My very dear friend and critique partner, Diane Bohannon of Revision Warriors, tagged me in the My Writing Process blog hop. Woo hoo. Instant post topic!
1.) What am I currently working on?
I am steeling myself to submit my adult epic fantasy novel to two publishing houses that accept un-agented submissions. From Ashes is the first novel of a trilogy set in a theocratic nation bordered by deadly dragons and shape-shifting Interraphym. When the dragons offer heir-apparent, Rhalyn, the chance to undo his greatest regret in exchange for his help in their suit for peace, single mother Kahja will finally have to face the past, because she knows something besides her memory is missing, and she wants it back.
I am also about 20,000 words into book two and can't wait to get all down on paper!
2.) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I write fantasy from a Christian worldview. No dualism (good and evil in balance), no secular humanism (we can fix everything ourselves), and no glorifying immorality (I do strive for realism, but I think one of my strengths is making things that should make a person uncomfortable actually make a reader uncomfortable). Some of my very favorite books have all these things, and I feel like I can't recommend them without contributing to the delinquency of society. However, I am also drawn to examine the messier aspects of life, fallout from a fallen creation. I like asking hard questions. So...I kind of straddle the line between secular and Christian fantasy--which is hard to pitch to an agent!
3.) Why do I write what I do?
I wanted a fantasy where dragons are evil and good is good, even if difficult. Watching my characters struggle for the answers I want helps me clarify my questions. Also, it is so much fun to get to create a world that surprises me and can be both "pleasing" and "instructing." I love Tolkien and Lewis' thoughts on fairy stories and fantasy being able to show things that are truer than life.
4.) How does my writing process work?
My writing process starts with a protagonist in danger--a scene that pops into my head. Then I just follow her around until I know what she fears more than the dragon/ bounty hunter/ looming civil war. :-) By the time I had twenty pages of book one, the rest of the story played in my head like a movie.
I have little time to actually write things down, so it helps me to start a computer folder for each project and a word document for each scene. I order the scenes by number and give them titles that jog my memory. For each of the unwritten scenes, I write a sentence or two about what needs to happen. If I have any other bits of dialogue or inspiration, I add those as well. I don't always feel like writing sequentially, so if a later scene is calling my name, I just open the file and work on that one. I've noticed that the middle seems to come easier after I write the climax. When I'm stuck, I leave the house and write by hand. Deadlines help. Writer meetings with my awesome critique partners help more.
I'm tagging my awesome critique partner Henry McLaughlin, author of Journey to Riverbend. Henry, an award winning author, writes to bring glory to God and give hope, encouragement and entertainment to his readers. He has honed his craft through courses, conferences, workshops and critique groups. Check out his writing process next week.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Monday, April 28, 2014
If Something is Worth Doing...
When my oldest kiddo was struggling (read: simultaneously wilting and raging) under the burden of second grade spelling homework, I scheduled a conference with his teacher.
Mrs. Roche and I sat in the tiny plastic chairs at the kidney-shaped laminate table, and I explained that homework was taking us three hours of tears every night. Was there anything I could do besides sitting with Josh and pressing his nose to the grindstone?
Mrs. Roche looked at me like I was crazy. "The assignments should take about twenty minutes. He should be able to do them without you standing over his shoulder."
Here, I simultaneously wilted and raged. "But he won't."
"Then let him fail. Maybe then he will care enough to try."
"But thinking he'll fail is what keeps him from trying now!" I wailed.
Her eyes softened. "Ahhh, is he a perfectionist?"
All of the air left the room. Realization and guilt and relief exploded through me. She understood. I understood. "Yes!" And he inherited it from me.
Then she said something that has changed our lives. "Let's try this: set a timer for twenty minutes, and what he gets done is what I'll grade."
Permission to do less than perfection? Space to do the best he could at the time and not worry about the rest? Was there even such a thing?
How I wish I had had a second grade teacher like Mrs. Roche! Oh the things I have not done because I feared I could not do them perfectly!
I grew up believing if a thing was worth doing, it was worth doing right. I almost gave up on my dream of writing because I am not a person naturally suited to the social interaction that seems to be required in this age of "platform" and "web presence."
However, I've learned, if something is worth doing...
...then, good grief, it is worth doing.
It is worth doing imperfectly,
with what time you can spare,
even if don't think you can do it right,
because...
If something is worth doing,
it is worth doing until you can do it right.
I might never be a good blogger. Social media intimidates me. I cannot afford a professional website, and with seven kids under the age of eleven, time and energy are hard to come by, but...writing is my dream, my gift, and my obedience.
If writing means struggling through the social media/ querying/ marketing learning curves, I will. I worked hard to write until my manuscript was ready, and now I will work hard until my ability to market myself and my work is ready. I will not self-doubt myself into paralysis.
Today I sent my query to three agents I would be thrilled to have represent my manuscript. I stopped the two years of telling myself my timing was not perfect yet that I had been wallowing in since the first (and last) time I sent a query to an agent.
And my query was not perfect. I even caught a typo in the first letter I sent. (Ahhh! Regret. Regret. Regret.) However, I am so glad I sent three imperfect attempts instead of none. And a blog that is a work in progress is better than no blog.
I will get better. Josh did. He rocked his STAAR test and was recently commended for being a hard-working student who goes above and beyond. I trace his success back to that moment when he was first given the freedom to try without the yoke of needing to be perfect.
Mrs. Roche and I sat in the tiny plastic chairs at the kidney-shaped laminate table, and I explained that homework was taking us three hours of tears every night. Was there anything I could do besides sitting with Josh and pressing his nose to the grindstone?
Mrs. Roche looked at me like I was crazy. "The assignments should take about twenty minutes. He should be able to do them without you standing over his shoulder."
Here, I simultaneously wilted and raged. "But he won't."
"Then let him fail. Maybe then he will care enough to try."
"But thinking he'll fail is what keeps him from trying now!" I wailed.
Her eyes softened. "Ahhh, is he a perfectionist?"
All of the air left the room. Realization and guilt and relief exploded through me. She understood. I understood. "Yes!" And he inherited it from me.
Then she said something that has changed our lives. "Let's try this: set a timer for twenty minutes, and what he gets done is what I'll grade."
Permission to do less than perfection? Space to do the best he could at the time and not worry about the rest? Was there even such a thing?
How I wish I had had a second grade teacher like Mrs. Roche! Oh the things I have not done because I feared I could not do them perfectly!
I grew up believing if a thing was worth doing, it was worth doing right. I almost gave up on my dream of writing because I am not a person naturally suited to the social interaction that seems to be required in this age of "platform" and "web presence."
However, I've learned, if something is worth doing...
...then, good grief, it is worth doing.
It is worth doing imperfectly,
with what time you can spare,
even if don't think you can do it right,
because...
If something is worth doing,
it is worth doing until you can do it right.
I might never be a good blogger. Social media intimidates me. I cannot afford a professional website, and with seven kids under the age of eleven, time and energy are hard to come by, but...writing is my dream, my gift, and my obedience.
If writing means struggling through the social media/ querying/ marketing learning curves, I will. I worked hard to write until my manuscript was ready, and now I will work hard until my ability to market myself and my work is ready. I will not self-doubt myself into paralysis.
Today I sent my query to three agents I would be thrilled to have represent my manuscript. I stopped the two years of telling myself my timing was not perfect yet that I had been wallowing in since the first (and last) time I sent a query to an agent.
And my query was not perfect. I even caught a typo in the first letter I sent. (Ahhh! Regret. Regret. Regret.) However, I am so glad I sent three imperfect attempts instead of none. And a blog that is a work in progress is better than no blog.
I will get better. Josh did. He rocked his STAAR test and was recently commended for being a hard-working student who goes above and beyond. I trace his success back to that moment when he was first given the freedom to try without the yoke of needing to be perfect.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Practicing Patience
Today, my stoic self-control is slipping.
In between caring for my three youngest kiddos, conquering Mt. Laundry, and critiquing my writing friends' submissions for tomorrow's meeting, I have checked my email and the websites of the people/ organizations I'm waiting to hear from in regard to my writing...several times.
In my defense, it is past the time I should have heard from one, about the time I should hear from another, and hey, anything's possible with the third.
I could learn the fate of my submissions at any minute!
Literary agent Steve Laube blogged this week about how Writers Expect Good News. He prefers the idea of waiting in anticipation to waiting in expectation, and he's right that there is a difference. The foolish bridesmaids expected the bridegroom; the wise ones anticipated him.
Anticipation is what my favorite season of the year is all about.
No, no, no, not Christmas. ADVENT!
Advent is the season of anticipating Christmas, of preparing for the threefold coming of Christ. We ready ourselves to celebrate the incarnation, appreciate the saving work of Jesus active in the world today, and to wait upon Christ returning in glory.
The anticipating reminds me how special each of these is. As I read the passages about the coming of the Lord, my yearning grows, my heart opens wider to receive him--I become more ready.
Waiting on my fulfillment as a writer gives me the chance to be more ready to receive it, both in terms of being able to appreciate it and being prepared with what I need to achieve it.
And practicing patience is good for us, right? Right? Okay, maybe I'll just check my email one more time...
In between caring for my three youngest kiddos, conquering Mt. Laundry, and critiquing my writing friends' submissions for tomorrow's meeting, I have checked my email and the websites of the people/ organizations I'm waiting to hear from in regard to my writing...several times.
In my defense, it is past the time I should have heard from one, about the time I should hear from another, and hey, anything's possible with the third.
I could learn the fate of my submissions at any minute!
Literary agent Steve Laube blogged this week about how Writers Expect Good News. He prefers the idea of waiting in anticipation to waiting in expectation, and he's right that there is a difference. The foolish bridesmaids expected the bridegroom; the wise ones anticipated him.
Anticipation is what my favorite season of the year is all about.
No, no, no, not Christmas. ADVENT!
Advent is the season of anticipating Christmas, of preparing for the threefold coming of Christ. We ready ourselves to celebrate the incarnation, appreciate the saving work of Jesus active in the world today, and to wait upon Christ returning in glory.
The anticipating reminds me how special each of these is. As I read the passages about the coming of the Lord, my yearning grows, my heart opens wider to receive him--I become more ready.
Waiting on my fulfillment as a writer gives me the chance to be more ready to receive it, both in terms of being able to appreciate it and being prepared with what I need to achieve it.
And practicing patience is good for us, right? Right? Okay, maybe I'll just check my email one more time...
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Thankful on Turkey Day
Every year, my family gathers to celebrate my mom's and my favorite holiday. Before we ask a blessing over the food, we hold hands and go around the circle taking turns saying what we're thankful for. This year, I was able to share my gratitude that this was the year one of my dreams came true. I have wanted to write a novel since I was ten years old, and this was the year that happened! Was it Paul who said, "I thank God upon every remembrance of you"? Well, that's how I feel about my novel. I actually ache with happiness that God gave me what I needed to be able to do that. One of my dear critique partners said it made her think about God in a different way. I was so happy I couldn't speak. God is so good to have let me be a part of this.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Thankful Day 15
Today, I am very thankful that I am finally well (, and it looks like everyone else is pretty much well now, too). Hopefully, I had the flu and am now safe for the rest of this flu season!!!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
You know that little rush of pleasure you feel when you catch someone doing the right thing--going out of his or her way to be kind when he or she does not have to--doing something only because it is the right thing?
I've read that fiction is so powerful because it can be more real than reality. Art can demonstrate/ remind us of how things should be. If I ever have the opportunity to teach at a writers' conference, this would be one of the topics I would love to discuss. Art is so powerful. Artists have such great responsibility.
Right now, I'm reading back over Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. The main character, Rand, has three love interests. While I am in Jordan's storyworld, I actually want Rand to end up happily ever after with all three. At the same time! How in the world could I want that?!!!
The power of story.
I have identified with the characters. I want what they want. And therein lies the danger.
We've all cheered when the good guys got what they wanted--when the bad guys got what was coming to them. The danger lies in what writers make the reader want to happen.
I don't have time to discuss the rise of anti-heroes and subjectivism today, but today I'm grateful for the reminder that there is objective good--that people do (cooperating with grace) rise to what God created us to be--and the reminder that I am called to glamorize that in my writing, or to at least make the dissonance between what-is and what-should-be so uncomfortable that readers long for what-should-be. May I always remember that.
I've read that fiction is so powerful because it can be more real than reality. Art can demonstrate/ remind us of how things should be. If I ever have the opportunity to teach at a writers' conference, this would be one of the topics I would love to discuss. Art is so powerful. Artists have such great responsibility.
Right now, I'm reading back over Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. The main character, Rand, has three love interests. While I am in Jordan's storyworld, I actually want Rand to end up happily ever after with all three. At the same time! How in the world could I want that?!!!
The power of story.
I have identified with the characters. I want what they want. And therein lies the danger.
We've all cheered when the good guys got what they wanted--when the bad guys got what was coming to them. The danger lies in what writers make the reader want to happen.
I don't have time to discuss the rise of anti-heroes and subjectivism today, but today I'm grateful for the reminder that there is objective good--that people do (cooperating with grace) rise to what God created us to be--and the reminder that I am called to glamorize that in my writing, or to at least make the dissonance between what-is and what-should-be so uncomfortable that readers long for what-should-be. May I always remember that.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Honestly...
Today, I'm grateful that at least 508 families were spared the pain of abortion during this fall's 40 days for life campaign.
To be honest, I'm also grateful I don't have to do a load of laundry for life today now that the campaign is over. Having in the back of my head that there is something I have to make sure gets done stresses me out. :-) It's a moot point today though, because the Jett and Emberlyn have a stomach bug, and I've already done TWO loads of laundry!
I'm also grateful for the chance to start back to Tae Kwon Do today!
To be honest, I'm also grateful I don't have to do a load of laundry for life today now that the campaign is over. Having in the back of my head that there is something I have to make sure gets done stresses me out. :-) It's a moot point today though, because the Jett and Emberlyn have a stomach bug, and I've already done TWO loads of laundry!
I'm also grateful for the chance to start back to Tae Kwon Do today!
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