Liz Lee's Blog

Seriously. I had the best intentions. I wrote my goals out, I packed the iPad with the keyboard for the trip to visit DD and DGD, I set multiple alarms. This is tougher than going to the Y to catch a Zumba class before the end of the day. I loooooove my characters, I loooooooove my story, I went on a research trip. And yet, I've fallen off the word count highway.Simple truth: all the planing in the world won't take the place of BICHOK.

Insomnia stinks. I think maybe last night's was caused by War and Peace. If I read the book, maybe sleep would have been easy, but the beautiful BBC show introduced so many different characters, villains, possible storylines, that my mind started down the bunny trail. I don't know a lot about the time period other than the harsh Russian winter kicked Napolean's ass. Once I started Googling one thing led to another to another to another. Now I want to know everything. Not good for sleep. And that's not good for the day job. 

Beyond the tree is the border fence, constructed a mile from the river, cutting farms, roads, even a college, in half. The gates were open when we were there. I love this part of Texas. I didn't expect that. Didn't know the people would be so incredibly welcoming.We're back home now, but the Valley is calling our names. 

Don't forget your real world people. Don't forget your real world people. Don't forget your real world people.

That's a reminder to me. When I'm Fast Drafting it's easy to forget my people. Back in the olden days DH dealt with my complete immersion in work, whatever the work was, but that wasn't good for our relationship. I have an obsessive personality when it comes to work. I want to work and work and work until the work is done. That hurts me as much as it hurts my relationships. Relationship matters. Always. Happy reading, happy writing!

I heard someone say The Walking Dead isn't a story about a zombie apocalypse, it's a story about people in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. I loved that explanation. I think all great dramas fit that mold, and I think it shows the importance of strong characterization in writing.
Whatever I'm writing I want to make sure my characters connect with readers.I dug out my Cindy Dees handout from forever ago in developing my characters pre-draft. Dees is a master at character building and her handout helps develop real characters that readers relate to.I'm scouring the twitterverse for quick characterization and plotting tips. I'll retweet what I find. If you have a favorite tips post, pass it on! @AuthorLizLeeHappy writing, happy reading!

Goals for the week DD, J and DGD fly to Texas 
Wake up early. In her biography Mary Kay Ash said wake up an hour early every day and you add an entire day to your week's productivity. I plan on the early, but I know my brain is not 100% in the mornings, so I'm focusing on a goal of one set of 20-minute sprints in the morning. I'm not a 20-minute word sprint fan, but it will help me get this first draft down, and that's key.
Working out an hour immediately when I get home from work. I hope this will work as a work detox. The day job has been incredibly stressful. This should help. This will be tough. I love going to the Y but it's HARD after school. Maybe going then will get me there in time to catch Zumba. I LOVE Zumba.
Bring my Bose and iPad and write during lunch at the day job. Another tough one. I usually work during lunch. That's not healthy, I know, but it gives a little extra time. Even when I'm not drafting a book I should stop this.
That's it. Three big lifestyle change goals. Three things I used to do religiously so I know they're doable.I'll tweet my goal progress @authorlizlee if anyone wants to play accountability partner.Happy writing, happy reading!

I'm starting a new draft after character building and plot point work.  It feels like it's been forever since I worked on a first draft. January is easy. It's new and exciting and everything feels so possible. I'm going to work on a real schedule while Downton Abbey's on tonight. Instead of doing the schedule and posting it, I'm going to actually collaborate with DH. At the top of every page I'm going to write Don't Freak Out in November and December.
Those months are crazy day job months. The crazy usually starts toward the end of September, ramps up in October and takes over in November and December. Instead of embracing the crazy, I fight against it and cause myself untold hours of grief.
That's so dumb. It's like playing in the ocean and getting swamped by a giant wave. If you fight the wave, the wave will win. End of story. But if you go with the wave, relax and let it do its thing, it's fun. A little salty for sure. And sunglasses and hats might be lost. But it's fun. It's one of my favorite things.
I can't fix the crazy of the day job. It's the nature of the beast and it's a beast I love. So I'm going to remind myself the beast is there, waiting for me at the end of the year.
Right now though, on January 3, a Sunday, a peaceful day, a day before the day job starts again, I'll embrace the calm, the excitement, the fun in finding new characters, developing their story in that crazy fast first draft.
My outline work excites me. I love everything that's happened so far.
Now the challenge to make it real.
<3
Happy writing, happy reading and above all, Happy New Year.

Check out my new website if you have time: lizleebooks.com
I'm going to figure out how to redirect this page to there before Valentine's Day, I hope. If you know how to do so, feel free to leave me a comment! I used Muse to build the site.

Sitting here doing my next hero character interview, asked DH a question and he answered in such a great way I immediately typed it up.His immediate response was to look at me like I was crazy and to say I can't use that.He obviously forgot he's married to a writer. Nope. Not at all.You can't use it because it's from a movie, he said.I erased it laughing. The movie: Fight Club.I've seen Fight Club but other than what happens there stays there, the soap and that crazy ending, I don't really remember much.The look on DH's face tells me he sees this as a true travesty. 

When I'm writing, my characters usually appear fully formed in my mind. I don't know where they come from, they're just there. Not this time. My new book is a character seen in a different book. I didn't actually plan her book second, but when I was plotting the series, there she was saying pick me! So she's up. But I didn't have her fully developed. I mean I knew her base story, but I didn't know her. Two character interviews in and I'm stunned at how much I knew without even realizing it. Now I'm working on her hero. I've never started a story with no earthly idea who the hero would be. By the end of character interviews for the heroine I've seen who he needs to be. Interestingly enough he exists in the scope of the big story already, but he's not at all who I thought he would be.And now I have one more piece of the puzzle to figure out. What mystery or danger will this couple face on their way to happily ever after?Yeah, I've never written like this before. When I have the base plot for this book down I'll be able to say this book was 100% character driven. Every single thing about it will have come from the initial work on the heroine. So weird. Kind of cool. We'll see how it works! Happy New Year!

Simple truth: It's easy to say write every day. It's easy to plan to write every day. It's not easy to write every day.
I just read a post on Writers Circle about this very thing, and then I read a post from someone chastising writers for not writing every day and then I remembered my November.
Simple truth: sometimes you can't. You just can't.
Another simple truth: that's okay. Because when you're not writing, you can be doing other creative endeavors to fill that writing well. You can read (and please, you really must read), you can journal, you can read the newspaper, you can draw, you can color, you can blog, you can go on a long vacation to a place you've always wanted to visit, you can scrapbook, you can workout, you can write recipes, you can jot notes to friends, you can make jewelry or design the perfect living room or paint. You can fall in love.
You can do so many things when you're not writing.
It's okay to take time off.
I have a friend who chose to wait until her teaching career is done to write.
It's okay.
Because this isn't a race.
Your writing is YOURS. No one else's.
Yes, you must write. All the planning and filling the well and creativity workshops in the world don't take the place of actually sitting down and writing. BUT it's okay to take a break. The writing will be there when you get back.