The Pause That Refreshes

Many years ago, Coca-Cola developed that slogan for its signature drink, encouraging people to take time out of their busy lives and enjoy a Coke. When you consider the year we've all been through, as we get to the end of the calendar, it's a good time to follow the advice of the marketing experts and take time to pause and become refreshed.

In that vein, I'm going to take the month of December to pause my daily routine and refresh myself. Reflect on the year to come and where I'd like my journey to take me in the next twelve months. Think about new ideas for stories and see if any of the ideas grab me by the throat and make it impossible to sleep because the characters are yelling at me to write their story. Or not. Maybe it's time to hang up the pen.

I may need more than one bottle of Coke.

Jumping Through Generations

I am usually a very linear writer. One book at a time, one scene at a time, always in logical sequence. Lately, though, I've been anything but linear and logical. Right now, I'm spending my time reworking a Mail Order Bride book set in the 1850s, winding up  my Revolutionary War trilogy set in the 1780s, and kicking around a contemporary seasoned romance, set in present day. As I jump from one project to another, I have to continually reset my brain to the era in which I'm writing. It's been challenging, but never boring. I picture myself wearing a cowboy hat, a tricorn hat, and a face mask, in order to get into the right mind set.

And, as for writing in sequence, that's flown out the window, too. A good writer friend, who writes scenes as she thinks of them and then puts them in sequence, advised me recently that I need to go back and work in some more scenes on the Rev War book. Which means writing out of sequence, since I was already wrapping the story up in my head. She was right, but it meant going back to the middle and adding in some layers, some scenes, to strengthen the story line. Talk about jumping off the precipice! My first attempt at adding a scene between what had already been written worked out well enough, but can I do it again?

We shall see.

How about you? Are you a linear writer or a scene writer? If you're not a writer, what type of reader are you? Do you read one book at a time, or do you have multiple books going simultaneously? I'm dying to hear.

Fast Or Slow?

Early on in my writing career, I attended a lecture held by Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jayne Anne Krentz. Their wit, and their obvious friendship with each other was inspiring. But what struck me most was the different approach they each took to their writing. One wrote very fast, the other took a more slow approach. The takeaway from this meeting was I needed to figure out which approach worked best for me and not be swayed or intimidated by another author's output. What was important was to keep the storyline moving toward "the end" every day.

I took their advice to heart and now, with 19 books under my belt and more than that under the bed, I've found an agreeable pace for myself. I know the first 500 words are the hardest for me each day. It's like I'm slogging through mud as each word is slow to develop, elusive and just out of my grasp. But I also know that at some point during those 500 words the scene takes over and the remaining 500 words of my daily output are quick to follow. I can sometimes get to 2,000 words a day, but that's a rarity. But looking at the big picture helps. If I write 1000 words a day, in two months' time, I will have a flash first draft of a book. Usually it works.

But my current WIP has altered my formula. I began the book in early February, so according to my timeline, I should have the first draft completed by now. Not happening. There's something about these characters–Pippa and Daniel–and something about the time period –the American Revolutionary War–that keeps me adding to the story line.

I'm only about halfway to the end of the story and all they've managed to do is share some cheroots and a couple of kisses. Yes, Pippa likes the occasional cigar and blows some impressive smoke rings. By the time I crawl to "the end" I figure I'll have a first draft of about 80,000 words. Usually I need to go back through my flash draft and add in description and emotion, fleshing out the structure. In this case, I may have to cut words from it

Life could be worse.

How about you? Do you write fast, like Jayne Anne, or slow, like Susan Elizabeth?

Moving Day

For the past twelve months, my bed and my office have shared the same space. I couldn't do the steps upstairs with my bad hip. So, the best thing to do short-term was to move my bed downstairs and live on one level. But it caused a few problems, the biggest being I could never shut off my brain. When I had an idea at 2am, the computer was right there, only steps from my bed, waiting for my ideas. Since I combined my two spaces, I've written five books, reworked two more, and have two currently in progress. There's a reason I've been so productive. It's because I have a hard time sleeping with a blinking cursor three steps away.

Now the time has come to rethink our house layout. My sister needs her own space, and so do I. On Wednesday, the Two Men and a Truck company, minus the truck, are coming to play a game of musical chairs. I'm able to do steps fairly easy again, so my bedroom is moving back upstairs, to the room which sealed the deal on my decision to purchase the house in the first place, since it provided me with the biggest bedroom I've ever had. Sis is moving into the big downstairs room and the little dinky room that she'd been in for three years now becomes my office. A few pieces will re-emerge from the basement, and we'll spend the rest of the week getting settled into our new spaces.

Sometimes change is good. I'm looking forward to my new normal.

Back To The Drawing Board

Like most authors, I'm constantly searching for new ways to approach my craft. I take online and in person workshops, read articles on how to show vs. tell, enter contests for published authors showcasing their new work. Since I have been published for four years, some folks think I don't need to do this anymore since I must know it all by now.

If only it were that simple.

I had an idea for a contemporary two years ago, which was to be part of a trilogy. I wrote the manuscript, found an agent to peddle it for me, had it sent out all over the place, and got no bites. I fired the agent, took a look at the editing notes the agent only gave me after the first round of rejections, and revised the manuscript. I then sent if off myself to another publishing house with whom I've had some dealings in the past. Their acquisitions person got back to me saying she'd love to work with me, liked my work, but wanted me to change the beginning, middle and end. I told her I'd get back to her, and promptly filed the manuscript away for a rainy day.

It's not raining, but we did have a freakish snow storm here in Ohio over the weekend, so I thought it was a perfect time to pull it out and take another look at it. After reading the first twenty pages, I realized I hadn't run the document through my checklist, since some of my taboo words showed up with an uneasy frequency. Maybe the acquisitions editor wasn't so far off the mark after all.

I still think I'll send it elsewhere when I deem it ready to go again. And I'm not writing books two and three in this trilogy until the first one finds a home.

A Different Perspective

For weeks now, I’ve been sleeping on the wrong side of the bed.  Not that, in my case, there’s any wrong side, since I sleep alone and both sides are technically mine. But, with my hip surgery, it made more sense to climb in from the left side of the bed rather than the right, which is my normal preference.

Coming at this from the wrong side has forced me to look at things a bit differently. I can see the clock clearer, but the bathroom is a few extra feet away. The dog seems to find my slippers more on the left side than the right, and loves to stick her nose in them and wander off to other parts of the room with them. I’m so right-hand dominant that it’s hard for me to reach up with my left hand and turn off the light, or to grab my glasses from the nightstand. I can’t flip onto my side as easily as I can when I could grasp the mattress, so I’ve had to come up with some creative ways to turn my body.

As I was laying in bed this morning, listening to the coffee pot come to life in the kitchen, it struck me that, even though some things are different, there’s a lot of similarity to the two sides of the bed. The pillows are the same, the bedding is equally warm on both sides, but yet things feel different. When I write my characters and try to find unique voices for each one, I sometimes struggle with getting the male POV down and in a way a male would say and do things. His reaction and solution to the situation I’ve put him into may be the same as the female POV, but they come at it from two different directions to achieve the same goal. Kind of like me trying to turn onto my side.

As I begin my next story, maybe I need to spend more time on the other side of the bed again. Time to rearrange the furniture.

Home Alone

My sister is galavanting around the country on a well deserved ten-day vacation to sunny California. I'd be envious, but I have things to do. Writers don't retire, and I have a deadline looming.

I need to set up a routine again, which has been sorely lacking from my life these last few months. First, it was the hip, then the potential move, then bronchitis, and the constant search for a new home that meets all our criteria.

Mary and I are easing into this new normal gradually. Some thunderstorms interrupted us yesterday, since Mary gets very frightened and needs to be cuddled. I can break my routine to cuddle any day of the week.

And, under the guise of going out to lunch, I took myself to the movies yesterday and munched on nachos while I stared at an aging Robert Redford. He's still handsome, but not the steal-your-breath kind of gorgeousness of his youth.

Then, there's the water therapy schedule staring me in the face. Maybe next week.

My goal while Sis is gone is to find the groove again, and get back to writing at least 1000 words a day. So far, three days in, three thousand words. So, I'm on track. Now, to keep it there, until my last book in the Cotillion Ball Series is finished. I think I can, I think I can...

And, if you haven't already done so, I still need two votes for The Duplicitous Debutante to make it to the finals of The Romance Reviews' Readers Choice Awards. Please take a moment and cast your vote here: http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=14894

The First 500

Ask any writer about their method of writing and you'll get a different answer each time. Colleen McCullough, who death is currently being mourned, was a manic writer, who could pen 20,000 words in one 18-hour sitting. I'm sure there are other manic writers out there, especially during November, when NaNo is going on, but I'm not one of them.

I use Scrivener to write my first drafts. This program not only allows me to color-code in whose head I am with each scene, it allows me to set a schedule for the project, and then it calculates the amount of words I need to write each day in order to accomplish my goal and get the work done on schedule. It will even flash a "Goal Met"indicator and ring a bell for you.

My current WIP is the 8th book in the Cotillion Ball Series, and is the first book in which I face the effects of the Civil War head on. The setting is MacDougall Hospital, set on Fort Schuyler in the Bronx. At the height of the Civil War conflict, this hospital cared for 2,000 wounded soldiers. The tone of the book is much darker than my normal, because of the subject matter, but I'm finding it exhilarating to write. That is, after the first 500 words.

My writing goal, according to the almighty Scrivener, is nearly 1,000 words a day. Which roughly translates to one scene a day. I like to write this way, since I can stay clearly in one person's head throughout. Today, it was Elijah's turn. I planned how I was going to start the scene last night, as I was drifting off to sleep, so I tore up the screen for the first 80 words or so. Then, I stared at the blinking cursor for several minutes, uncertain where to head. The next sentence came to me as if through a vat of molasses, then the one after that. I kept pulling down the "Targets" tab on my Scrivener program to see how many words I had yet to go. When I got to 200 words for the day, I got stuck, so I stared at the pulsating cursor for a few more minutes. The rest of the scene unfolded in my head, finally, and I began to type quickly. When the bell rang that I had met my goal, I wasn't ready to stop, so I kept going until the scene was finished.

I surprised myself that I completed the scene, and that once I got past the first 500 words, I got so sucked into the scene that the ringing bell was an annoyance rather than a blissful chime signaling that my day's torture was done. And the little extra bonus from not stopping until the scene was done? Tomorrow, when I settle in to write the next scene, I'll have a few fewer words to write to get to my daily goal.

So, how about you? Do you write in all-out sprints like Colleen McCullough, or do you plod along like I do? I'm curious to see how many different styles I'll be able to record in the comments.

Surgical Writing

As I prepare for surgery next week, and created my list of things to get done prior to admitting myself to the hospital, it occurred to me there are many similarities between what I'm doing to myself and what I do to my manuscript to get it ready for publication. A bit far-fetched? Possibly, but hear me out. I'm not known as the Analogy Queen for nothin'.

Surgery-–Prepare a list of things that need done before the event.
New Book–Prepare a list of things that need done before launch date.

Surgery–Be certain to arrive at the hospital all clean and shiny.
New Book–Be certain the book is polished and ready to go.

Surgery–Inform friends and family of the event.
New Book–Inform friends and family of the event.

Surgery–Line up friends and family to take care of daily chores in your absence.
New Book–Line up friends and family to read the ARC and write reviews.

Surgery–Get the word out about the outcome of the surgery and your expected release date.
New Book–Get the word out about the book and your expected release date.

See? Life, as with books, is about planning. Advance planning, and getting assistance when needed, is necessary for the best outcome, be it the launch of a new book, or the replacement of a worn-out hip.

My friends and family are poised and ready to pinch-hit for me until I can sit at my computer again. Bring it on.

My Writing Process--Blog Hop

I recently wrote about how my writing process is similar to building a house, and my friend Debora Dennis, http://deboradennis.blogspot.com challenged me to continue the story by answering four simple questions. #mywritingprocess

So here we go! 

1)     What am I working on?  Earlier this month, I turned in Book Six in my historic series about The Cotillion Ball. Then, I began writing a contemporary trilogy about three generations of women in the same family. Since I decided going in that it was going to be a series, I had to think about all three, and decide the story line for each. That kind of advance planning helps me, not only in where the story will go, but which one to start with. Since all my characters will factor into each different book as secondary characters when they're not in the spotlight, I needed to spend some time thinking about each one's problems, not to mention mannerisms and eye color, etc., for each. 
2)     How does my work differ from others of its genre? I write both historical and contemporary romances, and even though they're set in different centuries, I like to think the story elements are the same. I like to write about women overcoming the odds to make their lives truly great, regardless of which time frame we're in. My historicals are set in America before the Civil War. And my contemporaries place women in different settings from their normal routines. 

3)     Why do I write what I do?  I love history. Not the boring memorization of dates and places, but I like to take normal people living their normal lives and have them react and respond to events in history. I live in a town that was a big underground railroad stop in the decades prior to the Civil War, so I think that's been influential. Or maybe it was kismet that I moved here. Either way, the rich history of my town has worked its way into my writing to some degree. I've had the opportunity to live in a variety of places in the US, and I tend to set my contemporaries in the places I've been. And for some reason, there seems to be a body of water close by in all of them. Oceans, lakes, pools, ice skating ponds, which is odd, since I can't swim. Who knows what will be next?

4)     How does your writing process work? I am at my most creative in the morning. So, I get my coffee, let the dog out for her morning constitutional, and turn on my computer. I check emails, overnight sales, visitors to my website, the whole time thinking about the next scene. I write a flash first draft, with my own kind of shorthand, then go back through it from start to finish and add details, senses, emotions, and extra dialogue or description. Then, I go through it with my checklist, eliminating the words I tend to overuse and making certain I include the senses. I go through it several times after that's done. So, by the time I'm finished with it, I've read through it five or six times. And that's before editing! When I'm in the early stages of the story, I can usually write around 1,000 words, or one big scene, a day.

That's it for me, next week (June 2), I hope you'll visit this talented author: 

 Bio:  Rena Koontz is the author of "Love's Secret Fire" and "The Devil She Knew," both romantic suspense novels loosely based on true cases she covered as a news reporter in Pittsburgh, PA., and Cleveland, OH. Having gained an enormous respect for law enforcement personnel during her career as a journalist, cops are the good guys in all her books. Her third novel, "Thief of the Heart," releases next month.

Blog link: http://www.renakoontz.wordpress.com/renas-ramblings