In Search of the Perfect Craft Book

I came home today with a mission: I was determined to go through my storage room (which is crammed tight with boxes from our last move in preparation for our next move) and find my favorite writing craft book. What is it, you ask?

Well, I could tell you, but then I'd have to--

No, okay, you're right. I won't do anything dramatic. Instead, I'll count down my top 5 favorite craft books and reveal the one that had me digging through storage at the end.

5. The Right to Write, by Julia Cameron

4. Word Work: Surviving and Thriving as a Writer, by Bruce Holland Rogers

3. How to Write a Dirty Story: Reading, Writing and Publishing Erotica,by Susie Bright

2. Man, Oh Man, Writing M/M Fiction for Cash & Kinks, by Josh Lanyon

And my number 1 craft book? *drumroll please*

It's...

Ready...?

1. On Writing, by Stephen King

And no, I wasn't able to find it tonight, but I'll attempt part 2 of my mission tomorrow evening. This time, I might even enlist hubby's help.

HELP! I'm turning into a... a... *pantser*!

Those of you who know me know I'm a die-hard plotter. Character charts. Full, scene-by-scene outlines. Research in advance. The works.

Yeah, well, I have a secret confession. I can't work that way anymore, and facing that fact somehow manages to scare me to death and excite me beyond belief all at once.


Photo by: the trial

I'm not sure what's changed. Maybe I have. The last year has been insane, forcing me to go through some major, life-changing, ups-and-downs. After not writing for a while, I came back to my work enthusiastic and energetic... only to stall in the beginning stages of drafting an outline. I panicked, outlined again... and stalled. So I cried (seriously), outlined again... and stalled.

And then, one day, I said "Fuck it." (Really. I did.) I remembered reading a book that praised writing prompts and their effect on creativity. At that point, I had nothing to lose so I figured why not give this a shot? After all, nothing else I'd tried seemed to work.

I chose a headline from my daily newspaper at random, skipped reading the article altogether, and started writing. Before I knew it, I had a character who intrigued me, in a situation that damn nearly broke my heart. "Aha!" I thought. "Now I can outline." And I did. Only to start writing the story itself, and find my outline was as far removed from the words pouring on screen as Harry Potter is from Anna Karenina.

The really scary part? The stuff coming out on screen was much, much better than the crap in my outline. And I thought it was a pretty good outline to begin with. Guess that'll teach me. Now, every day I sit in front of my computer, I approach the story with a giddy enthusiasm that makes butterflies stir in my stomach. Butterflies? Damn. I haven't felt butterflies in years.

Now, for the first time ever, I'm discovering the story along with my characters. Some days, scenes brew in my mind. Other days, they appear as though out of thin air while my fingers hit the keyboard. When I find myself overwhelmed by questions I figure I should know the answers to, I stop, grab a notebook, and start free-writing. On the characters. On the story. On possible explanations for things that happened in the past, or things that may happen in the future.

I have no idea when the story will end. Or how. Oh, I have a vague hope it might end up where I think it will, but oddly enough, I find myself not caring much if it doesn't. I trust my process. My pantser process.

Not long ago, the word "pantser" would have made me break out in hives. Now, I'm tentatively embracing it, and my newfound creativity (and productivity) along with it.

Are you embracing your process? Or do you fight it, hoping it'll magically morph into something resembling The Hero's Journey instead of The Insomniac Writer's Plight?

Lacey
http://www.laceysavage.com

Sweating With Sven - Update #1

Just because I've never been all that good at doing things by the book, I'm completing Sven's challenge a little differently than everyone else.

For a variety of reasons, I don't write on the weekend. So instead of writing for 77 days straight as Sven demands, my goal is to write 2,500 words a day, Monday to Friday -- OR to write a total of 10,000 words a week. (Yes, I know the math doesn't add up -- I'm giving myself permission to let life interfere if it must, otherwise I'll go mad).

My challenge total is 100,000 words on a variety of projects by May 16. (Yes, I know the math doesn't add up yet again, but I'm also giving myself time to plot and edit. So I guess I'm completely messing up Sven's challenge. Sorry, Sven! I gotta do what works best for me.)

Since today was my first official day as a Svenanite (hey, I kinda like that!), I'm happy to report I wrote 2,586 words on a contemporary short novella, newly titled DON'T LOOK DOWN.



My nifty little gadget above says the book is 24% done. I like the sound of that already. :-)

I'm letting Sven kick my butt!

As I was telling a couple of friends earlier today, I've been severely unmotivated lately. Last year really messed with my routine. Between my company being taken over by another, having to quit that job, having to find another, then learning we'd be moving to Austin and subsequently selling our house and going through stacks of immigration paperwork -- and then finally moving -- things were nutty, to say the least. My productivity plummeted. My self-esteem plummeted (though none of the things that happened were particularly bad for me as a person -- quite the opposite, in fact). The bottom line is that I've been struggling to get back to my happily productive self ever since March of last year. I guess that makes it almost a full year now.

As it happens, we're now settled in, I've finally gotten over feeling homesick... and I find myself out of excuses. The problem is, even with all those excuses gone, I'm still just as unmotivated as ever.

So I'm doing something about it. I'm going to let Sven kick my butt.

I'm sure some of you have heard of "Seventy Days of Sweat with Sven". For those of you who haven't, here's a brief rundown from the official blog:


"70 Days of Sweat is designed to challenge (naturally), support, and encourage those of us crazy enough to write a book in 70 days. At the end, we’re looking for a word count between 60-100K. We’ve built an extra week into this round, so technically you have 77 days to sweat meaning . . . Round 3 will run from March 1 to May 16.

The rules are simple. You agree to write 4 - 6 pages a day (depending on the length of your book) every day between the dates listed above. If you need to take off a day, you make up the pages another. If you don’t like to write 7 days a week, too bad. This challenge lasts for only 10 weeks, and if you have to get up early on the weekends to get the pages done, you do it. (Hey, we all do it! You can, too!)"

*deep breath* I'm ready. What's even better, I have the perfect project. I'll be working on a brand spankin' new, erotic contemporary novel titled BREAKING EVERY RULE. I'm aiming for 90k, though knowing me, it'll likely run closer to 100k.

So why am I telling you this? Because, as Sven says, "Going public with your commitment is about owning it." I guess that means I now officially own it.