To-Do List

First, before I break bad into the meat of this post, I would like to say that I am disappointed that "quarterlife" has been canceled on NBC. They're moving it to an NBC cable affiliate, so at least it's not going away entirely, and I'll still be able to watch it. Article about it here.

Okay. On to the rest of the stuff.

I am writing a "to-do list" so that maybe I can get started and actually get something done. I have so much to do that I end up not doing anything at all and just getting more and more behind and frustrated. So, to that end, we're doing a to-do list.

• Email the high school principle;
• Create speech for the middle-school speaking engagement;
• Create speech for the high-school speaking engagement;
• Buy the thick poster board for the kindergarten volunteer project;
  
• Create story and "big book" for the kindergarten volunteer project;
• Finish work on the ELC event t-shirt;
• Do some laundry;
• Do some dishes;
  
• Start on massive cleaning overhaul of my house (in preparation for the ELC);
  
• Prepare for Conman's birthday party (including buying stuff for cake decorating, party decorations and invitations); and
• Begin thinking about what I'm going to get Conman for his birthday.
  

Maybe with this up here I'll get something done. I'll try and keep you updated on my progress.

"Aspiring Writers"

I'm thirty-two years old. I don't have a college degree, but I have almost four years of college under my belt (none of it in any sort of liberal arts fields of study). I have about ten or twelve years of work experience under my belt, too. What I really want to be, though, is a writer.

I'd like to set out a few definitions. First, a writer is one who writes, pure and simple. If you write poetry, short stories, novels, the funny pages, or greeting cards, you're a writer. It doesn't matter if you're published or not; if you perform the act of writing, for good or ill, you're a writer. Now, an author is one for whom writing is a bona-fide career. An author has works published (whether they are popular or relatively unknown) and can, more than likely, be counted on to have future works published as well. Now that we've got that straight, let's move on.

If I had a quarter for every person I heard say, "well, when I finish my book I'll..." (fill in the blank there), I'd be a rich woman. Don't ever plan for "when the book's done". Nine times out of ten, your plan is NOT going to be fulfilled. It's the lucky, the good and the few who write a first book, land an agent on the first round of mailings (and a reputable agent, too) who can then go on to sell your book to a publisher with all that entails. For the rest of us, writing is work, just like any other kind of job. It involves forethought, research, time, and dedication. Unlike most things, where you can do one out of four really well and skate by on the other stuff, with writing, you have to do all of them really well to be successful.

I wrote a book. About four years ago, I finished it, and believed in that book. I loved the characters, and knew them as well as DH who sat on the couch next to me. The story was good in my eyes - it was engaging, interesting, and swift - all the things a book ought to be. I did about five rounds of editing before I sent it out to agents, made countless copies, did a thousand different versions of my query letter, and then finally sent it out to agents. About 65 of them. Not one requested more than three chapters, and only a couple requested the three chapters. I had failed, and I believed, for a VERY long time, that I was not a writer.

Then, I learned. I studied the craft. I read authors I would have not even considered before. I paid attention not only to the action in the books I read, but to the styles and techniques the authors used to tell their stories. I learned.

Now I'm writing my second book, and I'm still an "aspiring writer". I work just as hard as DH does going to work every day, except the time I put in is behind a keyboard at my own desk. This book is more thought out, more planned, more determined and even more satisfying than the first book ever was. I haven't gotten but about a chapter written, but there are a couple hundred pages of a world outline, several maps, a bunch of "thought maps", a language spreadsheet, language and grammar rules, and extensive histories. I haven't enjoyed writing this much since I learned to hold a pencil.

So, "aspiring writers" out there, don't put too much stock in "when I get my book done". Treat it as your first lesson in learning to be a writer, and your first step to becoming an author. Don't count on your book being published, wowing the masses or being the best thing since.... well... Lord of the Rings or something. Most of the time, it's not gonna happen. It took me about four years to figure that out, and that's time I could have been using to learn and improve myself instead of wallowing in my own, self-perceived failure.

Don't give up. Keep learning. Keep writing.

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I thought I was finished with this post. I published it about an hour ago, and re-read it a couple of times, and just didn't feel quite right about it. Here's why:

You, out there - yes, you, the aspiring writer reading this - I can hear you saying right now, But that's not me. For you guys, I was you, about six years ago. No, not six years - more like my entire life. I didn't believe that I would ever be unsuccessful as a writer. I didn't believe someone would read my "stuff" and not fall instantly in love with my work. Those of you out there that are saying that's not me right now, this post is for YOU. I wish I could say that a few of you might read this and realize that maybe I could be on to something, and maybe change the way you do things right now before you suffer the disappointment that I had to suffer to learn the hard lessons I've learned. I know, though, that the vast majority of you who read this post will be convinced by nothing other than the ton of bricks falling on your head (like me) and then, maybe, you'll remember reading this. Maybe then you'll think about how you do things and try to find a way to do them better - not for my sake, or the agents' sakes, or for your family's sakes, but for your own sake.

I don't get anything out of this. I don't even feel all "high and mighty" because I've learned these things, either. Writing is, at the very bottom of the barrel, a business, and like any business, if your product isn't 100% spot-on, it's not going to sell. This post is something to make you look at yourself and try to make yourself better. If I can't succeed but you do, I have nothing but pride for you for your success. I want you to do well, and that's the bottom of it. If you think that's not me, re-evaluate and decide if it really isn't - my money is on that it is you, you just don't know it yet.

....And Something Else, Too...

I know it probably means little to you lot, but I've been struggling with a "villain" for my new book, and praise be, I've found him/her (I haven't decided on the gender yet). I know what the villain is now, and I've even got a start on the villain's motivation.

Go ahead, cheer for me, 'cause I am!

Work and Movies

I've been hitting the keyboard hard lately, and I must say, it's more enjoyable than anything I've done in quite a while. Like I said in the last post, I've been working on an original language; on top of that, though, I'm also doing quite a bit of world building.

Now, to be quite honest, during the last four days not a lot has gotten done. DH has been off work on his "weekend" (which is actually four days long), and between talking with him during the day and talking with GL (as normal), I do absolutely nothing. I can generally get plenty done between sporadic conversation with GL when DH isn't home, but when DH is home, he somehow naturally fills in the blanks that I normally fill with work. Man, I love 'em both, but at any given moment I'd like to strangle either one or the other of 'em. They know this, so if they read this that won't come as any surprise.

But anyway, I'm looking forward to "my weekend" - Conman's at my parents' house this weekend, DH is going back to work, and GL's at home with W/GL and GL1 and GL2 (i.e., he's not at work where we usually talk). Tomorrow (yes, I realize that it is now tomorrow, but I haven't been to sleep yet, so to me, it's still today), I'm gonna (1) sleep until I wake up; (2) eat whatever I darn well please; and (3) write history and make up words until either my fingers fall off or my hands go numb. To you, this may not sound like the ideal day, but to me, this is heaven. Nirvana. Shangri-La.

Now, about movies.

DH and I watched two of 'em this evening. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Stardust. Now, DH picked the FF movie, and I picked Stardust, and I have to tell you, I liked MY movie a lot better than his.

FF seemed to start off slow for me, even though I'm more than a bit familiar with the universe the FF comes from (old-skool comic book fangirl here, my friends). I kinda feel like there was enough representation of the history and mythos of the FF in the first movie that all the exposition was really not needed in the second. And I know the story well enough to know that there was MORE than enough material with Galactus and the Surfer to make a much more action packed movie. But, all that being said, it wasn't a bad movie.

Oh, and did I mention that they didn't actually show Galactus in the movie? Disappointment X 10.

Oh, Stardust. Where can I start? This movie was fan.tas.tic. I absolutely loved the story, the effects, the romance...it was beautiful. Not on the scale of LoTR-bring-me-to-tears-beautiful, but nonetheless, very elegant and well-done. The cast was great, the script was great...I just really, REALLY liked this movie. A lot. Go rent it. Now.

Okay, more to come soon. Until then, stay healthy everybody!

Dog Claws and Linguistics

No, one doesn't have anything to do with the other. They just happen to appear in the same post.

This morning, DH woke me up with the help of the pup. That, on the surface is cute and sweet and, you would think, and great way to wake up. It was, up until the point that the dog got overly-excited and the dog raked his paw over my face and my open eye. Yep, that's right, my eye was scratched by a dog's claw. It hurts, it itches, it's a little blurry, but I can pretty much see, so we're all good. Feels like there's something in my eye, but I can't rub it or anything.

Been doing a lot of work on the new book lately. I've got an 80+ page "world-building book", where I'm writing about the history and culture of the continent in my book. I also have a non-human race in my book, and I've been doing some linguistics studies to start developing a language for them.

Linguistics is fascinating. I've always loved words, and word-sounds, and how language changes and the seemingly arbitrary way words (which are basically a collection of letters and sounds) are assigned definitions, and how those developed. It's an amazing process, and I knew it was involved, but I had no idea that you couldn't just develop a language. I didn't count on "mother tongues" and "sound shifts" and all that jazz.

I won't be developing a mother-tongue, but I'll keep in mind the "old forms" of some of the words that I'm creating. I could see this turning into (1) an integral part of the book and (2) a completely addictive hobby.

I'll keep you updated on my progress. It's a lot of fun...if you're into that sort of thing.