Writing Day! Making Time

Q: How do you "find time" to write?
A: You don't - you MAKE time to write!

I'm often asked this. Making time takes practice, commitment, and creativity. Everything else is just excuses!

• I write a paragraph or a page in the fifteen or twenty minutes between clients I see at my massage office. 
• I write on Sundays and Mondays at cafes.
• I write on long lunch breaks.
• On days that I finish work between 4 & 6 pm, I walk over to the coffee shop and write for an hour or two, instead of sitting in rush hour traffic.
• I write notes on my phone - using EVERNOTE, check it out - whenever an idea strikes.
• Other people may set their alarms get up thirty minutes early to write, or write while sitting in their cars. waiting for their kids after school.
  Got a busy home? Perhaps the kitchen table after everyone has gone to sleep (or before they get up). Maybe you can lock yourself in the bathroom for half an hour with your notebook or laptop.
  Make it regular, make it a ritual, make it happen!

I had a light work day today, a Tuesday. I used my Sunday for sleeping and my Monday for cleaning, this week, so here I am at Starbucks, now, writing. 

And what did I write today? Did I work on my novel? Or my other novel? Or a short story? A travel piece? An essay? Any of the aforementioned projects I have on various burners?

Nope.

I wrote an article on Summer Health & Safety. I researched and wrote about sunscreen, drowning, pets in hot cars, and what Summer Solstice means.

Did I submit it for publication? No...it went into my monthly massage newsletter.

BUT!

My customers and colleagues read it (one-fourth to one-half my mailing list - send me your email to be added), and talk about it. It's good for my community connection, and I have considered compiling the articles for small publication, so we'll see where that leads.

Okay, here is how today's timeline went, after appointments:

• 2:00 Began online research for article
• 2:45 Called Sprint to deal with phone and billing issues
• 3:50 Called City to report stolen Recycling Bin & a dumped couch and dresser by park
• 4:00 Ordered coffee at Starbucks
• 4:05 - 6:45 Continued reading and writing for article, put together and sent out newsletter
• 6:50 - 7:20 Wrote this blog

These things needed doing, but at the same time, I missed the creative writing window... But, despite my small disappointment in not getting to some of my projects, I feel accomplished at what I did write.

If you want to be a writer, you have to write.

• Journal every day. This sorts out your brain, and separates the wheat from the chaff.
• Take notes, collect inspirational stories, photos, art, ideas, bits of overheard conversation, etc. Keep them in a file folder or in a cross-device app, like Evernote, mentioned above.
• Carve out what time you can, be it ten minutes or two hours, regularly. At least twice a week.
• Be persistent!

If only I was able to be more productive at home - but the cats, lighting, lack of a good chair, television, and other distractions make that difficult. Those are my excuses... because, even as others tell me how prolific I am, I feel like an under-performer! I would love to write an hour a day, with two or three days of two to four hour sessions, each, but I do what I can.

How about you?

Are you an aspiring author/writer? Or maybe you want to spend more time painting, or making comics, or learning a foreign language? 

• How do you make time for writing? Or, how could you do so?
• Where do you write (or create or learn) best? 
• Make an appointment with the page. Sit down to write (or paint or whatever) and be open. Write crap. It will cleanse the brain palate and lead to ideas. 
• Invite your muse to the appointed meeting but start with or without her - muses don't live by human clocks. But if you keep a regular schedule, the muse is more likely to start coming around!

Concentration, focus, comfort, discipline... these are all important factors to writing productivity.

Working Up A New Novel...The Long Way

Working on my 1920s Novel

I’ve just finished reading a book called “Wit’s End: Days and Nights of the Algonquin Round Table” by James R. Gaines, written and published in 1977. It was the May-June selection for my Dorothy Parker’s Vicious Circle Book Club, where we read exclusively books by and about the writers of the Algonquin Round Table of the 1920s. Up ‘til now, my interest in the era has centered around Hollywood, and while I have aspired to read the works of the writers of the day, I have been, for the most part, unsuccessful. I’ve read half of Hemingway’s work, a handful of Fitzgerald, a smattering of other random writers, and that’s it. I joined the book club to rectify that, particularly because I am gathering research to write a historical novel of my own, set in the era.

My proposed book, as of yet, has no plot. The protagonist is sketchy, at best – I am basing her on a MC from a short story I wrote last year, who in turn is based on an amalgam of Clara Bow and Lois Long, with a pinch of Dorothy Parker and Thoroughly Modern Millie thrown in. She was a World War I widow, moved from rural Pennsylvania to Manhattan in 1921. She became a modern – cut her hair, got a job, changed her life, became her own woman. She is still young, and searching for her destiny. I think I will see parts of her in my book’s MC, but not totally.



The real women of the Algonquin writer’s scene are starting to live inside me. I am drawn to the artist, Neysa McMein (pictured right, in the self-portrati entitled, "The Lady Seldom Smiles". She often used herself as a model, and can be seen upon most magazine covers of the day), and the independence of Edna Furber. I would like to learn more about the ambitious Jane Grant. And then there’s the Hollywood connection, of which I have always been enamored. Helen Hayes, Tallulah Bankhead, and Ruth Gordon…whom I was surprised to see in this book. I had always liked her as an actress and a personality, but had no idea she had been involved with this group in New York.

I am still drawn to the tragic life of Clara Bow, and she was born, raised, and discovered in the slums of New York. She was far from the lives of these writers in fashion and the arts, so I am still unsure how to connect them. I think I will have a Clara Bow type MC who falls in with an ART crowd. That will allow me to explore a lot of themes around education, classism, wealth and poverty, and how talent gets ahead (or not). I will probably not have my MC be the victim of incest by her father, like Clara Bow, though, because ugh.

I feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of names in Wit’s End. They are, for the most part, completely unknown to me, except for Dorothy Parker. I may have heard the names of Benchley and Woollcott, for sure Edna Furber and Edna Millay, but that doesn’t mean I know them or have actually read them. It was a swirl of names to read this book. I had to restrain myself from falling down the rabbit hole of google and youtube while reading, and my Amazon Wish List has grown by an entire page. I am most excited to read Ruth Gordon’s memoirs, of which there are three, but her life was so much in television and film that it won’t be completely relevant… or will it? I’d love to build a character similar to her.



In any case, I am glad to have read it. Now, we are on to the collection of early Vanity Fair articles, to be read and discussed in July and August.



P.S. Some of you may know Ruth Gordon from her many iconic roles in her later years, such as Rosemary's Baby, Harold & Maude, and more. So you may be as surprised as I was to see her in these photos of the Roaring Twenties:

 Ruth Gordon with her then husband, Gregory Kelly.

Spring 2015 Life & NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge

Hey, it has been way too long since I wrote anything here. This post will be about a little bit of everything, just like my brain, lately.

I moved into a new massage office at the start of March. It is a large, lovely space, with a lot of bodyworkers in the building. The Wallingford neighborhood is great for walking and feeling like you are part of a community. I am close to a couple of great coffeeshops, a credit union in case I need to do some banking, a lot of great restaurants, and more. I have taken to the closest coffeeshop not only for lunch, but as a writing spot midday or after work.

I'm still doing a lot of research and study on writing and story craft, to help me in the still-to-come sixth draft revision of HISMZA. Meanwhile, I have been writing and editing several memoir pieces, mostly centered around place and travel. It's been a lot of fun to write the funny stuff, and it's been heartbreaking to write the tough stuff. But both have their rewards, and both have been well-received by my writers group, so far. It's a total learning curve!

Speaking of learning curve, I've decided to take this year to learn about financial investment - HA! - so weird. Such a grown-up thing to do and talk about. I hate it, but I need it. AND... it turns out most grown-ups are just faking it, anyway, and don't know much more than me. They pay other people to take care of their money, which is why so many people lose so much all the time. Sigh...I am all about self-education, so I am hoping to make some headway by the end of the year towards actually making investments. And you'd better believe I will be sure to know exactly where my money is going and will only support environmentally conscious "green" companies, that do no animal testing, produce no toxic waste/pollutants, and treat their employees fairly.

I did participate in the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge for the second year. In 2014, I got an Honorable Mention for my Round 1 Historical Fiction. This year, my Round 1 Sci-fi story got me to Round 2, where I was once again assigned Historical Fiction. Instead of the 1920s, I wrote about 16th c. Florentine painters but did not make it to the final round. At this rate, I will be in Round 3 in 2016!
Fingers crossed!

You can read those short stories and eight others in my story collection, "The Devil's in the Details and Other Stories," available digitally on Amazon and iBooks.

Ch-ch-changes

In 2003, I joined with a handful of other therapists to open BodySong Healing & Arts - a sort of alternative healthcare community center, where I had my massage office, among other LMPs, bodyworkers, counselors, acupuncturists, and naturopaths. We have five offices, a large hall for events, and several gardens. It has been a wonderful place to come to work. I also host my writers group in the hall each week, which is great since it is private, quiet, and easy to get to.

The owners have sold the property, and it is to be torn down starting in April, to make way for houses. I am sad to see the property go. If you are in Seattle and would like some garden plants, let me know!

I am in the middle of closing a deal on a new office in Wallingford. But, I still need to find a Monday night home for my writers group... Right now, I am thinking of the Greenwood Chocolati (but there are the ever-present issues of parking, non-reservable space, noise, and lack of privacy) or the Wallingford Library, which would mean changing the hours from 6:30-9 to 6-8. Still looking for something more private and quiet...

In addition to moving my office and changing my writers group, I quit smoking cigarettes a month ago, which is also new for me. I quit from 1996-2000, but have been going strong for 15 years this last round. It's not hard, really -0 it's more about changing my mindset. Most temptations occur in my car after work. Or during long phone calls. Or after a productive creative session.

During this month of change, I've been writing poetry, of all things. Magical surrealism...turning my dreams into prose. I have also been studying fiction writing, currently reading Lisa Cron's Wired For Story.

I hear from many people that change is in the air right now, so it seems best to embrace it and move forward. Best of luck to anyone else going through changes!

Top Literary Magazines?

Sometimes, I wonder about the people who read literary magazines. I try to read a few, but admit that there are more out there than I know what to do with. It's important to be familiar with publications to which you are interested in submitting work, but I need som e help narrowing the field!

Every magazine has a flavor. Whether it is steeped in traditions, or more nuanced by the current editor and staff, there are certain qualities they look for in the writers and pieces that they publish. I have read The New Yorker on and off for years, and I enjoy the New Yorkness of it! I miss certain qualities of East Coast urban living, and The New Yorker can help fill that void, even just a little bit. The New Yorker is word-geek friendly, and a grammar nazi's paradise. Sometimes, I scratch my head at the fiction - what in the world was I supposed to get out of reading THAT?!? What were they thinking?? Other times, I am touched, moved, disturbed, affected... the story has elicited something from me, and that is good.

Here is a list of what Every Writer's Resource calls that Top Fifty Literary Magazines.

This list is from Writer's Relief (Author Submission Service), written in March 2012 with a focus on women-author-friendly publications.

Have you read any of these? Which ones do you like? Have you been published in any of them? What do you have to say about that experience?

My fiction tends toward the fantastic, spanning horror, urban fantasy, soft sci-fi, and literary.
My non-fiction ranges from memoir to pop-culture reviews. I enjoy the term, "cultural observer," and am exploring what that means to me.

Tell me what you read! What you think! What do you know about these lit mags?

That's Where The Fun Is...

A month ago, I signed up for the 2015 NYC Midnight Short Story Competition, for my second year. This is a fun, three-round elimination contest under pressure, which I love. In 2014, I didn't make it past Round One, although I did get an Honorable Mention for my assigned category of Historical Fiction (Subject: Sworn Enemies, Char: Widow), so I was pleased with that result.

This year, I completely spaced on the starting date of the first round! Luckily there are eight days to write the 2500 word story, and I can be fast. Instead of starting at 9pm Thursday Jan. 15th, I began at midnight the following Thursday. I cranked out the first draft before 4am, and sent it to a few friends for feedback. I tweaked it Saturday an hour before deadline and got it in 30 minutes early. Whew! 

Now, I have to wait until results are announced around March 10th. I had a lot of fun with this one, because I was given Sci-fi - yay! - which is easier for me, having been raised on Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, Night Gallery, Tales From the Crypt, Tales From the Darkside, Star Trek, etc. My assigned subject was "retirement" and my character was "receptionist." We'll see what happens with the contest, but I will definitely find a home for this story. It got several laughs and a good response from both readers and the listeners in my writers group. Always nice, especially since I've not been writing much funny this past year.

Now, I must admit that this post is a bit of a procrastination tactic - I need to be writing more memoir essays, and that darn sixth draft of HISMZA that I've been putting off. I also have several things to edit for other writers, so I'm signing off. 

Happy Writing!

Winter's Rest: Refilling the Writer's Fuel Tank

January 18th.

Still haven't written much, or edited much of what I have that needs it. But, it's not like I haven't been writing, at all...

I've written a ton of poetry and micropoetry. When I am drifting off to sleep, I think of these little poems and usually post them on Twitter. Just a little creative fun and sharing. I also have a journal full of hand written poems, ideas, meditations, dreams, thoughts, and plans. Been very active on the subconscious level this winter - lots of sleep, lots of dreaming, lots of deep, inner work on many levels. I am sure that this will be reflected in my writing to come.

I've started a monthly newsletter for my main business (massage therapy) and have a goal of once a month publication. I have written two; each with one major article, one minor article, and one community connection piece. I'm enjoying it, and it should be good for my day job, but it tends to eat into my creative writing time.

I used to work at a spa PT, in addition to my own MT practice. I was fired once for being two minutes late, but then rehired eight months later (after the old manager was fired.) Last February, it happened again - I was late, I was fired, and I moved on. I understand...punctuality is important in business. People's time is valuable. But I have never been able to avoid being late sometimes...I feel like a couple minutes here or there, well... it happens. Nothing excessive. Anyhow, I've been really good at getting a better handle on my own business and planning, and 2014 was a-ok for me. Plus, my arms stopped spasming from overworking, and I caught up on years of sleep. Three weeks ago, the spa called me. The manager that fired me last year is gone, and they want me back. I am flattered, and somewhat tempted - more money, right? Yay! And I miss some of my old clientele. And it is close to my home, and there are a handful of other pluses. But, then again, there are minuses, too. I've become accustomed to my own pace of life, my own schedule, my own controls. I don't want to distract myself from being proactive about my own practice. I am working on my future, here. And those days I used to work at the spa? When I'm not sleeping, I am writing. I don't want to give up that time.

I've been reading a ton, too, and feel like it's all just going into the blender. I am impatient to produce, yet, I know I will be better after all of this time spent exploring, studying, analyzing, and practicing my craft. The books I'm reading? Psychology, Urban Fantasy, Irish Crime Fiction, Shamanism, History, and Memoir. Into the blender it goes. And I'm getting ready to start reading a recommended series on writing: The Elements of Fiction Writing, by Writer's Digest Books.

So, I'm trying not to kick myself for not submitting anything for publication in 2014 (other than some novel agent queries). I need to replenish the well, with the books, and the thoughts, and the dreams, and the rest. Seven plus years of non-stop writing projects has taken its toll on my energy reserves. It only makes sense that I need to rest and take some time to regroup my creative energies. Meditation has been a major part of my daily life the past month; I'm ashamed to say that I got away from the regular practice for too long. In fact, I might toy with the idea of writing a book on meditation for writers...

Have you, fellow writers, noticed any seasonal patterns to your creative style? Your output? Your inspirations? What times of the year do you organize, plan, dream, write, read, learn, produce? What times of the day or night are you most mentally alert, or most receptive to new ideas? Cycles and patterns exist for all of us, and it is in our best interest to learn to identify, recognize, and acknowledge these periods of what we bring in to our creative lives and what we put out.