Why do Writers Write?

Every time, when I meet people and they know I’m a writer, they always ask me how long it takes to write a novel. Most are surprised when I tell them it takes me a year to write a work of about 70,000 to 80,000 words. I am not a fast writer. Others write much more quickly than I do.

But there are many facets to writing that deplete your time, including rewriting the draft, editing, and allowing the manuscript to sit for a length of time so the writer can take a second look with a refreshed, erased mind, and a different outlook.

Writers don’t just write. We have to advertise, blog for ourselves, maintain websites, appear on other blogs, read, belong to chat rooms, have a presence on social media, and follow the latest industry trends. I also belong to a book club. These all infringe on writing time.

When I start a story, I hate to play with more than one draft, so I try to get the story line and plot fairly correct the first time. I write each chapter as a separate unit/document before bringing them all together in a complete manuscript and into one final document. This makes it easier to delete a chapter or rearrange all of them.

My biggest failing in writing is that I used to keep a sketchy log or bible of my characters, noting specifics about them, but I quit. Now, I often have to go back to the original manuscripts or print book and search for things like eye color, hair color, and other physical descriptions. I try to be sure I’m not overusing some characteristics or repeating names.

This month, I am showcasing Four White Roses for just $0.99 while I work on special advertising for it. This is the time to tell your friends with eBooks and Kindles to grab it. It’s still my favorite of all the contemporary books and novellas.

By the way, the best thing you can do to help a writer is to leave a review if you’ve read his/her book. And it doesn’t have to be a long one—just a sentence or two.

I’ll leave you with this question? Why do writer’s write?

They write--because they can’t not write. If they are away from their craft for too long, they get antsy and need to fill the hollow creative space in their brain with ideas and words.

FOUR WHITE ROSES - Just $0.99 during February

TIME Waits for No One!

As the old year ends and a new one begins, I often look back and silently chide myself over the time I might have squandered and should have used more wisely.

 

The New Year is always a great time to say good-bye to all our yesterdays and give a hearty, forward-looking hello to a new start in a new year. It’s a feeling that invades our thinking and whispers, “Your slate is now wiped clean of all the troubles and missteps you’ve experienced. Let’s begin anew.”

So, how will you use this unbiased fellow we call TIME--who credits you every morning with 86,400 seconds in the day? (Or 31,536,000 seconds in the new year?)

Imagine a bank that credits your account with $86,400 each day. It carries no balance over from day to day, and every evening it deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use. What would you do? I believe everyone would agree we’d be foolish not to draw out every cent.

Each of us has such a bank. It’s called TIME. And every morning we are offered 86,400 seconds. Every night, TIME writes off, as a loss, whatever seconds, minutes or hours you have failed to invest in good purposes. There is no balance. There are no overdrafts. Each day TIME opens a new account. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.

What am I really saying? I’m telling you the clock is running and you must live in the present of today’s deposits. Invest your time so you get the utmost in health, happiness and success. Make the most of today. Treasure and use wisely each moment in both work and play.

To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade.

To realize the value of one month, ask a returned soldier how he felt during his last four weeks of deployment 

To realize the value of one hour, ask lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of one minute, ask the person who just missed his plane flight, train or bus.

To realize the value of one second, ask a person who just avoided an accident.

To realize the value of one millisecond, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment you have. Remember, TIME waits for no one!

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Along the Susquehanna River

There is something enticing about water. People flock to it, whether it's a river, a lake or the ocean. In Central Pennsylvania, the small town of Clearfield lies along the west banks of the Susquehanna River. Flowing 228 miles from Cherry Tree to Sunbury, the West Branch forms the lifeblood linking what is now known as the Lumber Heritage region.

It is also the setting for the book I’m currently writing. My heroine and her father own a large logging operation in the area in the 1800s. And the hero? Well, of course, he’s a ship captain who owns the clipper ships in the Chesapeake Bay and who sells the Pennsylvania lumber.

Throughout the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, virgin timber—among it the celebrated great white pine—was harvested to supply to supply lumber for shipbuilding, construction and coal mine props. Much of this lumber was rafted down the West Branch to markets on or near the Chesapeake Bay. Today, the West Branch flows through a northern hardwood forest of oak, cherry, maple and remnants of white pine and hemlock forests of early settlers' times.

The West Branch of the Susquehanna is actually part of the main “North Branch” of Susquehanna River which is the longest river on the East Coast of the United States. At 444 miles long, it drains into the Atlantic Ocean via the Chesapeake Bay and is the 16^th largest river as well. The headwaters start in Cooperstown, New York, and join the “West Branch” near Northumberland in Central Pennsylvania.

Before European conquest, the Susquehannock, an Iroquoian tribe lived along the river and gave the Susquehanna its name. In the 17th century, it was inhabited largely by the Lenape. In the 18th century, William Penn, the founder of the Pennsylvania Colony, negotiated with the Lenape to allow white settlements in the colony between the Delaware River and the Susquehanna.

Local legend claims that the name of the river comes from an Indian phrase meaning "mile wide, foot deep," referring to the Susquehanna's unusual dimensions, but while the word is Algonquian, it simply means "muddy current" or "winding current". Additionally, hanna is an Algonquin word that means stream or river, and that Susquehanna is up for interpretation as meaning long reach river to long crooked river. It has also been said that the Susquehanna River was also called “Oyster River” by the Lenape because of the numerous oyster beds at the mouth of the river where historians found mounds of oyster shells.

Although there are mysteries surrounding the river and how its name originated, there is one constant. The Susquehanna is the main life-sustaining river of the state of Pennsylvania. Its waters allowed settlements to spring up along its banks and businesses and farms to survive and thrive—and Pennsylvania to become the 9^th most densely populated of our fifty states.

Help! Writing is NOT Exciting.

Someone once said the life of a writer is exciting. After all, all we have to do is sit down, come up with some creative ideas, string them together and crank out a story or novel. Sounds simple enough, right?

But what if the creative ideas aren’t there? What if getting the next load of laundry done is on our mind? What if we’re thinking about taking Aunt Martha shopping next Tuesday? What if we’re worried about our child and his next soccer game? What if everything keeps turning up and turning us away from the computer and the blank screen?

Is that what we call writer’s block? Is it avoidance? Or is it just our brain telling us it’s time for a break?

I’m throwing all my loose change on the last choice. For the past few weeks I’ve been stonewalled on where I’m headed with a sequel to my novel, Red Fox Woman, which is a mystery, romance and western. I have already written nine chapters, have a rough outline, but I can’t seem to get myself in that writer’s zone. You know, that place where the words flow like a bubbling stream, carrying you away into the fantasy world of your characters?

At first, I decided I’d blame it on the weather, the beautiful summer, my many travels, and a host of other things that can’t respond to or rebut my accusations. Now, I’ve decided that I’m just distracted, somewhat weary, even annoyed with everyday life and the things which constantly need my attention.

So this week I’m not going wait until January 1^st. I’m making a fall resolution—to focus on my writing. Now all I need is for someone to tell me how to find the willpower and determination. How do I rekindle the excitement? Is there some sort of elixir I can take? Please give me your thoughts.

Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle While Chasing Your Dreams

                      Climb high, climb far;
                      Your aim the sky, your goal the star.

1. Believe in your ability to cope. Embrace your strengths and hidden dreams. Remind yourself that you can influence the outcome of events in your life. Create action plans to address problems at work and at home. Find a way to carve out time to pursue your passions. After all, medical research indicates that people who have a healthy lifestyle routinely set aside at least twenty minutes (or more) of uninterrupted “me” time each day to relax, reflect, read, exercise, dream, tinker, stare into space or to do anything they personally want to do—like write.

2. Create a routine. Regular planning will help avoid stressful rushes in your life. Creating a routine also allows you to create time for your dreams. Then we can take that nagging voice in the back of our heads away. You know the one that says, “I know I can write that novel, chapter, short story or finish that project . . .I just need more time?” Create the routine and create the time.

3. Learn relaxation techniques and exercises. . . especially when your project (or your writing) hits a wall. Try deep breathing, visualization and meditation. A hot bath, a walk in the park, or some stretching exercises are also great stress relievers. I personally don’t believe in writer’s block or the proverbial brick wall. I think the brain just says, “Stop! Enough creative thinking, please.” I believe everyone needs down time to allow his brain clear and reboot, just like a computer. Clear the cache in your head by relaxing and doing something different.

4. Please get a grip on guilt. Guilt robs you of energy and motivation. Be realistic about your expectations at home and on the job. No one is perfect. It’s neither possible, nor desirable to try to be a perfect parent, employee or writer. Learn to say no. Be honest with your family when you workload is heavy, when you need to sneak away for “me time.” You cannot be productive when you are overworked, stressed or feeling guilty.

5. Talk to a friend, family member, neighbor or peer who shares you same passion. Take time to talk with a friend, even your spouse or child. Express feeling you have been holding inside. Talking about problems can help you blow off steam and give you the perspective you need to solve problems more easily. Once stress is relieved, your ability to pursue your goals comes easier.

6. Develop leisure activities. Practice a different craft, learn to play a musical instrument, join a community choir or weekly pinochle or bridge game, try your hand at painting, sewing or woodworking. Select a hobby you find relaxing. Find an activity you can do with your children or spouse. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d become a golfer. I took up the game several years ago to be able to get outdoors and play a sport with my husband. Golf courses are the most beautiful, peaceful, refreshing places on earth, full of nature, water and glorious landscaping. And no, I don’t play for score. I don’t even keep score. I don’t need that stress! I play for the exercise and fun of it.

On my next blog post, I will spoon up the last six tips. Meanwhile, keep pursuing your dreams and passions. . .and for some of us, that’s writing!

                                                            --Judy Ann Davis

                                                               www.judyanndavis.com

                                                               Three Merry Mysteries

                                                               Red Fox Woman

Why Do We Write?

Why do we write? I asked myself that the other day as I tried to put together a compilation of short stories and realized that I wasn’t having any fun. It had become a painful chore. But it had become a chore because I was weary of reading, re-reading and editing the same pieces over and over again until I could repeat them verbatim in my sleep.

So off I went to find an activity that would temporarily wipe out the hard drive in my mind. Naturally, the first logical diversion is to take a walk. But you can easily walk and think. A half hour later, I found I was mentally crazy glued to the project worse than if I were actually sitting in front of my laptop and even more thoughts were now swirling through my head.

Later that afternoon, I convinced my husband that we needed to go the driving range and hit some golf balls. I can sheepishly admit that I was so distracted and performed so poorly that I considered selling my clubs to the first person who showed any interest in buying them.

So how did I lose my focus and why did I feel distraught?

It took me all day until I was able to face my dilemma and realize what the problem might be. I was past the pleasure phase. I wasn’t having any fun because I was past the creative part of the process. I was no longer able to escape into the lives of my characters. I was finished designing my settings, dreaming up plots, and crafting new ideas and situations.

  

Yes, I was into the dreaded, painful editing process consisting of all the menial chores like verifying facts, names and spelling; confirming continuity of the various plots; rechecking grammar; and making certain every story was set-up in the same uniform format.

A writer friend of mine said that now is time when you need little rewards and incentives to nudge yourself toward your final goal of producing a complete, clean manuscript.

Oh, please, tell me she was referring to chocolate, jewelry, shopping or a good bottle of wine.