That bloody Highlander

I got to spend some relaxing time with some family this last weekend, enjoying the refreshingly cool air in the mountains, surrounded by deer, bears, and mountain lions (before you ask, no, I didn't see the latter, but that doesn't mean they're not there). Oh, and let's not forget the crap-ton of sheep that were BAAAAA'ing 24-7 and their sheep dog that liked his voice a bit too much.

While we were camping, I not only got in some fun family time (4-wheeling, playing games, helping my little guy play with his brand new toys he got for his first birthday, and cuddling in front of the fire while it rained and hailed - in July - true story), but I was also able to write and edit. The Highlander won the battle against a particular Guardian for my attention, so he's very happy (and a wee bit smug about beating an immortal) about the fact that I'm working on his story.

Any time I take a break from writing a story, it takes me a little while to catch up again, so I've been going through the book one section at a time and sortof editing as I go. And I am so glad I'm working on this story. It's about time I give some attention to characters that aren't in the Primordial Guardians realm; and about time I focus on the not-so-supernatural side of imagination. Uh, okay, okay... there is a little bit of paranormal to the story, but not in the characters themselves.

It feels nice to really get back into writing again, and I hope that I'll be able to keep it up. So far, my goals for this year have been shot, so I've got to scramble to catch up.

Wake up, lass. Ye dinna need any sleep.

To start off, no, I don't know why I gave my title a Scottish accent. I guess I was compelled to from the overly pushy Highlander currently running rampant in my brain. Anyhoo... on with the post.

Sometimes I wish I was one of those people that could not only survive, but thrive on just a few hours of sleep every night. If I could, then I'd be able to give my characters the attention they deserve, without taking away from my family time.

Last night, I was lying in bed, minding my own business and probably snoring up a storm, when BAM! New. Story. Idea.

And a loud one at that.

It woke me up it was so loud, and I laid awake for at least an hour, even spoke the idea into my phone so I could go back to it later, and rolled over onto my tummy and tried to catch some zzz's. (Ha-ha-ha...)

Yes, I'm already trying to keep my Guardians as happy as I possibly can, and I'm trying to give some TLC to my Highlander, but now... oh jeez ... now, there's a new Alpha in play and he's making life inside my head a freaking whirlwind. It's 6:30 at night and I haven't been able to get this new guy out of my head. He has a story to tell, and a heroine to claim.

So, hey... now I guess I get to try to appease all my characters, and push the not-so-pushy ones off for another time (despite the fact that they've been waiting months, if not years, for me to tell their stories).

All I can do is shrug and be grateful that they've selected me to write their tales.

Nighty night all, I'm going into my writing cave.

There's just not enough time in the day...or energy, for that matter.

I've had really good intentions of writing every day. I wake up each morning and try to plan out my day, which includes getting in some cuddle time with my baby, doing dishes and laundry, cleaning at least one room, job-hunting, and then of course writing and editing - even if I don't think I'll be able to get in some quality finger-to-keys time until 9 o'clock at night.

Right now, there are quite a few books pushing on me to write them, but it seems like whenever I get a chance to sit down and write, I'm just too tired to do it. I've thought about getting a little voice recorder so that I can tell the stories to it while I'm buzzing around throughout the day, but I'm just not sure how well that'll work.

Hmm, maybe it's time to start hunting for a nice, cheap voice recorder.

I wonder what other authors do?

Scrivener

For a while now, I've seen a lot of other authors talking about Scrivener. I've pretty much just sat back and waited for the pros and cons to come in, not really sure if I wanted to give it a try. But for the past few months, I just haven't really been able to get into writing. At times, my characters are persistent and I just can't get them out of my head - of course, that's always when I'm trying to catch some sleep in the middle of the night, if I'm on a drive or at the grocery store, or doing something else that I just can't drop and write. Whenever I free of some time to put my fingers to the keyboard, they're silent, or bickering about who I should write at the time.

In one of my WIP's, the characters are lobbing scenes at me, completely out of order, and I find that I spend more time trying to figure out where to put it, that it really just eats up my writing time.

Enter Scrivener.

From what I've heard/read, this program helps authors keep things in order, and organizes research, etc. so it's all in one place. So, I've decided to give it a try. I downloaded the Trial version, and will see if it really helps keeps things organized for me, since at the moment, my thoughts are everywhere at once.

So, wish me luck, I'm about to go through the tutorial, and then I'm going to try to get all of my jumbled thoughts into this program and see if it can help me make sense of it.