May 2007
Getting Cozy with Karen...
May Musings
"When you speak, your words echo only across the room or down the hall. But when you write, your words echo down the ages."
[Bud Garner]
It's May. Your crocuses and daffodils are giving way to budding trees, green grass, and a gardener's itch to get your fingernails dirty. Your taxes are off your desk, and you're fully launched into that new book you told all of your friends about on New Year's Eve. It's moving right along, almost finished, finished..
Wait! Who just ducked out of the room?
It's all too easy to forget those resolutions made months ago, isn't it? After all, you did ring in the New Year with a few too many ChiChis and couldn't possibly have known what you were saying. It's been a blizzard-filled winter. You've got a major case of cabin fever. Your personal obligations, the cheeky little devils, appear to have made babies behind your back like jackrabbits at springtime. And, no one could possibly have predicted you'd spend the past two months bouncing between doctors' offices rather than sitting in your computer chair like a good girl.
Oops. Those are my excuses, and we aren't talking about me. Jeez, stop twisting my arm! I'll talk!
This is where I get into trouble. I remember talking about my project last December, planning to the last detail where I'd be by May 1st. Thankfully, I've stopped sputtering long enough to set a three-ring binder on my desk. I've jammed it haphazardly with research, my story "Ws", a comprehensive outline and a number of chapters in various stages of completion. I even have an assortment of synopses, blurbs & pitches thanks to some rather helpful [translates to pushy] critique partners and a driving need to enter a few contests this year. My story is not as fully developed as I'd like but, hey, I'm learning something more important now than plotting points and the 62 rules of point-of-view.
I'm learning how to make time for my writing around a personal and professional life that occasionally--okay, more like usually--comes up and slaps me between the eyes when I'm not looking. I have to admit, it can be difficult. But we all are forced to deal with the same problem on one level or another. Most of us have day jobs, families, crises, and more obligations than we can bear sometimes. We do it, over and over.too often at the expense of our writing.
But let's not forget why we do this to ourselves. We may be cops, lawyers, administrative assistants, business owners, and chief cooks and bottle washers in our "other lives," but in our hearts and souls we're also writers. We have stories dancing around our heads clamoring for expression. If we didn't need to tell those stories there are better, not to mention faster, ways to drive ourselves insane. We wouldn't sneak in an hour of writing time at midnight when the rest of the world is asleep or write love scenes on table napkins at work during our lunch hour.
The bottom line is we must remember that talking about a story doesn't write it. As much as we'd love to pop a chocolate bonbon into our mouths, close our eyes, and let a flawlessly inspired plot drip onto our keyboards from our motionless fingers, it just won't happen that way. Our words will never "echo down the ages" until we write them down.
Now.I know I'm the only person here who's still flapping her jaw. But, just in case, you know of someone who's related to someone who has a second cousin three times removed who's still talking about writing a book this year, tell them to come speak to me. Better yet, tie.I mean, set them down in a comfy chair in front of a keyboard, then leave the room. Preferably locked. Just think of all the books that will get written down this year.
And.before I dash off to my languishing project, let me share a little about what else is happening in my world this month.
If you click on the NEWS page you'll find a link to the Colorado Romance Writers Romancing the Rockies Conference that takes place in Denver on May 11th and 12th. I'm presenting an abbreviated version of my "W" plotting workshop at the conference, as well as participating in their book sale and autographing. I'm quite excited about my first autographing experience even if it's only for my online workshop on CD rather than my first novel. If you've never been to a local chapter conference before, I highly recommend them. They're more intimate, and chances of getting one-on-one time with the agents and editors are greater. Be sure to look me up if you're in Denver. The autographing and book sale is open to the public. You can find out more information about the conference and the book sale/autographing at the chapter's website.
Wish me luck at the conference, too! My current project, BROKEN WINGS, is a Single Title finalist in CRW's Heart of the Rockies Contest. They announce the winners of each category on Saturday, May 12th, at the awards luncheon. I may not have fingernails by Mother's Day!
Also on the NEWS page, you'll note my next four-week online "W" plotting workshop is coming up in June, sponsored by the Kiss of Death RWA chapter. Just follow the link to their Killer Instincts workshops and you can get signed up. We'd love to have to join us there.
See you in June if you'd like to Get Cozy with Karen again. In the meantime, feel free to check out the rest of my website at your leisure.
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Articles
Plotting.Beauty or Beast?
First Print - savvyauthors.com blog, June, 2010
Born to Write
Colorado Romance Writers Romance in the Rockies newsletter - February, 2006
The Big Kids Clubhouse Secret Handshake.Finally!
Colorado Romance Writers Romance in the Rockies newsletter - August, 2006
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