Balancing Act

I've just spent the past two weeks packing, moving, and unpacking. Even as I write this, I'm using the laptop screen to block out the stack of file boxes that hide my new fireplace. Most of you already know this--an event such as packing up and moving to a new place is chaotic. Even for the most organized among us (not me--but there must be one here.)


I don't do well with chaos. I function best when my life has a good measure of order and balance. These weeks have taken a toll on my writing, as well. But it's brought me to a realization of the importance of balance.


How many of you have more than one manuscript in the works? How many of you are working on one manuscript, but are finding yourself mired in conflicting directions of plot or taunted by characters who are taking on a mind of their own? How many of you have writing partners and critique partners with whom you share work? How many of you belong to three or more writer's groups, either physical groups or on-line groups. What about the time needed for marketing and promotion of your work? Let's add Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and all of your email to the list.


Okay, I don't know about you, but I've just about stopped breathing at this point. And I feel as though I'm ready to topple under the weight of all of these demands. I think balance is essential to productivity.


Here's the question of the week: How do you maintain a balance with your writing and all of the other demands on your time? Narrow it down to only the writing-related demands and activities. How do you engage other writers in groups, share critiques, maintain your own Web site and/or blog, and still do justice to your work?


Oh, I don't have an answer for you. I'm hoping you have one for me. I'll keep checking in, while I wade through the boxes, the three manuscripts I'm writing at once, the one manuscript I'm ready to toss out the window, the critiques I've promised, check the activity on my thirty-two Yahoo groups, and update my Facebook page. Twitter? Oh, please. You've got to be kidding.


Linda

What book or author has you hooked?

I have a new addiction. It's right up there with chocolate and audio books. And if I don't get my daily fix, I get irritable and cranky. Okay, so I admit it--out loud. I am addicted to Lisa Scottoline novels. There, I've said it.

I have a fifty minute commute to and from work each day. To break up the monotony, I started listening to audio books. After having heard Lisa Scottoline speak at the New Jersey RWA conference last October, I bought one of her books on CD--Mistaken Identity. I was immediately hooked. I moved on to The Vendetta Defense, then Moment of Truth. Now I'm listening to Dead Ringer. I absolutely cannot stop. I could more easily put down the Godiva. Seriously.

I started to think like a writer, analyzing what it is about Ms. Scottoline's writing that grabs me by the throat and holds me to the end. While it may be an unflattering metaphor, I concluded that her books are like a high-class buffet (if there is such a thing). In each book, I am greeted by three-dimensional characters that are fully developed--you love them, or you hate them--but they're as real as they can be--solid meat and potatoes. There is an art, I think, to creating characters the reader can so deeply sympathize with that they have to know what's going to happen next (which explains sitting in my carport for twenty-six minutes with the engine running.) I can't wait to see how Bennie Rosato is going to get out of her current mess. There is also an art to finding just the right blend of tension and humor. It's like whipping up the perfect cheesecake, light but with a consistency that holds it together. (Okay, I see a developing theme here, so I'll stop with the food references. It's making me hungry.)

Granted, with audio books, the narrator has a lot to do with how the book comes across to the reader. Barbara Rosenblat is brilliant in her performances. She actually convinces me that six different people are narrating the book.

So, what book or author has you hooked, and why?

Linda

What Keeps You Going?

I always have at least three manuscripts in various stages of progress at one time. On the upside, I'm never stuck. I can always write--something. On the downside, I find it easier to put aside a manuscript that's challenging me and just not working when I should, perhaps, hammer it out. I know a lot of writers who work this way. And I know a great number of writers who work on one manuscript at a time. Two ways of getting to the same place.

What I'm wondering about is this: What keeps you going? What sparks an idea, lights a fire under that bit of inspiration?

It's no accident that I think about this today. Today marked the third anniversary of The Women's Fiction Writers Exchange--my online critique group. Three years ago, I was still somewhat naive about the writing process and all that a writer needs to shape a story into a salable manuscript. I founded the Women's Fiction Writers Exchange, clueless about the elements of a good critique. Fortunately, I was blessed with good writers who knew how to critique, how to take that rough idea laid out before them in point of view shifts, passive grammar, and sometimes without the punctuation to provide the necessary stops and starts--and shape it into a polished work fit for human consumption. It also doesn't hurt that these women like to laugh and have a good time.

Aside from the love of writing and the sheer thrill of seeing my words in print, here is one thing that keeps me going: the writers with whom I share this amazing journey. Writing is a solitary, reclusive task. At some point we each have to come out of our cave and join the clan for sustenance, be that by sharing our stories, seeking comfort from the wounds of rejection, or rejoicing in those little and (if we're lucky) big victories.

So, here's to the my fellow writers who share my disappointments, help to shape my words, and supply the music for my happy dances.

What keeps you going?

Linda

Happy Dance Time

I am so pleased to announce that my women's fiction novel, Next Time, I'm Gonna Dance, has been contracted by Champagne Books for a January publication date.

Here is a blurb to whet your appetite:

Facing breast cancer for the second time, and fearful she could die, Emmie Steele takes an inventory of her life. She realizes her one regret: she never learned to dance. This becomes a metaphor for Emmie’s life as she survives a divorce and a second round of chemotherapy. Emmie's four best friends since grade school push, pull, carry and accompany Emmie through her nightmare, examining their own lives and choices. Taking hold of the second and third chances she's being given, Emmie learns to dance--with both her feet and her heart.

January seems a long way off. So, if you're looking for a nice beach read for summer or a happy ending to carry you into fall, check out my other novels and read excerpts on my website at: www.geocities.com/lindarettstatt

Happy writing (and reading)

Linda

*%$&# Rewrites!

I'm a seat of the pants writer for a reason. I don't want to spend a lot of time plotting and planning and thinking. I just want to write. But we all know a first draft is just that--the first. Usually, it's the first of many.

All of you who enjoy doing rewrites, raise your hands. Hmmm. Yeah, that's what I thought. That one raised hand was just someone stretching out a kink.

Rewrites, at least for me, are an evil, ableit a necessary evil. I want to write my story, be done with it, and move on to the next set of characters demanding my attention.

I just finished the third rewrite of a manuscript I've wanted to submit to a few agents. It was a delicate surgery, determining what to keep, what to remove, and where to bump up the story a few notches. The challenge is to do all of this without losing the essence of the story I wrote in the first place.

I liken the process to that of cosmetic surgery. (Or what I imagine performing such surgery to be like.) You want your manuscript to come out just a little perkier and fresher than it went in. But you want it to be recognizable. You know, not have its eyes up to its hairline, or a smile that won't--can't--fade. You get the picture.

So, how do you manage rewrites? And when do you know the story is finally ready for submission?

Linda

A Valentine's Day Short Story

My flash fiction story, My Valentine, is now posted at Long and Short Reviews. Click on the link for a heartwarming read.

http://longandshortarchives.blogspot.com/2009/02/my-valentine.html

Have a lovely Valentine's Day.

Linda

I'm Driving My Muse Crazy

Yes, it's official. I am driving my muse out of her mind. She's completely exasperated with me. But there are two sides to every story.

My muse has been jumping up and down, waving her hands wildly, shouting and, when that doesn't work, she whispers seductively in my ear. See, she has this great idea for a novel. I have to admit, it's pretty good. But I'm not listening. She really needs to slow down, chill a little. For cryin' out loud, let me finish what we've already started.

My muse is in running mode. I, on the other hand, am in amble mode. I want to take a nice, easy walk through the three manuscripts I'm either rewriting or completing. The lunatic... Sorry, my muse wants to start something new. She's always starting something new, insisting I stop what I'm doing and listen to her ideas.

Sound familiar? How do we writers pace ourselves? How do we know when a work is finished and can be sent off into the world in search of a publishing home, and we can move on to the next great idea? Pacing--it's a key element to every story--finding a rhythm, the ebb and flow.

We have to learn to pace ourselves as writers. I always have two or three manuscripts in various stages of completion at any given time. I can work that way--usually. But lately I've been like a rope in a tug of war, pulled between stories clamoring for completion.

So, I'm taking a few days to back up, slow down, and re-prioritize. Otherwise, I'll continue writing much like a dog chasing its own tail. I'll expend a great deal of energy, spin up a good breeze, and get nowhere.

What do you do when your muse runs amok with ideas and is insistent you write them down NOW? It's tricky. You certainly don't want to risk silencing him or her. Tell me, what do you do?

Linda (who has put her muse in a twelve-hour time out)