July 31, 2011

Sanity is overrated

Well, the past week has been interesting indeed. I went from having three followers to having eight, and from no comments to having two on my latest post. From chatting into the void, to having people listening to what I have to say.

I have to admit, after dancing around my livingroom and squealing over my new followers for a minute, I suddenly felt a little pressure. It wasn't just for me anymore and I found myself wondering: will this be what it's like when I publish my first book?

Granted, I haven't even finished the final edits for Book one yet, but I can't help but think about it. Do I want this? Am I crazy? Can I handle it?

Yes.

I've heard many times over that authors have to be just a little nuts to do what they do. If that's what it takes to see my book on shelves, I'll be crazy. Art is meant to be seen and shared, after all, not stuck in a box and kept safe from those it was meant for. The same goes for the stories we write. Now, we all have those pieces that were made just for us, whether its a manuscript that defies all the rules, or a piece of artwork that's precious to us in spite of all it's flaws. Those are ours to cherish however we like, but then there are those we create for others as well as ourselves. The trick is figuring out which one is which.

Originally "New Beginnings" was one of those destined for the shoe box(yes I have an actual shoe box for that kind of thing). After languishing there for upwards of ten years(I wrote the original draft at twelve years old), I found myself thinking of the characters once again, and decided to give them another shot. Now, that original draft will never see the light of day(yes, its that scary, lol), but "New Beginnings" is another story altogether, pun intended.

Whether or not I end up a published author remains to be seen, but until then I'm another writer scrambling to get her stories out of her head and onto something besides the receipt tape from work. And as long as the stories keep coming and the words keep flowing, I'll be crazy.

Sanity, after all, is overrated.


~Sun and Moon

July 24, 2011

Moving on

Sometimes you have to let things go to move forward, whether it's a piece of artwork giving you trouble, an argument you can't seem to win, or words on a page that simply won't behave as you want them to. You can only let yourself bash your head against an unmoveable wall for so long before you're burned out with a pounding headache and ready to give up.

But think about it. You wouldn't pick green fruit and expect to be able to eat it right away. You wouldn't open freshly bottled wine and expect it to be any good. No one plants the seeds for their garden and then wonder why they don't have cucumbers and squash on the vine the next day.

The point?

Sometimes you need to let things age. Those words you put down last night at one o'clock in the morning may have sounded like dreck as you read them over before finally getting some sleep, but in the morning things may change. Some scenes need time to settle before you see them as anything other then a hasty replacement.

So next time you reach the point of burnout just let it go and move on. We are all learning, and no one said you had to be perfect. I mean, yeah it would be nice to churn out a first draft where every word is struck in gold, but things just don't happen that way.

Nobody is perfect, and no one can master their craft without mistakes. Mistakes, after all, are how we learn.
 
Think about it :)



~Sun and Moon


July 18, 2011

Still under construction

The apartment is nearly clean, and edits for chapter twenty-seven have been underway for the past week. I wish I could say I've been making wonderful progress and that I'm almost done with the darned thing(the chapter, not the apartment), but alas, no. Instead of moving through to the sticky part in the middle of said chapter, I got stuck on the beginning.
No joke.

Yup, that's right folks. For the past week I've been stuck on one darned paragraph that refused to cooperate. The whole reason it had to be redone? It was too over the top. Just a little. Ok, maybe more then a little. 

Monday I spent about six hours hammering it out, but still wasn't happy. I'm still not sure, even after getting some wonderful feedback from my beta readers, that I'm happy with it now. It still sounds...off to me. Or maybe its because the original words have been in place for over a year? Either way, I'm setting it aside to come back to later. Maybe then I'll see it as a good fit instead of as a hasty bandage.
 
For now, however, its time for me to get back to work. 



~Sun and Moon

July 10, 2011

Leave no dish unwashed

Over the past week I have realized I am in desperate need of a time machine. I concidered cloning, honest I did, but decided it was too messy and unpredictable. Nope, time machines are the only way to go.

Unfortunately, they're awfully scarce in Ohio. If you find one in working condition, please let me know.

On another note, I still haven't had a chance to do more then read over chapter twenty-seven and make notes as I've been on a one woman rampage to finally get my apartment in order. So far my livingroom, art studio/study/guinea pig room, and the tiny spare bedroom(read: large closet sized room) are all looking pretty snazzy. The bedroom and the stairwell outside our door is another matter. However, it's too hot to work on the stairwell and our cat, who isn't feeling well, has taken over the bedroom. Since I don't want to disturb her I'll be pulling out my laptop and curling up in the livingroom to get some serious work done at last.

Or at least that's the plan.

There's apple crisp cooling on the stove and my hubby is waiting for me to serve it up(why he won't serve himself until I cut it first is beyond me, lol), so I better get cracking. Bedtime will be here soon enough and I have work in the morning.

I was serious about that time machine, by the way.



~Sun and Moon

     

July 3, 2011

Loving life

Today is a lazy day. 

Or rather, it was supposed to be. Instead I cleaned my kitchen, did all the dishes except for one(it really needs to soak for a bit, trust me), vacumed, swept what little hard floor we have, gernerally picked up stuff, and did some laundry. I had some good music blasting and sang along as I scrubbed, rinsed, swept, and basically put things to rights. 

Oddly enough, it was awesome. 

I now have a clean house for my husband to come home to. There's time for a nap, and even some artwork before he gets home....well, maybe not the nap. 

As you've probably guessed, I've finished chapter twenty-six. The new ending is still a little raw, but all my betas who have read the new ending love it and that's good enough for me(I can always tweak it later). 

Today is also the last day of my usual three day break between chapters. Tomorrow it's back to work, and I'm hoping the new changes I've made are the right ones. It'll all show up one way or another when I buckled down. This will be my second attempt to finish chapter twenty-seven. I have to admit, I'm a little nervous, but excited too. 

I'm almost done. 

That's right. There are just three chapters after this one and none of them need the kind of rewrite twenty-seven does. With a bit of luck, I'll spend maybe a week on each of them. 

For now, however, I'm still on my three day break and I've been working pretty hard. It's time to go slip into my little art studio for a bit and get lost in lush color and clean lines....or I could try for the nap. 

Hm...choices, choices... 



~Sun and Moon