Trying to Practice What I Preach

Hello, after a long absence, I am trying to get back into the groove of writing and blogging. The impetus comes from a work project I'm proposing for a program on blogging for writers. Once I start putting things together I'll work on adding content to a different blog on this site.

Meanwhile, writing ... I'm so, so close to getting to 80,000 words, but I'm struggling with a character that I don't like, but who I feel provides some needed conflict. I don't want to kill him, even though I could without blinking an eye, but there is another alternative that could happen, but I feel is a coward's way out of solving the problem.

So, for fun, to see if I can do this, I'm going to try to add a poll. I added a link. Have fun!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DT5VGZM

Constant Companion: Frustration

It's been a while since I posted, mainly because I'm still dealing with a lot of pain, which while in some ways is productive for a writer, IRL is just a huge dark cloud hanging over me, literally hindering my every move and making writing feel like I'm climbing Mt. Everest. 

On a brighter note, I did make it to Toronto for Bouchercon 2017. So inspiring. So many fabulous authors, so many books, so many excellent panels. Fortunately, I was in the host hotel, which saved me a lot of walking, and the weather wasn't conducive to roaming the city. 

There is nothing like being surrounded by incredibly talented and creative people. Authors are generous with their time and advice and are genuinely interested in talking to their readers/fans. 

I came home fired up with energy, but woke up the next morning in such severe pain that I could barely move. Since then, it's been up and down emotionally and physically. Who knew that pain could be so exhausting? 

So, in closing today, in five days it's NaNoWriMo. I wish everybody well, if you're participating, and I'm hoping that I will be on the way to recover and less pain very soon. Meanwhile, I can try to write and if it sucks, then I can always rework it when my body and brain are once again friends with each other. 

Teaser

Writing is not getting done tonight, but I'm posting a couple of teaser pictures of locations that look like some of the settings in what I'm writing. 

Plot and Character

 "When I stall during drafting, or even revisions, I have to stop myself from focusing so much on the plot and go back to my characters."

This quote by @RaeAChang on Twitter resonated with me because I struggle with the balance of character and action. Too much in a character's head? Will my readers be bored? Do I need to have more action? Is this too much action? Will my protagonist get lost in the action? 

Finally, this advice made sense to me. As a writer, I want my readers to identify or at the very least, feel empathy with my characters. Yes, I want the plot to be thrilling, and involving. But my heart has always been character focused. 

The best is a balance. I hope i'm writing a well-balanced story; one with strong characters and enough action to move the plot along. Time will tell. 

Physical Therapy and Writing

One of my favorite fanfic authors wrote in a story the truest thing I have ever read about PT. 

"Physical therapy took everything he had to give, and some days it felt like it wasn't giving anytwhing back." (Relenafanel, "The Steve Rogers Problem, AO3)

Substitute "Writing" for "Physical therapy." So, so true. Some days writing is the same, you struggled to put the words on the page and they remain stolid and stiff and almost painfully inanimate. 

However, also like physical therapy, writing is an exercise and the more you do it, the easier it is. Sure there are setbacks, and sometimes the gain seems minuscule, but it works. 

I've been in PT for two weeks working on my back problems, and after each session, I think of the quote above. The next day, when every muscle in my body hurts, I wonder about the gains, but once the stiffness wears offW, I can tell I'm a little better, the pain is a little less. 

Writing will never be the easiest thing in the world, but it can be magical. The more I write, the easier the words are. Now plotting? Plotting is always a struggle, particularly when the characters want to take control. More on that later.

Word count: 51,735  

Pain and Gain

For the past two weeks, I've been in nearly constant pain from sciatica. So weird, but another sign that my body hates me. What does this have to do with writing? Let me tell you how pain helps understand the characters I create. 

There is an excellent essay on chronic pain and the Spoon Theory by Christine Miserandino which tries to explain what it is like living with chronic pain. 

I've written a character who is a veteran in chronic pain from a traumatic amputation and PTSD. He's also homeless and in danger. While I can't write from the perspective of a war veteran with PTSD and an amputation, I can understand what it is like to be in pain, to be exhausted, and to understand how those two conditions affect your mental state. 

Pain is exhausting. It forces you do make choices between

living your life as normally as possible, or making decisions that you know you'll be paying for over the next span of hours or even days.

Yes, I went on vacation. Yes, I walked from Point A to Point B. I had to decide to limit my dosage of pain relievers due to my other medical issues, but I knew it would come back to haunt me once I was home. 

Now, waiting for the doctor, I can identify with my character who has to make choices between his limitations, his pain, his psychological deficits, and know that each choice is going to weigh on the others and tip his hard won equilibrium. 

You can translate your own limitations, whether an injury or illness or emotion to your characters to make your experiences part of theirs. 

Don't let your pain go to waste. Write it down and use it to make your character real. 

Inspiration and the power of Fan Fiction

When I was a little girl watching TV, often I'd decide that I didn't like the way a certain episode had ended, or wished it had been longer, or gone further. I loved making up stories based on these series and these characters. I didn't know I was writing or imagining what later would be recognized as Fan Fiction.

Years later, after having a soul-crushing experience with a literary agency, and a crisis of confidence in my ability to write and tell a story, I rediscovered the power of writing for a community about characters we loved. I experimented with genres, with AUs, with new styles of writing, and in doing that, I rediscovered my joy in writing. And talk about a boost in confidence, those words of praise and encouragement from fellow fans and fic writers were like cool water to a thirsty traveler. 

 It's been a long and circuitous route back to writing something that isn't fan fiction, that is mine, to a world I can play with as I choose. ironically, what started out as fan fic, is now completely different. 

I guess what I want to say is that creativity isn't linear. It winds its way through your life in odd and unusual ways, like a river flowing through the landscape of your life with its valleys and peaks and challenging terrain. 

Don't give up. Keep writing. Find a passion and enjoy the journey.