Susan to the writing community, hello!  Susan is a friend from the great bunch of talented web mavens over at women designers group and she asked me (of all people!) for writing advice…does that mean I’ve “arrived”??  lol…

She is going to write fantasy/paranormal for tween girls.  She has decided to jump in and go for it.  NO, she hasn’t but I’m trying to persuade her.  If you have the bug for a story, you should just write it. Why not?  Worst that could happen is you could discover this is not for you..No, actually the VERY worst that could happen is you fall totally, completely, utterly passionate in love with writing, realize it’s your CALLING and then fantasize every minute of every day about quitting your day job and hiring a full time nanny too. (ROFLLMAO)

But since Deal or No Deal has not yet telephoned, I guess that’s just a distant dream…

Good luck Susan, keep us posted!

On my 8/13 post, “An Open Letter to My Father From an Aging Novelist”, I got a few things off my chest. But I’ve been thinking about it…what if I HAD gone to NYU Tisch division, HAD gotten that degree in English/creative writing? Sure I’d have been better read, but would I be a better writer?

Because as I honestly look back, the thing that has made me a better writer has been having lead a life, having had adversity upon adversity, and having been shaped by my 40s into a person passionate about themes, ideology, and spiritual concerns.

All my writing now has OUTWARD purpose, all the doggerel I wrote as a young poet LOOKED like Lucille Clifton at the time, but read like a whiny little self involved bitch - a description that no longer fits me to a tee.

So here’s to Dad, who indadvertantly shaped me into something better, someone who would take 30 years to be crafted into a writer worthy of the Calling.

This weekend, as you can read at mom-blog, was NOT what I expected, but something really neat happened.  My husband caught up with a former colleague of his.  It was really nice, Sean was an a great guy and so it was nice to find that he’d been naturalized (he’s a Brit, love those Brits!), and married, and expecting, and promoted.

The last time I hung out with him, I believe Amelia was already born and a baby, so maybe 4 years ago?  Maybe she hadn’t been born yet, though, I’m not sure.  That night, Chris, Sean and I went out for dinner and drinks and after a few rounds, I told him the plot of my novel.   I believe this was the first time I told Chris the story as well.  It was VERY well received by both of them.

On Thursday night, Sean asked Chris how my novel was going, was I pursuing it, etc.  WOW.  I’m totally jazzed that someone would remember the plot and ask about it AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, especially when these 2 guys apparently had a LOT to catch up on (they hung out for SEVEN hours). This gave me confidence about this story.

Maybe it’s not my preferred genre, but it is one I like (although I’m the fussiest reader EVER), the plot has action, romance, sacrifice, hot hero, flawed woman, and lots of other good stuff, like war and politics.  In fact, to be honest, I’m rather happy with it, and I’m happy with my sequel concepts as well.  So 3 cheers for ME, and my little story 

I’ve been learning a lot since I’ve been hooked up with an accountability partner (hi Katrina!) and not only THAT, but I’ve been CREATING a lot, which is astounding to me.

Lessons I learned this last week:

1.  Outlines take many forms.  In reading some old notes, I decided to try an out outline for my novel.  I had taken a stab before a long time ago and failed miserably.  The directions in the writing class were that they were NOT to be extensive and that was my problem.  I googled about and learned about netlining or mind-mapping (Google or Wiki it for yourself).   It’s decidely NON-linear, which put my schoolish butt ill at ease, but funny thing, after just “doing it”, my split personality kicked in, and the funky ginabad part of my brain took over.  My bookworm side screwed up its face at the messiness, but I read it all through.

Then, I pulled out a sheet of paper and literally ZIPPED through my novel’s outline, which came EXACTLY to my projected 3 page, double spaced requirement on my task list.  Better than that, it helped me make some critical decisions, such as the groundwork for the civil war in my story is the coup the book begins with, rather than there is already one going on.  The king is warring with neighboring regions, while tensions are growing at home.  This way it makes more sense when he gets assassinated.  (That’s no reveal, it’s in the first page of the book.)

2. Sitting in the passenger seat on long trips with no “aids” (ipod, notebook, book) really DOES allow you to create.  I started a nice little vampire story (not something I’ll really write, just for my own pleasure…I do this from time to time), and finished a concept in my head for an awesome short story.  Kicker ending too, now I just have to write it.  Must earn some gas money and plan long trips with Chris driving

3. Writing generates writing.  I had a task list, and I was working on one task (do one assignment from old class, which was “just start writing”) and - without even realizing - finished another (start writing that short story).  Cool.  Since I finished the concept on the trip, I now have some nice beginning bones to work with, and a promising plot that I can send to contests or lit mags.  Wow.

4.  Having an accountability partner works.  Really!  See Above!!  cool beans…