Everything About Writing I Learned From...

Life.

Here are my 5 Rules about writing as taught to me by Life.

1. It's a job. Treat it with the respect, dedication, and seriousness that you would an outside-the-home job. That means putting in the hours, acting professionally in correspondence, and being mindful of who is out there reading, listening, watching...

2. There will be some people who will try to discourage, disparage, disagree, disapprove, disavow, disconcert, discredit, discriminate, disgrace, dishonor, disgust, disillusion, dislike, dismiss, disown, displace, disrupt, disrespect, disregard, dispute, distance, distort, distract, distress, distrust, and disturb you. Don't let them. Let them discover, discuss, and distinguish you. Your attitude should be pro YOU, but never at the expense of others, even if they are wrong.

3.  School never ends. Just because you got that B.A. or M.F.A. doesn't mean you're done. Did you know everything before moving out on your own? Getting married? Having a baby? Life changes and you've got to learn new things all the time. So too, with writing: latest trends, what editors are looking for, which agent would be the best fit, what to chop and revise, which POV works. etc. are things that you have to stay on top of.

4.  Copying isn't flattering-or legal. Don't try to be someone/something you're not. I love Sherrilyn Kenyon's, or Anne Rice's books, but copying them means denying my muse. Plus, it might invite a Cease and Desist Order. You want to leave your mark on the literary world-not hide in the shadow (however great) of others.

5.  You won't always win. Books get rejected or fail to sell, agents and editors cut you loose, reviewers tear you down. It's akin to getting sick, or fired, or breaking up. Bad things will happen, but life, and writing, go on. Keep going, don't quit.

Char

Literally Speaking...

"L" is for literary.  The Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes for fiction literature always go to 'literary' books- and I hate to sound like a snob, but I can count on one hand how many I could read to the end.

I find them unappealing.


Call them classics, but some of the 'greatest literary works of our time" (according to the 'experts') I hate. Like:

Great Expectations
The Great Gatsby
Anything by D.H. Lawrence
Anything by William Faulkner
Most of the Nobel/Pulitzer winners in the last 10 years

I'm an English/journalism major, so how can this be??

Here are some classics that I love:

Anything by William Shakespeare
Anything by J.R.R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
A lot by Charles Dickens

My middle grade novel, Evolution Revolution, about the intellectual dawning of a squirrel who learns to use simple machines, has been rejected more times than I'll admit, and has been labeled 'too literary' for middle graders. I don't get how editors and agents can say that when there is a lot of action, science, and adventure.

Don't let the term 'literary' scare you; it's not all angst/inner thoughts/internal drama.

It's just another label, and who listens to labels anyway?

Char

Bare Necessities

I look at the pile of 'stuff' in my basement and dream of the day when I can start clearing it out. There are a number of boxes with stuff which will go to our church youth group for their yard sale to fund charitable activities. There are more boxes and furniture with things for when my son (possibly) gets his own apartment in a number of months. There are skis which the younger one has outgrown. Rockets that no one shoots off anymore, too many pieces of luggage, my Bowflex which I've kind of abandoned in favor of swimming at the Y, cabinets with my hurricane/emergency supplies, vases, cookware I use once a year, and a bookshelf of books, games, crafts, and puzzles.

I'm coming to the point in my life where I want to simplify; have fewer things to fuss over, enjoy a clear view.

It's the same in my writing. I'm not a fluffy, overly literary type. I find long explanations, a character's thoughts about every little thing, and detailed setting descriptions tedious. (Hence, I have no love for books like Great Expectations- get to the point.) It's hard for me to wax poetic as the cliche goes because I'm a lover of  action, dialogue, and progression. When another writer whose style is the opposite of mine critiques my work, it's hard for me add all the 'extras' they suggest, whether it's words or scenes or internal dialogue. And when I critique their work, I find myself cutting and trimming where it feels too dense to me.

When I critique, my pen immediately looks to red ink extra words like: that, of course, have, had, could, etc. When I clean the basement, I bag broken toys, clothes that don't fit, and things we don't use. In both cases, although it may be hard to let them go, once these things are gone, they won't be missed.

Whether it's in manuscripts or basements (or garages, attics, sheds, or closets) I don't want clutter anymore.

Is it time to de-clutter your life?

Char