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Adventures into the 30s – hair
I’ve been working on a scene that involves the main character styling her hair. After reading about the process, I realized that I’d need to actually have this experience to be able to put it on the page.
This is what I usually look like:
Here’s me as I waited for my hair to be perfectly dry. The instructions were very clear that this step should not be rushed. I learned later that this would have been a good thing to do before bed. I also learned (relearned) that I have no patience.
While I waited for the pinned up curls to dry, I went to work on my kitchen. It struck me as I was scrubbing a shelf that this is a fairly authentic experience. My family lives in a farmhouse built in 1898. We still have some open shelves where modern houses would have closed cupboards. On my shelves you’ll find an old-fashion coffee grinder and a series of clamp-top canning jars.
Hours later I finally released my hair from those obnoxious pins. The result…disappointing. I didn’t look a think like the pictures in vintage magazines. If I had been a young woman in the 1930s, I may have shaved my head and worn a wig. At least I’d have had it cut shorter and without layers. I actually had to pin back some of my hair for the picture.
So there you go. Not all adventures in research are successful. I think I’ll look into hats next.
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Freelance Friday!
I have a habit. You could easily call it an addiction. Maybe a calling…yeah, that sounds better.
It’s novel writing. I love it and I can’t stop. Not a problem, right? Well, no, but it can be a spendy habit-addiction-calling. There are the conferences (I love them so much), the professional memberships, the books on craft, and the books just to read, the paper, and the ink.
I’m married to an amazing man who fully supports me in my quest to follow this dream, but he’s also an accountant. He knows very well that the output does not equal the income. I’m confident this is a temporary issue. In fact I’ve got my cell phone on me right now if any editors are reading this and would like to call about a book deal. Really…Now would be fine.
Until the phone rings, and maybe even after that, I’ve decided to implement Freelance Fridays. I’ll be committing a chunk of time each Friday to query letters, article writing, and short-story writing. Feel free to offer suggestions.
Question of the day:
For the rest of you novel-writing junkies, what do you do to support the habit?
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Gala night at ACFW St. Louis
A few the lovely women I sat with during the ACFW Gala
Kim Moore (editor for Harvest House)
Terri Haynes
Kimberly Buckner (one of my fabulous critique partners)
Julie Klassen (Julie was the first person I met at my very first ACFW conference. She was also the first familiar face I saw when I approached the hotel this year. Thanks, Julie!)
Heidi Main
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An Unruly Character
Today I’m feeling very much like the mother of a stubborn teenage daughter. No, my girls aren’t teens yet and Anne isn’t really my daughter, or for that matter, a teenager. She’s my newest protagonist. I’ve worked with quite a few protagonists and not one of them has given me the trouble that Anne has.The last couple days I’ve been so frustrated with her. Every time I start to put her story into my computer it doesn’t ring true. Yesterday I sat her aside and worked on scenes from another character’s point of view. I’m pleased to report that Svenson is much kinder to me. My fingers often have trouble keeping up with the flow of his story.
So I hopped into the shower this morning (a perfect place to holler at your characters where no one thinks you’re crazy) and started pondering what I should do with Anne. How could I make her comply with my will? Then the memories hit. I remember behaving much like Anne when I was a teenager. My reasoning was that I KNEW (as all teenage girls know) that my mother just didn’t understand me. Hm. Could it be possible that I need to get to know Anne? Maybe she isn’t who I’ve been making her out to be.
The twist is that I’ve never spent so much time in the development of a character before I put her on the page as I have with Anne. I took personality tests from her point of view. I studied the characteristics of her personality. I…Well it doesn’t really matter does it? Anne isn’t the girl I thought she was. So today I go back to the page. The first thing I’ll do is delete Anne’s scenes. When her pages are again blank, I’ll write her story. From HER point of view.
Image: Robert Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
