April Davila's Blog, page 18

Make Time For Your Writing

Making time for writing is a theme I’ve circled back to over and over on this blog. What I’ve come to realize is that it’s not a static challenge. Every time life throws a change our way, we have to reconsider our routines, commitments, and priorities – and over the last 18 months, life has thrown a lot of changes at all of us.

For me, the most recent challenge is the resumption of a busy (kind of) post-covid life. The kids are back in school, which should mean I have plenty of time to write, but I also launched a whole new online writing community during the pandemic and somehow I recently found myself struggling to find time to write. Again.

Well, it took me a few weeks, but I’m finally getting my feet under me, and (as I so often do) I thought I’d share a few things I’ve learned that helped.

1. I don’t have to do everything myself

I know, shocker, right? But when school started up again I realized that I had always done all the school drop-offs and pick-ups on my own. How did that happen? My husband never asked me to do all of that on my own. He never even implied that I should. I just did it. But the truth is, I write best in the mornings. By the afternoon my brain is pretty much shot anyway.

So I proposed to my husband, a few days before school started, that he do drop-offs in the morning and I do pick-ups in the afternoon. He gets some extra time with the kids and I get to jump into my writing while my brain is eager and ready. This is not rocket science. And while I know not everyone has the benefit of an in-house partner, I would encourage you to think about how you can ask for help. Maybe it’s a carpool. Maybe it’s a dog-walker (if your kids have four legs). Don’t be afraid to ask for and/or hire help.

2. Block off time for your writing

One of the things I noticed pretty quickly was that, even though I intended to write through the morning, something came up – like, every day. Doctor’s appointments, calls with the kids’ teachers, a walk with a friend. In truth, I was getting very little writing done. To remedy the situation, I started blocking off four hours a day on my calendar for my writing.

From 8 to noon, there’s a big orange bar that says “novel” and it’s worked pretty well. Now when someone asks when I’m available, I look at my calendar and the only available times I see are after noon (or before 8 – for my fellow early-risers). And four hours is a lot. I don’t spend all four hours writing. Sometimes I’m doing research or editing. But the goal is not to open my email, answer my phone, or leave my desk (except for coffee) until noon and I am finally getting some serious writing done.

3. Decide who gets disappointed

This is a big one. Paulette, my amazing co-founder over at A Very Important Meeting shared this one with me. She said: “Someone is always going to be disappointed. Make sure it’s not always you.”

Mind: blown.

Because it’s so true. Someone is always disappointed and somehow, long ago, I internalized this idea that it should be. I put my writing at the bottom of my list for “when I can get to it” and guess what – I never did. These days, when I sit down to write and something comes up I take a moment before I respond to consider – am I going to let this person down? Or am I going to let myself down by dropping what I’m doing to help them?

Now, if my husband or my kids really need me for something, I show up. But if it truly is something that could wait, I choose to give myself the time and do my effing writing.

Case in point: I meant to finish this blog post yesterday, but I spent four hours writing instead and didn’t get it done until today. So to the all the readers who were pulling their hair out and moaning why, oh why, didn’t this blog post go live Wednesday morning like they usually do – I apologize. It was your turn to be disappointed. It was my turn to write 1,495 words on my novel. No regrets.

4. Resist your email

I know this one won’t actually be an option for everyone, but hear me out. Try not checking your email.

As I said, I write in the mornings and one of the fastest ways I get derailed is by opening my email and getting caught up in responding to something that could TOTALLY wait, but somehow seems urgent. The truth is, my emails are not urgent. Ever.

And yet, it’s still really hard to not check my email first thing when I sit down at my desk. To stack the odds in my favor, I’ve started closing my web browser at the end of the day and opening my Scrivener file so that when I sit down in the morning, I can get straight to work.

I’ve also found that it’s helpful to meditate for a few minutes before I write, just to dissipate the anxiety I feel around being so selfish as to focus on my own work for four hours before checking in with the most urgent needs of the PTA and their “mandatory volunteer” sign-up forms. (I swear, every time I hear that phrase…)

Anyway, it’s been pretty challenging, but totally worth it. I highly recommend you give it a go.

How about you? What invades your writing time most often? How do you deal? Would love to hear from the other writers out there as we all adjust to this (kind of) post-covid world.

7 Tips for Working with Beta Readers

Over the years, as I have collected feedback on many, many drafts. Along the way I’ve learned a few things about how to work with beta readers. Here are my top 7 tips for working with beta readers.

1. Choose a Reader in Your Genre

The first and most important qualification in a beta reader is that they read books, lots of them. There is simply no way a person can give you feedback on how your book measures up to real, published books if they haven’t read one in a decade. Also, choose at least one beta readers who is a big fan of the genre you’re writing in. They will help you spot areas where your story deviates from the conventions of the genre.

2. Also, Don’t

On the flip side, I try to pick one beta reader who does not specialize in the type of writing I do. For instance, my husband is a screenwriter and he is my go-to guy for plot and dialogue. He can appreciate the finer nuances of literary fiction, sure, but where his feedback excels is with character motivations.

3. Pay Them?

For the most part, I don’t pay beta readers. They are generally people who love me and/or people for whom I will, at some point, be a beta reader. But there are exceptions. On my most recent book, which is largely historical, I wanted both topic experts and sensitivity readers. These were not friends or fellow writers. They were people who took time out of their busy lives to read some or (in some cases) all of my manuscript. Out of respect for that, I offered modest payment. The most I paid was $200, plus acknowledgments in the finished book. I would have loved to pay more, and some day when I’m a big time, best-selling author, I’m sure I will, but that’s what I could swing this time around.

4. Plan Ahead

Ask well ahead of time. This is important if you are trying to keep momentum up on your project. If you’re planning to have a draft done next month, ask a potential beta reader if they will be available to spend some time reading your book and giving you feedback. If it’s a hectic time for them, you can assure them they will get to read it at some point and just find someone else.

5. Take Your Beta Readers to Dinner

When they’re ready to give you feedback, buy them some food. The great thing about this strategy (besides just being a nice thing to do for your beta reader) is that it locks them in for a set period of time. You’ll go over their official notes, but then, as you eat, the conversation will continue and sometimes things come up that might not have gotten a mention otherwise.

6. Stay Quiet

Never, ever, explain or defend your writing. If your reader missed a key plot point or a thematic element, it’s on you. If they say “I don’t get why…” just make a note and say “okay, I’ll look at that.” And if all of your readers didn’t get it, it wasn’t on the page. Now you know what needs editing. This is a good thing.

7. Keep it Manageable

Limit the number of beta readers you choose. I know, this one is hard. People want to read your book. You’ve been working on it FOREVER and they want to be supportive, but believe me, getting feedback from ten people is a waste of time. They will contradict each other and you will be overwhelmed. Try for 3 or 5, no more. I like an odd number in case they disagree on a major point – it allows me to consider which way the majority went.

Write On

Once you’ve got the feedback in hand, take a deep breath and dig in. You are doing the work. And the feedback from your trusted beta readers is going to help you get us across that finish line. Make those edits, and when you write your acknowledgments, don’t forget to thank them by name.

Parenting Through The Pandemic: The Guide Every Parent Needs Right Now

I’m so excited to share this interview with you. Jacquelyn Lazo is a writer and editorial consultant for higher education and nonprofit organizations. Many months ago she saw the need for a book about parenting through the pandemic and thus was born Comeback Kids: A Pocket Guide to Post-Pandemic Parenting. In her own words:

“I wanted to share concrete strategies and self-help tools explaining how we can cope better in the face of uncertainty, how to recognize and interpret concerning behavior in our children and where to get the support we all need.”

The book is available on Amazon. Here’s my interview with Jacquelyn:

April Dávila: You’ve been at home with a toddler, parenting through the pandemic. How did you find time to write a book? Did you have a regular routine, or did you just grab time when you could?

Jacquelyn Lazo: I’m lucky because I have an incredibly supportive family and a great “village” of friends who cheered me on every step of the way. I could never have written this without my husband Aaron’s constant encouragement – he was always right there playing with our now-2.5-year-old daughter Emma whenever I needed to finish a section, have a call with my co-author or check in with my editor. He’s my rock. Both sets of grandparents pitched in a lot, too.

Near the end of the writing process, my husband and his mom kindly agreed to take care of Emma so I could do a 24-hour mini retreat while housesitting for my parents. That dedicated time was what I needed to push the book over the finish line. Before I can tap into my creativity, I need space to breathe and get into the flow, which is tough to do in short sprints. As a night owl, I often work best when everyone’s sleeping and the world feels still, if even for a little while. Perhaps it’s because technology takes a short rest, so I feel like I don’t need to be engaging with it when the moon is up.

I wish I could say I had a regular routine, but I grabbed time when I could. Because my daughter Emma was only 10 months old when the pandemic began, I had more free time than most parents, I’d imagine. I also had a fairly flexible work schedule as an editorial and communications consultant, and I didn’t have to juggle homeschooling. I was amazed by the outpouring of support and encouragement I received from so many people who offered to help because they believed in the project. That was deeply meaningful and kept me going even when I was exhausted.

AD: Was there a specific event that motivated you to write this book? Or was it more of a general recognition that none of us has any idea how to parent through the pandemic?

JL: It was a bit of both. I wrote this resource guide because I was really worried and confused last spring. Then I started talking to other parents, caregivers and people I knew and quickly realized I wasn’t alone. We all had the same fears. Last April, one of my friends mentioned that her 10-year-old daughter was very distraught. After her birthday party was cancelled because of lockdown, she began to become withdrawn and anxious. Her behavior was very out-of-character, and my friend said she didn’t know where to begin or whether what her daughter was experiencing was “normal” or not. I’ve come back to that story time and again while writing this book because in many ways I wrote it for her and for all the other parents who are feeling unsure, worried and overwhelmed. I knew she didn’t want (or have time) to read a clinical book – she wanted an approachable guide written by parents, for parents. So that’s what my co-author and I tried to create.

I’ve been passionate about promoting the importance of kids’ social and emotional wellbeing for a while, so I was acutely aware of how dire the mental health crisis was in our country for kids before 2020. I also knew the situation would undoubtedly get worse as a result of the pandemic. Parents and caregivers needed a lifeline, especially because so many of the people who normally help them figure out what’s going on with their children and then aid them in getting the right treatment weren’t seeing kids regularly during the pandemic. I’m talking about teachers, school counselors, mental health experts and others. That was especially true for families where the kids had already been diagnosed with mental health or behavioral issues including autism, anxiety and depression. 

When I couldn’t find anything like that, I started to think about how I, as someone who loves to write and communicate, could help. Since I don’t have a clinical background, I partnered with my phenomenal co-author, Dr. Frank DePietro, medical director of the child and adolescent in-patient program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School’s Western Psychiatric Hospital.

AD: I heard you started out writing a children’s book. How did you end up with a parents’ resource guide instead?

JL: I actually started out writing what I assumed would be a children’s book because I wanted to hear from children of all ages and elevate their voices. The media rarely highlights what our kids are thinking and feeling – everything is usually filtered through an adult’s perspective (especially in the case of littler kids). So I shared a short, five-question survey for parents and caregivers to do with their kids and asked them to distribute it to other people they knew. I also partnered with nonprofits, school counselors and teachers to try to get a more inclusive representation of how kids from all different backgrounds and life circumstances were feeling. 

When I shared the responses with Dr. DePietro, he pointed out that much of the responses about seemed to be an echo of what kids were hearing at home. With that in mind, we decided the best way to help kids cope was to begin by offering their parents some practical advice on parenting through the pandemic. That’s how the book begins – with tips for adults on how to recognize and process their own feelings. If parents or caregivers are struggling, kids are most likely struggling. We wanted to start at the source.

AD: Was there anything you found in your research for the book that surprised you?

JL: The thing that both surprised and delighted me and my co-author the most was how hopeful so many of the kids we surveyed were despite the difficult circumstances. It wasn’t as if they weren’t aware of what was going on – in fact, Dr. DePietro noted that this next generation is more socially conscious than any he’s seen before. It was that they were able to focus on what mattered most to them – helping others (in ways both big and small), spending time with their families and being kind. 

I am a firm believer in the incredible power of kindness. I still smile every time I think about the survey responses we got because I truly believe we have the honor of raising Generation Kind (or Gen K, as I like to think of them). Every kid, no matter what age they are, understands what it means to be kind. As caregivers, we have a responsibility to foster that and talk to our kids about concrete ways we can all act with kindness toward others. Every gesture – no matter how small – counts.

AD: In the book you talk about celebrating small wins. What’s a small win you and your family have celebrated recently?

JL: Emma was diagnosed with a speech delay when she was 18 months old. We’ve been working with a fabulous speech therapist since then. When Emma turned two, we learned that she’d gained a year’s worth of speech development in only six months! It felt like such a win, especially since we can see how hard Emma works to communicate every single day. She’s been a real trooper, and we’re so proud of her.

Another “win” was when we learned (courtesy of Emma) we’d adopted four “imaginary” pandemic puppies: Ben, Jeff, Huck and Rid (not a spelling error)! Turns out adopting imaginary pets is a fantastic way to go – no training, walking or feeding required. And you don’t have to constantly vacuum up dog hair. The downside is they’re tough to snuggle.

AD: What has been the hardest thing, for you personally, about parenting through the pandemic?

JL: Remembering to take the advice we offer in the book to heart in the midst of exhaustion, fear and confusion. I dog-eared some pages so I can go back to them when I need a reminder. And I go through the worry list practice we mention in the first section on an almost daily basis.

AD: And on the flip side, what has been the best thing, for you personally, about parenting through the pandemic?

JL: Emma, Aaron and I have gotten to spend so much quality time with our extended family. My parents and grandfather live nearby, which is incredible, and Aaron’s side of the family comes to visit whenever they can. 

The other day I caught Emma sharing her crayons with her great grandfather while they colored together.

AD: What’s one thing you learned while writing this book that you think would make for great fiction?

JL: After hearing how socially and emotionally smart this next generation already is based on their survey responses, I think a story along the lines of “Benjamin Button meets the Justice League” could be interesting. We have a lot to learn from our littles. We just rarely make the time to listen. Perhaps if our superheroes aged backwards it would make more sense. But I’m a poet, not a fiction writer. Now you know why

P.S. I also learned that telling toddlers “not” to do something is like rehearsing David Ives’ play, “The Philadelphia.” They always do the exact opposite.

Okay, lightning round:

AD: Coffee or tea?
JL: Chai tea or coffee with some vanilla creamer (yum…)

AD: Whiskey or vodka?
JL: I’m a Sapphire gin kind of gal.

AD: Hemsworth or Gosling?
JL: Hemsworth (but Baby Goose is a close second)

AD: Sneaked or snuck?
JL: Snuck. Sneaked is not even a consideration.

AD: Wetsuit or bathrobe?
JL: Where are we exactly? Because if we’re in the ocean or sailing, it’s a wetsuit all the way. But if it’s a lazy Sunday at home, I’m definitely going to go with a fuzzy bathrobe. If it’s a random Wednesday, and I’m working from home, I’d say polka-dotted pajama shorts and a tee-shirt (as long as I don’t have any Zoom calls, in which case I’ll toss on something up top that’s a little more sophisticated, some studs and the necklace my husband gave me in honor of our daughter).

Check out Comeback Kids on Amazon and get your copy today. Jacquelyn is also doing workshops, Q&As and presentations on parenting through the pandemic, working with parents’ groups, PTAs and other parent or counseling associations centered around the actionable ways in which parents and caregivers can learn to manage their own worries and stresses who also helping their kids cope. For more information, please contact her at info@comeback-kids.com or check out this flyer. 

You can also follow the Comeback Kids on Facebook or Instagram

News to Share

Just a quick post today, to share some fun news about upcoming events.

Jump to readings.

Upcoming Conferences

In the next few months I will be teaching a few different conferences and retreats.

Write on the Sound: Understanding Narrative Structure

In this session participants will explore the difference between structure and plot, examine seven traditional story structures, and discuss how writers in various genres utilize these structures in unique and creative ways. Strengths and weaknesses of each structure will be discussed and participants will examine which structures are most often employed in specific genres. Read more…

Saturday, October 2, 2021, 4:30-5:45pm PST

Online – Register for the conference here

Writer’s Digest Novel Writing Conference: Demystifying Scrivener

This live and interactive demonstration is aimed at teaching writers everything they need to know to get up and running with the Scrivener writing software in ten minutes flat. The remainder of the session will be dedicated to learning the advanced features of the program that make it such a valuable resource.

October 21-24, 2021, schedule forthcoming

In-person conference (Covid allowing) in the City of Pasadena. Register here.

Find Your Creative Flow at Rancho La Puerta

This week-long program series, held at the gorgeous Rancho La Puerta resort, explores the intersection of concentration and creativity through scientific research, mindfulness meditation and artistic practice.

January 15-22, 2022, contact me for details

On-site retreat in Tecate, Mexico

Upcoming Readings

both of these events offer an opportunity for more intimate discussions. The first is online, the second (covid permitting) will be in person.

Pasadena Public Library Presents: Authors & Their Journeys

Author April Dávila presents her book 142 Ostriches.

Wednesday, August 25, 2021, 5pm PST

Online – Register here

One City One Book Award Event

An event honoring 142 Ostriches as the One City One Book Award recipient for 2021.

Sunday, October 24, 2021, 3pm PST

In-person event (Covid allowing) in the City of La Canada, CA

3 Things to Look For in a Historical Fiction Editor

Guest post by Savannah Cordova.

In the 20th century, historical fiction — with its connotations of corsets, society balls, and the sordid streets of Victorian London — was placed firmly in the “genre fiction” category. Aside from a few exceptions, like Toni Morrison’s Beloved or Mary Renault’s ancient Greek tales, people rarely turned to historical novels when they wanted “serious” literature. Instead, it was in the shadow realm of dystopian futures where they tried to make sense of the world.

Increasingly, however, people are returning to history to uncover the path that led us to our current state (those who don’t learn it are doomed to repeat it, and so on). We now dive into forgotten and erased histories — in both fiction and nonfiction — to learn about the many sides of our collective experience and guard against future mistakes, big and small. Books like The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka or A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee prove to be as thought-provoking, albeit in different ways, as the celebrated dystopian fiction of yore.

And the historical fiction of today’s comeback period — which arguably originated with Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, or stretches back even further to authors like Sarah Waters — doesn’t present the past as a prologue or a mere setting, but as a story itself. Forged in the combined fires of real archives and vivid imagination, these stories change the way we access the past and tell stories that bear on the present, capturing the way history has shaped us.

Writing this kind of historical fiction requires, first and foremost, a unique and interesting perception of a time period. But since it’s such an intricate project, a great historical fiction editor is also required (especially for authors looking to self-publish their books) — and to find one, you need to be on the lookout for three key things.

1. A historical fiction editor needs a deep knowledge of the time period

No matter how much of your book is “made up,” historical fact is at the heart of any good historical fiction book. To bring the past to life, every detail has to build the historical context in which the story takes place — which means an awful lot of research.

For this reason, it’s also important that you have an historical fiction editor in your corner who has abundant knowledge of your book’s time period(s). An experienced editor can help you improve the accuracy of your historical setting, and make sure that your characters and plot are feasible given this context. While all historical fiction editors should have an eye for details, one who specializes in the period will have the insight needed to catch finer anachronisms and issues. 

An editor can also help you improve the overall tone of your book by homing in on aspects like dialogue. The question regarding the authenticity of characters’ speech is one detail of historical fiction I’ve seen way too many writers get bogged down in. But the truth (as any good editor will know) is that you won’t shatter any illusions for your readers by failing to replicate historical dialogue exactly.

In fact, it’s more noticeable (and jarring) when a writer chooses to write in a specific dialect, especially if it’s inconsistent. An editor can advise you on adding historical color with the odd word or phrase so that you don’t bend over backwards on fact-checking, and instead can focus on what’s important: the story.

2. An aptitude for storytelling

Speaking of which, despite what I’ve just said about historical context being the foundation of these novels, storytelling remains absolutely critical to the success of any novel. The challenge is to find a balance between the two — which is where a good historical editor comes in.

I’ve already mentioned Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, but this genre-shattering tome is worth another shoutout. What Mantel wrote was effectively a contemporary literary novel (with non-archaic dialogue!) that happened to be cast with Tudors. Though her knowledge of the era runs deeper than we’ll ever truly grasp, she prioritizes a gripping and proximate story.

The line between truth and invention is one that historical fiction authors must be extremely wary of. To tell a complete story, writers are often required to invent lots of details — and when it comes to historical fiction, there are hardly ever enough real figures to give you a full cast of characters to work with. The blurring of fact and fiction is evident in the genre label itself, but is tampering with facts a betrayal of your readers’ trust?

The jury may still be out, but Hilary Mantel would tell you to prioritize a good story above all else. You can creatively tweak, embellish, and invent interactions, characterizations, and storylines in order to entertain a wider audience, all without compromising the realism of the historical setting.

Finding a historical fiction editor who understands what excites readers — and who knows when it’s appropriate to fudge historical accuracy a little — is therefore very important. An editor with plenty of fiction experience, and who can comment on story structure, themes, and plot devices, is far superior to an editor who’s written a thesis on the period but who demonstrates few skills in the craft of storytelling.

3. Relevant experience and collaborative skills

On the note of experience, keep in mind that historical fiction editors are likely to have subgenre specialties as well as period specialties. This genre varies wildly, from historical romance to historical fantasy, from crime fiction to literary fiction. Each subgenre has its own tropes and common practices in plotlines and tone, which you’d want to be aware of as you edit your work.

This means it’s not so simple as just finding historical fiction editors with impressive portfolios and glowing credentials — you’ll also want to look for editors with experience that’s relevant to your project. Relevant experience will always be more important than a large amount of experience (though in a perfect world you’d find an editor with both!), so read editors’ profiles carefully and contact those who have worked on books similar to yours.

As you read through each profile, you should also get a sense of their personality. If you find their voice suits your project and you think you’ll get along, definitely reach out. Editing is highly collaborative and often emotional, so your editor should always be someone you want to work with — not just between the standard lines of your book, but in emails, video calls, and frantic last-minute revisions.

You’ll get an even better idea of whether a given editor is “the one” once you’ve communicated with them. I’d recommend asking for sample edits before sealing the deal. This will tell you more about everything we’ve covered: the editor’s ability to check for historical accuracy, their flair for storytelling, and their personality. It’ll also help you to determine whether they’re excited by the way you’ve accessed the past and the story you’ve decided to tell — the all-important core of any historical fiction novel.

This is a guest post by Savannah Cordova. Savannah Cordova is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects self-publishing authors with the best editors, designers, and marketers in the business. In her spare time, she enjoys reading fiction (both contemporary and historical) and writing short stories.

Writing Emotions

I just finished a book I thought wasn’t very good. That’s not something I do very often, and actually, if you follow along you know I have no qualms about putting a book down if I’m not enjoying it. The thing with this book was that I actually liked the story, but the author (who shall remain anonymous, because I’m not looking to bash anyone – writing a book is hard), had some serious trouble writing emotions.

Hands are not the only body part

Every time something happened to the main character in this book, the author would describe her hands. It was like her hands were the only place in her body where emotions registered. They balled into fists, they clenched, they turned to claws (in more active scenes), and the worst: her fingernails cut little half circles into her palms and drew blood. I mean really, has anyone, EVER actually balled their fists so tightly that they drew their own blood? It’s always been a pet peeve of mine, and after this book, I’ve lost all patience with it.

The reason I was willing to overlook this frequent and highly annoying writerly quirk is that I understand. Writing emotions is tricky. It’s definitely one of the hardest things for me as a writer. Because I can’t just write: she was angry. That’s simply bad writing. So I have to try to find ways to describe the emotion. This falls under the category of “show don’t tell.”

Know it to show it

What makes writing emotions particularly difficult is that we have to able and willing to feel an emotion if we want any hope of actually writing it and frankly, I don’t like feeling angry (or sad, or alone, or…). There are so many emotions I would rather not feel and those are the exact emotions that make a story interesting. A story where no one ever feels a negative emotion isn’t much of a story.

To make the task of writing emotions even more difficult, you have to be able to stay with a yucky feeling long enough to pick it apart, to tease out the details of what it feels like, find the words to describe it, and get those words on the page. To do it well is really hard.

The Emotion Thesaurus

On the recommendation of a friend at A Very Important Meeting, I recently bought myself a book called The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression. It gets super clinical about emotions, breaking down the inward and outward signs of literally hundreds of emotions. Take for instance the entry for Paranoia:

Flinching and startling easilyClenching jawEyes that don’t seem to blink often enoughFacial ticsAlways looking over the shoulder

Notice the lack of hands. The list goes on and on, dipping into internal sensations:

FatigueSensitivity to touch and soundJumpiness

The authors even give a few tips at the end of each entry on things to be careful about when writing each emotion.

Trust your gut

I share this with you not to imply that you NEED this book, but more to offer it as a useful aid. Writing any emotion authentically will require you as the writer to feel it, as it is, in the particular instance of the scene you’re writing and considering the characters you’re representing. There are no shortcuts. But resources like this thesaurus can be a useful starting place. At the very least, it might help you find other ways of describing tension that don’t involve clenched fists. (Please, please, for the love of Steinbeck, stop with the clenched fists.)

You’re a writer. Dig deeper.

An Epic Research Adventure at Western States

I’m back! For those of you who have been following along, you know that I took some time away from my regular blog and freelance writing last month to finish up a draft of novel two and take a five-day trip to Lake Tahoe to do some research for novel three. It was a very busy month and I’m excited to say it was a success.

I will have plenty to say about novel two in the coming months, but right now it’s sitting in a drawer, resting. Whenever I finish a draft I try my best to step away and think about something else for a month. Sometimes that’s difficult, but this time I had an excellent distraction: the Western States Endurance Race.

Western States is a 100 mile race (one of the oldest ultra-running races in the world), starting in Olympic Village and tracing through the trails of the mountains to Auburn, California near Sacramento. I drove up on Wednesday and set up camp at the Silver Creek Truckee Campsite which was way too close to the highway (I could hardly sleep at night for all the noise) and smelled like poo (which was probably just my bad luck to be camped too close to the bathrooms). Thankfully, I didn’t spend much time there.

Pre-Race Festivities

On Thursday I joined a group hike up the first four miles of the course. The key word here is “up.” Guys – I’m no slouch. I walk the dogs a few miles, a few times a week, and I like the big hills, but this trail kicked my ass. It was STRAIGHT UP, for four miles, at altitude. I started at the front of the pack, picking the brains of people who had been to the race before and one women who was running it this year. I was getting all kinds of juicy details, but within half a mile I started struggling. I couldn’t breath. We weren’t even at mile one when I had to wave off the woman I was talking to and catch my breath. By mile three I was at the back of the pack, huffing and puffing.

This is about one mile in, looking back at Olympic Valley.

Most of the group stopped at the end of mile three for a little ceremony the Western States race organizers host wherein they acknowledge the history of the land, from the native Washoe and Nisenan people who live there still to the coming of the miners in the 1850s to the start of the race (as a horse and rider competition) to its evolution into a foot race in 1977. I was grateful for the rest, then tried to push on to the ridge at mile four, but a ranger turned me back at the very end because there were lightning strikes in the area and being up on a bare mountain ridge in a lightning storm is stupid. It’s also kind of stupid to camp in a summer storm, but there were no hotel rooms to be had at that point, so camp in the rain I did. It wasn’t so bad, actually. My tent stayed dry and the rain quelled the poop smell. I just laid around reading by headlamp until I fell asleep, which was pretty early, given how tired I was from my 8-mile hike. Did I mention the blisters? There were blisters. Big ones.

Friday was more race prep. I hung out at the registration building and took notes about the runners, their crews, their families. A key scene in my book takes place the day before the race, so it was good to get some critical details of how things happen and where. I also had a long conversation with a photographer who used to run the race. He was a wealth of information.

Western States Race Day

I slept in my car that night (picture me, at 5’10”, sleeping in the back of a Mini) so that I could be up at 3:30, get dressed, and get to the race starting line by 4 to watch the racers gather. The starting gun went off at 5 and they were on their way.

One hour before the starting gun. The lights in the background trace the trail up to the ridge.

For the rest of the day I drove along with the crews of the racers from aid station to aid station (the ones where crew and press were allowed), to watch the runners come through. They would ditch handfuls of emptied gel packets while their crews pushed more into their pockets and doused them with sponges from buckets of ice water. But most of them hardly stopped. In fact, you could tell a runner was having trouble if they sat down.

The heat of the day was a real challenge for a lot of the runners. About a third of the runners didn’t finish (in runner jargon – they DNFed). Of those who did make it across the finish line, even some of the highest level runners had to stop for a few hours to deal with heat and GI issues.

This is Beth Pascall (who would eventually win the women’s race) at mile 30.

I was at the finish line at Placer High School when the first male runner came in. This guy, Jim Walmsley, has won it three times now. He was almost an hour and a half in front of the second place runner. He’s so fast.

Nine of the top 20 Western States finishers were women, and there was a lot of talk on the sidelines about how the women close the gap between finishing times a little bit every year. Not that anyone is poised to beat Jim Walmsley.

And Done

Instead of driving three hours back up to my stinky campsite, I got a cheap motel room in Sacramento and crashed out in the wonderful chill of air conditioning. I had thought I might drive back to the finish line for what they call Golden Hour, the last hour of the race from 10am to 11am Sunday morning, when the very last finishers come it, but frankly, I had what I needed and I was ready to head home.

I drove all day and made it in time to attend my daughter’s soccer game. Her team made it to the finals of the tournament they were playing and I was so happy to get to cheer her on for the last round. They took second and my girl was TIRED.

So that’s the tale of my big research adventure.

Now I just have to write the book…

Prioritizing My Writing

A few weeks ago, I emailed one of my co-workers at A Very Important Meeting and got an auto-response that read:

Hello! After a very challenging and very busy 14 months of #ZoomLife, I’m finally focusing on my writing! Thank you for understanding and for supporting my creative time.  

Brilliant. My email was not so important that it couldn’t wait, and I had this feeling of: good for you, prioritizing your writing, followed immediately by: could I do that?

I had used auto-responses before, of course, but only when I was away on a writing retreat or on a rare, work-free vacation. It had never occurred to me to say, “yes, I am actually at my desk, but I don’t want to be distracted. I’m writing.”

And why not? This might be the perfect time, in fact. I am currently working hard to complete a draft of my second novel and I need all the time I can carve out. I have this dream of wrapping it up and getting it off to my agent before June 23.

Why such a specific date? Because that’s the day I drive north to Tahoe for the Western States Endurance Race. I’m not running it (I wish I could even being to consider a race like that), but I have applied for a press pass so that I can do research for book number three. I had hoped to go last year, but, you know, Covid. Even if I’m not given a press pass (they may have to limit how many they give because, you know, Covid) I intend to hang out at the starting line and finish line and anywhere in between that they’ll allow me to be.

Anyway, I really want to be able to focus on then new story while I’m there and I’m hoping that I’ll leave the race super fired up to write that book and I’m not really good at having two active projects at the same time. So I have to wrap up the draft of book two in the coming weeks.

To that end, I’ve scoured my calendar for anything that can be put off. I’m going to schedule an auto-response email for June. I’m dropping as much freelance work as I can for the month. I won’t be sending out a newsletter. I will (mostly) stay off of social media. I’m writing this blog post on May 22, so that I can schedule it to go live in June and there won’t be a second post in June (I promise, when I post again in July, I’ll get you all up to speed.) I am clearing the decks to hit my goal of completing my rewrite before June 23.

Frankly, there’s also a secondary motivation for my hurry. I’ve been working on this project for a long time and it’s starting to weigh on me. I’ve only been actually writing it for about three years, but I’ve been outlining and researching it for almost 14. It spent several years in the background while I worked on my debut novel, 142 Ostriches, and for all that time I have loved the story, worked on it with passion. Only recently have I begun feel the first hints of burn out. I need to wrap it up while I still love it, because lord knows that, even once it’s “done” my agent will have notes, my editor will have notes. It won’t be “done done” (it’s an industry term) for a long time.

So wish me luck and know that, if you email me, I’ll get back to you in July.

Historical Fiction and Story Structure

My new novel (which is – fingers crossed- nearly done) is an epic love story set in set in California, starting in the early 1800s and working its way up to modern day. I decided when I started that I would tell it in parts, dropping in on my characters at specific times over the years, but I struggled with which eras to include. When writing historical fiction, do we needle drop on our character’s lives during times of historical interest, or do we avoid events that happened on the world stage in favor of the more intimate stories of our characters?

Big Historical Events

I’ve lived in California all my life and am fascinated by its history, so when I first started outlining my story, certain years came to mind: 1848 (gold rush), 1906 (the great San Francisco earthquake), 1933 (construction of the Gold Gate Bridge). In mulling over my options, I came to see a few of the pros and cons that stretched out before me when it came to organizing my story around one of these big historical events:

Cons

If you have a longer story (like mine) that could potentially touch on several historic events, you run the risk of edging into Forest Gump territory, writing a story that is all about how your characters (or family of characters) were there when these important things happened. The trouble with that is a potential lack of underlying value. The reason Forest Gump works is that it’s actually a love story, otherwise the whole “wow, can you believe he was there for that!” thing would have felt boring and repetitive. Setting your historical fiction in an interesting time does not make it interesting. When you’re dealing in the realm of a well-documented event you will have a daunting amount of research to sift through. It will take time to learn the key words and resources that get you to precisely the information you need for your story.

Pros

Once you get a handle on how much research you have to sift through, you will no doubt find sources to give you a glimpse into life in those times. For instance, the Great San Francisco earthquake in 1906 was written about and photographed from all angels. There are numerous first-person accounts from which to draw details to build a rich and interesting world.There will be a market for your work and it will be easy to reach. There are people who love reading about things like the California gold rush or the great San Francisco earthquake. Those people will buy your book pretty much as soon as they hear it’s set in that period of history, if for no other reason. Finding Your Structure

I decided to be intentional with my structure. The narrative of my story follows the same two people through many decades (there’s some magic involved) and I knew that if I dropped into their lives randomly the story might feel like it was all over the place. I didn’t want that. I wanted to choose a format for my historical fiction that meant something to the story, that echoed its themes and gave it a rhythm.

I thought more about the story as a whole. My characters live a long time. Having lived only 44 years myself, I have already noticed that time seems to be speeding up. Extrapolating out, it made sense that, for someone who has lived more than a couple hundred years, time would fly by quickly, so I decided that each time I jumped from one part to the next, I wanted more time to have passed. I also knew I had to end in present day and start in the California mission system. Playing with the numbers a little I found that, if I jumped an increasing number of decades between each part of the book it worked out like this:

Part 1: 1812Part 2: 1822Part 3: 1842Part 4: 1872Part 5: 1912Part 6: 1962Part 7: 2022

The elegance of this appealed to me, but all of a sudden I was setting my story in six different times that I knew very little about. So daunting! But you know what? It actually pushed me to dig a little deeper. I learned that women in California had just won the right to vote in 1912, a full decade before the rest of the country. And in 1872 discrimination against the Chinese population in San Francisco was not just rampant, but officially sanctioned. As it turns out, people knew there was gold in California long before it was “discovered” at Sutter’s Mill. These are all details that I never would have learned if I hadn’t gone looking for them, if instead I had just set my story in 1848 and 1906 and called it good.

Unexpected Explorations

It’s been a wonderful journey, writing these parts of history that I’ve never really explored before. It took a lot of research – that feels like an understatement – it took about five years of intense research, but it was worth it.

I would love to hear from other writers out there working in historical fiction. Do you choose to embrace big historical events or skirt around them? Did you have a rationale for why, or do you just go with your gut? Feel free to leave us links to your work, if applicable.

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Out Of the Clouds

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I recently had the pleasure of joining Anne Muhlethaler on her podcast Out Of The Clouds where she discusses work at the crossroads of mindfulness and business. For this week’s post, I thought I might share a small excerpt talking about how I got into mindfulness meditation. You can listen to the full episode on the Out Of The Clouds website, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

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Anne Muhlethaler: Can we go back one step, how and when did you get introduced to meditation? I have to tell you, as an outsider, not knowing everything about California, I can see California hippies, although I’m thinking that’s more the Southern side, not the Northern.

April Davila: Oh, it’s both.

Anne Muhlethaler: It’s not surprising to me that a Californian is meditating. But so how did you get started?

April Davila: I think if you ask Californians, they would tell you it’s more of a Northern California thing, because that’s where more of the hippies ended up, like UC Berkeley is up there. And you had the whole movement in San Francisco of free love and all of that. Yes, California has kind of a reputation for new age thinking. And there’s good reason for that. A lot of the first westerners who seriously studied [meditation in Asia] came back to New York and California.

And so, there’s a contingent in New York. But there’s also Jack Kornfield, who came back to California and founded this group called Spirit Rock up in Northern California, which is the first place I ever sat to meditate. It’s so beautiful out there, all these rolling, grassy hills, it just feels peaceful. You walk into the grounds and think: this place is amazing.

My husband and I, we were newly married and were just curious. Spirit Rock was offering – once a month they do a free day long with whatever teacher is available to do it. I went online and signed up, I was like, “Oh, this guy Jack Kornfield seems nice.” I did a free day along with Jack Kornfield without even realizing what a big deal Jack Kornfield was.

Anne Muhlethaler: I’m so jealous.

April Davila: It was pretty great. And I had just a really kind of amazing experience. I think a lot of early meditators have that experience where you get super blissed out, and you’re like: “This is the best, I’m going to do this every day.” And then you go home and you meditate, and you’re like, “It’s not happening. Why isn’t it happening? I’m doing it wrong. Why aren’t I feeling blissful?”

And then you come to realize that actually, meditation isn’t just about having your mind clear and feeling super blissful, there’s a lot to it. I think that I found that kind of discouraging, as many beginning meditators do.

So, for years, I was very off again on again. My husband and I did a Wednesday night class series once where we went [to Spirit Rock] for a few Wednesdays or something. But I was not that serious about it. And it wasn’t until I really hit a rough patch in my life where I was just so down and really struggling [that I got serious about meditation].

I think that’s how a lot of people come to meditation – when we need help with something. We’re struggling with something and we’re looking for answers. For me, it was very helpful.

There was a program here [in Los Angeles] called The Meaningful Life. And it was, I guess, stringent isn’t quite the word because it was meditation and it came from a place of deep caring, but the teacher took no nonsense. And when you signed up for this class, you were going to meditate every morning, you called in. It was a 25-minute meditation every morning.

And then we met every other weekend as a group, and there were probably 30 of us. And I think I just needed that discipline. And then once I started meditating every day, I started to really understand more what I was experiencing. You have the goods but you also have the bads. And you start to feel some of your emotions in ways that you didn’t understand before. And then some understanding creeps in…

To listen to the interview in its entirety, visit the Out Of The Clouds website.