All About the Writing

Character Goals

When a character starts out a story, he or she has a GOAL. They want SOMETHING. And the reason they want this is because they want things to change. 

The character's goal represents an improvement over their current circumstances, or a return to a situation when things were better than they are now. This is why they hold onto their goal so tightly when they experience setbacks and turmoil throughout the story. 

No matter what the goal is, there is an emotional reason underlying it. 

My favorite example for this topic is "Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris" because it's so simple and straightforward, yet emotionally appealing. It's a book I read a zillion years ago, and I remember it being made into a movie starring Angela Lansbury. 

The title character is a charwoman who wants to buy a dress from a French designer, and she's worked very hard to save the necessary money. Her goal is to go to Paris and buy a designer dress. 

Now when you think about it, it's not likely she'll have any opportunities to wear that dress, because her lifestyle is a simple one that doesn't include gala events. The garment will probably hang in her closet, never to be worn. Is it really worth scrubbing floors all day long for something so completely frivolous and useless?

For me, not so much. (That's why credit cards were invented after all.) 

For this character, though, the answer is an emphatic YES.

What's important to remember is that dress represents beauty, and wealth, and a life that Mrs. 'Arris aspires to, even when she knows the dress will be the only thing she can acquire of that life. Owning that dress means she is more than a simple charwoman.

So you can see how the emotional underpinning of a goal is the driving force for a character's actions. Even if they don't consciously recognize this connection, it is still what spurs them on, even in the face of adversity. It's not a simple, "it would be nice if. . ." kind of thing. It's a yearning, a strong one. It motivates the character. In some cases, it defines them.

Once you know what a character's goal is, and WHY it is important to them, it is easier to plot your story, because now you know what they are willing to do to achieve that goal. Later, when the character discovers their underlying emotional need has been fulfilled, or it has changed along the way because of their growth, they are finally able to relinquish that initial goal. Even when it has motivated their actions throughout the book.

Recently I couldn't seem to figure out my heroine in the story I was working on. I knew what she wanted to do (retrieve something), but I didn't really understand why, or what that item represented to her. I also couldn't find the right name for her, so I kept auditioning different names, and character traits, when what I actually needed to do was understand WHY she wanted this particular item so badly.

It finally occurred to me, in one of those random moments that make me believe writing is 85% magic and 15% voodoo. And once I realized why she was so intent on this goal, and what it represented to her, her name instantly occurred to me, along with her personality. 

She wants to be free of the burden of taking care of her family's craziness, along with the business they want her to run. Even if she can only have this freedom for a short time, she wants to experience a carefree lifestyle, and she decides she can accomplish that by retrieving this missing item.

So now when I get stuck, I'm going to interrogate my characters, to make sure they tell me ahead of time what it is they want, deep down, so that I can make sure they get it. 

Eventually. 

Before that, they're going to have to work hard. And they're going to experience some adventures they never would have anticipated when they set out to achieve their goals. There will be growth, and change, as well as emotional satisfaction.

And while that's happening, hopefully there will be an entertaining experience for readers as well.

So what drives your characters? Are they aware of why they want what they want? What are they willing to do to achieve their goals? In a "Goal Cage Match", who would win--you, or your characters?

Writing Should Be Like This

I've got a new crush. Okay, I know what you're thinking: I've always got a new crush.  You're right.

But this time I'm crushing on a blog.

I'm a big fan of Erin Kelly's Have Your Cake & Read It Too, and not because of the cupcake recipes she includes with each blog post. Those are a bonus. Although I am hoping when I'm rich and famous I can have her on speed dial so I can call and ask her to whip up some cupcakes and jet them to me wherever I might be. However, I suspect SHE will be even MORE rich and famous, so while she is out on her book tours, one of her fabulous assistants or talented minions will be taking my call and filling my cupcake request.

I stumbled across Ms. Kelly's blog through another blog, most likely via a comment she made there. Being nosey, er, I mean "inquisitive", I decided to click through to see what her blog was like. 

That's when my blog crush started. 

The first post I read was about a trip she and her sister took to England. Before long I was giggling my ass off at the description of dealing with too much luggage, struggling to get it onto the train, and a helpful British superwoman. This post covered so many wonderful aspects in addition to traveling, from sisterhood to aging to – just go read it. It's called "When I Am an Old Woman. . .", and it's a perfect example of why I look forward to her posts so much. 

I feel like I know Erin from the things she talks about, whether it's a camping trip she took with her husband and friends (even if she's about as much of a camper as I am), or her lifelong love affair with swimming (I swear I came thisclose to going out and buying a bathing suit for the first time in a decade). 

Her posts are heartfelt, and moving, and funny. She's honest and revealing, but she can't be accused of over-sharing. She has a zest for experiencing everyday life, along with an incredible ability to make me feel like I am right there as her story unfolds.

This is what writing a blog should be.

Heck, this is what writing should be, period.

We want readers to feel as though they know our characters intimately, even though they've only just met in the pages of a book. Our goal is to depict these heroes and heroines so well that perfect strangers will fall in love with them. If we do our job as writers, readers will want to laugh or weep or ache or rejoice, simply because our characters are doing the same.

So go enjoy Have Your Cake & Read It Too, and you'll understand what I'm talking about. Mark it as a favorite, and then come back and tell me about some of your blog crushes. 

Oh, and don't forget to bring me a cupcake.

Redcoats and Rebels and Red-Hot Research

Everyone knows how Massachusetts got things off to a great start in the Revolutionary War. There are plenty of re-enactments, especially on Patriots Day in April, but since they have an unfortunate tendency to start way too early in the morning, I've never managed to see any. 

However, there was a recent "Redcoats and Rebels" event at Old Sturbridge Village, which is an outdoor museum depicting rural New England from 1790 to 1840.  This particular event didn't start at the crack of dawn, which was a huge plus, because I'm a more appreciative audience once I've had my daily coffee.  I was really eager to attend, since this is the closest I can get to time-travelling, or going to a Regency-era theme park.  And it would be an opportunity to get some practice with my infrequently-utilized camera.

There were exhibits throughout the day, and in different parts of the campsites and buildings. Unfortunately I missed the 18th century court martial, as well as the laundress demonstrating her skills with 18th century clothing. Oh well, maybe next year.

But there was lots of other fun stuff.  And I'm not just talking about all the sexy boots!   I spent so much time LUSTING after the boots that I didn't get any good pics of them. Too bad I can't download some of my mental pictures, especially of the young man who was a scout for the colonists.  I'm not sure which I liked more, his gold hoop earring, the ponytail, or the thigh-high suede boots. 

*fans face*  Is it getting hot in here?

Well, maybe it's best I leave that mental picture where it is.  Instead, here's a pic of the window he was looking out of--but this is before he got here, so you're going to have to use some imagination.  (You can tell from this pic that he was really hot, though.)

The cannon demonstration by the Royal Irish Artillery was LOUD.  I commented to a couple of Redcoats as I passed that it might be louder than I could handle.  One of them suggested I plug one ear and keep my mouth open, and that would help.  He said it with a straight face, but I wasn't entirely sure if his "advice" was payback for us winning the War for Independence, so I didn't give it a try.

The cannons produced these cool smoke rings, as if a giant was smoking a huge cigarette, with a lot of panache. (But not in any of the pictures I took.)  It required several men to prepare the cannon for shooting, and when they had to move it, even though it was on wheels, they strained.  I'm surprised somebody hasn't invented a Cannon Workout, because clearly it worked a lot of different muscle groups.  And the cannon-shooting men were very fit.

 
My favorite demonstration was on how to load and use a musket, by a re-enactor for a Massachusetts regiment.  He showed us, first in slow motion, and then in "real time", how long it took to go through the many steps of the process.  Sad to say, there was only a few seconds difference between the two demos.

The gunpowder is in a little thing of paper that is kept in a leather bag at the hip.  The corner of the paper is torn off with the teeth, so having two opposing teeth was a necessity.  The powder is followed by the "ball", one full ounce of lead, which he said is much bigger than current bullets.  It doesn't just HIT a person, it SLAMS into them, and it can make them spin several times from the force of the blast. 

Also, accuracy wasn't exactly the goal when shooting a musket, because it wasn't really a possibility.  It was more of a 50% success rate.  It was partly why they stood in lines, so that hopefully SOMEBODY would hit something when they fired their weapons.  The re-enactor said the commands used to be:

· Make Ready

· Take Aim

· Fire

However, General Washington changed the second one to "Take Sight" to more accurately reflect that not a whole lot of aiming was going on.

A good shooter would take about 20 seconds for the loading process, but most soldiers took about 30 seconds, so two rounds in a minute was the average (not exactly a "room broom").

A young boy with a snare drum tapped out a different rhythm for each of the commands.  Since things got so smoky during battles, from all of the ignited gunpowder, drums were the main form of communication.

Someone asked why the soldiers didn't just crouch down so they wouldn't get hit, but it sounds like there wasn't a high likelihood of getting hit anyway.  Also, if they did crouch down and the opposing shooters couldn't accomplish anything, they would affix bayonets to their muskets, and it was the bayonets that really struck fear into the soldiers.  The blade is three-edged, which apparently creates a wound that is impossible for a doctor to stitch up, so it caused a very painful demise.  (The re-enactor said the Geneva Convention does not permit that kind of blade for modern warfare because it is too brutal.)

Right after this demonstration, the various regiments lined up so they could parade to the battlefield.  I wish I'd figured out beforehand how to use the video feature on my camera.  Oh well (all together now: "next year!") 

One of the colonial militia groups – it was easy to see they weren't part of the Continental Army because instead of snazzy blue coats they wore plain brownish linen clothes – anyway, the militia group was a pretty ragtag bunch, and they had trouble figuring out which direction to turn on the command "wheel right".  Their commander asked them to hold up the hand they used to hold their ale the previous night, and of course a couple of them raised both hands, letting their muskets drop to the ground.  The captain of a nearby Redcoat regiment told his troops, "I don't anticipate any trouble from the Yankees today.  They're quite disorganized so it should be a quick and easy battle."

How could I not laugh out loud?

The battle took place in a field, complete with split-rail fences and trees lining the perimeter.  It was unbearably hot, and humid, so none of the soldiers seemed inclined to "play dead" until the battle was almost over.   I don't blame them.  I was wearing a light linen shirt and jeans and was close to expiring.  They had wool jackets and vests and breeches and Lord knows what else that I couldn't see. . .oh, and those boots.  But not these boots.  I'm talking about the boots I didn't take a picture of. . .

I'm feeling faint again.

Okay, where was I?  Oh, yeah, since nobody wanted to lie down on the ground, the battle pretty much looked like a bunch of men in kick-ass costumes shooting at each other, over and over.  They didn't use the lead ball, just the gunpowder, in both the muskets and the cannons, and there was plenty of smoke hanging over the field. 

Earlier, while strolling through the campgrounds, I noticed a lot of campfires going, and even though I couldn't see any wood smoke, it was really bothering my throat. That was a detail I wouldn't have expected, so it was great to experience it firsthand (and it was even greater to get away from it).

Another interesting research detail: the tents had six soldiers assigned to them.  Two of them would sleep, two would have sentry duty, and two would be on fatigue, which meant camp duties like digging latrines, cooking, whatever needed doing.  The tents were made of canvas, and there wouldn't be much warmth in the winter, so the soldiers apparently slept on top of each other to keep from freezing.  

I know I'm not the only one who is changing this plot point to include a colonial scout with a gold earring and thigh-high suede boots, who needs to steal that Redcoat jacket in the back, so here's a pic for you:

This was a really great experience, and I can't wait to go again.  Next time I'll definitely be braver about taking more pics and asking more questions, since the re-enactors love to share their knowledge.  Maybe they'll even tell me where that scout hid himself. . .

Get The Party Started

When I started the Friday Faves a while back, it was because I wanted to highlight different blog posts that made me go "hmmmm" when it came to writing techniques/craft/inspiration.  It was never meant to be "thou shalt write thusly" advice. 

There are so many ways to write, and part of the writing journey is discovering what works for us individually. I have a certain core way I write things, but I've found it also zigs and zags with each book, to take into account those characters' needs, as well as the requirements of that particular story. We're all heading for "The End", but there are a kabillion ways to reach that destination. 

And, to make things even more challenging, sometimes the writing process seems to have some artificial intelligence built in.  The smarter WE get about the whole thing, the more it appears to adapt so it is always one step ahead of our skill set.  It feels like studying for a test we'll never take, because the next book will require us to learn skills we don't possess yet.

The bottom line about any advice. . .take what you need, toss out the rest, and never feel like you have to conform to anybody's methods but your own.

 Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk about pacing.

One suggestion for controlling this in your story is "Enter Late, Leave Early".  Robert Gregory Browne says on his blog, Casting the Bones, that this is an old screenwriting trick:

"When writing a scene, rather than start at the 'beginning', try entering the scene late — coming in after events are already in motion.  Then make sure you get out of there before said events have concluded."

I could swear on the lives of my characters that I read in his post to think of your scene as a party.  I've re-read his post several times and don't see that analogy anywhere.  I've Googled and Binged and torn my Favorites folder apart in a vain attempt to find a post that mentions this, because I don't want to take credit away from anyone.  So if anyone sees that post, or you are the author of it, please let me know so I can attribute it correctly.

However, we may have to accept the very real possibility that I am blindingly brilliant.  (We'll also have to admit I am incapable of remembering if I thought up something so freaking smart.)

Okay, I'm slowing down the pacing on our discussion about pacing. . .

You want your characters to arrive "fashionably late".  They won't have to endure that tedious, self-conscious chit chat that occurs before the party really gets going.  Nobody likes that, especially readers.  Your characters should enter the scene like James or Jane Bond, suave and debonair and the focus of everyone's attention.  The background party noise diminishes because we all want to hear what THEY have to say.  It won't be small talk.  It'll be something important, worth listening to.  Worth turning pages quickly.

And like the most sought-after guests, they should leave long before the other partygoers.  Your characters won't dawdle and linger until the bitter end, looking for their coats and keys while the hosts try to hide their yawns.  No, they'll leave when the party is in full swing, leaving everyone to wonder, "What's going to happen next?"

They'll be on to the next scene, intriguing everyone and leaving before they can start to bore anyone.  As Mr. Browne says, "Get in, make your point, then get the hell out."

That's good advice for anyone to follow.

Heart-Pounding Research

I hope you're enjoying "Reruns and Research" this month, because I've got another post from the past, describing a research field trip to the Montauk Lighthouse, on the very tip of Long Island, when I lived nearby.  All I can say after re-reading this post is thank goodness I'm a writer. Otherwise all my neurotic behavior would go to waste!

One of my favorite things about the writer's life is research, especially experiencing something that relates to the manuscript I'm working on.

Right now I am writing a manuscript set in the Hamptons. It is quite different than what most people expect when they hear "novel set in the Hamptons".  Since I am not ready to divulge too much about it just yet, all I can say is it includes pirates, and shipwrecks, and paranormal beings, and most definitely romance.  There are a couple of other twists in there that are incredibly fun as well, but they're a secret!

Right now I have the luxury to really research the settings for this book (something which has been a little trickier while writing Regency historicals).  The hero of this book lives in a house atop a promontory, and he is a sailor, drawn to the ocean while repelled by it (thanks to the villain).  There is plenty that could be learned via a Google search, but since I'm so near the source of the actual information, I could not resist the opportunity to "see what I could see".

So on a beautiful sunny day last week, with my research needs plotted out ahead of time, I ventured out to the Montauk Lighthouse.  The view is stunning, even at ground level, which is where I had planned to stay.  On the beach to the right of the lighthouse, I could envision the ship crashing on the shore, only now I had the sound of the surf and the sunlight bouncing off the waves to add authenticity to the scene I had previously only imagined.  I could see the ocean spread out before me, and I knew this was exactly what the hero saw upon waking each morning.

That should have been enough research for one day.

I am still not sure how I got talked into going up to the top of the lighthouse.  If the tour guide had reminded me that there were 137 steps, or that they wound around in a tight circle, OR that there was only a thin rope to hold onto the entire way. . .all of that valuable information might have elicited a different choice.  But I decided to be brave and adventurous, widening the ole comfort zone in the name of writerly research.

Someone should have also mentioned how tricky it is to navigate the angled metal steps while wearing platform flip flops (which are adorable, by the way, so no regrets there).  It's even more fun coming back DOWN the stairs, because now you know just how treacherous the whole trip is, and it takes twice as long than going up did.

Having a vivid imagination is both a blessing and a curse.  I am grateful for it when I'm writing, and the scenes are spilling out of me faster than my 120 wpm fingers can handle.  But when I'm creeping inside a constricted brick building, built in 1795. . .

What's that noise?  There's nobody here but me.  Ohmygod, it must be a ghost.  I wonder if the ghosts are watching me huff and puff, and they're laughing their asses off.   Something touched my hair!  Eeek!  Wait, ghosts can't touch my hair.  Whew.  Well what was it then?"

One of the many things I learned doing my research that day was what it REALLY felt like to have my heart pound.  I've described that sensation many times when my heroes and heroines are experiencing something momentous, but now I understand how it FEELS.  Hopefully I won't need another near-ghost experience in order to describe it in the future.  (I also learned later there IS a ghost there, and her name is Abigail, which means she probably WAS touching my hair, because I have a fabulous hairdresser, and how could she resist?)

I also realized that climbing inside the lighthouse was similar to what it would be like inside a castle turret.  I tried to imagine running up the stairs (I know, hilarious) with a sword in one hand, and the need to hurry and be nimble all at the same time.  It's research I plan to make use of in a future book.

Probably the most valuable thing I learned was something my characters all experience at some point: you have to do the thing you think is utterly impossible.

I made it to the top of the lighthouse, which seems even more miraculous since I thought the heart pounding was going to escalate into cardiac arrest at about Step #86.  And the last ten stairs required tippy-toe steps while bent over so there would be no skull-cracking research moments.  I finally entered my destination: a small circular area, which held about 5 or 6 people maximum, so it could not be called "roomy" by anyone who understood the definition.

I was ready to toast my achievement, and gird my loins (mentally), so I could prepare to creep back down to ground level.  But the tour guide, and a pair of tourists who had a gift for meddling, absolutely INSISTED I step through this small opening so I could look outside.

I said I was fine just peeking through the opening, and I leaned to the side to catch a glimpse of sand and surf. 

"Oh, no, you just HAVE to go outside.  It's AMAZING."

I tried to resist, one more time, but I was still trying to catch my breath, so the meddlers interpreted my lack of speech as agreement with their plan.  I don't know why it was so important to them that I have this particular experience, but their will to succeed was strong.

I glanced at the opening once more.  There's only room for one person, and it's enclosed by a wrought iron railing, about waist high.  Just as I knew I'd regret not coming up to the top of the lighthouse, I convinced myself I would hate not going out onto that minuscule platform.  As impossible as it seemed, I had to do it.  Had to.

So I took a step forward, on incredibly wobbly legs.  I was awestruck.  I knew it was going to take the jaws of life to get me back inside.  It was so liberating with the wind whipping around me, staring down at the beach and the waves, envying the seagulls floating past me.

In the next instant, that old blessing/curse thing kicked back in.

Will this railing really hold?  I wonder when they checked it last?  What if the guy who installed it was in a hurry?  Maybe he drank one too many mojitos that day before mixing the mortar.  Wow, I could use a mojito about now.  Hell, I'm having TWO of them when I get back down on the ground.  Did pirates drink mojitos?  Seriously, I can't believe how incredible it is up here.  I can visualize Justin and Philippe battling on the sand down there. . ."

Research uncovers a ton of useful information, a lot of it entirely unexpected.  It increases your knowledge, of course, and evokes curiosity so you want to learn about dozens more topics.  But, even more importantly, it can also expand your knowledge of yourself, which in turn leads to increased awareness of your characters, as well as their emotions and experiences. 

So never pass up the opportunity to do research.  It's one of the most delightful parts of a writer's life.  That, and mojitos. 

Story First

I have done a lot of revising this past year, on three completely different manuscripts. In the process, I've learned a great deal about improving a story, and now I know so much more about craft, and technique, and the "rules" of writing. 

That's the good part.

Unfortunately, I've become so conscious of all the things that need to be done during the revision stage, I've somehow convinced myself I *should* do them during the first-draft phase.

That's the not-so-good part.

I like to write the first draft fairly quickly, blazing through the scenes so that my internal editor is two miles behind me, huffing and puffing to catch up. 

Lately, though, it feels like the internal editor is a sadistic drill sergeant, leaning over me as I struggle to bench press 1000-pound weights with arms made of pencils. While I'm all a-quiver trying to create, the internal editor is yelling reminders in my ear. 

"Show, don't tell!"

"Adverbs are for sissies!"

"Where are the layers of description, using all five senses?"

"You can't use THAT word again!"

Talk about a creative buzz kill. Now I'm second guessing myself before I even do the first guessing.

My brain is power mad with its knowledge of craft, forgetting that the role of revision is to IMPROVE the story, not terrify it out of existence before it even appears on the page.

Luckily, before my characters left me for a writer who could accommodate their storytelling needs, I stumbled across a post titled "Just Go", by James Scott Bell. 

He states, "When you write, you have to write freely. You can't let a lot of craft knowledge freeze you up."

This is excellent advice. But how do you follow it?

Mr. Bell says to "write like it's play". 

While doing that, he says you should keep only three things in mind:  1) High stakes for the character, 2) Opposition that is stronger than the character, and 3) Tension/conflict in each scene.

I think even these three things can be a hindrance at first, especially if you have an uncompromising internal editor. In that case, I would emphasize the "write like it's play" aspect. It's during this "play writing" that you learn what the stakes are, as well as the extent of the opposition to the character. Once you determine those, it's easier to ramp up the tension/conflict. These are also fixable during revisions, so resist the temptation to refine them now.

Remember, that need for instant perfection is what got us into trouble in the first place.

So, until I've finished the first draft of this WIP, I've decided to keep my eyes away from craft articles and technique posts. Now it's butt in chair, writing like it's play, and keeping one goal in mind:  Story First. 

I've got a main character in trouble, and it's my job to keep that going, all the way to The End.

When I do hit the finish line, that's when it's time to focus on revisions. Although I definitely plan to leave that drill sergeant of an internal editor in the dust. 

Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Again

Since it's summer rerun season, I thought I'd reprise a blog post from way back last fall, one that probably didn't get much notice at the time.  I have been busy doing some other research, which I hope to present soon (with pictures!).  Until then, I hope you find this enjoyable.

Most of my research is done in print form, from all the books I have managed to accumulate on the oddest topics, and which currently reside in dozens of boxes, making it nearly impossible to find the right book at the right time. Of course, I could probably use them to build a really cool fort, or a vacation home.

Lately, though, more of my research is done via the Internet, which is about the best resource a research nerd like me could have ever hoped for.

But there is a scene in I Do. . .or Die which I knew required hands-on research. My main character, Shelby, needed to go to a shooting range, to learn how to shoot a gun.

I know next to nothing about guns, since I have not had any occasion to be in their vicinity. I was pretty sure this was something that I wasn't going to be able to describe without experiencing it myself.

So I turned to the Internet. But only to find out if there was a possibility of going to a shooting range, so I could experience what Shelby would be going through.

To my utter amazement, there was a "Learn to Shoot" class at a shooting range about a half hour away. I didn't rush right out to sign up for the class, even though it was very reasonably priced. It still felt a little weird to do something so positively "writerly".

Okay, I was worried about looking like a complete dork.

I took my best friend with me, as moral support, and as potential photographer, because I thought it would be cool to actually document the event, and post pics here as evidence. Unfortunately no picture-taking was allowed. But at least she can testify to all non-believers that I did actually load and shoot a gun, many times.

She also got to watch the other shooters, which was great info that I had to miss. Especially the guy who was doing his darnedest to do some fancy un-holstering of his gun (and made my best friend very happy she was safely behind bulletproof glass).

The course started out with about 30 minutes of safety instruction. It actually spread to about 40 minutes because our instructor (Mr. Marshall, a sixth grade teacher during the rest of the week) was so generous in answering questions we had. He also seemed to love demonstrating the answers for us. I asked about details for my book (like which gun a cop would most likely use in a small town). We both asked questions about things we've read in books or seen in movies (for instance, isn't it scary to carry a gun in the back of your pants? Yikes!)

After all the instruction, I felt pretty calm about the whole situation, and then it was time to actually go shoot.

But first, there were the headphones, which seem to block out almost all noise EXCEPT the sound of gunfire. And there's the clear plastic glasses which protect your eyes AND fog up so you can't see as clearly as you'd like.

Apparently most injuries in a shooting range occur when people staple (or un-staple) the paper target to the board. Mr. Marshall took care of that for me while I loaded five tiny .22 bullets into the magazine. Thank goodness there wasn't a time limit, because it took a lot more strength to pull the lever back so the bullets could go in. Clearly if a lot of shooting is going to be involved, I'll remember to have my characters carry a lot of pre-loaded clips.

I was wearing my jean jacket, to keep myself covered up, because the other potential injury is from spent bullet casings (which are HOT) flying back and landing on the shooter.  A couple of bullets headed towards my boot, but I did a quick step and got out of the way. I surprised myself at how quickly I could move.

I ended up taking my jacket off, because it didn't allow me to move my arms into position very well. And holding your arms out in front of you is HARD WORK. I was trying to focus the gun sights, but my arms kept wavering, very slowly. (Let me tell you my arms were a wee bit sore the next couple of days. It's not a completely natural position, standing there with both arms extended like that. Or if it is, I apparently don't do it enough on a daily basis to keep the muscles from protesting.)

There are a LOT of things to remember before you actually squeeze the trigger. (Which is why I know I will not be a pistol-packing mama – it takes forever to get READY to shoot, and I just don't have that kind of time. Heck, I can forget what I was doing in just a few short minutes.)

First thing to keep in mind: you don't have your finger anywhere near the trigger until you're Ready – and by Ready, I mean, done with all the other zillion steps. Naturally, your finger goes straight for the trigger as soon as you pick up the gun, so you have to forcibly remind yourself "finger away from the trigger", over and over.

Another important mantra is "don't point the gun until you're ready to shoot", which is obvious, and yet as much as I knew that and repeated it – yep, I still accidentally pointed it slightly towards Mr. Marshall when he said something to me. It was VERY slightly, and I realized it immediately. Especially when he pushed it aside. He was very good natured about it, since it happens ALL THE TIME. But it still makes you feel horrible for forgetting. Especially since my finger was probably near the trigger too.

It's important to have a solid stance, but that requires you to stick your butt out in a way that is SO unsexy. It's probably the moment I felt the dorkiest. Seriously. It counteracted my whole black outfit and black knee-high boot regalia.

And aiming is one of the hardest parts of all. I found out I'm left-eye dominant (and I'm right-handed), so I had to close my right eye to focus on the gun sights. It really made me appreciate how difficult it is to be a sharpshooter. Don't ever look for that job title on my resume.

After all that, it was almost a relief to pull the trigger. Which you don't really want to do. Instead you want to squeeze it, slow and steady.

I was actually excited when I saw a small hole appear on the target. Granted, it was not on the big black circle in the middle. It was in the white space at the EDGE of the paper. But it was a hit!

I did the whole sequence four more times, and then Mr. Marshall and I brought the target in so I could see how I did. Surprisingly I did pretty well. I reloaded the magazine, and shot at the poor unsuspecting target again.

The best part of the whole thing was learning, in person, what my character would be experiencing. There were several things I was able to incorporate into my written scene because of it. For example, the smell from the spent shells was distinctive, and I flinched each time at the muffled sound of the larger caliber ammo being shot. Both of these were things that my main character, Shelby, responded to.

Some things in my manuscript were extrapolated from the experience. Obviously my instructor did not get behind me to help me focus the gun sights, but it was a perfectly natural thing to have my hero and heroine do so. Also, while talking to my instructor, it was difficult to hear, due to the headphones doing their job, so it made me realize how much my characters would rely on eye contact and lip reading, which I think increased their already heightened sense of each other.

All in all, it was an exhilarating experience. I told Mr. Marshall what fun it had been, and that I truthfully didn't expect to spend time at target practice in the future. But it was a rush, and okay, I thought I was a pretty good shot. I saved both of my paper targets, showing them off to anyone who would give me five seconds.

Even more exciting, though, was knowing how much more flavor my scene would have as a result of me experiencing it before my character did. It's given me a lot of ideas, and I'm making a list of what else I need to research.

Although I'm pretty sure I won't actually research the scene where Shelby is almost run down by a speeding car. She's going to have to figure that one out on her own.

The Books Only You Can Write

Publishers are always looking for something "new". But it can't be TOO new, because it still needs to fit into the genre categories used by booksellers--at least until bookstores start labeling shelves with things like "Awesome Stories" or "A Different Kind of New".

Writers are often told they should write the book of their heart. BUT they also need to keep an eye on the market trends. At the same time they're advised not to FOLLOW the trends, because those are constantly evolving.

So write a book that's fresh and different, but not too much, and make sure it's a book you've poured your passion into while staying on top of the trends, which will change before your book is published. . .

What's a writer to do with all this conflicting information?

I can answer that with two words:  Suzanne Brockmann. 

With each of her books, I stand on the threshold, filled with the intention of picking apart each sentence so I can learn how she can draw me in like she does, so that I can do that in my own books. . .and next thing I know it's page 250 and I'm gnawing off my fingertips and turning pages so fast—or I would, if I had any fingertips LEFT. (If ever there were a persuasive argument for buying an e-reader, this may be it:  I can still read when my fingers have been chewed down to stumps.)

Ms. Brockmann's latest book, Infamous, is not part of the Navy SEAL romantic suspense series that has made her justifiably well-loved. In fact, this book is wildly different:  it's on a movie set, in Arizona, and there's a ghost as one of the main characters, who is helping to solve a current mystery, and actually a long-ago one. But it's not really a paranormal. 

You can only imagine what THAT pitch must have been like. I have to admit, just from the description, I would have totally skipped it, except—

It's Suzanne Brockmann.

Her characters are my best friends--even though right now I'm doing all the work to keep the relationship alive. But hey, I can live with that.

She's an auto-buy for me. I'm on the bookstore's doorstep on release day, baring my teeth and hissing like a viper at anyone impeding my ability to get to the book. 

When she doesn't have any new books, I rock back and forth, moaning until the next one is out. The next Navy SEAL book isn't releasing until March 2011 (which, for the non-math majors reading this, is SEVEN LONG MONTHS of rocking back and forth. And yes, I'm so counting that as exercise for my core muscle group.)

Despite my uncertainty about Infamous, I went ahead and bought it. And boy am I glad I did.  It has everything I love about Suzanne Brockmann's books. Amazing characters. The deep POV that lets you feel everything the characters are going through, from pain to lust to love to heartache. There's also sexiness, and humor, and the agonizing suspense.

It was the exact experience I look for when I read her books.

The amazing thing is she actually wrote this book TWELVE years ago. It can't be a surprise it was a "no go" at that time. As she said in this interview with Posman Books, the book was "too out of the norm" and she was "too new of an author, so the book wasn’t published."

About a year or so ago, she re-read it and still liked it, and pitched it to her editor as "something a little different". This time she got the go-ahead, so she revised it.  Ms. Brockman adds:

"The version of the book that’s being published as INFAMOUS is interesting – it’s as if I time-traveled and co-wrote it with the author that I was twelve years ago. The younger me brought a certain sweetness to the table, and the current me brought twelve additional years of writing experience. I’m pretty happy with the outcome."

This was a wonderful book that was simply waiting for its time to arrive. It required the author to grow her audience, as well as her writing skills. She developed her own market, and a dedicated fan base, while writing the book of her heart.

So back to the original question. What should writers do with all the conflicting information about trends, and writing books that are new and different? Simply this: we must write the books that call to us, the ones that only we can write. 

And yes, I said "books". Plural. It gives us a chance to discover our particular storytelling specialties, to explore how we can deliver a magical reading adventure unlike anyone else's. 

One day readers will be seeking out the experience of YOUR book. When they see your name on the cover, it means you will provide them certain characters or storylines or humor or angst or whatever it is they crave from the stories you create.

None of us can ever know what the trends will be. The best we can hope for is to make our own, so that readers will want our books so intensely they'll try even the craziest stuff we write.

Like a ghost/Western/romantic suspense story.

The Fire Lord's Lover by Kathryne Kennedy

Today I'm conducting my first interview, with author Kathryne Kennedy, about her historical fantasy romance, THE FIRE LORD'S LOVER.

Stop by the Romance Writer's Revenge for a chance to find out more about Kathryne and her Elven Lords series.  While you're there, leave a comment since one lucky commenter will win a copy of THE FIRE LORD'S LOVER!

Observing Humans in the Wild

I've suggested before how it's necessary to leave your writer's haven in order to experience the outside world. We can't always just READ about the territory beyond our computer screen and keyboard. Sometimes we have to go out there and actually – gulp – interact with other human lifeforms.

Courage! You can do this.

All I'm suggesting is a field trip of an hour, two at the very most. You don't even have to take notes. Just absorb the atmosphere. Observe the gestures people use, and listen to the timbre of their voices. Can you tell the extent of their relationship by how they engage with each other? What emotions are they expressing? Or suppressing?

The point isn't to FIND anything in particular. It's to COLLECT, whether it's impressions, or ideas--basically any information worth hoarding. Indulge your brain's packrat tendencies, letting it pick up shiny bits it considers intriguing. You're like a pickpocket, lifting pieces of someone else's personality that might be useful to your writer self someday.

Later on, one of these little bits you've tucked away will crash into another one floating through your brain. You'll have an incendiary "Aha!" moment where you figure out a vital plot point for your story. Or all of a sudden you'll know exactly why your character does what he does in a particular scene.

I have had plenty of story ideas that fleshed themselves out after I've gone on one of these fact-gathering field trips. It's not a deliberate, "I need my story to have THIS element", or "My character WILL have this trait" kind of thing. It's a more organic process, almost a passive-aggressive one. I am essentially sitting in a room full of strangers, drinking coffee, while my brain is darting around, gorging itself on items it plans to re-gift me with later in the writing process.

Here are some things I witnessed on a recent sojourn to my favorite coffee locale:

1.   Several big burly guys, one right after another, purchased frilly frou-frou drinks. With whipped cream on top. Without a sheepish expression on their faces.

2.   Several frilly frou-frou women, one right after another, got out of big-ass pickup trucks. They also had high heels on or they wouldn't have reached the ground when they stepped out.

3.   A woman with a rockin' bod, short skirt, and sassy attitude, turned everyone's heads . . . and had a face that looked like it had been Photoshopped on from her grandma's driver's license.

Will any of these show up in a future story? Possibly. If they do, you'll be the first to recognize them. More likely they'll spark the idea fuse, and then when I least expect it, a riot of creativity will explode in my brain and I'll be racing to type everything into the laptop before the shower of fireworks completely disappears.

We encounter a lot of people on a daily basis, and they supply the raw material our imagination uses to create our stories. Every time we observe, and absorb, and investigate the world around us, we are adding to the other items we've deposited into our brains. It's a kind of mental compost, producing incredible stories from the leftover gestures, stray personality traits, and castoff emotions we've collected. 

So plan a visit to the outside world every once in a while, and watch the interactions and situations as they occur in real-time. Afterwards you can retreat to the safety of your writerly space, with plenty of examples of when you viewed humanoids in their natural habitat.

And lived to tell some amazing tales.