6:30 Woke up and started to mentally organize my writing day. I need to make progress on the new novel. Some other little odds and ends, but really, I need to get back on track and write 1,000 words a day on this thing or I’ll never finish it. I was stuck completely a week and a half ago, so I picked up a picture book and got a critique on it from Suz Blackaby who has a sharp eye and a ton of experience writing for beginning readers. She showed me how the story would work better as an easy chapter book. She was right on the money, and I blazed through half of it in a week. So now I’m wondering if it’s crazy to try and write a chapter book and a novel at the same time. What if chapter books are even harder to sell than picture books? Send an email to my agent about where I should be spending my energy.
7:00 Teenager off to school. Get dressed. Check email. Sign field trip forms. Braid hair. Walk to the bus stop. Chat with the neighbor about whether or not to cut down a tree that shades both our driveways. Vote for keeping the tree.
8:15 Quiet house at last! Appalling chaos in the kitchen. Devote an hour to breakfast, newspaper, laundry and the messy kitchen. I should really be writing first thing because I know that if I don’t get 500 words in before lunch, I’ll never get to 1,000. But you know Sudoku is a lot of fun and I’m fast at those.
9:00 Okay, now that my kitchen is not quite so frightening, I really need to get down to business. 5 minutes of book keeping, 10 minutes of coordinating the family schedule for the week over the phone with my husband. The usual run around with dance, music and scouts, but only one really tricky day in which I have to get myself across the river to give a lecture at Washington State University when I really should be bringing my kids home from dance. 15 more minutes in which I realize that the bathroom is even messier than the kitchen, and do a little something about that. This could go on all day….so
9:40 Pack up computer and go to the library where they have quiet rooms! Thank you Multnomah County!
12:00 Resurface in a complete daze as someone is tapping on the quiet room door. Unfortunately, they have a 2 hour limit. Fortunately, I worked through and rewrote entirely the first two chapters of the novel. What had seemed kind of iffy a week and a half ago is actually going to work just fine.
12:15 Stop at Baker & Spice for tea and a lunch tart with spinach, tomato and cheese. Yum. Check email. Lovely message from my agent. Of course I can write an easy chapter book. Flexible is good! He sold an easy chapter series a week ago! No problem. This is why a good agent is golden. No way do I have time to figure out the chapter book market, and since Steve has done that already, I don’t have to.
12:30 Back to working on the novel in the warm and wonderful smelling Baker & Spice. About 250 words into new work for the day, a different solution to the plot arc occurs to me. Stop writing and chart out that story line. This could work. It’s better by far than what I was thinking of before. This plot arc has a tall fir tree in it just like the one that my neighbor and I were talking about this morning. It ties in perfectly with that raven who showed up on the page for no reason two weeks ago. Funny how often story making works out this way. Email a person I know who worked with wild birds about some questions I’d need answered if I pursue this story line.
2:30 Save the afternoon’s work and head home.
3:00 Catch up on email. Fix a snack. Make Dinner. Begin writing this post. Check mailbox. Let the chickens out into the yard. Laundry.
4:00 Take the kids up to the local library to volunteer at the summer reading kick-off carnival. Send care package to my college girl for finals week.
4:45 Feel the exhaustion. Weigh the nap/caffeine option. Take a 10 minute nap and then play violin for 20 minutes. Ah, so much better!
5:45 Pick kids up from volunteering and drop them off at dance. How did it get to be 6:00 and I haven’t gotten any exercise yet? Weigh the eat chocolate/take a hike option. Choose both.
7:00 Poured down rain on my hike. Feeling damp and grubby. But the forest was full of wild roses so I’m also feeling pretty chipper. Bet I could still get my 1,000 words if I work at it. Only 762 left to go. How hard can that be?
7:55 Pretty hard. 574 words to go.
8:00 Pick kids up from dance. Supper. Homework. Chores. Piano and violin duets (my favorite thing!) Showers. Reading out loud-- Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett—so funny.
10:00 Really should get back to work. Would much rather browse my friends’ blogs. And I should really update my own website. And we’re out of milk AGAIN. Grrr. On the other hand, my high schooler finished all his homework and folded everybody’s laundry! I completely forgive him for drinking a whole gallon of milk in one day. Maybe I’ll just finish the scene I was in the middle of when I had to pick up the kids.
10:50 Got sidetracked with lesson plans for a school visit in June but that was pretty important, too, so I’m glad I got it sorted out. Now back to that scene I was working on earlier.
12:20 Only 827 words today and that scene isn’t really going anywhere. Rats. I fail at this with alarming regularity and the only thing that actually convinces me that I am a writer is that I’m eager to get back to work tomorrow.
Posted by Rosanne Parry
Showing posts with label Rosanne Parry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rosanne Parry. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
My writing and my mom
Mother’s Day is coming up this week. I could say any number of things about my mother and my writing. I could tell you how she taught me to read when I was four, had the chicken pox, and was bored out of my mind. I could tell about her love of poetry, how she always had table just my size with paper, pens, paint, scissors, and glue. But when I think about what she did that made the most difference in my life as a writer, it’s this: my mother never said a negative thing about herself in my hearing.
She had plenty of negative things to say to me which is why I had oatmeal for breakfast instead of brownies, and I am not picking my nose as I write this. But she never had a critical word for herself. I’m sure it’s not that she’s never had regrets or felt dissatisfied. But in a world that expects a woman to be self-effacing, she chose to remain uncritical of her appearance, her work, her relationships and her life choices. It is, in its silence, as bold a feminist statement as any I’ve heard.
And it has had an important impact on my own writing process. We all have our inner critic. The difference is that mine has never been one that says: “You have no talent. You are never going to finish this. You will never be good enough.”
I get my share of doubts and self-criticism, but they sound more like this: “This character is too much like this other one and needs his own voice. This scene needs more specific and detailed action. This piece needs more time to develop.”
It’s a subtle difference but an important one. One that helps me stick with a story until it’s done, look at the story dispassionately when I revise, and receive the critique of my writers group and editor in the spirit it is intended.
I’d like to say that I’ve done the same for my own daughters. I’ve certainly tried but it takes a measure of self-discipline to swim against a cultural expectation so ingrained I almost never think about it. So my Mother’s Day wish, beyond a lifetime of thanks to my mom, is that my own girls will learn to speak of their bodies, their choices and their work with respect and without excuses.
So how about you mom’s out there? Chime in on the comments with one thing about your work that makes you proud. Or maybe lay to rest for good a self-defeating phrase you hear yourself using. It’s the Mother’s Day gift that only you can give yourself—a gift that endures in the lives of your daughters. Happy Mother’s Day!
She had plenty of negative things to say to me which is why I had oatmeal for breakfast instead of brownies, and I am not picking my nose as I write this. But she never had a critical word for herself. I’m sure it’s not that she’s never had regrets or felt dissatisfied. But in a world that expects a woman to be self-effacing, she chose to remain uncritical of her appearance, her work, her relationships and her life choices. It is, in its silence, as bold a feminist statement as any I’ve heard.
And it has had an important impact on my own writing process. We all have our inner critic. The difference is that mine has never been one that says: “You have no talent. You are never going to finish this. You will never be good enough.”
I get my share of doubts and self-criticism, but they sound more like this: “This character is too much like this other one and needs his own voice. This scene needs more specific and detailed action. This piece needs more time to develop.”
It’s a subtle difference but an important one. One that helps me stick with a story until it’s done, look at the story dispassionately when I revise, and receive the critique of my writers group and editor in the spirit it is intended.
I’d like to say that I’ve done the same for my own daughters. I’ve certainly tried but it takes a measure of self-discipline to swim against a cultural expectation so ingrained I almost never think about it. So my Mother’s Day wish, beyond a lifetime of thanks to my mom, is that my own girls will learn to speak of their bodies, their choices and their work with respect and without excuses.
So how about you mom’s out there? Chime in on the comments with one thing about your work that makes you proud. Or maybe lay to rest for good a self-defeating phrase you hear yourself using. It’s the Mother’s Day gift that only you can give yourself—a gift that endures in the lives of your daughters. Happy Mother’s Day!
Monday, April 12, 2010
The Places We'll Go
From Suzanne Morgan Williams:
This week I bought three pairs of high heeled shoes. Now before, I had one pair of high heeled boots in my closet. And I bought nylons too. I haven’t worn those since – maybe two and a half years ago. And I bought a glittery turquoise and silver jacket to go with my long black crepe skirt. What does this have to do with writing? Well, you never know where this business will take you – which is why I say be nice to people, consider all strange options, and talk to everybody.
Here’s the backstory. In 2008, I joined the class of 2k9 – mainly because my friend, Fran Cannon Slayton, said it would be cool. She was right. When our books began coming out in 2009, we arranged various group presentations – panels and signings. Stacy Nyikos from 2k8, contacted our group with an invitation to join some of her class at Encyclomedia, the Oklahoma Library Association’s Convention. With a book titled Bull Rider, I answered well, ye-ess! Then I began to question my sanity. I needed to fly to Oklahoma. I planned to stay five days for the event and to do a school visit in North Texas. This would cost me a bunch of money, even though I was staying at a $49 a night Super Eight. (Ahh, the glamorous life.) But I went.
And before I went, I made an appointment to meet with the Education Director at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. I figured as long as I was in the area I would pitch a writing workshop for students. While we were talking, she suggested my publisher enter Bull Rider for the Western Heritage Awards that are given for music, film, and literature every year by the museum. Did that. And the book won! Best Juvenile Book, 2010. The caveat was, that to get the cool statue that goes with the award I needed to go back to Oklahoma City and attend a black tie dinner. I didn’t (until last week) own a pair of nylons or a pair of high heels – except for those boots. So I was all over Face Book asking my friends where to get plus sized glittery clothes for the event. I have to say, the suggestions were not always G-rated. But the shopping has been fun.
Here’s my take: You never know where writing will lead you. For Rosanne Parry, it’s to Houston to get an award from Church and Temple Librarians for Heart of a Shepherd. And for Susannah French it’s to Washington D.C. to receive the Green Earth Book Award for Operation Redwood. For me, back to Oklahoma City for a Western Heritage Award, and who knows what else is in our future. To quote Dr. Seuss
OH THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
This week I bought three pairs of high heeled shoes. Now before, I had one pair of high heeled boots in my closet. And I bought nylons too. I haven’t worn those since – maybe two and a half years ago. And I bought a glittery turquoise and silver jacket to go with my long black crepe skirt. What does this have to do with writing? Well, you never know where this business will take you – which is why I say be nice to people, consider all strange options, and talk to everybody.
Here’s the backstory. In 2008, I joined the class of 2k9 – mainly because my friend, Fran Cannon Slayton, said it would be cool. She was right. When our books began coming out in 2009, we arranged various group presentations – panels and signings. Stacy Nyikos from 2k8, contacted our group with an invitation to join some of her class at Encyclomedia, the Oklahoma Library Association’s Convention. With a book titled Bull Rider, I answered well, ye-ess! Then I began to question my sanity. I needed to fly to Oklahoma. I planned to stay five days for the event and to do a school visit in North Texas. This would cost me a bunch of money, even though I was staying at a $49 a night Super Eight. (Ahh, the glamorous life.) But I went.
And before I went, I made an appointment to meet with the Education Director at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. I figured as long as I was in the area I would pitch a writing workshop for students. While we were talking, she suggested my publisher enter Bull Rider for the Western Heritage Awards that are given for music, film, and literature every year by the museum. Did that. And the book won! Best Juvenile Book, 2010. The caveat was, that to get the cool statue that goes with the award I needed to go back to Oklahoma City and attend a black tie dinner. I didn’t (until last week) own a pair of nylons or a pair of high heels – except for those boots. So I was all over Face Book asking my friends where to get plus sized glittery clothes for the event. I have to say, the suggestions were not always G-rated. But the shopping has been fun.
Here’s my take: You never know where writing will lead you. For Rosanne Parry, it’s to Houston to get an award from Church and Temple Librarians for Heart of a Shepherd. And for Susannah French it’s to Washington D.C. to receive the Green Earth Book Award for Operation Redwood. For me, back to Oklahoma City for a Western Heritage Award, and who knows what else is in our future. To quote Dr. Seuss
OH THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
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