#ROW80 Midweek Check-In 8/17/11

Rescued baby raccoon covering its eyes.

Did you know a baby raccoon covers its eyes when it's scared? Yep. I learned that watching Billy The Exterminator last week. He rescued a family and one of the babies covered its eyes just like a scared kid. Cutest thing ever.

I was thinking about that baby raccoon as I wrote this post. The last few days haven't been bad, just busy. Lots of work to get done on the synopsis but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Catie Rhodes directed me to this FREE lecture offered by Lisa Gardner at her Writer's Toolbox. Gardner does a great job explaining the nuts and bolts, which is all a synopsis is.

I also have some ideas for The Prophet. I haven't had a lot of time to write because we've been doing a lot of family things before school starts. Today's my writing day, though, and I'm ready to dig in.

But my confidence has been lagging. I know we all have those moments. We read someone else's work and wonder why the hell we even bother. I got down in the dumps Monday after starting Tess Gerritsen's Ice Cold. How can I ever hope to be that good? My writing isn't close to hers, blah, blah, blah.

Thankfully Catie jumped on my butt and reminded me we all start somewhere, and that even the best artists weren't great in the beginning. Practice does make perfect.

It's just annoying. But the effort is worth it.

Just to make you smile, another baby raccoon.

My parents had five of these outside last summer, eating the cat food.

They cried when they were frightened.

Anyway, I've resolved to stop covering my eyes and worrying about the "what ifs." They're bad news and drag me down. My writing suffers. Sometimes I'll go a day or two without doing anything, and that's just stupid. No one ever got anywhere by feeling sorry for themselves.

Light and Dark is in good shape for Row80. It's ready for the next edit, which was my goal. My new goal is to get the synopsis in working shape by this weekend, as well as the query letter.

I'm going to stop worrying about following "the plan" for The Prophet and do some discovery writing. It may not be the way experts say to do it, but it works for me and that's what counts. Once I get that under my belt, I'll be able to figure out my turning points and go from there. My goal is to have this done by next Wednesday. Hold me to it.

On the health front, I have something to be proud of because I've gotten in 60 minutes of exercise for the last four days running. That's big for me. I lost weight on a diet that banned all exercise but toning, and I excelled because I LOATHE exercise. But on day four of walking/running/biking, guess what? I feel better. Mind is shaper, I have more energy, all that jazz. It really does work.

I'm feeling pretty good about this week, but enough about me. How are your #Row80 goals coming? What have you added or revised?

Manic Monday: 10 Secrets to a Perfect Synopsis

Most of you know I've been hard at work on the synopsis for Light and Dark. I've learned some things over the past week, and I wanted to share them with you. After all, social media is about making friends and spreading the love. I wouldn't want to deny anyone these secrets of the synopsis.

1) Liquor is required to write a good synopsis. Rum and Diet Coke works well.

2) When writing your synopsis, don't have anything valuable within grabbing distance. The last thing you want to do is to break something.

3) Make sure you've said a few prayers to the writing Gods. Consider an offering as well. They like chocolate cake.

4) Do a writer's version of the rain dance. Put on your best dress (or suit) and perform a jig around your computer. Make sure your motions are jerky and lack all coordination. This ensures you'll either pass out or think of something better to do.

5) Get an aroma therapy candle. Just like a dog, you can train yourself to be inspired when the scent hits you. And your writing area doesn't stink from all the stress sweat pouring off you.

6) Remember, writing a synopsis is much like doing a dirty deed for the devil. Watch some good horror movies to get in the right frame of mind.

7) Spend as much time on Twitter lamenting your sad state of life as possible. Your Twitter friends will commiserate with you and then thank God they're not the ones writing a synopsis.

8) Make sure you use every swear word in your vernacular and then make up some new ones. This is another great trick to keep your creative juices flowing.

9) When all else fails, a good crying jag helps to clear the clogged writing ducts.

10) B*tch and moan to your critique partner so they feel extra sorry for you. Then ask them to fix the piece of junk.

It took a lot of trial and error to learn the secrets of synopsis success, but I think I've got the program down now. If you follow these ten pearls of wisdom, you'll be sure to have a rough draft that needs a lot of work.

Happy Monday! Do you have any tricks to add?

#ROW80 Midweek Check-In 8/10/11

This is how I'm feeling right about now. My best childhood friend's mom passed away, and yesterday was the funeral. I spent a lot of time of time with her growing up, and she was a great lady. She did a lot for all of us kids and put up with even more. She was only 65, and losing her is very sad. She died in her sleep, so we're grateful she didn't suffer. Still, the experience is exhausting, and I can only imagine how my friend is feeling. Losing my parents, especially my mom, is my greatest fear. I have no idea how I'll cope. My thoughts are with her family. We were all blessed to have had her in our lives.

Sad stuff aside, I've been focusing on my query letter for Light and Dark. *Grumbles, stomps, and throws stuff.* It's going better than I thought, and I've been learning a lot. Catie Rhodes has given me a ton of advice, including some cool exercises. The first one is writing about your book in three sentences or about 70 words: story set up (inciting incident) in one sentence, the major disasters are one to three sentences, the ending is one. Character gets one sentence, the conflict one sentence, and your book's unique aspects get one sentence. It's challenging, but it's a great practice.

The second trick is to write about your book in one sentence - 25 words or less. No names. It's tough, but again, great practice.

I'm also working on the synopsis. Even more stomping and grumbling about this one. Hate writing these with a passion. But Kathryn Craft from the Blood Red Pencil and TJ Proofs gave me some great tips: go through your book chapter by chapter and write down how each chapter moves the story/character arc along. Summarize the main theme of each chapter and then go from there. This has really helped me from being all over the place with my synopsis.

I also have to thank Donna Galanti for reading my query letter and giving some great feedback. She's had some experience with queries and is able to give some great advice.

My goal is to have a draft of the synopsis and query letter ready for critique/editing by Friday.

On The Prophet front, still in planning phase but getting closer. Working on the setting: a picturesque historical town in Mississippi, deep in the heart of the Bible belt. Very excited!

And on the way down to my parents yesterday I came up with an idea with another story. Thank goodness for voice recorders on cell phones. This one's definitely going in the to-write vault:)

Thanks to you all for your support of my blog and on Twitter. How's your #Row80 week going?