Past or Present Tense?

19 Comments
Writing

Image by J. Paxon Reyes via Flickr

After my morning writing session, I took a moment to wonder, would this story be stronger told in the past tense?

Of course, being the person that I am, that was probably the worst question to ask myself.

I don’t really dwell on little things like past or present tense as I’m writing a first draft. I usually just write the story as I see it or experience it, and then go back and make it stronger with each reading. But, considering how much work revising WIP1 was/is, I have to wonder, should I make the change now?

Only my alpha readers have gotten a glimpse of WIP2 in this drafting stage, so really, they would be the only ones who can realistically help me in my specific case. But, here are just a few things I’ve been considering since my morning writing session.

I started writing this story in the first person present because the MC experiences the most change and encounters a lot of newness as the world builds. I like the immediacy that present tense expresses when MC uncovers new things and needs to filter those discoveries against past context/teaching. The story has a lot of action sequences (at least, that’s the plan!), which, I thought, would be very effective  in the present tense because then the reader experiences whatever the MC experiences in that moment. Plus, when the idea of WIP2 first came to me in January, I hand wrote the first two chapters in a wave of inspiration, all in the present tense.

When I finally sat down to really work on WIP2 in the last few weeks of July (after months of trying to work on revising WIP1) I easily wrote and expanded on WIP2’s world, reaching sixty pages without even thinking about it.

Now, after this morning’s writing session, after two weeks of barely adding to the story and reading lots and lots of books written in the past tense, I’m questioning my previous decisions and reasons. Maybe I should revise now into the past tense. After all, the books I’ve LOVED these past two weeks were ALL written in the past tense (and were most certainly action-packed!). (Plus, I naturally write in the past tense…thanks to my alpha readers for pointing out my slips, heeehee).

Or, maybe I’m just getting in my own way, and grasping at any reason to be distracted from making more progress on WIP2.

What do you think? Should I plunge into the past tense? Forge ahead in the present? Or stop asking myself these silly questions and just write the story and worry about specifics later?

 

 

The Good Life

6 Comments

On any given day, if you were to wonder where I am, I’m at my paythebills job.

However, even though I may work 7-10 day stretches before a day off, all that time barely registers a footnote in my consciousness. Because, what I choose to remember are the quiet everyday things that I have come to cherish (probably because of The Job).

For example, I feel like I just got back from my family vacation/road trip out east, even though that was over two weeks ago. I keep thinking about all the fun times we had, especially since I see my family, oh, once a year. Plus, I love road trips with the husband, and look forward to another one soon (maybe out west this time).

We didn’t even do much with my family. We had great dinners for both my brother’s birthday, and for my sister’s baby shower. We picked up food from a local farm. Watched Cowboys and Aliens (which I couldn’t help viewing from a writer’s perspective).

Even now, on my day off, I’m nearly giddy that I can pick up a book (Eona) that I requested from my local library, and I’m reveling in the mere thought of adding more words to my story. By the way, the best part is that I don’t feel the immense pressure that I Must Finish The Story Now, or else I’ll miss out on some Great Opportunity, like I felt earlier this year.

http://twitter.com/#!/SmashFit/status/100941549071900672

Not to say that I won’t work hard for my goals, because I still will. I don’t think I know how to give less than my best. I’ve just decided that my goals don’t mean anything if they are separate from my real joys in life. I don’t want to throw away the beauty, love, and joy that’s right in front of me now for a future version of the same thing (especially, if I can have both).

Anyway, the “little” things…dinner conversations, reading great books through the night, road trips, movie and/or dinner outings…are the moments that live forever in my mind. They are what I choose to recognize as My Life. I want to get to the point where I can have more of these moments, but am thankful for the moments I have now.

Share The Love

2 Comments

Photo shared generously by Poppy Thomas-Hill

I wanted to start a new feature on my blog that I can do on a regular basis, but couldn’t find one that I felt I could commit to. Then, I thought about what I loved most about blogging and Twitter, and realized that I enjoyed sharing, no matter what it was. I love promoting good books I’ve discovered, passing along great advice I’ve heard, and recognizing awesome people I’ve met. So, I’ve simply called this feature “Share The Love,” and will post it on Sundays, hopefully every week.

What a great week it’s been!

I twittered this week, and loved this tweet:

http://twitter.com/#!/JReaHedrick/status/92579501720088576

So cute, right?? LOVE!

I entered these awesome contests hosted by my friends Carol and Hira. LOVE!

Carol is hosting a SUPER ARC Giveaway with a MUST READ book, Girl of Fire and Thorns. The giveaway also includes The Eleventh Plague and Lola and the Boy Next Door, which are also great titles, but I’ve been SO into fantasies lately, that the Girl of Fire and Thorns definitely caught my eye!

Hira is hosting a Mega Awesome Giveaway for a Kindle in honor of her mom’s birthday and her parents’ anniversary! How can you NOT LOVE THAT?

I read a lot of fun books this week…

  • Wildefire, by Karsten Knight (review up tonight)
  • Putting Makeup on Dead People, by Jennifer Violi
  • The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan (Finally! It was NEVER in stock at the library!)
  • Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

…and can’t wait to read these new-to-me books:

  • The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann
  • Witchlanders, by Lena Coakley
  • The Passage, by Justin Cronin (Just got this 844 page ebook from my library late last night and read it for a few hours. Epic does not begin to describe the scope of this book so far.)

(Didn’t I tell you I was really into fantasy at the moment? I think I really want to get a handle on how other authors treat huge, sweeping landscapes with a rich cast of characters. Not to say that WIP2 is huge or sweeping, but it does cover a LOT of terrain…)

Speaking of epic fantasies, when my sister and brother in law visited earlier this week (who were, by the way, the first overnight guests in our construct-y house since we bought it four years ago), we watched a little movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? Anyway, it lived up to its hype, and I had to watch Part 1 again the next night (followed by How To Train Your Dragon). See? I LOVE LOVE LOVE my epic fantasies ^_^.

I look forward to visiting with the rest of my immediate family this coming weekend as Hubs and I road trip (LOVE) out east. 😀

Share The Love

6 Comments
Love Heart

Image by Pink Poppy Photography via Flickr

I wanted to start a new feature on my blog that I can do on a regular basis, but couldn’t find one that I felt I could commit to. Then, I thought about what I loved most about blogging and Twitter, and realized that I enjoyed sharing, no matter what it was. I love promoting good books I’ve discovered, passing along great advice I’ve heard, and recognizing awesome people I’ve met. So, I’ve simply called this feature “Share The Love,” and will post it on Sundays, hopefully every week.

I traveled around the blogosphere this past week and loved these posts:

I played on twitter and loved these tweets:

http://twitter.com/#!/2morrowknight/status/92384666618834944
http://twitter.com/#!/Zen_Moments/status/92304354039697408
http://twitter.com/#!/Lord_Voldemort7/status/92220320618004480
http://twitter.com/#!/LauraJMoss/status/91334383839092736

(Yeah, with Laura’s tweet, it’s safe to say you “had to be there” to understand it) 😉
I borrowed these books from the library, and would love to read them before they’re due back:

  • The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan
  • Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan
  • Eon, by Allison Goodman
  • Among the Hidden, by Margaret Peterson Haddix
  • Black Hole Sun, David Macinnis Gill

I listened to my Snow Patrol station on Pandora Radio. Run started playing, and I fell in love with Snow Patrol, and my WIP2, all over again.

So Tell Me: Do YOU have any LOVES to share from this past week?

Blog Titles and Other Thoughts

17 Comments
Dandelion clock

Random picture. We can pretend it means that time is ephemeral and fleeting, like dandelion fluff held aloft in the breeze. But really, I just thought it looked cool.

Do you ever wonder what meaning or story a blog title may have? Most titles I guess are straightforward, like “So and So Writes!” or “Books Books Books!” or “How To ___.” But, there are those other ones (you know what I mean, I’m sure) that are either titled or domain-named (can that be a verb?) kinda randomly. Or, am I the only one that wonders about these things? Like I’m reaching to find a story where none really exists.

At any rate, I started thinking about bloggery things, and inevitably, blog titles/names since I chatted with a group of lovely writer friends last night about blogs.*

Previously, my blog title was simply, “Reading Makes Me Happy.” (In fact, some wordpress correspondence still shows up that way, which kinda throws me.) Obviously, I love books, I love reading, so BAM! Easy title! (My focus quote was: “I read to find a ladder to heaven.” W. Strieber.)

Well, sometime last year I had an epiphany, and I won’t go into details about it here (feel free to click on that link, though :)), but I realized that my unacknowledged dreams of writing a book and being a published author was in fact attainable, and it was only seemingly unattainable because I made it so. I did nothing to get me toward writing a novel, so why was I surprised that “gasp! I didn’t have a written novel, and I never will, and this will never happen for me.” *wonk, wonk*

All I needed to do was break down my dream (published author) into a more manageable goal (write novels), and break down the action steps to get me to that goal (develop and hone my writing skills, find a feedback/support group, read a lot, etc). With a paythebills job (sometimes, two!), balancing my goals was sometimes tricky, but I never let the “I have no TIME!” be an excuse for me to fall back on. (I have the same 24-hours that Edison, Einstein, and all those guys had! Surely I can “find the time” to write a book!)

“Find solutions, not excuses” is a mantra I embrace, and I’m also someone who responds well to accountability exercises and goal setting. (It’s the Achiever in me.) I wanted to make the most of the time that I have been given, and not just impulsively do things in the moment. I wanted to really create value in the now that I have. Thus the title, “Redeeming the Time.” (Also, it sounds pretty.) 🙂

“Redeeming the time” reminds me to focus on the things that I do control, like working on the craft of novel writing, so that I can eventually see my dream realized. It also reminds me to simplify and let go of those things that distract me from my goals. Sometimes it’s tough, but I don’t count it as a sacrifice. At this point, I find I feel freer because I’m not owned by other time-wasters. I have more ownership and control of my time, and guard that time zealously.

With all that said, I really want to incorporate reading back into my writing schedule, and even though I’ve said that I don’t really do book reviews, I at least want to put a few in rotation. (I plan on posting a book review page soon). Now, the reviews won’t be as fancy or engaging as most out there, but like this blog, it’s mainly just to keep me accountable to reading all the beautiful stories that find themselves in my mailbox or inbox. If my love for a book inspires someone to go out and read it, well, I’ll look at it as a bonus!

Plus, it’s a shame to get ARCs or egalleys and not give at least a little pre-release blurb about the book. Heck, even sharing a “new to me” title would be delightful. Great stories are meant to be shared and loved. The writers who wrote those stories should know that their sweat, tears, and sleepless nights have created worlds for readers to live in.

For a little while, both the reader and writer share the same dreamspace, and that is an experience worth cultivating.

So Tell Me: Any story behind your blog title? Do you like or care when someone blogs (non-spoiler-y) book reviews?

*The other friends I chatted with were: