Going Places

What's a writer to do when inspiration is thin?  Go someplace new!  This weekend my hubby and I got to go on a romantic date night and we rather spontaneously decided to visit The Fantastic Caverns, in Springfield, MO, on the way.  

This is one of the largest caverns in the world and it is full of history.  My mind was whirling with possibilities!  There's nothing like stepping into a place that has barely changed in hundreds of years to get you inspired!

Three Ways to Make Yourself a Writer

To become a writer is easy.  All you have to do is...WRITE!  But there are some things that you can do to get yourself motivated to dust off the laptop and start plotting.  Here are three suggestions.

1.  Have a designated writing time and stick to it.  Every weekday, from 1-3 pm you will find me pecking away at my laptop.  The dishes might be piled in the sink, the laundry is surely a mountain in the hallway, but I have decided to treat writing like a job, so it takes priority.  And low and behold those other things manage to get done one way or another.  Maybe all you can allot for your writing is thirty minutes in the mornings, or an hour before bed, but if you set that time aside as sacred writing time, you will be amazed at how much you can actually accomplish!

2.  Create an Office.  It doesn't have to be a traditional office, but it should have everything you need to write, a place to put your coffee, and no beds or chores in sight.  I write in my living room, in a cozy leather chair, with my coffee sitting haphazardly in the drawer of the china cabinet within arms reach.  From this luxurious vantage, I can't see the kitchen (a bio hazard) or my laundry pile (Everest).  And most importantly, it is far, far away from my bed, which calls to me like a sea full of sirens.

3.  If you don't know what to write, write anyway.  Here's the thing, you are not going to wake up each and every morning, brimming with inspiration and ideas.  You just have to jump in and start writing sans muse at times.  But a funny thing will happen if you just make yourself start typing... You will probably put together some words.  And those words tend to run together into sentences, Before you know it you have a whole page full of something (sometimes its totally crap, I'm not gonna lie.)   Writing time is never wasted time, and who knows, your next best seller might appear in the midst of those uninspired words!

So go get writing!  I'll go do the same!

What I'm Writing

Last fall I was introduced to the wonderful world of Nanowrimo.  What's that, you may ask?  National Novel Writing Month.  It happens every November, and it is a challenge to any and all writers to produce a rough draft novel in a mere thirty days.  I had never written a novel before, or even tried really, so this was all new turf for me!  I spent the months of September and October coming up with an idea to write about, doing some preliminary research and pounding out a rough outline.  I am not a pants-er.  You know, those people who can write a novel without any sort of plan where it's going?  So I knew I would have to have a road map.  What I didn't know (because how could I?) is that my average scene length was about 1,000 words.   My neat little outline said that the scenes would be 3,000 words.  Needless to say, I derailed from the outline, quite quickly.  But it all worked out in the end!  By November 30th I had a 50,000 word first draft!  How exhilarating!  And what is this novel about, you might ask?  Here's the synopsis:

In 1932, Camille Westford wakes up in an insane asylum, with no memory of the events proceeding her admittance.  She meets a quirky schizophrenic, Ingrid, and together they explore the secrets of the asylum's horrible practices, as well as Camille's mysterious past.

So right now I am editing away, and hopefully you will see "Committed" on a book shelf near you soon!