Writing lesson, vol. III
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: Garden of Allah, Don Henley
Topic: Instructional
Subjectivity

That's what we're going to talk about today. Writing is very subjective - you never know what is going to interest or completely turn off your readers. The same goes for genre writing.

Horror and humor are two of the most subjective genres. What is funny or scary to one person may not be funny or scary to another; but, there is a trick to writing good horror or humor.

The trick is to write what you think is funny or scary yourself, and write it with conviction. I can't speak to humor so much, but I do write a fair bit of horror, and I know from experience. Concepts or situations that you find frightening, but may not be frightening to others, when written with conviction can seem frightening to others. You're suspending the disbelief of your reader by imposing your impressions of the concept or situation upon them, showing the reader these things in a way that they may not have thought of before.

The subjectivity of these particular genres can work for or against a writer; the good writer will make them work for them by writing with conviction.

Today's word count on short story "Singing Them Down": 1,542

Writing lesson, vol. II
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Instructional
Today, I'm going to try and give you a little more advice on becoming a good writer. Take my advice for what its worth - that of an unpublished author struggling to get published. Any writing tips I offer here are things that have worked for me in the past, and that I think might work for you, too.

One of the things that I have found most helpful in developing my own voice (which is an entirely different lesson altogether) is by reading the works of other authors. I enjoy reading to begin with, so it hasn't been difficult for me to read a lot.

I can hear you now, sitting there at your computer screen saying, "Oh, ok, no biggie. I read (my genre) all the time!" Well, yes and no. It's good that you read within your genre. It gives you an idea of what's going on in the world of publishing in your chosen field, but it also gives you a rather limited view of the publishing world as a whole. And, if you think about it, it's giving you a limited education, as well. If you write fantasy and all you ever read is fantasy, you're finding out what the fantasy agents and publishers were interested in picking up last year, not what they want to buy tomorrow or six months from tomorrow.

Read everything you can get your hands on. Learn character development from a mystery novel, voice from horror, scene-setting from literary works. You can even learn from magazine and newspaper articles. While the style of fiction writing shouldn't be journalistic, the way journalists describe a scene of a crime or disaster or any other happening can teach you a lot about what is important and what isn't important to setting a scene.

Research is also an important component of reading. I personally write in the fantasy genre, but that doesn't preclude me from doing research when the piece calls for it. Ahh, I can hear you again, "But it's fantasy, just make it up!" Nope, can't do that all the time. You want your readers to believe what they're reading, at least while they've got your book in their hands. Doing that requires research (but research is also another topic for another day).

For now, get in the habit of reading, and reading outside your genre. Read for entertainment, but also take note of the author's style, characterization, and the plot devices he or she uses throughout their writing. By understanding these elements in the works of others, you will become a stronger writer yourself, and will be well on your way to developing your own voice and distinct writing style.

Good luck, fellow writers!

Been a while, ain't it?
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Writing
Yeah, I know, it's been quite a while since I updated the blog, and here I promised myself that I would do it often, as a means of inspiriation and motivation to write. I have been feeling guilty, but I've had a rather busy weekend, and it's only now settling down so that I can write some. Friday I had the husband's graduation from regional jail academy, Saturday I roasted a turkey with all the trimmings for company who came and stayed overnight until Sunday afternoon, and then yesterday and today my husband was home from work and commandeered the internet, therefore, no posting. Yeah, I could have written some off-line, but my heart wasn't in it.

That's no excuse. I should have BIC time every day, whether I want to or not and whether or not what I write is crap. It's the practice that counts, don't you think?

Therefore, word count for 09/30 - 10/04/05: 0

I'm gonna learn you something today
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Instructional
I've been writing seriously for a relatively short time (about four years or so) and although my fiction isn't published yet, that doesn't mean I have stopped writing and trying to submit. It's like any other profession - unless you put in the effort, you won't see the results.

But that's not what this post is about. I thought I'd give away a little bit of the secret of "how I do it". My techniques may work for some, and may be completely off base for others. Take my advice for what it is - that of an unpublished writer, struggling to get my fiction out into the world.

I get my story ideas from many different places; I tend to eavesdrop on the conversations of strangers, I people-watch, I like to look at fantsay art, and I watch a lot of historical/educational programming on channels like TLC, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, etc.

Each of these sources spur very different story types. I'm going to run through each of them, and give you an idea of what I'm talking about and how I've gotten ideas from them in the past:

1. Eavesdropping and people-watching
For the dialogue-driven writer, this method can be invaluable. If a certain phrase or snippet of conversation you've overheard is the basis of a story for you, you know what I'm talking about. I don't use this method myself very often, as my characters are usually created first and it's their conversations that get the ball rolling, but I know of many authors who swear by this method.

2. Fantasy Art
This is my biggest inspiration for short story writing. I can find a piece of fantasy art that I like (usually from someone like Boris Villejo or Julie Bell) and then I ask questions of myself about it. If the artist has written a description of the picture detailing what he or she thinks it's about, I usually avoid that - after all, the story will be about what I thnk the picture's about. I ask questions like, "What was he/she doing to get here?", "What is he/she going to do next?", and "What events that have happened or will happen are influencing what's happening to this person?". The best by far, however, is the good 'ole "What if..." question. Take the answers you give yourself for these questions (and any others you may ask yourself about the picture) and voila! You've got a story! Now. Go write it.

3. Television Programs
A lot of my longer works have been inspired by educational or historical documentary-type TV programs. I love watching TLC, Discovery, the History Channel and the Travel Channel. I may not incorporate ancient Egypt into my work in progress (WIP), but I will take elements I've learned from the programs and incorporate them into my WIP. It helps to make your world and the people who populate it feel "more real" when you base them on actual places or cultural norms. Also, you've got a handy reference for your world or culture you can look at any time you need to for that added bit of detail. And people say TV's bad for you. Pshaw.

These are only a few of the tools I've used over the years to develop my skill. As I'm becoming more and more serious about writing as a career and not just a "hobby", I find I'm developing more and more skills every day, learning new things about writing in general and my own style, as well. As a writer, we must learn to adapt. Adapt to everything from family and job situations to our own inner moods.

I hope this has helped a little for any of those who know they have the talent and the ability, but are struggling with the source.

Mark of the Maker update
Mood:  happy
Topic: Writing
I've been working on "Mark of the Maker" this evening, and I'm rather proud of my progress. The first chapter is rounding out nicely after the dick debacle yesterday, and I managed to make some real progress this evening. I'm not finished for the night yet, but I thought I'd put in an update before I forgot about it.

I am officially accepted to the "Stories of Strength" anthology from AbsoluteWrite.com, and I found out today that my essay will appear alongside essays from several noteworthy authors, including Orson Scott Card. I'm so proud to be a part of this. This is the first time in my life I feel like I can make a difference with my writing. I'm so glad Jenna and the AW team came up with this, and that I had the opportunity to participate. And for such a wonderful cause, too!

I feel like I haven't said it enough. Thanks, Jenna.

Word count for 09/22/05: 663

I didn't write anything NEW today, but...
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Writing
I did do what I hope is the final edit on Fever and sent it on to the editor at WildChild Publishing. I'm crossing my fingers that they'll take it. If they do, it'll be my first ever published work!

Cross your fingers for me!

Today's word count: 0 (but with extenuating circumstances)

The search for old friends
Mood:  not sure
Topic: Other stuff
For the past couple of days, I've been doggedly searching for old friends who have scattered, lost in the eddies of time. I ran across one, a Navy man that I graduated from high school with. I *may* have stumbled upon another, a Canadian graphic artist that I corresponded with for many years. I don't know yet - a contact I found to (hopefully) get him a message hasn't responded yet.

It's just too easy to get disconnected these days. One minute, you're chatting along, and then you have to sign off for the night. A day goes by, then another, and before you know it, it's been a month, or even a year and you haven't heard from your friend, and you haven't given them a jingle, either. Friends are so hard to come by, you'd think we would spend our time keeping these relationships going instead of taking them for granted and letting them dissolve into the smoke of memory.

I've just spent the afternoon reading over a five-inch thick pile of correspondence from my Canadian graphic artist friend, remembering how it made me feel to get a new letter in the mail from him. He told me of his troubles, I told him mine; we laughed, cried, and supported one another in our quest to become "an artist" in one form or another. Do we let these things go because they're only temporary by design? I don't want to think that's the case. I'd like to think that life just interferes, and we can't stop it from doing so. "I'll do it tomorrow" is just too easy to say, and too easy to stretch into more than tomorrow.

I hope I get a message back from that contact. I'd really like to reconnect with him, see what he's up to, tell him about myself, become friends again. I miss that.

I'm trying, I really am...
Mood:  irritated
Topic: Writing
I'm working this evening, or at least trying to. My little one, whose bedtime is 8PM, didn't settle and go to sleep until 10PM (even under threat of not going to Papaw's house tomorrow). At 10:30, I finally settled in for some serious BIC time, only to run into a problem with tact.

You see, there is no gentle way to talk about a penis and balls. I don't want to talk about them sexually - the first few paragraphs of this work is about schoolchildren studying a type of magic called "making", where the focus object for the magic is body art, aka tattoos. Their teacher is literally covered in "maker's marks", so he's showing the class as a "this is what you could achieve" lesson. We have both boys and girls in the class, so he must be modest; how do you say he has a cloth over his you-know-what and *not* sound like a seventh grader? Argh.

The thesaurus was no help, either. I'm trying to *avoid* sounding like a seventh grader, not achieve it. All the words they supply for "genitals" make it sound like a bunch of little boys giggling in the corner because Jane said a dirty word. Sheesh.

So, here I am, stuck in paragraph two. I think I'll add a placeholder and hope someone at www.absolutewrite.com/forums can come up with something creative and useful.

Word count for 09/20/05: 753

Interstitial Fill
Topic: Writing
I didn't work on the stated project any this weekend. Why? My husband was home, and I haven't seen him all week. He's gone again, for another week (just this week and the next to go!) which I will use to work on the stated project. For today, though, I did a little "light writing" - about six or seven articles for Constant Content, a web content site. You set the price, they take a cut and you get paid for your writing. Yeah, it's peanuts. But, it is practice, and that's what counts.

I've thought quite a bit about the stated project, though, and I think I've got some good ideas. I think Maker will end up being a worthwile story IF I can get a little closer to my characters. It's not that I don't like them, I just don't know them very well, and there are only a few of them, and...and...well, it's just hard to write about a stranger. I may give it a shot this evening, but I dunno...I might just wait until tomorrow, think about them a little more.

Today's (and this weekend's) word count: 624

Mark of the Maker - The New Project (I hope...)
Topic: Writing
Well, I started my first new long-form fiction piece this evening.

I had been debating for a long time between two very different single-book stories (as in, not a "fantasy trilogy", which is ever-so-popular); Stone Carver's Son and Mark of the Maker. The coin fell in favor of Maker, and therefore, I started that one this evening. I think that while fantasy readers will find some comforting elements in this story, there's a lot about it that's quite different. I won't reveal specifics here, but I think it's going to be an ever-elusive good one.

That's not to say that Stone is left out in the cold. I decided against it because I don't have the time to devote to a lot of research, and I think that in order to give Stone the treatment it deserves, it will need a lot of reaserch. I like the idea of Stone a lot, too; no doubt, when things calm down a little at my house (read: we have a normal schedule again) and once I finish with Maker, I will most certainly return to Stone.

Today's word count (so far): 300