Monthly Archives: August 2012

Seeking solitude

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I have been complaining a lot lately about not being able to put in any solid writing time.  I am not referring to finding pockets of time in which to write.  
I am referring to the seemingly constant barrage of interruptions while doing so.

For a sometime now, I found it while sitting on my back deck each evening. I would write while our dog ran and played in the yard under the setting sun.     
I was able to write quite a lot, despite having to periodically stop to call the dog back when he’d gone too far or had gotten into mischief.  Alas, that routine was short lived due to mosquito activity that is far more intense than usual this season.

So, what to do, what to do?

Then I remembered something from way back when I had gone back to school to complete my Bachelors in Nursing.  One semester I had enrolled in an intense Chemistry course that was actually three Chemistry classes rolled up into a single class.  Further, the semester was condensed down from the typical 12 weeks, to a mere 8 weeks.  I had already been a nurse for thirteen years at this time and forgotten more about math than I had probably even learned in the first place.  Yeah, I know that is an impossibility, but stay with me here, because that’s not really the point.  

The point is that I was freaking out, big time.  

If you have never taken Chemistry, let me tell you the one thing you need to know.  Chemistry is math based, so you had better have some descent math skills, or you my friend, are screwed.  

With three young boys at home, I struggled with finding the time to concentrate on my homework or study for  exams.  Anyone who is a parent to sons, knows that they are noisy little people and into one thing after another. One day, my husband had the idea to have me study out in our camp trailer, away from the noise and commotion of the kids and away from, even his well meaning, but unwelcome interruptions.  He was kind enough to get me set up with air conditioning and a nice, cool beverage and then left me all alone.  

Alone

And you know what?  It was worked like a charm.  For the first time in a long time, I was able to think clearly and concentrate on my studies.  In the end, I passed the class and the rest is history.

So today, it hit me.  Why not go outside into my camp trailer and get in some uninterrupted writing time?

Well, I did just that.  I headed out into my low budget Writers Retreat–to, as they say, get her done.   

As I bring this brief blog post to an end, I look around me.
  
Lap top computer?  check  
Comfortable seat?  check  
Air conditioning and cold beverage?  check & check     

I guess that is pretty much all I need to get started.  

During the next few hours, I am hoping to pound out a couple of good chapters, or at least a few good scenes.  If I don’t, well then, I will have no one to blame but myself.  I need to practice being more disciplined in my commitment to becoming a writer and in so many other key aspects of my life.

And that brings me to the subject of discipline.   In my next post, we will explore why discipline can often get you further than talent; but also, why both are required to achieve any significant success.  Alone, each will only get you so far.  Combined, the possibilities are endless.

Next post:  Talent vs. Discipline ….why one is worthless without the other

To sleep or to write….that is the question

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Sitting up writing at half past midnight.  I struggle to keep my eyes open, for I am tired.  Despite my better judgment, I resist the urge to sleep.  My novel is nearing 100,000 words and I fear it may hit 120,000 or more before I finish writing the climax and ending.

They say a good publishable manuscript is upwards of 90,000 to 150,000 words. Their reason being that it is far easier to trim and edit, than to add to a finished manuscript.  

Two questions:  Who are “they”?  And, why do I keep using Word Count when it only makes me crazy? 

I’m feeling the pressure to wrap it up.  I long to get to the end, to be able to write those two elusive words–The End.  And yet, I don’t want to rush it.  My story has become somewhat organic, meandering here or there, lingering on a back story now and then; all detours that will surely add to the richness of the characters, lending insight to their motivation.  

Are you sensing a measure of my frustration and self-doubt?  If so, then you my friend, would be correct.  

This is hard work.  I will never again pick up a book and not take a moment to honor the immense investment of time and energy that the author put into its creation. Sometimes the story comes easily.  Other times, it must be pulled out of you like a splinter.  Whether easy or difficult, it involves a huge commitment of time.  Of that, my fellow aspiring writers, you can be sure.      

The challenge is in making time to write.  A full time job, with an hour commute each way and a family to care for, does not leave much time to click away at the old keyboard.  I find myself doubting that I can realistically write a novel on the fringes of my day.  

Take right now for instance.  I know that I should be sleeping, but can’t resist the urge to put to words the story that is swirling about in my head.  As I near the end of this novel, it is as though the characters have sprung to life.  I am stringing bits of flesh to bone, and they now demand that I tell their stories with honesty and integrity.  They linger near me, and at times, consume my every thought.  

I have heard it said that some writers feel as though they go deep within a well of creativity, seeking solitude when writing.  And they need to remind themselves to surface, if only every once in a while, to tend to the real business of life that is happening all around them.

Perhaps I am becoming such a writer.  I’m finding myself annoyed by other’s demands on my time or attention.  I must try to remind myself to give fair attention to the characters in my real life.  For those are the only ones that truly matter.  I love those crazy, colorful characters that are my family, coworkers and friends.

It is now 01:51 AM and I am shutting down the lap top and calling it a night. My character’s stories will again, need to wait; but write them, I will.  

As I climb into bed next to my sleeping husband, I close my eyes to rest and get ready for another day in real life, that is now just a mere four hours away. 

Goodnight all. 

         
Next post:  Talent vs. Discipline ….why one is worthless without the other

Dog Days of Summer aka…Deuce’s big debut

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Sitting on my back deck while sipping a tall glass of sweet tea (nod to you Southern folk), I scratch the fluffy ears of Deuce, our one-year-old Brittany pup.  He sits beside me in the small patch of shade that looms ever larger with the golden setting sun.  Even he feels drained of energy from the scorching white, hot heat of day.
  
“Go play boy,” I nudge him forward with painted toes. 

His puppy tongue hangs long from his mouth, panting; and he looks at me like I must be crazy.  This puppy, that has more energy than twenty dogs does not want to move.  The very pup that runs wild, at a break neck pace in his large back yard, sits unmoving at my side.  He steals a sideways glance at me now and then, as if urging me to hurry the last rays of the sun.
 
“It won’t be long now boy,” I say as I ruffle his ears.
 
We both feel it.  The heated induced energy slump so common these days, these Dog Days of Summer, that is.  It is a time of year marked by inactivity and stagnation.
 
It got me thinking about the term: The Dog Days of Summer.  Ever wonder how it got its name?

At first thought, you might think the term refers to summer days so hot, that even dogs feels too tired to move.  And you’d be right—kind of.
 
The term is commonly used to refer to the hottest time of summer, but it has nothing to do with dogs.
 
The name is actually related to the heliacal rising of Sirius, the Dog Star.  Sirius is the largest and brightest star of the Canis Major constellation. Canis Major is also known as the Big Dog constellation and thus, likely the reason Sirius was named the Dog Star.  Sirius can easily be seen with the naked eye.  It is seen as a large, twinkling star with different changing colors.  

Each year, Canis Major appears in the Northern Hemisphere in early July and remains visible well into September. And coincidently, this also happens to be the hottest time of year.
 
In ancient times, civilizations looked to the skies for the coming of Sirius, the Dog Star. Astrologers used the constellations to mark the changing of the seasons and to navigate the seas.  Egyptians marked the coming Nile River floods with the rise of Sirius, and Ancient Greeks offered sacrifices to the star.  Ancient coins have been found that were engraved with sunrays, stars and dogs, thought to be a sign of significance.  Yes indeed, Sirius the Dog Star had profound meaning for those ancient civilizations. 
 
So, there you have it.  The Dog Days of summer may have originated from a complex astrological past, but have since taken on a more simplistic meaning in our modern times.
 
Me?  I like to think that dogs like Deuce have it all figured out.  Unlike their human counterparts, they have the good sense to lay low in the heat of day, and reserve their energy for the cooler hours.  Like, now.

Brushstrokes of pink and gold paint the western sky, as daylight takes her leave, and bids a fond adieu.  A single raindrop falls upon is puppy nose and instantly, he is alive with electricity.  His ears perk up and muscles tense, and then, his is off. 
  
Off to run and sniff.  To dig in cool wet earth.  To roll upon the wet, green grass.
 
I smile as I look at him and wish I could harness his energy as my own.  And then like any Brittany pup, he is getting into something that he shouldn’t….”Deuce,” I holler, “Let it go, boy.  Get back here.” 

Ah, the Dog Days of summer.  Enjoy em while they last.