Am I a Workaholic? Are You?

I've always worked at jobs I enjoyed because, when I quit enjoying them, I quit. Period. No more job.

I enjoyed working in the insurance industry and I enjoy writing. I especially enjoy writing. In fact, it's safe to say I LOVE writing and all it entails. It doesn't feel like work. Not that selling insurance, or consulting, or being an insurance education provider was harder than it was enjoyable, but I always knew I was working--even when it was fun.

Writing. That's a different story. There's nothing I don't like about writing. In fact, as I cracked the whip [on myself] Friday to come up with a schedule, I had a blast. Sure, I've done a little goofing off in the six weeks since I sold my insurance agency.  You know, I stopped what I was doing (several times a day) to play with the kitties and puppies or to converse with Pete the parrot about stuff that was a bit too intellectual for the felines and canines. Or I spent an hour on the phone with one of my friends or one of my kids. Or I played Solitaire on the computer. Oh, and I have completed three freelance projects during these six weeks.

When I buckled under and attacked my new schedule, it took me about an hour to decide whether I wanted to do my freelance contract (work) writing in the morning or the afternoon. And whether I'd schedule this many, or that many, hours for work on my WIP (a romantic suspense). Oh, and where I'd fit in the daily time to work on my outline/proposal for the 2nd book in the Taking the Mystery Out series.

It wasn't until Saturday, when I actually began following the schedule, that I realized it entailed 7 (yes, seven) days. No days off. Yes, I'd allowed myself two blocks of personal time between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. each day, but still...  I think I need to re-evaluate.

I worked 10 and 12 hour days when I owned my insurance agency. Now that I'm not spending 40+ hours a week doing that, and I'm having fun writing, why am I still scheduling 60+ hours of non-personal time into my week? Sure, it's writing. So why doesn't it feel like work?

My daughter thinks the answer is simple: Workaholism. I don't think I'm addicted to work. Yes, maybe I feel compelled to be doing stuff, but I'm always doing stuff I enjoy. And I take time off. See the coyote in the picture my husband took? I spent at least 11 minutes on Sunday watching him trek across the back yard, looking over his shoulder, and then watching his pursuer (maybe a lovelorn female ... the second coyote was a bit smaller than our handsome hero, above) when he/she arrived on the scene 2 minutes later.

Because I take breaks from my writing to eat, watch wildlife, talk on the phone, play with the critters, walk outside with the puppies, that means I'm not a workaholic. Right?

Wrong? You're saying I'm wrong? Okay. I'll consider you might be right. But only if you give me a good reason ... or six.

Emotion

I've found that some of my best writing is done when I'm in the midst of turbulent emotion.  Like my very first novel, which was completed within a few months not too long before I separated from my ex-husband.  Funny how getting up at 5:00am each day, and writing for two uninterrupted hours, was cathartic.  Not that I wrote about  my marital situation or personal feelings, but I was able to tap into some serious emotion when writing that first romantic suspense novel.

I've found myself in the same situation several times in the ensuing 20-odd years.  I'm in one of them right now, for a very sad reason.  The son of a friend passed away unexpectedly late last week, and my mind has been distracted with a variety of thoughts, remembrances, and odd insights.  All of which are proving to be fodder for the book I'm currently plotting--and emotion for the book I'm writing.

I used to feel goulish when sad, tragic events spurred me to write.  But I've come to understand that the human condition forms the underpinnings of my work.  Each experience, and each emotion, helps form the layers of my thought process and the actual writing.  I suspect that the writers who most inspire us and whose work most appeal to us are those who are the most accomplished at tapping into our emotions.

Some writers freeze in the face of strong, turbulent emotions.  And others, like me, seem to get diarrhea of the keyboard.  I guess it takes all kinds...

What kind are you?

(RIP, Justin)

May I Quit My Day Job?

If you're my husband, you're screaming out loud:  No!  No!  Absolutely not!  He figures my royalties need to equal the current income earned at  my day job before I can even THINK about quitting.  (He may have a point.  Maybe...)

If you're my 80-year old father, you're saying in a very controlled, but quite loud voice:  Are you out of your mind?  You see, he's the insurance man who got me into the insurance business (I own and operate two insurance businesses), and he wishes he'd worked for himself instead of a large insurance company.  He thinks my day jobs are nirvana.

If you're Delaney, Charlotte, Max, or Grace, your thinking inside your furry little head:  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  Do it NOW.  Spend 24 hours a day at home with ME!  My puppies and kitties love me better and more affectionately than most people I've known.  (No one else has ever greeted me at the front door, EVERY DAY, when I come home, wiggly and kissy.)

If you're me, you understand--intellectually--where Stephen and Dad are coming from.  But emotionally, you're right there with the critters.

I'm spending several hours a day at my writing lately.  I'm doing some insurance writing at the office, more of it at home after-hours, and my fiction at home after hours.  Sometimes, it's VERY difficult to drag my mind from my writing to focus on stuff like getting payroll out on time, arriving on time to meet with clients, and going to bed at a reasonable hour.

I've always been a little obsessive-compulsive with my writing, but it's getting worse.  It feels like a good thing (that's the emotional side) but I'm wondering if it really is.

Are you O-C about your writing?  Do you think I'm going nuts?  (Of course, you notice that I've asked you folks, who are mostly other writers, instead of a shrink.  But I figure you'll understand better.  Right?)

Writing Like Crazy

I am happy to report that since sharing my story in December about getting insurance writing contract work, that endeavor has continued to grow.  I have spoken with a handful of different people within the insurance industry who are putting together writing projects for me:  either outright contracts or collaborations that pay royalties.  I am doing the happy dance on a daily basis:  I'm writing every day AND getting paid for it!

Yes, I know, writing insurance isn't as exciting as writing about murder and mayhem but, until I hit the best seller list, it's paying the bills.  It also gives me a great deal of satisfaction to know that when I write an insurance education text or seminar, other people will be advancing their careers and broadening their knowledge base because I was not only able to explain a technical subject, I was able to do so in a far less boring manner than your typical insurance author/instructor.  (Thirty-five years in the business has provided me with LOTS of stories and real-life examples--aka fodder.)  If people are benefitting directly from the way I tell my insurance "stories," and it's helping them advance their careers and support their families, then I'm also doing good.

And, as my sister pointed out, all this insurance writing will accomplish two things:

1. The more insurance stuff I write, the better I get at my craft and the more it will improve my fiction writing.
2. The more insurance stuff I write, the more $$ I earn, the more financial security I have, the fewer things I have to worry about, the more relaxed I'll be when I'm writing my fiction, and the better that will be, so it'll sell faster OR earn more $$.

Do you sense a recurring theme here?

All humor and wisecracking aside, the best thing about all this is that I'm now working and paying the bills with my writing but it doesn't feel like I'm working.  I'm having fun and I'm living my dream.  There is not a single ounce of sarcasm in that italicized sentence, either, I really, really mean it.  I am living my dream:  writing and having the words I string together mean something [positive] to the people who read them.

(Oh, and making money doing it.  That validation makes me dizzy!)

Am I Related to the Energizer Bunny?

Yes!

In addition to working at the two businesses I own, and progressing on my current mystery, I have been fortunate enough to secure some businesss writing contracts.

Funny how life works.  I deliberately eliminated virtually all of my business travel in 2010 so I could focus on my writing.  Then along came this wonderful opportunity.  You'd think that spending hours each week writing insurance texts would slow my fiction writing down.

NOT!

I'm on a roll.  And writing better than ever.  One thing about writing business stuff:  you don't have to worry about not having an idea or figuring out what comes next.  That confidence (and the organizational skills) seem to be worming their way into my fiction.  Lucky me.

Yup.  I'm loving 2010.

And so long as it's only my page-output that keeps reproducing, I don't mind being related to that pink bunny.

P.S.  The Energizer Bunny's website is:  http://www.energizer.com/Pages/default.aspx

One More Reason to Write

I write because I have to:  that's my driving motiviation.

Since being published in newspaper and magazine a number of years ago, I've received the occasional fan mail and comments from readers who like my work.  Those kind words have been know to buoy my spirits for a day or two.  (Okay, or ten!)

But there's nothing like having a reader of one of my novels rave about it.  I was fortunate enough to receive a 5-star review from a fan on Amazon today.  Not only did she love my book, but she's looking forward to reading more of my stuff.

How's that for motivation?

What motiviates you to write?  And how do you feel about those raving fans?

It Pays to Have Smart Kids

Not that I actually had anything to do with the quality of my kids' brain cells--even I know genetics isn't something we can control.  I do choose, however, to believe that my kids inherited their good looks from my ex-husband and their brains from me...

Anyway, getting back on track, I'd like to share with you the brilliance of my youngest daughter.  She is not yet thirty and the level of her intelligence and professional savvy boggles my mind.  She is a recruiter...of salespeople.  And not just any kind of salespeople, either.  She recruits people who sell financial services.  Talk about being behind the eight-ball these days!  I guess she hasn't heard the news that the financial services industry is facing challenges and consunmers aren't investing like they used to:  she's recruiting like crazy.

A couple of years ago, she informed me about a number of online services she'd joined to help her with her job.  In sales, in case you didn't know, the really important thing is to broadcast your name all over the place.  The single most important aspect about making important contacts when you're in sales is the number of people who know who you are and what you do.  (It's not, as many people believe, the number of people YOU know, although there is some correlation.)

More to please her than because I believed posting professional information about myself online would actually benefit me financially, I joined Linked In.  This is where I tie my story in to the blog post title:  IT PAYS TO HAVE SMART KIDS.

I received an e-mail from a fellow in California three weeks ago who was looking for a person with precisely my professional qualifications--which is odd, since I pursue three different professional endeavors in two separate industries.

To cut to the chase, I secured a lucrative contract doing something I love:  writing.  Yes, it's about insurance but, hey, I know that subject really well.  And, did I mention, I'm being paid to write?

If you have smart kids, listen to them.  It pays. 

Literally!

Doubts and Fears

Let one person offer constructive criticism of my writing and I'm off and running, doubting my ability and fearing I made a fool of myself.

That's what prompted my stinky plotting skills post.  Sound familiar?  I thought so. Since I'm not the type of person to dig a hole for myself and jump in after I've discovered a new weakness or, worse, embarrassed myself, I launched my campaign. 

If my plotting skills are stinky--IF being the operative word--then all I need to do is strengthen them, right?  And surely ALL my plotting skills can't be stinky, right?  [This is my ego talking. I've learned that the best time to listen to it is when fear is nipping at my heels.]

My campaign lasted one evening and all of the next day:  thumbing through reams of notes I've taken on plotting durng the past 20 years--and exhaustive online research.  What I came up with is that I had all the knowledge I needed, I just hadn't put it together in a way that worked efficiently for me.

Several published authors included terrific information on their websites and blogs.  Their insights touched me in a number of ways, pointing out information I already knew intellectually, but shining perspective in a way that permitted me actually GET it.  I compiled an aggregate of information and created for myself a skeleton, an empty outline telling what I need to put where--and when.

The most important message I took with me, however, reinforced one of my personal writing beliefs.  Not every writer embraces it but, if you do, don't ever let it go:  Plot grows from character. Every single event that occurs in your book or short story MUST stem from the character and his/her emotions, decisions, actions, and conflicts.  The two most important questions to ask yourself when you're plotting are:  What if? and What next?

Happy Plotting!

Can You Help Me Improve My Stinky Plotting Skills?

I'm in a poor-me mood. 

My plotting skills stink.  I can always come up with a really good idea for a novel.  Then I come up with a couple of sub-plots to weave throughout the story--they're usually threads based on character or emotion.

What I need is help figuring out how to create other plot aspects that branch out from the main plot.  Oh, and that enhance the main plot, that are interesting, and that aren't stupid.

That about covers it. 

Except for my disclaimer that I've never had problems plotting blog articles, magazine articles, my newspaper column, or insurance texts.  Just so you know...

Got any advice?

Why do You Write?

The hoopla with Harlequin's new self-publishing venture got me thinking about two really important subjects.

1. Writing is a creative effort; publishing is a business effort. 
2. My desire to write is totally independent of my desire to be published.

I'm one of those people who began writing when I was a kid:  I recall creating a story in grade school about a frog named Throckmorton.  Puberty contributed greatly to the death of a number of trees and reams of maudlin poetry.  I completed my first romantic suspense novel in the late eighties:  St. Martin's Press loved it but said it was too formulaic.  The editor suggested I send it to Silhouette.  Silhouette loved it and said it was too mainstream.  Sigh.  It's sitting in a box with my next four novels.

When divorce, remarriage, and several other signifiant life events seriously curtailed my fiction writing, I spent years writing in trade.  No, insurance magazine articles are not my favorite things to write--neither is a business column in a newspaper.  Since I'm one of those people who writes because I have to write, that's what I did.  When life once again permitted me the time and freedom to pursue writing fiction, I did so with a vengeance:  hence the completion of Second Time Around.

Publication, now, that is an altogether different thing.  It involves ego.  It involves validation.  It involves knowledge of the publishing indistry.  It also involves a great deal of business savvy--either one's own or the kind one can hire in the form of an agent.  Preferably both.  Since I have a healthy ego, a competitive nature, and a desire for approval, seeking publication has always been the next step after I complete an article, short story, or novel.  It will always be the next step.

I may never publish another novel.  If that becomes an unfortunate reality, it will not stop me from writing.  Heck, I kept at it for twenty years, I can do it another twenty!

Writing is a pursuit unto itself.  Which is why I do it.

Publishing is a business.  It's a choice.

I believe that many writers who've written for years without achieving publishing success do not fall into the category of being lousy writers.  My opinion is shared by a  prominant published writer (I'm pretty sure it's Lawrence Block, but don't quote me here) who said in his writing-advice book that he believes more mediocre writers with excellent business marketing skills get published than do excellent writers with mediocre business marketing skills.

Choosing the route of self-publishing because you've been rejected numerous times is NOT the way to go.  If you can't get the attention of a NY agent or publisher, try a small press before you pay someone to publish your book.  If you've been writing for years and have never joined a professional writer's organization, I've got a hint for you:  JOIN ONE OR THREE!!!  The members and resources of professional writer's organizations provided me with more information and insight into the publishing industry, both the creative and business ends of it, than the sum of all other resources combined.

You might also want to seriously consider why you write.  If it's because you have to, pursuing the goal of publication should be the icing on the cake,

Yeah, being published is sweet.  No doubt about that.  But if you're like me, the meat and potatoes of writing keep my belly full, not the icing on the cake.

Clustering - What is it and How Does it Work?

I recently read a blog post by Bill Kirton on his blog and it got me thinking about the wonderful technique called Clustering. Bill shared the story about how he recently encouraged several women, none of whom were writers, to create some fictional characters and how they met with resounding success.

Free-association allows the unconscious, creative part of our brain the freedom to access possibilities our conscious mind can't always access. Gabriele Rico wrote a book titled Writing the Natural Way. I've lent it to several people, some of whom never returned it--necessitating the purchase of a replacement copy. (More than once!) One of the creative writing techniques she teaches is called Clustering.

This is how her website describes it: "A non-linear brainstorming process, clustering makes the Design mind’s interior, invisible associations visible on a page. Clustering becomes a self-organizing process as words and phrases are spilled onto the page around a center. The Sign mind begins to see pattern and meaning, and the writing flows naturally into a vignette."

This is how she, herself, describes it: "A cluster is like an expanding universe, and each word is a potential galaxy: each galaxy in turn may throw out its own universe."

Even if you have no problems dreaming up plots and characters, even if your prose flows smoothly and swiftly at will, you'll benefit from this book. She also talks about many other creative processes and has written several books. Check her out at http://www.gabrielerico.com/.

Pets and Characterization

I've always marvelled at the number of writers who have pets. And I'm not talking about an occasional dog or cat here. I'm talking PETS, in the plural.

I recently discovered a blog, hosted by a Golden Retriever named Amigo, that interview pets who own authors. It's called Pets and Their Authors, and it's a riot. If you're a pet-lover, check it out.

Like many authors, I usually have a pet or three in my books and it wasn't until recently that I ever gave the practice more than a cursory thought. After some consideration, however, my conclusion convinced me--yet again--that my unconscious mind is far more adept than my conscious one.

Here's the revelation: using pets in a story is a delivery device for characterization. Without saying Mr. Mudd is a nasty, rotten, person, all we have to do is show him kicking Ms. Heroine's miniature Schnauzer when she's not looking. Instead of saying Mr. Right is kind and considerate, all we have to do is show him talking man-to-man to the heroine's French poodle--when she isn't looking, of course. Or, we can have a heroine who is accused of being cold and heartless and she can even act a little...cranky. But when we show her sitting on her front steps each evening as the sun goes down, stroking the cat on her lap, everyone will know she is a warm and caring person.

Pets bring out the best--or worst in people. Using them and their relationships with humans as a way to characterize helps us show and not tell. It also allows us to use animals as secondary characters--which adds variety to our stories, and presents some unusual challenges. It's also fun!

Tyson, the Rottie lying down in the top picture, had a thing for flashlight beams. Whenever he saw one (or mistakenly saw one--like the sun reflecting onto the ceiling off a knife sitting on the kitchen table), he'd flip out and chase it all over the place. Dusty, aka Oreo Cat, loved to slide between the bedspread and the blanket after the bed was made--when he wasn't hiding out in boxes and bags, that is. I'd come home from work and see a huge (20-lb) lump in the middle of the bed! Sammy, my husband's Moluccan cockatoo, is adopted. (Just like all the animals in our house.) Her original parents must have argued a LOT, because she role-plays arguments whenever we raise our voices--even if we're in a good mood. Whatever! Whatever! she'll shriek, flapping her wings and getting fluffy in the process. (I've omitted the X-rated words she also shrieks.)

Have any funny, or weird, pet stories of your own you want to share? Feel free.

Plotting - Do You Have Any Suggestions?

By far, my biggest writing challenge is with plotting.

I either come up with a few terrific scenes and then border on the edge of panic when it comes to stringing them together with interesting material OR write by the seat of my pants and allow my characters to plot the rest of the story. I spend a lot of time wishing I had a plotting partner or two - but how can I ask people to give up their valuable time in pursuit of my imaginary friends?

The pantsing method has been working for me lately but, being somewhat anal about organization, I'm concerned that it may not continue working into the future. I think the major reason it's been working is because I'm tossing obstacles into the paths of my characters and it's easier dreaming up ways for them to overcome the obstacles than to plan scene after scene.

After all, isn't that what life's about? We're not privy to the grand scheme (the plot) and tend to flounder along, doing our best, oftentimes being more reactive than proactive.

Do you have any suggestions for jump-starting my plotting meter? I'm appreciate of any suggestions or ideas.

Voice

Janet Evanovich's 15th Plum novel was released today. I, of course, picked it up at the bookstore 'cuz it's been on order for months. I also finished reading it in one sitting. Funny, it took her a year to write it and I read it in a few hours.

Anyway...

If Evan Hunter/Ed McBain were still alive, I'd have done the same thing with the pre-ordering and picking up on the day his latest book was released.

When I think VOICE, these two people immediately come to mind. They have totally different voices and they write about totally different things. They don't need to have their names affixed to a piece of work for me to recognize them, however. Their perspectives of the world are unique, as are those of their characters.

A lot of blogs have been discussing the topic Plot or Character lately and for me, it's always been VOICE. The plot could be the most intriguing thing to hit fiction in the past hundred years and if the author's voice doesn't grab me, I'm not interested. The character can sound appealing on the cover blurb, but if it isn't imbued with a distinctive voice, I don't really care about him or her.

Now that I think about it, Rex Stout's voice was especially strong in the Nero Wolfe series.

Voice is something editors and agents tell us we have to have, it's something we writers write about, but it's elusive. There aren't any How-Tos when it comes to Voice, as there are with POV, Plotting, Setting the Scene, etc. At least not that I've seen.

Do you have any tips or suggestions about VOICE?

Writers and Their Pets

Does it seem to you that most writers are also animal lovers? Just about every writer I know has a handful of critters hanging around the house: dogs, cats, parrots, gerbils...

Is it because our critters provide us with love, attention, and silence--which makes them far more attractive as roommates?

Is it because of our tendency toward solitary pursuits, either by choice or requirements of the profession?

Or is it something else? Share your thoughts with me, I'm curious.

P.S. Delaney, Charlotte, and Max follow me everywhere (into the bathroom, if I let them!) and are, as we speak, warming my feet.

P.P.S. The two feathered creatures, especially the loud, noisy one, belong to my husband. It was simply an anomaly that I taught Miss Big Mouth to say Hi, dad!

Do You Believe in Writer's Block?

DO YOU? I REALLY WANNA KNOW!

Seriously, I've been listening to writers discuss this subject for over 20 years. Some writers have terrible bouts of writer's block and others don't have a clue.

I'm one of those writers who, personally, doesn't believe in it. I can always write. Always.

Unfortunately, I don't always write stuff that will ever see the light of day, let alone a printed page--nor am I always motivated to write on my current project. But I write. Every day. Fortunately, I have a newspaper column to create each month, along with 6-12 magazine articles each year. I also have insurance industry trade texts and seminars to research, develop, and write all year long. So, when I find myself struggling with one project, I simply focus on another one. At the moment, I'm in the process of writing two books: a follow-up to my mystery Second Time Around and a new book, a romantic suspense. Now, maybe I'd be better off focusing all my energies on one book. We all know I'll get it finished quicker than the way I'm doing it now. Maybe the book would be better written. But maybe it won't. I've been finding myself getting deeper into the characters--of both books--this way. Probably because my unconscious is working on whatever book is not actually in front of me. (Let me share a secret: my unconscious seems to work much more effectively that my conscious as I age...)

Anyway, enough about me. WHAT ABOUT YOU? DO YOU BELIEVE IN WRITER'S BLOCK? Let me know! Here are some things I'm interested in:

1. What is your description of writer's block? I suspect it means different things to different people.
2. How often do you get writer's block? With regularity or sporadically?
3. Does anything in particular spur your writer's block? (i.e. Deadlines, allergies, arguments with your spouse/SO, etc.) If stress is your answer, please be specific about the type of stress.
4. Does anything help you destroy the little bugger? (i.e. Alcohol, tea, coffee, chocolate, a run through the park, a game of basketball, screaming at the top of your lungs while you're driving your car, etc.)
5. Pontificate - tell you YOUR opinion.

Let's work together to find a cure for writer's block. (I know, you're thinking, yeah right. But why not at least discuss it? We may come up with something that helps another writer.)