When I contacted Cat Weatherill to ask her if she’d like to participate in Author Crush Month, I told her that when I was reading her  book Wild Magic , I was struck thinking it would make a great read-aloud book. Then I started adding sticky tabs to sentences that had a fresh image (to record later in my writer’s notebook)…several sticky tabs later and I booted up my laptop to find out who she was! And then it all made sense. She is a storyteller, the kind you would go watch at a book festival. And it comes out in her writing in a different way than someone who is an author only.

I asked her if she could share some tips from a storytelling perspective that would help me add more drama and more auditory focus to my writing. And happily for us, she agreed:

When it comes to writing novels, being a storyteller has its advantages and its disadvantages. In this blog, I will focus purely on the positive! The benefits. How I think it has helped me. And in talking about my writing, I hope to show how you might lift your text from the page and set it dancing in your readers’ ears.

The main advantage to being a storyteller, I think, is having a very distinctive ‘voice.’ It has been formed organically, through hours and hours of live performance. It is this voice that people hear when they read my books and, because it is a storyteller’s voice, it means the books read aloud extremely well. I also have a cinematic imagination – I use words to paint pin sharp images – and I evoke atmosphere in a multi-sensory way.

I am sometimes asked whether I tell the story out loud then write it down. No, I don’t do that, but I do think visually. This is what storytelling is about – creating a string of visual images. You have an image in your head, and you send that image to your listener’s head via spoken words. The image will reform in a different way – it comes through the listener’s personal filters before it reassembles – but that is the joy of it. The uniqueness. I use the same approach to the written word. I imagine a narrative as a necklace: there are beads linked by a thread. I spend time polishing the beads so they shimmer and captivate the reader. And I bring in sounds and smells to evoke the atmosphere fully. Here is an example of a ‘bead’ from Barkbelly:

By evening, the circus was ready to open. Barkbelly left the cottage at dusk and cut through the orchard toward Farmer Gubbin’s land. A low mist was rising. The air was still and curiously charged. He walked on, his heart drumming with excitement. And when he emerged from the shadow of the trees and saw the massive Stardust Palace rising from the mist, he caught his breath and bit his lip. It was too wonderful for words. As he walked through the long grass, his legs grew damp and sticky with seeds, but he didn’t notice. He was looking at the lanterns, bright as beads, strung between the wagons. He could hear the hum of the crowd, the roar of a lion, the crack of a whip.

As he drew closer, he could smell cotton candy and hot honeyed nuts. Sausages. Soap. Woodsmoke. Tobacco smoke. Sharp, sulphurous gun smoke!

Barkbelly was lost in a joyous, bewildering chaos of colour and sensation. His fingers closed around the money in his pocket. Three precious coins that would buy a ticket into the heart of this paradise.

I also love playing with language, and think rhythmically. Sometimes I put these rhythms directly onto the page. When they are read aloud, they add vibrancy to the text and feel delightful on the tongue. It saddens me when these lovingly crafted rhythms are lost in translation, along with my alliteration. And my character names! In the Danish version of Barkbelly, he is called Traeskind, which means ‘wooden child.’ That’s just not the same! The warm, cosy humour of the word ‘belly,’ the alliteration, the image of the bark-textured belly – all lost in one translated word. Hmm! Sometimes you just have to let these things go, but it’s a shame. These are my characteristic ‘flourishes’ as a writer. My style.

Here is an example of rhythmic writing, again from Barkbelly, when pirates suddenly attack the ship he is on:

Chaos and confusion! A bell ring, foot stomp, Flynn fly, do-or-die, panic-stricken sailor cry, chaos and confusion!

And polished alliterative language from Snowbone, when the character Blackeye is flying across the ocean by night:

Over the waves, under the moon, into the east he went. Over sailing ships that snailed across the ocean, leaving their trails behind them, silver as starlight. Over islands, secret-sleeping, scattered like cushions on the wakeful waves. Over sage whales, barnacle blue, singing sea songs older than time.

I am very fond of sound effects in my books. As a storyteller, I use them all the time because they bring a story to life. When I write a book, I add the sounds I would make as a teller, spelled out phonetically. Not only do they bring the text to life, but anyone reading the book out loud will find themselves spontaneously making the sounds too. Children love to hear grown ups making sound effects, but adults often lack the confidence to do it, thinking they will look silly. By adding them to the text, I gently overcome resistance. Here’s an example from Wild Magic:

Finn reached for an arrow, set it into his bow and let if fly: ffoooooo!

But ENOUGH about my writing! Let’s look at how you might bring a storyteller’s sparkle to your work.

1. Make more magic

I have a comments book. At the end of every adult show, I encourage people to write in it. And the same words appear time and time again: magical… spellbinding… enchanting… captivating. This is not coincidence. I believe the job of a storyteller is to conjure magic: to create a world from a single breath and transport the listeners there, captivating them so fully, they won’t notice the time that’s passing. They will be lost; entangled in the tale.

And that is how we want our readers to be, isn’t it? Gripped! Enthralled. Fervently page turning. And yes, strong characters and great plotting play essential parts in achieving this, but I think a vividly imagined world is vitally important too. As a writer, you journey through a created world and you invite your readers to walk with you. The more ‘alive’ this landscape is to you, the more alive it will be to them. This is where magic comes in.

Set aside some time to explore your world. I find this easiest in a darkened room lit only with fairy lights. I sit in a comfortable chair, close my eyes and start picturing the world of my story. In India, storytelling is sometimes referred to as the Cinema of the Imagination, and this is what you are doing here: running a private movie of your novel’s landscape. Step into it… explore it… experience it. Allow yourself to be surprised by it.

This technique can be used for looking at a specific scene in your book. Picture the setting then bring your characters into it. Note how they move, the expressions on their faces, the power dynamics at work – how they are relating to the space and each other.

This can be an extraordinarily revealing exercise – and very powerful. Some months ago, I worked on an oral story about a very sick girl who was given a pretty dress for her birthday. I had imagined her as frail and wasted, but it wasn’t until I did this exercise that I saw she had no hair. I was shocked. How could I have overlooked something like that? As I watched the scene unfold before me, the girl’s mother tenderly slipped the red woollen dress over the thin body, and I clearly heard her whisper: ‘You’re beautiful.’ I started to cry. In that moment, it had become so real.

2. Get physical

This is taking the above one stage further – getting out of the chair and joining in. I am a very physical performer and have an acting background, so it’s often impossible for me to stay sitting down! I am driven to explore the scene physically.

Again, this can be very revealing – sometimes in a very practical sense. You might find, for example, that it is physically impossible for your hero to do what you had him doing.

Charles Dickens frequently acted out scenes from his books. His daughters would hear him hotly arguing with someone in the next room and rush in, only to find him alone. I seem to recall reading that he threw himself into his dramatics with such vigour, his rehearsals of the death of Nancy scene from Oliver Twist (in readiness for a live speaking tour) so badly affected his own health, he died before the tour began.

3. Read your work aloud

If you want a book to read well aloud, you must read it aloud! Better still, get someone else to read it aloud for you. Make a note of any words or phrases they stumble over, and then change them. With children’s books, ask a child to read and listen to how they pronounce the character’s names – if they can read them at all. With Barkbelly, I was shocked to find my eight year old test reader couldn’t pronounce the name of the very first character named in the book. Page one! What a terrible impression to give: this book will be hard to read. I changed the name instantly.

4. Be playful

… with language and images. A sense of moderation must prevail, of course, or the book will become over-written and florid. A good editor will help judge if you’ve gone too far. But certainly in the first draft, which should be written for yourself (‘with the door closed’ as Stephen King wonderfully puts it) I think you should have fun. It’s easier to cut later than add later.

Well – that’s it! It’s time for me to make yet another cup of tea. I cannot write without it!

Happy writing,

Cat

Cat Weatherill is one of Europe’s leading performance storytellers. She has been creating and telling stories to adults and children for twelve years. She is also a best selling children’s author, with books translated into nine languages.   www.catweatherill.co.uk

It’s January and it’s Monday. Beginnings make me feel like it’s time to hurry up and get moving. I’m a morning person (when I’ve slept well) and mornings make me feel that way, too. Hurry up! Go running and eat breakfast and hurry to your computer! So much to do! (Or on more embarrassing days – Hurry and get to your computer! What do you mean it’s dinner time? I haven’t even taken a shower, let along exercised or anything else!)

There’s so much to do because there’s so much to learn. I spent all day last Thursday just trying to read through some of the online group posts about writing and publishing and self-publishing, and then clicking the links to the great posts those people had found, which led to more links and reading more posts. Sheesh! How’s a girl to get any writing done?

But there’s a lot more to being a 21^st century author than there was to being a 1950s author. Not only do you have to learn a lot, you have to do a lot. I took Kristen Lamb’s class on Becoming a Brand two weeks ago and now I’m trying to do everything I’ve been learning about. I’m following more people on Twitter and Facebook, retweeting and replying, and commenting on blogs. I think I did a week’s worth of social media in one day.

I saw some immediate results (I tripled my Twitter followers and got my own blog up and rolling again), so I downloaded the Kindle samples of both of Kristen’s books, Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer and We Are Not Alone: The Writer’s Guide to Social Media. I loved the samples, so I bought the books. I’m reading both at the same time now, and trying to apply something new every day. Wow.

There are a gazillion great blogs out there and I read a lot of them last week! (This week, I swear, is going to be more about writing and balance.) Instead of trying to explain everything I read, I’ll just give you some short descriptions and you can decide what you can use.

Oh, and in case I lose you somewhere amongst all these links, let me remind you that Author Crush Month starts on Wednesday! Yay!! We love Author Crush Month, and we know you do, too! We’ve got some really great guests this month talking about their process, their craft, their journey. Be sure to stop by every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in February.

Also, we will have a special guest joining us on the first Tuesday of every month beginning in March. You’re going to love her! (You might even already know her!)

And tune in tomorrow as we welcome Janice Cantore to talk with us about her new book, Accused. If you remember, Janice has been struggling to sell her books with a small press but last summer signed a 3-book deal with a major publisher! Her new book releases February 1^st. Woo-hoo!

And now to my list o’ links:

Elizabeth Spann Craig explains how she uses Google Calendar to stay organized

An online self-publishing conference! I’m waiting by my Inbox for an email with details about registration costs.

The CEO of Smashwords gives us his thoughts on self-publishing in 2011

A Smashwords blog post about the Amazon Select program

I took an awesome online class in November about helping your brain work better, and the teachers wrote this guest post

I’m signed up for another online class next month on how to write cozy mysteries, and here is an article by the teacher (I’m hoping it will help me bring my superhero romantic comedies up a level)

A great craft post from Jody Hedlund on how to make your book play out like a movie

Another self-published author, PJ Sharon, shares her 2011 numbers

From Kristen Lamb’s blog, What’s the Problem with FREE?

Sharpen Your Blogging Habits, a 4-part series from Kristin Nador

Which could lead you to this brilliant post on creating better tag lines for your blog  (I just changed my tag line for my own blog. What do you think? Better? Not quite right yet? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!)

From Bob Mayer, a post that explains why I’ve never dreamed of being on a bestselling list, I dream of selling books for the rest of my life 

From Writer Beware, The Fine Print of iBooks Author, free software from Apple to create ebooks that can only be sold in the iTunes store

And the blog author’s reply to common misconceptions about what he wrote

Books I’m reading: Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer; We Are Not Alone: The Writer’s Guide to Social Media; Dollars and Sense: The Definitive Guide to Self-Publishing Success

I’ve just got to tell you about my new writing routine. It combines one of my favorite things—learning about writing—with one of my least favorite—cooking/cleaning in the kitchen.

Let’s back up to July when I signed up for a free webinar: “Translating Rejection Letter Lingo: What To Do about a ‘Flat’ Story.” The webinar was part of Deborah Halverson book launch for Writing Young Adult Fiction for Dummies. She conducted the webinar with author/illustrator Katie Davis.

By participating in the webinar, I landed on Katie’s email list.

Now, Katie is a picture book author. So after a few newsletters that I didn’t bother to open—because Katie is a picture book author and I’m a novelist in training—I decided I better unsubscribe and clear out my inbox. BUT, I decided to  read one before unsubscribing.

So. Glad. I. Did.

There was this brief mention of Katie’s podcast Brain Burps About Books. I made a note of it and went on my merry way. *Did not unsubscribe because I wanted another reminder if I forgot about the podcast.*

Eventually the podcast made its way to my iPod. And I finally got around to giving it a listen.

Wow! These are great. She is so funny and personable, and she’s had some really good guests on air. Not just picture book people! Middle grade and YA authors included. (And general marketing tips for you grown-up writers!)

Anyways, all that to say my cooking sessions have gotten a lot more interesting for me thanks to my iPod and Brain Burps. You might want to check it out too!

This past Saturday my local RWA chapter (Orange County Chapter in California) met. Our guests were historical romance author Patricia Wynn talking about combining history and mystery, and Carina Press’s Angela James talking about publishing in the digital age. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day and thought I’d share some of the things I found most interesting.

PATRICIA WYNN
Though I don’t write or read historicals (except for the occasional regency romance) or mysteries, there were a couple of things Patricia said that struck me as useful in my writing.

• She believes your story should grow out of the setting in such a way that it couldn’t happen just that way in any other place, at any other time. I started thinking about my superhero books and wondered if I’m doing enough with setting.
• In terms of scene and sequel, Patricia said that if you have fewer and shorter sequels, you will increase the pace and the tension of the story.
• Another thing that will increase conflict and tension is giving your protagonist fewer people to talk to and confide in. At first I thought, I’m not getting rid of Tori’s best friend or her sister. But then I thought, all I have to do is create reasons why she can’t confide in them, or can’t confide right away.

ANGELA JAMES
During Angela James’ talk, several topics caught my attention.

• Authors need to understand their contracts before they sign them. (I strongly agree as a business person. I know several authors who couldn’t tell you what their royalty percentages are, let alone on what basis they are calculated.)
• She wouldn’t suggest that an author already getting published by a traditional print publisher switch over to an epublisher just because of the better royalty rates for ebooks. There are many factors to consider, and there are still a lot of benefits in being published by a traditional print publisher like Harlequin.
• It’s to an author’s advantage for the option clause in their contract to be as narrow as possible. You don’t want to sign something that sells all rights, in all territories, in both print and digital and in every form yet to be created, in perpetuity. Remember you are licensing your work, not “selling” it. (See the blog by Kristine Kathryn Rusch discussing both licensing and how writers are agreeing to be paid less than in the Great Depression.) Know what the term (length) of your contract is. Once you sign it, you’ve agreed to that deal for that length of time.
• The greatest position of strength for either party trying to come to an agreement is their willingness to walk away from the negotiations. Know where you stand, what you’re willing to accept, and in what areas you won’t negotiate. Almost all contracts are negotiable, but not all sections of the contract are negotiable.
• In answer to the question, “Why should I choose Carina Press or any other publisher over self-publishing?”, Angela smiled and said, “I don’t think all of you should.” She said some self-published authors have made it very clear that they hate to be edited. That’s one reason not to try to find a publisher – you’ll both end up miserable. Some people like the inherent control in self-publishing. Others like that a publishing house is doing more of the work (for more of the money) so that the author can spend more time doing what they presumably do best – writing. And she reminded us that there is still a lot to be said for a brand. Harlequin, Penguin, Random House (my list, not Angela’s) are still powerful brand names that people associate with quality books.

Angela’s talk gave me a lot to think about. I agree that there are more benefits to being published by a publishing house than self-publishing and doing all the work yourself. But I agree with people like Kristine Kathryn Rusch and J.A. Konrath who believe that there are better ways to pay for the services than to pay a large percentage over the life of the contract (which can be forever, depending on what you sign).

THE COST OF SELF-PUBLISHING
Self-publishing is expensive. I firmly believe an editor will help you write a better book. How many times have you heard an author say that their editor pushed them to make changes the author wouldn’t have made on their own, changes that made the book better? But many (most?) self-published authors don’t spend the money on quality editing. (I’m talking about both content/structural editing and copy editing.)

I expect to have to pay hundreds of dollars per book for the right content editor, and additional fees for a copy editor. I’m going to start paying someone to format my books as soon as I have some extra money to do so. Meanwhile, I have to accept the opportunity cost of doing the copy editing and the digital and print formatting myself: for every hour I am not writing, I am potentially losing money. And there are many more expenses that I have to pay for out of pocket as well.

It’s a difficult path I’ve chosen. I’d add one more reason to Angela’s list on why you should choose self-publishing over licensing your work to a publishing house: because you really get a kick out of creating your little business yourself!    That’s how I feel. And I think I’ll continue on my path as long as I feel that way.

          The past few years have been a journey through an emotional storm. True to my personalty, I often ignored or minimized the effects of that storm. Unfortunately, that didn’t make them any less devastating. It actually left me confused and wondering why life became more and more difficult and depressing. Eventually, I recognized the emotional and relational devastation. And so began my healing journey (even more difficult, but oh so much healthier).

          What I didn’t realize until recently was that my writing, any creativity actually, had been an excellent indicator of my emotional health. When I was secure emotionally, when my intimate relationships were healthy and supportive, my creativity blossomed. I experimented with words. I wrote scenes and stories, I decorated my house, I planned creative, hands-on homeschool lessons. I was creative. When I my emotional security was threatened, that creativity dwindled. The lessons became more structured, the decorating less original, the writing less passionate.

          I realize a truth that I never suspected until recently. Just as the gas gauge in my car reveals how much gas is left, so my creativity reveals the state of my emotional health. And tending to my emotional health strengthens my creativity.

          How do I tend to my emotional health? That’s actually what I’ll be exploring more in-depth over the coming weeks and months. For now, though, for me, it means, no more expectations and demands for creativity. Any creativity, whether it is writing, drawing, dancing, decorating or something else, will be done for the sheer enjoyment of doing it. More importantly, though, it means I need to surround myself with emotionally supportive people. I need to fill my life with caring, honest, respectful and loving relationships. As my emotional and relational health improves, so will my creativity.

          What’s your creativity gauge reveal?

          What a way to start the New Year! Late with my first post of the year I could bore you with tales of adjusting to a full-time 11pm-7am physically intensive job on top of chaotic family and holiday activities, but I won’t. I’ll just apologize for posting this late and resolve to not do it again.

          I’ve heard it said that whatever you do on the 1st day of the year, you are destined to do for the rest of the year. (Therefore, since I did not write and upload this on the 1st, so it would post on time, I’m destined to always be late with my posts this year.) I just don’t believe that. That’s just too fatalistic for this optimist. And it violates one of my fundamental beliefs. Everyone has a choice. Sometimes choices are limited or unclear or even excruciating to make, but there is always a choice. A choice to change; a choice to continue in the same way; a choice to procrastinate making a choice (which is actually a choice in itself). January 1 is not the only day a choice for change can occur. It may be a natural-seeming time for change, with its return to routine after the holiday break, but it is not the only time for change.

          My life this past year proves it. Major, life-changing upheaval and messy changes happened this year. They did NOT happen on January 1st. Or even on the Chinese New Year in March. (I was in China at the time.) They are still happening. And that is what I’ll be writing about this year (or as much of it as seems right and necessary and helpful for our readers). The ending and beginning, the life-changing upheaval, the emotional-laden decisions and actions that have led to my New Beginning in The Adventure of Life.

          In the years since we started RFW, Kitty, Shonna and I have usually written on the same theme throughout a week or month. Of course we each have our particular style, emphasis, and way of addressing that theme, but generally, we talked about the same thing. This year, at least for a few months, we want to try something different. We thought readers might like to read about our widely different writing journeys. Kitty and Shonna will tell you more about their focus in their posts this week.

          For me, I’ll be sharing the emotional journey I have traveled this past year. As I have moved through the events and emotions of this year, I’ve wrestled out of it emotional health and perspective. Writing helped me do that. More than that, writing got me through it. Writing or the thought of writing kept me going. At times it seemed as though I’d lost my words. So I read others’ words. Every effort to create and form words into ideas and stories was excruciating. But I kept trying. Any ability I’d had in the past, just disappeared. I mourned, but kept writing “worthless junk”. As I said, it seemed as though I’d lost my words (still does at times). The truth is the desire to write and the continued attempts to write and the miniscule writing successes kept me fighting, gave me focus and led me to where I am now. Not yet healed, but healthy, healing, and growing.

          I want to share some of that with you. The writing for writing’s sake. Not for publication, not to share with others, not for anything but one’s own emotional health. Yes, eventually some of that writing-for-writing’s-sake will become pieces for others to read (like my upcoming blog posts). But there are times when a writer just needs to write. Where the words need to be allowed to linger or be searched for or savored with no thought of anything more. That type of writing journey is valid, even necessary at times. I want to put words to that truth and maybe help a reader in the process.

          So bring on the New Year Adventure!

          Kitty and Shonna and I are taking a short break over the holidays to focus on our families. Instead of new blog posts, we’ll be sending you to a few from the past year that we think you will enjoy.

• Time For A New Routine
• Getting It Out There
• Battling Voices
• Success From Failure
• Monday – A New Perspective
]]> http://www.routinesforwriters.com/2011/12/26/2011-revisited/feed/ 0 http://www.routinesforwriters.com/2011/11/25/final-push/ http://www.routinesforwriters.com/2011/11/25/final-push/#comments Fri, 25 Nov 2011 07:02:44 +0000 Shonna Slayton http://www.routinesforwriters.com/?p=5075



Only a few more days left in November. Time to hit the word count hard…whether you’ve been writing madly during NaNoWriMo, or merely editing the same crazy 50 pages (+ scene chart + synopsis), like me.

Here’s my editing goal for the end of the month: to make more connections. Connections between the chapters and the characters.

My main character needs to think more about events that happened in earlier chapters and how those events affect what is presently going on and then what is going to happen (or what she thinks is going to happen) in the future. This is something that will help make my chapters less episodic. And, it will give the reader more time in my character’s head, which is still lacking.

My critiquer mentioned something brilliant, something about these reflective moments being like connective tissue between scenes and chapters. Ah! I get it. Now, to make it happen.

]]> http://www.routinesforwriters.com/2011/11/25/final-push/feed/ 1 http://www.routinesforwriters.com/2011/11/21/are-you-writing/ http://www.routinesforwriters.com/2011/11/21/are-you-writing/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:03:04 +0000 Stephanie Shackelford http://www.routinesforwriters.com/?p=5072



          Another Monday slipped up on me! I almost forgot about posting this blog. But not for the usual reasons. Yay!

          I’ve been busy writing on my NaNoNovel . . . or whatever it is I’m writing. At the moment, it is just a mixture of scenes, journal entries and guided discussions with myself. Verbalizing the emotions of these past few months is helping me to define them. Defining them is leaching them of their power away over me. Finally, the creative side of me is re-emerging. Tentatively. A tiny sigh here, a stray comment there, a hesitant suggestion whispered in my mind’s ear. That’s okay. That’s as it should be. It takes time to heal from trauma. A body lies in the ICU, being cared for and monitored for many days, even weeks after a physical trauma. Just as I needed “trama-ICU” time to heal emotionally, so I need “trauma-ICU” time to heal creatively. And I am . . . healing, that is.

          Last week I read a guest blog on Storyfix.com. Art Holcomb, the guest blogger, tells a story of his 1st published piece. One scene was pivotal. That one scene made the piece authentic. That one scene started him on the road to writing as a career. More importantly, though, it also started him on the road of discovering and healing through his writing.


          In another Storyfix blog, one that sounds almost un-Larry-like, Larry also encourages us to write. He suggests that maybe all “our Muse” is waiting for is for us to sit down and start. If we would just start writing, what we need to write will be made clear. (I told you it didn’t sound like Larry. )

          Art encourages us to write with our hearts. To learn our craft, but to keep letting the six-year-old in us out to play. In doing so, we’ll grow as people and as writers. Larry encourages us to write, again with our hearts. In the doing, we will discover what we need to write. And now I add my voice to theirs and encourage you to write. That’s what I’m doing. That’s what I’ve done. And in the doing I am healing and I am discovering myself and, even more exciting, I am discovering Story! Sometimes it comes slow; sometimes it comes so fast my fingers can’t keep up. Either way, I’m writing! I’m writing! I’M WRITING!

          Come join my happy dance all over the keyboard.

]]> http://www.routinesforwriters.com/2011/11/21/are-you-writing/feed/ 1 http://www.routinesforwriters.com/2011/11/07/and-were-off/ http://www.routinesforwriters.com/2011/11/07/and-were-off/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 16:35:25 +0000 Stephanie Shackelford http://www.routinesforwriters.com/?p=5040



          Week 2 of NaNoWriMo!

          I may be the only one on this blog actually writing new material this month. Shonna’s editing and Kitty’s moving.

          That’s right! I. Am. Writing!

          Tuesday, Day 1 of NaNoWriMo, I met with a few local Wrimos for a kick-off write-in. I sat down to write and a little over 2 hours later, I had 3600+ words over about 6 barebones scenes. It was mostly dialogue and some action tags. Just like a all my other first drafts. It all felt so NOMAL.

          For the first time in months, I felt like a writer! I wrote a sentence. Hesitated, unsure what to write next, then cued into the song being played on the sound system. My next sentence included something from the song. A few more hesitations and forced sentences of dialogue and suddenly I was rushing to finish one thought as another one was pushing its way through my fingers.

          My plan was to combine my journal writing with scenes. I wasn’t going to force myself to plan the story or even know what I wanted to happen to the characters. In fact, I hadn’t yet even dreamed up the characters. I was just going to write what came to mind, turning the emotions of the past few months and the memories of the past few years into scenes. Maybe changing events and people as I write, maybe not. Because I’m sure it will not be exactly “as it happened,” I’m calling it fictionalized memoirs.

          When I started writing on Tuesday, I expected to have to write stream of consciousness drivel for pages and pages as I forced myself to write. Not so! The closest I came to drivel was a short 100-200 word paragraph listing several scene ideas that flooded into my brain faster than I could type. I could see how they would illustrate the progression of the main character’s emotional journey and didn’t want to lose the insight. I’ve since included some journaling and narrative, but that first day was pure fiction!

          It was like getting onto a bike after years of not riding. It was like picking up crochet needles and crocheting a granny square after years of no crocheting. It was like . . . returning to the keyboard and writing fiction after months of no words. It all came back: the flow of the words, the germination of an ideas, the way those ideas grew and grew the more it flowed through my fingers, the flickering glimpses of multiple places I could take the scene, the exhilaration of capturing those ideas, the equal exhilaration of not being able to capture them all, the interrupting the flow of dialogue for just a moment to write a few cryptic words, believing that when I returned to those words in saner times, I’d remember the idea that triggered them. And the faith that even if I missed one of those sweet muse offerings, there were plenty more to play with in the coming days.

          The following days have not been as full, not quite as sweet, but every day since has been productive. When I actually sit down to write and force myself past that first scene-starting sentence or two, the words take off! Just like I remember. So familiar and so, so missed. Muse, Welcome back! We are making music!

          Yes. It was a good, good day! It’s been a good, good week. Viva la NaNo!

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