The Word Nerd Co-op

Beverly has started a new blog, The Word Nerd Co-op, where writers will be paired up to support each other's writing goals. Each of us received a questionnaire. Here's mine --

1. At what level would you describe yourself as a writer (for instance, just starting to take myself seriously; searching for a graduate program, etc.)? I'll choose #2: trying to take myself seriously. I'd also like to stop researching my subjects to death before I begin to write. It's my form of procrastination: natural for a librarian, but death to the writing itself!

2. What genre(s) do you write? My major genre is unfinished fiction, followed by unfinished poetry and essays. The essays remain undone because writing down my thoughts makes me doubt them!

3. How do you fit writing into your life right now? I try to write some each Saturday morning in the cafe at Barnes and Noble. I write ideas on random scraps of paper during the week - despite owning memo pads, Moleskines, and a collection of fountain pens, without which I won't leave the house. It's easier for me to lose scraps of paper. (Can you spell "self-defeating behavior"?)

4. What is your goal for this project (June 1-Aug. 31)? I want to complete two chapters of my novel. Any two.

5. What steps do you plan to take to reach that goal? First, I want to re-read what I've already written, organize my research (loosely - organizing research can be as powerful a substitute for writing as doing the research), and create a timeline or storyboard. (I may use the Snowflake method.) Then -- write. Write write write.

6. How do you reward yourself (or how would you like to be rewarded) when you meet a goal? A new pen? Pretty ink?

7. What writing craft books do you have/like? All of Natalie Goldberg's books, Pen on Fire, The Right to Write, On Writing, Writer's Book of Days, Escaping into the Open, Reading Like a Writer, The Pocket Muse, Bird by Bird...

8. Any craft books you’re interested in checking out? Knitter's Book of Yarn

9. What inspires your writing? Images, characters, and observations that beg to be written.

10. How would your author’s blurb read? Maybe the 6-word memoir I posted a few months ago: Wrong choice, wrong reason? Drink tea.

11. Tell us about your family (partners, kids, pets, etc.) Husband, and the wild rabbits that I feed in the back yard. (They get fresh carrots. We eat frozen.)

12. Have you ever participated in Nanowrimo (finished or not!)? Yes, twice, but I didn't finish.

13. What can you do to make it easier on yourself to meet your goal for this project? I can set a goal that's attainable, and I can talk about it with my husband & friends.

14. What are you looking for in terms of support from a writing partner (ex. Exchanging work for critique, being held accountable for meeting a word count goal, etc.)? I'd like to experiment with the voices of my characters when we write/e-mail each other.

15. What crafty pursuits do you enjoy when you’re not writing? Knitting.

16. What other hobbies/past times do you like? Reading: classic fiction, new fiction, poetry, thick biographies of women writers. Music: classical, ancient (medieval through Renaissance), modern folk-ish (Aimee Mann, Suzanne Vega, Loreena McKennitt, The Roches, Richard Thompson), international (esp. Celtic).

17. What non-writing-craft books have you enjoyed? The Omnivore's Dilemma, Harry Potter, The Thirteenth Tale, anything Jane Austen wrote, ditto Joan Didion and Diane Ackerman, The Peppered Moth (Drabble) ...

18 What else would you like to share with us? I'm a political junkie, a vegetarian, a tea fiend (think: PG Tips or Twinings' Orange Pekoe), a fountain-pen user and collector, and a recent convert to listening to books on my cheap little MP3 player.