Sunday, September 14, 2008

I let the weekend slip away

I didn't feel well this weekend and I had no alone time so I didn't get any writing done. Now I'm feeling sad about that. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow and can at least transfer what I've already written onto my computer. Right now it's all in longhand.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

And Today I Write

I do write every day and I have for years. I write for online sites like http://www.hubpages.com. And I keep a journal. And now I vlog and blog.
Also I've written many a brochure for businesses I have owned and operated in the last 30 years. And of course many college papers and reports. I don't even know what I'd do if I didn't know how to read and write. And type. I learned to touchtype in high school in the 70's. And I've never regretted it. I almost didn't take the class because I didn't want to be pidgeonholed as a secretary. But then I remembered I wanted to be a writer, and I sure didn't want to waste my money hiring other people to type my books and papers. So as far as the most useful classes I've ever taken, typing is in the top ten I'm sure.

Working on a Book

A few days ago I started writing a new book. It is my goal and dream to have it published by a publisher, and even though I'd happily self-publish it and hope at some point a publisher would sign me on, and take the book and run with it, from what I've seen on the Internet, self-publishing is the kiss of death to a book if you ever want it to be published for the world at large.
So as much as I'd like to share excerpts I'm going to try to have some wisdom and play it close to my chest. I will talk about the process of writing the book however.

I recently turned 50 and after being told for years I should write books, and even getting a fortune in a cookie saying "You will write a book" I've never managed to finish any of the books I started, or even Nanowrimo for that matter. Undaunted however, I am starting again.

The genre of this book is probably going to be fantasy. I try to keep the fantasy out of my books but I always end up there eventually.

So far I have 12 characters, 7 boys and five girls. I've drawn a map of where they live so I can see how close or far apart they might be which should help the flow of the book immensely. For example, if I write, 'They all met at the park in the middle of town,' it helps to know where the middle of town is, what the name of the park is, and how close they live to it. And who would logically walk to the park with whom. What stores will they pass? What logical characters would they meet? So with the map firmly in hand, I'll be able to visualize it so much better.

So far everything is written in longhand, so at some point I'll have to type it all into my computer before I screw around and misplace the notebook it's in, which I am notorious for doing. The next step is to draw each character so I can keep straight who has what color hair and who wears glasses and so forth. Anyway, on with the show. Wish me luck.