How do you celebrate a special achievement?

Do you treat yourself to flowers?

Or do you like to frolic online and shop, which is what I’ve been doing quite a lot of recently, with the excuse of buying Christmas presents.

My first stop was at Alibris where I spent a lot of time and more money than I should have, grabbing cheap second-hand copies of various books I’ve been meaning to read for some time.

I’ve also been at Ebay quite a lot, too, where you can look at all sorts of stuff you can’t possibly afford to buy–antiques and so on–but one of my major sources for presents. And I just, uh, happened to win the bid on these little darlings today. No, they’re not diamonds. They’re not old. But I think they’re cool.

And the reason for this hedonism? I finished my first book writing as Jane Lockwood, an erotic historical now called Forbidden Shores (NAL Heat, September 2007). When I say finished, I mean some victims are doing a cold read for me, I’ll make major, panicky changes, and get it to the editor in a couple of weeks, doubtless with major trauma via Fedex and holiday shipping schedules, and…

Well, you get the idea. So I’m splurging a bit, using the excuse that I save on shipping.

Now tell us what you do as a special treat when you have something to celebrate!

Visit my tarted-up website, www. janetmullany.com and, when you have recovered your senses from the beauty of it all, sign up for my newsletter!

…or Confessions of a Writing Book Junkie

It seems that whenever I struggle with the writing…no, rewind and correct…when I struggle more than usual with the writing, one of my solutions is to buy and read another book for writers, whether it be something motivational or more craft-oriented. The funny thing is they do usually help. They either reassure me that my struggles are normal and I am not clueless and the best give me ideas of new things to try. Sometimes just the act of changing something helps to clear a logjam.

So now I’m going to tell you about some of my personal favorites.
Debra Dixon, GOAL, MOTIVATION, AND CONFLICT: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction, Gryphon Books for Writers, 1996, ISBN: 0965437108. I usually do GMC charts a la Debra Dixon for at least the hero and heroine when I’m starting a book, and revisit them when troubleshooting weak spots. Sometimes I find the GMC model a bit static–I like combining it with principles from THE WRITER’S JOURNEY.

Christopher Vogler, THE WRITER’S JOURNEY: Mythic Structure for Writers, Wiese, Michael Productions, 1998, ISBN: 0941188701. Vogler takes inspiration from THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES, by Joseph Campbell (which I have not read but plan to) and shows how principles of the mythic hero’s journey can be applied to screenplays, novels, etc… When I read this, I had already completed 6 books and could see that I’d already included many of these elements in my writing. However, the questions posed in each chapter have been useful in helping to brainstorm my current work-in-progress. I think it would also help in pinpointing weaknesses in a draft. I like the way it parallels the writer’s journey with the story hero’s.

Donald Maass, WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL Workbook, Writer’s Digest Books, 2004, ISBN: 158297263X. WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL contains this top agent’s advice for writing the breakout novel, defined as one that brings its author a “dramatic leap in sales over her peers or even ahead of her own previous work.” While the book is useful, I find the accompanying workbook more so. There are exercises for character development, plotting and other aspects of storytelling that are geared to helping one think out of the box. One caveat: one does NOT have to slavishly include results from all the exercises in the final work. I have sometimes seen that result in characters who go beyond edgy to distorted and/or unsympathetic. Maass’s style is very authoritative, but as in all things, artistic judgment is crucial.

Julia Cameron, THE ARTIST’S WAY: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, Penguin Group, 2002 (10th anniversary edition), ISBN: 1585421464. Cameron combines spirituality with creativity in a way that bothers some religious persons. Personally I find it odd that they doubt the connection. Anyway, it’s a 12 week program with chapters on various aspects of unblocking, each with exercises designed to identify blocks to creativity and encourage the participant to explore his/her creativity. There are also two aspects of the program which are ongoing and I find helpful.

One is the Morning Pages. Basically, you fill 3 pages with free writing about whatever is on your mind. I find that venting emotions harmlessly onto the page helps me deal with life. I also discovered through this process that brainstorming on paper works better for me than just mulling things in my head. I’m a writer. Go figure. 🙂

The other concept is the Artist Date. Where the Morning Pages are intended to clear blockages, Artist Dates are for refilling the well. An Artist Date is an activity that pleases the muse: going to a movie or concert, baking, dancing, painting. Experiencing or practicing some form of art different from one’s current project or career. Last April I blogged about an artist date at the Corning Museum of Glass.

Steven Pressfield, THE WAR OF ART: Break through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, Warner Books, 2003, ISBN: 0446691437.
Tough love for writers and a nice complement to THE ARTIST’S WAY. Where Cameron has you try to pinpoint and heal creative wounds, Pressfield reminds you that the work itself will heal you. Here’s a quote from the end: “Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.”

For those who are interested, I have some short descriptions of these and my other writing books on my website (click on Writing). As with everything else, your mileage may vary.

I’ll leave you with a question and a warning. What are your favorite writing and/or motivational books? And the warning: Reading books on writing can be a very clever way to avoid the real butt-in-chair work of writing. Don’t ask me how I know that. 🙂

Elena
LADY DEARING’S MASQUERADE, RT Reviewers’ Choice, Best Regency Romance of 2005
www.elenagreene.com

I’m so lucky to live near Washington, DC. A couple of months ago I heard that The Smithsonian Institution was offering an all day lecture on The Regency World of Jane Austen by Bonita Billman, an Art Historican from Georgetown University. The lecture was scheduled for two days after my Mills & Boon book #5 was due, so the timing was perfect. I decided to indulge myself (the museums in DC are free, but the lecture was a little pricey) and sign up.

The lecture was held in the Ripley Center, the entrance of which is between the Freer Gallery and the Museum of African Art (We’re full of museums in DC). The Center is underground, and the lecture hall is a very comfortable room with theatre seats.

Ms. Billman showed the Regency World of Jane Austen through visual images, slides of the art of the time period, but also photography of the architecture, decorative arts, and fashions. She used the “social Regency” definition (1790-1830) rather than “political Regency” (1811-1821), when the Prince was Regent. I think she slipped a little into the Georgian period, but that was okay. The day was divided into four lectures: The Personalities in Jane Austen’s World; Regency Portraiture; Late Georgian Architecture; and Daily Life, Social Customs, Interior Design, and Fashion.

Billman showed the people of the Regency through their portraits, which was great fun. The Prince Regent, Mrs. Fitzpatrick, Beau Brummell, Jane (of course), Byron, Princess Caroline, and Princess Charlotte–and my hero, The Duke of Wellington.

Next Billman talked about the portrait artists of the time: Thomas Lawrence, Thomas Gainsborough, Joshua Reynolds, George Romney, and some lesser known ones: Hoppner, Beechey, Raeburn–even Stubbs, who is best known for his horses. My favorite was when she showed slide after slide of miniatures, small portraits to keep in one’s pocket.

Cosway was a name I had not known before the lecture. I love miniatures and hope some day to find one I can afford.

The next lecture was about the architecture. She basically just showed classical and gothic architecture–and, of course, the Pavilion.

She talked about William Gilpin, who toured the areas of natural beauty in the British Isles and whose home tour was satirized in Rowlandson’s Tours of Dr. Syntax.

Then last of all slide after slide of furniture, porcelain (not enough of that), interior design, and clothing.

I did not expect to learn new things, but I did. I did not know about Cosway, the miniaturist. I did not know about Gilpin or the Picturesque movement, but my interest was held throughout the whole day.

Another thing about it, I usually go places like this with a friend, but I wound up going alone and, actually, that was good for me. In a way it became more of a respite for me and I could more easily immerse myself in the time period and in the art. It was a day very well spent!

Cheers!
Diane

(The photo with today’s post is one I found of Diane and me at our evening in Bath at the Assembly Rooms! I will try to find more for next week)

My Writing Process

1) Find an Idea
The question most non-writers ask writers seems to be “How do you get your ideas?” I always have to answer “I have no clue.” Maybe it comes from a painting or a movie, or something I read in a non-fiction book. All I know is I seem to have a lot of them–ideas, that is. They all go into an “idea notebook” to be brought out and expanded on later. Also, I seem to start with characters who need a plot rather than a plot that needs characters.

2) Okay, I have my idea! Now, I have to buy research books–a total neccessity, of course. 🙂 And I have to track down research books I already own, because they could be anywhere in the house. Or the garage. I find lots of books I forgot I had, which means I have to sit down on the floor and read through them, dust them, look at pictures, and jot down new ideas I find from them. Eventually, though, I do get to step 3…

3) I write a short synopsis of the story. I’m not much of a “plotter”–I have a writer friend who starts out by writing a detailed, chapter-by-chapter outline, but I can’t do this. I have no idea what will be happening in chapter twenty at this point. But publishers do like to see what the story will be about, so the short synopsis gets written. I organize my research notes and start the rough draft.

4) I write my rough drafts in longhand in Hello Kitty notebooks I buy at Target. This means a trip to Target, of course. Once the vital notebooks are procured, I may go over to look at shoes. And makeup. And purses. And the pet supply aisle. Then I buy some Choxie Coffee Toffee bars to sustain me through the writing to come. And maybe a copy of Vogue. For breaks, you know.

5) Now I get to work (really!). I usually write sitting on my bed, surrounded by those research books, cats, and empty Choxie boxes. Like Diane, I give myself about 4-5 months per book. But I have my “day job,” and thus have to make the most out of all my writing time. This means no email, Go Fug Yourself, or Orlandobloom.com. Usually. Well, not more than once an hour.

6) It takes me about 100 pages to really get to know the characters and their story, to see where it’s going. Then I start typing the chapters to send to my critique partners. I may do a little revising at this point, but usually I just print up their comments and jot down notes for any changes I notice are needed, and then I press ahead. The whole longhand-to-computer thing helps me see where I’ve been repetitive or lost some continuity. The problem is that sometimes I can’t read my own handwriting! (Oh, and I write the story in linear fashion. No doing up scenes and connecting then later, as I’ve heard Gabaldon does. My mind just doesn’t work that way!)

7) End of rough draft! I type The End, send to the cp’s, and put it out of my mind for a few days. By this time, I have a pretty dire case of ‘writer’s butt’ from all that Choxie (I have to have something to soothe me after dealing with stubborn characters who do NOT want to do what they’re told!). I go to more yoga classes and run on the treadmill a lot, thinking back over the story in my mind. This helps me see where some of the problems are, and also helps me fit back into my jeans.

8) I get the manuscript out and polish, revise, and send it off. I worry about it, and then try to get onto the next story! The Lure of the Other is always strong by this point, and I’m eager to start a new book. The next story is still shiny and new, full of hope, unlike the tattered, battered one that has just ended. I head to the bookstore for more research books, and then back to Target…

That guy? In the picture up there? That’s Sisyphus, who Zeus sentenced to roll a rock up a hill for eternity. That’s what writing feels like.

My process is still evolving; I know eventually I will get that damn rock up there without so much sweat and swearing, but right now, it’s a chore.

First, I get an idea of characters, usually in one of the scenes from the book. For the book I’m working on now, Lessons In Love, I thought of two people who would teach each other, but with a little twist: In my story, the heroine is teaching the hero to be more manly (by teaching him fencing), and the hero is teaching the heroine to be more womanly (by teaching her dancing). I thought it would be fun to figure out why my h/h wouldn’t have already had these skills. Next, I get an idea for what they look like. I can’t seem to write about them unless I have a famous person in mind for their general appearance. For this book, my hero looks like Brad Pitt from Fight Club and Jason Lewis of Sex And The City. My heroine, oddly enough, looks like Marina Sirtis who played Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation. No, I don’t know why either.

Then I envision the plot unfolding like a laundry line with scenes hanging off them like your socks pinned up by clothespins. I move from clothespin to clothespin, hoping to connect the dots in a cohesive manner. More often than not, my clothespins don’t make much sense, so I have to trim them.

The most recent way I’ve tried to connect my plot (my biggest weakness, since I have a propensity to throw things in along the way, and forget to pick them up again, resulting in a hodge-podge of action) is to write the scenes out on index cards, then lay them out on a table and make sure each scene HAS to be there. The jury’s still out on that method, but it felt right, so I think that might work. We’ll see.

I write, editing as I go, making sure each scene feels right to me before I move on. I come up with new clothespins along the way, which usually gets me into trouble. I hit the important points of conflict, black moment, blacker moment, and final resolution. Then I shred the whole thing when various people point out it doesn’t make sense (see Lessons In Love, above. Sigh). I love editing; it’s so much easier to move words around and tweak things than it is to write a fresh page. Plus I have no sympathy to my prose if it doesn’t belong in the story. I like yanking it, it always makes the story flow more smoothly.

Like most of us here, I don’t think there’s one “right” way to write; I can’t do anything without knowing certain things about the story, but I can start writing without a clue of what’s going to happen. I write with a candle burning, usually, although sometimes I don’t have it. I always have loads of tea around, and when I am in the middle of writing, one part of my brain is always working on the story, even if I am nowhere near the computer.

Thanks for joining us on our “Writer’s Journey” this week. Amanda finishes up tomorrow, and we’re pleased you’re along for the ride.

Megan
www.meganframpton.com