Writing without Freelance Writing

By AC

Nov

Okay, so I haven’t been blogging much, because frankly, I haven’t needed a break from the mental tedium that can often be freelance writing. I work at the retail shop, and then every time I sit down to my ultra fabulous new computer, I have only two tasks: harvest my crops in Farmville, and write.

Add to this new found singularity of purpose the Mac program Scrivener has been affording me–I’m not an outliner, like at all, and suddenly when I get stuck I work it out on a the Scratch Pad and then make a few notes on the Outliner, and then I run on my merry writing way. Crazy, right?

I’ve literally written 8 chapters (at roughly 3200 wds per chapter)(which means 25,600 wds total so far) in six weeks. SIX WEEKS!! Let’s just hope I can keep this going.

It’s so funny, this time last year I was wrapped up in Tarian and blasting through it at almost the same rate. I had a completely single minded purpose then; its when I was living on my own in Scotland and loving it and struggling with it and not cutting it financially. I wonder if I have to be poor to be a good writer?

Whatever it is, whether or not it’s the circumstances that contribute to the writing or whether it’s latching on to stories and characters that really speak to me, I’m just happy that it’s working and that it feels this good. Because God, despite the fact that I really miss St Andrews and everyone in it at Thanksgiving (we had these Thanksgiving feasts with fifteen people that made me feel like, because I could coordinate and cook a meal like that with my friends, I was a success as an adult–aside from the inestimable pleasure of having a really good meal with so many friends) when my writing is good, I feel good–unbelievably good.

However, I guess this week, with the Black Friday sales and all the fall out surrounding it, will be the real test of how I like retail. We’ll see!!

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Because It Has To

By AC

Nov

True story. I went to an author’s event at the local middle school with Anthony Horowitz, who I’ve long idolized as a really awesome writer who is writing some of the most exciting and dynamic books for young adults (in theory, young boys, but whatevs) on the market today. Akin to Meg Cabot, his stuff is just exciting. Forget technical excellence, great creativity, and dollars made, at the end of the day great authors just thrill you.

That aside, I went to hear him speak and maybe–just maybe!–get a chance to talk to him and geek out a bit. I’ve loved the Alex Rider series all the time I was in Scotland, and I waited in line (okay, so I waited to be LAST in line so I could have a second) to tell him just that. I told him I had been studying writing and was an aspiring novelist. And he looked up at me and was totally earnest and told me that the only difference between the published authors and the unpublished ones was that the published ones never quit.

Okay, I’ve heard that before. Not earth shattering news.

But then he looked me straight in the eye and told me that if I stick with it, never quit, it will happen. “Because it has to.”

I kid you not, I teared up a little, thanked him for his time and walked away, clutching my signed copies. Because that easily, that simply, he reminded me that writing seems like this crazy game where agents and publishers are tugging on the strings of your life like a cat’s cradle and you have absolutely no control, but it’s not about that. It was never about that.

Writing is about writing, about passion, about believing in yourself and helping other people believe in their own passions. Being published isn’t the end game. It isn’t even part of the game; it’s a symptom of this greater, wild disease, but it’s not the heart of the infection.

When did I lose sight of that? Of course I want to be published, but to be honest, I’m living my dream. I’m writing every day and challenging myself every day, and I’m lying to myself if I think that working a crappy job or too many hours is some how restricting that. Seriously? I write 10-15 thousand words a month in my novels. This is the dream. And the rest will work out–because it has to.

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Leads, Apps, Work, Time

By AC

Nov

This is the theme song of my life, the rapid repetition of those four words in my head. Let me explain. PB290095

Leads

So, my work with TownMe will be ending this week (amicably, hopefully with more work in the New Year) and with the absense of that income there is a void in my life that another freelancing job should hopefully fill. However, a) the lead boards have looked a little dry as of late and b) I don’t really want JUST ANY freelancing job. I want to be writing for magazines. The pay is better, the work is better, and the publishing credit is way, way better. I just need to get over the initial barrier, start writing some pieces on spec and sending them out along side queries for more substantial work. I want to crack this one!

Apps

I’m going to be applying for the Provincetown Writing Residency this year at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and the application is due December 1st. Everything’s all set, except for the decision of which story I’m going to submit. Do I submit the first thirty pages of Arianna, a work that is ambitious but may not ever have the follow through to become a novel? Do I submit Tarian (aka Diary of a Teenage Murderess) which is a little slicker and much more polished than anything else in my arsenal, but currently has the unfortunate feeling that it might never get sold? Or do I submit Scarlet, the Robin Hood story that’s been under wraps but is my current baby and takes a lot more risks than older works when it comes to voice and character (and is admittedly the least polished and so far, no one but me has laid eyes on it)? EEK!!

Work

With TownMe ending and my job at a retail store starting to pick up more hours, I don’t know if I’m going to feel more distracted or more present when I end up sitting down at my computer, because I’m going to need that time to put in the upfront work for magazine research and also to work on Scarlet. I don’t know how to anticipate that either. Also, as the type of place that likes to call you last minute to work, how much time should I be working and how much time should I guard preciously as my own?

Time

Time is, of course, what it all boils down to. Oh, and money, which, speaking of, I just got hit with an unexpected bill from the surgery. I have to sign up for my own health insurance in December and it’s all such a complex mystery to me. ::sigh:: One more thing to tackle. Who has the time?

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On Women, Writing, and My Unadulterated Goals

By AC

Nov

Taken on my recent trip to Chicago

Okay, so first off, I read this post today on hating female characters, and I think it’s totally true. Female characters–kind of like regular females–are judged more harshly in literature than their male counterparts. However, I don’t think this is a phenomenon limited to literature–the post mentions Harry Potter, and hints that if Harry were Harriet, uber popular, everyone falling over themselves for her, literally Chosen, wouldn’t she be obnoxious? I mean, even Buffy had to be a social outcast. And I think it’s true, but I think the culprit here is women, not men.

Women have a shameful tendency to tear each other down in an effort to make themselves secure (while men tend to use more of a dominance heirarchy to determine who is superior–think the whole alpha male complex). Two turns through all girls schools taught me this with a vengeance: Women often fear successful women. They mentioned this on my new favorite show “The Good Wife” in its pilot episode, introducing the CEO with her saying how women don’t have the luxury of being nice (or something to that effect).

The real question is, does the issue stop or start with literature? Personally, I’m going to vote that it STOPS there, and I applaud Justine’s effort to push through sterotypical characters. I think not only does it make for great storytelling, but it also helps us break down the neat little boxes of social identity.

On a totally different note, I really want to write (maybe only for myself) my goals. Inspired by this post, and also kind of by my whole, “Hell! Let’s be POSITIVE!” attitude (and it also overlaps my new post on Adventures of a Lap Bandit, but it’s not up yet), I want to be honest.

Oh, and it’s also my 25th birthday today (well I’m writing this the night before my birthday, but it will post on my birthday). So is there a better time for goal setting? No. Here we go.

I’ve been totally lying. It’s true, right now I’d be grateful for a foot in the door, a place to start, a contract with either an agent or a publisher. I understand that it’s a long process and I’m fully ok with that–I’m a long haul kind of girl anyway.

However, I keep saying, to myself and others, I’d be happy to just support myself writing, just manage, just make it. LIES. That’s not what I want at all.

First, I want a chance. I just want to get in there. Because you can damn well be sure that once I’m in there, I will do absolutely everything in my power to both elevate my writing for each new book and promote my books like a crazy person. I am ambitious, I am smart, I am incredibly driven, and there is no reason I shouldn’t be able to have my second goal with a lot of hard work and a touch of gumption.

Second, I want to be wildly, incredibly, inspiringly successful. I’m not afraid to work hard for it, but I’m not a “rest on my laurels” kind of girl. Whether it takes me one book or ten, I want to be a career novelist, a household name, a bestseller, and an innovator in writing. I don’t want to “just” be able to support myself. I want to not worry about money, buy my mom a house, and have a self-sustaining income without ever having a guy in the picture (add one in later, if necessary, but I don’t think it’s ever a smart idea to be financially reliant on someone else, friend, family, or spouse). I want to absolutely kill it.

Third, I want to do this for the rest of my life. I have a billion ideas, two hundred notebooks that I’ve spent the past 15 years scribbling in, and I’ve wanted this since I was thirteen. I think language is the most interesting and complex of human communication and I want to spend my life as a devotee of it. I want to teach young girls to share their voice the way I was taught, I want to help young people see the value in books that I’ve always seen.

And you know what, I’m not ashamed, I’m not shy, I’m not holding it back at all. That’s what I want. Now, like Elle Woods, watch me go and get it.

Guess I’ll check back next year…

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I Need A Mac Crash Course

By AC

Nov

So, it has been made apparent to me that my birthday present will be a hand-me-down Macbook that my father is sick of. This is, however, my first Mac! As thrilled as I am, I know there’s probably tons to learn, and while I’m looking forward to tooling around with it, I need to know:

1. How to protect it. It’s 13 in, so recommendations for sleeves or cases? What fits a mac well? My PC is a beast compared to the MacBook, so it won’t really fit in the stuff I own.

2. What programs do I need to survive? I’m interested in Scrivener as a writer’s app; how does this compare to Word? What’s a good Twitter platform?

3. I feel like there are a million questions I should be asking and don’t know to ask yet; anyone have any other advice for me?

I’m so excited!!!

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SQUEE! Research and Travel

By AC

Nov

The Pier at St Andrews

So, while extensively researching Nottingham for the Robin Hood novel I’m writing, I went, ugggh I wish I could just see it!

And then I realized that I can. And then I looked one tab over and remembered I’m currently planning a trip to the UK. Which, you know, is where Nottingham is. And then it occurred to me: I CAN GO TO NOTTINGHAM WHILE I’M IN THE UK! AND IT CAN BE A RESEARCH TRIP–WHICH MEANS A WRITE OFF!!!

Sorry for the all caps action. So now I’m like flip-out excited, because I can fly into London/Cambridge and visit one of my favorite people in Cambridge, go to Nottingham for a weekend/long weekend (and the train’s only about forty pounds if I buy far enough in advance) and then get a train from Nottingham to Leuchars (St Andrews, love of my international life) for about a hundred pounds. It’s an expensive detour (especially because otherwise I’d probably fly straight to Edinburgh) but it’s unbelievably exciting!

Especially since if I spend the extra (roughly) 250 pounds all told, I can write off the plane tickets and travel costs to get to Nottingham and stay there! YEAAAA! Which will be especially sick whether or not I actually sell a book in 2010.

And I’m FREAKING OUT that I have a genuine plan to go visit some ROBIN HOOD action!!!!!

Now the real question is: any of my UK (or US!) friends want to come with me?? We can play with bows and arrows….

And actually, the best question is: WHY THE HELL DIDN’T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE?!! Like, all that time I was LIVING in the UK?

Ok, I’m going to try and calm down so I can get to sleep sometime tonight. Or I’ll just right up a storm–whichever!

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