Chapter Length: Long or Short

On July 18, 2015July 18, 2015 By HeidiIn Blog1 Comment

Morning everyone! 🙂

I have a quick question for you. What is your ideal chapter length? I mean, when you are reading, does it matter how long the chapters are? Do you like shorter chapters vs longer chapters?

I’m asking because I usually try and keep my chapters between 5 and 8 pgs, give or take a page. I do this because when I am reading at night I usually like to stop at the end of a chapter. There are times I am so tired that I can’t see straight and my eyes hurt so I have to stop beforehand. But that’s just me. And I know some chapters are longer because you write what it takes to tell that particular part of the story.

So, short chapters or long chapters or does it even matter?

Have a wonderful Saturday! I’ll be out doing yardwork. 🙂

Garden update #3

On June 23, 2015 By HeidiIn Blog, Gardening3 Comments

Yes, it’s been a while since I have updated my gardening posts. That does not mean we have been idle! Just busy with real life. Like, the end of school. It’s now out for summer so I will have more time to do gardening and editing (which I need to get busy with!) and work on my online presence that has been almost nonexistent. Also some big birthday milestones. Hubby is now 50 and my youngest is 21. (Gah!) Also have had some graduation parties in there. The yardwork is getting done, just not in a timely manner. lol

As you probably have noticed I didn’t not put ‘pathway update’ because I’ve also been working on the rest of the backyard. Here are a few before and after pictures. I wish they would go side by side, but putting the caption on them seems to not allow that.

I’m hoping the Barberry survives. It’s late in the season to be moving plants and this one was pretty big. I had to have my son help hold it up why I put the dirt around the roots. I tried to do it by myself and quickly/painfully realized that was not going to work. 😛

The grass is slowly coming in. I don’t think we will use the type of seed we did again. It sort of works like hydro-seeding in that it has peat moss in it. You lay the seed, water it and it sort of explodes with the peat moss. It’s the best way I can describe it. It also seemed to be too compact so didn’t come in as quickly as the regular see with fertilizer we used.

Here are some pictures I took this morning of the pathway and the garden behind the patio. We are not done with the backyard yet, but I need to now concentrate on the front because it is looking rather neglected and that is what everyone sees.

DSCN3814

Well, I should be getting back outside before it gets too hot. It’s suppose to be 100F this weekend and that is not something I want to work outside in :S It’s so weird. My friends in Texas are underwater and we haven’t had a good rain for three months so are bone dry!

Have a great week! 🙂

Update on Garden Project

On May 19, 2015May 19, 2015 By HeidiIn Blog, Gardening2 Comments

After a weekend in San Diego and another filled with rain, my hubby was finally able to do some more work on the walkway. It’s looking really good.

We ran out of bricks about the same time as hubby ran out of steam. As soon as we get some more this part of the project will be done. The next will be moving the dirt we dug up from this and a small hill in our yard that we did not want and spread it around the areas that need to be receded.

The project I did last year is doing pretty good. The small roses still haven’t come back from the shock of being moved. Hopefully in another year they will be looking better. I hope so because I really liked those roses, and one I bought when my 23 year old son was born. So a bit of sentimental value there.

I do think the clematis is liking it’s new home.

I bought this weilgia a few years back and I really like the shape of it. The problem is it is getting too big for the spot it’s in so I may have to do some pruning. 😦

Well, back to what I came out here to do and that is edit my new book while the dog enjoys laying in the sun.

Have a wonderful day! 🙂

Distractions and Writing

On April 11, 2015April 11, 2015 By HeidiIn Blog2 Comments

When I was in junior high and that fateful paragraph was written on the board of my Homeroom class, my love of writing began. Saved my ass a few times, too. You see, I was too busy writing, so the projects I was suppose to be doing sort of got…lost. (Actually they just didn’t get done so I made a deal with my teacher and turned in my latest chapter instead.) I remember even having time to write when I worked at the front desk of the local pool. As I sit here, some years later, I still have that passion to write but for some reason I cannot stay focused. Some could blame it on old age or the fact that real life is a lot more complicated and filled than it was in my school years. And when I got married and had kids all that free time went by the wayside because…well…babies are a bit time consuming.

But I digress. Back to the distractions. Even when I started writing again when the kids went to school I was still able to focus. Yes I had television, books, housework, the flower gardens, the family when they were home, yet I still was able to focus. Now I could be all alone and I can’t get down on paper what it is I want to tell. The difference? Internet, for one. The internet and the social media that has all these distracting evil addictive games. Games where you move objects to make three or more of a kind and they disappear. Games where you grow crops and sell them, pop bubbles, hit the spin button and see what prize you will win at the end. I have managed to cull some of those games and I never put money into those games for more ‘lives’. I have five then five it will be. I do my best to ignore them. Play those five lives then close it down. Music helps to focus me, as always. But unless I go somewhere where I don’t have internet access, or inspiration hits so hard I can no longer ignore it, I have a hard time staying focused.

Another is me, myself and I. The book I am writing now was written a long time ago, in those school day. Since then I have rewritten it a few times, each time the journey a little different than the last. This time around I finally realized what it was missing. Why it never felt right. So I started again, trying to keep to the original storyline as best as I could. Unfortunately, I am to the point that the story has changed and grown so much that a lot of what was written before will not work, yet I still try to keep as much of it as I can. And that trips me up, puts that writer’s wall firmly into place, not allowing the scenes in my head pass through my fingers and onto the paper until I get out of my way and just write.

So on that note, I’m going to plug into my music and try to ignore the call of the games, forget what I have written down in previous rewrites and try to finish the book I am currently working on. Not as in done ready to publish, but done as in this part of the story is finish and I can now begin the many edits. Oh, and find a title. Little like trying to find the perfect purse. I mission doomed before it’s started. You girls know what I am talking about! 😉

Have a great weekend. 🙂

Heidi

Unable to put into words what you see? Try this trick.

On April 9, 2015 By HeidiIn Blog, Creative Writing3 Comments

If you are having a hard time putting down the visual you see your mind, close your eyes, immerse yourself in the scene and then type. Don’t worry about mistakes. Don’t worry about wording. Just write what you see in as much detail as you can. When done, open your eyes, fix the spelling errors (there will probably be a lot!) then edit. It is amazing how easy it is to put down in words what you see in your mind when there are no distractions from what is around you.

Rabbit Hole: How deep does it go?

On March 10, 2015 By HeidiIn Blog2 Comments

One of my favorite authors, Laurel K Hamilton, has recently been talking about what she refers to as “Rabbit Holes”. This is when the story you are writing starts down a path that does not necessarily go along with the plot yet we, as writers, either don’t recognize it or decide to see where the tunnel leads. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and we can find out way out and sometimes it leads us down into darkness only to leave us stranded and wondering how the hell we got here in the first place. Then comes the ponderous job of going back and trying to figure out where we fell in. I think this may be what has happened to me as I sit writing the second book to Destiny. The problem is I’m not sure.

It is true that the original story has changed quite a bit in the years that I have been writing and tweaking it. I realized that there was something that was missing. A piece that would explain some of my characters behaviors. I’ve said this before so I won’t delve to deep into this part, but I thought maybe it needed a supernatural aspect to it. Sure enough things became clearer. New characters were introduced, sub-plots, and as events began to fall together where this story may be going.

As I started writing the second book (I still don’t know what to call it), I realized that I may not be able to keep some of the original storyline that kept the storyline going. That would bring in key characters that would play major roles later on in the story. How to fix that. Then the first rabbit hole appeared as one of the major characters in Destiny that I thought would be around for awhile went and got himself killed. I’ve tried to see another way for this to happen, like maybe when I planned for this character to die much later in the series, but no, the act has been committed and apparently it is going to stay right where I didn’t not plan it to happen. A second tunnel appeared as one of my characters started not acting like himself. In fact he is so out of character it is starting to worry me. This is the one tunnel that I am not sure if I can backtrack and re-route. It fits, yet it doesn’t. The action is appropriated to the scenario, and the scenario needs to stay, yet that character needs to get his head out of his….well you get the idea.

The book is far from done, yet I am afraid I may have to scrap it and start over again. Something I don’t want to do. So more thinking, more writing and we will see if there is an end to this to this tunnel and I will see the light of day, or if I will dig myself into an even deeper hole and drown in the darkness.

Have a wonderful day. 🙂

New Years Resolution…or Not

On January 5, 2015 By HeidiIn Blog2 Comments

It is the beginning of the new year and the tradition is to make a resolution that we are expected to keep through out the year. I have made my fair share. All the usual. Lose weight, do more outside, lose weight. Where I still need to lose that weight, making a road map on how much I will lose and how I will do it seems never to work. It would be as if I wrote an outline for a story idea. I have tried this, and every time the story just stops a few pages into the beginning. My muse cannot work under the pressure of following a certain path that has been laid out for her. I have a beginning and an ending, but how I arrive at that ending is a mystery I find out along the way. And many times it changes the ending. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. But what is important is that it all works in the end.

So I have decided this year not to make a resolution. That I would live my life as best as I can every day without the constant little voice in the back of my head telling me which way I am suppose to travel. Will I lose the weight? It is a distinct possibility, but I can live with it.

Have a happy new year and if you have made resolutions I wish you all the luck and joy of reaching them. I will see you in the days to come.

Heidi

Words That Haunt My Writing

On January 2, 2015 By HeidiIn Blog4 Comments

As a writer, I am always learning. What words work, what don’t. Does that comma really belong there, or should I leave it out? Better yet, should I put one there? Then there are certain words that always make me stumble.

Then…than. It’s a work in progress to remember which one to use and to not overuse them.

Slide…slid, your…you’re. These are more I know which is which, it is just my fingers don’t always type what my mind says. Then when I edit I miss them.

Just! (Which I just used in the above sentence. LOL) This word isn’t needed most of the time and needs to be deleted.

Up. For some reason I also use this word when it isn’t needed. “We went up to the door and opened it” when “We went to the door and opened it” is so much cleaner.

There are a few more, but the ones I have recently realized I over use are get, got, getting and gotten. There are so many other words that would fit and sound better than ‘get’. For instance, “I get it” would work, however “I understand” sounds a bit more sophisticated in my mind. “When we get there” sound better as “When we arrive”.

Maybe I’m being picky, but as I re read one of my stories I have decided I need to ‘get’ rid of a few of those words. Editing, a never ending process that even when you think are done there is more to do. Sigh….

Concentration…or Lack-There-Of

On November 8, 2014 By HeidiIn Blog2 Comments

Lately I can’t seem to keep my mind on one thing. I have part of a rough draft I need to edit. At around page 200 of whatever I’m writing I stop at the end of the latest chapter then go back and re-read what I have to make sure everything flows, and to add those elements that came up later as I was writing and need to be introduce at an earlier place. It’s the process I go through. Some may think that doesn’t make sense. Why do I not have an outline? Why don’t I have everything planned out before I write. The answer is simple. I am character driven, and where I may have a general idea of what is going to happen, if I draw out an outline I get the worse case of writers block you can imagine. My mind tries too hard to get from point A to B then to C without deviating that I can’t move forward. So I have a point A and a point Z. Point Z is not set in stone. Hell, point A can change too because somewhere around point L I decide it’s not going to work and re-write it.

So back to the editing. I print out the 200 pages and my goal is to read it through putting in edits as I go. I will not put anything into the computer until those 200 pages are edited on paper. So I started the process, then suddenly, as I am still in chapter 2, I’m re-writing something in chapter 10 because a new idea has hit me and I have to get it down. Then I realize what I have for the last 20 pages is not going to work so my brain starts working on that and the original edit goes out the window until I finish rewriting those pages…. (do you understand my pain now?)

I blame life for this. I am working full time, keeping the house and yard up and planning for a couple of parties. And to top it off I caught the plague that was going around. You see, I work in a school as a Para-educator. I am currently in our local Junior High and honestly it’s like working in a petri dish. Whatever is going around you WILL catch it. Well I caught it and it knocked my on my ass, twice, and gave me a sinuses infection. Yet, you know what? I would not trade my job for the world. I love working with the kids. At this age they always surprise me at some point. Some things are good surprises, some not so good, but I digress. (See! I told you I couldn’t stay on topic!)

Back to my original topic. My mind kept at me saying, “You need to edit!”; “You need to write a blog on ONE of your websites so people know you’re still alive!”; “You need to post on Twitter and Facebook!”; “You need to promote your books!”; “You need to rake the leaves and mow the grass!” (Which hopefully I’ll get to today.) “You just received those books you preordered six months ago on your kindle. Don’t you want to read those?” It all seemed overwhelming so nothing got done.

To top it off, I was not exactly happy with what I had written in book two of Destiny. It just seemed flat to me. Where there were elements of excitement, it was not exciting enough. There was too much drama and not enough action. But for the life of me I could not figure out how to fix it. Then in the English class at school the kids started a new projected. They were to write a story about a “Hero’s Journey.” Now this could be about a super hero or it could be about the guy next door that suddenly had to save the neighborhood from the evil trash collector. This was something I could sink my teeth into. Something I knew how to do. Ask me about algebra and I will blink blanking at you and run for the “How to do algebra” website for help. Writing? This I knew how to do!

It’s been a study in biting my lip so I do not interrupt the teacher. I love the English teacher I work with. She is fun, engaging, will not take any crap from her students yet let them voice their opinions freely (no matter how silly it may be) and not make them feel stupid. And she’s really good at her job. My son had her in 8th and 9th grade and she is one of his favorite teachers from school. My education in writing consists of what I learned in high school, from books I have read on the subject and what I have read for my own pleasure. I have been writing since the 8th grade and as I grew older learned more and more. Going through this class with the now 8th graders, listening to the teacher as she explained what is needed for a good story (things I already knew but for some reason needed to hear again) the damn broke in my writer’s block. I knew now what I needed to change and what I needed to add. All things in the books I had written before but for some reason while writing this book I had left out.

So, instead of editing like I planned, different parts of the book and what I need to add or change to those parts are being done. And not necessarily in order of the books timeline. But that’s okay. As long as the finished product makes sense and entertains then all is good.

I also want to thank that English teacher. You have been an immense help in this process of writing book two of the Destiny trilogy/series. (Not sure yet which it will be. Ooh! Need a new title too. Hmmm……)

Off to rake leaves and think. Have a wonderful day!

The Dreams We Dream…..

On October 19, 2014 By HeidiIn Blog4 Comments

I was looking through my many composition/journal books where I keep my ramblings, story ideas, chapters that I hand wrote before typing into the computer and the odd dreams or two. I came across this reoccurring dream and thought I would share. I’m not sure why I have this dream. It comes in spurts, more times when I was younger, and I have no idea why I have this dream. Just that it is very vivid and I am usually exhausted in the morning. This is not edited, much. I wrote it down as I remembered it, and as in most of my dreams, it may be disjointed, strange. So please, bear with me.
Anyway, here it is……

   Four people all hiding who they really were, what there powers are. Two main characters are good guys hiding in the town by false identities. One bad guy, not hiding but threatens to expose the males if the girl with them does not choose him.
   It is in a town that is familiar to me, with stores, a main street and houses in the surrounding area, yet is a lot busier than normal. The male does not know about the deal she has made, but he does know there is a threat. That his enemy is ready to destroy his and his friend’s world if they do not give him what he wants. But there is no choice. The good male will not give up the girl to someone as evil as his enemy.
    The girl has no choice if she wants those she cares about to remain unharmed. She accepts the terms of the agreement. She goes with the enemy and does not tell her friends or the man she truly loves.
    There is danger all around. Buildings are exploding and she is out saving innocents even though she is supposed to stay safe, hidden from the enemy. But she is eventually caught with a group of others and brought to the leader.
    The scene changes to a compound that is surrounded by a high concrete wall. The main building is made of concrete and large. A mix of warehouse and keep. There are men and women running around carrying weapons, yelling orders or for help as the sound of explosions can be heard all around. There is smoke and fire, yet within the walls it is contained, but above the wall she can see the glow of fire against the ever present smoke. Someone recognizes her and pulls her from the group to take to his leader.
    Her enemy lavishes her with gifts but she is still a prisoner and objects, no matter how pretty or how expensive, do not replace love. He won’t let her out of his sight, but she finally manages to allude him for a short period of time. Just for a few minutes of peace. No one can understand why she wants to escape him. Why she is unhappy when he gives her everything. She tires to explain but they do not understand.

This is where the dream ends. It never really seems to end. Just an endless loop that continues to circle around and around. Maybe someday I will understand….or not. 🙂 Have a wonderful day.

To See What I See

Category: Blog