Stuck on you!

Yuck!
I have been stuck. Not a case of writer's "block". It was more of a case of writer's "suck"!

I had a scene that was important, but no matter how many times I re-wrote it, (Seems like 50-more like 10), I just couldn't get the flow I wanted. Too much back story, not descriptive enough, dialogue in the wrong place, reader wouldn't care about it, cat was attacking my light up flash drive...you get the idea.

Finally, I just stopped and read a little from another author. Cleared my mind enough I could go through some things to do when you get stuck.

Suggestions-
1. Go to bathroom. There's too much crap floating around in your writing.
2. Drink alcohol. Enjoyable for some, but not helpful in the long run.
3. Move dialogue to the beginning.
4. Twitter or Facebook or Email or Singles Personal Ads. Just kidding about the last one, Honey.
5. Give alcohol another chance. Hiccup. Just kidding.
6. Start your scene over with action.
7. Look at some of those reference books you always buy, but don't read, for ideas.
8. Check Craig's list. You'll need a job lead, because you're never going to be a writer.
9. Eat a snack. Apparently I have been all over this idea, because my butt is now all over the recliner.
10. And what I finally did...a combination of some of the above.

I now have a plan based on how my sister used to clean her house. Since she lived alone and hated housework, she used to list all the household chores on little slips of paper. Then she would make a game of it and draw out chores to do. AND reward herself for jobs well done. (Really, I first thought it was kind of sad, but the idea has grown on me. I want to be rewarded for doing icky things.)

For my getting stuck moments, I am going to develop my own list of strategies to try. For my teacher friends, it will be my own Pyramid of Intervention. And I am going to be all about developing a Reward one too. Is Cancun too much for a chapter or two? Maybe I'll just start with a non-alcoholic umbrella topped fruity drinks.

Great day in MY writer land!

It is a great day in MY writer land. I attended the Springfield chapter's Romancing the Ozarks Conference and got a request for a FULL manuscript of YA suspense, Mirror Images, from a real live New York agent! This is BIG! It doesn't mean anything WILL happen, but it gives me a much better chance something MIGHT happen. The agent loved my storyline. Now, I have some work to do to make certain I live up to her belief in me. So, be prepared. I may be asking your help as readers.

ORA Con 2011 in Springfield

This is some great SWAG (Stuff We All Get) and some other things I purchased or won from the Romancing the Ozarks Conference or ORA Con 2011 attended in Springfield, MO on Saturday, July 23rd. The one-day conference was great. It focused on romance writing, but any fiction writer would have benefited. I traveled down with HeRA member Sherry S. It was lots of fun just talking together about writing and our families. And she knew how to get to Lambert's Home of the Throwed Rolls. That meal alone would have made the trip worthwhile, but add in that the speakers at the conference were great. Shannon Vannatter, Leigh Michaels, and my friends Shannon K. Butcher and Eliza Lloyd put on some entertaining and informative programs that were a big help to experienced and newbie writers. Editor Lia Brown and agent Louise Fury were helpful and approachable. It was a good conference for someone who has never been to one and a good conference for people who wanted to go to another great one!

And I got to see some of my other HeRA-ites that I haven't for awhile. Amanda and Janice!

Kudos to the Ozarks Romance Authors for a well organized event! I even got free stuff, won some great stuff in the raffle, and bought some great resources for myself.

Next year's conference is Saturday, June 23rd and will feature Agent Lucienne Diver and Author Rob Thurman. Go, it is worth your effort!

AND I GOT A REALLY PROMISING OPPORTUNITY FROM THE AGENT!

The Clarion Conference facilities and luncheon was great!

Good Writing Days

I am enjoying good writing days. I need to do some more actual writing, but with a vacation coming up I have been taking care of some business too. I do enjoy the revising process I have been working on.

Today I am reading a book by author Alicia Dean, Death Notice. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0059VTKHE I did a little reading for her on her manuscript and offered a couple of suggestions. She was so nice to include me in her acknowledgments and even incorporated a suggestion. Cool. (And I really am excited by this. I helped shape someone's book. STRESS-Just a VERY little shaping, but a little nonetheless.)

I know I will be included in some other acknowledgments later and I am excited by this too.

Today I am going to critique and I love the process. It is fun to see what other people are writing and I really do learn a lot about writing from their work. Sometimes it is something not to do or do differently or what they are doing correctly. And sometimes I learn what I am doing correctly. Or not correctly.

I have learned so much this summer about being a writer and made some great contacts. Each day I am more convinced I want to have a career in the writing world. And I am so awed in a good way and sometimes a little awestruck by all of the possibilities. And this is unfamiliar feeling for me. In my career as a teacher, you are a teacher...only a matter of what and where you teach. In the world of writing you can be a writer of fiction or nonfiction or be funny or serious or write books or articles or be an editor or an agent or...I am still learning the possibilities.

Now I am off to prepare my selection for critique review. It is a rainy,dreary day outside, but in my office I'm enjoying a little of my own personal writing sunshine.