Dreamer Issues

I'm a dreamer.  I'm a writer--so this is no surprise.  But one of the things that I seem to do well is come up with ideas for things outside of writing.  I always seem to have a project that I want to engage in.

This I know, is a bit of a distraction.  It is hard, sometimes, to maintain focus.  Why?

Because all I really want to do is write, I end trying to plan my perfect day job which is not one in which I work for anyone else, but am able to make the income i require to make ends meet and foster my writing.

Thing is, the income bit can't be guaranteed.  No amount of planning, no amount of dotting i's and crossing t's will guarantee that what I want to happen will happen as quickly as I need it to happen if I threw myself into it...

So I end up telling myself that it is an "eventual goal" and that I will still pursue full-time positions.  But if I do get a full time position--these projects which were hatched as ideas in order to compliment my writing will end up eating into my writing time.  My issue?  I feel that if the job doesn't compliment my writing--it is the thing eating up my writing time.

False.  It is on me to plan my time and to make certain that I focus on what is most important.

My writing,.

Why do I let myself get so easily distracted? Is it procrastination, because even if my current job is part-time, I love it enough to be afraid to move on?

Writing Books-- Perception and Reality

Last weekend I had an interesting discussion with a musician wherein I admitted that my personality was to be quite open, and to basically be just as I am--just as I seem.

To which this man replied: "We all are, it is something about being an artist."

Being an artist.  Writing is an art that marries the creative and the analytical in an odd mixture of things most artists would not assume go together.  With painting you certainly start with learning logic, but when I did the most painting in my youth, all those rules had already left an impression on my mind and things like shading came second nature in paintings, sketches. Only minor tweaks were needed after the painting was done.

With writing, no matter how many years you've been at it, no matter how deep into the subconscious the writing rules have imprinted, the rough draft is always a mess.  

Granted, the writing of it is the easy part.  The hard part, in my experience, has been revising the rough draft and polishing it into the book it was meant to be.  The analytical aspect to writing a book is definitely that second step.  

It is easiest to make mistakes in this step.  It is easy for the story to transform outside its narrow bounds and become a different tale all together, or to branch off into a series. My tendency to over-think has hindered many  drafts, and kept me working on them for years and years.

The perception of writing a book is that the writing of it is the hardest and most time-consuming part.  Perhaps, fore some writers, this is a true statement.  But certainly, for me, the writing is easy and the revising is hard.  And the lesson?

My guy is often fond of telling me when--in any number of areas in my life--a simple idea inflates to a full fledged enterprise, complete with steps and long term goals: "Drea, the K.I.S.S. method.  Don't get ahead of yourself."

But I'm so good at it!  And Keeping It Simple... in any fashion orb form is exceedingly difficult.  Thanks to nano, however, I think I can start charting the path through those woods.

So what step of writing a book is hardest for you?

News!

Last month I got to meet authors from the State Fair Booth, who came in from various parts of the state and had booths at my workplace. I took pictures for facebook, blogged at the AvidReaderTower.blogspot.com to generate traffic and interest for the store and our author-guersts.

In the course of this event, I had the pleasure of chatting with Deborah Cota, author of the Dante Series.  After the event she asked me to guest blog and today it's up!  Go read it here and check out her site, books, and assorted wonderfulness!

IWSG: Achievements and New Angst

It's time to share insecurities, achievements, and court the support of the like-minded. Or, well, it's time for another Insecure Writers' Support Group, that amazing once-monthly internet gathering of writers sharing their trials and successes in an effort to let us all know that we aren't alone.

I have to say, this group has been a major help for me.  It has forced me, in some pretty dark hours, to think of my writing.  i have never wanted to abandon it, but there have been some life challenges that made me face some massive self-doubt demons.

So, if you have any demons whispering in your ears, check out the list at Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog: here.

This month, however, I have a major success to share.  I signed up for camp nano and picked a half-formed, hastily outlined novel to write for it.

I finished.  At 50,300 some odd words, I won the July nano! This is big.  As many of my previous posts for IWSG have expanded upon, I have been having a ton of issues "finishing" things, so this is a big step in the right direction.

It feels really good to have a shiny new rough draft for the first time in years.

But now  the new worry is:  I wrote it in a month, how can it be any good?

I'm almost done with my first read-through, and I'm compiling notes on where to expand, where to increase tension and how to build the characters better.  But it is going to go to critiquers as well... so we'll see.  I'm at once both hopeful and horrified.