Guest Post: Lisa Gail Green Shares Tips on Writing Short Stories

Hoping to flex your writing skills this month for NaNoWriMo, but intimidated by the prospect of churning out an entire novel? Why not challenge yourself with a short story instead?

Author Lisa Gail Green, whose short stories have been published in all three Journeys of Wonder anthologies, and whose paranormal fantasy novel, THE BINDING STONE, debuted this year, is here to tell you how.

Take it away, Lisa, and thanks for stopping by my blog!

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Thank you for inviting me to your blog, Sarah! *Puts feet up on sofa* You’re wondering what it’s like writing short fiction versus a novel length manuscript? The short answer is – not too much.

• You still have to use a full (albeit probably simple) story arc.
• You still have to revise like crazy until it’s as perfect as you can get it.
• You’re still responsible for developing your character as well. No shortcuts just because it’s only a thousand words long. 

What’s different in a short story?

•         You can’t have more than a few characters. Too many take too much space and you won’t be able to do them justice. It’s best to stick to your main character and one or two extra characters that he/she interacts with. Then you have room to work with.
•         You have to get to the point. You can’t spend pages going on about the décor. You really have to pick and choose when it comes to description and use what is important to your character and the story. Don’t forget to filter through your character’s POV.
•          No place for subplots. Can you do it? Well… yes. BUT it’s really, really tricky and I don’t recommend it when you’re starting out. Practice first like with anything else. And any subplot you use should definitely be intertwined with your main storyline.

Now here’s the trick though. All of these elements can be used to tighten your novel. That’s right; short stories are good for writers. They’re another way to stretch your writing muscles and a great exercise. Plus, if you get one or two publication credits by getting a short story or two accepted somewhere then that can go in your bio and can bolster your self-esteem. It’s a win-win situation.

Take a look at the similarities with all that in mind: 

• You get to practice making your characters count. In a novel you have to eliminate and combine non-essentials just like in a short story. And no one should be one-dimensional. 
• You should ALWAYS filter through character and eliminate superfluous description, etc. 
• Your subplots should reflect the theme at the very least and if you can somehow bring them together with the main plot – even better.

The structure of both short stories and novels are the same, though short stories can be difficult in that they limit your space. But that’s the best reason I can think of to encourage everyone to write them.

Creating Great Dialogue in YA Books

What were you up to in fall of 2011? I apparently did an online video interview with Author Learning Center. It was uploaded this past week, so care to take a trip down memory lane with me?

In the below video, I discuss writing dialogue in YA books.

Fun facts: In late 2011, I was pregnant and had very short hair. I know! Crazy!

"What makes a book well written?" My Useless Response to a Tweet

Last week on Twitter I observed that whenever a book is praised for "getting people to read" it's never because the book is well written.

To which another Tweeter asked, "What does a well written book have? I am trying to write one... what do you think makes a book well written?"

Hmm. That's pretty subjective. Also, it's easier for me to list what makes a book poorly written, so naturally I am taking the easy way out.

Don't Do This:

1. Unoriginal characters (and/or characters you don't care about)
2. Telling instead of showing (don't say things, prove them)
3. Cliches
4. Carelessness
5. Poor use of language
6. Overused or redundant phrases and descriptions
7. Inexplicable behavior (if I don't believe your characters would do something, or if I don't understand why they have done something, it throws me out of the story)

There! A perfect blueprint! Go forth and write!

Oh, was that not helpful?

Hmm, again. It's hard to make a list of what well written means. It's like pornography: you know it when you see it.

If I wish I'd written it, and/or I momentarily consider quitting writing altogether because Now There Is No Point, that means it was well written.

What do you think makes a book well written?

Year in Review: How did 2011 Stack Up?

It's time to look back on the year and see what I accomplished. If you're feeling compare-y and contrast-y, check out my Year-End Stats for 2009 and 2010.

In December of 2010, here's what I hoped to accomplish in 2011:

"In 2011, my goals are to research, write and revise my newest YA novel, contribute to DearTeenMe.com, give audio books a real chance, and bring actual knitting back to my knitting group. I'd like to go jogging twice a week, and read at least 50 books, partially so I can surpass that goal."

Here's how my checklist turned out:

1. Wrote and revised a new YA novel? Yes!

2. Contributed to Dear Teen Me? Yes! You can read my letter here.

3. Gave audio books a real chance? No! Not even remotely! Didn't even try! Why am I using so many exclamation points!

4. Brought actual knitting back to my knitting group: Yes! Knitted two hats.

5. Went jogging twice a week? Hahahahahaha. (Wipes tear.)

6. Read at least 50 books? No! More like 45. Which is a drop from 2010 (when I read 62) and an even worse drop from 2009 (when I read 100). However... I did read a bunch of WIPs and ARCs from friends whose books are coming out in 2012, and I gave notes on manuscripts, and I also read 450 screenplays at work. So it's not like I wasn't reading. [/defensive] 

Other Fun Stats (maybe I should've listed these first):

I sold my novel (wooooooooooo!), attended a fun writing conference in NYC (where I got to meet my agent, editor, and lots of cool writing peeps), and joined The Lucky 13s. Lastly, my husband and I have a fresh work-in-progress due early next year. (Before anyone freaks out, the imbibing photo above is old.)

How did your year stack up against your expectations?

What are your hopes for 2012?

What I Learned From NaNo, and an Interview with Miranda Kenneally

Well hello there. It's been a few weeks! Here's what I learned in the month of November, which I spent revising my latest YA novel:

1. All first drafts are terrible.
2. This doesn't mean they will always be terrible.
3. Research is my friend.
4. Except when it isn't. (Too much can paralyze you.)
5. Knowing I have potential readers standing by was a powerful motivator. I don't want to let them down when the time comes to (gasp, horror) show this puppy to someone else.
6. When writing and revising is going well, there's nothing better.

Admit it, you bloodthirsty sharks: what you really want to know is, did I pass or fail National Novel Writing Month?

I'm going to give a non-answer, and there's nothing you can do about it. (Also, I didn't set out to write a novel, I set out to revise one, but, as they say on those Money Market shows, let's crunch the numbers.)

As I write this post, it's the evening of 11/30, the last day of the month, and I still have 25 pages (out of 250) to edit. So! 90% done, or an A-, but NaNo hard-liners will stamp FAIL on my forehead. However, I'd like to point out that I added nearly 7,000 words' worth of new material that I'm pretty proud of, and around the half-way mark of the month, I stopped hyperventilating / berating myself and started truly enjoying the process, which was a wonderful surprise.

My ultimate goal for the holiday season is to have a solid draft of this manuscript finished before the end of the year so I can get critiques in mid-December and January. On that front I believe I've succeeded. And now the real revisions can begin :)

Over at the Lucky 13s blog, I've posted my first interview for our Apocalypse Now series, in which we chat with 2012 debut authors about their Young Adult and Middle Grade books.

My pal and agency-mate, Miranda Kenneally, has a wonderful contemporary YA book, CATCHING JORDAN, out today. I was lucky enough to read an ARC of this exciting debut over the summer at the RWA Conference.

Miranda discusses her writing methods and other cool stuff right here. Happy Book Release Day!

NaNo Revision Mission

While many writers are click-clacking away for National Novel Writing Month, I'm spending my November in what my pal Sarvenaz Tash has dubbed NaNoRevMo: National Novel Revision Month. Joining me in this experiment courageous endeavor is fellow agency-mate Kat Brauer.

I spent January through August writing a new Young Adult novel, and then set it aside to edit BRUISED for Amulet Books. Now it's time to whip my new book into shape.

My grand plans got off to an inauspicious start when I printed the entire manuscript without setting page numbers first. Wheeeeeee!

With a full-time job, a baby on the way, and massive revisions ahead of me, I'm taking the next three weeks off from blogging. I'll still post to The Lucky 13s, though, and you can see my revision progress on Twitter. Follow me and I'll follow you back. I'm a follower.

Who else is committing to writing a novel or revising a new draft this November?

Happy writing, Happy Thanksgiving, and May the Caffeine Be With You.

See you back here December 1st!

A Photograph is Worth, Well, You Know

Have you seen the blog Dear Photograph? Contributors return to the scenes of old family photographs and take new pictures there.  In some cases they jot down what's changed in their lives or what they've learned in the interim. I love the concept, but I'm not crazy about the execution; the way the photos are framed (original images held by hand in front of updated location), it's almost impossible to tell whether it's the same place.

The site got me thinking about my WIP. For some reason I decided to set the story in a neighboring California town I've never been to. This was not terribly smart of me, but hey, at least I'm not alone in this manuever.

Stephenie Meyer famously set her Twilight series in Forks, Washington, before having set foot there. Rumor has it she Googled "rainiest town" or something and got Forks. In fact, Forks was apparently the original title for Twilight. (I'm picturing a fork in an apple for that first cover. Anyone else?) Now the Chamber of Commerce there has built an entire tourist industry around the books.

After I get my act together, I plan to hop on the freeway, visit my WIP's location and take a bunch of photographs for later use, so I can get a feel for the place as I write. I may call the town something different, but I'd like it to be drawn from reality.

Have you ever used photographs to help you with descriptions, setting and mood?

How a Dork Edits

While reading my manuscript, I realized to my embarrassment that I apparently have difficulty depicting the difference between weeks or months passing, so it's not always clear when everything is happening. So one of the first things I did before diving in to revisions was print out blank calendars! Fun!*

I then proceeded to fill in every major event, the exact day it occurs. It was dorky but made me feel settled, and ready to edit.

P.S. The photo is deliberately blurry as opposed to my usual "accidentally blurry." Can't give away all my plot secrets.

*I'm not being sarcastic. It was really fun!

What Makes a Good Editorial Letter?

My first editorial letter arrived last Friday from the fantastic Maggie Lehrman.

I was nervous to open it, but once I did, I found myself nodding my head like a madwoman and feeling a rush of excitement as I realized how much stronger Maggie's changes will make the story, and how well she knows the characters.

What makes the letter so good?

1. Praise goes a long way. Maggie started out by telling me her favorite parts, which immediately set me at ease and reminded me it's all going to be okay; she likes the book! That's why she bought it!

2. It's very organized: the perfect recipe for revisions. It doesn't jump all over the place; it's divided into categories so I can follow along easily and see how everything fits together. I'm confident if I follow instructions, I'll end up with a delicious cake.

3. It's clear and specific. Maggie didn't give me vague suggestions like, "fix the humor/emotion/tension/romance/mystery [insert attribute]"; she clearly laid out exactly what she felt might be improved, and then gave precise examples of how and why. As I read the letter, I could immediately picture what I needed to do. (Now it's just a matter of getting down to it...)

The next morning, I woke up early, ripped open my new package of red pens (see above), and started jotting feverish notes in the margins of scenes I wanted to flesh out or change. It's been exhilarating so far. I've got work ahead of me for sure, but Maggie's notes were so helpful and spot-on to me that I won't feel "right" about my manuscript until I've made these changes.

I feel very lucky to have an editor who believes in my writing and could see things in it that I didn't see, and who's willing to work with me to create the best version of the story possible.

What do you look for in critique notes or edits? 

Three Things I Did Wrong to End up Where I am Today

1. Worked for free.

What a chump, right? Let me explain. When I graduated college in 1999 and moved to L.A. to work in entertainment, I applied for dozens of entry-level jobs. All of them required experience, and the only way to get experience was to intern. It's an inherently unfair system that stacks the deck against people who can't afford to work for free, so I felt a bit guilty about going that route, but I was lucky to have parents who were willing and able to support me for three months while I worked at a talent management company at precisely $0/per day. The internship led to a job in TV production, and the TV production job led to the job I hold today.

Cut to 2009. I was researching lit agents online and sending off queries when lo and behold, I noticed one of my bosses from the internship ten years before was affiliated with an agency I really hoped to impress. The boss and I had kept in touch, so I asked if I could use her as a referral, and I included her name in the email subject line of my query. The agency I hoped to impress was Nelson Lit, and I got a partial request the next day. If my writing sample had sucked, none of that would've mattered but I do think name-dropping a trusted source helped speed up the process.

2. Wrote in the wrong genre.

I spent four months turning a college-set screenplay into what I thought might be a YA novel. Halfway through adapting it, I heard about a panel at a local bookstore featuring a Q&A session with established YA authors. I decided to go, so I could ask them about my story and have experts confirm how brilliant it was. Ha! Every single writer there told me in no uncertain terms you can't write about college in YA books.

Shocked, I scrapped the "brilliant" project and began writing something entirely different (the book I would eventually sell, with my wonderful agent at the helm of course). At the panel, I met people in the audience who would go on to become friends and critique partners of mine. If I hadn't done the wrong thing (and naively sought to have it validated), I wouldn't have met people who ended up being integral to my journey, nor would I have started a new project.

3. Took a day-job as a writer.

I recently read an article in a writing magazine that named the best jobs for writers. Teaching was listed first. Also recommended were office jobs and temp work, something you can leave behind at the end of the day. The only job they specifically advised against was the one I have: reading and writing. I read screenplays and create character descriptions for a living, and then I go home and read and write novels.

The article stipulated it was a bad idea because I'd have nothing to draw from and no clear cut break from my two jobs. I'll admit I get a bit tired of typing, but I love reading regardless of the format and I love my day job, and if I had to spend 8 hours a day (plus the commute) doing something I didn't enjoy, it would be very difficult to muster up the ability to create.

So there you have it. Three bad things I did that ended up leading (eventually...) to publication. Following the "rules" is overrated.

Or maybe I'm just a slow learner.

In your writing journey, have you made mistakes that later turned out to be blessings?

Night Writer

The other week, my friend and agency-mate Natalie blogged about writing something every day, regardless of how much time you have, and not worrying whether you write a sentence, a paragraph, a page or multiple pages.

I took her words to heart because I realized I've been throwing in the towel way too easily on days that aren't "perfect" for writing. I've gotten it into my head that I AM A MORNING WRITER AND CANNOT WRITE AT NIGHT. IT MUST EVER BE THUS.

I'm fine with doing research at night, or brainstorming in a notebook, but actually opening up the (gasp) document and adding to it is off limits for some reason, so for years I've stuck to morning-only typing. In the morning, my mind seems clearer and more open to creativity, uncluttered by the events of the day because there have been no events. At night, I'm tired from work, and tired from my commute, and I really just want to curl up on the couch with a Millionaire Matchmaker marathon (the episode I caught recently with Patty's parents was priceless).

But some mornings I want, or need, to sleep in. Unfortunately, I also want to finish what I'm working on, and if I'm not writing as often in the mornings, how am I supposed to do it?

Two weeks ago I dared to break my No Typing at Night rule. I know, I am crazy adventurous.

The first few tries were tough. I splashed cold water on my face, sat in my desk chair, shut my ears to the TV's siren song, and managed to barely, and painfully, churn out 500 words over a two hour period. Slow but steady progress was made.

After another week or so, I got the hang of it, and last weekend, I wrote 6,000 words, all in the afternoon/evening. In fact, I finished the draft! But if I'd stuck to my Mornings-Only rule I'd still be floundering, and beating myself up for not being done yet.

Do you have rules about when and where you can write?

How the Storytelling in Documentaries Helps My Writing

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." - Robert Burns

I watched two documentaries last week that were vastly different but shared a common storytelling thread: the protagonists' plans went heartbreakingly wrong. One was darkly comedic, the other tragic-yet-inevitable.

The first, Catfish, concerned a series of online relationships, including a romance, that turned out to be false or at least deeply misleading. The slow reveal was filled with tension, dread, and even an awful kind of humor as the protag and his friends paid a surprise visit to their internet friend's family and scrambled to figure out what was really going on.

The second documentary, Last Train Home, involved a modern Chinese family's disintegration. The parents had made the impossible decision, 16 years prior, to leave the country and find factory work in the city. Their plan was to send money home to fund their children's education so the youngsters could go to university someday and never have to work in a factory.

So what happens? The oldest, a teenage girl, resents her mom and dad for not raising her and decides to rebel by quitting school, heading to the city, and... working in a factory. You could see it coming, and yet you hoped it wouldn't be so.

I love documentaries because they provide a refreshing, even jarring, change of pace to the usual movie experience. There are fewer tropes, fewer predictable outcomes, and occasionally better dialogue and more authentic human interaction, even if it's painful, awkward or even boring at times.

Just like with sports, you don't know what's going to happen, and there's absolutely no guarantee of a happy or tidy ending. At the same time, the directors and editors frame the events in such a way that audiences can see structure and purpose to the story.

With Last Train Home in particular, I was reminded that the best stories often have a deceptively simple premise (parents try to make a better life for their children; children don't understand the behavior and resent it) that can be rich and full.

Seen any good documentaries lately? Did they help with your novel writing, or remind you that going "off-book" can be a good thing?

P.S. Edited to add: Lest you think I'm a dirty rotten spoiler, the plot points I've mentioned above happen fairly early on in each documentary.

Recommended Viewing: "Somewhere" Written & Directed by Sofia Coppola

Lost in Translation is one of my favorite films. I think it perfectly captures not only the bewilderment and beauty of visiting a foreign country, but also the ennui that comes from mid-life crises and post-college crises, when you either regret how you've spent your life so far, or you can't figure out who you're supposed to be.

This line never ceases to make me laugh:

Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson): "I tried being a writer but I hate what I write. I tried taking pictures, but they were so mediocre. I guess every girl goes through a photography phase. You know, horses... taking pictures of your feet."

Despite my love for the film, I was reluctant to watch Ms. Coppola's most recent project, Somewhere, because I feared it would be more of the same, yet less of what was so great about Lost in Translation.

There are a few obvious similarities. A movie star (this time played by Stephen Dorff instead of Bill Murray) lives in a hotel, drifting through his pampered, rather absurd life without purpose. And yes, once again he's jolted out of his stupor by a "younger woman" (his 11-year-old daughter Cleo, play by Elle Fanning).

The performances are terrific, and I especially appreciated the way the film was bookended. We begin with a static partial shot of a race track, and watch as Dorff, in his expensive and noisy Ferrari, speeds around it (briefly out of sight) four times. The symbolism is clear: he's going nowhere; he's going in circles.

The final shot (spoiler alert) is Dorff in the same car, alone again, but driving out of the city, out onto the open road, going somewhere at last. And when he exits the car this time, there's a hint of a smile on his face.

When I write novels or short stories, I aspire to make my endings relate directly to my beginnings -- either by referring back to the opening imagery, or using similar allusions so the story feels like it's come full circle.

Do you believe endings should directly reference beginnings, or do you think it should be up to readers to interpret any potential parallels for themselves?

New Twists on Old Classics

Don't worry, I'm not randomly launching a screed against New Coke twenty-five years after the fact. I'm talking about the FX show Sons of Anarchy, aka "Hamlet on a Harley." Series creator Kurt Sutter took the basic premise of Hamlet and set it in a biker gang. How brilliant is that?

Current leader Clay (Ron Perlman) is Claudius; his wife Gemma (Katey Sagal) is a modern-day Gertrude; and her son Jax (Charlie Hunnam) is the "prince" and would-be heir who wavers in his committment to the club and senses something rotten his father's demise.

I think the reason the concept appeals to me so much is because A) it's unexpected and B) the roots of the story are so powerful that they really will work in any environment. Even though I know how Hamlet ends, it's fascinating to watch the tale unfold within the framework of a biker gang.

It's why I enjoyed Amy Heckerling's Clueless (which is basically Jane Austen's Emma for Valley Girls) and the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You (which is The Taming of the Shrew in high school).

Have you ever considered taking a classic or well-known story and placing it in a modern setting?

Is there any bizarre combo you'd like to see? (King Lear in the fashion industry?)

How do you jumpstart a scene?

In regard to plot stagnation, Raymond Chandler famously said, "When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand."

TV Tropes has a lot of fun discussing what they've dubbed "Chandler's Law," and comparing it to parallel plot devices in TV, comics, films and video games.  I've heard that NaNoWriMo participants often run out of steam during the second week, and have to rely on quick, sometimes outrageous plot devises to keep their "writer's high" (and word count) going. The only time I attempted NaNo, I didn't even make it through the first week, so I'm not exactly an expert.

When your story doesn't seem to want to move forward, how do you jumpstart it? Have you ever used the same fix twice? Did it work?

When it Comes to First Drafts, What Kind of Writer Are You?

If you haven't already seen it, I highly recommend you check out Jennifer Wolf's recent blog post on Pantsers vs Outliners (i.e. the difference between people who write by the seat of their pants, and those who prefer to outline). It reminded me of a conversation I had this past weekend with the lovely Kristen Kittscher, who recently sold her middle-grade mystery. We were discussing the different ways one can write a first draft.

I also polled some of my Writing Night pals (thanks, Amy, Hope and Jen!) and they were split. One prefers to jump in and enjoy the discovery of seeing where the story goes; another prefers to outline, and the third does a combination of the two, depending on the project. Here are the different categories I believe people fall into when it comes to first drafts:

The Perpetual Starter - You have twenty stories you want to write, and none that you want to finish (this was me last year)

The Polisher - You rewrite the beginning 17,000 times before you feel "right" continuing (this is me now)

Quick Like a Bunny - You churn out 5,000 words a day for several weeks and have yourself a first draft within a month (sadly, I have never been this person and probably never will be)

The Jumper - You jump from scene to scene, writing your favorite or most important moments first, and then fill in the blanks later (I don't often do this, but I know it works for some)

I've come to accept the fact that I'm not a fast first-drafter. Sure, I have moments of "Must sit down and write this scene now! GO GO GO!" inspirational frenzies, but for the most part, I'm a Polisher, sometimes to my benefit and sometimes to my detriment.

When you write your first draft, do you fit into any of the categories above? Are there types that I'm missing?

Pitch the Book You'd Want to Read

A couple weeks ago a friend asked me what my new project was about, and before I realized what I was doing, I'd typed up a paragraph synopsis that sounded pretty awesome.

Too awesome, in fact. It wasn't accurate! Some of the elements I'd mentioned weren't even part of the story, or at least not yet. I didn't do it on purpose. By wanting the story to sound as intriguing as possible, I'd overshot. That's when I realized I hadn't pitched my project. I'd pitched the project I wanted to be writing.

It sounded better in the paragraph than it did so far on the page, and I vowed to make my manuscript live up to my pitch. Maybe that's a backwards way of going about it, but by giving myself a succinct challenge ("I must hit elements A, B, C and D in the novel or it won't reflect the logline"), I at least guarantee myself a draft in which I include all my favorite parts. Will it work, or will it be terrible? Stay tuned.

Have you ever pitched a partial manuscript? If you do pitch your project before you're done writing it, are you ever surprised by your own synopsis? Has it ever led you in a new direction?

Soccer & Writing: When Supporting Players Take Over the Field

When I saw the team lineup for Sunday's L.A. Galaxy game, I was worried and, to be honest, kind of annoyed. I got into soccer last summer because I wanted to follow the further adventures of Galaxy team captain Landon Donovan after his excellent showing at the World Cup.

Impossible as this may seem, I'd forgotten at the time that David Beckham was also with the Galaxy, partially because I'd shunned from my mind the "Posh & Becks" reality show Coming to America, and partially because he was injured for most of last season. I quickly became spoiled by his presence, however, so when he, Donovan, and several of the other Galaxy headliners were absent on Sunday, I panicked. Seemed like everyone good was either suspended because of yellow card accumulations or resting up after injuries. "Aggh, we're going to get murdered," I thought, settling in for an afternoon of pain.

A minute later, however, I was thrilled to realize that A) last year's talented rookie, Stephens, who normally only gets a few minutes per game, would be starting and B) I would get to meet a bunch of players I'd never seen before, who are rarely afforded a chance to play at all.

And guess what? They were fantastic. They beat Chicago 2-1. I find myself allllmost curious how the team would do without its "stars" for the rest of the season.

I had a similar situation with my WIP recently. Having written 100 pages, I realized that one of the smaller roles was the most interesting to me, and deserved a deeper exploration of his motivation and background, especially since the character's relationship with my lead was central to the heart of the story. So I set the 100 pages aside and pulled up my original opening, which included the smaller role earlier on. It's going to take some work to start over, but I'm really excited about this development.

Have any of your supporting roles ever asserted themselves into a larger role? Have they ever taken over the story completely? Did they surprise you with what they brought to the narrative? I'd love to hear how you worked them in.

Kinda Overwhelmed - or - Who Will Save This Pitiful Creature?

One of my oldest friends called me up the other day for advice on how to get started with a possible writing career. She lamented the fact that it feels impossible to find the time. I definitely understand where she's coming from.

I work 8 hours a day at an office, and I have a 2-hour commute on top of it. Not a big deal, most of the time. If I want to write, I can do it in the morning before I leave. The problem is the Internet. (Stop me if you've heard this one before. Actually wait please don't because I'm going to ask for advice at the end.)

If I want to...

1) Email
2) Tweet
3) Blog
4) Check Facebook
5) Update GoodReads
6) Read other people's tweets, blogs, status updates and GoodRead reviews

Then I must necessarily do it...

A) In the morning before work -- but then when will I write?

B) In the evening after work -- but then when will I see my husband? When will I see my friends? When will I read books? When will I watch The Good Wife, The Amazing Race and L.A. Galaxy games? When will I get a break from the computer screen? WHEN WILL I HAVE TIME FOR ALL MY ANXIETY?

I love my job reading screenplays and creating character descriptions for roles being cast, and if it were just a matter of juggling my own writing and my job writing, I think I'd be okay. It's when you throw online networking into the mix that it all starts to make my brain -- and my sexy tendonitis -- beg for mercy. No matter what I do, or how I allocate my time, there are never enough hours in the day, nor is there enough caffeine.

I've really enjoyed making friends online (um, at the risk of sounding like an ad for Adult Friend Finder) and I don't like letting anyone down by not responding to messages, polls, emails, or questions in a timely fashion. I also don't like missing out on great discussions / controversies / information, but there are certain days when I know something's gotta give, and it can't be my husband, and it can't be writing.

I know this isn't true, but some days it feels like everyone else has figured out how to juggle all of the above; like everyone but me is metaphorically lounging beside a pool with their smartphones, getting tans and sippin' cocktails while I flail about, just trying not to drown. So what am I missing? How am I supposed to do this? Helppppppp.

p.s. Case in point, I've been updating this blog every Thursday and I'll barely make the deadline tonight.

Write What You Know, and Then Get Other People to Tell You What THEY Know

I love research. I also love procrastinating. Funny how that works...

Anyway, I've always followed the adage, "Write what you know." My last two projects grew out of fictionalized elements of my own life but also required lots of outside research. I love interviewing people, so I see this as a bonus.

For my magician mystery, I drew on my own experiences living in L.A., and I spent a lot of time at the Magic Castle observing magicians in the wild (I know, tough gig...). I also asked my husband's advice on certain aspects of magic and magic history.

For my young adult martial arts novel, I drew on my own experiences as a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, but I also asked a clinical psychologist for help authenticating other aspects of the story. Luckily, a friend of a friend happened to be well-versed in the subjects I needed assistance with, and she was incredibly generous with her time and suggestions.

So now I'm writing a noir story set in high school. Who's going to be my expert source?? Anyone go to San Clemente High School?