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We interrupt this craft blog for a few words from our sponsor.
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A NO NONSENSE WOMAN--Dr. Eva Stanford wants only to help her patient sleep through the night.
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Dream Man, will be out January 8th,2010. You can purchase a gift certificate from the Wild Rose Press in anticipation. An excerpt and first chapter are available on my website www.nancyjparra.com.
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The most important thing when writing...

The days are shorter and darker. We are halfway through nano and the Holiday season officially starts in just 11 days. Are you feeling the pressure? I know I am.

I'm going to share with you the number one, most important thing a writer can do for their work-in-progress. It's simple really and very often over looked. That thing is self care. Simple and yet so hard, I know because it's fraught with guilt. Why spend the time in a hot bath or a nice walk when I could be writing, making cookies, sending out cards, blogging, making contacts...etc. Why? Because if you aren't taking care of yourself-daily- it will show up in your work, your craft and your sparkle.

I can't tell you the number of writer's I've seen come out of a deadline bent over like an old man, wearing wrist braces, popping pain pills for bad backs, blinking at sunlight like a mole, their hair a neglected mess, thinking-shower? what's a shower... Food? I mean come on who has time to do anything but eat peanut M&M's while I write... How did I gain 20 pounds when all I eat is the scraps off the kids plates because I was writing? (Sound familiar?) The sad truth is this kind of self abuse shows up in your work. Agents and editors will ask-where's the sparkle? You'll stare at your work so hard that you'll miss obvious things like missing letters in words. You might tell yourself that self abuse is part of the writing life--but that is a lie. It does not make the work better. It will not get you on a bestseller list. So-right here, right now, sit up straight, put you hands on your rib cage, take a deep breath in for three counts and let it out slow. Feel better, don't you? Got blood flowing to the brain- and a sparkle in your eye.

Now- I don't care if you have to make sticky notes and put them on your screen, here are some things you should do every day to improve your craft.

1. Don't sit more than an hour at a time. Get up, take a stroll around your office/home. Set a timer if you must.

2. Hydrate. I don't mean soda or coffee (Sorry, Diet Coke drinkers, coffee lovers.). Get a pitcher of nice cool water and keep it nearby. Add lemon, lime or cucumber slices. Drink at least 8 oz an hour.

3. Stretch. Small things like the stretch of the ribcage mentioned above. Put your arms over you head for a count of ten. Roll your shoulders. Flex you wrists. Point your toes and flex your feet.

4. Nutrition. For goodness sakes, I don't mean diet. Yikes who wants to add that stress to this time of year, but put the candy away and make apple slices, grapes, pears. Stop and eat a real meal-complete with sitting at the table, silverware, maybe even a napkin.

5. Take a vitamin, if you feel a cold/flu think zinc. I keep children's chewables in the desk drawer beside my keyboard. Chomping down on a cherry flavored rino once a day can be fun.

6. Connect with a friend at least once a day. An e-mail, a phone call or even a letter.

7. Get outside for at least ten minutes. Breath in the fresh air. Swing your arms. Take a walk or merely get out on your patio or deck and stomp your feet and take in the view.

8. Pat yourself on the back. Even if you've only written one word and you hate it. You wrote that word which is more than most people can say. Be proud of what you do. Put your critical editor in a box for at least five minutes a day and tell yourself three positive things.

9. Smile. It's the best kind of face lift.

10. Laugh-even if you have to fake it- it helps with blood flow and tightens the core muscles.

Take care of yourself and it will show in your work. (And I get the added benefit of having you in my life that much longer.) Cheers~

Write, Revise, and Query

When I visited my Grandmother in September we talked about all the bad news in the book market these days--shrinking lists,bookstores closing, publishers hesitant to buy, readers with less cash for books, old trends slipping away while new trends have yet to appear. "I can't do anything about any of that," I flung my hands in the air in defeat.
My Grandmother said to me, "What can you do?"
"I can write. I can revise and I can query. That's it."
My Grandmother who is a second generation American with a 6th grade education said to me. "Then that is what you do. My job was to clean other people's toilets and I did it. Your job is to write. You do it. Do your best at it. Be proud of it. The rest will work itself out." Smart woman, eh?
This is the time in Nanowrimo when people start to wonder if they bit off more than they can chew. If they can really write so many words in one month without editing. If writing the words, "the end" on a manuscript is worth all the hard work and missed television shows. Power through my friends, power through these doubts. Think of it as your job. Afterall, you want to be a writer, right? Then putting words on paper is your job. Do it. Do your best. It's the only thing you can control.
My friend Pamala, (hi, Pam!), tweeted that she isn't doing nanowrimo- she is doing nanorevisemo. That makes me smile. I tweeted back and asked if there was a nanoquerymo, because that's what I'm doing this month. There should be all three. After all that's our job as writers. It's the basic job description and what we have control over.
So, whether you are writing, revising or querying this month. Remember my Grandmother's advice (I wish I could copy her slight Croation accent for you): Do your best. Be proud of what you do no matter what the outcome. Even if you have to go back the next week and do it again- after all, it's your job.
Cheers!

And away we go...

In November many writers turn to NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50,000 words in the month of November. It is a community of professional and amateur writers encouraging each other for one month. This is good for writers who have a tendency to procrastinate or who struggle to find time to put the words on paper- or to finish that novel. Think of it as a giant marathon where thousands sign up in hopes of hitting the finish line.
It's a great exercise. To hold yourself accountable at the end of the year- before the holidays really start-to reach your dream.
If you can't do an entire month of pure writing, you can always try book-in-a-week. Don't let the name scare you- most people don't complete an entire book in one week, but the point is to write your story every spare moment you have for seven days in a row with an eye toward finishing an entire rough draft.
By pushing yourself to put words to paper, you are forced to bypass the evil editor who sits on your shoulder and tells you that that page isn't right, that sentence could be better and causes the story to stop while you repair, repair, repair, thus preventing you from finishing. Finishing is the first key to a successful career. It is surprising how many people don't finish a work in progress.
So take this month of November- whether you attempt nanowrimo or book-in-a-week- to set a goal to finish your wip. Tell yourself it is a rough draft. It does not have to be perfect. The whole point is to finish and type the words, "the end."
I believe you can do it! I'll do my best to encourage you this month and come December 1st, we'll celebrate our successes. Now go....write...and good luck!

Get the Hook

On the Vaudeville stage they used to bring out the hook when an act was bad and yank them from the stage. This was a great attention getter and made the audience react with hoots and hollers.

When writing, a hook is also an attention getter. You need to write something that catches the reader's attention and doesn't let them put the book down. Each chapter, each scene needs to have two hooks. One at the opening and one at the ending. Your job as a writer is to keep your reader up all night because they HAVE to know what happens next. It doesn't matter if you write short fiction (40-60,000 words) or long (90-100,000). In today's market there isn't time for long passages of description unless it has hook. Unless the reader has to know what is around the next corner or what Billybob is going to do when confronted with the truth.

A hook can be action. It can be emotion such as regret, or guilt or fear. It can be confrontation or impending doom. Look for the punch in your scene and start there. Here's an example: Evil preferred the cover of darkness. So it was no surprise when Detective Ryce Alden found himself behind crime scene tape at 3 a.m.
This example sets the tone of the book and invites the reader to wonder what happened and read on.

I'm judging a contest and am surprised by the lack of hook in the entries. It's not about word count, my friends, it's about hook. When working on a partial or contest entry, don't look at page count, don't think that the more words you can squeeze in the better--it isn't. An entry or partial can be short. The goal is to leave the reader/judge/editor/agent wanting to read more. If you can do that, you will be successful in all that you do.

Finding Time

The irony that this post is late, is not lost on me. But I took the time this morning to have brunch with writer friends as prescribed in my Finding Balance blog. So, things got backed up.
The Finding Balance blog showed me that finding time is a difficult thing for writers to do. There are so many other pressing things--family, work, house cleaning, blogging, promo--how do you find the time to write?
I think what really happens is that we get caught up in the idea that it is all or nothing. That writing is not worthwhile unless we spit out at least ten pages at a time. That cleaning house isn't any good unless we move all the furniture and clean from floor to ceiling. That diet and exercise isn't going to work unless we run three hours a day and cut our calories to 900 a day. We have fallen into a binge/purge mentality. We feel as if it's not worth it unless we make it extreme. (TV doesn't help with Extreme Home Makeover, Biggest Loser, etc. In our culture, if it's not extreme then it isn't worth doing.)
I say- Stop the madness! I say- let go of the peer pressure-the pressure from advertisers and television. They have only one purpose in life and that is not to improve yours- they want to sell you something. Stop competing for a moment with Suzy who write 20 pages a day...and with Sally who runs five miles a day...and with George who not only works 12 hours a day but also coaches and does charity fund raisers. It makes your mind spin and you wonder- who has the time?!
How do you find time to have balance? Here are a few tips that work for me--please feel free to leave tips in comments, too. I'm always open to new ideas.
1) Stop. Breathe. Close your eyes and push out the thoughts of what should be and think about what you want to be. Be realistic based on your life- your personality-your preferences-the current market, etc.
2) Make a list of yearly goals: lose ten pounds, write one full book, have a clean house- Don't write sell a book because you have no control over who will buy. List only what you can control-writing a book and sending it out.
3) Break those goals down into small DOABLE daily bits.
4) Give yourself thirty days to get into the habit of meeting these small goals and make them a lifetime thing.
5) Reevaluate every thirty days to see what works and what doesn't. Let's say you can't lose ten pounds no matter how hard you try- perhaps you need to adjust your thinking. Perhaps 5 pounds is enough. ( Ignore the starving plastic photo-shopped women in media. Think about your health instead. If you must lose 30 pounds to lower your blood pressure and help diabetes- think like that. You are making healthy choices- not dieting. It will never be over. You must always take care of yourself because you are the only one who truly can.)
Here are small things I do: A few years ago when my kids were small I felt as if I could not keep up with the housework. So, I broke chores down into days like they did 150 years ago. On Monday I vacuum the whole house-under furniture once a month. This takes about 20 minutes. On Tuesdays I dust the whole house. On Wednesdays I clean the small bathroom. On Thursdays I clean the large bathroom and on Friday I damp mop the kitchen. If someone comes over and the floor is vacuumed but there is dust- well...it's not Tuesday. If it sounds too controlled- relax be flexible when necessary but don't give up. The key is to not give up.
Next, I evaluate my writing goals and review my schedule and my writing style. Then I set up a plan and stick to it as best I can- giving myself leeway for those days when things don't work out...(Notice that I have no housework scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. These are built in catch up days if the week doesn't turn out so well.) Remember a page a day will net you a book a year and a page consists of 250 words on average. If you can't do a page all at once- how can you break down 250 words in your day?
I don't run 5 miles or spin 25 miles any more. Instead I try to take three ten minute walks a day. It's what works best for me right now.
As for promotion-- no one can do it all. There are many wonderful ideas, find two or three that work for you and do them very well and let go of the thought that you have to compete with Sally Promo who spent $30,000 and countless hours on her book promo. Don't let her bully you into thinking you are not good enough just because she is binging.
So, how do you find time? Stop competing. There is always going to be someone writing more than you, promoing more than you, doing more than you with a cleaner better house than you. Let go of the idea you have to keep up. Think small. Think about you--your life and your needs. Think about your process and do a little every day. Forgive yourself when you don't and keep going. I believe that knowing yourself and your process and being realistic about life will help you to write the books you want to write and to build the career you want to have. Finding time to live a life as full as realistically possible for you is the ultimate goal.

Finding Heart

When asked what it was about her story that caught her agent's eyes, debut author Marilyn Brant said, "I asked my agent that question and she told me that she found the story very human." (Marilyn's book, According to Jane, is in bookstores now.)
I think finding the heart of the story-the theme- the human part of a story is one of the most difficult things for an author to do. There are no rules for that. There are no use-this, not-that, kinds of things. Some people find the theme first. They decide they want to write about love and loss, or second chances or family relationships. Then they create a plot and characters around their theme.
I am not that "lucky." I usually have characters who pop into my head. I "see" a scene and the story starts. I have to write the complete first draft before I am aware of the theme or the heart of the story. Even then it can be fuzzy.
But knowing your theme- your heart is the only way to revise and market your story. You have to understand what it is your characters and you as a writer are trying to say. It has to be about more than character growth and emotional arc. There has to be an over arching theme. Oh, no, you say. I've finished a full book and there isn't a theme. Don't throw it out. There is a theme. It's hidden in your words and it's up to you to discover it.
My latest book, Mr. Charming, has the following themes of forgiveness and acceptance-self forgiveness (Jennifer has to forgive herself for the public demise of her first marriage before she can enter the real world.) Family forgiveness-(Kane must forgive his parents for dying and himself for living before he can create the change he needs in his life.) Self acceptance-that being human with flaws and imperfections is what enriches life and how attempts at perfection lead to isolation and loss. Heavy stuff for a romantic suspense-lol But these themes are universal and easily recognizable to your reader. They can immediately connect with your characters and your story. They are drawn to the human element- the heart of the work.
Once you can state the theme of your story- you can revise with an eye to that theme. Does this scene echo the theme? Does this paragraph enrich the theme? If so, how? If not-edit it out.
Once you know your theme you can market your work to that theme-in your query letter- in your back blurb- in your pitch.
Finding the heart of your story-what makes it human-will make the work shine with possibilities and create a work readers can readily identify.