I so, so appreciate the emails  and comments here questioning what the heck happened to me. In all honesty, four books, starting work as a first year associate, and learning to balance a now long-distance relationship have really taken a toll on the old blog.

But this weekend, I received an email from someone asking for advice about getting into publishing and it reminded me why I enjoyed keeping up the site in the first place. So, right now, I’m in the process of figuring out what role Fumbling with Fiction is going to play in my writing life.

The good news is that I’ve finished all four books I had under contract and I was recently offered a series under my own name. So! Trying to decide what to do and what I can handle. I also passed the bar! (Yay, me! I’m officially, officially a lawyer.)

If anyone has any ideas for me of how to keep things going better over on this end, I’d love the input. I’m certainly not against letting anyone who wants to guest post, guest post or maybe even having someone(s) join up over here on a more regular basis.

I apologize for the longest hiatus I’ve ever taken, but I do feel so lucky to have support from my writing peeps. I’ve got some exciting news/updates/insights and I want to make sure that I continue to chronicle them here.

Whether an old reader, new reader, or passerby, please feel free, as always, to email me. I want to hear all your updates and will be a much faster responder via that medium right now.

xoxo, Chandler

(ETA: ugh, Gossip Girl?)

I also signed contracts! Yay! Isn’t it weird how you can be almost done with the whole book and you’re just now signing the contract?

Moving on…

Today, I’m responding to a suggestion in the comments from Phil. He has a great writing blog following his journey called A Time to Phil. You should check it out. Phil writes:

I was curious if you would write a post about your writing schedule, and how you fit it in between your day job (and before that law school and the bar). I’m still struggling to balance writing w/ a full time job and other commitments, but you seem to have uncanny time-management skills! Would love if you could share some tips.

Ok, well, first let me say: That’s really flattering. Buuuuuuuuut, my time management skills are not pretty. I’ll repeat: Not pretty. At all. I wish more than anything I had some set schedule and I stuck to it and I never even thought about turning on the TV because my love of writing is just so strong that it’s all I want to do and I can’t wait to sit down and stare at the computer for five hours and Facebook never tempts me and…yeah no.

Half the time (read: 80%), I’m a hot mess. But, alright, you get the point. I do manage to get things done (obviously). I’ve written four books this year plus editor revisions for my own, so I’ll admit, I do write. My reason for telling you all this is simply to say, I’ve had to embrace my process. I spent so much time beating myself up about the time I wasted or the writing I didn’t get done that it was paralyzing. Would I like it much better if I wrote 1,000 words a day? Absolutely. But I don’t.

So here are two things that have helped me manage my time, be more productive, and fit work into my schedule. Next post, I’ll add a few more:

First, I had to understand why I wasn’t being as productive as I knew I could be. I would have free time available for writing but then I’d squander it away playing on the interwebz. I’m not lazy. None of us are if we’re trying to write freaking books in our spare time! So what was the deal? Last year I wrote a post about some research I did on why Type A people procrastinate. You can find it here. Here’s an excerpt:

See, it’s not that we don’t care enough, that we don’t want to do the work, it’s that we are so afraid of not living up to our own high expectations of ourselves, that we’d rather not start in the first place. We’re sabotaging ourselves.

So, I started taking advice from the research articles done on procrastination and I learned to “aim for a C+” when writing. Reminding myself of why I’m not working helps me overcome the urge to put it off.

Second, I began to appreciate every inch of progress made. There was a time where I was upset with myself when I didn’t get, say, 2,000 words done for the day. But that meant that I only wanted to get the big chunks of writing done. Now, I’ve changed my motto to: “Every sentence I get done is one that I don’t have to do later.” Y’all, this has changed my life. There are so many times when I’m not feeling it and I’ll just write a few sentences or whatever and then let myself poke around the internet or go clean and then maybe more words will pop into my head and I’ll get those down. These ADD UP. And while this one hundred percent does not replace longer writing sessions, it does make “real” writing sessions that much less daunting. I love having less to do so that when it’s crunch time for my deadlines and I know I have to embrace my crazy writing process, I remind myself that I’ve knocked hours off the time I’ll have to spend working. I, personally, get more motivated when I feel like I’m doing well. My new “motto” creates the positive energy that I need to build momentum, plus it get me to take advantage of the smaller bits of free time I have.

Next post, I’ll continue talking about time management and upping productivity while balancing a schedule. I’ve really been appreciating the new comments and discussions going on. As always, hit me up there or by email or Twitter. And, finally, what about y’all–why do you procrastinate and what keeps you from being productive? Spill.

This leads to a horrible conundrum with which I’m sure a lot of you can relate. Namely, this time has to come from somewhere, which means, that it’s going to cut into time with your friends and family. Which means you’re going to have a couple options: (1) You can make up a serious, yet sporadic disease that will allow you to quarantine yourself in your room while you secretly write a book; (2) you may spontaneously adopt a new religion that requires you to become a hermit; (3) you can admit that what you’re actually doing is writing and risk suffering a million “Next Great American Novel” jokes potentially for all time.

But seriously, it can be hard for your friends and family to know how to take the fact that you suddenly want to spend beaucoup time writing. Sure, you know that you’re doing all the research, checking all the message boards, stalking every agent/editor on Twitter, but for all they know you’re writing haiku on a napkin and thinking it’s art, yanno? So, it can be awkward and embarrassing to try to legitimize this time you’re spending. I can’t tell you how many times I hear from my writer friends that their spouse/kids/friends/parents are somewhat incredulous about the necessity of taking time off to write.

For me, ghostwriting has helped me legitimize that. First and foremost, it’s allowed me to point to contracts and deadlines and say, “No, I HAVE to get this done. It’s no longer an, “I want to get this done” or “This is important to me.” It’s an “I will break this contract if I don’t get my work finished.” Plus, I make money doing it. Money people understand, even when they don’t necessarily understand the desire to get something published. Maybe it’s silly and, I’m certainly not saying that my friends and family weren’t supportive before, but it has personally helped me be more okay with taking time to improve my and work on my craft.

Also, I think it’s good because it’s been a way to show my non-writer peeps that this is something I’m actually serious about. I’m not writing haikus on napkins. I have some talent for it–or at least enough of a stubborn streak to figure it out–and I’ve experience a degree of success at it.

They know I can complete a novel. And my parents or whoever can point to a series on the shelf and say, Hey, THAT is what Chandler writes for. I think, all around, it makes people a bit more comfortable with the number of hours I spend on this whole thing. And it makes getting my own work published seem not so far off.

So, if you’re looking into ghostwriting and you’re thinking about how your name won’t appear on the spine, I’ve got to say, this benefit has been significant–at least for me! But hey, if you’re looking for other ways to legitimize your time, here are some ideas:

1. Share an industry blog with your people–I suggest Miss Snark because it’s fun and interesting and gives a great behind-the-scenes look of how books are made and how difficult it is to get an agent/book deal

2. Explain what you’re doing with your time, how you’re connecting with other writers, and the process of critiquing

3. Give some stats — How many writers query, get full requests, get agents, whatever…know your stuff

4. Submit short stories & enter contests

5. Join SCBWI or other writer organizations and offer to write articles for them

6. Have a blog/website

DMOD =

1 second draft of middle grade series

1 30k first draft of middle grade series

1 whole project due for YA series

…and all due the day I start work.

So far it’s going okay, I think. I completed the second draft of the middle grade series and turned it in. Of course, then I felt like I should have a four day vacation from writing, so I went back to feeling behind. I did recharge my batteries, though. I read a few books, did fun things with my friends, all that good stuff. On Sunday, I went to Book People and bought a book by an author I’m working for right now, so I’m looking forward to digging into that. Then, the best part was I saw the middle grade series I write for shelved there! This was very exciting because it’s actually a UK series and until recently had only been sold in the US through Scholastic Book Fairs. But of course I had to do my little sweep of the MG shelves and lo and behold, there it was!

I’ve started reading the Amazon and Goodreads reviews of the series and have found it’s really motivating. I love these reviews by little girls talking about how much they love the series. It helps my mood a thousand percent when I start to feel that writing these books is a bit of a grind. Kids and their parents love these characters and their stories and that alone is enough to get me back in my chair working!

That said, I am back to my YA series for now. I have a mini-check-in deadline on September 12. About 45 pages to get through. In between I’m trying to knock out 1k of the MG daily. As much as I’m sure I’ll be ready to have DMOD done and over with, I hope I’ll look back at it and be proud of all I accomplished in such a short span of time. After all, at the end of all this madness I’ll have 4 books to hold in my hands and that, I figure, will be pretty darn cool.

Stephen King recommends writers aim for 1,000 words a day, six days a week.

Yeah, okay, when I read On Writing many moons ago, I’m not gonna lie, this made me want to gauge out my eyeballs. A thousand words took me for-ev-her. I wrote 150 and thought I’d accomplished some gargantuan feat. I think a lot of writers go through this. Wanting to be a writer is a whole lot more appealing than the actual writing. You know, I gotta get online, chat with my new writer buddies, hear about some awesome books, read those awesome books, then of course I have to tweet some, and oh yeah, the message boards. I can’t neglect the message boards!!!! Damn, well maybe I’ll actually WRITE something tomorrow. 

A lot of that mentality isn’t just laziness or ADD. Staring at a blank page and not knowing what the hell to write there is intimidating. No, it’s downright terrifying. So, I like to think of my internet/TV watching/book reading as more a means of self-preservation. Well, guess what? Work-for-hire will beat that fear right out of you.

Deadlines are tight, people. You’re generally writing and revising a book in about 6 weeks. And often with more than one project at once. There is no room for the fear! Or maybe there’s a different fear. The one that you’ll get to the day of the deadline and there will be nothing written on the page. I’d rather turn in something that sucks than turn in a blank Word document.

I went from writing a book in a year, to writing 4 between January and August. That doesn’t even include rewriting my own book! So let’s say I wrote  60,000 words in 2010. This year I’ll have written about 220,000 by September. That’s a huge increase in productivity. And I tend to subscribe to the majority school of thought’s mantra: Practice, practice, practice.

So what has ghostwriting done for me? It’s taught me to get stuff done. I meet deadlines. I write when I’m supposed to. I don’t waste all my precious writing time. I’ve written more which has given me more space to learn. And, best of all, it’s made me appreciate the time I get to work on my own projects.

Happy Writing, People!

But here’s what writing for hire has done for me:

1. Increased productivity.

2. Taught me to write to deadlines.

3. Allowed me to work closely with editors.

4. Offered time to focus on sentence-by-sentence structure as opposed to plot structure.

5. Helped me learn the mechanics of plot.

6. Legitimized my writing endeavors to friends and family.

7. Encouraged me to try different genres, different POVs, and different voices.

8. Made me feel more comfortable in my relationship with my agent.

9. Showed me firsthand the process from contract to finished book.

10. Improved my confidence.

Over the next few posts, I’ll address each of the points on this list in more detail. Other than that, I’m pleased to say, I met my deadline yesterday. At the 11th hour I realized I needed to combine two chapters because something had been bugging me. Ugh! I hate when things bug me. But you know, the feeling never goes away until you dig in and fix. So dig in I did and, hey, I got it done without throwing my computer at the wall. (I’m not gonna lie, there may have been a few tears.) Now, on to my deadline for the 29th! Here’s hoping I can finish that early.

Frolic over. So when I last posted I updated about some decisions I had to make regarding which projects to take on. This was easy since I’m a fantastic decisionmaker and almost never second guess myself.

Oh wait…

But seriously, good news: decisions made and I’m happy with them. I even managed to reign myself in… a little. (I probably should have paid more attention in D.A.R.E., huh?) I ended up turning down Book 12 of the series I currently write for, but agreeing to write Book 11. So for that series, I’m doing Books 9-11. Second draft for Book 10 is due next week, then first draft of Book 11 is due end of September. Then, I think I’ll be done with that series more or less. Sad!

I ended up signing on for a new series, though. Unfortunately, it’s super top secret but I’m working with an author that makes me want to go all fangirl and totally embarrass myself. So it’s probably a good thing that I’d risk getting my tongue cut out if I spilled the beans.**

The negotiations went fast fast fast with Agent Dan and I ended up having a deadline for that new book a week after the bar. Now that I’m back from my trip I’m already getting ready for my next deadline on Monday while taking Bayer to prevent a premature heart attack.

All good stuff, though. I can’t believe that once all this work is said and done I’ll have four books coming out next year. No complaints here.

**If you’re an editor/packager/publisher who would like to look at my work or talk to me about a project, I have some leeway on talking about my projects so you can contact me or my agent privately. Thanks.

For one, I got offered a super exciting new ghostwriting project. Like really, really exciting and big and cool and all that jazz. Then today I got offered another book in the current series I write for, bringing that total up to 4 books in the middle grade series if I take it. So, while this is all very cool if I took all these projects that would bring my total ghostwritten books this year up to 5. Count ‘em–FIVE! So, um, yeah, I’m only one person and I have my own books to do…as my agent so kindly reminded me recently…so I have some decisions to make and, with the help of Agent Dan, will be making very soon. There’s a whole side issue there of how to discuss important decisions with your agent, etc. etc. but that’s for another post.

Beyond that, I just got word that the current series I write for is doing really well and that both the UK and US publishers are very pleased. Book 9 (which I turned in earlier this summer) has been officially accepted by the publisher apparently with only minor changes that my editors were able to do in house. The books are getting funny little “author interviews” to go inside, which is a new feature for the series. And my editor even said that she saw one of the books face out at a Barnes & Noble on 5th Avenue recently. (This is cool because it’s actually a UK series and pretty much just through Scholastic Book Fair here in the US.)

Anyway, lots to think about, but all good stuff. I’m seriously looking forward to spending time reading and writing my own stuff after the bar. Send me your updates to make me happy while I study! Hope all is well.

Today’s Topic: Where do you go for inspiration?

So, I think there are a couple kinds of inspiration. One is the type that sparks ideas. The other is the type that influences your work by teaching. I’m going to focus on the second because that’s the one I’m most active about. See, when I am looking for inspiration, I’m typically looking for examples of work that I think does X well. For instance, when it comes to voice, I think Ally Carter does an amazing job at first person narrative. Her voice is young without being condescending ever. Every single sentence is perfectly on point of the narrator and yet she doesn’t skimp on description–which at least for me can be really tough to do both at once! I love the different formats she comes up with and every time I’m looking for ways to keep voice fresh I re-read her books. Seriously, my copy of the first Gallagher Girls book has been torn to shreds (okay, three pieces and a cover, but still).

Dialogue – Veronica Mars! So it’s not a book, but I don’t think that’s cheating. Writing is writing and the creators of Veronica Mars do an excellent job at witty dialogue without a lot of extraneous junk to take away the punch. Plus it’s really snarky, which caaaaaan be overdone, but I think they hit it just right.

Action – Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton! What I love is how cinematic her fight scenes are. She keeps movements big, distinct, and the running plays suspenseful. Even more amazing is, despite a zillion of them, each fight is different. Oh! And her characters tend to have their own moves and their own style of fighting. I love that. Very mortal combat.

Voice Part II – Savvy by Ingrid Law! A reminder that not all young narrators have to be snarky. This voice cracks me up. It’s sweet and oh-so-innocent and she Law never ever uses words that her middle grade narrators don’t use, which is pretty impressive when you look at how beautiful her writing is. Also, she makes up words and you totally know what they mean and then want to use them in real life only to realize that nobody knows what the hell you’re talking about. (Like you can’t just go telling people you need to get the Torts section of the bar exam “scumbled” and then you’ll be pretty well set. See…that’s not a word.)

Worldbuilding – Gotta go Harry Potter! (*ahem* Happy Harry Potter week to you) So, the odds of me ever approaching Rowling’s level are zilch, but I love how playful, confident, and thorough her worldbuilding is. It’s an art. Seriously. Can I be her? No? Okay…

Romance – I can’t neglect Twilight on this one because Meyers taps into what teen girls’ often want and it’s important to bear that in mind. If literature is meant to be escapist (not always but a lot of times) then, hey, give the people what they want. It’s romance, after all! But other than that…Anna and the French Kiss. Duh. And for the sweetest relationship ever…Before I Fall.

So what about y’all? Any ideas for characterization? Description? Where do you turn?

And tune in next week where our Monday Musings topic will be GHOSTS OF REVISIONS PAST

Which leads to even better news! I was asked to write the next book in the series, Book 11, making this my third one in this middle grade series. I was flattered they wanted me to stay on, but had to take a few days to think it over. Now that I’m familiar with the world and the voice and all that, though, I thought, Hey, why not? So, I have one more draft of Book 10 under contract then I’ll be jumping into Book 11 – due September 26.

But…all that is completely on hold until I am done with the bar. This is the first time in a long time that I am doing absolutely zero writing. None. Nadda. Zip. Not sure I like it, but it’s a necessity. Don’t worry, I’ll be doing plenty between the bar and the time I start work in September now.

Hope all is well with y’all. I’ll be posting Monday Musings with Shana and Jen on, well, Mondays, and hopefully some Tuesday stuff and maybe a few book reviews I’m behind on. But don’t expect much from me, people!