Great contest!

The Homeland

Well, NaNoWriMo was a bust. But that's okay, I'm going to keep trucking. This was quite a big week though - I found out I get to go to Scotland for an archaeology dig this summer. I can't wait! I've been wanting to go to Scotland for, well, as long as I've known what Scotland was.

My great-grandparents came to the United States from Scotland. I've always been interested in British history. I'm most interested in the Classical World, but I just feel more of a connection to the UK since that's where much of my family came from. My last name is Scottish and there's a whiskey company with the name. I've been collecting memorabilia from the company since I first learned how to use ebay.

Back in college I worked at DisneyWorld for half a year. We often got guests from around the world, and folks from Britain were consistently the most friendly people. It made my desire to visit even stronger. Fast forward to 2008 when I participated in an archaeology dig in southern Italy. One of the crews I worked with was from Britain. They were wonderful. I couldn't help but notice that, generally speaking, they were more laid back, less drama, tended to talk more openly about things. Whereas many of the American crew members seemed to be more catty and thrive on drama. And the more I talked to them and learned about where they lived, the more I wanted to go.

I've been looking for a reason to go (as if just going isn't reason enough) for ages. It's tough to find travel buddies who are willing to commit the time and money to go with you, and people you could stand being with for that much time ;) I kept looking for tours, short-term school programs, archaeology digs, etc, that I could participate in.

Lo and behold I found the perfect dig! It's only two weeks long and quite affordable. It's 25 miles outside of Edinburgh (where most of my British friends live) so I plan to stay an extra week after the dig and visit friends while sight-seeing. It's going to be fantastic and I just can't wait! August will be a great month indeed. As a couple of my friends over there have said, "we're finally getting you to the homeland!" Indeed! :D

I love my friends

I have talked a bit about already hitting a wall of sorts with this manuscript. The alarming bit has been how early in my normal process this wall arrived. But, thank goodness for fabulous friends! One of my dear friends, the amazing and fabulous Elisabeth Naughton, grabbed a battering ram and broke down that wall. I <3 her!

She just asked a simple question: "what if..." and BAM! My wheels began turning again and she thought of a whole different angle I could take with the story that ups and adds to the conflict. Thinking of the conflict to push each scene forward and develop the story was where I hit a wall - trying to be more character focused with it. I think this idea will help, I still have the struggle of trying to drive each scene (and think of them), but overall the basis of the conflict will be much stronger.

Thank you, Eli!!!!! <3

I never wanted to be a dentist...

...but coming up with the words are like pulling teeth! Usually I can plot the first few chapters of a book with no problems. It's when I get to about 20k that I hit the invisible brick wall. However, there are a few things that are different this time around, in my approach and planning.

This had been my M.O. for the past few years.
Step 1) Think of a cool plot.
Step 2) Develop the major points of the plot.
Step 3) Think of characters that would work with the plot.
Step 4) Detailed plotting of the first few chapters at least.
Step 5) Write write write.
Step 6) Run out of fuel in the middle of the desert.
Step 7) Try, try, try again.
Step 8) Give up and start on a new, shiny idea...

You probably noticed several flaws with this approach. Me too, me too. I was fed up of starting books and not finishing them. So I decided to try a new way of things. Here it is.
Step 1) Think of a situation (not a plot).
Step 2) Think about the type of characters that would fit well in that situation, look at some archetypes for ideas.
Step 3) Develop the plot a bit, a basic idea.
Step 4) Think about the opening to the book and the character's reaction to the inciding incident.
Step 5) Begin writing until I run out of steam/ideas.
Step 6) Think about how the characters would react to their current situation at that point in the book for ideas on how to proceed.

As you may have noticed, my big change is trying to write in a more character-driven fashion. This isn't easy, I'm really struggling with thinking in terms of characters more than plot. I haven't had this much difficulty in writing the opening pages of a book before. I'm trying to be more purposeful and thoughtful in my character's reactions and actions. That has helped think of a few scene ideas, but I'm really running on empty with ideas.

I'm considering going through a couple of books I've read multiple times and listing out some scenes. Just a single sentence for each scene describing the action, movement of plot and characterization. Trying to retrain my brain to think in terms of characters over plot will be good in the long-term, but there sure are some growing pangs!

Made it up the stairs

I had fully expected to not be able to walk up the stairs to my office today. Why, you ask? I had my first roller derby practice on Friday night. When I got home, I was quite achy, but it also felt great. That rush of endorphins was like nothing I had experienced with exercise in the past.

Saturday morning I woke up achy, mostly my lower back hurt. But a long soak in a warm, epsom salt bath took care of that. Sunday, some of the muscles I rarely used were a bit sore, but not too bad. I skated around my apartment while cleaning, expecting to barely be able to move today.

Let me just tell you one thing: epsom salt is magic.

I can move just fine today, considering I went from 0 to 60 overnight in terms of exercise and the type of exercise. The practice was so much fun. Okay, this deserves all caps, IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! I hadn't skated since early middle school. Practice started off a bit rough - we had to jog some laps in our pads, to build up cardio endurance and get used to wearing the knee, elbow and wrist pads. I'm, um, not very good at jogging. We then did some stretching and ab work before putting on our skates.

Wow was I wobbly. Super wobbly. The first couple of laps I was scared shitless, just staring straight at the ground thinking "don't fall, don't fall, don't fall, don't trip and fall." The coach came by and told me to look up, so I did. We were supposed to be practicing crossing over. Hah. Like I was going pick up my foot and cross it over the other one while moving! Are you nuts?? They told me to just keep skating and get comfortable being on them. I think I was the only one who hadn't been to a practice yet. They then taught me to look way down the track as I was going around the curves so my body would curve naturally. That helps.

Then came the stops. We were supposed to do a T-stop. Basically, the idea is that you put one foot behind the other to make a 'T' and use the outer wheels of the back skate to slow you to a stop. I couldn't get myself to throw my foot behind me. Wasn't quite comfortable enough on the skates yet. They had me try it next to a railing so I had it for support. That helped, I just need to keep practicing and get comfy on skates. We then learned how to stop using the toe stop, that one was much easier and less frightening on my first night.

Next was learning to drop onto a knee and slide. I'd already dropped to my knees a billion times for fun at home. Can't feel a thing with those pads on! But it was a bit different when you were on skates and moving. Suddenly I panicked, thinking of how my leg could go out wrong and tear all sorts of ligaments. But, after building up nerve for a couple of laps, I tried it. And the knee that was supposed to stay up, slid forward and extended. So glad I didn't rip anything! I'm such a klutz. But I tried it again and finally felt comfortable with that.

There were several advanced skaters there, the girls who actually bout (bouts are what they call derby games/matches). They were so supportive and helpful, skating with me to give me advice and support, telling me when I'd improved. Then, at the end of the night we had to skate 15 laps before we could leave. Obviously I was the slowest ;) But one of the girls skated right next to me the whole time, telling me I was doing good, being really supportive.

It was such a great time! I peeled off my butt pads (yeah, I bought butt pads) and damn was I sweaty. Can't wait to get in better shape! That reminds me...I need to go jogging.

Kamikaze mode is where it's at

Have you ever heard of "Write Or Die?" This is an amazing tool! Michelle Rowen posted it today and I gave it a try. There are two versions: the free, Web one, and the $10 desktop one. I tried the free version out. You select a word count goal and a time limit, then select how harsh you want the software to be at bugging you to stay on track.

It worked so well for me! I set it to kamikaze mode and if I paused for more than a second or two, the screen began to flash red until I started typing again. How cool is that? It helped to keep me going. I may have to try a longer time limit tomorrow, maybe to see if I can hit my word count goal for NaNoWriMo in a half an hour.

I am already several days behind, I need something to help me catch up!

NaNoWriMo...and so it begins

Ahhhh so this is what it feels like to blog again. I used to blog quite frequently at my old blog, under my old name - Lisa Pulliam. I've been using Lisa Leoni for about six months, but I just haven't blogged yet. I blog twice a month with my local writing chapter, the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA. And today I blogged about NaNoWriMo.

I've done NaNo a few times. The good news - I know what to expect. But the bad news? Also, I know what to expect. It's very clear to me what I've gotten myself into. Don't worry, I know it's voluntary. There's no imaginary gun being held against my temple to force me to write, but if it helps, I may imagine there is one. Maybe that gun, instead of shooting bullets, plays "It's a Small World" over and over and over again. That's some motivation to write!

I have technically been a romance writer for a few years, but have yet to fully finish a book. And by fully finish, I mean a solid first draft - start to finish- developed characters and everything. I've started several books, gotten around 50k on a couple of them, but then I lose interest. The well dries up. I have realized that I over-plot and I don't develop my characters (in my own mind) well enough, early on in the process.

My goal is to finish the dang book! I feel good about my idea and that I'm the right person to write this book. So now, I need to write it and actually edit it. Here goes nothing!