Just a Quickie

Just a quickie to say that the words flowed today. 1525 of them, to be precise.

Granted it took me a while to get started, and I had previous revisions of the scene to work with, but still. It's been a long time since I've gotten that many words out on this revision, and in one day. So...

Yay!

That's all. Carry on. 

The Excitement is Back!

My husband gave me some feedback on my outline that correlated to what I'd thought was missing: the fear and reality of the witch hunts. Sure, the protagonist runs and hides from witch hunters and gets caught by one and escapes, but the outline didn't include the other aspects of having witch hunts: the trials and executions. How to fix that hole?

I researched via the trusty internet and found useful tidbits in Wikipedia and different Scottish history sites to help me better understand witch hunts. The best source was The Great Scottish Witchhunt of 1661-1662. This PDF, while expensive for this non-income earning writer, was exactly what I needed. The paper dovetailed so perfectly with my story (or is it the other way around?) ...

• The majority of my story is set exactly in those years.
• The witch hunts were centered in Midlothian, Scotland, just south of where my characters spend most of their time.
• George MacKenzie, who helped free many of the "witches," is the same age as one of the major characters. Perfect for some fictional artistic license: he'll be an old school buddy of a main character and help the protagonist's cause.

The author of the paper listed several references, so should I need more info, I could search for those documents. However, I suspect they aren't as available to someone out in Arizona without a substantial fee. (Had I been in England, I could've popped into Cambridge and made a copy of the document. Would that I had a revenue stream large enough to do research on site.)

With this new information in hand, I've been amending and adding scenes that bring the trial and execution nose-to-nose with the protagonist. An added bonus: It made the story and process exciting again. It's been a while since I've felt this way with this story. Definitely full of Make-Me-Smile moments.

Now, to finish the outline so that I'm ready for NaNoWriMo in two days.

(Don't worry, I'm not going to rush through NaNoWriMo like always. I'll be thoughtful as I work this revision while trying to get as much done as possible. There is something about that looming deadline that motivates.)

Me and My Blog

I know for a fact that two people that read this blog: my husband and my best friend. I know because of their encouraging email responses to Blogger's email of the post. One time I actually received an internet High Five from my friend. (There it is.==>)  These are two people that will probably read anything that I write, even if it's useless and pure garbage. That's one of the great things about family and great friends.

However, it's the rest of my potential audience that makes me question what to blather on blog about. With other writers like  LJ Cohen, Lynn Viehl, Diana Gabaldon, Rosina Lippi, and countless others offering elegant wisdom, why should anyone read what I have to say?

Leave it to the internet to lead me down that sometimes dark, this time brilliant search where I rediscovered this...

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
Steve Jobs

Just what I needed.

While I don't think I'm living someone else's life, I do find that I care an awful lot about what others may think about me and my efforts. Which leaves me shy and hesitant to put myself and my writing out there for all to see, questioning what to share in this space.

No more questioning. What I say or write may not be profound, elegant, or Earth shaking, but it touched me in some way. It might be a new-to-me service or a cool tool, something that bothered me or made me smile, a story that I wanted to read or something that my Muse insisted I put down in words.



I'll share these things just in case you, my audience, might find them entertaining, useful, or something you can relate to. Maybe it will bring
you a smile.

Could be that you'll have something to share back, and I guarantee that it will be another Made-Me-Smile moment.

So, here's to putting myself out there. Inelegance, smiles and all.

Nuggets of Goodness

On top of signing up for another session of 21 Moments, I found another nugget of goodness today. Thanks to Larry Brooks for posting the video on his blog. I dare you to not smile when he chastises Robert Frost.

BTW, today is the last day to register for Christina Katz'a February session of 21 Moments. Interested but still not convinced, read Christina's 21 reasons to participate.

A Few Words of Thanks

Last week I received a call from my dad. A surprise in of itself as we don't really talk much, and most of that on major holidays and visits. Even more surprising was the reason he called.

I'd sent him a revision draft of the story I'm working on, you know ... where computer specialist and financially broke Angie must take a contract to catch an identity thief that requires her to work with the love-of-her life that she left, tentatively titled "Broken Identity."

Before I get too far, you need to know that my Dad reads just about any sort of science fiction and fantasy you give him. (He actually introduced me to the fantasy genre long ago, to my mother's chagrin as I'd lie in bed and read and read.) The story I'd sent him has ZERO elements from those genres, unless you count the fact that people are in it.

Knowing that I'm a voracious reader with a writing habit, he'd inquire from time to time how my writing was going, give me suggestions for issues I was having, and ask when he could read one of my stories. When he got a Kindle Fire this past Christmas, I told him I'd send him something. So I sent him an mobi version of what I'd revised on "Broken Identity" to his Kindle Documents email. (BTW, Scrivener does a great job converting to mobi and ePub.)

So, back to his call...

He said he was mad at me. That he'd read what I'd sent him and he was disappointed when he got to the last page of the revision (maybe just eight scenes) and realized he didn't have the rest of the story, just when he was really getting into it, there wasn't anymore.

For a long time after his call, I couldn't stop smiling. That he would like my story, knowing it wasn't his ususal type of fiction, was just so ... thrilling. On so many levels.

A love of reading, and by extension my writing, are a few things that my Dad and I have in common. He's the only one of my family (besides my husband and children) that shows an interest in my writing, taking the time to ask about it and actually read it. And he doesn't tell me ideas are strange like others have, if anything he helps me see new ways of strange, suggesting other authors to read for even more ideas.

I know that creating something is not supposed to be all about the reactions of others, but anyone that creates something, be it photography, art, music, or writing, and puts not a small bit of their heart and soul into it, knows the joy that comes when someone says they enjoyed that art. When that someone encourages the craft and is a parent, that happiness warms the creator's heart. Or at least this creator's heart.

Now I have this gift in my writer's toolbox for those days when the words don't flow as easily, a memory of those few words of enjoyment and encouragement.

So, Dad, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. And Thanks for the call!

Another Toy, er Tool, on the Horizon: Scrivener

I've mentioned that I use Scrivener as my word processor. But "word processor" doesn't even begin to encompass all that this software can do: outlines, corkboards, index cards, a binder to keep research with the writing project, compile manuscripts. Based on the tweets from @ScrivenerApp, I've barely touched the surface of what this program can do. I wouldn't be surprised that I've overlooked the software setting that would allow it to critique my story for me.

Today, I read a tweet, sorry I can't remember whose, about a new version of Scrivener coming out soon. Of course, I went to the Scrivener blog and read the latest post. Sure enough, in a few weeks, a new version will be released, with enhanced functionality ... like greater index card flexibility and management, cool organization tools, and ePub support.

It was a Make-Me-Smile moment.

There is a drawback ... I think I need to upgrade my OS to use this new version. And since I use the 1st gen MacBook Air, I'll probably need an optical drive, if I don't want the OS upgrade to take forever using the Remote Disc utility on the family iMac.  I'd planned to purchase these items, just not so soon. Regardless, this is just a tiny drawback and doesn't diminish my excitement one bit. (What a tech geek I be!)

So to the folks over at Literature and Latte, thanks for the smile and great software tool. I look forward to getting my literature-reading, latte-sipping and novel-typing hands on this new toy, er, tool.