Six light moments of the soul

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been following along with the romance publishing industry’s news-worthy moments for about two years now. I’ve been listening to stories from authors about the ups and downs of publishing. I’ve been prepping to send off my first queries. I’ve been immersing myself in as much romance, writing, and publishing related stuff as I can. I’m trying to do my homework.

I could go on and on for days about what I’ve learned, but I can also boil it down into just few short lines. Wanna see?

It all boils down to this. The writing and publishing business is full of ups and downs. Writers tend to be highly invested in their very creative and artistic expressions. When bad things happen (i.e., publisher closing, editor switching houses, rejection, massive rewrites, etc.) it can seem like a very dark moment of the soul. Because of this, I think you have to be able to find your own light moments of the soul. You have to be able to look both critically and optimistically at your own work and know what’s good about it and what you like. Sometimes this might be your only means of balancing the dark moments.

Having said that, I’m going to try to point six things I like about my two current MIPs – a novel targeted at Harlequin Intrigue and a novella targeted at Brava. I won’t even go into what I like about my currently forming series or the epic novel of understanding one’s own soul that are still in the planning stages. I’m just going to stick with what I like about the works that are currently under the knife in restructuring edits and happily in the middle muddle, respectively.

Things I like:

1. I like that when I reread what I have written, whether it works for the book or not, that I have big chunks of prose and dialogue that actually sound very writer-ish. I mean, sometimes I read it and I think, yeah that sounds good. I really like how I said that. I like those passages and I find the longer I write, the more I passages I have that fit this bill. Sometimes I even read them and look around and wonder who was messing with my MIP. I mean, really, I wrote that? It sounds pretty good.

2. I like my settings. They aren’t ordinary, and I tend to like things out of the ordinary. One setting is in post cold war Russia in the winter, and it’s also the deepest winter in both main characters’ souls, but neither realizes it because they’ve been there so long. In the novella, the setting surrounds a famous rock band and their concert tour and lavish parties – a setting that flows fast and hard and loud. And funny, both the hero and heroine have been living fast and hard and loud – loud enough to drown out the truth staring them in the face. I like that my settings are really so much more than location and time.

3. I like the metamorphosis of my novel. I’ve cut scenes I never thought I’d cut and can see how much stronger the story is because of allowing myself to amputate those useless scenes – no matter how much I liked them in the beginning. It’s not so much the process of cutting and editing that I like. (Actually, editing can be hell.) It’s the end result. It’s the only thing that moves me past the pain of slaving hours over pages that will never see the light of day.

4. I like my ever-emerging sense of voice. I like that I can see it in what I write. It fascinates me. In these two current works I’ve allowed my voice to infuse the story. In my first stories, I didn’t so much, but I like that as I write now, I trust my voice more. I realize this seems vague, but it’s one of those intangibles that make me smile.

5. I like my heroes. Both of them have rough edges that can never be filed into smoothness. But I’ve always like men in real life to be that way, too. It’s that roughness -- that little throw-back to a more primal being -- that gives them a sexy edge.

6. Finally, I like the stories. I like the twists I’ve thrown at the characters. I like their motivations, albeit misplaced sometimes. I like their metamorphosis.

I think in a world where getting published can often feel like repelling on an ice face with an unpredictable cliff up ahead, you need to make a list like this occasionally. You need it to create your little light moments of the writer’s soul.

Macy

How do I love thee, MIP? Let me count the ways . . .

As Jacqueline pointed out, Macy came up with the blog topic "things we love about our MIPs." Let me just say that the beginning of an extensive rewrite isn't necessarily when you're clearest about that, because you've just shined a bright, glaring light on your work and cranked the editor to high. Also, in my own way, I am a perfectionist. People often don't realize that about me because I'm spontaneous and impulsive. I ramble, say what I think and I try to be emotionally honest. Therefore, I let people in on all the up and down, around, under and back-- and all my imperfections and mistakes are highlighted in the process. Moreover, my personal fashion style is disheveled and I'm a terrible housekeeper, but I digress. He, he. Kinda.

When I was putting up sheers and window treatments, I called a few different people in for estimates. One of the women asked a lot of questions about our furniture, et cetera, and ultimately, asked if I was an artist. I laughed and said no. Her response was, "Are you sure? You mismatched everything perfectly. Most people are more matchy-matchy, and don't have the patience this would take." Of course, she got the job. (And I have to point out that I live in a small house, so I'm not saying "Hey, I have a really cool house with really cool furniture." I'm saying I was glad she noticed and that underlying all my boho, devil-may-care posturing there IS a perfectionistic artist--moi-- that, indeed, had a vision when she was buying a piece here, a piece there and making sure nothing was matchy-matchy.)

So, back to the point, my MIP. The things that I didn't like about my MIP were that I hit a couple of the low and high points in ways that struck me as a bit melodramatic and contrived. Too matchy-matchy. Not real. Truth didn't shine from them. I overdid some scenes, where I'd have preferred more minimalism. I went minimal where Paris Apartment style with it's luxurious textures might have been more appropriate. I got a little cheesy here and there. Is any of it beyond repair? Nope. But some of the pieces have to go back. New pieces have to be found.

What do I like about my MIP? Well, I have two in progress so I'm going to hit them both.

In both MIPs, I like the characters.I don't always get everything right about them, but it comes across that the good guys are fun, funny, and good, and doing the best they can with style and flair. And a certain bigness. They live life big with big coping mechanisms and big screw ups and big sex drives. Ha! I tend to think of them as normal, the people that could live next door, but I know they don't because they're amalgamations of the most alive and interesting people I've met and known, and my stamp has been put on them, my imprint, so they're also a bit of me. And most people I meet aren't like them ( my characters) or, actually, me, but somehow, my characters do have that essential humanness. People, readers, like them. So, I know that doesn't give you much, but I do very much like the characters I create. And, since I've let everybody and their uncle read my current works in progress as well as a couple of short stories I've written, I feel pretty confident in the character area-- even when I sometimes get motivations and what not wrong. I try not to label them too much as feisty or alpha because they're more imperfect and complex than that.

I like my settings. In Carly's Curse (working title cuz I'm bad at titles) most of the novel is set in Chicago. They also go to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for a wedding, Michigan, France and Tuscany. Diana Meets Nathaniel (another working title) is also set in Chicago, although she eventually travels back to nineteenth century and I'm not sure she's in Chicago when she does that. Probably not, but maybe, because the bottom line about setting is I'm a Chicago kind of girl-- not New York or LA or the deep South or the Southwest. Chicago.

Why Chicago? Well, in Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert writes about the secret to understanding a city-- the word on the street. What is the word on the street? According to the "word on the street" theory, every city has a single word that defines it, that identifies most people who live there. According to Gilbert and her friends, for Rome, it's Sex. In Vatican City, Power. In Naples, Fight. New York, Achieve. LA, Success. Stockholm, Conform. For me, Chicago's word is Scrappy. Sure, some here are trying to emulate New York or LA, and we have more than a few Romans and Swedes running around yelling sex! conform! sex! conform! but I like scrappy. I think it's the right word. Here's what I found when I googled "scrappy" --

The word scrappy is defined as a patchwork quilt or an appliqué quilt. It is done with many different kinds of fabrics. The scrappy usually consists of fabrics in smaller pieces. The pattern is usually a set of repeating blocks of fabric. These blocks are similar in colour and values in the same places in each block. However, the fabrics used to make different blocks are different. The word scrappy, when used as an adjective, is used to describe a person who is full of fighting spirit.

Yep, scrappy is the right word. Both meanings. Chicago is laid out in a grid pattern and if you visit the various 'hoods, you'll see the quilt-related thing. And fighting spirit? Absolutely!

Another thing I like about my MIPs is that they are about falling in love, finding love, and letting love shift your paradigm and jolt you out of the coping/thinking/dealing patterns that have become a stifling rut. At least for my main characters, Carly & Nick, and Diana & Nathaniel. Love is the elixir.

Hmmm. That's only three so far. Not sure I'm good at this self-promotion thing.

I like the friendships, the relationships between different characters and their friends and families.

I like the humor and irreverence and sense of fun in my stories, although I'm constantly afraid that I haven't hit the exact right notes.

I love my heroines' jobs. One is a sommelier and one is a women's lit professor. Cool jobs!

And lastly, I just love creating. I love that if you keep plugging away at it, as you you chip away at the slab of marble, a statue begins to appear. I'm not Michelangelo, but, heck, it amazes me that I'm sculpting, that the work resembles something human.

Biggest challenge? Getting it right. Getting what I see in my head on the paper so maybe the reader will see what I see. But that's okay because when I get it close enough, I'm going to be ELATED.

Cheers and happy writing,
Alyson

Help! I'd rather dance . . .

When Katrina first emailed us her marathon analogy, it totally bummed me out. Totally and completely. Why? I don't know. It's a great analogy. But it makes writing sound like such drudgery. To me. It doesn't sound like anything I would ever do.

For me, writing really isn't quite that awful. I vent a lot, sure, but that's because I'm a Drama Queen and I get really frustrated by my lack of ability, which I always want to be better. So I rage, rage, rage against my own mediocrity. I consider it part of my process now. It gets the adrenalin going. But writing? Writing itself is amazing-- for me, it's never boring scenery and exhaust fumes and pounding the hell out of my bones over and over on relentless pavement until I'm hunched over and heaving.

Or is it?

Clearly, I'll never run a marathon, but I do think Katrina makes a lot of excellent points. For my own motivation, to keep me going, however, I need a different analogy.

What I wrote back via email, was something like---

Very nice analogy, K. Wow.

I'm going to throw a wrench in the works because I firmly believe we're not all designed to be marathoners.

Let's say, you start training for the marathon and you hurt your leg. You still want to train but you can't run so you start biking. you're as good at the biking a the running and you like it. When you start running again, you keep biking -- and, perhaps, you throw in swimming. And you complete a triathlon. Do you consider that a failure? Not me!

Or . .. let's say you want to learn to dance. So, much so that you take dancing lessons and sign up for a dance contest. You really like swing but hell, you want to do a rumba too. So you learn both, two dance routines, and you perform both. Well. You're not an expert at either dance, but you've grown as a dancer. That also works for me.

With yoga, if you just can't pull off the head stand today, because you've hurt your neck, then do a different yoga routine, using other muscles, but still do your daily practice.

The point is that you can push through in many ways.

For me, with limited time, I always want to be pushing forward. I want to write daily so I continue to grow, so I'm continuously working toward becoming this writer I see myself as in the future. Working on two things-- or three-- works for me. I always have something to work on. If I'm stuck on one, I can still write that day, and let the other "brew" without feeling like I'm "wasting writing time."

Obviously, I was justifying working on more than one story at a time in the above email. Why? Because I've realized I need to. Right now, I'm in the idea stage for novel number three; I'm writing the first draft of novel number two; and I'm rewriting novel number one which, btw, needs extensive, extensive rewrites. I just cut 35K. Snip. Snip. There's another 35K that needs extensive surgery. Snip. Snip. If you're doing the math with me, that means there's only 35K that needs the normal minor touch-ups-- trimming -ly words, checking typos and ensuring consistency. That stuff. Rewriting is a bitch. For me, it's much worse than writing the first draft. Of course, maybe if I had put more work and drudgery into the first draft, the rewriting wouldn't be sooooo daunting. Like learning how to do the tango on a high wire, or something. Hmmm. Anyway . . .

Since writing my initial email, I've really latched onto the writing is like dancing and writing is like yoga ideas. For me, writing isn't a race, not even writing the first draft. It's like a dance because it's a way of expressing yourself, of translating the rhythm you feel and hear into something that moves or entertains others. It's challenging. It can be frustrating. It's hard work. You have to pour everything into it to make it as good as it can be. But it's also varied, exhilarating, artistic, and fun. Writing is like yoga for quite a few of the same reasons, and because it's a way of getting in touch with yourself, stretching yourself, strengthening yourself. It's a meditation.

Of course, none of that changes the fact that you may want to quit. That you have to dig deep. That you will need to find and embrace your true grit. That writing isn't for wimps.

Cheers and happy writing (whether you are triathlete, runner, dancer or yogini)
Alyson

INTJ

There has been some discussion of personality types on AotP and related blogs lately. Whether it be a personality test from the Oprah mag or the full-out Meyers Briggs, personality tests are enlightening of both our attributes and our flaws.

I’ve known my Meyers Briggs (MB) type for many years. One year, early on in my current bill-paying job, everyone on staff had to take the MB. Then we went on a retreat. In a huge ballroom, the hundreds of employees of my work place scattered out and stood in areas marked with their personality type. The people in charge made it a game. At the end, out of hundreds of employees, I stood at the far end of the room in a small box labeled INTJ. Out of hundreds, there were 4 of us. We had room to lounge. Others were giddily crowded into boxes far too small for that many people. All those extroverts seemed to relish their tight confines. I was happy with my elbow room … until I looked around. Four of us. It hit me now. What did I have in common with these three who studied the room as carefully as I did?

Come to find out, INTJs aren’t all that common. We are about 1% of the population. Women INTJs are even more rare than men. Eegads. (“Freak!” I screamed at myself.)

My husband humorously read the description accompanying my analysis that night. Uh… he made it sound a bit unflattering at times. I rushed out to take it again. Surely, it was wrong. I wasn’t THAT person.

I’ve taken the test several times since then. I’ve tested as an INTJ about two dozen times – very strong on the I and N and T, moderate to low on the J. I’ve tested INTP twice – both times I was in a funky mood.

My life as a writer clearly outlines why I’m an INTJ. Over the past year and a half that I’ve been writing seriously, I’ve tried everyone else’s ways of doing this writing thing. I’m finally settling on mine. I should have listened to my inner writer all along.

What have I learned about how I write that relates to my personality type? More than I can include here. But, I’ll attempt to enlighten you. Of course, I’m such a weak J, that a lot of the P info fits me, too.

First, some INTJ info:

“Logical, critical, decisive innovators of ideas; serious, intent, very independent, concerned with organization; determined, often stubborn.”

Okay – um – I will finish this damn book and a dozen or more others. And frankly, I’m almost ready to say, I want to finish it without any more crits or any input. I want to follow wild ideas and see where they go.

“They thrive on the surge of inspiration that comes with a new idea or interest.”

This explains why the next idea and the next are so much more fun that the current one.

“Highly independent, they often prefer to teach themselves what they believe they need to know, but they also appreciate the contributions of a teacher they regard as competent. They dislike most kinds of group work in school, and they like to find their own way through new material. They set high standards for their work, push themselves hard, and are self-critical when their results do not meet their expectations.”

Yes. This is me. Always has been. I have a huge library of writing books and printouts, etc. I refer to them when I need to. I like to figure things out on my own. My inner critic sits in the classroom of mind in the front row.

“INTJs describe their minds as a continuous flow of ideas. They construct and reconstruct mental models of their ideas, envisioning how things could be made or done. Their kind of mind is quick in seeing associations and meanings, reading between the lines, and grasping general concepts. They put a high value on intellectual quickness.

Many meanings come to them when their conscious mind is focused on something else. Some of their best problem solving comes out of unconscious processing, where ideas have been cooking on the back burner. They are most likely to be effective when they allow time for that process to happen.”

Oh, can I ever see this. I realize that writers are supposed to write everyday, but really, that is just one person’s (or maybe many persons’) way of doing it. When I write every day, I get bogged down, backed up, overwhelmed. I need days off, doing other things, then I can sit down with a vengeance and pound out 10k in a month or less. It’s that conscious mind/unconscious mind thing. I really need the processing time.

“They rely on insight more than careful observation, and on conceptual and language skills more than on their memory of facts.”

Yes. I rely a lot on insight and intuition. I’m not a fact memorizer.

“They believe competence comes through inspiration, insight, and analytical thinking. Sometimes the surge of inspiration that energizes their learning is brought up short by the reality of having to master essentials that aren’t inspiring. Many times they have to push themselves to get interested in learning some ‘essentials’ because their goal of mastery takes priority in that situation.”

Oh, and if this doesn’t explain the pains of finishing my first novel. I was inspired and then I had to figure out all the whys and wherefores. I had to push myself. I still do. It’s the imagination that’s fun, not how to analyze a scene or turning points, etc. Mostly, I hope the instinct and intuition come into play on that stuff.

“They like to see the big picture even if missing some steps or details may hinder them later.”

I tend to see big scenes and overall story lines in my head. I skip the transitions. I know I’ll have to go back, but I like the idea that I can color the trees green later. I know they are there. I see them. I’m not sure what kind they are or if the leaves are green or yellow, but I know where the cottage in the woods is and I know the path that meanders to it. I know the killer is lurking in the woods, and he's set a trap for the hero. I know the storm is coming. I know nightfall spells danger. Leaves, shmeaves. I'll get to that later.

Are you yawning yet? Sorry.

Yes, this has a point.

I’m figuring out my process. It isn’t like everyone else’s. I’m a minority in this world. I shouldn’t feel bad or like I’m doing it wrong when I do it differently. My way is okay, too.

My way: Don’t write everyday, but make writing a habit. Realize that I need some days off for idea fermentation, then the writing will blaze again. I can play with innovative ideas that others don’t get because with enough play, I can make them work. It makes my voice unique. I may not be able to explain to others where I’m going, but the concepts are all in my head even if I can’t spill the facts right now. I will eventually needs crits, but my own inner critic is such a part of me that she’s absorbing everything and applying it to my writing. She reads the books – both good and bad – with me and quickly sees the lessons I need and the associations to my own writing. I may miss a few little things (too many of which I’m aware can become big things), but the overall picture is big and clear and it’s mine.

I will own it and protect it and defend it. I will gather new ideas to it – ideas that work – and replace ideas that no longer serve an effective purpose. But I will not do it the way someone else does just because they are brilliant or it works for them. I’m learning what works for me and that’s what counts.

Macy

PS. Quoted passages from Looking at Type and Learning Styles by Gordon Lawrence, Ph.D

Can you dig it?

When I was in sixth grade, I had a really cool teacher named Mr. D. It was the seventies and Mr. D was probably in his late twenties. He had curly dark hair and side burns. He wore flared jeans. He was laid back. Everybody hoped that they’d get Mr. D. for a teacher. I hit the jackpot.

Since it was the seventies and the fifth and sixth grades were housed in the “new addition,” we had classrooms without walls right off of the learning center and a lot of progressive teaching and learning methods were employed -- we engaged in lots of projects, cooperative learning groups, independent learning, free flowing circle discussions and so on. We spent a week in February at Atwood Park doing outdoorsy stuff and singing songs by a campfire to guitar music. I loved it. It was my favorite school year.

In the beginning of the year, after we did a genealogy project tracing our family trees, our first really cool group project was an archaeological dig. First, each group had to make up a culture with its own language. Then we had to make artifacts. Then we had to bury our artifacts in Mr. D’s back yard. Yep. He let us dig up his backyard. A week later we went back and each group dug up another group's artifacts, piecing together what the artifacts said about the made up culture. We followed all this up with a trip to the Field Museum in Chicago.

I fell in love with archaeology for awhile. That love was brushed off many years later in college when I had to choose electives to cover humanities and third world culture requirements. I took two classical civ classes and an anthropology class and seriously thought about changing my major – but archaeology was an “impractical” major and although I wasn’t a practical girl, my parents were practical parents. They didn’t go for philosophy, creative writing, or, sadly, archaeology. Alas, I graduated with a degree in marketing which I hope will finally pay off when I have to self-promote my books.

Lately, my three year old son is into dinosaurs in a big way, so archaeology has been on the brain once again which is why when Macy had a break through on her story last weekend, I wrote her the following email –

Here's something I think is really cool that I didn't know until I undertook this writing journey. Maybe you feel this way, too. You start out with an idea, and different variations on the idea come to you, and you play with the characters, and you like certain scenes you write, but you have this feeling that there's something deeper that you're supposed to do and it's all related to story structure-- so you keep playing with it, keep playing with it, digging, messing around, digging some more until you finally hit bone. You unearth the bones, brush off the dust,-- it feels exciting. You keep digging and find more bones. You start putting the bones together and you think, "Good lord, it was here all along right under my feet."

Before long you have the entire skeleton-- and you're sure that this is it, and you're pumped. Maybe you still need to find a metacarpal or two to complete it -- and, of course, you still have to glue it all together and make it shine. You still have a lot to do, but suddenly it all feels real, like you really are part of the ancient tradition of storytelling-- you are recycling the bones of human stories. And you can do it; you trust in the story. You sort of get infatuated with yourself and the process and you feel the light shining down on you and your story. It doesn't stay that way, but for that moment, however long it lasts, it feels awesome, and the excitement carries you through, and suddenly you're getting up at 5 am despite being a night owl.

Anyway, I felt that way when I found a couple chunks of bone on mine-- and that's how I felt for you when I read the additional back story on yours.

Macy wrote back—

Yes, Al, I see the bones. The excavation is finally happening. Of course, I'm sure I still need to reveal some more -- I've found the rib cage where the heart of it all is, but I'm still unearthing phalanges and other small bones.

BTW -- before I forget -- I think you've got a good blog going here for later in the week.

So here it is-- the blog in question. I love when you can just scavenge through email for your blog. However, I feel I must give a shout out to Clarissa Pinkola Estes, the author of Women Who Run With the Wolves (WWRWW). In the book, she tells the story of La Loba, an old woman who lives in a hidden place that everyone knows but few have seen.

The sole work of La Loba (Wolf Woman) is the collecting of bones. Her specialty is wolves (hence, her name). She crawls, creeps, sifts and digs through mountains, caves, dry riverbeds, soil, looking for wolf bones until she can assemble an entire skeleton. Once she has assembled the bones, she sits by the fire and thinks about what song to sing. (I've found the treadmill works for me if you don't have a fireplace-- and Macy's fire seems to actually be the shower). When she is sure, she stands over the skeleton, raises her arms over it and sings out, until it fleshes out and becomes furred, until it starts to breathe; its eyes open; its tail wags and it leaps up and runs away. As it runs, faster and faster, splashing its way into the river, the wolf transforms into a laughing woman who runs free toward the horizon. (pp.27-28)

Now, clearly a woman with a happily ever after in a great romance novel is a laughing woman, don't you think? Can you totally dig it? (groan, if you must.)

Cheers and happy writing,

Alyson

Rollercoaster

Criss Angel

There are many reasons to blog. Mine is catharsis. You may not learn much of interest from my entries but all in all I'm providing a pretty accurate snapshot of the things I've been thinking about as I write my first novel. Right now, I'm in a pissy mood. Why? Because I just thought I deleted a photo I uploaded to blogger when in reality I deleted my wonderful blog about the writing life as a rollercoaster. It's late so there's no way in heck I'm reconstructing the whole thing. I have a busy day tomorrow. You'll just have to take my word for it that the first run through was better than this is going to be.

Here's the deal. Today I sent out this rant to my writing group--

This week I've had three new ideas which impact what I've JUST rewritten and part of the damn plot I finished plotting ( Ugh!)-- AND in interviewing Nick for the Sunday Six, just for fun cuz I'm annoyed with my WIP and ready to scream, he told me I have him slightly wrong and suddenly he looks like a tall Criss Angel-- I'll post pics. Fricking A!

Yep, Macy. Roller coaster. ( This was in direct response to an email from M. saying that writing is a roller coaster. We had both had great days followed by all right days followed by nada but distractions for me and a migraine for her. Migraines! What a pain!)

Plus, I have no topic for the blog? Ideas anyone? I don't take very long to write them, I just don't feel like writing about anything. I feel like going to the beach -- a beach much further south than the beaches 'round here-- all day and then dancing all night. A tropical breeze would be fun, too.

Roxy wrote back --Let's all meet at that beach! It sounds great!Aren't those characters annoying? :)

Katrina wrote back-- Maybe you could write about the process of creating a story...those ideas that take forever to appear and those that come in a barrage of thought. It's part of the writing process. I think our minds will forever think of other possibilities. Some we need to hear out and others maybe not so much. It's like the problem of having ideas for other stories when we're chin deep in the current one. It's a challenge for us all to figure out how to filter it, right?

Macy wrote back -- How about the roller coaster?

Samantha wrote back-- Criss Angel! Wow, no wonder you're surprised. The man does have the most spectacular abs -- but I didn't picture Nick in eyeliner! Post those pics, I want to see which ones look like Nick. I agree about the roller coaster, but what really drives me crazy is that mine is going almost all downhill. I figure I'm in the second or third level of the underworld by now.

Jacqueline didn't write back. She is in Texas. Her daughter had surgery and is in recovery right now. She'll be back in Hawai'i tomorrow. We received word that the surgery went well. Prayers and positive thoughts would be much appreciated, I'm sure.

Okay, so based on that feedback, I wrote the rollercoaster blog and I uploaded a pic of a rollercoaster and two of Criss Angel. For those of you who don't know, Nick is my main character's romantic interest. As you may have guessed, I have the hots for Criss Angel despite what my neighbor calls his "dirty hotness." That may explain why Nick suddenly wants to look like him-- ha! Funny how that happens. If I go with his new request, I think that his looks would be an interesting contrast to Carly's since I imagine Carly, my main character, as someone who looks like a cross between Kelly Ripa, Jennifer Anniston and Reese Witherspoon, maybe with a hint of Sienna Miller but not quite so trendy.

Anyway . . . back to the rollercoaster thing. Everybody knows that a rollercoaster is an amusement park ride where passengers sit in a series of cars that are linked together. The cars move along a pair of rails supported by a wood or steel structure. The cars are carried up a steep incline by a linked chain. When the cars reach the top of the incline, they roll free of the chain and are propelled downward by gravity through a series of drops, rises, loops and turns. Ups and downs. According to the online dictionary at answers.com, a rollercoaster can also be an action, event, or experience marked by abrupt, extreme changes in circumstance, quality, or behavior.

How about it? I don't really think I have to write out a map showing you the ways in which this applies to the writing life. Productivity and creativity both ebb and flow. The emotions that accompany those ebbs and flows may rise and fall. The initial learning curve is steep -- and never really ends. For purists, rollercoasters are closed circuits, no? The novel itself ought to be a rollicking ride for both your characters and your readers with ups and downs, good momentum and at least one loop where everything turns upside down for a bit.

When it comes to the writing life, there are good days, bad days, confusing days, annoying days, dry days and exhilarating days. The key is that you keep moving.

If you'd like to try to your hand at designing a roller coaster, you can do so at Amusement Park Physics. I like the instructions: You will decide the following - the height of the first hill, the shape of the first hill, the exit path, the height of the second hill, and the loop. When you're done, your coaster will need to pass an inspection for both safety and fun.

Inspection, huh? Think about that-- agents, editors, publishers, readers. Also, if you think about that initial climb, it's somewhat slow but so filled with anticipation and excitement.

Here's my thought on what's been happening with me-- what if the initial climb isn't high enough? The amount of energy the coaster has to complete its journey around the track depends on the potential energy it has due to its height at the beginning. Moreover, the shape of the first hill will determine whether your coaster will stay on track. I think I was so excited to jump in and get started initially that I made mistakes. I made the initial climb too short. I didn't learn enough about my characters, engage in plotting or any of that. I just took off. I try not to get all bent out of shape about it-- despite occasional rants. When all is said and done, I fully expect to feel exhilarated by the ride and ready to write again.

Cheers and happy writing--

Alyson