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A thread about writing popped up in the Comments yesterday. Since some people don't read the Comments, I figured it would be more useful if I responded here.

The first question was: Because of the crushing deadlines you (and many other authors) encounter, have you ever thought of an additional scene that you might have wanted to add to any of your stories after the book was finalized and sent to the printer?

No, I never think of additional scenes after the book comes out. Despite the deadline pressure, the book doesn't go out until it is ready. I've never had to ask a publisher to move a publication date, but if it came to that, I would. The integrity of the book is the most important thing.

But I have thought about putting some of the "cutting room floor" scenes on my website, after the books have been out for a while, so that fans could read them. I'm sure they would lead to interesting discussions.

The only problem is that my webmaster is already overwhelmed with work and I'm afraid if I ask for anything extra at this point, he'll move to a desert island.

Follow up question! Do you always write chapter by chapter when you draft? Or do you ever end up with gaps in the initial draft that you have to go back and fill?

I start at the beginning and stumble forward, though I usually have several later scenes in mind before I ever set down the first word. In early drafts, there are chapters that are fully fleshed out with narrative, dialog, action, and story momentum. But there are also chapters that contain only a few lines that say something like "Main Character does something profoundly stupid that sets up the consequences in Chapter 30. Also, the sub-plot with the mermaid needs to be brought up. Add imagery of seashells?"

As I move through draft after draft, I figure out if, in fact, I need the chapter in question. If I do, the scenes that carry the proper load of the storytelling kind of show up in my brain. That's the magic part. I cannot explain how that happens. It just does.

Other questions?

2008 Resolution Tracker
Week 8 - Miles Run: 24.25, YTD: 171
Week 8 - Days Written: 7, YTD: 56

44 weeks left this year.

I am dashing outside the Cave of Revision for a quick breath of fresh air. All is going fairly well. I am working long days, but love being so submerged in my story. One of the characters is now found only on the cutting room floor. Eliminating her cleared up all kinds of structural problems in the text.

Now if I could just get rid of the hamsters who have taken up residence in my lungs, life would be peachy. I am coughing like a seal with a three-pack a day habit, a seal who hangs out under the dock and steals French fries from unsuspecting tourists, a seal who works as a carnie with a traveling fair and writes rambling screeds about walrus conspiracy theories. I sound like a Seal Gone Bad.

Thanks to a generous contribution from Mary Pearson and Aliya, who contributed from England (!), I am 94% on the way to making my Team in Training fund raising goal. All I need is another $150. Will you put me over the top?

OK, the fresh air is killing me. Back into the cave I go.


2008 Resolution Tracker
Week 7 - Miles Run: 22, YTD: 146.75
Week 7 - Days Written: 7, YTD: 49

45 weeks left this year.

We got about 18 inches of snow yesterday. The Forest looks like someone painted it with thick fondant icing. I drove through a white-out down to Syracuse (where they didn't get any of the storm at all, not even a flake) so I could talk about writing historical fiction to a group of teachers.

These weary warriors had worked all day, then came to the OCM BOCES for my talk, which is part of an ongoing series for history teachers. Thank you all for your kind attention and for the pickles.

Today is a spinning plate day. I have to go over the page proofs for Independent Dames with magnifying glasses and a fine-toothed comb, work on my WIP draft, send more content to Theo for the website update, deal with old email and sneak in a run.

Speaking of running (yeah, you knew that was coming, didn't you?).... I am 81% of the way to reaching my fundraising goal for the the Team in Training Half Marathon. (The money goes to fund cancer research, which pretty much affects everyone, so share some love. Please.) I will send a copy of the TWISTED audio version to whomever puts me over the top!

And thank you, kmessner for the shout-out!

Last but not least, my daughter Stef sent along a link to an article about the increasing number of women facing sexual assault on college campuses after drinking alcohol. The article slams the researchers for their approach to the issue. Comments, anyone?


2008 Resolution Tracker
Week 6 - Miles Run: 20 (3.1 of which were rather chilly), YTD: 124.75
Week 6 - Days Written: 7, YTD: 42

46 weeks left this year.

If you wake up all night long thinking about your book, you should probably get up early and write. And change the plans you had for the day.

So that's what I am doing today.


Lake Placid Half-Marathon countdown: 132 days
Please donate to fund our race against cancer!


2008 Resolution Tracker
Week 5 - Miles Run: 20, YTD: 104.75
Week 5 - Days Written: 7, YTD: 35

Only 47 weeks to go!

Chapter 20, which has been giving me fits for days, is finally done. HA! I'm pretty sure it'll be heavily reworked in the next draft, but for now, it's good enough and I'm stoked to be moving on.

Is anyone else confused by this?

Along with the very exciting news that I get to move on to chapter 21, today is my long run day and you know what that means, right? OATMEAL! Long runs require extra carbs in the system. My carbohydrate-of-choice at the end of January in a massive bowl of oatmeal.

The fact that I am this excited about oatmeal is a little alarming, I know. But it's true.

(Stay tuned for some earth-shaking running news coming soon!)


2008 Resolution Tracker
Week 4 - Miles Run: 22, YTD: 84.75
Week 4 - Days Written: 7, YTD:28

Only 48 weeks to go!

The snow stopped, so our lake effect storm was a brief one (compared to last February). We wound up with almost four feet, but the driveway is plowed, the streets are plowed, we were able to get out yesterday afternoon. Oh, and school is open today.

In Fulton, NY, (a few towns over) the roof on the Department of Public Works garage collapsed under the weight of the snow. CNN is covering it. Sure would be nice if CNN would come back up here for the apple harvest, or the perfect summer nights when we can see the Milky Way from our back yard.

An interesting question about being a professional writer turned up in the comments section a few days ago.

mousesnovel wrote: I love how you write about the writing process in your journal. I've only found this journal a little while ago, but I'm been following the entries, and as a writer, it's really something I can relate to. Writing is so unpredictable and since I'm still just a young wannabe (I'd like to think I'm a writer, even if not a professional one), I can't even believe how professional writers can put writing's unpredictableness aside and meet their deadlines! Care to enlighten me?

By "unpredictableness" I assume you mean that we rarely feel totally inspired every single day. I sure as heck don't. But I have to write every day. First and foremost because I like it and it is good for me. Second, because by staying in touch with the story every day, the writing flows better. Third (though this one is pretty important, too), the writing pays my bills.

Any career in the arts has a simple truth attached to it: you have to do the work every day. That is how you get better.

It doesn't matter how many books I've published. I have never before written the book I am writing now. I have to respect the work and keep striving to learn more, keep searching for new tools for my work chest. If you are standing on the outside looking in, it might seem a little boring, and I admit, there are days when I long for a job that has a guaranteed paycheck every two weeks and some kind of health insurance, but the truth is, I feel incredibly blessed to be able to write stories that people want to read. That is extremely motivating.



2008 Resolution Tracker
Week 3 - Miles Run: 21.75, YTD: 62.75
Week 3 - Days Written: 7, YTD:21

Only 49 weeks to go!

I spent most of Sunday working on Chapter 17. This is the second draft, so the work was fleshing out the narrative details, making sure the action added weight to the emotional changes of the characters, and honing the dialog to be as crisp and short as possible.

By the end of the day, I was happy with what I had done.

Until I went to bed.

I crept under the covers, snuggled into my pillow, and felt the delicious tug of Dream pulling me under. And then, just then as my mind was straddling the two worlds, I realized that Chapter 17 was all wrong. No, of course he can't see that yet. It's too early. She can see it, but she thinks she's the only one. They are still very much in the dark about each other. The chapter is completely wrong.

Yesterday I spent most of the day totally rewriting Chapter 17. Again.

Was Sunday's work a waste? I used to think so. I used to get very upset when I would "waste" a day or a week going off on a plot tangent or approaching a scene from the wrong point. Nowadays, I just mutter a little and get back to work. I think I have to test out my characters, sometimes following them down the wrong path, to get to know them better and to measure the fabric of the story.

The magic moment between Wake And Sleep is when it is easiest to see.

2008 Resolution Tracker
Week 2 - Miles Run: 21, YTD: 41
Week 2 - Days Written: 7, YTD:14

Only 50 weeks to go!

How are your resolutions holding up?

I have kept my New Year's resolutions for seven days! Go me!

2008 Week 1>> Days When I Wrote for At Least an Hour: 7. YTD: 7.
2008 Week 1 >> Miles Run: 20. YTD: 20.

Finishing out the miles yesterday on the treadmill was ugly, ugly, ugly, but I did it.

Today I will try to write a million bazillion chapters while staring at the phone because my niece is in the hospital right now getting ready to have her first child. If he is born before midnight, he will share his birthday with his great-grandmother, (aka my mom) Joyce Mason Holcomb Halse, who is 77 years old today.

It has always amused me that Mom was born the same day as Elvis. Even funnier: it's David Bowie's birthday. I think the joke should start "So Elvis, David Bowie and Mom walk into a bar..." Definitely the birthday of cultural icons.

Here is my gorgeous mother about to inhale a tray of frosted brownies at her party Sunday. One of the advantages to making it to 77 is that you get eat whatever you want. Happy Birthday, Mom.