How to start a novel - just write it!

I like to think of this blog topic as my sidekick, my go-to girl when my mind is as blank as my computer screen.  I have to admit I am in a writing lull these days and I need this post as much as anyone else.  I have finished editing my latest YA and find myself deliriously indecisive. Do I go back and work on my first book, a MG fantasy; re-visit my second book, another YA, (which is bound to leave me abandoning writing all together) or start something new?

So what have I decided?  Nothing.  Absolutely nada!  So, in a lame attempt to divert my attention from my own writing debacle, I went in search of inspiration and found my last blog (that sounds a lot more vain than I intend) How to Start a Novel and How to Start a Novel; the then what?  and decided that this blog was exactly what I need.

I just need to write.  Period.  Not only is it the answer to "how to start a novel", it's the answer to my latest problem - I just need to write.  No excuses.  

Writing isn't about whipping out the perfect novel in a matter of weeks; immediately followed by a week long stint in the hospital after succumbing to a caffeine induced coma. A novel is a collection of words and sentences that stir emotions and deliver you to worlds you can't escape - don't want to escape.  That's why we write; we want to take people to our worlds, to have them fall in love with our characters.  Plain and simple, we want to inspire, even a single person to read - then, then we have accomplished something.

And to do that - we must write.

Do you feel like I just took you on a ride on a Ferris wheel? But Toni, we've been over this - we just need to write, we go it!! But how?  How do you sit down and write a book???

Really, I see two options: 1) force you in front of your computer and tie you to a chair, while yelling demeaning words that lack encouragement and class, or 2) list some advice I have tricked myself into believing and/or found on the internet (either way they MUST be true - my imagination is bound to be as trustworthy as the internet!)

So here we go with option #2:

* Find your place - is a cafe, a library, your room - it doesn't matter just find a place that inspires you to be creative.
*Clear your mind - if you have a million things on your "to-do" list your mind is more likely to wonder a millions different directions.
* Set a date with your novel - come up with a specific time to write and use it wisely - don't cheat on your novel by checking your emails or updating your facebook status - just write.
* Surround yourself with things that will seduce your creativity - for me it's scented candles, my ipod, jeans, a hooded sweatshirt, and fuzzy slippers - I am a creature of habit and comfort - and all about good smells, what can I say!)
* Write anything.  Ray Bradbury gave some advice in a keynote speech, one of which he said
"Just type any old thing that comes into your head. He recommends “word association” to break down any creative blockages, since “you don’t know what’s in you until you test it.”

*And finally:


Be surprised.  Write one page a day and see what happens....surprise yourself and surprise the world.

:)

Motivation Monday

"As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might."
- Marian Anderson

Interview with Lisa Ard

On the Literary Rebound is please to introduce Lisa Ard. Lisa is an amazingly talented up and coming author based out of Portland, Oregon. She is author of the Dream Seeker series which the second installment was just released along with Lisa's Saving Halloween. We are excited to have a chance to talk to Lisa about Saving Halloween which is the recipient of this year's Kay Snow Award for Young Readers. Lisa is a fun and interesting person and no doubt her books will follow suit!

1. Can you tell us a little bit about your new book Saving Halloween?

I like to describe Saving Halloween as Matilda meets the Munsters. (the book blurb on my website might be added here). It's really a tribute to one of my favorite authors - Roald Dahl. He was the best at creating terrible parents we love to hate. In Saving Halloween Anne's parents are busy with their careers, seeing Anne as another item checked off on their to-do list. Anne needs a friend. She needs family. She finds both in the mysterious Spavento family.

2. Where did you find your idea or inspiration?

Hard to believe but my inspiration for the story came from one word: grimoire. I read it somewhere and had to look it up. It means spellbook. That started everything.

3. Who is your favorite character? Is the character based on a real life experience?

My favorite character is a hard one. I love them all. But I suppose I'm very fond of Signora Spavento, the mama. She bustles about her kitchen whipping up bewitching cookies. She never has enough time, except when it comes to her child. And she sees a child left on her doorstep as a gift. There's more than a bit of me in the signora.

4. Can you tell us about your challenges getting your book published?

I sent the manuscript to a couple agents and one publisher. I had a personal response from the publisher, so although it was rejected, I felt like that was a milestone. I had a nice critique from an agent, who then left her agency. By this point I had such particular ideas about how I wanted the book to look, that I decided to self-publish. I hired an illustrator and an editor. This gave me the freedom to guide the cover design and interior illustrations, the fonts, the back copy, etc. It was a wonderful project and I'm very happy with the results.

5. What words of advice would you give aspiring writers?

Keep at it and surround yourself with others. join a critique group. Join the SCBWI or other writing organization. These groups and people should lift you up in your efforts, help you improve and give you the courage to keep on. If not, then find another.

Thank you Lisa and congratulations!

To read more about Lisa, see samples of the Dream Seeker series and Saving Halloween and order her books, please visit her website:
www.authorlisaard.com

Motivation Monday

"All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous, unpremeditated act without benefit of experience."
- Henry Miller

Doubt: The creativity cannibal

Doubt is a darkness that can deteriorate years of work in a matter of seconds.  It creeps into our minds and, often times, starts breeding negativity that nibbles away at our creativity. This is a subject that I talk about a lot, simply because no one is immune to it, and honestly, I battle with it all the time.  But alas, it seems I am not alone!

Author Elana Johnson recently blogged about eliminating doubt.  I love Elana's blog and I love this post so much I wanted to share.  Elana was at a professional development seminar where a performance psychologist discussed doubt.  (I am not pasting the story here because I encourage everyone to click on the link and read Elana's take on it!!)

But I will say this - the advice Elana shared is one I think we can all use. Here's just a little bit of the story.  The performance psychologist Elana was listening to use to call a time out when a match wasn't going very well,  and would make the athletes say three things they were doing right - and if they started to complain he'd threaten to forfeit the match  unless they complied.

It made me think.

It's human nature to be competitive, no one wants to forfeit... at least I don't think they do, and yet that's what happens when we allow doubt to sneak into our heads.  We are forfeiting!  We are essentially throwing in the towel.

When I get done with a book and have read it for the upteen-millionth time, doubt invariably finds a home in my head.  I start to doubt my abilities, my book, my characters - everything.  But here's the fun part - now I have a way to fight back.    

I will not forfeit!

Try it some time - it doesn't even have to be with writing.  But when doubt starts encroaching on your life remind yourself of 3 three things you are doing right!

As long as you are breathing, forfeiting is not an option.

Motivation Monday

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."
- Martin Luther

Write it on your heart

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everything we do in life is a direct result of a choice.  We have unlimited freedoms and yet the one we seem to take for granted is attitude.  Our attitude about the world, others, even ourselves is a CHOICE.  Yes, I said it's a choice.  We make choices every second of every day; where to live, who to be friends with, who to smile at, to believe in ourselves, to read a book, to write a blog, to scold our children - we even chose to live.  

Buried deep within those choices is our attitude.  How easy is it to chose to be bitter, to hold the world accountable for our short comings, our disappointments, our failures.   It's far easier to blame others than to look deep inside and understand that we are looking at it all wrong.  That no one is to blame for our attitude - it, as dark as it sometimes, resides within us.  

And so you ask, what does attitude have to do with Ralph Waldo Emerson?  

Read the quote above a few times.  How do you feel when you read it?  Do you feel inspired, irritated?   Now read it out loud.  Again.  Now read every word by itself.  

But why, Toni, why do we have to read this darn quote over and over again?  

Because I am betting you were looking at it all wrong, just like I was.  When I first read it I laughed out loud and said, "Yah, that's easier SAID than done."  Just like most of you I don't wake up all cheery and bubbly, ready to face the world, thinking that "today is the best day - ever!"  But when I re-read the quote something clicked. 

The quote isn't "Say it in your heart that every day is the best day in the year."  It says WRITE it ON your heart.  Tattoo it on your heart - make it permanent - know that every day is the best day, don't think about it, don't say it - etch it until it becomes part of you. 

Change your attitude.

Change your outlook, and who knows maybe today will be the best day of the year!

Motivation Monday

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson