In My Words: When Life Doesn't Go According to Plan

Used with permission from Debbie Ridpath Ohi at Inkygirl.com. 

I'm diverting from my usual manner of blog post because, well, yesterday was one of those kind of days. Actually, take "one of those kind of days" and multiply it by a gazillion-katillion-whatever-is-the-largest-number-ever-discovered-by-someone-more-mathematically-inclined-than-me.

I had every intention of writing a pithy blog post. And I didn't spend my time reading everyone else's blogs because ... um, that would be virtually impossible. And with yesterday being a day that will go down in history as unforgettable--at least in my memory--I didn't even have time to read my favorite blogs ... sigh.
Enough about me.
I hope you are having a wonderful day, whatever that looks like for you.
And I hope you enjoy the Inkygirl cartoon. A picture is worth a thousand words, don'tcha know. So, if you include a cartoon in that definition, this is really a much longer blog post then usual.


In Your Words: How's your day going? What's your advice for getting over "one of those days?"

In My Words: Bring on the Trouble

Photo by Danilo Rizzuti/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Writers know the fundamental rule about trouble: We're supposed to make trouble for our characters--wreak havoc and keep it coming. Make sure things go from bad to badder to baddest, as author Susan May Warren likes to say.
I can't say I have such an easygoing attitude about trouble when it comes to real life. Throw a little bit of stress in my life? I'll manage. Pile it on? I'll start looking for the exit. I request to please be excused from all this bad-going-to-worse.
And yet . . . are trials only good for imaginary heroes and heroines? Isn't there some truth that can carry over from the fictional world to real life?
Some of you are already nodding your heads. Maybe you're even smirking a bit, thinking I know where she's going with this.
When writers create stress for our imaginary people, we're pushing them up against the wall for a reason. We're developing their personalities--testing their strengths and their weaknesses.
And the same is true in real life.
Case in point: I've been dealing with vertigo for two weeks now. My world is literally off-balance. If I turn my head the wrong way, i.e. any way, the room spins out of control. I was ready for this to be over days ago, but it's clear to me I don't get to decide when this ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl ends.
I can either whine and waste this stressful experience--and there's no denying two weeks of vertigo is stressful--or I can glean something from it.
If I was a heroine in a novel, I would make sure that I was learning something through all this.
Why should real life be exempt?
What have I learned?

• It's wonderful to have friends who pray for you when you don't have the strength to pray for yourself.
• God is still God--and he still loves me--even when prayers don't get an instant "Yes!"
• It's okay to admit I'm weary. I'm just being honest.
• Sometimes all you can do is hang on to hope and wait. (I think that's called "trust.")  

In Your Words: The next time you're wondering how to create some trouble for your fictional characters, take a look at your life. Or your friends' lives. What truths have you or they embraced during a tough time that can be translated over into your story?

Warning: Editing + Fatigue = a Cranky Editor

My friend Doug, aka "Wise Guy," likes to say, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all."

This quote is attributed to both the great football coach Vince Lombardi and General George S. Patton Jr, of WWII fame.

Here's my version: Fatigue makes editors cranky.

Earlier this week, I was beyond tired. I also had mounds of editing to do. As the night slipped into the early morning, I found myself ... um ... acting out.

I talked to the computer screen. I asked questions like: "Did the writer forget the word count?" "How can I say this in one word instead of ten?" ""How many articles am I missing?"

My computer never answered me. So please, no one suggest medication.

I stopped typing, pounding my keyboard into submission. I'm surprised I didn't dislocate some of the keys.

I updated my Facebook status with snarky comments about the proper number of spaces between sentences. (One.) Several editors replied. Seems I'm not the only one who is up late editing.

At one point, I put my hands over my face and muttered, "I love my job. I love my job. I love my job."

And I do.

I was just overtired. The hours in my day ran out before my commitments ended.

That night I appreciated the solitary aspect of editing. No one else heard my ranting--except my husband, who brought me tea and hugs. I think of myself as an editor who respects writers. But if you'd sat in my office Tuesday night, you'd have thought otherwise.

All the ranting and raving? That was just the fatigue talking.

Fatigue. It happens. But it doesn't give me an excuse to slander writers. I don't know how tired that writer was when she hit "Send" and submitted an article that was 200 words over the requested word count. (Yeah, word count is an editorial pet peeve of mine. I'll admit it.)

I'm also responsible to balance my commitments as both a writer and an editor--and a wife and a mom--so that fatigue doesn't ambush me. That's called being a professional.

What about you? Does fatigue make you cranky? How do you manage your real life and your writing life so that you're not blindsided by exhaustion?

Photo by gozdeo/stockxchng.com