Just Keep Going

Kathleen Kaska
Fifth Saturday Blogger

Do you ever have days, or even weeks, when writing seems a chore? The passion and enjoyment you usually experience went south? You spend more time online “researching” than writing just one decent sentence?

            My muse must have found something better to do the last few weeks than inspire, encourage, and prod me. I’m not sure, but I think she went to Spain for a vacation.

            Something had to give, so I loosened my purse strings and attended the Write on the Sound Writer’s Conference in the picturesque, waterside community of Edmonds, Washington. Despite signing up early, several workshops that interested me were already closed. I almost didn’t register, but I told myself to be open-minded. As it turned out, I came away with valuable information from every workshop and a fresh attitude toward my writing.

            Here, in a nutshell, is what I gleaned from the conference:  

    Stay off the internet. Okay, that’s not always practical or possible, but I realized how easy it was to close the document I was working on and rush to Google for a bit of research. Now, I make a list of things I need to look up and do it in one fell swoop at the end of my writing day rather than interrupt the flow.

    Self-promotion is overrated. I scoffed when I heard this, but the presenter went on to explain how important it was to target specific audiences rather than used the scattershot approach. In other words, promote wisely.

    Don’t write for free. That was another tidbit I scoffed at. True, the publishing world has changed and we often write for free when we blog. But, it got me to thinking about the freelancing I used to do and the money it brought in. So, I dusted off my Writer’s Market and set a goal to get back to freelancing.

    Simultaneous submissions are okay. That was a relief to hear, but to be sure, I checked out the current issue of Writer’s Market and learned that most publishers do accept simultaneous submissions. It’s about time. After all, we don’t have five hundred years to live.

    Don’t set the bar too low, or your writing won’t improve. This is most important. When I was teaching, we had a saying: “If you think you’ve learned everything you need to know about this profession, then it’s probably time for you to retire.” I realized that I’d become complacent about my writing. I decided to try my hand at the new mystery I’d been pondering for a few years. It’s a serious story about a PI suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. I’m used to writing light, humorous stories. This was a real stretch. I started off writing it in first person, and as a challenge, I switched to third person. I now have close to 15,000 words and my motivation level is off the charts.

            My muse is back from vacation, too. She even brought me a gift—a new motto: “Just Keep Going.” Now I’m writing several hours a day. It feels good. I’m happy. Case closed.

Under the Gun

Wednesday I got a call from the person agenting a particular project of mine, letting me know she'd had lunch with an editor from a well-known British publishing company and said editor was interested in my project. She needed me to beef up the outline, make it 'kick ass,' and polish up the finished chapters and get it to her that evening.

Mind you, I was at work when I talked to her and still had about four or five hours to go. I also had plans with friends that evening. My response?
"Sure, I can do that!"

I mean, what else do you say? A job is a job and when you have to work overtime, you do it. Especially when a possible publishing contract is a potential reward.

I did get both the outline and chapters beefed up, cleaned up, and even kick-assified. I had three writer friends read the outline to catch any spelling/grammatical errors, plot holes, or story points that made them go 'WTF is wrong with you, Fredsti?' I went over the chapters several times with spell and grammar check, read them for continuity, flow, character development, really stupid, self-indulgent bits that needed to come out. And then I hit the 'send' button and poured myself a restorative glass of wine.

Since then I've resisted the temptation to re-read either the outline or the chapters. If there's a mistake I missed, I just don't want to know about it. It's too late to do anything about it. It's always scary getting things done as a rush job under a tight deadline. It's motivating as hell, but not always conducive to turning in your best work. And I've found no matter how many times I read over my own writing, I will invariably find an error or two during a later read. Drives me mad, but if spell check and repeated line edits don't catch it, whatcha gonna do?

What about you? What's the tightest deadline crunch you've ever had? How did you insure the quality of your work? Would you rather work with or without a deadline? And where's that glass of wine?!

Lessons I've Learned From Running by Christine Duncan

I've been a runner for a while now and I've found it taught me some lessons that I can apply to just about anything--but especially writing.
Lesson 1. I really can run one more step (or one more mile) no matter how tired I am. I can write when I'm tired too. It's a choice.
Lesson 2. No one will care if I don't run (or write) but me. The world is not out there watching.
Lesson 3. Whining does not change lesson one or two.

Sometimes, I meet writers who seem to believe that they can only write under ideal conditions. I've met runners like that too. The problem is, I don't think there are any ideal conditions in this world. Or maybe I just missed the line where they passed them out, who knows?

This post may seem like I'm being cranky. Maybe so. But tonight, after a long day of work, bill paying, a five mile run, and a very late supper, the crankiness is directed inward. I need to remember why I write. Because I choose to. And I am the one who will miss it the most if I don't write.


Christine Duncan is the author of the Kaye Berreano mystery series. Safe House, book two of the series, was released in September.