The Talented Mr. Mayer

One of the presents my husband got me for Christmas was John Mayer's latest album, Battle Studies. As usual, Mr. Mayer has proven himself to be a first class musician and lyricist. The album is filled with songs about heartbreak and odes to the single life (fitting given Mr. Mayer's penchant for serial dating), and I have been listening to it almost non-stop since getting it.

I love John Mayer not just because he's so friggin' hot. I mean, hello:

As someone (slightly) obsessed with words and language, I love his lyrics. For instance, in the first track off this album, Heartbreak Warfare, he writes: "How come the only way to know how high you get me, is to see how far I fall? God only knows how much I'd love you if you let me, but I can't break through it all." Totally captures how the people we love the most are also the ones that can hurt us the worst. How sometimes you just push to see how far you can go.

And in Edge of Desire, he sings, "Don't say a word just come over and lie here with me. 'Cause I'm just about to set fire to everything I see. I want you so bad I'll go back on the things I believe. There I just said it, I'm scared you'll forget about me." The yearning in his voice, I mean...wow. Makes me weak at the knees. I'd be over in a heartbeat! (Except for the fact that I'm happily married of course.)

Anyway, just wanted to share my latest obsession. If you want a copy of Battle Studies or any of Mr. Mayer's other masterpieces, you can get them here. (I highly recommend Continuum, which in my opinion is his best work to date.) Enjoy!

The CBC, Day Nine and Wrap Up

Days left: 491
Words written: 5,219

Despite being a bit of a grouch today and really just wanting to lay on the couch and veg out, I managed to write about 550 words.That brings my total word count to 5,219.

When I started the Christmas Break Challenge last Saturday, I only had 975 words written. That means the challenge word count is 4,244! Though that number is shy of my 4,500 word goal for the week, I also didn't write on two days that I'd calculated in for that total. So, I actually wrote more than my 500-words-a-day goal on the days I did write. Something I am very proud of.

Other than getting my word count up and the story going, this challenge has made me realize me two things.

One, I need to just write. Doesn't matter what, just that I'm doing it, just that I'm getting words on paper. It's much easier (for me at least) to go back and fix what I've got that to start from a blank page.

And two, that writing fiction can be fun. I had totally forgotten that. Yes, it is work. It requires research and revision and I'm not always going to be able to use everything I write. But it is also fun. I've had a blast seeing these characters and their world come to life. Inspiration is literally everywhere and it's been fun to pull in ideas and instances from all parts of my life and my brain.

I hope you have enjoyed following me this week. I go back to work tomorrow, but am going to try to start writing regularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the evenings (HA! I've said that before, right.) Keep checking back to see how I do...

The CBC, Days Six Through Eight

Days left: 492
Words written: 4,671

Happy New Year!

Having my dad, sister, niece and two nephews here (in addition to my own daughter), as well as it being New Year's Eve and Day, proved to be too much of a distraction to get any writing done on days six and seven of the Christmas Break Challenge. Is that enough justification for skipping writing on those two days?

I got right back in the saddle today, revising much of what I'd written for Ronnie and adding another 557 words to the total. I think I'm pretty much done with the rough draft of chapter one and can move forward with the story. Next up, getting these two characters in the same room and talking. That's where the story really begins...

Tomorrow is the last day of my challenge so we'll tally everything up then.

The CBC, Day Five

Days left: 495
Words written: 4,114

Over 700 words today! My dad, sister and her three children are set to arrive in about 30 minutes so it will be interesting to see if I'm able to get any writing done over the next couple of days while they're here. Maybe all the extra words I've been doing the last few days will make up for it? (Or am I just taking the easy way out?)

Anyway, as I delve deeper into Ronnie's story, I'm realizing I need to go back and do some more in depth research on NYU and painting. My coworker Rish has a friend that went to NYU so maybe I can talk to that person about what the student experience is like there. Contacting the art program there wouldn't be a bad idea either...

The CBC, Day Four

Days left: 496
Words written: 3,358

So today I decided to do my writing while my daughter was still awake so that I could rest when she went down for her nap. This proved to be quite the challenge as I had to stop my train of thought every ten minutes to stop her from getting into whatever she wasn't supposed to be getting into.

I managed to write well over 500 words though. Maybe not the best stuff I've ever done, but at least I got my ideas on "paper" and can go back and finesse it all later.

The next few days should prove challenging as well since I have guests decending for New Years, but I am determined to see this challenge through. Wish me luck!

The CBC, Day Three

Days left: 497
Word count: 2,767

I'm tired today. My daughter has had a cold for what feels like forever (really only three weeks) and was up at 3:30 a.m. coughing. Being a mom, this brought me fully awake and even after checking on her and tucking her back in, I had a hard time getting back to sleep.

With that said, I only wrote 601 words today, which met my 500 words-a-day goal, but were kinda off topic. Part of the reason for that is that I started on the story line for my second main character (Sharon/"Ronnie") today so I don't think I have as good a grip on her as I do on my other main character (Mark). I ended up going off on this long tangent about how she got started on this project she's working on and don't really know if I'll end up using any of it. I remember from my classes with Sheila Ortiz Taylor, however, that oftentimes you'll end up writing whole histories on your characters, most of which you will not use, but that are necessary to the writing of the story.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring a clearer focus on Ronnie. 'Til then...

The CBC, Day Two

Days left: 498
Words written: 2,165

I am really on a roll! Day two of the Christmas Break Challenge has also been a great success with another 700 or so words written along with some great editing to earlier stuff. I'm actually have fun, too, something I tend to forget about writing.

I think that is a hazard of writing professionally when you also want to write as a hobby. I spend so much of my time at work writing and editing (fairly dry) pieces that I forget how much fun writing "just because" can be. No deadline, no "message" or "audience." Just writing whatever I want just because it pleases me.

I hope I can keep this joy and momentum going into day three...