For a fiction writer, I’ve been spending an awful lot of time lately reading biographies.
First it was Sally Field’s autobiography In Pieces. Now I’m almost finished reading Julie Andrews’ second book in her autobiographical trilogy, called Home Work. Next in my reading pile is a brand new biography of Janis Joplin, called simply, Janis.
I’m not sure why I’m on this little non-fic reading kick. I like to read a biography or two a year, but three in a row? Not typically. Nevertheless, as a writer who enjoys focusing on character development, reading biographies and memoirs provides a tremendous resource for learning about other people’s lives straight from the horse’s mouth. They’re also invaluable for researching a character you might write in the future.
As a writer, I spend a lot of time … not writing. If you don’t believe me, just ask our blog wrangler, the inimitable Lori Twining, she’s always trying to get me to write my blog post. The funny thing is that blog writing is half of what I do for a living. Ha ha …
… oh, Lori doesn’t think that’s as funny as I do …
But I have a life. I have a lot of things going on in that life. The website I work for locally was recently hacked and it’s one of my jobs to see that that doesn’t happen again.
How am I supposed to write while the bad people are trying to use our site to get sensitive info from our readers.
My boss asked me recently, “Why don’t you write for our site any more?”
Damn! The need for radiation therapy was unexpected news for me a few months ago. Treatments were scheduled five days a week for a total of thirty five, in London. It took me a couple of weeks to resolve that it really was the only option in my fight against thyroid cancer.
I decided to drive daily as long as I felt well, anticipating the September and October weather to be perfect. This venture was a means to an end and I would make the most of traveling through pretty, rural Grey County via Grey Road 3.
The drives that were anticipated to be, at the very least, inconvenient, quickly became a comfort – as I was safely ensconced in my trusty Jetta with a world of beauty surrounding me. Turning south on Road 3 every day always brought energy and optimism and this increasingly familiar, quiet country road guided me home again every night.
A writer’s life is full of many solo hours of rolling around in doubt, heartache, heartbreak… and a few happy aha! moments, that ultimately make us smile and laugh as if we have been riding a standup rollercoaster for three hours straight, jumped off, puked and then screamed, “Let’s do that again!”
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to be reminded of just how thankful I am for being a writer with an active imagination, an anxious heart and a not-so-strong stomach. This kind of up and down rollercoaster feeling happens to me often. Daily, in fact. But without the puking. Mainly this happens because I struggle with the whole concept of “Do I know what I’m doing?” to “Of course, I know what I’m doing, I just sit down and write what I’m thinking, right?” Yeah, that doesn’t always work out as easily as it sounds.
Today is Thanksgiving, so as a writer I am thankful for many things…
As the newest member of Ascribe Writers it is my turn (I was coerced) to write about writing. Apparently, I am allowed to focus on anything as long as my musings revolve around the fact that I am a writer.
Well, if that’s true, why is all my written work locked up in legal files that were presented to the courts, insurance companies or employers? Oh right, that’s part of my day job. You know that job… it’s the one we all do so we can do the things we really want to do in our ‘spare time’.
Autumn
in our part of the world is upon us again.. That lead me to thinking
about making soup and that lead me to thinking about what goes into
soup, and that made me think of good ingredients and then that lead
to my thinking about what ingredients go into making a good story.
Soup
starts off reasonably simple: you make a stock, you add your chosen
ingredients based on the kind of soup you want, and then you add some
seasonings. And from that basic start, one can veer off to anything
from a spicy Thai broth to a comforting potato and leek chowder. One
is limited only by one’s imagination and personal taste.
And
this brings me around to writing.
I
am fascinated by the choices of genre that appeal to my fellow
Ascribe writers. Some are writing thrillers, some romance, some
fantasy. Some have elements of all of those plus other seasonings, as
it were, such as placing their stories in settings of times long
past, or times far into the future. But whatever genre you’re
writing, if you think about it, there are also basic ingredients to
a successful novel, regardless of genre. These are the elements that
we writers want to have in the mix of the stories our imaginations
cook up:
recipe for a successful novel
Likeable characters, – or at least interesting if they’re not likable. Easy-to-follow structure. Engaging plot. Interesting subplot(s). Effective but not overused dialogue. Visual description.
get some interesting subplots
Each
author brings their own measurements of these ingredients to their
work, as do I. I seem to find myself writing more character-driven
plots, and then I have to figure out a way to get some interesting
subplots going to keep the story from becoming an alternative for a
warm glass of milk at night.
brain storm
One
of the best things about us getting together is not only to have the
wonderful support and encouragement in one’s writing from the group,
but also to have the opportunity if we want it to brain storm.
And
still using the soup analogy, in the same way you can learn tricks
for making a good soup from watching a really good cook, I have
picked up some methods to help me make the plot issue become more
manageable. I watched someone presenting a storyline on a series of
big writing sheets and realised one of the ways I could get a better
idea of how to make my sub – plots move along was if I could
literally visualise them. And I have been using a large whiteboard at
home to do just that. Now we’re cooking with gas!
The
great thing about our writing, – and mine, and yours – is we really
are the top chefs and with our own words can dish up the book we want
to read; be it spicy, thrilling, heartbreaking, romantic, haunting,
or all of those elements listed above in different measures. Bon
appetit!
I’ve struggled with the labels, “planner” (or sometimes referred to as “plotter”, which sounds even worse) and “pantser”. For me, a planner sounds boring even though I love plans and structure. But in writing context, the term conjure up images of plodding along like the fabled turtle and although you might win the race, it’s kind of a boring journey. Where’s the excitement, the thrill? A pantser should be more fun but in the writing context, it sounds irresponsible. Like a partier who may be having the time of their life while writing their book but will wake up the next morning with a wicked hangover and realize most of what they wrote had nothing to do with their book and rambled in nonsensical manner in the light of day. I don’t like either label.
Then I heard someone use the words: “a discovery” writer verses “an architect” writer in an online lecture. These are the same concepts but the words helped me understand why and when you may choose one method over the other. Most of us are likely somewhere in between or may vacillate between these two methods in different stages of writing. Moreover both words sound so much better than planner and pantser.
Open Twitter. Find a thread where an unknowing and naïve person says to a writer,
Writing a book must be so easy!
Bark out loud in shock! Cover mouth because I will wake the kids and the husband who is working nights and then they will invade my space and I will get absolutely nothing done. Revel in liking every single response from all the writers who responded back with hilarious, shocked, pissed off gifs. I love twitter. And there goes another half hour.
Not only do I have a novel to complete drafting—I am
currently taking a course through the Writer’s Digest University and my next assignment
is due in less than 24 hours, my author website needs updating, the bookkeeper
is waiting for our farm books, I still haven’t unpacked the kids back packs
from summer camp, there are half completed renovations in the back yard, the
barn chores need completing, fur balls, laundry heaps and dirty dishes are
threatening to mutiny all over my house, bills need paying, I promised myself I
was going to submit a blog to Andy Rourke’s website and next weekend is the
Muskoka Novel Marathon wrap up and I still haven’t read the books I bought from
the other authors this summer and THIS BLOG IS DUE.
How?
How do I waste so much time? I know it’s a talent, but why do I have to be so darn good at it?
