Today’s Friday?

Posted on September 11, 2009 by lalber

: Current mood: industrious

I call it a dandy sign that I turned down dinner with friends tonight. It’s not that I’m pathetic or antisocial, it’s that I floated around in fiction mode all week, lost track of the days, and figured tomorrow for another weekday.

Has that ever happened to you?

I also forgot that my book group is meeting on Sunday to discuss The Senator’s Wife by Sue Milller. I haven’t started the book yet…

All this forgetfulness is fine by me; it means I’m finally immersed in a long fiction project. I’m a little fearful that the next round of work deadlines (started to heat up this week) will derail me from the writing. I need to figure that one out, for sure.

But, meanwhile, working from home, you’d think the weekend distinction wouldn’t matter, but the notion is instilled into my hardwiring. Usually anyhow. Since I already declined a dinner out, I’m pretending tonight’s a typical Thursday night, or maybe Wednesday. I’ll start the next scene tonight before bed and continue it tomorrow morning.

Silly sidenote: What am I doing as I write this post, specifically this sentence at exactly 9:42 p.m.? I’m watching the new Melrose Place pilot episode! Yee gads, I know, I know! So far, this episode features murder, bribery, cougar action, adultery, financial ruin, a shaky marriage proposal, sexual proposals (for $$s), and depraved ambition. Maybe I am a little pathetic and antisocial, after all?

(P.S. Was the old Melrose Place that I watched with addictive glee as silly as this one?)

My Messy Office

Posted on September 6, 2009 by lalber

Just finished writing a short scene, and was about to start the next, when I made the mistake of gazing around my inner sanctum. Bad mistake — now I’m distracted by the mess. Over the past few weeks I’ve accomplished new heights of domestic godliness in all rooms except this one. I scrubbed, dusted, organized, vacuumed, and even carpet-cleaned. (Yes, I rented an actual machine.)

Except for the rugs, my industrious spurt did not extend to the office. The cleaning task is a burning imperative at this point. Unfortunately, I’m intimidated by my paper piles. Too many of them, and — I cheated! —

Sacrilege! A migrated paper pile atop my beloved dictionary!

some of them migrated here from other rooms during the Big Clean.

Nothing to do but take my laptop to a coffeehouse, I think. This IS a holiday weekend, after all.

How many old manuscripts do I need, anyhow?

And while I'm at it, I'd better dust too...

Started the New Novel!

Posted on September 2, 2009 by lalber

And it wasn’t as traumatic as all that. In fact, it felt natural, and as soon as I began writing, my anxiety drained away. Finished the first scene, and I’m okay with it for now. Gets me started.

However, I can’t help but wonder if I’ll ever be able to write “fast.” As in fast-paced…One of the things I’m doing differently this time is concentrating on suspense. As in, I’m going to write a suspense novel. I’m going to focus on pacing and plot. I’m going to have fun with it.

So, what do I do? Write a first scene that’s kinda quiet. I couldn’t write one of those wham-bam novels if I tried. And I am trying…I re-read the scene several times, feeling the usual self-doubt, but still overall, pleased at having started.

One thing I know about myself: I think symbolically, so without realizing it or particularly trying, I’ll have described something in the setting — for example, Christmas lights — and I’ll have described these lights in a way that illustrates my character’s mood, and then maybe a string flickers out, furthering the mood, inciting the character to reflect (but not for too long) on something…

Does that sound fast-paced to you?

Definitely not wham-bam, but, on the other hand, did I accomplish my first-scene goals? Grab quickly? Introduce an intriguing main character in conflict? End on an open-ended note? Introduce elements that will echo later?

I think so — I hope so. I guess we’ll see!

Lesson of the day: Accept my writing style while improving on my weaknesses.

I Get Scared

Posted on August 31, 2009 by lalber

I’ve been working on a new novel idea, and I’m doing it differently this time. (Hopefully I’ll elaborate on that soon.) At the moment, I’m a little scared. Do you get scared right before you begin your first scene?

I’m so anxious, my chest wall presses up against my sternum. It’s a little tight in there, like maybe my ribs have morphed into squeezing tentacles. A friend reminded me to have fun with this new story. But I’m still taking it all too seriously, probably because I want this fiction-thing to work out. I’ve been disappointed over the last year. Losing agent, languishing finished manuscripts, writing grant fini and day-job sucking at my creative marrow…

I can’t avoid the writing forever — and by avoidance I mean engaging in endless story-development exercises — because at some point the head of steam compels me to set words on paper. I feel uncomfortable and itchy, just gotta start. I’m at the teetering point now. I’ve been here before. The discomfort is familiar, and I’m thankful for that. I’ve worked through it before and will work through it now.

This discomfort in a good sign. The story has almost completed its initial gestation period.

This discomfort differs from that I felt at the beginning of the summer, when I thought I’d never have another story idea. Now that’s the truly scary place! Glad I’m past that.

Rethinking This Blog

Posted on August 28, 2009 by lalber

Current status: After a week’s vacation visiting nephews, relaxed for the moment.

I may not be here on the page, but I ponder my blog often. I think to myself: Ah, I should write about that. Or: That would be a good blog post. But then, I don’t get around to writing the new posts. Instead, I jot a list of the posts I will write. Something like this:

Library
Cultivating creativity
Taking stock

Hmm…Now I don’t remember what I was going to write. I’ve led myself into a blog-tangle, as if my posts need to be deep or significant — and include an appropriate photo, too. I’ve complicated the process.

Silly.

So, I’m going to try a new blogging method: Shorter posts (hear these are better anyhow, for readability), not necessarily with an image. Reminder to self: This blog is about the trials and tribulations of my writing life. Most of the time, these trials and these tribulations aren’t deep or significant. They’re the daily blips that I imagine are typical of most fictionistas.

But hey, look what I just did–wrote a mini-essay about shortening my posts…And, included photos, too!

Hey, There’s My Name on the Back Cover!

Posted on July 20, 2009 by lalber

I’ve had a few short stories published, and I’ve received author’s copies in the mail. But today I received a whopper of an author’s copy. A luscious, 460-page hardcover anthology that’s so fresh, it squeaks. And, ah, that new-book smell, my nose up against the spine from the inside, no doubt killing brain cells sniffing the spine glue…

Finally! Two of the Deadliest, edited by Elizabeth George, has arrived. I mentioned this book in this post. And now I’ll quote Elizabeth George, from her Introduction:

“Included in this volume is something a bit different. In the second portion of the book, you will find “Introducing…,” a section devoted to a group of writers who are either largely unknown or who have not been published before. These women come from various backgrounds — they are journalists, educators, and techies — and they have all been students of mine at one time or another, in one venue or another. I have asked them to participate in order to bring them to the readers’ attention and, perhaps, to the attention of editors and publishers. It’s a rough publishing world these days, and people of note are often disregarded.”

Kudos to Ms. George for inviting us newbies to participate. She could have offered the page-space to well-known novelists instead — thus attracting their readers. Thank you, EG!

SHARING | A Quickie Post

Posted on October 28, 2008 by lalber

I’ve been meaning to pass this along for awhile:

Every Monday I receive an email called “Author Minute.” It comes through the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and I don’t mind that I somehow landed on their list because sometimes the one-minute author soundbites are kinda interesting. Here, for example, are this week’s topics:

Monday: Balancing pacing and character in a suspense novel

Tuesday: Why novelist Chris Grabenstein loves mysteries

Wednesday: Elizabeth Brundage describes her writing schedule

Thursday: The joys of rewriting

Friday: The ups and downs of writing as a team

These author minutes arrive in your Inbox when you subscribe to a monthly online magazine called Author Author which also contains interesting tidbits. This week a novelist discusses how she’s given up planning her novels while another gives advice to the networking-shy.

This is also a good venue for those of you actively promoting your novels!

Free-For-All Friday: Fun Bookish Meme

Posted on October 10, 2008 by lalber

I like the idea of writing a fun Friday post, possibly one that’s interactive, or maybe one that contains random stuff or a weekly round-up (which were Friday memes that went around at some point). I did this for awhile. Maybe I’ll do a Friday-something again for awhile (but probably only for awhile because I’m no good with routines).

I’ll call these my Free-For-All Fridays so as not to confuse them with other memes (not that this is a meme — but it can be, I suppose — anything goes).

Saw a meme on One Word, One Rung, One Day. Goes like this: What’s the closest book on hand — no thinking about it! If there are many, choose one at random. Turn to page 56 and cite two to five lines. Tag people if you want. Cool way to get to know my readers!

My book was sitting under a paper pile on my desk. I’d scribbled Irish-slang notes all over the inside covers. From Tana French’s The Likeness:

I was having a hard time breathing; the air felt too thick, almost solid. One of the flourescents was on the fritz and it gave the room a shimmery, epileptic look, something out of a fever dream. A couple of the big binders lined up on the filing cabinets still had my handwriting down the spines. Sam pulled up his chair to his desk and glanced at me with a faint furrow between his eyebrows, but he didn’t say anything, and I was grateful for that.

Plotdog Press

Posted on July 30, 2008 by lalber

Plotdog Press is a cool website for writers. Every week the creator hosts a W.O.O.F. (Writers Offering Our Finest) contest.

WOOF Contest – Top 5 Picks:

Fiction – Jenn – “The Drawing”

About Writing
Lisa Alber – “Suspense and My Dog: A Lesson”
Tammie McElligott – “Female Characters – Check Your Weight!”
QuGrainne – “write on wednesday, thursday as usual”

Poetry – Jennifer M Scott – “Combustion”

Brought to you by PlotDog Press with “FIRST DRAFT – Intervention Chapter 2”