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Voyeurism: A Peek Inside The Life of a Writer

Act II, Scene 5: Guilted into Updating Funky Brown Chick

The caramel-skinned black woman had thick, neatly-styled dark hair that stretched to her shoulders. She was pretty. Yesterday afternoon, I saw her in Midtown Manhattan at the Barnes & Noble on 54th Street and Third Avenue. Hunched over a small cafe table with a medium-sized cardboard cup of peppermint tea, lined note pad and books spread in front of me, I was working.

“Are you Twanna?” she asked.

Embarrassed I couldn’t place her face, I froze. Did she work in media? Had I met her at a New York industry-event? Looking at her sceptically, I hesitated a soft, “Yes.”

“Oh, okay, I thought I recognized you.” She began slowly backing away, and I got the impression she didn’t want to intrude. She quickly added, “I read your blog … Just wanted to say I love it.”

Smiling, my face’s wattage shown brightly. I love it when I meet Funky Brown Chick readers. As I told the pretty brown girl, I don’t aggressively shove my site in anyone’s face. I create content. If you find my writing and you like what you read, that makes me happy. Ever the chatty Midwesterner, I told her I was in Barnes & Noble because one of my writing mentors told me I should check out other memoirists’ books. (“Read what you write.”) I also told the woman I hadn’t updated my site in over a week because I’d been busy writing my book.

“I grossly underestimated how much time editing takes. I have 302 pages written. So, technically, it’s done. But, I’m re-working it to get it in better shape.”

The pretty lady and I continued talking for a few minutes. She told me she found my blog because one of her exes, a short white dude, told her she should read it. I thought that was cute and sweet.

“You know,” I confessed, “I’m weird because, now, I totally feel guilty about not updating my site. I think I’m gonna write about you. Seriously, I’m really grateful for my readers and I feel bad I’ve neglected the site for this long.” I thanked her again and said something about keeping in touch.

Before exiting the bookstore’s cafe, she mentioned, “I’ll email you.”

I reached to fetch a business card out of my purse. “You know how to contact me?”

Smiling, she paused to let the obvious sink in.

“Oh,” I fumbled words, “yeah, I guess that makes sense. Of course you know where to find me.”

She laughed.

* * *

Apologies for the post-free days. I’m a one-woman show, balancing a very full plate. I’ve been buried in editing hell for the past week or so and, in two days, I’m jetting out of New York to speak at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, TX. So, just a quick update to say THANK YOU, as always, to everyone who reads my site. I’ll be back to posting more regularly very very soon.

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{ 15 folks got down with the Funky Brown }

Book Update: I’ve Been Writing My Ass Off

I’m here! Sorry for the post-free days. As many of you know, for the past two years, I’ve been working on my first book. I finished a 280+ page early draft ages ago, and I’ve been editing it ever since. I hoped to be completely finished by the end of the summer or, at the latest, end of 2009. However, the project took a different turn. I killed two chapters I’d already written and created new ones that were more fully developed and gave the book a stronger arch. God, I’ve learned a lot over the past 24 months of working on this thing. In writing a memoir, there are so many different ways to re-tell the story. For example, take today. Thus far, I:

  • Woke at 7:00 a.m. to the sound of a rooster crowing (my cellphone’s alarm clock ringtone). I don’t usually use an alarm but I did today because I stayed up late last night and I worried I’d oversleep.
  • Read morning news online — BBC News and New York Times.
  • Checked Twitter, Facebook and my blog.
  • Showered, brushed my teeth, put on lotion, dressed and left the house.
  • Logged 20 blocks (1 mile) for my daily morning walk.
  • Ate Cheerios for breakfast.

No one wants to read a laundry list of “I did this, then I did this, then I did this.” So, if I was writing a story about of my morning, it would read very differently based on the theme. If I was writing about being a native Illinoisan living in Manhattan, I’d focus on the fact that I use a rooster’s crow as my alarm, and I’d describe how different it feels to walk a mile surrounded by skyscrapers instead of cornfields. What I ate for breakfast wouldn’t matter so much, and I’d leave that out of the story. If I was writing about healthy living, I’d focus on the fact that my morning beauty products and toothpaste are made of all-natural and organic materials. I’d talk about the importance of diet (eating Cheerios instead of fried eggs and bacon) and exercise (walking a mile every day). In that story, the fact that my alarm clock is a rooster’s crow wouldn’t really matter and I’d leave that out of the story. Either version could re-tell what happened to me today. But, the specific details included in the story depends the larger “theme.”

So, that’s what I’ve been working on with the book — figuring out which details of my life should be included and which ones shouldn’t. The other thing I’ve been doing is: editing. Now that the story is more fleshed out, I have to make it more readable. As an example of editing, check out this sentence on Nicolas Cage’s Wikipedia page:

“Despite these successes, most of his lower-profile films have performed poorly at the box office compared to his mainstream action/adventure roles.”

For clarity and to ease the read, the sentence could be edited as follows:

“Despite mainstream successes in action/adventure roles, many of Cage’s lower-profile films have delivered poor box office results.”

I’m not editing Cage’s wiki, but I am editing my book line by line to make it a clearer read. So, yeah, that’s the book update. At present, it looks like I’ll be finished by the end of this month. In fact, though (thankfully!) I’ve already been approached, this is the very reason I haven’t signed with an agent yet. Until I’ve written the whole thing, I didn’t really know: (1) what the book would be or (2) when I would finish it. I’ve contributed chapters to others’ books, written articles and completed other creative projects, but this is my first book. It’s nice to finish it on my own time and without the pressure of outside deadlines.

What’s next? Starting in February, the next step will be to pitch agents. Once I’ve found the right one, they’ll pitch the book to publishers. Once it’s found a publishing home, it will be printed and ready for bookshelves. Of course, there are no guarantees. So, my fingers will be crossed throughout the whole thing. And, of course, it’s an ongoing process. (Once I have an agent and publisher attached to the project, they’ll likely request additional edits, changes and others things.) For now, I’m just really happy about the progress I’ve made thus far. Okay, so, this was totally a long, disjointed post, but I wanted to let you know what I’ve been up to on the writing front. I’ll be back to updating Funky Brown Chick on a regular basis now. Expect more sex, dating and relationships posts this week! :)

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{ 12 folks got down with the Funky Brown }

Give It to Me Now!

Apologies if this post comes off a little disjointed. I need to rant and ramble for a bit. As many of you know, I’m writing my first book. I’ve written articles, blogged for pay and contributed chapters to others’ anthologies. Now, finally, I’m working on my own baby. The timing isn’t coincidental, and I’ll tell you more about that eventually.

For now, the book is coming along nicely. And, at the moment, only have a one frustration. I lack patience. By way of an example — and as I’ve mentioned before — on more than one occasion I’ve sat in taxis cussin’ and swearin’. “Damn it,” I sigh as I notice cars in traffic are moving slower than people footing it on the sidewalk. “This is taking too long. Just let me out here and I’ll walk the rest of the way!!!” I pay my fare and get out. After speedwalking one or two blocks, I hail another cab because I feel like the traffic is moving faster than I am. Yes. I’m impatient, neurotic and insensible. I know. I’m working on it.

Anyway, so, it’s hard for me to forgo additional article-writing opportunities (and immediate cash!) for the next SIX MONTHS while I spend time finishing up the book. I want it … everything, actually … now. I try to rush through finishing my chapters. I give pages to friends to gather their opinions on stuff before I’ve even proof read it myself. I start working on a new pieces before I’ve finished the previous ones. And, so on and so on. “Slow down,” I tell myself. I start up again — this time working at a reduced pace. It’s coming along. Slowly. That drives me batshit crazy, but I hope the end product will be better because of it. Whatever. I feel guilty and petty when I complain. I love writing, and I’m just incredibly grateful that I get to do it & people appreciate my work. So, enough about that.

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{ 15 folks got down with the Funky Brown }