Writing Meme
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Leah Braemel kinda sorta tagged me, so I thought I'd give this meme a try before I head off to Saint John, New Brunswick. Woo hoo! I'm leaving the laptop behind, so things will be pretty darn boring over here until the weekend.
Okay, here it goes:
1.List one of your writing goals for the month of June and how likely you are to accomplish it.
Ack! Since I'm behind on my May goal of outlining my next work in progress, I'll make that my new June goal. As things look mighty fine for the rest of the month (even with the birthday that pushes me to 41), I see this goal as a totally doable one. Yeah, but don't quote me on it. ;)
2.What genre or subject would you like to write about that you aren't currently?
Wow, I never really thought much about the genre I wanted to write in; I'm writing the books that are in me. As I've tried both women's fiction and young adult, I much prefer young adult so that I can channel my inner 16-year-old. I wouldn't mind dabbling with a mystery, but my first attempt was so bad that my betas knew whodunit on page 3.
3.What is your writing lifestyle, habits ? How do you manage the interruptions with your writing? HOW do you stay positive? Believe in your writing success?
a) I'm a writer by trade (magazine articles and advertising copy) so I tend to be at the computer whenever I'm awake. One thing that has really helped with finding time for my writing is not having children to raise. ;) The DH can pretty well manage on his own when I'm in "the zone." Working on something every day helps. Once you start taking breaks from it, you end up spending more time getting back into it than actually writing. Of course, there are times when you need to step away from your work, but that's not until you get that crappy first draft out.
b)Interruptions are inevitable; I keep spray cheese handy and tend not to answer the phone when I'm working to a deadline. It's my personal writing (the novels) that gets kicked to the curb when life gets busy. That's my main problem: I get distracted way too easily. For example, I could be working on that outline right now instead of doing this meme. ;)
c) I guess it's easy for me to stay positive because I can look at my clippings of past articles I've written. Of course, that's when I'll spot a typo. Le sigh. Keeping a happy file of notes from friends, family, editors, etc., gives me a place I can go to for encouraging words when I appear to be out of them.
d) Believing in writing success is a hard thing, especially when the more I learn about the business, the more that I realize it's not like The Love Boat after all. It's more like Fantasy Island, with Mr. Rourke waving a book contract at you, only you can't get to it because every other author on the island is in front of you, holding up drinks with paper umbrellas. Somehow, though, you have to believe that your dreams will happen. Perhaps without the paper umbrellas and Hollywood types.
4.Are you a pantser or plotter?
I'm a total pantser. Of course, that usually means I have a lot of rewriting to do when I get to the end, but I haven't been able to work the other way. I find writing by the seat of my pants lands me in places I never expected, and that can be really great...or not. At least I've stopped having my characters take meal breaks whenever I wasn't sure where a scene or chapter should go. ;)
5.Who are two of your favorite current authors and why?
I refuse to limit myself to two authors, and since my To Be Read pile is taller than my house, there are a bunch of relatively current authors who I have yet to enjoy. A bunch of them, I will admit, are members of the Toronto Romance Writers.
6.How does your family feel about your writing?
The houseplants are rather indifferent, but I'm the luckiest woman alive with the husband I have. He does laundry. He dusts. He cleans. He can even make scrambled eggs. He's the one who holds the house together while I tap away at the keyboard, sometimes into the wee hours. I look forward to the day I can dedicate my first published novel to him, because he totally deserves that and much, much more. The cat does get demanding when he needs some attention, but it's good to take a break every once in a while. Especially since he can play fetch. Such a clever kitten.
And, in true Bonnie fashion, I'm not going to tag anyone. But if you do end up doing it, lemme know so we can come see your answers!
Okay, here it goes:
1.List one of your writing goals for the month of June and how likely you are to accomplish it.
Ack! Since I'm behind on my May goal of outlining my next work in progress, I'll make that my new June goal. As things look mighty fine for the rest of the month (even with the birthday that pushes me to 41), I see this goal as a totally doable one. Yeah, but don't quote me on it. ;)
2.What genre or subject would you like to write about that you aren't currently?
Wow, I never really thought much about the genre I wanted to write in; I'm writing the books that are in me. As I've tried both women's fiction and young adult, I much prefer young adult so that I can channel my inner 16-year-old. I wouldn't mind dabbling with a mystery, but my first attempt was so bad that my betas knew whodunit on page 3.
3.What is your writing lifestyle, habits ? How do you manage the interruptions with your writing? HOW do you stay positive? Believe in your writing success?
a) I'm a writer by trade (magazine articles and advertising copy) so I tend to be at the computer whenever I'm awake. One thing that has really helped with finding time for my writing is not having children to raise. ;) The DH can pretty well manage on his own when I'm in "the zone." Working on something every day helps. Once you start taking breaks from it, you end up spending more time getting back into it than actually writing. Of course, there are times when you need to step away from your work, but that's not until you get that crappy first draft out.
b)Interruptions are inevitable; I keep spray cheese handy and tend not to answer the phone when I'm working to a deadline. It's my personal writing (the novels) that gets kicked to the curb when life gets busy. That's my main problem: I get distracted way too easily. For example, I could be working on that outline right now instead of doing this meme. ;)
c) I guess it's easy for me to stay positive because I can look at my clippings of past articles I've written. Of course, that's when I'll spot a typo. Le sigh. Keeping a happy file of notes from friends, family, editors, etc., gives me a place I can go to for encouraging words when I appear to be out of them.
d) Believing in writing success is a hard thing, especially when the more I learn about the business, the more that I realize it's not like The Love Boat after all. It's more like Fantasy Island, with Mr. Rourke waving a book contract at you, only you can't get to it because every other author on the island is in front of you, holding up drinks with paper umbrellas. Somehow, though, you have to believe that your dreams will happen. Perhaps without the paper umbrellas and Hollywood types.
4.Are you a pantser or plotter?
I'm a total pantser. Of course, that usually means I have a lot of rewriting to do when I get to the end, but I haven't been able to work the other way. I find writing by the seat of my pants lands me in places I never expected, and that can be really great...or not. At least I've stopped having my characters take meal breaks whenever I wasn't sure where a scene or chapter should go. ;)
5.Who are two of your favorite current authors and why?
I refuse to limit myself to two authors, and since my To Be Read pile is taller than my house, there are a bunch of relatively current authors who I have yet to enjoy. A bunch of them, I will admit, are members of the Toronto Romance Writers.
6.How does your family feel about your writing?
The houseplants are rather indifferent, but I'm the luckiest woman alive with the husband I have. He does laundry. He dusts. He cleans. He can even make scrambled eggs. He's the one who holds the house together while I tap away at the keyboard, sometimes into the wee hours. I look forward to the day I can dedicate my first published novel to him, because he totally deserves that and much, much more. The cat does get demanding when he needs some attention, but it's good to take a break every once in a while. Especially since he can play fetch. Such a clever kitten.
And, in true Bonnie fashion, I'm not going to tag anyone. But if you do end up doing it, lemme know so we can come see your answers!
posted by Bonnie Staring at 10:50 PM
3 Comments:
That's funny, Bonnie. My characters always drifted off, dropped into sleep, pulled the quilt up, etc. at the end of chapters until I figured out I was putting the readers including me to sleep.
I have to believe if I can dream it, I can achieve it, though one might have to sneak into Mr. Rourke's room and convince to leave the others behind.
Love the Fantasy Island metaphor (or is that a simile?) It's so true!
Hubby sounds wonderful (I'm similarly blessed)
I was really interesting in your answer to 3c) Even though I know you, and you've always been upbeat, I've often thought "That's got to be a mask". Nice to hear it's not.
Thanks for dropping by Marley!
:::removes any quilt scenes from current WIP:::
Leah: Oh there are times when I join the Cranky Pants Brigade (just ask Michelle...actually, don't ask her or she'll give away all my secrets!). It must be that going to TRW meetings makes me happy. Gotta love the prizes! ;)
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