Writing Through the Tough Seasons

Today's been one of those days.  Oh, I'm sure you know exactly what I mean.  In this case it involved missing kitties.  After finding them, we had to find the trail of...well, never mind...that they left around the house.  The dishes are overflowing the sink (and the counters).  My son put some food items into his diaper.  Everyone's been a bit on edge today.

We've all had those days.

On those days writing can be our refuge.  Or at worst we throw a few words on paper and call it a day.

But what about the other kinds of days.  These days last weeks or months.

disability
         job loss
                   grieving
                            an accident
                                           news that turns your world upside down.

The most difficult season of my own life was when my father died eight years ago.  I could go on and on about the spiritual lessons I have learned.  Yet I believe trials and deep losses can strengthen our writing in several ways.

1) Adds to the believability of your characters: 


Its no secret that the best fiction kicks it up a notch continually in terms of drama.  Each of our characters faces some sort of trial or loss.  As I go through difficult things, I believe it adds new dimensions to my characters as they go through losses.  The characters that stick with us have a depth that is only added to by what we go through in our own life.

Mary DeMuth has a series on her blog where readers share their "thin places" something Mary has done masterfully through her own novels.  Consider journaling at a personal level during these rough seasons and allow God to use it for something more.  The times when I am most real and vulnerable are often the times when God uses my writing the most.  In my brokenness, His strength is most revealed.

2) Gives us a greater understanding of our characters and a greater sympathy for their plight.


As you meet others down the road who have gone through similar circumstances, don't you find yourself feeling a closeness with them?  I am a private person, but when I hear about someone who is going through the death of a parent, I feel led to reach out and send them a note.

Empathy led to my current story idea as I sobbed my way through a documentary on those in a cult.  As we plummet the depths of our character's emotions, all the trials we have gone through can bubble up through the character as we empathize with their plight as a writer.  If we cannot feel deeply for our character's struggles, who will?

3) Trials leave us famished in our own flesh.  These times cause us to crawl on our knees to the God who sees all.  They leave us with a gnawing hunger to feast on God's every word.  


As he fills us as only He can through these difficult seasons, we have more to pour out for our brothers and sisters.  This overflows into our fiction allowing our words to be used to minister to someone else's heart.

Have you ever read a book where the words seemed to leap off the page?  You felt that it was written just for you, to encourage, to teach, to convict?


In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Though you have not seen Him, you love Him.  Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. -1 Peter 1:6-9 (ESV)  


Do you feel the difficult times you have gone through have helped your writing?

This Mama's Writing Habits

During an over-excited attempt to get my wip out of my head onto paper (10,000 words in a weekend), I  noticed some habits adding to my wrestling match towards success.
It makes me laugh to see my same habits as a writer, appear in my other passion in life, motherhood.

The Mom: I can talk myself blue in the face as I reason with my little 8 year old lawyer when he is in trouble, and threaten him with consequences. I feel like a poorly educated psychologist sometimes. Instead of the long debate, I could just show him my stance- give him his consequence. I am the grown-up...right?
The Writer: The poorly educated psychologist creeps into my writing when I overly explain my character's motives. Instead, I could just show it in an active way. When I dissect their motive and their many possible thoughts, I find my head spin!
The Mom: “Why do you ALWAYS...”, “I have never...” and my most ashamed saying of all, “Gosh Almighty!”( Seriously how is that not the same as what it implies??)
 My effectiveness goes out the window...and worse off, my words get in the way of  my purpose as their mother, to let God's light shine through! I will say though, there are some things worth repeating... "Do unto others," "Keep your hands to yourself", "Don't sit on your brother's head..."

The Writer: 
My, my, I use the same sentence structure, adverbs (dun-dun-duuunn), and boring verbs an AWFUL lot! My writing's effectiveness decreases with one too many "howevers".
 Some words that give me fits are:

Just, really, seemed, surely, often...

Just as I thought it seemed necessary, my poor writing surely proved to hinder me, and I often found myself editing instead of really getting ahead in my wip.
Okay, for my own reputation...I never (ha) get this bad, but sometimes I find “just” at the beginning of too many sentences, I use “really” to emphasize a little too often, and “seemed” creeps its way in, especially when I write in first person and have to describe her view of other characters.

Now, I am not saying that all these things are necessarily bad, but if they aren't noticed by me, the writer, and I allow them to flood my story, the main theme and most importantly, the inspiration God gave me in the first place, would be diluted.

My boys and me...The crazy sunglass styles...what was I thinking?

And as a mother, if I also don't choose my words carefully, and limit my psycho-babble, I lose my children's respect and ultimately give them a poor impression of the God I am suppose to be representing in their lives!
Do you have any writing habits that are a constant challenge as you move forward in your wip?

What's Up The Street For Next Week?

If you write something every day you are always moving forward. 500 words a day you will have a 90,000 word novel in a little over 6 months. If you write 100 words every 2 hours you could have those 500 words in a day very easily- 100 words types up fast- especially if you know what you're going to write next.

If you were to write 1,000 words a day you could have a novel written in just a little over 3 months.

Writing a novel isn't daunting, finding the time isn't as hard as you think. The hard part is being willing to plunk thyself in a chair and being willing to let the words flow. You have no excuse for writing a book. Nothing except yourself. Don't stand in your own way anymore.

Hopefully this week on the Alley we will have motivating ideas to jumpstart that new manuscript or a new thought on an old revelation that will turn the corner on your current edits...

Being a mother and a writer has it's own set of challenges, hear what Angie's perspective is in her post This Mama's Writing Habits

Julia has the tips you need for Writing During the Difficult Times

Be prepared to be transported around the world as Sarah takes us to Paris in her post, People Watching in Paris. (yes, she does intend to flaunt that trip)

Let It Stew is the topic of Wendy's post on allowing our ideas for the plot and the characters that will fill them "simmer" before launching off. Sounds yummy (and perfect on a cold day :-)

Make 'em baaad. Well not, bad, but certainly not perfect. Cindy has a post on making your characters flawed and quirky in Tall, Dark...and All Wrong

NewsStand

The winner of Alice J. Wisler and Bethany Pierce's books is...Lgm52!!!!

Be sure and leave a comment for a chance to win two books from the Heartsong line!

Julia has an interview and giveaway on her blog with author, Kathi Macias on Tuesday, don't miss it- 3 books will be given away!

Please be sure and pray for Krista and her family as new devolopments have been unearthed and Annabelle could possibly need a heart transplant.

Check on yesterday's Seekerville post for contest updates around the web for getting your work in front of judges!

ACFW's Genesis contest is now OPEN! You have until 8:00 a.m. pacific standard time on March 4th, to get your entry in. Click above for more details.

Casey is giving away a bracelet on her Facebook Bug's Beads Page. Click to check it out and find out how to enter (you might have to scroll down a short ways)

Adam and Andrea Graham on the featured authors next week on Operation Encourage an Author

Crap Happens

I have a ephinay for you.

LIFE ISN'T PERFECT.

I know.. shocker!

Writer's block catches up with us.
Agents reject us.
Editors ignore us.
Reviewers all but spit on our books.
The flu infects our house.
Kids get sick.
Babies are born with only half of a heart.
People die.

Are you depressed yet?

The thing is, bad things happen. In our writing life, and in real life. And just because we are followers of Jesus, doesn't make us immune. We live in an imperfect world where sin abounds and crappy things happen.

But good things happen too.

Words flow onto the page.
Agents ask for our phone number.
Editors drool over our proposal.
Reviewers sing praises in suprano.
The flu shot was invented.
Kids get better and go back to school. (Can I get an amen???)
Babies are born healthy.
People live the life God has given them to the fullest.

So here is to focusing on the good things today. To thanking God for his blessings. To learning from the not-so-fun things so we can do that last thing on the "good" list...

What are YOU doing to live your life to the fullest today?

Emotion- Its Rawest Form

The smell of the place was a combination of old and new- of old pews, dry paper hymnals and Lysol cleaner. The flowers overflowing at the altar sent off a sickly sweet smell that cloyed in my nose and stifled my senses. I didn’t like it. People slowly flowed into the church, first passing by the large poster board filled with pictures, memories snagged from the passage of time and given credence to a life well lived.

Family congregated in a back corner, not a smiling face among them and at the tender age of seven years old, I wasn’t sure what my response should be. A smile seemed inappropriate, but tears weren’t clogging the back of my throat. It hadn’t hit me yet with the speed of an empty freight train- sure to come later. I tugged on Daddy’s arm, trying to get his attention.

“What hon?”

“Daddy, I want to kiss Papa goodbye.”

His eyes softened and he put a hand on my shoulder, a hint of moisture wetting the corners. He cleared his throat. “You bet you can. We’ll do it after the service.”

The front pew was so close to the casket covered in the pink and white flowers. The smell was overpowering. I hated the scent- unidentifiable it left only a bad taste on my tongue. They were not symbols of beauty, but vestiges bearing the memory of loss.

The service closed, the moment had come. Apprehension churned in my stomach. What would it be like? My hands turned sweaty in Daddy’s grip and my heart thumped in my ears as he guided me through the departing throng and to the casket. I couldn’t see in. The dark oak of the wood gleamed under the lights. I knew Papa wasn’t really in that box. His body yes, but Heaven had gained a wonderful man. Jesus, please tell him how much I love him.

Daddy lifted me up and I got my first peek into the casket. He lay so still. Never again to be the first at the screen door to greet me. Never to kiss my cheek with his gristly gray mustache. Never to feel his loving arms around me. I leaned down and planted a kiss on his forehead.

So cold. So waxy. It wasn’t how I wanted to remember Papa. The scent of the tight space about me filled my nose with a strange scent, one I couldn’t place and would always hate.

My loss, Heaven’s gain, but now years down the road, I would not trade that kiss, that moment of goodbye for all the world.

Years down the road I found out what that smell was- the flowers about his casket. What I had always thought to be something from the funeral home to prepare his body for burial, was really the scent of the flower chosen to grace his casket. From that day to this I cannot smell those flowers without thinking of Papa’s funeral. And I can’t stand them.

Emotions fill our lives. Grief, joy, anger, the entire gauntlet. When we sit down and give our characters the emotions they crave, where do we draw from for those realistic emotions?

From our own experiences.

I am sure most of you know this already, but it is hard to look back on such moments and drain those feelings and put them onto the page. Our characters will live them and though it isn’t often the same experience, we have to remember all over again. It is often a trialing journey down that emotional memory lane.

Writing that about the funeral of my grandfather is one of the hardest things I have written, though granted it has gotten easier with time. But to relive those emotions all over again is difficult to say the least. I was nearly crying as I wrote this.

You won’t realize the depth of your emotion until you start writing. During a class once I wrote this same thing, only not in as great a detail. I was sobbing from the core of my soul and couldn’t finish reading it aloud. It was embarrassing in a room of complete strangers to not be able to cease sobbing, but the writer in me knows that such a moment is golden.

The same isn’t just for grief, but also anger or extreme joy. Brandilyn Collins says in her book, Getting Into Character that you don’t have to be a murderer to think like one. (and this is certainly an extreme case). She gives the example of as you sit down to read a good book, a fly begins to buzz. You shoo it away. It persists, darting against the glass of your window and distracting you from the thoroughly enthralling world of fiction. Annoyance burns in your gut which grows to upset and from upset to pure revenge as you hunt out the fly swatter and attack the innocent fly. It lies in a pile of broken wings and black body. Satisfied you are return to your book…only to again hear the buzz, bitz, bitz of the cousin of the fly you just assassinated.

Emotions aren’t something to be feared or shied away from. They add the emotional layer to the story that every book needs to give it impact and a way to connect with your readers on a visceral level. You have to relive them to pull from them. Which is why writing is like “sitting down to the computer and slicing open a vein”.

It is frightening to put ourself on the page. We are taking something near and dear and asking someone to judge it. But your reader will have the most impact from it. They will feel as if the book was written directly to them- because though they might not have lived through that same event, emotions are universal and everyone has experienced grief, anger, fear, love, joy. It is the author’s job to advocate on the part of the reader and let them relive those emotions. Your book will have more power for it.

Have you read a book recently that had gut emotional impact?

Christian Fiction Well Blended

Ever taste a main dish with globs of unmixed ingredients, (did your spoonful have the clump of garlic?) or the mouthwatering Christmas cookies still tempting you to plunge one into you mouth to discover the forgotten ingredient (oops, did I miss sugar?)

I completed the first chapter from my new WIP.

The same night I read the first chapter from one of Mary Connelly's books, turned off the light, and lay in bed thinking about the difference between the two first chapters.

Of course, I noticed her polished writing, hysterically funny text, hooks, tight writing, and etc tempted to stay up late to read more.  BUT--

The number one natural ingredient I noticed in her book was a perfectly blended story line which infused Christian concepts into the heart and soul of the book.

I reflected on her first chapter and immediately wondered how could I add Christian ideals into this story.  That's when God let me know--WRONG! Christian concepts are NOT an added ingredient.

Think of the Christmas cookies mentioned above.  Had I finished baking the first batch and then realized I left out the sugar, or flour, or egg, I might try many methods to put the missing ingredient into the finished product, but  it would never taste right.

I looked back at my first chapter and realized adding Christian principals into the story after it had been written would be second rate, cheap, and obvious.  I chose to rethink the story line and considered how I could naturally bring God's love into chapter two or totally rethink the flow of chapter one.

Just because I felt inspired and words flowed from my heart as I tapped the computer keys does not mean that the work I produced pleased God. Maybe I needed to wad up the paper, toss it in the garbage and start the story again.

On the other hand, I could choose to turn the story into an ABA novel, that might work.  I read a novel last year which had been made into a successful movie.  The author wrote an interesting story--well the ending seemed weak, but it had a great plot, the father had Christian principles, the main character developed, etc--but the book was not a Christian fiction book.  Even with the Bible references, church setting for some scenes, and the periodic godly words from the father, this book clearly was not a CBA book.

Some CBA books might have been better classified as ABA.

With the New Year standing before me, I chose to stand up and speak about this issue.  In truth, I am bothered by some CBA books which clearly added Christian concepts as an after thought just to be published in this category.

I'm working on chapter two of my WIP.  I can save the day by letting God shine naturally through the words. Blending His truth, guidance, and Words into the story line before the story reaches a first edit will clearly place this story in the CBA category.

Don't go overboard.  God already wrote the Bible.

Christian fiction serves quite a different purpose.  I guess I want to look at my first published book and know in my heart I wrote an entertaining story that addressed some issue from a Christian point of view without pressure, prodding, or wimping out.

What makes a book a CBA book to you?

A Writer's Top 10 New Year Resolutions

You may be one of those big goal setters, ready to tackle your list of New Year resolutions on January 1st. Or you may be like me, hating those long lists of goals that never get filled, and deciding to pick just One Word to use as the lens through which you look at your life this year. (See Seekerville's post about One Word and see my post here to see my one word.)

But a writer is different from the average person. A writer needs goals. We need resolutions to help us traverse the rocky journey of the writing life. So I've put together a writer's top 10 resolutions for this new year of 2011.

10. Start and finish a new novel. Pretty basic, but the hallmark of a writer is not just starting a book, but finishing a book.

9. Edit your finished novel. You can't pitch an unedited novel, because, well, it would never get looked at. Polish that baby up!

8. Join a critique group or get a critique partner. You can edit your book on your own, but you will never see all it's mistakes and problems on your own. You need another pair of eyes to help you story bleed red with correction, making it the book it needs to be. ACFW offers a critique pool. To sign up, go HER E. (You have to be a member to access this site.)

7. Write a synopsis. The dreaded synopsis is not quite so daunting a task if you learn how to do it right. Camy Tang has a fabulous synopsis worksheet that takes you step by step through the process. I have used it and can honestly say it was the only thing that got me through it! You can order it for $5 HERE. Also, Kaye Dacus has a post about it that is very helpful. Access it HERE.

6. Query for an agent. The sad truth is that if you go the traditional publishing route, you need an agent to get your manuscript looked at. Do your research when locating agents to query. Find the right one for your genre and style. Michael Hyatt has a great list of literary agents who represent Christian authors HERE.

5. Go to a writing conference. Conferences offer a wealth of information in regards to writing and all things publishing. Many provide opportunities to meet agents and editors--a great place to get your foot in the door and get some experience pitching. For a good list of Christian writing conferences, go HERE.

4. Read several books on the writing craft. There are many good books on writing that provide tools necessary in developing a well written book that will grab the reader. For a list of resources, see our Resource Shop Page above or go HERE. Also, author Jody Hedlund has an extensive list of writing books HERE.

3. Subscribe to great blogs about writing and the writing life. Of course, all our Alley Cat Gals here have fabulous blogs and you can access them in the side bar. Here are a few others that are extremely helpful.

• Kaye Dacus
• Jody Hedlund
• Seekerville
• Stephanie Smith (this is a list of writing contests for the year)

2. Read. Yes, read books in the genre you are writing. Read books in a variety of genres. Read for pleasure. Read to "research". Read, read, read!

1. Write every day. Writers write and writers should keep up the practice. 1000 words a day will get you a book in about three months. So write to your heart's delight, letting your creativity and words flow free.

So there are my Top Ten Resolutions for writers. What would you add to the list?