Your novel awaits--grab it fast!

I am asked on occasion where I get ideas for novels. The answer is the same: "From the Universe," I say.

Getting the idea for a novel is the easy part. As the saying (somewhat) goes, if I had a dollar for every idea I get for a novel, I'd be a millionaire whether I write one or not.  

However, an idea is simply an idea and nothing more until action is taken. If it's a good idea, it will demand attention, haunting you until you take action. Perhaps you'll write a synopsis, or a brief outline of the plot. It might be a character that demands recognition, or a plot twist. The point being, action sets the idea into motion, giving it life.

The idea will not wait forever, so if it's a good fit, grab it fast before it finds someone else.

The art of wasting time

I discovered first hand the art of wasting valuable writing time, and I'm willing to share what I learned. I prefer my laptop for writing, and like many writers I use social networking, a website, and blog to promote my work. My laptop goes everywhere I go, allowing me to work in my office, the family room, at the kitchen table, and at my favorite coffee shop, opening up hours of writing time.


Anyway, that was my reasoning.


To stop wasting time, I adhere to five rules:
1. Do a trial study of preferred work stations/locations, and use the spot where I am most productive.
2. Set 15 minutes max for tweeting, and another 15 minutes for Facebook posts.
3. Keep website updated by scheduling two hours (more if needed) once a week after or before my writing time.
4. Schedule one hour twice a week to make blog entries.
5. Stick to the allotted times by setting a timer.


As you know, there are lots of ways to waste time, but I've found using one place for writing, and sticking to a schedule for networking, website maintenence and blog writing free up hours of productive writing.


Now, when I visit the coffee shop, I'm not only free to embrace the rich, bold, organic flavor of my coffee, but to add new character material from people watching.

Living with the protagonist: Is there life after birth?

As an author of fiction, my job is to create characters that fit the story. The characters must be equipped with traits and personalities that capture interest and compassion. Even the worst scalawag should have one redeeming quality.

This requires getting to know the characters inside and out, turning flat paper doll descriptions into living, breathing entities. When I know everything about my characters, then the reader can believe them.

How do I know when a character is developed? It's when the character crosses the line between me and the laptop screen.

My protagonist keeps me up late, wakes me from sleep, and makes demands. He refuses to stay with the outline, and makes modifications to the plot. I confess, there are times when I've asked him to shut up in graphic terms.

A new protagonist with a new story to tell will take his place, and Conor will give me some space as he walks through the pages of Among the Jimson Weeds sharing his life with people other than me.

He'll still drop by. Same as my kids, no matter where they may be, they're in my heart forever.

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Writing goals: How many words does a writer write?

 If a word-writer does write words, how many words does a word-writer write?

I don't know if woodchucks set daily goals for chucking wood, but it's a must for writers. The daily word output is necessary to meet the long range goal of writing the novel. It's the final specific act of writing.


After completing a list of specific goals related to plot, characters, and research it's time to write the novel. You write one word at a time, one page at a time, one chapter at a time until it's finished.


The question is how many words do you write?


The answer, It depends, should only be an option if the goal date for completion was ignored, and then, It depends can be the pat answer for all questions regarding the novel.


How many words do writers write each day? There is no magic number; however, the goal should be reachable while presenting a challenge. I know authors who have goals from 500 to 2,000 words per day. I set a minimum goal, and on days when the words come hard, I stop when I reach it; when the words flow, I leave the goal in the dust and write until my fingers bleed.

Good-bye schedule, hello boredom

Wouldn't it be nice to eliminate schedules? Do what we want when we want? In my up-coming novel, the young protagonist wails about schedules being too confining. In reference to chores he says, "It's like the damn cows will blow up if they aren't milked exactly at six o'clock morning and night."


Obviously, schedules are necessary. Imagine being told your flight to New Orleans leaves sometime in the afternoon, or that the doctor can see you after his hospital rounds. Even knowing schedules are necessary to get done what we want to accomplish, it's easy to let them slide. Not only is production effected, but unscheduled time opens the stream of destructive behaviors.


Whatever the addiction, it welcomes unscheduled time. Hours in front of the television, mindless eating, drinking, endless Internet surfing and viewing . . . all time wasters that can become emotionally and physically unhealthy.


Perhaps Conor, the aforementioned protagonist, should be told that a caveat of no schedules is boredom.

The first of three Four-letter words that scare writers with ADHD

I confess there was a time when three words threatened me more than any four- lettered words I've heard or used. The words are organization, schedule, and goal. All three are required to write a novel, or for that matter,  necessary to complete any project. The key word being complete.


When I was teaching, I stopped by a colleague's room one morning before class. During our chat my eyes kept shifting to her desk. The top was covered with piles of papers, stacks of books, scraps of paper with notes, coffee cups in various stages of use, scissors, pens, pencils, and a half-eaten tuna sandwich. I couldn't determine what was in the second layer, but I visualized a nest of spiders or a cockroach colony. She stopped in the middle of our conversation to say, "I know you think my desk is a mess, but I know exactly where everything is." Seems like every one who avoids organization uses the same line.


The lady was right. Without doubt, everything she needed was somewhere in that pile on her desk. Perhaps the attendance report that she swore the office had lost. Maybe the note from the parent requesting her daughter not take the bus home because her mother was picking her up.


For the writer it could be the outline and synopsis of a new novel scratched out in the middle of the night, a contract proposal, or the napkin with the name and contact number of the lady you met at the conference who can get your manuscript in the hands of a prestigious editor.

101 Reasons Not to Write

The perfect novel is in my head. I see it and hear it night and day. It's teriffic. Believe me, I've carried it in my head a long time and it disappears off shelves faster than it can be restocked. Wow! A best seller. To be honest, there's one problem. It never hits the book stores. It stays in my head. Perhaps you don't have ADHD, or struggle with procrastination, like me, but chances are you experience the problem of getting the words out of your head in tangible form. There are 101 reasons, and more that keep those words a prisoner in the mind. Short of purchasing a bucket of butt glue I found the key and unlocked Among the Jimson Weeds and it's off and running. That's all there is to it, right? No. I still find 101 ways to delay the act of planting my butt in front of the work at hand, but I pull a few techniques out of the bag that trick my impulsive mind to work with me instead of against me. The purpose of Words Get in your Head is to share how I keep on task, and to have readers share what works for them. We need to write . . . right?