Jean Oram (.com)

Know Yourself + Writing = Efficiency?

I’ve had an article by Rachel Aaron open in my browser for almost a month now. Why? Well, I’ve been meaning to talk about it. Here’s why. She went from writing 2,000 words a day to 10,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Yeah, I like to think of this article as: How to Write As If You Are Insanely Caffeinated. Or: How to Write Like You Are On Fire and Only Writing Like the Dickens Will Save Your Tushie.)

No, she didn’t just stay at her computer for longer hours and beat herself into submission. She took a good long look at how she was writing. She figured out when her most productive time of the day was, figured out beforehand where she wanted the scene to go and got herself enthusiastic about what she was about to write. As she said, “If I had scenes that were boring enough that I didn’t want to write them, then there was no way in hell anyone would want to read them. This was my novel, after all. If I didn’t love it, no one would.”

Is that smart or what?

How about you? Do you know when you are most productive? What do you do to jazz yourself up about what you are about to write?

Worst Cupcake Ever!

Have you ever coveted the most beautiful cupcake in the world only to have it be… well, yucky? (Yet another food fail!)

Have you ever had writers block or wondered how writers deal with that dreaded affliction?

Well guess what? Jacqueline Gardner is asking a bunch of writers (as part of her WAW–Writers Are We–series) all sorts of fabulous questions about inspiration, why people write, what a writer’s workspace looks like and… wait for it… cupcakes!

Jacqueline has me talking about the worst cupcake ever over on her blog and we’d really enjoy hearing your cupcake/cake stories or what you find inspiring. Best cupcake ever? Worst?

See you there!

Mud Vs. Finger Paints

Quick note: I’m over on Calista Taylor’s blog talking about It’s All Kid’s Play, the importance of play in childhood, and the crossover from fiction writing to nonfiction writing. We’d love to see you there–feel free to drop a comment and weigh in on mud vs. finger paints. That’s right. It’s on like Donkey Kong!

(And if you are wondering about this crazy Kid’s Play thing of mine and want a little crash course and missed Jemi Fraser’s mini tour of It’s All Kid’s Play, it’s still up on her blog.)
Thanks and happy Trails!

Ugly As All Get Out & Writing Fail

So last night I made some broccoli cheese soup that was a serious fail in the appearance sense of the word “edible.” We’re talking ugly as all get out. When my husband was being all lovely, polite, and upbeat and optimistic about it and taking his first bites he said, “Mmm. Did you make this with hate?” I just about fell off my chair laughing. Even though apparently he said, “Did you make this with potatoes?” Making it with hate is much more amusing, don’t you think?

Ugly doll. Don’t you love it?

Also last night I discovered that there is quite the crafting community on Twitter. I even joined my first Twitter ‘party.’ Not sure what made it ‘party.’ Maybe it was the prizes? Anyway, it was a ton of fun–oh, that probably made it a party! And I discovered that like other ‘fails’ on Twitter, there is a ‘craft fail.’ (I wonder if there is a ‘food fail?’ Probably! Just add soup.)

So I decided we need a writing fail. For those times when writing turns ugly. (Then after believing I was incredibly brilliant for thinking of this, I looked on Twitter and discovered there is in fact #writingfail. Of course.)

But what truly constitutes a ‘writing fail?’ Those times when you mean to sit down and write and social media sort of takes over the morning? (Darn! That video on Canada’s Hide and Seek Olympic Demonstration team was unreal. Those pictures my brother uploaded to SugarSync from Christmas were great. Oh… and did you hear about baby monkey riding on a pig?)

Where was I?

Oh, yes. Writing fail. How about those times when you sit down to write and you spill your tea and spend the next 15 minutes tackling the mess and then the baby wakes up and you are off on a new adventure? And then there is writing itself. Naming all your characters names that are almost the same and even you can’t tell them apart? Realizing that nurses don’t leave medications lying around willy nilly while dispensing them and a whole scene, chapter, and section of your story needs to be rewritten? Yeah, that says writing fail all over it.

How about you? Any writing fails? (It can be anything!)

Let’s Play for Real!

There’s this great video on The National (CBC) about slow parenting that’s got me pumped about how I’m parenting, and about my It’s all Kid’s Play website. It also makes me hopeful. Maybe allowing free play for kids will take hold again. Because what are we really doing to our kids and their development with this crazy shuttling around from activity to activity? Does the average kid get to learn who they really are? What they want? Do they get time to sit quietly and listen to themselves? In a lot of ways, as the video says, “We’re outsourcing childhood to adults because we think we can do it better and safer.” Yikes!

Anyway, it is a great video for parents, teachers, kids, and well, anyone who’s ever had a childhood or looked at family and said, “What the heck are you doing? You are parenting ALL wrong!”

This short video on play (Seriously: The Movie) is also really good. It’ll get you thinking about play, too.

As well, fabulous Jemi Fraser took a little tour of It’s All Kid’s Play and its blog the other day and shared it with her very lovely blog readers. You can check that out here.

I’m also tweeting kids activities, family activities, arts and crafts, links, and articles on parenting, play, free play, slow parenting, and so much more over on Twitter (@KidsPlay) as well. Come join me! (I’ll also be creating a Facebook page where I will share these tidbits for those of you who are not into Twitter, but are looking for activities to do with your children as well as interesting little parenting bits.)

P.S. Wondering what “slow parenting” is? Here is a quote from writer Carl Honore (featured on The National above):

“Slow parenting is about bringing a bit of balance back. It’s about giving children the time and space to explore the world on their own terms and their own pace. And to make mistakes and learn from them. To get bored, even, so they can learn how to create and to invent their own fun and work out who they are rather than who we want them to be.”

This is Real Life

Do you write in a journal or diary or even a personal blog where you let it all out? Well, I do. (no, not here. At least, not usually!) I have kept a diary on and off since I was a kid. Some diaries I didn’t dare bare it all (I was mostly just going through the motions), and in others I bare every bit of grit stuck in my eye (particularly during ‘tough’ times). And lately, some of the tidbits from my journal are starting to feel like a story. Like a plot. Like a piece of women’s fiction that many might relate to and may one day work its way into a story of mine. Or become its very own full-length story.

Usually I have little pieces of my day or life that seep into a story. Things like this: …baby who can only scoot forwards traps you in the shower by scooting up to the shower door. Yes, the little hand prints on the shower door are adorable, but how the hell are you going to get out without toppling and bashing the little guy with the door? Followed by “Did I put honey in my tea already? Better add more just in case… And I think an Oreo would go lovely with that.” Let’s go for a cross-country ski using the new baby sled I so desperately wanted for Christmas! Oh, look at that… it falls over ALL the time. Grrr. Better have another Oreo.

This is Jean.
This is real life: blurry and unstaged.

But really, those are just a few little things that might flesh out a scene.

What I’m really talking about are those tough times when I write out everything that is going on to help me deal with it. Like the premature birth of my first child. I kept a journal as I dealt with 42 days of her being in the hospital, being a mother, the panic, the immediate love, the worries, etc., etc. It really helped. And right now I am doing the Sandwich Generation thing where I am raising my own family and spending every weekend with my parents as my mother is ill.

And one day I could see some of these things becoming the core of a women’s fiction piece because I know I am not the only one dealing with these sorts of things and they are something others can relate to. These things are very real and I have enough detail and true emotion recorded to really bring it alive. With a good dose of humour, of course. The only issue would be making it ‘new’ enough that I wouldn’t get bored or bogged down by ‘reliving it’ all again.

How about you? Does real life ever make its way into your work?

A Little Help Here?

Writers are curious old coots. Nosy old salts. Notorious question askers.

As a kid I would be forever asking, “Why?” And I remember the frustration when the answer would come back from my dad, “To make little girls ask questions.” Usually he’s a pretty patient guy who doesn’t mind filling my head with the incredible knowledge he’s acquired. All I have to do is ask. But sometimes… I guess I asked a little too often. Or persistently. Or would reach the end of the “why” line.

As a writer, “why” is one of the best tools I have in my toolbox. “Why” opens up all sorts of ideas, contingencies, plots, conversations, and more often than not… trouble. As in, I don’t know! I’ve asked “why” so many times I’ve reached the end of my knowledge base and have to turn to a resource.

Usually I pop over to my good buddy Google and type in that burning question. Voila! Answers. The other day I discovered quite a bit about hand held security wands. Another time about steel toed boots. Sometimes it is something simple like finding out what colour topaz actually is.

But sometimes Google doesn’t quite cut it. And then you need to go to a different source. A real, live, air-breathing source. And that is always such a rush for me. To ask and receive. To gain knowledge. There is something so alive and invigorating in probing and finding an answer to something that has been tickling my brain or discovering something completely new and unexpected.

Where do I find those air-breathing sources? Well, the other day I was participating in an online class offered through RWA Orange County. (That would be Romance Writers of America, Orange County group.) The class was offered by a retired LAPD officer. And she let us ask all sorts of burning questions. Big surprise–I had a ton!! And by asking all those burning, I-gotta-know questions I found holes in my plot. I found errors in my scenes. And I was inspired. Inspired to improve. Informational tidbits from this officer made my mind leap into make-it-better mode which created all sorts of offshoots and things I wouldn’t have thought of without her. And my story is better. My writer toolbox is that much fuller as well.

Not long after, I discovered I needed to know more about how hospitals run and I needed information from a nurse. I popped over to the ‘Wanted’ ads over on my virtual home AQC (AgentQueryConnect.com) and placed a request for help. Voila! Ding, ding! Answer up! But the problem was the more questions I asked of this lovely writer acquaintance of mine… the more questions I had! But, my facts are so much straighter now. The scenes are that much tighter, richer, and real. I’m not afraid of those little details I had before, because now I know they are correct. I am also not afraid of readers with a greater knowledge base throwing my book against the wall because of my hospital scenes.

While seeking help from a nurse, a writer on AQC offered this great site: jobshadow.com. Right here you can learn more about different jobs. Handy for finding out more about day-to-day bits and what-not. As well, I like to use ALIS (Alberta Learning Information Service) for finding out about job skills, duties, pay, and training.

But all this question asking and hole finding causes me to wonder… where else have I screwed up in my stories? Where else have I assumed something is correct and it isn’t? Yikes! (I’m trying really hard not to let that part freak me out!)

Where do you go for information when you need it?

Family Fun

Looking for some last minute gift ideas for the kids to make the relatives? Looking for activities to do with the whole family? Or maybe just a craft or two for the kiddos in your life? Maybe wondering how to track Santa? Or wondering how to make shortbread for when that big guy makes his way down your chimney tonight?

Well guess what? I’ve been tweeting some of my kids play ideas over on Twitter under @KidsPlay, so if you want to track Santa, have him send a personal video message to your friends or kids, I’ve got the links for you!

I’d love to see you on Twitter. Stop by and say hi to me! I’m right here: http://twitter.com/#!/KidsPlay