Dr. Seuss, A Prologue and Action Movies...Oh My!

I was recently spending a relaxing evening at the bookstore with my son.  As I was walking around I was looking at the interesting titles, books with bright covers and the newest editions.  Basically, I was acting like I had literary ADD.  I was jumping from one book to the next with no clear intent.  Then I stopped and had to go back because I saw a book that interested me by the title.  It was a book by Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones, Freeing the Writer Within.  That was how I felt at that moment exactly. 

I had my game plan, I had named my main characters and I even had my editing philosophy.  Now, it was time to start putting all the planning and thinking into action and free my inner writer.  That was the whole point after all.  I have always enjoyed writing and felt an emotional connection when I wrote.  Sometimes though we get caught up in the planning for something and then lose interest in the actual action.  I did not want to lose my creativity and knew it was time.  It was like having the image of a Dr. Seuss clock that was human sized with legs running after me as the hands moved around in funny circles.  It was more than time to actually start writing.

Since I had my outline and characters the story had already been forming in my head.  I also knew that I wanted to set my novel in two different periods of time, as well as, two different countries.  So I thought it would be a great way to introduce this fact with a prologue.  Plus, a prologue can be a fun, short, exciting way to introduce an idea or theme or plot of a story and entice the reader.  For me a prologue is a bit like sneaking a bite of dessert before the entree arrives.

So I got out my pen and my paper (yes I am a bit old fashioned in my approach) and I started to write the story that has been locked in my mind up to that point.  I love taking an empty piece of paper and filling it with possibilities.  The hardest part is often just finding those first words to introduce your story.  Once you have a beginning though the story often continues almost on its own.  Since this was the prologue I knew I wanted to introduce the past and set the scene for my novel and then at the end of the prologue I would use the last lines written to introduce the theme.

"How long do our memories survive us? Can those memories rest after finding peace and resolution or do they start all over again?"

I always knew that was the theme of the story I wanted to write and so I actually had the last sentence before the first sentence.  I will admit I am a bit directionally challenged but always end up where I want to be, it just may take me a little longer.  This was no different.  I had that last sentence of my prologue but now I had to work the story around that idea.  And then it hit me!  If I am watching the story in my mind on a movie reel how would I really want it to begin...with action of course...with action and horses that is.  An action scene set in the past where everyone is on a horse just seems more romantic and exciting to me.  That may be why I am such a fan of old movies.

Then I did it.  I had the first sentence in my head and before I knew it I had written out my entire prologue and after a few edits to my work was ready to move back into the modern time setting and my main character and begin Chapter One.  That is something I will discuss later though as you digest the excitement for now of a finished Prologue.

Hurricanes and Editing

Really?  Hurricanes and editing.  How does a hurricane make someone think of editing. Well, the simple answer is because I am editing chapter two right now but the longer and truer answer is that when I started writing I realized in order to accomplish the task of a writing a whole book I had to also think about editing.  So I created my own personal "editing philosophy."

Okay, so that may a bit dramatic but if you ask my family that is who I am.  This is not about my crazy self though.  It is about discovering a philosophy in life.  I feel that you need many philosophies in life when you are passionate about something or anything really.  So of course it is no surprised that once I started writing and then had to edit what I wrote that I decided to have an editing philosophy.

Simply stated, I write one section or chapter and then edit it once or twice and then file it away.  Once I am done with the novel I will read through it again to make sure it still flows smoothly but I don't want to over-edit.  The continuous edits do work for many writers but for me it would be too daunting, so I knew if I edited the piece just once or twice that would be much better for me. 

I learned this difference because my old boss is writing his novel which I type out for him and he likes to edit as he is writing and then continuously.  He is a good writer himself and that is his editing philosophy but when I first started to write and tried that same track I was overwhelmed with the writing and the continuous editing.  Instead, I realized that I had to take my own path and, thus, I created my own personal editing philosophy.  Again, I will state it is better to create your own philosophies and paths in life and, if you adopt someone else's philosophies, spin them a little to make them your own.  Be original!

I know you are asking, how does editing go with hurricanes then.  Well, a hurricane comes in and often leaves destruction and can change the way an area looks.  When you edit you can often destroy what you wrote and as long as you like the way the area looks once you are done with cutting and re-writing then your process is working.  Okay, the truth is I just made that up.  Editing has nothing to do with hurricanes.  I am just stuck at home tonight and I am editing chapter two so I had editing AND hurricanes on my mind.  That is how they go together for me right now...not everything needs a metaphor or lesson, sometimes its just timing.

So on this quiet, rainy, blustery Saturday night I will sit and edit and then file away the next chapter of my book and with a clear mind move on to chapter three and the continuation of my character's lives and dramas and adventures which have paled to the adventures of my own life this week with an earthquake and a hurricane to contend with.

Earthquake! How Life and Mother Nature Intervene

Yesterday, I had written out this wonderful blog for my next post.  It was about actually beginning the writing of your novel now that you have the game plan and main characters decided.  However, Mother Nature had her own game plan....EARTHQUAKE! 

Yes, yesterday, as most are aware at this point, there was an earthquake.  I was working in DC and in a tall-rise building on the 9th floor.  I had never gone through an earthquake before so at first I thought it was my boss shaking my wall as a practical joke, then I thought it was people moving furniture on the floor above me.  Of course working in DC and being that it is close to the anniversary for 9/11, my next thought was "Oh no it is an explosion."  I thought it was lasting a bit long for that though and slowly the idea started to seep in that I was in an earthquake...Oh my goodness this is an earthquake.  Yes, I know, I think a lot in a matter of a minute and a half.  The shaking finally stopped.  I have been through tornadoes and hurricanes and flooding but never an earthquake.

I grabbed my purse, my cell phone and of course, since I am always cold, managed to also make sure I grabbed my sweater.  Once I got outside it was quite a site to see all the buildings in the area being evacuated.  It was like the biggest block party ever only everyone was a bit "shaken" (pardon the pun) and not quite sure what was happening. No one could get their cell phones to work.  I finally got a call out to my sister after about half an hour.  The whole office was safe though and we decided to evacuate the city. 

Sounds like an easy enough task when you state it simply, "evacuate the city."  Well, everyone in the DC/MD/VA area had the exact same plan.  Someone I work with offered to drive me and two others from our office so that I didn't have to worry about the trains.  Others got different rides and one woman did take the train home.  Everyone had the adventure of being one of thousands heading in the same direction.  Traffic was not what that was.  It should have been called Chaos; it was a chaos of cars.  At one point we saw that there had been an accident that blocked two of the four lanes and one of the people involved was in a wheelchair.  It took me three hours but I made it to my son who instantly asked, "Mom did you feel the shaking?  Wasn't that COOL!" 

Needless to say, since I evacuated the building with only my purse, phone and sweater I did not have my writing with me.  I didn't even have my journal.  Well, the lesson for me is that sometimes things like earthquakes, illness or just life get in the way of your writing but to use that to your advantage.  I took the time to think about what I wanted to write next and I even thought I could incorporate some of the drama into my writing.  I am trying to take a bizarre yet eventful situation and the experiences I went through and put it into my writing.  Well, ok that was the plan.  What really happened?  I used it as an excuse to take a night off and that is just what I did.  Now, I am back and refreshed so sometimes when life does get in the way...or a very upset mother nature, it is also good to just relax and go with the flow.

I survived trembling Tuesday and now I am back for writing Wednesday. 

What Is In A Name?

So once my outline or game plan was created what do I do next?  Well, next was actually a bit of fun for me.  I had the outline of the actual story all plotted out...and no I can't give that away all at once but you will see quick glimpses throughout as you continue to follow this blog...so next I created the central characters.  That meant naming them and giving them a personality to go along with the story of their life that I was creating under my pen.  It was almost like being a god. 

When I created my outline I knew that I wanted a portion of my story to be set in a foreign country and I wanted the main characters to have names that would have come from that culture.  Many people go to the baby naming books to find a unique and beautiful name for their child.  They pick out the name with an idea that maybe the child's personality would fit with that name.  I mean, who ever heard of a kid named Thor who was a nerd or another kid named Seymour who was the star quarterback.  Many people name kids after relatives as I did with my son Joseph Curtis and ironically he acts just like the relative he was named for.  Thus, finding names for my characters was like reading a baby book of Romanian names.  There are some weird, bizarre, boring and down right unusual names from Romania.  It was fun though selecting which I liked the best.

The amazing part was that once you have the name it was as if the character's personality traits and physical characteristics become easier to envision .  They became actual people with lives I wanted to discover and follow and yet I am the writer so I get to create their lives and dramas and adventures.  Once I knew what to call my characters the idea of their lives already formed in my head as if they were friends I knew from childhood.  I knew these characters and had an idea of their story already. 

Now, as I go back to my writing each day it is like visiting with old friends.  As the story develops and their personalities start to really come out with dialogue and personal events, I get to learn about the characters at the same time as I am the one developing and writing it out.  So now when I find the time to return to the story and write more of it out I am excited to visit with my new friends.

The Game Plan Means Less Hyperventilating

Well, this is the first blog on my adventures of writing my first novel.  Writing to me is always an adventure.  I love to get lost in the characters until they feel so real.  I also love to get lost in the words.  My family thinks with words I am a bit of a perfectionist.  I love words though and even in school could not get enough of literature or grammar classes.  I have written my whole life.  In fact, as a kid my mother used to get so upset because I would write on my clothes, my desk at school, the walls at home, just everywhere. 

The past few years have been a challenge and one day as I was talking to my mother she said to me that she had always hoped I would write a book.  This was not the first time she had said something similar but this was the first time I listened.  I guess we should always try to listen to our mothers, they really do know best.  Writing has always been my emotional outlet.  I am still that nerdy girl that writes in a journal everyday. Well, I guess just by writing this blog I am still that nerdy journal writing girl.

So I did it.  I decided to write my first novel.  Then, I was nervous.  I mean a whole novel is daunting and challenging.  It isn't like writing one of my poems or short stories.  This was a novel that in a perfect world I would want people to read.  Since my writing is so personal to me they would be reading and critiquing me.  After a moment of panic and hyperventilating over that fact I managed to finally find enough oxygen to breath again and I sat down and wrote and wrote and wrote.  I wrote so much I knocked out five chapters.  Yes I did!  Yeah for me.  Of course they were five awful chapters.

Unfortunately, or rather in this case fortunately, life does get in the way.  I have a job and a son to raise and a life to live.  Those five chapters sat until a few months later I pulled them back out and gasped at the mess they were in.  The characters were not defined and the story was too fast and all over the place.  I decided then and there that what I really needed to do was come up with a game plan.  That is exactly what I did.  I named the main characters and created an outline.  Boy my English teachers would be so proud right now that I am saying this.

It was amazing how much better I felt after doing that.  My thoughts were less frantic running around all over the place and settled into more of a pattern and it allowed me to begin to write with a bit more freedom and knowledge of the actual story.  And with that I end this first blog with the first lesson I learned for writing a first NOVEL.  Creating the game plan or outline of a book allows for the creativity to flow in an easier less erratic manner.