JB Lynn

Hijinks, Hilarity and Heart

JB Lynn

Tweaking my writing process

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“Writing is like reinventing the wheel — over and over and over and over again, because each story you tell is different.” JB Lynn

This year, I’ve been using dictation/transcription to get the first draft of my books done. I plot out a book in broad strokes, do a slightly more detailed chapter-by-chapter outline and then dictate it, one chapter at a time.

Some days I swear it’s better than my “old” method, some days the “old” method seems better. For the record, my “old” method was constantly changing too. I’ve handwritten entire books, utilized speech recognition software (MOST frustrating method) used an Alphasmart word processor (still one of my preferred methods if I’m stuck) and of course, written on my computer.

When I get the transcribed chapters back, I edit them. When the book is “complete” I edit them again.

That’s where I am in the process today. I’ve just finished editing the “completed” version of the 21st (!!!) book in the CONFESSIONS OF A SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC HITWOMAN SERIES.  

Now it will go to my story editor. Once I get it back, I’ll edit the story content yet again.

In the meantime, I’m scheduled to work on the second book in the Psychic Consignment Mystery series.

BUT I’m dying to work on Hitwoman 22.

What to do?

If I dictate one and type the other, would it be possible to write some of both each day?

Or is that taking the tweaking a bit too far?  I’m going to experiment and see!

Kids, pizza, screen time and reading

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Last week ONE WOMAN’S JUNK, the first of the Psychic Consignment Mysteries, was released. Here’s my favorite line from an Amazon reviewer:

“Let’s just say my kids were in Heaven because they had pizza and all the screen time so I could read this book straight through because putting it down was not an option.”

Isn’t that awesome?!?! Who doesn’t love getting lost in a book like that?

Letty wanted her ashes scattered under a full moon at the beach, but she couldn’t have known about the lightning strike….or did she?

When their beloved godmother dies suddenly, the Concordia sisters converge on the beach town of Sarasota, Florida to mourn the passing of the woman who raised them. While there, they must scatter her ashes as instructed and decide what to do with her consignment shop, One Woman’s Junk.

Navigating her relationships with her older sisters is hard enough for Beatrice, but after they’re all struck by lightning, things get more complicated in the land of sun and sand. With the power of a newly inherited crystal ring, Bea is suddenly assailed by psychic visions when she touches certain objects.

When her godmother is posthumously accused of having stolen a designer purse (which Bea knows darn well is a knock-off – thank you very much), Bea becomes obsessed with proving her innocence.

Contending with a physical injury, challenging family dynamics, and business headaches, Bea struggles to harness and understand her visions.

With the help of an unusual new “friend” and the sexy carpenter next door, she’s determined to clear Letty’s good name.

But doing so may be a bad decision.

One that could cost her not only her relationship with her sisters…but her life.

6 things people said to me today

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This is a random post, but all of these comments amused or touched me today.

Little girl studying my purple hair: “Red and blue make purple. Does that mean you’re mad and sad?”

Friend 1: “I’m nominating you for the Pain in the Ass of the Day Award.”

Hours later from Friend 2: “You are worth waiting and fighting for.”

Neighbor 1: “Your best kept secret is that you’re actually a really nice person.”

Hours later from Neighbor 2: “I heard you’re the enforcer.”

My amazing VA: “You’re such an outdoorsy person.”

Did anyone say anything interesting to YOU today?

Writing Anxiety

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I love my job…but…I hate starting to write.

Not because I hate writing, but because I am constantly trying to overcome my fear.

Most of the time I approach writing with a knot in my stomach, a distracted buzzing in my brain, and dread in my heart.

And yet, most days, I force myself to write. Most days I really enjoy it once I get into some kind of flow. Almost always, I end up feeling better for having done it.

My favorite Dorothy Parker quote is, “I hate writing, I love having written.”

It’s nice to know I’m not alone.

But you’d think, after all this time, the process would get easier. Instead it feels harder with the added pressure of trying to meet the expectations of readers.

Writing this post is a form of procrastination. It allows me to feel productive, when really I’m just avoiding writing new chapters. I guess that means I should go write now.

Or maybe I’ll take a nap…a nap might help.

Or maybe I’ll go for a walk…a walk could help.

Or maybe I’ll make some more coffee…coffee helps.

**I’m not JUST complaining today. I’m finishing up the copy edits for ONE WOMAN’S JUNK and later I’ll actually be adding words to Hitwoman 21…just no guarantees they’ll be “good” words.  😉

Magical Binder of Accomplishment

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I’ve printed out the manuscript for ONE WOMAN’S JUNK in preparation to make the (hopefully) last pass of story edits.

I’ve put the pages in my big, shiny binder (after somehow massacring the job I did of three-hole-punching) and have started scribbling on them.

((Hmmm, the photo makes it look like sand, which is fitting for a book that’s set in a beach town, but in person it’s more like gold glitter.)

This is my process…gold glitter binder, paper and purple ink.  Also hot pink Post-It notes  with random questions and the occassional index card meant to remind me of why I’m doing what I’m doing.

I’d planned on taking the lot to my favorite coffee shop to work on, but it’s been raining for hours, so I stayed home and worked at my desk, where my view could only be described as dreary.

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Also appropriate considering the book begins on a stormy night…..

What makes a good day?

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There’s a lot to like about living in Florida, but the brutal summer heat isn’t one of them.

The heat index was over 100 degrees multiple days this first official week of summer, so basically if you hear someone calling weakly, “I’m melting” there’s a good chance it’s me.

But it rained last night for hours and knocked the temperature down, which meant that this morning’s walk was comfortable and it’s still cool enough that I’m able to sit outside while I do some work.

Considering that spending time outside is a high priority for me, this makes today a good day.
It doesn’t take much to make a day a “good” day for me.

Yesterday was a good day too because I had a sense of accomplishment after spending a significant part of the day and most of the night (until bedtime) working on story edits for ONE WOMAN’S JUNK.  The edits aren’t anywhere near done, but I felt like I made significant progress and I’m no longer in the “I’ll never be able to fix this” mindset that I had been battling.
(It probably helped that I wore ridiculous pants….one can’t take oneself too seriously if you’re wearing something like this.)

I’ve earned a day off from the edits, so today my creative focus will just be on writing. I’m excited to dive back into the 21st Hitwoman book, which I’ve been working on pretty steadily (more progress!).

I’ll also spend some time on the screenplay which is my “pure fun” writing project.
So those are three things that make a day “good” for me: time spent outdoors, progress, and creative work.

What sort of things make a good day for YOU?

Managing my insanity

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I’m jealous of my writer friends who work on one project at a time.

I can’t do that. I have way too many ideas.

In order to manage my insanity, I’ve decided to only work on three writing projects per day.
Currently I’m:

  1. Working on story edits for One Woman’s Junk.
  2. Writing the first draft of Hitwoman 21.
  3. Writing a screenplay, which we can call Monsters. (This is my “fun” project and I’m trying to limit myself to only working on it for about 15 -20 minutes per day.)

There are at least three other projects I’d like to be dabbling with, but I’ve got deadlines I’m striving to meet on One Woman’s Junk and Hitwoman 21, so they’re my highest priority.
I’m also trying an experiment where I’m tracking, in this little notebook,  how much time I spend on each project  and WHEN I work on them

After only a few days this is providing some interesting data that may cause me to revamp my workday schedule. More on that at another time.

Waiting is a dream killer

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I was commiserating with a writer friend earlier about how difficult it is to wait for developmental story edits.

We were discussing how our minds play tricks on us as we wait.

For example, I’m ALWAYS convinced my editor is going to tell me that what I’ve come up with is absolutely awful and I should quit this writing game immediately.

Every. Single Time.

Because of this, right now I’m thinking the ONE WOMAN’S JUNK will not be the first in my Psychic Consignment Mysteries series. Instead, it will be the last book I ever wrote.

Which makes it harder to write the current book I’m working on — the next book in the CONFESSIONS OF A SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC HITWOMAN series.

It’s a nasty cycle.

But I’m plugging along on Hitwoman 21 and keeping my fingers crossed that One Woman’s Junk is SLIGHTLY better than I’m thinking.

Wish me sanity!

Deadline hangover

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I have “deadline hangover” which basically means I’m creatively spent and having trouble stringing complete sentences together.
But I’m thrilled to report that I’ve sent my new book, One Woman’s Junk to my developmental story editor!
I’ll be explaining more about why these items were important to my creative process as we get closer to the release date.
 
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With any luck, this first book in my Psychic Consignment Mystery series, featuring the Concordia sisters, will be released in August.
The rest of the series is already sketched out, but the next book I write will be Hitwoman 21.
But first I’m taking a couple of days off. I’m going to indulge in the reward of watching the adaptation of GOOD OMENS.  I love the book and I’ve only heard good things about the show.