writing

A Talent I Don’t Have

Words. I love them.

Pickle.

Asparagus.

Platypus.

Spigot.

Serendipity.

Calamity.

Simple words with fun sounds. And oh don’t get me started on cognates and lexical gaps and all the fun things that amuse me because I’m a language geek. I LOVE WORDS! Let me shout it out from the rooftops!

So you’d think, given all that, that I’d be a fabulous cross-worder. You’d think.

Every now and then I dive into the foray of a puzzle because I’m certain this time will be different. Except it never is. <sigh> And I’m scratching out letters, and sneaking cheating peeks at the answers until I bang the magazine shut. Because who thought that was a good clue anyway?!? No one could have guessed that!

And so I move on in frustration, swearing them off forever. Or at least until the next time . . . When the glorious blank spaces call out to me and the need to find a pen (always a pen!) overcomes.

It’s complicated.

And all this makes me think. Have you ever let a character struggle with something that by all rights should have come easy?

Hmmm . . . and now if you’ll excuse me, I have some revising to do.

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The Rest of the Story

Friday night we had a family night. Dinner at the “Train” place (where you order on a phone and then a little train delivers your food) and then Disney on Ice.

It was awesome. My husband and I have been gone a lot lately, so the kids were excited to be spending time with us. The train delivery of our food was just cool. We smiled. We laughed. We even let the kids get light up toys for the performance. We were just happy to be together. And even my 11-year-old was loving the ice skating.

At intermission I posted a happy picture on facebook of our super fun evening, and if that was all you ever heard, you’d have an idyllic picture of our family evening. Maybe you’d be a little jealous and wish you could do the same. Maybe you’d roll your eyes and doubt it was that great anyway. Whatever your reaction, my “story” is out there exactly the way I told it.

See, the first half of our night really was that idyllic. I just never got around to posting about the second part.

Just after intermission, 8-year-old began complaining that his stomach hurt. He really wanted to wait it out because we were having that much fun. But shortly before the end it was too much. Husband took him out, and shortly thereafter the rest of us followed and met them at the car where 8-yo was holding an empty grocery bag and moaning.

We hurriedly got on the road (thankfully we beat most people out of the lot), but it wasn’t long before the puking began. The other kids immediately complained of the smell, and though it was a chilly night, but we unrolled the windows and did our best to ignore the shivering. Well, that worked right up until the skunk smell hit. I couldn’t decide what was worse.

At home we began the process of cleaning up the child, doing laundry, scouring the car seat, finding a suitable place for him to sleep (with low clean-up factor and easy access to a toilet). Oh, let me tell you that it was the polar opposite of the first half of our night. Not fun.

Not fun at all.

Except I was cracking up the whole time. Because polar opposite! Hahaha! Okay, well, I think the irony is funny.

Point is, the rest of story completely changes everything. Yes, we had fun, but it wasn’t the idyllic evening that was potrayed in that facebook post (even if that WAS an honest posting at the time). And this is like the writing world (and any other world, but since this is a writing blog . . .).

We read stories about writers getting agents, making book sells, doing class visits, signing books at overcrowded book signings, whatever, . . .

. . . and maybe we think that’s really cool, but maybe we compare ourselves just a little. And maybe a little jealousy creeps in. And we wonder why we don’t have what they have. Why haven’t I found an agent yet? Why didn’t my book sell that fast? Why don’t I have crowds and crowds of people at my book signings?

Not that I have ever felt this way. 😉

Here’s the thing: We may know all the good stuff, but what we don’t know is the rest of the story.

Because I guarantee you that everyone has their struggles. Surrounding those idyllic moments are doubts, and concerns, and HARD THINGS. Things we really, really, really wouldn’t want to go through.

And I sometimes need this reminder. We are all different. We have different successes and different trials. And that’s okay. We take the bad with the good, and we are grateful for what we have.

So let’s stop comparing ourselves. Stop thinking we aren’t good enough because we don’t have what they have. Let’s remember The Rest of the Story.

And then let’s laugh a little. Because that’s so much better than the alternative.

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Just Keep Writing

“If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.”

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The Super Bowl and Stinky Endings

So last night was the Super Bowl.

I haven’t watched one in years, but I saw last night’s game. Confession, I actually really love watching football. I only do it on rare occasions, but when I do, I’m all in. I even yell at the tv and everything.

Yep. I’m one of THOSE people.

And last night’s was a great game. Patriots in the lead, then the Seahawks. And middle of the 4th quarter, the Patriot’s pull it out and take the lead. All they have to do is hold the Seahawks. Keep them from getting a touchdown. That’s all. Because a field goal wouldn’t be enough.

But the Seahawks were playing well, and Russell Wilson (their quarterback) was on fire. Mr. Dead Aim himself. THEN, in addition to playing well, the Seahawks caught a long bomb that is the LUCKIEST catch I have ever seen! Ever. Like, I had to watch the re-play more than once to believe it really happened. The Patriot got a hand on the ball and both guys tumble to the ground, except the ball doesn’t hit the ground!!! It hits the Seahawk and bounces up! And the guy—I  don’t even know how since he just took a huge fall—has enough sense to reach out and catch the thing and jump up and start running again!

Seriously! That catch will be re-played for YEARS to come. Years!

Anyway, so there is 1:30 on the clock. All the Seahawks have to do is move the ball 3 yards to get a touchdown. First down they get a two-and-a-half yards. So second down and all that’s standing between them and another Super Bowl win is a measly half yard. A HALF YARD!!

And Tom Brady (the Patriot’s quarterback in case you don’t know) is watching with his stoic face, and you can practically hear what he’s thinking. Like, I did everything I could and it comes to this because of a lucky catch. Unbelievable.

So the ball is snapped, and Wilson launches the short pass for an easy touchdown, except WAIT! A rookie Patriot reads the play and INTERCEPTS!!! With twenty seconds left!

I mean, you can’t write this stuff, people. It was amazing! Of course in the last 20 seconds, there was the penalty for illegal motion, and then another for the fight that broke out, but that’s all pishtosh. The game was over with the interception. The Patriot’s won!!!

So you’re probably thinking, why did you tell us all that? This is a writing blog, not a sports blog. Well, of course I have a point.

The thing is, the Seahawks have this amazing running back named Marshawn Lynch. They had been moving the ball really well all night. And I’m only guessing here, but I bet they thought, Let’s change things up and throw the ball because they won’t be expecting that!

Well, clearly that didn’t work out for them. And now I’m just guessing again, but I bet they wish they could just go back and re-write that ending. Go back to what they should have done, and run the ball the mere half-yard that they needed to win.

Stinks for them, because that’s not possible . . . BUT it’s totally possible for us as writers! We can go back, erase what didn’t work, and rewrite a more satisfactory ending, or beginning, or middle, or whatever it is we need.

Rewriting can be hard, but it’s SO AWESOME! All the possibilities are open to us. We’re never trapped in anything. If a story isn’t working, we can fix it.

We can fix it.

And that is my point.

So did you watch the Super Bowl? What did you think?

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Happy New Year!

So I popped off for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and then the
boat left the dock without me, and I missed all of December. Family and Writing
(Well, revising, but same whatever).

My writing space

Anyway, it’s the new year, and we’ve had the discussion of Resolutions vs. Goals, so today I’m listing a few GOALS (nothing so wishy-washy as a
resolution for me, thank you very much!).

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NaNoWriMo!

So it’s here. The dreaded (or anticipated . . . however you look at it) month. I’m not sure how I’ll fit it all in, but after the great experience I had last year, I’m jumping in with two feet again this year.

As a result, I will not be around on the blog much, but I will be back in December, and I promise to report.

In the meantime, enjoy the view with me:

So are any of you joining in? If yes, shoot me your NaNo username and I’ll add you as a buddy. Mine is MsVerbose.

Have a happy Thanksgiving! See you on the other side. 🙂

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Revealing My Secret and an Interview

You can find her on her blog a http://www.susannahill.com

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When You Have Nothing Left: On Soccer and Writing

There I am, circled. 🙂

My husband found an indoor soccer place with a women’s league, and I convinced all my friends that they needed this in their lives. And it’s kindof been awesome.

It doesn’t matter that most of the women I play with have never played before. It doesn’t matter that our team is terrible (if we can keep the other team to single digits, we feel pretty good!). We are out there taking a risk. Doing something different and having fun!

And being on the field has reminded why I love this sport so much. You have to dig deep, and run harder and faster than you think you can. Even when you have nothing left, you push yourself, because if you don’t, you’re not just letting yourself down, you’re letting your teammates down.

The ball rolls free and it’s a race. Muscles tense, you fly to beat your opponent. In that moment, you forget the ache, forget the scream in your lungs, because if the other team gets it, the opportunity is gone.

If you don’t give it everything you have, you wind up like a puppet–yanked around while you, half-heartedly chase something you will never catch.

Writing is like this. As an author, you have to push yourself harder and dig deeper than you think is possible. It takes will power to make yourself sit in that chair and write. It takes focus to get those words from your brain onto paper.

And once it’s down, that’s only the beginning. Then you have to push yourself to find the story that’s hiding in there. The one that wants to come out and shine if only you can dig deep enough. If only you can get past that voice that says it’s too hard. Or that you aren’t good enough. Or that your story’s not good enough.

Push yourself! That ball is bouncing just out of reach, and if you don’t give it your all, you will wind up chasing a dream that is always just out of reach. Always so close, but never in your grasp. Instead of shining, you become a shadow of what you could be.

We won’t always win, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is knowing you gave it your all. You gave it everything you had and then you gave more. You didn’t quit. You focused. You conquered yourself and came out just a wee bit better.

And all those wee bits add up.

How do you push yourself?

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When Things Aren’t Roses and Kittens

So I’ve been revising . . . revising a work that I have revised A LOT. And I want to tell you something:

It has been hard.

I’ve spent a lot of time just staring at the screen, begging my characters to do something, because I had no idea what should happen next. I have spent a lot of time not staring at the screen, lost in deep, deep thought as I’ve reconsidered, oh, pretty much every scene. And then reconsidered it all again.

And mixed in there, there’s been a bit of typing, babysteps of progress, and slowly, slowly I’m getting through.

I’ve asked my husband more than once, “Why do I like this again?” Because in those moments when the plot feels impossible, and the characters feel flat . . . things can seem a bit bleak.

But then I came across this quote from Muhammad Ali:

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit.
Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'”

-Muhammad Ali

True champions push through the hard times. They don’t stop just because things aren’t roses and kittens all the time. True champions realize that the reward is greater than the pain.

I will never get one of those belts with the ginormous gold buckle on it. And I may never even get a publishing contract for this book. But when I finish, when I get to that point . . . I will be a champion.

Because I was stronger than the doubts and the fears that tried to hold me back.

What are you battling against right now?

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Challenging Ourselves

With some challenging revisions ahead of me, I’ve been feeling a bit daunted. Then today, I read this quote:

“Find [work] that challenges you, that raises you to higher levels of performance. It may be harder, but you will grow, develop better, and contribute more good. You really have no idea yet who you are and what you can accomplish in life. You have great potential far beyond what you can imagine today.”

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