Is It Acting?

There's very little autobiographical about my official YA novel #2. It's about a kid who gets in a lot of trouble. Exponentially more trouble that I've ever have. What's strange is that at the moment it's so easy to write. I've known kids like this. That helps. More than helps – without them I wouldn't be able to wrap my head around the story. But sometimes the thought pops up. Who am I to write this? But... we don't have to be the people we write about. We just have to write well.

Is it like acting? We don't ask actors to have the experiences of the people they're portraying. They just have to do the job. To see the humanity in their character, to understand motivation and to deliver authentic performances. That's good acting. It's also good writing.

So I'm feeling that the pressure is off. Well, the who are you pressure might be off. But the pressure to do it well is still there. That's appropriate if it keeps us honest, committed and effective.

So here's to another day of work. Of feeling free to write whatever we're called to write, even if it's channeling someone or something completely different from who we are. Is the life of a writer great or what?

In With the Best

Thank you, Heather Kelly, for interviewing me on your fantastic Edited to Within an Inch of My Life blog! I'll be stopping by throughout the day to answer questions.

Heather is my crit partner extraordinaire. Though I've moved coasts, we still Skype weekly. My writing is so much better for her. Again, 10,000 thanks to Heather!

Just Power

I've been meditating for years. In high school I took a meditation class on the second floor of the school church in the interim between fall and winter sports. Years later my first job after college was teaching English in Japan and every Saturday I sat for a couple hours at the moss garden of a zen temple. But I never understood when peaceful people said when sitting just sit. When eating an orange, just eat the orange. When opening the door, just open the door. Wasn't it good always to be thinking? So I was a thinker.

Last week... so many years later... I think I finally kinda got it. When writing just write.

Yes, I do believe in preparation and forethought. Novel #2 that I'm currently working on began years ago as a character sketch and a 20 page synopsis. I'm glad I put the thought into it then. But I didn't do anything about that novel until now and it's very strange that it's suddenly so easy to write. I think this might be because I've gotten out of the way of the story. I'm not over-thinking. I'm just writing.

Is that the power of just?

For me, focusing on just one thing doesn't mean that I'm working on just one thing. Just one thing at a time. When taking a morning walk, just take a morning walk, which is different from what I would usually do - refuse to end the walk until I'd figured out how to get a character to the next plot point. When walking just walk. When writing just write.

The quieter my mind, the easier it is to write.

And the easier it will be to answer questions for Heather Kelly's Friday blog where I'll be interviewed about my writing and Our Spirit, the nonprofit I started to help gay/lesbian youth.

Thank you, Heather! As everyone knows, she's awesome, a blogger extraordinaire. She's also the best crit partner, and I know the world will be a better place when her novel is published. I just know it.

Making Space

Space has arrived. The 14th and last guest left yesterday. For a while I've been writing in the smallish chunks of time, making Swiss cheese work (see June 8th). But now there's SPACE.

The key is how best to use it. How not to fill the new space with distractions. And how not to burn out.
I'm going back to my weekly lists. But they're much longer, divided into Our Spirit; Romeo, Romeo; novel #2; and novel #3. (The work for the last two is simple, just two hours daily on #2 and one on #3.) The list fills a full page, too long for here, but it's very satisfying to cross things out. Last week looked pretty good by Saturday night, lots of strike-throughs.

There's other stuff on the Weekly List - the gym, meditation... The trick is not to put too much stuff there. And most importantly, not to fill this new space with so much stuff that I need to struggle for more space again.

No question this week, just three cheers for making, protecting and appreciating space.

(art by Mark Kostabi)

Journey

We've moved apartments and I've been organizing my study and wondering whether I'll blog about tossing out old writing projects or how to cultivate the discipline of blogging. I've gotten rid of a lot, and it's fantastic and freeing. And I certainly could stand a heavy dose of blog discipline.

But I can't stop thinking about writing as a journey.

Right now I'm in both the not-ecstatically-fun business phase (industry research, preparing queries etc) for Romeo, Romeo and the loving-it honeymoon phase of a new novel. But I've been surprised that I've also been writing an hour a day on an old project that I didn't toss out. My priority is to complete a first draft of novel #2. But novel #3 wants attention. Just a little. Just an hour. It's not what I'm supposed to be doing, but it's fun and has its own voice and I choose to think that it's not a distracting side trip, but part of the journey.

How does novel #3 help #2? I'm not exactly sure. It's just what I'm doing and feels right and if it feeds the engine... then I guess it's okay.

I have faith in the journey... but, still... how do we know things aren't distractions?

(photo by Pacific Northwest photographer Lee Mann)

The Benefits of Swiss Cheese

Years ago a friend who was a counselor for college students gave me a piece of advice. Don't look for three hour blocks of time. Instead Swiss cheese it. Meaning, look for little holes of time. Twenty minutes here. Fifteen there. Maybe ten. Wow, an hour. And you'll quickly find that you're moving at a good pace on your project.
This past month I've hardly been on line. We had 12 guests visiting for a big celebration, found a new apartment, and I launched the website for Our Spirit, a nonprofit I started for LGBTQ youth. A huge priority was to to keep working on my new novel. Swiss Cheese wisdom worked. Without time to sit as long as I like, I took 20 or 30 minute breaks and managed to write a chapter and a half. Because it's a new novel, I was worried that it wasn't as deep in me and it'd be more difficult to get into the flow of it. Not the case. Even writing a little every day kept the work in the front of my mind.

Swiss cheese works for me. What works for you? How do you keep your projects going when there's little time?

Graphic from SuperLaurie.org. Thank you Carol Ellin for your Swiss cheese wisdom!

Where Now?

Thank you for all the encouragement about saying yes to the surprise of a new project. It's especially helpful to remember that committing to a novel is not all or nothing. This new novel might make it all the way to a full draft and then a second draft and then multiple drafts. Or it could slide away as another, better idea rises to the surface. It's all part of the process, it all helps our writing, and it's all good.

This past week I've been marveling that the narrator in this new project and his voice are so different from what I usually write. This is new territory, new language. Oddly, it's easy. This novel and this voice are just pouring forth. For now.

My question - what do you do when writing about someone or something far outside your experience? Do you research? Watch movies? Hang out in parts of town where the characters would but you wouldn't? Journal as the characters? Trust that whatever compelled you to enter this different place will carry you through? All of the above?

At the moment, I trust that I'm where I'm supposed to be. But writing a novel is a long journey. I'm wondering what I can do now to prepare.

Oh, and here's a shout out for tomorrow's game on W.I.B.I.J. Prizes! Thank you to Tina, Heather & Jon for keeping us nimble through the blogosphere!