Rebeca Schiller

The jury is out. My back story chapter–in the words of  contributing Vogue editor Andre Leon Talley (yes, guilty as charged, I watch America’s Next Top Model), “Dreck.” Well, truthfully, the comments were not that harsh. The few comments I received was that it slowed the story’s pace.

[BIG sigh]

I knew in my gut that it wasn’t working. Now I have to figure out how to pick up the pace and have the parts fall into place. First I need to call the Yountville Sheriff’s office and get some basic information (ugh, hate to do that because I don’t think they’ll be very cooperative).  Second, I have to scratch the flashback within the flashback. Third, I have to rework the relationship with my new character earlier in the book.

[BIGGER sigh]

Book two of Julius is turning out to be more complicated than I want it to be. My instincts are telling me to

There’s been a lot of email exchanges recently about writing insecurities and how to overcome them, and I was happy to note that I’m not the only person who’s plagued by the negative self-talk. What got me out of the rut? Well, self-talk can also be encouraging and persuasive. I suppose my Just Do It post played a part, but also reading the FaceBooks updates of two of my writer friends pushed me forward.

Where am I now with Julius? I managed to climb out of that self-pity pit and revised chapter seven. It still has issues, but it’s now moving in a direction that makes sense. Or I least I hope it makes sense. I’ve rewritten chapter eight, and this evening I’ll be ready to submit it for critique.

In terms of sticking to a schedule, I spoke yesterday with my accountability partner and we’ve agreed

It’s been several months that I’ve used my elliptical. Part of it is that the Ol’ Man has been sick with diverticulitis; he’s been very cranky and a drama queen about everything I do from eating (“must you swallow so loudly?”) to working out (“that constant swishing noise is giving me a migraine”).  He’s feeling better, and now he’s in the middle of planning and planting his garden. His gardening hobby is expensive, but it does have its benefits–I get my cherry tomatoes and arugula for my salads, and when he’s out at nurseries in search of seeds and plants he’s out of the house for at least two hours. That means I can swallow, and workout.

If you Google “exercise and creativity,” you’ll see the research that if you exercise your body, you’ll all also see a surge in creative activities, problem-solving, stress reduction, etc. So here I am in my