I'm now part of a critique group.
Part of me has been longing to join a critique group for a long time now, and part of me was scared. As the date approached for our group to meet, I just about backed out. I can't really say what I was so scared of. It's not like I've never had my work read and critiqued before. I attended a class called "Boot Camp" at the last two LDStorymaker conferences where we all go around to different tables, read each other's work, and critique it.
I guess it was just the commitment of knowing the same people would be reading my work over and over that freaked me out. It wasn't just some random strangers who would change tables in 20 minutes and I wouldn't have to worry so much what they thought of me or my writing.
So, last night, our group met for the first time. I just have to say that it was awesome! If there are any writers out there who aren't part of a critique group, I'd strongly encourage you to get into one. It was so fun to read each other's work and have them critique my work.
Plus, I feel like this is going to help motivate me to stay on task and keep writing. Knowing that I'm going to have to meet with them in 2 weeks and have something more to show them is putting a fire under my derrière. After we introduced ourselves and I had to admit I've started a few different books and never finished one, they told me one of their goals is going to be to help me finish a book. I'll keep you updated on how that goes.
# 31 - Harnessing My Creativity
I'm having a hard time harnessing my creativity.
I haven't been writing again lately. I just have a hard time keeping my focus. I keep coming back to this idea for a book I want to write that I think could be really great, but I have no idea how to write it.
Basically, I want to write about someone who has lost touch with reality. The story I want to write is much deeper and more complex than that, but that is the real issue I need to tackle in order to have a chance at writing this book.
***WARNING: ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN WATCHING THE MOVIE "THE FOUNTAIN" SHOULD NOT READ THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH, AS IT CONTAINS SPOILERS***
My husband and I just watched a movie called "The Fountain." I looked up some information on the movie after we watched it, and it is supposedly a story that interweaves the distant past, the present, and the far (and I emphasize FAR) future. That's not what I saw when I watched it. What I saw was a man who went crazy because he was on the brink of discovering a cure for his wife's fatal condition right when she dies. I saw him having delusions, thinking he was in the distant past trying to save a queen from dying, and at other times, hallucinating about trying to save a dying tree in a very warped and strange kind of world. While watching the movie, I felt that it portrayed psychosis solely from the perspective of the person who is delusional. While very interesting and thought-provoking, I felt it was just too hard to understand. Yes, that leaves the viewer/reader to draw their own conclusions and is very artistic and everything, but I don't think that is the most effective way to tell the story.
***YOU MAY RESUME READING BELOW***
I have actually experienced a time in my life recently where I completely lost touch with reality and had to be hospitalized. That's all I'm going to tell you about my personal life, but I tell you that to say simply that I feel I can write on the topic of psychosis from a perspective of personal experience.
My original thought was to write the book in a fully omniscient point of view, but I've scrapped that idea. Although it does let the reader see everything that's going on at once, it's just too detached. There's just no way to get the feeling of the characters and really delve into their experience that way.
So here's the question - how do you write it in a way that portrays what it's like, while still having it make sense enough to the reader for them to get something out of it? I don't think writing it solely from the psychotic person's perspective would be the best way to go because it's just too darn confusing. Although, I think it could be very powerful if I could pull it off. "The Fountain" was very confusing, but after watching it through to the end and talking it over with my husband, I felt I understood what was going on. My interpretation wasn't at all like the writers had in mind, but maybe that's the best kind of art.
If I were to write it from any other perspective, I couldn't get the true feeling of what's happening inside the main character, and therefore I would lose a lot of the effect and meaning of what I'm trying to portray.
One option is to tell the story in the William Faulkner fashion. "My mother is a fish." is the chapter that comes to mind. Each chapter contains the thoughts and perspective of another person in the story, so that all the different characters' thoughts, perspectives, experiences, and beliefs can be shown. Unlike the 3rd person limited omniscient viewpoint, Faulkner actually writes each chapter in 1st person; each character gets to talk in their own voice in their own respective chapters.
The most conventional way to write the story would be to use limited 3rd person, where the character whose "head we are in" changes, but the story is never told by them in the "I" fashion; it is always in 3rd person. I just don't know if I could really tell the story this way without it sounding too modern and mundane.
I don't know; I'm just rambling at this point. If anyone has any thoughts or advice on the subject, feel free to pipe in. Hopefully now that I've dumped some of my thoughts on the subject out on the page here, I'll be able to get back to work on my other projects and finally finish a first draft.
I haven't been writing again lately. I just have a hard time keeping my focus. I keep coming back to this idea for a book I want to write that I think could be really great, but I have no idea how to write it.
Basically, I want to write about someone who has lost touch with reality. The story I want to write is much deeper and more complex than that, but that is the real issue I need to tackle in order to have a chance at writing this book.
***WARNING: ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN WATCHING THE MOVIE "THE FOUNTAIN" SHOULD NOT READ THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH, AS IT CONTAINS SPOILERS***
My husband and I just watched a movie called "The Fountain." I looked up some information on the movie after we watched it, and it is supposedly a story that interweaves the distant past, the present, and the far (and I emphasize FAR) future. That's not what I saw when I watched it. What I saw was a man who went crazy because he was on the brink of discovering a cure for his wife's fatal condition right when she dies. I saw him having delusions, thinking he was in the distant past trying to save a queen from dying, and at other times, hallucinating about trying to save a dying tree in a very warped and strange kind of world. While watching the movie, I felt that it portrayed psychosis solely from the perspective of the person who is delusional. While very interesting and thought-provoking, I felt it was just too hard to understand. Yes, that leaves the viewer/reader to draw their own conclusions and is very artistic and everything, but I don't think that is the most effective way to tell the story.
***YOU MAY RESUME READING BELOW***
I have actually experienced a time in my life recently where I completely lost touch with reality and had to be hospitalized. That's all I'm going to tell you about my personal life, but I tell you that to say simply that I feel I can write on the topic of psychosis from a perspective of personal experience.
My original thought was to write the book in a fully omniscient point of view, but I've scrapped that idea. Although it does let the reader see everything that's going on at once, it's just too detached. There's just no way to get the feeling of the characters and really delve into their experience that way.
So here's the question - how do you write it in a way that portrays what it's like, while still having it make sense enough to the reader for them to get something out of it? I don't think writing it solely from the psychotic person's perspective would be the best way to go because it's just too darn confusing. Although, I think it could be very powerful if I could pull it off. "The Fountain" was very confusing, but after watching it through to the end and talking it over with my husband, I felt I understood what was going on. My interpretation wasn't at all like the writers had in mind, but maybe that's the best kind of art.
If I were to write it from any other perspective, I couldn't get the true feeling of what's happening inside the main character, and therefore I would lose a lot of the effect and meaning of what I'm trying to portray.
One option is to tell the story in the William Faulkner fashion. "My mother is a fish." is the chapter that comes to mind. Each chapter contains the thoughts and perspective of another person in the story, so that all the different characters' thoughts, perspectives, experiences, and beliefs can be shown. Unlike the 3rd person limited omniscient viewpoint, Faulkner actually writes each chapter in 1st person; each character gets to talk in their own voice in their own respective chapters.
The most conventional way to write the story would be to use limited 3rd person, where the character whose "head we are in" changes, but the story is never told by them in the "I" fashion; it is always in 3rd person. I just don't know if I could really tell the story this way without it sounding too modern and mundane.
I don't know; I'm just rambling at this point. If anyone has any thoughts or advice on the subject, feel free to pipe in. Hopefully now that I've dumped some of my thoughts on the subject out on the page here, I'll be able to get back to work on my other projects and finally finish a first draft.
# 30 - Tag
I've been tagged again.
Danyelle tagged me with this Wild, Wacky kind of a tag. I hope you don't mind my stealing your picture for my blog, Danyelle! It is now my duty to share with you seven random, weird things about myself. Brace yourself. ;)
1. Hardly anything makes me laugh. I can sit through an entire episode of Seinfeld with a completely blank look on my face. I can watch a movie that is raved about as being "the most hilarious movie" and wonder what on earth is so funny about this completely stupid movie.
2. On the other hand, when something does tickle my funny bone, I can't stop laughing. For the next few minutes after everyone else is done laughing, the word or phrase that got me going will keep popping back into my head and I'll have to stifle another laugh here and there until I finally get control of myself.
3. I can't stand to be a single minute early to anything. Okay, that's not entirely true, but it's actually, sadly, pretty close. I will be all ready and have the kids all ready to go somewhere, look at the clock, and think, "Oh, I don't need to leave for five more minutes," so I'll dink around and lose track of time and end up being five minutes late. Hmmm.
4. I can't stand to drive a single mile an hour under the speed limit. That's changing, but I'm still having a hard time with it. It goes along with not wanting to be early to anything, and then when I end up late, I'm tense and I drive too fast. But I'm working on it. Stay tuned for a future blog on this subject. :)
5. I eat food off my kids' plates. Ugh! I know, I shouldn't. I'm on a pretty strict diet which I'm not following at all lately. :D But when I did follow it, I got better about just throwing out that 1/4 of a PB&J sandwich on the baby's plate.
6. I'm a disorganized mess. Come look at my bedroom if you don't believe me.
7. I buy sugary cereals for myself, but I pretend they're for my kids. In fact, I blame a lot of things on my kids. Memory loss / airheadedness. Messy house. Lateness. I could go on. :D
Now for the rules of the tag.
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Here are the seven lucky people I've chosen to tag today.
1. Melanie
2. Annie
3. Heather
4. Lindsay
5. Amber
6. Heidi
7. Joy
Danyelle tagged me with this Wild, Wacky kind of a tag. I hope you don't mind my stealing your picture for my blog, Danyelle! It is now my duty to share with you seven random, weird things about myself. Brace yourself. ;)
1. Hardly anything makes me laugh. I can sit through an entire episode of Seinfeld with a completely blank look on my face. I can watch a movie that is raved about as being "the most hilarious movie" and wonder what on earth is so funny about this completely stupid movie.
2. On the other hand, when something does tickle my funny bone, I can't stop laughing. For the next few minutes after everyone else is done laughing, the word or phrase that got me going will keep popping back into my head and I'll have to stifle another laugh here and there until I finally get control of myself.
3. I can't stand to be a single minute early to anything. Okay, that's not entirely true, but it's actually, sadly, pretty close. I will be all ready and have the kids all ready to go somewhere, look at the clock, and think, "Oh, I don't need to leave for five more minutes," so I'll dink around and lose track of time and end up being five minutes late. Hmmm.
4. I can't stand to drive a single mile an hour under the speed limit. That's changing, but I'm still having a hard time with it. It goes along with not wanting to be early to anything, and then when I end up late, I'm tense and I drive too fast. But I'm working on it. Stay tuned for a future blog on this subject. :)
5. I eat food off my kids' plates. Ugh! I know, I shouldn't. I'm on a pretty strict diet which I'm not following at all lately. :D But when I did follow it, I got better about just throwing out that 1/4 of a PB&J sandwich on the baby's plate.
6. I'm a disorganized mess. Come look at my bedroom if you don't believe me.
7. I buy sugary cereals for myself, but I pretend they're for my kids. In fact, I blame a lot of things on my kids. Memory loss / airheadedness. Messy house. Lateness. I could go on. :D
Now for the rules of the tag.
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Here are the seven lucky people I've chosen to tag today.
1. Melanie
2. Annie
3. Heather
4. Lindsay
5. Amber
6. Heidi
7. Joy
# 29 - Working Toward a Goal
I did a pretty good job on working toward my goal this week, although I could do better.
My total word count for the week was 3661. I'm really excited about how the story is going. I've been coming up with a lot of good ideas, although there are still some holes in my mind about where some of the story lines are going.
There are a couple of story lines that don't really work together. I will probably keep one and cut the other, although those could always be saved for another story, or a sequel to this one. Wouldn't that be cool - to get to the point where my book is published and my fans are clambering for a sequel. :)
As for next week, I'd like to shoot for a goal of 6000 words, which is only 1000 words a day. I've exceeded that several times in the past, so I know it isn't unrealistic. Wish me luck. :D
My total word count for the week was 3661. I'm really excited about how the story is going. I've been coming up with a lot of good ideas, although there are still some holes in my mind about where some of the story lines are going.
There are a couple of story lines that don't really work together. I will probably keep one and cut the other, although those could always be saved for another story, or a sequel to this one. Wouldn't that be cool - to get to the point where my book is published and my fans are clambering for a sequel. :)
As for next week, I'd like to shoot for a goal of 6000 words, which is only 1000 words a day. I've exceeded that several times in the past, so I know it isn't unrealistic. Wish me luck. :D
# 28 - I Am So Good
I am soooo good!
Okay, so what I have to confess today is that I have no humility. Actually, change that. It's that I'm always alternating between loving what I'm writing and hating it.
Anyway, I read through the book I haven't worked on in 6 months or so, and then I added about 2000 words to it in the last two days. And all of a sudden, I feel like this is the most incredible book ever and there's no way it won't get published.
So, there you have it. I got a shot of confidence in the arm today and I hope it carries me through to being able to meet my goal and finish this darn first draft already! :)
Okay, so what I have to confess today is that I have no humility. Actually, change that. It's that I'm always alternating between loving what I'm writing and hating it.
Anyway, I read through the book I haven't worked on in 6 months or so, and then I added about 2000 words to it in the last two days. And all of a sudden, I feel like this is the most incredible book ever and there's no way it won't get published.
So, there you have it. I got a shot of confidence in the arm today and I hope it carries me through to being able to meet my goal and finish this darn first draft already! :)
# 27 - Getting to "The End"
I have never written "The End" on anything longer than 8 pages. Ever.
I've written over 80,000 words on an LDS Women's fiction novel, and over 50,000 words on a Young Adult fantasy, but I can't seem to get to "The End!!" I'm so frustrated with myself.
This weekend at the LDS Storymakers Conference has been an amazing experience. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go again or not because I went the past two years and wasn't sure if I would get much more out of it than I did before, but I'm so glad I went! Not only did I learn new things, but I got a major recharge of inspiration and motivation.
I'm going to make a goal, right here and right now. Are you ready for this, world? Here it is. By the end of May, I'm going to write "The End" on both of my books.
*gasp*
Did I just say that out loud?
Okay, now that I've gone that far, I'm going to go another step further. I'm going to submit the first 3 chapters of my LDS novel to at least 3 LDS publishers and I'm going to submit the first 3 chapters of my YA novel to at least 3 national agents and/or editors.
Ready or not, here I come!!!
I've written over 80,000 words on an LDS Women's fiction novel, and over 50,000 words on a Young Adult fantasy, but I can't seem to get to "The End!!" I'm so frustrated with myself.
This weekend at the LDS Storymakers Conference has been an amazing experience. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go again or not because I went the past two years and wasn't sure if I would get much more out of it than I did before, but I'm so glad I went! Not only did I learn new things, but I got a major recharge of inspiration and motivation.
I'm going to make a goal, right here and right now. Are you ready for this, world? Here it is. By the end of May, I'm going to write "The End" on both of my books.
*gasp*
Did I just say that out loud?
Okay, now that I've gone that far, I'm going to go another step further. I'm going to submit the first 3 chapters of my LDS novel to at least 3 LDS publishers and I'm going to submit the first 3 chapters of my YA novel to at least 3 national agents and/or editors.
Ready or not, here I come!!!
# 26 - Fear
As brilliant as I think my writing is, I don't want anyone to read it.
I'll be writing along thinking everything is great. I'll re-write several times until I really like it. I'll read through it several times, thinking it's just wonderful. And all the time, mind you, I'm thinking that someday someone else is going to read it.
But there's something about sending it off to be read that makes it all seem so much less brilliant.
The moment I'm putting it in the mail to be read by an editor, or taking it to a conference to be read and critiqued by multiple people, I suddenly see it with new eyes and start hyperventilating.
I'm going to be at the LDS Storymaker's conference for the next two days, and there is this thing called Boot Camp where we all sit around a table and read each other's work. As I'm gearing up for this conference, I'm getting really nervous about what I have to show. It suddenly feels all wrong.
I also have a meeting with a literary agent, who has had the first 5 pages of one of my manuscripts for the last few weeks in preparation for our meeting together, and I'm very nervous about what she is going to think about it.
Wish me luck. I feel like I'm really going to need it.
I'll be writing along thinking everything is great. I'll re-write several times until I really like it. I'll read through it several times, thinking it's just wonderful. And all the time, mind you, I'm thinking that someday someone else is going to read it.
But there's something about sending it off to be read that makes it all seem so much less brilliant.
The moment I'm putting it in the mail to be read by an editor, or taking it to a conference to be read and critiqued by multiple people, I suddenly see it with new eyes and start hyperventilating.
I'm going to be at the LDS Storymaker's conference for the next two days, and there is this thing called Boot Camp where we all sit around a table and read each other's work. As I'm gearing up for this conference, I'm getting really nervous about what I have to show. It suddenly feels all wrong.
I also have a meeting with a literary agent, who has had the first 5 pages of one of my manuscripts for the last few weeks in preparation for our meeting together, and I'm very nervous about what she is going to think about it.
Wish me luck. I feel like I'm really going to need it.
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