Betsy Horvath

Everybody has a story.

Category: Writing

  • The Story Of A First Draft (Part Three)

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    starsPreviously on Betsy’s Blog…

    In Part One of The Story of a First Draft, the Muse gave Betsy the beginning situation of her story and showed her a spotlight shining on the ending off in the distance in the darkness of Betsy’s brain.  Together, the Muse and Betsy came up with a vision of the path that would take them from the beginning to the end.  Hooray!  Betsy is on her way to a glorious first draft!  Everything’s coming up roses!

    Then last week, in Part Two, Betsy starts out on her journey and runs into difficulties. She chooses the wrong fork in the road, writes herself into a corner, and sulks.  But eventually she is able to overcome the difficulty.  She can even move forward again!  She’s making progress!  Almost there!

    Until Betsy, in her infinite wisdom, decides she has been heading in the wrong direction the whole time.  For some reason, she decides the whole story is stupid and she needs to start all over again.  Much to the Muse’s disgust, she turns around to go back to the beginning.

    Will this first draft ever be finished?  Will Betsy be writing it for the rest of her life?  Join us and we’ll see…
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  • The Story Of A First Draft (Part Two)

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    pathsignsIf you joined us for Part One of The Story of a First Draft, you know that the Muse came to Betsy in the darkness of her mind.  Well, Betsy’s mind is generally dark (and somewhat blank), but in this case the darkness represented the story she is about to write before the writing began.  The Muse pointed Betsy towards a spotlight on the far side of the darkness, which is the ending of the story – where they thought they wanted to end up.  Then she indicated a glowing square under Betsy’s feet – the situation they’re starting with.

    Betsy and the Muse talk, and suddenly there is a faint path between the glowing square and the spotlight.  That path is the initial vision of the story – the story in potential, as it were.  Now Betsy is ready to set out on her journey by taking her first steps towards a first draft.  Just a side note, if Betsy were a plotter, these steps would be taken by writing an extensive outline.  However, Betsy is a pantser with trust issues – in other words, she plots a little bit and then writes by the seat of her pants (a true pantser doesn’t plot at all).  She did enough plotting to uncover the initial vision of the story.  Now she’s going to see if she can actually find the story the vision indicated.

    Will she succeed?  Let’s see…
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  • The Story Of A First Draft (Part One)

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    spotlightAs noted in the previous blog post, Betsy and the Muse have been taking a good hard look at how Betsy writes.  They figured that if they could see what Betsy is actually doing in her writing process, they might be able to improve it and speed things up at little bit.  After all, Betsy needs to get jiggy with production in 2015 if she’s going to meet her indie author/publisher goals.

    Because Betsy tends to think in stories, she has written one – an allegory, if you will – to show how she seems to write a first draft.  It would perhaps have been a better plan to write about this in a more forthright manner, as other blogs do.  It was perhaps immature to create a, dare I say, dramatic rendition of the process.  And yes, it would perhaps have been kinder not to expose you, gentle and innocent reader, to the wild landscape of Betsy’s mindscape.

    On the other hand, you ARE reading this blog.  What did you expect?  You take what you get.
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  • Wrap Party

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    CelebrationBetsy, Harry (the white gerbil who is the Guide for her Quest), and the Muse have decided to get together to reach out and touch base and create synergy heading into 2015. Where does Betsy stand with her writing? What are her goals for the new year? Is her Muse having an affair with Coffee?

    Let’s see….

    *Betsy pushes open door to Harry’s office in her brain* Hello! Is anyone here?

    Betsy! Dollface! Come on in. *Harry lounges on top of his gerbil habitat tower browsing through his gPad*

    Is Muse here too? *Betsy comes further into the office* Oh, there she is. *Waves at muse*
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  • Progress? Yes! Progress!

    longroadHello there!  Well, it’s been – *checks calendar* – EEEP!  two months since the last time I’ve blogged.  Shocking, but true.  But this time I’ve been silent because I’ve been making some…wait for it…wait for it… Progress!  Yes, I said Progress!  Granted, it’s been a shambling zombie-like run towards progress, my arms outstretched, bits and pieces of me falling by the wayside, but a wee bit of progress has been grasped in my fingers curved like claws, pulled towards my cavernous….er….sorry.

    Anyway, I’ve made some progress.
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  • Intermission

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    19-intermission-slide-granger

     

     

    —–Intermission—–

     

    The Muse was whipping my butt last night, so I didn’t have a chance to write up the next installment in the adventures of Betsy, Harry, Skipper, Muse, Dark Voice, Obsessia, Fake Harry, Coffee, Blogosphere, etc.  because I was actually working on my book.  However, since I hadn’t posted anything on Sunday (I was busy weeding the garden I’ve neglected all summer), I thought I’d write a quick status update for those who may (or may not) care.
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  • Fake Harry

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    Two HarrysPreviously on Betsy’s Blog…

    Betsy and Harry, the white gerbil who is Betsy’s Guide on her Quest to become a successful independent authorpreneur,  have been spending quality time with Skipper, a Habit Formation and Implementation specialist sent by the International Muse Council to help Betsy develop goals and habits.  After a long and arduous process similar to birthing an elephant, Betsy has finally set out to form a concrete habit – writing every day.

    Having worked on this habit for several days, Betsy has come back to her brain to report on her progress.  (It should concern everyone that she has to “come back” to her brain.)  However, something seems to be amiss.  Her brain seems a little dim and fuzzy, as if she is viewing it through an antique looking glass.  And does Harry feel okay?  He looks…funny.

    What’s going on here?  Let’s see….
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  • Doubt and Believing

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    Harry1Previously on Betsy’s Blog…

    As you know if you’ve joined us for previous installments of The Quest, Betsy has decided to become a successful independent author / entrepreneur. Harry, a white gerbil, is her Guide on this Quest, determined to help her find her way as she navigates the confusing paths leading to her goal. Betsy is discovering (well, she already knew this, so it’s more like admitting) that most of the confusion and false starts come from within herself.

    When last we left them, Harry had fallen into a depressed and debauched state after Betsy and her Muse were attacked by a Dark Voice who lives inside Betsy’s brain. Harry felt he had pushed too hard and made Betsy vulnerable to the bad thoughts.

    Betsy pulled Harry back from the brink, but he still had to make an appearance before the International Muse Council for an evaluation. He’s been gone for a couple of weeks, but now he’s back. How did things go while he was gone? Join us and we’ll see….
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  • Status Update

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    ~~~~Intermission~~~~

    And now a few words from our sponsor…

     

    Hi, everyone!

    Well, I haven’t seen Harry today, so I thought I would just give you a quick update on a couple of things.

    First, I hope you’re enjoying the story of my Quest to become a successful Indie Author / Indie Publisher / Indie Authorpreneur / Self Publisher / Whatever-You-Want-To-Call-It.  I’m having more fun writing the blog than, well, ever.  Plus I don’t feel like I’m being as much of a drama queen when I’m writing about myself in the third person.  And being a fiction author means there’s always voices talking in my head, so why not take advantage of them?
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  • Obsessia

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    obsessia1Previously on Betsy’s Blog…

    Harry, Betsy’s Guide on her Quest, has given her a list of things she will need to learn to be a successful indie author and she has gone off to think about them.  Betsy being Betsy, her thoughts promptly swirled into a burgeoning tornado of confusion, indecision and doubt.  But, wait – does it seem that Betsy is being prodded just a little a bit?  Could there be something – or someone – helping to stir her up?  Let’s see…
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  • First Drafts and Fears

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    ClimbEveryMountainPreviously on Betsy’s Blog…

    Betsy is on a Quest to become an Indie Author/Publisher/Entrepreneur.  Harry, a white gerbil, is her Guide.  When last we met, Betsy and her Muse were hopped up on writing good times and heading towards finishing the first draft of the second half of the redraft of the book Betsy is writing.  While they got down to the creative business, Harry went off to find out what else Betsy is going to need to know if she wants to make this Quest a reality.

    Now Betsy and Harry are meeting to discuss progress, but something appears to be amiss.  Betsy is not bouncing around with excitement and middle-aged glee.  In fact, she seems rather subdued.  What’s happened?  Does Betsy have to make yet another feeble excuse for not getting her work done?  Let’s see…
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  • What’s Next?

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    woman thinkingPreviously on Betsy’s blog…

    Harry, Betsy’s Guide on her Quest to be an indie author/publisher, has discovered that Betsy and her Muse are almost finished the first draft of her book.  This is a good thing.  What Harry finds a little disturbing is the fact that Betsy wrote much of the second half of the first draft of the book in longhand.  Like on paper.  With a pen.  And now it will have to be typed in.

    This gave Harry a little pause (as opposed to little paws – he already has those), but he’s gotten over it.  Mostly.  Now he wants to find out where Betsy and her Muse are planning on taking her writing in the future.  Is this first draft going to be it?  Do they have any further plans?  Has Betsy thought ahead at all?  Does Betsy even have a clue?

    Let us rejoin the conversation between Betsy, Harry, and the Muse, in the lushly appointed office Harry has set up for himself in Betsy’s brain to find out…. 
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  • Longhand?

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    Writing ClipartPreviously on Betsy’s Blog…

    To sum things up as quickly as possible:  there’s a Quest, there’s a Guide, he’s a gerbil (yeah, a gerbil), his name is Harry.  The Quest is to indie publish, Betsy’s supposed to be writing and finishing her first draft, and the Muse is cranky about schedules.  Betsy’s also managed to put together a “Quest” page collecting all of the related blog posts in one place.  Although she never figured out how to put the first post first instead of last, she’s pretty impressed that she even figured out how to collect them together.

    Anyway, Harry has called a meeting with Betsy and the Muse to discuss progress.  Let’s listen in, shall we?  

    Yes, let’s.
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  • Some Thoughts About Failure and Success

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    primrose1One morning last week, I woke up feeling vaguely guilty and rather like a failure.  Now that isn’t terribly unusual, but I didn’t know what was wrong this time.  As I thought about it, I realized my feelings were somehow connected to the fact I had been to the grocery store the previous evening.It so happens this trip to the grocery store had gone perfectly well, but there have been many times in my life when a trip to the grocery store meant the purchase and consumption of vast quantities of inappropriate foodstuffs.  I have come to associate going to the grocery store with breaking promises to myself and feeling like a failure.I have trained myself.Last week I was also thinking about writing and wondering why I hadn’t felt like a success when HOLD ME was published.  After all, the publication of a book is the popularly accepted definition of success for a writer.
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  • Sugar-Coated

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    sugarhazePreviously on Betsy’s Blog…

    When Betsy loses two of her beloved cats within six weeks of each other due to cancer, Harry, Betsy’s Quest Guide, leaves her alone for a little while to grieve.  However, when he returns to Betsy’s brain, he’s disturbed to find molecules of sugar and chemicals flying around everywhere and Betsy’s Muse sound asleep on a ratty sofa pushed into a corner.  Talking to the Muse causes more concern.  Harry knew Betsy was a wreck, but he finds out she hasn’t written anything at all since he’s been gone.  Harry and the Muse both know that writing will help Betsy work through her emotions, but Betsy doesn’t seem to know that.  In fact, Harry begins to suspect that Betsy might have gotten herself completely derailed.

    Another wave of sugar and chemicals hits, sending the Muse into a sound sleep.  Harry makes a dash for Betsy’s temporal lobe to see if he can figure out what’s going on.  What will he find?
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  • Derailed?

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    derailed_trainPreviously on Betsy’s Blog…

    Betsy and Harry, her Quest Guide, determined that the first step Betsy needs to take to become a successful indie author is to write more.  They also discussed Betsy’s production schedule and decided Betsy would finish the first draft of her work in progress by May 11.  Unfortunately, in the meantime Betsy experienced a heartbreaking loss.

    But now we are left to wonder – has Betsy been able to write at all?  Has her grief blown her schedule completely out of the water?  Is her life totally off track?  And why is her trash can full of empty ice cream containers and plastic cheesecake trays?  Why are more and more sugar molecules zipping through Betsy’s brain?

    Join us as Harry tries to figure out what’s up with Betsy…
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  • A Production Schedule

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    Making the donutsPreviously on Betsy’s Blog…

    Betsy has had several conversations with Harry, the mythical creature sent by the International Muse Council to guide her towards her dreams.  Harry happens to be a white gerbil with aspirations for a promotion.  Surprisingly, he’s also proving to be quite a bit of help. He has already helped Betsy identify the goal of her Quest – she wants to be an indie author.  Next, he helped her to identify her first step – she has to write.  But that’s a pretty self- explanatory first step, so how should she really get started?  Let’s join Betsy and Harry now as they sit together on a sprawling sectional sofa in Betsy’s brain to discuss the matter.
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  • First Steps

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    dizzy computerPreviously on Betsy’s Blog…

    Betsy met an albino gerbil named Harry, who just happens to be her official Guide for her Quest. The problem? She didn’t know what her Quest was! Although Harry was disgusted by this lack of self-awareness, he helped her weed through her writing goals to see what she really wants to accomplish. With Harry’s help, Betsy realized she wants to self-publish (or indie publish, if you will).

    But where does she go from here? This question has been haunting Betsy for days – nay, weeks. Let’s join Betsy and Harry in Betsy’s brain as they discuss the first steps.
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  • Freedom

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    Previously on Betsy’s Blog….

    Harry, Betsy’s albino gerbil Quest Guide, has sent Betsy away to think about her writing.  They need to identify the true nature of her quest before they set out.  Otherwise how will they know when they get there?  Now, after a short break for Easter, they’ve gotten together again and are sitting together on the Ikea sofa in Betsy’s brain to see if they can decide what they’re doing.
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  • Defining Success

    daffodils3Because I want to be honest here on the blog (and it’s not a secret anyway), I’ll tell you that I feel like I’ve been flailing around quite a bit for the last year or so, especially when it comes to my writing career.  I’ve been thinking about that fact a lot lately.  Also, since I feel like something of a failure, I’ve been trying to understand what the concept of “success” means to me.  How do I define success?  How will I know when I am succeeding?  Is it money?  Power?  World domination?  What?
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  • Always Something In The Box

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    Box

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  • My Affair With Scrivener

    womanhuggingcomputer*Note – this post should be read using a throaty internal voice. Think Delilah. Or Jessica Rabbit.*

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  • What’s In A Pseudonym?

    BreakingNewsBreaking news!  Last week the publishing industry was rocked by the discovery that J. K. Rowling (author of “Harry Potter”, in case you’ve been living in a cave) had published a British mystery novel under the pseudonym “Robert Galbraith”. She was outed, and the usual hysteria ensued (here’s one of the articles – this one from the Chicago Tribune). Ms. Rowling said that she wanted to continue to write under that pen name for a while, like Stephen King did with his Richard Bachmann persona and as Nora Roberts did with J. D. Robb. Alas, this was not to be.

    Okay, so the Sunday Times in London did a heck of a lot of work to uncover the fact that “Robert Galbraith” was a pseudonym. The question is, why? Why should anyone care that J. K. Rowling wrote a book using another name?

    Ms. Rowling herself cares, I assume. She has said that she wanted to release a book without all of the hype that would be associated with a book under her name. I can see why she would since, as mentioned in the article linked above, once it became known that she wrote the book, it was not judged on its own merits but on how people felt about the author.

    The publisher cares, I guess, since the book sold respectably, but not spectacularly until the author became known. Now there’s even a bidding war going on for movie rights. A cynic might wonder if the publisher had a wee bit to do with the leak. Maybe Ms. Rowling changed her mind and had a wee bit to do with the leak, too (although I prefer to think that her motives really were honorable).

    There are many authors who write under multiple pseudonyms, but the only time the discovery of that fact seems to cause an uproar is if the author is well known. Why? Why is it a problem if J. K. Rowling wants to not make as much money by releasing a book under another name so people won’t automatically buy it because it’s J. K. Rowling? Why is it a problem if she just wants to be a writer once in a while? Even if she changes her mind and says, “no, no – I wrote it after all”, why is that important enough to generate news? I’m honestly puzzled by this. I just don’t understand. It’s all so silly.

    Me? Well, I don’t have the same issues. I used my own name because I figured it would be a good idea if my family and friends knew which book to buy. That and the fact that at the time I had to decide, I couldn’t think of a pseudonym I’d remember well enough to actually answer to it. I don’t care for my name really, but at least it’s familiar.

    Now, much like Ms. Rowling, I’m stuck – although for different reasons. She’s stuck because she’s too popular. I’m stuck because the website is set up under this name now and I can’t remember what I did to get it working.

    I guess I’m not going to be writing as “Xena Warrior Princess Horvath” after all.

    The Sunday Times should be pleased.

                         O, be some other name!
    What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
    By any other name would smell as sweet;
    So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
    Retain that dear perfection which he owes
    Without that title.

    William Shakespeare
    Romeo and Juliet
    Act II, Scene II

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  • Too Much Slack Takes You Back

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    slackIt’s funny how quickly bad habits can raise their ugly head, even when you think you’ve chopped them down far enough to give you a bit of a break.

    So, as I’ve said in previous posts, I was on vacation last week and pretty productive. However, by Tuesday THIS week I found myself sitting in front of the computer, slack-jawed, eyes vacant, drooling just a bit, scrolling through cat pictures on Facebook because I really don’t care about royal babies. I realized what I was doing, I realized that I was not writing. I realized that I had, once again, wasted all of the time I’d set aside for writing looking at cats I would never own, while the ones I DID own sat and stared up at me hoping for food and attention. Then I thought, “Eh, the hell with it. You’re still finding your feet after vacation. Cut yourself a little slack.”

    That’s when my Muse, engorged with power after being the focus of all of my attention for seven days, grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, shook me, and smacked me upside the head.

    “Too much slack will take you back!” she screamed. *smack, smack, smack* “Too much slack will take you back!”

    And you know what? She’s right. The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, and the slide down into the pit of destruction starts with inconsequential moments. Little decisions that don’t seem to mean anything at the time you’re making them. The decision to spend a half hour staring at Facebook instead of using that half hour to follow your plans and hopes and dreams. The decision to check out the latest celebrity scandal instead of worrying about your own stuff.

    Cutting yourself too much slack can be fatal to hopes and dreams.

    That’s not to say we don’t need mindless moments of amusement in our lives – we do. Sometimes you just need to shut down completely – although I submit that drooling over cats you will not own or royal babies you will not birth is perhaps not the best way to chill out. But there has to be in balance. Some slack in the rope will help you climb the mountain. Too much slack and you’ll fall to the gorge below. It’s just that simple, and that difficult.

    While I try to figure it out, I’m going to do my best to listen to my Muse. Too much slack will take me back and I’d rather not go there, thanks all the same.

    ClimbEveryMountain

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  • Creativity Is Important

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    butterfly1As I contemplated going back to work at the end of my week of vacation, I realized I was looking around the house thinking, “I really didn’t get much done.”

    Wait…what?

    I wrote every day for at least 5 – and most days more like 7 – hours a day.  I have the structure of the book (finally) finalized.  More, I have the whole project basically roughed out, except for some scenes added due to structure / flow / plot changes.  I’ve thought about how I want to proceed once it’s finished and even came up with a pretty good cover concept in case I end up going the indie publishing route.   In other words, I made more progress toward my writing goals this week than I have in the previous eight months.  But I still felt vaguely guilty, like I hadn’t done enough with my time off.

    It occurred to me that this is one of the reasons it’s so easy to get sidetracked from a creative pursuit.  I didn’t get any gardening done.  I didn’t vacuum.  I didn’t clean.  I didn’t paint the living room.  I didn’t go to Disney World.  There isn’t a single tangible thing I can point to and say “I accomplished this on my time off,” except my book.  And I can’t even point to that yet because it’s not finished.  It’s not going to be finished for weeks, maybe even months.  All I can say is that I worked very hard, I can’t raise my arms due to inflamed tendinitis, my eyes burn like fire…and I feel better than I have in a long time.

    Because creativity, and having the time to exercise it properly, is important.  And weeks like this remind you of that fact.

    It’s easy to look at the way I spent my time and say that I didn’t “do” anything.  And only people who have creative pursuits of their own that they love will understand me when I say this was the best vacation ever.

    So it’s back to work and routine life.  The challenge now becomes, how can I carry the spirit of creativity into the week with me?  How can I hold on to the quietly important in the midst of the loudly urgent?

    It’s a question we all have to answer in our own way.

     

    `I don’t know what day of the month it is.’ said Scrooge. `I don’t know how long I’ve been among the Spirits. I don’t know anything. I’m quite a baby. Never mind. I don’t care. I’d rather be a baby.

    Charles Dickens – A Christmas Carol

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