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).

FIUANA LUND—MY WORSE ENEMY

You have to take control of both writer and critic and learn where and when to let each voice emerge.

She’s rude. She has no regard for my feelings—or anybody else’s for that matter. When I see her looking my way, I cringe. I mean, my stomach really curdles. I would

run in the opposite direction if I could.  But there are times when she has me trapped, backed into a corner. Those are the worst times. She’s mean, she’s ugly, she’s got a HUGE rear end—and she hates me. The worst thing about her is that I find myself facing her in the mirror every morning.

I am my own worst enemy, my toughest critic, and the least supportive person in my life where my writing is concerned.

The same can be said for most writers I know. That’s not to say that a part of me isn't still delusional, witlessly hoping to win a Pulitzer prize or earn the title of New York Times Bestseller at some point. But the truth is, when asked about my books or my writing, I struggle to find anything positive to say. In fact, I recently did a radio interview to promote my book. The kind host asked me to talk about Indigo, to get into the book and talk about the story. I opened my mouth and began to blather on and on about a mythology class I took in college. Why did I do that? Why did I practically change the subject instead of sing the praises for a story I poured my heart and soul into, a book I really do like?

I love writing. There are times when imagination matches energy and words spring forth with carefully controlled urgency and I find myself glued to my keyboard, unable and unwilling to pull myself from my constructed world. That’s where the magic is; those moments of writing flow are what we ink slingers live for. But the rest of it? The rest of it is pretty close to agony. In order to sell your work you must be able to sell yourself. How can you sell yourself while there is a battle brewing inside your mind between the writer and the critic? In a word: balance.

Mind over matter, is what my husband says. You have to take control of both writer and critic and learn where and when to let each voice emerge. To be a successful writer, you must cultivate both voices, temper them, and learn where and when each is appropriate. For example, during the creative phase of writing—you know, that point when you've outlined and storyboarded and it’s time to add meat to the bones of your story—that’s when the writer voice needs to emerge loud and strong. That other voice, the one nobody likes to listen to, the critic—well, she needs to shut up. No, like really. Cover her mouth with duct tape and hide her fat butt in a closet. That writer in you needs to be set free without worry or concern.

On the other hand, when it’s time to edit—and I don’t care who you are, you need to edit—tell the writer in you to go take a nap and let the critic out of the closet. Despite all the ugly things I've said about the critic, she’s not all bad.  In fact, in the right setting, she can become one of your greatest allies, allowing you to polish your skills, accept constructive comments, and manage your expectations.

But that’s pretty much where her reign ends. Sooner or later you’re going to have to find the energy and passion to sell your story. That’s when the critic needs to be put away—far, far away. Book her a ticket on a one-way cruise to somewhere icy and cold and perfect for witches like her. Am I right?

The bottom line is this: Believe in yourself. Believe in your talent. Trust your gut, paying attention to both the writer and critic in you. And when you find yourself loathing the critic staring you in the mirror every morning, take a break, take a breath, and then write her out of your next chapter.

• How do you overcome the blues when you become your own worst critic?

                                                                                                                                                                                      

BUY: AMAZON, B&N, INDIEBOUND

INDIGO

Fiauna Lund

Seventeen-year-old Brit Kavanagh is hiding something: Just before her mother disappeared, she gave Brit faery wings … sewn into her skin.

When her father’s death forces Brit to leave the only home she’s ever known, danger follows her like a shadow. Catastrophe strikes again and again, and at every turn, she is confronted by the terrifying apparition of an otherworldly banshee.

Desperate to unravel the mysteries behind her wings and the curse of the banshee, Brit turns to Gentry O’Neill, a handsome stranger who knows more than he’s telling. With Gentry’s help, Brit pieces together her mother’s troubled past and discovers the horrifying truth of her own existence.

Her mother gave her wings, but she never meant for Brit to fly.

EXCERPT
                                                                                                                                                                                        

Fiauna Lund is a grown woman with an overactive imagination, a passion for writing, four children, and the dirty house to prove it.

Reading and writing have always been passions for Fiauna. During her childhood she spent hours exploring the woods of rural western Pennsylvania where she first began creating stories about faeries, pixies, magic, and mystical creatures.

She met her husband, Aaron, while attending Utah State University, and later earned a degree in human services from Columbia College which allowed her to study the uniquely challenged and inspiring people who serve as her collective muse. She now resides in Farmington, Utah. When she's not reading, writing, or running, she spends her time caring for her four adorable children and two curious cats. 

You can find Fiauna:  Facebook, Goodreads, Website/Blog