Managing Expectations

 

NaNoWriMo taught me a great deal this year.

I shared this fascinating experience with a group of wonderful writers, many of whom contribute to this awesome blog. We would post daily our accomplishments, struggles, frustrations, and/or tears. NaNoWriMo is not a task to be undertaken lightly. In fact, I’d sat on the sidelines for several years, watching other braver souls set forth on the perilous journey of writing 50,000 words in one month. I’d pants around with them in spirit, adding a few words here a sentence or two there to my work in progress, but I did it comfortably from my uncommitted couch. This year, I jumped in with both feet, all the while kicking and screaming, and discovered a great deal about myself and the writing process in general.

The biggest gem of insight this insane challenge gleaned was that as writers, and human beings in general, we are ridiculously hard on ourselves. In order to reach 50,000 words in 30 days, one had to commit to setting down on the page 1,667 words daily. That, by the way, is my extent at math skills, which is why I stick with writing.

At the end of each day we would post our word counts. Some would wallow in defeat and self-torture, others would prance with victory. On days I didn’t make the word count, I felt like I had failed. Days I made the minimum or exceeded it I was ecstatic but felt guilty posting my success because I knew there were others in the group beating themselves up for not meeting the daily requirements. I knew how frustrating that felt.  NaNoWriMo was supposed to be a brilliant kick start to creativity, instead it turned into a mad dash to crunch the numbers, and each day I fell behind left me with a bitter taste of inadequacy and failure. Why? Because the expectation with NaNoWriMo is that you commit to achieving the goal. In order to win, in order to get that shiny NaNoWriMo badge you can proudly display as your profile picture, you had to make the cut.

But here’s the thing. Make the cut for what? We were battling with ourselves and our uniquely creative process (for more insight, check out Anna Davis's post Want More Creative Energy? Pace Yourself). NaNoWriMo forces us to create in a surreal, unnatural environment and then measure ourselves against that ideal.

 

NaNoWriMo is not bad, in and of itself, the problem is how we approach it. Setting goals is a wonderful pursuit, but expecting things to turn out a specific way only sets us up for disappointment and disillusionment if things turn sour. Instead of patting ourselves on the back for 500 words in one day, for many participants (myself included) negative self-talk undermined the process of creating and turned writing into something unpleasant, or at very least a chore, and a tough one at that.

We write because we love to, because our passion compels us to create worlds, people them with a host of quirky characters, and live out our fanciful days in a realm of make believe so captivating that we lose ourselves in our own delightful creations. When we get caught up in the semantics of process and output rather than the experience of joyfully, blissfully adding fresh, compelling, sexy words to the page, in my humble opinion, it defeats the purpose: why we got into this crazy gig to begin with.

As writers, there are a plethora of misguided expectations we may place on ourselves. We might have an unrealistic idea of how long it actually takes to write a novel, screen play, instructional manual, or memoir (months, years, even decades). We might not realize how many drafts it takes to turn a lumpy piece of creative clay into a smooth and polished masterpiece (think double digits here). What about the end result of your blood, sweat, and tears? Do you want to be published? Are you hinging your happiness and sense of accomplishment on whether or not you get picked up by an agent or publishing house? What happens if you don’t sign that contract? Do you throw in the towel, hang up your laptop, and call it a career? Or do you acknowledge that there are other streams, other opportunities to get your work out there? Are you open to new experiences, wild and crazy unconventional options?

If we are constantly hung up on the end result, whether we get there, and the way we envision ourselves arriving (standing on a podium with fireworks and streamer cannons, thank you very much) we’ve lost touch with the passion that drives us to create.

By all means, set goals, have objectives, but don’t hinge your happiness on whether they end up looking like the vision you created in your mind. Instead, go with the flow, take the lessons you learn in the process and attempt something new in the future, try a new tack. No effort is wasted.

Being a writer isn’t easy. There are plenty of challenges both external and internal that we continually battle against, but the journey is definitely worth it if we keep in mind our reasons for starting in the first place. Writing invigorates us. It makes us excited to wake up in the morning, our fingers itch to put those words on the page, to flesh out that story, to sculpt and hone that brilliant idea.

If writing’s your passion live it, breathe it, but let go of the handlebars, loosen the grip, lose the expectations and let the words percolate one letter at a time.

You’re a writer. Have fun with it. xo

In gratitude,

Marissa

 

On-the-Page vs Fade-to-Black; How Do Your Characters Like Their Sex?

Photo by Jonathan Cohen

I'm a fairly new writer. My background is business and technology. Fiction is my first love, but some aspects take me out of my comfort zone. In fact, I didn't want to tell friends or family about my writing journey, unsure where it might lead. 

I've gotten over that. 

Now that I've come out of my writing closet, the question I'm asked most often is; “Does your book have any sex?"

Um, no. It's a thriller.

People nod politely and offer their two cents. “More people will buy it if there’s sex.”

Perhaps they're right. 

Many thrillers do include bedroom scenes. One of my long-time favorite authors, Stephen White, often kept the bedroom door closed, but still alluded to his main character as a sexual being.  White ended his 20-book series in 2013 with a great 250-word scene. It’s quite apparent what’s happening in the bed without many descriptive words beyond ‘breasts.’

We all color the story with our own perspective. Ten people reading the same book will each take away something different. When I asked five readers if Stephen White’s character ever had on-the-page sex, everyone had a different answer, ranging from; “Never!” to, “Oh, yes, he had sex all the time. Remember, when he left his wife?”

(For the record, White’s character did not leave his wife.)

Some readers want more details before a scene fades-to-black. The euphemism, on its own, indicates shades of gray. 

Which leads me to my next rant. At what point does on-the-page-sex make, or break, a book?

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY sold 100 million copies. My stepdaughter recommended the book, with the disclaimer, “I want you to read this book. But we can never talk about it.”

I read the first book with a train-wreck fascination. E.L. James’ controversial trilogy was all about the details.  Her characters did not leave much for reader imagination. I didn’t read either of the next two books, figuring my sexual education was complete.  But I will raise the question, would the book have had such overwhelming sales without the sex?

Probably not.

Books allow us, as readers, a little voyeuristic peek inside someone’s head. Many think of series characters with the fondness of an old friend. To be allowed inside a friend’s head, with access to their thoughts and feelings is the singular beauty of fiction. 

Researching this article, I referenced Forbes The World's Top-Earning Authors, (recall my background in business?) and created a table to look at the trend (see below). Surprisingly—or not—E.L. James pushed James Patterson out of his number one position in 2013. It should be noted that Ms James did not have a book released in 2013, while Mr. Patterson released fourteen.

The authors (above) in red are more generous with details before their fade-to-black scenes. The shift to the left seems to indicate that readers do want more detail from their characters. In 2010, only one (red) author placed in the top five. Last year clocked three out of five. 

How much on-the-page sex is right for your readers? And are you, as a writer, comfortable going there?

For me, it’s complicated. I think I’m going to work on my alluding techniques. 

Want More Creative Energy? Pace Yourself

Writing a novel is a game of endurance, and every writer must find their own pace. I learned this the hard way. I’m currently working on my third novel, the second in a series. Yes, you heard me right: my third novel is the second in the series. That’s because my first attempt at a novel needs a complete rewrite. Currently it’s occupying space on my hard drive until I develop the courage to tackle it.


"So, my old foe, we meet on the battlefield once again."

That first novel taught me something huge and valuable: never underestimate the power of a creative endeavor.

Creating something of value—whether a novel, painting, screenplay, piece of music, or the life of a child—demands reverence and care. Creative energy comes from the Creator, a being whose image we bear in our frail and broken bodies. It is a power…a force, both spiritual and emotional. It is life and love and pain. We can only handle small pieces of this power, and yet we crave it in massive doses. That’s why pacing ourselves is so important: we want the whole thing but can only digest a few bites at a time.

Some people—the marathon writers—work on their novels every day throughout the year. Good for them. I learned that I need to write in blocks of time (usually one to four months) and then take a couple months off to recuperate and brainstorm. You know, take a breather. Stop and smell the roses. And all those other forbidden clichés.

 

But pacing is more than knowing when to rest. There also comes a time for getting down to business. BICHOK: Butt in chair, hands on keyboard. This is when pacing becomes extremely important because this is the point at which creative power becomes the most intense. Writers often call this part of the process “the writing cave,” because it is deep and dark and consuming. It is also necessary for anyone who wants to finish a novel.

During these stretches of focused writing—months of concentrated plotting and words and dialogue—I learned that I can’t skimp on the basics.

What are the basics? They’re probably different for everyone. For me, I stock my writer’s cave with regular sleep, strong coffee (daily), red wine (occasionally), good friends (as much as possible), and time with family (daily).

For hardcore writing months, I also carry around at least three books in my backpack. Yes, actual books made with paper and ink. I don’t even have to worry about recharging the batteries. When I get discouraged—or feel like nobody else on earth has ever experienced the angst and sheer misery of writing a novel because obviously it is a special form of torture reserved for abnormal people like me who have an unhealthy obsession with words—then I pull out one of these books and read until I feel sane again.

1. Stephen King, ON WRITING. Love this book. The guy knows how to write, how to make a career out of it, and how to enjoy every moment. Good stuff.

 

 

2. Anne Lamott, BIRD BY BIRD. Anne Lamott has a true gift for expressing deep truth in relatable ways. My copy of Bird by Bird is crinkled and warped because I accidentally dropped it into the bathtub during a long bubble bath, and Lamott writes in such a way that makes me think she'd be okay with that.

 

3. Steven Pressfield, THE WAR OF ART. A friend lent this to me when I was writing my second novel (the first in the series). I was so impressed that I immediately bought my own copy and refer to it when I need a quick burst of motivation.

There are lots of terrific books for writers, but these are my tattered and torn titles that I come back to again and again when I need to focus that creative energy.

As a disclaimer, I still crash and burn sometimes. But pacing myself keeps that kind of craziness to a minimum. (For the most part.)

Now your turn. What works for you? Any favorite tricks for harnessing creative energy in your writing?

#WordsGetInTheWay

Out of all my peers who contribute to this blog, I’m the dilettante, the one who’s probably written the least prose of the bunch because most of my works-in-progress are television scripts.  When 2014’s NaNoWriMo came around, I decided to make an attempt to put my story ideas into novel form.  I got to 12,000-ish words, which is the most I’ve ever written in potential book form.  Also, even though I answered a quick “yes” to be a contributor, I’m still wondering what I can contribute since the novel writing and publishing arena isn’t really my expertise.

When I stalled at 12,000-ish words in November, I didn’t stop writing, I just switched back to writing the story down in script form.  My brain was churning out so many ideas, it just was faster to put scenes and dialogue together because that was (and is) my comfort zone.  Still the desire to put a book series together remains.

The last time I was on Blogger I actually had my own blog, Breakfast Every Hour, which will now be the title to my upcoming podcast and potential Tumblr blog.  The blog not only chronicled my work-in-progress, that resulted in ten episodes of my television show idea I’ve been throwing around in my head since high school, it also told the story of my “and The City” social and dating life in Manhattan.  Those misadventures sparked my last NaNoWriMo efforts.

If there’s anything I’m realizing in life and writing it’s that you really shouldn’t tell yourself you don’t know how to do something.  I mean look at the world around us.  Billionaires never seem to have a degree, even though we’re told the only way to make it is with a degree, and popular novels and culture are never quite the “art” we think they’re supposed to be.

The art is in the doing.  The lessons are in the doing.  You can’t find your story if you don’t write it down.  A story isn’t a story unless it’s told to someone else.  And dear GAWD, I’ve had so many stories untold.  Don’t let your story go untold.

Literary vs Genre: The Smackdown

Posted by: Fern  On channel: WhatGifs.com  At: Sun, 12 Aug 2012 23:20:27 +0000  Originally posted by at Reading Is Educational

The other day an author I'm friends with on Facebook went on a multi-status rant about Gone Girl, the novel by Gillian Flynn. Let me say right up front that I have not read this book, because early on a couple people told me the ending pissed them off, and there are too many books in the world for me to read one that plays games. I followed my author friend's statuses, and she went from OMG this is a wonderful book. The prose is so gorgeous (my paraphrase) to I'm half way through and the character WHAT?! No WAY.

My author friend then upped the rant factor, saying people who read literary fiction must hate themselves if they enjoy being treated like crap by books like Gone Girl .

Or something.

She went on to say she'd stick with genre fiction, where people behave like people. And my comment on her thread was a big ol' AMEN.

Here's the thing. While I'm squarely in the genre fiction camp, like most people who read - and write - genre, especially romance, I'm an eensy bit apologetic about it. I mean, if anyone took a serious look at the titles on my kindle, I'd blush.

Just a little.
Okay, more than a little.

Why is that? Why does genre get treated like the shabby stepsister? For this - my first Relentless Writers post - I thought I'd take a look at three of the most obvious differences between genre and literary fiction, to see if I can stir up some debate. It's not hard to find good discussions of the differences - Jami Gold did a fine one a few months ago - but because the ideas have been bugging me this week, I thought I'd write about it. The three things I'm going to play with are prose, plot, and philosophy.

Prose

It's common knowledge that literary fiction is the place to go for beautiful language. I jumped over to the Oprah's Book Club website to grab this quote from Gone Girl, because I think it's cool...

"I feel myself trying to be charming, and then I realize I'm obviously trying to be charming, and then I try to be even more charming to make up for the fake charm, and then I've basically turned into Liza Minella: I'm dancing in tights and sequins, begging you to love me."

I love the rhythm created by the repeats of charming, and I love the humor injected by the mention of Liza Minelli, tights, and sequins. It's such a great visual. I don't know where this comes in the context of the story, but I can see it's a fantastic illustration of character. Margie Lawson would LOVE this language.

I find the use of fancy language can be off-putting, however. My last serious attempt at reading literary fiction might have been the book C by Tom McCarthy. Publisher's Weekly gave it a starred review, and it got some press when it first came out in 2010. The premise, "WWI..radio operator...prison camp...mission to Cairo...Egyptian tomb", sounded interesting, so I gave it a try.

If I had read this review from the New York Times, I might not have. McCarthy, author of the ingenious 2006 novel “Remainder,” withstands the temptations of emotional plotting and holds out instead for something bigger, deeper, more universal and elemental. “C” is a rigorous inquiry into the meaning of meaning: our need to find it in the world around us and communicate it to one another; our methods for doing so; the hubs and networks and skeins of interaction that result. Gone is the minimalist restraint he employed in “Remainder”; here, he fuses a Pynchonesque revelry in signs and codes with the lush psychedelics of William Burroughs to create an intellectually provocative novel.

All that intellectual provocation was just too much for me. The author's language was denser than the review, and I couldn't find anything to connect with on an emotional level, so  I gave up.

The thing is, I find lyrical writing in genre fiction, too. Authors like Alexis Hall, Tiffany Reisz, and Devon Monk write gorgeous stuff. They take me out of my own little head and make me think about the world around me. And they do it in the context of a plot I can comprehend.

Plot

It's easy to summarize the differences between genre and literary when it comes to plot. In literary, plot takes second place to process, but in genre, plot IS the story. As Jami Gold says regarding literary fiction,
The point of the story is for the character(s) to understand themselves better. This is achieved through episodic events that force understanding. However, characters aren't forced to internally change or to change their situations.

In genre fiction, the whole point of the exercise it for the characters to face external challenges that require them to grow and change to overcome them. They need to find the skills in themselves to solve the murder or slay the dragon or bring that badass biker dude to heel. Genre fiction generally follows a relatively predictable three-act structure, while in literary, they can meander along from episode to episode until the story is over. There's no expectation that the character has anything to overcome, because really, there's nothing to overcome, because that's how life is.

Philosophy

And that, Virginia, is my real bitch with literary fiction. I cannot deal with a story that tries to sell me on life sucks and then you die. If I want real world, pointless heartache, I'll go to work or watch the evening news. Maybe I'm a sucker at heart, but I firmly believe that people can overcome the challenges they face, and that they can change and grow.

That's me. The little engine that could.
I think I can. I think I can. I think...

My real life cup may not be half full, but my characters' damn well better be. Things aren't absolute, however. I've found pessimistic genre fiction, books I had to stack on the DNF file. Charlie Huston's Joe Pitt vampire novels are dark and violent, and I loved the first couple books in the series, but the later books got so grim I finally I had to give up. Maybe Joe eventually redeems himself, but I didn't hang around long enough to see it.

I've also read books that are considered literary fiction that were filled with joyful optimism. Mink River by Brian Doyle is a wonderful book, fun and beautiful and full of real life. The plot meanders a bit, but the language more than makes up for it. Finding just one quote from the novel to share with you here was tough, but this one's a favorite...

Rained gently last night, just enough to wash the town clean, and then today a clean crisp fat spring day, the air redolent, the kind of green minty succulent air you'd bottle if you could and snort greedily on bleak, wet January evenings when the streetlights hzzzt on at four in the afternoon and all existence seems hopeless and sad.

While there is some crossover, I think the difference is readers don't assume literary fiction will be optimistic, while a positive world view is built into most genre fic. You can find examples that cross over the philosophical divide, just like you can find beautiful language in novel from both camps. It seems to me the only differences have to do with expectations for prose, plot, and philosophy, so why do I feel second class for preferring my prose clean, my plot strong, and my philosophy optimistic?

Maybe I don't hate myself enough to read literary.
*winky face*

Thanks for reading along,
Liv

So what about you? Do you prefer genre or literary, or are you a swinger?
Also...I'll throw in a $5 gift card (Amazon, B&N, ARe, whichever) to one lucky winner if you follow this blog by 1/16/15 and leave me a comment to tell me you did.
;)

Finding Balance

Many of you have seen these kinds of writer memes in various places on the interwebs.

They get pretty close to the heart of the assorted perceptions of what a writer's life is like.

The only thing I'd change in my own personal meme is to replace "what I think I do" with something like this:

  

I'm under no illusions that I'm Shakespearean in any way.

But see that last frame in both memes? The one with Johnny Depp from the movie Secret Window (good movie, btw)?  It made me snort-laugh because, seriously, that's half of a writer's life--sitting around pissing away your time because you've hit a plot problem, or your muse is on vacation, or your characters aren't speaking to you, or you've contracted a nagging case of ennui, or you're just so overwhelmed and intimidated by the enormity of Writing A Book that you can't plow through and get it done.

 

Which brings me around to the idea of balance. How many of you are full time writers with the luxury of waking up every day to a schedule with only one thing on it: writing?

Not many, I'd guess.

I'm not saying that if you write full time you're suddenly immune to pissing away your time. I'm sure you are. I think it's a universal symptom of authoring. But if you have a "real" job, one you have to do until you've clawed your way into a place where you make enough money as a writer to quit said real job, then you understand how important balance is.

You may or may not know that in addition to being an author, I'm also a literary agent, a college writing professor, and a wife and mother. That's a crapton of work, right there, folks. We're talking at least two full time jobs and two part time. However you add it up, my days are full.

So it was necessary a long time ago to figure out how to balance it all. When I tell people everything I do, they stare at me like this: 

Then they ask: "but how do you do all that?"

My stock answer is: "I've become a master of time management, and basically I just try not to think about it too much, because if I do, I'll probably go crazy."

Generally, though, I'm pretty adept at time management, but not because I came up with some master plan, or took a class, or read a book. I just did it. I make a lot of lists, I learned to prioritize, and I use every spare minute in the day. When most people get off work and go home to relax, I'm still working. I may move from my office at the university to my desk at home, but I work at one or another of my jobs from the time I get up to the time I go to bed, 24/7.

I also have to let a lot of things go, like housework, which doesn't really break my heart, as it turns out.

 

But working hard in no way sets me apart. I know dozens of authors for whom this is a normal life. We do it because we want to. Most authors--whether or not they ever get published--are driven to write, so they'll do it no matter what.

Of course, the trick is fitting it into the rest of your life until you're (hopefully) at a point where you can afford to wake up in the morning and do nothing but write all day long.

There's no magic formula to balancing writing with the rest of your life, because everyone's life is different, so you need to find your own solutions. Compartmentalize, prioritize, shift, shuffle, isolate, ignore...and just DO.

Trust me, if I can do it, anybody can. 

 

Now, go and: 

The Art of a Great Book

Alice and The Caterpillar by Joni Harvey-Brown

Often the time and energy and money required to produce a book is under-appreciated. The average reader imagines a scene in which the lonely writer sits atop a far-away mountain, banging away at the keyboard. The writer is often blocked by some outside force, until a flash of inspiration occurs and viola, a masterpiece! And thus the reader holds the masterpiece in their hands, quietly devouring the inked pages.

What is rarely discussed in reader circles, and even in writer circles, is the other half of the puzzle. The multitudes of people and teams that also had a hand in the work, and with whom without, that masterpiece of a book would never have reached the readers. The blood, sweat, and tears that have been shed in the process. In this modern climate of self-publishing and DIY attitudes, people often ask: what is the point of a publisher? Or an agent? Or even, an editor? 

This questioning haunts me as a literary agent. I see many writers on forums talk about agents as if we are lowly serpents trolling on the talents of writer. They spew venom about the fat-cat editors in New York (whose salary is probably barely above minimum wage). It's frustrating as no one would ask that in film. No one would ask why a script needs set-designers, or directors, or producers. As a self-published author I fully support the advent of a new publishing paradigm. But I do believe it is important to acknowledge the amount of work that it takes to produce a beautiful book whichever publishing path one chooses to take. 

I do hope this will perhaps change a few minds about the people who work in the field of publishing, because believe it or not, most of us are in this because we love books. 

The Windmill by Joni Harvey-Brown

Everyone in the literary world, from publishers, agents, editors, designers, and writers are all working toward the same goal; to produce a good book. No, to produce a great book. A book that shines on the shelf, calls out to potential readers. A book that captures you with its first sentence, whose story draws you in, and whose plot keeps you up all night reading. A book that makes you excited, anxious, and sad as the amount of pages left gets slimmer and slimmer. A book that makes you sigh with satisfaction with its last sentence. A great book.

The writer spends late nights and early mornings to create a story out of 80,000 words. They edit those words for months. Their beta-readers critique it, each comment a stab to the heart, but the writer bravely endures and edits it again, and again, and again. Then months to years later, when they have what they believe to be a finished project, they send it out to the terrifying gatekeepers, the agents.

The agents read hundreds of email queries, tens of writing samples, 2-5 manuscripts a week. They endure angry authors-rejected suitors and demanding writers whom feel they deserve the agent’s time over all else. They read through the slush of manuscripts, the wanna-be bestsellers, the overwritten literary prose, the un-edited sloppy writing to find that gleam, that rough gem that catches their attention. They find out if the gem is available, comb through it and ask for edits. They edit the second draft, and the third, and the fourth. Finally they take the gem, which now sparkles, and send it out to the impossible judges, the editors. Editors with whom they have spent years developing relationships with, learning their likes and dislikes, so that one day when the right ms for the right editor comes along, they know exactly who to send it to.

The editors slough through the agent queries, requesting too many manuscripts. Their desks are piled with submissions, with current manuscripts, and with books they need to read. They read and read and read. They find a book they want to sign, fight over it with other editors, capture it for their own. They deal with demands of the overbearing agents, and with stubborn, pretentious, or diva authors. They work under deadline from the publisher, the pressure always on. They edit, and edit, and edit some more. Finally it is ready to go to design production.

The designer keeps an eye on every book that gets released, they keep tabs on design trends, they know if Lucinda Grande has gone out of style and that vertical stripes are serious but horizontal are playful. They read the manuscript and have a brilliant concept for the cover. They create a first proof of the cover. They love the cover. The next time they look at it, they hate it. They redesign the font, change the image, adjust the hues. They tweak something a centimeter to the left, something else a half inch up. That one shape should be circular. And blue. No, cobalt blue. They create something beautiful. The author wants something else, the agent doesn’t like it, the editor thinks it’s okay, the publisher doesn’t care. They tweak it some more. This time it is perfect.

The publisher gathers the items needed to publish the book. The ISBN number, the Library of Congress data, the copyright, the price, the mega data, the whole sale price, the royalties, the contracts, the marketing copy, the distribution, the costs of production, the marketing and promotion. They work with book buyers and book stores to get the final book out there on the digital or physical bookshelf. The final push so the book is out there, a book that shines, a book that calls out to potential readers.

And all of these people take a deep collective breath and hope that they have given the potential buyer something special.

A great book.

Pandora's Box by Joni Harvey-Brown

Follow Mary for more publishing tips and talks @Mary_C_Moore 

and find out more about her writing at marycmoore.com.