You know, I have this cousin that is a cook and I sometimes watch Iron Chef and a few other cooking shows (basically when there is nothing else on). Something that they talk about is the parts of the meal that they are preparing. You have the meat of it, the garnish, the side dishes and a few others that I can't remember. Anyway, I was just thinking about how that can be our simile of the day.
If you were to think of a story as a dinner that you have to worry about what is on the plate. Let us say that we're cooking steak. You have the steak itself, what people are going to love to dig into. This is the part that really makes us drool, but let's be honest, a steak is nothing if it's too dry and too boring. If it's just meat we can last a few bites then sigh in disappointment. What does every steak need? Just ask Heinz, they'll tell you. It needs the sauce, the garnish, the topping. Pick whichever word you wish to use.
Well, if we were to apply the same thought process to our story I would call the characters that populate our story the marinade of the steak. The stuff you let the meat sit in for 24 hours just so that each bite gave you a yummy rush of flavor that just make you dive into the steak even more vigorously....just thinking about steak is making me hungry....yum.
Thinking of our characters like this hopefully gives an idea of just how important they are to a story. While yes you can have that slab of steak without any sauce on it, be honest, you want it to have the sauce. Well, the story has to have characters, no questions about it.
Now I've never had any problems with creating characters, anyone that has RPed with me will probably agree because I purposely go out of my way to make my characters engaging and delightful. They have quirks, pet peeves, inconsitencies, emotions (except for that Vulcan I did once, but she was a special case being a Vulcan), they have things that make them laugh, they have sense of humors. Some are pessimests, others are optimists, some are amibitious while others are philathrapists or just don't give a shit. They are people to me, I make them that way. Why? Well, because if to me they are people. They have faces, voices, hand movements...etc. I'd go on, but I'm pretty sure you get the point.
Now, please don't mistake me. I'm not saying that it doesn't take effort for me to create these characters. I don't think I've ever made an interesting character in just a few hours, at least I can't recall of any. It usually takes at least a few days, at most a few years. I'll trot out one of my favorites, she's always accomodating me in that regards so I may as well take advantage of it. Nyx started when I was a kid though I didn't recognize her as being a potential story character until my teens. Spending all the years that I have has made Nyx's stats long enough to be an actual book.
Now, I wouldn't actually suggest that anyone spend twenty plus years on a character. That's a bit too much time and I would hope that you would want to get published long before that. My point though is this: Know your character, inside and out. Know things about him or her that no one else would. Sometimes we all fall into the trap of developing only as much as you need to, but let me warn you all (and remind myself) don't do that. It may seem very time consuming to figure out the stuff that won't make it to print, but trust me, knowing it is a heck of a lot better because you never know when you'll have to go back to that third draft and add something you didn't think you needed. Better to have it and not use than need it and not have it.
You know, the question I have each and every time that I start working on a character is knowing what I do need to know. I've been trying to find a pattern to use for such a need, but each time I start a character that pattern changes. Now, I suppose I could just shrug it off, but it really bugs me.
Right now I'm starting a character whose first name is Genie. She's a CIA Agent...sort of. It's complicated, the sort of bit, but in working on her it has gotten me thinking, what pattern should I use because she is not the only character that will be in this. Currently I already have 9 characters that need to be fleshed out. I would like to develop all nine and any subsequent characters in the same format, have the same questions answered. To do that I'm starting with Genie, get her fleshed out (the beginning stages) then go from there.
I have opted to start with the physical, what we would see...assuming she was a real person that is.... then moving inwardly. So I know how tall she is, her weight, her age, her eyes. Basically I have a picture of her. I know how she sits, how she moves, how much she works out...yadda yadda. Yet the question I have to myself is, is this enough? Should I get categories and work on them from there for all future characters? I mean, the stuff I know for Nyx is very different than what I know for Alex or Mark or Jack or Genie. That makes sense, but there are basic qualities that I know of beyond the physical.
In other words I'm a big mess in making that decision and sometimes I feel like I'm floundering then I get a great idea, like who chose Genie's name and why.....
Essentially my marinade still needs some work, yet I find myself having a lot of fun poking and prodding Genie, trying to get her to tell me everything she knows. I have to figure out my questions for her, but in the meantime I'll still continue to talk to her and see what she has to say......
One last thing.....Merry Christmas to everyone!
Friday 26 December 2008
Sunday 14 December 2008
Holiday Season
Well, as you know it's the holidays. What does this mean? It means that we all run around with our heads chopped off! Yep, that's the truth. Find me one person who is completely calm and at ease and I'll faint from shock. I love Christmas, but I'm in a cynical mood right now.
So I finally got to page 71, I'm at midnight in the story...finally...and what happens? I get stuck. Arg, nothing more frustrating than that.....no, that's not true, what's frustrating is when my e-mail doesn't send the reply that I created. Now that's frustrating!
The problem with my book isn't that I can't think of where to go. It's how to express what my main character is feeling. I can't write much about what she's doing because she's tied to a chair and let's be honest, this is more about a mental journey than in a physical one (though there is some physical to it as well, okay a lot but at this moment in the story, we're going mental....LOL). So how do I write it convincingly? That, my friends, is the crux of it all.
Sigh, well I can't write much more than that today. We're planning to go get some Christmas shopping done, find presents for my mother-in-law then hang up our pictures around the house. Though, now that I think about it, I'm not really in the mood to get in the car and go anywhere. I'd rather stare at the computer and pretend that I'm doing something worthwhile. Did I mention that I also happen to get a bit lethargic in regards to normal activities around the Holidays? No? Well, I still probably shouldn't. VBG.
So I finally got to page 71, I'm at midnight in the story...finally...and what happens? I get stuck. Arg, nothing more frustrating than that.....no, that's not true, what's frustrating is when my e-mail doesn't send the reply that I created. Now that's frustrating!
The problem with my book isn't that I can't think of where to go. It's how to express what my main character is feeling. I can't write much about what she's doing because she's tied to a chair and let's be honest, this is more about a mental journey than in a physical one (though there is some physical to it as well, okay a lot but at this moment in the story, we're going mental....LOL). So how do I write it convincingly? That, my friends, is the crux of it all.
Sigh, well I can't write much more than that today. We're planning to go get some Christmas shopping done, find presents for my mother-in-law then hang up our pictures around the house. Though, now that I think about it, I'm not really in the mood to get in the car and go anywhere. I'd rather stare at the computer and pretend that I'm doing something worthwhile. Did I mention that I also happen to get a bit lethargic in regards to normal activities around the Holidays? No? Well, I still probably shouldn't. VBG.
Wednesday 3 December 2008
An Idea
You know, I was trying to think back to when I started this story about Alex and Mark. I keep wracking my brains, trying to figure out why they stood out as being worthy of a story. I can remember how, I can remember what inspired, but I can't seem to remember why. I'm not sure why it's important to remember right now either though.
Maybe it will come to me later, I'm not sure or perhaps it's not as important as I think it may be.
I want to talk about the idea though. It's where it all starts for just about anything, from writing to politics all the way to the way a city is laid out. Someone had an idea, then spent time and energy to help it grow. Much like what we do with children and gardens. It takes effort. Yet, it seems to me that the only profession that gets asked the most about their ideas are those in the various writing fields that are available, especially fiction writers. I don't hear about how people ask an architect or a Doctor where they get their ideas. Sure, they ask about their inspiration, but that's a different kettle of fish.
Perhaps artists get the question to, I'm not sure yet. I've only started as an artist so I haven't been asked that yet. I have been asked as a writer though. The question is simple: where do you get a story idea?
The answer that almost every writer gives in some form or another is 'I don't know. It just pops into my head and then I explore it.' It's a frustrating answer, even to us writers I think simply because we want to know too. Sure, we can point at things in our lives that may inspire a good idea. Books, movies, conversations, dreams, name the activity and I promise someone can be inspired by it. But to take that idea and turn it into a possible story, well that's a different ball of wax (yes, I know I'm using a lot of metaphors, forgive me for it).
For right now though I'll try to express my process of how something that inspires moves into a story idea. I'll use one that will probably never be published. Why? Because unless I get really gutsy and confident enough, which I doubt, I might be willing to show it to a publisher or editor. Then, and only then, it will only be published if the individual in question also decides to be gutsy and take a risk.
Anyway, when I was in High School I had gone over to my boyfriends house to pick him up for school. His mother and I got along really well even though her son and I didn't always (we only dated about two days btw). One day, as a joke, when she answered I put my hands together as if I was saying a prayer, bowed then said, "I am Siam and I am here to sell you something." She got a good laugh out of it, I laughed then went about my day.
Three days later that phrase came back to me and just kept repeating itself over and over until I asked myself a few questions. What kind of person is Siam? What would she be selling? And that's how it starts for me. For just about every story that I've written it all started with a question or a series of questions. Even for all the stuff that I role play, it begins with a question. What would happen if.....? How would so-n-so deal with this?
I have notes upon notes of questions like these somewhere in my house...we just moved so I have to find them again...and for the stories that actually go somewhere I go back to it, look it over and sometimes I even answer the questions a bit more completely.
What does Siam sell? Everything, something or nothing at all. Ah, but what does that mean? It means that she can grant your wishes, make your nightmares come true or just walk away. Who would buy stuff from her? Who wouldn't?......
I think everyone brainstorms in their own way. Some use the bubble format...which I love except I always run out of paper. Some use the outline. The possibilities are endless as point of fact.
Another method I use is to go from the angle of a character. A book I read about writing was talking about going somewhere, sit with your notebook and just describe the people around you to help come up with ideas for characters. There is this nifty outline that you can fill in, both with what you see with your physical eyes and your creative eyes. I tried that...frankly it didn't work for me. I do know people that it works for like a charm. What works for me though is to find a name. I wrote an article for RPing once that talked about the symptoms of Multiple Player Disorder. One symptom was "An insatiable urge to make up names."
That, folks, is my biggest symptom. I love names, I can try to make up names all day and be happy....okay, maybe not all day, but I'm sure you get my point. Anyway, that is often how I build my characters. I figure out their name then I build their personality.
I have a character, her name is Nyx. Yes, you're reading that right. Nyx means two things. 1. Nothing and 2. Night. I picked the name because of both meanings. The psychology of it is a totally different story that would take all night to do it.....sorry, really couldn't resist.
Anyway, once I had her name it was easy to go from there. What does Nyx look like? Well, she's tall, about six foot. She has dark black hair, not the dark brown that looks black in a certain light, but black. Midnight black to fit her name after all. And her skin, well, it's white, alabaster white. Then her eyes, ooh, let's make the gray as stone. Now....why is she like that? She's an outdoors kind of person so logically she should be able to get a tan, but she can't....why???? Ah, I know, perfect, when she was a child somehow most of the pigment in her skin was leeched out.....but how and is that possible? Oh, an easy answer - it's fantasy so anything can happen....
See, there you go, an example of a character building moment from Jess McClary. Cool huh? Now there's a whole lot more involved in the creation of Nyx and to tell that would require a life history that frankly, I'm not interested in giving.
I could go on and on about this, showing examples galore, but let's not waist time. My point is this, the answer that writers give when asked about where they get their story ideas is valid and in fact, the only one that can be given. We can say what may have inspired us, we can tell you how it all began, but where it comes from? No one really knows and personally I think it should stay that way.
Now, if you wish to be a writer, but fear that you don't have that magic sensing rod for potential story ideas, don't. I have a strong belief that anyone and everyone can stumble on a story idea. I can't promise that they will be a good story idea, but I can promise that you can and will get one when you least expect it. The trick to being a writer though isn't about getting ideas, it's about crafting those ideas from being something small and occasional to being something fantastic that makes people want to read it. Think of every idea that you've ever gotten, about anything, like being a child. With some encouragement, time, effort and good compliments along with some discipline, it can grow up to being a fully functioning construct where the wonders of the world can sit and sparkle.
Maybe it will come to me later, I'm not sure or perhaps it's not as important as I think it may be.
I want to talk about the idea though. It's where it all starts for just about anything, from writing to politics all the way to the way a city is laid out. Someone had an idea, then spent time and energy to help it grow. Much like what we do with children and gardens. It takes effort. Yet, it seems to me that the only profession that gets asked the most about their ideas are those in the various writing fields that are available, especially fiction writers. I don't hear about how people ask an architect or a Doctor where they get their ideas. Sure, they ask about their inspiration, but that's a different kettle of fish.
Perhaps artists get the question to, I'm not sure yet. I've only started as an artist so I haven't been asked that yet. I have been asked as a writer though. The question is simple: where do you get a story idea?
The answer that almost every writer gives in some form or another is 'I don't know. It just pops into my head and then I explore it.' It's a frustrating answer, even to us writers I think simply because we want to know too. Sure, we can point at things in our lives that may inspire a good idea. Books, movies, conversations, dreams, name the activity and I promise someone can be inspired by it. But to take that idea and turn it into a possible story, well that's a different ball of wax (yes, I know I'm using a lot of metaphors, forgive me for it).
For right now though I'll try to express my process of how something that inspires moves into a story idea. I'll use one that will probably never be published. Why? Because unless I get really gutsy and confident enough, which I doubt, I might be willing to show it to a publisher or editor. Then, and only then, it will only be published if the individual in question also decides to be gutsy and take a risk.
Anyway, when I was in High School I had gone over to my boyfriends house to pick him up for school. His mother and I got along really well even though her son and I didn't always (we only dated about two days btw). One day, as a joke, when she answered I put my hands together as if I was saying a prayer, bowed then said, "I am Siam and I am here to sell you something." She got a good laugh out of it, I laughed then went about my day.
Three days later that phrase came back to me and just kept repeating itself over and over until I asked myself a few questions. What kind of person is Siam? What would she be selling? And that's how it starts for me. For just about every story that I've written it all started with a question or a series of questions. Even for all the stuff that I role play, it begins with a question. What would happen if.....? How would so-n-so deal with this?
I have notes upon notes of questions like these somewhere in my house...we just moved so I have to find them again...and for the stories that actually go somewhere I go back to it, look it over and sometimes I even answer the questions a bit more completely.
What does Siam sell? Everything, something or nothing at all. Ah, but what does that mean? It means that she can grant your wishes, make your nightmares come true or just walk away. Who would buy stuff from her? Who wouldn't?......
I think everyone brainstorms in their own way. Some use the bubble format...which I love except I always run out of paper. Some use the outline. The possibilities are endless as point of fact.
Another method I use is to go from the angle of a character. A book I read about writing was talking about going somewhere, sit with your notebook and just describe the people around you to help come up with ideas for characters. There is this nifty outline that you can fill in, both with what you see with your physical eyes and your creative eyes. I tried that...frankly it didn't work for me. I do know people that it works for like a charm. What works for me though is to find a name. I wrote an article for RPing once that talked about the symptoms of Multiple Player Disorder. One symptom was "An insatiable urge to make up names."
That, folks, is my biggest symptom. I love names, I can try to make up names all day and be happy....okay, maybe not all day, but I'm sure you get my point. Anyway, that is often how I build my characters. I figure out their name then I build their personality.
I have a character, her name is Nyx. Yes, you're reading that right. Nyx means two things. 1. Nothing and 2. Night. I picked the name because of both meanings. The psychology of it is a totally different story that would take all night to do it.....sorry, really couldn't resist.
Anyway, once I had her name it was easy to go from there. What does Nyx look like? Well, she's tall, about six foot. She has dark black hair, not the dark brown that looks black in a certain light, but black. Midnight black to fit her name after all. And her skin, well, it's white, alabaster white. Then her eyes, ooh, let's make the gray as stone. Now....why is she like that? She's an outdoors kind of person so logically she should be able to get a tan, but she can't....why???? Ah, I know, perfect, when she was a child somehow most of the pigment in her skin was leeched out.....but how and is that possible? Oh, an easy answer - it's fantasy so anything can happen....
See, there you go, an example of a character building moment from Jess McClary. Cool huh? Now there's a whole lot more involved in the creation of Nyx and to tell that would require a life history that frankly, I'm not interested in giving.
I could go on and on about this, showing examples galore, but let's not waist time. My point is this, the answer that writers give when asked about where they get their story ideas is valid and in fact, the only one that can be given. We can say what may have inspired us, we can tell you how it all began, but where it comes from? No one really knows and personally I think it should stay that way.
Now, if you wish to be a writer, but fear that you don't have that magic sensing rod for potential story ideas, don't. I have a strong belief that anyone and everyone can stumble on a story idea. I can't promise that they will be a good story idea, but I can promise that you can and will get one when you least expect it. The trick to being a writer though isn't about getting ideas, it's about crafting those ideas from being something small and occasional to being something fantastic that makes people want to read it. Think of every idea that you've ever gotten, about anything, like being a child. With some encouragement, time, effort and good compliments along with some discipline, it can grow up to being a fully functioning construct where the wonders of the world can sit and sparkle.
Sunday 30 November 2008
What is a Novel?
Sorry, I was going to wait until tomorrow to post in here again, but this just popped into my head and dang nab it, I just had to share it.
It was a memory. I think I was about 19 or 20. I do know it was before I got married, but I don't remember if it was before I joined the Air Force or after. Either case, whatever my age had been doesn't really matter too much. What does is the content.
I remember it was my mother and I...this is my birth mother by the way...the more I write in this I'm sure I'll be mentioning almost every parent that is a part of my life so fair warning, there are a lot. I'll try to make sure I mention which I'm referring to.
Anyway, I was in my mothers kitchen, I had been writing for quite some time and I was working on the masterpiece of all masterpieces...at least mine. It's my version of Lord of the Rings or the Gunslingers. Pick your author, it's my equivalent. Mom and I were talking, as we're prone to do when she cooks and I watch and for no particular reason that I remember right this moment, I decided I had to ask her something.
My question was simple: What did she think about me wanting to get a novel published?
I'd like to think we all ask our parents this type of question at least once. It's the opinion seeking question in the hopes that we'll hear something along the lines of them being proud of us, or that it's a worthy endeavor. It's basically the question where we hope we know the answer that is going to be given, but we're not quite sure that's the answer we're going to get.
My mom stopped what she was doing and did this thing that she normally does. She kind of looks off into space as if she's seeing a television prompt or something, even though I know there isn't one there. Then she said something to me that has stayed with me ever since. She said very simply:
"I think writing is fine, but if you're going to write a novel, it should be about a novel idea. I don't know, but I always have felt that if you're going to call something a 'novel', then the subject should be just that, a novelty, something unexpected...something never done. It should be unique."
That may not be a direct quote, but it's fairly close. It stuck with me so well that I like to share it with as many people that wonder what it is about being a writer. Where is the allure? What's the drive? I don't know about other writers or novelists, but for me the answer is simple. I write in the hope of finding that 'novel' idea. I measure all my ideas, all my brainstorming by that measuring stick. If it's been done, no matter what type of twist I put to it, it's still not unique in my opinion. I want a story that can be told in such a way that it stays with you, that it follows you around even after you put down the book.
This is my goal, my wish, my ultimate desire.....my Golden Chalice. Sure I can go on and on about the thrill of it, how it's in my blood and how if I don't do it I go nuts. I can even dispense knowledge that I've gleaned from the books and interviews I've read over the years about being a writer, but ultimately I have only thing to tell everyone with aspirations about anything. I don't care if it's about being a writer, a Doctor, a Graphic Designer...even a historian.
Find your Chalice, find that cup which will always satisfy and never empty. Once you find it and start directing your compass toward that Northern Star, the possibility of straying is down to 50%. Then, as you follow that heading toward your star, concentrating on making your life a novelty, something that you can personally admire, look back on and say with a smile "I didn't just achieve satisfaction, or success, I achieved true happiness and I am complete."
I'm not saying I've attained that...NOT by far have I attained anything close to that....yet, despite not reaching it yet, I know that I'm on the right path. I am moving toward the best future for myself. Sure, I have detours. I am going to school for art instead of the written word after all. Yet, even though I am going back for my Bachelors, I still know that the end of my road isn't going to have web design listed into my perfect career slot equaling complete happiness. It's going to be in plain bold print: WRITER, NOVELIST.
It's late now for me, well past midnight once again. I suppose I should try to write in my blog during a reasonable time, but I'll be honest, I like writing this when the house is quiet, all the family is asleep. It lets me focus, express myself completely, to share what I think should be shared.
It was a memory. I think I was about 19 or 20. I do know it was before I got married, but I don't remember if it was before I joined the Air Force or after. Either case, whatever my age had been doesn't really matter too much. What does is the content.
I remember it was my mother and I...this is my birth mother by the way...the more I write in this I'm sure I'll be mentioning almost every parent that is a part of my life so fair warning, there are a lot. I'll try to make sure I mention which I'm referring to.
Anyway, I was in my mothers kitchen, I had been writing for quite some time and I was working on the masterpiece of all masterpieces...at least mine. It's my version of Lord of the Rings or the Gunslingers. Pick your author, it's my equivalent. Mom and I were talking, as we're prone to do when she cooks and I watch and for no particular reason that I remember right this moment, I decided I had to ask her something.
My question was simple: What did she think about me wanting to get a novel published?
I'd like to think we all ask our parents this type of question at least once. It's the opinion seeking question in the hopes that we'll hear something along the lines of them being proud of us, or that it's a worthy endeavor. It's basically the question where we hope we know the answer that is going to be given, but we're not quite sure that's the answer we're going to get.
My mom stopped what she was doing and did this thing that she normally does. She kind of looks off into space as if she's seeing a television prompt or something, even though I know there isn't one there. Then she said something to me that has stayed with me ever since. She said very simply:
"I think writing is fine, but if you're going to write a novel, it should be about a novel idea. I don't know, but I always have felt that if you're going to call something a 'novel', then the subject should be just that, a novelty, something unexpected...something never done. It should be unique."
That may not be a direct quote, but it's fairly close. It stuck with me so well that I like to share it with as many people that wonder what it is about being a writer. Where is the allure? What's the drive? I don't know about other writers or novelists, but for me the answer is simple. I write in the hope of finding that 'novel' idea. I measure all my ideas, all my brainstorming by that measuring stick. If it's been done, no matter what type of twist I put to it, it's still not unique in my opinion. I want a story that can be told in such a way that it stays with you, that it follows you around even after you put down the book.
This is my goal, my wish, my ultimate desire.....my Golden Chalice. Sure I can go on and on about the thrill of it, how it's in my blood and how if I don't do it I go nuts. I can even dispense knowledge that I've gleaned from the books and interviews I've read over the years about being a writer, but ultimately I have only thing to tell everyone with aspirations about anything. I don't care if it's about being a writer, a Doctor, a Graphic Designer...even a historian.
Find your Chalice, find that cup which will always satisfy and never empty. Once you find it and start directing your compass toward that Northern Star, the possibility of straying is down to 50%. Then, as you follow that heading toward your star, concentrating on making your life a novelty, something that you can personally admire, look back on and say with a smile "I didn't just achieve satisfaction, or success, I achieved true happiness and I am complete."
I'm not saying I've attained that...NOT by far have I attained anything close to that....yet, despite not reaching it yet, I know that I'm on the right path. I am moving toward the best future for myself. Sure, I have detours. I am going to school for art instead of the written word after all. Yet, even though I am going back for my Bachelors, I still know that the end of my road isn't going to have web design listed into my perfect career slot equaling complete happiness. It's going to be in plain bold print: WRITER, NOVELIST.
It's late now for me, well past midnight once again. I suppose I should try to write in my blog during a reasonable time, but I'll be honest, I like writing this when the house is quiet, all the family is asleep. It lets me focus, express myself completely, to share what I think should be shared.
It begins....sort of
Well, this isn't the first time I've tried to do this, but we'll see how I do this time. I just happen to be one of those people that have to keep picking at something until it takes. So here I go again, take five I think...I'd have to check to be sure.
So, what is the point of the blog this time?
Well, it's simple, I wrote my book. I put the fated words, The End. I have the Epilogue, I have a plan for another book after it...actually for two books after it. Of course, the first step is to actually really, really finish this book. Incidentally, it's called Memory Lane and I hope you'll all forgive me if I keep particulars of it to myself. You know how it is, paranoia running rampant as it is, it is never wrong to be too careful.
The thing is this, when I first decided and started to aspire toward being a published writer (honestly, if you write, you're a writer. It doesn't matter if you're published or not, if you put a pen to paper, or sit in front of the computer for several hours at a time directing characters and scenes as they need to go, guess what? You're a writer. It's only once you get someone to say, "Yeah, this is good, let's put it on the shelves" or in the magazine...whichever, then you're a published writer. I emphasize this difference for a reason, because I don't know how many times people ask me once I tell them that I'm not published yet, "Oh, so you're trying to be a writer!" Grrr), I had always thought, believed, perhaps even been told that the hard part is writing the book.
Well, folks, let me tell you something.....
IT'S A LIE!!!!!!
Oh no, that's not that hard part. Now please, don't get me wrong, it's hard to write the bloody thing. Yes, it's actually quite difficult simply because you have to create it from scratch, put it together...etc. Frankly, it's amazing that all the writers out there aren't either crazy or bald....or both. The part that's even harder though, is editing your own writing and let me explain why.
When you get that heady feeling after writing The End, you can't help but think that it's perfect. That's it's finished, I mean finally finished. You close it, you celebrate. Perhaps you go out to dinner, get a little drunk. Heck, maybe you eat a whole pint of ice cream or treat yourself to a new gadget. Whatever you do, you can't help but walk around with this glow. This feeling of complete accomplishment. There's nothing wrong with the manuscript, you're positive of it.
Then you take all the advice that has been giving to you about it. You know which I'm talking about. The wonderful piece that says, ignore the manuscript for awhile.
If you're a writer you know what I'm talking about. If you're not, well the principle is simple. Essentially because of that heady feeling you get upon completion tends to blind all of us (yes, even the writers that have been doing this for forty years will still tell you that they get that rush. It's like what race car drivers feel when they get behind the wheel once more). I mean, really blind you.
So you forget about it, you're driving yourself nuts by saying over and over in your noggin' "I'm forgetting about it. I won't touch the manuscript. I know, I'll do something else. I'll read. Or I'll work on another story. Or I'll watch a movie. PERFECT! A movie won't let me think about my book." Then, because our brains must torture us, you unfortunately pick a movie that is about a very similar subject as your manuscript. In fact, you keep picking movies and/or activities that their only consequences is that it keeps reminding you that the manuscript is there, beckoning you.
Two weeks pass, and more than likely insanity has begun to sink in. Some muttering under the breath, giving the computer the cold shoulder. Maybe even banishment of all movies/books/activities that are designed to remind you of the bloody thing. Then it gets worse.
That night, of all the miserable things our mind can do to us, instead of dreaming of Brad Pitt (or Angelina Joline if that's more your flavor), you dream of your MANUSCRIPT!
Oh yes, that's when the straw breaks the camels back. You wake up with a jerk, sitting up and disturbing your loved ones with a feral yell, growling and crying at the same moment. In a vain attempt to chase away the driving need to run to the computer, you jump in the shower. You make it cold, if it works for other things then surely it will work in this instance. Bad luck though, it doesn't because you happen to remember a scene in the manuscript where the main character jumped into a cold shower to avoid sleeping with his best buds wife....
"That's it!" you say and hurry to dry yourself, completely unaware of the patchy spots where the towel missed. You bound down the stairs, combing your fingers through your hair as best as possibly as you run to the accursed computer and glare at it. A light mantra goes through the brain, something along the lines of "all the advice says ignore it. That's what you're going to do, it's not time to look at it yet, if you do you'll just torture yourself!"
You puff for breath, hoping to calm yourself down, but it doesn't work. You rush to eat breakfast, hoping and knowing it's the last thread of salvation. If that doesn't work, screw the life boat, send in a diver because baby, you're going to jump into the middle of the storm and bedamn the consequences!
*huffs for breath*.............
...............
.................
Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, a fun one, but one nonetheless though only slightly so. Let's call it an occupational hazard and call it good.
My point is this, for the first book, if anyone manages to go three weeks before pulling out the completed thing to look at it and do the second edition of it, I'll pay up a hundred bucks. I can't promise you can spend the money anywhere except in Monopoly the Game, but I'll pay.
I think, if memory serves, I lasted about a week and a half. I do remember that I kept trying to trick myself, to lie to myself. The one lie I remember the most is "I'm only printing it up for when I'm ready to do my editing."
That lie was echoed in my brain for about 36 hours before I realized that I was lying to myself.
Another piece of advice that all writers hear or read deals with the actual editing process. The first thing you do when you're about to do your first edit is to read the thing from start to finish. This is vital, simply because then it allows you to see the whole picture instead of scene 1 through scene 45 or whatever the last scene is. Of course, this is the second piece of advice that we all ignore for the first book....I'm not sure if we'll ignore it for the second book, but since I'm not there yet you'll have to wait to find out....
Because we've lasted at most, being generous of course, two weeks and one day, we are under the mistaken belief that since we wrote the thing, we know it. We know it word for word, we can quote it, we can tell you what happens on page 23. We tell ourselves this and even dare people to test us. Of course no one does because they don't want to make us feel stupid when we really can't do it. I tell people all the time though, "Let me keep my delusion, if you don't mind. I like to think that I know my book inside and out."
This is, of course, a lie, but I'll get to that in a minute. Due to the fact that we believe this lie, we decide to forgo the reading. I mean, come on, it's only been two weeks and one day since we last looked at it, what possibly could we have forgotten????
In light of this delusion we simply go through the manuscript and start adding scenes in a flurry of typing that causes our carpal tunnel to leave us in agony. We end up adding about twenty to forty more pages to the overall book and in our defense we do read the area before and after where we added more material. Just to make sure it flows, you understand.
Feeling pleased with ourselves we finally find the itch decreased and we're feeling proud of ourselves. We now know that we can let it lie, let it sit and stew in it's own juices. Yet, we can't help but think about it. I personally spent about two years writing Memory Lane and after that much time it's ingrained into my DNA. Just one of those sad facts I'm afraid.
However, now that we've gotten over the rush, that spark of adrenaline that came from the creation of the second edition, we get clever. We start to use our ability to lie to ourselves to our advantage. How? That's simple, we ask our loved ones to read our manuscript.
We do this for two simple reasons. One, because they love us (we hope) they'll tell us approximately what we want to hear no matter how many times we ask them to rip it to shreds. Occasionally a family member will do as you ask, but let's be honest shall we, everyone wants to encourage, not discourage. Two, because then we can use this clever lie, "I'll do my third edition once everyone I sent it to reads it and gives me their opinion."
This lie is perfect for us, because some of the people we send it to can't do it immediately. It's one of the reasons we picked them, because we knew without a shadow of a doubt, that it'll take them at least six months to read it. Fooling ourselves with this ploy allows us to finally take the first piece of advice and ignore the material. We can finally get on with our life.
*sigh*
The carpal tunnel finally calms down, the main characters name is but a memory that crops up only once every two weeks depending on how busy we are. The kids start getting antsy because now you're spending your writing time with them instead of locked to your computer keyboard trying to ignore the carpal tunnel. Sure, you still do some writing, but usually it's the brainstorming for the next masterpiece that we'll work on after we're done with the first book...oh, but we're not thinking of that book....of course we're not.
Finally, six months pass and in reality only two of the four people you sent it to have finally gotten back to you, both with glowing reviews tailed along with a few "but"s. We don't mind though, we listen with a bemused smile and sometimes we'll even take that into account. Bolstered by these reviews we print out the manuscript, all neat and tidy. We get a notebook to put it all in. Why do this instead of just read it on the computer? Because it gives us that tactile feeling and let's have another bit of honesty, that rush comes back when you see this:
So, what is the point of the blog this time?
Well, it's simple, I wrote my book. I put the fated words, The End. I have the Epilogue, I have a plan for another book after it...actually for two books after it. Of course, the first step is to actually really, really finish this book. Incidentally, it's called Memory Lane and I hope you'll all forgive me if I keep particulars of it to myself. You know how it is, paranoia running rampant as it is, it is never wrong to be too careful.
The thing is this, when I first decided and started to aspire toward being a published writer (honestly, if you write, you're a writer. It doesn't matter if you're published or not, if you put a pen to paper, or sit in front of the computer for several hours at a time directing characters and scenes as they need to go, guess what? You're a writer. It's only once you get someone to say, "Yeah, this is good, let's put it on the shelves" or in the magazine...whichever, then you're a published writer. I emphasize this difference for a reason, because I don't know how many times people ask me once I tell them that I'm not published yet, "Oh, so you're trying to be a writer!" Grrr), I had always thought, believed, perhaps even been told that the hard part is writing the book.
Well, folks, let me tell you something.....
IT'S A LIE!!!!!!
Oh no, that's not that hard part. Now please, don't get me wrong, it's hard to write the bloody thing. Yes, it's actually quite difficult simply because you have to create it from scratch, put it together...etc. Frankly, it's amazing that all the writers out there aren't either crazy or bald....or both. The part that's even harder though, is editing your own writing and let me explain why.
When you get that heady feeling after writing The End, you can't help but think that it's perfect. That's it's finished, I mean finally finished. You close it, you celebrate. Perhaps you go out to dinner, get a little drunk. Heck, maybe you eat a whole pint of ice cream or treat yourself to a new gadget. Whatever you do, you can't help but walk around with this glow. This feeling of complete accomplishment. There's nothing wrong with the manuscript, you're positive of it.
Then you take all the advice that has been giving to you about it. You know which I'm talking about. The wonderful piece that says, ignore the manuscript for awhile.
If you're a writer you know what I'm talking about. If you're not, well the principle is simple. Essentially because of that heady feeling you get upon completion tends to blind all of us (yes, even the writers that have been doing this for forty years will still tell you that they get that rush. It's like what race car drivers feel when they get behind the wheel once more). I mean, really blind you.
So you forget about it, you're driving yourself nuts by saying over and over in your noggin' "I'm forgetting about it. I won't touch the manuscript. I know, I'll do something else. I'll read. Or I'll work on another story. Or I'll watch a movie. PERFECT! A movie won't let me think about my book." Then, because our brains must torture us, you unfortunately pick a movie that is about a very similar subject as your manuscript. In fact, you keep picking movies and/or activities that their only consequences is that it keeps reminding you that the manuscript is there, beckoning you.
Two weeks pass, and more than likely insanity has begun to sink in. Some muttering under the breath, giving the computer the cold shoulder. Maybe even banishment of all movies/books/activities that are designed to remind you of the bloody thing. Then it gets worse.
That night, of all the miserable things our mind can do to us, instead of dreaming of Brad Pitt (or Angelina Joline if that's more your flavor), you dream of your MANUSCRIPT!
Oh yes, that's when the straw breaks the camels back. You wake up with a jerk, sitting up and disturbing your loved ones with a feral yell, growling and crying at the same moment. In a vain attempt to chase away the driving need to run to the computer, you jump in the shower. You make it cold, if it works for other things then surely it will work in this instance. Bad luck though, it doesn't because you happen to remember a scene in the manuscript where the main character jumped into a cold shower to avoid sleeping with his best buds wife....
"That's it!" you say and hurry to dry yourself, completely unaware of the patchy spots where the towel missed. You bound down the stairs, combing your fingers through your hair as best as possibly as you run to the accursed computer and glare at it. A light mantra goes through the brain, something along the lines of "all the advice says ignore it. That's what you're going to do, it's not time to look at it yet, if you do you'll just torture yourself!"
You puff for breath, hoping to calm yourself down, but it doesn't work. You rush to eat breakfast, hoping and knowing it's the last thread of salvation. If that doesn't work, screw the life boat, send in a diver because baby, you're going to jump into the middle of the storm and bedamn the consequences!
*huffs for breath*.............
...............
.................
Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, a fun one, but one nonetheless though only slightly so. Let's call it an occupational hazard and call it good.
My point is this, for the first book, if anyone manages to go three weeks before pulling out the completed thing to look at it and do the second edition of it, I'll pay up a hundred bucks. I can't promise you can spend the money anywhere except in Monopoly the Game, but I'll pay.
I think, if memory serves, I lasted about a week and a half. I do remember that I kept trying to trick myself, to lie to myself. The one lie I remember the most is "I'm only printing it up for when I'm ready to do my editing."
That lie was echoed in my brain for about 36 hours before I realized that I was lying to myself.
Another piece of advice that all writers hear or read deals with the actual editing process. The first thing you do when you're about to do your first edit is to read the thing from start to finish. This is vital, simply because then it allows you to see the whole picture instead of scene 1 through scene 45 or whatever the last scene is. Of course, this is the second piece of advice that we all ignore for the first book....I'm not sure if we'll ignore it for the second book, but since I'm not there yet you'll have to wait to find out....
Because we've lasted at most, being generous of course, two weeks and one day, we are under the mistaken belief that since we wrote the thing, we know it. We know it word for word, we can quote it, we can tell you what happens on page 23. We tell ourselves this and even dare people to test us. Of course no one does because they don't want to make us feel stupid when we really can't do it. I tell people all the time though, "Let me keep my delusion, if you don't mind. I like to think that I know my book inside and out."
This is, of course, a lie, but I'll get to that in a minute. Due to the fact that we believe this lie, we decide to forgo the reading. I mean, come on, it's only been two weeks and one day since we last looked at it, what possibly could we have forgotten????
In light of this delusion we simply go through the manuscript and start adding scenes in a flurry of typing that causes our carpal tunnel to leave us in agony. We end up adding about twenty to forty more pages to the overall book and in our defense we do read the area before and after where we added more material. Just to make sure it flows, you understand.
Feeling pleased with ourselves we finally find the itch decreased and we're feeling proud of ourselves. We now know that we can let it lie, let it sit and stew in it's own juices. Yet, we can't help but think about it. I personally spent about two years writing Memory Lane and after that much time it's ingrained into my DNA. Just one of those sad facts I'm afraid.
However, now that we've gotten over the rush, that spark of adrenaline that came from the creation of the second edition, we get clever. We start to use our ability to lie to ourselves to our advantage. How? That's simple, we ask our loved ones to read our manuscript.
We do this for two simple reasons. One, because they love us (we hope) they'll tell us approximately what we want to hear no matter how many times we ask them to rip it to shreds. Occasionally a family member will do as you ask, but let's be honest shall we, everyone wants to encourage, not discourage. Two, because then we can use this clever lie, "I'll do my third edition once everyone I sent it to reads it and gives me their opinion."
This lie is perfect for us, because some of the people we send it to can't do it immediately. It's one of the reasons we picked them, because we knew without a shadow of a doubt, that it'll take them at least six months to read it. Fooling ourselves with this ploy allows us to finally take the first piece of advice and ignore the material. We can finally get on with our life.
*sigh*
The carpal tunnel finally calms down, the main characters name is but a memory that crops up only once every two weeks depending on how busy we are. The kids start getting antsy because now you're spending your writing time with them instead of locked to your computer keyboard trying to ignore the carpal tunnel. Sure, you still do some writing, but usually it's the brainstorming for the next masterpiece that we'll work on after we're done with the first book...oh, but we're not thinking of that book....of course we're not.
Finally, six months pass and in reality only two of the four people you sent it to have finally gotten back to you, both with glowing reviews tailed along with a few "but"s. We don't mind though, we listen with a bemused smile and sometimes we'll even take that into account. Bolstered by these reviews we print out the manuscript, all neat and tidy. We get a notebook to put it all in. Why do this instead of just read it on the computer? Because it gives us that tactile feeling and let's have another bit of honesty, that rush comes back when you see this:
Memory Lane
by Jessica McClary
by Jessica McClary
I mean, come on, of course that looks cool. If you were me, you'd think the same thing.
Right, so, after grinning like an idiot for thirty minutes, we prepare to read our book, start to finish, no stopping. Our hearts are racing, we're expecting it to be just as wonderful as we remember it. We even had chased out everyone from the house so we can have it to ourselves. A drink on the right, munchies on the left and we're set.
Forty minutes later you're depressed. Crash and burn baby!
Why? Because you just realized that scene two, which you remember so gloriously, had the last fourteen sentences start with the word "She". You left out half of the description you see in your head and, oh yeah, you're character is having mood swings she's not suppose to be having. As you get further in, you're depression gets worse...and worse.....and worse until you're crying into your manuscript by the time your family comes home. Your loved ones ask what's wrong and you wail:
"I suck!"
At which point your husband (or wife) spends the next hour trying to assure you that you don't suck while reminding you that it is the first book that you actually finished and that no one gets it right the first time they write it. Not even established writers that everyone knows is that good.
By the time you recover enough to continue reading it's well into the night. Yet, you keep plugging at it while keeping that mantra going at full force "no one does it right the first edition," then your remember, this is your second edition and you are trying not to cry again.
It takes you two or three days to finally read it all from start to finish, fighting off the temptation to make a few corrections right then. You put it to the side and then, because you're so ashamed of your so called talent, you ignore it for three more weeks. Oh, sure, you make up a worthy excuse for not doing anything about it, but again, honesty should prevail. In reality what we're doing is trying to avoid staring at the truth....you have to do more than shine it up, you have to make repairs because if you don't, forget about getting published.
When you finally get the nerve up to pull it out along with the pen, the highlighter and whatever tools you want to do the deed with, you're nervous. Despite that, you push through, choosing your ideal position to start, get comfortable then stare at the cover trying to talk yourself the rest of the way.
It works and sure enough, there's the first page with the fated words "Chapter 1". Taking several deep breaths you start and that's when you realize that all the times you had thought that the hard part was to write the thing was...A LIE!
This is where I am now by the way. I'm working on my third edition and I've only gotten to 67/244 pages. I've been working on this edition since August 2008 so you can see why I feel the way I do. In the last three and half months I've added over 9 thousand words and about 20 more pages while trying to keep the depression from wrapping around me. As I read more and more, subtracting and adding what is needed, I keep telling myself "next time will be better" and "don't you worry Jess, you're making it better, you're making it awesome. After this one, maybe you'll be ready to find an agent and/or a publisher. Keep your chin up!"
And that is my reality. That is what I'm finding out it takes to be a writer. Not only do you have to write it, you have to play mind games on yourself so that you can do it right. I am learning and now I will be sharing so that hopefully, fewer people will make the same mistakes as I am and get a few laughs while they are at it.
Right, so, after grinning like an idiot for thirty minutes, we prepare to read our book, start to finish, no stopping. Our hearts are racing, we're expecting it to be just as wonderful as we remember it. We even had chased out everyone from the house so we can have it to ourselves. A drink on the right, munchies on the left and we're set.
Forty minutes later you're depressed. Crash and burn baby!
Why? Because you just realized that scene two, which you remember so gloriously, had the last fourteen sentences start with the word "She". You left out half of the description you see in your head and, oh yeah, you're character is having mood swings she's not suppose to be having. As you get further in, you're depression gets worse...and worse.....and worse until you're crying into your manuscript by the time your family comes home. Your loved ones ask what's wrong and you wail:
"I suck!"
At which point your husband (or wife) spends the next hour trying to assure you that you don't suck while reminding you that it is the first book that you actually finished and that no one gets it right the first time they write it. Not even established writers that everyone knows is that good.
By the time you recover enough to continue reading it's well into the night. Yet, you keep plugging at it while keeping that mantra going at full force "no one does it right the first edition," then your remember, this is your second edition and you are trying not to cry again.
It takes you two or three days to finally read it all from start to finish, fighting off the temptation to make a few corrections right then. You put it to the side and then, because you're so ashamed of your so called talent, you ignore it for three more weeks. Oh, sure, you make up a worthy excuse for not doing anything about it, but again, honesty should prevail. In reality what we're doing is trying to avoid staring at the truth....you have to do more than shine it up, you have to make repairs because if you don't, forget about getting published.
When you finally get the nerve up to pull it out along with the pen, the highlighter and whatever tools you want to do the deed with, you're nervous. Despite that, you push through, choosing your ideal position to start, get comfortable then stare at the cover trying to talk yourself the rest of the way.
It works and sure enough, there's the first page with the fated words "Chapter 1". Taking several deep breaths you start and that's when you realize that all the times you had thought that the hard part was to write the thing was...A LIE!
This is where I am now by the way. I'm working on my third edition and I've only gotten to 67/244 pages. I've been working on this edition since August 2008 so you can see why I feel the way I do. In the last three and half months I've added over 9 thousand words and about 20 more pages while trying to keep the depression from wrapping around me. As I read more and more, subtracting and adding what is needed, I keep telling myself "next time will be better" and "don't you worry Jess, you're making it better, you're making it awesome. After this one, maybe you'll be ready to find an agent and/or a publisher. Keep your chin up!"
And that is my reality. That is what I'm finding out it takes to be a writer. Not only do you have to write it, you have to play mind games on yourself so that you can do it right. I am learning and now I will be sharing so that hopefully, fewer people will make the same mistakes as I am and get a few laughs while they are at it.
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