Sunday, July 1, 2012

Passion and Butt-In-Chair

I have been thinking about passion and what it means to me when it comes to my writing.  My passion is putting words down onto paper, whether it be some massive report at work or a short story to submit to a magazine.  For the lats two months (June and July 2012), I have been editing the Redwood Writer, the newsletter for Redwood Writers. Volunteering as editor for the newsletter has been a real stretch for me as a writer. I am learning how to work with an amazing team to produce a newsletter in a professional organization.  I am using my creativity in ways I never thought possible. 

I am also revising my novel and writing one short story, but I have not been using the BIC (butt in chair" technique as often as I should. I have no excuse for this, not even writer's block.  In fact, the only writer's block I believe in is the one I invent for myself by finding other things to do instead of write: surf the internet, talk on the phone, write on my blog, read, doing laundry, or any other number of things.  Pushing my writing on the back burner is almost like putting my passion on low heat. It's almost like I've made an unconscious agreement to turn that passion up when I get around to it.  

For me, finding that passion again means I need to once again create a writing schedule and stick to it.  I need to raise my own expectations and make my writing a priority and find the life in my creativity.  All it takes is an hour in the evening or on my lunch break or 1,000-2,000 words each day.  BIC is a great motivator to getting stuff done. 

8 comments:

Deborah Taylor-French said...

Thanks Susan for the reminder. When no words hit the page, no stories get finished and revisions become buried in other papers due to no BITC our number one passion fails to flower.

Yesterday, I reorganized my WIP files in hanging files for fast access. I must make and stick to a writing schedule and word/page count. My goal is to finish a final draft of my first Dog Leader Mystery.

If you want a buddy, I volunteer. We could check in once or twice a week on how each of us are progressing toward our Write Life goals.

Deborah

PS Once again Blogger seems to block my WordPress ID. And yes, I allowed it to send info. Down the rabbit hole we go, when we fall into Internet glitches.

Susan Littlefield said...

Deb,

With working on the RWC Newsletter, doing family research, getting ready for a vacation, I seem to have much trouble with the BIC methods. I would love to check in once or twice a week to see how we're doing on our writing goals.

My goal today, after work, is to continue revising my novel. I think it requires a new scene to follow the changes I have made thus far.

Hugs to you, my friend.

Jai Joshi said...

So true, Susan! Thanks, I needed that reminder too.

Jai

Susan Littlefield said...

Hi Jai,

I think we all need reminders about butt-in-chair!

Olivia Ardey said...

Perdonen el atrevimiento, pero quería consultartes una cosa por si pueden orientarme. Tengo dos novelas publicadas en España y ambas transcurren en los Estados Unidos.
Bueno, el caso es que estoy intentando a ver el modo de que mis novelas entren en el mercado americano ya que en español se lee mucho. Tengo lectores en Argentina y en otros países hispanos, pero el problema allí es de distribución. Las novelas no llegan y cuando lo hacen resultan carísimas.
Estoy intentando ver si encuentro un agente literario en Estados Unidos, pero los pocos que me han respondido dicen que no aceptan manuscritos en español.
¿Podrían orientarme o decirme dónde y cómo puede contactar con algún agente literario que acepte la representación de autores españoles? Estoy perdidísima, no tengo ni idea de a quién acudir y también me da miedo no dar con profesionales.
Gracias de antemano. Un abrazo desde Valencia, España.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU0e00nPGFw
OLIVIA ARDEY
http://oliviaardey.blogspot.com/

Susan Littlefield said...

Hi Olivia,

I don't read Spanish, but was able to translate your post and understand you are looking for an American agent. The only place I can direct you to is http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums. I can also direct you to http://www.agentquery.com/search.aspx, where you can search for agents.

I loved your book trailer, by the way! Very intriguing and well done!

I am now going to attempt to translate this to spanish, and hope I've done it well:

Hola Olivia,

Yo no leo el español, pero era capaz de traducir su poste y entender que usted busca a un agente americano. El único lugar al que puedo dirigirle es http: // www.absolutewrite.com/forums. También puedo dirigirle a http: // www.agentquery.com/search.aspx, donde usted puede buscar a agentes.
¡Amé su remolque de libro, a propósito! ¡Muy intrigando y bien hecho!

randi lee said...

I love the advice you give on Absolute Write (which is what led me here) and I'm happy to see it transfers over to your blog, as well. Thanks for the reminder--BIC is so important for someone like me...I tend to float off into this hobby or that. Sitting down and demanding a word count or a certain number of writing minutes does wonders for an ADD case like me :)

Susan Littlefield said...

Randi,

I'm always happy to see AW people here. Isn't that a great place?

BIC can be difficult at times, and I go through phases where I have a hard time sitting down and writing. Sometimes I need to push myself.

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