Tag Archives: learning

A ramble, turned philosophical

Posted on by Sherri
7

I feel like blogging, but I don’t have any epiphanies to share. Is that okay? Can I just ramble? (Right now you’re asking the computer screen, “How is that any different from any other day?”)

I’ve been writing regularly this week, now that I’m done with the hard part of the novel I was editing. Funny how I go entire weeks ignoring that urge to write, and then when I actually don’t have the time, I can’t stand it! I must scratch this itch!

This time around, it seems easier to get a thousand words than it used to be. I may actually be able to make my goal of getting this draft done by Christmas. I cain’t hardly believe it. (Yes, I’m thinking in my hick accent today.) I love where this book is taking me. I look over the past year and can’t believe all the ups and downs I’ve had with my writing–some physical, some mental. Okay, most mental.

But really, I’ve said this every year, haven’t I? Two-thousand–blank was a truly crappy year, I say, and next year will be great. Honestly, I’ve had some major setbacks this year, but I think things are getting easier. I’ve never looked forward to Christmas as an adult, but here I am, buying gifts on credit and not worrying about it at all.  Tired of whining, tired of tripping over hurdles.

It’s so easy to think of my circumstances at any given moment as a static state of being, and that’s simply not true. I’ve been sorting out the jumble of thoughts and beliefs and desires in my head, figuring out which ones belong there and which came from someone else. I feel like this is something I’ve said many times since starting this blog, have I? Well, it’s a long process. It’s not one a-ha moment, it’s a series of them.

My brother and I think of life’s lessons as a spiral. You start on the outer edge, and travel around toward the center. Now imagine a straight line crossing, connecting the beginning point with the inner, end point. At each intersection, there’s a bump. That bump is an a-ha moment. If you are visualizing what I tried to explain, you’ll understand there are many bumps on this spiral, and on each course it takes less time to reach the next a-ha moment. Say, a year on the outer edge, and toward the center only weeks, or even days. You repeat the same realizations, sooner each time, until you get it.

At least, I’ve noticed that pattern in my own life. How does that fit with how you see your growth?

Seeing a published writer improve within a single book

Posted on by Sherri
5

So I read this book over the weekend. I won’t name it, not because I’m going to crap on it here but because I’m increasingly aware of how far these words reach. The book is not the point, my reaction is, but if you’re dying to know the title, email me or something.

I’ll set the stage. It’s a debut novel, pretty standard Urban Fantasy, as in chick lit with vampires, featuring a kickass, hot & sexy lady protag with a lot of sass and a lot of evil to overcome. Overall I enjoyed the read, though it did take a little while for the author to settle into her voice. The writing definitely improved over the course of the book. There’s a lot of promise in that voice, and I’d like to see where she takes the story in the second installment.

Actually, the way the author’s voice strengthened reminded me of the first novel I wrote, now that I’m far enough in the future to look at it objectively. (btw, I have no idea whether the book which inspired this post is the author’s first book ever, only that it was her debut.) In a first novel, you start at the beginning (of course) when you have no idea how to write a novel. The phrasing is clunky, the pacing uncertain, and a lot of the choices you make are based on books you’ve read in your genre. Then, as you go along, you start to figure it out. It gets easier, but you find yourself stuck with some bad choices you made before you knew what you were doing, so you end up with awkward character motivation, retroactively added to get the character from one plot point to the next. Plus, no matter how many times you edit the first few chapters, that clunkiness stays. You end up with that kind of book, where the ending is telegraphed by page 30 and the characters are way too familiar.

If you’re lucky (or unlucky, if publishing a not-quite-there book is a bad thing) your genre is hothothot when you start querying. Maybe your mythology is a bit different from other books in your genre, or maybe the central idea is unique, even if the people and places are not, or vice-versa. Whatever, it’s your lucky (or unlucky) day because publishers are actively looking for the kind of book you chose to write. I have to say, it seems like good luck rather than bad anytime somebody wants to publish your work, even if it’s a little early in your craft. A writer with real talent will blossom, I imagine, and others will fizzle.

But I always wonder how those authors feel about their situation. Do they see the weaknesses in their own work? And does it really matter, if the readers are happy?

Blogging rocks.

Posted on by Sherri
9

I’m not beating myself up over my blogging style. Really. It’s fine. It just looks so easy when other people write articles instead of rambling, so I think, I can do that!

The attitude came from my upbringing, of course. If something needed to be done, Mom did it. Fixing cars, chopping wood, raising gamecocks–Mom just jumped right in and made it happen. She taught herself how to make bumper stickers, to silk-screen t-shirts, to write, to reload shotgun shells for her husband, to cast sinkers on the kitchen stove, and so much more. Whatever she learned, so did I. She said to me over and over, “Well, you could do that. Doesn’t ______ sound like fun?”

So I have the idea that I could do anything. I’ve only recently learned that while I could do almost anything, I’m not actually suited to all those things I’ve tried. Like choreographing a high school show choir. Or writing confession stories. Or being a housewife. Or selling things on Amazon.com.

So the thing is, I have to try things out to see if they suit me. Otherwise, how will I know? You know?

This post went in a completely different direction than I planned. Which is my style, and I embrace it!