…about disasters.

Those of us whose lives are involved in our computer usage live with the knowledge that disaster can strike when we least expect it…our faithful (or not so faithful) silicone friend can turn on us, can become an ugly, vindictive monster, wreaking vengeance on us for all the times we’ve railed at it for not doing what we expected. In short, it can crash. And crash hard.

My “faithful” friend, who would probably have been 97 in human years, died a couple of weeks ago. An annoyance, but not a disaster. At least, that’s what I thought at the time. I’d suspected the coughing, the passing out at odd times and the slow gait at which my friend lumbered along the ‘net paths, meant the end was near. So a few months ago, I bought an external hard drive, copied everything onto it, and smugly made a religion of CD file backups since that time.

I was covered.

Or so I thought.

My new silicone friend and I are making tentative forays into acquaintance and, I hope, eventually, friendship. Things haven’t been as dire as I’d expected. Until this week.

A crit partner discovered three errors in my novel, On Berryhill Road. Yikes!

I loaded my page layout software, pulled out my latest CD backup of my novel files and loaded it…and discovered the font I’d used for chapter headers was not available on my new computer. Sigh. I found the online company which owns the font, plunked down my plastic and bought it. Installed it. Now…ready to go.

But…the first page doesn’t look quite right. I page through the document and discover it is now only 207 pages, not the 250 pages it was originally. Huh?? How can that happen?

It can happen when the font of the body text is a different version than the one on your old computer, with different settings for leading (spacing between each line of text of a paragraph). And when the leading cannot be exactly duplicated when you load the file onto a different computer, no matter what adjustments you make…..you got problems, honey.

So now, after a search through other typefaces available to me on my new computer, I found one which will give me an approximation of the original font, and I’m going through my document, page by page, changing the font (and for those of you who’ve never used page layout software, this process isn’t at all similar to what you can do in a word processor, which is: select all, choose font, voila!).

Yesterday and today, instead of working on my latest WIP, I’m doing monkey work. Page forward, highlight text, select font. Deselect. Page forward…..

…about the power of the written word.

One of the most powerful elements in human interaction is the word. And more specifically, the written word. Our modern world, with its technological advances, would not be possible without reams of written information, inscribed one word at a time. And God chose the medium of the written Word to communicate His will to man, to record what He wanted man to know about Himself.

When I express myself through the spoken word, I don’t always do a good job of getting my ideas across. But when I write down what I want to say, I have an opportunity to evaluate my words, to pick and choose which will carry my meaning best, which will transfer the ideas and images in my mind to the minds of those who read my words. I can hone my message until the meaning is as clear as I’m capable of producing.

Since the written word has the potential for great influence, I believe it behooves us as writers, the wielders of pens (or computer keyboards), to make use of every means to hone our abilities. And I believe it’s good to be reminded occasionally of our potential influence and the responsibility that comes with it.  

...about conferences.

Last Thursday, another member of the Panhandle Writers Group and I traveled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to attend the 2009 Southeastern Christian Writers Conference. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I looked forward to attending the conference sessions, plus, I would have an opportunity to display and sell copies of my three published novels. Exciting!

I'll have to tell you...I was blown away.

The SCWC is the oldest writers conference in the country, and I found that fact alone impressive. But after being there just a few hours, I saw why it has been around so long. The workshops were well-planned and designed to inspire Christian writers and equip them with practical information they need to succeed. And every effort had been made to make the conference a positive and valuable experience for attendees.

Even more impressive, though, is the fact that the conference owes its existence to the loving ministry of one family: the Sloans. David and Joanne Sloan, their children and grandchildren worked tirelessly to ensure a smooth-running event.

I'll have more to say about this wonderful experience in future posts. For now, I just want to say, "thanks."

...about self-publishing.

The publishing industry is changing. Most of us who write (and want to share our words with readers) are aware of this fact. And we are aware the probability of breaking through the "newbie barrier" and entering the Golden Land of acceptance and contracts is highly unlikely except for a very few.

So, what does a writer do if, like me, she is older than dirt and time is running out? I want to share my stories, want to see others read and enjoy them. Of course, that may or may not happen after I'm gone. But, selfish as I am, I'd like to be around to see it.

And so, while I will continue querying for some of my novels, I will usher the others into print myself, after I've washed behind their ears and combed their hair, of course.

...And Night Falls is the first to go out the door into the world. I published it on CreateSpace in February, and now, I'll begin a new phase in my life experience...marketing. Maybe I'll have something to say about marketing soon....

Available now at Amazon.com

...about expansions.

Have you ever tried to stretch something to proportions it wasn't supposed to attain?
Like, stretching one biscuit to feed four people? Or, stretching a pair of size 12 jeans to fit a size 16 body?

That's the situation I've dealt with over the past few weeks. I finished my 20,000 word paranormal novella, Tugger's Down. Great. But then, two test readers told me I must expand it to full novel size.

Hmmm.

Have you ever tried that? It's excruciating.

After much mumbling, hair-pulling and tears, my poor novella has attained a size of almost 40,000 words. Not nearly enough. But I had to take a break from the torture, so I'm currently editing two other novels I finished (finished? ha!) last year.

Writing is fun. Rewriting, editing, stre-e-e-e-tching, is for the birds...

...about challenges.

What is there about a challenge that makes it irresistible? Wish I knew. Because I fall prey to every challenge that comes along. NaNo. Mini-NaNo. ScriptFrenzy. You name it, I have to take it on.

Recently, a friend in my critique group issued a writing challenge: write a 20,000 word novella, either romance or mystery, in 10 weeks. Very doable.

So I set aside my work on the rough drafts of Deep in the Valley and Scribbles (yet again) to take up the challenge.

As of now, my paranormal romance novella, Tugger's Down, stands at just over 17,000 words.

Take heart, Niall and Bridghe, Meg and Johnny -- I'll be getting back to you soon...

...about submissions

I've tweaked, corrected, rewritten and added subplots. I've polished, "washed behind the ears" of my two novels, and I think they may be ready for presentation to the public.
At least, I hope they are.

So. I wrote a query letter and a synopsis and compiled a list of agents. And ten submission packets are now sitting in slush piles somewhere in New York City. We'll see if they succumb to the slush or if they rise above it.

Meanwhile, I'll prepare the next batch of packets, and.....

Something is nagging at me. My unfinished sequel to "High on a Mountain" and my unfinished NaNovel from November 2007 have begun to jealously demand attention. So, I suppose I should give in, resume work on those two first drafts with one hand while the other hand assembles submission packets....

...about NaNoWriMo

Another November has come and almost gone, and with it, the opportunity to participate in a wild, crazy activity called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, or, NaNo, for short). And, since I "did" NaNo this year, I now have 50,000 words of another novel, titled "Scribbles," "under my belt," so to speak.

NaNo, the brain-child of Chris Baty, is one of the best things to have happened to me as a writer since I began writing about two years ago. I was a total novice, feeling my way along in the writing dark, with fits and starts and stumbles. And then came NaNoWriMo, 2006.

I learned to throw writing caution to the wind, to forget about perfection, to forget about anything except getting words on the page. I thought at the time that what I was writing must be drivel, since I was writing so fast, allowing whatever came from the depths of my subconscious to splatter, raw and uncensored, onto the page (or, in my case, onto my computer screen).

But, wonder of wonders, when I went back and read it after I "won" the 50,000 word challenge, I found it wasn't as bad as I'd thought. I finished "...And Night Falls," tweaked and edited it, and had a readable tale to show for my experience.

Not bad for a month of frenetic typing, huh?

...about keeping up with a blog.

My blog entries tend to be few and far between. I'm dilatory about posting, because I post only when I have something to say.

When a number of things are going on in my life, they take up my time and my energies, leaving little left for writing an entry for my blog which few people are likely to read, anyway.

As a matter of fact, at the present time I'm finding it difficult to keep up with the writing I really must finish. I currently am tweaking novels I've finished (finished? ha!), writing the rough draft of another and preparing to outline yet another novel for NaNo. (I don't usually outline a novel, but I do when I'm going to participate in NaNo -- I have to get some elements in mind before I begin writing or I wouldn't have a ghost of a chance of finishing. Not that those elements appear in an outline -- or even in the story. My outlines are more of a "getting to know you" session with my characters.) Not to mention the screenplay I wrote in June which needs editing. Sigh.

So, writing an entry for my blog gets pushed down low on my list of priorities. Don't know when that list will change. Not in the foreseeable future, that's for sure.

...about critiques.

Writing is a solitary activity.

I retreat to a quiet place, put on my music, don my earphones, find that "door" in my mind, open it and let the story out.

However, the product of writing, for most writers, is intended to be read and enjoyed by others. That's the reason the real work in writing revolves around editing, rewriting, cutting, adding and tweaking to make the story appealing and enjoyable.

When I write, I have an emotional investment in my story, in my characters, in my words. As one respected member of my writer's group says, we writers love our words and are loathe to cut any from a WIP (sometimes, I find that it's the word or phrase I'm most in love with that most needs cutting).

That's why critiques from other writers are so valuable. Other writers don't have the emotional investment in my work that I do. They can see if it's interesting, moving, or if it slogs along too slowly. They can pinpoint areas that need work, that need clarification -- the point I may have intended to get across (and thought I did get across) may not be apparent to others. Critiquers can let me know that my point is missing-in-action, that it needs to be made in another way so that the reader gets it.

Good critiques are a valuable, sometimes painful, sometimes affirming, part of producing the best story I can write. And will help give me the best chance that my novels will be enjoyable to read and will, therefore, be read.