All About the Writing

Hero Hot Seat

Writing can't always be serious business.  Sometimes it's got to be pure fun and games.  Join me today at Romance Writer's Revenge for a little diversion I call Hero Hot Seat.  I've put Ryan, the hero of my contemporary romance I Do. . .or Die, on a talk show, where he talks about the book AND answers a few off-the-cuff questions.  Feel free to leave a question in the comments.  Who knows?  Maybe he'll have an answer for you!

Benefits of a Blank Brain

Sometimes my brain feels like a tabula rasa, ye olde blank slate. It's comparable to when a computer's hard drive has been scrubbed, wiped clean of any data. Or like an Etch-a-Sketch that has been turned over and had everything magically erased.

That means there is nothing inside my head except the default operating system--which ensures I can continue breathing, and functioning at the cellular level, fortunately. Those activities, as essential as they are, don't require any creative ability, so my brain pretty much delegates those to its hard-working minions.

You would think this particular state of mind would make it easier to come up with new ideas, since it's clean and clear inside the noggin, with none of the usual clutter and chatter. It's pristine and silent, the perfect conditions for hordes of creative invaders to overtake it.

Only it doesn't work that way for me. 

When I'm in "blank brain" mode, my brain acts more like a nonstick surface, and ideas, if they appear, slide right off and disappear. It's almost as if my brain has been wiped down with an anti-cling cloth, so ideas just zip right through, feeling completely unwelcome. If a creative urge does try to stick, my brain is one half of a Velcro strip – the half that is all smooth and can't grab hold of anything even if it wanted to.

I used to worry about this stage of the writing process. I'd fret and wring my hands, convinced I had written the last words I'd ever write. I knew for a certainty my writing days were over. It took a long time, and an unnecessary amount of angst, to understand that it IS a stage of the writing process, and a very valuable one. 

It is actually a sabbatical for my brain, a chance for it to rest and recalibrate, so it doesn't burn out and lose its enthusiasm for wordplay.

During this stage, it's a good time to read something in a different genre than I usually choose, to startle my brain with something intriguing and challenging. I scribble in notebooks, collecting these musings and turning them into blog posts. One of my favorite things to do is hang out with books, in libraries and bookstores, since my brain considers these "family visits".

This is also a good time to take your brain out on a play date (see Butt Outta Chair), essentially filling your brain up with other sensory experiences, which helps the creativity thermometer gradually rise back to normal levels.

Just as my writing production has an ebb and flow (some days I spend 14 hours on a project, so it's to be expected that another day I might spend 1, or 4), I think my brain's creative abilities have a certain rise and fall too. When it has nothing to give, I try not to take. I don't want to end up in a deficit mode with my brain's creative output, so that it decides to stay blank forever. 

When I give my brain this chance for a well-deserved R&R, it comes back so refreshed and raring to get back into the writing arena, it's almost hard to keep up. It's excited to show me what it's brought back from its inward travels, and the resulting creativity is always—always—more spectacular than I could have anticipated.

Baby You Can Drive My Car

I have recently become a Twitter aficionado. Not only does it help feed my need for bite-size information, but it is a very efficient way to encounter publishing information I wouldn't find otherwise. My Friday Fave link today came from a tweet mentioning a blog I hadn't heard of before (Murderati), although I have read posts on other blogs from this author, Alex Sokoloff.

Ms. Sokoloff gives a lot of great information about writing, and she usually references it to movies, which makes it a lot easier to grasp concepts. In this particular post, The Central Action of a Story, she mentions how she does a "read-and-discard" to find a book she wants to finish reading.  f she likes the first couple of chapters, she needs to know where the plot is going if she's going to keep reading.

She says, "So much of storytelling is about you, the author, reassuring your reader or audience that you know what you’re doing, so they can relax and let you drive."

This requires a certain amount of trust between the author and the reader. If it's an author I've read before, we've already established a relationship of sorts, so there's a fairly high amount of trust involved. This means I can lean the seat back, and probably even unbuckle the seat belt, knowing we'll get where we're supposed to, and I'll be happy with her driving skills along the way.

With an author that I'm reading for the first time, it's a bit like taking a ride with someone who's just gotten their learner's permit. I'm debating if I really want to do this, nervously trying to figure out whether to take that leap of faith. I typically make up my mind after reading the back cover, the first line, and maybe even the first couple of pages. Even after going through this pre-drive checklist, I've still been disappointed on occasion, but so far there haven't been any fiery crashes, although a wheel has flown off once in a while.   

Still, the author is promising a certain kind of story in those first few chapters, and the reader has certain expectations, which hopefully are going to be met during what is essentially a cross-country road trip.

How often have you seen this movie blurb:  "Joe Schmo is a car thief/cat burglar/petty shoplifter who is ready to retire, but he is pulled into ONE. LAST. SCORE." 

Yeah, it's been done about a zillion times, but you never hear anybody say, "I've already seen that.  I don't want to see it again." Moviegoers like that scenario, so you'll see it get made a zillion times more. 

There is a certain expectation of where that plot will go, based on implicit promises made at the beginning, even if the viewer can't predict what will happen during the heist. But if all of a sudden zombies jumped out and devoured the protagonist's brains while he's cracking open a safe. . . well, the writer has pretty much lost their driving license, right?

Whenever I read a review of a book that has gotten a low ranking, it's generally because the reader feels it didn't live up to their expectations. This could be because of misleading back cover copy, or from a plot thread that was left dangling, or even unexplored. Readers like to be surprised, but not in a way that makes them feel foolish, or angry, for agreeing to let you drive them around in circles without a map for hours on end.

I highly recommend you read Ms. Sokoloff's entire post. She has really great information on having a PLAN that readers can, and will, follow during your thrilling car race of a story. 

Next thing you know, you'll be on readers' auto-buy list.

The Bleak Moment

"The Black Moment" is a phrase that is used a lot in romances.  This is the scene where the conflict between the hero and heroine causes their budding romance to crash in a spectacular fashion.  At that point it seems like the love they've been enjoying along the way can never overcome their issues and firmly-held beliefs, and the only solution is for them to walk away from each other, sad and hurting. 

The whole book has been leading towards this particular moment, and even though the characters hope it won't get to this point, the readers are actually looking forward to it.  It's not that readers are sadistic.  They just want to know how the hero and heroine will get over their fears and let their love overcome the differences that should normally keep them apart. 

This is a very essential step before they can get to the Happily Ever After ending—kind of like having to eat your Brussels sprouts before you get to have crème brulee.

I've always struggled with this particular aspect, and not just because I hate Brussels sprouts and love crème brulee.  I really love my characters and I don't want them to suffer.  I want them to be happy, and I would prefer it if they could just skip, hand in hand, to the marriage chapel, with a beautifully scrolled "The End" appearing over their joyful faces.

But to get to that point of unending bliss, the characters need to go through growing pains, and that pretty much includes well, PAIN.  It's not called "growing fun". 

And this is what The Black Moment is all about—growing and changing and maturing.  As with most of us, characters won't volunteer to go through a change process that's guaranteed to be uncomfortable or painful.  They'll only do it if there is a pretty darn good result waiting at the end of it (i.e., a great life with this person they love).

So what do the characters do when the person they love seems to be the person they should hate?

I mean, here's a man and here's a woman, two completely different people—physically, emotionally—in every way possible.  They can manage to find an accommodation when it comes to physical love, because their bodies are designed to have an area of common ground, so to speak.

Now they just have to find this area of common ground emotionally, in order to get through this black moment.  Each character has very firmly-held beliefs, and a particular worldview, that headbutts the beliefs and worldview of this person making them crazy with lust and love and longing.

I typically refer to this as "The Bleak Moment", because my characters aren't necessarily battling each other, they certainly don't hate each other, and they aren't filled with complete despair.  So it's not so dark that it should be considered "black".  But they are at an impasse.  They can't go forward, and it's too late to go back.

Since they have been building to this point throughout the story, rushing through it would be like a premature. . .release.  (Cue Peggy Lee's classic song about disappointment, "Is That All There Is?") 

I recently re-read one of my manuscripts and I realized I'd rushed through this moment, all because I didn't want the characters to go through an extended period of anguish.  But it was a letdown.  For me.  And I'm the one who wrote it.  It felt like the characters just kind of threw their hands in the air and said, "Okay.  Whatever.  Where do you want to go for the honeymoon?"

I finally—FINALLY—understood why my characters need to suffer.  They need to struggle, so they can feel good at making it through something impossibly difficult.  It's the same exact way I feel when I make it through a revision that seems daunting.  It's too hard, I say.  I don't think I can do it.  But somehow I do.  And then it's not as hard as I first thought, because I'm thinking about it differently, considering diverse possibilities, looking at it with fresh eyes, and all of a sudden, I've finished it, I've made it through.  And I feel fantabulous, like I've just won a marathon when at first I couldn't even get off the couch.

Our characters benefit in the same way.  For example, I have a character that thinks, "I can't possibly let go of my belief that commitment is a trap that will make me want to gnaw off my arm."  Their encounters with their love interest challenge that belief, and soon they are in a committed relationship AND both arms are intact, and they haven't once contemplated sharpening their incisors.  Even more importantly, they've jettisoned their old belief system, through a lot of struggle and hard work.  As much as we admired the characters before The Bleak Moment, we're lifelong fans AFTER they've gone through the effort to change for the better.

So now I'm a convert to the importance of The Bleak Moment.  I may still struggle with it—which is what happens when you get rid of a firmly-held belief, after all.   But now that I understand the payoff, I'm gonna be making my characters squirm. 

Not only are they gonna love it, they're gonna thank me for it.

Friday Fave x 2

Okay, that's about enough math for one day!

I couldn't decide WHICH link to feature today, and after a little while of debating with myself, I realized two things: 1)  I am ALWAYS going to win a debate with myself, which is what makes that activity so much fun, and 2) since I make up the rules round here, I can amend them whenever I feel like it (who knew being a blog dictatoress would be so liberating?)

Anyway, I've got two links I want to post today.  I hope you enjoy one or both of them.

The first is something that causes a lot of giddiness.  It's the listing of the finalists in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association (PNWA) 2010 Literary Contest.  And it includes ME!  I got the call this past Monday, while I was in the grocery store.  I didn't recognize the area code but answered anyway, and then managed to scoot my grocery cart out of the way so I wouldn't get mangled by all the shoppers racing around like it was the last few seconds of Supermarket Sweepstakes.  The contest coordinator congratulated me and said how competitive this year's contest was, with over 1100 entries in the 12 categories.  I was so thrilled, I think that smile was still on my face when I went to sleep that night.

The next link is an interview with my agent, Christine Witthohn, with one of her other clients.  (Don't believe her when she says her favorite client is the one conducting the interview.  We know who that REALLY is, don't we?  *wink wink*)  Christine is awesome in every category, especially in supportiveness and treating her clients as teammates.  So go check out the interview, at a fun blog called Mysteries and Margaritas.  And make sure you leave a comment there, because one lucky person will win an on-the-spot chance to pitch to Christine!

Just Imagine

I can hear some kind of critter upstairs, in the attic area of my house.  I think it might be a squirrel, since a lot of those are around here lately, and from the noise going on, it sounds bigger than mice.  (Actually if it IS a mouse, I may have to break my lease and evacuate, because that thing wears really big shoes.  He's not teeny or dainty in his movements, and I would freak out if he decided he needed both stories of the house, not just the top one.)

Today the critter is making different noises than usual, and I've surmised that it's moving day.  There sounds like a deliberate moving from one area to another, not the usual skittering, like when they're playing air hockey or Squirrel World Cup soccer.  There was also a crazy sound a few seconds ago, like somebody dropped a box of squirrel paraphernalia.  I didn't hear any swearing, though, so I guess it wasn't squirrel dishes or bowling trophies or anything else that would be hard to replace.

It's hard for me to NOT think like this.  I guess non-writers would hear the noises and think, "Damn critters.  Better call the landlord again."  I hear the sounds and start creating a story around them.  I haven't gone so far as to name the critters or give them a backstory. . .yet.

In some ways having my brain do this is inconvenient.  I mean, I can scare the heck out of myself because my imagination is highly developed, ready to go into action, on call 24/7 like an elite team of Navy SEALS.  The night-shift brain is trained to transform all the same daytime sounds into more alarming scenarios (i.e., I'm pretty sure the squirrels were practicing their midnight rappelling skills recently, until I thwarted them by moving the garbage can to a different area).

But I also like that my brain is always in tune to possibilities, willing to throw me an interesting morsel just from an overheard phrase, or a crazy sound outdoors, or from a sentence I've read.  It's like it's always bending and stretching and keeping itself in shape while my body. . .ponders doing that. As long as I give my brain an outlet, it's happy, and it'll keep digging around all the ordinary things that surround me, finding something unusual and intriguing, and presenting it to me with pride. 

All it asks is that I'm open, and willing, and that I do my best to put these things into words.

What We Want Most

The blog by Bill Kenower, Editor in Chief of Author magazine, is filled with so much inspiration. Luckily it's a daily blog, so there's something delightful and motivating to look forward to each day. His motto is "You Are the Author of Your Own Life", and he says, "Writing the book you most want to write is the same as living the life you most want to lead."

His blog has so many great things from which to choose. I changed my mind several times before deciding to highlight this particular post: What We Want Most.

In this post, Mr. Kenower says a great book "is the result of three things: A person who loves to write, writing what they most want to write, in the way they most want to write it."

That sounds easy enough.

However, it does require a great deal of bravery to do this. As Mr. Kenower states, this may lead your writing down a path that is unexpected, which can be frightening. You can't really worry about if it's good, or good enough, or publishable, or any of that, because by deciding to write what you want most to write, you are pretty much guaranteed to head off into the unexplored frontier. It takes a lot of faith to make this kind of a journey.

It applies not only to the book, but to the writing life itself. Friends and families may be fascinated that you are a writer, but they may not understand your constant staring off into space, or your need for almost total isolation. Writers are an unusual bunch, and fortunately our odd behavior is indulged because the end result – our stories – provide enjoyment to offset the bafflement our loved ones experience when we're creating.

I highly recommend Mr. Kenower's blog. He is someone who understands, from experience, the writing life, and the life of a writer. He's a great companion to have accompany you on this journey. 

Cricket in the Bathtub

The other day I opened the shower curtain, so I could preheat the water before I took my shower.

There was a cricket in there. 

Now everyone who knows me knows I'm not a big fan of nature.  I'm glad it exists.  I just don't want to commune with it, especially INSIDE my abode.

However, it doesn't seem right that an insect should get a death sentence, followed by an immediate execution, just because it happened to stumble upon my domain. 

Also, I am happy to confess I have an utter weakness for Jiminy Cricket.   I get teary-eyed every time he sings "When You Wish Upon A Star".   (Hang on a minute.  I need a tissue, just from THINKING about him singing that song.)  Anyway, my Jiminy fangirl-ness kept me from squooshing this cricket, because, you never know, you know?

So I did my humanitarian best to get JC out of my bathtub, so I could use the tub for its intended purpose:  my shower.  I don't think he really got that this was not a time-share arrangement.  Or maybe he thought I was indeed going to squoosh him.  Every time I tried to help him out, he did what crickets always do – hop in a completely unexpected direction.  So I adjusted, trying to anticipate where he might jump next.  I guessed wrong.  I'm not even sure HE knew where he was going to go.  But he still hopped.  And I continued to be surprised where he landed.

After about forty-eleven attempts, something finally worked, and he ended up OUT of the tub.  I didn't follow him, because I wasn't in the mood by then to extend our relationship any further.  Especially since I was this damn close to revoking my "no squooshing crickets" rule, even if it turned out he was my beloved Jiminy.

It did make me think about how our characters, and even our stories, are like this cricket.  We're trying to make them go one way, and they steadfastly head a different direction.  So we "adjust", and try to scoop them into going where we think they should go.  Surprise!  They head off down another path. 

But maybe that's the way it should go, only we don't know it yet.  And we persist in trying to make things work the way we want it to, getting more and more frustrated the harder we try.

So maybe we should just let our stories head the direction they want to go, by Jiminy.  It's not like the path is permanently etched in granite, so maybe a little meandering and hopping to the side and taking a detour is a good thing.  It can help explore the characters a little more, which is always fascinating.  It could open up new plotting vistas.

Even better, it might just be where we were supposed to go, even though we didn't realize it.

Wait A Minute. . .

Today's Friday Fave is a little different. (I know, one week and I'm breaking with tradition already!) But I do have a good reason.

Come join me at STET! which is the Backspace Writers' blog. I have one of my blog posts on THEIR blog today, and I'm thrilled.

The post is How To Make the Waiting More Bearable (or, Things To Do In Between Clicking on "Check Mail"). It's a humorous piece I wrote -- actually, my very first blog post ever! It was designed to help me and anyone else waiting to hear back from the publishing world, and it has some suggestions of things that aren't the usual ones you see!

I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to leave a comment there, or here, or both.

Make My Day

It's exciting when your words make an impact on people.  So I have to confess I was thrilled when romance author Susan Donovan said on the Borders blog recently that my comment made her day!  Here's her comment:

Hi again, gang. I’ve loved reading everyone’s comments — so motivating for me! We’ve got ourselves a brilliant and insightful bunch of babes right here. Donna made my day when she wrote: “…I think romance also extends our youthfulness, probably because it’s steeped in optimism. It has a tendency to erase all the negative things we’ve experienced and reminds us of the joy another person brings into our lives.”

I’m going to print that out and keep it on my desk as a reminder. That way, on days when I ask myself, “What am I trying to say, here?” I’ll have my answer!

I’ll check in again later. Enjoy your afternoon!

-Susan

How cool is that?  I may have to print this out for my desk!  (It'll keep me busy while waiting for Susan's newest book, The Night She Got Lucky, to show up on my doorstep.)