Back At It!

There have been some medical issues regarding my husband (all is well; just exams and tests) that have prevented my working much on my novel, but I'm back at it today.

I did do some minor revision work earlier this week, on the two chapters I presented at my writing group on Sunday.  However, we did discuss some additions to those chapters that I will be finishing today.  Both of them are emotion-filled, as well as pivotal to taking the book in a new direction toward its end, so I have to be certain to get it right.

At this point, getting it right is important for every chapter.  I want to complete this revision confident that I can peddle it to agents.  I have 150 pages that fit that mold; now I have to do the rest.

As I said in an earlier post, emotional passages are the hardest to write.  You have to distance yourself from the material to make sure the technical aspects are done correctly, but you also have to immerse yourself in the emotions, then decide how to convey that to the reader without telling them what to feel as they read.

I've actually gone ahead in the book, and worked on some easier chapters; ones that occur after the directional turn in the story - because they were solid writing for the most part and didn't require as much editing.  But today, I'm determined to get these two important chapters completed.  Once I've done that, I think I will move much more quickly. 

Knocked Off Track - Temporarily

I'm back at work this morning, but it's so easy to get sidetracked by life's interruptions.  For example, on Sunday, my husband and I both decided we needed our own personal day of rest, so we slept in, ate breakfast in bed while reading the Sunday Tribune, then walked and window-shopped at a nearby outdoor mall, drinking in the cool breezes, the summer blooms and the purchasing public.

Sometimes, these distractions can help your writing.  I'm always looking at strangers as possible characters for my next story.  Same with settings.  Overheard remarks are sometimes written down for future use as well.  But, it's also good just to get away from your latest computer page that is staring back at you.

And then came Monday.  I won't give you the details of what knocked my creative side amok, but suffice it to say, it was unexpected and put a wrench into our already complicated financial life.  In the last two years, we have experienced more than our fair share of problems in that respect; our whole family has.  Due to having creative vocations that are not rewarded during a blinding recession, such as the one we're still recovering from, fianancial stability has become an unknown entity.  In this stage of my life, that can be even more unnerving - as it was yesterday.

My saving grace, however, is that I am married to a man who always sees the rainbow after the rain.  His words of comfort and purpose yesterday were right on the mark, and emphasized why we are such perfect partners.  So, we have regrouped and, with unflappable resolve, we are back at our creative pursuits today. 

I know I wouldn't be so positive today were it not for the most special person in my life who takes on whatever challenge confronts him and seeks a solution.  In the process, he gives me strength and sets me back on a realistic, rather than a doomsday, path.  By day's end, I viewed the pinkish sunset from my study window and took it as an additional sign that we would weather this newest challenge together - we always have.

New Pages

No, I didn't forget that I was supposed to do my blog yesterday, as promised, but I was on some much needed R & R with my family in Wisconsin for the day, so please forgive the delay.

I did get some more new pages written on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I edited the chapters I presented to my writing group on Sunday, and got those ready for an agent's eyes, I think.  Then I moved on to an extremely emotional chapter (can't be more specific because I don't want to give away my story before you get to read it in print).  I'm actually writing an entire new beginning to this chapter to make it stronger, and that takes time when you're dealing with emotional content.

As a writer, you have to view your words from the reader's point of view.  My job is to put them in the character's shoes.  That takes lots of staring at a blank screen while I find the right words inside me that do just that, forcing myself to think about what that character is going through, what the setting is like, etc.  It took me a couple of hours to write a page.  Then, I leave it for awhile, come back and re-read it, analyze, correct grammar, edit, change, etc.  That's why this process takes so long; it's never right the first time - very rarely anyway!

So, I'm still working on that same chapter.  I'm eager to get on to the next section of the book that is already written much as I think it will remain.  But, I know if I don't get the current chapers right, the rest won't matter because no one will continue reading.

I'll be back with the next blog in a day or so.

Novel Progress

The novel has taken over my life!  That statement explains why my house is bordering on a raid by the board of health, my friends have given up my ever being social again, and my husband only recognizes me from the back as I sit at a computer keyboard. 

I'm lucky, though, because my friends and family are incredibly understanding and supportive.  I just hope you followers of my blog feel the same.  I've decided the only way to keep this blog alive is to post at least every other day and let you know what my progress is, what frustrations I'm having; basically the details of just what I'm up to that gives me no time for any other writing.

At present, I've just had an excellent writer's group session on Sunday where I presented two chapters - two leading up to a dramatic moment in the book, and I'm currently editing those chapters based on their critiques.  The best thing about a writer's group, if it's a good one like mine, is that you come away with an honest evaluation, some great insight from creative conversation, and, best of all, a fired-up motivation to get back to your work right away.

So, I'm finishing that, and later today and tomorrow, I will be working on editing an emotional and pivotal chapter that requires lots of quiet hours.  I'll explain more what that means in the next blog, hopefully, in a couple of days.  Thanks for hanging in with me.

Our Evening Walk

Since the onset of Spring, uncooperative weather, health issues and scheduling snafus have prevented R.J. and I from taking a walk in the early evening.  I miss that time each day when we can ignore our responsibilities for awhile, cover an unending list of pleasurable topics, and even get some need exercise  - although that isn't the main reason for the stroll.

It's a habit we began decades ago when we still lived in Florida.  In that tropical atmosphere, we would wait until sundown, and protect ourselves with insect repellent in order to ignore the humidity and the mosquitoes.  The years we spent in a Virginia valley afforded us views of mountain peaks, rippling creek beds and a neighborhood of classic architecture as we meandered the historic streets hand in hand.  And here in our Chicago suburb, we sometimes have to don a jacket, even in the summer, when cool winds come from the North.

The best thing about the evening walk is the opportunity to focus on what's all around us: trees that shade us and lean across the streets, gardens of flowers and shrubs that lend color to a background of green, bunnies hopping across the warm grass, birds flitting from tree to tree, and the activities and sounds of kids playing in their yards.  In the busyness of daytime, all this ordinary splendor is often unseen as I rush past in the car on the way to work or shopping or errands.  Taking it all in, and enjoying it with my best friend in life, forces me to pause and appreciate a simple joy.

Sometimes our dogs, Molly and Shayla, join us, straining at their leads at first until they realize that the purpose of this outing is a relaxing one.  Then, we have to pause numerous times as they investigate a patch of grass or a tree trunk that attracts their noses.  Those walks take longer, but we don't mind.

From my study window, I watch people passing during the day.  There are groups of children, loaded down with backpacks on their way to school, commuters hurrying to catch their train to the City, and others taking their dogs for their daily exercise.  It makes me sad to see most of them with cell phones in hand or headsets in their ears.  They can't seem to divorce themselves from technology and take in what's around them.

It's even more important to do that these days.  We all need moments of quiet contemplation, to just relax without any intrusion by all the devices that seek to demand our attention.  I wish I could urge everyone to schedule time for an evening walk.  I know my husband and I can't wait to get back at it.  Trust me, it redirects your priorities - for the better, I think.

Theatre Shadows

Recently, my writing group was critiquing a scene in a chapter of my novel involving my main character's preparation to take the stage in a play.  Two members of our group are actors, but the other three have no experience in the backstage world, so the questions and suggestions were varied, but all of them agreed that I needed to give the reader more.

I worked on the paragraphs for an entire afternoon and, thinking I'd done what they'd suggested, I asked one member - a fellow actor - to read the altered scene.  He said he thought I could still do more.  As I sat staring at the computer screen that presented the words I needed to make better, it suddenly hit me:  what I have taken for granted most of my life is alien to many people - the shadows of the theatre and what they mean to an actor.

Since I was first on the boards at the age of seven, and have hardly known a year of my life that hasn't involved acting, dancing, directing, managing or producing, everything about the world of theatre is as second nature to me as breathing.  That's what made writing the scene so hard - I needed to stand back from it and view it through a reader's eyes; a reader who understood nothing about the situation.  I had to not only give them a visualization of the scene, but put them in the character's head so they could relate to her actions.

Standing on a silent stage, in the shadow of a set, anticipating the moment when audience and actor connect is unique and difficult to express.  I was surprised by how those paragraphs slowed me down.  It was so obvious to me that I made the biggest mistake a writer can - telling, not showing - and losing my audience.

A writer has an obligation, if they want their work to engage the reader, to keep revising until they get it right.  So I kept at it and, just like those theatre shadows that can reward an actor for all their preparation, I'm now satisfied that my words have finally woven into the right pattern that will put the reader where I want them; feeling what my character feels in that theatre.

My Dad

As a boy, he didn't go to church.  I'm not sure when he began to attend services, but I'm sure my mother had something to do with it.  He always said he didn't have a life until she was in it.  I remember attending church with my parents as I was growing up, but it wasn't an every Sunday kind of thing.  It wasn't until I had a family of my own that my parents became regular church goers.  That's what sparked my memory yesterday as I sat in church, listening to the choir and recalling the many Sundays in his later life that my dad's voice was lifted in their church choir.

He was very proud of his service to the church, and of my mother being elected an elder there.  He never missed a Sunday to don his robe and sing.  After my mother died, he continued that habit and, at his funeral service, I was touched that the choir he had been a part of for many years sang a tribute to him.

What made me think of this yesterday was because it was the anniversary of his death.  Twelve years he's been gone from this earth.  I look at the photo of my mother and father every day, and still miss them both with an aching that can only be understood by those who have experienced the loss of a beloved parent.  I miss his laugh, his arms around me in a bear hug, and his words of fatherly wisdom.  He was a difficult man to live with; quick-tempered and stubborn, but I never doubted that he loved me - he showed me how in a myriad of ways that still bring tears to my eyes.

As I offered up a prayer in church yesterday, I thanked God for giving my dad the gift of song.  It was such a special part of his life, and I still imagine him singing up above.  That's an image that serves his legacy well.