All About the Writing

Writing on Faith

I heard a Stevie Wonder song the other day, one I've heard a million times – Superstition – and one line hit me in a different way than all the other times I listened to it:

"When you believe in things that you don't understand"

I realized that can apply not only to superstition, but to faith. Superstition is clearly fear-based, while faith is hope-based. I have a tendency to use both, since the primitive part of my brain is fairly well-entrenched, and I figure it can't hurt to knock on wood or wish upon a star to placate any entity willing to help me out.

Writing is definitely an act of faith, one that borders on hubris. Here I am creating something that has not existed before, and I do this with the belief that it is worthwhile and worth the effort. It feels like magic sometimes, because I'm watching something materialize in my brain that doesn't have a physical form until I start tapping on my keyboard. Once it does appear, I have to draw on my faith that I can take this vague-ish idea and form it into a cohesive, entertaining story. Readers have faith in me to give them an emotional experience with the words I put together in the way only I can.

However, faith is not something that you acquire once and then you're set for life. If only.

A lot of things I write show up mere seconds before "I'm not sure this is going to work" shoots through my mind. But I choose to believe it will, even when there's no guarantee. I've learned those crazy-ass ideas are the ones I want to pursue because, more times than not, they work in an even more spectacular fashion than the "normal" or "safe" things do.

My faith has a tendency to ebb during the final stretch of the revision process. After many hours and days chipping away the rough edges, and smoothing over boo boos that weren't visible before you started making improvements. . .the finish line keeps getting farther and farther away. That's when faith starts to flicker like a light bulb ready to stop shining forever. You're exhausted and dispirited and convinced you've finally met the challenge that was meant to annihilate you all along. You'll have nothing to show for your efforts but a mass of broken paragraphs and massacred scenes that used to be a decent first draft, all of it covered with your blood, sweat and tears.

And yet. . .somehow it always works out. It's the result of "believing in something you don't understand". Maybe this is part of the process, breaking things down until the fear can no longer touch you. Now, while you're in a more humble state, you can see what it was you wanted to do with this story. Having a crisis of faith is actually what restores your belief. It bolsters you for the next time you falter and want to give up.

Faith is what made you start writing the story, when nobody but you thought it was possible you could write. Faith will get you through the process, because you know how much you want to create this story, no matter how many obstacles you encounter. 

Faith keeps growing with each word you write.

Guest Blogging at the RomCon Blog Today

Today I'm guest blogging at the RomCon blog, talking about revenge.

I've included a new excerpt of Lord Midnight, and I've asked commenters to share their favorite stories of revenge--whether it's from a book or movie or even something they've "heard" from a friend.

One lucky commenter will win an e-copy of Lord Midnight, so stop by and join the fun!

Every Writer's Lament

"If only I had all day to write."

We're convinced our writing lives would be perfection if only we had hour upon hour to indulge our creativity, free from the draining jobs that keep us out of debtors' prison.

This goal buoyed me through many jobs that seemed intent on breaking my spirit, if I didn't break somebody's head first. I would gaze wistfully into the distance, fantasizing of that day when I could tap away at the keyboard, writing at least one manuscript a day while whistling a happy tune. 

Unfortunately, all of us have a tendency to glamorize jobs that we only see from the outside.

I used to be a Tasting Room Manager at a winery, and I can't even count how many times I heard, "It must be nice to drink wine all day". I nodded and agreed, because that really does sound delightful. However, it wasn't part of MY job, even though my customers thought so. My staff and I worked our butts off to give every customer a pleasant experience while THEY drank wine. (Okay, we might have had a sip at the end of the day, but hey, by then we really deserved it.)

So it's likely we've glamorized the job of full-time writer, and we should examine exactly WHY we want that occupation.

1.       It proves we're a writer

If we're spending all day being a writer, then we must be a writer. Right?  

Wrong. 

You're a writer because you write. You have ideas that swirl through your brain twenty-four hours a day, not just when your muse blows into town. You create plots and characters and you write them down, form them into exciting stories, and edit and revise until they are irresistible page-turners.

If you need to prove to anyone that you're a writer, just whip out your manuscripts, and your rejection letters, and your battered heart that keeps on beating hopefully even when the goal of publication seems as far away as Mars.

So what's another reason we want to write full-time?

2.       More time to write

After an exhausting workday, it's daunting to keep the energy level up high enough to pour our heart and soul into a masterpiece. It's like coming home to another full-time job. But let's face it. Having more time to write is no guarantee that it'll actually get used for writing. 

Avoiding, procrastinating, and "getting ready to write" take up a lot more of a writer's day than whipping out a couple thousand words. Anyone who's done NaNoWriMo knows that the daily 1667 word count takes at most a couple of hours of sitting at the keyboard. However, dragging ourselves to the computer can take at least four times that, not to mention eighteen times the energy.

We accomplish more writing in short bursts of time. Most of us have had to write at least some of our stories that way, stealing lunch hours, or squeezing in a few sentences here and there. It actually keeps us focused on what we need to write. We don't have time to let our attention, or our muse, wander.

Also, the prospect of several uninterrupted hours of writing frightens many people when they finally get it. For some, it can be even more restricting than too little time, and they freeze up. They can't write a single word.   

Haven't you heard the best way to get something done is to give it to someone who has too much to do? It's the same way with writing. 

So what is it, really, that is so appealing about writing full-time?

3.       Freedom

This is what it really boils down to. Writing full-time is like an endless supply of snow days. We can stay home in our jammies, drink coffee, and write bestsellers day after day.

It's not that we want more time. We just want the freedom to decide how we spend those unfettered hours each and every day. 

We get to be our own bosses. Nobody is breathing down our neck, telling us what to do, or the best way to do it. Ahhh. Now that is the definition of bliss.

But there's a down side to all this freedom. 

It's tempting to stay in your jammies too long, and then family members pinch their nose while asking when you last showered, and you have to study your calendar before giving an accurate answer. It's been so long since you left the house, the neighbor kids have nicknamed you Boo Radley, but as a cautionary tale, not a literary homage.

At some point you're going to run out of coffee, and as far as I know, Starbucks hasn't started room service for residences. Even though they totally should. 

Even worse, discipline can desert you. If you think your muse is fickle, discipline has commitment issues that requires prolonged therapy.

So if you can't write full-time yet, don't despair. It may be on the horizon, and until that moment arrives, your writing efforts now are preparing you for it. 

You don't need the validation that you're a writer, and you already know how to make use of short bursts of writing time. Best of all, you have the freedom to write stories that help others escape the tedium of their daily work life. 

Only a writer who has lived that existence can appreciate what a gift that is.

This is a re-post from last year, but it's something I've been thinking about, and hoped others would enjoy seeing it again.

Creativity Tune-up

I work at a place that prizes creativity, and encourages people to make it a daily priority.

I like this philosophy, and I embrace it. However, there are days when creativity does not flow. It's not necessarily stuck. It's just dormant. It's taken me a while to learn that it is recharging, and gathering steam, and it will end up being almost too strong to handle when it does come back.

So what do you do when you want to be creative but your creativity is hibernating?

1. Don't panic -- This is the hardest part. It always, and I mean always, feels like we've had our last date with the muse, and we can't help but wonder what we did to drive her away. We don't believe her when she flits away, tossing over her shoulder, "I'll call you". We wring our hands, desperately trying to figure out a solution, ready to sell our soul to make her happy once more. But just as we have a need to step away from the work, so does the muse. Give her some space. Everyone will benefit from the separation.
2. Fix the easy stuff -- Concentrate on things that are more rote, or mundane--all of those little details that you don't have time for when you're in the giddy phase of word sprints. Now you can search for extra spaces in your manuscript. Check the formatting. Or spend some time on that research that makes you feel guilty when you "should" be writing. Check the links on previous blog posts. While you're re-reading them, see if they spark any new ideas and write down some notes for when the muse is back in town.
3. Read your own work -- This time read your story as a reader, not a writer. Let yourself get lost in the characters and the events you created. Fall in love again with the world you imagined a long while ago, before you had to tear it down and rebuild it. Remember what it was like to immerse yourself in a book that sprang from your heart. Sometimes this is enough to resuscitate that creative spirit that has gone dormant temporarily.
4. Take time to play -- We get so absorbed with writing, and writing-related activities, we don't know how to enjoy other aspects of life. We forget that writing is a reflection of our non-writing experiences. We need to replenish those, so that we have something to draw on when it's time to add words to the page. So enjoy the unexpected break from the writing routine. Go outside and see what the rest of the world is doing. Store up some events that will inspire you at a later date. You might be surprised at what is outside your four walls.

I'm definitely ready for a creativity tune-up today. Anyone else want to join me?

Sizzling Read of the Month: Lord Midnight

Thanks to everyone who voted for Lord Midnight as the Sizzling Read of the Month at Sizzling Hot Book Reviews.

It won!

It was exciting to get the 5 heart review, and now it's doubly exciting to have Lord Midnight on the front page for the rest of February. This just might end up being my favorite month now!

 

 

The Need to Read

I feel the need to read today.

At the same time, I keep reminding myself of all the writing I need to accomplish.

But my inner two-year-old keeps stomping her foot, insisting she needs to be told a story. I understand, and sympathize, and I'm trying really hard to be the adult. Obviously one of us has to be, and the inner toddler isn't qualified just yet. Her qualifications include tugging at me, trying to convince me we need to ignore all those yucky adult responsibilities, the ones that make me want to escape into a book for a few hours.

She's REALLY good at her job.

So I weaken. I need a story too. I have to rationalize it to myself, though, because I will feel guilty if I just indulge in an afternoon away from all the things pressing against my brain, doing their best to increase their ranking on the Really Important Must Get Done list. Things like taxes, and cleaning the oven because of the banana bread debacle of 2012, and of course, writing.

I have a million things I want to write.

Just when I think I've squelched the urge to read, Goodreads gently nudges me, reminding me I am getting behind in my reading. I thought signing up for the 2012 Reading Challenge would help me read more books, and even though I chose a modest number for a goal, I am already two books behind. That's 5%. Who can argue with percentages?

It's time to follow my own advice.

I've always believed that it's next to impossible to produce words if you don't consume them. I've got as many things on my TBR list as I do on my To Do list. Why should the responsibilities be more important in my day-to-day existence than the pleasurable ones of reading? If I have to justify it, by calling it research, then that is fine too. I think everyone -- my inner two-year-old, my characters, heck, even Endora the cantankerous muse -- will be thrilled to sit spellbound around the Nook, urging me to touch the screen faster and faster, so the pages will fly by.

So that's what I am doing today. The chores and adult responsibilities and the real world can wait a little longer. The books have waited long enough.

They need me right now.

And I definitely need them.

Vote for Sizzling Read of the Month

Since Lord Midnight received a 5-heart review at Sizzling Hot Book Reviews, it is included with all the other 5-heart books in a competition for "Sizzling Read of the Month". There are some wonderful books there, so go vote for your favorites, but don't delay. Voting lasts for only one day!

 

The Two Most Important Things About Writing a Book

1. Start it
2. Finish it

It's awful to see it pointed out like that. But it's really all we need to know. Unfortunately, these are also two of the hardest parts of writing a book.

We talk about getting started. And talk, and talk, and talk. And then get up to check on the dust bunnies in the corner. Or refill our coffee. Or do some stretches. Because it's important that we take care of ourselves while we're Not Writing. Ooops.

We tell ourselves we're "getting started". It's a process, after all. Then we sit back down, and well, we better check Twitter, and Goodreads, and our email, and it probably wouldn't hurt to check the blog stats while we're at it. Stats? Almost forgot to see how things are doing on Amazon and Smashwords. It's best to clear all of those distractions from our minds so we can get going on our WIP, or those pesky revisions that have been haunting us since the dawn of time.

And then it's time to start the whole "getting ready" cycle again.

Or maybe we're really good at starting a book. And then starting another one. Maybe we have tons of books we've started, but they languish on the hard drive, desperate for our attention. But we can't be bothered, because we've been lured into starting yet another book.

The finish line keeps getting farther and farther away, because we're too worried about making the book perfect, and if we finish it imperfectly, we won't be able to handle the disappointment. Somehow it's easier to convince ourselves the regret of never finishing a story is better than the anguish of finishing one that will need revision.

Fear makes us run away from what we desire the most.

So what's the answer?

I am as good at avoiding and procrastinating as the next writer. In fact, I've practically made a religion out of Not Writing. The funny thing is I get itchy and twitchy when I can't write, or when I haven't written for a while. Once I do get started, I'm enthralled and obsessed and entranced and don't ever want to stop. I'll forget to eat. The sun goes down without me realizing it. I'm totally lost in this world that I was trying to steer clear from.

I have to sit myself down every once in a while and remind myself why I write. I love my stories. I love my characters. I also want readers to love them. But they can't if I won't finish my stories and share them.

So that is my motivational tool today, reminding myself of the exhilaration I experience when I hear someone say they love my book. That's what I'm using to get myself undistracted from all the shiny toys on the internet, and finishing all the stories that make me laugh and sniffle happy tears and have me falling headlong into love all over again.

Hopefully I'm not the only one.

For the Love of Books

Sometimes the internet can feel like an antiquarian bookstore, filled with obscure research treatises and unexplored literary tomes. You enter this vast place intending to look for one thing, but then you follow a link, and then another, and yet another, forgetting where you commenced your journey, but unable to let go of the tantalizing possibilities still ahead, beyond your reach.

This is how I recently stumbled across "Date A Girl Who Reads" by Rosemarie Urquico. It's one of the most enchanting posts I've read in a long, long time.

It's presented as advice, detailing why a girl who reads is such a wonderful catch. But it's also a love letter to those of us who have always lived our lives through books.

If you're not a reader, it's hard to understand our obsession for books and the characters contained inside them. It's not a chore, or an assignment, because we're not merely reading words on a page. We inhabit the world created in that book. We shadow the characters during their adventures, experiencing their joys and heartaches as if they happened to our own hearts. If we could, we would jump inside that chapter and console the characters while giving them advice on what to do next.

In her post, Ms. Urquico delightfully depicts this intertwined relationship between a reader and her book. Even better, she shows what a rich life can be had when one loves a girl who loves books.

I read this post several times, smiling and nodding my head knowingly at each new paragraph. I had a hard time deciding which section I wanted to highlight, but I finally chose this one:

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

The entire post is worth reading, and re-reading, so go check it out now if you haven't already. I suspect it may become one of your favorites.

I also guarantee the last sentence will make you smile. For a really long time afterwards.

This is one of my favorites from last year, and I just had to bring it back. Hope you enjoy.

Sizzling Hot Book Review

I received my first book blog review for Lord Midnight. Sizzling Hot Book Reviews gave it 5 hearts, their highest rating, and I'm so excited. Actually I'm beyond excited. I'm thrilled. That doesn't quite describe it either. Hang on while I find a thesaurus so I can type in every possible variation for giddy.

While I'm doing that, go check out the review. And feel free to bring back some champagne so we can celebrate!