GENREALITY

I was supposed to put up a brief excerpt today, but I wanted to do something fun for Halloween/Samhain. This is a piece of flash fiction that originally was posted on the witchychicks site. It’s a story I’ll be exploring again soon. It’s my treat to you today!

Happy Halloween/Samhain

-Candace Havens

The Psychiatrist

I’m Dr. Aeryn McCready and I treat crazy people. Correction. I treat mentally unstable supernatural beings. There is nothing human about them. Vampires, shape shifters, ghosts, witches, I take care of them all in my little house of horrors.

Okay, technically it’s a small white-framed house with a picket fence on Mulberry Street where I have my office. My patients ranged from narcissistic vamps and shape shifters with impulse control problems, to ghosts with identity issues and don’t even get me started on the zombies. The list is too long. The dry skin and lack of relationship skills is the least of their problems.

It’s my job to make them feel better about themselves.

Some days it didn’t pay to be me.

That isn’t true. Some days it’s the pay that keeps me from jumping off the top of the roof of my office. Well, that and the fact that it’s only a one-story building.   I sat and listened to their problems, and they give me $1500 an hour. The job keeps me in four-inch Christian Louboutans so I don’t complain – much. The hours were sometimes long, like today. I’d seen nine patients and I was exhausted. (You just did the math and figured out that was $13,500 for one day’s work. Believe me when I tell you I earn every cent.)

I’d skipped dinner and my stomach was letting me know by making very un-lady like gurgling sounds. So when the door opened and Daniel Craig stepped in, I was slightly off kilter and not quite myself. I looked down at my schedule. Nope, Daniel Craig wasn’t listed.

Huh.

He held out his hand as he approached my desk. “Dr. McCready?”

I nodded because my mouth wasn’t working yet.

“I’m Campbell Casen.” When he touched my hand, heat scorched through my body and my nether regions melted. Whoa, libido down girl. This is a patient.

“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Casen.” I was proud that I sounded so professional since my traitorous body wanted to press itself against him and do nasty things. I gave him a smile and motioned to the two leather club chairs in the middle of the office. “Please let’s have a seat. Tell me why you’re here tonight.”

I never bothered with small talk. I’ve found it makes patients uncomfortable. Most of the time they were anxious to get to the heart of the problem and I obliged.

His hands gripped the arms of the chair and I sensed tension. Perhaps this one did need some coddling.

“There’s no reason to be nervous with me. Take your time.”

He waved a hand. “It’s not that. I’m here more for you than me.”

Great. A crazy hottie. Weren’t they all? “Excuse me?”

Sighing he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “I’m butchering,” he winced at the word, “this. Are you by chance psychic?”

The question wasn’t as strange as it might seem. Most of us in psychiatric care had some ability. It was a necessity when dealing with supernaturals. They couldn’t always communicate on a human level and needed other ways to express themselves. “I can receive but I can’t read. Why?”

“I think it will be easier for me to show you what’s going on, rather than telling. But I’m warning you upfront. What you are about to see is beyond disturbing.”

I quite honestly have seen it all. Lycanthropes were big fans of show don’t tell and I’d witnessed more than one animalistic orgy. Then there were the vampires who accidentally ripped out jugulars and zombies with eyeballs falling into their laps. And that was just what happened today.

“I’m a professional, Mr. Casen.  I’m ready when you are.” I gave him a look of encouragement. Strange, but I couldn’t tell what kind of creature he was. Usually I get some sense, but he felt human to me.

He took a deep breath and blew it out. “I have to touch you in order to send the thoughts.”

I moved to the sofa, which was nearer his chair and held out my hand. At first all I saw was darkness and then – me. I wore my favorite sapphire Marc Jacobs swing dress, and the earrings my mom gave me for Christmas last year. I was smiling and looked genuinely happy. The image was as if someone had put a soft focus lens on a camera.  It made my skin look dewy and perfect, which I assure you is not the case.

Then the image shifted and I was in my bedroom wearing my lavender La Perla bra and panties. I had an enticing smile on my face and I crooked my finger urging my partner to the bed.

A flash of light and then I saw myself on the bed. My chest and stomach split open leaving a very good view of my heart. The bra and panties were gone, and there was blood everywhere. Then there was darkness again.

I realized I’d closed my eyes and opened them to see a worried Mr. Casen. He pushed the hand I’d been holding through his hair. “I’m sorry. I really am, but I didn’t know what else to do. I’ve never had anything like this happen before. I don’t even know how I knew what number to call but I did.”

I moved back behind my desk and opened the drawer. “No, I’m glad you did. You’re right it is disturbing to see oneself murdered, but perhaps now we can get down to business.”

I sighed. My past had caught up with me. I wasn’t sure how that evil nerd Damian had found me, but he was using poor Mr. Casen as a tool, and I couldn’t have that.

“Mr. Casen,” I reached into the drawer. “I’m truly sorry about this.” Then I shot him. Right through the frontal lobe. “You are pawn in a dangerous man’s game, and this simply could not be helped.” I continued to explain just in case his spirit lingered. “Trust me when I tell you this is the best thing for both of us.”

I set about disposing of the body and even managed to get a restful night’s sleep. I’d long ago decided to stop running. If Damian wanted another fight, I’d give it to him. No matter how many minions he sent to do me in.

The next day everything seemed back to normal until my four o’clock appointment time arrived and Mr. Casen walked through the door with a murderous look on his face.

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I think the Publishing industry may be growing extremely near-sighted. So are writers. Yesterday is some fuzzy, forgotten place, tomorrow is too far away to worry about, so we’re all focused on the now. The right this minute now. The Twitter now.

With no health care, no benefits, no job security, and the ever-present, incredible amount of talented competition out there, writing professionally has always been a high-stress job. Today writers are also expected to produce multiple books per year, have a platform, aggressively promote their books, finance their own marketing and navigate through the always-rocky waters of the internet. Is it any wonder that the professional stress has gone from constant to unbelievable?

We have editors telling us that we must have a web site, a FaceBook page, a MySpace page, a blog, a newsletter, an author page on five different bookseller sites, mailouts, bookmarks, book videos on YouTube and giveaways and contests. Add to that reading all the feeds we’re supposed to subscribe to and commenting on all the other industry blogs out there, making the conference rounds, doing the writer org things, holding booksignings, giving luncheon speeches, submitting books for awards, and oh, let’s not forget about updating the Twitter account every five minutes in case someone wants to know what we’re writing right now—

Does any pro who does all this crap really have time to write anymore? Or is it something they try to squeeze in between logins and updates? Sometimes I wonder.

I won’t debate the merits of social media or self-promotion; I’m more concerned with the negative effect trying to keep up with all these demands is having on writers. Many pros I know are already coping with significant health problems: migraines, ulcers, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, carpal tunnel syndrome, weight issues and various forms of mental and physical fatigue. The majority of these are related in some way to the biz of being a writer. I’m not going to suggest that working in the industry is killing us, but all that pressure is not doing us any favors, either. Since publishers have plenty of eager, willing talent to choose from, they’re really not worried about our personal longevity. If anyone is going to look after us and see to it that we stay in good shape to write, it has to start at home, with us.

Everyone should know what they need to do to combat stress in their personal lives, but I believe that destressing your professional life is just as important. It’s fairly simple, too; with all the demands being made of us we have to start making intelligent choices instead of trying to do everything. Here are some of my ideas on how to do that:

Put the work first. No matter what some social media junkie tells you, writing is your job, and doing it should be the number one priority in your professional life. If it’s not, you need to change things so that it is.

Accept that you can’t do it all. Look at what you’re trying to do, and choose to do what you like most, what you can reasonably handle doing, and what provides the maximum amount of career benefits. And then dump the rest. It’s better to do one thing very well than a hundred things badly.

Learn to say No. I know it’s scary. I know editors and agents can be intimidating when they want you to do something that “all the other authors are doing.” I know you’re worried about your future employment. But if you let them, they will run you into the ground, murmur how sorry they are as they step over your twitching body and move onto the next writer. You don’t get brownie points for being the most cooperative writer, you just put yourself in a position for them to make more demands of you. It’s a little easier to give them a polite no when you remember that to them you are basically a disposable commodity that can be replaced with a single e-mail or phone call.

Live the writing life you want. If you love going to conferences because they rejuvenate you, go and enjoy them. If you hate booksignings, don’t have them. If your blog is way more fun for you to update than your web site, shut down the web site. If you’re so shy that it makes you ill to get up in front of a room full of people and wax poetic about the fruits of your labors, don’t even go there. You should be happy to go to work every day, and the only way to do that is to eliminate as many things as you can from your job that make you unhappy.

Don’t make the biz your entire life. It isn’t, or it shouldn’t be. Unplug. Spend time with your significant other, your spouse, your kids, your loved ones. Avoid online train wrecks and jackasses who piss you off. Take up a non-writing hobby. Get involved in sports, plant a garden, take long walks. Weave baskets if you have to, but don’t try to be a 24/7 pro. You don’t want your eulogy to be “He kept his Twitter account updated.”

Get the help you need now. If you’re already suffering work-related health issues, see your doctor or therapist. I can almost guarantee you that ignoring the migraines, the wrist pain, the insomnia, etc. is not going to make them go away, and may lead to more serious medical conditions.

Destressing and taking care of yourself is one of the best investments you can make in your professional future. If that means taking some time to seriously evaluate your writing life and weeding out whatever causes you the most grief, do it. Then you’ll not only be happy to go to work every day, you’ll be in a better position to keep doing that for a long, long time.

Related links:

A Dozen Proven Stress Busters by Harriet Meyerson

John Carpi’s Psychology Today article Stress: It’s Worse Than You Think

Ten ways from the American Heart Association to Fight Stress With Healthy Habits, or download their information sheet on how to manage stress here.

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I’ve been talking about time management all month, and this is the last bit of that. It’s important to realize that you can have all the time in the world to write and still get nothing done. That’s why it’s important to have daily, weekly, monthly and even yearly goals. Yes ,I know. I don’t plan that far in the future either, but we need something by which to measure our success, and goals help us do that.

So sit down and figure out what you think you can accomplish each day. You can use word or page count it doesn’t matter, but it needs to be a number that you know you can stick to. One page a day is a book a year. But if you can do 10, you can finish your book in a month. If you do 20 pages a day you can finish your first draft in two weeks. Did you know that the average writer takes about two and half hours to write 20 pages? That’s head down fingers on the keyboard typing about 35 wpm.

In my FAST DRAFT class I teach the importance of letting go of that internal editor while you are creating, because there isn’t a bigger time waster than that IE. When you are creating, you have to send the IE on vacation. Send them far, far away.You need to focus on creating.

Sometimes you have to trick yourself to get things done. Or treat yourself with bribes.

In another class I teach THE WRITING GAME (we are starting Nov. 1 on my free workshop loop get to it thru www.candacehavens.com) we pull random numbers out of hat and that’s how many word you have to write that day. You can bank words if you do more, but you have to do the minimum amount each day. My students love this game, because it reminds them that writing can be fun.

Now, I don’t want to get to far away from my time management thesis here. But you have to know going in what some of the pitfalls might be, and you have to plan for them. Tricking yourself, or bribing does work well. BUT you need some attainable goals to measure.

Sit down right now and answer the following:

1. What do you want to accomplish this week with your writing?

2. What are two things today you can do to make that happen?

3. What is one thing you can do each day to make that happen?

Now do this for your monthly and yearly goals. It’s a wonderful feeling to be able to look back and see what you’ve done.

These time management techniques can be used for anything. What can you accomplish in 20 minutes? Can you clean your kitchen? Write five pages? Walk the dog? Knit half a sleeve?

We use timed writing a lot in the classes I teach, but you can use that idea for any task you want to accomplish. I know it takes me less than 5 minutes to unload the dishwasher. It takes about six minutes to clean the bathtub (It’s kind of big). It takes me about an hour to answer emails in the morning. I have to work these things into my day. It helps to know how long it REALLY takes you do something.

It’s a little too anal for me, but it helps if you keep a log, at least for a short time. You might be surprised how short or long a time it takes you to do certain things.

I hope these tips have helped this month!

I’d like to hear about your time management tricks? Or feel free to share your goals.

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I try very hard to be organized. Organized is good. Especially when you’re trying to run a business, which is how you should think of your writing. When you’re organized, life is much easier, and you have more time to spend doing what you should be doing (writing, promoting, relaxing), instead of trying to remember what you did, or wanted to do.

There are many aspects of running a business. For a writer, keeping track of what you’ve written, where you’ve sent it, when you sent it out and how it all ended is important.

When I first started writing I used index cards to keep track of things. Then I started using notebooks, the small ones you buy at the dollar store. heap and easy, but that way of doing things can get wieldy, and just plain tiresome. Some friends suggested using Excel and making a spreadsheet, but, for me, creating any sort of spreadsheet is hours of frustrating hell. Which is why I gave up about three years ago and simply started to email myself reminders and notes on things.

It was easy because my Mac Mail program allows me to create folders for each of my publishers, and my agent. When I want to check on something I just search through my stored emails. Despite this not being a full-proof method, I’d never really thought about finding a better way of keeping track of it all until I posted a call for Topics to Blog about on my Facebook page. Thanks to Sheila Lee for this topic suggestion, because it made me go looking around the net for other options and wow, I’ve found some great things.

I’ve chosen to try out the WRITERS DATABASE. It’s an online submission tracker, and it’s free. I chose an online program instead of a desktop one because I switch back and forth between my laptop and desktop often, and I travel a lot and want to be able to access my notes from anywhere if I have to. Plus, this program offers ways to input more than titles, dates, and adresses. Since I’ve just started using it I don’t have much to say, except it seems pretty simple, which I like.

(There’s a downloadable Desktop version Here, but it only works on Windows.)

Here’s some other options to check out. You need to find the method that works best for you, or you won’t keep it up.

Microsoft Word – It’s simple, easy, and chances are you already have the program. Take a look at this YouTube video installment of A Writers Guide TO Office:

SLUSHOMATIC: This is a test version of the program, but it works for PC’s and MACs.

WordHustler is something I found that’s very interesting. It’s an online storage and tracking system, that does so much more. It will also print and mail your submissions, including SASE’s and postcards if you want. I took a look around the sight and saw that they only charge you a fee when they print and mail out a submission for you. It might be something to think about, especially as a way for for those that don’t live in the US to save on postage.

WritersPlanner is also an online storage & tracking site. Be sure to read the Terms and Conditions before you start loading up your projects.

I hope you find something that works for you, because the longer you’re at this gig, the more you need to keep track of. And if you’re like me, you want to be at it for a long time to come.

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With November less than a week away, I thought I would use my column this week to provide a little assistance to those who are attempting NaNoWriMo.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month.  Every November more than 100,000 people try to write a short (50,000 word) novel between midnight on Nov 1^st and midnight on Nov 30^th.

In the words of the program’s founders:

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

I unofficially participated in NaNoWriMo back in 2006 and 2007.  This year, I’m going to be doing so on a more formal basis, joining the ranks and posting my daily word counts to keep me pushing forward on a new work I’d like to see completed before the end of the year.

One thing I learned from previous attempts to write a novel in thirty days is that you need to be prepared ahead of time.  The more prep work you do, the easier it is to meet your writing goals each and every day, which, of course, means you have a greater chance of completing the challenge overall.

I’ve heard many a would-be NaNoWriMoer (is that even a word/) state that their storyline just sort of fizzled out after a week’s worth of effort, that they didn’t know where to take it from there.  Their failure is not due to a lack of effort, but rather a lack of understanding the structure of stories in general and a lack of applying that structure to the work they are doing.

So, in order to help my fellow NaNoWriMoers (I’ve decided it is now a word, so there!) come to grips with their stories ahead of time, here is a basic structure that you can find in many successful stories today and which might help you plan for the challenge ahead.

Step 1:  Characters, Conflict, and Major Story Goal are introduced

At the very beginning of your story, the characters, the opposition/conflict, and the overall goal of the tale are introduced.

Step 2: Characters begin their journey

The characters will begin consciously or unconsciously making preparations for the “journey” or adventure that they will be undergoing throughout the tale.  A deeper sense of their abilities and motivations is given to the reader during this section, a means of letting the reader “get to know them” better.

Step 3: First Goal is determined

The characters make a decision to take some action relative to helping them reach the story goal.  That goal is identified for the reader, as are the reasons behind it.

Step 4: Actions are taken to reach that goal

The characters take some action designed to bring them closer to the goal outlined in the previous step.

Step 5: Characters are prevented from reaching their first goal

The first goal is thwarted, either through the actions of the opposition or some other circumstances that are not under the characters’ control.

Step 6: Characters react

The characters react to the fact that they failed to reach their goal.

Step 7: Stakes are raised

The stakes the characters are facing if they do not reach the story goal are raised, which in turn raises the tension and excitement of the story for the reader.  This is also where the characters react to the raising of the stakes.

Step 8: A new (second) goal is developed

Determined not to let one set-back prevent them from reaching their goal, the characters develop a new, larger goal (since the stakes are now higher.)

Step 9: Actions are taken to reach the second goal

The characters take some action designed to bring them closer to the goal outlined in the previous step.

Step 10: Characters are prevented from reaching their second goal

The second goal is thwarted, again either through the actions of the opposition or some other circumstances that are not under the characters’ control.

Step 11: Characters react

The characters react to the fact that they failed to reach their goal for the second time.

Step 12: Stakes are raised

The stakes become even higher, with greater consequences in the event of failure.   The characters react to this change.

Step 13: Low Moment Begins

At this point the characters are feeling their failures.  They are demoralized and uncertain just what to do next.  Some may even be on the verge of giving up.  It is only the high stakes that keep them in the game now.

Step 14: Third Goal is developed

With uncertainty and confusion running rampant, the characters try to rally and push onward.  A new goal is developed, though this time the specter of failure looms close at hand.

Step 15: Actions are taken despite uncertainty

Determined not to give up without a fight, the characters push through and attempt to reach the goal one more time, despite the fact that their chances of success look slimmer by the minute.

Step 16: Dark Time Begins

The characters fail miserably and the terrible circumstances they have been trying to avoid seem all too likely.

Step 17: Characters react to the dark time

Despair sets in as the characters reach their lowest emotional point in the story.  Everything they feared is about to come to pass and they seem to be completely out of options.  The stakes are at a fever pitch by this point.

Step 18: Pivotal change occurs

A crucial event takes place that makes the character’s all too well aware that they don’t have the option of failing.  Maybe their lives are on the line.  Maybe it is the life of a loved one or the fate of the entire world.  Whatever it is, the characters must face it and decide that they have to give it go or die trying.

Step 19: Goals are revised one last time

For the last time, the characters set a goal and go for it with all they’ve got.

Step 20: Final showdown happens, the opposition is defeated and the characters react to their success

The characters face off against the opposition and this they succeed.  The opposition is defeated and they are left to figure out just where they go from here.

So there you have it, a twenty step, tried and true plot structure that you can use to plan your NaNoWriMo novel ahead of time and be ready to go when the clock strikes midnight on Sunday.

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