Writing at a Moving Target

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Life is a moving target.” If nothing else, it’s been made pretty famous by a store of a certain name. I wish, though, that it wasn’t moving so fast. I wish it would stop, especially when it comes to my writing.

For a brief time, I thought I had a handle on this whole writing lifestyle. Then my oldest daughter was born five years ago today and she threw my life on its head.

I eventually found a new, though slightly more difficult rhythm. (I’m not a morning person, so those 5 a.m. writing sessions were a real bear.) After a matter of a few months, a combination of morning sickness and other ill health again threw things off-kilter. I can’t say I’ll never recover, but I haven’t yet.

I also can’t say I haven’t written anything. As editor of a weekly paper, I routinely write interviews and other features. As a writer, though, my heart and soul have always belonged to fiction. I haven’t touched that since months before the birth of my 21-month-old son. That’s too long.

I wouldn’t trade my children for anything, not even Stephen King’s career. Now, as I write this post, though, I try to block out the movie my five-year-old is watching (The Sword in the Stone if anyone’s interested)…and my toddler’s insistent (try throwing an empty bowl at my head) request for a fifth Cutie…and my two-month-old’s increasingly strident cries. I try to focus and wonder when the target will quit moving. Then I have to face the fact that it never will.

The target will never stop moving. Life will never be perfect. The kids will grow up and something else will happen to take my attention. So, if I want to be a writer, I have to become a sharpshooter and try to hit that target no matter how fast it’s moving or how much it zigzags. I just have to figure out how.

How do you write when your life is a moving target?

Some of the things that keep my life a moving target.

Enter Author Stage Right

A couple of weeks ago, I watched (most of) Iron Man for the first time. Yes, I’m behind in the Hollywood scene. Having a toddler and living with your parents will do that. Anyway, one of the highlights for me was Stan Lee’s traditional appearance. I know, it’s geekiness unleashed. I can’t help it, though. Stan Lee…M. Night Shyamalan…Alfred Hitchcock…Stephen King…I get a kick out of directors and writers who slide themselves into the story in sneaky little ways.

That’s not to say I’d be a fan if they inserted themselves in the story too much. I’d be much less thrilled if Stan Lee entered the story as Iron Man’s full-time mentor instead of a passing comment on the stairs.

Movies, of course, are an entirely different case from books. If an author inserts him or herself into a book overtly, it’s rarely charming. (I’ve never actually read a book where I found it anything but annoying, but I’m leaving open the benefit of the doubt.) On the other hand, I’ve never read a book where an author placed himself in a cameo similar to the names I mentioned above. It might be interesting to see how that worked. Hmmm…

It’s a different story when the author successfully inserts her own thoughts into the characters’ thoughts and opinions. I happen to think Shirley Rousseau Murphy does it well. You know they’re her thoughts, but they fit so well with the characters, you only notice the insertion if you think about it. Again, though, it only really works if the reader happens to agree with the characters. Too much opinion, I think, will turn the reader off if world views don’t happen to align. I know it’s happened when I read other books in the past.

Then I think of writers like Orson Scott Card, who disassociates himself to a sometimes astonishing degree. I just finished his novel, Enchantment. In it, the protagonist is a Ukrainian Jew who spent the first decade of his life in the USSR. As I read the book, I found myself wondering at times, “What happened to the author to make him dislike Christians so much?” Then I pulled myself back to reality and remembered that the author is a Mormon who was born in Washington State and now lives in North Carolina. He doesn’t dislike Christians; he successfully associated with a character who distrusted them, often with good historical reason. It was brilliant, and I admire him for introducing me to another worldview that made me examine my own.

When it comes down to it, though, we all insert ourselves into our writing to some degree. It’s nearly impossible not to. We are our writing. Our writing reflects, if not our entire personality, then some facet or some angle of ourselves that can’t help reflecting onto the pages of a story. We may not be our characters. We may not even like our characters. They may not hold our opinions or share our Myers-Briggs personality type. Still, something of the writer remains.

So, maybe I don’t have to make a cameo in my own work. None of us do. My work is me. Your work is you. That’s more than enough.

More Thoughts on Thoughtful Writing

While I haven’t received any negative reactions to my previous post on thoughtful writing, I did want to clarify a few things.

I got to thinking that some things I said may have come across as saying that some writers don’t deserved to be published, or even that “bad” writers get published. That’s not what I meant. No, as far as I’m concerned, the mere fact that a writer is published means he or she did something right. Certainly, anyone with a traditionally-published book under her belt is doing better than I.

Sure, there are different calibers of published writers, but it’s not so much a matter of good or bad as it is a matter of good, better and best. In my opinion, the best writers are the thoughtful ones, the writer’s who put time into thinking through their writing and then sitting down and crafting it to fit that thought. They are the writers who challenge and inspire us, who cause us to think new thoughts in new ways for the first time in our lives.

And that can be exhausting.

I don’t know about anyone else, but there are times I settle for less thoughtful writing that allows me to take a break from all the other work my brain has to do in a day. So, I might even go so far as to say that there is a place for less thoughtful writers. A couple of my favorite writers in the romance genre are in this category. Their books contain no great new thoughts, but I return to them again and again because they offer lighthearted entertainment in a writing style that I find appealing and easy to read. Also, while their work may not offer new insights into the human condition, they do offer characters and settings that begin to feel like a second home, a place where I am welcomed with a warm fire and a good tale no matter how long my absence or how short my stay. Yes, there’s a place for that in the world.

Nor am I claiming to be one of the “best” writers. I know I’m not the best. One of my great fears as a writer is that I’m not even good. That’s not reason to give up, though. That’s when the thoughtfulness kicks in, the drive to develop the craft and be better and better every day.

Maybe you and I will never be the “best” (or maybe we will!). If we thoughtfully strive for that goal, though, we may someday be the best possible version of ourselves. And I think that’s the best thing possible.

Thoughtful Writing

Over the past few days, I've been pondering what aspects go into truly brilliant, creative writing. Of course, there is no magic formula. Several aspects work together to make a great work of fiction. Good writers have some. Great writers have many or all. When I ponder what sets the foundation for an enjoyable and thought-provoking piece of fiction, though, I have one answer...thought.

It seems obvious, but I can't help thinking it's often overlooked. You can immediately tell the difference between a thoughtful author and one who didn't quite think things through. The latter makes you feel, vaguely, as if you might have read this book before. The former makes you say, “Wow! I wish I’d thought of that!”

I first stumbled onto the concept a couple of weeks ago when I read an old review of one of Orson Scott Card's books. The reviewer stated that Card was as always, "…above all, a thinker." What a supreme compliment. Better yet, a reading of one of Card’s works reveals the truth behind it. In my brutally honest moments, I know I’ve never thought deeply enough to come up with ideas like Ender’s Game or the Oversoul from Card’s Homecoming Saga.

That’s not to say you can’t overthink things. Every writer reaches a point at which he needs to gather those threads of thought and start putting them on paper. Otherwise, where is the use in all that thinking? It’s personally gratifying, perhaps, but not all that useful. On the other hand, it’s those stories that I’ve pondered deep and long before writing that shine more brilliantly than the rest.

Thinking. Pondering. Exploring the many aspects of the human condition and ruminating on news ways to present them. It’s a vital part of creativity.

What are your thoughts?

Ramblings and Reflections

It seems I haven’t written anything for this blog in a while.

I have the worst of all reasons. I’ve been in a slump. Yes, an unproductive, self-pitying, paralyzing slump. I suppose it happens to the best freelancers as some point or another. At least, I hope it does. I’ve done little writing. What has managed to emerge from pen and PC has been gut wrenching and, well…blah.

I have been thinking, though. Sometimes I think too much. Yes, sometimes I need less thinking and more writing! Some of this particular thinking has gelled some productive results for me, though.

Ever since blogging on Christina Katz’s purity of intention prompt, I’ve been noodling that idea in my foggy little head. What are my intentions? What drives me? Where do I want to be in a year…five years…ten years…twenty? What things, if I never accomplish them, will leave me bitterly regretful?

As a result of all that introspection, I’ve come up with three areas I absolutely want to pursue.

1. Fiction. Fiction is my first love both in reading and writing. Fiction, more than any other writing form, sets my nerves tingling and my blood humming. It gives me an emotional high that few other things in life instill. Yet, in my everyday routine, it is the writing form that most often falls to the bottom of my to-do list.
2. Devotional. My faith defines who I am; it’s only natural to share that with readers. I’ve delved a little into devotional writing on my Lessons from the Shadowland blog. It’s tough going as I realize more and more how little I actually know or understand, but I’ve realized it’s something I want to continue, to dig deeper into my faith and cause others to do the same.
3. Child Lit. I started out with one random picture book idea that seemed good (and has been dismissed by six agents so far). Once the floodgates were opened, though, I saw that there might be more than one, or even two, picture books in me. I’m now polishing a second text before seeking representation and roughing out a third. I love reading with my two-year-old, and I think I have my own stories to share with her…and with children everywhere.
   

The big question that remains is whether I should concentrate on making headway in these three areas exclusively or whether I need to continue with other projects—marketing, editing, tips and how-tos—in order to pay the bills while I slowly plod along toward my dreams.

Question status: asked but unanswered.

Slipping out of the Time Stream

I received another rejection today. With it, the editor provided some valuable feedback to improve the story. The notes were, quite frankly, things I should have caught myself. Nothing like a polite rejection as a reminder not to get sloppy! So, my thanks to the kind and talented assistant editor who read my latest attempt at the sci-fi/fantasy genre. I shall polish and send it out again!

As I try to live and work through a hectic week, preparing for a “vacation” to Buffalo, NY, it’s difficult to keep my thoughts in focus. Doing anything in a straight line is impossible. It reminds me, though, of a topic I’ve been meaning to cover for some time.

Do you write chronologically? That is, do you sit down with a blank piece of paper, begin at point A and write in logical sequence until you arrive at point B?

I used to. In some cases, I still do. When it came to writing a novel, though, I was stalled. I tried everything--outlines, flow charts, mind maps--everything but letting myself slip out of the time stream. (And maybe self-discipline, but that’s another story.) I finally came to the point where I realized that holding myself to a chronological writing order was inhibiting my progress. If I finished a scene and didn’t have a clue what came next, I stopped. I never allowed myself to skip a scene, or a chapter, or several chapters. There I stayed. As a result, I am the proud owner of about five novel beginnings, but no middles or ends. Then, nearly three months ago, everything changed.

You see, I don’t think in straight lines. Since I don’t edit this blog as rigidly as most of my work, you may have noticed!

I’m not unique in this; many people don’t think in straight lines. My progress from A frequently passes through C and D and maybe F before I get anywhere near B. Since I don’t think in a line, it’s difficult to make myself write in one. I have a long-standing habit of cutting and pasting as I write, in an effort to make my work come out as something another human soul can comprehend. For some reason, though, I always tried to hold myself to a timeline in my fiction, never straying from the A to B progression.

Nope; didn’t work.

About three months ago, I finally gave myself permission to jump around. (And to write a crappy first draft, but that’s another story.) Hey, I didn’t feel like writing chapter two after I was done with chapter one? By all means, work on chapter five! Write the end before I’d written the beginning? Made perfect sense!

If you happen to think in straight lines, just the thought of mayhem like that is giving you a nervous twitch. If you don’t, though, the thought may be liberating. It was for me. Sure, I’ll have a heck of a mess to work with when I go for draft number two, but that’s okay. In the 2009 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market (Writer’s Digest Books), Donna Gephart says, “…every writer knows a good book isn’t written—it’s rewritten” (page 21). You can edit out the rough stuff, but you can’t edit what didn’t get written in the first place. Or, as Donald Vaughan said (same reference as above), “It’s a whole lot easier to revise a bad page than a blank one.”

Not every method works for every writer. Find what work for you. If using your outline and writing from end to beginning works, then do that. If you realize you work best without an outline, then throw that out, too. The point is, if sticking to a certain idea of the “right” writing method has been keeping you from writing at all, then it’s time to throw it out and create a method of your own.

Anyone up for a little time travel?