What A Weekend/Everyone Should Have Friends Like Mine

And I don't mean "What a weekend" in a good way.

I dog and house sat for two very dear friends. One of the dogs has developed some special needs over the past year. She is blind, but gets around okay except right after she wakes up. She also has IBS. I won't go into details here. Suffice it to say that she often needs to get outside RIGHT NOW and doesn't always wake up in time to do so. Even when she does wake up, she might start in the wrong direction and not want to believe me that I know where it is and it's this way and please, please, please hurry.

Friday night's multi-interrupted sleep was nothing compared to Saturday night's getting maybe three hours total and not more than an hour at a time. Each time she moved, I had to be ready to help her get outside. Even when she was asleep, I had to be aware of whining and tummy rumblings so I could wake her up in time. As I said in an email to Jenny, not conducive to sleeping or writing.

I would finally feel like I might maybe be starting to get a flow or words going and have to stop, deal with things and then try to figure out where I was and where I thought I was going. It only takes a few of these to just kill any desire to even try to put one word after the other. After about ten o'clock Sunday morning, I just quit trying.

There was a point late yesterday that I decided that not only was I going to throw in the towel on the contest, but on the whole writing thing. Why was I bothering? Most people seem to be quite content, happy even, going to work and coming home day after day. They might work out and/or go to movies or plays or concerts. But mostly they work and take care of their homes and families, and watch television. Basically what I do already except that I give short shrift to everything except the television watching, because I write or try to write or think I should be writing.

And then it happened.

I heard everyone's voice in my head. I heard Jenny, Ali, Fleur, Mary, Shane, Nicole and all the rest of the Pirates saying, "What the hell are you talking about? You're making excuses. Get over yourself and get back to work." I heard Carrie saying, "If you don't finish something for me to read, I'll shave your head. You won't even see it coming."

How great is that? They don't even have to be around to give me a verbal--mental?--bitch slap.

It's going to be like starting a marathon, getting out front in the first mile, stopping to have a big lunch--maybe a nap--and then deciding that you are going to try to win it after all. But I'm not throwing in the towel. I may finish dead last, but I'll finish. And I'll have more words of TNN than I had when I started. And that was sort of the point all along.

The Downside of NaNoWriMo

I wrote about being at the fun part. And I'm still there. With the shift over to TNN, I'm having even more fun because of the novelty. It's a shiny new story. No one has seen these words, these characters except me. There are on expectations on them. Plus there's the happy from putting "The End" at the end of Vesta. All good stuff.

And all the good stuff is leading to more good stuff. I've been thinking of trying my hand at a poem for a magazine Nicole turned me on to. Haven't written poetry pretty much since high school (I won't admit here how long ago that was). But something about the theme of toys, games and puzzles spoke to me. I knew what game I wanted to write about, but nothing really came to me. Then I started getting ideas of how to work it. I'm liking the ideas. A good thing. I'm also getting ideas for MMG rewrites and Vesta rewrites-how to flesh out that scene better, maybe that one should be trimmed or cut altogether. Also very good things.

So where's this downside I speak of? These brilliant ideas are all coming to me between one and five in the morning. Can't turn them off or shut them up. I get almost there. Use the breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques I learned over a year ago when I was first hit hard with insomnia. Get just about there. Right on the edge. Then Vesta will whisper something to me or Wardell (my protag from TNN) will knock over one of my notions about him or a setting from any of the books will materialize fully formed and beautiful in front of me and I start all over again. No, I haven't gotten up and written anything down, because it always feels like I immediately file it away and start slipping off to dreamland again. Until the next one starts in.

The plan is this: tonight I take my journal to bed with me. Relax, meditate and then start writing. Write whatever comes to mind about Vesta, Wardell, Kitty, Zack, Lily--I don't care who it is--and keep writing until the well is dry. It could turn out to be a lot of words that won't count toward NaNo goals. Don't care. I've got to get all these people to shut up after nine o'clock at night. They can start again as soon as the alarm goes off in the morning, but for pity sakes sleep on the same schedule as me.

Or I'll kill all of you off in the second chapter and bring in new, obedient, considerate characters.

The Wisdom of Ira

It's no secret that I'm a fan of many shows on National Public Radio. None more than This American Life with host Ira Glass. If you're not familiar with the show, they pick a theme each week and then present anywhere from one to four stories based on that theme. You can download podcasts for free at www.thisamericanlife.org Start on the Our Favorites page. They won't steer you wrong. And the first season of their Showtime television version is available on DVD.

Saturday night Colorado College played host to Ira Glass. Since Nicole and I had previously expressed our admiration for Mr. Glass (okay, we both have crushes on him), we bought our tickets and went to see him. I wasn't sure what to expect. The ticket said it was a lecture. What would he lecture us on? Politics? The state of public radio?

Storytelling. And that's the thing about the radio show. They are all great storytellers. And Ira showed us just how they do it. Part of it is the music used underneath the stories. But that's a small part of it. The voice talent is another part of it. Ira Glass, David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell and many more. But those are pretty specific to radio. The biggest parts are what we can use in our writing every single day.

Here are the highlights:

--"Tell stories about people others can relate to." Not over-the-top larger than life cardboard cutouts. Who cares about them?
--"Keep the action moving forward." That's what causes 'driveway moments' in public radio and page turning in fiction.
--"Allow for all emotions." The most compelling stories aren't just moving or funny or tragic. They are all of those things and perhaps more.
--"Anecdote/reflection." This is equivalent to scene/sequel in writing. Here's the event and then here's how the event relates to the bigger picture.
--"Good narrative can save your life." Okay, this was said specifically in reference to Scheherazade and the 1001 nights, but I think it still applies to all storytelling.

He was very funny and charming and informative. All with the flu and a fever. Which was a lesson in and of itself. If people show up to hear you, then you should still entertain them no matter how you feel.

So now I'm going to see if I can take these lessons and apply them to my own writing. I already know that the right voice is important, even for words on paper. And maybe I can even try to do the written equivalent of putting the right kind of music under my words.

Group Think? I Think Not

When a group of people spend a lot of time together, they may start to notice that they have more in common than the one or two things that brought them together as a group in the first place. I may have talked about it before, but many of the Pirates like Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman, Lost, Heroes and chocolate. We originally met in another group, where we came together because we want to improve our writing. We became the Pirates, I think, partly because we have some of these things in common in addition to liking each other's writing and respecting each other's opinion.

After a group is together for a while, though, there may be a tendency to develop Group Think. If one member of the group likes something, then all members must like it too. I was a little worried that this might be happening when I got to the gathering last Thursday. DB, Ali and Nicole were already there. Now I know the Ali and Mary are experienced jewelry makers and that DB is learning. Nicole was asking Ali if she did any metalworking because Nicole was thinking of taking a class. DB piped up and said, "The one at Bemis? I'm thinking of taking that, too." So now we have 4 people making jewelry. Do I have to start making jewelry? No, of course, not. And the conversation shifted to another topic and no issue.

Would it be a bad thing if all the members started making jewelry? Probably not. As a matter of fact, I'd love to see what sorts of the things the guys came up with. But where there can be a problem is if the writing starts to homogenize and the feedback all sounds the same. I've seen this happen before to some extent, and it's not a good thing. After some objective thought, I really don't see that happening here. Everyone has a pretty strong personality and feels comfortable standing up for their own position. And there are very distinctive and different voices in the work. In some instances tastes vary dramatically.

Something that drove that home for me is something Jenny wrote me. The group has all pretty much signed up on one of those library social sites. You join, list all the books you've read or own or both and then rate them on a scale of 1-5. You make a list of friends that you want to share that information with. After about a week of listing and rating books, but not yet writing reviews on why I ranked them where I did, I got an email from Jenny. She said she thought it was funny that we had read so many of the same books, but ranked them differently.
We both liked Haunted by Chuck Palaniuk, but she gave it a 5 while I gave it a 3. I thought it was a well-written, provocative book. Funny and horrifying at the same time. And a real page turner. But I haven't sought out any of his other books. I didn't relate to any of the characters. Didn't mind putting the book down when I finished. So I liked it (3), but didn't think it was awesome (5). Jenny obviously felt differently

These differences are as important for the health of the group as the similarities. I think we'll continue as a group for a while. That makes me smile.

And They're Off

to a 4-note theme. 100 points for anyone who gets that reference. My money is on Nicole for this one.

So November 1st. Time to state goals for the month. I've already said I'm going to attempt NaNoWriMo this year. That's 50,000 words. Which I believe D.B. (the accountant) figured out is between 6-7 pages a day. So, two hours of non-editted typing should pretty much get me there. The non-editted is always the hard part, but is the main point of the whole exercise.

Wow, just felt myself tense up thinking about that. So an addendum to the goal is to do it without hurting myself. My buddy, Geoff, actually ended up in the hospital a few years back from stress and exhaustion. Deep breaths, walks, plenty of sleep. All part of the monthly goal.

For the rest of the week, through Sunday, I'll write 24 pages and attend the Scaring Your Readers Workshop that PPW is sponsoring on Saturday. Tension was one of my weak areas in MMG so an all-day workshop should help.

Good luck to all of us on our goals this month, whether or not we're doing NaNo.

Legal Uppers

Amazing how a few hours with certain people can work as a tonic.

I usually go out to dinner with the Sunday Group of the CSFWG on the last Sunday of the month. Yesterday, I sat in on the critique portion as well even though I hadn't read the submissions (although based on the comments, I will go back and read them). Even so, the critiques and suggestions are still helpful. Some of this stuff is just good sense to apply to any kind of writing.

At the dinner portion of the evening, we talked about some of the writing issues and more suggestions were made. But mainly we talked. About writing, of course. About books we're reading and enjoying, or not enjoying, and why. About movies, television. About life in general. We voted on names for Jenny and Shane's baby. We sympathized with Nicole's quest for a flowered dress for a wedding she's attending, because it was obvious that Nicole didn't want to buy a flowered dress. We rehashed the final Harry Potter book. Ali and D.B. talked about going bead shopping together. And we laugh. A lot.

I'm ready to write. I'm ready to work on TNN. A good thing, too, because Jenny hasn't finished with MMG yet. She, too, has been caught up in Pottermania--even moreso because of her job. And I'm really okay with that. Last week I would have been upset. It would have been another reason to be in a bad mood. But I think I'm reaching the point she was talking about a few months ago. I'm ready to rewrite MMG, but I'm not feeling like it's my one and only goal. Like it's the one thing that will make or break me as a writer.

And I'm in a really good mood today. Thanks gang!

That Wasn't So Bad

So last night was the big feedback meeting. Not too many bruises to the ego. But then they are a nice bunch of people.

What made me feel good is that almost everything that was said was something I already thought. That's a good thing. I'd be really worried if what they had problems with actually blindsided me.

Jenny's trying to convince me to wait at least a month after getting all the feedback before I start the final revision. I don't think that's going to happen. I'm a strike-while-the-iron-is-hot kinda writer. I've got to go with it when I'm in the mood.

Until the rest of the feedback comes in, I'll work on TNN. Armed with what I've got so far on MMG, I know what to watch for in TNN. Of course, the trick is to have that information but not let it stop me while I'm writing. Too much editing as you go can be fatal to a project.

"Trust your process." I made that comment to Nicole last night, and I need to heed it myself.