Writers in the Storm

Over the last few years, I've been able to experience the joy of sharing the Harry Potter books with my daughter. We're on Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) and going strong, so J.K. Rowling is a bit of a celebrity in our house. 

She's a celebrity to me as a writer. She accepted that snippet of story from the universe, about a boy with a scar on his forehead who finds out he's a wizard, and cherished it through multiple books. She built an empire from her fingertips through hard work and there are wonderful lessons inherent in that.

Here are Rowling's Top 10 Tips for Success (for writers and non-writers)

 

 

1. Failure helps you discover yourself.

Winston Churchill said, "if you're going through hell, keep going."

There are people I'd deem a success who have gone down in flames at various points in their career. J.K. Rowling. Michael Jordan. Steve Jobs. Thomas Edison. They all failed and failed and failed. They gained strength through their failure, and learned what didn't work. Then, they  picked themselves up to try again, because they believed in their passion.

Rowling's words about the lowest point in her life: “Failure meant a stripping away of the essential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and I began to direct all my energies to finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged."

2. Take action on your ideas.

What if single mother, Joanne Rowling, depressed and poor, had given up on her story? What if the rock bottom she experienced while writing her first book had made her stop writing and take up work as a barista? Even if you only write one page each day, in between all your other responsibilities, at the end of the year, you will have a book.

Side note: Ever wondered how much others write? Here are the daily word counts for 39 famous authors.

3. You will be criticized.

I don't know if I'm alone in this, but I feel warm toward people who like my writing. It's human nature to want people to like the creative efforts we put out into the world. But many people won't like your work, and some will be very happy to tell you so in a negative book review. (How rude is that? What about the whole "if you don't have anything nice to say" deal? Geesh.)

Cheer up tip: When criticism gets you down, I recommend watching funny cat videos or this Honey Badger vid on sea otters. Or, as Jayne Ann Krentz says, "throw it away!" (In modern times, that means "close the screen and stop looking at it.")

4. Remember where you started.

In the video above, Rowling goes back to the apartment she lived in while she wrote the first Harry Potter book and she starts crying. The memories of being tired and depressed are clearly etched on her soul. And even though she's a multi-millionaire by the time that video was filmed, she never forgot what those beginnings felt like. Ray Bradbury never forgot that he rented a typewriter in the basement at UCLA for ten cents an hour to pound out Fahrenheit 451.

Remembering our beginnings keeps us humble.

5. Believe.

Jack London received more than six hundred rejections before he sold his first story. Louisa May Alcott's family encouraged her to find work as a servant. At some point, you just have to dare to believe in your own talent. And if you can't do that for yourself, find someone else who will believe in you while you work up to the idea.

6. There is always fear and trepidation.

Of course you're scared. You are exposing the tender underside of your heart in the pages of your story and then inviting people to explore it. Use that fear to do your best.

No one gives a better pep talk on this than Linda Howard. I was lucky to hear her live in San Diego and this is what she said:

"The sad fact is that no matter how hard you try, the music and the magic of your dreams will never be equaled by the words you put on a page.

Do it anyway.”

7. Life is not a checklist of achievements.

If you want to hear the very sweet way Rowling says this, it's at 6:09 in the video above. "If I had a time-turner, I'd go back to my twenty-one year old self..."

8. Persevere.

Emily Dickinson only sold seven poems during her lifetime. Van Gogh sold one painting during his life (to the sister of a friend). We don't know where this journey is going to take us. We can only do what we were born to do and hang on for the ride.

Rowling's words on perseverance: "I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive... and so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” 

9. Dreams can happen.

If you despair of ever making a living at this writing thing, remember J.K. Rowling who took five long years, several of them on public assistance, to finish her first Harry Potter novel. It took two more years and a dozen rejections before she sold it. It only takes a single "yes" to launch a career.

Inspiration: If you need to see some amazing monetary success stories, here is a list of the top grossing authors of last year.

10. We have the power to imagine better.

"We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: We have the power to imagine better." ~ J.K. Rowling.

 

If you had a time-turner, what bit of writing advice would you give to your younger self? Which of these ten bits of wisdom do you struggle with the most?

About Jenny Hansen

By day, Jenny provides training and social media marketing for an accounting firm. By night she writes humor, memoir, women’s fiction and short stories. After 18+ years as a corporate software trainer, she’s delighted to sit down while she works.

When she’s not at her personal blog, More Cowbell, Jenny can be found on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, or here at Writers In The Storm.

Piper Bayard
of Bayard & Holmes

Everyone loves a good fight, and a good fight scene is arguably the heart of every thriller. But as NYT Bestseller James Rollins says, in fiction, never use the same killing method twice in the same book. As a result, fiction writers are always looking for a new twist on a fight scene.

 

 

Since my writing partner, Jay Holmes, is a forty-year veteran of the military and intelligence communities, we are often asked what weapons we prefer for fights. As Holmes says, “My favorite weapon is my radio. I use it to call in air strikes.” However, in lieu of having the US Air Force in our backpacks, we writers can “punch up” our fight scenes by using common objects as weapons.

I could give you a list of common objects that can be used as weapons, but that would actually limit you, and I don’t want to do that. That’s because with the right attitude, virtually anything can be used as a weapon. Which brings me to attitude—the first ingredient to surviving a fight.

My husband (not Holmes) literally has to teach karate black belts self-defense because skill with punches, kicks, and weapons are irrelevant if a person doesn’t understand the kill-or-die mindset that is so often necessary to survive a battle outside of a refereed ring. In other words, the most important weapons a character brings to a fight are their heart and their mind. They must be determined to do whatever it takes to keep themselves safe and disable or kill their opponent. Once they see the world in those terms, potential weapons are everywhere.

Before I continue, the recovering attorney in me demands that I make it clear that this post is not meant to be formal instruction in self-defense.

In truth, Holmes and I both advocate firearms training for the best self-defense, but shooting too many people in books tends to make for boring books. So we’re going to explore a bit more about common objects as weapons—strictly for the purposes of writing fictional fight scenes.

If we can stab with it, it’s a weapon. If we can jab with it, it’s a weapon.  If we can use it to hit someone, it’s a weapon. If we can throw it, it’s a weapon.

When we think that way, and almost everything in our environment is a weapon. Holmes and I have literally killed off people in our books with cactus, knitting needles, and sheep. To be fair, the sheep was an active participant, but you get the idea.

Let’s do an exercise right now.  I’ll do it with you. Let’s look around our immediate environment and ask ourselves these questions:

1. Can I stab with it?

The pens and pencils here on my desk can stab out an eye or puncture a jugular vein.

2. Can I jab with it?

These handy thought facilitators, a.k.a. desk toys, could jab an eye, throat, or a groin to give me a fighting advantage. This newspaper can be rolled up tight and jabbed into a groin, a kidney, or an eye.

 

 

3. Can I hit with it?

The pottery lamp could double as a bat, or my computer could be the extra weight and reach I need to land a blow. . . . I know what you’re thinking. Yes. My computer really is old enough to be a heavy weapon. I’m going to use it as a brick in a custom design in my house someday.

4. Can I throw it?

Books! And look . . . My first manuscript. No one has survived that one. This glass elephant or the heavy glass pencil cup should be good for a concussion, or at least a distraction so that I can grab the lamp. . . . And there’s a cup of hot tea!

We’re going to pause a moment to consider hot beverages. Hot beverages are the versatile paydirt of social interactions, including a good fight. Since one “picture” is worth a thousand words . . .

One of my acquaintances—a seriously badass retired French Foreign Legion guy who we’ll call “T”—owns a bar in Texas. One night, a couple of men were causing trouble with the clientele, so he booted them out. When he closed down the bar, he armed himself in case the two undesirables were hanging out for another round of unpleasantries. He poured two cups of coffee.

Wait! Coffee? . . . Wouldn’t this badass grab something more impressive like nunchakus, a knife, or a gun?

Nope. Just coffee. Sure enough, the idiots tried to jump T between the building and his car. T threw the steaming coffee in their eyes and took out their knees with a couple of kicks while they screamed. . . . The lesson? Never underestimate the power of a hot beverage.

The hot beverage container can also be an effective weapon. My husband carries his metal mug with him everywhere he goes. It can be used to block a knife or strike an opponent . . . Coffee. Never get in a fight without it.

 

 

Extra Credit Challenge: As you go through your day, look around each space you enter, study your environment, and repeat the above questions to yourself. You’ll be amazed to be surrounded by so many weapons.

Now that we have a weapon, where do we strike?

Anywhere we can. It’s all well and good to imagine a nice Hollywood fight where we grab a kitchen knife and slide it perfectly between the ribs and into the heart of a bad guy who is holding still for the stab. In real life, attackers aren’t usually so accommodating. It’s much more effective to keep in mind some sensitive body parts and go for whatever openings present themselves in that split second.

Eyes are at the top of the list of sensitive parts. Some bleach, salt, coffee, sand, or anything else that can be painful and blinding in the eyes is always a good move.

We might ask why the groin is not at the top of the list. The groin is a great target. However, people, particularly men, are quite adept at protecting their tender bits, so the groin shot might not be the easiest blow to land.

Other key body parts that can distract or disable if impacted are the ankles, the shins, the knees, kidneys, solar plexus, and the throat. And of course, there’s a good old-fashioned blow to the temple, which can be lethal. Keep in mind that any blow that is hard enough to cause the head to turn is more likely to produce a concussion or even death than a blow that does not spin the head.

Now that we’re actually in the struggle, I’ll reiterate that the most important weapons are the heart and mind.

Don’t be set on any one move. Instead, go with the fight and take the shots that present themselves. Be aware that one jab won’t be enough. Follow through, and don’t stop just because they fall—they won’t necessarily stay down. Our characters must be willing to stay on the opponent until they are clearly dead or disabled, and recovery isn’t an option.

Bottom Line: A fight for survival can be the most creative part of a book. Just remember to stab, jab, whack, or throw, and don’t stop until the opponent is clearly dead or at least down for the count.

What common objects did you find that could be used as weapons? Do your characters have any particular "weapons" they prefer?

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Piper Bayard is an author and a recovering attorney. Jay Holmes is a forty-year veteran of the military and intelligence communities. Together, Bayard & Holmes write espionage fiction and nonfiction. Their upcoming nonfiction release, SPYCRAFT: Essentials for Writers, covers everything from what the main intelligence agencies do and where they operate to honey pots, sleeper agents, enhanced interrogations, and more. Now on pre-sale at Amazon.

I'm currently working on yet another edit of my young adult book that managed to eke out an RWA Golden Heart final in 2015. You'd think this baby would be in pretty good shape.

When I entered my novel into that contest, it was hardly a first draft. More like Draft #72.

I think I'm up to about Draft #105.

Or maybe that's just how many whine sessions I've had about having to revise the manuscript in some way, shape, or form.

Didn't I hear how Stephen King only goes through three times? How about Ray Bradbury who wrote the short story from which Fahrenheit 451 came in a single draft? Am I simply destined to be a pen-wielding Sisyphus pushing the bolder of my book up the hill again and again, never quite reaching the final destination before it falls down on me yet again?

Hang in here, because I promise this isn't just my personal bitch session. I do have a point. Three points, in fact.

Editing is necessary to turn out your best book.

As much as I'd love to write a fabulous first draft, send it to a publisher, and have them yank out their big, fat checkbook and write me an advance big enough to send my kid to college, that's really not how this gig works.

It can be shocking to discover how much time you'll spend editing versus writing. But those who dig deep and revise their manuscripts with chainsaws, Ginsu knives, and scalpels — as needed — find the result is well worth the effort.

Every time I make changes and read it again, I get really excited about the result. While I haven't actually counted how many revisions my book has been through, I can confidently state that the first draft was knee-deep cow-patty compared to how it reads now. Frustrating as the process can be a times, I'm convinced that deep-dive editing is a necessary process for turning out the best story I can write.

Editing improves your writing.

This particular book had a lot of issues in early drafts, with me choosing the wrong point of view, starting in the wrong place, and misfiring with the climax.

But after having to edit the book to deal with each of these issues, I'm far less likely to make the same mistakes again. Indeed, the next book in the series — written, edited, but not quite polished — is in way better shape at this point than this one was at a similar point in time.

Having to edit your mistakes or amp up your emotion or strengthen your story structure — or deal with whatever other weakness you have — forces you to improve your writing chops. Then when you write the next book, you have those shiny skills in your toolbox. You'll write to the know-how you've gained, because the process of editing that other book taught you what to do...as well as what not to do.

Editing happens to the best of us.

Whenever I'm frustrated with some aspect of writing, I go check with the experts to see what wisdom they have. Actually, they say that rewriting, revising, editing, and more editing are par for the course.

Take Ernest Hemingway, for example, who rewrote the last page of Farewell to Arms 39 times. When asked what had stumped him, he answered, "Getting the words right." Vladimir Nabokov, author of Lolita (a genuinely chilling novel), said, "I have rewritten — often several times — every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers." Truman Capote once remarked, "I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil."

And more recently, John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars, said, "Books are made in revision. For all three of my novels, I have deleted more than 90% of the first draft. And everything that people like about my books emerges in later drafts." You can hear it for yourself here:

https://youtu.be/PCTO91aBFXk?t=1m22s

I don't know about you, but this makes me feel a little better. Like maybe it's okay for your best writing to come out in Draft #5 or #12 or #67.

And by the time your book goes out to readers, they only know the amazing, kick-butt story you put into their hands.

That's what drives me to keep editing my book until it's the best story I can put out — because I want my novel in the hands of readers. I want them to love my characters, my story, my "baby" as much as I do.

Yep, I'm a bit sick and tired of editing. But when it's all over, I'll beam with pride.

When you're done editing, I'll beam with pride for you. Because your baby's pretty awesome too.

Source: The Atlantic – 'My Pencils Outlast Their Erasers': Great Writers on the Art of Revision

ABOUT JULIE

Julie Glover writes cozy mysteries and young adult fiction. Her YA contemporary novel, SHARING HUNTER, finaled in the 2015 RWA® Golden Heart®. When not writing, she collects boots, practices rampant sarcasm, and advocates for good grammar and the addition of the interrobang as a much-needed punctuation mark.

Julie is represented by Louise Fury of The Bent Agency. You can visit her website here and also follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.