Musings from the Slush Pile

Today is the first day of school for my 5 & 8 year old sons. I mean it. it’s the actual FIRST day. Until today, I’ve home schooled my kids. Four years ago we bought six acres of land in a town about 30 minutes from here and about 10 minutes from Hubsy’s job. I didn’t want to enroll my Kindergartner in one school system only to pull him out mid year. Home schooling is really trending around here, so I jumped on the bandwagon and decided I’d teach him until we got our home built and moved. Then, Hubsy was recruited to a company an hour away – in the OTHER direction from our current home. When I called the local school – I AM DEAD SERIOUS – they told me the school was full. LOL We live in a very rural area with a little country school and a whole lot of new housing developments, McMansions and condos going up where farm land was when we moved in. This means lots of new families and lots of full classrooms.

I shrugged it off and bought a first grade curriculum. I had a great time teaching my son. Then, I started writing. And it all changed fast. I started writing in the hopes of publication about 2 1/2 years ago, and I’d just had a baby. I wasn’t sleeping. Homeschooling got more tricky. No sleep and more time commitments made Mommy a grump girl. Then last year I added blogging to my list of to-dos, I signed some writing contracts AND my middle son started Kindergarten at home.

Three months ago, I called “uncle”. I threw in the towel. I was teaching a 2nd grader, AND a kindergartner (which is NOT as easy as it sounds. You need to teach those little guys how to read, and write letters and add and everything everything everything), plus I had a toddler interfering with everything everything everything, and a home and meals, and Hubsy, and writing, and blogging and crit groups and the list keeps going. I wasn’t doing anything to my best ability and I hated it. I am a crazy over achiever and “getting by” wasn’t cutting it. I called the school again and discovered the local system had moved 5th graders over to the middle school so there was room for both my sons this year.

And they are gone. A yellow bus carried them away. Only 1 mile away, but they’re gone and the house is quiet and my heart is both heavy, and proud, and guilty too. My daughter is looking doe eyed already from missing them.

Did I choose my writing over my kids? That’s what my guilt says. My pride says, this is good for them and I am proud they went off to do and try something new. I’m glad I was brave enough to show them you should chase dreams – like mine of being a writer. And you shouldn’t be afraid to do new and intimidating things – like go to school where you have no friends and no clue what to expect. I gave them the gift of independence and confidence when I waved goodbye. They understand I trust them to handle this. They can do it! I’ll be waiting in the middle of the road for that yellow bus in a few hours though.

So far, this the toughest decision I’ve had to make as a parent.

Letting go was hard.

Now I’m going to Starbucks.

Writing is a “Binge/Purge Situation.” Some of you may prefer the feast/famine expression, but either will work. As people with lives outside of writing, we’re limited on the time needed to pursue our dream of publication. For this reason, writing becomes a push (it aside) and pull (it back in front of you) part of life.

When you do have time, what do you attend to first? Aspiring writers do so much more than just write. We plot and scheme, then write and edit. We offer pages up to betas and make changes. We offer to beta for others. We read countless agent and editor blogs, books on writing, and take courses to learn and hone our craft. Writers are blogging and jumping feet-first into social media, hoping to establish a web-presence. Some of us even do our share of guest blogs. We want to meet other writers, unite and network. It takes a real time commitment to stay on top of such an ever-changing industry.

There’s almost no time left to read or write. We have to prioritize the time in between our real lives. So, how is the time best spent when we have so little of it? I find that the first thing I drop is reading. In fact reading is my biggest binge/purge situation. I will devour a novel a day for weeks on end and then, nothing for two or three months. I try to write every day, but there isn’t always time left over to read.

Reading is more important to writers than some realize. I was guilty of that train of thought for a long time. I’ve always read because I love words, but I didn’t consider how it affected my writing, or what my work would be like without it until my betas began comparing my prose to some of my favorite authors.
Reading is research and refinement and inspiration. It makes sense that we pick up our favorite phrases, new words, or mimic voices that speak to us. I’m inspired by reading. I know exactly what I love and why I love it, then I apply those concepts to my work and it shows.

Additionally, if you’re not reading in your genre then you can’t know what’s selling. You’re missing an incredible opportunity to learn. Those books have sturdy hard covers at the library for a reason. An editor bought them. Something inside was “right.” So, if you’re like me and are in the famine part of your reading cycle, take a minute to look at the new releases getting all the buzz then go pick them up. Enjoy the ride then take a little something you can use with you. To a writer, reading is the equivalent of eating chocolate to lose weight. Where else can you get such enjoyment and self improvement all in one?

The KerPlunk Theory of Writing Fiction

by Christina Vasilevski <– my new editor bestie from twitter Seriously people Get. On. Twitter.

I have a dirty little secret – sometimes I don’t read very much. In the world of writing and editing, this is equivalent to a French chef admitting that he dislikes cooking with butter. Unfathomable, in other words.

Actually, let me qualify that: I read in bursts. I often go for a few weeks without reading something, and then I’ll devour a book if it grabs me. Most of the time, I enjoy what I read. But sometimes, a book is so amazing that I pay conscious attention to the skill with which it was written: the careful rationing of backstory, the distribution of telling personality traits and motivations amongst different characters, and the amazing, delicate use of le mot juste.

I felt this most recently while reading Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. In reading it, I was acutely aware of how subtly the author was building up the tension, looping between the moments immediately before and after the novel’s opening terrorist attack and then switching back to describe a Japanese businessman’s abiding love for opera.

This all brought to mind an old childhood game: KerPlunk.

If you were a kid in the late 80s to early 90s, you might know what I’m talking about. In this game, you have a tall column of plastic with holes studded through the middle. In these holes, you thread in enough small plastic sticks to make a sturdy lattice. Then, you pour a number of marbles on top of the lattice and try to pull out as many of the sticks as possible without making the marbles fall, like so:

KerPlunk makes you wonder how much weight those sticks can bear before the marbles find a new way to crash to the ground. How many can you take away before they fall? And how long will it take to do so?

In other words, how well can you make each sentence count? How can you make each individual piece of your story’s support structure – your characters, setting, dialogue, and more –  grab your reader in the most efficient and compelling manner possible? Like KerPlunk, writing a good story is about testing certain limits. Write for yourself, and take away whatever you think doesn’t serve your story in the end. However, unlike KerPlunk, you have the luxury of removing and then reinserting elements of your story into new places – and thank goodness for that!

Sometimes, this requires a lot of planning. The surest way to lose KerPlunk is to keep pulling out plastic threads from the same section, eventually widening the gaps through which the marbles can fall. And the surest way to lose the attention of readers is to not provide important information when needed.

In KerPlunk terms, don’t pull out every plastic thread you can, because you might need it in the future. Make backup plans. Make your setting breathe. Give your readers information that proves useful later. Throw in a red herring if the story demands it, like in mysteries. But always think about how you can make each part of your story carry the most weight possible without buckling or breaking or letting any marbles through.

PS: In Bel Canto, the author wrote only a single acknowledgement – and that was to her editor. High praise indeed! So if you’re feeling cranky and think that your editor/friend/writing group doesn’t really understand what you’re trying to do, just imagine that they’re trying to play KerPlunk with you. They have the same goal to remove as many unnecessary plastic threads as possible, but they’re doing so from a different perspective.

About Christina:

Christina Vasilevski is a writer and editor living in Toronto, Canada. By day she works as a proofreader of online medical content, but by night she blogs, edits, plays video games, and develops WordPress websites. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Writers’ Community of Durham Region and the Editors’ Association of Canada . She is also a recent graduate of Ryerson University’s publishing program, a full review of which is available on her website 105 Creations.

Thank you so much Christina! What a super fun post and I know all my writer peeps are so glad to meet you and read this post. hooray for bookish friends. *Hugs to you*

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to a new indie author Amira Aly! Amira has stopped by here as part of her Wow! Women on Writing Blog Hop and she’s agreed to come and motivate us to Step Out of Our Comfort Zone. What brilliant advice!

About Amira:

Amira Aly lived in Canada up until her first year in university when she moved to Egypt to study medicine at the University of Cairo. It seemed she was on the traditional route of a medical career working as an intern and teaching assistant in the surgical pathology department. But then she discovered the wonderful world of freelance medical writing. And who could resist its charms?

Egypt: The Uprising isn’t Amira’s first book. There was that picture book she wrote when she was five years old. Sadly, publishers didn’t recognize its brilliance but it was the first step on a life filled with a love of writing.

When she isn’t writing Amira likes to read her favorite authors Anne Rice, Stephen King, and F. Scott Fizgerald. She also spends time dancing, playing video games, and eating her favorite food Molokheya (an Egyptian green soup). She’d like to squeeze in time to learn a fourth language. She already speaks English, Arabic, and French. Amira lives in Cairo with her husband, 7 year old daughter and 17 month year old son. Her children would like to add a dog to that list but Amira, still traumatized by the loss of a pet turtle, has sworn off pets. That, and she knows she’ll be the one walking the dog even though everyone promises they will.

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

by Amira Aly

Where I come from, women don’t write fantasy.

Strike that.  All over the world, a women’s name does not a fantasy book sell. Just look at J. K. Rowling who was advised by her publisher to use her initials rather than her name so as to not ” put off” male readers.

I had a fantasy story that needed to be told. A story about ancient Gods and modern pharaohs and teenage freedom fighters set against the backdrop  of the 25 January 2011 revolution. Everyone I spoke to when I was working on my novel scoffed at the idea.

“A woman of middle eastern heritage is expected to write certain types of books, you know.” said an old high school friend of mine.

“With your medical background, I bet you could write a medical thriller.” said another well- meaning friend.

What both these friends did not know is that I already walked the path of women’s fiction and medical thrillers because when I started writing, I was told, time and time again: “write what you know.”

It is great advice when you’re starting out, because you can focus on honing your technique and mechanics. It takes the heat off and makes writing easier. The trouble with this mantra is that it keeps you locked in your comfort zone.

What’s wrong with comfort zones you may wonder.

There is plenty wrong–because in the uncharted territories may lie your greatness. Your true talent. And you will never ever know until you try.

Writing “Egypt: the Uprising” and planning out the series the Battle for Maat was the most fulfilling venture of my career. I found myself in fantasy, and I intend to stay there for a while.

Had I dismissed the idea, had I chickened out and just lingered in my comfort zone, I would have missed out on the most rewarding experience of my career.

Do not write what you are expected to write. Write what YOU want to write. Step out of your comfort zone and take a leap of faith–it may just be the only thing standing between you and an enticingly fulfilling writing career.

Egypt: The Uprising

You can learn more about Amira and her work online:

Author’s Websites:

http://www.battleformaat.com/

http://amiraaly.wordpress.com/

Well, I’ve never been published before. Not ever. So, I’m pretty happy with myself today. I’ve signed some contracts this year, but nothing will be available until 2012, so truthfully those feel fake. It’s just so far away. In February for example, I signed a contract for a three book deal with a small press, BUT book one in the series won’t be out until August 2012. That’s 18 months- a pretty hefty wait. Somewhere around the 6 month mark you think, “Wow, I still have another YEAR to wait” and you quit thinking about it. What’s worse is telling people in my real world I signed a book contract, only for them to hear the pub date and slide their eyes at me. “Uh-huh.” The look says. “Sure, I have one coming too – next year.” I know they think I’m deluded. They don’t understand the snail’s pace to which this industry moves like we do.

That said, I wrote a short sweet romance for the Summer Shorts Anthology published by the Turquoise Morning Press a couple months back and it is available! Sure, sure, my story is only about 10 pages long, but it’s HERE. I’ve never seen my words on actual paper I didn’t buy from WalMart in ream form. Better yet, there’s a picture of me  inside and my bio and a blurb & excerpt from my debut novella coming in January (ish). LOL.

This is a big day for me. A huge deal. Today I’m feeling less like a fraud and more like an author. I can add links to my posts and have a book on the other end! I did that. I wrote that. Those are my words. I’m feeling kinda proud of myself today.