All About the Writing

What Writers Can Learn by Watching Football

When I was younger, I used to watch football on TV every Sunday. We planned “the game” into our schedule like it was a holy ritual, with chips and soda our sacrament. When the season was over, we didn’t know what to do with that extra day in the week. It was like being released from a religious vow.

Recently I had the opportunity to watch the New England Patriots kick some football butt on TV. It was the first time in a long while since I’d done that, and it filled me with nostalgia, making me realize how much I miss the whole Sunday ritual.

However, it didn’t take long before I noticed some interesting parallels between a game of football and writing. 

1.  You get more than one try to reach your goal

The game starts with a kickoff. The ball sails through the air, and everyone watches breathlessly to see how far it will go before it’s caught. It would be amazing if it went right through the goal posts, but where’s the sport in that? It’s actually the start of the game, a long march to the goal line, and nobody expects that it’ll be reached on the first attempt. That’s why each team gets four downs, four chances to make progress towards the goal. 

The same with writing, and getting published. It’s rare for a bestseller to be written the first time out. It does happen, but it’s the exception, because that’s not how the game is designed. It’s slow, and steady, one foot in front of the other until the goal is reached. It may not be your first book that gets published, so you just keep writing, and writing, and writing, until you make it to the goal.

2.  Just when you think someone is down for the count, they’re not

I couldn’t believe how many times during that game a player was stopped, by someone bigger and heftier, and everyone just kind of let their breath out, saying, “Well, that was still pretty good.” And then all of a sudden, the runner took one or two steps and he was free, flying towards the goal again. Everyone had misjudged that situation. Everyone. The other team, the announcers, the fans. Everyone except the player. He was determined, and wasn’t ready to get knocked down. He actually ended up with the longest punt return in the team’s history when everyone else was positive he would get knocked on his ass the second he caught the ball.

A writer is going to hit situations like that all the time. But a determined writer keeps going when it looks like there is no hope. No one would blame the writer for saying, “Well, that was still pretty good”. A bad rejection, a cruel contest judge, or even the slimy tentacles of self-doubt can derail a writer, or they can strengthen the writer’s will to succeed. 

3.  If you can’t go through, go around

In the above example, the player could have just gotten knocked down, and said, “Hey, there’s plenty more downs”. And that would have been perfectly acceptable. But sometimes the answer is to try something different. If what you’re doing isn’t working the way it always has before, it’s time to fall back a couple paces and look to see what’s open somewhere else. Obstacles can stop you, or they can give you a chance to see things in a different way, maybe even show you possibilities you didn’t know existed.

4.  It’s not over when you reach the goal

I love all the celebrating and high-fiving and ass-slapping that goes on in a football game. Each small achievement is part of the bigger one, and they’re definitely worth acknowledging. However, as soon as the touchdown is on the scoreboard, and the dancing is done, everybody goes back to work. It’s time to go for another goal, and another one, until the game is won.

We should celebrate each achievement too, from hitting our word count goals to writing “The End”. You got a request for a full? High five. You finaled in a contest? Shake that booty. Everything we accomplish is worthy of our happiness and joy and strutting around with pride. But then it’s time to write another book. And another one after that. 

5.  There are people around to help you out

When the player is running his heart out, trying to get to the goal, he’s not doing it alone. He has teammates blocking those who are trying to keep him from moving forward. He has coaches helping him learn new skills to develop his natural talent. He has devoted fans who believe he can do anything.

Writers are in a similar situation. Their team can consist of an agent, editor, beta readers, crit partners, or devoted friends and family. Some of them are there to cheer and some of them are there to increase the skills and abilities. But they all have the same role: helping us become our best so we can attain our goals. 

Shoe, Don't Tell (A Reboot)

I'm working this Black Friday, so here's a re-post of a fave from this past year. . .

Whenever you see a writer staring out the window, beware. They're plotting and planning and moving words around in their brain like it's part of a complex sudoku puzzle.

But the writer's brain isn't just working on books and blog posts. Even the everyday stuff gets this analytical treatment.

For example, I'm in the process of attempting to sell something on Craig's List for the first time. After going through the angst of figuring out how it works from the seller's side, my brain is focused on how best to write the descriptions.

I am selling shoes, which I adore, so it shouldn't be terribly hard to write a little enticing blurb about them. Seriously. I love shoes. And boots. And flip flops. I haven't really considered getting a legal name change to "Nine West"—but only because I don't want to go through that much paperwork.

I have a tendency to collect too many pairs, as if I'm adopting them from a shoe orphanage run by an evil headmistress, or racing them to a safe house in a hail of bullets after a daring nighttime rescue. 

My shoe love is a little skewed right now, because I always want to wear my over-the-knee black suede boots. They are fun, and eye-catching, and they put a little extra sass in my walk when I wear them. I'm not sure I've loved a pair of footwear as much as I have these boots. I'm like the little kid with his first pair of cowboy boots who doesn't want to take them off when it's time for bed. (Note to self: where ARE my cowboy boots anyway? Haven't seen those for a while.)

These boots are my winter love. We all know my summer love is flip flops. I almost feel like one of those bigamists who has a family on both coasts. There's nothing wrong with loving both of my shoe families, is there? Sniff. It doesn't feel wrong.

Other people pick up pennies they see on the ground. I do the same with shoes in the store, although since I actually buy the shoes, it's more expensive to do what I do. If I could get the same thrill—and wear—out of picking up pennies, believe me I would switch in a New York minute.

But now it's time to sell these unused, yet still beloved, boxes of footwear. So I can make room for the new and irresistible items those devilish shoe manufacturers keep producing.

This is where the need for an evocative Craig's List ad comes in.  

I want these ankle booties and pumps and scrunch boots to go to a good home, someplace where they are allowed to roam free, and skip, and dance. I need to persuade someone that liberating these shoes from the suffocating boxes stacked in my closet will provide this deserving footwear a second chance to fulfill their shoe-ish destiny. 

All I need to do is transfer my passion for footwear into words. Or hope the pictures of the shoes will do their job, a thousand times over. 

Summer Lovin': A Novella

I'm so excited to announce I've taken the plunge and self-pubbed one of my stories, a novella called Summer Lovin'.

I know I'm not the only one who isn't a fan of winter, so this story about Mia and Luke, who have a little summer fling that leads to more, might be a nice distraction from all the yucky snow and sleet. There's also Hellboy, an adorable Bichon with a shoe fetish, who does his part to get the romance going.

I love the cover, so I have to tell you about the wonderful Carrie Spencer, who designed it. It was so much fun working with her as she brought my story to life visually. You can see more of her work at Cheeky Covers, but don't get her so busy she won't have time to do more of my covers! 

This story started from a writing prompt I had on the blog quite a while ago. It was a post called "Writer Laryngitis", discussing how important it is to keep our writer's voice intact. At the end of the post I suggested people write a little snippet about a puppy chasing a ball. At first it didn't seem like anyone was going to write anything, so I nearly took the prompt out, but then the intrepid Terri Osburn stepped up, so I left it in. We ended up having so much fun, with an amazing variety of stories showcasing everyone's unique style. 

I finally added my own little story, and I got so intrigued with it I had to keep going. I knew it wasn't enough for a full-size manuscript, so I thought I'd try my hand at a short story. It ended up being a little bigger than that, so it became a novella. I thought since it was shorter it would take less time to write.

Hah!

It just goes to show how much you learn each time you sit down to write. I really had a lot of fun with this story, and I'm thrilled to send it out into the world, hopeful there will be others who will find it an enjoyable diversion.

The story is available at Smashwords, in a variety of e-reader formats, for the delightfully affordable price of 99 cents. You can also purchase it for your Kindle at the Amazon website too.

Thanks for being a part of this great adventure!

Three Perfect Gifts for Writers

We're heading into prime gift-buying season, so it's probably a good idea to start making your shopping lists, especially for the writers you know and love. Besides the obvious gift -- an e-reader -- here are a few possibilities:

1) Bookstore gift cards – No matter how many books a writer owns, it’s never enough. A writer lusts after books, whether it’s the ones they can’t have, or the ones that got away. They need to read them as research for a book they’re writing, or as market comparison for their genre.

Reading also consoles a writer when their own writing isn’t going well, and it fills their writer’s soul when they’re exhausted from pouring words onto the page.

Sure, writers can go to the library, and we do, but it’s just one more deadline to keep track of. (Somebody should invent a prepaid library-fine card—talk about an awesome gift for writers. I know I could use a few *cough* hundred *cough* of these.)

The gift card also benefits bookstores, which means your one gift does double duty, supporting writers, booksellers, and heck, the entire economy. Now that’s a gift!

2) More time to write – Too many writers try to squeeze writing in at the end of an exhausting day (been there), or they attempt to get up at an hour when us nightowls are finally calling it quits (done that).

When someone says, “I don’t know what to get you for a gift”, ask for a set amount of time to be free of your duties, to your kids, your mate, your housework tasks. I’m serious. Put writing at the top of your Absolutely Must Do list. It doesn’t matter that you think of it as a treat, not a chore. Do what you have to do to receive this gift. Hopefully it’ll be wrapped up in Peace and Quiet, and be tied with a big pretty bow made of Guilt-B-Gone.

But for those of you who insist on believing you couldn’t, or shouldn’t, ask for something like this, I would like to remind you of a couple of things. 

One, it removes a lot of burden from the gift-buying members of your inner circle. They’ve known you a long time and it’s getting harder to find a gift for you. They’re stressed trying to find something you MIGHT like, so they finally just grab something. Then you’re stressed because you have to take that sucker back while pretending you kept it and love it. . .So skip that step. Remove the stress, for both of you, and get something you really want.

Two, if you don’t let everyone know how important your writing time is, they won’t know how important your writing time is. This is a good way to let them understand writing is more than that little thing you do once you’re done taking care of everyone else’s needs. You’re not being selfish. You’re giving your loved ones a genuine opportunity to expand their compassionate nature.

3) Writers’ get-together – Writers get together online every day and tweet and chatter and gab and you’d think that would be plenty, especially for people who profess to like their characters way more than the folks they see in real life.

But sometimes you need to see writer friends in person, to talk about books: the ones you’ve read, the ones you need to read, the ones that make you want to quit writing, and the ones you’re going to buy with your new gift cards. It’s deeply soul-satisfying to talk to writers who empathize with how hard it can be to write, and how much harder it is to NOT write. 

Maybe a writer’s get-together could be an afternoon at a coffee shop if you’re lucky enough to have writer friends nearby. Or maybe it’s something bigger, like a local conference. Or maybe even a national one.

This is a gift that most people will not ask for, because “it’s too expensive”. But remember, this is also a gift for your friends, who will be thrilled at the opportunity to hang out with you. So if you don’t meet with them, now who is being selfish?

Discover what inspires you in the great times, and keeps you going through the tough times. Whatever it is, that is the perfect gift. Then, ask for it, or get it for yourself. 

You, and your writing, deserve nothing less.

Ignoring the Inner Critic

There are some people whose writing is so delightful, it always amazes me when they express doubts about their work. I mean, if *I* am in awe of the words they string together, how can THEY not feel the same?

At the same time I understand how easy it is to doubt ourselves. There is an endless supply of writing (and authors) to compare ourselves to, so we're bound to feel inadequate way too often. Especially when our nemesis, the dastardly Inner Critic, twirls his mustache and whispers evil nothings in our too-receptive ears.

We can try to brush aside the Inner Critic, but he is resilient. You can send him sailing over the fence with one well-placed blow, yet he returns with equal force, like those punching bag toys we had as a kid. You could flatten the thing, celebrating that it was vanquished, on the ground. . .until it came flying back to pop you in the nose.

Some days it is even possible to harness the IC's negative energy, bending it to my will so that I can prove that the wretch is wrong, about me and my abilities.

But on those days when the IC seems to have been injected with some powerful venom, akin to a superpower, making his taunts particularly vicious and derailing my writing efforts, another strategy is needed.

One of my favorite wordsmiths, Janga, recently observed her grandchildren at play, and shared some of the lessons she learned in her blog post: "Child's Play: Defeating the Inner Critic". This paragraph really resonated with me:

Whether it’s Caitlin dressing—or undressing--her dolls, Luke transforming Optimus Prime to vehicle mode, or Myles practicing soccer moves, they are completely focused on what they are doing. They are able to concentrate sufficiently to block out the noise of their siblings and cousins, to ignore calls to dinner, and to respond with only an absent nod to parental demands to gather shoes and coats.

When I am consumed with my story, and the scenes the characters are re-enacting for me, I am oblivious to the Inner Critic. He could have me in a chokehold, trying to wrest me away from the laptop and I'd still be reaching towards the keyboard to type in just a few more words, all while wondering why my throat felt a little weird.

Writing isn't meant to be a chore, and when we treat it as such, it's easier for the Inner Critic to prey upon our insecurities. When we think of writing as a more joyful activity, we pretty much don't care what anyone has to say about our talents, our abilities, or our skills. The Inner Critic can blather on like the boring person at a party, unaware your eyes are glazed over because you're interested in a completely different story, the one unfolding in your mind.

This is the best way to banish the Inner Critic. Immerse yourself in your story, making yourself impervious to his taunts. Focus on what is most important: telling a story so irresistible that even the harshest critic, the one we harbor inside, can't touch it.

Three Good Things About Writing Part-Time

Now that I'm working full-time again, I've had to reacquaint myself with the routine of writing part-time.

It's definitely a challenge, especially when I come home late in the evening, tired from being on my feet all day. On those days I try to get at least one #1k1hr done before I get ready for work, or I draft a blog post, or outline some ideas for a scene--so that I will have something to show for the day's writing activities. (I try as hard as I can to count tweeting as "writing related", but it's a delusion I can't hold onto for very long. Not with a straight face anyway.)

Still, there are some things I like about writing part-time:

1. I finally get a day off. When I was writing full-time, I rarely took a day off. I didn't feel like I could justify it since I wasn't "working". Except that was really the problem. I was ALWAYS working. I felt like I had to use all my time writing, or doing writing-related activities. If I didn't, I felt guilty for wasting valuable minutes and hours that should have been devoted to WIPs. Now I don't feel guilty. I do feel like I have to make good use of my writing time, which also requires me to be creative about using lunch breaks and brainstorming during commutes. But it's also nice to take time away from writing 24/7, allowing my brain a chance to refresh and replenish itself.
2. I get inspired by things outside my computer screen. I love to stay at home and type away at my stories, except for when I'm REQUIRED to stay home, then I'm antsy to get out into the real world. Yes, my inner contrarian celebrates "Opposite Day" like it's a national holiday. Now when I close the laptop, waving farewell to my characters so I can head to work, I look forward to seeing actual people and events, not just words and stories about them. I benefit creatively by having this distinct division between "writing time" and "work time".
3. I am eager to get back to my story. Work can be very draining, or sometimes the commute is hellish, and, once I get home, I barely have enough energy to fix "dinner", even when it has only two ingredients: peanut butter and a spoon. How could I possibly sit down to write after a day like that? As it turns out, writing smoothes out the rough spots of the day. My characters entice me, showing me what they've been up to while I've been gone, and the story becomes a respite from the work tasks that wore me down.

I'm hopeful there will be a time when I can write full-time again, but until I do, writing part-time suits me--and my stories--just fine.

Every Story Needs a Storyteller

I've always viewed the world in terms of stories.

For example, I have created handmade cards for years, and I can’t seem to stop myself from arranging things, even on a flat piece of cardstock, to tell a story. This is the first card I'd ever had published in a national magazine, and it's actually several unrelated stamped elements I reorganized, to create a story that amused me.

This week at the Romance Writer’s Revenge blog, Marnee posted several classic paintings and invited us to write a story to go along with them. When I saw the details of the people in the first painting, I didn’t create a story so much as one just appeared. Now it’s hard for me to see the picture without envisioning that particular story, and where it’s most likely headed.

I won't pretend that I understand the alchemy that takes place in my brain when it views certain things and then turns it into a narrative. I just know I am grateful for this trait, and for the unique stories this combination of magic and voodoo has produced so far.

But I'll admit there are times when I wish the stories entrusted to me could be different: the kind that are listed in Publishers’ Weekly announcements, followed by the words “nice deal”. It’s hard not to feel envious of the writers who have hooked up with stories that are then paired with enthusiastic editors, and, ultimately, devoted readers.

At the same time, I wouldn't want to be mismatched. It would be horrible to be stuck with a story that didn’t fit right, even if it seemingly contained all the right elements. It would be akin to getting someone else's takeout order, and doing your best to make things work with the moo goo gai pan when your heart is really set on the pad thai that got away.

The story that manages to find its way to me is usually a quirky one with a witty, charming hero and a slightly outrageous heroine. It's as if there's a story matchmaker that puts us together, believing I am the best one to nurture these characters until the story becomes what it was meant to be.

I am the storyteller this story needs.

While I might wish my stories had a more predictable future ahead of them, I'm also filled with awe that I am given the chance to cultivate these tales. I've laughed and cried with numerous characters, I've discovered my writing voice, and I've experienced life in ways I never would have expected, just by typing the ideas constantly swirling through my brain.

It turns out these are the stories this storyteller needed.

Wasting Daylight

Yesterday we gained an hour when we turned back our clocks for the ole "Fall Back" portion of the semi-annual time-shifting equation. Since that "extra hour" happened while I was sleeping, my body just absorbed it while I dreamed of hitting the bestseller lists. 

I'll notice the difference when I want to fall asleep about fourteen hours earlier than usual. Or when I look outside and see that it's pitch black by mid-afternoon, and I'm forced to acknowledge it's going to be like that until we get to fiddle with the clocks again in a few months.

Yet, even without all the clock changing, time is such a fluid commodity. 

The other day I was absorbed with a story, and my brain zipped around like a toddler on a sugar blitz, shrieking, "And then THIS happened, and then THAT. . ." and my fingers nearly set the keyboard on fire keeping up with the frenzy of words.

It was a glorious experience watching the word count rack up, the same way the numbers whiz by on the gas pump nowadays. I didn't know if an hour had passed or if it was closer to a decade. It didn't even matter. The euphoria of being totally consumed by the story made time my bitch.

Of course, there are the other days: when time gets to be the dominant one, and I'm the meek submissive.

We humans supposedly experience the same sixty seconds to every minute, the same sixty minutes to every hour. But it feels like somebody is messing with that time-honored recipe when the words aren't flowing so freely. In fact, it's easy to believe that time is not only stretching out beyond eternity, it is also erasing two words every time you type a new one. 

So I'm trying to look at this gift of an extra hour in a slightly different way. I resolve to not celebrate "Daylight Wasting Time" every day. Since I know that time is going to expand and contract—essentially giving me less time when I need it and more time when I don't—I plan to use it for the things that matter most. 

For me that is going to be writing, and writing-related activities. (Yes, coffee and chocolate consumption are at the top of the writing-related activity list. It would be silly to say otherwise.) 

Your list of what matters will vary from mine, and it should. We all value different things, and that's what makes life so interesting. It's also what gives us plenty of stuff to write about.

And I'm not going to promise I won't waste ANY time, ever. That's impossible. I just want to make sure the time wasting I do engage in doesn't prevent me from accomplishing the things that make me the happiest. 

We never get that wasted time back. It's not something that can be reclaimed, recycled, or reused. Not even when we set our clocks backwards or forwards in a vain attempt to capture those elusive moments of daylight.

The best we can hope for is that we'll be given more time every single day—a minimum of twenty-four hours, one right after the other--along with the choice of how we'll use it.

Creating the (Im)Perfect Hero

When we start out as writers, and we're in the first throes of creating our heroes, we can get a little power-mad.   

We have the ability to construct a man with washboard abs who is willing to use them to do our laundry. He'll also listen to you—no, scratch that—he'll read your mind, so you won't ever have to ask him to stop at the store on the way home from a hard day rescuing kidnapped journalists in a third-world country. He'll bring you a venti mocha and a pint of ice cream, while reassuring you that you don't look fat in those jeans.

Naturally he can go all night long. . .which is important when someone is reading your favorite book aloud to you.

Doesn't he sound perfect? He is. Because he's a fantasy. He's not a heroic character. 

A hero is actually the vital link between fantasy and reality. A hero has more of the fantasy characteristics that we dream about, but he also has the need, and the willingness, to grow into his awesomeness by learning and changing along the way. 

This is what will make him not only lovable, but readable.

So how do we go about making this kind of man?

Cindy R. Wilson wrote a post titled "Tall, Dark. . . and All Wrong", at The Writer's Alley blog, where she discusses several things we can do to make our characters interesting, yet less-than-perfect.  Here's a suggestion I liked:

So if you know where you want your characters to be (spiritually, emotionally, etc.) by the end of the story, try to place your main character far from that at the beginning of the story.

What I like about this is you still get to go through the "Build-A-Hunk" process, picking and choosing all the attributes your hero will possess at the end of the story. Only now you'll also tear off a corner of his heart, put a little ding in his stoic facade, and scuff him up with some issues he'll need to resolve. 

Think of it as going from Point A(fter) to Point B(efore). 

Once you know where your hero will end up, you have a much better idea of where he needs to start, as well as the challenges you need to create for him to face on his journey.