A musing by Karen Fainges

It is Monday night, so that must mean I am asking my hubbie for an idea what to write in the blog. Even his students noticed how often his name popped up in my writing.

It is strange that he is my muse even though he is not incredibly interested in writing. He mutters anything to shut me up and viola, an idea pops into my head. It might not have anything to do with what he actually said, but for some reason it opens the flood gates.

In a pinch, I have even pretended the dog was him and asked Teddy my “what should I write about” question. Now, of course, Teddy doesn’t reply, not even to keep me happy, but merely asking the question does it for me.

Weird huh.

What is your muse?

Some swear by the thought for a day and word for a day pages. Give the one minute writer a try.

http://oneminutewriter.blogspot.com
Similar to page Write or die Michelle mentioned (which I prefer) this gives you a bit of an idea boost first.

Oh, and feel free to drop by my homepage to see my new book covers. We are working on the idea that you want buyers to give them the once over at least twice.

http://shayton.net

Let me know what you think

Moving forward

For me, if I open my laptop to find a wrapped up scene or chapter, I can flounder around for a little while unit I get back onto my train of thought (pardon the train pun).  So, I like to finish mid scene (I did that this morning as my train pulled into my destination) so that when I start again this afternoon my brain has a “oh, that’s right….” moment and I’ll be up and running again.

I also have a list of highlighted dot points at the bottom of my manuscript which are a combination of ideas and reminders.  The reminders are there to prompt me about what needs to happen in the story -  loose ends if you like.   I add to these reminders and ideas all the time when I’m writing and I review and update them regularly.   If I’m on a roll I get an idea about a previous chapter, I’ll do a quick key word search, highlight the chunk of text I want to revisit and then pop back down to where I was.  That way I don’t lose the flow but I’ve made a note of what I want to revisit.

When I’m not in front of my computer, I’ll make a note in my mobile phone, write something on a piece of paper (although these tend to get lost) or, in the case of last night when I was in bed, I promise myself that I’ll remember in the morning (this is the most risky of my methods but it worked today).

All in all though, I try to keep (or at least transfer) all my notes into my manuscript and leave myself halfway through a scene.   That seems to work well for me.

New Year goals

I wish I could say I’m publising this a day late because I want to make sure my New Year goals post is timely (it’s NYE here in Sydney).  Truth is, I lost track of the days and forgot to do it yesterday.  The luxury of holidays…

So over the last week and a bit, I’ve noticed that i’ve been processing all that’s happened this year.  It’s been a pretty challenging one for me personally and I think it’s important to acknowledge that.   I’m hoping that after tonight’s blue moon, I’ll feel a little more able to let go of 2009 and all its challenges. 

Jenny Henkins (on behalf of a Yahoo writing group) e-mailed some ideas for letting go of 2009 and starting 2010 with purpose.  

EVALUATE:
What were your GOALS for 2009?

Writing goal was to land and editor/publisher.

Personal goal was to secure a new job.

 

What did you accomplish in 2009?

Secured a new job (dream job in fact).

Edited novel.

 

What did you attempt but didn’t work out so well?

Unable to secure an editor/publisher for non-fiction MS.

 

What changes do you need to make?

Continue editing fiction, start querying on that.  Take another look at the non-fiction – might need to change the tone.

DETERMINE:
What are your writing goals for 2010?

Finish the fiction MS and non-fiction text to a level where they are HOT and sell themselves.

Start writing my (crime) novel.

Select an overall target goal for the year.

Secure a publishing deal for either or both works.

What steps do you need to take to accomplish these goals on a daily, weekly, monthly basis?

Daily:  Keep editing and be open to new ideas.  Keep striving for greatness in my writing.

Weekly:  Researching and create a list of target editors/publishers for the work.

Monthly: Send out queries and keep sending them out.

How about you?  What has 2009 brought and what are you looking to achieve in 2010?

 

Wicked

I can’t believe how much I’m loving my manuscript right now.   My editing remains consistent so I’m steadily working my way through the book – I’m in the last quarter. 

Before I began editing, I had this mental image of my manuscript as being almost salvageable.  I now realise that not only was that my procrastination talking, I was completely wrong.

The upside of my procrastination (I can only see an upside now that i’ve overcome it…..) is that I’d rested the MS for so long I’d forgotten a lot of the detail.   So this morning as i tapped away on the train, i actually burst out laughing.  That’s gotta be a good thing huh?

I guess what i’m trying to say is….my best tip for overcoming writers block is to schedule writing into your day.  Pick a time that suits you and work at that time – for a designated period.  Then put your work away and come back the next day and chip away a bit more.  It’s amazing how much those little sessions add up.

I’ve fallen back in love with writing.  It’s wicked!

Keep going

I’ve recently taken to doing 10 minute meditations first thing in the morning before work.  (Yes, even before I pour myself a coffee.)  My inner voice has been whispering to me for a while (*ahem* years) to sit down and listen.  

All the meditations I’m doing at the moment are based on the Chakras and they’re all from Youtube (because I get bored doing the same ones over and over).   

Like most meditation novices, my unruley mind wanders off a lot but that’s ok, I know this will improve with practice.  This morning, I tried a new guided Chakra Flower meditation.  It was lovely all the way through and I was able to focus better than usual.  At the end, the narrator said it was time to  receive a gift from a higher power.  The gift could be an image, an idea, a feeling – anything at all.   

My gift was two words “keep going”.  Timely really because I feel like I’m not getting anywhere with my writing and I’ve had another setback with my health this week. 

But the message was clear so I’m going to keep going.  I’m going to keep putting one foot in front of the other and do the next indicated thing…which right now is to get this post loaded up on-time.

Dream it

. Stuck for inspiration? No idea where your story is going to go next? No idea how that important scene will play out? There’s only one thing to do.

Go to sleep.

Almost every Twilight fan knows the inspiration for Twilight came to Stephanie Meyer in a dream. You may know that when Charlotte Bronte wasn’t sure how to write a scene, she would try to dream it. Many of Tanith Lee’s short stories are just her dreams, written down. One of my most popular Stargate fanfics came to me entirely in a dream (Ahem – bit of self-publicity here -

Alone In The Darkness;

Here’s a few tricks to use your dreams in your writing.
1) Keep a dream book by the bed, and write down your dreams as soon as you wake up. You may think you’ll never forget such a wonderful dream, but you will, and very quickly.
2) If you want to dream of a specific thing, for example, dragons, you’ll need to program yourself. This is the technique Charlotte Bronte used (it’s also good for programming yourself to wake up at a certain time). Lie in bed, get comfortable, and breathe deeply. As you breathe out, think about what you want to dream about eg ‘dragons and fairies’. On your second breath, think ‘Remember the dream’. Do this three times, or more if you can. This doesn’t always work straight away – Miss Bronte had to do it three times before she dreamt Lucy’s drug trip in Villette.
3) Make sure you’re going to have an uninterrupted night. Don’t eat before bed (unless, like me, you’re a horror writer, and want a nightmare. In that case, I highly recommend cheese). Make sure you’re warm and cosy, go to the toilet before bed, and try to choose a night where you won’t be woken by an alarm. There’s nothing worst than having a fantastic dream shattered just before that vital moment (like the 1950′s mystery dream I had, with the dashing detective – I was woken up just before the murderer was revealed!)
4) Practice. Dream programming, and even remembering your dreams, does not come overnight (so to speak….). You need to regularly be trying this. But when you do, you’ll be amazed what your subconscious plays out before your eyes in the night – and you’ll be so eager to get it on the page.

Happy dreaming!

How do You Get Ready to Write?

I have a couple of links I want to give you before I begin.

First off, I wanted to tell everyone about the Muse Online Writer’s Conference.  I am not affiiated with it, not teaching anything on it, but dang–this looks good, folks! These are free workshops designed for just about any writer out there. There are workshops on description, on query letters, on websites and well, you get the picture and I don’t want to violate the Rule of Three here. It all occurs the week of October 13th and did I mention Free? It’s free.

Another link I just want to mention is Mystery Reader’s Journal. Editor, Janet Rudolf is looking for articles and essays around her upcoming themes: Crime for the Holidays, African mysteries and the one with a deadline of Aug. 25th– mysteries set in San Francisco. Check the website for more details.

All of which leads me to what I’ve been thinking about–writing, specifically how to be more productive at it. As a matter of fact, I’ve been doing more thinking than writing. What got me started on this is a blog I read where the author was going to plan his day’s writing during his morning run. If you are this blogger, let me know, I’d love to post a trackback to you but I can’t find the blog anymore.

Anyway, as some of you know, I run and I do try to think about my writing while I run, but for some reason none of it is ever memorable AFTER the run. I don’t know if this is a comment on my planning abilities or my workout. Shoot, maybe I’m just “in the zone”–or zoned out. Anyway, so now I’m thinking, my MP3 has a recording feature, maybe I could just record any great writing ideas while I’m running. I’ll let you know how that works.

I’ve heard of writers who keep a notepad in their pockets and by their beds in case inspiration strikes. One woman I know plans everything in the shower. My husband tells me –forget that–I take long enough in there! Where and when do you plan your writing? Or do you just sit down and write? Tell All!