Back in the Saddle Again - First Drafts

Whew! Back in the writer's saddle again. Thanks Adrianne, for the 5 minute writing block suggestion. I sat down with intention of writing whatever came to mind on the page for 5 minutes. Next thing I know, it's and hour and half later, and I've completed an entire chapter. The thoughts that have been simmering have come to a boil and burst through the surface. What a relief to get my thoughts on paper again!

First drafts are so much fun to do. People have lots of names for it. I called it the vomit draft. Sorry. Not a pretty picture, but it's true. You get it all out, then you come back and clean it up. I throw everything extreme I can think of into the story when I'm mining ideas. Later, when I'm finished with the 1st draft, I weed out the extra and do my best to make the rest believable. I have an excellent critique partner. She reads everything - even the vomit drafts, bless her. That's a true friend. Later, when I'm preparing for submission, I present at my writer's group. They are a varied lot, highly opinionated, and extremely helpful. I can't imagine sending out a submission without my critique partner's discriminating eyes!

I'm heading back to my WIP progress now before I lose steam. Carpe diem!

Bad Writer! Bad, Bad Writer!

I've been bad. Yup. Really bad.

You would think that I would get all kinds of writing done during the summer - since I have time to do so. But no, I've been playing hooky. Tooling around in the garden, playing online games, surfing the net for "research." The result? I have a sum total of 5500 words written for the summer. That's a far cry from "I'm going to complete the first draft of my WIP by the start of school."

I get like this when I start writing a new novel. I find myself thinking about it quite a bit - dialogs in my head, plot details, etc., but when I sit down to write my brain goes other places - none of them in my story. One of my writer friends said, "your story is cooking. Let it simmer." But my head says it's more of a lack of discipline. My summer days are not structured like my school days. I am most productive with structure.

I'm going to take the housekeeping advice of the FlyLady and apply it to writing. In short - get down to business. Get dressed down to shoes and go to WORK. Set aside time to get the job done, and do it!

More Garden...

I had some more lilies bloom today. My favorite is a Candy Apple red. The others are a dusty rose and white. I tried taking their pictures yesterday, but the exposure was awful. I took these at dusk.

I Love My Garden...

I love to garden. It gives me such satisfaction, and it's cheaper than therapy.

I didn't work in my garden last year, and boy, did I pay for that THIS year! Last year I was grieving. Not only for the loss of my sister-in-law, but for the loss of the eleven, 60 foot trees that my neighbors on both side of our property cut down. They needed to come down, I know that, and I don't begrudge the decisions. But 10 years of hard labor on a shade garden went down the tubes - fast.

This year I'm experimenting with sun-loving flowers. I still have some shade gardens, although they do get sun part of the day. I've been working on my lilies for several years, and I planted my coreopsis two years ago. They're ready to divide, and I think I"ll move some of them to the side of the house next year.

Today I thought I'd share some of my garden that is blooming. I'm expecting hibiscus any day now. If they are showy, I'll share them too. Enjoy!

Stuck! Ugh!

My writing streak has hit a BIG wall today. I've been sitting at the computer for an hour, and I think I've put a sum total of five words on the page. Time to go outside and visit the real world. Take a trip to the garden store and buy some more mulch. Treat the kids to lunch out, maybe go to the pool or see a movie...

I'm banning myself from this chair until after dinner!

AWOL...

Sorry... I've been AWOL from my blog.

However I've been productive - 5200 words in the last 5 days on my new WIP. I'm trying, trying, trying to do 1000 words per day. I've been working mostly at night - between 10 PM and 2 AM. It's hard to write during the day. My daughter, the one who is recovering from the dislocated and broken elbow, is BORED. She is usually active ALL the time, and her friends are also gymnasts. Their fun is to play on their trampolines, personal bars and beam, and try to outdo each other on the diving board at the pool. But daughter isn't allowed to do any of this - yet. Tonight I invested in the Wii Fit. She was so excited! Hopefully it will keep her attention for awhile.

Finally, I've been tagged by Rena. Thank you Rena, for bringing me back from being AWOL!

Sinful Nature

"Sometimes you can learn more about a person by what they don’t tell you. Sometimes you can learn a lot from the things they just make up. If you are tagged with this Meme, lie to me. Then tag 7 other folks (one for each deadly sin) and hope they can lie."

Pride -- What is your biggest contribution to the world?
My ability to knock the ball out of the park!

Envy -- What do your coworkers have that you wish was yours?
Recess duty. I love standing outside with kids in all kinds of weather.

Gluttony -- What did you eat last night?
Chocolate covered aphids. It was an easy and tasty solution to the problem in the garden.

Lust -- What really lights your fire?
Pants that are belted below the butt. There's something exciting about guys that have to walk like penguins...

Anger -- What is the last thing that really pissed you off?
My cat will not stop playing with my hair when I'm trying to read on the couch. So annoying.

Greed -- Name something you hoard and keep from others.
Batteries. The kids don't need all those gadgets to work. Right?

Sloth -- What’s the laziest thing you ever did?
Lazy... hmmmm... who's lazy?

I tag the following 7 bloggers -

1 . Chocolateer
2. Green Girl in Wisconsin
3. Trisha
4. Carrie
5. Sarah
6. Christina
7. Anne

A Contest, A Quote, and Just Because...

A Contest:
Hop on over to Christina Farley's blog to enter a contest to acquire an autographed copy of one of Min jae's books AND a traditional Korean rice paper fan!
How To Enter:
1. Leave a comment on her blog to be entered to win.
2. If you are a follower, you will get an extra entry (please remind her if you are!)
3. Post it on your blog for an extra entry (leave her a note that you did)
Don't worry, she will ship to anywhere in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!

A Quote:
“A story should contain at least: 1 belly laugh, 1 honest tear, and 1 gasp.” – Bruce Coville 2004

and just because...
The Worst Best Man Ever