Time flies...and zooms and creeps

"Time flies when you're having fun."

Today I took time to ponder time. I believe time is a wicked, stubborn thing, always opposing our moods and wishes. When we are enjoying ourselves- be it the quiet time parents seize, the date night an eager teen awaited, or even the blissful sleep of the dreary- time simply speeds by. Before we know it routine, mundane, unpleasant, or simply regular everyday life gets in the way.

Which, of course, brings about the point of time dragging it's hands. When it's monotonous homework, all too often occurring house work or awaiting the answer to a question- Am I pregnant? Will she say yes? Did I get that job?Will my loved one make it out of the hospital okay?- the clock's hands sluggishly creep by. And once these often stressful moments of way-to-long agony pass we find ourselves completing the circle as out mood lifts and the clock once again sprouts wings.

The same holds true when putting pen to paper or, more commonly, fingers to keys. ;)

When a writer is immersed in the story, frantically transferring words to paper in order to take the story where the characters demand it goes time slips behind all else and when the real world comes careening back and the elapsed times comes to focus, often astounding the writer.

Too often I will begin working on a story after breakfast and seemingly the next thing I am aware of is a setting sun and the kids asking what I am making for dinner.

On the other hand, to balance the scales, sits the dreaded writer's block. A complete loss. A loss of wording, ideas, direction. Though it's dealt with many different ways- jittery nothings, such as Internet surfing, to bring about strokes of inspiration or deep meditation for instance- writer's block is highly effective in dragging the hands around a clock. Like trying to watch a plant grow. Changes are happening, but the process of watching these changes every second would surely lead to madness.

When I find myself at such a loss I turn to the Internet or my kids, who provide plenty of stimulation and opportunity for inspiration.

And so, it seems that sayings such as "time flies" and "a watched pot never boils" hold truth. Truth enough to be documented throughout history. Truth enough to annoy me at times! ;)

Do you ever experience time jetting past without your notice? What do you do to fight off writer's block?

Comments, funny stories, suggestions all welcome  ;)

Suspending Reality

      The ability to suspend reality is many fiction writer's Holy Grail- most definitely for fantasy writers.

This technique places people so deep in a story that they aren't worried about the fact that men can't really turn into giant snakes.

With the right information, even if it's completely bogus information, plot, characters and wording anything is possible. Any story idea is plausible.

Think about it.Witches, flying brooms, personality altering rings, vampires, vampires that sparkle, wardrobes to alternate worlds, talking animals.....
How real is any of this? Do you think someone told J.K. Rowling that a story about kids going to school for magic, driving flying cars, waving wands and flying on brooms was silly? Unbelievable?

The subject matter makes no difference. It's the presentation and delivery of the subject that matters. You can make up entire worlds if you choose your rules and stick to them while making you world.

Getting Started

??? How does a writer get started ???
They decide.

Many decisions have to be made when writing. Saying a writer must decide on plot and characters is placing many decisions, almost always overlapping, into only two words.

Some writers begin with a plot idea and shape their characters to work in that plot.

Other writers flip it. Creating the main character(s) first and twisting a plot around their personality.

Some times, writers will start with a scene. From there they deepen their characters and wind a plot from, around, or to that scene,

Plot ideas can come from anywhere, anything. Influence is all around us. We just have to look. For example, My drive to write romance comes from Cinderella.
Maybe you saw a movie and thought you would like it better this way. Or you read a book and thought "Good Lord, I'd kill to read something not about vampires...or at least with something new in it." There ya' go. A starting point. You have to write something you would want to read.

"Man, I can't find any books about pixies trying to take over the world!" Well, I guess you'd better start writing about it then.

And now, someone out there is thinking, "Pixies taking over the world? That's ridiculous. Who'd read that?"

That is where the trick of suspended reality comes into play.

It's good to write what you know. That is a whole other realm to find plots and characters in. If you really want to write about something that you don't know too much about research it. Research is a writer's friend.

I find it most amazing when writers write about characters that are not like them. Though reading about a character that the writer poured their heart and soul in, literally taking pieces and parts of their personality and experiences and placing them in that character, is great and often makes for a wonderful read, I love it when I can read about, get to know, and care about a character that seems almost real enough to touch, knowing it is 100% fictional from that writer.

You can research jobs, places, events, but to create a character with a personality, a past so very different from your own and make the reader believe in that character and get to know that character is a wonderful achievement because you are placing yourself in situations, in the mind and emotions of a personality not natural to you. The same holds true for actors slipping into a role and becoming that role.

I can write about anything. You can write about anything. Just pick a starting point and write. Don't worry about your grammar, spelling, tense, POV, rhythm. Just write. Immerse yourself in your characters, plot, setting and let it flow from your mind. You will have to go back for editing and rewrites. Fix your mistakes then. Just get your story out.

I don't have A.D.D. I just.... OMG!!! A Bunny!

I had a doctor's visit today, the earliest they had (oh, yay ). Amongst other things was the predicament of my attention span. As the lovely doctor lady and I spoke of options a question popped into my head (that I would later wonder why it took me so long to think of)...

                           How do you diagnose someone with A.D.D.?

True to doctor form, I got a lot of words a no real answer. My thoughts: They don't know because these particular docs don't diagnose it at all. My doctor referred me to Affiliated Psychological Services who do know how to diagnose things such as A.D.D.

That being said, my doc decided to put me on aderol- 30mg being the highest dose they give, she gave me 20mg...apparently I am really spacey =) she said, " We will start you on this dose, if it helps we'll get you an extended prescription. If, however, you start to feel....crazy" (at this point she mimed shaking...sorta like Jeff Dunham's version of a little dog that needs to poop ....if you haven't seen that- and you should, it's hilarious!(near the end of the above clip link) it looked like a kid so hyped up on sugar they couldn't be still and they were, well, shaking!!!...where was I????

Oh-Yeah! (*slaps self in forehead)

She was saying," ...Crazy, come back and we will lower you dose."

Now, for those who don't know, A.D.D. meds are stimulants. Which seems stupid since the problem is I have so much going on in my brain I can't focus. I am told that these stimulants help focus the energy into one point....hmmmm.
So, I will either have an easier time focusing- hence more writing - or....I will be bouncing off walls, unable to finish a sentence and completely hopeless!!!! Tehehe!
Meds start tomorrow. We'll see how it goes! It may make for some interesting posts! Bahahaha!

Win $1000 - poetry contest (Ends Aug 31, '11)

The World Poetry Movement is currently holding an amateur poetry contest.  It's free and 116 prizes will be awarded- totaling over $10,000. Entries can be submitted until August 31, 2011. Only one entry per contestant, so choose carefully.

Entry into the poetry contest is an easy two step process. Go HERE to enter your poem.

Bad news leads to rewrite

So far my blogs have mainly revolved around writing. Many will continue to do so, but this blog is also about my family life. It often affects my writing after all.

Anyone whose checked out my works in progress has seen the first novel I ever began on was spun off my fear that my husband, a U.S. Marine, would be mortally wounded in Afghanistan.
Today I found my fingers flying across the pages I have already written and adding more. All because of a call I received around 10:30 this morning. (She Waits- a poem from and for the military spouse)
The call that stopped my breath and had my control wavering.

My husband was hurt. Three and a half hours prior to that call my husband was doing his job and received shrapnel in his legs and arm due to enemy indirect fire for his efforts. One long conversation later, all I really knew was he is hospitalized with what the USMC considers a "serious injury". What is a serious injury, you may wonder. Join the freaking club! "Serious injury" is all I could get. Was he awake or sedated? How bad is the damage? Is there any resulting disability, temporary or life long?

But, no! I'll they apparently know is it's freaking serious!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Step one: Don't fall apart in front of the children.
              Find a balance. Let the know I love daddy and am very sad he is hurt, but reassure them that he's being taken care of. He's ok. And don't let them see me fall apart. I watch my mom, the woman I thought impossibly strong, fall apart, break and it frightened and hurt me. That I can not put on my children. So, hold it together. Hold it together. Hold it together. This is my motto for today and who knows how long.

Step two: Wait excruciatingly, impatiently for information.
             Waiting. I am not sure what is more nerve wracking when waiting for information about a loved one in trouble. So, keep my mind and hands busy. This proves easier than I thought. One of the kids are throwing up green stuff, gotta pay insurance before it's cancelled and take a paper to the doctor to fill out so I can get more baby formula from WIC....Get dinner, keep kids busy and happy.
When a lull presented itself and I found my mind too close to worries best left alone until the kids are in bed, I turned to my writing, but my story of genies, wishes, adventure and love refused to flow. The little I wrote was stilted and confusing. I scraped it. That's when "Warriors" caught my eye. While the kids ate dinner, I felt no hunger myself, the words poured out of my finger tips with passion. I could not stop the out pour if I had wanted to. I didn't. But know the well has dried up and my story id better than before.

Step three: Make it through the day.
                The day is finally done- as far as my kids are concerned. They are asleep and have taken comfort in the dream catcher that hangs in their window. For me, well, a glass of wine awaits. Something I look forward to in what is sure to be an endless, sleepless night.

But again, as most days, my family life has affected my writing. And while I wait and pray for more information, hopefully saying hubby's ok, my writing will help keep my mid and fingers busy, getting me through the day.

Being pulled back to reality



Have you ever been writing something and whatever it was, whatever path your thoughts were following suddenly veered back to reality? Something you wrote, something you thought, something you character said or did made you think of your life abruptly. Suddenly you realize the parallel.

I imagine this can be a good thing. Funny even, at times. But this time, it was not the case.

One small part of the reason I write is because I need something to keep the stress of life from crushing me. Without my writing and my books to read I fear I would collapse under life. I'd have an emotional breakdown...and I so hate those.

So as I wrote of a careless gesture, life slammed into my head and my characters, my story evaporated. And I was all that was left.

The kids in their beds. The lights off throughout the house. My little world silent. And me, sitting in the dark, typing away. My husband's letters in a stack near my elbow. Suddenly the worry and fear, the loneliness, the yearning for my other half was all but debilitating.

I sat for a moment, washed in self pity, in sadness. But I had a story waiting. I had to get back to Joylanna's problems. I placed my fingers on the keys, poised, ready for the journey to continue. When I looked at the clock I realized I'd sat, poised, for seven minutes, my mind blank of even the passing time.

I know I am an individual. I am strong. But my husband is my other half and I am therefore stronger with him.

And I am swamped with aching for him. His teasing. The way he absentmindedly runs his fingers through my hair. His endless tapping, like a drummer missing his drum. The mischief almost always present in his hazel eyes.
His arms around me, his head resting on mine, swaying gently is home to me.

I have my kids and the wonderful moments of watching them grow-even when they make me want to pull my hair out. It's love and happiness and hope and inspiration and protectiveness I feel with my children. It's beautiful, ultimate, and all encompassing. And different than what I have with my husband.

Can a writer pull themselves back into their story when this happens? Is there a technique? A secret? A ritual?
If so, I have not found it. So this night will be spent with a good book and a heart ache. If you know how to bounce back into a story when this happens, please share. If you have had a similar situation happen to you, I'd love to hear about it.