In case you missed it, there was an Op-Ed piece in The New York Times by John Grisham over the weekend about how he became a writer. Here is an excerpt:   

 

Writing was not a childhood dream of mine. I do not recall longing to write as a student. I wasn’t sure how to start. Over the following weeks I refined my plot outline and fleshed out my characters. One night I wrote “Chapter One” at the top of the first page of a legal pad; the novel, “A Time to Kill,” was finished three years later.

The book didn’t sell, and I stuck with my day job, defending criminals, preparing wills and deeds and contracts. Still, something about writing made me spend large hours of my free time at my desk.

I had never worked so hard in my life, nor imagined that writing could be such an effort. It was more difficult than laying asphalt, and at times more frustrating than selling underwear. But it paid off. Eventually, I was able to leave the law and quit politics. Writing’s still the most difficult job I’ve ever had — but it’s worth it.

To read the entire article go to: Boxers, Briefs and Books. Check out John Grisham’s website here.

So what do you think? Is writing the most difficult job you’ve ever had? Or was it something else? 

I’d love to hear from you.

Subscribe to this blog here.

Susan’s website.

In a recent article by Laura Miller, senior writer at Salon.com, Ms. Miller writes about the changes going on in the publishing and self-publishing worlds and how this will effect readers.

The article is called: The democratization of slush: How do you find something good to read in the brave new self-published world.

Here’s a taste:

When their former dictator, Augusto Pinochet, died four years ago, thousands of Chileans poured into the streets to celebrate — but that’s small potatoes compared to the crowds lining up to dance on the grave of traditional book publishing. The industry, we’re forever being told, is antiquated and hidebound; it doesn’t know how to spot great books or how to deliver them to readers. Fortunately, a tsunami of sparkling new technology is just about to hit those old fogies, washing them from the face of the earth so that the people who know what they’re doing can finally take over.

If you have any contact with the publishing world, you probably hear some version of the story above every day. What’s most striking, however, about the many, many conversations I’ve had about e-books, innovations in self-publishing and the emergence of publicity venues like social networking is how difficult it is to stayed focused on what all of this means for readers. No matter how hard you try, within five minutes the talk turns inexorably back to how agents, editors and publishers will suffer in the coming cataclysmic change — and, above all, how gloriously liberating it will be for authors.

Click here to read the entire article by Laura Miller.

What do you think? Has the self-publishing world opened up a Pandora’s box for readers?

Are you concerned about how we, as readers, will find the books worth reading, if the traditional publishing industry and literary agents aren’t the gatekeepers telling us what is good?  

I’d love to hear from you.

Subscribe to this blog here.

My interview on Book Talk, Creativity and Family Matters was quite enjoyable. I wondered what I would talk about for an hour, but it seems I had plenty to say about creativity, my writing process, Seeking Sara Summers, as well as offering my take on the current world of publishing, getting an agent, and the dilemma of how to set aside time to write.

 Anjuelle Floyd, also a writer, asked some great questions and had a lot to contribute, as well.

 If you’d like to sample a bit of the interview, you can listen here. As always, I’d love to hear what you think.

Subscribe to this blog here.

To anyone interested:

Saturday, June 12, 2010, I am being interviewed on Book Talk, Creativity and Family Matters.

Call in time is 12 Noon PT, 1pm MT, 2pm CT, and 3pm ET.

The call-in number is: (347) 215-7740, if you want to listen or call-in. You can also listen to interviews after the fact, simply click on the link below.

Here’s the link to the show page.

The format is fairly laid back. I will talk about my book, Seeking Sara Summers, and discuss my process for writing, and how I came into writing.

 The interviewer is Anjuelle Floyd.

I am currently in the middle of the revision process for my seventh novel. I like to think of this part of the process as an alchemical process. One of the definitions of alchemy is:

any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.

The concept of alchemy is usually associated with Carl Jung who used it to describe how we develop the potential in our personalities.  

Not that I think there is anything “magical” in doing three to six months of revisions. It’s hard work. The first drafts of manuscripts, like the personalities of the chronically unaware, are raw, unrefined messes. To put first drafts out into the world is not only naïve but careless. They are almost always ineffective and even embarrassing when read a few years down the road. (You can also over-revise, but that’s another post.) It is only in the subsequent drafts, where the true gold of a piece can be found. 

In writing, excess words must be cut in order to get to the ultimate clarity of a sentence and an idea. Characters must be developed and given interesting, vital lives. Plot must be unearthed and honed into a rhythm that can sustain and carry a reader along for two to three hundred pages. 

I have been writing for fifteen years. At this point I have a solid level of craft behind my revisions, as well as clear knowledge of my strengths and weaknesses. I’ve been to countless workshops on writing and taken creative writing classes at the university level, in addition to putting hundreds of hours into the actual process of writing. I also get the feedback of my first readers (those three or four trusted writer/friends who I let read early drafts in order to get feedback), as well as feedback from my literary agent. 

The revision process is one area of my life where I am fearless. And if you are really serious about being a good writer, maybe even a great one, I think you have to be fearless, too. I have been known to throw out entire chapters if they aren’t moving the plot forward. I get rid of characters without a whiff of sentimentality if they aren’t compelling and holding up their end of the bargain. I change tenses if more immediacy is needed. I add new characters if they offer something unique. I add a surprise or two, perhaps a twist of fate. I do this because I am always striving for excellence when I write a story, as I am always striving for excellence in my life. I want a story to grab my readers, inspire them, and entertain them from the first to the very last page. 

When I first started writing I complained a lot about the revision process. It is like putting your work onto the analyst’s couch, baring its soul to find out what is genuine and what is fake. But now—and I never thought I’d say this—it is one of my favorite parts. It requires a skill set that is developed by practice, by actually writing day after day, year after year. It requires reading books on craft and going to writer’s conferences with the intention of learning how to write (instead of only choosing the workshops on how to find a good literary agent). Sometimes this skill set can be developed by taking classes on writing and perhaps even belonging to a really good writer’s group. (The really good ones are hard to find, by the way, and may require some searching out.)    

The revision process is where the most potential lives for the writer and artist, just as increasing self-awareness is where the most potential is found in our personalities. Revising is about becoming a master at your craft and learning how to tell a really good story or writing a really good poem or creating a really good concerto. (If you are a writer and you hate revising, then at the very least you must find yourself a really good freelance editor. If you are a person whose life could use some “major editing,” you may want to invest in a good counselor.)

The revision process is where something ordinary and mundane is transformed through the writer’s own skillful efforts into something extraordinary and lasting. Whether you’re revising a piece of writing or music or some non-artistic yet still creative project–or your own life–keep the faith and don’t give up. Remember, you are the alchemist of your creation.

P.S. I revised Seeking Sara Summers at least twelve times over a period of eight years. I am much, much quicker at it now. A new novel now takes within 6-12 months to complete. Check out Seeking Sara Summers, if you haven’t already, and get a free sample chapter.

Subscribe to this blog here.

“What is to give light, must endure burning.”  – motto of The Sun magazine

“I grapple with having equal proportions of narcissism and low self-esteem.” – Anne Lamott

“Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings. – Victor Hugo

“It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way. – Ernest Hemingway 

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London

 ”When your heart speaks, take good notes.” – Judith Campbell

 ”Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” – Mahatma Gandhi

 ”A room without books is like a body without a soul.” – Marcos Cicero

“Above all, be the heroine of your life. Not the victim.” – Nora Ephron

“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” - Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD)

“What lies behind us and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.” –  John Irving

“If I were in solitary confinement, I’d never write another novel, and probably not keep a journal, but I’d write poetry, because poems, you see, are between God and me.” May Sarton

“I work continuously within the shadow of failure. For every novel that makes it to my publisher’s desk, there are at least five or six that died on the way.” Gail Godwin

“Twenty years from now you will more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.  – Mark Twain

Do you have a favorite? I’d love to hear from you! Also, if you have any quotes that are personal favorites about writing and creativity, send them my way. I’m always looking for new ones.

Subscribe to this blog here.

Check out Seeking Sara Summers.

Naming My Daughter
by Patricia Fargnoli

            In the Uruba tribe of Africa, children are
            named not only at birth but throughout their
            lives by their characteristics and the events
            that befall them.

The one who took hold in the cold night
The one who kicked loudly
The one who slid down quickly in the ice storm
She who came while the doctor was eating dessert
New one held up by heels in the glare
The river between two brothers
Second pot on the stove
Princess of a hundred dolls
Hair like water falling beneath moonlight
Strides into the day
She who runs away with motorcycle club president
Daughter kicked with a boot
Daughter blizzard in the sky
Daughter night-pocket
She who sells sports club memberships
One who loves over and over
She who wants child but lost one.
She who wants marriage but has none
She who never gives up
Diana (Goddess of the Chase)
Doris (for the carrot-top grandmother
she never knew)
Fargnoli (for the father
who drank and left and died)
Peter Pan, Iron Pumper
Tumbleweed who goes months without calling
Daughter who is a pillar of light
Daughter mirror, Daughter stands alone
Daughter boomerang who always comes back
Daughter who flies forward into the day
where I will be nameless.

“Naming My Daughter” by Patricia Fargnoli, from Necessary Light. © Utah State University Press, 1999.

What would your name be if you followed this tradition? Please add them in the comment section. (Email subscribers can do that by clicking on the name of this post.)

A few of mine would be:

Writer who never gives up.
Friend who is most sincere.
One who loves imagination.
One whose creativity saved her.
She who walks by the river.

Subscribe to this blog here.

Salon/iStockphoto

 

There is a really good article at Salon.com this week by Laura Miller. She offers advice to the novelist on how to write better books. In her piece she mentions a Guardian article  called Ten Rules for Writing Fiction which is really good, too. If you aspire to write a novel or are already a novelist, you might find both pieces interesting.

Here is a  brief excerpt from Laura Miller’s piece:

Readers are what every novelist really wants, so isn’t it about time that a reader offered them some advice? I’ve never written a novel, and don’t expect to ever do so, but I’ve read thousands. Here are my five recommendations for the flailing novice:

1. Make your main character want something.

2. Make your main character do something.

3. The components of a novel that readers care about most are, in order: story, characters, theme, atmosphere/setting.

4. Remember that nobody agrees on what a beautiful prose style is and most readers either can’t recognize “good writing” or don’t value it that much.

5. A sense of humor couldn’t hurt.

She explains each point in the article. Read it here and let me know what you think.

Buy my novel, Seeking Sara Summers, here.

Subscribe to this blog here.

According to The Writer’s Almanac, today is Toni Morrison’s birthday. Toni Morrison was born Chloe Wofford in Lorain, Ohio (1931). Lorain was a steel town. Her father worked at the steel mill and in construction, and her mother raised the kids. Morrison said about her mother:

When an eviction notice was put on our house, she tore it off. If there were maggots in our flour, she wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt. My mother believed something should be done about inhuman situations.

Morrison went to college, got interested in theater and traveled around in an acting troupe, then went on to get a master’s in English. She loved to read, but had never been a writer except for a few stories in high school. But after she got married and had two children, her marriage started to dissolve, and she needed an escape. She said,

It was as though I had nothing left but my imagination. I wrote like someone with a dirty habit. Secretly. Compulsively. Slyly.

She joined a writing group, but after she had workshopped her stories from high school, she was out of things to share, so she wrote a story about a black girl who wanted blue eyes. And then she started to expand it into a novel called, The Bluest Eye (1969). She went on to write eight more novels, including Song of Solomon (1977), Beloved (1987), and most recently, A Mercy (2008). And she was the first African-American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in literature.

Do you write secretly, compulsively, slyly? If not, I recommend it. Sometimes secrets are good, especially if there are critics nearby or you can be easily influenced. Part of the task of being a writer is to protect your new creations. Some of you may do things totally differently, but I know that if I start sharing too soon, the piece loses energy. So I don’t talk about or share anything I’m writing until I have completed an entire first draft.

Subscribe to this blog here.

“Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words. If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself no less impressive than sailing single-handed around the world.” –Tom Clancy

“Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen.”  –Willa Cather

“Confront the dark parts of yourself. … Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing.” –August Wilson 

“It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way. – Ernest Hemingway 

“I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.” –Stephen King

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London

“Above all, be the heroine of your life. Not the victim.” – Nora Ephron

 ”Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

 ”The Power of imagination makes us infinite.” – John Muir

“When your heart speaks, take good notes.” – Judith Campbell

Which quote is your favorite? Do you have one to add? I’d love to hear from you.

 
Subscribe to this blog here.

Check out my day job here. I help people create a family time capsule and leave a lasting legacy.