My goal this week was to write 20,000 words.

I know. Optimistic to the max. But I honestly believed I could write that many words if I really got into it. 

The reality? As of right now, I’ve written 4,605. And I wrote all of them Monday – Wednesday. Nothing yesterday even though there was no reason for me not to write. Just too many scattered things leaving my brain scattered all over the place. No focus.

It’s March break – I should be taking the grandkids out for a while. We need to get ready to do a whole raft of new publicity for Hot Apple Cider. Who’ll do it if I don’t?

We’re still working on organizing Write! Canada and there’s a lot of stuff I ought to be doing and it keeps floating through my brain even though I really don’t want to think about it.

Other things flit through my mind, too. Mostly the "I shoulds" or the "we need tos" in conjunction with The Word Guild. Last night we booked my flights to Winnipeg (taping for It’s a New Day) and Saskatoon (Write! Saskatoon) for May. Now I should be connecting with people and making arrangements for places to stay and maybe some coffee or lunch appointments. Sigh. I like doing the stuff – just not making the arrangements.

This morning I booked a room for Missionfest so we can stay in the area instead of driving so much. And I had to change bedding and wash and all that stuff. My son needs bookcases.

Spring is coming. Changing some of my clothes to lighter things. Getting rid of my spaceheater.

Now I’m thinking about the summer and fall.  Should be teaching my workshops in Western Canada.  Willing to do them. Just not wanting to have to do the planning. At least, not when I’m supposed to be writing a novel.

Why am I writing a novel again? Particularly one for which I have no agent and no editor waiting for it. Okay, maybe I have an editor who would take a look at it, but there’s no guarantee at all that the editor would like what I write.

And I’m long past the idea of writing what someone else wants me to write – if I was ever there. Okay, maybe if there was a contract with a lot of money and promotion waiting. Then I might consider it.

Nah. I don’t think so. I just have all these books in my head and the characters are beginning to sound like a mob scene. I think I can hear them chanting, "Bring me to life! Tell my story! You can’t keep putting it off! Now is the time! Write about me!"

Can you tell I’m reading a Neil Gaiman book? Found it in the room where son number 3 sleeps when here and not working. He and son #2 read these books and then I find them and they drive me crazy because I want my books to be found in people’s rooms all over the place.

But first I need to write them. And then I need to figure out this whole marketing thing which pretty well eludes me.

Oh, I understand it and I can tell other people what to do quite proficiently, but when it’s about my writing, my tongue becomes sludge lead and my brain turns to water.

So I need to just write the stories and not think about the rest. The key is the writing. Without it there’s nothing to work with.

So I have to focus on getting them all out of my head. All the voices only I can hear. Before they become silent. After I take my granddaughter out to lunch.

becoming a writer · hard to focus on writing · writing a book · writing a novel

Apparently, one of the rules I live by is still true. Everything takes longer than you expect it to.

Just learned that the new Christian bookstore in Toronto is now scheduled to open on Saturday, May 2nd, instead of April 4, as originally planned.

That’s right. Everything is taking longer than expected. Surprise!

They hope to get their website up very soon.

Read the original press release.

Canadian Christian bookstores · Mitchell Family books · new Christian bookstore · Toronto

I have begun work on my novel in progress (nip?) – the one I began 9 or so years ago and then basically ignored.

Step one has involved massive characters change. I’m basically sticking to my original group of people, but they’re all going under the microscope.

Renata Torres is now Renee Beachamp. And from being from Puerto Rico, she’s now Metis. (Note: I have no idea how to make e’s with accents in WordPress.)

Tony Miller (formerly Devalano) is now of German/English ancestry instead of Italian/English.

Elinor Entwhistle is now Loewen, with a Mennonite background.

And so on.

And having decided I need to make my book into four books instead of one, I’m getting more interested in the character’s lives, and adding some people. Renee now has two men in her life. Elinor has a woman “friend” she isn’t all that crazy about.

But something much more important is happening. People I liked but might have been able to hold at arm’s length before are now getting uncomfortably close to me. These names  are familiar ones.  These people are familiar. No, I’m not using anyone I know. But I know Manitoba. So the book and the people in it will be much closer to who I am than the original book would have been. Scary – but, I think, good.

And likely what that original editor was really talking about when he said the characters weren’t well enough developed. They were developed – it was just that I didn’t really care about them. They weren’t “my” people. Now they are. And even though it’s taken me eight years to get ready to write the book, I’m  glad I waited. It’s going to be a much better book now.

Changing my characters · writing a novel

Back in 2000, I put together the first part of a novel I wanted to write that would show what an “Acts 2″ group of Christians might look like.  Long story, but the idea actually came from a request from Ralph Neighbour Jr. that I put together a treatment for a 13-week TV series.  The TV show idea never got off the ground, but I decided that having done the work of creating characters and plotlines, I might as well write a book instead.

I ended up with about 35,000 words, and did a proposal of sorts which I showed to an editor who’d come up for God Uses Ink (now Write! Canada) conference in Guelph in 2002. He said the idea was good, but I needed to develop the characters more. I thought he was a bit crazy since my novels are known for their strong characters. Puzzled, and busy with The Word Guild, I put the manuscript in a drawer for later.

“Later” turned out to be this week – March of 2009. On Wednesday, I pulled out the files and sat looking at the book. What to do…

And then I realized what the book’s problem really is. No, it’s not the characters. It’s the setting.

You see, when I agreed to write the original scripts for a TV series, Ralph and I were thinking in terms of the US market, so my setting was somewhere in the mid-western US. I wasn’t sure if I’d even name a specific city, since we wanted it to be kind of universal American.

When I shifted gears from TV series to book, I simply continued as I’d begun, thinking I’d need to sell it to an American Christian publishing house (seven years ago, there weren’t any Christian royalty-paying publishing houses in Canada).

But as I studied my notes this week, all I could think was, “What sense does it really make for me – a Canadian – to write a book set in the US?”

Now I know this is a problem. Most Canadian authors who want to sell to the US market set their books in the US. What we’re told is that Americans aren’t interested in books set in other locations unless they’re exotic, and Canada isn’t exotic. Hmm. I guess someone should have told Louise Penny. Or not?

Anyway, in thinking it over, I realized that many of my favorite authors are known as much for their sense of place as they are for their character and plot. Agatha Christie’s books depict life in the England she knew. Peter Robinson knows a completely different England. Carolyn Hart and Margaret Maron know the southern US. The Mitford books are as much about a small town in North Carolina as they are about the people. When you think of Louis L’Amour, you think of his rich, but precise, settings.  Sue Grafton is Santa Barbara, California. Sue Henry is Alaska. Tony Hillerman is the American southwest, and in particular the Navaho people. I could go on and on… Even Terry Pratchett, who obviously doesn’t live in Discworld, knows it backwards and forwards. It’s real in his mind, at least.And no one can contradict him.

What place do I know that well?

My Circle of Friends series works because it’s set in a small town much like the one I grew up in. In Time of Trouble and the Manziuk and Ryan mysteries work because they’re set in Greater Toronto where I’ve lived for 23 of the past 24 years.

While I’ve visited a number of places in the US, I’ve never lived there.  Sure, I could get to know them better, but I don’t think I’d ever adequately have that sense of place you need to get the nuances “right.”

So I realized that what I needed to do is to set my novel where I live – in Canada. Seems like a no-brainer, but it’s far from that since this one thing will greatly decrease my chance of getting published. But at this point, I’m more concerned about writing the best book I can write than about finding a publisher. in addition, I think it’s past time we put together a collection of Christian writing with a Canadian perspective, so I’m fully prepared to make that decision.

After some consideration, I decided the most likely location for this particular book is Winnipeg. I was primarily raised in two small towns in Manitoba (Crystal City and Souris) and frequently visited Winnipeg during those years. Plus I lived in Winnipeg for two years while attending Winnipeg Bible College (now Providence College) and while taking my Certificate in Education from the University of Manitoba. And I’ve been back a number of times.

The other major decision I made this week was that my book should really be a four-book series.  That will allow me to develop both the characters and the plot to the degree the concept warrants.

changing setting · choosing the setting for a novel · sense of place · setting · writing a novel

I don't consider myself a "real" writer. By that I mean someone who writes on a more or less regular basis. Instead, I'm kind of a binge writer. Now and then over the years I've found short or long periods of time in which to focus on something – usually a novel. Life always tended to get in the way. And marketing.Marketing has often held me back because I never knew what I "ought" to do.

But I no longer care about marketing or about all the other things I "should" do simply because I see the need. My goal now is to write and not worry about anything else.

No one can write what I can. So I need to go ahead and just do it. Once I have 5 or 10 novels written, maybe somebody will publish them. Or not. But I'll have done my part.

Last year, I wrote The Misadventures and Tribulations of Princess Persnickety in three installments. In the spring, I got the idea and wrote the opening and a bit of the first chapter in more or less one day. I then did some research whenever I had a few minutes, and, on the three days of the Labour Day weekend, I wrote about half of the book, maybe a bit more (aiming for 20,000 words, which didn't quite suffice). Finally, I managed to steal 10 days in December to finish off the rest of the book (total of 40,000 words) and edit it.

So it's written. And my two granddaughters have copies. First goal achieved. One book requiring a bit more editing, but fairly complete.

Two days ago, I started the next book on my to do list. Title as yet to be decided on. But this time I'm determined to become a "real" writer – i.e. to write regularly, and not just grab 3 or 10 days somewhere. My goal is to take 4 hours a day 6 days a week – Monday to Saturday from 1 to 5 p. m. – to work on my novel.

So far, this week, I did it on Wednesday and again today. Thursday got stolen by a previous commitment.  Not writing yet – still in the planning stages. But a small step has been achieved. How long do I need to write a novel – for adults – of roughly 7o,000 words? That remains to be seen. I'm hoping to have a first draft done by April 30. And then May 1st start the next book. And if you're interested, I'm hoping to blog about the journey here, so stay tuned.

am I a writer · binge writer · real writer · start a novel start a book · write a novel