Can you keep a secret?

It is a tremendous relief that Saturday, the 26th, has come and gone. It is very hard to keep a secret from a good friend, and we were all in on a big birthday surprise. I couldn't help feeling, when the party had ended, that it was such a relief that we could finally go back to living lives of transparency in which we didn't have to watch every word for fear that we might give something away.

Transparency is freeing. It's transparency that an artist or writer has to be willing to achieve when becoming a creator of something. First he has to come face to face with the secret ideas, stories, or images deep in his heart. Then he has to be willing to expose them, like laundry hanging on the line, for everyone to see. That can be hard, but I think it is worthwhile.

So here's to transparency. Aren't we thankful for all the great writers out there who decided to be transparent, writing their hearts out and touching ours in the process?

It is a small world after all

Something I find continually fascinating about the internet is it's ability to take you anywhere in the world with a click of the mouse (or keypad). Sometimes when I'm blogging, it's so cozy creating posts here in my living room that I tend to forget there's a big world out there in which other people also zipping around on the internet.

In light of this, I was checking the stats for our blog today, and I was amazed by what I found. Next time you're posting on your own blog, think about how small the world has become.

Since stats were made available to us concerning our own blog's traffic, we've had visits from not only the U.S.A (2897), but also Germany (88), Russia (80), the Netherlands (36), Brazil (26), Poland (23), the U.K. (15), France (14), Canada (13), Spain (13), Bulgaria (7), Australia (4), Japan (3), India (2), and Latvia (1).

So, welcome to all of you who have visited the blog from other countries. I hope you have enjoyed our posts and found something either encouraging or helpful in them. We'd love for you to leave a comment telling about your own writing journey, too, if you have the time.

Thanks for stopping by. : )

Are you a productive writer?

I squirmed uncomfortably, the bare bulb swinging precariously above my head in the small darkened room. "Um, could you rephrase the question?"

"No. Just answer honestly."

"Could you tell me exactly what you mean by productive? I mean, isn't that kind of a subjective question?"

My inner creative manager (who always feels guilty if I'm not getting my quota in) threw up her arms and gave up. After all, we had a lot to get done, and this wasn't helping, was it?

The truth is, productivity is subjective. A professional writer working from home is going to be kicking out a lot more printed word than, say, a single mom who has a job, several kids, and is taking night courses. Productivity takes many shapes and forms. If that's so, the question becomes, what does it mean for me to be productive, and how can I achieve the best productivity I am honestly capable of?

With that in mind, I purchased The Productive Writer this week. I thought it would be a good way to define my own productivity this year. I've already been guilty of procrastinating of the worst kind—the busy kind. I do other things to avoid writing. I graded papers, I did market research, I even dusted my bedroom (which would have passed out from shock if it had been capable of that level of humanity)—it took many forms. Something had to be done. Thus the book.

I like structure and accountability, and I'm hoping that Sage Cohen's book will help me create it in my writing life. I'll keep you updated as I go. For now, how do you define your own productivity?

Seven gifts from Nanowrimo

1. I can write even when I don't feel like writing (which is most of the time)

The truth is, for most of Nanowrimo, I didn't feel like writing my Nanonovel quota of words each day. Even though I normally write every day, whether it's on articles for Examiner.com, curriculum for church, picture books, or novels, focusing my attention on one project and keeping up with it for an entire month containing a major holiday was hard. Most days I just didn't feel like doing it. Had I the choice, I would have bopped between projects like I usually do, and I wouldn't have completed my rough draft in a month.

2. Small snippets of time are valuable

I did better on the days where I took advantage of small pieces of time early in the day so I didn't have much to do at the end of the day rather than the days where I wrote late and fell into bed exhausted.

3. It's better for me to write early in the day rather than wait until the end of the day

The days it was easiest to write were the ones where I put in a few hundred words earlier in the day. I think this was partially because it got my mind turned in the direction of the novel, so my mind could work on it while I was doing other things, and also because it made me feel like I had gotten ahead. I felt motivated and rather than overwhelmed. Normally I'm a late night writer, because that's when our house is quiet and I can work uninterrupted. I'm hoping to revise this.

4. It's easier to write when I'm not tired

This was a grueling month. Not only did we have Thanksgiving, but we had a conference at church for which I was responsible to find staffing for my department. I was away more in the evenings than I normally would be, and trying to achieve my word quota on days that were literally jammed with necessary activities from beginning to end made it almost impossible to find enough time to write unless I took it out of sleep time, and you always pay for that the following day.

But even on those late nights with early mornings the next day, it was easier to write if I did it early, because I knew by afternoon and evening I'd be running on fumes and walking around in a fog.

5. Support groups are very helpful

I'm not quite done with my Nanonovel, but I'm getting close to the finish line, and I'm only behind by 632 words right now. Last year I had completed it by this time, so even though I'm not way behind, I didn't get it done as quickly. I had virtually no support group at all, and only did one writing contest with a friend instead of several through the month. Friday night I wanted to give the whole thing up in the worst way, but instead I sat down and knocked out 2000 words, chipping away at the loss I took during the conference last week. Why was it easier last year? I had more external support.

6. You can always do more than you think you can

I am reminded of Bree in C.S. Lewis's The Horse and His Boy. In case you haven't read the book, Bree was one of the two talking horses escaping with two children to Narnia. He had lived in slavery so long he had lost the ability to force himself to tap into his inner strength, but he wasn't aware of it. He needed external motivation to truly do his best, and he wasn't able to do that until he had a lion on his tail. Then he turned on speed that he didn't know he possessed and made it to safety. Nanowrimo will be the lion on your tail if you'll let it. If it wasn't for Nano this year, I'd have given up on this book long ago.

7. Being overwhelmed is a state of mind rather than a state of being

Occasionally I run into people who tell me they can't fulfill their obligations because they are so overwhelmed by life in general or a specific problem. They are sure that letting one thing go will make them feel less overwhelmed, and then life will be good again. I'm sure when they do this, they probably do feel a measure of relief for a time, but only for a time.

Yes, be careful about becoming overcommitted. You have to consider your family and your self when you get involved in anything. But once you've given your word, see it through. You can do more than you think you can, and it's usually not the way of integrity to try to get out of what you said you would do. Why can you compare two people with similar schedules and find one is overwhelmed and the other is not? It is not because of the schedule. It is because of the state of mind of the person.

That's it for now. In advance I'm going to ask you to forgive the typos in this post. One of the gifts of Nanowrimo is not careful proofreading! (Later on Monday: I can't believe I used "tale" instead of "tail." I have corrected the mistake.)

Looking into the Future

I see a tiny glimpse of sunshine at the end of a long, dark tunnel. Somehow, I feel that a fundamental change has occurred in my world. I believe again that tyrants will fall, justice tempered with mercy shall reign and that the meek shall inherit the earth. This coming year will be one of great reckoning for those in political office. The downtrodden are shaking the shackles from their ankles and opening their eyes to the truth. No longer will the voice of the great liar predominate, but the voice of the good shepherd will break forth.

This will be an exciting time for writers and artists in all disciplines (theatre, music, visual, media/ tv/film and graphic arts). These are the prophetic voices and I believe that God will use them to lead our country and others back onto the path of truth and compassion and a just distribution of resources.

What an exciting and challenging and wonderful time to be alive!