Self Control Lacking

Writing takes a certain fortitude and self control... there's no boss, no manager, no dictator standing here making sure I'm on task and getting stuff done. Just Wilbur, Luna and Hazel and they don't care how much I write. In fact, it would be just fine with Wilbur if I wrote nothing and rubbed his belly all day.

But then I'd be a belly-rubber not a writer.

And while there's no fortune flowing my way as a writer, the only one who wants my services as a belly-rubber is unemployed and lazy.

So this:

A frightening looking app that is counting down until my death.... ooor until I'm allowed to log onto Facebook again.

The battle starts today, between this Boney boss and me.


N

Back in town!

It's been a while since I updated here... summer seems to be so unproductive.

I'm working on some new things:

1. new book (yay!)
2. new editions
3. new website
4. new appreciation for Starbucks London Fog

And fighting with some old:

1. old diet Coke habit
2. old desk clutter
3. old inferiority complex

So bear with me. Bare with me? (I honestly hate that word for anything but a fuzzy hibernating mammal.)

This gig continues to be a roller coaster. There are wow-that's-cool moments that give me little pushes like hearing from a university friend that she saw my book in an airport bookstore, or that a friend of a friend saw it in a bricks-and-mortar in the US. There are ha-just-when-you-thought-about-getting-cocky moments that knock me down like fifty thousand rejections. (I love the word hyperbole, especially the way it's spelt). Even the polite and encouraging rejections sting.

SO I find this time of year is kind of a regenesis. (it is *SO* a word, spell-check). It's a time to regroup and buckle down. Evaluate and remember my goals and the whys and flush out the nagging doubt and frustrations.

And let the dog out and in. And out and in. And outandinandoutandinandout. And in.

I can only hope I'll end up with a David Tennant type season.

N

First Draft

There's this period between completing a first draft and figuring out how the fizzle to fix it. It's like shopping at Ikea - you go through their displays, get all excited about the piece of furniture you want, order it and bring it home in the box - First Draft complete!

Then you open the box and the ergonomic standing desk is in 47 pieces. It's totally not what it needs to be, though you can still picture the desk with the lamp and the cup of pens and the blotter and the coffee mug in your head. Figuring out which pieces to bang together first is daunting. Often there is crying at this stage.

(Seriously, go google 'ikea instructions' and click on 'images'. It's worth it.)

So that's where I'm at. I finished the first draft, went back and added the parts I knew needed to be added and ordered my box o' pieces (the printed hard copy to mark up with a pen). But I have yet to OPEN the box b/c I can already hear the rattling of random screws and pressed wood and I'm scared. Very scared.

N

Very Noisy in Here

To be a writer, as I understand it, you have to be open to inner dialogue. There are a lot of voices competing for my attention - dialogues between characters, dialogues I have with myself...

I've been struggling with my WIP. A historical fiction type book with a unique narrator and POV. It's been a fight to get my ideas down on paper. I have the general idea of the story in my head, I have done some bullet outlining of events - both real historical happenings and story bits that coincide. I have the characters dancing about and shouting at each other. But it's like I'm watching it all through foggy glass so I can't see or hear the details.

And one voice in my head is saying "Just get down the general story, worry about the details and the specifics later." and another voice is saying "Wow, that really sucks. You don't have a story here, you can't call yourself a writer. And besides, you ate cake for breakfast, no wonder you're fat!" (yeah, that voice is an asshole, and gets the podium waaaaay too often).

I'm plugging away at it.

In happier news - Aptitude has received several positive and glowing reviews! I'm so happy people like the story! Someone even called it one of her 'favourite books of all time' (and it wasn't my mom).

The Indiegogo campaign for It Should Have Been a #GoodDay is doing fantastic and many people are preordering the book. I've raised some money for the Rehteah Parsons Society too! AND the cover reveal is on there - if you haven't seen it, go check it out. It's beautiful, if I do say so myself, fantastic work done by Valerie Bellamy at Dog-Ear Book Design.

Sooo, now I go write and try to silence the moron in my head.

Natalie

Writing in the Rain

I'm in Prince Edward Island this week on a self induced writing retreat... my future NHL-er (retirement plan) is in a super cool hockey camp in Charlottetown and since the commute to Halifax every day would be a killer I'm staying here too. Hard to see SLP clients from this distance so I'm committing my week to writing!

Currently I'm set up in a local cafe, out in their sun porch. The rain is plinking off the linoleum roof and a breeze is sneaking in though the screened walls. Cranberry apple tea is poured and corn chowder ordered. Happy happy sigh...

Now, if only I could get some words down!

N