Under Contract

We talk a lot on this blog about finding time to write, making time to write, squeezing writing in to our hectic mommy schedules, and making our writing time productive. This week I came across a great article that gave me a new perspective on this never-ending conundrum of the writer.

Being a writer shares a lot with being a mom and a housewife. It's something that requires work, but we technically have no boss, receive no paycheck (yet!), and have no real set schedule. By definition, the fact that we're creative means that the idea of structure makes us a little bit uncomfortable. It defies the process, right?

Hmm...think again.

I picked up my "O" magazine this month, and while flipping through the pages I came across the article, "A Contract of One's Own" by Aimee Bender. To make a long article short, Bender talked about how she came to sign a contract with a friend who is a writer.

She would write five days a week for an hour. As a firm reminder, every day, when she finished her hour, she would e-mail me one word: Done, and at some point during the day, I would e-mail back Check. 

Bender talks about the reasoning behind this arrangement, which makes perfect sense to me. She writes, "Writing every day can be a powerful action, a gesture of belief in one's own imagination..."

YES! Love that.

She also said, "...the more I can externalize the ritual, the easier it is to submit to it. It's all a declaration against the regular dread I used to feel all the time when I wasn't writing."

When you "externalize the ritual" and put it into someone else's hands (even if that "someone else" is a contract on a piece of paper) then you eliminate the questions that slog up your mentality when it comes to writing- you don't have to worry about the how, the when, the where, the why, etc.- you've already spelled it all out for yourself. You don't have to find the time, you've made the time. Bender writes,

The integrity of the system itself is actually more important to me than the daily content, because content will return, and it mostly just needs a reliable container in which to put itself. 

If you do something like she did with her friend, and make a contract, a promise to yourself, then you give your dreams, your vision, and your creativity a "reliable container." If you're thirsty and you believe it will rain, you put out something to catch the rain. If instead you wait for the rain to start then you might be too busy doing something else to catch any of it and those precious drops will slip away.

Ironically, this is the way the rest of the world works. This is why companies have times that employees clock in, and set days and times for events, and have routines and schedules. We see it in other aspects of our lives as well: we don't arrive at church on Sunday morning hoping they get the Sacrament squeezed into the 3-hour block- it's a ceremony with a dedicated time slot, no variation, just like every other church meeting.

Bender writes that, "guilt and dread are, after all, creativity killers." Standardization of your writing time removes both the dread (because when it's writing time, it's writing time, period.) and guilt (because when you're not doing it you're not supposed to be doing it).

On the other hand, she also mentions something I'd never thought of- she says that when her time is up, it's up, regardless of whether or not she's 'on a roll'. She believes in "leaving the work when the going's good so that there's excitement when the writer sits down the next day."

I apologize, I know this was a long post, but this article excited me and I wanted to share my thoughts on it with all of you, in hopes that you might find some inspiration for accomplishing your writing goals this summer.

I would be happy to be anyone's "contract partner" if desired, and I would love to have someone do the same for me (taking into account that I will need some "maternity leave" next month!). The basic "Writer's Contract" is available online at oprah.com.

I’m Raising a White Rabbit

   This morning as I was rushing my girls to get ready for church a thought occurred to me, a thought that comes to me whenever I’m rushing to get somewhere. 

I’m raising a white rabbit.

   I realized that today, like most days when I’m trying to get my kids ready and actually leave on time, that I say “we’re going to be late” or “hurry, hurry!” about a dozen times.  What kind of impression is this leaving on my kids? The answer?  Let me share a little story with you.  Not too long ago I told my girls that we would be going to the grocery store.  I instructed them that after they finished breakfast they would need to get bathed and dressed and then brush their teeth.  Like the good little girls they are they finished their breakfast then went upstairs to get in the tub.  The morning went smooth with no real issues (go figure, we weren’t on a schedule!) In not much time they were dressed and ready to leave.  *A little side not here, whenever we go anywhere we have to doggy proof our house because our beloved creature, Maverick, gets a little anxious when we leave.  Lets just say he’s a nervous eater and a little high strung when he’s by himself.

   So my girls were ready and heading out the door when my oldest turns and shouts back in to me while I’m doggy proofing “Mom! We need to hurry.  We’re going to be late!”  She said it with such desperation, as if the world hinged on us getting to the grocery store “on time.”  I sighed internally and explained to her that we were not late, that we did not have to be at the store at any particular time, and that we were OK.  It was at this moment that I realized that most of the time when my girls are getting ready either my husband or myself are not far from them urging them to move quicker so we wont be late. So much so that any time we get ready to go anywhere my oldest just assumes we need to hurry or we’ll be late. I’ve been trying to be better, trying to take a breath and realized that it’s OK to be a little late sometimes, life will go on.  Don’t get me wrong, we should be on time to church, or appointments, or any other obligations we have, but I think in the hubbub and stress of our high paced lives we forget that in the midst of all our rushing sometimes our children get lost in the confusion of the race.  What’s the solution to this problem?  I have no idea.  However, I have made it a goal that even if we are late I will not let my anxiety affect my children.  It’s kind of a lofty goal, but it’s something I’m going to work on and strive towards.

Saturday So What: How Do You Write a Book?

So What am I doing today? This morning, on June 9th, I am running a marathon. It's my second. I still think I'm crazy.
So What am I doing tomorrow? If I'm still alive, I'm writing a book. It's my third. I still think I'm crazy.

Every once and awhile I get really overwhelmed and think What the heck am I doing? The massiveness of the tasks I'm about to do freak me out. Running for 5 + hours straight? Who does that? How is it even possible? And writing a whole book? Making up worlds, characters, plots?  Who the heck do I think I'm kidding here?

Sometimes I'm at the beginning, looking ahead, and the end seems so impossibly far away. Other times I get lost in the middle, tired and weary of the journey. When I finally cross that finish line, I look back in disbelief and ask how I got here.

How do you run a marathon? By moving forward, one step at a time.
How do you write a book? By moving forward, one step at a time.

It's the same principle. If I look entirely at a project with macro vision, it looks too big and I want to run away screaming.  If I break it up into sections, a mile here, a chapter there... it's doable. Marathons have training schedules, so should books.


Start small with just a concept. A central conceit. Then build on it. Add your characters, build your world around them. Give them problems, tensions, peril. Now that you have a basic concept of where you are going... go. Take it one chapter at a time. Don't worry about the 25 chapters (miles) ahead of you. Focus on the one you're in. Then move onto the next one... and the next. Before you know it, you're at the end.

So when people ask me for advice on running a marathon or writing a book, the advice is the exact same.
Start at the beginning and keep working towards the end. Pace yourself and never give up. You'll get there eventually, I promise.


Come visit my blogs to learn about Facebook Faux Pas, and more about my marathon

Write Away

I think 'busy-ness' is a common ingredient in the lives of women.  I know that most of us wear many hats daily, all of which are important, fulfilling and demanding.  As Mormons we hold callings (sometimes more than one) that occupy a good deal of our thoughts, time, efforts and creative energy.  As Mothers (and wives) we are always on call, meeting the needs of children at different developmental stages and who face different trials and challenges.  Many of us are also fully immersed in someway in the workforce (on top of the very important career of motherhood).

So sometimes, being a writer gets overlooked, shelved, or put on the back burner.  The stories and characters and worlds that beckon to us have to whisper in the quiet recesses of our mind until we have the ability to reach out and work with them.

I dedicated a lot of (okay most of) my spare time in the evenings these past few months to working on a first draft of a novel, often sacrificing sleep and staying up way too late to reach a word count goal, or flesh out a scene I desperately needed to finish.  Now that I'm done that draft, and the project has been shelved for a breather, I've turned my attention to projects and household maintenance that got somewhat neglected during that time.

Suddenly, I realize I've stopped writing altogether.  I'm not ready to start revisions, and not in the position to start a new first draft of a different project.  So, I ask myself, how do I keep the flow of writing going, when I don't have a WIP?

Here's some ideas I had (and I would love for you to share yours as well):

1. write a blog post
2. write in your journal
3. write a letter to a friend (or missionary)
4. write a short story
5. write an entry for the MMW contest
6. ask a child to tell you a story and write it down
7. empty the thoughts in your head onto paper
8. write out a prayer
9. write a letter to a politician about a cause you believe in
10. write thank you cards to friends, family, neighbors or teachers who inspire you.

One thing I know for certain - if we didn't truly love the exploration of words, and the interplay of story arc and tension - if the characters in our heads weren't as real as the flesh-and-blood friends we know and cherish - with all the other hats in our closet, we wouldn't be doing this.

So write away, dear friends, write away!

The Contest and Recharging your Batteries

On last week's post I had a comment asking for more information and clarification on what we are looking for in our "Mormon, Mommy, or Writer" contest. To restate, we want fictional short stories under 4000 words, personal essays, or poetry relating to one or any combination of all three aspects, Mormon, Mommy, or Writer. We thought in general this would lead to submissions of an uplifting nature, maybe "Chicken Soup for the Mormon Mommy Writer's Soul" or some such. That's not to say that it couldn't be something completely different or off the wall. And just because we were thinking one way doesn't mean we would automatically exclude anything that didn't fit in that mold. We tried a tight mold last time, and found it too restrictive, so this time we were hoping to give a greater leeway to encourage more submissions. We just want to see whatever you have to submit! Send it in!

On to other matters. I'm sure you might have noticed that the past few posts by me tended to revolve around how overwhelmed I've felt with the activities that arrived with a bang in May. And while I enjoyed it all, it was very tiring. And I missed writing a lot. I sometimes have guilt when I can write and don't, choosing other activities, but this time I deliberately put it all on the back burner, knowing that I would not have time to write, and if I did write, I would feel guilty over ignoring the other things I needed to do. So now that I'm at a point where I can take a break and start writing again. My characters have waited impatiently, indeed. There have been many whispers about possibilities that I longed to write down. And coming back to it has been refreshing. Though I was so busy with other things, it felt wonderful to write and think seriously about where my story is going again. And I found that deliberately pushing it aside when it didn't want to be, I have a renewed passion to get it finished.

So though I don't recommend doing it the way I did, think about how you can recharge your batteries for a certain story. Because sometimes you just need to do it, even when you don't think so.

If I Owned a Big Publishing House

First of all this is Nikki filling in for Amber today. I'm so glad to be back. Be sure to tell me hello in the comments. I've missed posting so much! My first matter of business is to tell you who won the contest Amner announced last Tuesday. And the winner of "The Most Important Catch" by Jaclyn M. Hawkes is ... ARIELL LARSON! Congratulations! Email us at mormonmommwriters at gmail dot com. Now comes my blog post where I ramble about my ridiculous thoughts. (I'm sure you've missed that! LOL!) If I owned a big publishing house... If I owned a big publishing house I wouldn't be afraid of Amazon one little bit.  Why?  Because fear is a debilitating emotion that undermines success.  But instead I would be determined to show them just who they are dealing with.  First of all, I wouldn't be contracting less authors and books, I would be publishing more books!  This means that every writer I sign is one less writer that Amazon can make a profit off of.  Also, if I can't beat Amazon at their game, I would join them.  Instead of turning my nose up at self-publishing, I would open my own department.  If writers had the choice of self-publishing (publishing on demand) through Amazon or through a division of someone like Simon & Schuster, I'm pretty sure Amazon would lose every time.   I would also start a partnership division where writers can purchase publishing services like covers, and editing.  Again, if writers have the choice between buying services from a reputable publishing company like Random House, the number of scammers posing as publishers would go down because no one would want to use them!   For e-books, I would give the readers what they want.  I would have ebooks available in all varieties of prices.  Since I have two new divisions of self-publishing and partnership publishing, I would have a variety of books to put into different price ranges, in most cases, allowing the author to choose a price range based off my projections of where they would do best in the market.   For agents, this would mean they could sign more writers and help them find the publisher with the best services for their book.  Plus, agents could find writers on places like Wattpad and Authonomy finding those gems that could make it in traditional publishing but I would also give agents a small finders fee for sending me writers that would be a good fit for my partnership publishing.   For book stores like Barnes & Nobles, I would suggest computers or screens on the wall dedicated to POD books that they can order through the website and pick up in store without shipping fees.  I would also suggest having a bigger online review page like Amazon.  The way to make it big is to offer free e-books to readers to write a certain number of reviews and ratings.  Then taking these reviews, the book stores can stock a certain number of POD books on their shelves based on the ratings received.   For readers, this means having more choices and more power in the publishing world.   For writers, this means being able to have more doors open allowing more avenues for your creative stories to blossom.   Now I am just a normal working mom who writes on the side and my notions and thoughts may be a bit on the naive side.  But it seems to me that the first big publishing house to adopt some of these ideas will leave Amazon shaking in their boots.  Why?  Because right now, writers and readers would rather deal with publishers and bookstores whose whole focus are books.  Not a company that also sells toilet cleaners on the side.  

Because You Don't Know What You Don't Know

Have you ever learned something new that made you stop and say, "How in the world did I not ever know about this before???"


I had one of those moments last week when I came across a documentary on North Korea. I was curious about it because I once had a friend in the military who had served on the North/South Korea border and I'm always hearing about Korea in the news and Lisa Ling was involved with the program and I think she's really cool. So I watched. And I was SHOCKED.

For those of you who are not familiar with the situation in North Korea, you would probably be as astonished as I was. Imagine the world of the Hunger Games only worse- much worse. In the simplest of terms, it would appear (though it's hard to say because this "inside look" was just a small percentage of the population) that the entire country has either been brainwashed to worship one man, a communist dictator, or they are so afraid of him that they don't speak out even if they hate the man. There are no cell phones or internet allowed in the country; the only images or photos displayed anywhere are of this leader; the only books are those written by either this leader or his father (the dictator before him) and should anyone dare to speak one false word against this man their entire family will be killed. There are concentration ("work") camps all over the country, children are dying every day of malnutrition, and the only communication that comes from North Korea is propaganda in which every citizen is pictured as being happy-go-lucky and thankful to their great and wonderful leader for the beautiful life he has provided for them.

Lisa Ling traveled with a talented doctor who was teaching surgeons there how to perform a simple surgery to reverse blindness caused by cataracts. He gave many patients their sight, and when they were able to see, what did they do? They fell down and worshipped the image of their "great leader", praising him and thanking him for giving them their sight, promising renewed devotion.

At the time of filming, Lisa Ling was told that she was the only American in the country. No other countries even have embassies there. They have essentially shut out the entire world. (Can I insert here how brave I think Ms. Ling is?) The borders of the country (the "demilitarized zone") are a death trap of land mines and electrified barbed wire fences. The dictator has basically imprisoned an entire country of people.

So...what does this have to do with writing?

Well, I had another little epiphany this week when I was working at my children's school. I was just out in the hallway, taking down artwork, and I watched these little second-graders scurrying around from one thing to another, and I thought about how much they learn in a few weeks' time and how remarkable that truly is. They start out the beginning of the week not even knowing what a fraction is, and by the end of the next week they're taking tests on it.

I thought to myself, "What do I learn in a few weeks?" I suddenly felt a little bit sad, because I knew that even though I have aged and my brain is not as nimble as these sweet little 7- and 8-year-olds, I still have that incredible capacity to learn. What am I doing with it?

So, to sum up, ladies, this world is full of knowledge. We might think that as women, wives, mothers, and writers, we know all that we need to know. And perhaps we do. But does that mean that we're done learning? I'm talking about more than just trying out that new method for making bread or that new parenting technique- these things are important, and certainly should be a part of our daily learning. But I would like to challenge all of us to thirst for more. We live in a big world, and there is so much for us to learn. You don't know what you don't know, and once you find out...well, it could change your whole outlook.

I challenge you to make this summer your summer of learning! Follow your curiosity, let it lead you to increased knowledge and increased awareness of your world.

Have you ever been shocked to discover what you didn't know you didn't know?

What's Writing Without a Little Music?

     Ashley and I grew up surrounded by music. We both had piano lessons. Ashley plays the flute and oboe. I played the clarinet and still play piano when I find the time. We grew up with a mom that sang to us, a grandma that had a song for ever situation and occasion, and a family that cherishes music and it's influence.  I believe that the kind of music we listen to is as important as the kinds of books we read. Music effects us just as much as the words we read. It touches us and influences our moods, connecting with our emotions.  I love a wide variety of music from classical to country to oldies & rock n' roll, and alternative rock and most everything in between. I love new stuff as well as  the old. My favorite is what I call "happy summer time music." These are the songs (could be any genre) that make me jump and dance around my house with a big goofy grin on my face. (I'm sure if the neighbors could see me they'd think I was a little nutty...but that's OK!)  I have found that when I'm writing, certain music helps my brain to work smoother, allowing ideas to flow. Sometimes the kind of music I listen to when I write is determined by what is going on in my current WIP. Other times I find the best music to listen to while writing is the music playing in my mind. (does that make me sound too crazy?!) When I write or think of the story I'm working on I see it playing in my mind like a movie, and in my experience there's never been a good movie that didn't have music playing.  Is there a certain song or kind of music that helps you write?

Saturday So What: Busting Up The Writer's Block

As I prepared for this week's So What, I literally said to myself, Eh... I got nothing.
Ugh. How do you get past Writer's Block?
Bing! Lightbulb. The absence of inspiration was an inspiration in itself. So today's post is dedicated to breaking up the giant brick the stops the flow of ideas.

First thing to know is that it's not just you. Don't panic. It's normal and it happens to everyone.
Second thing to know is that it's not permanent. Your brain has not been erased. Think instead of it like a kink in the hose, something stopping all your brilliant ideas that are just waiting to flow into your brain.

These are the things I do to unkink the hose. First I try to remove myself from all the stressors in my life. This usually means going for a run or locking myself in my writing cave and throwing a box of cereal at the children. If that's not enough, I will write down on a pad of paper all the things that are occupying my brain, taking up valuable creative space.

Next step would be to just write. Anything. Blog posts. Journal entries. Letters to missionaries. I actually like to write useless unimportant things. Something I can truly be creative with. This weeks exercise was writing a grocery list... if I was an alien on a planet of fish people.

Sometimes to the only way to find something is to stop looking. Like when you lose your keys and you search frantically for hours. When you give up and do something else, like laundry- voila it was in your jeans. Stop looking for your own inspiration and enjoy someone else's. This is my absolutely-works-ever-time method. Reading a favorite book or watching my favorite movie. It gets the juices flowing when nothing else does. Being immersed in someone else's creativity tickles my own I guess.

What do you have to add my list. I wanna know. I would also love any suggestions for topics for future So Whats.

You can read more of moi and my balancing act of life, and my awesome ideas for portion control.

The More I Learn

The better I will be (hopefully). :)

My primary focus lately has been on editing. The learning curve got so steep I almost fell off. Seriously. I put what I thought I knew into The Tyrant King, had test readers and self edited it until I didn't think I could do any more to it. Then an actual editor got their hands on it, and it's a whole new ballgame.

First off, I don't know nearly as much as I thought I did. That one wasn't must of a surprise. It's kind of like all the rules I was following were for mainstream fiction and not so much for fantasy. You actually write fantasy a little different.

I also have a huge problem with repetitive words. Not the same word every time, but sections of the story where I use a word over and over. Not too easy to do a whole MS search for those when they vary with each section. (no lie, I also had a lot of repetitive words throughout the MS that I could search and replace) And the word "said." I was told it was pretty much an invisible word, but, apparently, you can use invisible words too many times.

I'm not saying any of this to freak you out. And you can't really use my editing experiences to take apart your MS. All writers are unique. I'm only using these examples to illustrate what I don't know.

Most of you are aware I have a traditionally published novel. The problem there is that I learned almost nothing through their editing process. (which is actually something else I suspected) I also think that contributed to the fact that they didn't accept the sequel. Looking at my MS from an outside POV I'd have to say I probably would have thought it had too many problems to publish.

Editing is golden. Even though the learning curve is steep, I'm really getting a lot out of it. Not that any of this is easy. It's hard to feel like you've got the best thing you can do only to have someone pick it apart and tell you everything that's wrong with it. What I am learning, though, is that what I thought was my best wasn't. Yet.

Now if only I could work out my comma handicap...