MONDAY MUSINGS—LETTING IT FLOW

The first Wednesday of the month is IWSG. This month mine will be on Monday, instead of Wednesday as I have Holly Jacobs visiting.

Holly’s topic will be on writing category romance. Category writing sounds easy to break into but ask any successful author and they’ll tell you a different truth. Stay tuned for her visit Wednesday and Joanne Kennedy and her cowboys on Friday.

IWSG:

I have great story ideas and a lot fun ideas of what if...?  I’ve played around with different genres to stretch and learn. I’ve also been challenged by writing friends to write in a different genre. The ideas are there. I don’t have a problem with that. I don’t even have a problem verbalizing the story outline including characters. But recently, somewhere between orally sharing a couple scenes that have been living in my head as well as the general outline of that story and putting them in words on the page… I run into a problem.

I didn’t used to have this problem. I just told the story. It was like my fingers took dictation from the scenes in my head and I’d surface several hours later thinking, wow, what a ride! It wasn’t ever perfect, but who cared? I was totally involved in the story and having fun.

Most of my life writing has taken place in solitary. No writing buddies or writing conferences just me and the story.  Professionally, I’ve written for radio, newspapers, and magazines and had no problem with editors slashing my copy and no problem coming up with something good in a short period of time to meet a deadline. Meeting other professionals and pitching ideas or marketing a company? No problem.  Then I decided to go back to college. This was only exception to not being around other fiction writers. I had a solid English background (previous college) but needed current credits so I took various writing classes as electives for my English core. Writing has always been fun and easy for me, so why not?

I don’t say this as a pat on my back and oh, look how good I am.  It’s a matter of knowing your strengths and recognizing your weaknesses. Some of this is reflective thinking on what happened.

What changed? 

How did that dam get between my fingers and the scenes in my head and getting it on the paper? How did I lose that flow?

I have a good friend who tends to tell it like it is and doesn’t pull any punches. She’s writing professional and published. We go back a lot of years. She’s seen quite a few of my stories (and has harangued me for not going for publication). We were talking about my problem and I asked for her input. She’s one of those types you don’t ask unless you really want hear truth. What she told me was this.

You’re getting too bogged down with the rules of today’s fiction writing. It stifles you and you’ve lost your relaxed writing zone. The joy of the story. I actually want to strangle you because you aren’t writing how you talk it or like you wrote in story [A or B]. I loved your proposal which had zing and your rich voice was so clearly present. You're pushing too hard to make [your writing] fit into a nice little mold. Let it flow out naturally. I know if you wrote this story the same way you explained it to me, when you weren’t concerned about rules, it would be very powerful.  I think the worst thing you did, for your writing, was entering contests with all these wanna be writers critiquing and judging it.  These people have you writing like you're writing a textbook.

Sia, just tell the story and forget about the rules and making it perfect on the first draft. If you beat yourself up over every sentence you will never get the story out. It makes you stiff. Mistakes in grammar can be fixed later but you can’t fix stiff and boring. I want you to write this story without filters. Write it like you were telling me the story. Show me what you see in your head.

That’s a lot to think about. She made sense and I understand where she’s coming from. God knows, she’s seen a enough of my writing over the years to see the difference. Now, all I have to do is figure out how to turn off my inner critic and connect again with the flow of my characters and my story.

Sure. Got it.  Simple, right? (Cue maniacal laughter).

IWSG: INSTEAD OF THROWING OUT THE COMPUTER FIND A GOOD TOOL

There’s a lot of dust flying in the McKye household.

No, I’m not cleaning, although I’ve done a bit of that, but I have been dusting off some manuscripts. I about choked on some of the dust that accumulated since I last opened them. I’m looking them over to see which are viable and which aren’t.

I’ve written some experimental stories and tried out different genres and POV.  I’ve learn much about what works and what doesn’t in my writing with those experiments.  Alas, I still suck at first person. Okay, maybe not suck at it, but I don’t particularly like writing stories in first person, or reading it for that matter. I know there are writers that adore first person and I’ve read a few stories well enough executed to make me forget it’s in first person. My husband loves to read and write in first person and does a good job. Personally, I prefer third person. Hey, I’m nosy and I want to know what another is thinking and what’s going on out of sight of the main character. I do, however, use first person in working through a problem scene to create a sense of immediacy. I write it in first person and then go back and write it in third.

Why do I do that?

First person narrows the scene, increases the pace, gets rid of excess/unnecessary verbiage, and helps me work out the kinks in a scene or with characters in the scene. When I use first person I focus on tenses such as the moment of speaking or utterance (Yeah, it’s a real term in grammar. Much thanks to my ninth grade teacher, retired army sarge, Mr. MacDonald for those lessons).  Moment of utterance strips the scene to the moment of action and with the use of immediate action verbs. It’s precise and it doesn’t like adverbs. It’s the same with the time of completion—very specific and spare. I actually learned to effectively use those tenses in college and points of view switches when doing observational reports and case studies or for short stories when I’d get stuck. For me, it’s a great tool.

• How do you work on a scene that’s giving you fits?
• What tools do you like to use to make your writing better? 
  
  
  The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling.
  
  Let me take a moment to also wish you all a happy and productive 2015!  

IWSG—GETTING THE PATTERN STRAIGHT

  

I've been looking at a manuscript I wrote as the first part of a series several years ago. I really like this story. The quality doesn't fall into the, oh my god, how awful category—those stories are long ago in a galaxy far away, um, that would be in a hidden box. It’s full of old manuscripts written through the years and won’t see the light of day anytime soon. 

I digress. This story has good bones but could be told in a better way. I knew that four years ago, when started editing it. There are two editions both a bit different than the other the original and #2 is from my first pass of edits. It still wasn't quite right. Editing is not my favorite part of writing.

To make it what it needs to be will take some pretty ruthless work. The third file of this story has pieces spread out everywhere. It's kind of like having all the pieces of the fabric for a quilt but no pattern handy to reassemble it so it looks like a quilt and not a stack of bright colors. It's daunting. There are pieces mixed in that aren't necessary in creating the quilt.  

In writing I need to know many things that my reader doesn't. To complicate things more the story starts in the wrong place—cut about 5 chapters and you have the true beginning. I also know the plot needs tweaking. I have the main story and a couple of sub-plots. I need a clearer picture of where I want this story to go. Need to get rid of those things that don't move the story forward and add other scenes that will.

When I look at the mess of pieces it overwhelms me. Where the hell do I start?

I've been thinking about that a lot lately. Just as with creating a quilt (which I've done) or any art form  you first have to have a pattern. The base pattern has to be a clear picture in your mind. The shape and scope of it. That clarity determines what sort of accents and in what material and textures are needed to compliment the pattern. Make it pop.

So, I have my answer. I need to start with the pattern (plot). Get a clearer picture of it in my mind and then set out the pieces (chapters and scenes) that fit the pattern and baste them together. I need to decide, once that's done, what will add better texture to the story. Adding more layers of emotion and motivations. Add the contrasts of environment and description to match the picture in my head.

Easy-peasy right? Pfft. Not hardly.

It’s still in pieces and I don’t kid myself about the time involved to take this story from okay to great. Even after I have the pattern clear and the pieces and accents where I want them I know there will be several more editing passes after the beta reads.

But that’s for the future. Right now my focus is on getting the pattern straight. I’ll worry about the rest later.

Bear with me folks, I had a severe allergic reaction Monday evening and I'm still weak and wimpy. I will get around to visit but it will be in ;-) bits and pieces. 

B is for Bestseller - Insecure Writers Support Group

The first Wednesday of the month is devoted to an article about the writing life for the Insecure Writers Support Group. In also keeping with the A-Z Challenge,  today’s letter is B, for Bestseller.

I recently became a bestselling author. No, I didn’t make any of the “lists.” When authors say “bestseller list,” they generally mean the New York Times and USA Today. Hitting those lists and being able to put that designation on your books is like grabbing the brass ring. It’s a great goal to reach for and it’s a mark of success that’s recognized in the writing world.

But as writers, we too often despair of making those lists, and beat ourselves up if we don’t. Goals are good, but we also need to stop and pat ourselves on the back occasionally for reaching other important milestones. For me, “bestselling” meant that in March I had my best selling month ever and reached a personal milestone of selling more books in one month than ever before. Some authors sell more than my number in 3 minutes. But where I might lament selling so “few”, I was quickly reminded by another author, also just starting out, like me, that she would KILL to sell that many.

Writers tend to be their own worst critics and we set high standards for ourselves. We need to remember to celebrate the journey as well. Celebrate all the small steps that lead to making those lists. Finishing a chapter. Finishing a book. Surviving a tough round of revisions. Publishing a book. Making sales, no matter how many. 

 

Let’s chat: If you’re a writer, is making a bestseller list one of your goals (or have you already made it?) Do you celebrate milestones, and if so, how (mine always includes cake!)? If you’re a reader, does “bestselling author” on the cover impact what you buy? Do you check the bestseller lists for new books?

Our theme this month is favorite books and authors. Today's "B" list:


L.B. Beckett: Guild of Spies: A fantastical Victorian-feeling adventure with steampunk elements in an almost real place, in an almost real time.
 

Byron: star of the Cassa novels by Alex J,Cavanaugh, sci fi military space opera action!

 

Steve Berry: Action thrillers with a good dose of history and exotic locations, for fans of Dan Brown

 

Lisa Brackmann: Thrillers with wonderfully gritty realism, complex characters, and exotic locations.

Trophy image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

WHAT I WANT AND WHAT I GOT...

Due to circumstances beyond my control this will be a late Monday Musings and early IWSG (click to get a list of other participating blogs) I just combined the articles. I'll be visiting blogs over the next few days and cracking the whip to get back into blogging after some much needed time off.

WHAT I GOT THIS MORNING AT THE FEEDERS AND
WHAT I WANT IS THE LAST PICTURE.

I've noticed a difference in what I'd like to see happening and what is happening—what I want and what I got. For instance, my editing tasks. I've been helping hubs edit his book. It's a good story but lord have mercy, the man is heavy into he said/she said. That drives me nuts. He's actually very good with dialog but when he wrote these stories they were done with old school tags. Pulling his mind from then to now has been...a struggle. Magnum PI and Spencer meeting Burn Notice. Don't get me wrong, Magnum had some great story lines and some great oddball humor (and my husband loves oddball and corny humor) and Spencer did as well, but if they were written for today's market they'd have to have some major updating to grab the audience. Same genre different methods of telling. 

What I want is someone who likes to read those sorts of detective stories read for story content and word usage. What I got is me. 

Then there is my writing. Talk about insecurities and frustrations. I have two manuscripts completed in a series I wrote. Mine had to go on a major word diet. In fact the first in the series lost 10k. I was very proud of that. Now it's in pieces—kinda like Humpty-Dumpty with all king's horses and all the king's men at the ready to put it back together again but they've all gone into stasis waiting for the orders to proceed. Sigh....

What I want is free time to concentrate on that and what I've got is itty-bitty sound bytes of time to do it.

Then there is the weather. 

What I want is green and flowers. Like my brother Rob’s house in early May.

What I got is the heaviest snowfall in our area since 2002 and minus 2 this morning.

Hey, the sun is shining on this bright Monday and that’s good. It’s actually beautiful but wicked cold even with the temps up to almost 15 degrees, but the wind bites hard.

Hubs is bundled up in multi-layers of clothes (he loses 10 lbs and 10 inches once he peels that bundle off) and you can see how much we've accomplished after a couple hours of work. We haven't even started on the driveway to the road—which is also unplowed and likely to remain so, unless our neighbor decides to run his tractor over our road a mile down to the blacktop which is also not plowed. They rarely plow it. Getting anywhere is problematic.  

Then there is the driveway. 

What I want is a nice cleared driveway. What I got is this—can you even tell where the driveway is?

Uh, no. 

Just in case you're curious, curves around the little oak tree and out the break in the hedges. I'm standing in the cleared area to take this shot. 

We've already been out two hours this morning and barely have made a dent in clearing the snow from the garage so we can open the doors. It’s several more hours of shoveling time to get down to that break in the hedges.

And then come Wednesday afternoon we get more snow and sleet (I much prefer the snow over icy slush) and again over next weekend.

There you have it. The battle of wants and gots. I suspect it will be an ongoing battle this year, especially with writing.

What's your ongoing battle right now? 

Happy New Year!

WHAT I WANT TO SEE. TOMORROW WOULD
BE GOOD