Pre-Write Checklist

All kids to school, check. (Oh, blissful two and a half hours of aloneness.)

Writerly friends blogs stopped by, and commented on, check (if anything happened to come to mind to comment about.)

The Rejectionist hasn't posted yet, so further distractions avoided, check.

New e-mail opened and answered, check. (Ignoring the 2,000 messages that should be deleted or put into files, check!)

iPod loaded up with novel "soundtrack", check.

Word processor opened, check.

Notes by my side, check.

Deep breaths, and telling myself I know how to do this, check (thanks for the tip, Paul)

Procrastinatory blog post written, check.

Remind everyone to stop by Friday to participate in an interactive interview with Anna, check.

Let everyone know that Sarah is #10, and Solvang Sherrie is #33 at Miss Snark's First Victim's Secret Agent Contest this week. Tell everyone to stop by and give them feedback once the submissions are posted, check.

Wondering if I would be more productive if I exercised first, check.

Ignoring desire to turn on Wii, check.

Ignoring impulse to hang out at Erica's blog again, check.

Ignoring hours of housework I could be doing, check. (No problems with this!)

More deep breaths, more talking to self, check.

Nothing left to do, but WRITE.

*sounds of keys clacking away*

Lift-off!

Your pre-write checklist? Does it look anything like mine?

Friday Feature: Journeys Toward Publication and Beyond: Links

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Instead of an actual interview, I've decided to link to some interviews with authors talking about their writing process.

Enjoy!

Maya Angelou in an interview at newsun:

Growing up is admitting that there are demons you cannot overcome. You wrestle with the, oh, yes, like the prophet with the angel, you know: "I will not let you go until you tell me something." But sometimes that's what causes the tired person to become an insomniac, because the demons are so thick around the head.

An interview with Neil Gaiman:

I like making things up. I want to know who the characters are and just the broadest of broad strokes, where it ends and what is happening in the middle. Once I have that, I want to just start writing, because I figure it's a voyage of discovery.

Neil Gaiman writing about Terry Pratchet:

He was having fun. Then again, Terry is that rarity, the kind of author who likes writing, not having written, or Being a Writer, but the actual sitting there and making things up in front of a screen.

Interview with Toni Morrison:

But the writing was mine, so that I stole. I stole away from the world.


An interview with Stephen King:

I had a period where I thought I might not be good enough to publish. I started to sell short fiction to men's magazines while I was in college. I got married six or seven months after graduating, and for two years I sold maybe six stories a year, and I had the money I was making teaching, too, and it was a decent income. And then I sort of got out of the Zone. And for a year or so, I couldn't sell anything, and I was drinking a lot, wasn't drugging, couldn't afford it, and I was writing mostly shit, and then Carrie came along and I was OK again. But during that one year, I just thought I'm going to be a high school teacher, and nothing's ever going to happen to me.


My mother said that when she was pregnant with me she'd go out to the road and take the tar up, and chew the tar, because there was something in that tar, that, she, I, needed. It's like a craving. We like to think about how smart we are. But I think talent as a writer is hard-wired in, it's all there, at least the basic elements of it. You can't change it any more than you can choose whether to be right handed or left handed.



An interview with Shannon Hale:

I don't know where my characters come from. Honestly (and this may sound silly) but they seem to grow organically from the story. A character is what she says and does, and that means I have to write a story first to see what the character says and does. Then she gets formed by many, many rewrites (thirty for The Goose Girl).
I have to say, though, that I don't think I'm trying to write strong girls--I think I'm writing realistic ones. Every girl and woman I know personally is extremely powerful in her own way.

Hodge Podge

Since this is a post about random, unconnected things, it seemed reasonable to include this picture. It's a photo of my oldest child, playing his Euphonium. For unknown reasons, this is what he chose to play in band this year. Unlike the 12 boys who chose the drums, he gets a private lesson. He's the only one in the school who chose this heavy and unwieldy instrument (which I lug to school twice a week). This particular son could multiply before he hit kindergarten, and taught himself to read--all as I watched, fascinated. Although, I think it's safe to say that I watch each of my kids with fascination. Now, on to the hodge podge:


Frequent Visitors (because aren't you all reptiles from another world masquerading as peaceful friends?) may wonder why I haven't followed up with my Buy-A-Book Club recently. Well, it's because I have sheepishly over-bought in October. I think my tally topped 20 books. Once I get over my shame over being thoroughly unable to stick to a budget, I'll tell you about some of them.

Yesterday I clicked over from Northwriter's fantastically visual blog to this beautiful blog, written by Natasha Fondren while she travels across the United States. How cool is that? And, her post 'It's Not Normal' is not to be missed. I mean it. Go check it out. NOW!

I also followed a click through Editorial Ass' blog to author Aprilynne Pike's post about not just breaking into publication, but breaking in with the right first novel. Food for thought.

And today on Agent Rachelle Gardner's blog is a guest post by Henriette Power. Anyone who is a writer and rower is cool in my book.

And for anyone wondering, if I seem less lucid today, it is because the flu has completely taken over my house. Superman has been lying on the couch for 5 days now. This elicits much sadness from everyone who knows him. I think he has spent more time lying still in the past few days than he has (while awake) in his entire lifetime. It's weird to see his body at rest.

Now my Cowgirl has succumbed, and says things like "I want a cold blanket, mommy," followed seconds later with "I want a WARM blanket MOMMY!" and "That Gatorade made me sick," followed by, "I'm NOT SICK!"

So, back to the reason for my questionable lucidity--when my kids are sick, I gather them into bed with me at night. Nighttime is scary. It's when fevers spike and I feel compelled to check every few moments to make sure my sick kids are still breathing. But last night, Superman decided to sleep in his brother's room, then halfway through the night moved to the living room couch. So I was up all night wandering between him and Cowgirl. I haven't slept well in days.

And while Cowgirl is sick, I don't have the comic relief of watching her dance to this video.

But maybe lack of lucidity is exactly what I need to plunge forward into my NaNo novel. Today my MC is arriving at her Dream World.

What about your lucidity? Are there occasions that you can't write because your mind isn't in the right place? What state of mind helps you get words onto the page?