, but you’re wasting valuable time and eneergy. *head smack*

Two other things, you know that Warrior Writer workshop with Bob Mayer?! It didn’t kill you, right? 1) You SHOULD take both days. *head smack* 2) You SHOULD listen to Pam and Margaret and join RWASD right away. *head smack*

YOUR TURN: What career advice would you go back and give yourself when you were just starting out?

And if you’d like to read about what the rest of my group would go back and tell themselves, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Kimberly Farris *
* Angeleque Ford * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney

5 Things That Made Me Smile

Last week in my acountability group’s HOW I WRITE series, we posted our take on writing advice and mine in particular struck a chord with readers. This week’s topic is “Name up to 5 unexpected finds/treats/treasures this weeks. Things that caught your attention that you may not have noticed normally.”

It could be a book we’ve read, a movie, joke, funny story, a quote, a commercial, a t.v., a compliment, etc – basically anything that happened this week that was out of the ordinary that made us stop and take notice and/or smile.”

1. How my kids still get out of the car at school and say “I love you” even in front of other students

This isn’t an unusual occurrence, but it did make me smile to actually notice it this week.

2. The strong smell of guavas that have ripened after they were brought to us to try

I’ve never had guavas before. Did you know they’re called “guayaba” in Spanish? I didn’t. They smell wonderful and we need to eat them soon before it’s too late.

3. How when it’s cold enough the hedges and mailboxes will “steam” when the sun hits them

Similar to how a pond will steam, but weirder. I dunno, I don’t recall noticing this when I was younger. It’s definitely from thinking “What am I going to take a picture of today?!” I’ve noticed that I get a lot of compliments on my photos (*whispers* you know I only pick the best ones, right?) but it’s not something I’ve been working hard at. It’s all intuitive. I’ve got to do some thinking on why it works for me with photography, but not writing, but I suspect it has to do with 3 factors: practice, internalizing some rules and quantity of output. I’ve thrown away far more pictures than I’ve written pages.

4. The way my friend answered the phone when she recognized my number”

I could hear the smile in her voice when I called to check up on her. She’s been sick, but brightened to know someone was thinking of her.

5. “Shit the Dowager Countess Says”

It amuses me that the hysterical comments that Dame Maggie Smith’s character on Downton Abbey says has basically turned into a meme. I love the way that character is written and how she’s played. Love her.

YOUR TURN: What have you discovered that tickled your fancy lately?

And if you’d like to read about what caught the attention of the rest of my group this week, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Kimberly Farris*
* Angeleque Ford * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney *

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and that your holiday season is merry and bright!

I’m going to be visiting with family for the next couple of weeks, and as you see today’s Regency Primer post wasn’t done in time and I might not get one next week, but they will definitely be back on January 3rd, just in time for Twelfth Night. I need to get ahead on those! Ahh, 2012 a year for a clean slate and a fresh start to building better habits.

I will still be doing the Friday “How I Write” posts, so the blog won’t be completely dark. And I have some special things in the works for the blog in the next year. So, exciting.

Thank you for being part of the conversation here! You guys always make me smile.

How to Write While Dealing With Holiday Madness

Photo of a Christmas Tree with eclectic ornaments. — A typical Koster Christmas tree.

This week, my accountability group is writing about “Holiday Plans and Are You Writing?” Last week, we blogged about the topic of “Where do you stand?” in terms of our writer’s journeys. The entries are part of our How I Write series.

Ya know, I’ve always wondered about Chris Baty’s sanity for picking November for NaNoWriMo. Then I think, “Student, not mother!” and nod to myself and keep going. My plans on the NaNo front went well for the first week and then I hit a wall. Having kids home sick from school on a revolving basis this week didn’t help either. I’ve been trying not to catch whatever they’ve had, but my focus and motivation has been completely shot in the whole process.

I enjoy the holiday season, but I’m always looking forward to the restful and relaxing aspects of it more than the hustle and bustle. I was sickened by seeing Christmas decorations up in the stores before Halloween weekend. The idea of Black Friday sends me to the corner to curl up in a whimpering ball. Cyber Monday is more my speed, but I try to spread it out through the month of November and the first week or two of December.

While I was growing up, the Holidays always meant food, family and travel. Thanksgiving has always meant a lot on my dad’s side of the family which traces its roots to the Mayflower and beyond. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole with the pineapple and marshmallows, fresh yeast rolls, Apple Harvest Cake and pumpkin pie have always had our table groaning. But last November 1st, DH and I gave up grains, legumes, potatoes and most white sugar. Thanksgiving felt kinda funky. Not as funky as the year we went to his uncle’s in NYC and didn’t have turkey, but a huge pork roast. My Puritan roots were shocked, but I survived. Christmas dinner is usually a replay of Thanksgiving as well.

The biggest take away here is that our routine shifted and we survived. I HATE change and new things. But I’m learning lots of new tricks as I work on trying to build up my discipline and continue to improve my craft while balancing it with the bustling life around me. I think I’ve learned that I can’t throw all my hopes and dreams into the single biggest writing month of the year (NaNoWriMo), not and still maintain any resemblance to balance and sanity.

So about those promised tips in the title… They may sound sarcastic in places, they may be a little tongue-in-cheek in others, but they are all things that I’ve found that help me and to me are worth trading money for time and sanity in some cases. Your mileage may vary, but do what you can to keep your creative tanks full.

How I Write While Dealing With Holiday Madness:

Consider an Online Christmas — All your ordering can be done between writing breaks and many offer gift wrapping options. And really, who has time to wrap? We seriously considered saying it was an Amazon themed Christmas one year and the boxes would have been deemed as acceptable. Saves your gas and time and sanity! Ok, maybe not the most carbon conscious option, but it still has appeal. Just don’t hand your kids scotch-taped boxes and tell them to wrap their own presents. I HATED not knowing what was in those boxes until Christmas Day. (*waves* Hi, Mother!)
Add Writing Time to your Wish List — You won’t get it if you don’t ask for it. And if you ask nicely in advance, I’ve found people are more likely to respect your time and space. I also find that just taking it by getting up earlier than everyone else works wonders. They get to feel superior because they slept in so late, and you get a quiet house to yourself — until they get up. At which point, feel free to direct this hapless soul that has wandered into your creative space to dump the ingredients for dinner in the crockpot to let you finish this section.
Decide What Matters Most — Only YOU can answer this one. Plan according to your priorities and don’t feel guilty about it. If you have a family, next summer consider talking about what people enjoy doing most during the winter holidays and adjust your traditions to drop ones that no one likes or try new ones that appeal to your family’s values and tastes. If something doesn’t work for you, make a note of it so you don’t repeat it next year.
Make Ahead Meals — Dump chicken is a staple in my freezer. Buy a bargain tray of boneless skinless chicken breasts or thicker pork chops. Buy a couple bottles of BBQ, Italian Dressing, Ranch Dressing and some quart-sized ziploc freezer bags. For my family of 4, I put 4 breasts or equivalent servings of chops in a ziploc. Then add approximately 3/4 cup of the BBQ, Italian or Ranch Dressing (I also add some minced garlic and some black pepper to this one). Zip and freeze flat. You can bake one of those suckers from frozen at 350˚F for 50-60 minutes and get two solid 25 minute writing sprints in while it cooks. It marinates as it freezes and also more if you let it thaw first, but honestly, who remembers to do that in time?!
Make Sacrifices to the Crockery Gods — I can’t tell you how many times throwing something into the crockpot in the morning has saved my bacon! Look for simple recipes with 5 ingredients or less, dump chicken and pork loins work well for this too. Most of dinner cooks while you’re doing your thing. Husbands and teens CAN be taught to dump the ingredients in. They may claim to have forgotten how the next time, but this is where all that practice at being a persistent writer comes pays off!
Pamper Yourself — De-stress by relaxing. Curl up and read a book. Go see a movie. Go get a mani-pedi if that’s your thing. You’re running around doing everything for everyone else right now, right? Hopefully, they won’t forget you deserve to be pampered and treated like royalty, but… yeah. Trust me on this one. You’ll feel better for giving yourself a treat like this in the middle of the chaos.
Holiday Parties, Concerts, & Get Togethers — Don’t let them get you down. They’re a great opportunity for people watching! If you see or overhear something you’re afraid you’ll forget, slip into the bathroom and pull out your trusty notebook or smart phone or whatever and note it down for later! Same thing goes for that Aha! moment that strikes you in the middle of the concert… don’t lose it!
Say ‘NO!’ When Appropriate — You know your deadlines and obligations. Don’t short-change your own goals just because every family on the block has invited you over for some eggnog and carols. You know the connections you can’t miss, but you’re not lying if you say you have other plans and what you mean is you want to write. Give yourself the gift of time for yourself.
Houseguests — Whether you have them or are one… be sure to schedule downtime for everyone. Some may need more than others.
Remember Why You Celebrate— To me, this is the most important one… if my writing slips, it slips. If my holiday prep slips, it slips. I’d much rather spend time with the people I love having a good time than run around like a chicken with its head cut off, scrambling to get everything done and feel miserable about it.

YOUR TURN: With the holidays’ coming up, what are you holiday plans? What are your favorite holiday food traditions? And how are you plan to balance your creative endeavors with your real life obligations? Or are you taking a break?

And if you’d like to read about how the rest of my group approaches their research, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Angeleque Ford * Danie Ford *
* Emma G. Delaney * Kimberly Farris *

Looking Back to Look Forward

Last week’s post on How We Buckle Down and Focus on Our Writing, another entry in our How I Write series, really got me thinking since it didn’t seem like I was physcially or mentally able to sit down and focus this past week. The result was the topic that I challenged my accountability group to answer this week: Where are you now? Where is that, in comparison to where you were six months ago? A year? Five years, ten? How have your goals changed? What would you do differently?”

10 Years Ago

We were living two time zones east in Austin, TX. We had two pre-schoolers at that point who kept me busy. Somehow, I was still active with LegendMUD: coding, designing areas, writing quests, descriptions and dialogue for the computer-controlled characters. This was basically a text adventure game that spanned three eras of time and attempted to present “History as it was thought to be at the time.” This meant magic worked according to myth and legends and you could run into virtual versions of many historical figures or even take an active role in those same myths, legends and historical events. I was also doing technical writing as well as doing op-ed and more explanatory pieces surrounding updates and the community. We were well-connected to a diverse group of friends and colleagues in the area.

5 Years Ago

When we moved to San Diego, CA, and basically ripped apart our social fabric once again. We signed the kids up for scouts so they could benefit from the programs and get to know other kids in their school as we didn’t live in the same neighborhood. I was reading up to 2-3books a week while waiting to pick them up from school. I was also no longer involved with LegendMUD but bored as just a player on another game and I was looking for a creative outlet. At this point most of my energy was going into making my son’s Cub Scout experience worthwhile.

4 Years Ago

The next summer, I picked up DH’s copy of Becoming A Writer by Dorothea Brande. I swear, she spoke to me across the decades. She lit a fire under my butt and I couldn’t ignore her. I found the Romance Divas writing forum while looking for information on how to get started and chewed my way through DH’s books on craft, soaking up everything I could. It was at RD that I met Bria Quinlan and Jodi Henley. These two people are still inspirational and influential today. In fall 2007, I started Beneath His Touch, writing for hours in the chat challenges. Thus began my journey of alternating rounds of craft study & bouts of writing.

This cycle continued as a sort of holding pattern as we also dealt with our son’s recurring migraine and sinus issues which led to a quarter of independent study, that stopped my writing dead in its tracks. That was two years ago. I’m slowly recovering and gaining momentum as you’ll see below.

1 Year Ago

Last year, in the week before Thanksgiving, we decided to start house hunting as our lease was up at the end of the year. We found a house, closed on it and were moved in by the second week in February. Silly me, at this point, I was also trying to finish a draft of the full novel I’d started in the fall of 2007 (BHT) and finalizing my goals for 2011. Revealed was stuck at a weird half-way point and the heroine wasn’t very sympathetic. The overall plot was in place, but the hero’s side of the story was mostly missing. And I have a handful of other false starts that I can’t just toss out, because the characters want their stories told. Now, if anyone knows how to keep them quiet while I focus on a particular pair at a time, my life would be so much easier.

6 Months Ago

My oldest promoted from Middle School to High school and I took the plunge to join both RWA National and the local San Diego Chapter. I’ve slowly been pushing myself out of my comfort zone, but I’m still reluctant to push myself. It’s getting easier, especially when I look back like this and see how much I have been able to do. I also finished a round of polish on the full novel I started in 2007 & prepared my first submission to a literary agent. My local RWASD chaptermates are also good about pushing me. I mentioned I needed to start submitting and get my PRO membership. They kept asking if I’d done it yet. Then it was hugs & cheering and “Have you submitted your PRO app yet?” See? They support and propel you along. They’re awesome like that.

Where Am I now?

Many days, I don’t feel like I’ve come that far, but I’m now a recognized PRO member of RWA which means I’ve made a submission and am actively working toward publication. I still haven’t heard back, but their automated receipt was enough! I’m also reworking Revealed and turning it into what it was intended to be instead of taking easy and lazy ways in regard to characters and their reactions and decisions. It’s still the same essential story, but it reads so much better. It’s always a good thing when you can see the strength of the heroine instead of wanting to slap her for being a constant watering pot. I’ve also joined an online chapter of RWA , The Beau Monde Chapter, which specializes in the Regency Era, and boy am I soaking up lots of Town Bronze there! More importantly, instead of feeling like I was spinning my wheels with the same two stories, I started another one to see what I’d learned and to try a slightly different approach. I’ve run into a brick wall, but I think that was just because I called it a NaNo project and got discouraged when I couldn’t hit the numbers. But, I’m not giving up on it!

How have my goals changed?

In the past four years, I’ve moved from writing simply to amuse myself to wanting to see my book on a shelf and treating it more like an actual business. I even have real business cards. My goals are SMARTer. They’re more realistic, more structured, and I’m much more conscious of the longer term goals on a week-by-week basis thanks to my accountability group. My goals are also more public and more ambitious. I’ll be attending the RWA National Conference in Anaheim next summer. You’ll notice my real name is now attached to my writing and social media. I haven’t been laughed at yet for saying I want to write Regency Romance novels. Most people think it’s pretty cool.

What would I do differently?

I definitely would have joined RWA sooner for the support, especially at the local level. I really wish I’d taken both days of Bob Mayer’s Warrior Writer workshop, but I’m glad I decided on the day based on his Who Dares Wins book over the day dedicated to our stories. I needed to hear the bit about stepping out of our comfort zones and that’s where I met Pamela Moran and M. A. Taylor, who cemented my decision to join RWA & RWASD. And yes, I should have listened to them and joined then, not waited two more years. I do wish I’d been more serious about trying to reach a daily or weekly quota that worked with my writing cycle, but that’s something I don’t have to label as a regret, but can take and work toward that in my 2012 goals and beyond.

YOUR TURN: Can you see your growth and progress toward your goals? Are you happy with where you are now? When’s the last time you did something for the first time?

And if you’d like to read about how the rest of my group approaches their research, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Angeleque Ford * Danie Ford *
* Emma G. Delaney * Kimberly Farris *

Creativity Bubbles

This week my accountability group is blogging about how we buckle down and focus on our writing to inspire our creativity as a few of us are participating in this year’s NaNoWriMo challenge. Last week’s post on research strategies and sources is also part of our How I Write series.

The title of this post is a play on words: both in the sense that it rises from within and finding that sphere of focus that lures the muse out into action. I find my creativity bubbles best when I can control my ability to narrow my focus, limit distractions and have something to hold me accountable. This post is a bit of an expansion on the one we did a while back called “Getting Down to Business” which looked at the routines we rely on to settle into writing.

Narrow Focus to improve Creativity

I’ve always been able to hyper-focus on something that interests me or is mind-numbingly tedious. Give me a good book, a puzzle to solve or get me into the zone with a sewing project or organizing data or text and I can tune out the world. I’d probably get in trouble for this, but my husband has the same ability, perhaps more so. It’s not unusual for one of us to walk up behind the other, ask a question and be ignored until we forcibly insert ourselves into the other’s attention bubble.

I know I used to drive my roommate nuts in college. In order to study, I’d turn on music to drown out the noise from the rest of the hall. Unfortunately for her, what worked best for me was loud and obnoxious like Run D.M.C or The Violent Femmes. I knew them well enough that I could tune them out as well and they provided excellent coverage for any noise on the floor.

Lately, for writing, I’ve found that I can’t listen to music with lyrics if I’m trying to write down new words of my own. Does. Not. Work. Doesn’t matter how well I know it or not, it’s distracting. My solution? Instrumental music. Preferably Peter Gabriel’s Passion soundtrack. There’s just something about the building rhythm of the percussion on those tracks that intensifies from the beginning through to the end of the hour simply pulls me along and the words with it.

The song in the video below is a great example of how the music builds throughout. If you have any suggestions for stuff that sounds similar, please let me know! I’ve found Japanese drumming to be VERY close to what I’m looking for, but I’m always looking for new stuff too!

My next album of choice is the soundtrack from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for similar reasons. I usually get pulled out of my zone when the song “A Love Before Time” comes up. I often skip both the English and the Mandarin versions because of this, but at least they’re at the end. I’ve also listened to some other instrumentals pieces, but nothing works as well for me as the Gabriel soundtrack.

Limit Distractions to Creativity

I’m horrible about distractions. I’ve always needed to take frequent breaks and rest/refocus my eyes as I’m far sighted and hate my glasses. This usually means looking out the window. Hummingbirds are a HUGE distraction. But any movement in my peripheral vision will pull me out. I’d probably do better with blinders than headphones. I used to write with headphones (more as a signal to the other parents waiting) during my kids’ martial arts practices, but I lost that hour of writing time when they gave that up.

A ringing phone drives me nuts. It has to be answered by the second ring or it kills me. I could probably turn it off, but I feel I need to be available in case school calls about one of the kids. With CallerID there’s no excuse other than being unable to stand the sound of it ringing not to ignore calls I don’t need to take. If only the telemarketers were as trainable as everyone else to respect my “office hours”.

Trying to work when the kids are home is just asking to be interrupted. They’re teens, so they should be self-sufficient by now. Honestly, they mostly are… but as any mom knows, as soon as your attention is directed elsewhere, like to a phone call or something you’d like to do for yourself… BAM! There they are, like magic. This is why my writing time usually falls during the day between dropping them off at school and picking them up again. You can imagine the havoc this plays with my ability to focus when my son is home with a migraine, especially when he missed an entire quarter when they knocked him down daily and then we did home-study for a quarter. Luckily, he’s doing much better this year. Although he has missed a few days here and there, it’s not constant. I also find working in the mornings on weekends before anyone else is up to be a good time.

Staying Accountable

So that brings me to the internet. I’m my own worst distraction some days. There was a running joke in college about “Study breaks” which really translated into “I need to take a break from the fun and study”. I always do better knowing someone else is working “with” me. Or at least at the same time. This is also a holdover from college where my now-husband would force me to work and more importantly finish my undergrad thesis by saying “If I have to work, so do you.” So I did.

These last two factors are why chat challenges work so well for me. I find I work best with 20-30 minute “sprints” with a few minutes between to refocus my eyes, check-in with whomever I’m working with and be accountable for how my time was spent. The #1k1hr challenges on twitter are too long and I find myself drifting away from the task to randomly surf. I don’t think I could use one of the internet blocking programs because I frequently look something up for research and go right back to writing. Research like that doesn’t usually pull me away from the project for long, it’s undirected or unspecific research that is dangerous.

Deadlines and I are not good acquaintances yet. This is one of the reasons I keep coming back to NaNoWriMo. Some days are better than others for productivity, but I feel like I need to be doing this on a consistent basis. I’ve tried writing trackers and such, and unless I’m already dialed into the project, it’s not a motivator. But knowing so many others are working toward the same goal? Yeah, that speaks to me and I can’t always ignore the call.

YOUR TURN: How do you shut it all off and just focus? Do you play music to block the world? Do you shut yourself into a room for a few hours? Can you manage it while surrounded by others?

And if you’d like to read about how the rest of my group approaches their research, you can find their blogs here:

* Alexia Reed * Danie Ford * Emma G. Delaney *
* Angeleque Ford * Kimberly Farris *

Holiday Madness

You thought the holidays were crazy all on their own? Try adding house hunting in the mix. Our current lease is up at the end of the year and we started looking mid-November and quickly found a house, only to have to go under contract before we could turn in our loan paperwork during the week of Thanksgiving. We were saddened by this, but kept looking for a house that would keep our kids in the same school boundaries so they wouldn’t get split up from their friends.

So we found another house in the same neighborhood (about 5 miles from our current location) and made an offer, which after a few rounds of negotiations, we reached an agreement. Yesterday was the inspection. No big surprises or problems for a house of its age and everyone who’s seen pictures so far, loves the kitchen. I don’t think the kids got farther than looking at the pool with the water slide and checking they’d go to the same school.

So now, I’m playing the hurry up and wait game. We close at the end of January, so I’m trying to grab as much writing time before family arrives next week for the holidays and I have to organize the logistics of moving the household across those five miles and keeping as much of our digital contact information the same as possible.

I was telling one friend, it looks fast, chaotic and impulsive, but no one really gets to see how many times we asked if we should start looking or how much inertia we (“We”, maybe it’s just me?) have to overcome to be willing turn my life upside down like this.

Oh, and as far as the holidays being in the mix? The last time we moved, seven years ago, had an even shorter timetable. We decided we would rent instead of buy over Thanksgiving weekend and moved into our current residence on January 2nd. Yep. Ripped down the tree and ran. Glad it’s not going to be quite that hectic, but at least we can keep the tree up for Twelfth Night this year.

Be sure to stop by again on Monday, it’s Excerpt Monday, and I’ll have a new Regency-flavored snippet up. I’m also dusting off my list of blog topics for the new year and hope to do something completely different and less random for Excerpt Mondays next year by putting up sequential snippets that will wrap up in December.

Happy Holidays! Family arrives on Monday and leaves with the New Year so I’m liable to be fairly scarce between now and then.