niyasisk

It's That Time of Year! National Novel Writing Month.

And it's so much fun!

Imagine having thousands of writers from all over the world to chat with about anything from genre jumping to 'my butt is killing me' and what day is it? Today, a Nano-London participant offered to mail me a slew of clean socks for the month.

It's true I am a retard when it comes to remembering to change my socks or put shoes on to walk outside and check the mail. But when a 3k word count is staring me down and the bunnies need hay, the coffee is nearing a dangerous low and I still smell like chlorine from yesterday's swim, clean socks are the last thing on my mind.

This charming Londoner made it clear her intentions were not altruistic. In her view, it's an investment. "When you become famous, you can send me a lifetime of clean socks." It's truly energizing to suffer this rip roaring writing marathon with thousand of other crazies in the world... intent upon writing 50k words in a month. That's approximately a 240 page novel. I'm on page 55. If I write 1,500-2,000 words from now until the end of November, I'll get there.

But there's this: I fell behind last year due to work, travel, bla bla bla and never caught up. Why go through this potential outcome again? Won't the novel be terrible written so fast? Well, call me stubborn, but this month I intend to find that out first hand (fingers and keys).

If I quit this year, I quit publicly as per this blog post. And, I will gladly bury my shame in the unconditional fluffy love of my bunnies and those friends who patiently trust in the power of persistence.

By the way, I love this inspiring story about a writer who's novel came out of National Novel Writers Month: The novel, The Night Circus written by the lovely charming author Erin Morgenstern was written in the same stubborn and curious tumblings as my own. She quit the first year. She finished the second. She found herself bored at some point while writing the novel and took her characters to the circus. It worked, a whole new direction was found in the forcing of words on the page. She found her novel by writing into it. Double Day picked it up and the rest is history.

 

Making the Pages Fly!

There are many 'how-to's' out there about book publishing; so I won't gum up the pipeline. As I am enjoying the feeling of my book of short stories about to hit distribution, there are a few things about the process that were humbling, exciting and shit stirring all in one. 

First of all, my book of stories was created a few years back in graduate school and added to yearly. Many of the stories have been workshopped raw and edited by the best. Still, the amount of blue call-out boxes in the MS word document my editor sent me was humbling at a criminal level. The feeling of a good editor at your back is something I can't emphasize enough. I came to the conclusion that if I had worked up the courage over the years to put my stories out there and risk embarrassment, then the writing should be well showered when it does embarrass me.

And with that note, I just have to promote my editor here. Di Freeze was amazing—Thorough and advanced in her skills; she completely loves her work. She really cares for the writer. I had to hold myself back from asking her all kinds of questions: "Should I put a foreward on the book? How do I handle reviews and acknowledgements? Are there known issues for naming people in the acknowledgements section?" But alas, she was there to correct typos and punctuation and help me clarify sentence structure, not to be my book therapist. 

The next thing on my mind as I considered publishing for real with full distribution was there couldn't be anything halfway about it. Creating a book poses juicy, thoughtful, moral ambiguities about everything you put into print. So I had to face the fact that, although, I'd spent a lot of time with these stories (I almost wrote children, Freudian slip), I write differently today. So it wasn't just a commitment for this book. It was a commitment to write and publish books in general. This book is the platform, the time in my life when I fell in love with writing fiction. And since then I've written stories that are visually charged as well (film and illustrated novels). So I would need to find media channels for the stories that support the characters and story arcs best. Having the support of Creative Convergence helped me think through the strategic aspect of content creation—open up my imagination to the variety of media possibilities and make that commitment. I now have a year of scheduled activity to take my current stories to the next level: Animation, web series, picture books, short films, possibly a stage play etc.

I needed to think through what I want mainstreamed and what I want published through my company Sweet Bee Books. I really hadn't anticipated how exciting this was going to get. All the possibilities of publishing. Not to mention animating my picture books on the iPad. As a former software experience designer I'm seeing a fusion of books and software. I anticipate there won't be any lines in the near future. It's all about grabbing the story and expressing it in the most powerful way using the technologies (including print) available to us.

The pages really started to fly once I saw the endless possibilities. 

And that's a good place to end this post. A year ago, I only saw two avenues for getting my work into mainstream. A producer would option one of my scripts or a publisher would publish one of books. Now I see lots of options. Some indie, some mainstream, some 'i-world' centered (teaching myself new tools) and some in the oral tradition of simply telling a story. The economic model centers around authors marketing and selling their books more than ever these days. So in a way I see all my work as independent because the work to sell it is on me.

I look at my stories like they are people finding their way; they have different voices and need different vehicles. Some have the personality that is perfect for a VW bug. Others want to walk and need me to buy the perfect walking shoes and hats. Others will have the red carpet and no other. Stories need listeners and as their 'bitch' I need to be their first listener. I should make a t-shirt, I work for my characters - they pay me with countless nights of insomnia but really good coffee and a happy heart.

Bragging Bantering Bawling is available now at Lulu and will be available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon in late June 2011. I have some readings and books signings coming up in the late summer and early fall. I'll announce that here at Niya's Place. And of course I can't leave our little famous rabbit out. His book, "You get me, I love you" will publish in the fall. He's chomping at the bit (carrot stick) literally.

 

Productive Writer ~ Productive Life!

Sometimes we are on the hunt for the right tool, book, or person with insight and resources to help us approach a particular situation. Transformation, organization, clarification, prioritization is needed. And if that doesn't work, a lobotomy would be okay.

I had the good fortune to read The Productive Writer by Sage Cohen a couple weeks ago. It is the exact book I need right now as I mine through 8 years of writing and 2 writing degrees and what feels like an acre of landfill of un-homed, yet, productive work. It was time to get organized, energized and get my faith restored in a big way. To turn pages of landfill into a reduce, reuse, recycle system; maybe even recover a bit of gold; polish it and send it out. This book helped me transform my writers den into a beautiful writers studio that I can't wait to enter daily.

Sage Cohen has a gift for balancing compassionate support and insight while thoroughly answering every question a writer may have about creating a productive, continually inspired, successful life. From capturing ideas to how to organize your research for target agents and publications to facing your fears. She demonstrates her own process and systems while sharing sweet anecdotes of her own life. As a reader, you are left with an arsenal of powerful thoughts and techniques in uncovering and managing resistance. Especially powerful is her gentle suggestion to let the pleasure, desire and heart touching affect of your ideas and writing into your life. This alone is no match for resistance and other unproductive tricks we writers cope with daily. 

For me, after reading her book, I got busy in my office. It was the same office set up I'd used for a decade. I demolished it, took it down and asked how I would restructure it around my writing goals this year. I'm working on an illustrated children's book, editing 2 film scripts I wrote in LA last year, and creating a new book of illustrated essays from this blog. I plan to circulate all of the above to potential agents, publishers, producers this year. I realized that I had a lot more resources than I thought i did, and a lot more that I didn't need. I ended up recycling 4 bags of paper, boxing 3 boxes of books to go to the used book store or give away. I organized my bookshelf to be all about the children's book I'm working on. See photo: Note my favorite children's book Sam Bangs & Moonshine — this little book inspires me daily. 

The black books on the left are just the stories I intend to edit and send out, everything else is archived on my hard drive, and I got rid of the abundance of paper. I have just the books that I'm referencing now to help me get the children's book circulating. Also I wanted a bit of warmth around my computer (for balance of electronics and textures). Beauty for me inspires words from that other place in the late hours of the night, so I made my actual desk a bit more aesthetic:

 

Sage's ideas for how to utilize 3x5 cards are nothing short of brilliant. I now have blank cards planted in strategic places in my home, car, purse. From a snippet of conversation about a particular agent or publisher, to ideas that she calls 'acorns' and for me they have always been shimmers. It took me a long time to trust those little shimmers. I thought they were the beginning of a migraine. They turned out to be the ideas with the longest life span — the ones that work on a writer until they've had their way with you.

I don't know that I can do Sage Cohen's book justice in this short blog post. I only know that after using her book to help me design a writers studio, it's helped with much more. I'm not overwhelmed. I'm just working. I'm still working out the kinks of 'flow'. But guess what? I now have a new way of organizing that balances inspiration and practicality in a really cool way. So, productive writer for me, is productive life!

I'm grateful for people and books like this in the world. A powerful little book packed with real life necessities from an author we can trust. It's clear that what she teaches she is doing now in her own career and life. So thank you Sage Cohen! Sage also has two published books of poetry that are quite wonderful. Here are the links:

The Productive Writer

The Path of Possibility (Sage Cohen Classes, Events, All Books)

Sage on Facebook

A dear friend of mine told me once, as I complained about being completely overwhelmed - he said, "it's all about tools". He is a successful artist who spends 25% of his week on systems that enhance flow and productivity. I value this book The Productive Writer for that reason. It's a tool and a friend at the same time — a steady pressure that helps you turn your life around if you let it. It's a special author who inspires such energy. 

Oh, I almost forgot the most important part of my writing studio. 

Now the writing studio has a bit of magic to it!

Thank you, Niya C Sisk

 

65 Creative Non-Fiction Essays with Rabbit, Dakota ~ Becoming a Book!

I started Niya's Place, Chronicles of Life, Love and Rabbits in 2005 after adopting the most human rabbit I've ever met. That would be our main character in these essays, Dakota. I liked him right off the bat when I went into the feed store in Portland Oregon. It turned out he had earned a reputation in the store as the 'troublesome' rabbit. I was advised to wait for another 'better behaved' rabbit. They tried to charm me by showing me all the other 'better' rabbits. She picked up Dakota and he let her know immediately he didn't like her much. He managed to turn his hind legs up and kick her in the face. She sprayed him with a water bottle and if looks could kill she'd have been buried many times by this guy. I asked if I could give it a shot. I put him in the crook of my neck and he relaxed so fast I thought he was dead. His back legs dropped and he lay there like he hadn't slept in days. And that was it. I took him home and his brother for company to him. He's been a hellion and a lover his whole life. He lets you know exactly what's okay and not okay. He seems to think he's way taller than any human on the planet. And I'm certain I broke his heart when I didn't crawl into his pen and sleep with him on his first night and every night after because we have completely and utterly fallen in love.

Ever since then, his attitude has a life of it's own that I can only honor in observation and creative writing. Thus, Niya's Place. Since it began it's remained devoted to his expression and the drama of his life as it's unfolded. Now as he ages, he's become as old men can, more affectionate, more dependent, hornier for his mate, Caila (he seems to have forgotten he was neutered to calm this constant urge), and more like a person. He's become family and he keeps everyone together (3 rabbits total now).

I've also matured as a writer by writing this blog over the years. I had finished up my MFA in fiction when I adopted him and had written a few stories from an animals point of view. I have a big appreciation for writers with this type of empathy and imagination. Paul Auster is a good example. This blog was great practice for me. It's opened my eyes to the world in many ways. By observing Dakota and turning that into verse I've learned that whatever we love consistently and nurture changes and changes us as well. A garden, a product, a book, a painting, a relationship with a child, mate, etc. Rabbits aren't meant to live in tiny cages and neither are our imaginations or hearts. 

All that said, I'm now in the process of transitioning Niya's Place into a blog about developing a writers life (and all that entails) while producing Dakota's journey into a book of the 65 essays written here. My hope is to create a book full of high quality photos, the essays from this blog and illustrations that exposes audiences to how wonderful rabbits are as a household pet. And my hope is that more rabbits are treated with the love and respect of dogs and cats as people write the stories they experience (and they are more and more). Rabbits give as good as they get (and more). But so many people don't know this because our exposure to rabbits as a culture is that they are coyote snacks or they sit in a box in someone's backyard. Still though, it's changing. Rabbits are becoming the new dog. Rabbits are intensely family oriented. They bond and that's it. You are their family and it's quite an honor. And they are very amusing! 

So, onward. I'm very grateful to Dakota for being the complex little macho rabbit he is. And to my audience who follow his page on FB and comment here and have given lots of love and support. We love you back!

Stay tuned. Announcements within the year about the new book with these essays. From here on out you will see more posts about developing as a writer seeking an agent and publication of several projects. 

Thank you!

Dog Years and Rabbit Ears

That bittersweet feeling of finishing a book that takes you to the bottom of the ocean and delivers you again and again to the salty air for breath. How long will it take to find another book that holds onto you like this? 

Mark Doty's brilliant memoir, Dog Years revealed to me how important it is to name, to memorize publicly the impact of our animals on our lives. I was particularly moved by his experiences in Mexico. While in San Miguel Allende, Doty is touched by a yellow Mexican dog, a street dog who is both starved for love and food, and is wary in her experiences of people, but after testing his character, quietly gives the full weight of her head to his hands. I often think people and animals are the same in their needs, only animals have different filters. Their transparency is as natural and pure as survival itself, the apparitions and masks don't apply. And we need them to reflect the idiosyncratic, the to be discovered, experienced and explored interiority of our inner lives and domesticity.