Pam Bustin
creator, editor, story tender
Twas the night before 3Day…
and all through the house, Pam was pacing and trying to remember what it was she wanted to look up and make notes on…
It’s just past 1am on 3Day eve and I just can’t get myself off the typer and into bed.
I have a list of foodstuffs to buy tomorrow. Based muchly on the list I posted in 2013 in the My Way Through the 3Day post.
I have a plan… of sorts. It’s much like my plan from last year.
I have worked out a few yoga flow routines that I hope will help keep my back and hip from… seizing up on me.
I found some cool eye exercises over HERE.
I even bought some booze.
Having had nary a drop since my Mother in Law’s funeral… I may not imbibe. But when I saw this baby on the shelf… well… How could I resist?
I’ve a fondness for Jack that reaches into the way-back of my youth.
And I’ve a fondness for Honey that grows and grows.
So… both of them… TOGETHER?
Gotta be good.
I don’t really have anything to say tonight.
Other than to wish all of those participating this year a FABULOUS RIDE.
May we all have fun.
May we all write good.
May we all write strong.
May we all tell our tales as clear and true as we can.
I figure if we can do that, we are all WINNERS!
May the Muse bless us… each and every one.
Speaking of Muses…
I crawl off to bed with this blessing from Patti Smith rolling round in my brain.
In art and dream may you proceed with abandon.
In life may you proceed with balance and stealth.
And I offer you…. this.
Patti’s advice to us all.
Patti Smith: Advice to the young from Louisiana Channel on Vimeo.
Happy scribbling.
go easy ~p
A day of Beans and… Pondering…
Hullo Sweeties…
Another day winding it’s way into twilight.
A day full of doings. Mostly out in the yard.
Restful work like picking beans.
And cleaning beans.
And snapping, blanching, and bagging beans.
And now that the freezer is full of tasty goodness…
A cup of tea and time.
Time to watch the fading of the light on the river.
I’ve been thinking today.
Turning over different story options in my mind. Tasting. Testing.
There’s a tale that’s been kicking around my soul for a good many years. It rises to the surface every few years and then sinks back again. Not time. Not time, yet.
Is it time, now?
Maybe. It’s a story worth telling, that’s sure. It could work. I think. As a 3Day Novel. A coming of age story, with some romance and some tears. A “teacher story”, of sorts. I do love a good weepy “teacher” tale.
But there’s another voice speaking to me as well. A woman. Her voice is fainter and she carries a… stranger sort of tale.
I wonder which one will win out.
9 more days….
Go easy ~p
Dear Holly…
I ate all the chocolates….
they were delicious
and they helped get me to the final draft of a story.
Thank you.
And thank you, as well, for the inspiration you gave me when you visited the Bay this summer and with your lovely story, Mottled which made my heart smile and ache at the same time.
May you write more more MORE.
I submitted my story today to the Geist Magazine Short Long-Distance Writing Contest.
Feels good to be working again.
Go easy~p
Some days….
I just can’t seem to focus.
Today was a little like….
hence…no attempt at an inspiring 3 Day Novel post.
oof.
sorry.
go easy ~p
A Great Day in the Trenches: Working on a Story
Evening, All…
Not much to report DIRECTLY on the 3Day Novel front, but a great day of work done.
I called in my MINIONS! Being a small group of writerly folk I know who where brave and kind enough to take the time to read and comment on the 500 word story that I am writing for the Geist Magazine Short Long-Distance Writing Contest.
They all gave great and USEFUL feedback and I spent today reworking the story.
Ahhh… feels so good to be working and to be working with others again. I’ve grown very… insular… as I work on the novel (Sanctuary). It is so big and I am not ready for anyone to see it. There really is a TIME to share your work with others. Too soon and… well… damage can be done to both the story and your own story-teller soul.
The timing on this one was… just right.
I was able to take and incorporate many of the notes people gave me.
I also compiled the notes (without names) to share with the readers. I am always curious, when I respond to something, how much of that response is… just me — my mood, my own obsessions, and so on — and how much is actually seen/agreed on by other readers.
It’s pretty darned interesting to lay out all the comments both the “things to work on/think about” and the “this BIT works GREAT” stuff and see the back and forth.
As one of my trusty long time readers said,
Interesting to read notes. Some allusions/unspokens are crystal to some and vague to others.
…
What a balancing act. Deciding how much detail is necessary to reach people without crossing into spelling everything out in sitcom like writing.
True so true.
And in 500 words, no less!
After the judging of the contest, I might just share the different versions of the story here, and the comments that aided me as I felt my way toward a final draft.
Unless, of course, I find another market to submit the piece to. They you might have to wait a bit longer for the big reveal. But it would be fun to do that.
The fantastic Arthur Slade, author of The Hunchback Assignment Series, Jolted and many more books, just shared a great post on his blog called See My Editor Tear My Work to Shreds – it’s fascinating to see how he and his editor work together. I’m so glad Art was generous enough to give us a peek into the process.
What a great day I had. Flexing my writing muscles.
That counts as prep for the 3Day in my books.
Huge gratitude to those who helped. As I wrote today, I owe you one!
Wishing you all a wonderful week.
go easy ~p
Todays Gatherings: Exploring the Heroine’s Journey (another 3 Day Novel post)
Hullo Sweeties.
Woke this morning with two thoughts rolling around in my head.
The first was put there by a friend on the ole f-book. She mentioned Daphne as one of her favourite “transformation” myths. This sang to me, though, at that moment, I couldn’t remember the myth at all at all.
I remembered it in my tossy-turny sleep.
I hungered to read it again, and to read more of these transformational myths.
I also had a not so tiny voice screaming in my brain that “IN TWO WEEKS YOU WILL BE WRITING MADLY! RIGHT? RIGHT?? HOW WILL YOU WRITE??!”
Yes yes… the urge is upon me to play with the document on my computer called “Outlining Thots.” This is a 13page document that is chock full of… ways to outline. Ways to break down that plot and get a grip on that slippery story. Or in my case… a few sneaky ways to try to pry the story out of that voice in your head who promises she will show up on the day, but isn’t too fond of telling you what she will say. “Spoilers, Sweety.”
My favourite go to method of … trying to talk to my character… has boiled down to a “simple” (heh heh) 8 point exploration.
8 Step Journey
- And our Heroine is…:
- Something ain’t quite right…:
- Crossing the Threshold:
- The Road of Trials:
- Meeting the Goddess
- Losing her Mentor:
- Return:
- Change:
I believe it was originally gleaned from this great article by Dan Harmon:Story Structure 104: The Juicy Details
I had to go and look that up cuz I lost the bookmark somewhere along the way.
And while I was at it, I found these tasty bits for further perusal this weekend.
A lovely concise post on The Heroine’s Journey by Theodora Goss.
A fascinating essay by Florence Vandendorpe on Innana’s Descent: Healing With Myth.
A trippy lil piece on Using the Heroine’s Journey by Chris Winkle over on Mythcreants.
And yet another take on The Heroine’s Journey over at Tumblr by someone called Flutie Bear: Taking the Heroine’s Journey (this is part one).
I also found Maureen Murdock – a writer I am incredibly excited to discover! It is her book The Heroine’s Journey that all these folks seem to be laying out for us.
Huzzah… many things to keep my brain amused as I ponder this woman who is barely whispering in my head. I’m hoping SOMETHING will grab her attention and thereby give me a CLUE as to her story.
And thinking THAT… there was a mad scramble and much re-arranging and dust bunny finding to get my “3 Day Inspiration Bookshelf” in order. These are the books that will be with me from now until the end of the contest.
OK – this is the FIRST piling of books that will be with me til the end of the contest.
I’m sure they will be joined by others.
I never DID get around to actually WORKING with that 8 Step Journey… but I did go for a wonderful walk up the lane and practice… LISTENING… for the whispery voice of a woman talking in the dark.
And now… I grow hungry… so I’m off to make something tasty to eat.
Hope you’re having a great weekend.
go easy ~p
Two Weeks til GO TIME: Pam’s Top Five Tips for the Three Day Novel Contest
Hey Gang
Two weeks to go!
For those of you prepping this weekend, here’s a video I made last year with my Top Five Tips for getting ready for the contest.
Mulligan is my alter-ego over on the 3 Day Novel 2015 Chatzone.
Stop by if you’re looking for some like-minded folks to hang out with as you prepare for the contest.
On other fronts…just so you know… I still like the new draft of the story I’m working on for that OTHER contest. Still some tweaks to do… but it doesn’t suck NEAR as much as it did yesterday.
Have a great weekend.
go easy ~p
15 Days to the 3DNC: Adventures in ReVision or Taking Care of Our Own … Fecal Matter
Hulloo Hallay – it’s been a downsy-upsy sort of day on the bay.
Woke with the fears hanging all over me. The fears that…
It’s gone.
If I ever had a talent for writing…. it is gone.
This was brought home to me by the fact that the story I’ve been working on for the past few days is STINK-KAY! Iccky. Not good. Lame. and … so on.
It was a good idea, but… I just couldn’t do it. The words were just all wrong and it… well…. it sucked. Most of it. Almost all of it.
So…
I proceeded to do everything I could possibly think of to AVOID working on the smelly ole thing.
I snooped around online for at least an hour seeking new long johns… preferably merino wool… preferably not a million dollars… cuz lord knows I wanna be warm this coming winter but lord also knows I’m flat as a patty-cake pancake cash wise. I found some likely looking beauties, but I didn’t order any. Like I said. Broke like a 57 Chevy rotting in the back pasture.
I did the dishes and washed the kitchen floor.
Did I mention that our wonderful shaky-shack on the shores of the Kebsquasheshing has no running water? It was WORK to pump and heat that water for the dishes and the floor and then…
Well then I decided to tackle the composting toilet. Cause… yeah… if you don’t have running water you don’t have a flush toilet and if you don’t have a flush toilet then someone needs to take care of that shit. LITERALLY.
I’ve been meaning to give the toilet a good cleaning for a long while. Today was the day.
And, y’know what? It felt good to take care of that shit. And all the other shit.
And I felt my spirits lifting.
I washed up and ate some soup and then I went for a walk and then I came home and …
Set my timer for 2 hours and got the hell back to work on my story.
I just finished a shiny new draft.
I’m gonna print it out and let it sit overnight. Then I’m gonna look at it in the morning and hope hope hope that I don’t HATE IT as much as I hated the last draft.
Cuz that’s what we have to do.
We have to take care of all our shit – including our writing.
Now… how was your day?
go easy ~p
16 Days to 3DNC 2015: Finding or Making a Spot to Work
Hullo Sweeties
Today's fun included doing some cleaning up out in the Writing Burrow and rehanging the curtain in my "bunky office."
When I live in cities, I spend a lot of time writing in coffee shops, art galleries, museums and parks. Here on The Bay, I work mostly at home. During the 3 Day Novel Contest, I mostly work out in the Writing the Burrow, but I like having options.
My fellow 3 Dayers work…all over the place – hotels, motels, cabins in the woods, at libraries, in their offices at work, barricaded at home…the possibilities are endless.
Oooh…. just got an alert that we’ve got a major thunderstorm warning round these parts, so I’d best get meself off-line before we lose power or somesuch. But before I trundle off, here’s some linky goodness gleaned from today’s 3DNC Newsletter… Some strategies on “Finishing That Bloody Novel!”
Maybe something here will help me finish up Sanctuary when I get back to it. I WILL get back to it. One of these days.
For today, some space prepping and a little more work on the short long-distance story will suffice.
Happy scribbling.
Go easy~p
On the other hand…. What if there IS a SECRET FORMULA for crafting a well-made story?
So….
Just because I KNOW that outlining / pre-planning doesn’t really work for me, doesn’t stop me from continuing to seek…. THE SECRET FORMULA for writing the best possible thing that I can during the 3 Day Novel Contest. Or any time.
After alla that blather yesterday about how formulas just don’t work for me, I found myself cruising the interwebs at 2am this morning and returning to this tasty tidbit….
How to Write a Book in Three Days: Lessons from Michael Moorcock
Cuz…. hey… there is always stuff to learn. Right?
So if you’re working on a QUEST or a CAPER type story … there might just be something you can grab from the article and add to your box of writing tools.
And for those who like pictures with their Secret Formulas, here’s a WIKI on…
How to Write a Novel in 10 Days or Less.
And for those of you who’d like to peruse a series of posts and be introduced to a rather WONDERFUL blog … you should check out the Brainstorming series of posts over on my pal Bill Patterson’s blog. Here’s the first post…
And, as for me and Mz Musey… we are stepping away from the typer for a bit to eat some chicken noodle soup and maybe watch an episode of Firefly or something.
This is a reward, as we spent the morning working on revisions to a piece of short fiction that JUST MIGHT be a submission to the Short Long-Distance Writing Contest over at Geist Magazine.
Will this be the story that breaks my long long LONG silence and lack of submissions.
Who knows.
What I do know is THIS IS THE WAY I AM GETTING READY for the contest. By … writing. Stretching muscles. Moving the pen across the page.
Feels darned good.
Hmm… maybe THAT is my Secret Formula for crafting a well-made story.
-
Write.
-
Re-write.
-
repeat.
Hope you’re having a great day of scribbles and dreams.
go easy ~p
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Pam Bustin 