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Guest Post: Awkward by Marni Bates

Dropping by today we have Marni Bates, author of the awesome Awkward. She's here to tell us what she does when she's not writing. Take it away, Marni!

When I'm not writing . . . I am usually feeling guilty about it. See, I procrastinate a lot. Mainly with T.V. but I'll use just about anything if it means I don't have to work. I'll even clean my room! Okay, the room cleaning thing doesn't happen very often but . . . you get what I'm saying.  

The funny thing is that it's hard to know when you're working and when you're not. Sure, I can tell the difference between sitting down at my laptop and typing and . . . not writing. But that doesn't mean I'm not working. When I spend hours Googling hot male actors between the ages or 21 and 25, that's research. And when I create collages where I map out character traits and personality conflicts, that's work too. I readily admit that it doesn't look like work (and it doesn't feel like it either) but it helps me get a stronger understanding of my characters.

So I spend most of my time procrastinating on writing by obsessing over characters and plot possibilities. And I never know when a song or a casual conversation will trigger some amazing idea for me. I'm always on the hunt for something new that will bring my work in progress together. Especially since I inevitably lapse into at least a two week span (on every novel) where I am utterly unproductive. I spend most of that time glaring at my computer and groaning loudly.  

Yet my mom shows no pity.  

Anyhow, when I'm not writing, or thinking about writing, I'm either hanging out with friends, rollerblading, reading, or soaking in the hot tub. Or I am doing homework. I am almost finished with college (only one quarter left!) but I've always had to schedule my writing around my classwork. Okay, that's not entirely honest. I've always held the policy that my writing comes first, unless I'm working furiously on an essay that's due in less than 12 hours.  

My friends have seen me pull some back to back all-nighters because the first night I couldn't resist the siren call of a romance novel and the next night I had to actually get my work done.  

Usually they catch me making Macaroni & Cheese at one in morning when that happens.  

*Hangs head in shame*  

But enough about my writing!   

I'm very fortunate that my grandparents owned a travel agency and believed in the importance of seeing other places and different ways of life. Most recently, I went on safari in Kenya and Tanzania, which was absolutely incredible. I floated over the Serengeti in a hot air balloon and I watched a leopard drag its kill into a tree before devouring it. All great material for a novel some---  

Crap.  

Okay, let's try again.   

I don't really have a cat. I mean, technically Farley is mine, but since he wants nothing to do with people in general (and me specifically) I'm not sure he should count. My mom has a wonderful dog named Rascal who gets three times the attention of her actual children. He's a labradoodle and couldn't be sweeter. He also snores at night which I find absolutely charming. Again, not sure what that says about me. I'm tempted to write him into a new series about a girl who---  

Okay, so that's not working either.  Truthfully, right now my life is hard to discuss because I'm in limbo. I still don't know where I want to live. Heck, I'm not finished with my college degree yet! I'm trying to be okay with the whole not knowing thing because the alternative is to completely freak out and that doesn't seem like a good call. That's when I become convinced everything would make perfect sense if I just moved to Thailand and lived on Pad Thai.   

Not sure that's really the answer though.  Anyhow, for now most of my life revolves around my writing because that's one of the few things I do have control over. Hope that's not too disappointing!

Thanks for stopping by! 

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