Ripe to Write

Today I’m sitting in my office and looking out the window into the backyard where our small vegetable garden is reaching its fall stage. If it had produced as it should have over the summer, the tomato vines would be full of red fruit awaiting plucking.

I’m always amazed when non-writers wonder where we get our ideas. The thing is, life is filled with a garden of creative ideas which produces better fruit that my physical garden. All you have to do is look around and pluck one fruit off the vine.  Gardeners like us know where tomatoes come from. Ideas are everywhere.

Plucking one is simply the beginning. That’s when the work starts.

Like a nice, plump tomato, an idea is tasty. But you need to figure out how to serve it up. Shall it be simply washed, sliced and served up fast? Is it a short story idea?

Or maybe combine the luscious idea with more ripe ideas, pressure cook them, and allowed the jars to sit on the pantry shelf until the time is right. Is it an idea that can’t stand alone but becomes more when combined with other ideas? Is it a part of a novel?

Or perhaps put the freshly picked tomato into a pot on the stove, cooking it until the goodness flows and intermixes with the spices you add. Is it an idea which can be a dish unto itself and simply needs a bit of tweaking to become a nice novella or novel?

Let me share the recipe: Take one or more plump, ripe ideas, add a bit of thinking (what-ifs), a cup of characters, a pinch of plotting, then be sure to write hard to make sure all combines as needed. Cook it with a bit of editing and rewriting. Repeat as needed. The result is sure to be a wonderful story all will enjoy. They should ask for seconds.

Now, go out there and pluck a tomato!

What's Your Plan A?

In clearing out some of the multitude of papers in my stacks, I noticed a neat pamphlet entitled “Planning for Emergencies: Three Steps to be Prepared.” Step one is ‘create a plan.’ Have a plan so your family will know what to do or where to meet during a time of emergency. Step two is ‘prepare a kit’ to help enable survival. Step three is ‘listen for information’ to best know how to proceed.

It hit me like a thump on the head: You know what? The three-step plan applies to writing, too! 

Step one is ‘create a plan.’ 
Know what idea you are basing your story upon and where you want your story to go. If you don’t have some idea of where you are going with what you write, your story may become lost and die.

Step two is ‘prepare a kit.’ 
In writing, this means to figure out the essentials (characters, background, character goals, setting, time period, etc.) you need for your story to live. Once you have your survival kit together, you are much more prepared. Your work has a better chance for going the distance to the happily-ever-after chapter.

Step three is ‘listen for information.’
For a writer listening for information may encompass researching (murder weapons, social rules, legal standpoints), or simply being willing to listen to what your critique partner says about improving your work. Perhaps it also includes finding those critique partners so you have sources of feedback, to give your written work the best possible chance for survival on the market.

So what does this mean?
A writer with a Plan A in place, like the family who is prepared for an emergency, is more likely to be successful and to thrive.

Writing Lesson From The Bachelorette & The Bachelor

True confession--I love watching The Bachelorette and The Bachelor shows. These are a guilty pleasure. The shows are much like fiction as they are based on reality, with who knows how much unreality woven through them.

There is a hero, or heroine, searching for an ultimate goal which they hope to reach by the end. Over the show’s episodes, what the protagonists want may change; they may experience character growth, and, as a result, now want something different.

Along the story road, toads lurk to be kissed and dastardly villains must be rooted out. The search for love, as with a good plot, has ups and downs. No season has gone smoothly, unless it was one I missed.

Emotions are a huge part of The Bachelorette and The Bachelor shows. Emotions should be a huge part of fiction. The participants within the shows need to be displaying emotion and, hopefully, feeling emotion. The characters within our novels must be grabbing the emotions of the readers.

If all goes according to plan or plot, at the end of the season or story, the protagonist achieves his or her goal. The one they love awaits at the end to sweep him or her away to live happily ever after. At least, that’s what the audience, or the reader, imagines for the pair.

So, long story short, it is time for me to go and watch The Bachelorette. Adios, my friends, I go to cuddle next to my own hero as we watch the drama unfold on screen…

That Scattered Feeling--Know What I Mean?

The past few weeks I've been plagued by that scattered feeling--know what I mean? 

Outside neglected flowerbeds which host more weeds than flowers wave at me for attention. Photos and mementos huddle in the cabinet, under overcrowded conditions, awaiting release into an album or display for the walls. The t-shirt which is meant for a pillow cover squats in a frown shape upon my dining room table.

The next book project keeps nudging me, urging, "Me next!" The need to market my recently published book, UNDERCOVER LOVE & OTHER TALES, pulls at my arm, tugging me to go sit down at the computer and do something--anything--to sell it. "What good is a book unread?" it whispers into my ear.

Akkk! Enough. Off with their heads! Humph.

From experience, I know how to handle all this uproar.

Sssssh! Calm down. One at a time, I tell each impatient project. Inside I tell myself, focus. Pick one and do it. Get it done.

The only way to eat an elephant…even for a T-Rex…is one bite at a time. Not that I'm a T-Rex. I'm a multi-tasking woman. Yes, I can do the laundry, run the dishwasher and write at the same time. However, I've found that some, more major, projects take focus. Or none get completed. Started yes, but not done.

So, I'm picking one major project. First I figure out which needs done first.

No brainer. Because it is time sensitive, I'm focusing on marketing for my latest book. Excuse me a moment.

Hi--I'm back. I just set up a 48-hour Kindle Countdown Deal on all three books I've got out on Amazon.com in honor of launching book number three. That should count for a couple bites of that elephant. Pass the BBQ sauce, I'm going in for more.

What about you? Got anything you need to chew?

The Writing Process BLOG HOP

Thank you to Shirley McCann for inviting me to the “Writing Process” Blog Hop. Shirley is a founding member and former President of Sleuths’ Ink Mystery Writers. She is the author of several books including her newest, Anonymously Yours. You can find her answers to the blog hop questions and get to know her at http://shirleymccann.blogspot.com ....

1) What am I working on? Whew...sometimes it feels like ‘What am I NOT working on?’ Because I have so many projects I find it hard to make myself focus. Still, my main project for the past month and into this month, April, is getting the next book in my Take Ten Tales series ready to launch. Undercover Love & Other Tales should be out on Amazon by the end of April. It is a collection of ten sweet romance short stories (there is the usual bonus story, too). A second project, not receiving much of my time, is getting a book-length manuscript a bit more polished and updated. An editor requested the first chapter and synopsis and I’ve been super slow in getting it done and to her. That book is a romantic suspense under a couple of working titles -- Kilroy Was Here, or Cakewalk.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre? Geez. Well, unlike Shirley McCann, who said in her Blog Hop answers that she doesn’t write about vampires and shape shifters, those creatures or others could show up in my stories--or not. Generally, I consider much of what I write as cross genre. I love suspense...and romance...and odd things. Maybe that’s why I have three books of short story collections which vary from mystery/suspense (Death of Bigfoot & Other Tales) to horror/suspense/paranormal (Truth or Dare & Other Tales) to sweet romance (Undercover Love & Other Tales)?

3) Why do I write what I do? I must. I have always wanted to be a writer, an author, ever since I can remember. My favorite childhood books were Black Beauty, Swiss Family Robinson, and the Golden Book Encyclopedia. Then throw in TV westerns with John Wayne as the ultimate hero, Star Trek with Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk and their out-of-this-world adventures, and my teenage crush Magnum P.I. and I guess that explains why I write what I do.

4) How does your writing process work? I get an idea. I think about it. I write. I rewrite. I put it aside to cool. I read it again. I self-edit. I get someone else to read it. I rewrite. For the short story collections, I hire an editor to go over my stories. I rewrite. I publish. Most often I write in my office at home using my laptop computer. Sometimes I will take my recorder on a walk and tell it my story. That is transcribed as soon as possible after I get home. I generally write tale by tale. If I have a deadline, I am pretty disciplined and write several hours at a time. Mid-morning to late in the afternoon is usually when I write. I will occasionally use a pen and paper, but that is mostly for brainstorming.

You can find my books listed on Amazon.com. Simply click on the covers at the top left. Keep watching, Undercover Love & Other Tales will be out ASAP. Thank you for reading my blog.

Call to Action: 
On Monday, April 14th, please continue enjoying the “Writing Process” Blog Hop by visiting:
Lisa Wells at  http://lisawellsauthor.blogspot.com/  and
Tierney James at http://www.ptierneyjames.blogspot.com/.

You can find Lisa Well's titles at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com and at The Wild Rose Press.
You can find Tierney James' books An Unlikely Hero and Zombie Meatloaf on Amazon.com.