Why You Walk Away?

I've set a goal for myself in completing my latest WIP but I'm falling behind. Hours when I should be pounding out new words and getting that sloppy first draft done, I find myself walking away to do other things. Read those tempting books on my TBR pile, wile away times on social media, weed the flower beds. do some cleaning and other things productive and not. I shouldn't be doing that.

Why do I walk away? Probably for the same reasons lots of people walk away from lots of things. I put the writing aside when it gets hard. It's hard when I get stuck in a scene. When I don't know how to move from this plot point to the next one. When the dialogue doesn't feel right. When I know the emotions in a scene are very important and I can't find the correct words. All those things that make writing good prose difficult. Sometimes those things even cause a writer to abandon a story.

How do I fight that urge to avoid the difficult parts? I've learned a couple techniques. When that feeling of it being too difficult comes over me, I make myself stay at my computer and write for just five more minutes. Or just one more paragraph. Sometimes that alone is enough to get me past the hard part or see a way through it. Another I've started using is called a Sprint Journal. We have a guest on IWSG later in the summer who will explain what that is. If I do end up leaving my writing chair, one of my other options for finding a way past the hard part is doing something mindless while I try to think my way through. A walk with my music. mowing the grass, weeding, cleaning, baking, those many things where my hands work and mind can mull over the problem.

"Creativity is the cessation of stupidity." Edwin H. Land

"Don't think about making art, just get it done." Andy Warhol

Before on this blog, you've heard me lament the loss of Borders bookstores. The BAM that took its place just doesn't measure up. My daughter, who is studying in Oman for the first half of the summer, sent me this picture. Needless to say, she's having a great time in that faraway land. Why has Borders survived there and abandoned us here in the US of A?

What makes you walk away from your writing? How do you keep going when the words are hard to get down? Did you know Borders lives on in parts of the world?

What It Means

My local Borders lingers still.  It has a few shelves of books.  The adult fiction section would fit in my living room.  I often do some shopping in the center where the store is located so I go in and check it out.  And then I walk out empty-handed.  The best buy I've found in the last few weeks of its slow demise is the stack of AP study guides my daughter needs for her current high school classes.  The store is filled with cheap, but still over-priced, towels and other things that have never belonged in a bookstore.

I miss sitting the cafe and if it was still open, I would  likely be writing this blog post there with an iced latte sharing the table with me along with a stack of books I was considering purchasing.  Instead, I've visited my local library on a more regular basis.  Nearly every two weeks I stop in and see what new releases they have and prowl the aisles in search of new authors.  Their fantasy/scifi offerings are limited and they seldom updated but I've discovered some mystery/thriller writers I've quite come to enjoy like CJ Box and Jonathan Kellerman.  Of course the library doesn't carry their earlier books so I've turned to online sellers.

My husband bought me a Kobo eReader for Christmas last year and I was thrilled with it though I often wish I'd asked him for a Kindle instead.  But it's easy to purchase books on and I like reading on it.  So I'm still buying books and spending less gas to do so.  I make a lot of ice coffee at home and do nearly all my writing at my own desk. 

So though Borders is gone, I'm not reading less though I've bought no physical books for my own reading pleasure in the past few weeks.  I'm probably going to buy the next Preston and Childs book tomorrow to read at lunch at work this week.  I'm over my sadness at the end of Borders and only worry that I've adjusted so well.  If all brick and mortar stores go extinct, will I get over it so quickly?  Will you?  Do you see the end in sight?

Bookstore Personalities

Every book store I frequent has certain characteristics that keep me coming back.  For one of them it's simple geographic location. For another one, it's the quantity of books on the shelves.  For the two independent stores I frequent, it's the warmth of the people running the store and an aura of true love for the written word.

Yesterday I was the privileged guest of the Borders Bookstore at the Lycoming Mall in Williamsport, PA where I signed copies of The Keepers of Sulbreth.  Joyce Rupert, host extraordinaire, had my signing posted on their events calenders, printed and online, had posters at both entrances to the store and had ordered a LARGE number of  my books for me to sign.  As you can see from the picture, they had a large table set up for me with a beautiful Borders cloth covering it, a comfortable chair and those clever little plastic gadgets to display my books.
Not only was Joyce helpful and friendly, but every worker in the store made me feel welcome and many stopped to speak with me.  Now let me tell you about location.
Many authors had horror stories of a signing table set in the back of the store, by the bathroom, or some other quirky spot in a store where no one will ever see them. I wasn't in the back of the store  because this store had NO back. It is set in a mall where the one entrance is to the parking lot and the other is into the enclosed mall concourse.  The store has an aisle set up from one entrance to the other, lined with displays.  And yesterday my books and I shared that prime selling place with those racks and tables of best-sellers. Nearly every person entering the store passed by my table, many of whom were only using Borders as a convenient way to enter the mall.  It was wonderful.
On one side of my table was a display of the newest hardback releases and across the aisle from me was the large table of newest mass market releases.  Many of my sales came from people searching that table for a read. On my other side was the information desk, constantly manned and constantly busy. 
The store had a constant flow of customers and I had few moments of standing by myself.  Some people stopped to talk about writing, about our favorite fantasy books, about their college plans, about their lives and the world of books.  One aspiring writer is a temporary resident of the area as he does his time as the local army recruiter.  I wish Sergeant Aleman the best of luck and hope he stays save in his next tour. 
I consider yesterday's signing as my most successful event.  Not because I sold the most books ever but because I sold them all to strangers.  Not one family member, friend or fellow writing group member were among my customers.  I love those people for their support but I'll never know for sure they purchased my book purely for its entertainment value.  Yesterday every person who bought my book wanted it for its own merits.  It was a wonderful feeling.
I sold half the books Joyce had ordered for the event and she assured me I did better than anyone they'd recently had for an event.  So even though I didn't sell out like I did at three previous events, I was thrilled with the day.  She invited me back and I'll certainly plan on doing another event. My only regret is I don't live closer to this particular Borders.  They have a large cafe and a very efficient staff.
To top off a great day and keep me alert on the two hour drive home, I visited the Auntie Anne's pretzel store and bought an original recipe pretzel.  So many people walked through the store carrying one, my stomach was growling. 
Do you have any tales of best and worst book signings?

Here I Come, Williamsport

This Saturday from 1-3, I'll being signing copies of The Keepers of Sulbreth at the Borders Store located at the Lycoming Mall in Williamsport, PA.  This is exciting for me because it's the closest Borders to where I grew up. 

Williamsport is a rather big town and the last time I was to the Lycoming Mall it was really busy so I'm hoping for a big crowd.  I owe this signing completely to my writers' group, Pennwriters.  They send out a newsletter to book sellers promoting their published authors works.  The event organizer at this Borders contacted me after she saw my book in the Pennwriters Newsletter.  Thanks, PW!
So if you're in the area, please stop by and say hello even if you don't want to read my book or have already purchased it.
Does your writers' group do anything like this to help their members?

Writing in the Cafe

For the last few weeks I’ve been working on edits for Book #4 of The Futhark Chronicles, Children of Futhark. I won’t go into the process except for one thing. Why is it I can get more accomplished while sitting in my favorite coffee shop than I can while sitting in my office at home?


Surely there are more distractions sitting in the Seattle’s Best Café in my local Borders than there is in my small carpeted room at my writing desk at home? Today there were only a handful of people present but two of the men knew each other and talked long and loud about their stocks. One lady sitting by herself shared her cell phone conversation with half the store. We only heard one side of it and believe me, it wasn’t worth sharing. Behind me an older man was trying to impress a younger woman with his knowledge of travel in Europe and grad school.

The kind lady working behind the counter made some really long announcements into the store PA system about their specials for the day. She refilled the ice machine to much clanging and of course she had to grind coffee for someone. Yet I accomplished so much. Why?

Despite all these distractions, they were still less than those I get at home. Even when I’m home alone (very seldom happens), I feel the pressure of the dirty laundry, the long-ignored bathrooms, the weed-filled flower beds and my love of baking. Few are the days when I indulge in more than an hour of uninterrupted writing time. I’m always hoping up to work on another chore. I love multi-tasking and can’t seem to refrain from it even when I really want to concentrate on my writing.

So I pack up my computer and drive the ten minutes to my local Borders, buy an over-priced latte and work. My goal is to make this trip at least every third day over the next two weeks and get the rest of the edits done. Then I’ll need a few hours to recheck the formatting, write up a brief synopsis and then send it off to my publisher by the end of the month.

How about you? Is there a place where you find the peace needed to write? Is it home or elsewhere? Are coffee shops distracting or relaxing to you?