So I’ve committed to the unimaginable – at least unimaginable for anyone who knows me.  A cheque has been mailed off to pay for a writing workshop.  But that isn’t the big news.

Yes, that’s right folks.  The big news is that I’m going to be partaking in an erotic writing workshop. *snort*

I’ve paid someone 75 big ones to learn how to write erotic fiction.  And I confess that just writing that down has me blushing three shades of crimson, scarlet and  tomato red.

Having decided to claim my stake at the romance writing genre, I knew that I was going to have to do something about my, shall we say, “romantic interludes” within my novels. Because to be quite frank,  its not that I can’t write the lovely-dovey stuff,  but I really suck at writing the sexy-rexy stuff. 

All too often I fail to see in the books that I read how the sex scenes move the story forward. I don’t have an issue with sex scenes if they are in the story for a good reason. But to be honest, most of the time I don’t want to read about quivering flesh, swelling bosoms and throbbing manhood’s.

And contemplating that is when I knew that this workshop would be good for me.

If I’m going to write for the romance genre, then I need to learn to write a sex scene that is believable without mentioning the strange  little oddities that make real life sex so humorous but don’t translate well to the written page (or the silver screen) and it needs to be done well enough that it’s toe curling in a delicious manner rather than a cringe worthy how many pages do I need to skip manner.

So January 30th will see me at the back of a class, dying with shame. That, or I will be discovering my “inner slut” and becoming the newest erotic fiction writer on the block.

I just have to  hope my mother doesn’t discover what I’m doing via this blog.  Yeah, because right there would be a toe curlingly embarrassing moment!

Vision boards sound like a wonderful thing; if that’s what floats your boat. But I’m not really one to stare at a piece of cardboard and sigh with longing for all the pretty pictures of things that are supposed to represent my dreams.

 Several years ago, when all my friends from my Life Make Over group started creating vision boards and I wanted in on the action.  But me being me, I wanted something that was uniquely made for my way of thinking; I developed a Dream Book. Oh sure there were the odd photos of my family in there, a map of Europe,  and other key symbols, but for the most part, it really is a book filled with written  lists of things I hope to achieve or experience and descriptions of places I want to go or  things I want to make. But I haven’t ever thought of it formally as a plan. 

But I don’t dream.
                          I usually plan.
                                                       - Joumana Haddad.

Isn’t that the most compelling, inspiring statement?

Dreams are often thought of as unobtainable wisps of fancy that we carry around in our heads to see us through the dark winter days of our lives. But if you have a plan, it becomes real, concrete, something that will be truth. It is the promise of spring after the hard cruel winter.

So  in the spirit of not dreaming, but planning;

Finish typing the manuscript to my first novel, edit and get it to the point of being ready to send out to professionals with the goal of publication.
Write a killer query letter for agents and publishers for my novel.
Plan, develop and write my second novel.
Continue to write here at Kinda Sassy about my growth, failures and more importantly successes in my journey towards publication.
Work hard with my writing group and learn everything I can from four ladies whose writing blows my mind.
Find markets for my work and learn to write for magazines and newspapers.
Attend workshops to learn new skills to improve my writing.
Keep reading. Books, magazines, internet websites, whatever takes my fancy and whatever I can learn from.
Use the Draft in 30 Day’s planning method and apply it to my writing and see what develops.

That plan should keep me going for a year.

I’m really very proud of the fact after years of procrastination and doubt, I got my first rough draft done before my official deadline of December 31st. But that still means that I was working on the draft for a full nine months (talk about it being my baby!) And people like Nora Roberts seem to churn out new books every six months or so, which got me wondering: how?

How does Nora get her ideas, transfer them to paper, write, revise, adjust, and get through the official editing process so quickly?  I’ve read that she is a much disciplined writer, spending eight hours a day in her office writing, which would be helpful.  And I would love to be able to write at such a speed and for such extended periods of time in the day. Of course, I don’t think Nora Roberts wrote so prolifically when she had young children (although I truly have no idea as I haven’t followed her career all that long) and until Bronwen is in school full time and has the ability to understand what “Pleeeeeeease… leave me alone” really means when Mummah is sitting at her writing desk, I’m not going to be getting eight hour writing days anytime soon.

But I do have a book on my bookshelf that suggests it’s possible to pull a first draft together in 30 days. I’m only glancing through the introduction where is fully exposes that really, the first draft is actually a very detailed outline that is about a quarter of the whole books length, but that according to the author, having completed such a detailed outline means that writing the missing bits will be easy.

I like the idea of having such a complete outline in a month. I’ve used an outline for my first novel (that is still –  *STILL* nameless!) and found it really helpful to make sure  correct seasons were described at the right time of the year and that the flow of the story happened over the same passage of time. There is nothing worse than an author who writes about a winter Christmas in Australia for one character and how delightful dying Easter eggs is in what would be August for another! Details people – details. I like the idea of being so clear about what will happen in the story that you can see the strengths and weakness’ at a glance, making revision somewhat easier.

So I’m going to read the book this week and see if I can start learning the art of  the whole ‘outline/draft in a month’ skill set. Because the idea of whipping out books at such a speed sounds like a wonderful thing to impress an agent or publisher with – don’t you think?

First Draft in 30 days; a novel writers system for building a complete and cohesive manuscript.

Karen S. Wiesner, Writers Digest Books, 2005

ISBN: 13: 978-1-58297-296-1

ISBN: 10: 1-58297-296-6

PS.

 There are 137 (!!) copies of Twilight in the Ottawa library. I’m number 30 on the waiting list but the notice says it’s in transit which means I will get it in about two weeks (this Friday is New Years Day, so no library time). Reviews from other readers on the library website either love it or hate it. Wonder what camp I will fall into?

Everyone and their dog want to be a writer. Being a writer, it would seem to the vast majority of people, is easy enough. Bang out a few thousand words and get paid squillions of dollars and get the story made into a Hollywood movie.  I’m equally sure you’ve heard the saying that in each person there is one good story to tell. So many people say I’m going to write a book but there is a one caveat; they are going to write a book – one day.

That was me for a long time.

I was one of those people. I would read a story and think, “I could do that,” or, “good grief, if that got published, why shouldn’t one of my stories?”

 Because I was the kid whose mother would buy 15 – 20 books for a huge Christmas present parcel and by the end of the six week summer holiday  they would all be read – and some twice over already.  I was the kid who thought going to the public library was the most exciting thing ever; the one who had the torch and read under the covers when I was supposed to be sleeping at night.

But for some reason, the older I got the less I trusted that spark of desire within me that called to me to write. I pushed it away, deeming it childish and completely impossible for the likes of me. Who on earth was I to think that I could actually write something that would be good enough to be published?

Of course, the pull towards writing down the adventures that happened in my head remained constant, and I would spend a quiet hour or two, putting pen to paper over the years. But it wasn’t until this year, several months before my last 30-something  birthday, that I came to the conclusion that if I didn’t do something about this nagging dream to write, that I should shut up telling people I was going to write a book one day and move on with my life.

Cut to February 2009.

I gave myself the challenge of writing the first shitty draft (as Anne Lamott would urge) by the end of the year. I actually finished writing the draft by hand in a couple of notebooks by October and have been typing it into the computer since then.

But seriously. Who am I to dare to think I could be a writer?

Oh yes, I’ve heard the argument “I write therefore I am a writer”; but its being a published author where the distinction is really made. Long before Meryl Streep and Amy Adams had even considered acting in a movie called “Julie and Julia”, Julie Powell understood that being a writer meant being published. It wasn’t enough to have a half written manuscript, an apparently popular blog and a desperate desire to be a writer. You need to be recognised by other people, (people who are regarded as professionals in the publishing field,) for them to agree that the words you have so carefully strung together like a pearl necklace are worthy enough to be printed in some format for other people to read before you can call yourself a writer.

So here it is. My journey towards the end goal of being a published writer. If nothing else keeping a record will keep me accountable to continue learning about my chosen craft. I need to keep pushing my personal boundaries in my efforts to be published; death or publication. I prefer publication.