Attach writing to another action

A few years ago I was experiencing severe headaches caused by pinched nerves in my neck and shoulders. My chiropractor ordered me to stretch often. Not being as good a patient as I should be, I often forgot. Finally, I told him I was getting better at remembering since I started stretching every time I saw my dog or one of my two cats stretch. He thought it was such a great idea he told his other patients about it.

If it’s a challenge for you to find time to write, try attaching the action of writing with another errand, chore, or event.

• Each time you check your email, set a kitchen timer for 15 or 30 minutes and write.
• Every time you come home, jot down notes from your journey that you can use for character and scene building later.
• Before bed, take five minutes to make a list of ways to add realism, or fantasy, to your writing.

If you’re committed to writing during a certain time, in this case, while cooking dinner, for example, be sure to hold yourself to it. After all, if you don’t, you’re the only one who’s hurting.

Kids on Stupid Pills

Yesterday I pulled out of my driveway and turned right onto the second major road through town. At the next intersection, from my right, a kid just getting out of middle school for the day sped down the sidewalk on his bike and without pausing, looking, or breathing, proceeded across the two lane highway in front of 40 cars coming from either direction. What. The. Hell.

Turning out of the grocery store parking lot 20 minutes later, a group of 15 students ran across the four lane highway that runs through town. As I slammed on the brakes for them, the teen driving behind me nearly rear-ended me. She was too busy smoking. At the intersection 300 feet later, she nearly hit me again as I stopped in the left turn lane. She got as close as she could, slammed on the brakes, and sent the trunk of her car flying up in the air what seemed about a foot. She waved her hands frantically, appearing to flip me off, and turned to yell at someone in the back seat.

Is it just me, or are kids on stupid pills?

Evidently, though, adults are too. It’s peer review time at a local corporation and I’ve heard more stories lately about people who get poor reviews because nothing is ever their fault. “No one told me.” “I didn’t know.” “That’s not my job.”

I screw things up. And maybe it’s because no one told me. Maybe it’s because I didn’t know. Maybe it’s because I was trying to help out with something that isn’t my job (that I’m not supposed to be doing). But I suck it up, take responsibility, and move on.

“But mommy, it’s not my fault I got hit by a semi riding my bike home from school.”
“But officer, it’s not my fault I rear-ended that truck. She’s the one who slammed on her brakes.”
“But boss, it’s not my fault I didn’t get the charts coded right.”

Unfortunately, there is no getting what you deserve for riding your bike across the street without looking. Do kids deserve to get killed for being stupid? There’s no lesson in that for anyone. It becomes a community tragedy, the driver is always at fault, and the kid is always the victim. How do you teach responsibility and discipline people for not paying attention while driving and only ALMOST getting in collisions? There’s only a 1 in 500 chance someone with enough authority to warn them will be around to witness it. How do you coach an employee who has the employment skills but not the social ones?

The bad news is this stuff raises my blood pressure something fierce. The good news is, I am never lacking book material.

You can’t edit what hasn’t been written

I have a problem lately with my writing. Instead of going down on paper, it’s all going in my head.

I was having lunch with my honey yesterday when we overheard a conversation between two other customers. It was a perfect Valley Girl rendition – so amazing in fact, that I had no idea what she was talking about. Thad said he was pretty sure SHE didn’t know what she was talking about.

So what did I do with that exchange? Stuck it in a book, of course. (That’s where I get most of my material. Anyone who says they have writers block should just go sit at a coffee shop in a college town for fifteen minutes.) The only problem is I didn’t really write it down…I’m just kind of thinking about it.

Arnie has been written almost entirely in my head. I hand wrote a 14-page outline for Arnie three summers ago. I think I might even have transfered it to my Life Journal for Writers. Beyond that, I have dozens of scenes outlined, but all in my head. The scene where the Dr. comes home and argues with his teenage daughter while his son watches, the scene where the Dr. makes THE discovery of the novel, the scene where Arnie overhears conversations at his mother’s funeral…all meaningless until I actually get it down on paper.

I have Chain of Fools mostly written, too, and mostly in my head. The opening scene (which mostly IS written and actually in print), Karl and Gina’s wedding, Gina’s car chase, Karl’s move from Seattle, the prison visit from the greasy lawyer…tons of details between a half dozen characters. What am I doing sitting here? My boyfriend used to work as a financial rep and has access to all sorts of great research I could use, for this book especially. Chop chop, people!

The Legacy of Cademus Brown. Started in January 2006. Total words in print: 17,000. Total words in my head: a million more. I really need to get started.

Like most writers, I think a lot about what I’m going to write. I spend a lot more time thinking than writing, sometimes, and that’s a problem. My goal for this summer is to get more of it down in print. 80,000 on each of my three biggest books by September 1st, 2008. Then I can spend the fall editing them.

Oooh. I gots’ta lotta work to do!

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