Author Erica Orloff's Blog

Celluloid Underground

2009-07-03T20:05:00.001-04:00

I have another new place to hang out. Kath Calarco, a regular on this blog, has started an indie film discussion blog. I am very excited about this, as Kath seems like a film soul mate. We have compared notes on films, actors (Mark Ruffalo, I love you!), screenwriting, setting . . .

If you like indie films . . . head on over to Kath's this weekend. There is a line-up of movies and weeks when the discussions will post (upper right-hand side of the blog). Should be a lot of fun, and I hope a way to broaden film horizons . . . maybe checking out some of these indie gems you might not otherwise stick in your Netflix queue.

http://celluloidunderground.blogspot.com/

HAPPY 4th!

I'm Not a Sensible Woman

2009-07-03T08:14:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking a lot about identity lately. Whenever I attend a party, chances are at SOME point I will be introduced to someone I don't know . . . and if we are conversing, and I say something like, "When I was doing x or y during the week--I work from home--this happened." And at the work-from-home prompt (I never offer that I am a novelist), perhaps, or some other cue, the new acquaintance will say, "Oh! You're the WRITER!"

I usually smile and nod. I generally try to run.

Sometimes, I can't. And lately, it seems like I am recognized in public a little more often. HENCE, and I KID YOU NOT, a nurse sticking EKG lines on my naked chest and moving my left breast said, "You know, I've read Diary of a Blues Goddess."

My cardiologist will discuss books with me--my chest isn't naked, but face it, the stethescope goes somewhere. So . . . I go through life as a mom. A house frau [my fave Urban Dictionary descibes that as a "disgruntled housewife"--I'm SO there]. A volunteer. A reader. A knitter. A WRITER, I guess.

So . . . do I NEED to be known as the writer? I have this blog. But you are all little pictures to me. :-) Pictures I love, but pictures nonetheless. You are not seeing me covered in mud, wrestling worms with Demon Baby in my garden.

I am reminded of The Little Prince for the thousandth time. The boa contrictor who swallowed the elephant. The child of COURSE sees the boa. Adults . . . they see a hat. If you don't recall it . . . here it is [one of them refers to adults, and the Drawing is the boa constictor who swallowed the elephant, drawn when the now-adult narrator was a child]:

Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding. But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say:
"That is a hat."

Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.

Why are labels and identity important? I think of myself as a big ball of ME. I'm not sure when I "owned" being a writer. Perhaps because I worked as a book editor, I was comfortable in that word. I don't know. But I don't know that I need to tell grown-ups what it is I do.

In the end, I don't know that it is important to me. My label. I am not a sensible woman.

Thoughts?

A Tale of Coffee and Writing

2009-07-02T08:34:00.004-04:00

I would venture to say there isn't a writer under the sun who doesn't approach writing like I do coffee.

Ah, me and coffee. Sometimes, I greedily suck down a POT of coffee when I am under deadline.

I can stand in line in Starbucks and just revel in the aroma. I can smell it brewing in my kitchen all the way up in my bedroom. I love the SOUND of coffee brewing. Simply put, I love coffee.

Then I try to kick the habit. In fact, I met my acupuncturist while trying to kick the habit. For six months or so, I went to him and had needles poked into me all over my body. Some were for stress and high blood pressure, some for this or that, digestive health, energy. But a few were to help me through caffeine withdrawals.

OLDEST DAUGHTER (hello, honey . . . see . . . you made the blog today!) said to me, "Mom . . . you can't give up coffee anymore than you can stop being weird [a digression, I was DEVASTATED to learn all my children do NOT think I am like Carol Brady and instead say I am an impossibly eccentric mom, which I guess I knew, but I was trying SO hard to be Carol Brady-esque]. It's who you are. Drink coffee. You can't give it up."

So I went crawling back . . . like a jilted lover, I begged coffee to just take me into its arms again. And there I still am to this day.

Sort of like writing.

Which brings me to motivation. Why do you write? A regular here has been struggling with motivation. And there's not ONE of us who doesn't know what that's like. But give it up?

I think not.

Look . . . sometimes the odds seem daunting. Sometimes reviewers are cruel. Sometimes your manuscript has a serious case of the mehs. Sometimes it seems like you are just banging your head against the proverbial wall.

But face it. You can't give it up. And if you COULD then you were never really a writer to begin with. Yes. You heard me.

So get over it. Go brew a pot of friggin' Joe and write.

Thoughts?

Proposal Time and Voice

2009-07-01T09:48:00.003-04:00

I have Magickeepers II to turn in this month, and I have rewrites for Star-Crossed (to be published by Penguin) due at the very tail end of this month. And then . . . it's really proposal time.

I have at least four books I can legitimately pull together and do proposals for. I also have a lingering comedy that I STILL own the website for because I am convinced it's going to sell when the comedy climate is healthier.

I am sure there is some thought that once you are published consistently, you can sell "anything." Which is completely false. It's a different rejection process. Usually the reasons are about market . . . or concept . . . not writing, in particular, or even flaws in what the editor is seeing.

So then it boils down, for me, in determining what to put out there. I was thinking about it this morning, and my process generally looks something like:

Make sure it's got a hook. An unbelievable, grab you in twenty words or less concept.
Characters that aren't familiar. No (for me) detectives, or cops or anything that doesn't have an unusual spin. If it's not an unusual character (in my case, I've had compulsive gamblers, adult children of the Irish mob, a Vietnamese-American child of someone who dropped heroin on Cambodia after the Vietnam war, for example), then it's the spin that counts.
5-7 pages for a synopsis.
Being sure of what's selling, what's hot, what's fading.
Most importantly, being positive I am the only person who can write this story. That it has my unique imprint and voice.

I think the last one is about the writing. Why does one writer's book stand out on an editor's pile? I think, often, of Joe Barone's novel. I'm sure he won't mind me saying . . . he's not your typical publishing story. He's an older published author, after working as a minister. For those who say ageism and so on exist in publishing (and indeed, I think it does), Joe is pretty inspiring. So what landed him his publishing contract? I think the final bullet point on my list. He has the most original character--a man committed to a mental institution who calls himself Roy Rogers.

What about Stephen? He landed a publishing contract without an agent--while living in GERMANY. With an AMERICAN publisher. Tricky feat that one. But his story? I would be willing to say his background as a cartographer . . . means the final point is precisely true for his first published novel. (Even if he can't play Scrabble to save his life.)

Me? I think my eccentricities, my family background, my full and pretty adventurous life, my philosophies and interests . . . mean I am for sure the only one who can write dialogue the way I do. My voice is mine.

Thoughts?

Time

2009-06-30T08:37:00.003-04:00

So I got up early today to walk five miles with one of my dogs. At 6:30 or 7:00 a.m., the heat hasn't settled on the air yet, and the day smells fresh. This is the first time I have walked in a while . . . which is a long story in and of itself involving surgery, a cardiologist, and all sorts of insanity. But I am now cleared to get back into my routine, which in and of itself has been neglected since I have pneumonia AND the Type-B flu this February. Anyway, I decided I wanted to track my progress, and while I was at it, because I eat vegetarian for the most part, I would keep a food diary since I don't think I am getting nearly enough protein and I am bruising an insane amount. So I found a fabulous online (FREE!) journal and started filling it out. When it asked what my activity level was, I clicked to find out where they would rate walking five miles in an hour each day. It's between "low active" and "active." To obtain "very active"--I would have to walk OVER FOUR HOURS each day.

Now listen . . . this got me thinking about time. FOUR HOURS? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE WHO HAVE FOUR HOURS TO DEVOTE TO WALKING? Four HOURS?!?! Clearly none of them have a Demon Baby.

Which, I noted, is NOT a choice for exercise. When my cardiologist asked me what I did for exercise, I said, "I chase a Demon Baby. YOU may not count that, but trust me . . . "

Which all brings me to writing. I can honestly say that not a day goes by that I don't hear from a friend, a reader, or a fellow writer, who asks, "HOW can you have four kids, including a Demon Baby, and write at home full-time? Where do you find the time? What is your routine?"

Well, for starters, I do not walk four hours a day.

I find I have to pay attention to the rhythm of my house. In summer, I rise a solid two hours before the rest of the house. In the school year, I get up a half hour before my kids and once they are off to school, use the earliest part of the day to write, blog, and deal with email. If I indeed live in chaos, I find the pockets of serenity and USE them.

I prewrite in my head a lot (!!) so when I sit down to write, I have a sense of purpose, know what I am working on, and focus.

I don't write every day. I wish I did, but life intervenes. However, when I write, I do not coddle myself. I kick ass and just crank it out. I am often amused by my Facebook writer friends. Usually the ones with no kids. Who post about candles and fancy fruit-flavored sodas and the luxuriousness of HOURS stretched out in front of them to write. These women do not have my life.

I excise with scalpel-like surgical precision what I call "crap" from my life. That includes crap TV. Books I'm not enjoying. Fake ANYTHING (friends, acquaintances). I won't even greet the Barbie moms at the pool. Not because I am a big b*tch (though I am sure many think I am), but because I really have no TIME for gossip (!!) or small talk, which is mostly what I hear them blathering about. Gossip. Ten minutes is TEN minutes. It's ten minutes I can't get back, so no. I choose very carefully where I spend my time. I'd rather silently PRAY than waste my lips on gossip with virtual strangers. I don't answer my phone. Ever. (Unless it's my kids or my parents.) I volunteer a lot, but for things that are meaningful to me. I never run single errands at a time and try to multitask on housework as much as possible.

Most days, I long for more time.

How about you? How do you carve out time to write?

Need a Laugh?

2009-06-29T08:33:00.001-04:00

If you really do . . . if you hate Mondays, if you need a laugh . . . you MUST visit the Demon Baby Blog today . . . and be SURE to read through the first link to the end of the comments . . . and then see the second link.

Enough said.

Enjoy your laugh.

http://demonbabyandme.blogspot.com/2009/06/dear-erie.html

Happy Monday.

Hope for Sunday

2009-06-28T08:10:00.002-04:00

Very long-time readers of this blog know I read the New York Times online each Sunday, primarily for the Weddings and Celebrations column. I have no idea what prompts me to read about the weddings of strangers. I don't know how I feel about the institution of marriage. I know 50% of marriages end in divorce. Doesn't matter. I read and smile . . . the idea of hope and love found and loneliness lost. Today's story made me smile. The odds are against them, but damn . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/fashion/weddings/28VOWS.html?ref=weddings

Have a hopeful Sunday.

Top Ten Things I Learned About Being a Writer--Courtesy of Demon Baby

2009-06-26T09:50:00.003-04:00

1. You may THINK you need peace, quiet, candles, and a nice sonata on your iPod, but you can write with oatmeal on your shirt, a naked kid doing a breakdance in your office, and the Clash on the stereo.

2. When all else fails, a break to blow soap bubbles will cure what ails you.

3. Be thankful for the little things . . . like the birds in the nest outside your window and the worms in your garden that are now on your desk courtesy of a naked kid. It keeps life in perspective. Writers need perspective.

4. Make-believe is a rockin' way to go through life.

5. Embrace life. Gulp it in. That way you'll have lots to write about.

6. Work hard. Play harder.

7. When you've had a lousy day writing, get naked. [Aside. . . sometimes it does help.]

8. Naps are for wimps.

9. Save your work. Often.

10. Never let a Demon Baby with a peanut butter sandwich close to your CPU. Same for a Demon Baby, a glass of OJ, and your keyboard.

Thoughts? What has someone ELSE taught you about being a writer?

How to Be a Writer

2009-06-25T09:40:00.003-04:00

Despite the title of my post, I really have no idea. I can teach people all sorts of rules of writing. I can mentor, guide, critique, even heavily edit someone's material. But I can't TEACH someone how to be a writer. Not really.

However, I have come to realize the people who succeed, those that I know personally over the years who have gotten contracts, big and small, who are still in the game years later, who seem to have a fan following, all of that . . . they seem to share some common traits. I am sure you notice a few yourself if you read enough blogs and talk to enough writers.

I have come to the conclusion that persistence is overrated. [Before you shriek, wait for the rest of this.] If you persist in sending a steaming pile of meh out, the same steaming pile of meh, a hundred times, you might wear down some poor underling editor at a small house, but I don't think you'll embody success. I have seen bull-headed writers insist they are the next Hemingway or Salinger or Fitzgerald, and no amount of critiquing--gentle or otherwise--seems to stand in the way of their delusion. They are PERSISTENT. Persistence can be learned, but there is also a personality type that simply refuses to give up. Call it delusion. I used to know a woman married to an actor--a singularly unattractive man who could not act his way out of a paper bag, but refused to get a day job lest he miss his "big call" while she slaved away long hours supporting his dream. Nope . . . that is supporting a delusion.

So I think before persistence, there must be a willingness, an incredible OPENNESS to learn craft.

Then persistence.

I think writers also have to have an understanding that this isn't easy. That's it's a marathon, not a sprint. That your first novel might sit in a drawer forever because it was like kindergarten and it might be your fifth or sixth or tenth novel that really gels.

The writers I know that I consider successful never stop learning.

Note these are all TRAITS more than "don't overuse adverbs."

So what would you add to the list? So far I have:

Openness
Persistence
Endurance
A mind open to learning

Maybe it's that there is a different between learning HOW TO WRITE and learning HOW TO BE A WRITER. What do you want to add to the list?

Time Signatures

2009-06-24T10:38:00.004-04:00

So Oldest Daughter was driving me to a medical appointment, and we had the windows open and Neil Young on. I happen to love Neil, the morning was cool and breezy, and the sun was shining. His guitar was playing, his voice ringing out. Oldest said, "You know, I really like Neil Young, but as a MUSICIAN listening to him . . . Mom, no one in rock does that with this time signature. No one. And do you realize he writes flawless nine-minute songs . . . instead of just two-minute radio-friendly songs. And listen to that key this song is in . . ."

So I listened. And frankly, I can't hear anything but . . . well, Neil Young. I did SORT OF understand what she was saying, something about six beats or something or other. I nodded. I know she knows what she's talking about. Me? It's kjust music, but I love that she understands it on another level.

And I thought about it.

Now that you write . . . I mean, for most of us, we've ALWAYS written, but now that you pursue it seriously, or you are really learning craft, what writers or books do you go back to NOW and see those amazing time signatures? You SEE now how they made it look so easy and sound so perfect, but it was always just rock 'n' roll before. Now you see the craft.

I think for me, re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird. I enjoyed it before. I feel breathless now.

And you?

Coming Soon

2009-06-21T15:27:00.003-04:00

In about two weeks, it will be my thousandth post.

Holy crap.

I mean . . . when I started . . . I really had no idea if I had anything to say. Let alone being able to sustain a blog mostly about writing for . . . well, a thousand posts.

Over time, I split off some of my parenting material into its own blog. I still had stuff to say.

So now I realize, as if I didn't before . . . that writers are just hardwired to communicate. To process the world as writers.

At lunch today, Oldest Daughter asked, "Why didn't you ever marry or fall in love with a writer?"

"Two writers living together would kill each other. Two people hardwired the same way. Two people who live in their heads."

"Margaret Atwood's life partner is a writer."

"And I bet it bothers him that no matter what he does, he will never, ever be as good a writer as Margaret Atwood."

"I thought the same thing. But I always hang out with musicians."

Our friend asked, "So could you be married to another violinist?"

"No," she said. "But maybe a cellist or a violist or other string instrument."

Nearly a thousand posts. Still trying to make my journey as a writer. Still assuming the journey is just a thousand more layers. Neverending. Still thinking, when I sometimes contemplate quitting the whole writing game . . . that it's impossible.

Hardwired.

Thoughts?

Celebration Friday

2009-06-19T08:44:00.003-04:00

Just because I feel like it . . . today is Celebration Friday. In random order . . . here's what we're celebrating around here (and you will notice, we can celebrate BIG things and small things . . . that's the point):

1. One of this blogs regulars is blogging at the NY TIMES (!!!) today. Go read her poignant post on Father's Day. AMY NATHAN, have some champagne on me!

2. I dyed Baby Girl's hair pink last night. With bleach and SPLAT color and it came out awesome and I didn't screw it up. If you have ever tried to dye hair a funky color (especially using bleach first) . . . you will realize this is cause for celebration. She is the rockingest 11-year-old around.

3. My editor at Penguin and I finally spoke after her maternity leave, and STAR-CROSSED is still a "go." As back story . . . I sold this in March 2008, turned it in, got a rewrite letter, my editor went on maternity for a while (longer than usual). Let me tell you that maternity leave can occasionally mean . . . your editor doesn't return. While ON maternity leave . . . the recession. The eulogy for publishing. The bottom falls out. The layoffs in the biz. I had no idea if my book would end up shelved. It's a single-title YA. It didn't get shelved. It's still a go. Damn . . . I'm having champagne.

4. My supermarket started selling my favorite peppers on their antipasto bar again. LOVE them.

Now it's your turn.

What are you celebrating today?

Stuck in My Head: The Balance Between Discipline and Creativity

2009-06-18T08:22:00.003-04:00

First . . . I have got to have you click over to this review of Freudian Slip because it has the most HI-LAR-I-OUS first line in a book review ever. Worth the trip, no?

All right . . . so . . . where do I get my ideas from? The $64,000 question I get asked all the time when people find out I am a writer (which is why I usually say I am an actuary). I'll tell you where. I woke up at 4:00 a.m. yesterday, stressed out, tired, kicked in the back by Demon Baby who was in my bed and insists on sleeping "thisclose" to me. And I had a Shiny New Idea. Not just ANY Shiny New Idea, but a totally awesome, got a major hook/concept that I think ANY editor would want to at least look at, kick-butt idea.

Only problem? I am 150 pages into my thriller rewrite.

What's a writer to do?

Well, if you're me, you'll at least try the voice on for size and get something down on paper until you have time to flesh it out.

But here is something I have learned over time. Those Shiny New Ideas that come along fairly rarely, that give you goosebumps, that have the high-concept piece, that could be a breakout novel? They don't come along every day, so you snatch 'em when you can. But the other piece of that is at some point, you have got to marry that with discipline or you would stop every work in progress because something new and shinier comes along. Abandon books often enough and it will become a bad habit. Slog through finishing . . . .

On this blog, I tend to blather about process and life. But not often enough about discipline. I suppose it's because my life LOOKS undisciplined. It's messy around the edges, loud as the Clash blasting on my stereo, left-of-center, chaotic. But somewhere in that mess is a disciplined writer who has managed to write 20+ novels though four pregnancies and enough disaster and crisis for ten people. That takes tucking your head down, facing the wind, and just doing it.

Sometimes Shiny New Ideas get stuck in my head. But to really succeed, I always have to find the Middle Path. The Buddhist approach to writing. A balance between the worlds of discipline and creativity.

Thoughts?

Pacing: The Road

2009-06-17T08:54:00.005-04:00

I write character-driven novels. You don't have to ask me. You can read reviews in places like Booklist or Romantic Times or PW or Kirkus. At some point, most reviewers seem to mention that.

However, it seems as if many writers tend to think of character-driven versus plot-driven as a fork in the road. You take one. You take the other. At the end of the Yellow Brick Road, you arrive at Oz with one type of book or another.

However, I have come to the conclusion--and this was not an easily arrived-at conclusion--that, in fact, if you want to excel at pacing, at a page turner, at not having a meh manuscript, each and every scene must advance the plot AND, if possible, our understanding of the character. You have to DRIVE your book down a road that winds these two elements together seamlessly.

I didn't used to think that. Considering myself a clever gal . . . if I had a clever scene . . . it stayed, particularly if I felt you just needed to see this particular side of a character.

No more.

When editors talk about pacing . . . this is really what they mean, I think.

Now, generally, when I talk about pacing, I will hear from a writer who will say something along the lines of, "It can't be relentless all the time. The characters will need a break here or there . .. so will the readers."

Nope.

Case in point. Last night at my group, I had a scene with an assassin checking into a hotel to establish an alibi. It takes three pages for him to check in. The scene shows (1) his methodical nature; (2) the manner in which he will have an alibi; (3) how completely banal he can appear to the outside world when in fact he is a cold-blooded killer (one I am actually quite fond of, since he is NOT actually, the villain).

Three pages. The scene works . . . it is a "pause" of sorts before a huge action arc lasting two chapters. But it both advances the plot (we know an assassination is going to take place) and character (we see his nature). It does not include any witty repartee to show how clever I am. It's not aimless. It's not a REAL pause in the action. The pace is still moving at a clip. It cannot be cut. If I cut it, and he suddenly turned up, readers would ask, "Well how did HE get there?"

I used to resist pacing. I really did. But now I see that the road isn't a fork, but is winding all its own in unison. And the pace of the journey better be a page at a time, unable to be put down.

Thoughts?

The World

2009-06-16T07:52:00.002-04:00

Oldest Son is apparently reincarnated. Oldest Daughter, too. Well, heck all four of them. They arrived on this planet and with NO direction from me, so to speak, they had passions. Oldest Daughter and violin--never saw THAT coming. She was THREE for heaven's sake. And Oldest Son has now discovered, at fourteen, "the woods." Stick that young man with a fishing pole out in the woods by a lake and you might not see him again for ten hours. He would love nothing more than for me to sell our house and us to move a few miles further into the country (which is, indeed, my intent in a few years). And while I love to fish, the kid has been camping only once or twice (I have promised to remedy this . . . which is kind of scary . . . I will be unplugging and camping this summer at some point), and this seems something very primal, very innate, very SOULFUL to him. My own Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Except that his mom is a novelist. And all I can think, if he is out of my sight in the woods . . . is . . . serial killers.

I can't help it.

And this is something innate to me. I have been checking under the bed since before kindergarten. What I expected to find there? Not sure. But by the time I KNEW what a serial killer was . . . that's what I expected to find. I was born to be a novelist, I think.

But I wonder, in my novelist mind, whether it all boils down to how you view the world. Is the world safe? Or unsafe? Do those labels change when you have children? Or when you suffer some experience? Or . . . depending on your faith, or your worldview?

Is it a novelist's affliction to read this . . . and think, "Creepy . . . but a good book idea"? Do we gravitate to this stuff, no matter what we write?

And I can tell you, this is a house of love. We try to be optimistic around here. It's a house full of Buddha statues. It's a house where we hold hands and pray--OUT LOUD. When we pass an ambulance, we all pray for the people inside. All of us. It's a reflex. So I don't know that it's how I live my life . . . I don't cower from the world.

But man . . . I am not happy the kid wants to go off in the woods.

Thoughts? Do novelists' imaginations necessarily color their worldview?

Margins

2009-06-15T08:29:00.004-04:00

It used to be that I got back my manuscripts covered in Post-it notes. My editor would scrawl in the margin or slap a Post-it. Not a lot of notes, generally. Maybe every two or three pages. Sometimes they are asides, "HA! loved this" or "I cried here." I like getting an inside view of a reader's head AS they are going through the manuscript. For years, that's what I did as I edited other people's books. I wasted a lot of trees. The whole publishing business did.

Along came Track Changes. Some editors use it. Some don't (largely depends, in my experience, on whether they have long commutes when they work on the train and hence paper is a better fit). Same thing . . . comments in the margin. Sometimes I use them now when I edit . . . sometimes not (with my writers' group it's 50-50 since we talk through stuff during the meeting).

Here's what I notice lately.

If there are a lot of questions about motivation . . . a scene is sunk.

Now, I have been giving this a LOT of thought. In fact, I thought about it during Law & Order last night. You see, in each show, they are trying to solve a case. And when the detectives leave a scene, after, say, questioning the matriarch of a powerful family, there will be something not quite right. Detective A will say to Detective B, "Did you notice how she never even ASKED how her grandson was doing?" Detective B will say, "Cold-hearted." And we, the viewer, know what our takeaway lesson is supposed to be, though really, we figured it out, it's for those who missed it and apparently need a cheat sheet.

But . . . and here's my takeaway, the scene CAN ALWAYS work on its own. What do I mean? There is not much about the scene that's hugely off. The dialogue COULD work on its own. The scene isn't one between two detectives and someone whose dialogue is literally off the wall and with huge noticeable gaps. The scene works. What is UNSAID is subtle and the astute viewer will pick it up (and if not, Detectives Goren and Eames will fill you in because hey, they only have an hour to solve this thing).

Move this to writing. It's okay to plant red herrings. It's okay to leave clues in the unsaid. But each scene still has to work. Readers cannot finish a scene, scratch their heads, and go "huh?" When I edit something now, and have seven or eight "huhs?" in the Track Changes, I know a writer's scene is in trouble. If the writer responds to me and says, "Well, you are going to find out what this means on page 180," I have news for them. The scene did not deliver. The scene and dialogue HAVE to work without enormous problems where it is. And those who master this--in thrillers and in mysteries, and in fiction of every type--are writers to learn from.

Keep your margins clean. :-)

Thoughts?

Finish This Sentence . . .

2009-06-14T08:29:00.001-04:00

. . . and don't forget to tell us why.

The person who inspires me most, living or dead is . . . . .

And have a blessed, compassionate, and joy-filled Sunday.

Glow

2009-06-13T08:00:00.003-04:00

Let's say you have a knack for writing. In high school and your twenties, you create short story after short story, novella after novella. You earn As for your efforts in university. Then someone says, "Why not try writing a novel?" You think . . . "Can I write 300 pages about something? Anything? THREE HUNDRED pages?" You have no idea, but you know there's something, some badge of courage won by writing the Great American Novel. So you labor. For a LONG time. Like a year. Maybe more. You see the end in sight. In fact, you know you are within . . . oh, maybe a week or two from writing "The End." You type the words. You lean back in your desk chair with a contented sigh. You bask in the glory. YOU are a novelist. Lots of people TALK about writing a novel. YOU actually wrote one.

And then, a day or so after the glow has worn off, you realize you don't know sh*t and the REAL work has yet to begin.

Welcome to the life of a novelist.

I can always tell the person writing their first novel from the person on their 10th. It's a glow thing. Sometimes the person writing their first novel is already knee-deep in realizing how hard it is, but sometimes not. They are learning process. Characterization. Plot. It can even be a darn good novel! I sold my second completed novel, the first one I ever really attempted to put out there. But there's something about my friends--many of them regulars on this blog--who are battle scarred from having done this a few times.

I think it comes from the clarity they have that you never master writing. There are always stuck scenes and things that aren't working. You will always have those moments paused over the cursor when the right word--the exact word--just won't come. You talk to yourself. You drink copious amounts of coffee. When that fails, you drink a martini. When that fails . . . well, I won't reveal the self-destructive habits of my pals. You know who you are.

You trade the glow for sweat equity. And you never stop learning. You claw through the forest . . . to realize, Holy crap . . . there's ANOTHER forest and you are just as blind.

You learn. You get better. But then you gain the wisdom to know where you still have miles to go.

But here's the thing. It's supposed to be like that. It's supposed to be hard. You are supposed to get your a** kicked by the story gods once in a while.

But if you want to play the game, you're not allowed to quit.

So go write today.

Thoughts? What wisdom have you gained now that you've lost the glow?

Wag Your Tails On Over . . .

2009-06-11T07:30:00.001-04:00

. . . to Wendy Keel's site. I'm guesting there today, talking about characters and their pets.

http://mybookaddictionandmore.wordpress.com/

Chemistry 101

2009-06-10T08:05:00.002-04:00

So Oldest Daughter is making me watch an entire season of True Blood on our video on demand. I had walked in about two nights ago when she was watching it in my room. People, there's a LOT of sex on that show. But then she started telling me the whole back story. When she got to the part that the female lead's boss is a DOG (shapeshifter), I threw up my hands. "Forget it!" I mean, this is not for me.

UNTIL . . . the vampire and the female lead shared screen time. Folks . . . Chemistry 101. I was hooked. So, just as she did with House, she is catching me up, fast forwarding through boring parts so it's just the good stuff, letting me know who is who.

And I started thinking about it. If you have ever seen a movie with bad chemistry between the leads (hmm . . . I am thinking a very bad movie with Hugh Jackman and Ashley Judd) then watched something with totally hot chemistry like Mr. and Mrs. Smith, or last night's completely had me falling off the bed scene between a vampire and a human . . . then it's sort of puzzling.

From a writing perspective, these shows have scripts CALLING for chemistry. But you can create all the banter you want, and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. I mean, I SO want HIM to star in THIS. (Genius? Are you sending this to his agent?) But would that guarantee chemistry with the female lead? I have no idea.

I have been getting reader emails about the sex scene between Kate and Julian. They think it's hot. I think I wrote them with chemistry. But what IS it that does so?

In my opinion, it starts with brains. Then banter. Which is why short-cutting that and making it all about rippled abs or whatever . . . does nothing for me. (And given Julian has no body, that's just as well in the case of Freudian Slip.) Maybe it's a moment of vulnerability--just a minute, a moment, a conversation--when someone let's someone else in.

So I toss it to the peanut gallery. What creates chemistry? Best onscreen chemistry? Book chemistry? How do you create it?

New

2009-06-09T07:50:00.002-04:00

When I was in my early- to mid-20s, I was in two different writing groups over the years, both of which had members decades older than I was. I walked in with my very (VERY!) dark noir stories, cowboy boots, and (in one group) baby, and generally received accolades. I can do noir. I could do it at 20. Heck, I could do it in my teens. That's what I wrote, gritty short stories of prostitutes and drug addicts and alcoholics. I aspired to be the female version of him (though I have to honestly say I read a Scudder novel recently and could not get through it--so obviously, I was in some kind of angsty phase).

And then the BEST thing happened to me. I decided to write something different. And though my group at the time said the characters were amazing, my writing was off my rhythm. I had to learn a whole new rhythm for writing that was not noir. I had to endure criticism after hearing years of "you are a very talented young writer." I had to figure out if I was going to continue to write in my comfort zone forever, accumulating praise or try something else.

Time went on. I formed my current writing group 16 years ago, give or take. Over the years, I've tried my hand at a screenplay, a one-act play, YA, chick lit (I prefer the term "comedies"), and now a thriller. I've written short stories when I was stuck. And Oldest Daughter found a folder of my old poetry this week and told me, flat-out, she thinks that is my BEST writing ever and I should write a poetry collection.

I realize now that my progress as a writer has been marked by trying something new . . . feeling like I have conquered it (or at least learned the rules, tried on a voice, something), and then SEEKING out something new to make me feel off-kilter and grow again. Then, when I return to something I am familiar with, like a muscle that's been stretched and tightened, I bring a new perspective and insights. Characters are characters, after all.

I sometimes watch other writers essentially tinker with the same character over and over again, just in different books or different settings. It's funny, but I started a book two months ago--even got my agent all excited about it. But I realize I was returning to old territory, so if it's not fresh to me, then there's no point. So now it's about taking the same plot (it's a good idea) and seeing what I can do with it that goes deeper, smarter, leaner, whatever.

I hope he guesses I mean him, but I beta read for a friend and it was a new genre for him. I had some criticisms and some positives. But I forgot to give him a big bravo for trying something on for size.

So here's my best bit of advice for your morning cup of java. You want to improve as a writer? Turn your writing world upside down every once in a while. And for heaven's sake . . . don't keep seeking out the praise. It's an addiction and after a while, it'll poison your writing.

Half a cent for Tuesday. Thoughts?

On the Couch

2009-06-08T08:06:00.001-04:00

So Stephen and I got frisky on the couch.

Not exactly. But he did some Freudian analysis of Freudian Slip.

Not exactly either. But we discussed some really in-depth theme and philosophy over at his blog. If you ever wondered what REALLY goes on in my brain (and it ain't pretty), come on over and discuss.

http://stephenparrish.blogspot.com/

Character Traits: The Little Things All Around

2009-06-07T07:45:00.003-04:00

Oldest Daughter is home from college. Classical music plays so loud the house shakes.

"Sorry I have to listen to it on the living room stereo. I can't listen to classical in my room. The speakers I have wouldn't let me play it this loud."

We're talking LOUD, folks. Shouting to coverse loud. So loud the neighbors hear it. But you might ask, "Why not play it in your room at a more reasonable volume?" But then YOU are not a parent of a classical violinist.

"Okay," I said.

But just in case, as if I needed her to explain (which I did not . . . I have been her mother for 19 years after all), she added, "Because to really listen to the New World Symphony, to classical, you need it ALL AROUND YOU."

I wonder if someone was writing a novel about a classical violinist if they would remember to get that right.

Baby Girl never matches her socks. Yesterday's were neon orange on the right foot, purple on the left. A t-shirt with a black vest over it. She is an artist at heart. If writing a novel about an artist. Would you remember to not match their socks? (Check out the link on the CEO of a company that sells umatched socks.)

When people tack on traits as afterthoughts, they forget to make it like classical music. ALL around, all through, vibrating through the character so you can organically feel it. A tremor. A pulse. A crescendo.

It's the little things made very real. All around. All the way through.

What's a little thing that reveals much about you or your character?

Happy Sunday!

The Care and Feeding of the Soul

2009-06-05T07:54:00.002-04:00

Lurker Monkey has been an argumentative little chimp over at his blog, debating talent for a couple of days now. Stephen Parrish , though I might politely call him Scrabble-challenged in today's politically correct parlance, has a poignant post on his mother's encouragement of his writing.

Which got me thinking.

Oldest Son is this terrific guy. At the place where we worship, they call him the Baby Whisperer. You have never seen a 14-year-old boy with a better gift for caring for infants and babies in a nursery. He's amazing. And I think that COULD be his calling--to work with kids. He is also a math genius. That's not just my opinion, the scores are testament. He also, lately, loves reading. To make a long story short, he came to me two weeks ago, and despite gaining entrance into a prestigious high school for engineering . . . the kid, out of the blue, said, "I think I want to be an editor." Now, to be sure, he has written a novella (a wonderful sci-fi one), but he can never remember to capitalize the first letter of a sentence, and he seems to have a phobia of the comma. Math theory? He can spit it out in his sleep. So I had been encouraging him to set his sights on MIT or maybe working with kids. Now, the Universe presented me with an opportunity. Rather than tell him the idea was kooky given his comma phobia, I said, "Well . . . (pause as I gathered my thoughts), if you really decided that was what you wanted to do, I would help you of course. I would say read anything and everything you can get your hands on--and write more. Every day. Learn those rules about grammar and punctuation. But maybe the better thing I can say is WHY. What about being an editor appeals to you?"

Turns out he likes hunting for typos in books. A very mathematical approach, you might say.

But we decided to, in a Buddhist sense, "be" with this new career interest for a while. All of two weeks. And then he came into my office yesterday and said, "I've decided I don't want to do that."

I was a tiny bit relieved. I said, "You have a lot of time. You could always change your mind a hundred times." And we left it at that.

My parents never told me I couldn't do anything. I went through an "I want to be an artist" stage for a bit and my father pretty much told me artists need . . . well, that art talent gene and perhaps I might be missing that. Indeed I am. However, for the most part, I never, ever heard I couldn't do something. Reaching was a way of life.

I meet people--talented writers--ALL the time who tell me they "returned" to their love of writing in middle age or older because their families of origin never encouraged them. The practicalities of earning a living meant the writing wasn't fed and nutured. Yet it never occurs to me, generally, to discourage Demon Baby from his current ambition to be a drummer. Or Baby Girl's ambition to be the next Spielberg. I often wonder, collectively, what the WORLD could do if all children were encouraged and nurtured. I think, sometimes, that's what's broken. All these souls not encouraged in their paths.

So I wonder . . . what role has encouragement played in your life?

Taffy Pull

2009-06-04T08:02:00.003-04:00

Over at Genius's place, I have been avidly reading his novella about Flat-Footed. This somewhat started from discussions of quirks and characters over her (I think . . . but can't be sure . . . perhaps this was a secret longing of Genius's long hidden). He was always touting his dwarf detective who drank stingers in the morning . . . and a novella evolved.

I tend to think my characters arrive to me, almost dream-like, fully formed. But when I say that, it sounds strange. Yet that's how they seem to arrive . . . However, if I slow down my brain for just a second or two, I realize that yes, they seem to arrive fully formed, but then the taffy pulling occurs.

Taffy pulling. You know what that is, right? Well, I tend to think my characters arrive as a piece of taffy, fully wrapped. But then when I get down to really writing them, I pull the taffy and stretch it out and explore it in all its sticky, wonderful gooiness until I figure the character out. I may taffy pull for days. And then I get to um . . . eat it. Or write it.

When I think about Julian in Freudian Slip, he arrived as a Howard Stern-esque shock jock with an obsession with lesbians and porn stars. All right . . . kind of interesting profession. But in Julian's case, I decided he was a heavy drinker, which would fuel his profanity-laden tirades and actions. Then I gave him a recovering heroin addiction, complete with a hypodermic needle tattooed on his arm. I lent him uncaring parents and a horrific childhood. Then I added other tattoos with meaning (one not revleaed to the second to last chapter). An extreme fear of intimacy. But a penchant for sex and lots of it. But his core? That was the taffy pulling. What the heck was this guy made of? And what would happen if he actually was forced to get to know a woman intimately in a way that could not result in sex? What would he discover about himself?

But a few more things about taffy pulls. Don't do it right, and your taffy can become a mess. Leave out the corn syrup in your recipe? Um . . . totally different TEXTURE. Not bad, per se, but different and not soft.

So it is with quirks. I think there's a risk is "tacking on" heroin addiction. But I did a lot of reading research, and actually knew a couple of people who dabbled in heroin but never became addicts (including two ex-boyfriends). And I knew one hard-core addict (now dead). I observed a lot. It wasn't enough to just make Julian an ex-addict to give him bad-boy cache. (This would be totally flat--not enough pulling.) He recounts quitting heroin. He constantly longs for it, even if he's clean. He misses the opiate coccoon in ways that both mystify him and frustrate him. He quit only because he's brilliant enough to know what end-game is, not because he hit a personal bottom. The texture of his addiction feels real to me. But it grew in its texture the longer I pulled on his character. Sort of went from . . . "ex-addict" to "every addict has a story and here is his."

And that . . . I believe . . . is the secret to a taffy pull.

Thoughts?