Plot Monkeys

Saturday Guest Blog with Karen Lingefelt

Today’s guest blogger is a very special woman. She’s rip-roaringly funny (though she’ll tell you she’s not…don’t believe her) and she’s a super talented author. A few years ago, she was a finalist in Dorchester’s American Title contest and as a result, had her first book, the historical TRUE PRETENSES published.

Since then, Karen has struggled to find where she fits into the publishing arena. She’s a writer that I look to for inspiration because she’s so dedicated to her dream. I’m really excited to have her here at Plotmonkeys…with a message that is straight from the heart….but is guaranteed to get your butt in your chair with your fingers on the keyboard!
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I’ve always loved to write. After I grew up and got my very own place, I’d come home from work and spend evenings and weekends writing novels on my portable typewriter. People sneered that I didn’t have a life, ostensibly because it didn’t mirror theirs. My life with the characters I created was my own, and I loved it.

Except for the keys, the typewriter had none of the features of today’s computers. I didn’t have to go out and buy a whole new keyboard every time—make that every day—I slopped coffee on it. No goofing around with different fonts, because there was only one. No changing characters’ names every week. (’Fess up: How many of you have used “Find and Replace” to give your villain the same name—if only temporarily—as your boss-from-hell, or your two-timing ex, or even that snotty girl with the oil-free hair, oil-free complexion, and fully formed bazoombas, who taunted you for being her opposite back in seventh grade?)

With the typewriter, I had nothing between me and the blank page except the wheels of my imagination. No editing or cutting and pasting as I went, and—perhaps best of all—no crashing hard drives resulting in the loss of all my work because I was too lazy to back it up. (’Fess up: Can any of you come up with a better any other reason for not backing up your work?)

I didn’t have to worry about a thing except writing the book, even if most of it was dreck. But I loved it.

As the years went by, and the manuscripts (and rejection letters) stacked up, I got married, became a stay-at-home mom, and let my husband persuade me that the computer made life much easier than my corroded, beat up, faithful old typewriter. He was right. But with the daily demands of raising three autistic children and tracking down my husband’s misplaced keys, it became increasingly harder to get my tush in the chair every day to write, until it dropped to the very bottom of my list of things important to me (the writing, not my backside).

Oh, I tried all the old tricks to get back into the groove. Like carrying a spiral notebook in my purse, or as I like to call it, “The Black Hole.” Enough said.

Or re-reading what I’d written so far to put myself “in the mood” to write new stuff. That’s where my Word program ceased to be the angel on my shoulder, offering sound advice to help make my book the best it could be. Instead it morphed into “Word Devil”, who lured me astray into a dark, vicious cycle of perpetual self-editing, till I polished and sanded all the life out of the three chapters I’d managed to write—and in so doing, sucked the joy out of writing altogether.

My favorite trick was rewarding myself with a chocolate for every page I wrote. This worked so well that soon I was too busy writing pages to stop and eat the chocolates I’d earned. Then my husband offered me a chocolate for each bathroom tile I chiseled free of soap scum, followed by a chocolate for every picket of fence I whitewashed. Before I knew it, I was back to landscaping, car detailing, and some light roofing, while he took over the computer to play “Beast Slayer IV: Conquest of the Nine Galactic Kingdoms of Lasotania.” I’m too embarrassed to admit how many months went by before I realized he’d stopped tossing chocolates my way.

Then he gave me a laptop for Christmas, a sure sign he still believed in what I’d always loved to do—or maybe he was just tired of having to share the desktop. Yet by then, my writing kavorka was so bad, I couldn’t even get started on a new book.

Julie (the only fellow writer I know diabolical enough to do this) played on my worst fears to get my rear in gear: She told me if I didn’t write three chapters and a synopsis by a date less than a month hence, I would have to apply for a job with a certain well known major retailer, whose career opportunities my husband is notorious for half-jokingly suggesting to me.

That worked, as did a surprise reward from fellow writer Phyllis, aka “The Good Cop who doesn’t have an uncle named Guido.”

But then I stumbled to a halt again, not knowing where to go from there, especially with a synopsis that was a less effective sales tool than my weekly grocery list.

That’s when Cheryl, a participant on our chapter’s Book Challenge loop (members write a book in a year for the chance to win a prize at year’s end), came up with an idea she got from another loop: Write 100 words every day, for 100 days.

What I’ve written here, up to this sentence, is a little over 800 words. Surely I could do an eighth of this each day?

It seemed like a simple enough challenge, so I started doing it—and I easily topped 100 words every day. Before long, my two most endearing traits—greed and competitiveness—kicked in with a vengeance, and I woke up each morning wanting to write more than I’d written the day before, just to see if I could break a new record.

Suddenly, my writing was once again a priority. Just as I needed that cup of coffee first thing each morning, I needed to write every day. I found myself using it to fill in little gaps during the day. When there were 20 minutes remaining before the 5 o’clock newscast, I used that time to knock out 300 words.

I became such a fiend about producing words each day, I stopped worrying about all the little things that had been bogging me down—little things the Word Devil had whispered and at times even yelled in my ear. I plucked him off my shoulder, stuffed him screaming into The Black Hole never to be seen again, and just wrote. Granted, most of what I wrote was superfluous rubbish that seemed to serve no purpose other than to inflate the daily word count, but I also knew I could always go back and fix it later. The important thing was I was writing, getting the words down, and filling that blank page—because there was nothing else to do with it.

It was like being back on my old typewriter again, with nothing between me and those long empty stretches of white space . . . except the freshly greased wheels of my wildly spinning imagination.

On Day 1 of those 100 days, I wrote 549 words. My lowest daily count was 226; my highest 3,218 on the day I finally typed THE END—not on Day 100, but Day 75. The total word count of the book was about 20,000 words over what it should’ve been.

That hadn’t happened since I wrote those early manuscripts now holding up my bed. Now I want to do the challenge again—just as soon as I go back and fix the aforementioned rubbish.

Try it yourself. A hundred words is really nothing, and can take less than a quarter of an hour. Don’t worry if it’s rubbish. Thanks to the computer, you can always fix it later, and it’ll be easier than if you had that typewriter. Make your internal editor—the Word Angel—cool her wings until the book is done. Cast the Word Devil out of the details. His ultimate aim is to take you away from your writing and make you waste time on something less fulfilling and more futile—like housework.

Still stumped? Try picking a “word for the day.” Nothing common or outlandish, but challenging enough to make you think of how to use it in your story. An example is “slug.” It can be in any form—a noun (garden slug, slugs from a shotgun) or a verb. (Out of ammo, she slugged him with the butt of her shotgun.) Write at least 100 words, and make sure “slug” is one of them. Then pick another word—like “bubbles”—and rinse and repeat. See where this exercise takes your story. Like me, you may find yourself writing more than you intended—and that’s worth a lot of chocolate!

All you need is that blank page and the power of your imagination—that same power you’ve always had, that made you fall in love with writing in the first place.

And with that, there’s only one thing to do.

Just write.
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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 29th, 2007 at 6:00 am and is filed under Julie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

40 Comments

This is a wonderful story, and I LOVE the idea of a ‘pick a word of the day’. Am going to have to try that…actually, think I’m going to try that today. Hmm…I’ll start with slip.

slip on some water
slip up on somebody
slip a twenty from hubby’s wallet

Oh, I like this idea a lot

Comment by Keri Ford — September 29, 2007 @ 8:39 am
Inspiring as always, Karen!

Comment by Diana — September 29, 2007 @ 8:58 am
Awesome article Karen! As usual, you are a great inspiration to us all. You have such a wonderful sense of humor. No wonder we Tarans love you. Lynette

Comment by Lynette — September 29, 2007 @ 9:29 am
Wow. Welcome, Karen. And thanks for the words of inspiration that as you know even published authors need. I’m getting as much help out of these Sat writing blogs as I hope you all are (the writers who visit us) and I hope the readers are enjoying learning snippets of the writing process. And meeting new authors.

I’m going to try to work with that word idea today.

Comment by Carly — September 29, 2007 @ 10:01 am
Karen-Loved your article and the words that inspired it. Now I’ve got to sit my butt in the chair, eat chocolate and wait to be inspired. Loretta

Comment by Loretta — September 29, 2007 @ 10:14 am
Hi, Karen! Thanks for the morning chuckles. I love your idea to “pick a word.” I’m going to try that today. It sounds like a wonderful tool for those days when the juices aren’t flowing! This was a great article! I love to laugh and learn something at the same time. See this is me putting your ideas to work. Can you tell I love these emoticon thingys?

Comment by Wendi — September 29, 2007 @ 10:33 am
Okay, first I’m going to see if this gets posted. Yesterday I tried THREE TIMES to post on the plotmonkeys and for some reason the server did not, I repeat, did not like my computer!

So, here goes, I’m hitting the submit key–NOW

Cher

Comment by Cher — September 29, 2007 @ 10:46 am
Hi, Karen! Welcome to the jungle!

What a wonderful, inspirational post! I know Julie also does the 100 words a day — I might have to give it a try!

Comment by Janelle — September 29, 2007 @ 10:54 am
YAY I can’t believe it! The server likes my computer again!

Good morning, plotmonkeys and all!

Karen, thank you so much for your wonderful, inspiring words. I can’t believe you have raised “3″ autistic children. You are amazing. I have a daughter with mild to moderate mental retardation–so I have an idea of what you’ve gone through. Actually our daughter was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder in the beginning which the white coats told us was a form of autism. Since then her diagnosis has changed.

Every writer truly has a different journey and sometimes I forget to enjoy that journey more rather than focusing on a deadline and typing the end.
Thank you for reminding me to stop and notice the colorful tulips springing up from my keyboard.

One more thing, if anyone is interested check out the NANO site–National Novel Writing Month–It starts on November 1st and runs until the end of the month. http://www.nanowrimo.org It’s so much fun! The guy who started it also has a book called “No Plot, No Problem”. I participated for the first time last year and had a blast.

Thanks again, Karen for your inspiring words.

Take care,

Cher

Comment by Cher — September 29, 2007 @ 10:57 am
Many thanks to Julie for shanghaiing me into doing this, and thank you all for the kind words.

I actually learned about the “Word for the Day” trick from Diana Peterfreund’s blog a few months back. It worked gangbusters for me.

I glance around the room where I write–it’s nearly wall-to-wall bookcases–and I pluck words off the spines of books, or even from posts like this–but I’m sure you all know how the Internet can bog you down and like the Word Devil lead you astray from your writing!

Comment by Karen Lingefelt — September 29, 2007 @ 11:02 am
Cher, welcome back Okay here’s the explanation link to what Cher said:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/cjaycontent/index.php?id=2

Also Alison Kent has a similar thing, right? I NEED THIS!

Comment by Carly — September 29, 2007 @ 11:03 am
Cher: I made my previous post the same time you made yours. It sounds as if your daughter has been diagnosed exactly as my firstborn. All three children turned out with varying degrees of the condition; my youngest just turned ten and still doesn’t talk–yet for someone who doesn’t have a thing to say, there’s never a dull moment when he’s around!

And I think I’m a crashing bore at parties because I never know what to say to anyone (that’s why I’d rather write). Go figure.

Comment by Karen Lingefelt — September 29, 2007 @ 11:10 am
Karen, I find it hard to believe you’re a crashing bore at parties. I’d sit beside you and talk to you any time. Your post was funny and inspirational.

Comment by Darlene Ryan — September 29, 2007 @ 11:17 am
Hi Karen! Thank you so much for being here. I really enjoyed reading your post and your story is very inspirational! I like your “word of the day” idea a lot and am going to try it. I’m really stuck at the moment (and I mean stuck like waist deep in mud) with a scene I’m writing and maybe that will help get me over the hump. I’m not one of those writers that can just put words on the page and go back later. I’m more careful and thoughtful the first time through, I just can’t seem to do it any other way. (I do go back of course to revise but it’s not total rubbish. I don’t think. lol) Along those lines, now it’ll probably take me an hour just to decide which word I should use for the day. Ugh.

Comment by Robin — September 29, 2007 @ 11:24 am
Thanks for posting the link, Carly. Guess I should have explained it a bit more.

Karen, I can relate to not knowing what to say. I don’t think of myself as being very good in a crowd. I do more listening and observing than anything else. Especially at a writers conference when there are a lot of “important” people in a room. Why would they care what I have to say?

Special needs kids/people are a gift. My daughter has taught me so much as have her friends. They truly understand compassion and love.

Cher

Comment by Cher — September 29, 2007 @ 11:29 am
Hi Karen:

You are SO inspiring! And no only that- you’re as funny as hell.

For a while the doctors thought my nephew was autistic before being diagnosed with severe ADHD. I know what my sister when through. Do you realize how amazing it is that you’ve retained your awesome sense of humor?

Can you explain what makes your word devil? What things bog you down?

Thank you for sharing your writing tips- I can’t wait to join in on the 100 words for next year.

Rosemary

Comment by Rosemary — September 29, 2007 @ 11:30 am
Hi Karen, Thanks for sharing your creative tips with us.
I was wondering, now that you are published, do you feel more pressure to be able to do it again?

Comment by Tina Martinesi — September 29, 2007 @ 11:46 am
What an awesome, excellent post, Karen! Thank you so much, that was just exactly what I needed to hear!

And thanks so much for being here in the jungle today! We’re so happy to have you!!

Comment by Leslie — September 29, 2007 @ 12:26 pm
Hi Karen,

Thanks for being in the jungle today. I loved your story, and as someone who has 1 challenging child, I can’t imagine what it must be like for you. And yet, like someone else said, you’ve maintained your sense of humor and you’ve kept writing. What was my excuse again….

My RWA Online Chapter is starting our KIA marathon (named in honor of a late member of the chapter) on Monday - it runs for the entire month of October and the goal is to get as much on the pae as you can. Every page counts as 1 point, editing counts as 1/2 point per page. We’re broken down into groups and the group with the most points wins. And it doesn’t matter if it’s pure crud on the page or good pages, 1 page counts as 1 point.

I don’t have any problem cranking out pages. I can do 20 in a day without breaking a sweat, but they usually always suck. But you’ve made me feel better about that. If I get rid of the Word Devil and just write then I can always go back and edit and get rid of the sludge and keep the gold - provided there is any!

Thanks for the inspirational words and the idea of the Word of the Day. Like others, I’m going to start with that today and see how it goes.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

Comment by Jodie — September 29, 2007 @ 12:26 pm
Rosemary: Thanks for the kudos. My Word Devil is either the internal editor/revision treadmill that’s very easy to get stuck on–or the Internet. If I had any sense, I’d take my laptop to someplace like Starbucks, where I’d have no Internet connection (and a husband recently retired from the military). Great coffee, but I do love my house!

Tina: I absolutely love being published–I acquired a taste for it rather quickly. The biggest pressure I get is from relatives who keep asking,

“Whenareyougoingtopublishanotherbookwhenareyougoingtopublishanotherbookwhenareyougoingtopublishanotherbook?”

Honestly, they’re like kids in the back seat of the station wagon on a long trip. I’ve learned to ignore them and/or change the subject. It helps they all live in other states and air travel is such a hassle these days.

I’m not sure that people who aren’t writers really understand just how tough it is–not only to get your foot in the door, but the rest of yourself–and stay there. They don’t realize that not all of us become Nora Roberts straight out of the gate. That’s one of the things I love about my RWA chapter, the Tampa Area Romance Authors–they’re in the same trenches with me, and they get it. They’re very supportive, and I sure as heck wouldn’t be here making this comment without them!

Comment by Karen Lingefelt — September 29, 2007 @ 12:43 pm
Well Karen its such an accomplishment to now be a published author so just tell them bite me!!

All of the plotmonkeys have shared their big break story with us, if you don’t mind me asking, would you share your big break story with us?

Comment by Tina Martinesi — September 29, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
Karen,
You are a talented word goddess and an inspiration to everyone you meet!

Doing the happy dance for you finishing your book waaaaaay before deadline!! And don’t forget to keep wishing on your wish star!!!!

But all love and affection aside, at the TARA party this year….the Bear is Mine. Bwahahaha!

Comment by C.L. Wilson — September 29, 2007 @ 1:57 pm
Tina: I’m one of those people who was published as the result of a contest.

TRUE PRETENSES was by no means the first book I wrote, but it was my first ever attempt at writing Regency. I’d always enjoyed reading Regency historicals, but never dared to try my hand at writing one, until I read the debut of another Karen–the wonderfully witty Karen Hawkins who wrote THE ABDUCTION OF JULIA. I don’t know how or why, but my decision to write Regency started there.

I submitted TRUE PRETENSES to Dorchester’s 2002 New Historical Voice Contest, which was more straightforward and–in my very humble opinion–a lot less brutal than the American Title Contest they do nowadays. Out of something like 200 entries, they picked three finalists, and then a group of booksellers voted for the winner. Readers could also log onto the Romantic Times website to read the first three chapters of each finalist, and vote for their favorite. Whoever got the most “reader votes” would get one vote tacked onto the bookseller votes. I was told that I got the most reader votes, which absolutely thrilled me, but I still didn’t win.

Dorchester hung onto the manuscript for several months after that, and then on Friday, March 14, 2003, at approximately 3:40 pm EST, I got The Call.

That was two days before my birthday, and the day after that, my husband, who’s in the Air Force, came home after 7 months overseas. That was a good weekend.

Comment by Karen Lingefelt — September 29, 2007 @ 2:26 pm
And exactly 6 years to the day of my first call. Also on 3/14. How weird is that?

Karen, this is a most excellent and timely post! Thanks so much for sharing your hard-earned wisdom here at Plotmonkeys.

Comment by Julie Leto — September 29, 2007 @ 4:06 pm
For those of you who get RT, check out the most adorable picture of Carly as a little girl.

It is the cutest, sweetest picture with her white boots and hood.

Cher

Comment by Cher — September 29, 2007 @ 4:08 pm
Great blog, Karen!

Comment by Estella — September 29, 2007 @ 4:08 pm
Cher, you saw that pic? I was just lucky mom had it upstairs and I didn’t have to dig through the basement when RT called, LOL! Talk about DUST!

What a day … METS are going to kill me …

Comment by Carly — September 29, 2007 @ 4:17 pm
LOL It is a darling picture. I’m assuming the METS aren’t doing so well at the moment…

Cher

Comment by Cher — September 29, 2007 @ 6:08 pm
Sorry I’m late to the party and welcome to the Jungle!!! Okay, so I’m late on the welcoming stuff too.

I love your post Karen! It’s so true the way life gets in the way and before you know it the writing isn’t even on the agenda. I’m so glad you did the 100×100 and yep, Cheryl you ROCK for starting us doing it. I know I needed it.

Thanks for always encouraging us, making us laugh, and sharing your world with us.

Comment by Vicki — September 29, 2007 @ 8:07 pm
Wow Karen what a great big break story, it gives hope to us struggling writers, Congratulations and good wishes for future stories!!

Comment by Tina Martinesi — September 29, 2007 @ 8:35 pm
Karen,

What an awesome and inspiring post! I’ve been struggling to get back to writing for some time now….ever since my mom died last Feb. I REALLY needed to read your words of encouragement. Especially now as I am FINALLY getting back into writing again. I’ve joined a writing marathon organized by the RWA Online chapter of RWA. So wish me luck that by doing your 100 words a day (or more) I will FINALLY get to those wonderful but sad two words… THE END

Mo

Comment by Mo Boylan — September 29, 2007 @ 11:50 pm
Mo: Please accept my deepest sympathy for your loss. I was in a similar situation while writing TRUE PRETENSES.

The loss of a loved one isn’t something you “get over.” You can’t go under it, you can’t get around it. You have to go through it–in your own way, and on your own timetable. I think the writing marathon will help you in many ways. Do it for Mom!

Many thanks to all who stopped by, and extra thanks and hugs to Julie and the rest of the Plotmonkeys for letting me play in their jungle!

Comment by Karen Lingefelt — September 30, 2007 @ 8:31 am
[...] with some real life family issues. I do have some wrap up posts, but today there’s a post by Karen Lingefelt on Plot Monkeys that’s very much worth reading. She talks of the times when she found herself having [...]

Pingback by The Mess in Progress » Just 100 words — September 30, 2007 @ 10:30 am
Karen, I don’t know if you will see this, but I want to let you know that I really found your blog informative and entertaining…Julie is write, you have a great sense of humor…I love to read blogs that give advice like the one you wrote today because it makes me believe that I can actually sit down and write a book…I copied the last part of your blog to post on my wall…I will read it each time I feel that self-defeatist attitude bubbling up inside me…I write poetry and short stories, but I have been thinking about writing a full length novel, but I don’t feel confident enough…especially when I read such great authors as the “monkeys” and some of my other favs…thank you for taking the time to share with us…I really wish that I was here on the day you were…Julie thanks for inviting Karen to share with us…

Peace and love,

Comment by Paula R. — September 30, 2007 @ 4:29 pm
there is a typo in my previous post…sorry…I wrote write instead of right…

Peace and love,

Comment by Paula R. — September 30, 2007 @ 4:31 pm
Paula: I always check for “stragglers” since I’m notorious for commenting on blog entries a day or two late myself (did it on another blog earlier today, in fact).

Your comment made my whole day!

Whether you write poetry, short stories, or a novel–the important thing is you’re writing! Follow your dream wherever it takes you–keep following, and one day it’ll come true.

Comment by Karen Lingefelt — September 30, 2007 @ 10:19 pm
Karen L - hope you see this, too - I’m a straggler coming in from out of town this weekend. Your blog is tremendous. I’m going to save it for when I need some pants-kicking. Well done. And kudos to your husband for his support and for recognizing what we see every time we’re lucky enough to read anything you post to the TARA loop!

Comment by Karen Rose — October 1, 2007 @ 9:10 am
Great blog, Karen! The line about “light roofing” made me spit my coffee, lol.

Comment by Phyllis Towzey — October 1, 2007 @ 9:47 am
Yes, I knew some of you might be goofing off at M & M this weekend . . . Phyllis, it’s always a pleasure to see you spit your coffee (when you’re not making me do the same).

Karen R: Thanks for the kind words and kudos to my DH, you NYT Bestselling Author, you! I’d say we both ended up with great guys!

Comment by Karen Lingefelt — October 2, 2007 @ 9:02 am
WOW! What an awesome story! Your exercise of 100 words a day is just the thing to give yourself a jumpstart! This is my first time on the site, and I must say, I am learning a lot, and the emoticons are priceless!! How fun!

Comment by Teena — October 3, 2007 @ 10:16 pm