Am I doing my research and learning the craft, or am I just putting off writing my story?

I still haven’t picked up my WIP. If you’ve read my previous entries, you know it’s been about a month now, maybe longer, since I have written actual words in my manuscript. When I think about how much I could’ve accomplished this past month, even if I’d written only half an hour a day, I want to beat myself silly for not having done anything. But I keep telling myself that I’m not ready.

Between when I started my manuscript in January and when I last worked on it at the end of April, I wrote about 21k words. Not a whole lot for four months time, but certainly better than nothing at all. During those four months I found lots of info on the internet about writing techniques, what a story consists of, etc. And I began to tell myself “I have no idea what I’m doing. My story has no plot, I don’t know what the conflict is…” and on and on. I decided I had to plot my novel and figure out what it was all about before writing any further.

So I’ve been taking online workshops. Buying e-books. Checking a ton of books out of the library (which I basically scan to see if they have what I’m looking for, and if not I return them right away). I read blogs every day searching for words of wisdom. I skim through twitter every day for links to articles about writing. But I DON’T WRITE.

(If you want to get technical, I did write a two-page synopsis of my story for a synopsis workshop, and a few 3-line pitches for a pitching workshop I took. And if you’re asking “why would she take synopsis and pitching workshops if she’s only a quarter of the way done with her WIP?” I don’t blame you. (Although I have read in a few places that it can be helpful to have a synopsis before beginning your manuscript.) I think I am becoming workshop obsessed, but that’s a whole other post!)

Am I avoiding writing because I’m scared? Or because I think I don’t know what the hell I’m doing? Maybe because I want my story to be perfect, and it won’t be perfect until I learn everything there is to know about novel writing!!!! Whatever the reason is, I know it’s not a valid one. I can write complete sh*t every day and save what I learn from workshops and books and articles for when I get to the revision stage. (One good thing is that I’m dumb enough to think that I won’t have to go through one, two, five revisions before my story is ready to be submitted.)

My goal is to have a basic outline for my story done by (this) Friday, so I can start actually moving the story along this weekend. If I can write even just one stinkin chapter this weekend I will be happy. Even accomplishing a small bit of writing will inspire me, and make me feel like I’m not stuck anymore. Or at least that I’m getting myself un-stuck slowly but surely. Because in my rational, left-brained mind I know that no matter how many workshops I take, or how many articles and books I read, nothing is going to get me a publishable manuscript except writing the damn thing!!!!! 

I should be writing... or plotting... or making *some* kind of progress on my WIP!

Here I go again.  Another night that I had planned to spend working on my (still stalled) manuscript, and instead I have wasted the majority using the internet.  While the internet is fabulous because it connects you to people you might otherwise never meet, and you can find almost any information you're looking for by simply "googling" it, it's also a major time suck.  Some people have will-power and can shut their computer off, or simply keep their browser closed so they can concentrate on writing.  I have no such power.  (More proof that I have no will-power: the last time I tried to diet (3 weeks ago) I lasted 4 days before giving up.  I haven't been able to stick with dieting since Oct 09.)

The way I justify the (sometimes excessive) time I spend on the internet is by telling myself that it technically is related to my writing.  I'm learning about the craft by reading all these articles and blogs.  I'm blogging and tweeting to help built my "platform".  I'm doing more writers workshops (which I love but are a major money suck!!!) to help find ways to improve my WIP or expand my writing ability etc.  While all these things may be true, all the time I am spending on the internet is time I am not spending writing my story!!!!!

I know I need to buckle down, and I did manage to do a little work on my plot tonight.  (I am using Martha Alderson's "Blockbuster Plots" method.  Has anyone ever tried it / read the book / seen her website / heard of her or her system?)  This whole scene and plot thing has been a struggle for me.  Whenever I've started writing stories in the past, I always just wrote.  I had a general idea and I would write whatever came into my head and moved the story along.  But obviously that way doesn't work, because I have never finished a manuscript!  I don't want to keep making the same mistake, so this time I am going to figure out how to plot this story.  Period, end of sentence.

I apologize for this rambling post.  I had an idea of what to write about when I started this, but then I got lost along the way.  Sometimes I really think that I have adult A.D.D. because it is so easy for me to change the subject or go off on a completely unrelated tangent.  Another thing I need to work on.  I should probably write a list so I don't forget all of it!  (On top of possible A.D.D. I also have a horrible memory, which is a problem that I am way too young for!)

Thoughts, advice, opinions?  Are you a plotter, or more of a pantser?  Do you have a system that works for you?  Or do you have some will-power you're willing to share with me?  Or do you think I should shut up and go write already?  ;-)

Home Sweet Home... (but the traffic still sucks!)

My boyfriend Mike and I left the conference at 11:30 yesterday morning, hoping to beat some of the traffic.  The drive through PA wasn't so bad, but once we hit NJ it slowed down a bit.  Then it was bumper to bumper on the NJ turnpike trying to get on the GW bridge.  So we took some kind of detour (gotta love GPS!) that moved a little faster, though not much.  After the GW the traffic cleared for a bit, until we got closer to the Throgs Neck.  Another nightmare.  Once we got off that, traffic finally started to move - even the Cross Island Pkwy which never moves was doing okay.  Still, we didn't get back until 5:30, and we only made one quick stop on the way (at Sonic, YUM!).  A trip that took 3.5 or so hours on Friday morning took almost 6 on Sunday.  What a mess!

That whole paragraph was either extremely boring or confusing or both to my readers who are unfamiliar with NY (and if you are, consider yourself lucky) so I apologize.  Back to the conference... I took two workshops in the morning, one about "hooking" your readers and one about relationships which was pretty much for romance writers.  Then I took two more after lunch, elements of romance and a social media class with THE Janet Reid.  It was packed, as I knew it would be because everyone thinks she is funny and super smart, which of course she is lol!

Saturday night was uneventful and I was completely exhausted (learning really wears you out!).  Sunday morning I had two more workshops before we left - showing vs. telling, and one on revising.  They were both informative and both instructors were very nice.  I didn't stay for the closing ceremony because, as I said earlier, Mike and I thought we'd beat the traffic if we left before noon.  Overall, I had a very good time and I'm glad I went.  I learned a lot and met a few nice people.  My next conference is going to be RWA in July!  Is anyone else going???

At the Pennwriters Conference in Lancaster, PA!

This will be a short and sweet post because a) I'm exhausted since I've been up since 4:30 am (although I did take a quick 2 hr nap earlier) and b) I need to go to bed soon so I can get up around 7:15 tomorrow for breakfast before the first workshop starts.

So my boyfriend and I drove up from Long Island to Lancaster, it took somewhere between 3 - 3.5 hrs.  I can't make a better estimate of the time because on the way we stopped at this HUGE smorgasbord place called Shady Maple.  YUM.  It was only $8.25 a person for an all you can eat breakfast buffet.  If you're ever in the Lancaster area (it was probably a little outside of Lancaster but I don't know the actual town name) I recommend checking it out.

Because of our breakfast break, we got to the hotel around 9:45 so unfortunately I missed the first workshop.  But I caught the second one with agent Alex Glass, who's super smart and nice (and cute, but shhhhhhhhh don't tell my boyfriend!  heehee).  I didn't go to the nextworking lunch cuz it cost $22 extra, so my boyfriend and I went to Friendlys nearby.  (OT - Friendlys seems to be much better food-wise outside of Long Island, I'm not sure why.  But their ice cream is delicious in ANY state!!!!)

My second workshop was "getting conflict on the page" but I can't remember the author's name (my bad).  He was nice and funny as well.  Then I attended the agent panel with Alex Glass, Jenny Bent, Janet Reid (the query shark) and another woman who's name I don't remember (yes, as you can tell I am bad with names).  Her name wasn't on the schedule either, or I'd go look it up.  Anyway, it was very informative and Janet Reid is as funny - and snarky! - in person as she is on her blog.

After that I relaxed for an hour and then it was nap time from 5ish 'till 7:30.  Once my boyfriend and I woke up, we showered and went to dinner downtown at Annie Baileys.  It's a pub/restaurant type place, it definitely seemed like "the place to be" on a Friday night.  Good food, nice waiter, and not a totally out of control crowd.  I give it an A+  (lol I feel like I'm writing an ebay review or something!)  And now I am trying to wind down so I can get to sleep by midnight (wish me luck!)

Well this post ended up longer than I expected, and it's time for me to hit the sheets.  If anyone has a specific question for me about the conference, the hotel, the agents, etc., leave me a comment and I will try my best to answer you if I can.  And if anyone who reads this happens to BE at the conference too, let me know.  Maybe we can meet up for a drink or coffee or a quick hello!  Until next time...   :)

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You can't change the past, and what's with all this "platform" nonsense?

I wrote a whole post whining about turning thirty-two next week – then I deleted it. It has nothing to do with this blog, and it had very little (10% maybe) to do with my writing. What it comes down to is that I’m not where I thought I’d be in this stage of the game, and I’m disappointed by that. But unfortunately no one has invented a time machine yet (at least not that we know of) so I can’t change what’s already done. Wishing I’d tried harder or spent more time on something won’t make it so. All I can do is promise myself that in the future I will do something with my life.

I have made progress, which is good. I started taking this writing life seriously in January (look at that, a New Years Resolution that I actually kept!), and in that time I have written 21k+ words. Now that’s certainly not a lot for four months time, but it’s more than I’ve ever wrote for one WIP. I am going through a bit of a rough time writing-wise at the moment, but I’m hoping to get myself back on track asap (if not before the Pennwriters conference, then right after). I have to work out the plot more before I can get back to the story, so I don’t have another “I got stuck” crisis.

Moving on... This has been a hot topic on blogs lately and I can definitely understand why: Should you blog, start a website, etc. to create a platform before you even have a completed manuscript? I find this subject interesting because I’m approx. 25% done with the first draft of my novel, and I started blogging a few months ago because I read a few articles about how important it is for (both aspiring and established) authors to have a platform. But I wondered then, as I still do now, what is the point? No one cares about me or my attempt at a novel except maybe a few of my friends.

What could I possibly have to say that would interest a complete stranger? There are thousands of people who want to write and be published. Many of them have blogs and can probably think of interesting things to say (I mean, isn’t that what writing is all about anyway?). I doubt anyone wants to read about me, my boyfriend, my dog, my debt, my sucky job, my problems sticking with a diet… I could go on forever, but I’ll spare you. It comes down to this: I just don’t see the point.

I see the point in general, of course. Publishers want someone with a “built-in fan base” so if they publish the book, it will sell to at least those people. They don’t want to take a risk with their money on someone who’s completely unknown and doesn’t even have a twitter account to attract new fans. I get it. But for myself, I don’t understand why I need to be doing this, at least not right now.

I’ve read a lot of different opinions on the subject, but I feel like these best sum up the arguments for (publishing before completing a novel) and against…

FOR
LEANING MORE TOWARDS AGAINST  (for some reason, I can’t get a link to a specific post, only to the whole blog. But if you click on “marketing” in the categories section in the right column, the post I am referring to is titled “Balancing Platform and the Novel”)
AGAINST
 
Personally, I’d love to have more blog followers, but I don’t have time to write a blog every – or every other – day. And I don’t have the patience to go around the internet asking people to please follow me. I think my current schedule of posting once a week (or so) is enough for now. When I have more to say, when I am further along in my manuscript, and if I somehow think of a way to find more hours in the day, maybe I’ll write more.
 
What do you guys think? (“You guys” being ANYONE who happens to be reading this, and I really hope someone is.) Agree? Disagree? Don’t care? Discuss!