Sad for you that you are now forced to contrast my first entry with Laurie's. Between some personal life upheaval and a cold/flu bug my preschooler and I have been battling for more than three weeks now, I have just weathered my first extended writing drought in three years.
Action!
Actions we've taken as writers. Where are we? What are we doing?
The good news is I have been easing back into it and plan to seriously get down to business tomorrow. I too am sadly, sadly behind on my Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood Winter Writing Festival (WWF) goals. (Even sadly-er, I AM a Ruby-Slippered Sister!)
So, goal for tomorrow: Finish rereading the science book that helped inspire my first novel (Ghost Planet) in preparation for starting revisions. I get much of my inspiration from science books, and I tell you, Symbiotic Planet by biologist Lynn Margulis (who was once married to Carl Sagan) is a fascinating read. (By the way, the title similarity was just a fun coincidence!)
The Squeeze
Writers are sponges when it comes to soaking up writing tips and tricks. Here's where we squeeze out our sponges for the week.
This may be cheating a bit, but thought I'd point to a post I wrote for the Ruby blog in mid-January: New Year's Resolution for Pantsers. Having finally learned to embrace my own process (or lack thereof), I wrote this post as a sort of group therapy for pantsers. I shared some of my own tools for maintaining sanity while pantsing, as well as some quotes from a favorite pantser who presented a workshop at RWA. There was some lively discussion in the comments.
Also, an excellent post on high concept that Laurie called to my attention: Want to Get High (Concept)?. Very worthwhile.
And this, because I still laugh out loud every single time I read it (and we all need more of that):
Offended By Rank Objectification of Writers
Ping Pong
We'll comment back to our co-bloggers on things they've posted on their journals.
Terrific first journal entry, Laurie. I ALWAYS learn something from your Spacefreighters posts.
Wow. I didn't know about Symbiotic Planet. I'll definitely have to give that a read! So many great links here, Sharon. :)
ReplyDeleteSeriously great links, Sharon. I watched Lynn Margulis on the Bill Mayer show once and she is fascinating. (Note to self: add Symbiotic Planet to must read list.) Glad to hear you're back in the saddle. Hope the revisions for Ghost Planet write themselves. I'm very much looking forward to owning a copy asap.
ReplyDeleteThanks, guys! :) Lynn is a brilliant woman, isn't she? She graduated college when she was 17 or something like that. I so admire her work on the symbiogenesis theory.
ReplyDeleteAs with physics books, this one sometimes gets into details that are difficult for me to follow, but the concepts are fascinating. And it includes an account of her early personal life and education.
Yes, me too, Sharon. I'm never going to muster interest for a factual book but a story - yep!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Sharon! Great to see you. Loved your journal post. I love science books too. And I do Love Symbiotic Planet as well. Good luck with the writing! I know you'll be back on track soon.
ReplyDelete@Barbara
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by! Nope, idea of writing nonfiction has never held any interest for me either. So much more fun to make things up! :)
@Kaye
Another Margulis fan! Thanks so much for the encouragement, Kaye.