Writers in the Storm

Today we're each taking the opportunity to give thanks for one "writerly" thing that helps us put those words on the page.

from Jenny Hansen:

I am thankful for blogging. Particularly for More Cowbell, my personal blog. Not only does it give me hours and hours of entertainment, it helped me find my writing process and a new direction for my career.

After years of struggling with book-length fiction, I’ve learned through experience that I do much better writing short. Writing 300-1200 word posts not only taught me that I’m a scene writer that does best in short bursts, it also helped me to discover my writing voice.

Who knew that I’d write “funny?” Without More Cowbell, I’d have had no idea! Nor would I have a place to put posts like 5 Signs You Have "Turkey Block."

from Orly Konig-Lopez:

When the “assignment” to write a paragraph about what writerly thing I’m thankful for, I was kinda surprised at the first thing that popped into to mind—the Women’s fiction chapter of RWA.

When I joined the chapter I had no idea what to expect. I’m not a traditional romance writer and I’d never belonged to a writing group. I was overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge being shared on the loops, and floored by the incredible generosity of the members. I found my fabulous critique partners through the chapter and made some amazing friends.

When doubts creep in, there are always a few people on the loops ready with a pep talk or kick in the pants. And when there’s good news to share, this group cheers the loudest. I’ve come a long way in my writing since joining and I can honestly credit the members of the Women’s Fiction chapter with giving me the confidence to take risks and pursue my dream.

from Laura Drake:

This year I'm thankful to have my teacher and friend, Margie Lawson, in my life. Her Deep Edits System clicked in my brain and made me able to back away from my writing far enough to look at it objectively.  One of my other weaknesses was getting emotion on the page-which her "Empowering Character's Emotions" class really helped.

But, best of all, was 'going to the mountain" last year, to take her Masters Immersion Course at her house in Colorado. Working with Margie, editing my manuscript in person, was a rare treat. What I’ve learned from her was the difference between selling and not.

And no, she didn’t pay me to say this…she’s THAT good. If you haven’t discovered her yet, you’re missing out.  Seriously.

From Sharla Rae:

When Fae asked each of us to write about what we as writers are grateful for this year, the first thing I thought of was my critique group here at WITS. They have supported not only my writing career but also, me as a friend. We all laugh and have fun together, share professional news, bitch about those who dun us wrong. And I have to say, whoever made up the saying “words come cheap” didn’t meet my critique group.

Over the past year-and-a-half my life has been upside down and writing was put on a backburner. I often felt I’d let them down and didn’t pull my weight. The WITS ladies just rolled their eyes at me and told me to get over myself. They lifted me out of those doldrums and kept me on an even keel in my life and my writing. I know I’d do the same for them.

Friends, let alone professional writing friends, don’t come any better than these ladies. Thank you, Fae Rowen, Laura Drake, Jenny Hansen, and Orly Konig-Lopez.

From Fae Rowen:

I am grateful for all you WITS readers, who show up three times a week to read our blogs.

You amaze me with the enthusiasm and wisdom in your comments. You humble me with your kindness and generosity. You spark me with your praise and support. And you give me ideas to chew on, possibilities to tumble shiny-smooth in my heart, and a reason to jump up in the morning and see what you have to say.

I thank you for taking this whole blogging experience from the "Oh, no, I'm blog mistress this month!" to "Now I have an excuse to cruise the comments and follow cool links to more ideas and different thinking."

I thank you for prodding me to think of what I have to share that you might find helpful or inspiring or funny. Thank you for being part of my world.

Do you have something or someone to be grateful for helping you write the book of your dreams? Chances are, others will include your "grateful" on their list, so go ahead and share. You aren't limited to one.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love and peace to you all this Holiday Season!
with tremendous thanks from Writers In The Storm...

Our new Writer in the Storm, Orly Konig-Lopez, is taking on Jenny Hansen in our latest throwdown: Introverted vs Extroverted Writer. Next Monday, Jenny will offer arguments, er... uh, gentle persuasion on the Extroverted Writer.

by Orly Konig-Lopez

Loyal followers (and you’re all loyal followers, right? Right!) know that Writers in the Storm has a fun tradition of  taking a topic and ripping it in half. And since we all have opinions -- some louder than others -- there’s always the opportunity for a fun Throwdown over which half is the right half.

Well, my “hello world, it’s me the troll” blog led to a Throwdown idea—and I’ll give everyone a wild hairy guess which half of the Introvert vs. Extrovert debate I grabbed and ran to the cave with.

First, I have a confession. Two weekends ago, I came out of the cave for a workshop—the fabulous Margie Lawson gave her Empowering Characters Emotions workshop at my local chapter meeting. And … shhhh … it was fun interacting with other writers.

But before anyone gets the crazy idea that I’m ready to convert, I’m happy to report that I’m safely back in my troll cave! AAhhhhh … it’s so much nicer in here.

Okay, okay, I’ll admit that sharing ideas with other writers and soaking up the creative mojo that flows in a room of wonderfully talented people can be stimulating. But as an introvert, I find it equally exhausting. I mean seriously, all those people talking. And talking. A troll can get whiplash trying to keep up.

I’m most comfortable when I have control of my environment. I prefer to observe and absorb. I crave the solitude of working with my (mostly) silent writing buddies. And yes, I sometimes need the safety of hiding behind the keyboard.

I’ve tried writing in coffee shops. Noisy. I’ve tried editing while tracking email and Twitter. Distracting. I’ve even tried brainstorming during writing workshops. Intimidating.

When I write (or edit), I prefer to retreat into my own little world.

Depending on what I’m working on or the weather or just the mood du jour, I’ll pick a spot in the house—some days it’s the sunroom, others my office; or maybe the kitchen table or the couch by the fireplace in cold weather; or if it’s nice outside the front porch.

I always have my favorite giant mug next to me (coffee, thank you). I’ll close out email and shut down my browser. The only “people” I want to chit chat with are my characters.

I can easily go an entire day with only a few words to the cats (no, it’s not time to eat yet; no you can not have my coffee; did you really think flopping on my keyboard was the best idea?) and only a handful of emails or tweets or text messages sent. Those are my rejuvenate days, my find-the-peace-within days, my I’m-so-going-to-kick-this-manuscript-in-the-butt days.

What about research, you’re asking? Sure, I could make phone calls, talk to an expert, visit a facility similar to one I’m writing about. But why? Those require interaction.

A few well-chosen search words and I have all the information I need (okay, maybe not ALL, but a lot). Hey people, Google was created for a reason (just remember to be thorough and not believe everything G tells you). Not to mention the fact that I lot of those experts you thought I should talk to wrote books on the subject. And we love books!

Once in a while you have to come out of the cave. Even the most introverted troll gets that. But at the first opportunity, it’s back in. Hello happy writing place!

What about you—do you prefer to snuggle inside the cave or play with everyone else?

Don’t forget to check back next Monday when Jenny talks about the life of the extrovert writer. *waving as I back into my cave*

WITS is happy to welcome back James Preston, author of the award-winning Surf City Mysteries series.

James’ wife, Nancy, encouraged Fae Rowen to write her first book.  James encouraged Fae to go to the San Diego Writers Conference to learn how to write that first book.

Today he shares his insight on why we write and why we read. 

by James R. Preston

The wooden dock swayed under the weight of a hundred anxious people as the sailing ship coasted toward it.  The ship had news, news of someone they cared about.  As it neared the dock the crowd began to shout, “Does she live?  Does she live?”  The sailors, who had read the newspaper in England, called back, “Little Nell is Dead!”

Talk about a spoiler!  The crowd rioted, but here’s the catch: Nell Trent is not flesh-and-blood.  She is a character that Charles Dickens made up for The Old Curiosity Shop.

I want to talk about something different—not plot points or the pitfalls of ping-pong dialog or snappy endings that leave the reader wanting your next book.  I want to talk about Little Nell.

I want to talk about why we do it, the value in our work, regardless of our sales figures or the size of our audience.

Why do we do it? 

I mean, think about the hours you spend learning the craft and the times when you go, "Uh, what happens next?"  Face it, if you play the piano at the very least you can bang out carols at the company Christmas party.  If you sketch you can draw flyers for your daughter's soccer team.  You get the idea.  Hold that thought.

First, a question.

Ever ride a toboggan?

When I was very young my best friends were my cousins, some of whom lived in San Diego.  We're talking single digits here, for all of us, age-wise.  After wearing ourselves out with  near-death experiences on their Flexi Flyer they always wanted me to tell them stories and I loved to oblige.

One of their favorites was The Snow Kings.  The Snow Kings were three kids who had this flying toboggan they used to fight crime and space monsters.  The problem was they had to have a steep hill or a rooftop to launch the thing and there was never one around when they needed it.

My cousins loved those stories because they were about kids like us, except they had adventures, (not to mention a flying toboggan).  We all knew that I was not going to end a story with, “They fell off the toboggan and plummeted screaming to their deaths.”  But they liked the stories anyway.  The kids were what was important.

I think what you and I do—tell stories about people—is important. And that’s why you should keep doing it.

Made-up or not, Little Nell caused a sensation when she went to her reward.  There are stories that Thackeray was found in his office, sobbing.  Another writer threw the book out of the window of the train he was in.  People cared.

Spoiler Alert!

I remember the first time I was invited to talk to a book club, and the very first thing they wanted to know was what my protagonist T. R. Macdonald would have done if his wife had been available when he met and fell in love with the curvaceous Kandi.

The ladies in the club were talking about Mac and Kandi as if they were real people.  I almost said, "Ladies, how should I know?  They're constructs!"  but I didn't, for a variety of reasons.  First they were paying and deserved a thoughtful answer and second, well, I'll get to that.

The “takeaway” from the story above is this:

It’s the characters.  That why we do it, that’s what your readers care about.  That’s why there are a million readers counting the days until November 20, when Notorious Nineteen comes out and we get to see what Stephanie Plum is up to now.  I am pretty sure that she will not plummet to her death from a flying toboggan, but I want to read it anyway.  I care about Stephanie, Grandma Mazur, and all the others.

The book club ladies deserved an answer and I realized that Mac and Kandi are not the constructs that I thought they were.  They have taken on a life of their own.

It’s the people who are important.  That’s why we do it.  If we are lucky our characters come to life, leap off the page, and tell us their story.  Listen to 14-year-old Kaylee Miraflores, a character in Pennies For Her Eyes:

“I’m adopted, of course.  Oh, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way.  I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”  She looked at me uncertainly, then looked down at her plate again.  “My, um, my biologic father ran away when I was three and my mother fell in love and when I was five she got remarried and my new father is this wonderful man and I love him so much.  So one day—I was seven—we were moving down to Huntington and I asked him if I could tell the kids at school my name was Miraflores instead of Keene and he started crying and said he wanted to adopt me but he didn’t know how to ask me so now I’m Kaylee Miraflores.”  She stopped for breath, looked up, then quickly looked back down at her burger.

Kaylee is revealing part of herself, sharing with the other characters and with the reader.  I didn’t exactly plan it, the words never appeared on a plot card or in my notes.  I didn’t know this part of it until she started talking and explained it to me.  Kaylee is important to me, and I hope to the people who will read about her.

The importance of story, of the people we write about, has not diminished since Little Nell.

A hundred and fifty years after her unfortunate demise, I witnessed young readers exit a bookstore on Maui, and sit down on the cement so they could open and start reading the newest Harry Potter.

What you do—your writing—is important.  It’s the people.  If you care about your characters it will show and they will speak to you and to your readers.

So don’t feel bad that you won’t be entertaining at the company party.  Just keep talking to those people in your head.  They’ll talk back.

Somewhere The Snow Kings are dragging that toboggan around, looking for a place to launch it so they can save the world.  And as far as how Mac would have worked it out if Diana had been available when he met Kandi, I don’t know.

But he does.

Thanks for asking me back.  This is a great blog, one that I'm proud to contribute to.  It offers excellent advice on the process of writing.  I learn something from every essay I read.

Speaking of learning something—do you have a character you have connected with at a visceral level?  If I were a betting man (and I am) I would say, “Yes.”  Are you willing to share?  I’d like to hear about them and so would the other WITS readers.  Love ‘em or hate ‘em, let’s talk.  (Do I see Hannibal Lecter grinning from a prison cell?)

Next time, back to technical stuff—point of view.  There will be a quiz.  And if you take what I have said today to heart, there will be a next time.

About James

James R. Preston writes the Surf City Mysteries, the most recent of which is Pennies For Her Eyes.  His most recent signing was at Men of Mystery, where he appeared on the same bill as New York times bestselling, awesome writer James Rollins.  (That sound in the background is Preston’s own horn tooting.)  Check out www.jamesrpreston.com for more information.  And if your book club wants a live one, send an email.