So, who are you? No, really.

Cross-posted over at the Liars Club site.

One day I was talking with my editor over at Random House about the sorts of manuscripts that come flooding into her slush pile. I asked what was one of the biggest problems a manuscript can have. Her immediate response: the writer’s voice.  She knew she could use her editorial skills to adjust problems with things like pacing, structure, dialogue, plotting. But if there was something wrong with the writer’s voice, there wasn’t anything she could do about it.

Just one day later I found myself in a similar conversation with my agent.  And her answer was the same.  If the writer’s voice is off, that’s something no one can fix.

So the writer’s voice is obviously terribly important.  If the reader hates the personality behind the written words, a personality that surely comes through in the way an author expresses herself, then they are not going to want to hang out with that author throughout an entire novel.

But you gotta be who you are, don’t you?  If your style is sarcastic or playful or intense or passionate or ironic, then so be it.  The good news is that writing is a very subjective business, and surely someone will identify with you and embrace your voice in a work.  The bad news is that writing is a very subjective business, and surely someone will be turned off by your voice…and that person may be an editor or an agent.

Aside from being a voice that turns a reader off, how can a voice have “something wrong” with it?  It can be inconsistent, so that it feels like you have multiple personalities.  Or it can be so over-the-top that it overwhelms a work and gets in the way of the story – like if your voice is unduly pompous, or obnoxiously funny in that you-are-so-not-funny way. Another problem is if the voice is obviously not your own.

I started out like most young writers imitating the voices of writers I loved. T.H. White. John Steinbeck. Ann Tyler.  I couldn’t help it. I was surrounded with their works, their words filled my head, and I didn’t really get that it was more important to be me.  Truthfully, I didn’t fully know who I was yet.

I became most successful when I started seeing things through my own eyes, and when I started using my own language and my own quirky tone. I think this is tied into confidence. At least it was for me.

When an author believes they have something worth saying, and a point of view worth sharing, it comes through.  Readers join in for the ride and feel the authority behind the writer’s voice.  It makes them think, even when reading the most bizarre of tales, that there is something real about it all.

And it makes agents and editors believe they have something in their hands worth championing.

Can you write a book in a week? – Day 5

Okay, folks, we made it. Day 5, and I stuck it out all week long.  Now I realize that book in a week implies 7 days, but I have tix to a show tomorrow (which I’d purchased long before I knew about this challenge), and I NEED A BREAK.

Not whining. I promise. I’ve loved this experience, and as my wonderful stable of blog comment-folk has pointed out, I’ve learned a ton about myself, my writing and, of course, my new novel.

I learned that I can be ridiculously more productive if I make my writing a priority.  That means not cutting into my writing time with time-wasters like the Internet or solitaire (and in the future I plan to schedule my Internet checks for morning, lunch time, and a final check at the end of the day). It also means scheduling chores around my writing week.  Sure, it may feel casual and relaxed to do stuff all week long, but if writing is my full-time job (which it is), then what the heck am I doing paying bills and cleaning and other dreadful crap like that during my weekday work time?

Shifting things around takes a bit of planning and commitment. I learned that people will cooperate with you if they know you have an important goal.  Take note, fellow scribes: if you tell people in your life you aren’t available for 2 weeks for coffee or lunch or that meeting, they will deal with it and LIFE WILL GO ON.  Gotta respect the writing.

I also learned that by giving over a huge chunk of my mental space to my novel, that I became more creative with it. I was able to get into the world I’d written much faster, because I never really left it. Working to keep the worries of the real world at bay is a challenge, but definitely worthwhile.  No sense obsessing about something when you could be writing…and obsessing about it later.

I learned the glories of the dry erase board…flexible and spontaneous plotting!  I learned the true value of fresh air and brisk walks…great for blurry eye re-focusing, great for the joints, great for getting the creative juices rolling.

I also realized that the excitement of this does wear off after a while.  Each day I found I was getting to work just a little bit later. That the plotting problems were getting a little stickier.  That my internal critic was trying to rear her ugly head just a little bit more.  But that’s the beauty of this challenge. I kept telling myself: suck it up – it’s only a few days.  And so I did.

So, can you write a book in a week?  Maybe if you have sold your soul to the devil. Or if you don’t eat or sleep. Or if Redbull is in the mix.  But here’s what I think, at least from my point of view: You can write half a book in a week, and that includes the complete bones of the novel.  I started out with zero words. While I didn’t write every scene leading up to it, I did finish by drafting the book’s final page, which will be important later when I fill in the rest.  My plan is to take just a little bit of a break, and then go to it once again. Another five days on just this project.  By the end of that, I should have a completed first draft. In two weeks? I can definitely live with that.  Then the editing will begin.  But let’s not go there mentally just yet, okay?

In addition to telling my family and friends that I was doing this challenge, I made a point of telling the world! Through this blog, in my email away message, on my facebook, and in various group sites I belong to. I even told my agent.  Why? So I would be accountable.  I couldn’t go quietly into the night without shame…and believe me, there was a point I thought of trying just that.

Today’s word count: 3,459 words
Today’s page count: 14 pages
Overall word count: 25,329 words
Overall page count: 109 pages

So, gentle reader, it’s time for this writer to pack this experiment in. A successful experiment. One that will now, I hope, become part of my regular regimen when I want to devote time to just a novel and to nothing and no one else.  See? I put that thought out there.  I’m accountable to it, right? (Okay, I did slip in the word ‘hope,’ but still.)

Why don’t you try this with your own writing? You can do it. You should do it.

Happy. Satisfied. Book in a Week, baby! (Or, Nearly Half a Book in a Week, baby!)  Woot!

Over and out.

Can you write a book in a week? – Day 4

Frazzled today!  But chugging forward.  Forcing myself at times to chug forward, but doing so nonetheless. Thanks so much to everyone who has been cheering me on.  Much appreciated, and very helpful, too.

People who have been following this may be relieved to know that I did in fact do most of my laundry today.  I should have done it yesterday, which made for an interesting outfit today.  I looked a bit like the village idiot, so I opted not to go and write at a coffee shop or a library today as I’d originally planned.  Maybe tomorrow.  I need to get out!

Today I felt that I hit some more major plot points, but that I was also rambling on, idly going here and there.  I liked the scenes a lot, but where the heck am I going now?  I think tomorrow I’ll have to spend some time with a quick outline of plot so I’m at least back on track.

The problem is that my story is changing as I’m cruising along.  This one guy who was NOT going to be a major part of the story, keeps stealing the scenes.  And that’s pretty confusing structure-wise.  I also started to include a different plot thread that, as I wrote it, seemed to lose power.  Maybe I’m just starting to fade.  Maybe it’s this village idiot outfit affecting my brain.  Maybe it’ll all look better in the morning.  Anyways, I’m not deleting or editing, right folks?

One of my fellow authors, Donna Birdsell, who is also doing this challenge this week, had mentioned using a dry erase board.  So at the outset of this challenge, I swiped ours from my daughter’s room, and I’m hooked.  I use it to list known scene ideas: scenarios I’ve cooked up in my mind that I’m pretty sure I can slap onto paper. And as I complete the scene, I erase it from the board.  I also jot some brainstorm-like thoughts along the margins.

Because it’s easy to read and easy to erase, the board is perfect for this charge-ahead style of writing. Thanks, Donna!

Today I again faced the huge obstacle of outside distractions.  I knew that an important phone call was going to happen at 3 pm, and that a certain agent would be calling me to report the results, and you can bet it made it hard to focus at times. Then, after the phone call, which was the usual mix of good news bad news we writers must endure on a daily basis, I felt completely derailed for a while.

Yes, I hit rock bottom and played a few rounds of spider solitaire and even checked the Internet.  If I were an ex-smoker, well…

Isn’t this the type of stuff life hands us, though?  You get this ‘oh what’s the point?’ feeling, and have to work through it.

But it’s still book in a week, baby!  So I refused to stop at a low point, and wrote a bunch more. It might be crap. Or it might not. I’m still writing. No stopping this train now. Woot!

Today’s word count: 6,009 words
Today’s page count: 26 pages
Total word count so far: 22,870
Total page count so far: 95 pages

P.S.: My carpal tunnel is acting up… Book in a week?  Yes!!!!

Can you write a book in a week? – Day 3

Checking in with day 3!  Still standing, or rather, sitting.  Getting a little stiff, though…

It’s interesting how each day in the book in a week challenge seems to offer different, well, challenges.  Today, for instance, I had to do laundry. Yeah. I haven’t yet, so tomorrow will be very interesting.

Also, today I was very distracted.  I got some news, as we writers sometimes do, of something maybe or maybe not happening that may or may not be wonderful, and that was it!  My mind was lost in what if’s — the curse of a fiction writer who can plot out so many crazy scenarios in her mind.

So I went to the gym and worked out hard and tried to refocus on this book.  It actually worked pretty well. Even though I didn’t start actually writing until around 10 a.m. (which started to make me feel rather guilty), I definitely felt more energetic when I did get down to things.  I still do at 6:30 pm, meaning that tonight I should be able to keep working for a few more hours (last night I tried, but zoned out by 8, and even found myself almost zzzing at the computer a few times yesterday afternoon).

I also found that change of scenery seemed to refocus me a bit.  It was a beautiful day, so I brought my laptop outside and worked there for a few hours.  Looking up and seeing blue sky and green leaves offered a nice break.

As I’m working, more and more plot lines are emerging involving minor characters, but instead of going back to string them together, I sort of take note of these ideas, and include them from that point on.  This isn’t time for revision.

Again, I’m trying hard not to be critical about the words I’m typing, and that’s pretty liberating.  All fun, all forward moving.  Right now, if you ask me if I would do this whole zany challenge again, my answer would be yes!  And I’d recommend it to all my writing friends.  Just writing is a joy.

One more interesting thing to note…I’ve already written many of the major central scenes of the book, yet the book isn’t that long yet. Obviously I’ve got some fleshing out to do, but I’m getting worried that I may run out of plot before the week is up.  We’ll see how that shakes down.

Today’s word count: 5,801 words
Today’s page count: 24 pages
Total word count so far: 16,861 words
Total page count so far: 69 pages

Onward…

Can you write a book in a week? – Day Two

Checking in again, feeling very blurry-eyed today.

I’m here to report that day two is definitely harder than day one.

This is because:

1. The novelty of it all has worn off.  Yes, in a day!  Family members who held day one sacred are thinking, well, get over it already!

2. After the initial rush to start yesterday, I’m now getting into the dicier parts of the book. The “I’m not sure what really happens next” parts, which, you know, is bound to slow things down.

3. I’m getting tired of the goodies I picked out to use as rewards.  Isn’t there anything else?

4. My early morning walk with the dog, which yesterday yielded such wonderful results, today only led my mind in directions that were unbooky. Things like retirement funds, and roof repair, and annoying what ifs that were all too rooted in reality.

In short, by day two life starts to intrude even more.

Nonetheless, forge ahead me hearties, yo ho!  I did all the right things. No to the Internet. No to Spider Solitaire. Yes to staying with the project and just writing ahead, and trying to scheme new angles.

I did come up with more plot twists and turns, and I also wrote scenes that might never appear in the final book. And I’ll probably change the book structure when I edit it all. But really, doesn’t this happen with every book you write?  It does with my books.

Today’s totals: 5,973 words
23  pages
Overall total for book so far: 45 pages,with 11,060 words
So, not such a bad day. It was productive. Definitely.  And I will write more tonight too.  I’m bracing myself for an even tougher day tomorrow. But I refuse to give up.

Book in a week, baby! Woot!!!

Can you write a book in a week? – Day One

Captain’s log, day one, book in a week.  (Actually, book in five days, since I have to quit on Saturday.)

Well, many lessons learned today.

Lesson 1: An early morning walk with the dog is a great way to get the creative juices rolling. Came back eager to start with plenty of schemes to put down.

Lesson 2: Shutting off the Internet should be done EVERY DAY.  I’m a chronic online checker.  Having it completely off was a great help.

Lesson 3: Don’t check the Internet at lunch time.  Hey, it was break time, right?  But guess what? A problem surfaced in my emails, and though I didn’t respond, the problem prayed on my mind for the rest of the day.  I do have an away message posted on my account.  Tomorrow, no checking until evening!

Lesson 4: I’m a spider solitaire freak!  I can’t tell you how many times, during a writing lull, I was tempted to play a round. But I didn’t.

Lesson 5: Do not be critical!  I wrote a chapter and thought, wow, that’s schmaltzy.  This idea is schmaltzy. I’m schmaltzy. I don’t deserve to breathe, never mind write.  Yeah, I shut that off, and kept going.  It’s all about putting stuff on the page.

Lesson 6: Getting up for breaks is helpful.  I stretch, refocus my eyes, and feel refreshed.

Lesson 7: Chocolate rewards are great.  Too many chocolate rewards just make me feel disgusting. Cut back on the rewards already.

Biggest Lesson of All: I could do most of these things every writing day. And I bet most high-output writers do just that.  I get side-tracked with all sorts of projects and articles and whatnot, but for novel writing, this is the way to go!

Output today?: 22 manuscript pages, 5,087 words.  I’ll try to do some more after dinner.

Book in a week maniac signing off.

Over and out!

Writing Process for Slobs

Cross posted over at the Liars Club site…

Remember the beginning of that show Murder She Wrote where Angela Lansbury joyfully typed her mystery novel and then put it into a lovely leather binder?  Didn’t it all look so cozy and neat and clever?

I wish I had an orderly writing process. A set method that I could follow that would result in a full-length novel manuscript in a set amount of time.  If I had such a thing, I could sit down on, say, Tuesday, and type away each day following said process (with that cheerful little Murder She Wrote theme music piping into my studio). I’d dress in scholarly tweed clothes, and casually nibble on fine chocolate pastries while I create. Then I’d happily type “the end” on the final page, and put it all in my own lovely embossed leather binder. Sigh.

But I’m a messy writer. There is no cheerful music (well, perhaps some Coldplay blasting now and then). I work odd hours. Did I brush my teeth? Did I brush my hair? Who cares? I’m writing, damn it.

It’s all quite disorganized.  First I’m seized with a notion. Sometimes it’s a scrap of dialog between characters. Sometimes it’s a final scene that rips my heart out.  Actually, I’m often seized.  Kind of turns me loopy. I jot down this scrap or that scene and then tuck it away.  If it keeps popping up in my mind, and if I continually add to this with more scenes, more dialog, side plots, then I know there’s something to this, and it’s time to really get writing.

I usually have a sense of where I’m going, a final destination to write toward, but I often have no clue exactly how I’m going to get there. I take false turns, I create scenes that never should have been created, and when I sense I’m off track, I recalculate the route, like a GPS. I’m crazed. I’m a mess. I’m having a wild and wonderful time.

Honestly, I’ve tried to be more organized. To outline, to do character sketches, to plot in advance, to brush my hair and wear tweed jackets with patches on the elbows…but somehow it all takes the fun out of the journey and I lose the will to create.

So, I simply wait to catch on fire with an idea, then run like hell toward the finish line.  Painful. Dangerous. Sometimes unattractive. Not too civilized. But always very exciting.

I don’t know…is it just me?  Is everyone else out there working with a tidy desk and neatly sharpened number 2 pencils and a lovely pot of coffee at their elbow?  What’s your writing process?  Share it here with a comment!

Of Misery and Chocolate

Cross posted over at The Liars Club site, where the authors are all answering the question: How do you deal with rejection? Here’s my response:

I brood. I pull into myself and feel ugly and stupid. I stew. I grouse. I eat ice cream. I tell myself I suck. I devour a chocolate bar. I look over my rejected bit of writing and see every flaw. Why hadn’t I seen that before? OF COURSE IT WAS REJECTED.

I consider another line of work. I hear the button factory is hiring…

I snap the leash on my dog’s collar and take a long long walk. I breathe deeply, and force myself to forget about writing. But my mind whirls back to the rejection again and again with renewed sting.  I get a cup of coffee.  I watch a cheesy chick flick. I pace.

And I look at my rejected piece of writing again. You know, it doesn’t suck. I might change one or two words, but damn if it ain’t bad. I get pulled into the writing again, and find myself enjoying the words of this manuscript. And remembering past rejections that turned into acclaimed successes.

I remind myself that readers are subjective, that novels have specific audiences. That I want an editor who is head-over-heels in love with my work. That once my agent finds this editor, things will be different.

I start to feel better. I start to feel encouraged.  I eat another piece of chocolate. I start to feel fat.

Okay, the pity party is officially over. I’m ready to move on. Ready to feel strong and hopeful again.

Going it Alone

Here’s a question that’s been popping up at a lot of writer’s conferences where I’ve spoken about book marketing: Would I ever self-publish a manuscript? Hm. If you’d asked me a year or two ago, I’d have said NO. Self-publishing seemed to imply that no one else would take your book. That it was inferior somehow. That it wouldn’t be professionally edited. It felt like a giant step backwards.

Things are starting to shift a bit, as some established authors are starting to think: Do I really need that publisher?  J.A. Konrath is an author with a following who is currently making a mint on titles he’s self-published.  Imagine no middleman. Imagine the writer being able to put his work out there and collect payment, big payment, for it, instead of royalties from what’s left after all the other folks involved take their cut. Seductive. Definitely seductive.

Now we do need to distinguish between self-publishing a printed title and an ebook.  With a printed title, you would ideally like for it to appear on bookstore shelves.  Think that will work? I recommend you ask your local bookseller about that.  Here’s the problem: distribution. First of all, how will you even pitch your book to all the stores nationwide? You will have no sales rep to do that. Say you do get a bookshop to stock your self-published title. But then it doesn’t sell. They typically can’t return it (especially if it’s a print on demand title).  It’s a total loss for them.  If they’ve got a book from Random House that doesn’t sell, they can return it to the publisher at no cost.  So, which do you think the bookseller will refuse stocking on their shelves? Yeah.

This problem has become so prevalent, that it’s actually starting to affect the traditionally published authors.  When I go to a bookshop to tell them about my title, they practically run away, convinced I’m one of the many many self-published authors who have come knocking on their door. I’ve learned to say my publisher’s name before I even say my own name.  It’s tough out there.

Now, with ebooks, it’s all about the online action. Problem is, how will anyone ever find your book? If you have a household name, it’s a different story.  I predict that with the rise of ebook readers, more and more big name authors will be jumping the publishing ship and going it alone. If a publisher won’t meet their pay demands, or otherwise pisses the author off, that author may not need the publisher anymore. They can just click a few buttons and their story is out there ready for purchase.

So what about me? I’d lie if I didn’t say I was tempted to self-publish. See, I’ve got three unpublished novels sitting on my bookshelf. And the wheels of publishing turn so slowly (especially with the recession), that deals are slooooow in coming. I’ve got readers asking for my next book. If I could just get it out there…

But wait. So much of this business is about faith. Faith in yourself. Faith in your writing. Yes, even faith in the publishing world. What if the next editor who sees my manuscript loves it? What if I were to self-publish the manuscript, and therefore that next editor never got to see it and fall in love with it in the first place?  Editors can transform a manuscript from good to phenomenal. Then the book will reach the shelves it needs to. It’ll get reviews. It’ll be seen. Would I really want to miss out on that?

The most important thing for me is to operate with faith, and not out of fear.  If you are thinking of self-publishing, I encourage you to ask yourself: Is this because I’m afraid it’ll never see the light of day otherwise? Or do I truly believe that this is the best way to reach my readers and continue on as a writer?

The answer won’t be the same for every author. If you are a non-fiction author with a killer way to reach your target audience that doesn’t even involve bookstore shelf space, then you can go for the non-traditional mode and do well.  If you have a personal family story you want to share with relatives.  If you have a collection of poems you want to print and sell at festivals. If you are such an unbelievable marketer that you know your self-published volume will get attention. If you are world famous and everyone is asking for your life story…

We all have our stories and our reasons and our personal goals.

As for me? I write fiction. I’m not famous. So I’m sticking with the traditional model.

And praying that it all works out.

Keeping it Flowing

(This entry is cross-posted over at the Liars Club site.)

I’ve heard so much about writer’s block over the years…mostly from writer’s magazines that seem to have a fascination with this phenomenon. Like it’s a scientific fact, something to be studied and treated. And aspiring authors often raise their hands at q&a’s to ask how it can be overcome.

So it’s no wonder that in the back of my mind I think, jeesh, writer’s block is going to happen to me. Probably at the very worst time. And what the hell would I do about it?

I mean, words just come out of some subconscious place, spilling onto the page.  It feels mystical, magical, mysterious.  We writers might have an idea for a story, but making that idea into a book? You write and write and write and stuff just, well, appears.  And somehow it makes sense.  We don’t really always feel in control of this, and that, I think is the root of the problem. If we don’t fully control this process, then do we really have total power over keeping the flow flowing?

For me, my problem isn’t writer’s block, it’s writer’s delay.  I check my email.  I play spider solitaire. A LOT of spider solitaire.  I do a ton of important things when I should be writing.  The starting can be an issue, but the truth is that once I start writing, it’s hard for me to stop.  The words do flow.  Time flies.  It’s wonderful.

There was one time that I was sure that writer’s block would still my hands, and wow, it was the very worst of times.  I had a book contract, with the novel due the following year.  It was August and I’d written about 60 pages. Things were good.  Then my editor shoots me an email. Can I get the book to her by the next month so it’ll come out next year?

WHAT????  But the contract says…

Yeah, that’s more of a guideline, actually.

I was able to push the deadline to the end of October.  Two months, one novel, no problem.  Unless I hit writer’s block.  Very early every morning I’d sit in that chair and start. No spider solitaire. No emails. Just raw fear and flying fingers.  Raw fear, because if I hit writer’s block, I was truly doomed. If those words stopped flowing, I was screwed.  I felt this trembling terror each day as I began.

My cure? Just pushing the insecurity aside and diving in and typing and typing and typing.  I was amazed how the story poured out. I wished I could always write with this intensity (minus the raw fear, of course).  I wrote until late at night each day. My back hurt. My ass really hurt.  But it was great. I loved the novel, and when my editor got it, she loved it too.

So, moral of the story? Dive in, plow forward and go for it. If raw fear threatens your creativity, you just have to shove it aside and keep on going. Have faith, and have a comfortable chair.  If you are serious, you’ll be sitting there a lot, and it’ll all work out. If you don’t trust me, trust yourself. Trust that inner mysterious story source. And type like hell.