Motivation

Embracing 2017

/ Lisa Asanuma / 3 Comments

So 2016 was a hard year on me, both on a global and a personal level. Because of that, I didn’t get a lot of writing done, didn’t accomplish many of the goals I set out for myself. I pretty much hunkered down and practiced a lot of self-care and cuddled pets and friends’ babies and did everything I could to keep my heart open and beating and soft.

But 2017 has started, for me, with clearer and stronger intent than any year before. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but for the first time in a long time I feel energized and ready to do it. More than that, I can’t wait do do it.

I’m not expecting this year to be an easy one, by any means, but I’m going to make it a joyful one. I’m going to spend it being more of what I want to be and less of what I don’t want to be. I’m going to get off my phone, go back to using the internet as a tool rather than as a numbing device, and finally stop making excuses for my writing.

It’s taken me a lot of growth to get to this point, to go from wanting to being ready and willing to be genuinely myself and take hold of my power. To decide to be accountable for each and every day. That’s what I want this year to be. That’s how it is going to be.

I feel like last year was the recoil before the pitch. There’s going to be a lot of forward-movement from here on out.

Hiding Under the Editing Rock

/ Lisa Asanuma / Leave a comment

I’ve been busy, busy editing, trying to get my manuscript ready to query staring mid-October or early November, so I haven’t had much time to dither on the blog. If you want to keep up with me, I can usually be found on Tumblr, Twitter, or Pinterest (though be warned, I post a lot of bookmaking stuff on Pinterest… book writing/reading stuff, too, but actual bookbinding and art journaling inspiration). 

I thought I would take a quick moment here, though, to post a couple of the songs that have been fueling this editing session. 

Rhodes – Breathe

Tinderbox – Broken Trees

There are other songs that I’ve been listening to, but these are two especially strong ones. They are just the perfect mood for my WIP and everything I want to capture in my story. 

What have you been listening to lately?

Indulge Your Various Creativities

/ Lisa Asanuma / Leave a comment

Right now, I’m editing a manuscript that took me about five years to write. I don’t think another book will ever, ever take me that long. This was a book that, if I hadn’t believed in it as much as I do, and loved the characters as much as I do, I would have probably given up on it long ago. I know it’s a possibility. I’ve given up on other stories, left them to dwindle in files on my computer, some of which I forget exist 95% of the time.

But this story would not let me go. Even when I finished it and I knew, and I mean KNEW that it wasn’t ready. That it was NOT in a place that I could send it out to the world and give it the chance it needed. But I also didn’t know, at the time, what it needed. So I wrote some other stuff and tore my hair out a bit and worked and relaxed and didn’t look at it much. Finally with gentle nudging from my CP and not-so-gentle nudging from my husband (let’s face it, I needed it at that point!) I started working in earnest on the rewrite. I sort of knew what needed to happen, but it started slow.

So I did the thing I like to do to keep my creativity fresh… I made things. Other things. Things that have very little to do with words and writing (though not nothing, all the time).

Here are a few examples of some things I’ve been making/indulging in the last few weeks:

craftiness

This is, clockwise:

1) yarn for a new yarnie project—I’m going to be making this Abalone vest, all goes well… I usually knit shawls and hats, so….,

2) I wrapped a new pair of headphones with embroidery floss on account of I thought it would be pretty and I often break my headphones at work and am sort of hoping this will provide extra protection, though I don’t really know that it will. Mostly, I thought it would be pretty.

3) Really  all this is is a rub-on decal that I put on my book journal—where I write notes to myself about whatever I’m reading while I’m reading. It’s not much, but it made me love the simple plain old thing much more. I’ve had the journal for years and finally used it for this because I was never interested in using it for actual journaling purposes. Oh what a difference a little bit of pretty makes! I prettied the title page a bit, too… Oh I just had a lot of fun with it. 🙂

4) A year or two ago I bought a bag of floof scraps (read: roving, AKA fiber AKA what yarn is made up of) and I’ve decided to lay it out in somewhat of a gradient and just spin it all up into one long yarn that may or may not all make sense together. We’ll see.

And as I was doing all of this… along with another top secret project for my mom and one or two other things… I’ve kind of solved my stump over what needs to happen to make my manuscript sale-able. Sellable? WORTHY OF SALES.

Something worth buying, anyhow. Something cinematic and poignant and full of grim justice to go along with the pretty, pretty I had before.

Even The Mr agrees that my new ending idea has a lot of potential. And that’s big.

So excuse me if I’m busy the next couple of months. This baby is finally getting ready to see the world.*

*You know… eventually. Or at least a few dozen (?) agents’ eyes.

Writing in a Winter Wonderland and New at the Writer’s Dojo

/ Lisa Asanuma / Leave a comment

winterwonderland

As with some of you, my world is still covered in snow. I have to admit, as a San Diego native, this is the most serious winter that I’ve ever seen. The two other winters I’ve spent in the Rocky Mountains were definitely mild by comparison. Have you seen the videos of people sliding due to frozen rain a few days ago? I had to deal with that. Maybe not so much as in the video, but enough that

Meanwhile, I am drafting again. I need a little bit of space from my fantasy manuscript so that I can process better what kind of changes need to be made (I know there are a lot of them! Fantasy is tough, guys!) So I’m retreating to my more comfortable realm of modern day paranormal whilst nursing the damaged ego all writers are used to when they see that the lovely thing they just finished is full of flaws.

So for the moment I’m cozying up to my Paranormal (which isn’t hard… I love it!) and trying to stay warm. In the meanwhile, I have some great news…

In case you haven’t heard, (because I haven’t told you… sorry for that…) there is some exciting news going on at the Writer’s Dojo! Here’s a look at it:

Treat every month like NaNoWriMo!

Beginning February 1st, 2013, the writer’s dojo returns to its roots and ushers in a new age of ninjawesomeness. Each month we will open three training rooms at the writer’s dojo website. A room for drafters (Writing Month, aka WriMo), a room for revisers (Revising Month, aka ReMo) and a room for those querying (Querying Month, aka QuMo).

We invite you to set your own goals, whether it’s to write a thousand words a day, revise ten pages a week, or submit twenty queries in a month, and register your goal in the appropriate training room.

There is also now a Google + group for the Dojo, so don’t be shy, join up! This is a great way to connect with others and to keep yourself motivated.

My first goal for February 2013 is to finish drafting my paranormal YA, OR to have written at least 10,000 words on it by the end of the month. I like to give myself two options so I feel like I’m achieving something no matter which I’ve hit. Does that make me a cheater? Oh well, you don’t have to play that way! 😛