Fantasy

You know the time turner that Dumbledore gives Hermione so she can take extra classes? I soooo want one of those! I wish that in every 24 hours, I had 8 hours to work, 8 hours to write, 8 hours to play, and 16 hours to relax and sleep. Is this too much to ask?

This is an especially fervent wish during the holidays. In the past decade, I've hardly ever been able to take time off during November and December. I've worked more Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Days than not. For some extremely stupid reason (considering I've never worked retail), work stuff always seems to get extra-super busy at the end of the year. For once, this year, I was hoping to take the holidays off to relax, write, and spend time with family. Isn't that supposed to be a perk of self-employment?

Alas, no. It turns out that self-employment means doing what you have to, and signing a contract for a new project the day before Thanksgiving augurs poorly for holiday free time. The ink wasn't even dry before my client asked if I could work this weekend, and my first business trip is already booked for Monday.

I'M NOT COMPLAINING, I SWEAR.

I'm just saying I wish there was more time in a day.

Foiled

OK, NaNo failure is now a forgone conclusion. I just landed a very excellent contract that will take my business to the next level (that's the universe rewarding me for having the balls to turn down that job last week), the crazy-busy holidays are upon us, and stress management is key just now. And in truth, I love this story too much to just spew it out.

Songs from Childhood

Why yes, J.J. deBenedictis and FairyHedgeHog, there was a song in my childhood that always made me happy. Unfortunately, it really hasn't aged well. Your choices made better classics.

Investing in the Future

If you've never checked out Miss Snark's First Victim, you should. It's a wonderful writing community / crit group / agent exposure vehicle. Authoress runs it out of pure love, and I cannot even imagine the amount of time she puts into it. She has finally and reasonably put up a Donate link. I chipped in a few bucks because I want her to still be around by the time I have a submission-ready novel!

What Janet Said

Janet Reid has a nice post today about writing what you know, and how if you are an average person, that's probably the recipe for boring.

I had just started this post when, as if to illustrate her point, the phone rang.

"This is Kate."

"Hi, this is Sarah, from Major Internet Company You Used To Work For."

Oy.

Long story short: They offered me a job, which I'm going to decline.

Like the plot of pretty much any story, it can be boiled down to that one sentence. In fact, this is approximately the sentence I'll use to describe the situation should it ever come up in conversation.

Of course there is waaaay more to the story than this, including the staple dramatic features of political maneuvering, subtext-laden dialog, soul searching, etc. But that's the problem: it's all staple. The story is utterly unremarkable in the collective experience of your average readership.

*Sigh* Janet's further point is to write what you are passionate about. Clearly this is easier said than done - what is passion anyway? But maybe the first step is to let go of the distracting sturm und drang of the ordinary. Free our eyes to see the extraordinary.

Or some bullshit like that. I need a bleeping drink.

Quick NaNo Update

Well, I kind of dicked around for a while and actually got started very late. I'm way the hell behind, but still have time to win if I stay motivated.

Cue motivation...

A Scene Study

As I half-heartedly work through NaNoWriMo, I'm being a little bit conscious of scene structure. The Text-to-Movie tool at www.xtranormal.com is an interesting way to play with scenes. Here's one I just generated.

Ah Inspiration!

Well, it's been a very busy couple of weeks, and by the time I got to Sunday night (which of course was also Halloween AND my wedding anniversary), I couldn't face an all-night NaNoWriMo kick-off.  In fact, I hadn't the foggiest idea what I would write about anyway, and decided a good night's sleep would be best all round.

And then the magic happened.  I had one those dreams.  You know, the kind with a plot that almost makes sense, and unexpected characters, and life-and-death on the line, and vivid sensations and emotions.  The kind you can't stop thinking about because you've tapped a vein that runs to depths you forgot you had.

And voila!  Like a gift from heaven, I have something to write about.  Here's hoping I still love it in 28 days.

How's it coming with everyone else?

Oh by the way, if you are in the U.S., please go VOTE!!!!!!