17 Monday Oct 2016
Posted in The Writing Journey, writing
Had a fun time with fellow author D.R. Perry today. She interviewed me for her blog. I mean, how cool is that? Check it out here: Nan Sampson Interview and be sure to read her other posts. She is terrific!
In the meantime, how’s that pumpkin carving going?
Illegitimi noncarborundum!
27 Tuesday Sep 2016
Posted in The Writing Journey, writing
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I was reading a blog by Maria Popova, who was quoting Ann Patchett from her memoir. It rang so true for me, as a writer, I had to share it. You can read the full blog post here: BrainPickings, and I highly recommend reading Ann Patchett’s book (available at Amazon here: This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage).
“For me it’s like this: I make up a novel in my head (there will be more about this later). This is the happiest time in the arc of my writing process. The book is my invisible friend, omnipresent, evolving, thrilling… This book I have not yet written one word of is a thing of indescribable beauty, unpredictable in its patterns, piercing in its color, so wild and loyal in its nature that my love for this book, and my faith in it as I track its lazy flight, is the single perfect joy in my life. It is the greatest novel in the history of literature, and I have thought it up, and all I have to do is put it down on paper and then everyone can see this beauty that I see.
And so I do. When I can’t think of another stall, when putting it off has actually become more painful than doing it, I reach up and pluck the butterfly from the air. I take it from the region of my head and I press it down against my desk, and there, with my own hand, I kill it. It’s not that I want to kill it, but it’s the only way I can get something that is so three-dimensional onto the flat page. Just to make sure the job is done I stick it into place with a pin. Imagine running over a butterfly with an SUV. Everything that was beautiful about this living thing — all the color, the light and movement — is gone. What I’m left with is the dry husk of my friend, the broken body chipped, dismantled, and poorly reassembled. Dead. That’s my book.
The journey from the head to hand is perilous and lined with bodies. It is the road on which nearly everyone who wants to write — and many of the people who do write — get lost… Only a few of us are going to be willing to break our own hearts by trading in the living beauty of imagination for the stark disappointment of words.” Ann Patchett, This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
Illegitimi non carborundum!
13 Sunday Jul 2014
Posted in The Writing Journey, writing
How Not to Think About Writing
What was it Bobby Burns said? The best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley, wasn’t it? Yeah… turns out the old Scot was right.
So I blow off my WW meeting on Saturday morning because of a rum tummy. Tried to sleep in, but His Admiralship wanted breakfast at five freaking thirty. Got up, fed the pushy poodle, then tried to go back to sleep. Kept thinking about scenes I needed to add to Book 2 of the mystery series. Not wanting to lose the ideas, I grabbed my bed side notebook to jot them down — and promptly spilled my water glass into the open drawer of the nightstand. *sigh* Got up, cleaned up the mess (yes, thank you, Nelson, you were very helpful trying to lick up the water), then tried again to go back to sleep. Remembered I hadn’t made notes. Got up again and jotted down my ideas.
At that point, I was wide awake. But I had promised myself I wasn’t going to do anything writerly. So I went downstairs, put the kettle on, made some tea… and started thinking about a scene in my fantasy novel. Nope. Stop it. Not doing any writing today. Stood there for a moment and noticed that the kitchen cabinets needed cleaning. Got out the orange oil and did a spot of cleaning.
Two hours later, the kitchen gleamed. As did the bathrooms and the floors. And as I scrubbed I found myself wondering what my character Charlotte would use for degreasing since oranges weren’t available in medieval times… stop it. Stop thinking writer-type things! Maybe, I thought, as I got up off the floor, knees aching, I should take a little nap.
Oh, wait, not so fast. I needed to take the oriental carpet to this shop my husband found in Lakemoor for cleaning. Lakemoor? Where the devil is Lakemoor? Oh, says he on his way out the door to work, it’s just up 47, take a right on 120. Right around the corner.
Over an HOUR LATER, I finally located the small burb of Lakemoor, but the only thing at the address indicated was an autobody shop. I drove up and down the street for twenty minutes (I’m sure people thought I was either loony or casing the joint), but there is NO cleaners. So I drove back home. But the drive wasn’t completely wasted because I figured out the tricky escape bit for the fantasy novel. Oh damn. I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about writing…
So I got home shortly after noon, at which point, it was time to rouse the teenager and get some food down her gullet before she becomes an unholy, crabby mess. That accomplished, I thought, okay, NOW I can sit down and do… um… work on the fantasy novel? No. No writing. Okay, I’ll um… oh I know, I’ll dump book 2 of the mystery series into Scrivener and… oh, yeah, no writing. So… um… er…
I dithered on the couch for about twenty minutes, trying to think of something to do that wasn’t writing related. I even pulled out my Kindle to read something. But I couldn’t settle on what to read. Except that book about how to writer faster… but wait, that was writing related.
Bottom line, I’ve apparently forgotten how to just sit and do nothing. Well, at least anything that doesn’t have something to do with writing. And you know what? I’m pretty okay with that. Turns out, I LOVE writing. Even the icky revision part. I’m actually itching to dive into the editing of Book 2. Maybe this revision won’t take me six months, like the last one, now that I understand the process!
So today, Sunday, I took a breath, allowed myself to think a few writerly thoughts, then did my usual Sunday errands (grocery store, making a few casseroles for dinner during the week, putting my lunch things together for Monday, etc.). And for dinner, the family and I went out to The Claddagh for a good old faux Irish meal. I even treated myself to a pear cider. Yum!
Tomorrow, however, it’s back to work. Both to the evil day job and as a writer. And I can’t wait!
Is there a hobby or avocation you itch to work on when you’re doing other things? Is there a project you can’t wait to get back to or consumes your thoughts at any given idle moment? I’d love to hear about your favorite things. And thanks for dropping by!
Illegitimi non carborundum!
01 Thursday May 2014
Posted in The Writing Journey, Uncategorized, writing
So I’ve recently been more diligent about reading all the blogs about writing I follow. Some are inspirational, some keep me motivated, some are just fun. Then there are the ones that I actually learn from. And sometimes that learning is PAINFUL.
I don’t know about you, but I HATE IT when I’m wrong. I’ve been writing for a long time. I’ve come a long way from those callow days of my youth when I thought my writing was perfect and editors would swoon reading it. I’ve made lots of mistakes, learned to identify them, learned to fix them – mostly with the help of other sainted writers who have been gracious enough to give back to the writing community by helping others learn, but a lot on my own (proving, I suppose, that if you bang your head against your desk long enough something positive may come out of it). So when I read Kristen Lamb’s blog on Flashbacks the other day, I was, in the following order, convinced she was wrong (before I read the post), aggravated, (because I actually START my current WIP with a flashback), infuriated (because DANG, I hate it when I’m wrong), and finally grateful (because I was given a gift I didn’t know I wanted). Not only was Kristen’s advice about Flashbacks spot on, she really helped me understand WHY. And that is the mark of a great teacher. She got past my initial knee-jerk reaction, and in a very entertaining way, worked me round to her way of thinking. Sneaky, this one. But so right!
This, my friends, is how we learn. Now, not only do I have to re-examine how I start my story, but her post also made me realize I needed to examine the story I’m really trying to tell. And it was NOT the story I thought I was trying to tell. Fortunately, I’m only 100 pages into it. So it’s early days, and I have time to go back and reweave the tapestry. If I hadn’t taken the time to read her post, revising on this puppy would have been H E double hockey sticks. Cuz you all KNOW how much I despise revisions.
I encourage all of you to read Kristen’s blogs. She’s amazing. And the three blogs she recently published related to flashbacks won’t only teach you about the evils of this dreaded writing tactic, but will also give you some hints about story structure and pacing that any writer, no matter how seasoned, can benefit from, if only in the reminding.
So now, back to the slog. I’m giving myself until the middle of May to get the bones of this current WIP in place. But come May 15, I need to get back to the final run through of my mystery, so I can meet that June 21st deadline for publication. Wish me luck and please, if you can spare it, send along more of those vats of butt glue. I don’t think I used enough the last time, I keep managing to pry myself loose to go in search of Cheetos!
Illegitimi non carborundum!
Nan Sampson - Author 