How to Write the great American novel, well, maybe!

Everyday someone asks me, how do you write a book. I answer honestly, I haven't a clue. There is a book called The Artist's Way. It tells all aspiring writers they should write three pages a day no matter what. If nothing comes to you then right babble, just write. Well, I have never had a problem with coming up with ideas.

First, if you want to be a writer, the one rule I know is  to put your rear end in a chair and write.

If you don't have an idea then look up and write about the first thing you see or some people practice by using a prompt. The short story Thirteen is written from a prompt. I went to a writer's group and the lady said "For next month write a story about Friday the thirteenth, so I did.

Once I sit down, I can write for hours. My problem is sitting down. I swear, I think I have AADHD.

There are a million things I can think of to do instead of writing.To keep myself on the straight and narrow, I get up most mornings at six and write until ten. I only allow myself to get up to use the bathroom or get another cup of coffee. It has been working well. I average about fifteen hundred words a day. Theoretically, I could write an 80,000 word  book every two months or so. Wow, that sounds great.  It doesn't work that way. During those four hours, I have to make sure my details are correct, my characters are believable and my story flows.

I have always been told "get it down on paper and then go back and fix it". I can't work like that. If I realize my hero was thirty-five with green eyes in chapter two and in chapter four his eyes turned brown, I must fix it.

Next question I get asked is where do you get your ideas?  Everywhere. The other day I was buying groceries and the guy in front of me looked like the kind of guy who could clear out a bar with one swipe of his hand and yet he was gently holding a baby. Believe me, he will show up somewhere.

In truth, I don't know. I dream them, see a snippet on TV or in a book that sends my mind off on a tangent and I'm gone again.

Children's books are different. They come to me fully written. For days the idea will swirl around in my head and when it is fully formulated I sit down and write it. Usually in an hour or so. Then I take it to the very talented Mike Sears and he brings them to life. Diggitty the Dog Vol 2 will be out in a week or so and Diggitty the Dog Saves Christmas is at Mike's now.

For fear that I will bore you , I am going to stop now as soon as I tell you about my new series about the Watcher in the Woods.

All of the mysteries or crimes take place in the towns around the Mark Twain National Forest. (Truman  in the series). It is one and a half million acres. The Watcher sees things. At first he didn't do anything. He went on about his business , but one day a man drug the body of a boy in the woods and buried it. The Watcher couldn't get it out of his mind. When a sheriff of another small town is investigating a murder in another part of the forest, the Watcher moves the boys body where it will be found. It is only the beginning of the things the Watcher sees and the lengths he goes to to bring the criminals to justice. The first book in the Watcher series is The Body in the Woods. Should be out  by fall.

See you soon.
Stop by  www.ptierneyjames.blogspot.com  who will be a guest blogger here on May 15  and at www.lisamedley.com . Lisa will be my guest on May 5.
Happy reading and writing

Happy Mother's Day, Mom

 Happy Mother's Day
 The sun rises

it sets

the rain comes

and then the sun

winter

spring

summer

fall

am I making the most of it all.

Some days are long

and scary

some are short

and blurry

some are sunny and bright

and everything is my world is right.

Other days I can't figure

it out.

Just want to run away

or sit in the dark

Then a thought occurs to me

how precious this day can be

Surely there is something

memorable

It could not have all been miserable

Then I smile at something small

I wonder how I could be sad at all.

I remember something my dear mother said.

Keep your feet on the ground,

Your eyes to the heavens and your face in the sun.

Happy Mother's day mom.

It has been twenty seven years since I saw you last

I try never to dwell in the past,

but I love you now as I always did.

And I will always be your kid.

The baby of the family.

Ruth Ethelyn Rench.

Died July 18, 1986

Age 64.

missed so much

Motivation

There was a time when I didn't get the concept that motivation comes after the fact.
In other words, you must force yourself to do a chore the first time and then the, feeling of success you get gives you the motivation to do it again.

I proved it to myself again this morning.  Being obsessed with getting my book Tattered Wings published, I find myself sitting hour after hour.  I read it.  I reread it.  I make changes.  Then I send out query letters and pages to prospective agents. When I look up at the clock it is noon.  My pj's are still on and I have downed a pot of coffee.

The result of this daily behavior is stress and sore muscles.  This morning I changed my routine.  I got up, did the minimum chores I could ( no easy task on a 100 acre farm) and headed to the gym. Twenty minutes on the treadmill, ten minutes on the StairMaster and a variety of arm weights, helped melt the tension away.

Now, I find myself looking forward to going to the gym tomorrow.  When I sit five hours working on my novel,  I can smile. I did accomplish something for my health today.  Tomorrow I will work on leg machines and increase my times on the tread mill and Stair Master( I didn't want to throw my body into shock on the first day).

Do something today for yourself.  Sure, I am writing my book for me as much as anything (actually it is to get rid of those voices in my head).  But, I am not doing it as the expense of my health.
Next I am going to tackle my ice cream obsession.

Nervous. Who, me?

Yesterday morning I got up as usual and followed my normal routine.  Put my best friend Diggitty, a mini daschund, outside to do her morning ritual, turned on the coffee pot and sat down to see what happened in the world overnight.
It struck me how incredibly nervous I have been the last few days.  I really can't put my finger on the immediate source.  We all have drama.  Children to worry about (no matter how old they are).  A million things to do for the upcoming Holiday Season. It goes on and on.  Nothing has changed, so why am I  so nervous?
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
While I wait for Diggitty to come back in and the coffee to brew, I am thinking of the five hundred things I need to do.  
While I am in the shower I am thinking about what I will wear. When I am getting dressed I am thinking about feeding the cats and dogs and whether there is enough pet food to get through the week.  While I am feeding the animals, I am wondering if their water is okay or if the greenhouse needs to be watered.  While I am putting out fresh water and cleaning the litter box, I am thinking about what to eat for breakfast.
Let me tell you folks.  It is not yet nine o'clock and I am exhausted.
I sat down and tried to think of when I am the calmest. It is when I am either reading or writing.  Why?  Because you can't read and think about anything else and you can not write and think about anything else.
Ah, a clue.
There have been many books written about staying in the now.  They are good advice but I didn't heed them until this morning.  
Today, I got up, slipped on my bedroom slippers and made it a point to notice how comfortable they made my feet feel.  I carried by little friend to the back door and on the way I flipped the switch on the coffee.  Instead of obsessing about the events of last night, I stood at the back door and observed the dog as she did her walk about.  I kept my mind on her and what she liked to do.
Got my coffee and sat down at the computer.  I have two books going.  They are both good but one is lighthearted and one serious.  I enjoy writing one more than the other, yet I have so much time invested, I will finish both. But I digress.  While I was checking out facebook I made it a point to see my friends as they are.  Really pay attention to what they think was important enough to post.  Had to laugh.  Most facebook postings are frivolousness. 
When I took my shower, I took time to feel the water flow down my body.  I felt the shampoo lather in my hair and the sensation of the shower gloves on my body.  Okay. Maybe I sound a little crazy.    Yet  it is now nine o'clock again and I am going to try this for the entire day.  Maybe again tomorrow.  No phone while driving, no book while eating.  Just a day of paying attention.  
Will it help?  I will let you know.  I can say I am not as exhausted as I was this time yesterday.  And everyone else around here seems calmer also.  Humm.