Speaking up

I woke up today, psyched that it was a Saturday -- free time, which means writing. Loosing into words those ideas that have been building up inside my head all week.

But I can't. My head's reeling with outrage and indignation. I read Delilah Dawson'spost and it left me stupefied. I wanted to reach out and hug her for all she's had to endure. I wanted to tell her it will be all right. Things will get better.

Except I don't believe it. Especially after reading Ann Aguire's post (linked to Delilah's), and the ugly comments that followed. Horrendous replies that attacked her personally, and bordered on threatening. All because she's writing what she loves.

And then I began remembering all the times I hadn't spoken up.

The time when another author said she "didn't understand women's fiction and would never write it." (A YA author.)

The time I got so excited that Margaret Atwood came to speak at a local college, but she quashed my decades-old awe of her by literally laughing at the romance genre. When my turn in line came to have my book signed, I couldn't say anything to her. I couldn't understand why a writer of her superstar status felt the need to put down other writers. So I said nothing as she signed my book, and I didn't even say thanks or goodbye afterward.

Other instances have left me puzzled too.

Writers who started out the same time as me, before I began writing romance but who now look at me as less than a serious writer.

It astounds me even more when writers within the same genre bash each other. It's almost a given that non-romance authors consider romance stories to be fluff. But romance writers bashing other romance writers?

And the latest head-scratcher: complaints about authors helping other authors promote their work. Alex J. Cavanaughmentioned it in this post. Which -- unbelievable as it is -- was part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Alex is an amazing guy who helps other writers regardless of genre, and I applaud him.

So now I'm responding.

Delilah Dawson and Ann Aguire, I truly wish I could say things will get better. They won't. There will always be people who feel the need to belittle others. Be sorry for them. And then keep writing awesome stories.

What I should have said to the YA author who "didn't get" women's fiction:  Fine. Don't read it. Plenty of readers "get it" and love it. Read whatever you like.

To Margaret Atwood: Bullshit. An author of your status should be encouraging other writers, not creating divisive cliques to exclude certain types. Leave that for your fiction.

Me, not a serious writer? Really? I spend every spare moment of my time either writing, promoting, or trying to better my craft through how-to books. And I read as often as possible--mainstream, scifi, urban fantasy, fantasy, contemporary, historical, steampunk. Whatever. Genre doesn't matter to me. I'm drawn to stories with compelling story lines, engaging characters and dialogue. Well written stories. (Because face it, crappy stories exist in every genre.)

To romance writers: Romance has a myriad of subgenres. Some stories don't fit the specific definition of romance, but end up there because it might contain a romantic element. It's a marketing gimmick, nothing more, but that's the way it is. It doesn't make your subgenre any better than another. Again, let the readers decide which they prefer.

To those who object to authors helping each other promote, I'll repeat my response that I left on Alex's blog: Why anyone would object to one another helping another with promotion is beyond me. Writers work hard enough to write a great book, but promotion is another full-time job. If blog visitors don't want to read about an author's work, they're fully capable of skipping over it. I love to help other authors spread the word about their work, and I've been blessed with plenty of generous writers who help me as well.

To anyone who feels the need to lash out at a writer--for whatever reason--get the hell over yourself. If you think you can write a better book, go for it. That's how lots of writers started out. Some succeeded, others discovered it isn't such a cakewalk to create great stories. It's damn hard work. Again--and I'm not sure why this is so difficult a concept to wrap your head around--support the writers you do love by buying their books. If you don't like an author's work, don't buy it. Period.

Author or reader, let's have some respect. If you can't manage that much, then I hope you learn someday how to embrace your humanity.

I encourage other authors to read both Delilah and Ann's posts. Then speak up as well. Bigotry's rooted in a lack of education, so let's educate everyone. Even ourselves.

And now, I've already lost half a day. I'm going to write.

Peace.

Margaret Atwood's creative process

I'm still psyched from seeing Margaret Atwood at her reading Tuesday night, and booksigning yesterday. Ack! I never thought I'd get to meet my literary idol. She's amazing.

I was especially inspired by her answer when someone asked why she writes in so many different forms - poetry, speculative, literary, you name it. She said: "Because nobody ever told me not to." A great reminder to one of my writing rules - go with your gut.

One of the highlights of her reading came at the end, when she actually sang the theme song for the fictional Mole Day, and ended with audience participation.

Some have criticized her for rejecting labels of her work. Her book In Other Worlds (of which I now have a signed copy - woo hoo!) delves into this, but basically, she said most of her work which others want to label as SciFi take after the Jules Verne model, which "has its feet in plausibility, and such a thing is theoretically possible."

When an audience member questioned the world for A Handmaid's Tale, she cautioned that "any set of human laws can be reversed. They're made up by people. After 9/11, The Patriot Act passed with barely a blink."

Here's another treat - she shares her creative process:



And a little more advice. :)

National Short Story Day

On December 21, the U.K. recognizes "prose’s short-yet-perfectly-crafted form," the short story, with National Short Story Day. Events throughout the country celebrate this art form, a followup to their National Short Story Week in November.

I call it an art form because of all the styles of writing, short stories challenge authors like no other. Ian Rankin said it best: "The best short stories pack the heft of any novel, yet resonate like poetry.”

I love Naomi Alderman's quote too: "The short story is the most astonishing form: more supple than the novel, because of its length it’s possible to be more experimental, to do away, sometimes, with plot or character or logic. Instead of having to fill in details, to explain itself, to come to a conclusion, a short story can simply throw a thought at the reader, hurl a moment. It’s gemlike. There are no perfect novels, but there are perfect stories, I think.’

I would have loved to have been across the pond to join in the celebration. Better yet, I wish the U.S. would plan something similar. But if you're like me and didn't attend any of the planned events, don't fret - you can still read or listen to specially commissioned short stories.

The mark of any great story is the way it resonates with readers. How long it will stick with you after you've finished reading it.

Of the authors I consider masterful at crafting short stories, T.C. Boyle (shown in photo - *hey T.C.! Come to visit anytime!*) and Charles D'Ambrosio top the list. If you've never read these authors, you're missing out. I highly recommend D'Ambrosio's Dead Fish Museum.

T.C. Boyle's latest collection, Wild Child and Other Stories, comes out in January. It's on my wish list! If it's anything like his other collections, it's amazing. The ending to the title story of Tooth and Claw still gives me shivers!

Other favorites include Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro and Lorrie Moore. Stacey Richter and Aimee Bender are nothing short of dazzling. There are too many others to mention.

After writing poetry for years, I moved on to short stories to challenge myself. Yes, finely crafted novels will keep you reading, but short stories have to pack a wallop in limited space. I had some success with web zines and journals. You can find links to many of them here - click on Web Zine Stories.

This year, I was lucky to have won first place in the Pearl S. Buck inaugural writing contest for a short story I'd written years ago. Will I keep writing short stories? Absolutely. Authors need to exercise their writing muscles to keep them in shape, and short stories provide a great workout.

Many epublishers are open to short stories. This year, Eternal Press released Winning, a short speculative.

Wild Child Publishing released Liberation via Pen, a short chick lit story about a girl who frees herself through writing.

Freya's Bower released The Lure of the Vine.

The Wild Rose Press published my shorts, Going with Gravity (a 2011 EPIC finalist!), Design for Life, The Duende and the Muse, Seventh Heaven and my free read, Cinderella Dreams (are tough to shake).

Click on the links to read excerpts, reviews, or view the trailers for each.

More writing tips

Excerpted from two articles that appeared in the Guardian UK, here are writing tips from some who know their stuff.

Diana Athill
1. Read it aloud to yourself because that's the only way to be sure the rhythms of the sentences are OK (prose rhythms are too complex and subtle to be thought out – they can be got right only by ear).
2. Cut (perhaps that should be CUT): only by having no ¬inessential words can every essential word be made to count.
3. You don't always have to go so far as to murder your darlings – those turns of phrase or images of which you felt extra proud when they appeared on the page – but go back and look at them with a very beady eye. Almost always it turns out that they'd be better dead. (Not every little twinge of satisfaction is suspect – it's the ones which amount to a sort of smug glee you must watch out for.)

Margaret Atwood
1. Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can't sharpen it on the plane, because you can't take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils.
2. If both pencils break, you can do a rough sharpening job with a nail file of the metal or glass type.
3. Take something to write on. Paper is good. In a pinch, pieces of wood or your arm will do.
4. If you're using a computer, always safeguard new text with a memory stick.
5. Do back exercises. Pain is distracting.
6. Hold the reader's attention. (This is likely to work better if you can hold your own.) But you don't know who the reader is, so it's like shooting fish with a slingshot in the dark. What -fascinates A will bore the pants off B.
7. You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and a grip on reality. This latter means: there's no free lunch. Writing is work. It's also gambling. You don't get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but essentially you're on your own. Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don't whine.
8. You can never read your own book with the innocent anticipation that comes with that first delicious page of a new book, because you wrote the thing. You've been backstage. You've seen how the rabbits were smuggled into the hat. Therefore ask a reading friend or two to look at it before you give it to anyone in the publishing business. This friend should not be someone with whom you have a romantic relationship, unless you want to break up.
9. Don't sit down in the middle of the woods. If you're lost in the plot or blocked, retrace your steps to where you went wrong. Then take the other road. And/or change the person. Change the tense. Change the opening page.
10. Prayer might work. Or reading something else. Or a constant visualisation of the holy grail that is the finished, published version of your resplendent book.

Roddy Doyle
1. Do not place a photograph of your favourite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.
2. Do be kind to yourself. Fill pages as quickly as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page as a small triumph
3. Until you get to Page 50. Then calm down, and start worrying about the quality. Do feel anxiety – it's the job.
4. Do give the work a name as quickly as possible. Own it, and see it. Dickens knew Bleak House was going to be called Bleak House before he started writing it. The rest must have been easy.
5. Do restrict your browsing to a few websites a day. Don't go near the online bookies – unless it's research.
6. Do keep a thesaurus, but in the shed at the back of the garden or behind the fridge, somewhere that demands travel or effort. Chances are the words that come into your head will do fine, eg "horse", "ran", "said".
7. Do, occasionally, give in to temptation. Wash the kitchen floor, hang out the washing. It's research.
8. Do change your mind. Good ideas are often murdered by better ones. I was working on a novel about a band called the Partitions. Then I decided to call them the Commitments.
9. Do not search amazon.co.uk for the book you haven't written yet.
10. Do spend a few minutes a day working on the cover biog – "He divides his time between Kabul and Tierra del Fuego." But then get back to work.

Excellent advice. I'm off to work.

More tips tomorrow.

Wrapping Up POV

So you have a story idea, and have a basic idea of how it should progress. Great. But whose story is it, really? Which point of view (POV) will best bring the reader into the scope of conflict? While first person brings readers into parallel view with the protagonist, the same can be accomplished, as Steve Almond writes in Fiction: Point of View, using the perspective of close third. Almond posits that POV is not nearly as important as the “emotional posture the author has taken toward his characters.”
Ginny Wiehardt suggests in How to Choose a Point of View that falling into the habit of using first person POV may skew your own perspective on the story. Writing as the protagonist may limit your ability to tell the story dispassionately, she states.
She also brings up an interesting POV – the unreliable narrator. If done well, the reader will be enriched by the POV of a character unwilling to admit the truth to him/herself, and by the experience of reaching that realization. If done poorly, however, the reader will feel cheated.
If you’re uncertain which POV to use, Ms. Wiehardt provides a writing exercise for third person.
As Randy Ingermanson says in his Advanced Fiction Writing eZine, POV creates an emotive context for your reader.
Margaret Atwood says: “A word after a word/after a word is power.” Randy takes this a step further by saying, “If you can write a great scene, over and over again, then you can write a pretty good novel.” Writing from the viewpoint of the character with whom the reader will best identify is the first step in the process.
As I said before, POV is a very complex issue, but I caution against overanalyzing it. I have always been a great believer in the “go with your gut” approach. You, as the writer, have the best insight into your story. You know what you want your story to say to the reader, what you want your reader to come away with after having read your story. Write that story, as you want to tell it.