Roman à clef: My "Novel with a Key"

In the midst of editing and writing up query letters for agents/editors, I needed some way to explain that the book is part fiction, part true story, sort of an autobiographical fiction.

However, I think I might use the term: Roman à clef

"A roman à clef or roman à clé (French for "novel with a key") is a novel describing real life, behind a façade of fiction. The 'key' is usually a famous figure or, in some cases, the author." Wikipedia

In my mind, I know which parts are fiction, which are true. But it will be interesting to watch others try to decipher which is which. Or, in the case of my characters, who is who...

My Writing Advice for the Day...

...You have an idea and, as stunned as you are, you have time to write…so just do it: Write! And just keep going, from beginning to end. You have a general idea of where the story is going, so keep writing and don’t keep going back and edit. Keep up the momentum…get to "THE END".

...I love writing this way because, after a while, my characters will tell me what they like and which way they want to go - eventually. I could have drawn up the best character development plan at the beginning, but by the middle of the story, their true personality comes out and everything gets turned upside down…and for the better!

...I LOVE LOVE LOVE listening to my characters talk in my head…all day long sometimes. Their conversations with each other, what they want, like, dislike…it’s a writer’s thing, not necessarily something you tell other people…that you hear ‘conversations’…

...get some writer-buddies…surround yourself with like minded people, even if they are of a different genre. I found a local writer’s group - they're romance writers - and although I’m not, some of the meetings have good info/advice and sometimes I get free books.

…oh, and editing…oh, the joy…First read straight through it, if you can, without editing. Then go back in and start chopping away! Do this about 5-10 times, start to finish, and then let a writer-buddy read it if you're brave! While you are reading it, take notes - either on the manuscript or on a different pad of paper - and jot down notes to yourself like:

What day is it supposed to be?
How did she get to the beach?
This doesn’t make sense…fix!
This is dumb...delete!

...And then, after you’ve read through it, make the changes and then do it again…and again…and again…until you’ve answered all those questions and can’t think of any more to say…

...and that's my writing advice for the day...

Making your home "Walk In Ready"

by Lia Mack

Being a stay-at-home mom of a 2 and 5 year old, my home never stays orderly and clean. At first I tried to maintain perfect order and cleanliness and just about drove myself insane! Then I decided to let it all go. I mean, honestly, why bother picking up the same pillows, blankets, toys, and dishes, just to have to pick them up 20, 30, 40 more times in the same day, only to go to bed with the house re-destroyed?

If you just let your house go, it's a hell of a job to get it into OK order if someone is coming over that you know about.

However! If your family and friends are like mine and most of your visitors are totally unannounced, aka: you haven't an idea that someone is coming, let alone have time to clean, until they are on your door step?!?! You need a plan...

Besides reciting your mantra to calm down and refocus, I've come up with a sure-fire way to have my house look better than it is at first sight.

I call it the Walk In Ready method.

1. First, you have to get the chaos in order. This method calls for a walkable floor area, at least to some sort of seating.
   
   
2. Once you have that done, it won't matter if all the toys and books in the house come crashing down while you have a visitor: All the adult areas are taken care of. The idea behind this: Toys are just toys and they don't lend themselves to an idea that the house is dirty. There is no helping it. The kids will be kids and their toys are their toys.
   
   
3. Ok, so next, stand at your front door and look in, as though you were an outsider walking in. What's the first thing you see? For me, it's the family room (oh, crap...) So my task was to find some way to hide the chaos and instill a sense of cleanliness and order for my guests. I make sure that the blanket and pillows on the couch that you see when you first walk in are in order (this requires me to straighten them numerous times a day, but I like at least something to look nice!) I also have a coffee table that has nice orderly looking bins placed in a line underneath. Who cares that they are filled with junk, toys, and whatnot. They, at first glance, look nice. This is key: the illusion of order ;)
   
   
4. Next, is the beds. Yes, I know, I know. I hate making beds too. Just make them: It doesn't have to be perfect, it just have to be done (that is another one of my mantras.) A messy room doesn't look 1/100th as messy as it really is if the bed is made. Go, try it yourself. Your room, your child's room..it's a mess, right? Well, make the bed and then look at it again. Now it looks like it was fixed up but, with during the day of play, it's gotten some toys on the floor. But it still looks nice. Thus, the illusion continues!
   
   
5. Ok, finally, and this might be a hard one, is the kitchen sink. It doesn't even have to be spotless, just not filled to the rim with a week's worth of food encrusted nasty dishes. Ewe, gross! Your kitchen counters can be unorganized, the tables still with breakfast plates, but if your sink is empty or almost empty, it gives the illusion that it's all a work in progress.

It's pretty simple. At no given time is my house perfect, if there were such a thing as pefect. I've got laundry in progress, dishes cleaning and getting dirty constantly, the floors need to be done, and I don't recall the last time I dusted...However, at first glance, it's all good. It's totally Walk in Ready right now, even though my foyer has toys in it, there are a pair of socks on the front lawn, and the kids have orange peels all over the kitchen table.

It still looks OK because the beds are made (not perfect, just done), the dishwasher is running (a sign of progress), and the pillows on the couch are just that (STILL on the couch, not on the floor). I have a pretty good idea that, if given the chance to have company and I actually get to SIT DOWN and TALK to this person, my home's order will suffer.

But not for long, as another one of my mantras will come into play: if you make the mess, you clean it up! And that's another post for another day...how to get kids to pick up after themselves...oh, boy...

All About Mommy...Answers from the Kids

Cut and paste these questions and ask YOUR kids for their answers....

I love stuff like this :)
Answers are from my 2 and 5 year old...

1. What is something mom always says to you? *shoulder shrug* / I love you.

2. What makes mom happy? Love / Love

3. What makes mom sad? *shoulder shrug* / people being mad at you

4. How does your mom make you laugh? *giggles* / Jumping like a bunny rabbit

5. What was your mom like as a child? *giggles* / a nice kid

6. How old is your mom? 2 / um...I don't know...I don't know yet...how old are you?

7. How tall is your mom? Big! / 32 inches

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Work / Watch us

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Dance / Work, write.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Dancing / President!

11. What is your mom really good at? *shoulder shrug* / Cooking good food

12. What is your mom not very good at? *shoulder shrug* / Chopping down a tree with a chainsaw.

13. What does your mom do for a job? Working out / watch us

14. What is your mom's favorite food? Tummy Yummies / Veggies

15. What makes you proud of your mommy? *giggles* / Loving us

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Clifford, Big Red Dog / "Emma" in Aaron Stone

17. What do you and your mom do together? Dance / Running with us.

18. How are you and your mom the same? Mommy, I big and you big. / We're not the same.

19. How are you and your mom different? *shoulder shrug* / My mom works, we play all day.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? *hugs* / Because I feel it in my heart.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? *shoulder shrug* / The Amigos (a Mexican Restaurant)


Copied and pasted from a friend on facebook ;)

Good Lovin'...Part 1: What is that doing here?!

I'm starting a mini-series of sorts about how to have better sex because, quite frankly, it's good for your health, good for the planet, and good for your relationships (yes, if you have better sex, toxic people won't piss you off as much anymore, if at all). You'll just imagine them NOT having sex and relish in the fact that you are having passionate blissful sex all the time...you'll be able to just smile ;)

So, how to have better sex...

Part 1...

There are quite a few things that you can do to spice things up in the romance department, however, I'm going for the throat on this one. And I'm not going to sugar coat it either. I'm just going to come right out and ask:

Do you have a TV, computer, work papers, exercise equipment in the bedroom?

If the answer is no...great! You get to pass go and collect your $200 (not from me, of course, but you get the picture.)

However...

If your answer is yes - you do have a TV or other distractions in the bedroom - let me ask you another question:

Do you want to have sex?

Because if your answer is YES, then what the hell are you doing watching TV all night when you should be rolling around under the sheets with your hottie? Don't you have a living room with a couch where you can watch TV? I mean, come on people...where are your priorities?!?!

The bedroom is for two things, and both start with the letter S...any ideas?

1. Sleep
2. Sex

And not particularly in that order either. Distractions in the bedroom keep us from not only blissful sleep, but blissful sex. If you want to have better sex, you need to get rid of the distractions in the bedroom.

And TV is the biggest distraction of them all.

"I made the error two years ago when I moved into my house to put a television in the bedroom," says Laura, 36, a marketing executive in Atlanta. "I'd never had a television in the bedroom before, and once you have it, it's hard to get rid of it."

Other distractions in the bedroom... 

"You should also get rid of computers, paperwork, exercise equipment—anything that might remind you of other things you could or should be doing after you've gone to bed," says Heath Magazine Online.

So, get to it. You have your assignment. If you want to have better sex, remove the major distractions from your bedroom and, with all the extra time on your hands, enjoy!

However, after you have spent an adequate amount of time enjoying each other properly, you are free to consume as much boob-tube as you like.

But beware:

The more sex you have, the better it gets, and the more you're going to want to have it!

So...get busy tonight! ;)


oh, and stay tuned for Good Lovin'...Part 2: Open Your Mouth!

Alternatives To Punishment

I have this list posted on my fridge as a reminder that there are MANY alternatives to punishment. In tough times we can all get a bit stressed out and forget that we have the responsibility to our children to NOT be the bully they meet on the way to school...

I find these tips REALLY helpful...not in the heat of the moment, but, posted on the fridge, I read them constantly...the one most needed that day always jumps out at me...

The following list is taken from the book Natural Family Living by Peggy O'Mara of Mothering Magazine.

...................................................................................................
Alternatives To Punishment
Copy this list and post it where you can see it, as a constant reminder.

Use positive reinforcement.

Create a positive environment.

Say yes as much as possible.

Save no for the important things.

Use natural consequences.

Use logical consequences.

Use restitution.

Leave it up to your child.

Compromise.

State your expectations, and get out of the way.

Give specific instructions.

Give a reason.

Offer help.

Give a choice.

Redirect your child.

Remove your child.

Make positive statements.

Give in occasionally.

Give your child time to agree.

Simply insist.

Make rules.

Ignore some behavior.

Avoid nagging and threats.

Distract your child.

Use humor.

Make it a game.

Be willing to admit your mistakes.

Stop and think before you act.

Don't make a big fuss over little things.

Stick to routines.

Don't hurry your children too much.

Get to the root of the problem.

Correct one behavior at a time.

Give yourselves time.

Use the golden rule.

Model appropriate behavior.

Think of your child as an equal.

Always keep your love for your child in mind.
...................................................................................................

And the list doesn't stop here. If you have some great tips and ideas, PLEASE share!!!

Whole Roasted Chicken

First of all, you need to find a cage-free, free-range, antibiotic-free, good wholesome chicken, preferably from a local farmer. Go to your local farmer's market and, if there isn't already a vendor there that sells whole chickens, ask around. Chances are most everyone there, vendors and shoppers alike, know of a good local source. If you're lucky, you'll find a local organic farmer who raises their own chickens!

Roasting a whole chicken is by far the simplest way to get a good - no, great - meal with very little effort. Plus, a whole chicken can be spread out to cover more than just one meal. I've made a whole chicken stretch to 5 meals, plus chicken stock! Now, that's using your food money wisely!

What You'll Need

• meat thermometer
• big bowl
• roasting pan

Ingredients

• whole chicken
• olive oil
• honey
• 1/2 onion
• 3-5 cloves garlic
• 3 carrots
• 3 stalks celery
• 3 potatoes
  
• Rosemary
• Thyme
  
• good salt
• pepper
• red pepper flakes (remember, heat = health!)

How To

1. Preheat oven to 375*F
   
2. In a big bowl, soak your chicken in a warm water bath with a good pinch of salt - let sit for 30 minutes
3. drain and place chicken in a roasting pan
4. chop onions, garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes and place around chicken in roasting pan
5. drizzle olive oil over chicken and veggies
6. sprinkle salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes over everything (toss the veggies to coat)
7. drizzle honey over chicken
8. sprinkle herbs over everything
9. add about a cup of water into the bottom of the pan
   
10. Pop into oven, bottom shelf, until Meat Thermometer reads 180*F. Usually about 1 - 1.5 hours.
    
11. Take out of oven and let stand for 10 minutes.

Serving & Saving
For dinner that night, serve the legs, wings, thighs. Save the breasts for two separate meals (1/2 for chicken pot pie, 1/2 for something else like chicken quesadillas or a topping to pizza). Or just dig in and then save what's leftover for chicken stock and chicken soup.

Bones
I save all the bones in a zip-lock bag in the freezer labeled "BONES". When I have a full bag, I will use those bones, along with some veggie scraps, to make chicken stock (aka: consomme). This is so much better tasting and better FOR you than what you get at the store. Plus, it's basically free since you have everything. Just boil for a couple hours in water, cool, strain, and store. Keeps in the freezer for months, in the fridge for a week.

Enjoy!

A Bowl of Popcorn, by Lia Mack

It was a Friday night. My dear husband was hard at work, the night shift, and I had the house to myself. Well, technically, I wasn't alone: I was seven months pregnant with my little boy wonder. And we were both in the mood for some crunchy popcorn and a good belly-laughing movie.

Up the stairs I huffed and into the kitchen I started to pull out the necessities: corn kernels, butter, salt, sugar (LOVE sugar on my popcorn), and a big bowl. Patiently I waited, listening to the pop-pop-pop of the hot kernels, imagining each and every bite, salted-sugary-buttered fingers digging in for more, and more.

The baby kicked, I drank down a glass of water, and the dog paced back and forth, knowing in her sweet mind that mommy wouldn't leave her out of the forthcoming delectables. I rushed to the bathroom for one last pit stop so that I could, hopefully, watch the movie in it's entirety without having to heave-ho off of the couch for another pit stop.

Finally, the kernels were all spent, warm and waiting their toppings. Butter, melted down over them, salt and sugar sprinkled in just the right amounts. It was a big turnout, needing a bigger bowl to contain all it's goodness. Pulling out the biggest glass bowl I had, it all fit just right, leaving enough room for one hand to plunge in and take away it's treasures.

Sidestepping the drooling dog, mommy and baby descended the stairs, huge bowl of the most perfect popcorn anyone had ever created lightly resting atop the baby belly, hands ever so carefully holding tight to it's rim lest it fall.

At last, the movie was set, the popcorn perfect, the dog ready to curl up with mommy and the big belly, ready to dash off to retrieve any fallen treats. I was tempted to taste the popcorn, knowing by the aroma that it was going to so good, however I needed one last trip to the bathroom.

"Don't touch that, Marley, ok?" I said to the dog as I rushed down the hallway, however penguin like.

When I came back into the living room everything was as I left it. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I sat on the couch only to realize that the TV tray that the bowl of popcorn was upon was far out of my reclined reach.

Hoisting myself up off the couch, I picked up the edges of the TV tray and slid it closer still to the couch, gauging the distance, hoping for the perfect placement lest I have to drag myself up off the couch again. It had been a long day, working since six in the morning. Mommy just wanted to put up her feet and eat her warm treat.

Assuming it couldn't get any better, the distance and the relaxing night to follow: a romantic comedy staring Meg Ryan, my favorite, and a big beautiful bowl of perfectly buttered popcorn all to myself, I released the TV tray in it's place.

Only, the stupid folding legs of said TV tray had, unknowingly to me since I couldn't see past my big belly, had collapsed, causing the table, popcorn bowl and all, tumbling down on to the ground, crashing with such a slam that the biggest glass bowl I owned turned into a million shards of glass, covering the entire span of the family room, perfectly coated with butter sugar goodness and the last of the popcorn that I had in the house.

The dog lepted off of the couch, ready to devour every last bit.

"NO! Stop! It's glass!" I cried, pushing the popcorn crazy dog out of the room.

Not wanting to face the mess, but knowing I was alone in the house, and would be for at least another three hours, I pulled out the vacuum.

And I cried. And cried. And cried.

My popcorn. My beautiful popcorn, so perfectly buttered and salty-sugary good. Not one piece was spared a shard of glass. Picking buttery glass-sharpened-popcorn out of the carpet I blubbered and cried, squinting hard against the tears to remove it all lest the dog find a piece, eat it, and then I spend the rest of my night in the doggy-emergency room.

Hunger and hormones combined, morning the loss of the best bowl of popcorn to ever be created, I cried three straight hours. Three gut wrenching blubbering hours, until there wasn't strength left in my mind to feel an ounce misery.

However, to this day, I have not made a more perfect bowl of popcorn. And I still need a mega-sized glass bowl...

THE END

Go From "WHY ME" to "THANK YOU"

by Lia Mack

In our busy lives, sometimes it doesn't dawn on us until later in the day that we didn't take time to acknowledge that we were given the gift of a new day. And, if you're having one bad day after the next, you might not even look at it as a gift. However, each and ever day is just that: a gift.

When we wake in the morning, most of us find it very easy to get distracted from this gift and be instantly overwhelmed, irritated, with all that we have to do. By simply taking the focus off of the you and pointing to others, we can feel the gift emerge from our ever growing 'to do' lists.

This day was given to you to be of service to others.

I find just saying that in the morning (and sometimes, many times throughout the day) helps me to refocus my purpose for living this day, this gift, to the fullest of my being. Especially when my energy reserves have been depleted - and it seems that the kids have just gotten their second, third, fourth, fifth wind - I catch myself before I become irritated and say, out loud, "I get to be of service to my children." This not only gives me the strength to do just that, it also gives me the perfect mental boost to remember that I am here for them, even though I may not feel like doing whatever they want or need me to do for the umpteenth time.

The same holds true for just about every situation in life, whether you are at work, with family or friends, just thinking this thought or saying it out loud, can help you change your focus from a why me to a thank you.

Thank you for this opportunity to be of service to others.


Honestly, it works. Try it today!



"One of the essential characteristics we need to learn [is] to be gentle, and to be gentle means to be serene, to enter meditation or a prayerful state in the morning and evening."
--Larry P. Aitken, CHIPPEWA

The most important talk we can do during any day, is to start the day with prayer and meditation. We need to ask the Creator to be in our lives. We ask Him to direct our thinking. We ask Him for the courage and the power to be gentle. In the morning quiet time, we make our request for guidance using our spiritual tools. We pray for the people and we pray for ourselves. In the evening we thank the Creator for the day, for the lessons and for the opportunity to be of service to others. Then we go to sleep.

Great Spirit, today, show me the power of being gentle.

taken from "A Cherokee Feast of Days" by Joyce Hilfer

Take A Break

Between writing "THE END" and printing out my 1st draft, I am using Steven King's advice: take a break so you can come back to it fresh.

And I think this sort of advice can hold true in so many aspects of our lives. If something is dragging you down, isn't working, taking forever (hint, hint) - take a break!

So, in the meantime, I am reading: something I can't do while I'm writing (or I'll absorb the other author's voice and then my writing will sound like her's).

I've taken 2 weeks off so far... And it's been wonderful! I have such a pile up of books to read, but I know this break won't last long. All I can think about are the edits that I can't wait to make...yeah, that's right - I said it. I love to edit. You heard me say it, so when, in months to come, I blog about hating it you can point me back to the post! :)

So, take a break everyone....take a week off...a day...a month...come back to it fresh. With new eyes and a renewed spirit, even the impossible may not seem so daunting anymore.

"THE END": How completing the 1st draft is only the beginning...

I never knew when I'd type the words "THE END" when I set out to write my first novel. However, late in the afternoon on the last day of my self-made timeline, my self-proposed time when I wanted to be done with at least the 1st draft, it happened. And, oddly enough, it was pretty anti-climatic for me. Not exactly the reaction I had envisioned. And definitely not like when I hit the climax of the story.

I am happy, though. Don't get me wrong. I am elated that I actually finished something I had set out to do back in May of 2008: write a novel by the end of the year (ok, so I was a month late, but honestly. December? Noveling in December? I don't count December, or November for that matter, as part of the time where I can accomplish anything due to chaotic holiday fun...)

So...long story made short: I did it.

Partly.

Finishing - typing THE END - to the first draft of a novel equates with only the beginning of the very long and arduous task of editing, editing some more, sending it out critique groups, re-editing, writing a query letter, writing a synopsis, sending said query letter and synopsis out ot agents, getting rejected, editing said letter and synopsis, re-sending it out, getting more rejections, re-editing the entire novel to make it more to the liking of the agents/publishers/editors, re-sending out query letters...do you see where I'm going with this?

A first draft is only the very, very beginning of a very, very long and painful process. That's why out of the 100,000 would be writers out there that set out on this journey never get to the finishing line of having a novel published. Most die off during this stage in the process. But for those who don't, there is bounty to be had - you just have to have the drive, the passion, and the courage (aka: thick skin) to survive the constant beating of not only the novel you poured yourself into, but also every inch of your being.

But don't dismay. According to professional writers: you are not a Pro-writer until you get your first rejection. Isn't that great! And for the insurmountable rejections that you do get, you wont' get the one - the one that counts - until you've been rejected time and time again, forcing you to perfect what you already thought was perfect.

I mean, after all, it's your baby. What could be wrong with it, right?

Although I'm eager to become a 'pro' writer, I think I'll edit my baby at least 20 times. Yes, you read that right. Twenty times. Why? Because, quite frankly, it's crap right now. Although I want to get that first rejection - and the subsequent acceptance - I don't want there to be such a trail of laughter, name calling, and finger pointing following said rejection letter that I virtually give up from the embarrassment. No way! I want to at least give it my very best shot. That's why I'm going to edit it until I can't possibly see any need for change then send it off to be slaughtered. I want to give my baby the very best chance of not dying it's first journey out into the unknown.

What I am excited about, though, is printing out the bad-boy...I can't wait to feel the weight of what I've done in the palm of my hands. Seeing it on the computer screen, seeing how many bites of memory it saves as, who many pages it says it is, how many words - this doesn't mean a damn thing to me. I want to feel my baby in my hands so I can truly see, feel, what I've accomplished. I think that's the point in this journey when it'll feel real. Just like when I felt my little son, skin to skin, in my arms after he was born. Right now, it's too arbitrary, too abstract. I have a good imagination, but I just can't fathom it - or maybe I don't want to - until I see it and feel it with my own two hands. My life poured out into pages. My baby.

Then I'll start chopping away!

So, as the saying goes...endless editing...here I come!



Printing it out in eco-friendly fashion, as I am a true Eco-Warrior, I think I might test out an eco-printing service, or get a ream of 100% recycled paper, fresh and new, to print out my 698 pages (yes, I know, I know, it's too long...that's why I can't wait to start editing!! :)





I think I might look into eco-printing service Bacchuspress

"If it's meant to be, it is up to me."

When I read the saying, "If it's meant to be, it is up to me," I immediately realized our error in saying the opposite all these years: If it's meant to be, it'll happen.

If we want something to happen, for destiny to take charge, we're going to be waiting for a long while as Destiny is pretty busy trying to take care of everyone else waiting for a helping hand. The time is now for us to take charge of our own lives and make what we want to happen, happen.

We know too well the traps within that'll try to keep us from reaching our goals. So that is why we need to once and for all decide to side-step all of those nasty inner-censors and devious self-loathing moments and really take charge of our lives.

Where do you want to go?
What do you want to do?
Is there happiness waiting for you?
Or are you going to go out there and get it for yourself?

If you've lived long enough to gain some wisdom, you know full well that there are no true hand-outs in this world. If you want something, you have to do the work to get it. Only you can walk your path. Only you have what it takes to make it happen.

So, as the saying goes: "If it's meant to be, it is up to me."

"Our true enemies, as well as our true sources of strength, lie within."
--Willaru Huayta, QUECHUA NATION, PERU

A long time ago, the Creator put inside the human being the secrets to the laws of life. We usually know this is true even though we may not know what these laws are. If something goes wrong with our lives, we usually fix the blame on something outside of ourselves. We tend to give up accountability. One way or another we say, "It's not my fault." We need to realize that all permanent and lasting change starts on the inside and works its way out. If it's meant to be, it is up to me.

Oh Great Spirit, let me realize fully that my problems are of my own making. Therefore, so are the solutions.

- Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Author of A Cherokee Feast of Days: Daily Meditations

The Joy of Climaxing: A Virgin's Rendition of Finally 'Getting There'....

If you look up the definition of Climaxing on the web, Wikipedia skips all the bases and goes right for the spot:

"An orgasm (sexual climax) is the conclusion of the plateau phase of sexual response cycle, and may be experienced by both males and females. Orgasm is characterized by intense physical pleasure, controlled by the involuntary, or autonomic, nervous system.^[1] It is accompanied by quick cycles of muscle contraction in the lower pelvic muscles, which surround the primary sexual organs and the anus. Orgasms are often associated with other involuntary actions, including muscular spasms in other areas of the body, a general euphoric sensation and, frequently, vocalizations."

Although one generally tends not to argue with Wikipedia (ha, ha, yeah right...), I have to agree more with Robert Genn when he says:

"Symphonies, movies, plays, novels, songs--all tend to have a climax. Life and love have climaxes. Climax is one of the essential life experiences. Without climax, nothing seems to get anywhere. Climax represents the successful completion of the story, the denouement of the plot, the reason for all the effort, the snapshot at the height of the action. "

Truth be told, until tonight, I was a total climax virgin. I have never reached the point where the beginning bridged the gap with the end. However, late in the night, way after the kids were put to sleep...I got there - I found the climax. And although there is nothing going on with my anus (as Wikipedia would have you believe), I would have to characterize my virginal ecstasy of reaching that point of no return with absolute euphoria.

485 pages into my first draft, I finally hit that note.

Granted, by the time I edit, edit some more, and re-edit, I'll have chopped out about 200 said pages and replace them with additional ones, but, for the time being, I'm going to bask in my glory and spread the good news. I've written before, by and large, for the better half of my life. However, sad as it may sound, I've never before, you know...But now, wow! I can see what I've been missing all my writing life.

Days ago, I didn't sound so sure of my self or my writing capabilities. Instead of skipping through the halls, my USB Flash Drive securely dangling from my neck, I was toting a totally different message: I suck. I had hit the ledge, just underneath of that plateau where my own nirvana awaited me. Only, I was stuck. I couldn't find a foothold to hoist myself up and over. So, instead of sitting back and letting the creative juices do their thing, I was ready to bail.

Thankfully, after three days of self-loathing (comes with the territory of being a writer) I found purchase and, armed with the only protection that one's mind can give, I put my self-censor into a head lock, jammed my fist into the only crack I saw, and found the leverage I needed to reach that climax.
Climax: a juncture in your story line where all the build up reaches a point of no return...aka, the end is in sight! (that's my own definition, anyway)

So, if you're a writer, still a virgin, and have yet to taste the honey or scream out your own vocalizations, because you've never seen the vistas from up here...keep writing! Put down the gun, lock yourself in a room with no distractions other than your own thoughts, and write! You might even end up with a cocky attitude to accompany your ear-to-ear smile...but more on that note later...

The point here that I'm trying to make is: You can't finish unless get there. So....

Keep Writing!
Lia Mack