Monday, October 26, 2015

The Dreamweavers INK Writers Retreat 2015

I got back last week from a writer's retreat in Deep Creek, Maryland, with my good friend P.J. O'Dwyer who hosted the event. Great weekend. Plentiful dose of writer's buzz to motivate me for a good long while. Lest it seem like all I did was absorb wonderful writer energy from talking all things literary, I did manage to teach a class--"Beyond the Basics: Five Ways to Bring Your Writing to the Next Level." My five "ways" included symbolism, tension, mood, word choice, and being true to your voice. I'm thinking these might be fun to delve into over the course of the following weeks. Stay tuned.

For now, here are a few snapshots from my weekend at the beautiful Memory Maker mountain retreat.

The Memory Maker at night. Sorry I didn't get a picture during the day with the gorgeous leaves!

 
Yours truly reading "Arthur and Me" for open mic night. Oddly, my Maryland friends had never heard of open mic, so there was a bit of a learning curve, but they did well.
 
 
The audience of "Dreamweavers" enjoying the cozy fire--which I am blocking! Patty (P.J.) is taking her own snapshots.
 
 
The gang at the close of a pretty cool weekend!
 

Monday, October 19, 2015

Life as an author can get busy!

I just completed a busy couple of weeks. On September 30, I enjoyed a thirty minute interview with Mike Thomas on radio station KWRE, am730. We discussed my book, Baker Mountain, and my future activities. The conversation turned to the musical and literary career of our mutual friend, the late, great Nick Nixon. Mike played a song, The Girl on Mondale Mountain which I co-wrote with Nick.

I had a successful book signing event at Main Street Books in St. Charles, MO with fellow author Charles Rogers on October 3. It's a great little store. Drop in. You'll like it.

On October 8, 9, and 10, I attended the Ozark Creative Writers Conference in Eureka Springs, AR. A great community of writers assemble on these Ozark Mountain peaks each fall.

Next up is an appearance at Breeze Park Senior Living in Weldon Spring, MO on October 29. The thought occurred to me that I might consider reserving more time for writing. :-)

Doyle

Monday, October 12, 2015

Stick to what you know

At the moment, I'm working on the sequel to On the Buckle, my humorous romantic mystery. This is my second time taking a shot at this book. The first, in 2014, I got myself all organized, did my research (a LOT of research), made notes, and outlined the plot.

This is NOT how I usually work. You see, I'm a panster, not a plotter. I write by the seat of my pants. This method has always produced good, but slow, results for me. I wanted to get this book written quickly, and I truly believed that a more organized approach would help.

It didn't.

I wrote, but I floundered, unable to find direction, the right pace, or enough air. It was like I was stuck in a dingy in the middle of the ocean, in a horrific storm, at night. Without oars. Now, I know that for plotters, that's probably how it would feel to tackle a big project without having it planned out in advance.

The first chapter alone went to critique no fewer than six times. Can't say I was happy with it even then, but I pushed forward, scooping water as fast as I could with nothing but my hands. Diligently, I checked my notes and carried on.

But the writing sucked.

I'm going to make a long story short. By November of that year, I gave up after producing less than half of a crap first draft. Took a break, did some reading, started something new and completely different (The Roar of Smoke released in May of this year) which I wrote the best way for me--with no idea what's going to happen next.

Lesson learned. Stick to what you know.

While I regret the time I wasted going down the plotter path, I learned the hard way that no matter what anyone else says is the best way to write a novel, the best way for me is what works for me. End of discussion.

I'll write more about what 'writing by the seat of your pants' means to me in a future post.

Write on!

Candace

Friday, October 2, 2015

So True!

"Every secret of a writer's soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works."
                                                                                                                                       --Virginia Woolf