Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Archive of ‘Writer’s Life’ category
Yeah, so what if I quoted Barry Manilow? It’s my blog!
I’m having a hard time getting in the swing of writing after camp. I have plenty to do: two articles due next week and an essay to send off to an editor for consideration, but with the pre-school year hype and nervousness of settling into a new classroom, I’m finding focus and motivation tough. I want to write, I just can’t muster the motivation.
I know this strikes more than just little old me. How do you deal with it? I’d love some suggestions….
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Back….
…but not completely here.
Camp was over Saturday, but I just got home today. Long story short: never lock your car keys in your convertible trunk without having a spare. Trust me on this.
Luckily it happened at the parents’ house, so I didn’t have too much to stress about, but I did need to get home to finish edits on an article due tomorrow. That’s done now, and ready to be zipped off to the editor.
Camp went so fast…without the tons of photos my friends and campers take to share, it’d have just been a blur. I’ll be back to regular posting as soon as my real-world settles and I have a few clean clothes to wear LOL.
In the meantime…keep writing!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Best of…Writer’s Block
hey, guess what? I’m still at camp, but hopefully this revisited post from my days with the Fountain Pen, Inc blog will come in handy if you find yourself creatively blocked in any way…
Oh, My Gosh: Writer’s Block by Beth at the Fountain Pen, Inc blog
Happy unblocking,
Beth
Monday, July 21, 2008
Almost a nerd
Jason the Boy Genius (I’m not joking about that!) is a big race car fan. He never misses a racing season with his grandparents at Mid-Ohio in Lexington, and this year was no exception. Despite being on a tight deadline, I agreed to go with the boys to the Indy race today (what fun, I go often but also miss some due to summer camp conflicts).
I justified my wasting a perfectly good writing day by convincing myself that I would balance it with reading and documenting the research for the next article on the way up. Since it’s a good hour and fifteen minutes one way, I figured that’d give me two & a half hours of time going through interviews–my favorite but most time-intensive part of the article-writing process.
We pulled in just as I had started documenting the research after reading through it. The Indy race itself hadn’t yet started, but the preliminary race (I call them Baby Indy cars; Jason’s car-specific knowledge doesn’t appreciate that) was about to get going. I figured I could watch that race, do all my spreadsheeting (on paper), and put it away in time for the big race.
Then I thought about all the folks I’ve seen over the years at Indy races and realized I’d never seen any of them carrying a spiral notebook and shimmery purple folder crammed full of interviews to the grass in the S-curves. Knowing I had better verify this idea was OK, I piped up from the back of the car.
“Hey, I’ve got a question. Do you think it would be OK if I took my notebook and folder with me to do a little….”
I didn’t even get the question finished before two solid, resounding, almost reverberating “NO”!!!s came back in unison.
“You would be the biggest nerd ever if you did that, mom. No way.” I could almost hear the teenage embarrassment in J’s voice at the mere thought that his mother would be doing work while cars zoomed around the course.
I spared them both (and myself?!) the humiliation by leaving my stuff in the car, but couldn’t help but notice that the lady in front of us was reading a romance novel during the Indy baby race. No one even gave her a second look.
Well, except for Jason and I. I was jealous; he was relieved someone else looked nerdier than his mother in public (for once). He’s just lucky it was too bright to read in the blazing sunlight…
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
I’m a Guest Blogger…at Eric Maisel’s Creativity Central
Just made a quick stop over at Eric Maisel’s Creativity Central blog to find my guest blog post for this week. I’ve volunteered to do weekly posts on the creative life along with several other great bloggers.
Come, check me out and add a comment or two. Make it look like *someone* reads my stuff LOL!
Finding Creative Balance at Eric Maisel’s Creativity Central blog.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
If fiction were nonfiction….
Thinking in terms of the writing process on this one.
Yesterday I went to the corner coffee shop to do a bit of editing, a bit of outlining and some writing. The editing was for one of the guest blog pieces I mentioned earlier, due this weekend. Wednesday evening, I wrote out the rough draft, and as I wrote, I finally got to the message I wanted to convey. It didn’t start until the third page, but it was there, and it’s highly unlikely from that point to the end that I will edit at all.
As I worked on rewriting the first third of the piece, I had a sudden realization that writing fiction and writing nonfiction should essentially be the same type of process: just write. Sit down, pen on paper, and just start writing.
But that isn’t so. I marveled at the realization that in fiction, I struggle to get started. I will find almost anything to do before writing: dishes, take a shower, call my mother..practically any excuse to start. With nonfiction, I grab a pen, the portfolio, and launch into my writing, knowing that I’ll probably draft a little, revise a little and work in better words and phrases.
It comes down to this: I start nonfiction knowing and expecting I’ll draft, but start fiction with the need for perfection, which keeps me from starting at all many times.
Completely insane.
Do you have this problem? If so, how have you worked on it? It’s very interesting to me, especially with the belief that if I can approach fiction with my nonfiction mindset, I might actually get somewhere….
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Busier than A-Rod’s attorney
Sorry for the sports reference but my brain is almost mush at this point. What a busy day.
Not complaining–this is part of the reason writing is so much fun. Started the day by sending out the interview/questionnaire requests, then moved on to checking email, only to find I’ve been asked to guest blog in two new places (how cool is that?!) (details after they’re hashed out). Had a morning meeting then a one o’clock phone interview. Yeah, the one I was dreading. Not out of fear but unfamiliarity. I’ve never talked with a PR person before (in terms of an article), but I had nothing to worry about.
It was a blast! I learned some absolutely fascinating health stuff that will not only flesh out this article (due next week), but gave me some GREAT ideas for a query or two to some big-name markets…ones I’ve been trying to get into for quite some time. Fingers crossed…
From there, I sent out more questionnaires, worked on a column and played with a few blog widgets. With dinner came another amazing query idea I’m itching to send out to the same big-namers above. Maybe I’ll save that one so that when the rejection comes from the first, I can whip out another fab idea. Did some camp planning (soooo close to camp….), and am about to settle in and crank out a minimum three pages on the fiction WIP. I’m also taking part in my local RWA chapter’s Power Draft this week, in which I pledged to finish chapter one of the fiction WIP. I’m 1/3 done, so I’ve got work to do.
Amazingly, I’m not tired yet, and I’ve been up since 6. Must be that good writing karma…..
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Romance Authors are the BEST
…and not just because I am one!
I posted the call for authors this morning here, on my blog, and to three author loops to which I belong. A couple of great ladies passed it on via Twitter and other loops, and as of right now, I’ve sent out 53 questionnaires. Absolutely fabulous. I’ve always known romance writers are the best and this just confirms it.
Even better–the responses are completely awesome. I really am so psyched for this article. What’s interesting is how the whole idea came about. I’ll share that in an upcoming post.
If you’re published and just stopping by at the request of a friend and wonder if I can use your insight–absolutely. Please drop me a line at: beth@bethmorrow and I’ll be glad to send you the questionnaire. More sources mean a stronger article and more insight, so come on! Tell me what makes your sub-genre the best!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Wanted: Published Romance Authors
If you’re a published romance writer and want a little free promo, I’ve got a deal for you!
I’m working on an article for the October ’08 issue of the RWR (topic: sub-genres of romance) and need author interviews to round out the piece.
If you’re interested, (the questionnaire is only five questions long and I need it no later than July 20th), drop me an email at: beth@bethmorrow.com or blog@bethmorrow.com and we can chat.
Do feel free to pass this on to any romance-writing friends who might be interested.
Thanks a bunch! Now back to the writing….
Monday, July 7, 2008
My kingdom for a pen….
I’m a ink-pen addict. I make no bones about it. I can’t write unless I have the right pen.
98% of the time I’m a fountain pen girl. None of these new-fangled ink pens that stutter and leave blotches. I need the good, solid heft of a real pen to write, especially fiction, which I draft longhand first.
The other 2% of the time, I’m testing out new pens. I buy pens like most women buy shoes. Anything new, shiny, sparkly or with a pretty color suckers me in immediately. The guys at Staples (near where I used to work and now near my house) all know me by first name. If I have a bad day at school, I don’t drink to forget my problems (well, ok, I do …), I stop by the pen aisle on the way home and pick up something cool.
My latest trial-and-error is a success. For years, the only pen the hubby would use to grade lab notebooks and chemistry quizzes was the Pilot extra-fine. (In red, of course). A few weeks ago, I discovered the Pilot Precise v5 RT (extra fine as well)–in a retractable, not capped, form. I got a package (for him, I claimed) for fun.
I love this pen!! It’s smooth and doesn’t skip, drip or smear. (I’m a fast writer). I love the extra fine tip for scribbling extra notes to myself in the margins (or between lines) for future drafts. I’m not going to leave the fountain pens anytime soon, but this is a definite keeper.
(It takes so very little to excite me sometimes it’s almost scary, but if you write longhand, you understand my happiness 
)
When you write, which pen is your favorite? Tell me about it. Remember, every post gets you entered in the July 23 drawing by Jason, the boy genius. (a hint: he hates writing with pens. Pencils only. Maybe he’s adopted…)
(and maybe an extra point if you can tell me from whom I filched the post title from…)
It's pretty simple, really. I'm a writer who loves writing about writing, and sharing all the tricks of the trade with other writers. And when I'm not writing, I'm thinking about writing. I have a hunch you know what I mean :)