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Thursday, November 8, 2007
Signing the Pirate Code (or Why It's Easier Not to Go It Alone)
As the newest hand on deck, I wanted to give a hearty ahoy to my fellow wenches and the few lads who may also be lurking about.
I’ve been writing oh, forever. Like many other aspiring authors, my first stories were written in elementary school and I think I have wanted to write a romance novel since then. Yet, I didn’t start getting serious about it until Fanlit last year. And, while I only did Fanlit for a couple of weeks due to the imminent delivery of my little pirate, I walked away from the whole experience thinking, “You know, I’m not the only aspiring author out there wracked with anxiety about my writing.”
This epiphany led me to blog after blog, website after website. I ended up meeting the most extraordinary women (and the occasional fellow). These cronies are people who share my goals and dreams as well as my angst and struggles.
Somehow, writing feels easier knowing that they are doing it all with me.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. It isn’t REALLY easier. I still sit in front of my laptop feeling like I’m going cross-eyed, like there are no words left in my brain, and believing to the depths of my soul that I’m churning out complete garbage. But, then I come online and my fellow writing wenches tell me that I, in fact, will be able to see again tomorrow, that there really are words left inside me, and that only some of the stuff I’m writing is utter garbage and the rest only smells a little.
And it’s better. I believe them and I keep going.
Like the pirates of old, we wenches here aboard the RWR have agreed to a sort of Pirate Code for ourselves. However, unlike the Articles of Agreement of those days stipulating how booty be divided and how discipline and compensation for injury should be ferreted out, our code is to share our experiences of writing, ferret out encouragement liberally, and to scratch, kick, or crawl our way to publishing success. Of course, this is a strictly unwritten, without the threat of bodily harm, kind of code. Except when Cap’n’s in her cups then she gets a bit feisty with the local boys, but we won’t talk about that right now.
I think it feels better having safety in numbers as we conquer the rough seas of unpublished uncertainty together.
What makes you keep going, even when you feel like you’ve hit your limit, whether in writing or anything else? Who are your biggest supporters? What are the best things you’ve found about the writing community online? And finally, if you’re lurking out there, let your voice be heard! There’s plenty of room aboard the ship for others who accept the code.
I’ve been writing oh, forever. Like many other aspiring authors, my first stories were written in elementary school and I think I have wanted to write a romance novel since then. Yet, I didn’t start getting serious about it until Fanlit last year. And, while I only did Fanlit for a couple of weeks due to the imminent delivery of my little pirate, I walked away from the whole experience thinking, “You know, I’m not the only aspiring author out there wracked with anxiety about my writing.”
This epiphany led me to blog after blog, website after website. I ended up meeting the most extraordinary women (and the occasional fellow). These cronies are people who share my goals and dreams as well as my angst and struggles.
Somehow, writing feels easier knowing that they are doing it all with me.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. It isn’t REALLY easier. I still sit in front of my laptop feeling like I’m going cross-eyed, like there are no words left in my brain, and believing to the depths of my soul that I’m churning out complete garbage. But, then I come online and my fellow writing wenches tell me that I, in fact, will be able to see again tomorrow, that there really are words left inside me, and that only some of the stuff I’m writing is utter garbage and the rest only smells a little.
And it’s better. I believe them and I keep going.
Like the pirates of old, we wenches here aboard the RWR have agreed to a sort of Pirate Code for ourselves. However, unlike the Articles of Agreement of those days stipulating how booty be divided and how discipline and compensation for injury should be ferreted out, our code is to share our experiences of writing, ferret out encouragement liberally, and to scratch, kick, or crawl our way to publishing success. Of course, this is a strictly unwritten, without the threat of bodily harm, kind of code. Except when Cap’n’s in her cups then she gets a bit feisty with the local boys, but we won’t talk about that right now.
I think it feels better having safety in numbers as we conquer the rough seas of unpublished uncertainty together.
What makes you keep going, even when you feel like you’ve hit your limit, whether in writing or anything else? Who are your biggest supporters? What are the best things you’ve found about the writing community online? And finally, if you’re lurking out there, let your voice be heard! There’s plenty of room aboard the ship for others who accept the code.
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35 comments:
What keeps me going? I'm competitive by nature...and that means competitive against myself...just ask Ter and Hellion how not so well I handle a wee game of what is supposed to be fun of capturing all the pegs on the board...they were having a good old time laughing at me.
My biggest supporters are my writing buddies online and actually my husband who makes more dinner and does the homework with the kids... as much as we fight...he still supports me :D
And Marnee... I knew you were from Fanlit...I just couldn't remember one hundred percent... I even asked Ter if you were. Did we exchange invites?
Awesome first time out Marnee!
Thank you for a thought provoking blog.
I must say I have a drive inside of me that continually feeds me the desire to write. If I hit a brick wall and don't write for a few days I start to get irritated, and I know it's time to write...anything regardless if it's total crap or not.
I think blogging and talking with other writers has helped me tremendously. Not only with frustrations, but it fuels my muse. If I hit a wall I use writing friends as sounding boards to work through scenes that are making me pull my hair out.
We have a code! Whoohoo!!
Fantastic Blog Gunner Marnee Jo. What a way to start. What keeps me going (beside a deep fear of the Cap'n kicking my ass) is the hatred of proving people right. Stay with me...
For all those people who say, "Her write a book? Yeah, right. That'll never happen", I HAVE to prove them wrong. It's the way I got to Nashville. It's the way I got here (Virginia). Saying I'm going to do something and hearing people doubt me.
Fanlit was the kick off for so many of us. Though I still find it funny Tiff expected me to remember something from a year ago. *scratched head*
However it all works, I'm glad we've found each other and taken up charting this course together. My online friends have become my family and a fantastic family it is!
*LOL* First, I think it's hysterical everyone is scared of me (except Tiff, of course, who would simply feed me a few potato dumpling thingies, and I'd be silenced); secondly, we're never to talk about what I do to the boys once we hit port. No use scaring anyone before it's time.
See, Tiff even mentioned a husband as a handy writing device. I really need to get one of those.
Terr & I obviously operate under the same pigheadness. I've almost always operated under the "Challenge Throwdown"--much to my detriment. I swear if the right man ever figured this out, he would be set. "Oh, you'd never..." blah, blah, blah. Don't never me. You don't know what I'm capable of. I think my father said I'd never go to college--or was it mom?--and I was like "the hell you say"... Sure pigheadness.
Welcome to the ship, Marnee! Great blog...and it's more like guidelines than actual "code"--but who's fussing?
Pigheadedness! That's what it's called. Not a pretty name but I'll take it.
And I'm not afraid of you. I can take you. On a good day when you've just eaten an entire pot of those potato things and after I've loaded you up on rum...
I ain't skeard. LOL!
Codes, rules, guidelines, a manifesto...it's all the same in the end.
Wow! Way to blow the blog outta the water, Marnee! Great first blog!
I'm much like Tiff in the way that I'm very competitive in nature. It's a little bit that it pisses the DH off so much that I write that I keep doing it as well. I get no support at home about my writing, so if I'm feeling down in the dumps about anything writing related, I get online and edit for someone else or e-mail someone about nothing writing related or read a book or take a shower. I've learned that forcing myself to do something only makes it worse for me, so I just let it come naturely. Hellion will tell you this is a fine form of procrastination. LOL
Thanks, wenches!
Tiff - I didn't get into the fanlit forum as much as I would have liked. I was still working then and my last trimester was miserable. I only did a couple of invites in the 5th round. :)
It is cool that your hubby helps out. I completely agree. If my husband wasn't as helpful and supportive, I couldn't do this either. In fact, I think it'd be impossible.
It sounds like I shouldn't challenge you to a friendly game of Trivia Pursuit? LOL!
Lisa - Isn't that self-critic a pain in the backside? LOL! You're right, I am finding it harder and harder to plead writer's block when there are people around to throw a billion ideas at your head.
Terri - of course we have a code!! I understand that feeling. (*Warning, a little sap to follow*) After my father died, I was at my in laws house and my father in law was talking about what a good man he'd thought my dad was. Then, he said, your father adored you, said that you would write those smut books some day, and even though my dad preferred biographies, he thought he might even read them. So, part of me feels that if I give up that I'm letting him down. He always believed in me. (*Sap, ended*)
And I'm glad we all found each other too!
Awww, writing the smut to make your dad proud. Oddly enough, though my dad would never read my stuff (he doesn't read), he'd also be proud of me for writing smut. LOL!
Now, what game is Tiff talking about? I can't remember!
Hellion - husbands are handy. But, only the good ones, it seems. Pigheadedness? I was just going to call it stubbornness. Pigheaded has negative connotations. We just are stubborn. And seriously, it doesn't seem you get anywhere in this business if you aren't bit pigheaded, er, I mean stubborn.
Sin - I wish I could leave my muse to it and would know she would come back to me. But, instead, I know she'd take a really long nap. SO, I sorta have to prod her a bit. LOL!
He would be proud. My dad always said I should write this or that, but it was funny that he told someone else, without my knowledge, that he was proud of my smut none the less.
Stubborn old Irish pain in the neck.
Awww, you can sap away about Daddies. *sniffs* Not that I'd ever want mine to read one of my smutty novels, but it's so sweet and wonderful he was proud of you anyway. I always think Heaven is a place where all the books that will ever be written are there, already done--and so even if you missed out on your favorite author's series, when you get there, you get to read it anyway. I imagine your Dad is reading your books now...along with his non-fiction. My mom is probably there reading all the books I'll ever write...wondering how in the world I'm ever going to make it to Heaven. *LOL*
Terr, of course, your father would be proud of your smut. *LOL*
I have no idea what game Tiff is talking about. Was this some game at the bar I don't remember?
*LOL* That sounds like my dad. If he's proud of anything I do or write, it's news to me. I still get lectures about how I should be a teacher...it's always someone else who says, "He's proud to pieces about you." I turn around to make sure someone is not standing behind me they're actually talking to. But I think my Dad is probably a secret sap where I'm concerned.
I have to prod my muse too! I lure him out with shots of rum lined up like bread crumbs...
that was that stupid game at that crap restaurant that calls vegetables cabbage...and we had to explain what tea meant... it had these stupid colour pegs in them, you jump 'em and pull 'em and see how many are left... I HATE that game... But I do love Scrabble...ask Terri how I am to play that with...hehe
Yes, my dad is a walking perv. Smut would be perfect to him. Is cabbage not a vegetable? LOL! That's Cracker Barrel and I understand now. But I must have blocked out you not liking it. LOL!
Tiff is very competitive but she also has selective memory. She somehow remembers it as her beating me more than I beat her but I assure you, it's the other way around. *g*
*laughing* Cracker Barrel, I did think that was both cruel and fabulously brilliant of Terri to lie by omission to take you there. Though in fairness, you had to explain what tea was EVERYWHERE we went. At least they didn't put hot tea in a plastic glass like they did in Yorktown.
The triangle peg game. I remember now. Well, at least it took your mind off the fact everything they served had white flour in it....
Oye, Cracker Barrel! That place never fails to give me a stomach ache, though I do appreciate the games they give you and the little store they have in the front to distract you from waiting. How thoughtful.
Tiff, what are these potato thingies they talk of? They sound yummy and I'm always up for new recipes. (such a tangent from the blog, but it's food. I think I'm allowed. Cap'n?)
Oh and I LOVE Scrabble. Though I'm the English buff and my mom, the math guru, whoops up on me every time. I suppose that's a mom's prerogative.
perogies....are those potatoe thingy's. You cut up and fry bacon, boil the perogies, when they float you move them to the fry pan with teh perog's...until they are lightly browned...serve with sour cream... I think it's the only food Hellion and I BOTH loved. I'm a wee bit picky.
We tangent all the time. Everything's allowed. *LOL* Yeah, perogies. I wasn't sure of the spelling. They were tasty though. And sour cream. Yum!
I have to cedit my DH as a supporter of my writing. He does laundry and home work with the kidlet while I pound away at the keyboard.
But...he has a way at the most difficult times of reminding me of his "support". Men they can never be perfect!
I'm picky. You're a damn elitist (or however you spell that).
I love Cracker Barrell. I was SO excited when they finally put one in by my house. I get the same thing everytime. Chicken & Dumplins, corn & cole slaw. But the last time I went they didn't have chicken & dumplins so I was quite irritated. The service was terrible and the food I did have to order tasted awful.
I complained and got half off my bill! But I've been going there for almost 15 years and that's the only time I've ever had a problem. Love the store too, Marnee.
Tiff is a wee bit picky, I agree...if the word "wee" is synonymous with "hugely"--but then she wasn't the one on a massive state hunt for batter fried fish either. It's a wonder Terri was able to feed us at all.
Fortunately there was always alcohol.
Tiff, I've discovered cage-free eggs at Walmart! I just never looked! I never buy eggs. (I buy those whites in a carton.) I'm seeing all sorts of organic stuff at Gerbes now...even organic walnuts. (I never realized it was a problem.) Haven't seen any cage-free chickens though...but I am seeing "anti-biotic free" chicken breasts. Not the same, but still, better than nothing.
That reminds me, those perogies are still in my freezer. Where they will stay until one of you comes back for them. LOL!
My local grocery store just did a complete remodel and put in an entire section of all natural/organic foods. I'll be prepared for Tiff's next visit. *g*
Well, Lissa, the man can't be perfect. Of course he has to REMIND you of all the work he's doing to make your life easier to write.
If he were perfect...he'd probably be crucified for being a bad example to the rest of his gender. It's what they did to the last one.
Perogies! I love perogies. Though we make them a little different. Butter and onion in the pan instead of bacon. Though the bacon idea has merit and I may try that next time. Yummm..... Fatty swine.... (See we were talking pigheaded and now we're talking bacon. It relates.)
Lissa - the key is not to be moved by the guilt trip. :) They mean well.... Just fishing for compliments.
My old roommate used to make those perogies all the time but I don't remember her putting them in a pan. Just boiling them. I can't remember what she did after that. But she also used to make those wide egg noodles and cover them in cottage cheese. Bleck!
From pigheaded to bacon. Great segue, Marnee. LOL!
So, to bring this back around, anyone use the reward of food (CHOCOLATE!) if they hit their word count goal for the day? I haven't stooped to that but only because if I want food, I just get it. Chocolate is nothing to be toyed with.
Unless it's chocolate syrup but that's another blog...
No, I eat as I go along. I have to reward myself with other motivators. Like movies. I can read a chapter of this book.
Food is necessary to keep my fingers typing though. I do try to make it stuff that doesn't ruin my keyboard though.
That reminds me, the keyboard I inherited in this new job was so full of food, I could have made a casserole. The chick before me weighed 100lbs soaking wet, how could she have eaten that much?!
I don't think she shook the crumbs out the entire time she had this machine...
oh, icky.
Hey Marnee! Congrats on your first post - it's great. You really summed up the whole neuroses that comes along with writing. LOL
One of my biggest supporters is my DH. Before either of us knew what "voice" was, he would tell me that he liked mine and thought it would translate very well into the written word.
As for the online communities I think they are awesome (Obviously, evidenced by the amount of time I spend on them!). I love the support and respect everyone shows one another. It's also great to go somewhere to discuss ideas and thoughts with like minded individuals.
Okay, I pressed publish instead of preview. So... my last comment was going to be -
It still boggles the mind that I can boot up my computer and get online with people from literally all over the world, from every walk of life and experiencing life completely differently than I am, but we have this one thing in common. It's definitely enriched my life.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Irish. And you're a great addition to our community as well!
Again with the supportive DHs. We need to start them their own support group. The "Writer's Widowers" or something....
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