 | 8 Sep 06 |
I Karin Tabke am an unorganized writer. I make lists then don’t look at them. I have piles (albeit neat piles) all over my desk. My TBR pile is almost as tall as the Sears Tower. I spend too much time on the Internet when I should be writing. I have obligated myself to cooking for my son’s high school football team (all 63 of them, plus coaches) every Friday afternoon for the next ten weeks, which means doing the shopping the night before. I agreed to judge several contests this year. I am committed to four blogs. I regularly blog on two.
Over two weeks ago I told my crit group I needed to bow out for a couple of weeks. The pressure was just getting to me. I needed to write. I will give over that I have done heavy revisions on several chapters of my medieval, but they should all be done. I did write a new chapter and a half and added a much needed subplot. I also completed the prologue and wrote the first chapter of JADED, my next book in the ‘hot cop’ series that begins with GOOD GIRL GONE BAD. I received the cut of GOOD GIRL GONE BAD Cosmo is using for the November issue. Let’s just say I understand the word adaptation very well now. I spoke to my editor about changes, she said give it a shot. I did. So right now I’m not sure what is going to show up in Cosmo. I gave an interview the other day with a rather large magazine in the area and am doing one tomorrow with my local paper. I have walked most days, but not every day. I am sticking to Weight Watchers. I have been busy. Really I have. But I could be writing more. A lot more.
When I look back at each of my days I realize there are writers out there who would kill for the time I waste. I go through periods of extreme organization and am amazed at all I accomplish. If I have a deadline, I produce like nobody’s business. But when left to my own devices, my own deadline? Forgetaboutit. I dabble here, I dabble there. Never mind the writing I’m doing now is the best I’ve done to date. The words just flow. I’m totally into Jase’s character, my current ‘hot cop,’ and Reegan’s character, my wicked knight in my medieval. I love my heroines in both. I feel I’m cheating on one when I’m writing the other. I’ve never written two types of books at the same time. My agent wants me to write the medieval, my editor wants JADED. Neither book is sold, but they will be (keeping my fingers crossed) when I go back to contract later this month. Knowing I’ll have two STs to turn in plus the novella I contracted with Pocket in the next 7 months, why am I sitting around surfing the net, chatting on the phone or commenting on my friends blogs?
Is there a pill I can take to make me organized all of the time? Maybe a willpower pill? I know I have willpower. As I type this, I’m asking myself what is the key for me to produce pages? The answer? When everyone is in bed, the house is quiet and no one is lurking on the loops. My most productive time is from 11:00 pm to 4 am. I can write like crazy. By nature I am a night owl. Like a vamp, the morning sun makes me ill.
Problem is, I have a kid and husband who require me to be up in the am. If I stay up all night I’ll sleep until 11. That means I give up my daily walks with hubby. That time is very important to me. Especially right now since he leaves by 2 every day for practice.
Life is all about compromise, and right now my quality writing time is being severely compromised. If I could stay up say four nights a week that might work, but once my body is on a certain schedule I can’t just turn it off. I wrote my first book when my husband worked mids. The kids slept and I was up all night writing, long hand. Then I was up at 7:30 to get the kids off to school then to the office. That was many, many years ago, and I don’t have the fortitude to go on sleep fumes.
Funny how getting my thoughts out like this has given me the reason why I have trouble writing during the day. Now I must find a solution.
How about you? What is your best writing time? And what tricks do you use to keep on track?
© 2006 – 2009, Karin Tabke. All rights reserved.
A Cop’s Wife Writes the Cop’s Life:
Award winning author, Karin Tabke isn’t just another author with steamy stories to tell, but a cop’s wife who has “seen it all and heard it all.†Some of the hottest stories come from behind the blue wall of law enforcement rather than from in front. Married to a street cop, now retired, Karin is intimate with both and proves it with her sizzling tales and hot cops. Not only are her cops hot, but so are her sexy knights. Karin’s Blood Sword Legacy series is a must read for anyone who loves tales of yore when men were men and women were women, and love did conqueror all!
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Funny you should choose today to talk about this, Karin. I’m in between books, just coming up with the new one, and so I decided to tackle the mountains of paper and newspaper clippings and doodles on small slips of paper with phone numbers for names I don’t know and PWs and newsletters from MWA, Sisters in Crime, Novelists Ink, Southwestern Writers (thank you, Thriller Writers, for sending only email newsletters – which reminds me i’ve got to clean up my millions of emails) and old circulars that got mixed inand the seven or eight notebooks I started and never finished and printouts of stuff three drafts ago.
Five hours later and three HUGE garbage bags of all this stuff plus whole newspapers (with “save this” written on the front) and I could finally dust my combination desk and bookcase, and sit down on a couch where the cat barf didn’t vie with the four-color brochure of Randy Graf for Congress. (Randy Graf is a former golf pro, by the way, who looks like he left the kegger too late and spent the whole night looking for his Camaro.)
So, Karin, to answer your question, my life is a mess! A little bit messier today, but now I have to tackle the approximately five million files and 2 million slightly-different versions of my latest book somewhere in My Documents, but because our laptops keep giving out, and we move everything back but not in the same place, every time I’ve turned on a “new” computer it’s like coming home to a living room where somebody moved the furniture.
I hope this makes you feel better.
by J. Carson Black September 8th, 2006 at 3:45 amHoney you had me at cooking for 63 *gaaaaaaaaaa*
I have no idea but I can’t seem to settle in with Nailed either, so i really feel your pain. Luckily I’ve got till January but…….I know/fear that writing will be tough from Thanksgiving to New Year and I really wanted the first draft done by 11/1. I’m afraid now it won’t happen. After getting up at 6 to get the kid to football and an increasingly hectic work schedule, I come home in the evenings and I’m too beat to write.
One thing I have decided is that I’ve got to take better care of myself or it won’t get done.
by Cece September 8th, 2006 at 6:32 amI don’t know the answer to this, but I’ve come to accept that sometimes my brain is working over the story while I’m messing around with other stuff. Busy work, you know? It’s takes just enough brain power to occupy my surface thoughts, while my creative brain works on the problem, or characterization or where I want the book to go next…whatever. Then when I finally settle into work (on a good day) things flow fast and free.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
by Jen September 8th, 2006 at 6:50 amI think when a story flows for me, it just flows. And like you, Karin, looming deadlines really motivate my sorry butt! I also write best in the afternoon and late evening, but OF COURSE that is when everyone at MY HOUSE wants my attention.
And since I have no office (my computer sits in a main traffic area of our small home) I don’t get quiet time in the afternoon and evening. So I have to TRY to force myself to focus and write when all I want to do is play Zuma….
Somedays, it’s more of a struggle than others. Like today.
by Natalie September 8th, 2006 at 6:54 amMy best writing time is the morning. Wednesday morning I wrote 12 pages in 2 hours at Starbucks (no email/phone distractions!) Last night I really wanted to finish this chapter and it took me 2 hours to write 4 pages. Urgh! I just couldn’t get it out the way I wanted it. I kept backtracking and rewriting, something I never do in the mornings. I realized that I am fresher in the morning, my thoughts clearer, and I don’t keep second-guessing myself.
The problem is I need to leave the house. I can’t seem to write as much at home. I get way distracted. Tonight hubby is coming home early so I can go to Starbucks around 4 and stay until 8. The sun’s still up so maybe I can trick my body into thinking it’s morning . . . with enough espresso, it might work.
I have about 140 pages to write in a week. Yeah, I’m now getting in panic mode which means I probably won’t be sleeping much for the next week. However, the first 300 pages I have are actually pretty good and I only need to add one scene and tweak another because the damn killer changed things on me.
by Allison September 8th, 2006 at 7:14 amI need to find the track so I can stay on it. LOL I haven’t built a routine yet, so I’m constantly trying to find what works. Getting up early is working sometimes, except for this week with the migraines. I need to get disciplined. Anybody got a wet noodle?
I KNOW now is the time to build the skills I’ll need later. Going to go write now!
by Amanda September 8th, 2006 at 7:42 amGeez Allison – way to make the rest of us feel bad. Twelve pages in 2 hours?! I can’t even type that fast. Not to mention think of stuff to type. At that rate, you’ll have your 140 pages knocked of in just under 12 hours.
As for the first 300 pages. Damn that pesky killer, changing things on you.
My protag changed things on me 160 pages in. Fortunately – not too much had to be changed and I’m off and running again. I’m pretty scattered, too. But as for the internet – that’s a bad one. It’s so easy to get lost. Research you know. Best time to write? It varies. Probably now, except I’m here on the internet. LOL
Karin – I don’t know – seems like cluttered works for you. Jake too. At least the football thing is only 10 weeks long. 63 of them? You said 63! Plus coaches! What were you thinking? Oh right. Good mom and all that. Good luck!
Mo
by Maureen September 8th, 2006 at 7:43 amI’ve never really cooked for athletic teens, let a lone a whole football team of them. I bow in awe.
I’ve have three lines of a poem. a poem I tell you. for the last two week. three lines…..argh
by Cele September 8th, 2006 at 7:58 amCele,
Poetry is hard. Very hard. You’re trying to distill in image into a few words, following a strict form.
I speak for myself here – a novelist can blather on for dozens of pages presenting that same image.
Three crystal clear lines of poetry? I bow in awe.
Mo
by Maureen September 8th, 2006 at 8:19 amJake- I feel inexorably better! I’m just sorry it’s at your expense. I need to do the bad thingy. For the first time I actually filed an extension for my taxes. If I’m not mistaken that deadline is lurking around the corner.
Cece- Yep, cooking for 63. I’m a veteran at this. I did it for my oldest son’s team, just not as many players. I also did it when my youngest was a freshman and we started with 73! players plus coaches. It’s a science I’ve nailed. The entire day is a commitment. From the cooking to the serving to the cleaning up to the game. Being a football mom yourself you understand how all encompassing football is. It takes a commitment from the players, parents and coaches. BTW, holiday writing sucks the big Santa.
Jen-Good story to stick too! Last night as I was walking my dog at midnight (I was too lazy to walk in the am) I had a few mini epiphanies regarding JADED. Came home and wrote them down. I think I’m going to dig out my mini tape recorder. I get a lot of epiphanies walking the dog.
by Karin September 8th, 2006 at 8:39 amNat- Does binge writer describe us? I need daily binges. Evenings don’t work around here either. Boys are getting home from practice, they’re hungry, then I have the regular fight with the kid over homework. He says he doesn’t have any, I produce the evidence that he does (an email from his teacher with the assignment on it).
by Karin September 8th, 2006 at 8:47 amAllison-I’m seriously contemplating leaving the house to write. A damn shame. I have this gorgeous office.
Amanda-See, I’d get an auto migraine even thinking about getting up when you do. Grrr, getting one now! But yes, we do need to routine build.
Mo-Allison is a freak of nature. lol 12 hours and counting A!!! good one, Mo. As far as the cooking goes, it was either that or run for chapter prez of one of my RWA chapters. I got off easy.
Cele- haven’t you ever heard of a three line poem?
by Karin September 8th, 2006 at 8:52 amMy brain doesn’t kick in until noon. Trying to get anything creative out of it before noon is a colossal waste of time and energy. Once the creative juices are flowing, I usually work until dinner time. But now that I have DSL, I have access to the internet while I’m working on my novel, soooo whenever I need to do a little research, which seems to be quite often, I interrupt the writing to zip over to Google and, of course, I’m lost in that particular time-sink for hours. No one can piss away a day like yours truly.
I’m 3/4 way through my WIP and all the really good stuff is yet to come. So, if I want to know the outcome, I better get my butt in gear.
by Carol Davis Luce September 8th, 2006 at 8:54 amThe night’s ebony engulfed the bedroom as my heavy eyes opened and struggled to focus. A strange noise had shook me from my slumber, and my mind scrambled for clarity. My blurry vision found the clock and it was near 4 am. In the distance, I could hear a rapid fire banging of sorts. No, it wasn’t gunfire but it had the speed of a Tommy gun in the hands of 20′s gangster. I reached through the sheets for my wife but she was gone. Supermomhotwifeyromancewriter girl was nowhere to be found and I would have to face this intrusion of my sleep, alone.
My sleek, lean, muscular, well endowed body rose to it’s feet. I caught my image in the bedroom mirror and noted my hair was perfect, not a strand out of place. Wrapping my nakedness with a handy loin clothe, I set off to investigate. As I made my way down the hall, the noise became louder. I quickly deduced that I was on the right path. I also noted that the faster I moved toward the sound, the more my hair flowed, like it was in a breeze there in the middle of the hall. The image was striking but I had to press on.
Supermomhotwifeyromancewriter girl’s office emitted a dim light at the end of the hallway. Could this strange noise be coming from there? What dastardly deed might have befallen Supermomhotwifeyromancewriter girl? Reaching the office door I found a maze of stacks of paper’s and unread romance books. I pawed my way through getting closer to the noise all the while. At it’s end I stopped in utter horror. At the desk sat a hunched figure, she hovered over the keyboard of her computer as if possessed. Her fingers were a blur of rapid fire motion and the sound of her long wicked nails clicked on the keyboard keys.
“Ah ha!” I pronounced. That horrible noise that woke me from my studdly rest was Supermomhotwifeyromancewriter girl’s typing! I was relieved that I would not have to do battle with an evil force and risk mussing my hair.
“What the hell?” I asked.
“Go back to bed, honey. I’m in my zone.” Replied Supermomhotwifeyromancewriter girl.
As I padded down the hall I smiled to myself knowing she would be alright and this time, this time I would be able to spend the time watching my hair flow.
by Hubby September 8th, 2006 at 9:33 amI’m sorry, forgive me, but I laughed my arse off!
by Cece September 8th, 2006 at 10:13 amCece, you were supposed to…
by Hubby September 8th, 2006 at 10:16 amLOLOLOL. Funny man!
by Natalie September 8th, 2006 at 10:30 amCece, no forgiveness necessary. I laughed my arse off too!
by Karin September 8th, 2006 at 10:39 amToo funny. Gary, I’m expecting a lot of humor in your book.
And, Karin, are you sure you weren’t talking about my desk? The only clean spot is by the printer, and that’s only because I installed a new one yesterday. All the cat hair I found might be a clue as to why the old one wasn’t working.
My best hours to write are in the morning. Too bad I can’t resist reading my emails and blogs. Some days I’m lucky if I can write by the afternoon.
by Edie Ramer September 8th, 2006 at 11:52 amOkay, I’m with CeCe on the cooking for 63+ Geez.
And you nailed my best work time — 11ish to 4 a.m. Luckily, no small kids, so no need to get up for school stuf. My husband and I spend time together in the evenings and he’s up early and out, so I can sleep late. (The construction stuff is handled by him in the morning, me in the afternoons.) We’ve worked out a system where he gets lots of attention (well, we both do)
in the early a.m. and late evening, and then I write.
I’ve tried to write in the daytime, and on rare occasions, it flows, but I’m very easily distracted by stuff that should be done. I don’t feel this way at night, because no one is supposed to clean at night, right? (please agree)
Karin, if this writing is the best you’ve done and the words are flowing, then what you’re doing during the other time is what you should be doing. Your subconscious is telling you this is working by the words flowing. For whatever reasons — mental break, rejuvenation, input of ideas, interaction with the world to recharge your creative batteries… you need to do what you’re doing, the way you’re doing it. Sure, you may write faster, and I suspect as things progress, some of the other (like the internet) will drop away as you’re nearing the end of the books and the momentum kicks in.
Allison, I’d contemplated trying to find a Starbucks or something during the day, thinking that maybe I’d reverse my schedule and get better quality sleep at night. Then I went to a couple of them, and remembered why that doesn’t work. I’m in the deep south. Everyone sees you’re writing and wants to know what you’re doing. They want to strike up conversations. They smile, they’re friendly. People will sit down and tell me their life secrets. (It has always been this way. I’ve learned to look more stern so people don’t do it as much, but without that look, people will start telling me stuff they’ve never told anyone else. Great for writing fodder, but hell on time.)
Jake, I used to have so many piles like that, it was insane around here. Trying to run the construction business with two kids underfoot, and writing (and at one point, getting two masters), was just nuts, and the piles? They took over. There was a “to be filed” pile of important construction stuff which was nearly as large as my desk. I finally hired help for a few weeks just to sort and organize and purge, and we created a better filing system and a way to purge almost daily. I just don’t let the piles start, otherwise, the little buggers will multiply.
Allison, you are a (wonderful) freak of nature. I read your books thinking, “Well, surely, she wrote them so fast because she left something out, like, setting.” But damnit, no, they’re great, and nothing’s left out, and I can’t stop reading even when I should be writing instead, so I’m torn between wanting to be envious of you being so prolific and the joy that, Yay! you’re so prolific! which means I have three more great books to be reading very very soon. (soooooooooooooooon) (I’m going with joy.)
by toni mcgee causey September 8th, 2006 at 12:08 pmEdie- I’m sitting here lookign at my desk and sayign to myself, “it’s only clutter if I don’t know where things are.”
I have the bills to be paid file, the paid bills file, both of which are under the promo CD’s and workbook. Then I have the bookseller file, that’s on top of three books that escaped my TBR pile. Little sneaks. Then there is the bag o’ receipts, and so on and so on and so on.
by Karin September 8th, 2006 at 12:22 pmToni, I am going to have a talk with la familia. We worked for years around hubby’s midnight schedule, methinks it’s time for some payback.
I love love love the quiet of the wee hours of the morning.
My goodness . . . I don’t HAVE a plan of attack, let alone a track. I’m doomed. *insert GIR singing the Doom Song here* I work when I can (shoehorning the writing in around my full-time job, my friends, and events that I just can’t give up, like Burning Man).
My second MS is due to the editor by Nov 1st. Am I worried about that? Naw, I’m worried about my Halloween costume and if I’m going to make the beach burn in Humboldt next month.
I just spent my lunch hour reacquainting myself with my MS. Had a—hopefully—brilliant idea about the first sentence while walking around the block to clear my head. I want to work on the thing tonight, but probably won’t, since I have a friend visiting from Canada until tomorrow . . .
But nothing in my life comes close to cooking once a week for 63 bottomless pits. My hats off to you, Karin.
by Tonda/Kalen September 8th, 2006 at 1:01 pmOh mi gosh, I’m smitten…and laughing my butt off. Karin, now we’ve no doubt where you get your inspiration.
by Cele September 8th, 2006 at 1:23 pmMo, 140 pages in 12 hours? That’s not possible. My MAXIMUM, when I’m on a major roll, is 7.5 pages an hour. Seriously. So I need at LEAST 20 hours to finish the book. I’d like 30. If I had 3 uninterrupted days, like from 9-5, I might be able to get it done, but I have 9-12 to write, hence now I’m going to add early evenings into the mix.
Toni, I used to be like you, writing at night, usually from 9-2. That’s when I was working full-time out of the house. Night was the only time I had to write. I think it’s the young kids that tiring me out and I have no creative energy at night.
The only reason Starbucks works is that I’ve tried every Starbucks in Elk Grove (8) and there’s one that has a back room. I don’t get the door distraction. The music is a little loud, but it drowns out any conversations (which when I’m procrastinating I tend to eavesdrop on
. . . there’s a corner that’s perfect (no one can get behind me) and I can loose myself there. I also have a restaurant that works for me where I went for lunch. No plugs there, though, and I made it a late lunch so there wasn’t a lot of people around.
BTW, I filed an extension too . . .
by Allison September 8th, 2006 at 3:20 pmKarin,
I am a terrible procrastinator. I have no self discipline. If I try to write at home, where the internet is available, or television, or house cleaning, or the dog–I won’t get anything done. I can procrastinate the entire day away. So, I moved my writing out of the house. To a secluded little office with no phone, no access to the internet, no dog to bark at me. Absolutely nothing to procrastinate with. It works perfectly for me. I have a set schedule and I go there each day for three hours. I get more done in one of those three hours stints than I was in an entire week previously.
Theresa
by Theresa September 8th, 2006 at 8:44 pmOfficer Friendly,
LMAO here. Obviously Karin has turned you into a writer. I sure hope you’re working on that book of yours. . .
by Theresa September 8th, 2006 at 8:47 pmDragging self in from a very long day.
by Karin September 8th, 2006 at 11:12 pmHey, Carol! Get your butt in gear. I want to see the outcome!
Tonda they were bottomless pits today. They ate 15 pounds of pasta! I cooked three gallons of sauce and 7 pounds of groud beef!
So how was Burning Man????
Yep, Cele, he kind of grows on you.
Theresa I moved from an actual office to a home office earlier this year. I used to get soooo much writing done at the ‘other’ office. I really really really need to set some ground rules with myself.
And FYI, Officer Friendly is *not* working on his book!
Good luck with setting your ground rules. LOL. That sure never worked for me. Guess I just never scared myself enough.
And Officer Friendly. Get busy, would ya? You’ve already got an audience just waiting to buy. . .
by Theresa September 9th, 2006 at 5:16 amNot Writing! Oh for shame. Hmmm, I think I will just sit here and cry a bit, hile that sinks in.
by Cele September 9th, 2006 at 8:35 amOfficer Friendly writing
It certainly sounds exciting
Perhaps even nail biting
Most importantly is the timing
As of now four chapters are done
But Officer Friendly is on the run
As coaching has more than begun
And the season demands a ton
But I guarantee a return
For the story I have a yurn
With characters that sizzle and burn
And a plot with more than one turn
Cops and robbers too
by Officer Friendly September 9th, 2006 at 3:15 pmA past to make you blue
Some romance with you know who
And a hero ever true…
OMG!!! LMAO.
And he’s a poet too!! Will his talent never cease to amaze? Hmm, wonder if this much hearlded book is in rhyme?
by Theresa September 9th, 2006 at 3:57 pmCele, and Theresa,
by Karin September 9th, 2006 at 4:56 pmwould you tell Officer Freindly that while his poetry is amusing, it is not actually considered work on his book?
Dear Officer Friendly,
While your poetry is amusing, it is not actually considered working on your book.
ps karin made me say it
by Theresa September 9th, 2006 at 6:57 pmThank you, Theresa.
by Karin September 9th, 2006 at 9:43 pm…and now, back to our story.
by Officer Friendly September 11th, 2006 at 11:31 am