This morning, I’m trying to help my husband and daughter get out the door on their first winter camping trip, complicated by the recent announcement of a high-wind advisory — and complicated even before that by the fact that they are camping, well, in winter. That was the point, of course (daughter’s school project; husband involved involuntarily). Let’s just say I’m not envious of them.
But to be fair, one of the pleasures of winter camping, I’ve been told, is that once you’re all properly set up, in your bag/tent or snow shelter, you’re not all that cold. One’s imagination of what it will be like is worse than reality. (Again, one hopes. Please, Turnagain Arm winds, don’t shred their tent tonight.)
And isn’t that how so many aspects of the writing life are as well? You moan and groan about getting started, stalling in every way possible, but once your mind makes a connection with the story, you’re rolling. It’s actually pretty warm and comfortable inside that story, novel, or memoir you’re creating.
Yesterday, to celebrate my birthday, I did something I’d been avoiding all year: I cleaned my desk. (Pathetic, I know; I also made my two kids tackle the school/family room next to my desk.) There were piles that had been haunting me since dip-netting season — and well before that. The surprise wasn’t how long it took. The surprise was how little time it took. (So why did I put it off this long?!) My kids were just as pleased with the results of their guilt-enforced cleaning.
Desk clean, I’ve got one less resolution to add to my New Year’s List. But there are plenty more — always. You’ve probably heard we’re having a salon-style “Resolve to Write” potluck event on Jan 14 at 6 pm for members (not too late to join) and volunteers.
Whether or not you’re attending that event or a satellite version somewhere else in Alaska, please feel free to announce some of your resolutions here.
I’ll get the ball rolling with a little one: I resolve to update or re-fashion my author website. (About time — even the bio is so out of date I wince every time I think about it.)
And you?
Happy Birthday, Andromeda!
Funny, I too cleaned my desk off yesterday; must be the first hint of post holiday de-cluttering/zen on the way clarity.
My resolution: Write a query letter for my novel that incorporates the theme as well as the plot in the query.
The beauty of this resolution is that it is causing questions in my mind, such as: aren't the plot points supposed to articulate the theme, girlie?
Well, yes, they are. Then, I look again at the plot points in the draft #300 query and realize that I need to incorporate different or additional plot points in query #301.
There was a time when I actually considered hiring a student to read my book and write a synopsis so that I could better see how an objective reader saw the story. I can only admit that because I saw the folly of my ways. The writing of the query or synopsis helps tighten everything up. It's not an ancillary task, it's a fundamental part of making the whole thing better, clearer, stronger.
Dissecting the novel to write the query leads back to tweaking the novel because of discoveries made while writing the query.
This post is getting long. I best get back to that query letter.
Happy Birthday Andromeda!
I declared 2010 The Year of the Novel. I had hoped to complete the rough draft of my first novel and create a community of writers. I have completed 60,000 words of the novel and have a great start to a establishing a writing community, thank in part to 49Writers. Although I didn't meet my goal, I know having this as a focus to my year helped me make tremendous progress. I declare 2011 The Year of Acquiring an Agent and Submitting my Novel for Publication. Cheers to dreaming big!
Happy late birthday, Andromeda!
Happy birthday, Andromeda!
I also HATE to clean off/out my desk and am always surprised at how easy it is. It's much like writing, no?
The mere thought of sitting down to write can hang around my neck like a noose. But once I actually situate my behind in the chair, it's not so bad. In fact, some of my best writing has come after intense battles with myself to avoid writing.
My resolution? To quit my draining day job, take a chance and venture out into the unknown, no paycheck, no health insurance or dependable income, just me and my wits trying to make it work.
I also want to run a decent marathon, but that's for another post, eh?
Cheers from Seward,
Cinthia
All great ideas, some of which I have on my list too. My most urgent one is to revise my manuscript so it will be in decent shape by Kendra Marcus' workshop. (A little plug for 49 Writers Workshops, and it gives me a concrete deadline too!) I also want to re-vamp my website–can anyone recommend a local web site designer?
Happy Birthday Andromeda and Happy New Year to all!