By Laura Drake
I’m between books. Which is to say that I took two days to clean up everything on my ‘to do’ list, and today I’m diving into plotting my next book.
Yeah, right. Everyone who follows WITS knows I’m an inveterate pantser. Well, I’m turning over a new car (this is way harder than a leaf). The Book From Hell I just completed has convinced me there’s GOT to be a better way.
So I was avoiding, wasting time, researching how to change my process, and lo and behold, there was a squirrel. Oh, look!
I’m this fluffy after the stress of The Book From Hell
I know, I know, I’ll get back to the process thingy, but this is really cool!
I ran across a link I’d saved in my “Inspiration” folder (See? I was working.) Ann Mulligan’s blog had a list of author quotes, each completing the sentence,
“You know you’re a writer if . . .”
You can see the whole hilarious, really true blog here, but here’s a sampling of quotes from it:
… you talk about your characters over the dinner table and your husband has the nerve to tell you they’re not real people. ~ Mindy Obenhaus
… you go through keyboards like a pre-teen boy goes through socks. ~ Michelle Griep
… you eavesdrop at funerals. ~ Bonnie Calhoun
… your local police look at you funny because you’re always asking how crimes are committed. – Deborah Anderson
… when your husband’s bargaining chip for a new rifle is you get to go to a writer’s conference. ~ Ane Mulligan
Mine?
…When you travel to the area where you set your small town series, and you want to stop in and say, ‘Hey’ to your characters. No, seriously.
…When your hubby tells you about a conversation you and he had, that you have no recollection of.
…You go to the baby names book more than a woman who’s giving birth to sextuplets.
What about you? Put yours in the comments. Come on people, I need distraction um . . .
The second book in Laura’s Sweet on a Cowboy series, Nothing Sweeter, releases January 28th.
But you all know how important pre-sales are to rankings, right? I’m just saying…
Writers In The Storm Blog 
. . . you spend Christmas morning reading a blog on the craft of writing. 🙂
Happy Holidays everyone!
That’s perfect!! 🙂
I love that one, Deb!
Yep, or you sneak away from the holiday festivities because you’ve just had a story idea and MUST go write it down.
Loved this post, Laura!
Exactly righ, Debbie! Merry Christmas!
… when, in the middle of a conversation with a family member, you blurt out “Ohhh, that’s what happens next” and run off in search of THE notebook (because it has to be THE notebook) to write the random thought down.
That’s hilarious, Orly. 🙂
Reblogged this on heatherzhutchinswrites and commented:
Best. Christmas. Post. Ever. You know you’re a writer if…you do ALL of those things she lists. Merry, merry everybody!
You have more to-be-read books on your shelves than your husband has socks in his drawer.
Your calendar contains marked dates for book readings, writer circle meetings and book releases.
You frequent your local bookstore so often they know you by name.
Your friends introduce you by saying, “This is Leanne. She writes.”
Your fingers are ink stained.
Your husband knows not to distribute you when you’re staring at a blank wall–because you’re working.
I loved your last one! Staring at a blank wall can be very productive!!! I get it!!
Oh, yes, and the number one way you can tell you are a writer–you’re so busy writing that forget it’s Christmas.
Not really… : )
Merry Christmas, one and all.
Merry Christmas to YOU, Leanne! And here I am on Christmas afternoon, catching up on the blogs. This writing is a consuming business. 🙂
Your family often suggest ‘real’ jobs you could pursue while your ‘hobby’ takes off.
When you read it’s for more that the plot and character. Every book is a tutorial.
And (this could just be me though) you have a strange love of stationary…
Oh no, not just you, Miss. Don’t you love the smell of stationary? Or is that just me?
… if you argue with your main character and she wins.
Merry and thanks, Laura Drake. I love the image of diving in … especially since we have a heated pool 🙂
Your pool may be heated Florence, but mine isn’t…new books are scary!
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…you see a shiny bauble and say “Oooh! Cute Squirrel. I’ll find a spot for it in my blog post. Somehow.”
…you get far too animated when discussing sex toy shops at a party because one of your characters is determined to own the best. (true story)
…you’re grateful you don’t drink because (1) discussions at parties about sex shops could be worse, and (2) you scribble lines tossed like confetti by the happy, happy ones to use in your novels.
…you preorder a book before your MasterCard cycles because (1) it’s written by a mega talented writer, and (2) you hope one day that writer will feel the same about your second baby.
Aw wow, thanks, Gloria – I can’t wait to return the favor! And the visual you just gave me about the sex shop is going to stay with me awhile!
My
woefully inadequatedefense for engaging in that discussion is: I did not bring the conversation tidbit to the party.One of the women attended a milestone-birthday surprise party that was held at…
[kazoo trill]
The Velvet Box.
I do not know where it is or exactly what they sell — an education deficiency that will be corrected as soon as I be-bop on over to Google. Are you sure you don’t want to come hang out with me in Dallas for a while? The places we’ll go! The things we’ll see!
Reblogged this on Ella Quinn ~ Author and commented:
This is wonderful!
If you’d rather write than do anything else.
When you study…I mean study….chemistry or mythology, or theosophy according with the theme of your next project.
…you hear voices in your head and you don’t feel the need to medicate.
You get distracted by the way people look and how to describe it, often getting caught staring.
At Christmas, your mother-in-law tells of another family member’s transient global amnesia, and then, catching the excited look on your face, everyone wants to know whether that will happen in your next book. Or the one after that. (You never know!)
How about your driving home from Christmas Eve gathering and think of the perfect scene for the book?
You know you’re a writer if your entire mood/outlook on life and that of all the people in your life is contingent upon the success of a one hour writing session….