Ghost Tour Stop #4 with Elana Johnson

GHOST TOUR STOP #4 at ELANA JOHNSON'S BLOG. 

JUST CLICK. GO AHEAD! IT'S EASY, IT'S FUN. Read some funny stuff by Elana, plus a cool excerpt from FORGET ME NOT. And more Jewelry, too! So ENTER THE CONTEST!

And now I head back to the drafting cave.  Must. Write. 4,000 words. A. Day. Deadline. Coming. Soon.

Yikes!

Hand me come cookies, please!

I bought some yesterday at the Nestle Toll House Cookie Store while I was in town running around like a mad woman. I never even knew there was a Nestle Toll house Cookie Store! And me, a cookie connoisseur!

HAPPY WEDNESDAY! 

~Kimberley

Deadlines? Did anyone say Deadline? Escaping into the Open . . .

I had a manuscript due yesterday. Well, not exactly. It's due to my publisher in October, but back in early August I had my schedule planned out to get the first draft completed sometime this week - and if all went well, maybe even by September 8th. Yeah, yesterday.

The reality? I only have one chapter finished. And I keep rewriting it over and over again, trying not to hate it. (Oy!)

Life happened. Life got in the way. Life--yeah. That.

It's a bit panicky-feeling to think I'm three weeks behind. With 2nd round of revisions looming for my Harpercollins YA and Book 2 of the trilogy to draft no later than October 25th, too.

Did I say I'm panicked? Naw. I meant, TERRIFIED!

I'm also adding something new to the schedule. A trip back to San Diego next week to see my baby brother who has been so ill with brain cancer. I was there over the summer, but I can't put off seeing him again. It's that serious. And that makes me crazy terrified and emotional every single day.

One moment I'm gushing tears and sobbing at my desk.

The next I'm trying to keep my mother's and sisters' spirits lifted.

Or I'm numb. In shock that this is actually happening to my family.

Every day I'm hugging my babies tight. Or escaping into a book because I have to stop weeping and if I keep thinking about this I'll truly go ballistic; throwing things and swearing.

And then guilt rushes over me for whining and complaining when my brother has lost all ability to do anything, even to speak, the cancer has taken over so badly. And yet, he's fully aware of everything that is happening to him, as his life and all the things he loves have been taken away the past year. His music, his guitar, his books, his gaming friends, his navy life he was so good at. He's spent most of the last 6 months in the hospital trying treatments that don't work--or give him terrible side-effects. Frustration, disappointment that no treatments have worked, depression, anger and fear are daily battles for him as well as his wife and three sons who are so young (the twins in Kindergarten). Ironically--unbelievably--my brother was only 5 years old, the baby of 6 siblings, when we lost our father to a tragic accident (plane crash). And yet, it struck me today as I worshiped during church services and heard some incredibly inspiring talks, that he will be the first of all of us to see our father again--a father he barely remembers--on the other side of heaven's veil. I wish I could see that reunion. Father and son embracing, weeping tears of joy, and talking, talking, talking, catching up on all that they both have missed these last 30+ years.

Writing has, many times in the past, given me an escape. A way to cope with life's trials and heartaches. I think I'm ready to go there this week. I hope so. My character, Larissa Renaud, of Bayou Bridge, Louisiana, is reaching out to me from her own heartaches and scars that have come from many sides. And she will be called to do something big and wonderful--and terrible, too. She will learn that her family is in danger. Terrible danger that could kill her mother, her baby sister, and herself, and she will be able to save them. And, as she becomes stronger, the heartache and scars and loneliness will diminish. They won't matter so much because of the person she discovers that she truly is deep inside.

Faith and sacrifice are always stronger than fear and doubt.

I leave you with a writing quote from the beautiful book, Escaping into the Open by Elizabeth Berg:

"All writing is communication; creative writing is communication through revelation--it is the Self escaping into the open."
--E.B. White

I hope I can escape into my Open this week, and write true and write strong. 

Thank you, Dad, for giving me a love of literature, a love of words, a love of writing--your own dream of publishing a book never fulfilled.

xo,
~Kimberley

3x5 Card Plotting - Questions and Inspiration!

Over the 20 years of writing I've done, I've tried a lot of different methods for writing a book and trying to organize the brainwork it takes before I actually sit down to DRAFT from start to finish.

Things like:

Chapter by Chapter Outlining.
Spiral notebooks. Computer Word Files. Pads of paper. Loose-leaf notebooks
Templates
Lengthy Character Sketches
Seat-of-the-pants drafting 
First Draft in 30 Days Method by Karen Weisner 

This last method, the "First Draft in 30 Days" was actually fun to do. The author includes all the charts and templates and specific instructions on how it works at the back of the book - and it *does* work. But, alas, I only used it once, on my ancient Egypt novel. The Egyptian thriller had so many plot points and characters and it was 100,000 words so it helped to organize the story for me. But I got bogged down at times in so much detail and so many templates to flip through. BUT for those of you who are first starting to write or need some fun structure, or you're getting bogged down trying to organize your thoughts and plan out a whole book for the first time this IS a really great method to try so check out the book!

 I find the 3x5 card method easiest for me. And I do want to emphasize that it's NOT a detailed outline. The time I used to spend on detailed outlines was time, I realized, that I could have been actually drafting the real thing. Most of my 3x5 cards only have 1-2 sentences on them. Sometimes just phrases to remind me of my ideas. Or a short, brief list of ideas or character traits. It's really a brainstorming method. Ideas can come out of order and then be put in order in your stack after you've got 20-50 cards and lay them out to organize them.

It also makes the actual drafting from Page 1 - Page 200+ nowhere near as daunting because you're not having to thumb through pages and pages of notes in several locations, either hard copy or in Word documents and files and notebooks. The jumping around can become very confusing and jumbly in my mind.

And once you've finished your 3x5 card brainstorming, the whole book is sitting in only ONE small stack of cards. And you can always add more or take away. All you have to do is focus on the top card each day when you sit down to draft. Or more cards if the writing is going well and you want to write more. I find that this method takes away the fear of the first draft in spades.

A week ago I got an email from Joan Stradling that made my day. Here's what she said after trying the 3x5 card method for the first time:

"I got an idea for a new MG and have been using your 3x5 index card plotting method. You've explained it before, but when I watched your vlog at WriteOnCon, it finally clicked! Sometimes I'm a slow learner, I guess.

"Anyway, I've been madly writing on the 3x5 cards since yesterday (the ideas have just been flowing as I write them out on the cards)! Usually I start by writing ideas down in a notebook as they come to me, but this time I went directly for the index cards. I have to tell you, I'm really loving it!! I can already see how this will benefit me as I go to write the book. In my notebook method, I get lost and have to flip through pages to find what I'm looking for, and if an idea isn't something I want, I have to scribble it out or rewrite the whole notebook page without it (cause I hate seeing the scribble on the page).

"But with the index cards, if I don't like an idea I've written down, I just take it out of the pile! YAY!! And I can rearrange my index cards to the order I want them so I don't have to flip through pages of a notebook. You're a genius!!!

"So, I just wanted to let you know that I'm a new 3x5 index card convert!" 

Here's what I wrote back to Joan:

"I'm so excited that you're cookin' MAGIC with those 3x5 cards. There's something about the tangible cards and the chance to shuffle and just write bunches of notes to yourself. It really IS a type of personal brainstorming. I often brainstorm with my long-time crit friend, Carolee Dean when I'm first thinking about a new book idea just to make sure it doesn't stink or won't work, but when it comes down to scene by scene planning and getting the arc of the plot in place the brainstorming happens with my cards. Even more than when I write the synopsis for my editor. The nuts and bolts are in the 2-3 page synopsis, but the play-by-play action (even in just a sentence or two) happens when I sit there and just start writing stuff down from my computer file. It's amazing the new ideas or plot twists that will start racing through my mind and sometimes I can't write fast enough." 

Joan's follow-up:

"I can't believe how much easier it is to plot and plan with the flexibility of the cards. I plotted the whole thing in the last few days. I'm all ready to start writing now, and I can't believe it! I haven't even touched the notebook. I guess I'll use that for the synopsis and query planning when I'm ready for that step."

So, dear friends, I hope this post helps a bit more!

Happy Friday!

~Kimberley

P.S. Questions? Please ask away! Maybe I'll even get brave and show you some of my actual, scribbled cards in a blog - let me know if you want to take a peek! 

Wrestling with Life and My Plotting Cards

I had my darling son (and all-around fabulous critiquer and brainstormer and savvy reader) home from college all week and therefore I did not blog as promised about all my further tips with 3x5 card plotting.

I promise I am going to. I promise, cross my heart!

I did get to see and hear the lovely and terrific Shannon Hale speak at Alamosa Books though! And took son and hubby along after we went to the movies and saw the exciting The Bourne Legacy and had dinner. I dragged them! And then they laughed and had a wonderful time and we all bought lots of books!

It was a great crowd (forgot my camera - dang it!) and fun times joking around with Shannon as she signed Jared's copy of Princess Academy and the topic of boys reading "girl" books came up. She challenged Jared to read her books - which is not much of a hardship since he will read just about anything. She's blogged about this very topic right here - AND scroll down to see all of her very cute pictures of boys and men reading Princess Academy! Fun stuff: http://oinks.squeetus.com/

So my son is now gone and I'm missing him and wrestling with my own 3x5 card plotting for the book I sold a few weeks ago to Scholastic on proposal. My synopsis and cards and brainstorming was done way back in June so I'm trying to figure out what I have and where all the holes are now that I have a few weeks to draft this book (Scholastic wants the book in October! I kid you not so I'm actually scrambling). This was yesterday:

I spread them on my beautiful rug (after I vacuumed it!) and tried to put them in order (because they'd dropped way back when I last worked on them in June and I just stuffed them into a drawer) and yes, I have holes in my plot. I also think that some event sequences may likely change after I get a few chapters into the drafting. I also need a few more specific scenes during a certain time of the plot (and yes, I'm being very mysterious about what that is . . . )

The cards at the top of my picture are notes on my Main Character. I've known in the back of my mind these past many weeks as I've been working on the Very Hard Revision That Blew My Brains Out On My Sexy Young Adult Novel for Harpercollins - that I didn't know my MC very well yet. I  didn't know enough about her quirks, her habits, her hobbies, her deep desires, and that I needed to work on that before I could continue drafting. (I only have one chapter written that needs some fleshing out).

So I spent a little bit of time with my daughter and we talked on the way home from church last Sunday and miraculously, in just a few minutes, I was already bursting with ideas. So I wrote those ideas down on several cards and placed them up at the top of my sequence since they're not plot points or scenes.

Of course, the new character cards went missing on Monday when I went to retrieve them! They just walked off my desk in my bedroom, the nerve of them!

Then I discovered them in the kitchen with purple scribble all over from the Very Cute Toddlers who live with me. At least they're still readable.

There are some clues to a mystery in my book that I still need to nail down more specifically. I need to know what the clues say and when they will occur in the story timeline, but I may need to just start drafting a little bit blindly and see what inspires me when the characters start acting more on their own and I get to know them better.

Sometimes writing is taking one step into the darkness until the candlelight follows and lights the way more clearly . . . but the answers usually come somehow, some way.

So stay tuned for more Juicy and Very Helpful details about 3x5 Card Plotting after the holiday weekend!

~Kimberley

P.S. If you haven't already please find me on Facebook and Twitter!

P.P.S. Anybody going anywhere fun for the holiday weekend? I'd love to run away but I need to draft three chapters . . . some chocolate chip cookies may very well Be In My Future in Order To Sustain Drafting Mode . . . 

Writing and Cookies

I started drafting a new middle-grade novel three weeks ago.

Actually, I just started getting ideas for a new book - ideas that made me very excited - and I dove in and wrote the first two chapters without really knowing where I was going. I have *never* done this before: just started writing while a few floaty ideas start banging my brain cells together.

Today I left my desk where I'm trying to move past a *stuck* point in Chapter Three and said, "I'm making chocolate chip cookies."

Me - who is actually trying to lose 20 pounds by May and the Whitney Award Banquet!

My family then told me very plainly - and with laughter - that they noticed that last summer when I was on my Armageddon Book Deadline of six weeks for CIRCLE OF SECRETS (October, 2011) that I was making a lot of chocolate chip cookies during that time. "So you're writing a new book, eh?"

I made a small, half batch - just enough to tide me over and get through the hump. And I figured out what was stalling me! So now I can move forward! And all because of chocolate chip cookies.

And YES, just like a kid, I still eat the raw cookie dough, too. In big spoonfuls. :-) And the cookies MUST have LOTS of chocolate chips in them. And they must be warm, right out of the oven. And drunk with ice cold milk.

What is your writing food fetish?

I didn't even realize until this afternoon that I HAD one! How very strange . . .

Coming Out of the Drafting Cave

My head is spinning, my house is a disaster area and ready to be quarantined, Christmas is 17 days away and my head is still in early November. My mind is full and blank at the same time (how can that be?!? Weirdly, it's true, and I'll bet every mom/writer combo woman knows exactly what I'm talking about.)

Since I'm not sure my brain will spit out coherent words for a while, here is my last six weeks in pictures . . .

Road Trip to Louisiana with darling hubby! We got away from the kids and the house and mess and the babies (missed them dreadfully though!) and ran around like crazy and had SO MUCH FUN and didn't want to come home. It was like running away and yet a 5 year overdue vaca with my hubby and a research trip rolled into one.

I'm very good at multi-tasking.

Did you every doubt?




Highway 10 through 900 miles of Texas!



This is a very good likeness of us by the end of 1500 miles.




Cool gators on Lake Martin, Louisiana







Gorgeous hibiscus at Shadows-on-the Teche Mansion in New Iberia.



Back home and writing my first draft again of THE TRAITEUR'S DAUGHTER (Title to be changed now due to and editorial mini consultation via email. Something I suspected we would do so I am now on the "Great Title Hunt".






I was home for 7 writing days and managed to get from 43,000 words to 67,000 words. And unpack and repack and get ready to go again!







Off to Arizona for a full week of Book Trailer Production with music discussions and timing issues and personally creating more images for a trailer that needs very unusual pictures not found on istock or Getty. We managed to be very sneaky to get some of our shots - and not get caught! Or kicked out of a hospital and Hobby Lobby. . .



Then Turkey Day with both sides of the family and lots of back and forth and visiting and games and eating, eating, eating.






We ate about 17 pies that weekend! Personally, I think I managed two all by myself.




Back home to New Mexico again!



Back to drafting. My goal of Labor Day is long gone. My goal of Halloween, pfft. My goal of Thanksgiving lost in the dust. Why is this book taking SO long to draft? I'm now past my original estimation of 60,000 words. We're in the 70's and nearing 80. I must be really good at blah, blah, blah.



HELP! HELP! HELP!!!



This is where I got to in the dark tunnel of drafting, drafting and wondering if I'll ever be done with this book.



A light! Is it true? Dare I hope? Dare I dream? Am I on the last chapter??? Really???



Official announcement: I wrote THE END at 9:15 p.m. Saturday, December 5, 2009.

Word count clocked in at 77,706 words and 286 manuscript pages. I DID IT!



Today I do laundry, figure out my Christmas List, finish reading somebody ELSE'S novel, and start revisions!

Maybe I'll get in one of these:



La, La, La, La!!!!