What is your favorite part of writing? Is it figuring out the story and the plot, finding out what happens next? Is it creating or discovering characters? Maybe it’s working out the perfect sentences, finding the perfect word to describe something in a scene. Maybe it’s something else. I’m curious. Why do you think you write? What is it that ties you to the page and compels you to put words on it?
A Writer’s Favorite Things
June 14, 2009
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Posted by K.S. Clay
Rules Are Made to be Broken
June 10, 2009I think that as writers in the beginning we tend to focus a lot on “the rules.” You know the ones I mean. Rules that say you have to choose one point of view and stick to it. Rules that say you should avoid flashbacks at all cost. And a myriad more exist. Here’s the thing: rules can be helpful when you’re just beginning to write and more prone to mistakes, but in the end writing is an art as well as a craft. This mean it’s all right to take chances, take risks, because sometimes it’s only by doing so that you can create a work of beauty. Which means sometimes rules are made to be broken.
So, what brought this on? I’ve just finished reading The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. It’s a fantastic book, very much in the gothic tradition of classics such as Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. And Setterfield breaks rules constantly. She changes tense. She mixes points of view. The story is really a multitude of stories and stories within stories and much of the “action” is in the past. But guess what? It works. It reads smoothly. There’s a reason for this.
The rules that are broken in Setterfield’s book are not broken arbitrarily but to acheive certain effects. For instance, some chapters are narrated by a writer who is telling the story of her past. Most of these are told in an omniscient kind of view with the writer speaking as though she knows everyone’s thoughts and actions (which makes sense because she is a writer and we’re prone to do that). Anyway, in the beginning she refers to everyone in the story in third person. Later she begins to slip into first person. It’s a point of view change cautioned against in a lot of writing books and classes, but it’s used here deliberately to express an important aspect of the story that’s being told (and I can’t elaborate more or I’ll ruin the book). In any case it’s a great example of the fact that although it’s fine to look at writing rules as guidelines, we shouldn’t feel a need to stick to them always. Rules are made to be broken and sometimes breaking them is just what the story needs.
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Posted by K.S. Clay
From the Archives: Character Description Exercise
June 9, 2009Today I’m resurrecting another post from the archives. Enjoy!
An Exercise in Description and Characterization
Visiting a writer’s forum, I recently advised a writer who was having difficulty coming up with ways to describe their characters to try the following exercise which I thought I would post on here as well, for anyone who might find it useful.
The Exercise: Buy a little notebook, the kind you can slip in your pocket and carry around with you. Carry a pencil stub or something too. Start lists for people you know. Write down observations of what they look like or what their body language is at certain times, gestures they make a lot, the way their voice sounds to you, etc. This will start to get you paying attention. Also try to decide either why they might do something (like wear a particular piece of jewelry that stands out or make a certain facial expression at a certain time) or what their actions and looks say about them (maybe they have frown lines around their mouth because they’re very serious and rarely smile, or maybe they’re kind of rebellious and freespirited in nature which explains that purple streak in their hair).
My Example: My mother had a habit of wearing unusual and silly earrings (such as a hamburger and french fry combination). Why? Well, she was a preschool teacher and it amused the kids. I’d say that one detail says a lot about the kind of person she was (she worked with kids, she wanted to amuse the kids, and she didn’t care if other adults thought she looked silly.)
These are the kinds of details writers need in order to describe their characters on the outside in ways that also describe the characters’ personalities on the inside. It’s also yet another example of how writers need to pay attention to their lives and then let that inform their writing, rather than always trying to do it the other way around.
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Check This Out
June 8, 2009There was a great post on the Bookends agency blog today about how it can pay off for writers to take risks in the work. It’s well worth a read.
Note: I realize the blog has consisted of what seems like ranting lately. I apologize and promise to change that by getting back to more helpful postings.
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Posted by K.S. Clay
Genre Crisis
June 8, 2009I’m having a genre crisis. That’s the term I’m going to use for a writer’s identity crisis. So, what brought this on? Ghost Child. It’s going in a completely different direction from what I originally planned, and I love it. But it’s not working out very well for my genre identity.
When I sold Mi Morena it was a piece of horror/weird fiction and my first sale. At the time I was working on Still Life, a supernatural thriller/horror novel and knew the quality was better than what I’d written before. So I naturally assumed because I was getting the most success in this genre that it was where I should stay. Now I think I was wrong. Before I wrote Still Life my previous work could roughly be broken down as such:
90% contemporary fiction focused on relationships (romantic ones but also families, friends, strangers thrown together in the midst of crisis). Also a lot of focus on characters and characterization in general.
5% science fiction taking place on earth (post apocalyptic and futuristic).
5% fantasy/horror attempts that rarely panned out
All four of my first novels (and I do use that term loosely) fell into the first category, although three were young adult. So have most of my short stories. Even the fantasy/magical realism short I’m working on now is focused on a woman’s struggle to move on after her marriage breaks up rather than the magical aspects. Ghost Child, as I continue to write the rough draft, is also edging in this direction. What started out as a supernatural story is turning out completely different. The strange occurences lean more toward the psychological than the supernatural. The center of the story is becoming not the character in isolation but her relationship with her husband. Meanwhile the murder and mystery I had planned is there but builds up slower so I no longer think it aptly fits the thriller/suspense genre. My guess is the novel will be mainstream/contemporary. Which considering it now, might be exactly where I’m supposed to be. But which isn’t what I’d been considering myself for the past year and isn’t so easy to market unless I find a niche within it. Thus the genre crisis. You know what would be great? If publishing could go back to the days of many classic authors where as I understand it for the most part you didn’t write thrillers or fantasy or romance. You wrote fiction.
Rant over. Feel free to comment or ignore as you see fit.
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Posted by K.S. Clay
From the Supernatural to the Psychological
June 3, 2009I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about and working on Ghost Child. Then last night it call came clear. I was searching the net, not doing anything specifically related to the novel, and was suddenly stricken with a sense that I needed to write. And what did I write? A synopsis encompassing the entire story of Ghost Child. I was shocked. This has never happened before. Usually I discover things slowly, little by little as I go along. This time it rushed at me, and I made a new discovery. Ghost Child is not a supernatural thriller like Still Life. It’s a psychological one.
Wow. That’s kind of scary to me. I love to explore characters but the idea of writing a novel that centers around real psychological disorders makes me nervous. What if I make a mistake and don’t present it correctly? I’m doing research but I also realize that some creative license will probably need to be allotted. Which it should be. People writing stories about multiple personalities, for example, use it all the time. Other than that I’m excited. I’m looking forward to really delving into these characters, finding ways to transfer their lives and mental and emotional conflicts onto the page.
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From the Archives: The Overly Critical Writer
June 2, 2009Today I decided to revive an old post from the archives. I’ve been dealing a lot lately with trying to balance the desire for perfection with the necessity of getting the story down. So here are some things I recommended when this issue came up before. Hope you find them helpful. Have any tips of your own? Feel free to leave comments.
The Overly Critical Writer
Are you a perfectionist when it comes to your writing? Are you always wondering if it’s exactly right or if there’s another way to do it, possibly a way that’s better? I am, too. The problem with being a perfectionist is that it can stifle creativity. You’re sitting there with this idea in your head and you’re afraid to put it down because you haven’t examined it from every angle yet. You don’t know if it’s perfect. If you have started to write it down, maybe you’ve gotten stuck. You started the story at one point but you’re caught up in the possibilities. Maybe you should have started it at this point or this other one. If you do decide it’s the right point to have started the story at, you wonder about the periods and the commas. What’s the rule for semicolons again? Here are some tips to help you out next time your inner critic starts to get the best of you.
Try a Timed Write
This is my favorite technique to combat the critic. You need a quiet place, your writing tools of choice, and a kitchen timer. If you write on your computer you might be able to use a timer program on that instead. Sit down and uncap your pen or open your word processing program. Pick up the kitchen timer and twist the dial to the desired length. I’d say no less than fifteen minutes. If you’re using a computer timer the same rule applies. You have to give yourself time to start to relax.
Now start writing. There’s only one rule that applies and it’s the key to making timed writing work. Don’t stop to reread. Don’t stop to fix your spelling. Don’t stop to think about the next sentence. Don’t stop! Write whatever comes to your mind. You can revise later. That’s the point of editing. For now you’ve got fifteen minutes (or more) to write. Spend it writing.
Running Critic’s Commentary
This second technique depends on whether you write by hand or by computer. If you write longhand you need a small notepad to place next to your regular notebook. If you write by computer you have three choices. The first one is to download a piece of software called Roughdraft. It’s freeware so you don’t have to worry about the cost. When you open a new file in Roughdraft there’s a separate section on the right with a tab titled pad. It gives you a nice blank area to type in. If you don’t wish to or can’t download Roughdraft then you either need to use a paper notepad along with your word processing program or open up a second word processing document.
Start writing as you usually do but when you come to a point where you get stuck, where you wonder about an alternative, write it down on the notepad (or in the second word processing program.) For instance, if you’re wondering if this is the right setting or not, thinking “maybe I should have set it in the graveyard instead of the hospital) make a notation. Maybe something like “Setting: Graveyard? Hospital?” Tell yourself you can explore the possibility later. If you start to think about a different part of the story and find yourself getting distracted, note down what’s distracting you and get back to the current task. This is a good way to calm that nagging feeling that you need to address any issues now because you’ll forget them later. Here’s a screenshot of my current novel in Roughdraft:
The truth is that writing isn’t easy and it’s even harder when your inner critic won’t leave you alone. Here I’ve tried to give you two ways to silence it and get back to what’s important: writing.
Have any tips of your own? By all means share. I’d love to hear them.
1 Comment | Attitude (Inner Critic, Writer's Block), Writing | Tagged: Writing | Permalink
Posted by K.S. Clay
