Friday Fabulosities--The Blessed Writers' Group

I love my writers' groups. I belong to two: one I joined when my oldest son was a baby--so that must be about 13 years ago now. We meet once a month, read our work aloud, and comment on the fly. The group itself has been going for over 25 years, so is well-established and full of writers who are both critical yet kind.

The second group I joined perhaps three years ago now. It is kidlit only (the first group is everything under the sun). We meet twice a month, read the pages beforehand, and critique in a circle. Several of the members are grads of the MFA program at Vermont College, so they really know their stuff (and seem to have read everything under the sun.)

Both groups have helped me immeasurably. I have no problem bringing first draft stuff to them, and they don't hesitate to tell me if I'm wandering off track.

The historical novelist, Mary Balogh, has a slightly different take, however:

"My advice is to keep strictly alone until the work is complete to your own satisfaction. This is a work of art, and it comes from your talent, experience, value system, and very being. It has your unique and distinctive voice. You ought to be very wary of allowing anything in that might contaminate or upset the balance of those precious facts. Get advice--even follow it if you choose!--after the work is finished, but not before."

Do you belong to a writers' group (or two!)? Do you show your first draft work, or only work that is finished?

Friday Fabulosities--Writing what you know and what you don't know

Here's a great quote for a writing Friday. Short but sweet.

Writing what you know is good for the soul. Writing what you don't know is good for the mind. In either case, if done well, it's good for the reader. (Heather Hall-Martin)

Are you a "write what you know" or a "write what you don't know" type of writer?

[All I know right now is that I'm longing for some sunshine. They're promising some for the weekend, so cross fingers.]

Friday Fabulosities--I'm one of those Page-A-Dayers

Now this made me very happy:

Make your writing a regular duty. Remember that one page a day--say 300 words--each day for a year gives you a 109,500-word novel. (Peter Lovesey, the great mystery writer.)

Yes, I am a page-a-dayer. Two years ago, frustrated by "never finding the time to write," I vowed to just write one page every day. That seemed manageable. And so it has proved. I've finished one half-finished novel, written another novel, dabbled in several short stories and picture books, and am midway through a new novel.

I don't say this to brag (well, maybe just a little.) I say this because sometimes it looks like there will never be time for writing. And there won't be, if you go about thinking that you must immerse yourself in a novel to the exclusion of everything else. That, in order to successfully write, you have to have several hours to swim in your story. I guess that might be something you could pull off, if you had no spouse, no children, and were independently wealthy and so didn't need a job.

But, for the rest of us, if we want to create, we have to find niggles and nudges of time to do so. If you can't do a page-a-day, try for half-a-page. Or a paragraph. Just keep moving forward. You'll be amazed at how much you will accomplish as the days, months, and years go by.

Here's to "A Page-A-Day"!

Friday Fabulosities--Writing's a job?

The novelists quoted in The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists all say the same thing. From Kat Martin, to Cynthia Riggs, to the late Beverly Barton--they are all in agreement. Writing should be treated as a job with a schedule.

Yup, you can't wait around for the muse to strike. She's either too busy or too fickle.

I love this from Joann Ross:

An important thing to keep in mind is that while editors like brilliant authors. they love prolific ones. This means you're going to need to show up every day prepared to work, the same as you would any other job. Can you imagine calling a plumber or the fire department or showing up at an emergency room with a heart attack and being told the people just didn't feel like working that day?

Before you all clamor that this feels way too stultifying, I hasten to add that I have a very broad view of what constitutes writing. It's not just getting words on paper or screen. It's the minute by minute cogitating while walking the dog, washing the dishes, throwing the frisbee with the kids. So, in my definition, you don't have to feel like a failure if you're not butt-in-chair all of the time. Writing is a lot like playing. Thank God the imagination is such a grand playground.

Friday Fabulosities--"If you can quit, then quit. If you can't quit, you're a writer."

R.A. Salvatore, bestselling author of the Drizzt, the Crimson Shadow, and the Dark Elf trilogy, has this to say in Andrew McAleer's 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists:

"There's way too much pain in this business for anyone who doesn't have to write. I always tell beginning writers, "If you can quit, then quit. If you can't quit, you're a writer." I'm not being facetious. The idea that writing is a way to get something else, be it fame or fortune, is ludicrous. The odds are astounding, and I'd wager they're even more astounding against someone who doesn't love the power of the word."

What, if anything, would make you quit writing? Have you ever quit writing? If so, what happened?

Friday Fabulosities--Writing in the coffee shop

I am definitely going to add Andrew McAleer's book to my home writing library (the copy I'm using now is from the actual county library.) It's a great dip-in-for-inspiration kinda book.

This week, I'm featuring a quote from YA Fantasy author, Cinda Williams Chima:

A fiction writer is never entirely alone. Her characters are constantly whispering in her ear. Writing is not a social endeavor. It requires solitude--a meeting between you and your characters on their turf. Some of us can find solitude in a crowded cafe or the local mall. And none at home.

I'm with Cinda on the constant whispering. (To my wife: That's why you sometimes think I'm not listening to you, honey.) It's not spooky psychotic or anything. It's just when you are creating, you are always thinking about what your characters might be doing or saying now. You sort of get lost in your own (and the characters') world.
(N.B. Kind people call this FLOW.)

And yes, it can happen amid the bustle of a coffee shop. Actually, there's something about the bustle and conversation of strangers that sends me into Flow fast. (Perhaps my new psychologist friend, Sarah Fine, can tell me if there's a reason for this--or if it's just my imagination.)

I can work at home. But the laundry tends to cry out, the weeds in the garden taunt me, and the kids wheedle until the babysitter (a.k.a. television) gets switched on. [See, I told you I was surrounded by voices.]

Where do you write? Does it have to be quieter than a pin-drop quiet, or can you burnish your brilliant sentences to the backdrop of a brass band (or any other racket?)

Friday Fabulosities--Natural Born Storytellers

O what a week it's been! I've sent off a short story to a contest, had my query posted on Matthew MacNish's The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment, posted my first post on my new blog, Middle Grade Mafioso, and suddenly have a whole bunch of new friends into the bargain. For all those who became followers this week: A HUGE THANK YOU. I hope you'll drop in often.

(If you're wondering about Matt's critique of my query, he posted earlier today that he was ill. I sent him to bed with some chicken soup--so I hope that will do the trick and he'll be right as rain again soon.)

Here's today's fabulosity from best-selling romance writer, JoAnn Ross. (It's originally from Andrew McAleers's 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists. Do yourselves a favor and get a copy. Full of inspiration!)

I believe we're all born storytellers. If you watch infants babble to themselves and toddlers having conversations with their stuffed animals, you can see the wealth of creativity humans are born with.

Then, about the time children start going to school, they start to color inside the lines--that the sky is blue, the grass is green, and no, you can't have a separate desk for your imaginary best friend. Little by little, that storytelling ability drifts away. Most of the writers I know have somehow managed to stay in touch with that inner child who's never heard of such a thing as an internal editor.

 (Well, unfortunately, I have heard of the internal editor. He knocks my knuckles with a ruler. Frequently. And he can't stand my imaginary best friend. I'd love to ditch the I.E., preferably on a dirt track in Alaska with some hungry bears closing in. Anybody have any idea how to do that?)

Have a good weekend, everyone. Those of you who celebrate Easter, may it be a reminder of the opportunity of rebirth for all of us, in our lives and in our creative endeavors. See you on Monday!

Friday Fabulosities--Don't compare yourself to others

Browsing in my local library, I came across this book packed with quotes. In my new "Friday Fabulosities" series, I plan to share some of the inspirational quotes within, and perhaps add a little reflection of my own.

Today's quote comes from Carrie Vaughn, author of the critically acclaimed werewolf series, Kitty Takes a Holiday, Kitty Goes to Washington, Kitty and the Midnight Hour, and Kitty and the Silver Bullett.

"Don't compare yourself to others. There will always be someone who writes faster, or slower, or gets a bigger advance, or better advertising. Everyone's career and writing process is a little different. Follow your own path."

Years ago, I read a book by Bonnie Friedman. That book was Writing Past Dark: envy, fear, distraction, and other dilemmas in the writer's life. Unfortunately, I don't have it on my shelves, and the library's one copy is out on loan. But I can still recall that "aha" I had at Friedman's honesty. Is there a writer alive who hasn't been, at one time or another, envious of the another writer's success? I've envied famous writers, as well as members of my critique group. I've imagined what it would be like to have adulation and acclaim--or even just a publishing contract.

Envy is a drag. It's a sin against belief in an abundant universe. It is exquisitely toxic and can drive you mad. But, if you follow Carrie Vaughn's advice to "follow your own path," and use envy not as a scourge but as a spur, you can do the one thing that all writers must do: work harder.

Envy ("invidia") is one of the Catholic church's Seven Deadly Sins. Its opposite virtue is kindness. If you find yourself feeling envious, perhaps the best thing is to be kind to yourself. We are all on different paths.

What do you do to combat "writer's envy?" I'd love to hear your strategies.