Author: Beth Hull

Friday Five

Posted on by Beth Hull

The quick-and-dirty-I-just-had-a-life-changing-ham-and-cheese-croissant-version…

1. I just had a life-changing ham and cheese croissant. I got it at the Nugget and had it grilled, added mayonnaise and lettuce. Paired it with a vanilla cream soda. Bestlunchever.

2. Forever revising. Revising doesn’t end until I shelve it in a cruddy hand-me-down binder, or until it’s shelved at a bookstore (there is still hope).

3. Belly button update: still an Innie! But just barely.

4. Might go back to the Nugget for a dinnertime ham and cheese croissant.

5. So excited about having finished the first draft of my latest work-in-progress. It’s hard to step back and let it breathe, but thankfully (?!) I have these other revisions to distract me.

6. I’m such a cheater.

Parenting and Productivity

Posted on by Beth Hull

Before I had Z, I considered myself fairly productive. I finished the first draft of a novel, which seemed like a pretty big deal at the time. It took me about two years.

After Z, I finished another novel draft in one year. My third one took about six months or so.

Today, just finished the first draft of my fourth novel, and it took less then three months. (It’s really really short, and really really horrible, but that’s what revision is for.)

So what I’m wondering is, am I more productive with the writing because I know how fleeting free time is, so I don’t waste it? Or is it that I’m “growing up” finally, and getting a little more self-disciplined? Or am I  a more effective writer, because of all the practice? Or all of those, or none?

And before you think I’m writing more because I’ve let housework fall by the wayside, no, I can assure you, I’ve always let housework fall by the wayside. (And I always will.) (Yes, that’s a promise.)

Does anyone else have experience with this – whether for you, or someone you know? More productive with kids, as unbelievable as it sounds?

Why I Write

Posted on by Beth Hull

Friend and critique partner Jo Hart wrote a post on the Top 5 Reasons Why I Write, and it got me thinking about my own reasons.

1. I’m in love with words. Any language. Ever read a story, poem, or novel, and just hug the book to yourself afterward? And think, “Wow, I can only think ‘wow'”? And sometimes, finding the exact right word for what you mean feels like an adrenaline high? And Word-of-the-Day calendars are great & all, but they only give you 365 words, and that’s not quite enough?

2. Writing feels good. If I can string words together in what I think is a pleasing way, I read them over and over and feel really good. Sometimes it doesn’t even have to be a string of words (see above) – it can be one, e.g. “epiphany.”

epiphany.

(Yup, brilliant. Feels good, doesn’t it?)

3. I can’t not write. I’ve always written things down. The only times I’ve imagined a world in which I don’t write are times when I’ve been severely depressed. Which is, you know, not fun for anyone.

4. It’s cathartic. Depressed, bitchy, manic – it all goes into the diary at some point; it all goes into the stories.

5. I’m self-absorbed. If ever fiction fails me, I can fill up diary books (and, sorry, yes, blog posts) all about ME.

6. Sometimes I get an idea or have a dream that I have to write down (e.g. girls sneak out of beautiful city to explore ravaged city full of scary creatures)

7. I’m too in love with office supplies to stop. Notebooks, diaries, pens, markers, dry erase boards, index cards…writing is a great excuse to buy these things.

So, how about you?

Yoga

Posted on by Beth Hull

I don’t know if it will fix my Whoofle-chewed pelvis, but I felt fantastic while in the studio yesterday, and I feel fantastic (although a tad sore) today. Strong. No, I didn’t walk through the yoga studio doors and transform into a graceful, light-on-my-feet butterfly. Still cumbersome & awkward, yes. But more in control of, or maybe at peace with, my body.

One other pregnant woman in the class – I thought she was at least a month behind me, but no, I learned afterward she’s further along by a month. Just, you know, smaller and cuter. I took a moment to envy her definitely-not-whaline figure, then decided to give myself a break and let it go. Remember, at peace with the body. I’m getting too old and pregnant for body issues. Let’s hold on to the fantastic.

Writing Tip: Break on Through

Posted on by Beth Hull

The last couple of weeks have been tough as far as writing. The book I’m working on has this awesome character and awesome set-up (I think so anyway, and every first draft is for ME). But for two weeks I’ve been struggling with the ending. The idea I had in mind, when I actually got closer and closer to it, seemed suckier and suckier.

Until finally I couldn’t write the story at all.

Instead I whined in my diary for approximately three hours every morning. “What am I doing, this ending is horrible. Maybe I should go herd goats in a cold remote country….”

Oh yeah, writing tip. Not long meandering whiny story.

Steps I took:

1. I read the YA Muses posts this week on endings (how timely!). Especially helpful was the guest post by Elle Cosimano, but really, all week, their blog has been like my own personal support group.

2. I listed 20 other ideas of steps my main character could take for achieving her ultimate goal. TWENTY. Don’t short yourself, because the best ideas are usually found in the last five. (I think I got this tip from a talk Bruce Coville gave at an SCBWI conference last April.)

3. I did some exercises from Donald Maass’s book, Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook. I was saving this bad boy for after I’d finished the draft, but, seeing that nothing else was working, I did the exercises on Theme (specifically, “Alternate Endings,” (pp 200-201), “The Larger Problem” (pp 202-203), and “Same Problem, Other Characters” (pp 204-205)).

4. I made a list of what I thought made for a fantastic climactic ending in one of my favorite contemporary YA novels, The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen. My list looked like this:

  • huge storm (sorta cliche/plot device, but works for story)
  • tons of people, Macy demanded everywhere at once
  • two guys – the one she wants & the one she must deal with first
  • needing to face her fear/hang-up and RUN for the guy she wants
  • overall: choices, weather, too many people, TONS of conflict

5. Then I made a wish list of elements I’d like for my own wacky wonderful ending (including, but not limited to, a brawl involving the strippers and this total Creeper McCreeperson).

6. Finally I had enough ideas to make a new outline for a new shiny ending that hopefully will not be so horrible that the very thought of it paralyzes my writing.

And I share these ideas with you, free of charge. (Because, yes, they might be worthless.)