Writers in the Storm

D A Watt 

I recently came back from making my three day Cursillo, meaning a “little course” for my faith. The first talk I attended, called a rollo, centered around the ideal self.  You see, each of us is composed of two ideals, the false ideal and the true ideal. The false ideal is the dress up doll version complete with makeup, boobs and Botox, while the true ideal is the cottony comfortable au la natural you.

 The toughest part of figuring out your true ideal is being honest with yourself. No false ego, no puffed up pride can answer the question, “Who am I, really?” If you really want a long and fulfilling career in anything, including writing, you must answer the question truthfully, and take whatever time it takes to figure out YOU.

So, ask yourself, “Who am I, really?”

The answer to this most simple of questions requires a not so simple response. The old saying “To thine ownself be true” applies here. Respect your DNA, and your history and your environment. For instance, do you prefer sitting over walking, reading over physical activity? Silly, I know, but if you have a hard time parking your butt in a chair (like me) or standing at a podium with your laptop (like me) for more than a few hours, and if, after two days of working alone without a social break, you are beginning to feel mildly depressed (like me), maybe you had better respect your makeup, and I don’t mean lip gloss.

How motivated a writer are you, really? Would you rather a bike ride than to finish researching the effects of gamma radiation or police procedurals or pipe bombs? And what type of writing suits you best? Be honest, are you better suited for short stories or long novels? Are you adventurous and easily bored or are you meticulous, highly organized, and able to sit for long periods with only a ten minute break every hour? Admit it, maybe you are not suited for novels, the marathon of writing, maybe an anthology, young adult, or composing children’s stories is your niche. Maybe your writing is more of a sprint or triathlon. You might be better suited for short stories, blogs, essays, articles, and such, where you can cut to the quick and move on to the next exciting gig. Admit it. Who are you, really?

If you are able to plant butt in chair and stay there, I envy you, I really do. I would love to write for five hours a day, everyday (forget eight hours that would be torture), but I can’t, I really can’t. I am very physical, very active and easily distracted. So, with that revelation (finally, I feel like I just admitted to alcoholism) am I a writer? Well, yes, but what kind of writer?

I don’t know, yet.

The false me is inflated, competent, and very confident. My false ideal can leap tall buildings in a single bound, swim the English Channel, and win the Kentucky Derby, not to mention write like Steinbeck. Of course, in actuality, I am not that person, but sometimes my gullibility buys into the snake oil self, and I believe. Oh, how I believe. That’s when frustration over my apparent lack of ability and chutzpah closes in. I neglect my writing, and Eminem’s, “Snap back to reality, Oh, there goes gravity,” becomes my swan song.

Sure, I like to think of myself as the next great thriller writer, my false ideal thinks so. But do I have the motivation to travel that road of incredible research? Do I possess the ability and intelligence required to create intricate, complex, and believable plots? Am I truly capable of writing and selling thrillers? I’d like to think so, but  . . ..

Will the writer inside of me please shout it out? Tell me, what kind of writer am I?

Alas, she remains silent; I think she’s afraid, maybe she knows I am not ready for her honesty. So, I plod along, slowly figuring me out, uncovering the layers of ego to face the true writer within. I am trying for full frontal nudity here, without denial or delusion. I just hope that when I uncover her, flawed and spider veined, she writes.

So, gentle reader, respect who you are, and figure out what motivates you. And when the writer within comes out, let me know who she is. I’ll be looking for her in the bookstores, news stands and online

By Sharla Rae

In my head I have a perfect schedule for making the most of my writing time.  

Writing is sedentary so exercise is important. I set my alarm for 5:30 I leap out of bed, and change out of my jammies into shorts, exercise bra, socks and tennis shoes. Then it’s 25 minutes on the water rower and 25 to 30 on the tread mill. Around 6:30, I’ll hop into the shower. By 7:30 or 8:00, I’ll be at my desk, spend 20 minutes on e-mail while I have my morning yogurt. Then I’m writing until around 3:30 or 4:00 when I run to the kitchen to make sure everything’s ready to cook dinner when hubby gets home between 5 to 6.

We’ll that’s how it’s supposed to go.

This is how it mostly goes:

1. 5:30 am the alarm goes off. I hit the snooze button & finally crawl out of bed by 6 or 7.
2. Perform morning ablutions.  Stare into the mirror – is that really me? Lord have mercy!
3. Make the bed – I don’t like to make it after exercise. I’m too tired and this is another great procrastination task.
4. Rummage through drawers, find the workout clothes, and dress—glad no one can see my rear in shorts so short they ought to be outlawed. 
5. I decide I need the yogurt for strength “before” I exercise so I head for the fridge.
6. Then I remember something really important that I need to check on my computer.
7. I realize I’ve been on the computer a whole hour and fly upstairs to exercise.
8. Turn on some music really loud—I get bored
9. Turn on the fan. I don’t like to sweat too much
10. Exercise only 30 minutes -- because I’ve piddled away too much time on the computer -- shower, and get decent
11. Sit at the desk by 9 or 10 and hate myself for getting such a late start.
12. Work for an hour, get up to give my tired, flat rump a chance to plump up while I lay out frozen food to thaw for dinner.
13. Write for another hour.
14. Take a break and wander the house working out a scene and how it should go down on paper.
15. Pretty much repeat #13 and #14 until around 4 pm when I start dinner.

In my defense, when I’m hot on the writing trail, I’ll work all night long without blinking.  And I’m almost always writing in my head. I get my best ideas in bed – no, not “those” kinds of ideas.” What I mean is that I solve most of my writing problems in that twilight time, when I start to relax, but I’m not quite asleep.  I keep post-a-notes on my bedside table. I’ve gotten good at writing in the dark. After all, I don’t want to disturb hubby. Many a morning, I discover I’ve wall-papered the lampshade.

I’m also fairly well organized. I don’t attempt to write on Mondays. I clean house, pay bills etc. If that kind of stuff doesn’t get done on Monday, it’s left until the following week. If you mess up my Monday plans, heaven help you because the rest of the week I write, and I get cranky if someone or something interferes.

So goes my writing day.

The point is, it doesn't matter much how the writing day goes, as long as you do write something every day. Well, almost every day. A gal's got to get out of the house once in a while to get the stink blown off, right?

by Sharla Rae

The first thing writers learn about Point of View or POV is that it refers to whose perspective through which the reader experiences the sounds, smells, actions and emotions of a story/scene. Seems simple, but sometimes knowing which character’s head to be in isn’t simple.

 Most of us in the romance genre use third-person or first-person. First-person isn’t easy to write, but when it comes to choosing POV, it’s easy. The story is always viewed from one person’s perspective, the character who is telling the story. If the book is in third-person, especially in a romance, it’s not unusual to see three or more character POVs.

 It’s the third person stories with multiple view points that we’re discussing here. How does a writer choose the point-of-view character in any given scene? In some scenes, there’s only one character on stage so no problem. In most cases there’s at least two.

 The reader may not understand a character’s actions/reactions unless they are in his head or have been at some point. The motivation and action/reaction elements tie into the whose-head decision.

 In critique, we decided the most important POV element determining whose POV should be used is emotion -- the character’s and the reader’s. A scene has more “pow” if we’re in the head of the person who is emotionally involved and/or has the most at stake.

 Again, sounds simple. But maybe not.

 Sometimes two characters are experiencing major emotions in the same scene and both have a lot at stake.

Simplified examples:

1)Two people are on stage arguing. Both have reasons and motivations behind their opinions. Both have something at stake.

2) A woman streaks naked through a shopping mall. What in the heck is going through her head? Why would she do such a thing? But wait! What if her husband is coming out of the pet shop? He can’t believe his eyes! His sophisticated, genteel wife would never do such a thing! 

See what I mean? Whose head should we be in?

 Ask these questions:

• Whose story/scene is this? Or, who has the most at stake? (Instigating circumstances)
• What kind of emotional impact is needed?
• Whose POV will engage readers and drag them along for the ride?

It’s not always an easy choice. Sometimes we need to write the same scene from two different prospectives, before we know what’s right. No harm in that. The important thing is this: Always involve the reader’s emotions.  

All this POV talk begs the question; can we skip from one person’s head to another’s, that is, head hop?

Yes, but -- and this is a big but – you gotta have skilz and that’s another blog.

Okay, let’s talk. How do "you" choose whose head to be in?  

Websites:

The Writer’s Craft Website: http://www.the-writers-craft.com/point-of-view-in-literature.html    

The Dummies.Com website: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/understanding-point-of-view-in-literature.html

 Books: David Morrell’s Lessons From A Lifetime of Writing