As winter continues on, I continue working on my novel. I don’t know that I will have it finished by the end of NWW – Novel Writing Winter, but I will have made progress and that’s what matters, or so I’ve decided.
MaryLynn’s story continues on and yet, is stalled. Well, not really stalled, but somewhere I began to be conscious of writing for an audience (hey, a woman can dream, right? Write!) and moved out of my heart, where her story originates, and into my head where thinking, thinking, thinking spells death to the creative process.
So I’ve spent the last couple of weeks, working on what was already there. Editing, rewriting and moving deeper into MaryLynn’s voice. I’m enjoying the process very much.
Novel writing is definitely not for the faint of heart but rather, for those who are willing to write,write, write and do the hard work involved in creating something of value and significance, truly.
Of course, it could be worse. You might have to sit at your computer and come up with something, beyond fiction, like this recent comment in my spam folder:
Hello Web Admin, I noticed that your On-Page SEO is is missing a few factors, for one you do not use all three H tags in your post, also I notice that you are not using bold or italics properly in your SEO optimization. On-Page SEO means more now than ever since the new Google update: Panda. No longer are backlinks and simply pinging or sending out a RSS feed the key to getting Google PageRank or Alexa Rankings, You now NEED On-Page SEO. So what is good On-Page SEO?First your keyword must appear in the title.Then it must appear in the URL.You have to optimize your keyword and make sure that it has a nice keyword density of 3-5% in your article with relevant LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing). Then you should spread all H1,H2,H3 tags in your article.Your Keyword should appear in your first paragraph and in the last sentence of the page. You should have relevant usage of Bold and italics of your keyword.There should be one internal link to a page on your blog and you should have one image with an alt tag that has your keyword….wait there’s even more Now what if i told you there was a simple WordPress plugin that does all the On-Page SEO, and automatically for you?
Heh heh. Give me MaryLynn’s voice any day!
Mar 14, 2013 @ 09:36:28
Interesting: I just hit that place of moving out of my heart and into my head for my novel – and it made the writing process a bajillion times harder. So I gave myself a full day of rest from it – and now I’m back to the original spirit of the novel (i.e., to write it for ME – and once it’s done, so maybe release it into the wild if that is what is called for).
Feb 11, 2013 @ 13:35:09
I know it’s all automated, but when I read those spam comments I find myself wishing I had that kind of idle time! But I seem to say that more and more about folks who are wasteful with time and energy…
Feb 11, 2013 @ 14:08:17
I know eh? You kinda want to say “get a job”. heh heh.
Feb 08, 2013 @ 09:10:20
I think I got the same email. I would rather throw my computer out the window than try to figure out what the heck that email means, much less try and take that advice. Talk about taking the joy out of things!!! That is one more job we can be thankful we don’t have.
Feb 08, 2013 @ 02:52:01
ah ha…back into your heart she goes…
Feb 07, 2013 @ 12:09:59
Hi Joss, okay, so what the heck is THAT – some sort of autocorrect ad from WordPress? (You see, this kind of stuff is part of why I’ve remained on the outside. I hate being pushed and despise the whole McDonald’s style of “upsizing/upselling/”Would you like fries with that?” marketing thing):
Ahem, sorry ’bout that; but sometimes you’ve just gotta kick the crap to the curb, right?
Anyway… SO glad to hear you’re getting back to Mary Lynn, but don’t beat yourself up, focus is a hard thing to maintain; besides, you know what they say, “A change is as good as a rest!” (and you wouldn’t want to inflict a repetitive stress injury on your writer’s brain, n’est pas? ; )
Feb 07, 2013 @ 15:15:56
oh well, that’s why WordPress has a spam folder for all this crap to go into! I have to say not once has a comment appeared on my blogs that should not have been there and very very rarely do comments that belong on the blog go into the spam folder so it’s a service I’m very pleased with. And yep, gotta keep that writer’s brain nurtured and in good health.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 12:02:47
Creative nonfiction and poetry are hard enough. Novel writing is just beyond me. Good luck!
Feb 07, 2013 @ 11:52:16
You described the process exactly…once you get the audience in your head, the work turns to what has already been done, and the magic is gone. I fight it constantly in my studio. . Perfect way to handle it…by staying with the project but going to more mundane aspects of the process for a bit. Good Luck!
Feb 07, 2013 @ 11:58:31
Thanks Cindy. In many way, it’s a process of being present! Staying with the story as it develops and leaving all else, all others, in the shadows where they belong for now!
Feb 07, 2013 @ 11:43:12
I don’t think I’ll have finished, either, but at least I know I’ve started something I really like and will definitely not abandon. Perhaps, if none of us have finished by March 20th, we can continue on into Novel Writing Spring!
Feb 07, 2013 @ 11:54:03
I’d really like that Sarah, to continue on through Spring. I really do want to get this novel completed and realize I need some form of accountability. It’s lovely to see us, each, making progress and sticking with it and being pleased about what we’re accomplishing.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 10:59:21
Good to hear from you and MaryLynn….love the birthing metaphor! and we all know that gestation takes months! I’m plugging along too with NWW, just enjoying the journey and staying away from focusing on the end result….
And again, I just enjoyed the heck out of the poetry reading….It still is sticking with me
Feb 07, 2013 @ 11:55:47
For me too, enjoying the journey is important. There’s been too many times in my life when I had to do something, now I try to live so that I’m doing the things that matter to me. I’m thrilled that you were present for the poetry reading and that it blessed you so much. It was a time out of time, wasn’t it?
Feb 07, 2013 @ 10:41:26
It takes courage to tell the ‘world’ what you are up to! Write on!!
Feb 07, 2013 @ 11:56:40
I never thought of it that way, but yes, it does take courage to be transparent, eh? it also serves as accountability for me. And I’m so blessed to have my blogging buddies to share with.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 09:55:00
The easy part is to get the story down in the first place. Then comes the tricky part: polishing so it becomes the best you know how to produce. Then comes an even trickier part – knowing when the polishing is taking the veneer off – and stopping!
Feb 07, 2013 @ 11:57:23
I’ll keep that visual with me as I work along. Fiction writing is a bit like being a stranger in a strange land for me.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 12:02:31
To complicate things further, everyone’s journey through that land is different, to a smaller or greater degree.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 07:14:09
Can you translate into English please
Good luck with MaryLynn
Feb 07, 2013 @ 08:53:43
heh heh. that’s pretty much how I feel about the stuff that lands in my spam folder!
Feb 07, 2013 @ 06:18:44
I’m so pleased for you that MaryLynn is alive in your heart, and just waiting for yo to give her expression and let her out. As for that Spam, it keeps appearing in my spam folder, too – I wonder if anyone has every bothered to respond to it?
Feb 06, 2013 @ 23:23:59
Yeah, I admire you all …you who write! So much talent out there.
About the spam comment … why don’t they just get a life!
Feb 07, 2013 @ 09:38:09
and then, there are you who take fabulous photographs!
Feb 07, 2013 @ 09:49:36
Thank you
…still, I wish I could write.
Feb 07, 2013 @ 13:19:41
While always wanting to be better makes us reach, stretch, grow (and, that’s a good thing) my Grandpa had an expression: “If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.” OR, if every day was gorgeous and sunny, after a while we wouldn’t notice any more because it wouldn’t be remarkable, it would just be “normal”.
There was conversation this morning on CBC Radio (re a British newspaper “no longer accepting any freelance work from Syria…”) with the freelance reporter whose story’d been refused. He’d done the photography, his co-respondent did the writing, the other fellow was more experienced in the field and they worked well together – it sounded like the perfect partnership. I really think one of the biggest reasons that humans have been so successful is because we can work together to share our strengths, while buttressing each others weaknesses (and that’s a GOOD thing; )
Feb 07, 2013 @ 13:24:15
I know, and what you’re saying is so true. I’ve thought about it many times before, and that’s partly why I’m so thankful for our four seasons!
I guess I’m like the bumblebee … I can’t write but I do it anyways
Feb 06, 2013 @ 21:16:13
Novel writing is most definitely NOT for the faint of heart. I think you have to truly love writing, and re-writing, to do it. I spent a couple of years trying to write a novel, and then humbly accepted my defeat. But I learned that my life long dream of writing was idealized, and it was not my true passion. My hat goes off to those who write novels. I understand the consuming process and hard work. Good for you Joss!
Feb 07, 2013 @ 09:39:30
I’m not, historically, a writer of fiction so this has been a whole new playing field for me. It’s a lot of work and yet there is a tremendous amount of excitement as you see the story unfold before you. This is a story that I am birthing, via writing, much more so than creating it myself.