RIP “Gertrude”

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Meredith Ann Rutter

Screen shot from baby names site

I’ve been revisiting character names in my latest novel, the one I worked on in November. Until now I have called my work-in-progress (WIP) “Gertrude” after the person I anticipated would be the protagonist, and who I thought was born in 1920. But now I know that the character Gertrude was actually born in the late 1930s to early 1940s. Also, it turns out the novel has not one but two main protagonists. Gertrude may have become a little less main than Lillian, who, in novel-fact, was born circa 1920.

The name Gertrude wasn’t as popular in 1940 as in 1920. This sort of information is available on a very handy section of the Social Security website (and probably some other sites, too). The name Barbara will work. It was popular in 1940 and has a variety of nicknames other characters can call her by (Barb, Barbie, Babs). Maybe only by chance Barbara was my mother’s name. As the storyline and theme continue developing, I may learn that this shift was not only by chance, though I still think it was. Certain other characters’ names need to change, too, now that the story will be set twenty years later than I’d first thought.

Why twenty years later? That’s what happened when I decided to place the novel’s climax in a certain milieu and crowning event in the 1960s. At last I have a setting for the novel, a decision I struggled with in November. Much of the story could be drafted without being tied to a setting, but the other day I realized that particular freedom of motion no longer applied. I had to pin down the time and place my characters were experiencing their world.

This novel is my best experience to date with a story that wants to be told but requires me to keep excavating to find it. In a way it has been excruciating. I started it last year, feeling there was something there, but it was eluding me. Most of this past November was equally aggravating, but its final few days revealed more pieces. I no longer have the nagging feeling that I’m kidding myself. This book will take a couple years to complete, I’m sure, but I finally know it will be worth it. I’ll keep “Gertrude” as a working title until I’m clear about the book’s reason for being.

Now back to more revisions on my GREAT WHARF novel for when a smart agent takes the revised-again query letter’s bait.

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NaNoWriMo 2012 Progress Report #3 – The Results

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Meredith Ann Rutter

“Picasso produced hundreds of great paintings; Ralph Ellison wrote one great novel. Art is hard, but literature is murder.”—Joe Queenan, One for the Books

So, on the heels of NaNoWriMo 2012, let’s talk about failure and self-forgiveness, shall we?

The 50,000-words goal eluded me for the second NaNoWriMo in a row. And with the same novel even! Ugh. I couldn’t escape my inner editor enough to write just for the sake of adding words to the document. I tried that a few times, but it was dissatisfying in the extreme. If I couldn’t see how the scene was developing a character or moving the plot forward, that was more discouraging than the thought of not getting to 50,000 words. It wasn’t hard to write a lot of extra words that I knew I’d edit out later. But if those words were in a context that had no meaning, that was depressing.

The NaNoWriMo handlers set up the process to include pep-talk letters during the month. At least two of the letters this year focused on reassuring participants that if they weren’t going to make the 50,000 words but stayed in the game—well, then, that was valuable too. I did get to 40,000 words (8,000 were from November 2011’s NaNoWriMo), far more fodder toward a true novel than I had on November 1. I’m actually a bit thrilled by how much more content I now have to play with. The story has become more interesting to me, and I think something’s developing that will eventually make a readable novel.

I love NaNoWriMo for its motivational value. Thanks to the challenge it throws out there—called a deadline—I accomplish far more than normal for me in a 30-day span. And thanks to the pep talks, I’m constantly reminded that I do operate with a restrictive inner editor. When I’m able to ignore its insistent chatter, I can channel creative energy into the resulting void. NaNoWriMo is a time-limited exercise in self-discovery, something we rarely make time for.

Now I will participate in Martha Alderson’s PlotWriMo follow-up suggestions for December! At least, some of them.

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NaNoWriMo 2012 Progress Report #2

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Meredith Ann Rutter

One of my characters, an antagonist, surprised me the other day with a move I didn’t plan. How cool is that? Then I had to decide whether I could live with that move, and if so, what it would mean to my protagonist(s). I decided to follow the antagonist’s lead. She has added a layer of complexity that will take more time/words to play out, but that’s okay. Anything that’s more like real life has to make better reading.

A major element I still haven’t pinned down is setting, namely, through what span of years the story takes place. I have my choice, as the content and characters are not yet tied to a particular era. It’s not an historical novel and probably wouldn’t translate very well prior to the 1900s, if only because I’m not up on cultural or linguistic differences.

I had a good writing day yesterday, and I need six more good ones… November 30 looms large. Today I need someone to recommend an intriguing career for a man (applicable in 1920 as well as 2012). The man I envision is one who can’t be trusted and has a need to control others–not that this needs to relate to the career. Thoughts?

Image credit: © Daniel Korzeniewski | Dreamstime.com

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Too Young to Read

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Meredith Ann Rutter

Every now and then I see something that I want to share with everyone I can. And every now and then, it actually has nothing to do with books. So, for this particular posting, I found a heading (above) that would seem to belong on a blog called Yours In Books. For all I know, the kid in this video can read as well as dance. I’ve watched it several times, as a study break when I feel bogged down in a scene. Enjoy.

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NaNoWriMo 2012 Progress Report #1

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Meredith Ann Rutter

Planning wall as of Nov. 14, 2012 (the most important item is the cat)

Slogging through a swamp of too many ideas, not enough focus. Will I find my way out? In my first two successful romps with National Novel Writing Month, I was a “pantster,” one who writes by the seat of their pants. This time I’m writing as a “plotter,” working the plot and characters out ahead of time, so I’ll know how the story’s going to end before I start writing it.

I did start writing some scenes last year, but I didn’t have a clear idea of a beginning, middle, and end. This year, spurred by my purchase of The Plot Whisperer Workbook (author: Martha Alderson), I’m pinning something down.

I’ve created Character Emotional Development profiles for three characters. I’ve determined the four Energetic Markers that will be the major scenes in the story. I’ve listed twenty-nine scenes altogether that I anticipate will comprise the main storyline. Weirdly, I’m still not sure what genre this book will fit into. Suspense? Mainstream women’s fiction? Young adult?

I’m almost ready to stop planning (and whining) and to start writing. Most of my NaNoWriMo compatriots are probably about halfway through the writing by now. I can only hope that all my planning will translate to much faster writing. I do know that after the actual writing finally begins (today!), the true path will reveal itself. I’m looking forward to that superb aha. Sixteen days left.

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Participating in NaNoWriMo 2012

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Meredith Ann Rutter

National Novel Writing Month starts today, and I’m in it to win it! I was a “winner” in 2009 and in 2010, but in 2011 the creative spark was doused by my revision efforts on the 2009 manuscript. In fact, I’m still revising. But that’s how this gig works. The main thing is that 2009 and 2010 got me into the writing mode like nothing else could at the time. And now, in 2012, I will set other demands aside and create again.

If you haven’t been to the NaNoWriMo website and wonder what it’s all about, click here. If you know anyone who’s been talking about writing a novel but has never started it, or is stuck in some death spiral with their manuscript, let them know about this fun path to personal (as in inner) success. No one ever has to see what writers are writing during the month. The inner editor is banned altogether. Whether or not the “novel” sees the light of day down the road isn’t the point. The point is releasing the creative juices, reminding yourself you can have fun with storytelling.

I’m totally going for it. All I lack is a cat.

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Reintroducing My “For Fun” Page

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Meredith Ann Rutter

How do you define fun?

I took this picture during a motorcyclists’ convention in Sarasota. Hubby Gary owned a motorcycle before I knew him, and he has told me at least one tale about it that I won’t repeat in polite company (let alone in my blog). And the mother of a friend of mine enjoyed being given a ride about town on one for her 80-something birthday. I think it was one lovingly referred to as a geezer mobile.

I may be the only person I know who has never ridden a motorcycle. I can imagine being talked into it sometime, but I’ve yet to be in that place and time. Now, I don’t mean to imply that if something doesn’t involve a book, I won’t have fun. It’s just that if it does involve a book, I will have fun.

This morning I updated my menu-tabbed page “For Fun.” I did some things that improve the order and appearance of the contents, and I won’t bore you with those details. But I’d like to reintroduce you to the page today by directing your attention to it. Also, I’ve added another example to the Figurative Language portion of the page. Scroll down to that section (appreciating all the stuff above it), and see the new quotation at the end of the “About Anything Else” subsection. No one writes figurative language like David Sedaris.

What did you do for fun this week?

Image (c) Meredith Ann Rutter
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How the NYT Book Review Won My Heart

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Meredith Ann Rutter

A surge of gratitude welled up inside me this morning when I read a certain letter to the editor in The New York Times Book Review. A little background first: When I was a publisher, part of the operation was, of course, to get publicity for the books we were publishing. Sometimes it felt right to try writing a letter to an editor about an aspect of a recent news item that could be applied to one of our books. Naturally, this was often identified immediately as a publicity attempt and the letter died its own silent death (even if I did feel strongly about the point made by the letter).

One more piece of background: This summer I gave a grandson the book Damned by Chuck Palahniuk. It had been recommended to me by a writer I think highly of. I admit I haven’t read it yet, but it sounded perfect for grandson J. Imagine my dismay when I read a NYT review a week ago that referred to author Palahniuk as “another one-hit wonder”—and the reviewer wasn’t referring to Damned. Uh-oh, I thought. Did I give J. a bad book?

So, imagine my surprise and glee this morning to read a letter to the editor written by Gerald Howard, the executive editor of Doubleday. If, like me, you don’t read ahead to see who’s name is being attached to an L-to-the-E before starting to read it, it was a joyful discovery by the time I did take a peek. Here’s how Mr. Howard started his letter to the editor: “I always tell my authors, Don’t bother writing to The New York Times Book Review; it’s a mug’s game, no good will come of it. And yet here I am, ignoring my own sage advice.”

The letter goes on to defend Palahniuk (and another writer similarly dissed). The NYT Book Review’s decision to publish the letter has lifted me out of cynicism this morning in a lovely way. You can read the full letter by clicking here.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Trailer for Book on Puppies

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Meredith Ann Rutter

Like puppies? Here’s the trailer for a new book on the adorable critters. You might want to have this on hand while watching the debate tonight.

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One Flew …

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Meredith Ann Rutter

Today, I just want to share this link, a poignant letter author Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) wrote to five dear friends after his son died: click here.

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