Liz Lee's Blog, page 12

Revision Hell. No, Seriously. #MyWANA

I started final revisions on a book that's been sitting for about six weeks. It's a Sharlene Gallagher guardian angel mystery. So lots of character, lots of snark, lots of plot.
Revisions are tough. I know they're where the magic happens. I totally get that. For me to revise I have to work in silence. No soundtracks, no distractions. Just me and the book and getting totally pulled into the story...or not.
When the or not happens, I know I've got work to do.
Now I'm staring at chapter four, reading it through, trying to figure out what's causing my disconnect. I took a break, so maybe it's that. Or maybe chapter four sucks rocks.
That leads me to Oh God, chapter four sucks, five sucks, it all sucks. I'm a hack. I don't know what I'm thinking. Writer? Who's a writer? Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Jennifer Crusie, SEP, but not you, MBL. Not you at all.
Which leads me to a moment of panic....until I get back in the revision zone.
I've doe this often enough now to know it's a cycle. To know the book doesn't suck, but it's not where it needs to be yet. That the "or not" is my brain's way of saying HEY, GET BACK IN THE STORY INSTEAD OF WRITING ABOUT THE STORY.
But even though I know that, I still go through the revision hell ritual.
Time to get back to it. #


Click Here to Browse

Yes, THAT Dr's Appointment

A few months ago one of my oldest friends was diagnosed with breast cancer. Once I got through the shock of her diagnosis, I realized I'd missed my annual exam. For three years.
Fortunately, my doctor has dropped the OB part of his job title, so he had appointments available right away.
My results came back fine, and I was thankful. Thankful because for so many people, the results aren't fine.
My friend had a double mastectomy and recently underwent reconstructive surgery. Her treatment and recovery haven't been easy, but she's shared her journey on Facebook and spent a lot of time making her friends and family feel better about her illness. She starts every day thankful.
Before I left the doctor's office this year, I made my appointment for next year. They'll send me a text to remind me. I won't let busyness get in the way of that appointment ever again.#

P.S. At that appointment three years ago, I had my first mammogram. I dreaded it because of all the horror stories I'd heard. It was no problem. Don't be afraid. If you're over 40, do it.


http://amzn.com/B00CLH0ZZ0

Highway to Hades #MyWANA #amwriting

At the British Museum this summerI skipped Senior English. Back when I was in high school, I could count newspaper editor for that credit. That was the year you learned all about Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. I didn't feel like I missed out on much since I'd gone to elementary school in Minnesota where Norse mythology was taught as part of the core. At least it seemed that way.
When I moved to Texas, mythology no longer played a role in my life. I was fine with that. I mean how much mythology does a person need? I knew Hercules from cartoons. That was enough.
My lack of mythology continued through my BA and MA. No big deal. All the mythology I needed I picked up at Caesar's Palace...
WHICH is why I had to have a million mythology cheat sheets open during my WIP this time. Like I said yesterday, I know the villain, the characters and a smattering of scenes in my books before I start writing. I'd studied angel hierarchy for this book because I knew it would come into play, but never in a million years did I dream my protag would take a trip to Hades. She did, though, and I went along for the ride. What a fun experience. I don't know if those scenes will make the final cut of the book or not, but they sure were a blast to write. Almost as much fun as typing the end. It's a rough draft, but it's done. Woo Hoo!#

Trust Your Gut #MyWANA #amwriting

I bet some people trusted their guts
on the plants found in the Blarney Castle
Poison Garden. In their cases,  that might've
been a bad idea. Photo by me. June 2013.The other day I wrote and wrote and wrote and got to the end of a scene, said this is crap, and I've written myself into a wall, and I suck, suck, suck, and why am I even bothering, and ugh, I need chocolate, but ugh, I don't eat sugar, so fine, let me have a piece of bologna and just get over this sucky awful writing day from hell.

If you're a writer, you know those days.

Hopefully, I still feel the way I do right now two days after that moment when I get to The End.

When I started writing this book I knew some major plot points and the villain. I had a destination, but I didn't exactly have the stopping points along the way. That's how I write most of my books, and it usually works out.

I wrote the sucky scene and went to bed. Somehow my brain worked out the problem with the sucky scene, and when I woke up I realized the scene didn't suck, but the wrong person in the scene was leading the action. My main character is a former horror actress. No way is she going to commit those TSTL crimes against common sense. A different character with different motivations can do the same crime without it being TSTL.

Today, that one scene, a scene I ALMOST deleted (thank GOD for Scrivener), led to the moment I've been trying to get to so the villain can finally be unveiled, and tomorrow I get to write the ALL HOPE IS LOST scene. My poor, poor protagonist and her sidekick are in for a tough day. I'm so happy.

A long time ago a friend told me to trust my gut and to NEVER, EVER delete words. She said to at least put them in a different file for use later if needed. She was right on both counts. #

The Blog That (might have) Saved My Story #MyWANA #amwriting

Rydal Mount garden path,
Grasmere, England. I could've taken
it, but it went on forever, and I
was with a huge group. Right now,
my story seems to be on a path like
this. UGH!
Photo by me.You know that moment you've written 1100 words and realize the scene that just suddenly popped into your head that felt like the magic muse turns into WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING?
Yeah, that was last night's writing session.
I blame Big Brother.
Okay, never mind. I accept full responsibility.
I stayed in front of the TV instead of writing immediately. And then I was tired, but I committed to one hour every night no matter what.
Off to office.
After a slow start, the words started working, gelling, making music.
And then I reached the end and realized
The. Entire. Scene. Was. Crap.
One of the characters even tried to tell the others in the group they didn't want to go there. He literally tried to stop them. I'm guessing he's my subconscious screaming noooooooo.
Anyway, after 90 minutes I realized this scene, although beautiful and suspenseful and kind of clever, needs a little thing called motivation. It's a scene I've envisioned because there's this BIG, SCARY, EVENT that's going to happen, and it's a nice creepy location and I've Hansel and Greteled it the whole way. Lots of little crumbs.
Only now that I'm there, I realize those crumbs didn't really lead anywhere. I mean they lead to a place, but why would the characters go there? They can't just go there because I need them to. It's a creepy location. Curiosity isn't enough.
Oh wait. Maybe....Yes, I love writing this blog. I think maybe I can salvage this thing. Wish me luck. #

P.S. I swear NO MORE NIGHTTIME TV UNTIL THIS BOOK IS DRAFTED!

Making Connections #MyWANA #amwriting

Slow and steady wins the race. Photo taken at
 Ft. Worth Arboretum by me.
I lose track of time when I'm writing. Honestly, I lose track of pretty much everything, especially when I'm closing in on the end of a book. I want to finish so badly, I can taste it. For me, that's a dangerous place to be. I tend to rush the end because of that, and I don't realize I've done so in revisions. In my brain it all makes sense. Back in the olden days I had an amazing critique group that would reign me in. Two of them moved away, and then we all just quit sharing our work. I'm not sure if it's that we quit writing consistently or just got so busy with our day jobs or what.
I know when I started writing regularly after The Artist's Way two years ago, I desperately wanted to plug back into a writing group. Problem is I live three hours away from the nearest one. As much as I want connection with other writers, it's tough to give up ten hours on a Saturday to make it happen.
A few days ago someone on a writers' loop told me about Scribophile.
I'm not friends with the people on Scribophile (yet), but I see active writing taking place on a daily basis. I get a chance to hone my skills and pay it forward by critiquing, and I get to share my work for critique. In a week I've gone from feeling mostly alone in the world of writers to connected.
The writing hashtags on twitter do that in a way--unless the person is just selling their books and not really connecting with people--but not nearly as much as investing in the work of someone else and putting myself out there to hear what others have to say about my story.
Here's to happy writing, SLOWING down on the end and making those writer connections.#

Injured Writer Ouch #MyWANA

The careful traveller...these days.I'm the most ungraceful person I know. I've injured myself walking and talking at the same time. I fell at the Colosseum in Rome and shattered my ankle because I forgot to look before I walked forward.
Yesterday I didn't blog because of an injury. For the last week I've had this weird neck, shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist, finger pain on my left side. Last night, it was excruciating after my 1k1hr. I'm making a chiropractor appointment tomorrow to try to fix it. I started Pilates this week, and that's helped some, but it didn't help at all last night.
Tonight, I think I discovered part of the problem.
My left elbow rests on my chair sometimes when I'm writing. And when I'm completely into the scene and characters I don't even realize it. Tonight I noticed I banged the elbow about ten times in a row during a fight scene.
I've injured myself writing.
That's a new one for me. Ugh!

One good thing: my jeans were loose this morning, so the Pilates is working.#

Writing to a Soundtrack #MyWANA #amwriting

I've used soundtracks for years to write my novels. My current work is based on a repeat character I started writing about two years ago. She's a former horror film actress bludgeoned to death who now works as a Guardian Angel finding killers before they strike and kill her charges.
Sharlene's a fun character, but she's different from anything I've written. It took me awhile to get to her voice. Once I found it, I didn't want to lose it, so I started marking songs that fit her on Grooveshark. Now SHE has a theme song and a soundtrack. When I start writing a Sharlene story I listen to her theme song then start the soundtrack and begin. The soundtrack transforms my office into Sharlene's world.
The one problem with soundtrack writing right now is the playlist has gotten pretty long. I often don't start writing until 10 p.m.. If I'm not careful I'll write until 2-3 a.m. The day job doesn't go so well if I have several 3-hour nights of sleep. Used to it was no big deal, but I'm older now. A sleepy brain doesn't fire quite as well as it used to.
What about you? Do you create to a soundtrack? If so, do you use music with words or without?
I'm interested in hearing your thoughts!#

Click to see Sharlene's Soundtrack. The first song is Sharlene's current theme song.

Permission to Write Crap #MyWANA #amwriting

For the last 19 years I've started every journalism class the same way."Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, (state you name), hereby give myself permission to write crap."There's nothing revolutionary about this writing advice, but it's some of the most freeing.Like Nora Roberts says, you can't fix a blank page.Still, for the last week I've been paralyzed by the blank pages of my current work. 19 years of making students swear to NEVER call me over to look at a blinking cursor, and here I was doing that very thing. Our creative brains are strange. We can psyche ourselves up and out. We can look in the mirror and say, "I'm going to have a rock star day. NYT here I come!" and we can look at blinking cursors and say, "I suck. What have I been thinking? I'm no writer."Whatever we choose, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.If you say you're too busy to write, you'll be too busy to write.If you say you don't have the ideas, you won't have the ideas.Our minds are incredible. The power of belief in yourself is huge. That's not to say every person ever will love the words you write. That's not to say you're going to sign a $1 million contract with a publisher or sell the movie rights to your latest manuscript. BUT if you don't believe in yourself, you're not even going to get words down on the page, and that's where I found myself EVEN though I've made people swear to give themselves permission to write crap because let's face it; sometimes our words ARE crap. But those sucky words hold magic, too. Sometimes magic we don't even realize until we're neck deep in revisions.So join me. Raise your right hand and give yourself permission to write crap. Then post the photo somewhere where others will see it to help remind you that the only one stopping you right now is you.Go write. And don't make excuses. And don't ask for help to fix a blank page because a blank page can't be fixed. #*****I write romance, and I love it. You can check my books out here. I'm always available to answer questions about my self-publishing journey.Currently Reading: On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn. I'm almost to the black moment. I love this book so much it kills me to stop reading, but I've got work to do!Currently listening to: The Hunger Games soundtrackCurrently thankful for: The time I've gotten to spend with my daughter the last week. It's tough to be a 20-something's mom!(I'm trying the # in the title so I don't have to reblog with them to connect with people on twitter. It might work. We'll see.)

A Writing Breakthrough

Flowers from the Ft Worth Aboretum this May. Photo by me. I retweet a lot. Any time someone posts a blog I find interesting, RT. Inspirational quote? RT. Good advice? RT.I spend too much time on social media, really, but often that time inspires me to write more or to make my writing better.Yesterday I read a fascinating blog post about excerpts in eBooks. I'd never really thought of adding the first chapter or two of a new book as a con on the reader. The blog author made a strong case for that. I read almost completely on my kindle app these days, and I never really pay attention. When the book is done, it's done. But I also don't read the excerpts. I'll definitely be reformatting my novels with excerpts in them, but not until I finish my current WIPs. 
This has been the summer of sucky writing for me. I've opened Scrivener and looked at the manuscript then closed it and turned on Netflix. I thought I'd written myself into a wall or something. I've never felt so hopeless for a story with characters I love.But yesterday I reconnected with my #Fastdraft training (If you haven't taken Candy Havens' Fastdraft class, you are missing out!), and I refused to have an excuse. I decided the words might suck, but they would be written. AND it worked. Right now, I don't feel like they suck. They might, but for now, I'm counting them as a huge victory.#
*****
If you like romance, check out my books. Currently Reading: On the Way to the Wedding (still!)Currently Working on: A new angel book and my royal with a secret. Can't wait to finish!Currently listening to: Epic Battle soundtrackCurrently thankful for: RAIN!!!!