Alissa Baxter's Blog, page 10
January 19, 2013
Details are Important in Books, Love and Life
Writing a novel requires you to have two very distinct abilities. You have to be able to see the big picture, as you imagine your story from start to finish. It’s like a giant arch, with the story starting off on one end, stretching to the heavens and then curving down towards the other end.
The second skill that you need is to be able to see the details in each scene… the paving stones of the giant arch, if you will.
I remember when I started writing my first novel, I was in such a hurry to get to the end of the story. I felt a sense of urgency as I pictured the whole book in my mind, and I wanted to get it all down on paper as quickly as possible.
I learned, however, as the actual process of writing slowed me down, that you can’t hurry writing a book. You can certainly write a story in a short amount of time, if you’re a fast writer, but there’s no way you can write a book overnight. It’s imperative to allow yourself time to write each chapter and to focus on the details of constructing it while enjoying the entire process.
Certainly having the desire (and the drive) to finish a book in a reasonable amount of time is important, otherwise you could end up with a pile of half-written manuscripts at the back of a drawer; but hurrying the process of writing while thinking only about your end goal doesn’t work when you’re constructing a piece of literature.
The same lesson applies to life, I believe. It’s good to have an overriding idea of the kind of life you want to lead over the next fifty years, but if you don’t live in the moment and find joy in details, your life will have a harried, unfulfilled aspect to it.
If you think of life only as a series of goal posts (or future chapters) you miss out on all the fun involved in zigzagging in a certain direction, and going off on totally unexpected tangents.
Sometimes when I’m writing a book and my story goes off in an unexpected direction, instead of reining it back in and sticking to the rigid outline of my synopsis, I follow that tangent, even though I have no idea where it’s going.
In relationships, people can be in a hurry to reach a predetermined goal post, where they’re more interested in the outcome of a relationship than anything else. But if you’re in too much of a hurry to get to the HEA (Happily Ever After) of your love story, you miss out on all the fun of progressing through the different stages of a relationship… the scary, yet exciting beginnings which lead into the more settled getting-to-know-you stages, and then the full-grown love that matures only over time as you grow to actually love someone as opposed to just feeling in love.
Learning patience in writing – and life and love – isn’t easy, but as you slow down and savour each detail, you could end up with a masterpiece on your hands.
The second skill that you need is to be able to see the details in each scene… the paving stones of the giant arch, if you will.
I remember when I started writing my first novel, I was in such a hurry to get to the end of the story. I felt a sense of urgency as I pictured the whole book in my mind, and I wanted to get it all down on paper as quickly as possible.
I learned, however, as the actual process of writing slowed me down, that you can’t hurry writing a book. You can certainly write a story in a short amount of time, if you’re a fast writer, but there’s no way you can write a book overnight. It’s imperative to allow yourself time to write each chapter and to focus on the details of constructing it while enjoying the entire process.
Certainly having the desire (and the drive) to finish a book in a reasonable amount of time is important, otherwise you could end up with a pile of half-written manuscripts at the back of a drawer; but hurrying the process of writing while thinking only about your end goal doesn’t work when you’re constructing a piece of literature.
The same lesson applies to life, I believe. It’s good to have an overriding idea of the kind of life you want to lead over the next fifty years, but if you don’t live in the moment and find joy in details, your life will have a harried, unfulfilled aspect to it.
If you think of life only as a series of goal posts (or future chapters) you miss out on all the fun involved in zigzagging in a certain direction, and going off on totally unexpected tangents.
Sometimes when I’m writing a book and my story goes off in an unexpected direction, instead of reining it back in and sticking to the rigid outline of my synopsis, I follow that tangent, even though I have no idea where it’s going.
In relationships, people can be in a hurry to reach a predetermined goal post, where they’re more interested in the outcome of a relationship than anything else. But if you’re in too much of a hurry to get to the HEA (Happily Ever After) of your love story, you miss out on all the fun of progressing through the different stages of a relationship… the scary, yet exciting beginnings which lead into the more settled getting-to-know-you stages, and then the full-grown love that matures only over time as you grow to actually love someone as opposed to just feeling in love.
Learning patience in writing – and life and love – isn’t easy, but as you slow down and savour each detail, you could end up with a masterpiece on your hands.
January 14, 2013
An Interview with Kathy Bosman
A warm welcome to guest author Kathy Bosman, whose novella Reminding Me of You was released on 1 January 2013 by Astraea Press. Kathy is giving away a PDF copy of her book to one lucky commenter on this post.
You can find her blog and links to buy her other books on her website: www.authorkathybosman.weebly.com
So, tell us a bit about Reminding Me of You:
It’s a fun, flirty novella with a Valentine’s Day theme - a short, fast-moving read for a Sunday afternoon. It also has a twist on the classic love triangle trope. Mia is about to leave for a vacation to London to get away from her home town and explore the world. She promised herself that if she didn’t find love before she left, she would extend her vacation for a year. While filling in at her friend’s card and gift shop on Valentine’s Day, the day before she leaves, she meets a dashing young man who writes out a romantic card in front of her. She only discovers that the card was meant for her on the way to London. Once in London, she wonders if she should have stayed in Gooding because she can’t get this man out her mind. When Bryn, his look-a-like, comes into the nursery where she works, they go to Paris together for a sight-seeing trip. Mia enjoys Bryn’s company but all the time longs for Luke, the “card guy.” Her memories have a strange effect on her, even when she finds Luke eventually. Will she choose the man she fell in love with at first sight, or the man that was there with her on her travelling adventures?
What inspired you to write Reminding Me of You?
Reminding Me of You was partly inspired by a '70s song, All Kinds of Everything, by Dana (I had to change the title of the song in my book though). I hadn’t heard of the song until it was mentioned on the TV show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. I decided to look it up and the book transformed from there.
What did you enjoy most about writing Reminding Me of You?
One of the most fun parts of writing this book was researching the setting. Part of the book is set in Paris and it was such fun researching the Eiffel Tower and Paris confectionery.
Here is an excerpt from Kathy’s novella, which is available from Astraea Press, Amazon, Smashwords, All Romance Ebooks, and Barnes and Noble Nook Books.
“Hi.”Mia turned around to see a customer silhouetted at the doorway by the light from outside. “Hi. Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”A man walked toward her, and as he came out of the light from outside, his features sharpened.Mia gasped. “Luke.”“I’m sorry?” The man said in a thick Welsh accent.Had she gone mad? It had finally gone to her head.He came up to her and smiled. “You’re staring at me strangely. Do I smell bad or something?”“You look just like Luke.”“Who is Luke?”He was just as tall, his hair was longish, spikey and flopped down in the gentle breeze wafting in the door, just like “card guy’s” had when he wrote the card. The picture of him writing the card with the pen in his mouth, deep in thought about how to express his feelings for her, flashed through her mind. She shook her head.“You’re messing me around, aren’t you? But I didn’t expect to find you here in London.”The guy grinned, showing off a row of large, straight teeth. He was dressed way more casual than “card guy.” Maybe this was his twin.“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else. Obviously someone that’s important to you.”“I think he is. You’re not related to a man called Luke – an American?”“If I am, I don’t know about it.” The man rested his elbow on the counter and twiddled with some flower bookmarks. His eyes were fixed on her; they were dark and twinkly.Mia couldn’t fathom this not being Luke, the “card guy.” They were just too alike.“You didn’t write me a card to say how beautiful I am?”The man flushed a little, and she was surprised at his embarrassment. “Card guy” had seemed so calm and poised.“It wouldn’t be a bad idea.” He cleared his throat as if he regretted saying that and stood up straight. “Um… do you have any silk tulips and daffodils?”Mia twisted her mouth to the side. How uncanny, almost magical in a wicked sense, that the man she’d been dreaming about for months had come into her work, yet somehow didn’t talk like him or act like him?“We sell bunches separately. Is that okay?”“It’s my mum’s birthday, and her favorite song is “This, That, and Everything Reminds Me of You” by Deely Dee, so I decided to buy her some tulips and daffodils.”“I don’t know that song.”“You should listen to it. It’s really quaint, but old.”“Okay.” She stared at him for a moment, trying to reconcile the thoughtful, deep man with the casual, blabbermouth before her. Maybe she’d developed an idea of what Luke would be like, but she didn’t really know him. That’s why she’d tried to push the wistful dreams about him to the back of her mind. He may have thought she was the one, but he also didn’t know her. Yet, love at first sight did happen. It was rare, but it happened. It had happened to her. Instincts told her what he was like – they told her he was perfect.
You can find her blog and links to buy her other books on her website: www.authorkathybosman.weebly.com
So, tell us a bit about Reminding Me of You:
It’s a fun, flirty novella with a Valentine’s Day theme - a short, fast-moving read for a Sunday afternoon. It also has a twist on the classic love triangle trope. Mia is about to leave for a vacation to London to get away from her home town and explore the world. She promised herself that if she didn’t find love before she left, she would extend her vacation for a year. While filling in at her friend’s card and gift shop on Valentine’s Day, the day before she leaves, she meets a dashing young man who writes out a romantic card in front of her. She only discovers that the card was meant for her on the way to London. Once in London, she wonders if she should have stayed in Gooding because she can’t get this man out her mind. When Bryn, his look-a-like, comes into the nursery where she works, they go to Paris together for a sight-seeing trip. Mia enjoys Bryn’s company but all the time longs for Luke, the “card guy.” Her memories have a strange effect on her, even when she finds Luke eventually. Will she choose the man she fell in love with at first sight, or the man that was there with her on her travelling adventures?
What inspired you to write Reminding Me of You?
Reminding Me of You was partly inspired by a '70s song, All Kinds of Everything, by Dana (I had to change the title of the song in my book though). I hadn’t heard of the song until it was mentioned on the TV show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. I decided to look it up and the book transformed from there.
What did you enjoy most about writing Reminding Me of You?
One of the most fun parts of writing this book was researching the setting. Part of the book is set in Paris and it was such fun researching the Eiffel Tower and Paris confectionery.
Here is an excerpt from Kathy’s novella, which is available from Astraea Press, Amazon, Smashwords, All Romance Ebooks, and Barnes and Noble Nook Books.
“Hi.”Mia turned around to see a customer silhouetted at the doorway by the light from outside. “Hi. Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”A man walked toward her, and as he came out of the light from outside, his features sharpened.Mia gasped. “Luke.”“I’m sorry?” The man said in a thick Welsh accent.Had she gone mad? It had finally gone to her head.He came up to her and smiled. “You’re staring at me strangely. Do I smell bad or something?”“You look just like Luke.”“Who is Luke?”He was just as tall, his hair was longish, spikey and flopped down in the gentle breeze wafting in the door, just like “card guy’s” had when he wrote the card. The picture of him writing the card with the pen in his mouth, deep in thought about how to express his feelings for her, flashed through her mind. She shook her head.“You’re messing me around, aren’t you? But I didn’t expect to find you here in London.”The guy grinned, showing off a row of large, straight teeth. He was dressed way more casual than “card guy.” Maybe this was his twin.“I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else. Obviously someone that’s important to you.”“I think he is. You’re not related to a man called Luke – an American?”“If I am, I don’t know about it.” The man rested his elbow on the counter and twiddled with some flower bookmarks. His eyes were fixed on her; they were dark and twinkly.Mia couldn’t fathom this not being Luke, the “card guy.” They were just too alike.“You didn’t write me a card to say how beautiful I am?”The man flushed a little, and she was surprised at his embarrassment. “Card guy” had seemed so calm and poised.“It wouldn’t be a bad idea.” He cleared his throat as if he regretted saying that and stood up straight. “Um… do you have any silk tulips and daffodils?”Mia twisted her mouth to the side. How uncanny, almost magical in a wicked sense, that the man she’d been dreaming about for months had come into her work, yet somehow didn’t talk like him or act like him?“We sell bunches separately. Is that okay?”“It’s my mum’s birthday, and her favorite song is “This, That, and Everything Reminds Me of You” by Deely Dee, so I decided to buy her some tulips and daffodils.”“I don’t know that song.”“You should listen to it. It’s really quaint, but old.”“Okay.” She stared at him for a moment, trying to reconcile the thoughtful, deep man with the casual, blabbermouth before her. Maybe she’d developed an idea of what Luke would be like, but she didn’t really know him. That’s why she’d tried to push the wistful dreams about him to the back of her mind. He may have thought she was the one, but he also didn’t know her. Yet, love at first sight did happen. It was rare, but it happened. It had happened to her. Instincts told her what he was like – they told her he was perfect.
January 8, 2013
Writing is not simply putting words on a page
Writing is not simply putting words on a page. The process of writing begins somewhere else, and the words on the page are the result of this process. So where does the process begin for me? I’m not actually sure. My first book, The Dashing Debutante, came into being because a funny piece of dialogue popped into my brain, and I built the entire story around this piece of dialogue. The story appeared in my mind, in pictures, and I translated those pictures into words typed on a page. But the story had been germinating in my mind for a long time before that.
Words, thoughts, ideas, fragments of conversations, startling realisations, wise sayings, other writers’ words, interesting concepts, dreams, mind paintings, different philosophies, and the ongoing analysis of relationships, all form part of the process of writing for me. I’m not only writing when I’m seated at my desk in front of my computer. I’m “writing” when I’m standing in the check out queue in the supermarket or reading a book, or when I overhear an interesting piece of dialogue in a coffee shop. I can “write” when I’m at the movies, or when I’m dreaming, or when I’m walking around my neighbourhood or running on a treadmill at gym.
Writers are constantly involved in the process of writing. We live it, and from somewhere in our deep subconscious, and often when it’s least expected, a book will rise to the surface, slowly separating into form, rather like cream rising to the top, separating from milk. And when it becomes substance in the form of words, the process of writing ends, rather than begins, when the words are typed onto a page.
Words, thoughts, ideas, fragments of conversations, startling realisations, wise sayings, other writers’ words, interesting concepts, dreams, mind paintings, different philosophies, and the ongoing analysis of relationships, all form part of the process of writing for me. I’m not only writing when I’m seated at my desk in front of my computer. I’m “writing” when I’m standing in the check out queue in the supermarket or reading a book, or when I overhear an interesting piece of dialogue in a coffee shop. I can “write” when I’m at the movies, or when I’m dreaming, or when I’m walking around my neighbourhood or running on a treadmill at gym.
Writers are constantly involved in the process of writing. We live it, and from somewhere in our deep subconscious, and often when it’s least expected, a book will rise to the surface, slowly separating into form, rather like cream rising to the top, separating from milk. And when it becomes substance in the form of words, the process of writing ends, rather than begins, when the words are typed onto a page.
