Exciting News!

I got some very exciting news a few days ago.  It seems funny that it has taken me 8 days to write about it here.  I am not sure why that is.  I suppose one reason is that there isn't much to say about it.  The news itself was exciting.  But it will actually be happening in 9 days.  And another reason might be that writing about something makes it real.  I am not sure this feels real yet.

A few weeks ago, Ella and I each submitted a story to a writing contest put on by a Con held here in NE.  Now up to this point this is not something that I had done before, no contests for me.  But I looked at it as if I was submitting a story to a publisher.  The only difference is that I wasn't going to get paid either way.  (Well except for the free membership pass for the convention should I have won.)  But I put that story and the submission into my submission spreadsheet and forgot about it.  It was time to wait.

Then on April 2nd after an emotional day, my aunt's funeral, I went out to enjoy the sunshine and get some exercise.  While walking I was attempting to work through the next few scenes of my current project.  I am glad to report that the exercise was successful and I knew where I wanted to go with the story.  Once back inside I was just sitting down to take off my shoes when my phone rang.

Now anyone who knows me, knows that I am not much for answering the phone.  And if it is a number that I don't know, I might not answer it at all.  But because I have started to substitute teach, there are now phone calls from schools and principals.  So I don't always recognize the number.  As I didn't with this one.  The area code told me it was a NE number so I answered it.   ;)

I am glad I did.  It was someone from the writing contest.  They were calling to let me know that I had won. WOW!  Lets just say I was little bit excited.  They also were hoping that I could be there for opening ceremonies.

Now of course I had to run and tell the good news to my kids.  They were just as excited as I was about the news.  There were several happy dances that we did.

We have yet to go to the convention.  But my story is going to be printed in their publications and I will be recognized at the opening ceremonies.  (Not sure how I feel about that... a little hard to be invisible there.)  This to me feels a lot like another step down this path that I am taking.  I am starting to call it my 'first acceptance letter.'  It isn't quite, but it is close.

When we get back from the convention I will write more about this experience.  I am looking forward to a weekend of geeky fun and real writers and authors again.

The Power of Names

Well it seems that once again Jamie and his blog has brought me back here, to my own blog. This morning I read his 'confession' about naming the characters in his stories. This of course did just exactly what he meant it to do. I got to thinking about the names that I have given people and things.

I guess that I am not always consistent in the way that I hand out names. There are characters that I have just given the first name that I could think of. Then there are characters who have been given a name because of the meaning. I might know what I want the name to mean, maybe foreshadowing something that would happen in the story. I might search for days for the perfect name. The funny thing is I have even picked the name because the meaning of the name would not fit the character. Other times the name I pick is due to the sound or feel of it. It was a name that flowed, it needed a certain sound to be right for the character.

But more and more, I lean towards picking the right name and not just the first thing I think of. If cannot come up with a name as I am writing I will leave a marker (NAME1 or Doc's NAME). I will do this so that I do not waste time on it as I am writing. Sometimes this person's name will come to me as I continue on through the story. But often, I will have to search for it.

The thoughts of how I named my characters also brought me to how I named my children. My youngest daughter has a name that means “dark-haired gift of God.” This name was chosen for her because we knew that it would fit her. When we first started looking for names one of our favorites meant blond or light haired. We knew that our daughter would never be light haired and it seemed wrong to give her a name that meant that. So even though we liked that name we continued the search. My older daughter's name means “elven light.” This now is a perfect name for this girl. Though at the time we gave her the name we did not know how well it would fit her personality. I wonder if she grew into the name or if we just somehow knew that it would be the right one for her. Now my son's name came from one of his father's favorite SF novels. This seems a perfect way for a geek's child to be named. But even here there were layers of meaning. My son's name and his father's name share the same meaning. So based on the meaning of the name he was named after his father. And on top of that, it was very similar to the name of one of the characters in the novel I was writing.

To me giving my characters the 'right' name is very important. I know that most people may never know or even care why I used the names that I do. But it is still important to me. I have spent a great many hours with my baby name book or name websites. Often that is how I start a new story, picking the names of the main characters. I can't get to know them until I have named them.  

Good Advice!

Well, the thoughts and events that happened today came about after I read Jamie Todd Rubin's blog today about his math teacher's advice that helped him with his writing.  His math teacher's advice was "Do not erase."  This was to help see where he was making mistakes.  This was of course good advice.  Show your work is something I am forever telling my kids.  If I can't see what they did I don't know how to help them.  The way that Jamie linked this advcse also to his writing was very good.  He suggested keeping all of our old words even if we cut them out of a story, or if we throw the whole story out because it is terrible.

I have three 3-ring binders full of my old stories.  Most of them are just ideas.  They are little parts of stories.  Most of them are truly awful. Some are written when I was 12 or 13 years old.  Some of these stories even have little pictures or diagrams that I made to go along with the story.  They are old and bad.  But I do keep them.  I don't think I will ever use or need them.  The funny thing is that until today, I didn't realize that I write or keep things differently now that I am writing on my computer.  When I edit, I do just cut things out.  They are gone.  Not like my old copies.  I may need to think about doing this differently.  Making a second copy rather than just changing things.

So this is how I started my day.  I was thinking about my writing.  Thank you again Jamie!  Then as I moved on to other parts of my day, I continued to think about the story idea that has been forming in my mind.  It has been there near the surface for about a week.  But I didn't know where I was going to go with it, or what I wanted to do with it.  I have been just waiting and researching hoping that something would light the way for me.  And there it was.  I sat down at the computer with just a few words in my mind and a name.  I started the story.  I didn't get much written, just over 300 words.  But at least it is a start.  And more importantly, I think I have a path I want to follow with it.

This then led me to a box that was across the room.  This box holds my old journals.  For some reason this afternoon I felt the need to open that box and look through some of those old words.  I read through my thoughts during college and the year or two after.  It is strange to think about now.  But what I was writing about back then, was 'writing.'  I don't know why it has taken me over 20 years to realize that I have been moving in this direction.  I wanted it back then.  But I did nothing about it.  I just wrote for myself.

I am still doing that now.  I write for myself.  I write because I have to.  I write because if I don't my brain will explode.  But the difference is that I am finally brave enough to do something more.  I guess Jamie's advice of never to erase was a very good thing for me to hear today.  I must have needed to read those old journals.  I think it was very good for me to remember that this is something that I have wanted for a very long time.

But now, it is time for me to get back to my story!

Happy New Year!

This year is nearly over.  As with every year so many things happened this year.  Most of them have been good, some even wonderful and amazing.  Of course there are those things that have been sad or worrisome.  But on the whole I would say that 2012 has been a good year.

I was talking to Ella yesterday about crocheting.  She wanted me to give her a lesson.  So I told her how when I first started to crochet, I was making a Granny Square afghan   I was excited that I was learning this new skill.  I was hopeful.  I expected it to be beautiful.

It wasn't.  The squares were not the same size.  Some were a strange shape.  The stitches didn't match.  I hadn't kept the same tension the whole time.  But what did happen is that after working on that afghan I had learned how to crochet.  But the end my stitches were better.  I put that afghan down and moved on to a different project, one that I was actually proud of.  After that I continued to crochet, I learned new stitches.  I even started making my own patterns.  It has been 20 years of crocheting to get to this point.  But now, I can make nearly anything I want.

I wanted Ella to know that whatever she made was probably going to be awful.  I wanted her to know that I had thrown away the first project I made.  She sees what I make now and expects that she will be able to do that too.  I wanted her to know that she would be able to do this, but that it would take time, practice and work to get to that point.  And most of all I didn't want her to be disappointed in what she had done.

Today as I sit here and think about this year, I think about another skill that I have been working on.   My writing.  This same lesson that I was teaching my daughter about crocheting is how I need to look at my writing.

This I have also been working on for years, even longer than I have been working on my crocheting.  I was my youngest daughter's age when I was writing some of my first stories down in notebooks.  I still have many of these.  And yes, just like my first crocheting project, they were awful.

But to me, back then, they were magic.  They were something that I needed to do.  I continued to write.  I filled notebooks and later floppy disks with my worlds, my dreams, things that came from somewhere inside of me.  I am still doing that.

Just like my crocheting, I believe that my writing has gotten better.  I have given many of my crocheted projects away.  I have shared them with people.  It is only recently that I have started trusting in my writing as much as my crocheting.  That is one of the things that has made 2012 amazing for me.  I have realized how important that part of me truly is.  I have begun to make effort to see where I can go with it.

Two days ago, I just submitted my third short story.  As I was pushing the send button, I wanted to stop.  I didn't want to take that risk.  I wondered if those feelings would ever go away.  But I sent it anyhow.  Right now, I have five things out there somewhere.  I am waiting.  But I am not just waiting.  I am writing.  I am working on the next idea.  I am looking for more places to submit my work.  I am also crocheting.  I started four projects over Christmas break.  I am nearly finished with three of them.

How is crocheting like writing?
You can have the best idea in the world.  But if you don't start, you will never finish.
You need to work.  You need to practice.  You need to keep on doing it even if it is awful at the beginning.
And someday something you made from your own hands might be beautiful.

Happy Dance!

Yes, today was an interesting day.  But I will have to start with the end and my happy dance.  :)  Today I came home from shopping (yes I am crazy to have left my house and ventured out in December.  Normally I do everything in my power to avoid this.) and found I had an email.  This is likely the most exciting email I have every received.  It was about the short story that I just sent out last week.  The email was sent to inform me that my story had made it through the first round of consideration.  I have made it out of the slushie pile.  :)  My first short story I sent off and they are actually going to take a closer look at it.  Happy Dance!  That is an understatement.  If I am this excited about this, I wonder what it will be like when someone actually buys some of my words.  So that is my super wonderful happy dance worthy news of the day.

But yet there is more to this day.  :)  This morning I sat down and told myself, "Lisa, time to write."  I have been playing around with this idea for a few days.  But actually sitting down to write, now I haven't been able to do that.  Actually starting the story was hard to do.  So I just made myself do it this morning for about 40 minutes, not that long.  But it was enough.  Once I started writing, I didn't want to stop.  Then this afternoon while the kids were at basketball practice I finished the story.  It is likely the shortest thing I have written (at least since I was a child).  It is 7 words less than 1600 words.  It is not even a day's worth of NaNoWriMo. But I did it, and it is finished.  After supper I read it to my kids.  They are always my first audience.  I have learned to seek out their thoughts.  I want to see their reactions.  My biased little audience gave me the thumbs up.  You have to love those biased audiences.  :)  Now I let this story sit a day or two.  Then I will go back and read over it once again to see what I think.

But today, December 18th, was a very good day for me.

November and December

Wow, it has been over a month since I have written here.  I say that like I am surprised.  But really I know it has been a long time.  There are lots of things that I could write about here.   A lot of stuff happens in a month.  :)

I guess I should start with NaNoWriMo.  I did not write 50,000 words in November.  I did not get very far at all on my novel.  But I guess I never really expected to do it this time.  I probably could have.  But I had to decide just what I thought was more important.  I did a lot of writing.  Some of it was on my novel.  Some of it was on the short stories that I have been working on.  And some was 'writing work.'  Looking at markets, writing a synopsis or two, and getting things sent out.  So all in all, even though I didn't finish NaNo as a winner, I still feel good about the amount of writing that I got done last month.  Both of my daughters finished the month having met their NaNo goals!  YAY Ella and Melinda!

I find my children to be my best encouragement.  They are awesome.  I so enjoy reading my stories to them or talking through my ideas.  We spend a lot of time brainstorming ideas.  Some of these they take to their computer and write themselves and some of these ideas are mine to play with.  Just the other day Ella came up to me all excited.  We have been studying the Civil War.  She has taken a liking to Stonewall Jackson.  After our discussion that day, it was decided that she is going to do a research report on him.  Then she is planning on taking this research and turning it into an alternate history story... What if the south had won the war.  :)  Another of our discussions has turned into my current project, another short story.  I think that we could spend most of our time just researching and then writing and we would be very happy.

Oh, and on this line of thought, I am pretty new to this short story thing.  I wrote a few back in college.  These were horrible.  I decided then and there that I could not write short stories.  They were just bad!  Well, this summer I was told that I should write a short story or two.  So I have been thinking about it the last few months.  I finally got around to doing it this fall.  So far I have written two.  My kids give them a thumbs up.  But I do think that they might be considered a biased audience.  I sent the first of these out this week.  I guess I will soon see what a not so biased audience thinks.  I did enjoy writing them.  So after 20+ years of thinking that I was never going to write short stories again, I have changed my mind.  They still feel much harder for me than novel writing.  But on the plus side I can get them written a whole lot faster.  This seems like a good place to stop.  :)  It is time I get started on that ocean story of mine.

To Bravely Go To The Post Office

When I sat down here, I thought I knew exactly what I was going to write about. I mean there are tons of writer things that have been happening in the last couple of days. Of course it is NaNoWriMo Day 6. I haven't written today. Well, not on my novel. I may not. But I might, that I still don't know. I also finished getting everything ready to send out my second novel yesterday. That is a scary process. It feels somewhat different than the first one. I have been trying to sort out why. But I am not sure I have completely figured it out yet.

One way that this is different of course is I feel differently about this story. This story is a different piece of me. But I don't think that has much to do with these actual feelings.  Unless of course the repeated act of doing these things makes them feel more real to me, like I have more to lose.  But that would also mean I would have more to gain.

Another way is different is because the place I have decided to send it to does not want electronic submissions. So before when Ella told me “It's only an email.” as I sent the novel out, well that just doesn't work here. I had to go and get the pages of the manuscript, the cover letter, and the synopsis printed today. I actually held those papers in my hand. I put them into the hands of the man at the post office. I paid for postage. This submission actually cost me money. All of this makes it different, more real.

As I was sitting there at Office Max, I just felt ill, like I might throw up. WOW! This is real! I had to make myself go inside. Then I had to go to the post office. This did not help my feeling of nauseousness. I am not sure I feel any better here hours later. Now I wait. I wonder what will happen and who will be reading my words. And what I can do differently or better next time.

Brave is Best! Brave is Best! Brave is Best!

Brave

to meet or face courageously

The word bravery is a synonym of courage: courage usually suggests fearlessness or the overcoming of fear in the face of danger.

I am not sure sending a novel out qualifies for danger. Not real danger. But it is something I do seem to fear. It is a part of me that I have kept hidden away most of my life. A part of me I protected from the world. So today I bravely went to the post office. It sounds funny to say those words. Maybe that is what will make it easier for me to do it the next time and the next time. I also think it makes it easier for me to write about it here. Once this was a place that only I came, a secret place. But just knowing that other people are out there, that other people see these things makes me stronger.

One more note about today... November 6^th

Today would be my grandpa's birthday. I knew that this would be the day I sent out my story. I didn't really plan it. I sat down Sunday night and knew that I would be finished with everything on Monday. But my schedule told me that I wouldn't get to go to town until Tuesday. Then I saw the dates. I would be sending out my story on Grandpa's birthday, another perfect day. A story for Grandpa.  Happy Birthday Grandpa!  Let me tell you a story.