Somehow, over an extremely busy weekend, I had three separate conversations with three different people that all ended the same way. I wish I could do what you do. At first, I was kind of baffled that these three people from different friend groups and obligations all felt the same way. How weird that I had a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of this. And then I stopped and thought and got a little upset that life and other people’s opinions got in the way. I hate that this is such a common experience for creatives that I had to have this conversation three times.
I know I don’t have all the answers. I’m an author who strongly believes that no one has the exact same process and there is no advice that’s one size fits all. You have to figure that out for yourself. But I do know one thing: You can do this. It’s never too late to start.
Write for yourself: “My family always judged me for it. I wrote in secret and then figured there was no point.”
I’m lucky enough that I grew up in a family where everyone was writing. I didn’t have this familial pressure to stop. But I have gotten judgy comments from other sources. When you hear them enough, it does take a toll. It makes you question why you’re doing this and if it’s worth pursuing, especially without support.
I think sometimes we have to go back to square one.
If you want to write, if you enjoyed writing at some point in your life, then do it for you. It doesn’t matter what mom or dad or old aunt Bessie thinks. There doesn’t have to be a point or an end goal. Your happiness is up to you and if writing is a source of happiness, screw all the other opinions. Treat yourself. Do this one thing for you again.
Write for fun: “I haven’t written since high school. Maybe I just liked it because we had to.”
I went to school for writing. I had an English teacher in grade nine who encouraged me to keep going and I never looked back. But for a lot of people, once the English projects end, the writing also ends. And I get that. Life gets in the way.
I think there’s an association between writing and education that sometimes makes the writing part undesirable. We take language arts, which then turns into English for approximately twelve years. Then, we graduate, move onto post-secondary pursuits, and wonder whether we did something because we had to or because we liked it. There was structure in the writing we were assigned. That can be great for some and terrible for others.
Instead of viewing writing like an assignment that needs to be graded, just write for fun. Easier said than done, but a switching of the viewpoint allows us to open up.
If it’s been years since you’ve gotten anything on paper, get back into it by challenging yourself to write the weirdest thing you can possibly think of. Have fun. There’s no way to fail here.
Write without rules: “I can never get past the planning stage, so I just stopped.”
Writing for fun leans well here, as well. There’s a lot of writing advice that gets thrown around. Show don’t tell, write everyday, use this specific software to plan, don’t use the passive voice, write what you know . . . Sometimes it all seems like a lot. While some advice is useful, other pieces just adds more pressure. We put a lot of emphasis on planning out a story, but no one writes the same way. If something isn’t working for you and is keeping you from writing, you’re allowed to find another way.
Don’t limit yourself. Don’t listen to all the advice and just write the way that works for you.
One of the best courses I took in university was called Writing Without Rules. We wrote in second person, had to turn in a story we created in the two-hour class period, created pieces entirely made up of texts and letters. It challenged us to stop overthinking all the rules we’d been taught for years and years and get the words down. And after writing professionally for seven years, I can tell you that some words are better than no words.
You can work with no-rules words. You can’t work with a blank page. Write without rules until you find what works for you, then write within your rules.
Write when you can: “I don’t know how you have so many books out. I just don’t have time.”
I hate to break it to you, but no one has the time. Most authors have full time jobs or kids or family obligations and write on the side. I wrote this blog post from my phone on a Sunday evening, while sitting in the dark in front of a fan after melting in the heat outside all day. I squeezed that in because I was asked to do it. If you want to do this, you need to find the time. And a lot of that is just writing when you can.
I’ve found that writing before bed when the house and world is quiet is my most productive time. But I’ve also written in lines, waiting rooms, cars, and airports (I literally uploaded files at the airport for my book Not Actually), at family events and weddings. Some of that is just inspiration struck at an inopportune moment, but some of it is also me recognizing I had some downtime and writing instead of staring off into space.
I don’t always have time. I don’t always write. But I always write when I can. That’s all you have to do.
Five minutes is better than zero. At least it’s the tiniest speck of writing if you want to write. It’s something. And eventually little somethings build up into big somethings. Give yourself grace to take the time you need.
Just write
Write because you can. No one can write like you. No one take that away from you.
What tip would you give someone just getting back into writing?
About Maddie
Madeline Nixon has been a dog walker, a nanny, a baker, a shoe saleswoman, a chocolatier, and an editor, but the title she’s most fond of is author. She’s published one nonfiction short story collection about her paranormal experiences entitled Feathers, the Like A Love Song romance series, and a magical Christmas novella, Last Christmas I Love-Spelled Us Apart. She also has stories in several romance anthologies. When she’s not writing, you can find her hunting ghosts, planning elaborate theme parties, and baking new recipes. She lives in a suburb outside of Toronto.
Robin Blakely’s recent Writers in the Storm post, “Mid-Year Goal Checkup,” had a subtitle of “It’s Not Too Late to Redirect Yourself,” and a first heading of, “You know the write answer: Redirect. Rewrite. Recommit.”
As I started reading it, I found myself laughing because of my current project, Harbor House: Deadly Intentions. Everything she described I had been going through!
I was ready to publish three different times; but, each time realized what I was trying to do wasn’t working.
In the beginning, there were two stories connected by family and location, separated by one hundred years.
While the first story had been published on its own earlier, it was okay; but, teamed with the second, newer story, not so much. The problem: the two stories were in different but similar genres.
The books’ origins
Harbor House: Say You Will
Created in the summer of 2023, this story was for an anthology of historical novellas as a fund-raising event for a romance writer’s group I belong to, and was to be published in November. Instead, it was published April 2024 in the Unlock My Heart anthology (now out of print).
The story was an 11,000-word Gothic romance novella, set during the bootlegging 1920s in northern Lake Huron and the small Michigan coastal community of Sinclair on Drummond Island and a much smaller private island nearby: Harbor House Island. Both Sinclair and the Island had been developed by Margaret Sinclair’s lumber baron grandfather, George Sinclair.
Harbor House: Last Blood
While awaiting the Gothic’s publication, I got the idea to write a follow-up book, a psychological thriller, using the same family and the same location but 100 years later.
This story became a 56,000-word psychological thriller novel featuring thirty-year-old Detroit librarian, Hunter Marshall, who receives an ancestor website membership that includes her DNA as a birthday gift, discovering she’s adopted and has inherited the family lumber business that’s still operational, along with Harbor House, its island, and an unsolved crime associated with the house and the family.
The process is going great so far
In mid-May 2024, I began journaling the thriller’s characters, digging deep into their internal conflicts and plotting the story with Post-it notes and a storyboard. Three weeks later, I was typing up a 22-page outline.
In June, I wrote the first draft, a 42,000-word manuscript of mostly dialogue and action. I doubted I’d make my self-imposed October deadline because there were too many clues to flesh out and more emotional layering and editing to do.
By mid-November, I was ready to publish the two books, but because of the upcoming holidays, I decided to wait until January to publish.
In January, a potential agent crossed my path. I submitted and had to wait six weeks. In the sixth week, another agent crossed my path, so I began waiting another six weeks.
And then, the pain began
While waiting, I started reading both books, to proof them one more time.
An uh-oh moment arrived. It fast became an oh dear realization.
Stupidly, I hadn’t read the Gothic since its 2024 publication. It needed revising. There was too much telling in the beginning. Plus, Margaret didn’t have much of a wound that left her conflicted.
If I were honest with myself, the first book didn’t measure up to the second one. It didn’t have the same intensity. It would end up a DNF if I didn’t fix it, let alone anyone continuing to the second book, the thriller.
Additionally, they couldn’t be published separately as a duology. They’d have to be published as a collection: separate stories but together in one book. I spent a couple weeks reformatting and editing and sat down to read it again.
Another uh-oh moment. This format was a mistake because the same problem existed, plus there was still too much telling. The history of the first story was important to the second story. How could I incorporate the history without having to tell it? How could I show it without losing the reader?
The aha moment – the Redirect
Going to sleep that night, I gave my subconscious the task of solving the problem. The next morning, I had the answer: a split-in-time book.
The plan (revised) – the Rewrite
So, now, I’ve blended and melded the two stories together and removed the telling. The past is now shown at key junctures and heightened because of the thriller. I’m still in the process of polishing and proofing. A major review and beta readers will reveal if I did what I intended.
The lesson – the Recommit
The story knew better that I did on what it needed. I’ve learned that every story, every book, whether fiction or non-fiction, has its own process. I just need to listen.
As a result, I’m ecstatic about the story all over again. I’ve got another self-imposed October publishing date, though I strongly suspect I’ll miss it. Hopefully, it’ll be published before Christmas.
Wish me luck!
Is there a book or series of books you feel like could use a little redirecting? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.
About Dr. Diana
At the time Diana was getting unstuck with Harbor House: Deadly Intentions described above, she was teaching her Finding Your Writing Fire class, which centered on helping profoundly stuck students get unstuck. By the middle of the second week, they announced they were happily writing again!
An award-winning writer and former English writing professor, Diana is a screenwriter and author, writing fiction and nonfiction, including a cookbook, how-to writing resources books, and blogging about her paranormal experiences. To learn more, visit her website, especially her Recommend Reading page if you’re interested in finding great books and blogs about writing.
To learn more about the writing process she teaches and uses to keep from getting stuck, check out her Finding Your Fire series books: Finding Your Fire & Keeping It Hot, and Character, Plot, & Emotion: the Three Foundational Pillars of Storytelling and its companion workbook.
Think about this for a second: “Normal” is nothing more than cultural brainwashing.
Now, I’m not getting all conspiracy theoristy on you. I don’t think our society has been engineered by dark forces meant to erase our brains. (Reality TV did that. Dark forces were not necessary.)
What I mean is that for a long time, there were only so many media outlets in the world. TV was originally broadcast on three major networks, and everyone listened to the same radio. Even after channels multiplied (thank you, cable TV, Netflix, and the internet), most content was still only made by a small group of people. Movies and TV are expensive and take a lot of specialized talent, equipment, and money, so only certain groups can make them. That’s even true today, as content has democratized and expanded.
Welcome to California
Here’s a question: Have you ever noticed how many movies are set (not just shot) in California?
That happens because the people who make movies primarily live in California, so they’re best able to write what they know. It’s not sinister; it’s just a fact of human nature. It’s the reason more of my protagonists are middle-class straight cis white guys than anything else: because I’m a middle-class straight cis white guy. That doesn’t happen because I’m trying to push a viewpoint or agenda. It happens because like most writers, I draw most easily and naturally from the world I know.
If you knew nothing about the United States except what you saw in movies and TV, you might think that most Americans live in California, since so many movies and TV shows are set there. You might think that California took up half of the North American land mass, seeing as relatively few movies are set anywhere else.
I’m sure there’s been some deliberate manipulation of TV and movies, but my maybe-naive belief is that most of our media’s historically homogenous portrayal of the world comes from laziness and complacency, not evil intent. I think that most creators just wake up in the morning and write the world they see around them, because it’s their world. And then, because the film and TV industry broadcasts that vision of that world, it starts to seem like it must be everyone else’s world, too.
Normal isn't always normal.
In other words, “normal” isn’t actually the norm. It’s more like a lopsided delusion. When we think of “normal,” we’re talking about what we think the world looks like … and a lot of our “looks like” is created by the media we consume — media that was written by a group of people who aren’t remotely the majority.
What we call “normal” is actually the worldview of a tiny minority who just so happen to have massive reach. Ten people in a Hollywood office work together to write a movie filled with people like themselves, doing things they do, surrounded by activities they enjoy, responding to things in the way their mothers and families always responded to things, aspiring to goals that make sense to them. Then that movie becomes a blockbuster, and everyone thinks that version of life is just “how things are.”
I was forty before I finally understood something my father kept trying to tell me: that 1950s America wasn’t anything like Leave it to Beaver or Mister Ed. Nope. Those were just versions of life and values held by the small group of people who made decisions in TV at the time. Sure, there were people like that … but it was far from everyone.
Different is the New Normal
I’ve taken you down this philosophical rabbit hole for one reason:
Think about what we consider “normal,” along with all the pressures in the world — both overt and subtle — to conform to that normality.
Now, remember that if “normal” is actually the worldview of a minority with a disproportionately huge reach, that means “abnormal” people actually outnumber them. Weirdly, “abnormal” is more normal than “normal.” Remember what Lewis said in Revenge of the Nerds? “We have news for the beautiful people: There’s a lot more of us than there are of you.”
Normal is a lie. By the numbers, the most “normal” thing you can be is atypical.
This matters to you as an Artisan Author because the Artisan ethos is all about being unique. It’s about operating with a different flavor than the norm. If readers want mainstream, they know exactly where to find it. If they want something different — something off the beaten path, told in a different way — they come to us. It’s our duty to give them that difference — to be brave enough to show them our way of peering through the looking glass.
All these years, everyone outside of our culture’s definition of “normal” has been ignored and underserved. That’s great news for you, if you’re weird. If you’ve got a freak flag in your back pocket, then by all means get out there and fly it. There are audiences all over the world who’ve been waiting breathlessly for a worldview that better matches their own than the mainstream. All those people will see your outside-the-nine-dots books as a breath of fresh air … but only if you’ve got the guts to go out there and be yourself.
From Weirdo to Bestseller
Want an example of how “different’ can be an advantage for you as an author — especially one who markets and sells your books in the ways this book talks about? Okay, sure — I’ve got one all ready for you.
Exhibit A: Chuck Tingle.
I won’t list Chuck’s book titles because this is a family blog, but do yourself a favor and look him up. I laughed so hard at his early books because it seemed he was walking a fine line between erotica and winking hilarity, and I couldn’t tell which side he was on.
But then one day, I saw a book by the author of Scary Stories to Tingle Your Butt and Handsome Sentient Bubblegum Who Is Also a Successful Landscape Architect in all of the bookstores around me. Suddenly good ol’ Chuck’s got a horror book called Bury Your Gays running up the bestseller charts.
I’m telling you, man: There are bestsellers-in-waiting out there in the oddest places.
If you’re far outside society’s usual nine dots, you’ve actually got an advantage on this one. If you’re more like me, though, you’re a lot closer to the mainstream and won’t stand out as easily as that aforementioned breath of fresh air. Fortunately, you don’t need to be far off center to find your own special tribe. Every author’s style is unique, if the author lets it be unique.
Where do you fit?
I used to back away from making the constant 80s and 90s references that find their way into my books. They were funny to me, but I figured a lot of people would either never get them or find them annoying. Then I realized it was more tiring and less fun to try to be mainstream than to just leave it alone, so I started letting me be me.
I used to wonder why I kept shooting myself in the foot by creating books that didn’t cleanly appeal to any of the major genres. I mean, who was Unicorn Western for — western fans, or fantasy fans? Who was The Future of Sex for — sci-fi fans skeeved out by the hard-R rating, or hard-R readers who didn’t appreciate the intense sci-fi? And forget about the several humor/erotica titles Sean and I had so much fun writing, the best of which was Adult Video. Who the hell were those books for?
Well, they were for me and Sean, of course. We loved all of them.
They were for my wife, who laughed until she cried reading Adult Video.
And they were for the folks here and there who emailed to tell me or to request more of the same.
Were there a lot of those people?
Nope.
Were there some?
Yep.
And those some — who hung in there through every one of my freak-flag books — have historically been my best and most loyal fans.
If You Try To Please Everyone, You’ll End Up Pleasing No One
If you write a book meant to please as many people as possible in the mass-market audience, you’ll have to take out all the edgy stuff that makes it different. To write a book with maximally broad appeal, you’ll have to smooth it out and make it bland, like unflavored ice cream. Giving a book any strong flavor at all means limiting its appeal … but it also means strengthening its appeal to the smaller number of people who like it.
The fans of Unicorn Western, The Future of Sex, and Adult Video don’t just like those books. They LOVE those books. They RAVE about those books. They become superfans. They jump whole-hog into my world because I gave them something that nobody else could.
An Artisan Author must be bold. Bolder than other authors, who are, in themselves, pretty bold. An Artisan Author has to be bold enough to say, “You know all those people out there who are brave enough to put their creative work on the line for all the world to see? Well, I’m going to be different from them. They’re outsiders, but I’m going to be an outsider even among the outsiders.”
Being an outsider isn’t a bad thing. In practice, it’s an amazing thing. Because the truth is that even if you’re alone among authors, you’re not actually alone. There’s a whole tribe of readers out there who’ve been waiting for something only you can deliver.
Nobody else can be you. Nobody can duplicate what you uniquely offer.
It’s your cheat code, and using it can be terrifying … but isn’t that true of all real creation.
QUESTION: Have you ever risked “being fully yourself” in your books? What happened if you did?
This is based on an excerpt from the book The Artisan Author, available now.
