When writing is hard, do it anyway

I like to show this photo at my school visits.

Because kids don't always think of all of the hard work that goes into the writing of the book. They see the finished product and go - wow, cool! That looks like fun!! You can hold a beautiful, finished book and do jazz hands at the same time, yay!

But those books didn't just magically appear out of nowhere. I mean, kind of, because they suddenly land on my front porch in a box from my publisher when all I sent them was a manuscript. But you know what I mean. Writing is often like any other kind of work. Sure, some days I'm excited to get to it and see what my characters want to tell me, but just as often, I don't feel like doing it. I might be worried I have no plot or the one I do have is completely unbelievable. I may worry that my characters are too one-dimensional. Is my dialogue realistic? Is the pacing too slow or too fast? I could go on and on here, but I'll stop because our job is to quiet the doubt and writing regardless. Trying to get everything right is really, really hard. And during a first draft, pretty much impossible. And many days, simply getting any words down at all is not easy.

But I've said it before and I'll say it again - in the end, it comes down to perseverance. Day after day I make myself hit my word count goal whether I feel like it or not because that is how the book gets written.

Here are some things that help, if you're struggling lately.

Before your writing begins for the day, write out what you plan to write. When you know WHAT to write, the actual writing will be a lot easier
Download the self-control app and block yourself from social media sites that you know to be your biggest distractions.
Try listening to soft, soothing music.
Have a cue that says - it's now time to write. It might be sitting down with your favorite hot beverage. It might be turning on that soft, soothing music. It might be yelling into the universe, "I'm going to write 1,000 words now and nothing is going to stop me!"
Set a time and write for 30 minutes and then reward yourself for the work, with a sticker or a quarter in a jar, or something. Anything!

Sometimes I don't feel like going to the gym, but I know I will be glad once I've gone. The same is true of writing. As the word count inches upward, so does my pride. I'm doing it, I'll think to myself. I'm writing this book.

The key is to write and write and write, on the good days and the not-so-good days, until the very end. And then, of course, you get to start over and revise all of those beautiful words. But we'll worry about that another day.

National Novel Writing Month will be here SOON!

I've never officially participated in NaNoWriMo, which happens during the month of November, though I've done variations of it. I think I've always been scared that I would "fail." As in, that I wouldn't reach the goal of writing 50,000 words in one month.

But I've been thinking about what I tell kids during school visits. Trying something and having it not go the way you'd like doesn't mean you've failed. To try is to do, and that is definitely *not* failing.

Failure is when you don't try at all.

So, I'm going to try it. I may or may not reach 50,000 words, but whatever happens, I'll certainly have more words on a new project than I do now.

Usually when I'm drafting a new project, I try to write 1,000 words a day. This will require about 1,667 words a day. It's more, but it's not a *ton* more. I'm sure some days I'll write less and some days I'll write more, and I suppose the idea is that in the end, it all balances out. Maybe. Hopefully.

I do like to revise as I go. That's how I work best. It'll be interesting to see if I have to scale that back in order to accomplish what I need to. Or will I just let things around the house slide a bit more and spend more time at the computer than I usually do? I don't know, but I guess I'm going to find out!

If you want to be my buddy over at the NaNoWriMo site, my user name is LisaSchroeder.

Someone on twitter told me there is a fun kind of energy that happens during the the month of November, and that excites me. Good, positive energy is super helpful when trying to get a rough draft down on paper. I just about have a solid outline done on the project I want to work on, so with the outline as my guide, and some tea and cookies for nourishment, I'll venture out into the NaNoWriMo wilderness and see what happens.

Tally-ho!!!!

Here's what's new

Thursday through Monday, I was housebound due to a big snow storm that is rare for our neck of the woods. It was very pretty. And quiet. I'm always amazed how much quieter everything is during and after a lot of snow falling.

It's like a the world is snuggled under a giant quilt, sleeping.

The kids loved having a couple of snow days. But I am glad the temperature is back to normal (way above normal, actually, as we're sitting at 50!! degrees today) and I can take the dog for a walk and not worry about falling and breaking my neck.

I know the south and the east are about to get slammed with another big storm, and I am so, so sorry! Winter sucks. That's all there is to it. Hang in there.

The good news is that since I was stuck at home, and my husband had to work, I wrote a LOT. In fact, I finished a draft of a new book. It's always such an exciting thing - to get to the end of something I started a few months ago, not knowing for sure if I'd get to the end or not. Never gets old, let me tell you. I'm working on revisions now so I can send it to my agent soon and see what she thinks. I don't want to say a lot, but I will say this. It's kind of a strange book, but I am *really* excited about it, because strange isn't always a bad thing. There's a fine line, I know, but when done right, the unique and the odd can create a great read. Here's hoping...

Along with getting this new thing ready for my agent to read, I have first pass pages to go through on one of the CHARMED LIFE books. And I have edits coming soon on another book I sold recently but haven't announced yet. When all of that's done, I plan on taking a couple of months off from writing.

Honest. Really! I am!!

I'll still be working, since I have Skype visits and other appearances coming up, but it's time to fill the well on the writing end of things. I'm sure it won't be long before I'll be itching to get back to it. But for now, I'm looking forward to some time off to do other things.

Read!
Go to my son's track meets!
Spring clean! (Okay, looking forward to that is reaching, but still. Needs to be done.)

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Only 35 days until spring! See?

Spring Countdown

Motivational Monday - Step off that bank

We went to Maui in June and I've been going through our photos and even managed to organize some and get a photo book ordered.

When I talk with my family about our time there, one experience stands out in each of our minds. It was a hike through a bamboo forest and across a river to get to a waterfall.

It wasn't an easy hike, and when we had to cross a river, I wasn't sure I wanted to do it. It was like a real-life choose-your-own-adventure. Do I want to get wet? Do I want to try and walk across the slippery rocks? Do I want to go at all?

I didn't want to regret staying back while my family went ahead without me. So even though I was scared, I went. I made my way across the rocks and when there were no more rocks, I got in and got wet.

Here's our reward for our efforts:

I have often felt the same as I ventured in to a new writing project. Standing there, on the bank, wondering if I can make it across, doubt filling me up and my ego wanting me to continue to stand there, because standing still is most certainly better than failing. Or so it thinks.

Yes, it is scary, to take that first step, and then another, and to continue across, wondering what challenges lie ahead for you.

And of course, there will be challenges. But I also have come to learn that it's these experiences that also push us toward something extraordinary.

Staying on that bank would have been easy. But I would have missed out on so much. And so it is with our writing.

So today I say - step out. Go for it. Who knows what amazing waterfall awaits you!!

About the book that is now FALLING FOR YOU

I want to tell you a little bit about this novel I wrote back in the summer and fall of 2010.

Originally it was titled CHERISH.

As is usual when I begin writing a book, I had a few seeds of ideas that I started with.

First,  I wanted to do something in and around a flower shop. I'd written two previous novels where a flower shop played a role and neither of them were ever published. I hoped that maybe the third time would be a charm. I loved the idea of the flower shop being my main character's safe place. And so, where Rae's job is sunny and bright, her home life is dark and sad.

In fact, there are strong themes of dark and light throughout the novel.

Check out this flower shop in Vienna. So adorable, yes?

I love it when there are mysterious notes or clues or something like that in a story, so I decided to add mysterious, anonymous flower deliveries to the story. Who is sending flowers to people throughout town and why do the instructions always have Rae's name on them?

Finally, I wanted to try and challenge myself, and wanted to write this book in a bit of a different format. Rae's story is primarily told through flashbacks. This is a tricky thing to do, in case you're wondering. The reader learns on the first page, something bad has happened to Rae, but it's not revealed until the end of the book what has happened.

My first draft had Rae doing a project in Language Arts called The Cherish Project (thus the previous title CHERISH). My editor had the brilliant idea that instead of the book reports she was doing, which were kind of boring to read, I could somehow have poetry play a part in the story.

And so, Rae is a poet. Through her poetry, she can express her feelings about her abusive step-father and her distant mother. And then something happens at school, and poetry begins to play an even bigger role in Rae's life. So although it is my first YA novel not written in verse, poetry still plays a part in the story.

There are also two boys in the story. A good looking boy who is new to school and takes an interest in Rae right away. They start going out. There are things she really likes about him and other things... not so much. There is also a boy who works next door to the flower shop, someone who is Rae's friend. And as time goes on, she begins to lean on her friend more and more, as Rae's affection for her boyfriend begins to turn to fear.

If you were to think of my book like a cake, the recipe for making that cake was not a simple one. There were a lot of ingredients and the preparation required a great deal of complicated steps. It's a unique kind of cake. Different. I can't even describe the cake very well, and so, I have to just tell you that I hope you'll try it, and see what you think.

It's the publisher's job to decorate the cake and make it something that will hopefully appeal to a wide audience. There were so many choices here, as you can imagine, with a book that has a lot going on. In the end, they decided to focus on the romantic aspect of the story for the cover, and I can now share that cover with you:

In December, 2010, right before my sweet friend, Lisa Madigan, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, she read an early draft of CHERISH. Her e-mail back to me, with a critiqued manuscript, had one word in the subject line.

Cherishable

Coincidentally, today is Lisa's birthday. She would have been 49 years old. (I love and miss you, Lisa).

Soon reviewers will be sent galleys. Some bloggers, teachers and librarians may read the book through Simon and Schuster's galleygrab program. And next January, thanks to my publisher Simon Pulse, the book will be available to the public to purchase.

I think one of the hardest parts of being an author is letting a book go. But it's time. The book doesn't belong to me anymore, and so, I have to let it go. To let it be what it will become out there in the big, scary, exciting world. My work, with the help of my friends, my agent, and my editor is (mostly) done.

And so, I will end this post by simply saying ~

Best wishes, dear book. My greatest hope is that you touch the lives and hearts of those who read your story.

Draft is Done!

It was like this in my house last night.

Yes, I finished the draft. SO happy to be done.

The manuscript needs a lot of work, and I'm making a long list of things I need to tackle when I revise. But for now, I'm making plans to bake some of these:

To do a lot of this:

And dream of Christmas morning, when we get to see what the guy in the red suit left in these:

19 days, people.
19 days!!

It's the final countdown

Two chapters to go on this first draft.

Just two more!!

It's a really messy first draft and is going to need a LOT of work in revision. But I'm trying not to think about that now. I am so close to the end, I can taste it. One chapter today. One chapter tomorrow. And then, I can do my Christmas cards and bake cookies and go shopping, while the book rests.

I'm a big believer in that "resting" time. Even if it's only a few weeks, stepping away from the manuscript can help you see the story with fresh eyes.

I bought Cheryl Klein's book about revision, Second Sight, so I'm looking forward to reading that while the manuscript sits for a while.

I Skyped with some teens at the Salem Public Library last week and many of them asked about how you finish a draft when you feel like what you're writing is so bad. I told them, it comes down to total will. There really is no magic answer. Most of the time, it's just powering through. I told her ALL writers hit those low points where we feel like there is no point in finishing. Even Neil Gaiman.

I had a number of those moments throughout this manuscript. But I kept writing and now, I'm almost finished! Whew.

I best get to work!

The Lisa's Confidence Needs a Boost Project

I'm about 35,000 words into a first draft. It's a YA novel with four points of view. Yes. Four. I'm pretty sure I am certifiably insane.

I woke up one morning last week at 4 am, freaking out that I needed to scrap the book and start over on something new. Thank goodness my friend Lindsey talked me off that ledge. She said, "35k is always panic stage. Everything sucks at 35k. Middles are ridiculously hard, it's amazing we ever get past them."

So did I dive back in, telling myself, the only way out is through? Well, yes. But it was so painful and slow. And I was miserable. I walked out of my office, which is near the living room, and said, I hate this room. I want to redo it.

A lot of times, I'll hear writers say cleaning is a great procrastination tool. I actually think what happens is that we need to see that we CAN tackle a project and have it turn out well. So by cleaning out the refrigerator or a closet, or redecorating a room, it gives us the confidence we need to do the work necessary in the WIP.

So back to the living room, otherwise known as The Lisa's Confidence Needs a Boost Project. At first, I was convinced I needed new furniture. My 17 YO son set me straight on that. He's so wise. And practical. He convinced me that there's really nothing wrong with the stuff we have now. I'm just tired of it. But there are plenty more important things to spend money on, and so, I decided the challenge was to fix up the room using the sofa and loveseat we have.

 I should have taken a before picture! Here is one from Christmas last year, I think, with a mess on the floor so you can't see the rug, which I was really tired of. But you can see the pathetic picture we hung on the wall behind the dining room table because we had nothing else, and oh fine, it's good enough. And the ugly table lamp that sat in the corner.

I went to one of my favorite stores in our town called Consignment Northwest. It's a huge showroom with items people want to sell. If the store sells an item, the person who owned that item gets a percentage of the sale, of course. It's a nice way to buy "gently used" without having to sort through junk and deal with weird people on Craig's List. The coffee table and the art behind the table came from Consignment Northwest. The end table and lamp I found at Ikea. And the new accent pillows came from Ross Dress for Less (only $6.99 each).

The boys do their homework at the dining table, so books and papers and things are around the dining table, but that's okay. It looks ten times better than it did.

Now I have to get back to my mess of a first draft. But when I was in Ikea, I started dreaming of a new office for myself.

I think that will be my next project. But not until I finish this %&$^ book! :)

Things to Remember when Writing a First Draft

I've started a new project, and every time, it amazes me how it always feels scary. Overwhelming. Impossible even. I don't even know how many books I've written, published and unpublished, and still, here I am, doubting myself up, down and sideways.

I did get myself the screenwriting book SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder I've heard SO many authors talk about, and I have to say, I love it. He breaks down the making of a story in such an easy-to-understand way.

Yes, it's geared toward writing screenplays, but it easily transfers to writing novels as well. Want to know what makes a good catalyst moment? Want to know what strategies to use when it's time to give your readers a breather, and where that should happen? I could go on and on, but I won't. It's good. Period.

As I'm writing this draft, I'm reading the book every night, based on where I'm at with the draft, and keeping in mind what my purpose is for the very section I'm writing. It's been incredibly helpful.

Anyway, back to why I'm doing this blog post. :) I was thinking about the things that help me when I'm drafting a story, that I want to remember, and thought I'd share them. So here is my "Things to Remember When Writing a First Draft List," in no particular order.

1) Sometimes it is fun and sometimes it is not. I think we want it to be fun all the time, but it just won't be. There will always be hard parts. Fight your way through them, and don't let them win.

2) Free writing in a different document is okay, to sort out thoughts, to ask yourself questions, whatever. Any writing is helpful writing, even if it doesn't necessarily add to the word count.

3) Some days, the hardest part is opening the document. So make it as easy as possible, by leaving off in an exciting spot and leaving yourself notes as to what you envision happening next. It's so much easier to reenter with little notes than simply a blank page.

4) Doubt is your biggest enemy. It will sneak up on you when you least expect it. It till make you cranky as you battle it, day after day after day.

I try very hard to think of the story as something I'm writing just for me. It may be good, it may be bad, it doesn't matter, I'm the only one who will read it and I have to keep writing because I want to see how it turns out. I really think it's when we imagine other people reading it, thinking about whether there's a place in the market for it or not, those kinds of things, that's when we find ourselves getting anxious. The first draft is not the time to worry about any of that, and as much as we can, we need to rid ourselves of those thoughts somehow.

Some days, if the doubt is really, really bad, I allow myself a break. And that means a break from all things publishing-related. I go see a movie or I go somewhere with my family. At that point, I need to get "out of my head" and gain some perspective. It's just a book!!

5) Be kind to yourself. If a little chocolate or some delicious caffeinated drink makes opening the document easier, why not? Once you get going, get in the zone, a lot of times, the need to munch or sip or whatever falls away.

6) Every little bit helps. Leave the document open and when there's time, sit down and work for 15 minutes. A big chunk of time may be hard some days, and don't let that keep you from getting in some words.

7) It doesn't have to be perfect. Let's repeat that, shall we?

8) It doesn't have to be perfect!!!

I'm curious, what's on your "Things to Remember when Writing a First Draft" list??

Monday Motivation - Triumph

(no children were hurt in the making of this photo)

"The difference between try and triumph is a little umph." ~ Author unknown

So. Uh-hum.

I did it!!!!

I finished my draft! 58,000 beautiful (and at the same time terrible) words. :) I wrote around 10,000 words in 3 days. That's a lot for me! But I was SO motivated. I really wanted to finish by Sunday. I set aside big chunks of time on each of the 3 days and I wrote my little heart out. This book was challenging for me, in a lot of ways. But as I worked hard this past week, I learned that I really can accomplish big things when I set my mind to it.

I think completing a first draft comes down to basically one thing - you have to want it enough to see it through to the end. You have to say, I'm going to do this, and then do it. It's all about commitment - being committed to getting to the end. When you aren't 100% committed, it's easy to quit when the going gets tough.

Of course, there are revisions to be done. The book needs quite a bit of work. I've already started a notebook page of things I need to do when I go back to the manuscript and start revising. But for the next three weeks, there will be no writing. I'm basically "on vacation" now through Christmas! Yay!!!

Have you had any big or little triumphs lately? I'd love to hear about them! We can celebrate together!!

Monday Motivation - when it's hard to keep going

"I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter."  ~James Michener

I hit 43,000 on the WIP yesterday. I'm thinking I have 10-15,000 words left until I reach the end. The hard part is that right now, I have all these threads I'm trying to weave as I write and it is very, very hard. Things are slow going.

But every time I get discouraged, I remind myself that this is a draft. If it feels messy and very far from being perfect, it's okay! That's how it's supposed to feel.

The important thing right now is to just keep going. Keep walking down the path. Trust that I'll get to the end eventually, and a warm house with fresh-baked cookies will be there to greet me. (Actually, I gain weight every time I write a book. Stress-eating anyone? So maybe I should envision a warm house with a tasty salad waiting for me).

We all know the importance of getting the draft down so the real work can begin, even if the draft is really bad. Because we also know it is impossible to a revise a blank page. And yet, that doesn't stop us from worrying, worrying and WORRYING about the mess that is the first draft.

Some scenes will have to go. New scenes will have to be imagined. Characters will need deepening, pacing will need to be tweaked, and on and on.

But now is not the time to think of any of that. Right now, the goal is to just keep going. Word by word. Sentence by sentence. Scene by scene. There is nothing at this point that's going to make it happen other than sheer tenacity. Sitting down at my desk every day and writing as much as I can in the time slot I'm given on that particular day.

At times, the forest is dark. Cold. Scary!! But you know what they say. The only way out is through. 

It's too early to be disappointed!

Last week I was running in shorts and a t-shirt.

This week, I just want to stay curled up on the sofa with a cup of tea and a good book. It's cold! Autumn is definitely here.

Aren't these cupcakes with trees and brightly covered leaves cute?

Although I have a lot of books that I've bought recently as well as ones I reserved that have come in from the library (why do they always have to come in at the same time?), I don't have time to cuddle up and read. I need to keep moving forward on the WIP! I hit 28,000 yesterday. Just keep writing, just keep writing, just keep...

The WIP is straight contemporary. And not in verse. I feel like it has the potential to be really good and I want SO BADLY for it to be really, really good! Do you ever struggle with that in a first draft? Wanting so desperately for it to be good and disappointed with every word that it's not as good as you want it to be?

I revise as I go - I have to. It's what works best for me. But even doing that, this time, I feel like it's falling flat and disappointment is there at every turn.

I know, revision is my friend, and it's too soon to feel disappointed! That's what I keep telling myself, anyway. That and - just keep writing! :)

Have a great day!

Woooo Hoooo!!

I have a finished first draft!!!

50,244 words! I feel like it's on the short side for YA these days, but I write pretty lean in my first drafts, so I think that number will expand.

This is a story I did for ME, to see if I could do it, and I DID! Of course there is work to be done, and lots of it.

But for now, I'm setting it aside for awhile so I can clean my house, catch up on TV shows, read, read, READ, and just, ahhh, enjoy this feeling of having done it.

Those of you in the middle of a first draft right now, it's hard, I know. Just keep going forward. I wrote 20,000 words and then started completely over with this one, because something just wasn't working.

I'm so happy. I think I'm going to break out a bottle of wine my friend brought me from Sonoma wine country to celebrate!

Cheers!