Precious Little Time to Spare...Even for Musical Numbers

I have things to say and ideas to get busy with, but I HAVE HAD NO TIME! In between vacationing, taking an online class, dealing with the business side of self-publishing, and getting my oldest off to kindergarten, my writing has lapsed. I was, however, able to get some good brainstorming done in the dark, during the long road trip between Houston and Dallas. Now if I could just find the time to write those ideas down before I lose them…

That’s part of the difficulty of being an author…thinking of a great character, a hilarious scene, a perfect moment or an “out-with-a-bang” finish and not being able to use it. You can’t write everything, and not all of it works together so you can’t just stir it all together like a pot of gumbo and have all those terrific components work for you. You have to pick and choose, and then you have to buckle down with an idea and write it to the end. I love it when an idea comes to me, and I think “that’d be a great start to a book”. Trouble is, I need a middle and an ending to, and as mentioned above, I don’t even have the time right now to write the ideas down. But soon, I’m hoping, soon.

Right now I’m reading, digesting, absorbing, and processing the unbelievable font of information that is there for the taking on writer blogs, writer loops, newsletters, interviews, and through other sources. You can never run out of ideas, either for stories, how to best write them, or how to promote them. The writers I have met online and in person via signings and my local RWA are the most generous and giving people you could ever hope to meet. In the ultracompetitive world of publishing, you’d think the opposite. But it’s true. So go out and meet one, buy their books, and listen to their stories. Your life will be richer for all of it.

On another, totally unrelated side note, what ever happened to musical numbers in the movies? I love, love, love them both in modern movies and vintage, but they seem to slipping into nonexistence. And it’s pretty hard to put one into a book. Unless it’s an audio book….or unless someone were to innovate a book with an adapter and a little microchip, letting you plug your reading material into an iPod and have it pull the right sing-alongs or background music down at precisely the right moment. Still, without the dancing that’s not exactly a musical number, but it’s an intriguing possibility nonetheless. Until then, I recommend you check out The Backyardigans on Nickelodeon. It’s a show for pre-schoolers, but the songs and dance moves are great, and for now, it’s a great fix.