Thursday, July 16, 2009
"Make a commitment"
Ok... sure... but this is what I'm really bad at. I'm really good at starting things, I'm really good at getting inspired and enthusiastic over everything new - you know, "instant gratification isn't fast enough" as Carrie Fisher said. So, of course, writing a book in a month sounds really good :-D
But I have started NaNoWriMo three or four times now, and finished - 0... I suppose this won't happen either. Especially when I'm online writing my blog in stead of writing my book :-D
(I have written 2400 words of my romance novel now... I started a couple of days ago... I'm keeping the usual pace for me... ;-))
So - commitment... er... I suppose it will end here. BUT - it might not take 30 days in a row. I maybe write something today, and something else a couple of days later, and after I have written something 30 days, I'll have a novel!
It really is just a NaNoWriMo, and IF I do it as I speculated yesterday and if I DO write at least two hours every day, in the end of the month I WILL have succeeded in at least keeping the commitment, if not having written a viable book.
4) Avoid conflicts
Easy. I don't have a work. I don't have children. I don't have many friends either, but those I have will respect my writing. I don't need to talk in the phone with my mother or sisters or anyone else, if I really want to write. Now, as it is, I'm quite happy for the chance to procrastinate. :-D
I also have the best husband who will answer the phone, the door, make me food, keep my teacup filled with warm and strong tea and who will walk the dog, if need be. Of course, if I want to procrastinate, I will do ANYTHING, even clean, do the shopping and walk the dog, so that I don't NEED to sit down and write.
I think this is great, because I need my 9 hours sleep every night. I GET MY BIGGEST INSPIRATION FROM MY DREAMS for crying out loud! Not to mention that I would be a mess, if I don't sleep enough. I couldn't write "after everyone has gone to bed". It's not a question of having energy. It's a question of not acting as if I had PMS.
BTW, Elizabeth Rose... husbands are not some kind of cloned animals - unable to think for themselves, unable to do anything unless "trained" to do so or told to do so, who have "weird expectations" and who cannot think of anything but sex, food, their games or their toys. Your idea of a husband is not funny, it's offensive.
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Now I have been writing about 4 days and I have written about 4000 words... HA!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
How to write a book in month
according to Elizabeth Rose
1) Define your goal
Defining my goal:
I want to write a paranormal romance novel. It is really not that hard, because romance novels ARE porn for ladies, writing down my sexual fantasies... or more clearly, writing down my ROMANTIC fantasies. Every woman has those, and most of the women have very similar romantic fantasies. Every straight woman wants to be desired by a very desirable man. Every straight woman wants to be beautiful. Every straight woman finds the same sort of men desirable. Might be that you don't think Jude Law or George Clooney are that hot, but they are not ugly or disgusting. You wouldn't mind that much if Brad Pitt wanted to go out with you, would you?
I want to write a paranormal romance novel for a "real" publisher. They want their manuscripts to have about 90.000 words.
That means I need to write 3000 words every day.
My typing speed is about 60 words per minute, making mistakes and correcting them as I type, which means that I need only 50 minutes of active typing time every day to reach my goal.
This is naturally not reached in 50 minutes, as I need to "invent" the story. It's not just writing down the story as it is being told to me, I have to find the words, and my English vocabulary isn't that big.
I was thinking about Barbara Cartland... If I played her for a couple of hours every day and told the story to my dictaphone, I could play my secretary for another couple of hours every day and reach the "2 300-400 pages novels a month" goal... while working only half a day! I could be "collecting material" the rest of the day, reading romance novels, watching romantic movies, watching half-naked pretty boys on the internet and rolling in the hay...
Also, I am a good writer. I have a natural, good style and understanding of what is good and what is not, and good imagination. I am really good at inventing plots. There really isn't anything to stop me from being a prolific, beloved and GOOD writer - except, of course, that I DON'T WRITE!!!
Brenda Coulter: Writing Tips for Aspiring Romance Authors
"If you're hoping to find a shortcut, there isn't one. Do the legwork, like I did and like everyone else has to do. Go to the library. Surf the Web. Join Romance Writers of America. Take a class, read a couple of how-to-write-romance books, and always, always write. If you can't be bothered to do these things then believe me, you don't have what it takes to become a published romance author."
I don't need to surf the web, join RWA, take a class or read any how-to-write books. I need to read and write. That's it. But, sure, if I can't be bothered to do the footwork, that is to read and write, I don't have what it takes to become a published author.
"And just about anyone can become a published writer. (Don't believe me? What? You mean you've never read a terrible book?) If writing is your dream, then write. And if your heart's desire is to be published, don't wait for success to fall into your lap. Go after it."
Exactly... perhaps my book won't get published, but it most certainly won't get published if it is not even written!
"Oh, and one more thing. About the money. There isn't any."
I know, no-one gets rich by writing, except J.K.Rowling and perhaps Diana Gabaldon, and I don't think I'm either, (on the other hand, neither did either of them some time ago... Isn't it interesting? Outlander came out 1991 and Harry Potter 1997... ) but if I write over 20 books a year, and hopefully some of them get published, I should be able to at least support myself with writing. So - let's write a book in month and see what happens then.
1) Define your goal
Defining my goal:
I want to write a paranormal romance novel. It is really not that hard, because romance novels ARE porn for ladies, writing down my sexual fantasies... or more clearly, writing down my ROMANTIC fantasies. Every woman has those, and most of the women have very similar romantic fantasies. Every straight woman wants to be desired by a very desirable man. Every straight woman wants to be beautiful. Every straight woman finds the same sort of men desirable. Might be that you don't think Jude Law or George Clooney are that hot, but they are not ugly or disgusting. You wouldn't mind that much if Brad Pitt wanted to go out with you, would you?
I want to write a paranormal romance novel for a "real" publisher. They want their manuscripts to have about 90.000 words.
That means I need to write 3000 words every day.
My typing speed is about 60 words per minute, making mistakes and correcting them as I type, which means that I need only 50 minutes of active typing time every day to reach my goal.
This is naturally not reached in 50 minutes, as I need to "invent" the story. It's not just writing down the story as it is being told to me, I have to find the words, and my English vocabulary isn't that big.
I was thinking about Barbara Cartland... If I played her for a couple of hours every day and told the story to my dictaphone, I could play my secretary for another couple of hours every day and reach the "2 300-400 pages novels a month" goal... while working only half a day! I could be "collecting material" the rest of the day, reading romance novels, watching romantic movies, watching half-naked pretty boys on the internet and rolling in the hay...
Also, I am a good writer. I have a natural, good style and understanding of what is good and what is not, and good imagination. I am really good at inventing plots. There really isn't anything to stop me from being a prolific, beloved and GOOD writer - except, of course, that I DON'T WRITE!!!
“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
-- Thomas Alva Edison
Brenda Coulter: Writing Tips for Aspiring Romance Authors
"If you're hoping to find a shortcut, there isn't one. Do the legwork, like I did and like everyone else has to do. Go to the library. Surf the Web. Join Romance Writers of America. Take a class, read a couple of how-to-write-romance books, and always, always write. If you can't be bothered to do these things then believe me, you don't have what it takes to become a published romance author."
I don't need to surf the web, join RWA, take a class or read any how-to-write books. I need to read and write. That's it. But, sure, if I can't be bothered to do the footwork, that is to read and write, I don't have what it takes to become a published author.
"And just about anyone can become a published writer. (Don't believe me? What? You mean you've never read a terrible book?) If writing is your dream, then write. And if your heart's desire is to be published, don't wait for success to fall into your lap. Go after it."
Exactly... perhaps my book won't get published, but it most certainly won't get published if it is not even written!
"Oh, and one more thing. About the money. There isn't any."
I know, no-one gets rich by writing, except J.K.Rowling and perhaps Diana Gabaldon, and I don't think I'm either, (on the other hand, neither did either of them some time ago... Isn't it interesting? Outlander came out 1991 and Harry Potter 1997... ) but if I write over 20 books a year, and hopefully some of them get published, I should be able to at least support myself with writing. So - let's write a book in month and see what happens then.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
God, give me grace to deal with critique
I read about Alice Hoffman's outburst on bad critique... day after I watched how Sherrilyn Kenyon treated her fans... and, God, I pray I can ignore the bad critique, because that will be there... or not ignore, but learn what I can and ignore the fact that "someone doesn't like everything I write!"
I also pray that I will be able to use the good critique as encouragement and support and not use it to get pompous, arrogant bitch.
Not everyone is going to like what I write, but if I ever get published by a "real" publisher, there will be some who will like my story and writing, at least the editor :-D Let me remember this and write for those and not start thinking I'm something amazing or something worthless, because I'm neither. I'm just me.
I like Diana Gabaldon's and Neil Gaiman's blogs... and there are many other authors who seem to have kept their head even after the success. :-) I hope I'll remember that when I am there myself... I hope I'll get there one day :-D
I also pray that I will be able to use the good critique as encouragement and support and not use it to get pompous, arrogant bitch.
Not everyone is going to like what I write, but if I ever get published by a "real" publisher, there will be some who will like my story and writing, at least the editor :-D Let me remember this and write for those and not start thinking I'm something amazing or something worthless, because I'm neither. I'm just me.
I like Diana Gabaldon's and Neil Gaiman's blogs... and there are many other authors who seem to have kept their head even after the success. :-) I hope I'll remember that when I am there myself... I hope I'll get there one day :-D
Barbara Cartland's secret
The secret behind Barbara Cartland's prolificy was the fact that SHE DIDN'T WRITE THE BOOKS.
She had a secretary who wrote the books. Barbara only told the stories.
So, if you are a millionaire, you get yourself a secretary and an editor, who will do the boring job of writing, and you just sit on your behind, eat chocolate and fondle your lapdog.
Now, considering this, it is not fair that she is in the Guinness book of record as the most prolific author. She is a storyteller, not a writer!
But - rest in peace... She would have done the boring job too if she had needed to...
Writing isn't boring. It's just story telling. What is boring is editing - correcting the language, grammar and finding a better way of saying a thing. Killing your darlings, stripping away all the unnecessary words (2/3 of them...)... editing. It would be so nice if there was some editor, secretary or ghost writer who could do that for me. I would love to be "just" a storyteller.
She had a secretary who wrote the books. Barbara only told the stories.
So, if you are a millionaire, you get yourself a secretary and an editor, who will do the boring job of writing, and you just sit on your behind, eat chocolate and fondle your lapdog.
Now, considering this, it is not fair that she is in the Guinness book of record as the most prolific author. She is a storyteller, not a writer!
But - rest in peace... She would have done the boring job too if she had needed to...
Writing isn't boring. It's just story telling. What is boring is editing - correcting the language, grammar and finding a better way of saying a thing. Killing your darlings, stripping away all the unnecessary words (2/3 of them...)... editing. It would be so nice if there was some editor, secretary or ghost writer who could do that for me. I would love to be "just" a storyteller.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Damn I feel bad...
I'm really depressed. Horribly depressed. Sad. Want to cry.
I'm on diet. I don't want to be on diet. I don't want to weigh 242 pounds. On the other hand, it's more fun to count pounds. I have lost 5 pounds already. Ha. I'm not happy about it. Oh, yes, I am, but I'm not happy. Period.
I'm on diet. I don't want to be on diet. I don't want to weigh 242 pounds. On the other hand, it's more fun to count pounds. I have lost 5 pounds already. Ha. I'm not happy about it. Oh, yes, I am, but I'm not happy. Period.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Haha!
I really don't write this little in the real life. I keep writing all the time. Every available scrap of paper is filled with ideas, words, dialogue... the problem is that it's just bits and bobs. Nothing makes sense. I suppose that's better than nothing, but... I WANT TO BE A WRITER!
I have such amazing dreams... I wish I could catch them and fasten them on paper and share with you.
I have such amazing dreams... I wish I could catch them and fasten them on paper and share with you.
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