11,000 and Counting...

To recap, my former computer died a slow, violent death. In its demise, it took with it most of my written work to date. It took me quite a while to get over that. I'd see a publisher's guidelines and I'd think "Great! I've got just the short story to submit to them!" Then the ugly truth would knock me in the head. Nope. Not gonna happen. Your stories are no more.

Thankfully, with the help of wonderful, caring publishers, I was able to recoup some of my work. Two novels were e-mailed back to me so I could have them for my records. And a few short stories have also trickled back. To all of you who took the time to do that for me, I'm very grateful.

But the one that really got to me, stuck in my craw, shall we say, was my current work in progress. I was 11,000 words into the novel when my computer came down with an incurable virus. I'd kept written notes for my work, but most of that was just in idea form, jotted down in a hurry. If I was lucky, sometimes I could even read my own chicken-scratch.

But, as of last evening, I am once again over 11,000 words! The story has many of the same elements, but has changed somewhat. Some parts I remembered word for word, while others were just a cloudy concept stuck somewhere in my brain. I'm very happy to say, I like the story that's emerging even better than the previous one. A blessing in disguise? Yes, I believe it is.

Searching for Hummy

Our resident hummingbird, or "Hummy" as we've named him, hasn't made an appearance yet. I've had two feeders out for over a month. I've changed the water mixture at least four times. Where is he? We keep watch. Staring out our windows. At times, we thought we'd had a Hummy sighting.

"Was that him? Something just zipped by the window," said my husband.

 I watched for a minute and saw the impostor. "Nope, just an angry dragon fly."

Two days ago, I went out and bought a red geranium to replace to purple one, hoping to further entice our no-show friend. I also invested in a brand new hummingbird feeder. What does this bird want, food served on a tiny silver platter the size of a nickel?

That's what happens with my writing sometimes. I do everything right. I work on my story when I have a couple of hours. I work on it when I only have a few minutes. I change my scenery, like maybe taking a walk, hoping that will stir up something in my imagination. But sometimes, that's not enough. Oh, I can still write, but it may not be the heart-stirring, funny-bone tickling, sigh-provoking words I'm looking for.

Maybe it's just like looking for Hummy. We can do all the work, all the right things, and yet, nothing happens when we want it to. As far as hummingbirds and writing inspiration go, sometimes, all we can do is...wait.

Author Interview at Whispers of the Muse

http://www.whispersofthemuse.org/AuthorSpotlight/SpotlightFrame.html

Have You Seen My Dunce-Cap?

Ah, here it is. I'm placing it on my pointed head where it belongs. You see, I am a dunce. Why, you ask? Because I seem to have lost all of my written work from my last, may-it-rest-in-peace computer. All my own fault. Not the computer dying, just the losing of my stuff. Of course, if I'd been a non-dunce, like the rest of the PC-literate world, I would have saved my stories on a memory stick. Oh, I had saved one of them. I'd started out with good intentions and all, but got lazy. And well, duncey. I hadn't bothered to save the rest. So when my PC took a dive, I was not prepared. I learned an expensive, irritating lesson: If you don't save your stories, you may end up one day rewriting them. And on top of that, you have to wear the ugly dunce cap! And believe me, it's not very fashionable.

Review for a Wonderful Book by a Wonderful Friend

Click below to read my review of "White Bread Competition."

http://cluculzwriter.blogspot.com/2010/05/white-bread-competition-review-by-ruth.html