Archive for the 'Writing' Category

January 30, 2011 | Writing

Today is Sunday, January 30, 2011 and I just finished setting up my writing goals for the year. You might think I’m thirty days or sixty days late since you’re supposed to begin January first. Why? December is filled with holiday craziness, last minute things to do, parties, presents, family coming in, family leaving. And in the chaos of it all I’m expected to be goal-oriented, write down what I intend to do in 2011. I needed time to breathe, review 2010 – after 2010 ends, consult my change partner Laurie Powers (who thinks I’m nuts in my goals for this year and yet is willing to support my madness), write them down, scratch a few out, add a couple, tinker with how I could achieve them. 2010 was when I finally got healthy again and I intend to respect my positive physical condition, be active, be creative. Take good care of me.

So my question is: Have you already failed in any one or more your goals for 2011? If you said you weren’t going to eat chocolate until RWA New York, have you had a twix bar? Exercise daily? Did you commit to writing every day for a certain amount of time and so far only written two days a week? Maybe one day and no longer than an hour? Does this mean you’ve failed for 2011? No. There are eleven months, three hundred and twenty-six days by my math. I’m including January thirty-first but not counting Christmas, Thanksgiving, fourth of July, RWA (five days), and your birthday.

I believe in not setting yourself up to fail, but make goals that challenge you when you’re thinking straight and not at the end of the year when happy chaos reigns. After the revelry dies down, people go back to work and school, the house is clean, and you catch up with yourself, then this is the time to set your goals. You have a clear head, clean paper, and can see what you want to achieve in the upcoming months. By the second week of January I had my writing goals written down, put each project on a calendar and began fulfilling each goal. Write, revise daily – check. Have more than one project going on at a time – check. Submit at least once a month beginning in February – check. Enjoy the process – double check. Comic Con – triple check. Enjoy and spoil my granddaughter -quadruple check. Play tennis – okay only a double check. Yeah exercise is a goal, twice a week at the health club – half a check. I spread my goals over twelve months, ending January, 2012 and applied a lesson learned when I was a banker. Many large retailer’s fiscal year ends January after the holiday season ends. So why not do the same thing?

Goals are broken, sometimes it’s inevitable. They’re made to be pushed back another month, if necessary. Life gets in the way, you get in the way. Something always happens. If nothing happened and you could work through your goals without a hitch you’d be worried the world was about to end. Goals are made to be changed if the original one isn’t working out. Be flexible, realistic. Be accountable to yourself, don’t give up if you wrote twenty days in January and didn’t the rest of the month. Ask why, assess what you did right, dust your ego off and get back to work.

Laurie made me promise that if I missed a goal, I wouldn’t be depressed. Since I just received a rejection Saturday, we were able to quickly put my promise to the test. I was dejected, upset, and decided that this rejection was for work last year which has been greatly revised since I submitted it, so the rejection belonged in 2010. The past. It’s a Lion King thing. I’ll move forward and submit elsewhere, I’ve got a quality list of agents and editors to send my work to. And I came up with my way to deal with rejection. I’m buying a sterling silver stackable ring for each 2011 rejection. A thin band I can wear on each finger. This could get ugly so let’s hope that I only have twenty or less rejections before my first sale.

December 20, 2010 | Writing

Ah, I got your attention – didn’t I? So let’s get down to the real nitty gritty , I’m talking about where do you do it – your manuscript revisions? You know that novel you’ve been working on? Slaving over? Just dying to get to ‘The End’ again.

This question came to me as I finish revising my completed manuscript. First, let me say here that I will never write a full manuscript again without some type of ongoing revision schedule in place. I looked at 350 pages and cried. What the Frack had I done? So once I dried my tears, I sought a better more sane way to do this with future work. Which then brought up the question: Where do I do it (revisions)? I’d read published authors advise not to revise in the same place you write. Reason being you’ll get a clearer, fresher perspective on your work if done in another room or another place. Sounded reasonable so I decided to ask authors available on online groups I belong to where they did it (revisions).

The answers I received can be applied to whether you are a plotter or organic writer (which is a much better term than panster). And the consensus was: wherever you feel comfortable and just do it (revisions).

Two authors do it (revisions) in bed. Alone. They print out the entire novel or pages, and work page by page and then input changes on their computer. One stated ‘Is there a better place to write romance than in bed?’ She said she felt special surrounded by books, dictionaries, thesaurus and paper. She also said she locked the door. I considered their method and the Goldilocks in me said I’d be asleep in ten minutes. I don’t find my work, even in its crappiest form dull, but a bed is way too comfortable. I admire their discipline. It also means you don’t have to make your bed.

Another author said she did it (revisions) whenever and wherever she could. Given she worked and had two small children, she’d learn to do mini-edits at doctor’s offices, sport practices and could shut out the distractions. Me I’m too damn nosy you never know when someone might provide a potential juicy plot. However once a woman behind me in the grocery line was sobbing on her cell phone to a man about how he done her wrong. I was extremely uncomfortable and got the heck out of there quickly as possible. When my son had tennis lessons with his pro, I was too busy making sure every bit of my money was rung out him on the court to concentrate on revisions. Another published author did it (revisions) on the morning train to work. It worked for Scott Turow and it works for her, she’s multi-published.

So it came down to this, where you do it (revisions) is a matter of choice and where you can achieve the most success. I’ve held several revision sessions on the computer but everyone agreed it was best to print the pages. So now do I and use a purple, green, or purple pen to mark it up, then input changes on my computer. As for where I do it (revisions) it boiled down to my writing room. I confiscated the living room six years ago and remodeled it into my domain. It is a ‘relatively unchanging environment’ as one writer said why she preferred her writing space. It’s my space and my children have felt my wrath if they enter without knocking or use my computer to check Facebook.

The reason I put revisions in parenthesis is to keep your mind on what I mean by ‘where do you do it’. You know how a romance writer’s mind works.

As 2011 draws to a close and the holiday season is on us, keep doing it (revisions) so when 2012 blasts in you’ll do it consistently and in the right place. Keep writing.

Oh I was going to write about Weight Watchers and writing, but since they changed the program that subject will be tackled in 2011. Still good stuff.

Happy Yule,
Yasmine

March 14, 2009 | Writing

Other than ‘personal summers’ and I’m not going to explain this. If you’re over forty you know what I’m talking about.

It’s time for this Phoenix to update her website and by April all the changes will be complete.

So what have I been doing since my last blog?
1. Coaching a girls tennis team. Now that was fun.
2. Rewriting my novel because of a hard drive crash and my not backing up my data like I should have. That was not fun, but I added more to the story this time around, so I count this as editing.
3. Watching Battlestar Galactica. The series finale is next week and as much as I don’t want the program to end, like a great series written, you have to know when to end it. I suppose this means I’ll have more time to write Friday evenings.
4. Okay I’ve been playing tennis. This passion has moved down the list due to injury, my desire to write and pursue publication.

One of the changes to my site will be I will no longer blog. Past blogs will be archived. I’ve thought of something different and more interactive.

So see ya later. Keep writing, enjoy life, and celebrate spring.

December 4, 2007 | Writing

PHOENIX RISING

They say, ‘The more things change, the more they stay the same’, well we’re about to say goodbye to 2007 and welcome 2008. Change is good, reluctant or planned, maybe both. So being the Phoenix that I am, I’m lighting a creative fire under my website and evolving a new idea.

Beginning January 2008 my Blog page will be replaced with ‘Phoenix Rising’ a bimonthly highlight in writing and life page. My writing, other authors, and information I come across that might be useful to you will be available. Also this page will be interactive – I hope. If there is a subject, opinion, rant, or disagreement with what I’ve said, you email me at YasminePhoenix@aol.com and I’ll respond. No cooking assistance will be provided; you can email SloaneTaylor for assistance.

Of course you can count on the following topics to be addressed, Battlestar Galactica, tennis, and handbags. I know you’re asking what these three things possibly have to do with writing or life. Glad you asked. Battlestar Galactica is one of the most well written and acted television programs to come along in a long time. The opportunity for writers to view the goals, motivation, and conflict of each character is awesome. Plus the hot pilots, Apollo and Helo don’t hurt.

Tennis is my way of relaxing, reducing stress and it provides much needed interaction after I’ve spent a few days bent over my keyboard attempting to find another word for felt. My tennis team is an awesome group of women.

Handbags, please. A writer carries in their handbag paper and pen to jot down ideas, dialogue or snippets of information for their work in progress, a mirror, and protein bars. It is very important we have the correct bag, not too large, definitely not too small, but always fashionable. And women know one handbag can not possibly meet all of the above criteria, so we have to have several to meet the needs of a particular day. If my hubby asks, this is my story and I’m sticking to it. Feel free to use my reasoning if necessary.

So I hope the rest of 2007 is spent writing, enjoying your family and friends, and remember to celebrate every positive thing you did to improve your writing career and life. No matter if you think its minuscule, it’s still a step in the right direction. Even if you gained ten pounds, relax it could have been fifteen! (Not saying I did)

Yasmine