Hi Friends.

So, I'm a terrible blogger, as evidenced by not posting in... um. A few. Years.

It's just not my platform. But, I'd like to try again, so.

I'm still participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and am one of the co-MLs for the ChiWriMo region, which I love doing.

I'm also part of the Bristol Renaissance Faire, which isn't writing related but is related to creativity and inspiration.

Related to that, I'm editing one of my NaNoWriMo novels from a couple years ago, which was inspired by a photo shoot done by some of my favorite Bristolians.

I've edited in fits and starts; the first part of the novel is probably in its forth iteration, while the second part is less polished, having only been glossed over a couple times. The ending is the biggest struggle for me, as I've gone back and forth on what I'd like to do with it a few times. But, eventually, the ending has to end.

I'm working on it semi-live-action via Wattpad, and you can find the book, which I've tentatively titled Remnants, right there. I hope you'll check it out and provide some input and feedback! (gently, please, but still honestly)

OK, that's all I have for now. DO YOU SEE WHY I HATE BLOGGING? HOW DO YOU EVEN END A BLOG POST. OH EM GEE GUYS. OK no really have a good day.

I require discomfort

I am surrounded by coziness.

My law office has a comfy desk and office chair; it is very official looking, with degrees on the wall, and it is clean and filled with inspirational items; really, it's very feng shui, if I do say so myself, mainly because my mom picked out most of the decorations. I wouldn't be able to decorate a blank piece of paper if I were given one colored marker and a stencil.

Our reception area is also very comfortable; we have a leather-ish sofa and leather-ish chairs, a coffee table, and again, my landlord-type-person is quite the stylish decorator, so it's the perfect space to set up a well-organized mind to work.

My home also has a very nice desk; it is smaller, but it is made of old-looking wood that gives off an air of competence and "you should work here." It has lots of nooks and crannies for organizing things and a lamp on it for my poor tired eyes.

We even have a fantastically comfortable leather sofa in my house. I have slept on this sofa on many occasions, usually unintentionally. It beckons with cushiony goodness for weary bones.

Of all of these options, which one do you think I select for getting the most work done?

If you picked "Option F, None of the Above," you'd be correct.

No, my workspace of choice is sitting on a bar stool at my kitchen counter.

It's very uncomfortable. While it's a cushiony bar stool, it is nonetheless a bar stool, and after 8 to 10 hours of work, my lower back is usually screaming at me to stop. There is also absolutely no room on this counter. It's usually crammed with discarded junk mail, half-finished household projects, and dirty dishes. It also gives me a prime view of my kitchen, which, despite our best efforts, is typically a great big mess.

However, starting with law school and moving up to the present day, I have yet to find a place where I can accomplish more on any given day than perched atop this precarious stoop, hunched over my laptop, juggling paper and various electronic devices. I credit this barstool with my graduation with honors from law school, my first novel, and now, my successful law practice and freelance writing business.

Go figure.

This is of moderate concern, however, as the house we are moving into in a few weeks doesn't really have space for a countertop and an uncomfortable bar stool. I'm therefore fielding suggestions on uncomfortable places I can continue this practice. The only real requirements are discomfort, an electrical outlet, and a WiFi connection. All other amenities are, clearly, optional.

The results

So, despite my mild case of ADD yesterday, I did manage to get something done this weekend. In fact, I got quite a bit done. I'm more than half-way through my first round of editing on my novel, and I think I'm going to set a release date for sometime next month. I still have some larger kinks to work out towards the end, but I remain cautiously optimistic.

I have an idea for a sequel already. I really didn't intend to turn this book into a series, but I can see it being a duo. What's that called, actually? Three books is a trilogy. But two books can't be a bilogy, right? That's a bit too much like biology. Plus Auto-correct says bilogy isn't a word, and I'm pretty sure it knows everything.

I'm not looking forward to the end of the weekend. It's not that I really hate my job or anything. I just really prefer writing. I like my isolated little bubble, where I can drift off on a tangent and it's actually a good thing, and I don't have to worry about whose time I'm supposed to be billing. Plus there's time to cook. I like cooking.

If you know the technical word for a book duo, please enlighten me in the comments. I'm far too lazy to Google it for myself right now. Thank you.

Editing Day

Think I'll keep a time log just to see how I spend the day I intend to use to edit:

7:30 am: Wake up. Realize I don't have to go to work. Try to go back to sleep. Yell at husband for snoring. Eventually doze off again.

9:00: Wake up. Recall that husband promised to make coffee and breakfast for me today so I could focus on my novel. Stare at him creepily until he wakes up. Engage in some witty banter. Realize he isn't getting out of bed.

9:45: Trudge to coffee maker. Prepare bowl of cereal. Stare out of window. Check how my mutual funds are doing.

10:05: Walk to where husband is still sleeping. Harass. Lose interest. Clean office up a little bit.

10:20: Husband gets up. I go to study. Set up computer. Run out of office screaming because there's a FREAKING WASP BUZZING AROUND IN THERE.

10:22: Husband valiantly slays wasp. I feel mildly guilty but stay away just in case it comes back to life and insist he flushes it. Begin editing a chapter, keeping an eye out for additional wasps.

10:45: Feel paranoid that wasps are lurking about, waiting to interrupt my creative genius. Check the storage closet for a fly swatter. Do not find one. Husband promises to take me out to get one during lunch break.

10:59: Edit two chapters.

11:30: Husband interrupts to tell me birds are nesting in the herb garden. I go oohhh and ahhh.

11:33: Edit half a chapter.

12:00: Begin writing blog entry.

12:15: Edit a paragraph

12:35: Wander off and change clothes. Think about motorcycles.

12:49: Edit a sentence.

12:50: LUNCH BREAK!

3:48: Return from lunch+errands (good pizza, Target, petting rescue dogs at PetSmart, check on real estate investments) Check Facebook.

3:49: Edit.

4:30: wander off and get a spiked cider.

4:45: Resume editing. Believe I'm obviously far more talented with spiked cider as my muse.

5:09: Watch baby moose video on Facebook.

If ever I wondered why it's taken me five years to edit this novel, now I know.

How do you get organized?

I have a lot going on at home -

1) I work from home as something resembling an attorney

2) I write from home as something resembling a novelist

3) I live at home as something resembling a wife

4) I occasionally sing and dance at home as something resembling a crazy person

As such, I find it a little difficult to stay organized. I accumulate a LOT of paper, much of which I digitize under password and then destroy, but it doesn't keep it from piling up. Just an FYI, it's true that lawyers tend to be after money. That's because being a lawyer is freaking expensive. Between leftover loans from law school and the bar exam, licensing fees, bar association fees, and subscriptions to all the crap we need  in order to stay informed about our particular areas of law (not to mention any other office overhead we need to maintain), I always marvel at anyone who manages to actually be profitable as an attorney. And it's no wonder that it's expensive to have all of that stuff - because everyone involved in the legal industry in this state is always sending me paper!

Then there's the writing. I thank NaNoWriMo on a daily basis for introducing me to Scrivener. I bought it the first time I participated in NaNo back in 2007 and haven't looked back. I think part of the reason I like to escape into noveling is because it's actually one area of my life that it's not too difficult to organize, and I keep it all on my computer (except the occasional map I draw out when I need to visualize something - I have no skill as a graphic artist on the computer; printer paper and a #2 pencil all the way, baby). If so inclined though, I do have the ability to scan those bits of paper and then stick them in Scrivener so I don't have to freak out if I lose track of my physical copies.

I'm also going to admit a dirty little secret: I kind of like being a little housewifey. I like cooking. I like cleaning. I don't really like doing laundry, but I'll do it, and I like the sense of accomplishment I feel afterwards. That is the one area where I don't feel completely scatterbrained and out of control - I know I can bring order and sense to my household without so much as batting an eyelash. 

The one place where my writing really suffers, though, is due to how I organize my time. I've been trying to make good use of the technology available to me - I use iCloud to synchronize my work calendar and my personal calendar. I bring my iPad everywhere so I can do small tasks while I'm stuck in waiting rooms. I maintain to-do lists, I have a whiteboard that lists all of my long- and short-term goals. But somehow, I have a hard time deciding what I'm really supposed to be doing at any given moment. 

Perhaps it's because I work from home, leading to a blending of my personal time and my work time. Even when I'm "off the clock," I feel a bit guilty for doing housework or writing at home. I've actually been contemplating going to the coffee shop nearby to write so I have some separation from my work space, except that kind of cuts into my personal time with my husband, and adds an extra step when I want to get up and start cleaning. I sometimes wonder if working from home is the best arrangement for me, when I have such a hard time distinguishing between how I spend my time. Sometimes, I literally stall out, and end up getting nothing done for a few hours while I try to decide what I should be doing. 

How do you compartmentalize your time? Do you maintain a rigorous schedule, and if so, do you manage to stick to it? 

New directions

I got stuck in such a rut when I sat down to write today. Looking back, it seems like I hit a lot of those. I guess it is just part of the process. But I kept hearing the voice of my inner editor going off, telling me my novel doesn't make any sense and that I really need to find a way to explain a few things first. However, I have a deep aversion for explaining things. One of the things that has kept me from getting through many a novel is the author's need to sit down and explain a bunch of stuff, in big, chunky paragraphs, in a very abstract way. I don't want to be told these things. I want you, the author, to show them to me. If it's so important, then it shouldn't be dully recited across 5 pages of backstory. Novel-ize the backstory! Have one of your characters be a storyteller, and have them novelize the backstory! Something! Just don't backstory at me til it makes me want to put your book down and go read something else!

Harry Potter is a good example of how I like a backstory presented to me. J.K. Rowling does not go on for 8 pages explaining about how there are these wizards in the world, and then a bad wizard named Voldemort came along and started killing people, and then some people tried to stop him, and then Harry's parents got killed, and then Voldemort was vanquished while trying to kill Harry. No. We all know that's what happened, but why? Because it was revealed to us in bits and pieces - first with a little bit of prologue that gives us a tantalizing glimpse, then through Hagrid, and then through various other characters and events throughout the book. Even Snape's backstory is given to us in a "show-don't-tell" fashion.

So, needless to say, I started going around in circles about how to get this important information out there in a way that is not confusing but doesn't involve a bunch of backstory recitation. And I ended up with something of a prologue, that might grow into a prequel novella. I like the direction it's going so far, just need to see how long it ends up being before I decide how to incorporate it in my overarching story. It's also revealing some incredibly interesting things about the world I've started to develop, so I can't wait to keep going on it and see where it leads.

Today I managed to log over 1200 words by adding this prologue/prequel, so I'm considering it a success. Time for a celebratory glass of wine!

Freelancing: Blessing and Curse

A few months ago, I was an unemployed law school graduate recovering from a major surgery and wondering what I'd do with my time if I did not soon acquire gainful employment. I was watching my fellow graduates with a bit of trepidation, as many of them were far more qualified than I was and still struggling to find jobs. Rather than sending out a hundred resumes and hoping for the best, I started to seek out other means of making money.

That was when I stumbled upon freelancing.

It isn't super-glamorous. I never really saw myself as a very technical writer before - after all, SEO has nothing to do with magic or swords - but the fact is, it's a lot better than most of the jobs I'm otherwise qualified for. I'm setting a lot of my own hours, I'm gaining a lot of education about things I never even considered researching, and the pay has been a very nice supplement to the full-time job I eventually managed to acquire.

Unfortunately it also cuts into my regular writing time. I've written maybe 1 page in the last 3 days. I was making such good progress before that. But sitting in front of a computer doing freelancing all day, then switching over to another screen to write... it carries its own kind of fatigue. It's pretty hard to switch your brain from "OK, what else can I say about crowd sourcing" to "Alright, sword fight!" (although it is quite a fun switch, when I can manage to do it).

I think it'd be better if I didn't have this awful tendency to procrastinate. I've been reading Amanda Hocking's blog off and on, as I find her story very inspiring. Her books are high on my "next to read" list, for sure. I'm currently working through Robert Kroese's Mercury books and enjoying them (I accidentally started in the middle, though, so have to go back for the first one - oops!). So whenever I find some lag time in writing about link-building techniques and how to tweak your meta tags (and really, when CAN'T you find lag time when writing about that), I find myself drifting. *SIGH* One of these days, Busy Work... to the moon!

Posty-Posty Post-Post

I have a food problem.

When writing, I often will space out for a few minutes while trying to decide how to proceed with my current scene. I also use this time to eat something. My favorite way of stalling is going to the fridge, opening it and staring at the contents, then glancing over at the pantry, then back to the fridge...

To be honest, writing is sometimes boring. Don't get me wrong - I would rather be writing than doing just about anything else in the world. However, I'm not one of those fortunate, super-inspired individuals that have words pouring out of them like a waterfall at all times. No. I'm far too careful most of the time. So, when I stop to think, sometimes I get a little roadblocked, and my next source of inspiration usually involves something on a pita chip (I love the fact that I can buy Stacy's Naked Pita Chips), or cheese, or peanut butter, or things that are far less healthy than that.

I'm a compulsive boredom-eater. There, I said it.

I was this way in law school a lot too. I would be slogging through pages and pages of dense material, and I often found it was difficult to stay awake if I wasn't also munching on something at the same time. I tried to channel this into something healthy - e.g. instead of tortilla chips, carrot sticks! - but really, my tastebuds just won't fall for it. I once forced myself to study for an exam by eating a steady stream of wasabi-flavored almonds and craisins (alternating between the two, of course) over the course of 8 hours. I got a really great grade in the class. I also gained like 3 pounds. I try to save those episodes for times I really need a huge incentive to keep my butt in gear.

I suppose there is a plus - I'm much happier writing than anything else, so I don't depression-eat as much anymore (unless it's because I want to be writing and can't be...) Hopefully it balances out!

That Inspiration That Hits When You Start to Doze

I love nighttime. Left to my own devices, I am definitely a night owl. Sadly, annoying things like day jobs and bosses get in the way of me achieving my true potential - which really only happens at about 3am on weeknights, 4am on weekends. I like the feeling that I just might be the only person awake in a 50 mile radius. I know it's unreasonable to believe that, but I still like the peace and silence, the feeling that I'm getting away with something a little bit weird and no one is awake to see it. It's isolating but majestic at the same time. There's an amazing lack of pressure late at night - you don't have to be anywhere or see anyone if you don't want to. You don't have to worry about the weather, really, because there's no real urge to go outside. Your body usually isn't hungry by then, so you don't feel the urge to go stuff your face with anything - cravings are silenced, people are quiet, and you can just be yourself.

Last night I woke up at around 4:15 AM and I enjoyed the fact that I was, really, alone. Sure, my husband and dog were asleep a mere couple of inches from me, but they were dead to the world. I probably could've blown a fog horn and they would've been none the wiser. I nestled down into my pillows and had a half-dream about my novel, composing in my head. What would happen when my main characters finally decide they're ready to fall in love with each other. How to handle this really slow scene I'm currently plodding my way through, sentence by sentence. Every so often nudging my husband to stop snoring. And it was all fine - leisurely, kind of sleepy, full of contentment. I wish I could effectively write from bed. Unfortunately, a laptop is a bit cumbersome (and would eventually wake the hubs up), and dictation software is iffy at best - plus again, no talking.

The problem is, the mood gets all ruined if you get out of bed. I don't know about you, but we try to save a dime by not running the heat in rooms we aren't using. So if I were to plod into my study and try to write, I'd have to shiver under my snuggie (yes, I wear a snuggie) for about 15 minutes while the room got good and toasty. By then, I'm too awake from being cold, so there's not much inspiration left 'cause my toes are fighting frostbite. This is why I love warm weather. In the summer, I can see myself sneaking out of the bedroom, huddling under a blankie (for secretive purposes, not for warmth) and just writing contently until morning. Really, for me, atmosphere is everything when I'm writing. It can't be too sterile and organized, but it can't be a jumbled mess either. I guess that's why I like it to be a bit dim - I can ignore everything else (whether messy or clean) and just write.