How Kathy Writes a Book: Part 5…A Time Out

Tags

letting the manuscript sit, take a break, thoughts, writing, Writing process

Parts one through four have magically (okay not magically who am I kidding there was sweat, there was blood, there were tears…) produced a first draft.

TA-DA!

Now, what comes next?

Nothing.

I put that manuscript in time out. Was it bad? Well, no. But if my brain thinks about it any more, it will explode.

I have the luxury of this option. Some people on deadlines don’t, and maybe someday that will be me, but if I can manage it, I will always take a break after I finish the first draft. Always.

The longer the better, one month…two…six! Longer! I want to forget what I wrote. No thinking about it. No glancing at notes. No making notes. Nothing.

Going back to words that have been forgotten means: spotting things that make no sense, seeing the holes, sensing where scenes need to be added or deleted.

I critique for others. I work notes for all the ideas swirling in my brain. I write a short story. I read. I watch movies. I ENJOY EVERY MOMENT.

I am at this point right now.

Because I have goals of querying this manuscript later this year, I put Nowhere on a month long time out. THAT’S ALL? Yup. It will work.

While I forget all the words, I read one full manuscript and a partial of another for a couple wonderful people. Notes for the second book in this series have been started. A call for short horror stories caught my eye, so I am working on that.

What happens after this month is over? Come back and find out.

 

 

Don’t Fight Your Brain

Tags

Christmas, recharge, rest, take a break, thoughts

Good morning! Happy Monday!

Maybe?

I’m sitting in my living room watching Christmas movies (because there are still SO MANY to watch!) in the glorious glow from my tree. This is my happy place. This is where you’ll be able to find me all week.

December is never a great get-things-done kind of month. My brain, which has been working all year, shuts off. I do all the Christmas shopping, decorating, and special holiday activities, but writing? Not so much.

And I’m not fighting it. I’m plugging myself into contentment and recharging.

My to-do list includes:

1. Drawing a cover for a short I will post on Wattpad… that’s been fun. I might do this more often. *hugs my drawing pencils*

2. Attending a parent meeting for the 5th and 6th grade volleyball league tonight. I was asked to be a coach! But sadly that fell through, they had an actual coach volunteer, and who am I to stand in the way of these kids learning from someone who knows more than me. I will be an assistant coach! So happy days. It’s something new for me, but I am excited.

3. Enjoying my daughter’s band concert on Wednesday. Of course, she needs dress pants, so shopping we will go. Blah.

4. And on Friday, we leave for the in-laws. No wifi. (SAVE ME, I MIGHT GO INSANE!) Anyway, I’ll be reading. As a bonus, I get to meet a Twitter friend for real and in person… Heather Van Fleet author of the newly released Finding Her Way Back. I’m reading it now, but don’t tell her. I am not a romance/contemporary girl, but this book has sucked me in. Callie is one sassy girl! I like her.

I haven’t done a great job on my blog this month and now you know why. Brain is hibernating. Best to let it.

Story ideas simmer. Plans for next year form (some pretty great plans too, if I do say so myself).

I’ll eat too much candy as I soak in the end of year magic. Christmas always brings joy-filled moments. One thing I don’t want it to bring is stress. That’s silly.

For now, my movies and drawing call. Whether this month brings you heaping mounds of productivity, relaxing, or fun with friends and family, enjoy it…

Because THERE’S TEN DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!  Let me share my excitement with you…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lost in the Magic … Read, Revise, Repeat

Tags

critiques, focus, lost, revising, take a break, thoughts, Twitter, writing

So, I got a little lost.

Where?

In my manuscript. Yes, I’ve been writing. Revising. Editing. Deleting. Adding. Ignoring my family and workouts. Pretty much losing my mind. No worries. It happens.

My ms Doors crawls closer and closer to being ready to query. And I am READY! Until I get rejections … then I’ll rethink that. I can’t remember when I wrote the first draft. I do remember the idea popping in my head and scribbling it on a piece of paper. So long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I had a couple of first drafts in my computer … the beginning of what will be a series. Way back then, the common thought was that first-time authors would have less luck trying to query a series, so I searched the world for a stand alone idea. And it hit me … what if you could go anywhere in the universe.

What if there was a door?

Piece by piece, I uncovered the rest of the story. I exist in the belief that stories linger out in the grand space of everywhere, waiting to be found. If you are quiet, they will talk to you. If you force them into places you what them to go, they will rebel. If you open your mind all will be revealed.

So, I wrote it. Then I left it. I like to let first drafts sit in all their problems, marinate in all the plots holes and lost description. I go back, after I forget what I wrote, when the story calls to me, and its easier to find all the problems.

When I joined a writers’ group, The Summit City Scribes in Fort Wayne, IN., I bravely volunteered to read and brought the first chapter of Doors. Weeeellllll, it confused everyone. I had started it in the wrong place, I didn’t have enough world building …

RED ALERT! STEP AWAY FROM THE MS!

So I set it aside. It wasn’t ready and I had no idea what to do with it. But I didn’t fret. It would tell me what to do, eventually, so I moved on and wrote another ms.

Eventually, Doors tugged me back. I knew where to start it … I thought. Years later, I brought it back to the Scribes … no go, people.

BUT!

The comments from that critique, sent my mind spinning. After a few days, I knew where I needed to start it.

Magic has happened! Finally, I believe in it. I have done a few read-throughs and it now sits with some VERY KIND AND GENEROUS people who volunteered to read it and TELL ME ALL THE THINGS! Thank you all my Twitter friends! Seriously, if you’re a writer and haven’t found the marvelous support on Twitter … GO NOW AND FIND IT!

So, I wait. And I am not buried in words … wait … what? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW? The panic lasted for a moment, but I decided to give my brain a break. I will not think of Doors. Instead I shall run off on an exciting adventure of drawing and short stories, of critiquing for others, which is the best thing EVER.

How do you take a break? Anyone else climbing out of a sea of words?

Cupcake, anyone?