I’m sitting on boxes

That’s right. We chose the month of November to move to our new house. Boxes, boxes, boxes everywhere. If one thing is good about this move, it’s the fact that I will have an office to paint, to write, to create in. Granted, the process of moving is quite overwhelming. I am burried with boxes and guilt over the lack of progress on the novel during NaNoWriMo, out of all months!

Reflections: January 2010

Writing: reopened my draft, added to the outline, added 2,000 words to the main manuscript. Some work is done on the background for prince Danko and a whole chapter on staying at the Baji Tower.

Blogging: 12 posts

Writing Community: reconnected with Absolute Write Water Cooler , found several interesting blogs by new writers.

General feeling of accomplishment: Feeling back in business. Determined.

For the neurotic aspiring writers: Do you ever?…

As a new writer, I often feel alone and conflicted: “Am I doing it right? Does anyone else ever do this? Am I delusional to think this will work?” Yet, the more I pay attention, the more I realize others are asking themselves the very same questions I do!  Wouldn’t it be nice to know you are in good company? The point I’m trying to make here – if you find yourself questioning your process – that makes two of us!

* Do you ever work on multiple manuscripts at a time?

Sure do. In fact, I think most writers do. I have two projects going at the moment (hint, they are listed in the GOALS section on the left). New ideas still intrude on my time, once in a while, but I simply create a folder for them, and set them aside . It is my understanding that as long as you can discipline yourself to make progress, it doesn’t matter how many manuscripts you are running.

* Do you ever skip around?

That’s the only way I know how to work. Apparently, I can’t follow intended sequence of events. If I’m working on the chapter that needs a dialogue, but I feel compelled to work on the description, I just make notes *insert a dialogue about…*, and move on. Sometimes I skip whole chapters, again, leaving myself notes *Chapter 11 – meeting with Dodo birds*.

* Do you ever write while doing something else?

80% of the time. I’ve stopped thinking of it as a bad thing. As long as I’m making progress, it’s all good. There are days I need a quiet room to get anything done, and then there are days when I have my TV running, and browsing Facebook while typing only once sentence at a time.

* Do you ever work on a story without knowing the ending?

Yup. I have an idea for the Dragonfly Island, but it is not set in stone. I just know that my conflicts needs resolution, and there aren’t that many choices: “He either does, or he doesn’t”, and “they either do, or they don’t”.

* Do you ever go for a long time without touching your manuscript and then pick it up months later?

Well, if you were following this blog, you know that I just came out of 6 months break. It just took me a couple of days to pick it up where I left off.

* Do you ever feel shy about sharing your writing with others?

Hillarious, I know: I want to be a published writer, yet I feel mortified having to share my writing. I did promise my significant other the first read, but that’s it. At the same time, I don’t mind posting short excerpts on the blog, or getting advice on AW Forum. The feedback I get is extremely helpful.

* Do you ever doubt your skill?

All. The. Time.

* Do you ever think your plot is no good? cheesy? boring?

I do. I simply try not to dwell on it, or I’ll never finish.

* Do you ever dream about being published?

I’m not without an ambition. I very much hope to find an agent, get a deal, and have a faithful following of readers.

* Do you ever set writing goals that you don’t meet?

According to my first schedule, I should have been done writing, rewriting AND editing, both manuscripts I started last year. I’ve learned to let go, and the only thing that matters is the answer to the following question: Am I making progress? I still set goals, make deadlines, and strive to stick to the intended word count, but I have learned to be more reasonable with my demands of myself.

* Do you work on your query and research agents even though your manuscript is far from finished?

Ok, I confess, I do that. But I do try to keep myself in check – how much time do I spend on writing vs. looking for ant agent? I am very aware of the fact that unless I finish my project(s), I will never have a need to send out that polished query to my perfect agent.

* Do you ever feel alone?

Sometimes. No one else, I know in real life, writes. However, I feel lucky to have access to the on-line community of writers. You know, the kind that reads this blog.

One hobbit, one unicorn, and Mr. Darcy

What influences my work on the Dragonfly Island? The following beloved classics:

The Hobbit (Tolkien): I enjoy its simple structure (each chapter is an adventure that advences the main story line). I love how everything fits together, and I appreciate the genius of the world created by the author.

The Last Unicorn (Beagle): I love the language of this story. It is so beautiful – it gives me goosebumps! I don’t know if I have the skill to get there, but I will die trying. In fact, a big part of the editing stage will be spent on elevating the language.

Pride and Prejudice (Austen): it might be a bit of a cliche relationship, but hey! romance is in the air. You are rooting for Miss Bennet and Mr. Darcy to end up together. I really enjoy these love-hate relationships that are built on misunderstandings. So, I’m cooking one of my own.

Little Prince (Saint-Exupéry): Child is wise. Child is virtuous. Child has many lessons to teach an adult. That’s all I’m going to say on the subject.

I wonder what other people are thinking about when they are working on their writing projects?..

Would you still write, if you knew it won’t be published?..

I remember seeing the question before, and to be honest, I probably would have answered “no” a year ago.

I started writing because I wanted to see my name on a cover of a book one day.

Today, something changed. I’m okay with Dragonfly Island never seeing the publisher’s desk. After rereading my draft, I can’t hide away from certainrealities – it might never be good enough! Maybe I’m just not a very good writer? But, I AM a writer, and I want to finish this story, even if it takes years.

Don’t misunderstand, once it’s done and polished, I will research agents, write (and likely rewrite) query letters, and send out at least 100 of them, hoping for a reply. What I am trying to say, is that I know how difficult it is to break into print, and Dragonfly Island might be dull and simplistic compared to others out there.

What I do know, is that I am determined to my best and to finish this project for myself, if no one else. And I’m okay with that.

Pulling myself by the ears.

I wish I could tell you I was writing all this time. I wasn’t. Unless, of course, you count the three poems I conjured up. I’m quite proud of them, to be honest, they are moving, and honest, and made my beloved ask me, “Did you write that?” And his daughter (aka Alice in Wonderland), is melting my heart by displaying a poem I wrote for her this Christmas in a frame. She is a teenager, and won’t stroke my ego unless she means it, so I know it has some substance there.

Anyway, I am hoping to gently re-enter my writing adventures. I certainly have been thinking about my characters, although, I worry about rediscovering the depth in the stories I was working on. It seems so much time has passed that I will need to review my own writing, to make sure I remember what everyone is up to in the worlds I am creating over here.

Happy and Merry to everyone that stuck around!

Corn muffins and fairies.

This morning I had a craving for corn muffins, and less than half an hour later I had my muffins, warm and steamy. While enjoying my breakfast with butter and milk, something hit me, and I started writing a poem about a fairy. In just a few minutes it has grown into quite a tale. Now, I am not naive, I know how saturated the market is with fairy theme, yet I have a strange faith in this piece. I am submitting it tomorrow to Barefoot Publisher (as I think they would pick out just the right illustrator for this), and maybe will research a few others, but I swear… this is good. This is different. I rarely have this much faith in my writing, but this time it’s simple, and yet it feels right. Even if Barefoot doesn’t want it, I see it getting in print one way or another. 

Send me your good luck thoughts! 

One might wonder, how does the original manuscript about Lily and Renoi, and the little prince Danko benefit from this? The muffins have inspired me to be more particular about the food in the Dragonfly Island. That’s for another post though.

So, instead of writing, over the past four weeks I…

• Suspended two avocado pits and watched them shoot roots (yay!).
• Started packing at work (I’m switching rooms).
• Helped my one year old niece I’ve met for the first time to put on her socks and shoes.
• Almost finished reading Pippi Longstocking and Angels and Demons.
• Cried over family loss.
• Began to attend yoga-pilates class on a regular basis.
• Visited a doctor over my back problems.

Hm… that’s a lot of things that have nothing to do with writing, eh? So what did I do relative to my projects? I added dogs. That’s right. All of a sudden my Dragonfly Island has a popular pet, hounds, to be exact. Something between borzoi and Irish hound. The people keep them for protection, hunting, and companionship, often in large groups as a symbol of high rank in society.

Reclaiming Austen, and finding refuge with Scarecrow.

Nothing Like Austen no more.

I’m back to my original title. I have to thank everyone out there that encouraged the change back, because you are so wonderful and kind. You want to know a funny thing? It actually makes me write more. Go figure. 

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On a side note, the end of the school year is near (I teach), and I feel like too many things are happening at the same time. But Lily and Renoi have not left my head, and as I reread Wizard of Oz with my fourth graders, it actually encourages my confidence in my the original story setup. Each chapter takes characters through almost complete circle of a mini-adventure on their way. As Scarecrow is stuck in the middle of the river, and the chapter gives a satisfactory resolution before opening the next part of the story, so are my characters receive one problem at a time, solve it, and move on. I think vampires are the only ones that slow them down for two whole chapters. 

I worried that it will be too simplistic, but I’ll see where it takes me before making any changes. Yay for Scarecrow!

I want to know: here comes a poll!

Please tell me…

I’m very curious to see the results.