Let's Talk About the Reader

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Every writer is a reader and every reader is a writer. Really. Not every writer writes stories or poems or magazine articles. Some write technical papers, reviews, emails, grocery lists, Facebook entries. Any kind of writing makes you a writer. A reader, though, is special.

• A reader is the only reason books are read. They give the book worth.
• A reader changes a writer. The simple act of buying a book tells the writer that what she/he does is worthwhile. That someone besides the writer cares.
• A reader can change future books. When a reader gives feedback through ratings, reviews, or emails, the writer learns what the reader likes and does not like. The writer then decides if the reader's feedback can help the writer better articulate the writer's vision.
• The reader grows as a person by being a reader. There are ideas in books, not just stories. Ideas that a reader can consciously or unconsciously incorporate into the reader's worldview. Attitudes about people, violence, love, good and evil, and perseverance.

A reader is a very special person, not just in view of sales, but in light of what the reader can do for the world. Books are a way to limit and expand a reader's potential. Even the most escapist book can affect a reader in profound or subtle ways. A reader has little or no responsibility for a writer unless the reader chooses to become involved. But a writer has a duty to every reader who picks up that writer's books. To provide a good time. To present ideas that will let the reader grow as a person. To be a writer that the reader can depend on to fulfill that reader's wants and needs.

A Writer's Perfectionistic Streak

Practice Makes Progress (Photo credit: Mary_on_Flickr)

I guess there is a bit of a perfectionist in every writer. After all, our words seldom (or never) come out right on the first try. The brilliant idea looks a bit lack-luster on the page.

Perfectionism can be crippling. Some writers stare at a blank page, afraid they will let down their idea, their reader, themselves. These writers fight a loosing battle with their inner critic. Too much of this and the idea and the enthusiasm for the idea die.

Perfectionism can also motivate the writer to keep writing. It seems like perfectionists might give more attention to finding just the right word, the right character, the right twist that brings the story alive. A perfectionist won't settle for second-best. Not for long.

Perfectionism means frustration with anything that comes. It means wondering if anything you write is good enough.It means a finished product that doesn't match your ideal.

Perfectionism sounds an awful lot like a writer's inner critic. Maybe they should be treated the same?

Personal identity and Investment in Writing

But here I am writing anyway. It is strange how caught up our personal identities become in our work. Maybe it helps us do a better job, but it can be destructive too. Why can it help us do a better job? Because we are personally invested. But the downside is that it means I have slipped again into letting my happiness depend on something not completely in my control.

But how to escape that? Writing takes up most my waking hours. I use pieces of me in my books. I make myself vulnerable. And I'm making something that depends on me. How can I not be inveested?

On the other hand, everyone has bad writing hours, days, weeks, or even more. My default answer, unfortunately, is to plow through it until I wreck my physical and mental health. Fortunately, I now have someone in my life who won't let me do that to myself.

The answer seems to be allow personal investment without allowing happiness to depend on the success or failure of my work. Small amounts of happiness and failure are probably normal but anything can be taken to extremes. Easier said than done.

How do you manage the ups and downs of writing? How do you manage the balance of personal investment and identity? Or are you likee me and haven't quite figured it out?

90% Perspiration

idea (Photo credit: Tony Dowler)

Everyone, it seems, has an idea for a book. A book they will write “some day, when I get around to it”. Of the few people who actually start to write that book, many (maybe most) soon give up. Welcome to the world of the writer! “10% inspiration, 90% perspiration”.

Every day has its challenges, some seem insurmountable. The story goes off track, the words won't come, you hit a dead end. It takes work to recover, make up for lost time, and find solutions. Creativity is a necessary ingredient, but so is relentless effort.

Then there are the edits. Few first drafts clearly convey the writer's intentions. Sometimes you remove vast chunks, realize there are holes to fill, or find places where logic just broke down. Creativity is still an important element, but no one who has revised a WIP would discount the importance of “elbow grease” or a red pen.

Even after the WIP is finished, if you decide to pursue the publishing track, there are rejection letters. Publishing typically means research, test readers, submission guidelines, and multiple tries. Success means not giving up.

Tenacity is an often overlooked quality in writers. You may have a very supportive environment but there is probably no escaping the voices (inside and outside) that say you are not good enough, that what you write is trashy/escapist/frivolous, and that you should look for a “real” job/hobby. To keep writing under such pressure is another dimension of hard work.

So as important as it is to have an idea or three, any writer knows that alone is not enough. A poem, a book, a lyric, a screenplay, any of these takes work. And to produce a piece that clearly communicates the writer's idea usually takes a lot of work. But most writers will say that the process and the result are worth the effort.

Being a Real Writer

Line art representation of a Quill (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A real writer. But what does that mean? If you write you technically are real. But serious? That's another matter and it is up to you to decide what serious means. To me, being a writer is a day-by day process, a responsibility, and a right to be earned.

To me, being a serious writer means writing every day, no matter my mood, energy, or distraction. I may not write what I intended to write, but as long as I write something I am a writer that day. I make three goals for the day: Minimum (daily blogs and X on my WIP), Intermediate, and Challenging. I really want to do more than the Minimum goal but that is the least I need to do to fulfill my perceived obligations to others.

Because, to me, being a serious writer means obligations to others. There is an obligation to my readers (and future readers) to produce a minimum amount and quality. I can see both of these improve over time and they give me joy and feelings of fulfillment. There is a duty to give back to the community, which I do in this blog. I enjoy sharing what I learn and am always surprised that other people are interested in what I have to say. Thank you! I am interested in what you have to say, too, so please share.

To me, being a serious writer is a right to be earned. Maybe that means it is not a right? I believe that a professional (or aspiring professional) writer needs to behave professionally. This means networking on social media, honing craft (a partial purpose of this blog site), connecting with other members of the writing community, and acting in a professional – yet personal – way in interactions. I have some trouble with the “being personal” part. I tend to want to keep my personal life separate but readers want the persoanl touch these days and social media makes that possible.

But in the end, it is up to you to decide what being a “real writer” means to you!

Making Friends With Your Writer's Block (Reposted)

Making Friends With Your Writer's Block.
Originally posted: 11 May 2013 by The Writer Corp

We have all struggled with Writer’s Block. The times when you know you need to be writing or you should be writing but you sit and you stare at the nothing on the page. It’s frustrating and scary.
I know that you had to have heard all kinds of advice on getting past, or through, writer’s block. And to some degree, I’ve tried almost all of them. To some degree, most have gotten me through some tough spots. But, in reality, I’ve found one that seems to work very well for me.
I’ve made my Writer’s Block into its own character. He doesn’t have a place in any book that I am working on, although that has even crossed my mind. Rather than looking on him as an adversary, I’ve embraced him; given him a voice.
Draco Imaginaria (thanks goes to Google Translate, it is Latin for Imaginary Dragon) is a lavender dragon with random multicolored scales scattered around his diminutive frame who is ageless, wears thick glasses, and is sometimes friendly and sometimes confrontational. He has been bullied (he IS a lavender dragon who wears glasses) much of his life. He’s pretty good at typing, despite being a dragon.
Whenever I find myself unable to get going with writing when I know I need to be getting words on the page, I open a text editor and pretend that it is a chat window. I talk to Draco and I think about the things that he might (or might not) say to me. When he is silent, sometimes I just type obscenities at him. He doesn’t judge. I don’t have to worry about sentences or even real words. And he doesn’t hold it against me later. He just eats the obscenities and adds them to his lexicon. He lives on words. That’s where my words go when I can’t find them to make up the work that I need to be doing. He has eaten them: all of them. If I feed him enough (because maybe I hadn’t been feeling him sufficiently lately so he is stealing them from my mind) or I feed him the words that he is hungry for, the words I’m looking for begin to flow naturally again. When he is argumentative, I argue back. Sometimes I win, sometimes he wins, but in the end, because he is mine, we both win.
Sometimes I talk to him when I’m angry or when I’m trying to puzzle through a plot line or a poem. Not really because I’ve actually hit writer’s block, but because I’ve come to respect his opinion on things. He is, after all, my own voice (I’m creative, not necessarily crazy). Sometimes all it really takes is not thinking about what I’m “supposed to be” thinking about to trigger what I need to have triggered. And I’ve managed to actually put in some writing time.
I always save these conversations, which is why I carry them out in a text editor, so I CAN save them. Later, I can go back over them and maybe use pieces and parts of the conversation as ideas for other work or dialog in something I’m working on.
It isn’t always about using the tools that other people have found work for them. Sometimes it is about embracing your own tools and making them work for you.
So tell me, what is your Writer’s Block’s name? Is he a cat or is she a unicorn? Describe him, make her come to life. Embrace the silly and the unusual and see if maybe you can’t make your writer’s block work for you!

You Resemble a Nobel Prize Winner

President Bill Clinton with Nelson Mandela, July 4 1993. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 “When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.”
― Nelson Mandela (from Goodreads)
---
Nelson Mandela is an activist who became President of South Africa and now is a statesman who has won the Nobel Prize. Relevance? Consider the passion of this man-- the conviction, dedication, and perseverance.
Imagine what you could do if you unleashed the same focus on your writing. He doesn't settle for the society that's out there. Not when he can try to be an agent of change. As a writer, you don't settle for the writing that is already out there. Not when you can write something of your own.
Both Mandela and you are working to change the world. Even (maybe especially) when it means challenging current customs and standards.
Take the plunge and tap your writing potential.

Rebel With Your Writing

Rebel (Photo credit: just.Luc)

To be a successful rebel writer it helps to...

1. Have a cause, mission, or purpose.
2. Identify your target.
3. Have a plan.
4. Gather your weapons and get to know them.
5. Take the offensive.
6. Recruit others.
7. Be public.
8. Be passionate.
9. Know the rules. Then you can learn how to successfully break them.
10. Be ready to win.
11.  Refuse to fail.

5 Ways to Free Your Writing

Dancers at the annual Cinco de Mayo Festival in Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cinco de Mayo is (in part) a day that celebrates freedom. As a writer, fight for freedom from cliches, stagnation, and writer block! Just as the Mexicans turned back an invading force, you can fight against these enemies of writers everywhere and everywhen.

• Brainstorm: Avoid cliches by listing multiple scenarios. I find that my best ideas come after the brainstorming becomes difficult because I'm really stretching myself. Another benefit of brainstorming is that you can combine ideas, adding complexity – even if you go with your original plan.
• Want: Write what you want, not what you think you should write. You are writing for people who like what you like. So write for yourself and you will be writing for them. Also, when you write what you want you will be more enthusiastic, creative, and persistent.
• Carry: Keep a voice recorder, a notebook, or note cards to record ideas as they come. Then they'll be available when you want them. As an added benefit, the act of recording them can generate additional ideas.
• Ask: Other people love to share ideas for characters or settings. This gives them a chance to be part of the process and gives you a new perspective.
• Rewrite: When a scene doesn't work, rewrite it regardless of your time constraints. Better to do it now rather than later. A bad scene or line – or one that just doesn't “fit” – can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection during the submission process.

When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everyone will respect you.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

I said previously that I liked the Tao te Ching.
I was just thinking the other day that writers walk the fine line of being in a highly competitive market and being part of a very supportive community. The way out is to not compete with others but be the best you that you can be. Your uniqueness, professionalism, and attitude will become your selling points and also reasons for respect. Ideally.

Benefits of a Journal

Journal 2 Feb 2005 pg 2 (Photo credit: Terry Bain)

I started a stream-of-consciousness journal as a form of therapy and heightened self-awareness but soon saw improvement in my writing. I began keeping a typed journal. At first, I wrote maybe 20 pages a month. I didn't know what to write. A year later I write freely and my page count last month was 120+. This included random thoughts, what was happening during my day, how I felt and what I thought about that, blog posts, book and character ideas, and self-motivation, just to name a few topics. But back to how a stream-of-consciousness journal can help your  writing.

• Speed: The more often you write, the faster you will get. It may not pay off right away but think in terms of months and years.
• Fluidity: You will find that you write with fewer pauses, less thinking “what should come next”, because you are training your mind to write without hesitation
• Voice: I found my writing voice in my stream-of-consciousness journal. If you are struggling with this topic, look to where you write most naturally and with the fewest inhibitions. That is where you will find your voice.
• Twists and turns: You can use your journal to brainstorm alternative paths the action in a scene can take. Sometimes writing down the ideas instead of just thinking them can make all the difference.
• Characters: Once your thoughts begin to flow, you'll find yourself writing about whatever is on your mind – like the people around you and your characters. You find yourself writing background and attitudes for those people that you didn't realize you knew. And your knowledge deepens.
• Theme: Looking at my journal showed me what I often wrote about, what were my preoccupations. I realized that the same beliefs and attitudes were imbedded in my books. You can develop these into themes.
• Philosophy: This is somewhat tied to theme but goes a bit further. After a while, you find yourself asking yourself why you write. The answers you come up with are part of your personal writing philosophy.
• Encouragement: When you find it difficult to get around to your WIP, you can remind yourself why you write. What you get and give by writing. What you hope to accomplish. You can be your own cheerleader or bully (whatever works) and be your own motivator.

Fight On!

English: abstract art 42x54in ,oil on canves-olej na plutnie. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“To be nobody but
yourself in a world
which is doing its best day and night to make you like
everybody else means to fight the hardest battle
which any human being can fight and never stop fighting.”
― E.E. Cummings

    I decided I needed to know my "self" recently when I was having trouble articulating what it was I wanted to improve about myself and why it was important.

    I think the challenge requires that you first think about who your "self" is. Listening to music is great for this. But if you do choose to think about who you are at the core, decisions become easier and you can trust yourself more when things change.

    The next step, of course, is making sure that our self-perceptions are actuality (that we live them) rather than talk. There were some things I believed about myself and said but I was living something different. That is what I had to come to realize and then decide which reality I wanted. I wanted the new reality and decided to take further steps to make it real in my private, public, and professional lives.

The Kissing Mants Philosophy

The Whirlpool Galaxy (Spiral Galaxy M51, NGC 5194) is a classic spiral galaxy located in the Canes Venatici constellation. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I looked at space pictures the other day and saw a picture of a galaxy. I've seen similar pictures many times but yesterday I researched the praying mantis for my book and the two images came together.

 Part of the magic of writing is when two unalike 'stuffs' come together in a new way. This is part of the art in what sometimes seems (in dark moments) nothing more than a formula. But the same can be said for galaxies, right? 

Kissing Mantis

The kissing mantis waits in spreading dark

To take my hand and provide wings of a dream

So I might never turn and see in her mark

My darkened shadow self’s fading gleam

And as I sweep the seas in a stellar monsoon

I spy a long-tressed lady in the starry brine

Smooth strokes of light shape a lonely moon

Who casts her child among the stars to pine

And the watery land below us torridly turns,

Waking and dreaming, caught in shadowed force

The veins of a turning galaxy that glisten

And the curved arms of the mantis keep the

course

Biting the bullet

Culled paper (Photo credit: Dvortygirl)

After two days of hemming and hawing I decided to rewrite this chapter from scratch, too. Technically, it isn't from scratch. When I rewrite a chapter in this draft, I reuse the summary and incorporate new notes then fill in the gaps. But most the words I keep are new. (can't keep the summary) My writing friend who I met with today agrees that the two chapters I have rewritten this way read much better. I just might do all my chapters like this. It might be faster and produce a better product. Just wish I had thought of this strategy earlier. Guess I'm still learning. Someday this will be my first draft instead of my second.

Do you find your job is still a learning experience?

Writer Yoga

Yoga Class at a Gym Category:Gyms_and_Health_Clubs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I recently noticed that writing practice is a lot like meditation practice. Both benefit from the same mental state and lifestyle.  For instance...

1. make a space in your home
2. keep fit
3. relax into it
4. stretch before, during, and after
5. set a routine
6. practice good posture
7. go with the flow
8. eat healthy
9. sleep healthy
10. clear your mind

Busy, Busy!

Monday is the busy day at the clinic (Photo credit: Graela)

Wow, there’s been so much writing lately. This month I’ve been starting an hour earlier in the morning (around 6:30) and then writing until 7 or 8 when I am home in the evenings. Two days left in the month, still not done tweaking my book. At least the workshop is over. Or maybe I’m disappointed because every day gave me ideas for making my book better.
Realized in my first attempt at a romantic subplot there was NO sexual tension. They were just very good friends. Not even a kiss. Thanks to that workshop I’ve been drastically revising my subplot. I’d hoped for a day off before the writing challenge starts but that just isn’t going to happen…

The Reader's Bill of Rights

o-delaisse:

http://weheartit.com/entry/18171146/via/nanamieg

Let's Talk About the Reader

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Every writer is a reader and every reader is a writer. Really. Not every writer writes stories or poems or magazine articles. Some write technical papers, reviews, emails, grocery lists, Facebook entries. Any kind of writing makes you a writer. A reader, though, is special.

• A reader is the only reason books are read. They give the book worth.
• A reader changes a writer. The simple act of buying a book tells the writer that what she/he does is worthwhile. That someone besides the writer cares.
• A reader can change future books. When a reader gives feedback through ratings, reviews, or emails, the writer learns what the reader likes and does not like. The writer then decides if the reader's feedback can help the writer better articulate the writer's vision.
• The reader grows as a person by being a reader. There are ideas in books, not just stories. Ideas that a reader can consciously or unconsciously incorporate into the reader's worldview. Attitudes about people, violence, love, good and evil, and perseverance.

A reader is a very special person, not just in view of sales, but in light of what the reader can do for the world. Books are a way to limit and expand a reader's potential. Even the most escapist book can affect a reader in profound or subtle ways. A reader has little or no responsibility for a writer unless the reader chooses to become involved. But a writer has a duty to every reader who picks up that writer's books. To provide a good time. To present ideas that will let the reader grow as a person. To be a writer that the reader can depend on to fulfill that reader's wants and needs.

People Like You

Originally Posted: April 20, 2013 by alicorndreams





Don’t ever let anyone quash your dreams.  Don’t ever listen to people who tell you that you can’t.  For any reason.  Never believe for even a second that you can’t.  You can.  I’m living proof!
When I was in the 4th grade (decades ago) I wrote a story for a Language Arts assignment.  It was called “The Cat, The Dog, and The Jellybeans”.  I got an A on the paper, and the teacher said she really enjoyed reading it.  I was hooked.  It was then that I decided I wanted to write.
I told my family.  They thought it was cute.  They all told me that “People like you don’t write, honey.  And if you do write, you will never be able to publish anything.  And if you do publish things, you will have to pay people to publish your work and you will never make any money at it”.  They didn’t understand that it wasn’t money that it was all about.  The words were just in my head and I loved them.
I wrote for the literary journals in school.  I wrote and I wrote and I wrote.  I rarely told anyone at home I was still writing.  My teachers encouraged me.  Kids at school congratulated me.  But the words in my head still echoed.  People like you… people like you… people like you.
Skip forward, (by this time I was REALLY hiding my writing because it didn’t pay and no one understood) and find me sitting in a cube farm, making a living but not really living.  I needed a book to help me figure out how to do my job.  And there wasn’t any book written.  So, after I slept (it was a long project) I got mad and wrote the book I wanted to read.  And I found someone willing to take a chance on me who published it.  And I got an advance on royalties check.  And I saw my name on a book jacket.  And I was hooked again.  I wrote a few geek books.  And was published.  And I fell in love with the words again.
People like me, and people like you, can write.  If you don’t mind living your dream and chasing your own dandelion fluff, you can do it.  It isn’t easy.  Sometimes it is a lot of work and sometimes it means forgoing things that you might rather do, but you CAN do it.
Find your voice (of late, mine has been headed back to poetry, my first love) and let your own voice sing.  Don’t ever pay heed to the people who tell you that People Like You can’t.  We are all people like you, and people like you CAN!

8 Kinds of Awful Writing Advice by Susan K. Perry

8 Kinds of Awful Writing Advice by Susan K. Perry

1. Advice that demoralizes you. One young poet despaired when a teacher told her to put her poems in a drawer for ten years before sending them out. That advice plays into a paralyzing perfectionism. You can usually manage to see your words through fresh eyes in only a few days or weeks.
2. Advice that limits your potential.  Could it be true, as a novelist once wrote, that if you’ve left a novel unfinished for a few years, you may as well forget about it?  Not if your passion for project is still there or can be resurrected.
3. Advice that cramps your imagination.  Should you only write from your own point of view or about a group to which you belong?  No, that’s too rigid.  Great fiction has been written from the point of view of the opposite gender or from another era or culture. It’s all about pretending.
4. Advice suggesting that what works for you is nonetheless wrong. One novelist worried when told it was best to “Get the story out first, then polish.” His own method was to polish each section before moving on. That worked for him because he never became paralyzed by obsessing over every minor detail to the detriment of making any progress at all.
5. Advice that’s more market-oriented than you are. You may often hear, “Anticipate what the audience wants and then give it to them.” While that has worked well for some authors, others can’t create at all if they’re not pursuing their passions. There’s a time to focus on whether your work is the best it can be for reaching the audience you have in mind. But to prematurely zero in on what you think “they” want can be inhibiting.
6. Advice that’s impossible to follow. My favorite example of this is “Don’t think.” I, for one, can’t write from my toes, elbows, or even my heart. The trick, of course, is to take this less literally, and to learn to think in more inclusive ways than the usual grocery-list-compiling way.
7. Crazy-making advice. Examples: “Read everything,” or its reverse, “Don’t read at all when you’re writing.” Obviously one can’t read everything, even in a particular genre. Focusing on junk leaves little time for the good stuff. I like to immerse myself in the kind of work I’d like to produce myself.  As I read so many books, I’m not worried about imitating someone’s voice.
8. Advice that insists there’s only one correct way to write, propose, query, or submit your work.  Should you always avoid adverbs? Never use the passive voice? Never start a sentence with “there are”? Every one of these “rules” is broken constantly by top writers. And while there are established formats for query letters, nonfiction book proposals, and novel synopses, for every successful sale based on those formats, there are numerous exceptions.
(Source: blogs.psychcentral.com)