Quote: Importance of Reading to Writers

Importance of Care in Becoming a Better Writer - Latest BRP Commentary

Today at The Blood-Red Pencil, I talk about the importance of CARE--care of what? Wanting to become a better writer. Check it out, leave comments, and share it with others! Here's a link.

Do Some Writers Deserve To Starve, Part One

According to conference coordinator and writer, Elaura Niles, yes.

First thing I have to tell you: go out and buy Elaura Niles’ book: Some Writers Deserve to Starve: 31 Brutal Truths about the Publishing Industry.

I was in a Books-A-Million over a year ago, taking a break from writing. I began perusing the shelves, and the spine of this small book jumped out at me.

I quickly snatched up the book and began devouring it.

The purpose behind the book is not to discourage, but to enlighten. As the back cover states, “Even the most talented writers chance failure if they don’t know how the publishing industry works.” The goal of the book is to state the brutal truths about the publishing industry and to offer advice on how one can overcome those truths.

TRUTH: IF YOU DON’T KNOW YOUR BOOK, NO ONE EVER WILL

No one will ever know more about your novel than you. You’re the creator, the person who received that first initial spark to write the book. Many times, writers have a hard time figuring out which genre their book falls into. These days, it’s easy to see why. Yes, there are mysteries and sci-fi and romance, and the list goes on. However, many of these genres are broken in sub-genres. In fact, you’ll notice once you’ve written a book, it contains several genres. This is a slight blessing for writers. Unlike category romance and maybe one or two other genres, there are no hard, set rules to which the writer must adhere to. Some writers are so set in trying to make their novel “fit” one particular genre that they lose sight of the story, of the characters. Your first and foremost goal is to WRITE A DAMN GOOD NOVEL. Tell the story that must get told. After that, using Niles’ book, you can identify the many genres that your book may fall into and ultimately discover the sub-genres that it falls under, too. Her book also helps with non-fiction and screenplays. The point of this truth? If you can’t tell an agent or editor WHAT your book is about and what genre(s) it fits into to, he/she will not do that job for you. Agents and editors go through several ‘scripts and queries a day; they don’t have time to figure out what you should know as the writer.

Check out Elaura Niles' book today!

More TRUTH to come...

Do Some Writers Deserve to Starve, Part Two

TRUTH: GETTING PUBLISHED DOESN’T EQUAL END OF RAINBOW

It’s extraordinarily hard to get published. It’s just as difficult to STAY PUBLISHED. Most writers do not live a Stephen King life. They hold other jobs or find other avenues to make money.

Aspiring-to-be-published authors often burn the candle at both ends. They work hard to continue to EXIST in the world, and they make the time to write and submit and pray and hope that their literary dreams will come to fruition. Once they reach the pinnacle of their success, GETTING A DEAL, some – as Niles states – find their writing careers killed as quickly as they began. The reasons? Burnout and what Niles calls “The Vacuum”.

Many published authors have careers outside of writing; once they get that initial deal, they now have TWO careers. It’s easy to get tired. To avoid that, Niles suggests that writers remember to HAVE A LIFE, which to her means “read, talk with friends, go places (near and far), do things, feel things, and sometimes…just…put the writing away for awhile.” Don’t forget that writing is not your WHOLE life; it’s merely a facet. If you lose yourself, you will lose the inspiration to write.

In regards to “The Vacuum,” Niles states that “In vacuum-afflicted writers, this is the emptiness that follows a first sale. Some call it the curse of the three-book deal. Many writers focus on their project exclusively for so many years that once it is out, there is nothing left.”

Unfortunately, most of us can think of that one debut novel we loved and then the emptiness that followed when the author didn’t have any more books come out. It’s important to KEEP WRITING, even while trying to publish the current “love of your life.” Focusing on that one Great American Novel will deflect from your creativity and keep you from writing. Niles suggests that writers should always keep creative files full of story ideas, interesting characters, and snippets of dialogue. If necessary, consider a co-writer. But first and foremost, keep writing…start on the next project while wishing and praying for publication of the one before it.

Check out Elaura Niles' book today!

More TRUTH to come...

Do Some Writers Deserve to Starve, Finale

TRUTH: WRITERS RARELY HELP OTHER WRITERS

While I have found contrary stories to this truth, I have - unfortunately - seen this to be true at times. There are writers who are not open to sharing information, to providing advice, to helping other writers up the rings to PublishDom. Niles talks about how interesting it is that as a writer moves up the ranks to having an established name, in gaining professional credits, and on earning money for his/her creative endeavors, the lack of help diminishes. She finds two reasons behind this:

1) The established writer fears losing his/her reputation. Example: established writer helps a newbie and recommends her to an agent or editor. The agent/editor thinks the work isn’t that great (which is subjective thinking anyway), and now the established writer fears his/her taste will be questioned and his/her reputation may be sullied.

2) The established writer fears losing his/her attention. Example: established writer helps a newbie get connected with his/her agent or editor. Agent/editor loves the newbie’s work and the newbie is lauded. Now, the established writer finds him/herself receiving less attention.

The two reasons above are not necessarily TRUTHS but perceptions that writers can take on. It’s HARD to get published. It’s even harder to STAY published. Because of this, there is always the fear that you may lose your spot in the publishing world to another. Do you want to be the reason behind losing your spot? Of course not. So instead of helping, some writers will hoard what they know.

Any form of negativity can interfere with a writer doing what he/she needs to do: WRITE. To be so protective of your coveted spot in the publishing world that you would not help others is a negative. To combat these feelings, Niles suggests that writers do three things: adjust their actions, defeat their ingratitude (learn to say thank you), and monitor their egos.

In adjusting actions, don’t think of just yourself. Doing things for others often bears positive fruit down the road. Learn to give…and receive. Don’t be underhanded. If you need help, ask, don’t try to find sneaky ways to get help, and don’t try to undermine someone else’s success.

In defeating ingratitude, learn to say thank, learn to send letters and cards to those who have helped you, learn to keep those who helped you in the loop on your progress, share your contacts and information, let those who helped you know that you were inspired by them.

In adjusting egos, give credit to those who have helped you, help those who are below you on the publishing chain, help SOMEONE (no one’s asking you to be the mentor for a million writers), forget about how no one helped you (this isn’t a pity party).

Check out Elaura Niles' book today!

Dear John: Revealing Character in Epistolary Writing

Interested in developing the voice and style of your characters? Interested in fine-tuning your characters by focusing on how they relate to particular people? Interested in understanding your character's personality, his/her wants, hopes, and desires?

Write a letter.

Epistolary writing can add great realism and truth to a story, to your character; it can - in quick exercises - help you to decipher your characters and get into their heads.

Recently, I made my media writing students write two letters - one to a parent and one to a best friend, in which they revealed the same secret.

I was elated by how creative they became; some of them came up with insane secrets, purely hilarious secrets that entertained me to no end.

But what was illuminated the most by their letters was the sender's voice and how the sender switched up his/her style and approach depending on the audience. More often than not, students revealed only partial truth to their parents; whereas, to their best friends, they opened up their hearts and told the entire dirty story. With parents, students tended to write very flowery, longwinded, more "classy" - I'm thinking in the hopes of having the sender "sound" sincere and "prolong" the truth being revealed. On the other hand, students used more slang, short sentences, and things left unsaid in their letters to their best friends, which revealed to me that their relationships were closer, more open than with the parents.

If you're having trouble getting into your characters, take a subject and have characters write letters - to you (the writer) and to other characters.

By first letting your characters be "real" and second writing letters that speak to your characters' truth, you'll notice quirky phrases they like to repeat, a rhythm to their written speech, what they care about the most and the least, and what their feelings are toward other characters - among other things.

Three books I highly recommend if you're interested in epistolary writing: Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre-Ambrois-Francois Choderlos de Laclos, Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon, and The Color Purple by Alice Walker.

Where Is Your Creative Effort?

One of my fave books is by the acclaimed author and teacher Robert McKee's book STORY. If you don't know about it or don't own a copy, get it QUICK here: [link]. Every person who is serious about writing should own it. Though McKee is focused on screenwriting, the book holds truths for ALL forms of writing.

There's a passage from the book that makes me think about the Writers Boot Camp course I offer online.

McKee states, “Of the total creative effort represented in a finished work, 75 percent or more of a writer’s labor goes into designing a story. Who are these characters? What do they want? Why do they want it? How do they go about getting it? What stops them? What are the consequences? Finding the answers to these grand questions and shaping them into story is our overwhelming creative task.

“Designing story tests the maturity and insight of the writer, his knowledge of society, nature, and the human heart. Story demands both vivid imagination and powerful analytic thought.”

In my Writers Boot Camp, I instruct and coach writers on the questions mentioned by McKee because like McKee, I believe that for a story to live and breathe and connect with readers it has to be designed in a way that all storytelling engines run perfectly together.

Many new writers spin stories that lack full development of these vital questions. We read way too much description of a character's appearance. We read way too much backstory. We read way too much thoughts and feelings that are not integral to the story's purpose. We read flowery prose that is meant to heighten our reading experience but is too "fluffy" to hold any real literary weight. We read way too much telling and not nearly enough showing. We read way too much "real life" that is not examined to show us a "real" life.

To grow as a writer, to develop your storytelling abilities, you need to study and put forth most of your creative effort in examining the vital components of a story: character, desire, motivation, conflict, obstacles, resolution, etc. By taking the time to understand what these components are and how to develop them for your story, you will be surprised at how deep, how complex, and how real your book will feel to you...and to your reader.

The Pull to Write

A fan of CLG Entertainment and The Write Life for You articles I write contacted me. The fan, a writer, asked, "How do you know if you have the talent to pursue writing? Words have always had a powerful pull on me, but I don't know if I can actually write ... Do you have medicine for my affliction?"

I wanted to share my response because I think it might be beneficial to those of you out there feeling, thinking the same thing.

You know, the need to pursue writing often comes before one even KNOWS if he or she has talent. It comes from a desire, a need to express something. The fact that you're pulled to write is BIG. For me, writing was always a NEED. Started writing when I was 10, and it was all about looking at the world and writing what interested me, and then that moved to what I didn't understand, and then that moved to what I hated, and then that moved to what I wanted to be made right, and on and on.

That pull to write is important because it will warm your heart when you're rejected, it will urge you on when you receive criticism, and it will move you to want to learn so that you can better your craft.

First and foremost, I think you need to KEEP the pull. Recognize it. Communicate with it. Nurture it.

Allow the pull to keep you writing.

As you write, think about what you seem "called" to write about. This calling isn't set in stone, but it's a great place to begin to think about who you are as a writer and what you hope to convey in your writing.

As you write, READ. Read works you deem "good," and be able to illustrate to yourself why they are good and what you can glean from these findings for your own writing.

As you write, READ. Read works you deem "bad," and be able to illustrate to yourself why they might be bad and what you can glean from these findings for your own writing.

As you write, READ. Read works about writing, especially those books that delve into the errors you find you make consistently in your work. You want your problems to become tools to fill your writer's toolbox.

Connect with other writers, especially those willing to read and critique your work. It's important to know what you want to get out of a critique group and what you can bring to that group; you do not just want to jump into a group and wallow within it. And be open to constructive criticism.

And almost as important as your writing these days is your platform - who you are, what you stand for, how your writing reflects this, who you connect with, network with, how you BRAND yourself.

But ultimately, I think it is about the PULL. If you don't feel moved to write, who will be compelled to read WHAT you write?

Ideas for Writing

So you've decided you want to try this writing thing, huh? Great!

Now that you've decided to write, you have to find out what you want to write. Below are several suggestions to kick start story ideas:

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW

I suppose you've heard this adage. GREAT idea. We know more than what we think we do. Take a pad and pen or park yourself in front of your computer and do some prewriting. Ask yourself, "What do I know?" Write down the skills you have, write down the characteristics that would describe you, write down the jobs you have had, the experiences you have had, the failures and successes you have had. It's a long list, isn't it? Maybe you realized that you don't have the best of luck in relationships. Why not write a story about a person with the same trait and try to figure out why? Maybe you realized that you're an extremely giving person and often times, you don't give enough to yourself. Write a story about that character. The point is that everyone has something interesting to write about, and it usually takes just looking inward to find that interesting topic.

WRITE ABOUT YOUR FEARS
We all have fears. We all worry about things. Why not conquer your fears, at least in your writing? Create a character that encompasses one or more of your fears and allow him or her to overcome those fears. Writing is extremely cathartic, and I bet that part of your own fears will decrease once you finish your character's story.

WRITE ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW BUT WANT TO KNOW
Is there something you always wanted to learn about? Is there an occupation, or a procedure, or a time period you've always been interested in learning about but never had the time or the gumption? TAKE the time now. A novel series I'm working on now centers around police investigations, detective work. I've always been a fan of whodunits, but I didn't know much about the specifics. I bought books on mystery writing and police procedures. I scoured the Internet. I kept a file on my laptop. I immersed myself into something new so that it would sound like I knew what I was talking about. You can do that, too.

WRITE ABOUT NEWS-RELATED EVENTS
I know, I know. Some of us turn the TV off as soon as the 5 o'clock news begins. We only check out the newspaper for sports and the classifieds. By doing so, you're missing a great source of information for potential story ideas. Take the time to flip through your local newspaper. Clip out stories of interest and place them in a shoebox. Keep a running list of topics on your computer. Jot down stories you hear about on the news. One night, you're sitting in your living room, watching the news, and you hear about the man who comes home and kills his girlfriend. All the neighbors swear they were a loving and devoted couple. They were planning their wedding. Horrible real life event and somewhere inside, you might be thinking, why? Why did he kill her? What could have been going on in their relationship for things to end so tragically? Answer your questions through storytelling. Besides, we can't let the Law and Order franchise keep the "ripped from the headlines" strategy all to itself now, can we?

FOLLOW YOUR HEART TO GREAT WRITING
I placed this last because it's a biggie. Because I am a writer, everything I encounter in the world becomes a potential source for a story idea. Sometimes, I just don't know it yet, but I feel it in my gut and in my heart. Example: in March 2004, I was suffering from a bout of writer's block, and I had a story due for workshop in like two days.

I was riding the transit home from school, and we passed a playground. There was a colorful swing set there, and I noticed one particular swing was swaying though there was no one near the set. Instantly, I felt a pang in my heart, then my stomach. I became sad. I was emotionally distraught. The first thought that ran through my mind was, what if I had a swing set but no child to push in the swing? I didn't know what that meant, but it pestered me for the rest of the day.

The following morning, I got up and got back on the same transit to go to school. During the ride, I noticed how the bus took the same route, every 45 minutes. The town I lived in was small; it only had four bus routes. The bus I rode to school drove the circle down around the school and back, from 5 am to 5 pm. I thought to myself, what if I had to drive this route every day and be reminded of "landmarks" that represented happy times in my life when I had a family? My mind was abuzz. The whole day I couldn't function as a teacher or a student. I knew why I had the feelings the day before. I knew that I would write a story about a bus driver whose family died (how, I didn't know until I began writing), and she was forced to drive a route that held memories of her life back when. Oh, and there was also a swing set in her yard that had been attacked by growing grass and weeds because she just couldn't go near it anymore.

I ended up canceling a class and rushing home and within a few hours, I had the short story, "Empty Swings." I had one of my best workshops (the last workshop before I graduated), and I had a story that I knew only I could write because it affected me emotionally, mentally, physically, and in some respects, spiritually. In fact, that story never really left me. About a year ago, I returned to it and developed it into a Christian fiction that I'm currently pitching to agents and editors.

Where do you find your ideas for stories?

I Declare: Envisioning Your Writing Future

Sit and think about your dream writing life. What does it entail? Do you spend vast parts of your days writing and taking trips and spending time in the library to research and experience the world to which you will write about? Are you a novelist? An essayist? A poet? A screenwriter? A playwright? All of the above?

What do you SEE? And just as important: what do you WANT?

It's not good enough to simply have these visions and wants locked inside your mind. You need to DECLARE them - to yourself and to others.

When we declare, we

1. make known or state clearly, esp. in explicit or formal terms;
2. announce officially; proclaim: to declare a state of emergency;
3. state emphatically: He declared that the allegation was a lie;
4. manifest; reveal; show ("Declare" - dictionary.com)

Take out a sheet of paper, and number it from 1 to 5 for starters (you may have more than five declarations, but let's start here.)

After each number, write "I".

Each of these "Is" will begin a declarative statement about you and your writing desires.

Some of us may think it's not very humble to go off declaring all over the place, but this isn't about you simply tooting your horn. You are affirming what you know to be true.

Once you have written your declarations and have announced them, then you must plan to achieve them. What are you going to do, what action are you going to put into motion so that you can realize your declarations?

Nothing comes to fruition without a declaration of it and then a plan to obtain it. Having these two things will practically guarantee your literary success.

What are YOUR writing declarations? What is your plan to make your declarations reality?

Components of a Good Writing Workshop

Recently, a friend of mine asked for advice on starting a workshop for writers. I quickly went back to my days in the MFA program, where the major part of the program was the weekly fiction workshop. The advice I gave my friend closely adhered to those things learned from the MFA program as I learned a great deal about myself as a writer and as a critic within our fiction workshops. For anyone that's interested in starting a writer's workshop, I hope this information proves useful.

In my experience, there are three components that are necessary for a good writing workshop, and they are:
1- A great moderator
2- Appropriate size for the workshop
3- Rules for the workshop

MODERATOR. A moderator has to be kind yet firm and have a great knowledge of storytelling. This is the person that the workshop participants are relying on to guide them as writers. It also doesn't hurt that the moderator has some publishing credits. Participants want to feel that they are learning from someone who has experience in the field. A moderator also has to know when to speak and when to sit back and let the participants guide the workshop.

SIZE OF WORKSHOP. This can be debated, but I wouldn't have more than 15 people in any one workshop. When I pursued my MFA, we had 10 students in the fiction program. It was large enough so that each writer received ample reads, write-ups, and suggestions for his or her work, yet it was small enough so that writers were able to connect with one another beyond the stories. That connection ultimately helped us to see more of what a writer was trying to do in a work; therefore, our critiques were more likely to help a writer.

WORKSHOP RULES. Yes, some might say that rules cramp their style, but for a workshop, it is important to have rules set. Rules not only protect the writers, but they also protect the integrity of the workshop and its mission. The rules we had for our MFA fiction workshop were more aligned to how the workshop would be structured and what each participant would be obligated to do during the workshop.

Workshop met one a week for approximately 2, 2.5 hours. During that workshop, we discussed works from two writers, so each writer received an hour of discussion on his/her work, and there was a short break in between sessions.

During the week, our job was to read and mark up each reading and write a one-page letter to the writer that addressed what we liked, what our concerns were, and what suggestions we offered. We would then meet up for the workshop.

During the workshop, the moderator did just that--moderate. To begin each workshop session, our professor would ask, "So, what would you like to talk about today regarding X's work?" He then would take notes as we went around the circle, each of us adding something to the agenda. We would say things like "Dialogue," "Character development," "The heart of the story." Once that was done, our professor would ask if anyone wanted to jump in first, and then we would begin. The professor remained silent for most of the session. He would jump in if he thought we stayed on a topic too long or if we were moving beyond the purpose of the session: to help the writer better his/her writing. Aside from keeping us on track, our professor made sure we touched upon all components addressed in the agenda.

Once a session was complete, the writer would receive a huge packet complete with all the marked-up versions of his/her work and critique letters written by workshop participants. The moderator, too, would mark up the story and write a letter, and the writer would receive that material then as well.

One important component of the workshop, one that might seem weird but proved to be a necessity, was that at no time did the writer speak; we played "The Author Is Dead." During his/her session, the writer would take notes of what others had to say, but sessions were not treated as trials. The writer did not have an opportunity to jump up and defend his/her work. And the reason behind this was a simple one. The minute a writer jumps in and tries to tell participants what he/she meant to do with the story, the dynamics of the workshop shifts. Participants start to feel attacks for their thoughts and speak less. Silence, and lots of it, quickly builds. In my experience, keeping the author "dead" is a great thing. It teaches the writer humility--learning to accept his/her issues within a story without attacking. It forces the writer to listen and to be open to the idea that a story isn't perfect just because it's done. There is always something that can be fixed, and you (as writer) might be too close to the work to see where those changes need to be made. Also, it teaches the writer that sometimes there is no need to build a defense. If there are 9 or more people reading your work and the majority believes X is a big problem in your work, the problem isn't that the reader didn't "get" what were you trying to do. The problem is you as writer failed to develop X in a way that makes for a solid read. That's not a debate. There's nothing to defend, typically. It means it's time to get back to the drawing board with revisions and rewrites.

There was one time in which the writer could speak, and this came at the end of a session. Once all comments were made by the participants, the writer was allowed to speak, to ask questions about concerns he/she had in the story that wasn’t addressed during the session.

I'm a big fan of writing workshops. I've participated in formal and informal workshops, and even with the informal workshops, having rules are important. Participants need to know what's expected of them and what they will get out of the workshop. In the end, a workshop needs to have a purpose, and typically, that purpose is to help writers better their writing. Everything that is done in preparation for the workshop and what is done during the workshop should directly connect to that purpose.

Have you had experience with writing workshops? What great things did you learn through the workshop? What problems did you find, if any?

Building the Author's Ethos: Writing Philosophy

It is important to write a great book. It is important to study the craft of writing in order to edit, revise, and rewrite that great book. But the work of a writer doesn’t stop with crafting a great book. The writer must think about his or her career as an author – in regards to what he or she writes and, just as important (if not more), what his or her audience wants.

Ethos, in general, is a distinguishing character of a person—what he or she stands for. In rhetoric, ethos is something a speaker must develop in his or her repertoire in order to affect his or her audience. In addition to the distinguishing character, the person needs to also establish expertise and knowledge.

What does this mean for a writer looking to develop his or her ethos?
For one thing, it means a writer needs to know what his or her writing philosophy is. Why do you write (aside from the love of it)? What do you hope to illustrate in your writing? What themes, narratives do you find yourself drawn to in your writing? Do these themes, narratives connect with you outside of your role as writer? Who is your audience? What do you want your audience to receive from your work? Where do you see your work going? How?

It is important to know what your “distinguishing character” as a writer is. Knowing this will help you develop the next part of your ethos: the marketing plan. Once you know who are you as a writer, what you bring to the table, and how what you bring is important to your audience, you have to develop a plan to market your wares—your expertise, knowledge…your BOOKS—to your audience.

First, the writing philosophy.

When I first started teaching, I was asked, “What is your teaching philosophy?” I didn’t have an answer initially. I wasn’t sure what a teaching philosophy was. I just knew I loved teaching.

And many writers just know they love writing.

A writing philosophy is much like a teaching philosophy. In a teaching philosophy, you are answering questions, such as:

1. What are your objectives as a teacher? What do you, ultimately want to accomplish?
2. What will you do accomplish these objectives?
3. How will measure your effectiveness?
4. What is so great about teaching? Why is it important? How will you make the institution of teaching better?

Essentially, in that teaching philosophy, we want to know the basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes—the philosophy—of the teacher.

We want the same things for the author.

Remember the italicized questions I wrote at the beginning of this article?

1. Why do you write (aside from the love of it)? What do you hope to illustrate in your writing?
2. What themes, narratives do you find yourself drawn to in your writing? Do these themes, narratives connect with you outside of your role as writer?
3. Where do you see your work going?
4. What will you do to accomplish these goals? How will you determine success, effectiveness?
5. Who is your audience? What do you want your audience to receive from your work?

Each of these questions should be thought about and answered to develop an effective writing philosophy.

Now, don’t worry if you can’t write this quickly. There is no set word count to it either. It takes time—and as many words as you need—to write your philosophy. One book written does not a writing philosophy make. Your writing philosophy will no doubt change as you move through your newness as a writer and develop yourself.

The point is to know who you are and what you bring to the literary table so that you can effectively articulate these things with anyone who asks…especially your audience.

Writing in 140: Finding Desire to Write

What do you do when it seems as if you've lost the desire to write?

Every writer, at some point of the writing journey, will ask this question. The writing seems to flow like water from a faucet and then one day, it doesn't. Then days later, there's still no mojo.

What to do?

1. Read. A really good book makes me remember why I love to write and often makes me want to write.
2. Live life. You have to spend time living life in order to write about lives.
3. Study self. Go back and read some of your writing. Perhaps doing so will ignite the urge to write.
4. Don't worry. This is normal. Use the time to recharge yourself in other ways.

What do YOU do?

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Writing in 140 is my attempt to say something somewhat relevant about writing in 140 words or less.