All About the Writing

If Second Guessing Were An Olympic Event

. . .I'd have a zillion gold medals.

We want to make our story "the best it can be". What kind of writer would we be if we sent our stories out half-dressed, looking like Jakey Lou? Just a few more tweaks over the next several months, and we could have that baby looking perfect.

Unfortunately, that story will never be perfect. We grow and learn as we write, so a story that we've made close to perfect will probably make us wince a bit when we go back later and see just how far we've come as a writer.

But, even if that story was absolutely flawless, earning a top score from Simon Cowell himself, we wouldn't see it that way. The curse of a vivid imagination is that we can always spot things that are wrong, or that could be improved, or if we moved this word here, and took out that scene there. . .

The story never has a chance to leave the house half-dressed, because we've convinced ourselves it is naked, with something gross stuck in its teeth, and if we let it out into the world like that, everyone will make fun of our precious baby.

I fall into this trap too. Today it feels like my brain is yelling, "Ack! Get away from the keyboard before you scare away all the words." I've deleted the last sentence at least three times. Not only am I second guessing, I'm triple guessing. (That's an overachiever for you.)

But this isn't the only writing project on my plate. I want to finish this blog post so that I can move on to some revisions, and also get back to the drafting on another WIP, and then work on a long line of things that have been waiting (semi) patiently for my attention.

So how do we get ourselves out of this endless cycle of writing, perfecting, and second guessing?

I remind myself that I don't want just one piece of work that is utterly flawless. I want a body of work, lots of stories and blog posts that are hopefully excellent.

Not one. A ton.

The way to achieve that is to write more stuff--different stuff--not the same stuff over and over. I stretch my skills with each new project, and each type of writing, because it exercises different writing muscles. If I keep reworking the same story, it would be like lifting barbells all the time, resulting in perfect Popeye-sized forearms, but spindly toothpick legs.

I also let second guessing work in my favor. Some days I'm convinced the words in the manuscript are deliberately playing hide-and-seek, or they play musical chairs when I close the laptop. Naturally that makes me want to chuck my manuscript into the fireplace, but I don't. Because when I read that crazy bit of writing a day or so later. . .it has been magically transformed into something delightful.

So try not to be hampered by the trap of perfectionism. Give yourself a chance to explore, and expand, your writing. Use second guessing to continuously craft better work, but with future projects. Lots of them.

That's the gold medal you're really after.

Every Writer's Lament

"If only I had all day to write."

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

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

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

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

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

1.       It proves we're a writer

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

Wrong. 

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

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

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

2.       More time to write

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

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

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

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

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

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

3.       Freedom

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Need to Read

I feel the need to read today.

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

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

She's REALLY good at her job.

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

I have a million things I want to write.

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

It's time to follow my own advice.

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

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

They need me right now.

And I definitely need them.

For the Love of Books

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Writer Formerly Known As Me

I was inspired this week by a blog post from a Twitter friend, Susan May. She discusses how writers are not only competing with other writers, but more importantly, with ourselves.

In her post, "Your Biggest Competition--You", she says:

I spend every day separating myself from the Writer Me of the day before with a few more thousand words of experience. I hope next year, also, to be encouraged by my improvement and grateful to the Writer Me who spent another year working at her apprenticeship by belting out pages and pages of good and bad writing.

Before reading her post, I hadn't really thought of competing with myself, or more accurately, my former self. But in a sense, that is what is occurring. I'm doing my best to learn and improve so I can distance myself from that writer.

At the same time I look back with genuine fondness on The Writer Formerly Known As Me. I can see how much I've grown, and advanced, as a result of my devotion to my manuscripts.

I can see exactly when I finally understood how to use one POV, giving up head hopping forever, even though it was a practice that was in vogue and made perfect sense to me when I started to write stories. Now I comprehend what a powerful tool POV is, and how much more control of the storyline I have when I utilize one POV per scene.

From this vantage point in time, I can also see how episodic my stories were back then. I was so enthralled with these lifelike characters that seemed to appear almost magically on my pages. I didn't really know how to motivate my characters. And why on earth did they need goals? I was happy to move them around from scene to scene, as if they were paper dolls, because I was enchanted with every word they uttered, even if it was complete nonsense.

When I got rejections on my manuscripts, I found out not everyone felt the same way I did about my stories. However, they did enjoy my characters, and that's when I realized I would have to give the poor heroes and heroines something to do besides charm the heck out of me.

Those early writing attempts also gave me the first glimpse of my voice. I hadn't learned to trust it just then. I knew there was something lively about my stories, something vivacious, but I didn't quite understand the value of it. I know now it's how I tell my stories, and each time I scribbled something new, I discovered more about my writing personality, until I grew comfortable in it.

Each story teaches me something I hadn't quite mastered before, or gives me a chance to practice another element a little while longer. I'm still learning how to do a lot of things, and I hope I never stop adding to my store of writerly knowledge.

Still, each story makes me fall in love with writing again, and makes me look back with awe at my enthusiasm when I knew so little about what I was attempting. Sometimes it's best not to know what you're getting into ahead of time. I might have stopped if I'd realized how heartbreaking the writing process can be, when the muse flees or the words freeze up.

Fortunately it was the exhilaration that kept me moving forward, doggedly, until I got to meet The Writer I Am Today.

There's still plenty of journey ahead, and I can't wait til we get to meet up with The Writer I Will Be.

I just know we're gonna have a lot of stories to share.

We Need a Little Summer

We have had it pretty easy, weather-wise, this winter. But after Mother Nature lulled me into thinking there was going to be a straight shot to spring without a lot of nasty snow or cold wind, she threw a changeup. Right now she's hurling sleet and fog at us, and I'm confused and dismayed.

I can't do anything to change the weather, or Mother Nature. (I suspect she and my muse Endora share a LOT of the same DNA.) But I can offer a little respite from the brutal conditions.

Today you can get a FREE copy of my novella, Summer Lovin', at Smashwords. Just use this coupon code when you check out -- KZ52R -- and you can be transported to the dog days of summer. The coupon expires tomorrow, so don't wait too long!

I hope you find this an enjoyable diversion from the biting cold of winter. And, if you do, I hope you will want to leave a review somewhere to let others know how you felt.

Now I'm off to figure out what kind of appeasement will suit Mother Nature. I really hope she likes coffee. . .

A Day Off from Writing

I tried to take a day off from writing recently. I needed a chance to retreat from all the things bedeviling me in other areas of life. I mean, one day off wasn't too much to ask, was it? I'd definitely earned it with all the work I'd done, not to mention plotting and analyzing and multiple blog posts.

It was a great plan. It just didn't work.

I was relaxing in the bathtub, thinking how brilliant it was to escape from all the mental activities. However, my brain kept tapping me, saying, "You know, if your heroine heard this, she would realize that. And she needs to know that, in order to grow before the HEA."

I kinda waved my hand, sloshing water everywhere as I answered, "Yeah, yeah, contact me later. I'm not working today."

But maybe water works on ideas for the WIP like it does on those movie gremlins – you don't want to get them wet, because then they multiply. Pretty soon I was mentally editing this scene, and adding a line or two to that scene, then right after that an idea for a blog post appeared and. . .

There went my planned day off.

Not that I'm complaining. It just made me realize how integral writing is to my life. 

Writing doesn't go away. It may disappear for a while, but it always comes back stronger, kind of like the tide going out and then returning as a tsunami. There are other days when the urge to write is like a sneeze that keeps building up but never actually turns into a sneeze, as if the words are stuck inside. 

If writing is in your blood, you will find a way around all the obstacles, especially the ones YOU erect, consciously or unconsciously. 

If it really matters, you'll write, whether the conditions are just perfect the way you like, or whether you have to ask the restaurant hostess for a box of crayons when an idea hits. 

The words will come forth, and in their own perverse way, they're likely to choose the moment when you're drifting off to sleep after an exhausting day, or when you're stuck in a grocery line without a scrap of paper (until you get your receipt).

It's a sort of madness, writing is. If you're a writer, though, you learn to embrace it, and you welcome all the crazy, wacky insanity it creates.

Even when it's your day off.

The Writer's Report Card

The end of the year is the perfect time to do a recap of how we've grown as a writer. 

Since we are always striving to upgrade our writing skills, we tend to obsess about concentrate on the "Needs Improvement" aspects. But sometimes it can feel like all there is is stuff to improve.

So let's take a day off from developing ourselves. It's time to acknowledge our dedication to the craft. And it's way past time for accolades, especially the ones we should be giving ourselves on a daily basis.

Let's do a Writer's Report Card--an assessment of what we're doing well.

I'd really like us to list three things, but I don't want anyone having heart palpitations, or breaking out in a sweat. I'm not the one you want to call during a medical emergency, and just the thought of mass amounts of perspiration dripping all over the place is making me lightheaded and woozy.

But back to our report card. . .

If we claim, "I'm good at such-and-such", we'll feel like we're being audacious or bodacious or braggarts. That's why I'm not going to suggest using letter grades, because we'll grade ourselves low--much lower than we deserve. We'd rather be thought incompetent than uppity.

Yet pass/fail doesn't give us enough credit for how far we've come. It allows those who party all semester long to end up in the same place as those who persevered through every assignment, including extra credit ones, instead of having a grand old time with the popular kids. 

So I'm letting you off the hook. All you need to do is come up with ONE thing you like about your writing. 

That's it. Just one.

It can be something you've always thought you do well, or it can be something you've learned recently. Maybe it's the way you worked out a tricky plot situation, or it's a snippet of dialogue, or that scene that makes you smile because your characters feel so deliciously real.

There's no grading on the curve here either. None of this, "I'm pretty good at dialogue but I suck at description." I know it's easier to qualify praise with a hearty dose of negativity. We do it all the time to keep our self-esteem from getting any big ideas. But try to resist the impulse just for today. If not, I'll give you an Incomplete on this assignment and you won't be able to graduate with the rest of the class.

When you're finished lauding yourself for your abilities, take a moment to think about all your writing accomplishments this past year. I'm sure there will be more than you realize, which is why it's good to reflect on them and pat yourself on the back for what you've done during the last twelve months.

After that is when it's time to make your goals and resolutions for the new year. It ensures your writing plans will be based on hopefulness and enthusiasm, not regrets or continued chastisement. It also strengthens your resolve, fortifying you for the writing days ahead.

Before you know it, it will be time to do next year's report card, and you'll have a hard time limiting yourself to just three good things about your writing.

The Release of Lord Midnight

It's been so much fun since I self-pubbed my novella, Summer Lovin', I decided I wanted to publish something full-length. So I just put one of my Regency historicals, Lord Midnight, on Smashwords, and it is now available on Amazon too.

This is a story that I've loved for a very long time. It was the first full-length Regency historical I wrote, after writing several shorter (70k) traditional Regency novels. It has won a couple of contests, and also come very close to being traditionally published.

Here's a short blurb about the story:

Lord Midnight, a dashing highwayman, lives for revenge against the uncle who stole his title and tried to kill him when he was a child. His plan for vengeance--seducing his uncle's bride-to-be--collides with his passion for this spirited young woman desperate to escape her wedding. Soon he must choose: the woman who stole his heart, or revenge against the man who stole his life.

The beautiful cover was done by Carrie Spencer of Cheeky Covers, and once again she's produced a cover that makes me just want to sit and stare at it all day! When she thought she was all done, I managed to come up with a last-minute idea to add the crescent moon, something that is important to the story. Carrie was gracious about adding it and then tweaking it when I said, "Can you make it face the other way?" and "It needs to be more crescent-y". She must have been thrilled when I finally squealed, "It's perfect!" (We'll have a chance to find out her exact thoughts since she agreed to let me interview her in the near future.)

So thanks for sharing in my excitement today. I hope you'll get a chance to fall in love with Gabriel and Marisa, just like I did while writing their story. Now I'm off to tend to another couple, Hugh and Felicia, who might be the next candidates for self-publication. . .

The Perfect Home for our Stories

Recently, writer Sean Ferrell wrote a wonderful post titled "Pathetic email", where he gives encouragement to a writer friend of his about feeling "small", saying maybe it isn't such a bad thing. As he explains:

After completing a book you won't be the person you were before trying to write it, not if you've done it right. There's real fear in that, and we're all small before that task, to clear out enough of yourself so they [the characters] can move in, and to do it not with accolades or rewards but for the honest truth that it has to be done and who else will do it. You're supposed to be scared. The fact you are feeling small means you're in the right place: it means you care. If you didn't care it would have no power over you.

He mentions a Winnie the Pooh story I'd forgotten, where Owl loses his home in a storm, and Eeyore finds him the perfect new home. Unfortunately it's the one that already belongs to Piglet. Piglet graciously, and heroically, gives up his beloved home to Owl. Just reading about it made me ache for Piglet's sacrifice.

When we can feel a character's pain, our own heart opens up a bit more. We know what it costs him to give up something he cherishes, and we know how it's going to hurt when he does it. We might even think, "He couldn't possibly do that", since it means so much to him. We feel that pang in our own hearts, and wonder if we would be that compassionate or generous, hoping that we would be, and also hoping we'll never be put to the test.

Instead, we get to experience it vicariously, with a character that is faced with a terrible choice like that. It makes us feel a bit more heroic when we go through this situation with a character. We've somehow grown when they have. Maybe we're braver than we realized. Maybe we're not as small as we originally thought.

And maybe there's a lot more to this writing thing than we could have imagined when we sat down to put words on paper. No wonder it scares the heck out of us.

There doesn't have to be any specific meaning underlying a story of two people falling in love, or fighting off villains, or whatever your story may contain. But there's something to be said for giving a reader the opportunity to expand their worldview, or increase their emotional capacity, or experience something that would never come into their sphere if it weren't for the book you've written.

From the moment we write them down, our words are intended to find a new home: with readers who treasure the characters and story as much as we do. It doesn't matter that we felt small and inconsequential during the story's creation, or that we were consumed with doubts, and dread, and dire fear.

What really matters is that we found a heroic way to overcome all of those things, so our stories could end up where they were meant to be all along.