Waiting Can Make You Insane

The title says it all. Waiting can make you feel like you are going insane.

Seriously, it can.

What is the wait about? The book that I sent on November 5th. I know it takes 3-4 months to hear back from said agent and that is why I have been kind of quiet on this end.

Why?

Because if I am not “thinking” about my writing, then maybe I won’t go bonkers wondering if it will come down to the 11th hour before they read it.

What am I expecting to hear back? I have no idea, but good (deal) or bad (rejection) I am okay with that. I will do just like Stephen King, put a nail in the wall, stick that piece of paper on it, and keep going. No one will ever tell me I can’t do it, because the only thing that I would ever let hold me back is well, me.

That’s not happening.

I shall remain here in my little corner of the world, listening to my characters as they speak to me and developing my craft.

After all, that’s what writing is all about, right?

New territory

I feel like Lewis and Clarke right now. Exploring the wild yonder, venturing into unknown territory.  Why?  Because I have rough drafted a chapter book. Normally, I write early readers and picture books. So this is definitely a new direction for me.

The interesting thing is that it started out as a picture book and morphed. The more I wrote, the more the story needed and before long I had chapters. I now realize I need more details to fill it out, but they come at me fast and furious.  So, I scribble them down with whatever I have and stick them in a folder for the book. Then I work it into the appropriate sections.

Research is going to be key. Not for the subject matter, it’s fiction, so, it will be whatever I make it. But as far as how long it is supposed to be, how many chapters I need, how long should the chapters be? Since it’s for the 6-8 year old range, I am thinking about 2-3 pages per chapter.

Well, it looks like I have some reading to do, so I am off to my sons room to dig into the book shelves! Hard work, huh?

Somedays, It Just Pours Out

Really, it does. Sometimes, inspiration can just allow your creativity to pour out of you. I am property sitting this week while my boys are at home. Where am I property sitting? The NC coast. My friends own cottages and I am property sitting their little location of six.

Lucky gal? Yes, I am. I am even luckier, because every single time I visit here, I write a new book. Seriously. I don’t think it would work the same way if I lived here,  but I don’t know.  Could it be that I am away and not having to deal with day-to-day life? Laundry, cooking, cleaning, school, PTA, etc.? No clue. But I am betting that without worrying I am allowing myself to enter a state of Flow.

That is what my friends John and Scott would tell me. That I had entered a state of Flow and was letting pure thought, energy and creativity shine through. Guess it is time to take myself off to the bookstore to pick it up.

If I knew I could keep this level of work up, I would have thrown my hat into NaNoWriMo this year. But, at this point, I am not sure that it’s possible. There is a lot on my plate. I have this blog, that I neglect something fierce at times, my other blog A Daily Pinch, PR work for a non-profit that is starting in Richmond and work for a friends non-profit in Wilmington. To top it off, I had a reader ask me if I would do a budget Christmas newsletter for A Daily Pinch. So, after an email survey, I am also working on that!

At least I am writing. It may not all be picture books, but I am keeping myself sharp. That’s a good thing.

A Writer’s Habits

Many writers have the same habits to get them in the mood, so to speak. I used to take time every morning to sit down and write. A lot of times, I went to bed with a pen and pad to free write. The shower was one of the best places for ideas and where I had fantastic inspiration. I also carried a notebook with me wherever I went. 

Looking back over the trials of the last 5 months,  I realize I have broken all of my habits. They no longer exist. What irks me is that I was making so much progress. Now, I feel like my only habit is staring at a screen and wondering if I should check my email again or play Scramble on Facebook./sigh

Blogging has always been therapeutic for me. A way of getting the juices flowing. Maybe I concentrate on blogging first thing? That way, it gets my thoughts flowing through my fingers. Another step is reading. I haven’t been reading like I should.  Reading makes my scalp tingle with every new page that I greedily consume. So, reading and blogging. Then on to free writing.

Who knows what will come after that? I am hopeful that it will be very good things.

Am I blocked? Or just not that into it?

That is the question of the day. Am I blocked?  Or am I just not that into it lately. The “it” being writing. I don’t know. I am a writer and writers write. ‘Nuff said. However, I haven’t felt like writing. 

I have no clue as to what is going on. Well, maybe not a clue. I hate mediocrity and have a hard time accepting same. That being said, I feel that my writing has been at best, mediocre. In turn, I am putting up huge self-imposed road blocks

Wow. I blog and automatically analyze myself and said issues. Too bad I can’t automatically change my issues. A lifetime of A+ personality trampling all over my creativity and it sucks. Probably because I let it suck and get to that point. *sigh*

I seem to be doing that a lot these days. Sighing. I realize that I am my own worst enemy. At least I have an agenda for my shrink next week.

Well, it’s time to get my tuchas in gear and get back to work. Time to work on my writing and the issues I have with myself when I am writing. I have no idea where this path is going to lead me. However, I would like to think that it is someplace fabulous. Maybe I should keep telling myself that. Let’s just hope I listen to my inner me.

Word Count

I noticed today as I was reading other blogs by writers that many of them include a daily word count. You know, that’s enough to make me scratch my chin and say hmmmm…..  So, that is one good way of holding myself accountable, by posting my actual word count.

I don’t feel like others will think I am as successful due to the fact that my genre is children’s and more specifically, children’s books. However, I am also a blogger: this page, my blog on the environment (which is woefully neglected right now), and my personal one that I haven’t made public. Do I add that to my word count? Or do I do two separate ones?

I do most of my writing in Word and then transfer over to my blogs, so the actual word count is easy to compile. But, I wonder, why do we place so much emphasis on said word count? I know that we have to get our work taken care of and that word count is a good way for us to see what we have accomplished. Word count is also a way of setting goals, so it makes sense.

Well, I am off to storyboard.  I have been using Microsoft’s One Note, but I think I like it my way, post it notes and a blank wall. It’s my canvas of multi-colored fun.

Blog Word Count–230