Where do you want to be in 10 years?

This is a question writer/editor Dean Wesley Smith asked recently. Where did we, as writers, want to be 10 years from now?

If we didn't want anything to change, then we shouldn't change anything.

If we wanted to be best selling authors, then we should begin to make changes towards that now.

I am still working towards that. But every now and then I need to be reminded of this stuff.

10 years from now I want to be a best selling author.

What am I doing now to make that happen?

Time flies...

Some writing done this week, not as much as I would have liked. A trip to visit family (and to beat my older sister's computer into submission), a light attack of a bug that ran through my family, and a trip to help out my in-laws all cut into the writing time.

Except for the bug, I don't feel bad about those reasons. I do wish I hadn't goofed around so much as well - had a bad case of the "I don't want to work" a day or two.

But I can't believe 2/3 of June is already gone! It doesn't feel like it should be so late in the month...

Three

Well, that's the number of unfinished stories STILL on my laptop. I got two finished and some readers gave their opinions on them - they go out in the mail sometime this week.

The other three will take a little longer to finish...they were not as far along as the first 2.

Also working on Chapter 6 of my novel now. Got very bogged down with it, then realized what I needed this chapter to do and have some decent ideas for it.

Also watching a bunch of rain fall as Alberto plays in the gulf...it isn't too bad, we really need the wet stuff given the drought we've been going through here in Central Florida!

:-) It all goes well...

Five

Five is the number of unfinished stories on my hard drive at the moment. One is a potential entry to Strange New Worlds, the other 4 are of various genres. Actually, I may have MORE than 5 unfinished stories, but I think one of THOSE is just going to be torn up and restarted - it's a Strange New Worlds Story that I just think won't work in its present condition.

But the five in question bother me. I'm pretty sure I can finish them, not sure why I haven't. Well, I just started the Strange New Worlds one. But why do I keep starting stories and not finishing them?

Well, I set a goal. By the end of this week I plan to have all these unfinished stories done. Hopefully setting a goal will give me the motivation I haven't had to finish them.

Doing Writing Stuff Without Much Writing...

Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but it sums today up.

I did not do a lot of writing today. Instead, I finally finished a binder that contained markets I have submitted to. I also researched markets for 4 manuscripts that had come back and needed to be sent to new markets.

All this took a couple of hours. When I was finished I hadn't written much but was much better organized. I also have stuff ready to mail.

I'm wrestling with a couple of short stories that are resisting finishing. I have Chapter 4 of my novel planned out in my head and I have to figure where it goes after that.

Well, back to the keyboard...

Lazy Days of Summer

Things are settling down to the laid back slow days of summer. School is out for the boys, Ladies Class is over until the fall, and my schedule gets a little lighter.

Lighter is fortunate, too, since John is working in Human Resources at the hospital Don is at staff at. This means he needs a car, and so I am doing without wheels for now.

I've been working on Novel #2 and have 3 chapters done. I'm also working on some short stories. In June I will begin to crank out Star Trek stories to submit to the Strange New Worlds contest (curious? Check out http://www.simonsays.com/content/feature.cfm?sid=44&feature_id=5261 for details).

We'll be getting ready for our mission trip to Guyana that will take place in July. I intend to try to write some while there as well. I went there last year - readers of this blog might remember that.

Anyway, summer will hopefully be filled with writing and time with my sons. :-)

Back from Oregon

Got back Wednesday from the 2 writing workshops in Oregon. Still recovering from that ugly condition known as "jet lag."

John got home from college yesterday. It's good to have him back for the summer. Our dog thinks so too.

Soon things will settle into the leisurely pace of summer. I plan to be busy writing and studying writing during that time. And maybe even keeping up this blog, which will no doubt delight some of you. :-)

The blessing of a good writing workshop

One of my problems as a writer is an issue of self-confidence. Yes, I have a well received weekly column in a newspaper. Yes, I have been a contributing writer on a reference work (The International Book of Days). Yes, I am currently working on short stories and finished a novel.

But sometimes, I wonder: do I have what it takes? Can my fiction stuff get PUBLISHED????

That's why writing workshops like the one I am currently attending in Oregon are so important.

First off, Dean Wesley Smith (remember that name!) is not only a great writer and editor, he is a fantastic teacher. He has no problem with just hanging out with us and answering our questions. He emphasizes that while we have to tell our fellow writers what they did wrong with their novels, we also have to tell them what they did right. And when people are telling us what we did right, we'd better be writing it down!

This workshop (and the one right before it - I have been here since Friday, fueled by coffee, chocolate, Diet Dr. Pepper and bagels with cream cheese) has been an encouragement to me because the people here are WRITERS. Most of them are farther along the writing path than I am. Yet none of them see me as anything less than a writer. Like them. They take me seriously and urge me to get past the whole self-confidence issue and WRITE!

And I get a glimpse of the future and realize I can.

That alone is worth the price of admission.

Do What You Love...

One of the writing websites in my favorites folder is http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/mt/. Dean Wesley Smith is a writer and editor and if you have any questions about writing he is more than willing to teach. In fact, he's teaching two writing workshops next month that I am attending.

The link above opens to his latest article, which is titled, "Do What You Love." It is of course about deciding to be a writer, but the principles could apply to other professions.

It reminds me that if I want to write, I can make it happen or hold myself back. I know this is what I want to do, I just need to say "no" to the excuses and do it. :-)

Anyway, thought I would share...

One thing I want...

Today I drove to St. Pete to drive my mother-in-law home after she had laser surgery on her eye (it was to help prevent glaucoma). While in St. Pete, I decided to treat myself to a trip to Barnes and Noble.

I walked in the door and there it was. A display with a new Diane Mott Davidson novel. For those who don't know, this fabulous author writes a series concerning a caterer named Goldie who solves mysteries. There are delicious recipes through the book (including a fantastic brownie recipe in a book appropriately titled "Dying For Chocolate")

So I saw the book, and I said to myself, "OK, I have a lot of reading to do for the upcoming workshop. I don't have time to read this novel. It will be there later, it's not going to disappear. I haven't balanced my checkbook."

I walked away from the display.

I was back there picking up a copy before too long.

I paid for it with a snack and latte and started reading it, getting caught up in a few pages.

I write this not to demonstrate a lack of self control on my part (though yeah it does) but because I want to write that kind of book one day. The kind of book that makes someone not able to talk themselves out of buying it. The kind of book that makes a person WANT to read it.

Someday, I hope...

Drip...Drip...

Ok, I recently got diagnosed with glaucoma. This means I have the questionable joy of putting in eyedrops every day.

Because I had an allergic reaction to the first eyedrop medication, I am on liquid tears for the next few days. Unlike the medicine, which is once a day, I have to use these 2-3 times a day. Lots of opportunities to practice.

The thing is, I have trouble putting on eye makeup, much less dripping fluid into my eyes. One reader of my column emailed me after I wrote about this with some tips. I'm wondering if any of the rest of you have any ideas on how people who blink a lot get eyedrops in their eyes.

Coming back up for air...

Yes, Virginia, the novel is finished. It came to around 77,000 words.

I finished it while dealing with a horrible stomach flu last week. For the most part I lived on Gatorade and slept a lot when I wasn't writing.

This week I worked on a novel proposal. I had never written one before, so I had to research how to do it.

When I started writing it, I had to keep referring back to my manuscript. Which is how I discovered I had to reprint half of it - understand that the manuscript is 365 pages long. That is a lot of paper. Reprinting half of it meant more trees died.

Add two copies of a thirteen page proposal, a one letter query, the first 50 pages of the novel for an editor to see, and a cover letter, and I probably mailed nearly a ream of paper.

I admit looking at the novel fully printed was a funny feeling. I almost couldn't believe I had typed all that in the space of five months. It was a major stack, believe me.

Now that it's off to Oregon (in preparation for a Novel Workshop I'm attending next month) I can concentrate on some short stories that have been neglected.

And, yes, the blog that has been neglected too.

Am I forgiven, Tina? ;-)

Entering the deadline cave

I have a firm deadline to get this novel finished - next week! This is because I am attending a novel workshop in May to learn more about writing such a thing and part of the qualifications for attending is a finished novel.

I have been working on it and sometimes wish I could just find a box to crawl into with my laptop and room service. It's hard to write at home sometimes because there is so much here that cries out for my attention. Plus John is home from college this week and silly me I want to spend a LITTLE time with him...

Well, I'm going to chain myself somewhere and get this finished. I will warn family and friends I may be very focused this week and just be patient with me I WILL get back to normal (or what passes for normal with me )

Back from Tennessee...

Hardest part of the trip was the drive - Central Florida to Tennessee is a long hard drive, even with Don and I taking turns. But the benefits were worth it.

One great part of the trip was seeing my oldest friend Tina. We figured out we have known each other 20 years and we have kept the friendship up in one form or fashion all that time. She is probably my best friend, one I can tell ANYTHING to, and I was happy to see her house for the first time. It was great seeing her husband and son as well.

The real goal of the trip though was to visit John and his college and see for ourselves how things are going. They are going pretty well. We have some minor concerns, but the president of the college told us many parents would give anything to have a son like John. He is doing well in his studies and seems to be growing more comfortable in interacting with others, though he will never be Mr. Life-of-the-party. We left feeling pretty good about stuff there.

I got some writing done as well. Going through Atlanta enabled me to get a lot of stuff for my novel, which is partly set in the area. Tina here was again a big help, and I have promised a glowing acknowledgement in the book if it gets published. :-)

Today was the first day back from the trip - I unpacked, checked online stuff, deleted a TON of email and started organizing a long list of stuff that needs to be done. Will write my column after Bible Study tonight and work a little bit on the novel. The next few days will be busy with writing and family stuff as I try to finish the novel, get some short stories mailed out and other stuff.

Funny quote...

My friend Tina sent this quote to me. Since I am a columnist (not a "communist" like some of my friends like to joke) I see a lot of truth in the funny:


"A reporter gets an assignment and writer the necessary coverage, but a columnist always starts with nothing but a deep hole to fill."
-- James Qwilleran, The Cat Who Dropped A Bombshell

Plugging away

I have written short stories. Some have taken around a day - others longer.

Right now I am working on my first novel. This incarnation of it was begun back in November. I have nearly 56,000 words into it and counting.

A novel is so much more complex than a short story. There is so much more to keep track of, to keep on top of. It is a challenge - my biggest challenge ever as a writer.

I had hoped to have it finished by the end of January. Then by the end of February. At this point I'm hoping to have the first draft completed by mid-March.

Back to the Word Document...

Losing battle...

Anyone else ever feel keeping an area of your house clean and straightened up was an exercise in futility? I'm feeling that way with my office. Every time I come close to getting the clutter and stuff cleaned out, something happens and it resembles a disaster zone.

For example, I recently cleared out a bunch of old newspapers and had gotten some stuff cleared off. Then my youngest needed me to work on his computer. Things were disrupted because we had to make a work surface for his tower. So once again things are scattered about...

I need "Clean Sweep" to come pay a visit...

It's been almost a month...

...since I updated this thing. My apologies. Real Life kicked me in the teeth some in January.

Some of it was holiday blues, some of it was anniversaries of my mother's death and the death of a good friend. Some of it was sleeping and concentration problems. In all, it was a lousy month in a lot of ways.

The one bright spot was my 23rd wedding anniversary. I am blessed with my husband, who loves me in spite of some of the difficulties I've been having.

And yes, Tina, I owe you an email. I've been out of town a couple of days, but I will get around to it. :-)

Writng stuff

Well, I looked through my stuff for 2005. Last year I wrote (or finished) 16 short stories and around 50,000 words of a novel. I sent out 17 short stories (some had been written in previous years and were retweaked and sent out again). I got 12 rejections (some stories got rejected by more than one editor) and none bought.

This week I found out my number of rejections is up to 22, since 10 stories I submitted for the Star Trek Strange New Worlds anthology were rejected.

One of my goals this year is to write and mail out 36 short stories. Another is to get my novel finished. This year I intend to get a lot more writing done and hopefully I will improve in it as I go.

Happy New Year!

Greetings from the New Year! I didn't stay up to see it happen this year - I am dealing with what Don calls "reactive airways." In English this means my airway is irritated from a recent cold and/or allergy flareup, which means I've been coughing a lot and flirting with laryngitis. So I took medicine and went to bed early in hopes of getting this through my system.

Later today or tomorrow I am going to review how my writing went in 2005. I have set writing goals for this new year and may share them here. I am also setting personal goals that I want to meet.

Hope the year starts off right for you today! :-)