So, this past week has been Thanksgiving Break from my real job - teaching. I never seem to get everything I plan to get done done. But I did get quite a bit of writing done, and for that I am thankful.
I've started one new chapter and finished up another. It's been nice to be able to focus on my writing and my characters. Of course, sometimes it's hard. Because I've had the time to focus on this, I've seen scenarios open up in my mind - both good and hard situations that my characters will go through. Life - and books - aren't all butterflies and daisies, so tough times are expected. But sometimes I'm so torn up inside knowing what coming next and I don't want to write it, but I know I have to, because that's what happens to them. They truly have a life of their own.
I've also had the chance to re-read parts of my first book. It was Thanksgiving night and there is a Thanksgiving "scene" in it. I was compelled to read it. Yes, right then. During Thanksgiving. Surrounded by family, who didn't know I was writing a book. I had pulled out my computer and was writing before dinner. Everyone was watching football and I'm not much of a football fan. But, my in-laws are a football family. So, I came prepared and brought my netbook with me. After dinner, as they watched another football game (I know Thanksgiving is about football, but it's always been lost on me), I decided to read my Thanksgiving chapter. I amuse myself. It was fun to experience Thanksgiving with my characters on the day of. I know that's weird. But that's me. Anyway, it made the holiday more fun for me, when everyone else was talking football or flipping through a million channels finding something to watch after the game.
I told one more person about my book this weekend - only a handful know about it. What was different this time? She didn't seem surprised. The most common response from those I've told was "Really?" They were surprised, not shocked, but surprised. Like I've said before, I do a lot of different things, so taking on "one more thing" is surprising to most. But I didn't take it as a "bad" reaction. It was kind of nice actually. For someone to not be surprised that I'd have a story to tell and would put it down on paper (or in the computer as the case may be). Also, it wasn't like it mattered that I wasn't an English teacher that was writing a book and that I am a math teacher. She knew you had to be just as creative in math as English. Our conversation meant a lot to me. Reassuring.
It's back to school tomorrow and juggling teaching (and everything else) with my writing. While I would love another week of break (who wouldn't?), I do kind of miss my drive to school and back everyday where I got the chance to really just let me mind wander. And drive safely, of course.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Make like mustard and ketchup.
It's been a while since I've had a chance to write here. There's been so much going on that this has slipped. I feel bad about that. I've seen my quicklink at the top of my browser but haven't clicked on it until now.
The first two weeks of November have been crazy for me. My other hats kept spinning over my head. So much so that I missed a few days of school to attend a meeting and dinner (part of committments that I love to be a part of). This means, lesson plans and prepping my students to be at a point where they could do the work without me there. Then, there were meetings for one of my other hats, which is another passion of mine and has been a part of my life since I was in junior high. I am happy and proud to be a part of these things, but unfortunately, it meant that my blog got a little ignored. I feel guilty about it. But, the upside is, that I've still kept writing my book.
Maybe because my brain has been fragmented with school and my two other major things going on that my book being written "in order" ceased. Hard to say. I've jumped around, outlined things, written lines down or starts of chapters. I have the timeline and outline, but I have parts of chapters written that don't have "numbers".
I guess I should explain what I mean by "numbers". When I wrote my first book, I jumped around in writing, but I did number them. Well, it was numbered in groups of 10 or so. So, instead of calling it chapter "1", it was "10" or "20" or "30". That way, when I inserted the other chapters or scenes, it was easy to insert into the numerical sequence. It became "22" or "25" depending if I knew it came immediately after or that there might be something else in between.
This time, some things are more fluid, I think. I'm more clear about the overall focus of a chapter. So clear, that I've been able to give the chapter an actual name, not a number. Last time, chapter names were hard for me. At least chapter names that foreshadowed or were significant to the events in the chapter. Before, they were more time frame oriented, like "Thanksgiving". This, of course, made it easy to give chapter numbers. Because Thanksgiving comes before Christmas. Since, my second book takes place in the winter, aside from Christmas and New Year's, there aren't many holidays or significant calendar markers. So, events aren't as tightly tied to calendar. It's more like a time frame. This is a major shift for me.
I was recently compelled to write a particular chapter. I love this chapter. I'm not done with it. But I continually reread the chapter because it shows so much growth of my main character. She's taking a risk. It makes me smile and evokes such emotion from me. I've shared it with two people and picked their brains about it. I really just wanted to share it, share what my characters were doing - even though there's a lot that happened between the last complete chapter I wrote and this particular one.
So, that's where I'm at now. Working on a chapter in the middle to latter part of the book. But having fun with it. I'm extremely thankful to have this project of mine to work on. It's kept me sane during the crazy November I've had. But then I have to wonder - is hearing or seeing these stories in your head really an earmark of sanity? I like to think that because I know these are stories in my head that that makes me sane. If I didn't know they were stories and I thought that they were real, I'd be in real trouble!
The first two weeks of November have been crazy for me. My other hats kept spinning over my head. So much so that I missed a few days of school to attend a meeting and dinner (part of committments that I love to be a part of). This means, lesson plans and prepping my students to be at a point where they could do the work without me there. Then, there were meetings for one of my other hats, which is another passion of mine and has been a part of my life since I was in junior high. I am happy and proud to be a part of these things, but unfortunately, it meant that my blog got a little ignored. I feel guilty about it. But, the upside is, that I've still kept writing my book.
Maybe because my brain has been fragmented with school and my two other major things going on that my book being written "in order" ceased. Hard to say. I've jumped around, outlined things, written lines down or starts of chapters. I have the timeline and outline, but I have parts of chapters written that don't have "numbers".
I guess I should explain what I mean by "numbers". When I wrote my first book, I jumped around in writing, but I did number them. Well, it was numbered in groups of 10 or so. So, instead of calling it chapter "1", it was "10" or "20" or "30". That way, when I inserted the other chapters or scenes, it was easy to insert into the numerical sequence. It became "22" or "25" depending if I knew it came immediately after or that there might be something else in between.
This time, some things are more fluid, I think. I'm more clear about the overall focus of a chapter. So clear, that I've been able to give the chapter an actual name, not a number. Last time, chapter names were hard for me. At least chapter names that foreshadowed or were significant to the events in the chapter. Before, they were more time frame oriented, like "Thanksgiving". This, of course, made it easy to give chapter numbers. Because Thanksgiving comes before Christmas. Since, my second book takes place in the winter, aside from Christmas and New Year's, there aren't many holidays or significant calendar markers. So, events aren't as tightly tied to calendar. It's more like a time frame. This is a major shift for me.
I was recently compelled to write a particular chapter. I love this chapter. I'm not done with it. But I continually reread the chapter because it shows so much growth of my main character. She's taking a risk. It makes me smile and evokes such emotion from me. I've shared it with two people and picked their brains about it. I really just wanted to share it, share what my characters were doing - even though there's a lot that happened between the last complete chapter I wrote and this particular one.
So, that's where I'm at now. Working on a chapter in the middle to latter part of the book. But having fun with it. I'm extremely thankful to have this project of mine to work on. It's kept me sane during the crazy November I've had. But then I have to wonder - is hearing or seeing these stories in your head really an earmark of sanity? I like to think that because I know these are stories in my head that that makes me sane. If I didn't know they were stories and I thought that they were real, I'd be in real trouble!
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