Just Write

Posted by Joanne Huspek

I have no problem coming up with fresh ideas; at this time, I have so many ideas I doubt I’ll get them all down into coherent sentences before I die. I don’t need to be in the mood to write, although I find that certain emotions can be helpful. For example, if I’m writing an article on a deadline, something non-fiction, I can get myself organized with very little problem. I’m a Master Juggler of balancing many of life’s balls in the air, especially if the balls are in logical order. It’s slightly different with fiction. If I’m feeling upbeat and silly, it’s the best time to write something light and sassy, and if I’m in the middle of winter and depressed out of my mind, that’s the best time to pull out my more serious work.

I’ll admit, I’m a procrastinator, although I’m not as bad as I used to be. I can come up with lots of excuses, too. Lots of them. I have a business, I have a husband, I have kids (one still in college), I have a large house and do the housework and yard work. I have financial worries and occasional health problems. I have relatives with financial worries and occasional health problems. I have other interests I like to pursue, in addition to the things I must attend to. Excuses are handy; they might make a person feel better in the short run but honestly, none of them are valid.

If you tell yourself you are a writer (whether anyone else thinks you are one or not) as I have done for the last two years, you must sit down and WRITE. Every day. EVERY day. “Real” writers do what real artists and real musicians do every day — create.

Sometimes it’s just snippets of writing because I only have snippets of time. That’s why I keep a notebook in my purse. I might think of a phrase or an idea might hit me from out of the blue. I might hear or see an appealing name, or want to jot down a web site. I don’t own a smart phone and don’t carry my laptop with me wherever I go, so the notebook is helpful. I’d never remember any of my ideas without it — that’s what old age will do for you.

Sometimes I give myself assignments, as I have the last few weeks. I’m editing my first book, and I wanted two chapters to be finished each week. In order to do this, I have to rearrange my Real Life schedule. I don’t write well at night, but can go like gangbusters between the hours of two and five p.m. I’m fully awake, there’s plenty of natural light, and my husband isn’t home from work yet. If I have to get to work by 7:30 so I can leave at 2, then so be it.

The person who is working with me on the second book gave me an assignment. He will tell you that I came up with some doozy excuses within the first couple of emails. Finally I sat down one day for a few hours and pumped it out. Wasn’t perfect, but I had to sit down and JUST WRITE.

For those of you who have writer’s block (not my problem, my problem is with time), just sit down. Take your pen and paper or laptop or typewriter and JUST WRITE.

Last night, I told my daughter I wished I had written down the silly stories she and her brother used to make up when they were little. I told myself at the time that I would remember them later and then write them down.

You know what happened, don’t you? (I could have had a lucrative career as a children’s book author. Not now. Not with my poor memory. 🙂 )

If you only have a minute, write a thank you note. Address it to your spouse, your child, your parents, your favorite teacher from high school. Start writing and don’t stop until you have filled up a page.

Write a description of your day, your house, your yard. Describe your car and why you like/don’t like it. Write about your favorite place.

On my more hurried days, I try to finish a one-page story. One of them was a fictional account using a quirky guy in my jewelry class. One was called “Perfectly Plaid,” the name of the notebook I am using. Take a small piece of life and expound. Tell the story of your pet’s day from their perspective — that’s a good one.

Tell yourself you are a writer, then sit down and JUST WRITE.

Believe me, with practice, it gets easier.

Posted in editing, music, violin, writing, women, life, people, womens literature, writing 4 Comments

Making Friends and Working Hard

Posted by Joanne Huspek

My lovelinesses.

I know that’s not a word, but today I feel that everyone is lovely. Even though it is raining, even though my husband is working on a project that makes him cranky, even though I have a billion things to do and counting.

I’ve been editing, editing, editing, and occasionally penning a one-sheet story. In the meantime, I’ve written a few things for the blog, the Blog Critics blog and other projects. Tomorrow is crit-group day, so I’ve been looking over other people’s work for a change.

I don’t know how it happened, but I am on Simon and Schuster’s publicist’s mailing list. Every so often, this kind lady will send me a soon-to-be-released book to read. Most of them are in the hot, steamy romance or historical romance genres – not exactly my cup of tea. However, if I have a few spare minutes waiting in the doctor’s office, standing in line at the Secretary of State office (DMV for those of you out of Michigan) or am trapped on a transcontinental airplane, these are perfect to pass the time with.

One of the books I read was Nancy’s Theory of Style by Grace Coopersmith. It was such an enjoyable, rollicking and totally fun read that I wrote a review for Blog Critics.

The review led to the author of the book contacting me (Yes! On this very blog! Look down a couple of posts.) and an email exchange ensued. (I couldn’t believe my luck! Emailing a published author! And she’s so nice!)

I know that’s a lot of exclamation marks, but I was very blown away. I’ll stop now.

I know we’re not friends in the true sense of the word, but it’s nice to be friendly with authors.

Back to work. 🙂

Posted in editing, people, rewriting, Uncategorized, womens literature, writing | Tagged , , , 1 Comment

Absconding the Napkin Fiction, Sort Of

Posted by Joanne Huspek

I love Esquire’s web site, especially the fiction area. Good reads, very edgy. During my last visit, I noticed the Napkin Fiction page, where authors are asked to pen a story on a paper napkin.

In the good old days when I was 1. poor, 2. a teenager, and 3. in love, I used to write song lyrics and poems on napkins. And Taco Bell wrappers. And the paper a bottle of Metaxa comes in. And the back of my NSP bill (that’s the power company in Minnesota). And I know this because I still have these remnants of my misbegotten prose in my hope chest.

We know from the archeological data that I ate fast food, was plenty high and my heat was on, necessary in St. Paul in January.

I’m terrible when it comes to condensation. I love to blather on and on about the inconsequential, which is the gong of death for a writer. I have a very difficult time writing flash fiction or stories in 1,000 words or less. The first time I wrote a 50-word story, it ended up being six 50-word stories. You can imagine the pain I was in writing a six-word story.

Today, I decided to initiate my own enforced short fiction experiment, using the Napkin Fiction as a guide. I find modern paper napkins highly undesirable for writing. They’re cheaply made and only a very good ball point pen would not rip it to shreds. Paper towels absorb too much ink. I don’t eat at Taco Bell much anymore (too salty for my tastes) and I’m a slob and can’t believe I actually finished a combo burrito without dripping any green sauce on the wrappings or on my lap. (Back in 1975, I was always hungry. Not much was going to escape.)

Instead, I decided to take over one of my daughter’s never-used spiral notebooks from high school. It has a pretty green and pink cover and the pages are perforated. It’s small enough to carry around with me.

I have dubbed this experiment The One Page Stories.

The stories are limited to one sheaf of paper. I can use both sides, and I can condense my handwriting to get as much info as I can on the paper, meaning margins  are used and my teeny-weeny penmanship employed. (Teeny-weeny handwriting was da bomb when I was in college and the profs would let us bring in a single sheet of notes for the final. Yeah…I was on that one.)

The One Big Rule for One Page Stories is that once I start, I can’t stop until the story is finished. This is a tough rule for a chronic procrastinator and a sufferer of adult onset ADD.

Yesterday I wrote a quick one, then transferred it to my computer. It was quirky and odd, an elementary aged story – 599 words. I liked it.

I think I might have something here.

Posted in editing, people, Uncategorized, womens literature, writing | Tagged , , , , 3 Comments

I Can’t Believe I’m Finding Her! An Update on Cadence

Posted by Joanne Huspek

Since my last novel is now safely in the hands of a professional developmental editor (more on that later – and let’s hope it’s good news), I have decided to tackle that first mammoth overflowing diarrhea of a work, FINDING CADENCE.

A few months ago, I took a peek and it wasn’t pretty. Who would have thought it was possible to use one word (family) 2,358 times in the first 72 pages? (Okay, that’s a gross exaggeration… Well, maybe not.) After taking out every -ly word — including ‘family’ — and most of the ‘that’s, I still had 530 pages of mindless, endless garbage, and over 175K words.

Yes, I can recognize the fact that my first effort is far from my best. *hangs head in shame*

My initial reaction was to close down the file and delete. Some things are best left in the dark. The light of day would not have been kind to this novel or to me. I could see my children laughing at me as I lay in my pink, Venetian lace-lined casket. “Get a load of this!” and “She thought she could write?”

I’m so very glad that I’m basically a lazy and forgetful person and failed to do execute the delete. Since Novel C has been in the capable hands (I hope) of Mr. Ed It, I have had a chance to use Novel A (Cadence) as material for an online writing class I am taking, and believe me, there is more than enough material to work with.

The premise is good. The story is good. The telling of the story — meh, not so good.

I started slashing by deleting everything up until the first lines of relevant dialog. That occurred on Page 73. (I had a phobia about writing dialog when I first started writing, which is why it took 72 pages and a year to get to the bones of the matter, but that’s for another post.)

So far, I’ve only inserted the dialog and tightened it up, with very little back story making the cut. I also made an executive decision and flip-flopped on the person. It’s in first person now. This is problematic in some respects, but a relief in another. By the end of the first draft, I had a total of seven (7) POVs, way too many. Keeping Cadence in the first person gives me an opportunity to showcase her naivete and flaws.

I also took the characters and hardened them a bit. The lawyer is slimier, the best friend is more shallow, the girls at work are not as forgiving and are part of the conspiracy. Cadie’s father is going to the dark side, too. Why not?

I’m happy to report that it is coming along nicely. I actually want to work on it. I’ve been going home from the day job early for the last week or so and am enthusiastic.

Will wonders ever cease?

Posted in editing, people, rewriting, Uncategorized, womens literature, writing Comment

Digging into the Old Stuff

Posted by Joanne Huspek

As some of you know, my first “novel” is an epic tale that covers six months in the life of  a woman my age, several thousand miles of travel (by car), a mental breakdown and loss of everything she held near and dear.

That’s why it took me 175,000 words and two years to complete.

I’m not exaggerating.

It might be weighty but it’s far from finished; in fact, you could say in its present state, it’s downright scary as to how bad it is. A few months ago, I dusted it off and tried again. I couldn’t stomach reading it, much less working on it.

The storyline is good. The premise is valid. The characters are likable/unlikable. This massive, wordy work in progress has more flaws than my first few boyfriends. (Hmm… make that my first twenty boyfriends.)

I didn’t know jack about writing back then. I still don’t know much, but I know enough to be embarrassed about this work.

I remarked to a friend of mine who has seen the first chapter in all its horrible splendor that I couldn’t believe she read it without puking. She was kind and suggested that she didn’t throw up, but I could tell she was lying.  She had to be.

After taking an online writing class and having a live critique group to go to, I decided to give it another go. I know pages and pages will have to round canned, and I don’t mind.  So with renewed vigor, I worked on it Friday, eliminating the first 72 pages.

Seventy-two pages? Yeah, I have plenty behind that, believe me.

The good thing is, I have most of the story already written down, so the slice and dice should leave me with a reasonably sized novel.

I have a feeling it won’t even be painful.

Posted in editing, music, violin, writing, women, life, people, rewriting, Uncategorized, womens literature, writing 4 Comments

Writing Ebb and Tide

Posted by Joanne Huspek

Ever hear the phrase “feast or famine?”

It seems like my entire life has been based on this concept.

You’re poor and struggling, then you get a little pocket change and are struggling. Your creative juices run wild and free, then you don’t write anything but excuse notes to your child’s teachers or don’t paint anything but bedroom walls for twenty years.

Of course, then the tide comes back in and you are left with too many choices and ideas and not enough time and too small of a brain to see them all into fruition.

Sometimes I really feel like writing. REALLY. I am attacked by a compulsion so strong that ignoring it is impossible. Other times, I really don’t feel a creative juice in my body, not one drop, not even a glistening of sweat.

After my rejection letter, I put the novel away. I really wanted to attack it and make it all better, but I felt completely tapped. I didn’t have any fresh ideas. A few days passed, then a week.

Then ten whole days! I was starting to worry. I even started to doubt myself. Maybe this writing thing was just a pipe dream or a fad. Maybe I’m so awful, no one will ever like my work! What if I die a lonely death, locked in my unheated garret (because I’m back to being poor) with my ancient laptop (which by this time doesn’t type the letter M because my bird chewed off the key), no food, no accolades, no sense of worth? What if?

Just as depression was about to sink in, I had a hallelujah moment. I don’t know if other writers have these epiphanies, but I seem to have them on occasion.

I looked at all the comments made on my re-writes, and the comments from Ms. Friendly Sorry-But-You’re-Not-Ready-To-Publish-Yet Agent (I secretly love her), opened my writing reference books and voila! Sometime late Friday afternoon, I was hit by the proverbial (and clicheed) bolt of lightening.

Ideas! I had a million of them!

Even though I had a critique group the next day and had already emailed my chapter to them, I sat down to re-write. I slashed the unnecessary. I cut out the pointless. I eviscerated huge sections of back story. I rearranged the chapter.

It might not be perfect, but Chapter One is now leaner, meaner and flows so much better.

Then in the middle of my glorious in-tide, I was suddenly struck by more inspiration, this time for my first mammoth work.

Of course, now is the time when the ideas flow and the time shrinks.

Feast or famine. I’m not complaining.

Posted in editing, music, violin, writing, women, life, people, rewriting, writing 5 Comments

I Am So Proud: My Very First Rejection Letter

Posted by Joanne Huspek

You may have wondered where I have been for the last three or four weeks. Picture someone constantly checking email for response to my full manuscript being sent out. Counting the minutes, then the days and the weeks with bated breath. Wondering if my baby ended up on someone’s slush pile or under a pile of manuscripts on the agent’s administrative assistant’s desk.

Of course, the news isn’t good — this isn’t a fairy tale Nirvana here.

That’s right, I just received my very first rejection letter for the very first query I have sent out.

I know I shouldn’t be, but I am absolutely giddy.

(What? Did you think I really thought I was going to get a contract on my very first try? I may be a dreamer, but I’m not stupid.)

My reasoning for my glee is  many-fold. First of all, the response was sent out in exactly four weeks, a virtually whiplash-causing turnaround in the publishing biz. I’ve heard other wannabe novelists complaining of months, and months and months without word.

Second, the rejection letter was very kind. I could tell the agent in question actually read my book, from the very personalized feedback she provided. She pointed out a few obvious flaws, ones that I had been fretting over, but gave me some positive props as well.

Third, it could have been worse. MUCH worse. The horror stories are out there: boilerplate rejections two minutes after sending, thorough dressing downs.

I expect to be the recipient of many more rejection letters before someone loves my work enough to snap it up. Some successful authors, like Stephen King, endured years of rejection.

Instead of crying in my beer, I’m energized. I’m ready to take those first fifty pages and transform them into something dazzling, a work of art that will sparkle and shine, catching the eye of some lucky agent out there.

Posted in editing, rewriting, womens literature, writing | Tagged , , , 6 Comments