Monthly Archives: March 2010

A new addition to my sidebar

Posted on by Sherri
10

So Sarah sent me this book a while back called Writing Begins with the Breath. She said she thought of me when she read it, and sure enough, it’s just my style. Contemplative, touchy-feely, zen stuff. I recommend it for anyone who’s having trouble finding his center as a writer. I’ve thought about passing it along, but I’m not ready to give it up yet.

I’m reading it again, thinking how much I admire Laraine Herring’s wisdom, and it occurs to me she might have a blog. I look it up and sure enough, she has one. Don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. I’ve added her link over there on my sidebar, and I hope you’ll go look around. She’s a creative writing teacher as well as a writer and has lots of good things to say.

My personal definition of success

Posted on by Sherri
13

So all that talk about the plotter and the pantser in the previous post was not an endorsement of either style over the other. It was more about evaluating these boxes I put myself in to see if I actually belong there. I didn’t used to do that to myself. Lately I’ve come to realize that boxing myself in was an attempt to gain some control over my life. My rigidity had limited success for a limited time, but when it stopped working I just kept it because I didn’t know what else to do.

The rigidity carried over into writing. I had it in my head that linear writing was the goal. Since it’s easier to give advice on how to plot a novel than how to write the way you want, the writing sites are full of that linear advice. Notecards, outlines, software, exercises. Real writers write every day, I’m sure you’ve all heard that at one time or another.

Well I’ve spent a couple of years giving up on rules. Now my only rule is: Do what feels right, not what the world has told me I must do. It takes practice to learn how to tell the difference between the inner voice and the outer, but I think I’m getting pretty good at it. And as a result, I’m not afraid to write anymore, which is a big deal. See, ever since I got an agent I’ve felt out of sorts. You’d think it would be a freeing situation, not having to worry about every little thing, but I found I was worrying approximately six and a half times as much. I think I’ve licked it, though, and now I write without fear. I put absolutely no pressure on myself in the way of word counts or time frames. It’s nice to have a goal as a guide, but if I don’t reach the goal I merely set up a new one rather than dwelling on how I missed the old one.

Today I found myself thinking, “This book could be somebody’s favorite someday.” I really believe it has that potential, if I continue the way I’m going. It’s a cozy feeling. I have that reader in mind while I’m writing, that future woman/man/teenager who will cherish this book for at least a little while. I write for the one reader who will fall in love with my characters, and hold that love in her heart for years to come. Connecting with that one reader is my personal definition of success.

And, of course, a million more like her wouldn’t hurt.

The plotter and the pantser

Posted on by Sherri
20

I think I finally figured out what kind of writer I am. ‘Bout damn time. We have two general camps in Writerland, right? The folks who like to outline (the plotter), and the folks who like to write by the seat of their pants (the pantser). Rarely does a writer fall to the extreme right or left–plotting every aspect in advance or starting a story with no idea where it’ll go. Most everyone has a mix, falls on the graph somewhere on one side or the other of the vague middle. And I don’t think you really know who you are as a writer until you get this figured out.

I spent a long time knowing which I wanted to be. I wanted to be a plotter. I like the idea of controlling every aspect, having a template to work from. You’ll notice I said I like the idea. In reality I hated working off that template. It never felt right, but I kept trying to fit myself into it. That’s why I’ve had so much trouble writing this book, the biggest reason I considered giving up writing last year. I had made myself a template in the form of a tossed-off NaNoWriMo book, and I subconsciously suffocated.

So here’s what I’ve learned about myself as a writer. I need:

  • only a vague idea of what I want to happen in the story;
  • to solidify the story through the characters;
  • flexibility to try iffy directions without fear of “wasting” my words;
  • and above all, to take my time.

None of these things mesh with the strict plotter I’ve always wanted to be. The plotters I know are like construction workers, building things. I’m more of an archaeologist uncovering things.

I may post more on this, but I’ve run out of time today. I’m taking the kids to the zoo and it’s time to get ready. Why don’t you tell me what kind of writer you are? Where do you fall on the scale of plotter/pantser?

SheWrites gave me a little traffic bump

Posted on by Sherri
6

Imagine my surprise when visited my stats and saw a big bump in my hits over the weekend. It’s been a long time since that happened, so of course I thought it was a mistake or a persistent spammer.

I was glad to find out it was a legitimate bump! Woo! My blog was featured on this group I belong to on SheWrites. Welcome to all the new visitors! Feel free to comment or subscribe to my feed. New posts aren’t as frequent as they used to be due to my working my butt off to get this book done, but of course you wouldn’t know that if you’re new! Forget I said anything.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my boy’s story. I let him read the g-rated comments (lookin’ at you, Knyt ;) and he was just thrilled he was such a hit. It also fluffed his feathers when the SheWrites reviewer mentioned his story specifically, saying she laughed so hard she woke the dog. I can’t link to the review because it’s a private group, but the reviewer is mystery writer Lauren Carr.

Full disclosure: After I posted the story he told me the “I could use a wetnap” part came from Spongebob. *sigh*

I’ll admit I haven’t been very active on SheWrites, but I’ve always thought I should be. If anybody wants to connect on SheWrites (which accepts men, too!), click that badge in my sidebar and I’ll see you there.