Not Writing--Baking Cookies

Today is my daughter's eleventh birthday, and, as we've done for the last eight years (except for last year, since we moved out of our house the day before her birthday), we have invited kids over for a Cookie Decorating Party.

Honestly, if you have a child with a birthday near any major holiday, this is a great idea. Bake a bunch of sugar and gingerbread cookies (I make the gingerbread ones with whole wheat flour), whip up some bowls of frosting in various candy colors, fill a few more bowls or shakers with various kinds of sprinkles,  and voila! You've a bona fide cookie party.

Even better, party games, goody bags, and other time fillers are completely unnecessary. Kids will decorate cookies for hours without getting tired, especially if they eat while they decorate. And a few gift boxes will make it easy for the kids to take home cookies for all their relatives, effectively removing the cookies from your home.

It's all win-win. Except for one thing: I'm not writing.

I'd laugh about this... but I can't. I find it distressing. And my distress makes me feel guilty, for I shouldn't resent this birthday taking writing time. Ugh.

I'm putting my smily face on now. Then I'm off to bake. Tomorrow, I write.

Getting Organized

As my post on my other blog details, I've been busy writing, running around, wrapping presents, decorating, baking, and doing a lot of other junk.

Very soon, though, this blog will rev back to life in ways it never has. I have big plans for it, and hopes and dreams, almost as big as those for my novels and plays. I will keep you posted, so look for me in a week or two!

(And thanks for being so patient with me!)

Wallowing in Mud

The frenzy of NaNoWriMo is over, and I'm, naturally, sick with a cold. But I won.

Yes, I WON!!!

Don't get your panties too much in a wad with excitement for me, though. I'm still writing on the manuscript, yes, and I'm now a little over 52,000 words, so I haven't completely given up on it yet, or anything... 

But I wince thinking about it. It's pretty much crap. It's melodramatic, too formal in its dialogue, and, oh my GOD, I think the protagonists save each other about a dozen times! Sheesh! No one could possibly be in this much danger! 

Still, I have to just wallow in the mud a bit... get it oozing between my toes, smell it, even feel the grit of it on my tongue. (Yes, I know how gross that sounds.) But it should get better. I love revising, even if I wish it weren't that utterly necessary (though it is, in my case). I am not, and never will be, the writer who puts a brilliant first draft down on paper. 

Nope, I'm the dork wad who writes something a seventh grader would gag over--something no sane person would call good writing--and then I revise the hell out of it until it shines like a brand new Cadillac.

I just make sure I don't show any of the muddy version(s) to anyone, even friends. I want to keep my friends, after all.

How 'bout you? Are you brilliant first, or does it only come with a LOT of hard reworking/rewriting/revising? 

Or do you know?

Lament for NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo's coming soon
And millions will by typing
Their goal? A thousand words by noon
--no blogging and no Skyping!

They'll churn out words by leaps and bounds
Resist the urge to edit
Until they've won their writing crowns
And earned their "winner" credit

December first will end the rush
And make the agents cringe
For they fear the impending crush
Of horrid books formed in a rush
By writers on a binge.

Not Writing--Planning (Or Is That Writing?)

Why do I find it so hard to write without a plan? I read about so many who are "pantsers," who write with abandon, with little idea of where their story will go, who will be involved in its development, even where it will be set. They just pick up and start writing.

I. Can't. Do. That.

I can't. I've tried. Sure, I can get words down on paper, but I'll spend pages and pages going nowhere (or heading in the wrong direction), and I'll waste all kinds of time writing blather that will only be deleted in entirety when I revise. Heck, even when I outline I end up writing a bunch of stuff that disappears as I edit... it only gets worse when I try to head off without a plan.

So I spent two days "planning" my short story about chocolate. TWO days! It's just like when I paint--I take twice as much time to sketch out what I'm going to paint as I do painting it.

What about you? Is your magic in your planning, or do you have the ability to sort things as you go, letting the characters act as they will and recording their progress with no idea where it will end up?

While I await your answers, I'm off to finish my story--or revise my outline. I know, it's pretty pathetic. But it's what I do, and it works for me (mostly), so I wouldn't have it any other way.

Getting Sick

My son was a beast for the babysitter yesterday, and at two a.m., I discovered why.

Ear infection. That's pretty much the perfect way for my son to feel out of joint. I treated his ear, then did it again at 4:30 a.m. He's sporting a fever as well, so it's no school for him tomorrow.

That means my busy week is over! Yes, I did have a Zumba class scheduled, along with a work lunch with a local librarian... but I'll have to cancel, so that my little one can snuggle next to me and feel sick at home (instead of coughing on all the kids at school). My nose is starting to run, too. Darn!

The silver lining? Except for sweeping and cleaning bathrooms--which simply can't wait any longer--I get to write ALL day long. That's good, too, since I have a children's story to turn into verse form and a death by chocolate story to write out over the weekend so that I can polish it up next week. Plus I need an OUTLINE for my NaNoWriMo novel.

So, why am I writing on this blog? No idea. I guess I just wanted all of you know the ugly voices have been pretty quiet over the last few days since the last post. And they'll likely grow even quieter, since I'll be snuggling up to my son and my laptop over the next few days.

And a box of kleenex.

BTW, how does one disinfect a laptop?

Anything But Writing!

I managed, with fantastic creativity, to avoid writing all weekend. I can't write individual blog posts about it, though, for they'd last two weeks, so I'll just list them:

Cleaned
Cleaned out the pool filters
Swept
Vacuumed
Cut out a costume for my daughter (why do I make things from scratch?)
Nearly finished a costume for my daughter
Spray painted a fan and hat silver
Cleaned more
Took out the trash
Did dishes
Made several meals
Practiced Zumba
Watched two movies
Read a book (hated it)
Cleaned more
Went to church
Captured a lizard and set it free outside the house
Helped kids with their piano practice
Played video games

I'm sure I'll think of a dozen other activities I found to keep from writing. Why do I do this, when all I want to do is write? I have a crayon story absolutely burning to be written, and another one about chocolate which is blooming in my head, too. My kids were in bed before eight, but when I sat down to write, finally, at the end of a long weekend, I just couldn't make myself do it.

I guess now is the time. Signing off. I still have two hours before the kids wake up and get ready for school. That's one huge benefit from waking up super early every morning. I might actually get something written!

Unless I can find something else to do instead...