My Book's Skeleton and the Imaginary Interview

What was your writing process like?

My writing process was very chaotic and out of order.* Words or images would come to me at random, so I'd write them down and then build scenes around them. It felt a bit like having pieces from several puzzles on the table but not knowing how or which ones fit together.

Where did you get the idea for the book?

This story started with a phrase that popped into my brain as I came out of the shower one day in Ecuador: "I was born with grey eyes." I unpacked all the isolation and rejection that Tea feels and her quest to accept herself from that one phrase.

How long did it take?

I wrote countless drafts over my three years of Nanowrimo (2015 to 2017), although I started collecting ideas for a novel in a notebook in 2007. I can pretty much say that only a few great-grandchildren of those ideas ever made it into the final book, thankfully! The second half came together quickly and has pretty much stayed the same through all my drafts, but it was only in 2017 that I was able to write a coherent first half, mostly thanks to another inspirational phrase that popped into my brain, "You have been chosen." That solved how Tea ends up at Riderhill despite her eyes and why they don't quite know what to do with her. They can't send her away but they don't let her in either, so she ends up in the middle, still searching to belong.

* Like now, I'm writing the answer to an imagined interview question about the published - and hopefully wildly successful - book when I've just finished the skeleton and it still needs fattening up.

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Ah, back to my current life. :)

I felt hope in my spirit that I would have a working draft by this December, consisting of the final list of scenes that made the cut. The good news is that today I finished sorting everything into 5 sections with 6 chapters each. I was tired of writing thousands of words over the years that were not contributing to the story as a whole. I would write and delete and write and delete. It was a desire of my heart to finally just work out which scenes would actually be in my novel and focus on developing those. It was hard for me to know what to include because in a creative sense, anything was possible. What made one choice better than another? Even in real life I struggle to choose, and writing was no different, but it is finally done.

I expected more of a sense of accomplishment, which is probably why I writing on my blog, looking for my lost sense of success. Yay! I made it this far! I have decided which bones to keep and which do not belong to my novel's skeleton - 29,545 words - and now I just need to flesh them out. Bibisco has been a great tool that God put into my hands through a Google search for "free writing software."

A month or so before this year's Nanowrimo, I asked God if we could make a deal. I would keep showing up to write if He would help me with everything else. I have kept up my end poorly, but He has been more than faithful to help me see this through.

I am going to celebrate by cutting my hair in time for our family Christmas Eve party. My mother-in-law wants me to dye it too, but I am fond of my white and brown stripey hair. We'll see.

Day 9

This post almost didn't happen. Today was a "no good, horrible, extra cranky, I-want-to-move-to-Australia," kind of morning. And that pretty much sums up my feelings about my manuscript (book? screenplay? I just want to write my story).

I am no stranger to feeling like giving up, so I went to my Nanowrimo inbox and the top item was a pep talk. Perfect. Then this quote made me laugh and a glimmer of hope has been restored.

"...move faster into the future. The world is full of people who say it can’t be done. If everyone listened to them, we’d still live in caves—and there would be no such thing as books."

- Dean Koontz

There is no one actively criticizing my book-writing efforts except myself. My inner critic is far rougher on me than any real critic will probably ever be. It says, "You can't do this. It's no good. You're no good. You'll never finish. Even if you do finish you'll never get published. You can't write. Ha ha ha ha ha."

How do I respond to my inner critic? This is me pushing the delete button. Delete. Delete. Delete. Deep breath.

"Wherever you are, keep moving forward." This was the title of the second message in my Nanowrimo inbox. And also a theme in my devotions lately. And something Tea has to deal with.

When I started prepping for Nanowrimo this year, I promised God that I would show up every day. That's it. I did it. Today I showed up. And I have each of these 9 days (except not Sunday), despite only having a few hundred new words. Just looking at my word count yesterday almost made me want to give up.

But I am still here. And I'll be back tomorrow too. So there.

Day 7

I found these suggestions from "Spec Scripts 101" by Ray Morton encouraging.

That's it for today.

Day 3

I know where I want to end up but have trouble getting started. As in writing, so in life. I am afraid of rewriting the beginning so much that it loses all appeal. My ending has not changed in substance since the very first draft, but I have started my book what feels like a hundred ways. This time, as I rework it and rework it, I see it coming to life. Detail by detail, I think, "Yes, this is how the story should go."

I hope my readers feel the same.

I feel better this Nanowrimo, flexing my writing muscles, such as they are, and feeling more confident and encouraged by knowing that a novel is a lot of work. The first Nanowrimo I was trying to clilmb Everest without any gear or training. This year, I am more seasoned. I am no longer as naive about what it takes, but I have not given up. Everest, here I come!

Day 2

"I am not able, and I do not want, completely to abandon the world-view that I acquired in childhood. So long as I remain alive and well I shall continue to feel strongly about prose style, to love the surface of the earth, and to take pleasure in solid objects and scraps of useless information. It is no use trying to suppress that side of myself."

- George Orwell, Why I Write

I must confess that I checked this book out because I confused my Georges and thought that this was the one who was a woman writing under a man's name. Turns out, that is George Eliot and this is the George who wrote 1984. In my defense, there is also a George Sand who was a woman too. So it seems that George is a popular first name for many authors, male and female. But since I checked out the book, I read the essay of interest anyway. I do not understand the politics that were riveting in his day, but I still found a gem or two for my quote collection about writing.

"All writers are vain, selfish and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery. Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some (instinct) whom one can neither resist nor understand."

- George Orwell, Why I Write

Ah yes. This describes my experience so far with noveling. But still, one of my smallest joys in life is a true-in-my-life, well-written paragraph.

P.S. I also rose at 5 am today, despite staying up until 10 am last night trying to catch up. Yesterday ended with 531. This is why I am now snoozy at 4:26 pm.

Day 1

Yes, I did get up at 5:00 am, only to discover that my husband and my daughter were also awake. So it was a party of three in our bedroom as I opened my computer and typed 49 words. Yes, 49. That is my grand total so far for today. And that also counts an hour of writing while my daughter was in preschool, so this morning was probably something like 15.

But all was not in vain. I am simultaneously writing and learning about writing: setting, character descriptions, and plot points. I love dialogue, making me wonder if I should do a screenplay instead. In the end, it came down to a book because I feel like (perhaps erroneously) they have a longer life and more earning potential. Noble hmm? But there it is. This blog is to keep me honest in the future. :)

While I was sitting at lunch (cold cereal), I received a moment of clarity and the first three plot points of my novel rearranged themselves in my mind, connecting some previously separate events. Yay. With these three scenes in mind, hopefully I will reach that special number of words -1667- tonight. The plus about the early morning writing plan is that I can fall back on the evening writing plan in case of disasters. Or morning fog.

Nanowrimo 2017 The Plan

I love a good plan. Maybe even a bad one. Having a map in front of me with stops and fun all planned is something I find exhilarating. Even if I never follow it again, I enjoy making a plan. However, I do intend to follow this one because my life is such right now that if I don't make time for Nanowrimo then I will not be victorious this month. And more than crossing the 50k mark, I want to, hope to, finish a working draft of my novel, the same novel I have been working on for three years and dreaming of since 2007, or perhaps all my life. 2017 is my year of yes. Yes I will finish. Yes I will make the adjustments necessary in my life to do this. Yes I will relax and have fun and not sweat the small stuff. Yes I will let it go if my kids want to play or my husband wants to talk or we have a spontaneous family movie night. Because I know my spontaneous family (and self!), I have decided that there is only one time when no one will need me.

5 am.

Yes, this is my plan. To pry myself out of bed, or at least prop myself up for an hour of writing in the morning. My motto will be: I have the rest of my life to sleep. 30 days of 5 am. I can do this.... zzzzz..... This will not be me. :)

The delicious quiet of an early morning. And the advantage over night time writing (my first Nanowrimo plan) is that I will not be tired. At least not once I wake up properly.

So in order to wake up at 5 am (I am thinking as I write), I will need to go to bed at 8 pm. I am a 9 hour baby. Somewhere along the way I discovered that 8 hours is not enough for me, along with the fact that it takes me awhile to unwind and fall asleep.

8 pm bedtime.

This means also getting my kids to bed at 8 pm. Which means last snack at 7 pm, and supper at 4 pm. Those are our normal times but we slid out of them this summer and have yet to get back. Plus the fact that my son, now 8 years old, wants a 9 pm bedtime.

So my evenings have less down time because I am constantly prodding children along the path to bed, but the overall rewards are great if I can do it.

Go me! And please help me, Lord. Without you, my efforts will not be crowned with success.

P.S. One thing I forgot. I am hoping and working toward 50,000 new words this Nanowrimo. As of today, I have 30,066 words.

The Cracks My Writing Falls Into

I found this phrase in my old writing files that I am sorting and deleting. It describes perfectly how my writing time slides in and fills the edges of my life. It reminds me of these pictures of Japanese pottery, although I go back and forth about which is the gold and which is the clay. My attitude and I are also a work in progress.

Photo: Wikipedia

Leftover Words

It turns out that having 20 unfinished first drafts or so is not all bad. Using Bibisco, I have now chunked it out into rough chapters and scenes, copy and pasting my favorite parts from various drafts. I picked Babisco off Google's list of free writing software because it sounds like Nabisco, but now I like it for itself and love using it.

I have 22, 398 words. And an outline! I am coming into this Nanowrimo with far more than any other year. Yay!

My writing affirmation for when the going gets tough is:

KEEP SHOWING UP.

There may be a day that you give up, but it is NOT TODAY.

Time to read some Nanowrimo posts as encouragement and reward. Or browse Tiny Houses. I'm actually off to do a lava kit with my son that he got for his birthday. 

Things I Want to Save

I am deleting my numerous book-related files and Word scraps, but there are a few things I would like to save.

George Orwell - Why I Write

Barry Schwartz - The Paradox of Choice

C.S. Lewis - Three Ways to Write for Children

Chris Guillebeau - The Happiness of Pursuit

Francis Frangipane - The Three Battlegrounds

"Writing a novel is more like a marathon than a sprint. Unless you're doing Nanowrimo, then it's like college all over again." Me

The name of the land and home we do not have yet - Piedras Paradas

Nanowrimo 2017

My daughter is now in preschool and my son is in 2nd grade. We live in the U.S. now, although still deeply connected to Ecuador and our ministry there.

I just finished moving the best parts (I hope) of my story from Word into Bibisco. I love how I can piece out the chapters and scenes, and move things around. Every time I use it I feel like the impossible is slowly becoming possible as I see my book taking shape. I am at the tipping point of my excitement overcoming my discouragement and fear.

I just moved the last scene over and feel tired. The skeleton of my story is mostly there, with a few missing bones here and there. My next step is to flesh it out, edit, edit, edit, then let some other eyes in. Then perhaps a professional edit, then sending out my manuscript. What a trip this has been and will be!

My goal is to finish the skeleton and muscles by Christmas. Actually sooner, by November 28. Nanowrimo here I come, again! The third year is the one. Ha ha.

So here I am again, taking a break from writing by writing. My new motto is: Writers Write. That's it. Like Dory would say, "Just keep writing, writing, writing, wriiiiiiiting, wriiiiiiiting, what do we do we write, write, write."

 I will now go and sign up for Nanowrimo. A treat to tell myself, "Well done. You are still here."



(I came back to add this year's participant badge. Yay! This year's novel is a go! Time for recess.)