Tag: writing

The Fermentation Process

~ JodiLea ~ 1 Comment

No, I am not making wine!  NoWine

I’m referring to my book. I have my completed outline/draft sitting in its folder – undisturbed. This is one of the most important steps for my pre-editing phase. Why?

Because I need to step back and remove myself from the story. I am anxious to edit and fix the multitude of errors, that I know are in there, so this is one of the most difficult steps I have.

For example, there is one major error I made in third chapter and I need to re-examine chapters before and after, and review my research notes to fix it. This will be a lot of work, and it must be done, therefore I want to do it and ‘get it over with’ so I can move on to areas more ‘fun’ to work on.

I must also get rid of a few ‘fun’ stuff in the story, or move it closer to the end. I, once again, have been overcome with romance. Not that there’s anything wrong with some romance going on. 😉

Anyway, I am keeping myself away from it all. Only jotting notes down if a brilliant idea pops into my head. (I’m still waiting…)  So, I plan to finish quilting my current quilt, cleaning out my office that is so cluttered I’m getting claustrophobic sitting in here.

I’ll get out and walk for a bit, while I can, a storm will be coming through and it will be rainy all week. Then settle in to watch my 49er’s beat the Saint’s, while munching on popcorn.

Anything but writing…

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photo credit: Leo Reynolds via photopin cc

NaNoWriMo: Day One

~ JodiLea

It’s a gorgeous autumn day up here in the Sierra and my plan is to work on my novel out on the deck, enjoying the fresh air. Also, to get out of view of my messy house, dishes and quilting to do, Christmas shopping, and the bi-monthly dealing with the hospital that shall remain nameless, that keeps billing us instead of our insurance.

They are making me go Pirate – Aaaarrrggghhh!

November comes at just the right time for me to finish my first draft and let it ‘breathe’ in a drawer for a few weeks before I edit. I have a deadline to get a decent second draft finished by Martin Luther King’s Birthday week-end.   2013-Participant-Square-Button

While I wait for the ‘breathing’ novel, I will try to finish the first draft of a different novel (one I worked on last year during the NaNoWriMo craziness).

So… Not Pretending will be pretty quiet this month. I may – no promises – toss out an excerpt here and there from previously mentioned novels.. Just to keep my little corner of cyberspace from growing cobwebs.

I’ll leave you with this quote:

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on
walking.

— Buddhist Proverb

TTFN,

JL

Encouragement (and a Little Hope)

~ JodiLea ~ 4 Comments

I came across this quote today while cleaning my office:

The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

— Chinese proverb

MonkWriting
I really needed to read that.

I have tried to move a mountain with a bulldozer, big chunks at a time, in my impatient way of doing things, and it is not going well…

I haven’t even opened the file that contains my novel in weeks. This alone makes me feel like a big loser instead of a writer working on a novel. I have started many novels in my life and got distracted by something (or just got bored with the story), only to abandon them to the bottom drawer.

I can’t let that happen to this one – it is too good.

I worry that I won’t be able to get back into the groove after weeks have gone by. From a distance, the novel becomes an immense, complicated project and completely out of my league. Self-doubt gnaws at me with familiar voices. “You’re wasting your time,” “You write like a kid,” “It’s way too corny to be taken seriously” – and those are the nice ones.

Funny how one sentence can put things into a new perspective – that encourages and gives hope. A sentence that states a simple truth, that can be applied to many things for many people.

Yes, my novel is a huge undertaking and overwhelming when I dwell on it. If I just take it one small section, one chapter, at a time, then I can get it finished.

Thank You, Chinese monks, writing proverbs.
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photo credit: ed 37 ~~ via photopin