“The Life”

The recluse at the typewriter who eschews all press, the garrulous womanizing drunk, the pensive thoughtful academic. The many stereotypes of the writer over the years. The writer’s life has been romanticized in many ways. The book signing where Beatles size crowds of fans show for a signature. Yup. Reality, the author wanders the store looking for  people to talk to about books. Increasingly, we’re wandering towns looking for bookstores.

The inspiration that sends us to our machines and drives a book onto the page in finished draft condition and ready for submission to agents and publishers who will be knocking each other over to gather at your door for that piece of wonder you’ve wrought. It’s like that, right? Non writers believe the “life” is as good as the archetypes. Even without a constantly morphing marketplace, it wouldn’t be because the reality is that invention simply doesn’t work that way. How many tries before Edison came up with the light bulb?  How many for Salk with the polio vaccine? How many times did Leonardo attempt the Mona Lisa before he considered her complete? Whether science or art, no first attempt will bring about success at the goal.

The writing life does not follow a stereotypical road. It is as varied as the writers treading the path. When people ask writers the secret to being a writer, I want to laugh. This idea that there is some magical elixir that allows everything to take place in the vacuum of a fictive dream is comical. The writing life is no different from the path to becoming a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer. It involves an almost sick passion for something that will allow you to drive your body, your psyche, and your mind as close to the brink as possible. It involves placing your skill out there knowing there will be others better than you and that you may never achieve the success you hope for but for you there is no other path.

For a writer, writing is as necessary as food and water. We take the rejection, the depression, the empty bookstores, and the muse on permanent vacation. We accept it as a small price to pay for the joy of creating worlds on the page. If there are people who will read our words, we’re thrilled. But the “life” is about more than selling books. It’s about sharing humanity through art.

Sometimes, we forget that.

Prayers for the people of Oklahoma this week.

Summer, Sunny Days, and Schedules

This year my critique group set up an editorial calendar for our group blog and then, we followed through for our individual blogs. That was helpful while it lasted. Since the calendar ran out (oops), I have returned to the drawing board and come up with a new one. I have commitments for most of the summer at Novel Clique’s blog so some weeks this post will merely redirect to Novel Clique. I’m looking forward to a summer of blogging double duty. No, seriously. Which definitely puts me in the seriously twisted category. The new editorial calendar for Write On:

Date	Write On	Novel Clique	Topic
5.16.13	X		New Editorial Calendar
5.23.13	X		Living the Writer’s Life
5.30.13	X		Conventions, Classes, Degrees, Oh, My!
6.5.13	X		Insecure Writer Post
6.19.13		X	Pacing: What Film Shows Us
6.27.13	X		Facing a Character Uprising: Whip and Chair, Please.
7.3.13		X	Blog Chain
7.4.13	X		Insecure Writer Post
7.10.13		X	How NOT to Critique (Warning: Sarcasm Intentional)
7.17.13		X	How TO Critique
7.24.13		X	How to Behave as a Professional Writer
8.7.13		X	Newbie Mistakes
8.7.13	X		Insecure Writer
8.21.13		X	Novel Editing Tips
8.28.13		X	Blog Chain ALL
9.4.13		X	Blog Chain ALL
9.11.13		X	Conquering Queries
9.18.13		X	Letter to Editor/Agent

 Hope everyone has plans for an amazing summer!

My summer companions

 

The Inner Sanctum, The Irish Moors, or the Fiery Realm of Hell

Let’s just get this out of the way at the get go. I am a COWARD. One of the many reasons I write is so my characters can do all the things I’m terrified to try. Of course, then I also have fears within my writing. Specifically, settings that I avoid at all costs. Some out of laziness – too much research involved, some out of economics – too much money involved, and some out of pure ol’ FEAR. There are three specific settings I’ve considered using over the years. Two of them I have just never had a plot that worked for, one of them it is just a case of being flat-out terrified to attempt it.

When I was young, I read book after book set on the Irish Moors. I dreamed of the place nearly every night, could almost smell the air in my sleep. It was my favorite fiction setting. Unfortunately, none of my plots or characters have ever worked for it. Sigh.

Another favorite of mine growing up was mythology. The tale of the unfortunate goddess who reigned over the seasons (Demeter) whose daughter (Persephone) was kidnapped by the evil Lord of the Underworld, Hades, provided the Greeks with an explanation for the seasons. While Persephone reigned in the Underworld, Persephone mourned and during those months, everything withered and died. (Fall and winter) Life returned, grasses growing and flowers blooming when Persephone returned to her mother. (Spring and summer) Unfortunately, much as I love the idea of a story set in hell, I don’t have a plot or characters for it either.

The inner sanctum, on the other hand, has characters and a plot waiting. I want to write this story so bad. Unfortunately, I don’t have the knowledge, and the research is daunting. I’m not sure where to begin and frankly, fear of what I might encounter in the process causes me to balk. (What you don’t know, won’t hurt you…) Much as I want to write my POTUS story, much as I want to set my plot around the most famous address in our country, much as I love the idea of secret service and politicians (what more natural conflict could you ask for?), this COWARD has been unable to muster the mettle for it. Sigh.

Perhaps…someday…

Is there a setting that intrigues and intimidates you?

Check out what my CP’s have to say about intimidating settings.

Natasha Hanova      Leatrice McKinney

Walk a Bed of hot nails, Endure Water boarding, or Enter a Contest?

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! (Our Twitter hashtag is #IWSG)

Alex J. Cavanaugh’s awesome co-hosts for the May 1 posting of the IWSG will be Lynda Young, Mark Koopmans, and Rachna Chhabria.

Contests. I have a love hate relationship with them. I believe they are a good thing for writers to participate in. For one thing, it forces you to get your work out there and some of us need that encouragement. For another thing, if you are selective, you can receive feedback on your work that will be valuable in improving it. This can make the difference in you landing your short story with a journal or your novel with an agent.

What’s to lose then? Your self-esteem? Your self-confidence? Your first-born? Frankly, I find little as dreadful as entering a contest. It’s somewhere between a bed of hot nails and water boarding. Have I had success with contests? Yes. Have I gotten feedback from them? Yes. It was good and definitely worthwhile afterward but honestly, I’m not sure it was worth the hell I went through leading up to and waiting. Somehow, a contest is harder for me than submitting my work directly to journals and agents. Can’t explain that. It’s just part of the weird, insecure, artist’s psyche.

So…why did I just enter another one???? Where’s that bed of hot nails?

Land the Plane Already!

I’m a huge film buff, and I’m pretty generous with filmmakers. If they entertain me, I’m not terribly critical. However, there is one area where films and books alike can set off my inner critic.

Endings.

A writer that can’t ‘land’ a book or film drives me nuts. It’s not that I don’t understand their pain. I do. Endings are so difficult. They must be organic and sometimes that means kneading until they are just right. I have read too many books and seen too many films where I thought the book ended, only to face five more endings. Seriously, a book only needs one. The right one.

Find it. Use it.

Some writers know their ending in advance and even write it in advance. This is fine as long as you review and refine it after the book’s written. After all, changes have probably forced adjustments to that ending. Some endings are so perfectly organic, they shock. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” comes to mind. It’s a great example of building to one ultimate ending.

Endings don’t actually have to provide total closure. Some endings leave the opening for sequels in film and series in books. Some endings like to leave questions in the reader’s mind, things to mull over in the aftermath of reading. A lot of  Jodi Picoult’s books are this way. Especially, Change of Heart, which is rife with so many social issues I swore to my husband that there was no way even she could ‘land that plane.’ I’ve never been more thrilled to be wrong in my life. The book is still in my favorites list after all this time. It resonated in my thoughts for years after I read it. A good book, even one that leaves questions in your mind, will always satisfy.

Once a reader invests 200 -500 or more pages with you, they need a pay off. Never wax the ending. A writer should spend as much time polishing that ending as he did the beginning pages used to market the book or the query or pitch to sell the book. In the end, it’s the last thing the reader will remember about your book. Did they walk away satisfied or frustrated?

Are endings tough for you? What’s your favorite book/story ending?

Sometimes…Writing can Wait.

This is a tough week to feel like talking about writing. First, there was Boston and then Waco and because this isn’t a political blog, I won’t get into the disaster called Congress. Writing and a discussion of writing seems misplaced. I’ve tried, but then I see faces and hear stories in my head of real heroes, people who ran toward danger instead of away from it, and I’m humbled.

Human beings are flawed. That’s never more evident than in a week like this one. They are also made of heroic fiber that no one could have imagined in advance. As a writer, how do I create characters with that delicate balance between flawed and heroic?

In a week like this one? Be silent. Watch and listen and hear the stories. Let that germinate.

Then, begin again.

My prayers are with the people of Boston and Waco.

Friends Don’t Let Friends Write Under the Influence

A young friend of mine is in one of life’s worst situations through no fault of her own. She must make a heart wrenching decision, and it is her’s to make. If you’ve lived long enough, you know that people scurry out of the woodwork to tell you what to do. Often well-meaning, but not always, these ‘it’s the best thing’ advice givers serve only to wreak havoc unnecessarily. This is no ones  business and no one else can or should help her. The words “butt out” come to mind.

While I was in grad school, we had a professor who ranted against this same mind-set in writing, only it is in our heads, set in place by a society full of rules and judgments. I can’t write this or say that because it might offend this group or that group. What if it lands my book on a banned book list? By the way, have you seen those lists? Some impressive books are on it. We would be hard pressed to find our books in better company.

The problem is we allow societal standards and norms to dictate to us as we write. This is what I call writing under the influence. It’s the worst for a writer. Beyond hindering creativity, it skews reality. If you want your fiction to reflect our daily lives, then it better be messy and chaotic and yes, offensive to others. Because that’s what life in a free country is all about.

This guy smokes and it offends me, I can cuss like a sailor and it offends this lady, a woman over here prays and it offends the atheist, who offends the Muslim, who offends the…you get the point. Life here is not pretty and dainty. If your writing is, no one will buy it except maybe someone who lives in a bubble. Our fiction must have some basis in reality. Therefore, you must write with all your flaws exposed, unfettered by that judging muse on the shoulder telling you to stop.

It’s important never to fall victim to the ‘what if this offends’ question. This is where your writer friends come in. Friends, don’t let friends write under the influence. Ever. If that nasty judgmental muse is sitting on your shoulder telling you that you can’t have a gay character because the Bible Belt won’t read your book, call your friends for an intervention. And let me know when your book comes out. I live in the Bible Belt. I’ll help you promote it.

That professor? Pope Brock. If you haven’t read his books, you should.

Have you ever written under the influence? How do you handle it?