Out of the Closet and Back in the Saddle

So, last I blathered on at you I was getting ready for a trip to Chicago to see a bunch of old friends at my ten-year law school reunion. It was fun, it was exhausting, it was so incredibly different from my current life. I drank a French 75 at a rooftop bar and helped a friend herd her toddlers through a children’s museum. I remembered how insanely frustrating it is to sit in a taxi trying to turn off Michigan Ave as hordes of pedestrians ignore the “Don’t Walk” sign. I sat in the audience for a wide-ranging debate between two of the more well-known of my former professors. (The most well known was apparently too busy being President of the United States to show up. Priorities!) And, strangest and scariest of all, I told person after person that I’m writing a romance novel. I told friends. I told acquaintances. I told my Civ Pro professor! (Pretty sure the open bar encouraged that particular revelation.)

If you’ve been to a reunion you know what it’s like. A few people you’re currently close to, more people you used to be close to, and a whole heck of a lot of people you were never close to to begin with, all asking what you’re up to these days. I didn’t make a conscious decision to blab on and on about writing, but people seemed interested, and well, that’s what I’m up to these days. People were incredibly encouraging and wonderful and while it was scary, saying it over and over again – “I’m writing a book” – it was motivating. There is no way I can see these people again in five years and *still* not have finished a damn book. So, you know, I guess I have to finish the damn book.

I’ve always been the kind of person to hold my ambitions close. I don’t tell people my goals because that way nobody but me will know that I’ve failed when I don’t achieve them. But this whole writing gig … I tell everyone, hoping that the fear of public failure will keep me moving forward. I’ve had a few people say dismissive things about my genre, but not many. I’ve had more offers of help and more encouraging words than I can count. It’s really been wonderful.

For those of you who are unpublished, do you tell people you’re writing a book when they ask what you’re up to? For those of you who are published, did you hold that ambition tight until you’d reached a certain level of accomplishment? Is everyone braver than I am and just don’t think it’s a big deal to tell one’s old Civ Pro professor that one’s writing a romance novel? 

 

The Fairytale of Writing

Once Upon a Time… no, this isn’t about writing fairytales. As a child I loved fairytales, so by natural extension when Once Upon a Time aired, I was right in front of my TV, popcorn in hand.

In a recent episode (The Miller’s Daughter) one of the main characters, Mary Margaret, aka Snow White, was handed a life-altering decision. That got me to wondering whether, my black moments are truly as dark as they should be. Am I putting enough at stake? Maybe not.

All her life, Snow has battled against dark magic by doing the right thing. She holds tight to goodness. That’s what her mother taught her. That’s her core.

Her defeats teach her that good doesn’t always triumph. As a child, she had the opportunity to save her mother’s life, but to do so she’d have to choose someone else to die in her mother’s place. She couldn’t do it and her mother died.

Now the black moment. Snow is forced to make a decision that goes completely against her being. In “The Miller’s Daughter,” Snow’s choices are to either give Regina and Cora (the truly bad guys) Rumplestiltskin’s dagger, thus giving them complete magic power and saving her childhood nurse, Johanna. Or she can retain the dagger, let Rumplestiltskin die (who has turned into sort of a good guy, and she’s just found out he’s the other grandfather of Snow’s grandson), which will keep the people of Storybrook safe.

Snow ends up giving Regina and Cora the dagger in exchange for Johanna. Their reunion is short-lived when Regina murders Johanna anyway.

Each time Snow has done the right and good thing, it has cost her dearly. With the death of her childhood nurse, she tells Prince Charming she doesn’t care about justice anymore. Wow! This is our hero, Snow White.

If you don’t watch “Once Upon a Time,” it’s well worth the hour. It is so valuable that I’m thinking of counting that time as a writing class and taking my cable bill off my taxes. Um, maybe not.

Here’s the trick (and it sounds easier than it is):

• Root the current crisis in with the hero’s past.

Thus making the crisis more personal and more rooted in their core.

• Give the character two choices, neither of which is good.

The consequences of the two choices need to be really bad and worse.

• Then force your character to pick one.

They have to make the choice or something even worse will happen.

In stories, as in life it’s all in the choices. You have to make your characters—all of them—the products of their choices. It’s more work, but your stories will shine for it and be memorable. The Miller’s Daughter is one I’m going to use as a template. If you’d like to read the whole synopsis, go to http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/once-upon-a-time/episode-guide/once-upon-a-time-episode-216-the-millers-daughter

How do you make your characters memorable?

How do you make your black moments dark enough?

 

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” ― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

I haven’t sold a book or even finished one for that matter, so I haven’t had to answer to a publisher. However, I’ve heard many of my own self-implemented deadlines whoosh on by. What I’ve found to be a more effective form of motivation is to make myself accountable to someone else. Have you ever noticed that it’s so easy to break plans with yourself but not with others? For example, I’ll make a goal for myself to sit down in the evenings and write for 30 minutes. When the time comes I’ll tell myself something along these lines, “I’m too tired. After all, it’s been an exceptionally long day. I’ll start earlier tomorrow. Yes, that’s it! I’ll write for 60 minutes tomorrow to make up for not writing tonight.” And so it goes, another day with a zero word count. Now, if I make plans with a friend to meet at a coffee shop and do some writing then it’s a different story. I might consider some excuses but in the end I’m probably going to meet her just like I planned and I’ll actually get some writing done.

While I haven’t been getting much writing done on my book lately, I have been writing in various other forms. What I’ve found is that these tasks still perpetuate my creativity. A few of the things that I’ve been working on are my blog post, a letter for the PTA, and correspondence with some school board members. While none of these things have to do with fictional writing, they still require me to write. Some other things that force me to write are setting dates with my critique group, agreeing to write an article for a newsletter, joining a group blog (it’s too easy to ignore my own), or any other commitment that requires me to get creative.

Are there any commitments you have that force you to utilize your creativity?

 

Finish the Book

I started writing over five years ago when I first found out about NaNoWriMo. It sounded like fun, and I wrote 26,000 words that year. I added another 25,000 over the next six months or so.
I was so proud when I found Coeur du Bois, but then my RWA friends started giving me tips, and I began to realize writing is hard. Who knew? Boy, did I have a lot to learn, and I was lucky enough to have friends willing to help.
I took classes, read craft books and joined a critique group. I continued entering NaNoWriMo and turned out a book for each year. The problem was I didn’t do revisions or polish any of them. Heck, I didn’t even know what a revision was. I’d get around 50,000 words written when a shiny new idea would come along, and off I’d go.
Several friends and I went to the Seattle Emerald City Writers Conference in 2011, where I pitched a book and entered Cherry Adair’s Finish the Damn Book contest. Cherry recruits top name agents, editors and publishers to review everyone’s books at the next year’s conference, but her first rule is they must be finished and, as she says, polished to a perfect shine.
Now I had incentive. I had to finish a book if I was going to get my work beyond the slush pile and into someone’s capable hands. It came down to the wire, because I tend to procrastinate, but I got that book done in time for the ECWC in 2012.
One of the top agents in the romance world read the first three chapters and requested the full. Although she declined, she said she liked the book and thought it would sell. While at ECWC, I’d pitched the same book (the only one I had finished) to an editor. She requested a full. I was on cloud nine as I flew home from the conference.
A few weeks later, I got an email from another publisher I’d submitted to months before, and they wanted my book. I couldn’t believe it. Someone liked me.
The editor I’d pitched to at ECWC contacted me a few days later, and she wanted the book, too. Talk about treading water in a flood. During this time, I had two more publishers request my book. Now, I had to decide who to sign with (tough problem, I know), and for a newbie, it was overwhelming. After a lot of research and talking to friends, I decided on Evernight Publishing, and I haven’t regretted it for a minute.
The book from the contest, Sugarwater Ranch, was released on April 26, 2013. That never would have happened if I hadn’t entered Cherry’s contest and was forced to finish a book. Ideas are easy for me, but revising is not.
What did I learn from this? Simple, no matter how well you write, you have to Finish the Damn Book for it to be published.
What do you do to help push yourself to finish a book?

 

Rockets and Leaf-Mould

Two months ago, I was watching Youtube videos of rocket launches as research for a short story.  My kids, fascinated by the giant column of fire and smoke, joined me.  We chatted about rockets — what they are, what they’re used for, and where they go.

Today, the kiddos are still using blankets and bits of toys to build rocket ships, which they then ride to the moon.  It’s all highly imaginative.  But before they could imagine rockets, they needed that spark of information, that image of a column of fire blasting a cylinder of metal skyward.

Watching them reminds me of something J.R.R. Tolkien wrote about The Lord of the Rings:

 ”One writes such a story not out of the leaves of trees still to be observed, nor by means of botany and soil-science; but it grows like a seed in the dark out of the leaf-mould of mind: out of all that has been seen or thought or read, that has long ago been forgotten, descending into the deeps. No doubt there is much selection, as with a gardener: what one throws on one’s personal compost-heap; and my mould is evidently made largely of linguistic matter.”*

My children’s cobbled together rocket has been a marvelous reminder that simple every day adventure — like watching a Youtube clip — can grow into a journey of epic proportions.

*Carpenter, Humphrey.  J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography.  New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.  p. 131.

 

Motivation the Engine That Drives Your Characters

Have I ever mentioned that writing is a challenge?  Okay, perhaps not for everyone.  Writing is a challenge for me.  It’s an intricate dance.  One false move, and…splat.  You’ve slammed into a wall.  

I am a member of the local chapter of Romance Writers of America.  Our chapter meetings are the first Saturday of the month.  We have had some outstanding speakers.  Patty Berg spoke to the chapter this May.

Ms. Berg spoke about character motivation.  What could she have said that I haven’t already heard before?  I’ve completed several novels.  I’m not a novice, exactly.

While I have completed manuscripts, had “good rejections,” and grown as a writer, there are things that don’t hurt hearing again.

When it comes to character motivation, Ms. Berg’s message was to dig deeper.  Keep asking why.

In my current WIP I have a relationship shy hero.  Why?  Why is he really hesitant to get into a serious relationship?

Let’s play.

What happened to create this barrier he erected?

After you answer that question, tell me why?

After you answer the why, I have another question.  Why?

Guess what?  Ask yourself another why question.

I don’t know how many times you’ll need to do this to get the the core problem.

Give it a try with your current WIP and see where it takes you.

You don’t stop with your first answer; you need to go deeper, and still deeper, until you actually get to the heart of your character.

 

 

Message to Graduates (and everyone else)

It’s that time of year when people of all ages walk across the stage in cap and gown, ready to take the next step in their lives, whether it’s graduating up to first grade or getting a doctorate. My oldest daughter is graduating with a BA in History from Boise State in just a few weeks, so my mind is hyper focused on this transitional time.

There are some pieces of advice I’d like to pass on to graduates, but they really apply to everyone. They’re just kind of basic rules for living. I feel compelled to share these because so often, people don’t live by these rules and they are not the kind of people I want to be around. So here we go:

Rule #1:

Be nice to others. It’s pretty simple, but lost of many of us. Believe me, I have trouble with this one myself. People can be really irritating a lot of the time, so it’s tempting to want to lash out at them. But don’t. You never know what sort of position you’re going to be in during some future encounter with that person, and chances are they’ll remember if you weren’t nice. Even without such a self-serving reason, it’s just better for everyone if we could all abide by this simple rule. Treat others as you would like to be treated. This applies to small children, animals, coworkers, cashiers in training, and critique group partners.

The little unremembered acts of kindness and love are the best parts of a person’s life.

William Wordsworth 1770-1850, Poet

Rule #2:

Be generous. This is sort of an addendum to rule #1. Most of us have life pretty good. No, we’re probably not rich. I know I don’t drive fancy cars, but at least I have a car. And a home. And the things I need. There are so, so many people in this world, probably in our own neighborhoods, who don’t have a loving family, a warm home, a job, or a friend. Being generous doesn’t have to be monetary, although it certainly can be. It can also mean generous with one’s time and gifts.

Rule #3:

Be persistent. Nothing worth having comes easy, unless you won the lottery or something. Getting a book published requires persistence. So does getting a job. Finishing school. Making a relationship last. So many times in life, we feel like giving up. But you never know how close you might be to success, however you define that.

Don’t give up–you’re so close

Rule #4:

Learn to listen. Most of us think we listen, but we don’t. And that’s to our detriment. Listen to the life around you. Nature. Thunder. City sounds. The soft breathing of others. A puppy padding across the floor. But also listen when others talk. I read somewhere recently that studies show most people plan what they will say in response when someone else is talking, rather than truly listening. Imagine how much better we’d be at communicating if we didn’t do that.

Rule #5:

Be yourself. This is a message I proclaim over and over to the young people of today. I feel like they are brainwashed to fit into some societal mold. My Baby Boomer generation was conditioned to break the rules and live in the moment. I think you could do worse. The best, most successful, and happiest people (and I’m not talking about the likes of Oprah, Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, or President Obama, although they may well fit into this category, but not because they’re rich or famous) are living their lives by their own standards and following their own hearts. This may not apply to their job, but it applies somewhere. Which brings me to. . .

Rule #6:

There is more to life than your job. Hopefully most of us find work in a field that fulfills us and makes us smile when we wake up in the morning. Even if that is you, there is still more out there in this world than your paid employment. And this means we’re all on equal footing in our non-job hours. So don’t waste them, you know, sitting in your parents’ basement playing video games. Get out in the world and DO something. Talk to people. Hear their stories. Go outside of yourself. Pay attention. Find a place that needs your gifts, and give them. Volunteer. Mentor. Play. Seek.

Rule #7:

Never stop learning. It’s tempting after graduating to act like you’ve learned what you need. But I’ve got news for you–you haven’t even started yet. And that’s a good thing. Just remember that you don’t know it all, and you’ll be okay. Sure, maybe you studied leper colonies in India for a semester, but don’t pretend you’re some sort of expert. About that or anything else. You’re not. Keep learning. About the lepers, but also about everything else. Life is one giant learning lab, full of things that you never knew you didn’t know. Hunger for it. And be humble about what you may or may not know. Nobody likes a smug, arrogant, know-it-all.

Rule #8:

It is never too late to be what you might have been.

George Eliot (1819 – 1880) English Novelist

Life doesn’t end at graduation or [insert age here]. It’s not like now that you’ve graduated you have to be some boring version of yourself who works 9-5 and settles down with a mortgage and a car loan. If you want those things, great. If not, then do something else. Which leads me to. . .

Rule #9:

Don’t be afraid. To try new things. To laugh at yourself. To do things other people say can’t be done. To make a fool out of yourself. To have to work harder than you ever have before. To be creative. To be daring. Stop worrying and start doing.

And finally. . .

Rule #10:

Be honest. Live with integrity. No matter what you do, this will make your life better in every way. You can make up for lack of learned skills, making mistakes, and inexperience by being a person others can rely on and trust. If you make a mistake and own up to it, you can learn from it and become a better person. If you don’t know something and honestly seek to learn it, you will. If, instead, you are not honest with others or yourself, you live in the dark. Your life becomes dark. Honesty brings you into the light, where you can see what you need to see.