Courtney brought up a good point in her response to my Project Runway post. [And, no, Jenny, I wasn't talking about you.] She talked about how some of the contestants freak out when asked to step out of their comfort zone. Same thing happens on Top Chef. Courtney's argument was that chefs, designers and writers need to be able to step outside their boxes once in a while.

Folks, that's why you see prompts and challenges on this and other blogs from the Pirates. That's why UGWP does round stories. That's why we have played a card game where you pick the cards that you will build the story on. Not because we think that one day Jenny will figure out how to market a Top Chef kind of show involving wrters (although that would be groovy), but because we all get those stray ideas that don't fit into our usual genres. Or maybe we realize that one of our story ideas would work better as a screen or stage play than a novel. Or we really, really want to enter that short story contest with the big prize payout. If those muscles are already warmed up, it's easier to engage them when the time comes.

There's another aspect to what Courtney said. That the contestants are freaked out by the twists the shows throw at them. On more than one occasion, I've said, "Don't they watch this show?" Because they always have twists, often the same ones from season to season.

Which comes back to research. I know I've talked about it before, but it bears repeating. DO the research. Want to submit to the Super Groovy Magazine Contest? First, read the guidelines. Second, look at a recent issue. If they only publish hyper-literary stories between 3,000-5,000 words, don't submit a 7,000 word fantasy piece. Same goes with agents.

Two reality shows about seemingly unrelated jobs that are both, apparently, unrelated to writing. But I've been able to adapt lessons from both into my writing. Are there other shows that have given you insight into your craft? Movies? Music? Something else?

Writing Books Galore!

Not as in "I'm writing a lot of books," but as in "Holy crap, I have a boatload of books about writing!"

Saturday I put up shelves in the newly painted Writing Room (I think of it in capitals). I need to get some more. My plan was to use those shelves--as opposed to the ones in the family room downstairs or the ones in my bedroom--for my writing books, my metaphysical books and any researchy-type books I am currently using. There are separate spaces for books and journals. I figured I'd have empty shelving for spillover from my to-be-read pile. I figured wrong. The shelves are full to bursting. There will be another trip to Wal-mart.

I have a handful of metaphysical books to add, but I probably have two dozen or more writing books that I still need to schlep upstairs and find a place for. Who the hell bought all these books? Oh, right. That's what I do when I'm interested in something. I research the bloody bejeebers out of it. Correction: I collect research on it, read like mad for a while then jump in with both feet while there is still a pile of research to be read.

The good news? I have lots of resources to tap into. And I now have one place to look when I need a refresher or I'm stuck. It's also a good source of inspiration. Not just the "here's a prompt" or "how I did it" books either. Sometimes just a skim through one of the craft honing books can dislodge something.

How do you go about learning something new? Take a class? Are you a reader? Do you learn by doing?

***I promise pictures of the Writing Room progress before the end of the week. I have to get a cable to upload from camera to laptop. ***

Warming Up The Pipes

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was the next book on the stack. It's interesting, but I feel overwhelmed by the sheer size of it. I know everyone has said it's a quick read, but it doesn't look like a quick read. It sits there mocking me. "You're tired and busy and I'll break you," it whispers. And it may be right.

So, I've decided to skip the stack for, I hope, some enjoyable short stories. I picked up Margaret Atwood's The Tent the other night instead of JS&MN. I can knock off three or four of her short stories in fifteen minutes--and they're good. I have the latest copies of Glimmer Train and Fantasy & Science Fiction. I may pick up a couple different magazines at B&N today at lunch (buying books for Miss Elizabeth for Christmas--fun!). Maybe Realms of Fantasy and one of the "reviews".

This serves two purposes. I have quick reads for when I do find some time to indulge. AND I am doing research on what they're buying. "Hmmmm," you say. "But, Deb, your key is the novel. What do you care about what short story markets are buying? You struggle with short stories." Exactly! Got it in one. The plan is to have a first draft of Vesta done rather soon. And MMG is starting to nag, but it's not yelling at me so I may have some free time during which I don't want to start a third novel. So, short stories. I have some that need varying degrees of revision, including a fantasy involving a mermaid, hence the fantasy mags. And I have some potential ideas for a few more. Ergo, market research. And seeing how the big boys and girls are doing it.

Before you say anything, Jenny and Ali, I already have the Tim O'Brien and Sherman Alexie books you recommended. And a couple Neil Gaiman collections--one of which I'm almost done with.

So: la, la, la, LA, la, la, la.

Research

I'm a huge believer in doing research. And I love it. The problem tends to be that I'll be writing along and think, "Hmmm. What river would he be near?" or "Would 'Whole Lotta Love' have been released by then?". So then I stop and look up whatever I'm pondering about. Which would be okay if I stopped at the one thing. But inevitably, a comment on the page I'm looking at brings up another question and off I go again. Three hours later, I haven't written another word.

Lately, I've tried to put in brackets where the missing info is and make a note to myself in my handy-dandy notebook to look up whatever it is I need at that point. Seems to work okay, although I still feel the pull to go look, right now.

Today I had some free time at work which wasn't long enough to do any real writing so I did some research on a book that may be the one after TNN or it may be the one after the one after TNN. In either case, I found some great stuff that I'll already have at hand when I get ready to write. One less interruption during the process.