This isn't anything new. It's something I tend to forget when I'm working on the first draft of a project until I'm gently reminded of it as I work through the mess of words I'd thought were brilliant and original as I typed them.

Can you tell I'm in editing mode? Thought so.

What I find most challenging, though, is the number of ways a writer can revise. And no, I'm not talking about revising while listening to music, or drinking hefty amounts of alcohol, or while wearing tin foil wrapped around your head with the hope that aliens will send inspiration your way.

Here are the different revision hats I end up wearing, sometimes simultaneously, which can lead to snickers from curious onlookers:

Revising for clarity
This is finding those sentences or plot holes that make you go "Huh?" Those lapses in logic where your heroine appears in a Parisian cafe in one scene and then on a beach in the next sentence. Or, something I'm really good at doing, having a character react to something that hasn't happened yet.

Revising out the repetition
Yes, I'll admit it. I don't trust myself or my readers during my first drafts. If something really important happens, I'll mention it a few times. In fact, when I mention something a few times, I know readers will understand its importance. Of course, repeating important information can also bog things down and make a reader feel like you don't trust them enough to "get it" the first time around.

Revising for tightening
I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon with a published mentor (Kate Freiman) who, sentence by sentence, showed me how to tighten my writing so that every word counted. I ended up trimming nearly 1,000 words from the first 20 pages! Although some of those edits hurt a little (and I might have arm-wrestled her over some of them, but she won each time), what words remained were stronger and told a better story.

Revising for believability
I know that fiction is made up, but readers know when a character does something completely out of character. And if you don't have a good reason for them to do that, or even have your character admit that it's something they wouldn't normally do, you lose your reader. The spell is broken. They no longer believe.

Revising for voice
I'm not talking about your writing voice here; this type of revision refers to the voice of your characters in dialogue. Do they sound different? If you took away the dialogue tags, could you tell who said what? In one manuscript I had three, THREE, characters all use the same catch phrases. If they were triplets, I'd understand, but they weren't. And one was an old man. ;)

Revising for emotion
This is probably the most challenging of them all for me because its so easy to feel like you're going over the top. But, as someone wise (who I can't remember) said: "It's better to have too much than nothing at all." And he/she was talking about putting emotions on the page rather than cupcakes at a buffet table. At least I think so.

Revising for typos and grammar stuff
This is relatively easy for me to do, which makes it hard for me to revise in other ways. When you focus solely on the grammar, you can lose a sense of the information being conveyed and the voices of the characters. That's why I try to leave this revision step until the very end.

That about covers it, I think. Are there other types of revising that you do? Please share!

Labels: ideas, skills, writing

This totally describes my week so far.

Too. Many. Zombies.

By phone. By email. In person. They are everywhere, trying to keep me from working through my manuscript revisions.

But I'm not gonna let them stop me, oh no siree. I have the tools I need on hand (Diet Coke, a red pen and salted licorice) to ensure I get on with this heinous task and complete it by month's end.

Of course, if I stopped answering the phone, checking email and maybe, just maybe, ignored the doorbell...

No, I can't ignore the doorbell. It could be someone delivering a fabulous contest win!

Laugh all you want, but I've already had two fabulous prizes arrive by courier this week, one of which was a prize pack including an orange tie-dyed t-shirt, size small.

Yeah me, but what were they thinking? I couldn't even get the thing over my head. Hey, it might make a nice party hat with a few alterations.

I just can't let the zombies get the better of me this week, and everything will be fine. Right?

Ugh. How do you keep your zombies at bay?

Labels: blahs, fun, skills

Not only was this weekend stinking hot, it was also filled with a ton of lessons to be learned along the way.

First and foremost, my muse insisted on a break. She even packed a tiny bag, stole Eileen Cook's Unpredictable off of my to-be-read shelf and ran away. I really hope she comes back, mainly because I want to read that book. Le sigh.

Oh, to be a muse...

Then, since I had nothing better to do (lawn mowing just couldn't be done in this heat), I cleared out my inbox. It's amazing how a few months can really make an email seem less important...or more important when you discover that you've missed an important piece of information, like a deadline!

And today, I took a belly dancing class. What fun! What a workout! The instructor made it look so easy, but now I have these "oh they're gonna hurt tomorrow" feelings in some muscle groups. Like, everywhere.

I liked it so much, I may just sign up for a weekly class. Yeah, I know, talk about crazy. But I really liked the scarves with the jingly bits that we got to wear. And the instructor wore these really nice flared pants with slits at the bottom that showed off her calves. And I feel that my calves are worthy of such pants. My abdomen, however, needs a bit more work. Hence the classes.

Which brings me to the title of this post. Out there are many people who can do things that I can't, and I think that's pretty cool. Why? Because I can choose to learn from them, like with belly dancers and published authors, or let them continue without me, like our garbage collectors and brain surgeons.

Seriously, with the Internet and distance learning and the number of how-to shows out there, you can learn to do just about anything without leaving your home. You can even learn to leave your home, or try to if you have a fear of your driveway or next-door neighbor.

Speaking of neighbors, I'm three sleeps away from heading to Saint John, New Brunswick (where all my snail mail contest entries go, I hope i can visit the postal sorting station) to lead a workshop with a cool group of people. It's gonna be brilliant! Of course, I still have to fit five gazillion items into two suitcases -- luckily the DH has offered to assist in this and other preparatory measures.

You'd think he was trying to get rid of me or something.

Speaking of time away, this small excursion also means that I will be away from the Internet from Wednesday to Friday. Eek! I know, this is going to be hard for me, but I'll survive. So my Stuck recap for this week's episode won't be up until Saturday. Just in case you're regularly stopping by to get the dirt or lack thereof. ;)

Labels: fun, goals, ideas, skills

It's funny. Back at the turn of the year, I vowed that I wouldn't freak out when I saw that my schedule for the following month was rather empty. This year, I decided my energy was best spent at the gym. And watching reality TV when I'm not at the gym. ;)

Fast-forward almost three months, and something really odd has happened. When empty spots appear on the calendar, I shrug my shoulders and continue with whatever I'm working on. No more panic attacks or frantic emails in search of the next gig or magazine article.

I simply acknowledge the open-schedule spaces and think maybe I can finally find that shampoo sample I got in the mail a few week's back...or finally get those Christmas cards out. ;) Then I get an email or a phone call and there's a cool project that needs to be done, at roughly the same time as the empty calendar spot.

And I've only watched the first 20 minutes of The Secret. Three times. ;)

But isn't that freaky? I'm also slowly mastering the art of saying no to the projects that just make me go ugh. It's amazing how much more productive, profitable and just darn happy I am working on stuff that I either truly enjoy or can pretend to enjoy for brief periods of time. ;)

And yes, I still seem to have too many plates spinning in the air, but that doesn't seem to be my problem anymore. The dilemma is the lack of placemats! There are piles of stuff all over my virtual and physical office -- and if I don't take a day or two to organize all this stuff, I may get trapped under it!

Of course, if that's my only problem I should be thanking my lucky stars. Which I do. Sometimes.

There are a lot of things going on that I can't say anything about yet. Oh, don't you hate it when people do that? Well, too bad. Good things come to those who wait. ;)

Labels: ideas, skills

Hello, my name is Bonnie and I've been a pack rat my entire life.

This post shouldn't surprise you, as I spend a lot of time moaning about how much stuff I have on my plate. Only this time, it's actual stuff I'm whining about.

Where does all of this crap come from? And how do I let it accumulate to a point where there's so much of it, it's easier to just stop using a room than deal with any of it? Le sigh.

Well, I started doing something a little freaky yesterday. I threw some stuff out. Just a few things here and there, mind you. Tossed some expired take-out coupons from the kitchen shelf into the recycling bin. Put some shoes into the cupboard. Started a donation bag for the stuff too good to toss out.

Sure, they're baby steps, but Rome wasn't built in a day. And I'm sure it didn't get all piled up with crap in a day either. No, that was Pompeii.

I can't blame the state of my home on a natural disaster. It's all about my inability to let things go. And, even though the decluttering guru Peter Walsh has another book out on how to deal with clutter, I'm not going to buy it. Why? Because I can't find where I put his last one -- and I even had him sign it for me. ;)

One rule for dealing with the clutter mayhem that seems to be working for me so far is keeping it small. One shelf or one drawer, not both. One bag of stuff, not the whole room full of them.

The thing is, I know this clutter prevents me from writing. It's my built-in procrastination station. When I don't feel like doing an interview, I go through the stack of magazines. Or if I don't want to proof an article just yet, I can organize my gift bag collection.

Acknowledging the problem is half the battle, right?

Good, now I have to clear off all the crap on the coffee table. Or maybe just half of it. ;)

Labels: blahs, goals, skills

Just when I thought it was safe to hide in a cave, Wylie tempted me out into the open by honouring me with this writing award. Hooray! My inner cheerleader and I are very happy for this reason to try out some new cheers. Life just doesn't get any cooler than this -- thank you, Wylie!


As part of the award, recipients are asked to cite three elements of powerful writing. Here are three things that make will make me keep a book forever so I can read it over and over again:

Great character flaws
I'm not going to invest a whole lotta time reading about perfect people or people who do the right things for the right reason all the rat-stinkin' time. Snore! Give me a heroine and hero with some issues to deal with so that I can feel their pain and cheer them on when they work their way through them.

Believable dialogue
I'm a sucker for a good line (just ask my husband), so I expect an author to have an ear for dialogue. Not only do I expect to see the story, I want to hear it too. Yeah, I guess I'm demanding that way, sue me.

Words that reward the reader
I call this the X-factor for a book. A novel can have a great hook, be written exceptionally well, have three-dimensional characters and/or a bit of all three of these things, but if I don't feel rewarded when I've chosen to spend some time reading it, I get cranky. While I love to read, my reading speed has slowed down considerably since my 20s (just last month - LOL) when I could devour two novels a week. It could be that now I'm actually paying attention and not just skimming to the dirty parts. ;)

And now, since it was kind of hazy what the next step is (I'm a gal who loves rules), I'm following Wylie's lead and passing this award on to four more brilliant writers.

There are so many fabulous ones out there, but I've selected the women who've helped me most, whether by still speaking to me after seeing one of my first drafts, inspiring me with their own work, making the time to write or a combination of all three:

Michelle Rowen: Her novels make me laugh out loud and green with envy. Who knew vampires could be so much fun? She's the reason I got my butt in this chair and decided to get my ideas (though none involve fangs) on paper. So if things go horribly wrong, I can blame her. ;)

Laurie Rauch: She's the editor extraordinaire who can take a pile of dogsnot and somehow find a sentence or two that works. Or at least rework it so it does. ;) Without Laurie's guidance one of my heroines would still be at an all-you-can-eat buffet!

Apprentice Writer: Although the "apprentice" in her blog's name drives me crazy, Maya has a gift for quirky characters that is truly delightful. And the fact that she reviews novels based on whether the are funny or not gets two thumbs-up from me. ;)

Amy Ruttan: My introduction to this crazy gal was through a freaking awesome one-page synopsis at a critique session. Although the placement of a comma had a child's paternity in question, I now have a karaoke partner for San Francisco...and probably every other conference we attend!

Please go visit these incredible women and, if you're lucky, you just might have a great laugh or learn something about something. Okay, next I should find my vocabulary.

Labels: skills, writing

Just when I thought it was safe to do some bellyaching yesterday about all the stuff I had to do, even more requests arrived! And no, I'm not referring to the gnome-home building, the house painting or the Bermuda-book blurbage comments on that post (thanks guys). These were entirely new "off the radar" requests for my time, including one that made me miss watching the Biggest Loser last night:

I helped a friend study for an English test that's part of his high school equivalency program. Oh. Mah. Gawd. Did you know that all of the verb tenses we use have names? Like past perfect and present progressive? Why don't I remember any of this? This must have been a class I missed because of really bad cramps or a zit the size of Texas.

And yes, admitting that I can't name verb tenses on a blog where I claim to be a professional writer probably isn't wise. Especially with query letters flying their way around the Internet. ;) But I completely forgot how cruel the English language is. And how many verbs out there defy logic. Like swim. How the heck did it turn into swam or, for heaven's sake, swum?

That's a rhetorical question; you can put your hand down now. ;)

Looking over my friend's textbook made me shudder with all of the terms that I've long-since forgotten. Sure, I know my dangling modifiers (snicker) and all the other things that Schoolhouse Rock taught me, but there are a lot of things that I do automatically without knowing specifically why.

And that makes me kind of nervous...because I could be under some kind of grammar-mind-control spell or something. Hey, you never know. ;)

If you haven't experienced Schoolhouse Rock, please do yourself a favour and head over to YouTube. While Conjunction Junction is a top pick for most, I'm a sucker for adverbs. I think this is why I ended up getting into advertising:

Labels: fun, skills, writing

It seems I'm having one of those days. One where my skills at multitasking are failing me at every turn. The microwave popcorn? Burnt. The Christmas cards? Still not sent. The laundry? Don't ask.

And to top it all off, I mailed out a partial manuscript to an agent and realized too late that I had forgotten to write "Requested Materials" on the envelope, which the agent gave clear instructions to do so that it wouldn't get lost in the slush pile. Le sigh.

And even though I spent most of the day offline, I could have sworn that I had done a blog post. About what, I wasn't sure, but I remembered typing something. ;)

So it was kind of shocking to see that I didn't have a post up here for today. Not that the world was in danger due to the lack of it or anything, but it just made me wonder if there was anything else I was supposed to due today that hadn't gotten done.

Gulp.

Well, let's face it, there's always something on the to-do list of life that doesn't get done. For some, it can be as simple as taking a moment to relax. Or paying the phone bill. For others, it could be sending out that query letter or getting up early to squeeze in some writing time. As the owner of many incomplete to-do lists, I know how easy it is to let some things slip.

But things get biz-ay. Priorities change and emergencies (like realizing you have nothing to wear for an upcoming social gathering) happen, but they do for everyone.

It's funny, but when I was working as a project manager (which is so not fun on too many levels) and things entered crisis-mode and decisions had to be made, I'd ask myself: "How important will this be five years from now?"

At first, most things were all-important and had to be taken care of no matter what the cost or man-hours involved. But after a few years of spinning around, jumping through hoops of fire and attempting to control the universe, I realized that most of it didn't really matter.

I mean, sure, at the time it mattered, but was it important enough for me to lose sleep over? To give up my time with the DH? To get others to burn the midnight oil with me?

Today, I say no. And that's probably because I've learned that I can't operate that way anymore. Of course there will be times when I run late on something and stay up until the wee hours to get it done, but now it's on my terms.

And that's something I can live with.

So sure, I may forget some things because I don't have a personal assistant or a project-management flowchart set up to orchestrate my every move, but I have the freedom to learn from my mistakes without being afraid of losing my job.

It's one of the joys of being self-employed. And some days I even like my boss. ;)

So if you'll excuse me, there's a submission package I have to prepare again...

Labels: goals, skills

I have to say that I found last night's episode of America's Next Top Model to be a particularly educational one. And not just because the yummy Nigel Barker was the photographer this week. (Oh, did I just write that? That was my inner pen...)

It was their go-see day, when each model had to "go see" a number of designers in order to get booked for modelling jobs. They were given the list of designers, their locations and a time that they had to return to their starting-off point.

Oh, did I mention that they were in Shanghai? LOL

Still, it was a colourful reminder of how important time management is in everything we do. Three of the five girls failed to return on time and were disqualified from winning the challenge. One of the gals spent so much time wandering around the streets like Lindsay Lohan on a Friday night gone wrong, she only made it to one appointment.

We're all given the same number of hours in a day; how we make use of them is what will make us or break us.

Several successful writers have said that the key to being so prolific is sitting down and writing every day for a least a few hours.

Huh, imagine that. I must admit that lately I've been thinking about writing for a least a few hours every day. But that's not what gets words on the page.

One trick that worked for me (until I abandoned it because I'm a freak of nature) was only checking my email three or four times a day. Can you imagine? Still, I found it enabled me to stick to my goals/project/word count and not be distracted by all those emails -- or the fact that I had no new emails. Sob!

I was once asked by a prospective client what my business hours were. It made me stop and think about when I worked on all of the projects on my plate: 24/7. That's when I realized that, without downtime, I was heading straight for a total meltdown.

I told the client my hours were 9-5, Monday to Friday. Unless they wanted to pay my overtime rate of five gazillion dollars. I'm sure they'll be getting back to me soon. ;)

So what do you do to manage time better?

Labels: skills, writing

For those of you participating in Nano, may all of your days be filled with at least 1,500 words. To those not participating, please don't hate us for being a little more uncommunicative than usual. ;)

While I'm not "officially" participating (the forums and word wars are much too tempting for this writer to lose herself in), I am still aiming to get 50,000 words added to my current WIP by November 30. And, now that I've revised it to a young adult novel, I'll end up with a completed first draft if I play my cards right.

Then again, I never did too well in cards. Well, except for Euchre. ;)

This has been an incredibly biz-ay week for me with the completion of a bunch of articles, copywriting work and other heinous business-oriented activities that I really shouldn't avoid -- like following up on billings and filing the masses of stuff piled on my desk.

We also have a photo of a conscious Zaphod. Good times!


Seriously though, this is the time to buckle in, down or whatever and really push to get some goals taken care of. Well, at least the ones that are in your control anyway. During the So You Think You Can Dance tour show last night, I couldn't help but think that none of those dancers would be on the stage unless they did two things:

1. Practice
2. Audition

And, as Michelle says about America's Next Top Model, writers can also learn a thing or two from So You Think You Can Dance. You don't make it to the top twenty without sweat. You won't catch a judge's attention without taking a risk. Sure, you'll pull some muscles (Ow! My brain!), but you'll also learn how to improve your technique so that you won't injure yourself as badly next time.

Even more important, these dancers stepped out of their comfort zone and explored new styles. That's akin to someone well versed in dialogue (the pun is intentional people) taking the steps necessary to strengthen their ability to create effective narration or description.

So now, I will wear a dance outfit while writing for inspiration. Or not.

It's too bad that Michelle doesn't think that making Thierry (her Brontean vampire hero) a secret ballroom dancer is a uber-cool idea. The dance-off at the climax of the book would have been awesome, I'm sure. ;)

Back to the barre...

Labels: fun, kitten, skills, writing

To some, October means the start of holiday shopping or Halloween. To me, October signals the last gasp to complete the goals I made for 2007. In just three short months will I be able to make this the year that sees me accomplish all that I set out to do?

Yeah, it totally makes me panic.

While September gave me that "hurray - let's learn something and buy new clothes" feeling, October just has me running scared. In 90 days I will be facing a brand new list of goals for 2008...will it have the foundation of a bunch of completed ones from 2007?

Of course it will. :::takes another swig of Diet Coke:::

The past few days took me way out (Way out! That's where the fun is...) of my comfort zone as I actively participated in a networking event. These are events where I normally scan the area for ballot boxes and snack foods, and then head for a dark corner where I can sip my drink and perhaps chat with another person who fears networking as much as I do.

Putting myself out there for all to see is easy; what's hard is putting myself out there with a purpose. This time it was to let other women entrepreneurs know about http://www.womencandoanything.com/ , the website I edit, and have them sign up for our newsletter (which you should if you haven't already, hint, hint) and join our business directory.

And asking is one of the hardest things for me to do, yet it's the most important thing you can do no matter what business you're in or your goals are.

What is it that you need right now? A referral? Advice? A bamboo steamer? Why not pick up the phone or send an email and ask two people to help you get it?

It's not that hard...and it's a skill I need to master now that I've got procrastination down pat. :)

Labels: goals, skills

That's what my Magic 8-Ball has been telling me for days. And it just makes me shake the dang thing harder...and then I can't see the new message through the bubbles. Sigh.

I was issued a challenge last week to do more networking. Ugh. Networking just sounds evil, doesn't it? Schmoozing is a bit better, but only because my version of it involves shopping for a new outfit first. ;)

But seriously, networking works. No matter what business you're in, it's all about who ya know. And as tempted as I am to distract myself with busywork or reading more fabulous books, the one sure way I can learn about new opportunities or whassup in the writing world is by doing that networking thing.

My current approach to the nettage is to be the one people come to. You know, the crazy one. The one bearing coupons. Or the one who knows someone who might know something.

Trouble is, this works really well for other people, not so good for me. Sure, I rack up some karma points and perhaps get some new coupons in return, but it's not expanding my network -- and that's where the real opportunities are.

Of course, that means stepping out of my nicely decorated comfort zone. Even after I pulled out the comfy blanket to curl up in while I watched The Biggest Loser.

Tomorrow will be a new day because I have a new mantra:

What Would Madonna Do?

It's not so new. WWMD is a phrase that carried me through high school, a bad hair-dyeing experience that left me looking like a skunk and having a copywriting instructor who felt that he wasn't challenging me enough unless I burst into tears. Well, that's the way I remember it anyway.

But Madonna wouldn't cry. Sure, she might dye her hair nasty colours and wrap herself up in black plastic, and stand in the middle of a church carrying a flaming cross, but she wouldn't let a little thing like being antsy about networking get in the way of achieving her goals and dreams.
Would she stand next to the buffet table during an event? Nope.

Would she put off following up with someone for so long that the person who invited her to follow up forgot all about meeting her? Uh-uh.

Would she avoid going after what really wanted because she was afraid to? No freaking way. She'd sing "Express Yourself" over and over again.

So instead of shaking a Magic 8-Ball wondering why I'm getting the same-old-same-old "better not tell you now" answer, I'm gonna start working the room. And, like Madonna, I'm not gonna limit myself to just one.

Labels: ideas, skills

This has been an interesting week for me. Kitty care aside, it seems that every time I check my email, there's more stuff I need to do. Thankfully most of it is for money, but some of the other stuff I really can't pass off onto others or suddenly feign a coma to get out of doing it.

When I whined to a girlfriend about it, she told me to stop checking my email ALL THE FREAKING TIME. LIKE EVERY FIVE MINUTES. And that reminded me of the last time she gave me that sage advice when I started working from home -- and it actually helped.

It's the power of three. Now I'm not talking about only checking your email every three days or so (can you imagine?), I'm referring to the three times during business hours method: first thing in the morning, after lunch and before it's too late to respond by 5:00 p.m. It's a method that helped me stay offline and remain focused on the project(s) at hand.

So why the heck did I stop doing that?

Beats me.

So I tried it for the first time in ages today...and you know something? It kind of worked. While there were still some emails in there that I didn't want to see (requests for revisions, ACK!), I felt better prepared to receive them. Huh, who knew?

So if you're sitting there hitting the "Send/Receive" in Outlook, "Check Mail" in Hotmail or "Write Me Dammit" in addictedtomyemail.com (kidding!), maybe you should think about laying off the mouse button a little bit. Or not. ;)

In the meantime, I have some emails to look over...

Labels: skills, writing