Procrastination and tearing up a story

cj Sez: It's official. I’m a chronic procrastinator. My two-acre yard is about a month beyond needing mowing. So, I either have to get the tires on the lawn tractor replaced or hire a herd of goats or borrow my neighbor’s pony. (The tires are ordered but not yet delivered.)

Indigo Bunting

 I do take comfort in knowing that the honey bees are absolutely in love with the huge patch of clover in the middle of the back forty. And the indigo buntings are among the migrating birds that stop by for snacks. (The photo at right was taken in my backyard on Friday.)

Speaking of procrastination . . . I wish I could have begged, borrowed, or stolen some of Elmore Leonard’s discipline for writing.

It used to be that I worked better when I had a short-term deadline. I thought if I gave myself a deadline, I’d have the incentive to keep going. Found out that’s not true. I have managed to bury that deadline under weeks of procrastination that I called “research.” It seems that the more I research, the less creativity I have. I’m getting bogged down in facts, and the story is suffering.

My current work-in-progress is in a state of disrepair. Because I misread the instructions of a contest, I started hacking up my first chapter to make it fit into the required 1,500 words. I hacked off more than 3,000 words. The result is I like this version much, much better. Much clearer. A

quicker start into the plot line. Backstory has been relegated to its appropriate place. BUT...

That creates another, larger problem, because once I’ve written a story, it’s nigh unto impossible for me to go back and change it. I don’t mean edit it, I mean really modify it. And that’s what my current manuscript needs, now. I have to really modify the story, and the task ahead is intimidating me.

I am not, however, giving up. Last night I even made a note or two when I went to bed . . . I get a lot of good ideas just before or just after I fall asleep. Sundays are for family and etc., so I won’t be sitting in front of the computer for very long but tomorrow . . . that’s when I’ll start working hard. I suppose some of you might call that procrastination.

Nope, I’m calling it delayed discipline.

That’s all for now, but how about you? When do you get your best ideas? How do you conquer the blank page or worse, the re-do of the manuscript in front of you?

You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I'll try to do the same.

cj

PS:  The photo is by Jeff D. Johnston, and the toons are Facebook fodder.

cjpetterson@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

Choosing Carter  -- Kindle  /  Nook  /  Kobo   /  iTunes/iBook

Deadly Star --  Kindle  / Nook  / Kobo

Freelancer's Life

Wow! It feels great to post again. A special thanks to cj for keeping the home fires burning these last months.

What have I been doing? Writing and editing and writing and editing…. You get the idea.

Mammatus Clouds

The life of a freelancer is akin to a rainstorm—rainstorm being a good thing. Sometimes the wind blows and shrieks. Sometimes the wind quietens but rain continues to pour. And sometimes the wind whips itself into a frenzy and whirls until a tornado sweeps away everything in its path. I’ve been in the frenzy stages with - thankfully - so many wonderful projects and clients that the storm took on a life of its own. So, I took a step backwards when I realized that my writing was being woefully shortchanged.

What to do?

I am an inveterate list maker, so……………….

•  Making a living is definitely high on the list.

•  Spending time with family and friends is high on the list.

•  Finishing my books is on high on the list.

 What I wanted to do was flip the list upside down, but my checkbook would be aghast. I had two exciting non-fiction editing jobs that were going well, so my clients would be aghast.Not finishing my books when I'm so close would send me into a state of aghastness. If Shakespeare could make up words, why not the Church Lady?

Hard decisions had to be made if my writing was ever to see the light of delighted readers. Yes, I did intend to say that.

So, dear teacher, this is How I spent my summer.

Wrote my own work every single day - 7 days a week. Some days for an hour. Some days for hours.  The result? One book 80% complete. One book refurbished and on its way. One short story won the Alabama Writers’ Conclave 2014 Competition for my short story, “Yellowed Picture.” One piece accepted for publication in an anthology. I came together with five talented writers to form a new critique group that meets every other week, which helps keep me focused. All in all a win win.

Worked every single day for my clients. The result, first draft of one book completed and the development and writing of a second book 90% completed. Joined a new marketing team approach to help an entrepreneur grow a new business. I'm counting that a win win.

Spent time with my family and had fun doing what we do best - laughing! A total win win.

Downside of all of this, my contributions to our blog took a dive, but now I’m back with a new perspective, exciting ideas, and writing information to share.

I’ve missed all of you!               Mahala

On to the next round

cj sez:  I did it! Stayed up until the wee hours of the morning and returned the edited manuscript of DEADLY STAR to the publisher. Got an e-mail back about 9 (seven hours later) saying, "I'll let you know if our second reader has any questions."

Great idea, I think, having a second reader, but sigh and double sigh as I learn the ropes of publishing. At least anything else coming down the Pike will be after Christmas. Now I can finish shopping, wrapping, baking, and cleaning before I have company on Christmas Eve.

Thanks to all those nice folks who sent me encouraging notes. That is very much appreciated.

You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I'll try to do the same.  
cj

Editing is a Must!

The lack of editing by traditional publishing houses has annoyed me for many years. With the addition of e-publishing et al to our choices, I believe even more strongly that eliminating copy editors as part of their idea to downsize was a bad idea for the publishing houses. They have the opportunity to outsmart those who have taken independent publishing to new heights and are doing it poorly. No, I don't think all self-published material is poorly written; however, in my experience, I have found the well written and well edited self-published material to be in the minority. Nothing jerks me out of a story like a mispelled word (see what I mean) or a jumbled sentence. By the time I'm reduced to reading a sentence aloud to try and decipher what the author was trying to say, the whole paragraph is lost to me. I've read far too many books with great bones, but they are missing the muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc. to hold them together. (My nursing background springs into focus from time to time.)  

Many of you have heard me wax eloquent at workshops, critique groups, and over a cuppa about the importance of self editing and professional editing. I firmly believe we do our readers an injustice when we don't take the time to make our work the very best it can possibly be. We need to remind ourselves every day that readers are our bread and butter; readers are a well educated lot who know junk when they read it; readers want to be caught up in the story and taken for the ride of their lives.

This week I read posts from two of my favorite blogs that support my theory. Don't we all love to read things that support what we believe?

Rachelle Gardner is one of an excellent group of agents who post on "Books & Such" and this blog post spoke to me: Why It’s More Important Than Ever to Master Your Craft. Gardner writes that readers may not be able to put what they don't like into writerese (lack of tension, poor characterizations, plot arc missing) but they certainly know when to toss a book aside or not recommend it to others. And dear to my heart, she points out that punctuation does count and it's up to us as authors to decide whether we want our books to be doorstops or proudly displayed. The link to the site for Books & Such Literary Agency is www.booksandsuch.biz.

Right behind Gardner's blog came one from Joanna Penn at The Creative Penn, another favorite site of mine. Writing A Novel: “You Mean, I Need to Edit?” Of course, you see why I liked it. Penn reminds us that the editing of our manuscripts can be the deciding factor in its success. Her guest blogger, Nick Thacker (who always has good things to say), shares some valuable tips to ramp up our manuscripts.The link to the site for The Creative Penn is www.creativepenn.com.

Bandaids aren't enough.

A quote from Michael Crichton says it all.

“I think every writer should have tattooed backwards on his forehead, like ambulance on ambulances, the words ‘everybody needs an editor." Michael Crichton

Mahala