Does Your Subconscious Foreshadow?

After giving my "Plotting for Non-Plotters" workshop last Sunday, I managed to motivate myself enough to dive into the new WIP again. It had stagnated for a bit, and until I heard myself speak, I wasn't really sure why it was giving me trouble.

Bottom line. I was worried about plot instead of just writing. After demonstrating the use of my "idea board" to the group, I figured I ought to get out the Post-its and update mine.

And, as a reminder, my "idea" board is full of more than just ideas for possible scenes or plot threads. It's also full of questions and reminders. I don't plot much, but I do recognize the importance of tracking.

For example, on my current board, I've made notes that my hero (who was injured in some yet-to-be-determined cop incident) was injured, and that it's his right arm and left leg. I can refer to that in case I forget and have him favoring the wrong leg or rubbing the wrong shoulder.

Shaking Things Up

What I'm reading: Dark Rider by Kathrynn Dennis

The Move has become all encompassing. Garage Sale Day went well, although we weren't quite as organized as I'd hoped, mostly because there was just no room to put all the "stuff" until it was time to stage it for the sale. Early birds were out in force, cutting into our available time to set up, which meant that after everything was done, I found "stuff" I'd meant to put out.
However, none of that "stuff" was significant, so at most, we might have made an extra $10-$20. The "stuff" will get donated, and our tax writeoff will be more than what we'd have made had we sold it.

As far as the sale itself, the Hubster and I were of different mindsets. I didn't have the energy to price each piece, so I had a sign saying people should gather everything they wanted and make one lump-sum offer. Of course, they didn't pay attention and asked pricing for each little bit.

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Hubby took the "get rid of it" rather than "make a little money" approach. I found that where I might have suggested a price of 50 cents, people offered a dollar. If I thought two dollars, hubby would jump in with one. Or he'd say, 'Just take it.' He told me to ask $5 for the lawn mower. A neighbor said she wanted it, but had to confirm with her husband. I told her I couldn't save it unless she paid, and she was okay with that. So, when someone else asked about it, I said I had an offer (leaving the amount out), but that it wasn't binding. He came in at $25, so my system was the more lucrative.

What didn't sell were our two heavy desks, and hubby's office bookshelves. The desks were a royal pain to deal with, as they were the sort that you put together inside. We ended up taking off a door to get one out, and they were major muscle strainers to get outside. Then, when the sale was over, we had to move them back into the garage, and they'll have to go back out again for pickup.

What I've discovered is how disrupting it is to have your surroundings changed, and how much you take for granted. We no longer have the family room couch or the chaise in my bedroom, or my recliner in the living room. I still haven't adjusted to there being no furniture in our bedroom and keep wandering in looking for the dressers when I need to get dressed.

With no television in the living room, I can't watch tv while I fold laundry or write my blog posts, two routines that have become ingrained. We still have a set in the den, but there's no couch to sit on, only a pair of bucket chairs, and they're not very comfortable.

Our offices are deskless, which means my PC is on the floor, and there's no comfortable way to sit and work. I have a lot of files on the PC, so I do need to access it as long as possible, but I'm now working on the laptop, The keyboard's a different size, the screen is tiny, and the kitchen table isn't the same height as my desk. I have a different mouse, one without the handy buttons for copy, paste, and open a browser buttons – all these details that one never notices until they're changed. And it won't be long before we have cancel our cable and our modem will disappear, taking our in-house Internet along with it.

And we now have no dishes, no silverware (except the good stuff, which I'm not using), hardly any pots, and I had to snag the last frying pan out of the donation pile because we bought eggs this morning for breakfasts – and on and on. We're using what's in the fridge, the freezer, and trying to get rid of as many pantry items as possible, but there's definitely nothing remotely resembling "cooking" going on.

Do you throw changes at your characters? How do they deal with them? No need to have everything be of earth-shattering proportions. Does your hero have to borrow a car, one he's unfamiliar with? Does your heroine have to start her day without her usual caffeine fix? What if a character needs something delivered on Tuesday, but that's the one day the company is closed? How to they cope?

As for stress reduction, I'm getting better at getting things done in smaller stages. Today was "get out everything for donations." Tonight we're going to make time for our usual Sunday visit to Stonewood Grill, just as we had time for our last Sunday morning Panera get-together with friends. I think we've met them there for coffee most Sundays for the last 3 years. Tomorrow night we'll have dinner with hubby's colleagues.

During the day, I'll deal with the next phase, which will be separating what the movers will put in the van, and what we'll need to take with us. I have a Wednesday deadline for that step, because the movers will be here first thing in the morning to pack up all the stuff I don't want to deal with (or risk breaking).
And how does this relate to the writing process? Sometimes you have to shake things up a bit. Try a new technique, like when I started my idea board. Write at a different time of day and see what happens. Try writing a chapter without going back to edit. Or, if you don't edit, try fixing it as you go and see if that makes a difference.

Tomorrow, my guest is author Mary Eason who's going to talk about dealing with writing the dark side of dark romantic suspense. I'll be packing!

The Write Habitat

Where do you feel most comfortable doing what you love to do? Today, my guest is Christine DePetrillo, a writer, educator, and environmentalist, shares her preferences.

Many idiosyncrasies emerge when one decides to be a writer. Only a certain brand and style of notebook is acceptable for story notes and research. Only a specific pen will capture a character’s line of dialogue stolen from a conversation overheard in line at the supermarket. Only the right pair of sweatpants will truly allow a writer to loosen up enough to let the story unfold as it pleases.

Only the “write” habitat will give birth to a writer’s best work. This includes the area a writer feels most like an author.

For me, I have two spots I would consider my Ultimate Write Habitats. The first is in my certified backyard wildlife habitat. In the spring, summer, and early days of fall, you’ll find me with my trusty laptop on the patio in one of the wooden Adirondack chairs my husband made. Around me the sounds and sights of nature inspire and cheer me on while I wrestle with words on the page.

Writing In the Moment

What I'm reading: Deeper Than the Dead, by Tami Hoag

When I read, I want to be immersed in the story. I want to see what the characters see, worry with them, rejoice with them, and follow them from Chapter 1 to The End. Too many characters, too many switches and the emotional connections get diluted.

For me, the key word is "follow." I'm a fan of deep Point of View, although if an author switches viewpoints smoothly, I don't mind. I don't care much for POV characters brought in for one or two scenes; I'd rather see them having a vested interest in what's going on, so I can care about them too. When I read those scenes, I'm often pulled away wondering if the author couldn't have found a way to convey that information via one of the main characters.

For example, I've been working on writing (and rewriting) the last two scenes of my book, trying to make sure I've got the right characters on the page at the right time. I've got two major plot threads to tie up, and the characters with the information the reader needs aren't in the same place.

A Change of Venue(s)

What I'm reading: Footprints in the Butter, by Denise Dietz

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from St. Augustine Beach. I had a very relaxing AND productive time. First, the hotel was on the beach, not in the historic or downtown shopping area. Hubby had a meeting about 10 miles down the road, and this was the hotel the government picked. No complaints. I took a walk on the beach in the mornings, (and because the hubster will not permit "birds" as an answer for "What did you see?", the critter in the photo is a willet. I also saw sanderlings and a ruddy turnstone.) and then sequestered myself in the room to work for the rest of the day.

A change of venue can spark creativity. Just looking at the laptop instead of the PC monitor changes one's outlook. Also, because I was using webmail, I didn't have the distraction of alerts when new emails came in. The hotel room came with a lap desk, so I could spread out on the bed and spend the day working on the manuscript.

I immersed myself in the totality of the book. I'd been working off a hard copy printout, and had just about finished before we left town. I'd written 26 chapters, but I realized that I wasn't happy with where things went in Chapter 25. If my intention was to bring the book home in under 90,000 words, I needed to start thinking about the end. My loose "something bad happens" needed to start happening, ans a lot of those scenes and ideas from my 'idea board' weren't going to be needed.

Although I write from Page 1 to The End, I also go back when I figure out how a certain plot point will unfold. I used this getaway time to go back through the manuscript and add the necessary setups, rather than jotting notes to 'fix this later.' Later was now.

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More than once, I've talked about needing to give characters the right skill sets before they're needed so it doesn't come across as too convenient or contrived. Likewise to plot events. If my hero is going to discover a critical clue at the garage where he takes his car to be repaired, I need a logical way to get him there. True, he could have a breakdown on the road, but that starts to fall into that, 'My, how convenient" category. But what if, much earlier in the book, his admin reminds him that's he's overdue for the routine maintenance on his official work vehicle. Now, the need for him to be at the garage is established, and he can show up when I need him to.

On the flip side, I'd set up that a character always carried a clean, white handkerchief. I had a vague idea that it would come in very handy later on, but as the book progressed, I found I wasn't going to come back to it after all. Those setup paragraphs got cut.

So, all in all, I spent a day dealing with continuity, and another day moving forward. There are still a few spots where I need to decide what happens next, but sometimes, in a mystery, those questions make perfect page-turning scene breaks, especially when you're writing multiple POV scenes. So, Justin gets a text message. What does it say? Is it really from his grandfather, who rarely uses a cell phone? don't know yet -- but I'm sure it'll come to me while I'm writing the next scene from Gordon's point of view.

We're about to head off on a 5 day cruise. Internet, if any, will be sporadic (and expensive). So, although I intend to schedule blog posts, it's unlikely I'll have time to respond to comments. Don't let that stop you, though!

Tomorrow, I've got a special guest, one of my crit partners. What makes him special as far as being a CP goes, is, 1) he's an XY, and 2) he's a computer programmer. So what's he doing critiquing my romance novels? And what's he doing writing fantasy and science fiction? Check in tomorrow to find out. Word has it that he's going to be talking about me, and I'll be at sea, with no way to defend myself.