REvisions

Not my view but the view from my daughter’s job (about 10 minutes away).

I’m working through a new revision this week.

I’m specifically working on:

adding more tension between the characters (conflict drives story)

adding more fears to the main character

changing speech tags into action

adding sensory details

I did a lot of research during the first draft, so I’m trying to focus on revision only and am staying off the internet. FOCUS! 🙂

One thing I did allow myself to Google today was: Should characters eat in novels? I feel like my characters rarely miss a meal and I wonder if I need to edit some of the meals out. The Google search reports that meals are important in novels (and in life!) I’m putting it on the list for the next revision pass.

What do you think? How important is eating in your writing or reading?

2014!

I awoke yesterday from a 3 year coma & return to my blog with a completed & yet unpublished kids’ chapter book & romance novella.  No, the coma didn’t happen, but the writing did!  I’d be crazed to wake up in Texas (not Hawaii?) With 5 kids (not 3?).  Now, e-publishing has come far, fb is useful for authors & pinterest is a thing!

If you read my blog back in the day- hope you welcome my return!

If you’re a new reader- browse some of the old posts, they’re where I came from.

Now, let’s get writing!

A Great Sunday and chompin’ at the bit to write!

One of the best things about weekends (besides the fabulous quality time with my family) is that I get excited for Monday’s writing time.  I’m glad I didn’t try to write four hours every single day because that would probably lead to burn out.

Tomorrow’s plan is to drop off eldest at 6 AM, write from 6-8 and then work from 830-3.

I had a great day today.  Early AM, DH took three year old to market with him.  Yes, the Volcano Market (about a 5 minutes drive) opens at 6 AM on Sunday morning.  They extended their hours this summer and officially stay open until 10, but by 8, most of the best produce is gone anyway. People in Volcano don’t do things like the rest of the world.  For one, we live strangely close to a very active volcano.

So, with Littlest out of the house, I read for about an hour.  I also read for a long time during her two hour nap this afternoon.  Nice.

This evening, we invited our friend’s three kids over (making six total!) for dinner and play since our friend was very sick  with the same darn stomach flu and yes, we know how that feels.  I made Taco Salad and Giant Choc Chip Cookies! They didn’t give me the super mom award, but I know they meant to.

Reading notes: While reading today, I couldn’t keep myself from taking notes about the POV (point of view) in each chapter and then I dissected one chapter even further and noted each paragraph’s POV character and general summary.  Blue Shoes and Happiness is very interesting in this aspect because while it is told in third person, the POV shifts from character to character within the chapter.  This means one paragraph will be straight narration, Mma Makutsi said….and the next will be Mma Makutsi thinking, “he might be concerned about her shoes.  She hated her shoes. ”  (See how it changes to her internal thoughts/feelings, expressing things that others wouldn’t know?)  Then it could shift to her friend and show his feelings and thoughts.  But a talented/experienced writer can do this..beginning writers should stick to one person’s POV to keep the reader from feeling confused and disjointed.  A writer can really show a lot of POV with this method.

AND, my blog is getting hits!!  YIPPEE.  Ok, not like hundreds or anything, but slowly increasing..and all thanks to you!!!  Mahalo!!!

Random stories about living in Volcano,  if you’re interested:

I once called AAA to tow my car and when the lady (in Cali) asked me where the car was, I told her “Volcano.”  She said, “Gee, I can’t help you with that!”  Really.

When DH’s uncle from Cali came to visit he about freaked out when we drove him over (about 7 minutes) to look at the volcano.  He insisted that we move immediately, because we are WAY WAY too close to a Volcano.  Hello.

Frankie say: “Relax”

Yes, family day has arrived.  Yippee!  The only writing I do on Saturday and Sunday is this blog update.

But, reading, yes, I can  squeeze in a little reading here and there between sweeping, mopping the kitchen floor, pretending to be a dog for the three year old, cooking, organizing, driving kids around and chatting on the phone.

So, what to read?  It’s hard to read the “How to Write a Mystery Novel”  guides without working out the plot and characters right then and there.   So, I pulled out the only mystery in the house that I haven’t read yet- Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith.  It’s fun to read someone else’s mystery!

For those who are still worried:  DH found the National Park Pass in my van, where my mom said it would be, so HOORAY, soon I will be at Kilauea overlook again.

Speaking of soon:

This week (week two) will be a little dicey. Monday I volunteered to work (well, they do pay me) from 830-3.

Weds and Thursday I also said I would work a bit, but maybe I don’t have to do that many hours.

Friday is Writer’s Group.

It may be hard to crank out the hours (again) this week, but I will persevere and do my best. I’m thinking about writing from 6am (bus drop off time) until 8 am (time to get to work) on Monday, which will get me two hours.  And Weds/Thurs, I could do two or three  hours up front and work from 9-?  Might work!

Five hours, 30 minutes and counting

Dear Husband is feeling better, yippee! He needed to run to Hilo (45 mins away) to cash a check for a friend, so he volunteered to take the kids, do the grocery shopping and pick up the eldest from work.  Wowsa!

I stayed home, did nothing but write, eat, have one short phone conversation with Jackie (about noveling) and hung up one load of laundry to dry.

Writing notes:  I spent some of the time using my How to Write Mystery books (Writing and Selling your Mystery Novel by H. Ephron and How to Write Killer Fiction by Carolyn Wheat).

I re(visioned) my plot using C. Wheat’s four arc system for mystery novels and discovered I needed a lot more in arc 1– before the amateur detective decides to commit to solving the case and a lot less in arc 2/3 where the main detecting takes place.  Detecting is when the sleuth questions possible suspects,  witnesses, looks for clues, argues with  his “sidekick” about the clues, etc.

I worked some more on tightening the plot and getting to know the main character a lot better.  I have a lot of work to do, but boy, is it fun and I’m learning way way too much about this mystery writing process.  I’m thinking when the summer is done, I’ll be qualified to teach other people how to do this!

Today marks the official end of week one.  Seven weeks to go. Yikes!

A Hard Day for Writing

So, today was rough because Dear Husband starting vomiting explosively and loudly at 2 am.  Lovely, yes?

So now he knows how I felt last Saturday when I stayed in bed for twenty-four straight hours and did not once pick up a book.  I have about 30 books on a shelf right next to the head of my bed.  I read compulsively.

That’s how sick I was and therefore, that’s how sick he is right now.  Lovely, yes?

But, I persevered. When I got up this morn to take the eldest to the bus stop (5:50 am departure), I asked the middle darling, let’s call him MD, to get into bed with littlest (age 3).  So, when I came home from the bus stop (6 am), they were still asleep.  Yippeee!

I whipped out the notebook and the Weekend Novelist and Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel, grabbed a cuppa joe and got to work.  And, the kids got up, got breakfast, and played nicely for TWO hours.  Now, I don’t know if you know my kids, but some of you do  and well, I was amazed to be really in the background for that amount of time.  Nice job Kiddos!

Then I bumped in another 1/2 hour from 2-230 during naptime.  She slept for 1  hour, I slept for 1/2.

So, that makes 2.5 hours in my living room.  Alright!

Writing notes:  Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel (Can I just start calling it WSYMN?) is really great.  Its another of those write a novel using these easy steps like Weekend Novelist (WN).  So today I worked through my main character.  Got to know him a lot better with more work to come.  I’m working on a character biography about him.  Maybe I’ll post it here.   I’m still really figuring him out.   And that is good.

Maybe I’ll send him to the Character Therapist.  Have you seen her blog?  www.charactertherapist.blogspot.com

Plan for tomorrow? Decide in the morning.  See what the evening holds.  WRITE!

Saturday

Saturday is family day.

Dear Husband (DH) and I got the new chicken  coop out into the yard and the four “baby” chicks installed.  He and I and then another helper got some clear plastic hung on the back deck to block the cold wet summer wind.  Kids played and cruised.

The only problem was that my stomach was feeling terrible. Diarrhea all day.  I spent a lot of the day in bed.  I didn’t even feel like reading (and that is unheard of.)  Hoping to be better tomorrow to spend more time with the kids.  Glad its not a writing day!