Mare 2, Kind Of

Well, it's been one of those days, what with Susan answering my double-dog-dare, and the new tile going in my bathroom (and it's GORGEOUS, too) and about twenty million e-mails coming in, including one with the first review of Don't Look Down: "This is the first collaboration between best-selling and award-winning romance writer Crusie and adventure-thriller writer Mayer, and it is a rare and original delight. Mayer's delectably dry sense of humor perfectly complements Crusie's signature brand of sharp wit, and together the two have cooked up a sexy, sassy, and smart combination of romance and suspense that is simply irresistible."

God, I'm so happy, I'm doing the Snoopy Dance all over the house.

But I didn't get to Mare this morning. Or this afternoon. When it got to be 8PM and I was still handling business stuff and e-mails, I realized I wasn't going to get to Mare or Baby (the scene from Agnes) today. I also realized I have to get a grip on my life. I truly typed from 9:30 this morning until 8 this evening without writing one word of fiction. I did four blog entries, though. And I proofread the newsletter and did a bunch of editor and agent e-mails and an agent phone call (except we talk about everything so that's not exactly all business) and a partner phone call (except she's my kid, too, so it's not exactly all business), and then e-mails with Krissie and Eileen about the anthology and the trip next week and promotion, and then there were the lists I have to keep up with, and the call from the vet because Lucy has a double heart murmur even though everything else about her is fine and I swear to God she knows it because before she went to the vet she used to jump up on the bed just fine and now she sits on the floor and looks up at me with those big eyes and does everything but clutch her heart until I pick her up . . .

Clearly there's a lack of focus here. As if you didn't already know that from my desk.

But I did think a lot about fiction today, including writing long e-mails to Bob about what Agnes would be doing baking six kinds of cupcakes while Shane grilled her until Bob wrote back, "TMI," plus yesterday, I was out because of the vet et al and stopped by Home Goods and looked at their Christmas markdowns and there was this angel that marked down from $38 to $5 ("as is"), and I am not an angel kind of person but the face on this one was so amazing, plus she was holding her halo in her hands as if she'd just decided to take it off, plus there was something about an "as is angel" that really appealed to me, plus she was five bucks, for cripes sake, so I bought her and she's sitting on my desk and I keep looking at her fascinated. I know she's going to fuel a book. Maybe Charlotte. Maybe the one I'm going to do a couple of years from now, my verson of The Turn of the Screw. I don't know. But since I have nothing to show for my day, I thought I'd show you the As Is Angel instead

Trudy 12: What Have We Learned From This, Dorothy?

And here it is, the Twelfth Day of Trudy. This has been a valuable experiment and I have learned many things.

1. I should plan to write about a thousand words a day. That I can do without any trouble. (I did 1500 tonight, which gives me about 13,500 words.)

2. Forget me writng to an outline. I really do need to just write what's in my head and figure out where it goes later. All you linear people, go yell at somebody else. I tried it. I hated it. :p

3. But I do like writing what I hear in my head and then going back to the white board to see where it goes and what it does for the story. So I think working out turning points and listing scenes on the board in a kind of organic outline as I go is a good compromise.

4. The collage is crucial, and putting it together during the first push of the first draft is essential. (I actually found the pink kid's nail file yesterday at Kroger's. I couldn't believe it, they actually do put nail files in kid's toy manicure sets. So much for "no sharp objects in children's toys." Which is great because there's a pink nail file from a kid's manicure set in the story. Well, you have to be there to enjoy this as much as I do. Never mind.)

5. When things go really wrong outside the book, don't even try to write, just deal. Tomorrow is another thousand words.

So I'm pretty pleased even if I didn't get to 20,000. I'll do Trudy updates as I get it finished, but this forced march gave me what I needed and I'm happy. And it's looking as if there might be another novella on the horizon, so I may try this again with that one--her name's Mariposa--if it pans out. Having to report here kept me honest, and that's a good thing.

Although I realise this was probably not exactly riveting. Argh. Well, it's good to set the bar low. Let's lower those expectations, shall we? Thank you.