it’s all about process…

Not someone else’s process, but yours.

This is not another article on how to plot your book or get into your character’s heads.  Those are both important and necessary goals, but how YOU get there may have nothing to do with GMC, extensive character interviews, or breaking down your ideas into scenes and sequels.   During a recent “Chat with Susan Anderson and Caroline Cross,” Caroline made the comment that writing is about learning the process that works for you and taking ownership of it.  Her comment sparked with some thoughts I’d been having lately about the process of writing.

As writer’s we are interested in words and how to convey a certain idea in the best way possible.  This sometimes leads us to putting boxes made up of “how-to” walls around our creative muse.  I remember the first time I heard about the debate between being a plotter or a seat of the pants writer.  I thought I knew which one I was until I wrote my next manuscript.  You see, first I was convinced I was a plotter and then when I deviated from my plot cards by scene three I thought, “I must write by the seat of my pants.”

Recently, I had to accept I am both.  I thought, “Oh my gosh…I’m a schizophrenic writer!  I can’t make up my mind about how to write a book.”  My creative muse was all folded up inside a tight little box.  The walls were made up with some pretty common labels:  Plotters vs. Seat of the Pants Writers, To GMC or not to GMC, Write the Book of Your Heart, Write for the Market.  Powerful concepts, but as with any label, applied with absolutes they are also powerful restrictions to the personal writing process.

When Caroline said that as writers we need to take ownership of our process, it all finally gelled for me.  I have a process and it works very well for my muse.  It’s a three-step process and which step I begin with depends on how much I know about my next story when I’m ready to start and what mood my muse is in.  I’ve finally accepted this is okay.  I don’t have to follow someone else’s pattern to write a good book.  I don’t have to analyze my characters and determine their types in order for them to have depth.

As a person who functions in both my left and right brain depending on my mood (not necessarily my situation), I must accept that my writing is going to follow the same pattern.  How about you?  Are you a plotter or a pantser?  Do you swear by GMC or write blind, going back and starting over when a direction your book has taken doesn’t work?  Or maybe…you’re just a little like me, a bit schizophrenic in your approach to your books and sometimes that makes you feel guilty because you don’t fit under any one label very well.

No matter, how you write, one thing remains true.  The process that works for you is YOUR process.  It’s part of your voice, your uniqueness as a writer and you should not compromise that process to fit with someone else’s label or well-meaning how-to concept.

I’m about ready to start a new book…I wonder which step of my writing process my muse will lead me to first.  It doesn’t really matter, as long as I stay true to myself and the vision in my head for the story.  Because if I do that, I’ll have those special moments of magic telling a story that comes from my heart.

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Writing With Children Around…
or how to get buy in from your family on your dream

When I first started writing I met people who require absolute silence and no interruptions to write.  I thought immediately that if I were like that I’d never write at all.  Not with two children, two cats, various neighborhood children and wonderful, but sometimes demanding husband running around.  Luckily, I grew up in a family of six children, nine cats, two large dogs and various neighborhood children!

Don’t get me wrong.  I need to focus on my writing, but I’ve had to learn to focus fast and furious.  I’ve also developed some techniques for getting my family’s cooperation.  Want to hear them?  They’re nothing special, but they work for me.

Technique #1:  Ignore them.  Now, I know what you’re thinking.  No self-respecting wife and mother would just flat out ignore her family to finish a scene, to get those words just right.  You may be correct.  But, a writer would.   Honestly?  This isn’t a technique I practice on purpose.  It’s a side effect of writing focused.  I’ve said more uh-huhs and nodded my assent to more dangerous projects when writing then my mother did with all six children spanning our entire growing up years.

Technique #2:  Get them on your side.  My children are rather mercenary.  Are all children this way, or just mine?  I don’t know, but it sure works for me.  I offered to pay each of my children when my books publish.  They pray for me every night and remind each other that I can’t publish and pay them if I don’t finish the book.   If offering to pay them doesn’t work, try cause and effect.  "Sure I can get rid of my computer...but to be fair, you'd have to give yours up as well, and the Gameboy, and the Nintendo..."

It’s a little more difficult for the husband.  He knows the truth about the money.  He forked out a lot of it while nothing was coming in.  He can do the math.  So, you’ve got to find other incentives for him to support your writing.  Let him know what a different woman you would be without your writing and I don’t mean having a cleaner house.   This can be a case of show, don’t tell!  There's an woman who takes my place when I don't write.  She's not very nice.  She's cranky and she gets depressed.  Tom and I now have a code.  He asks, “Do you need to write?”  I say, “Yes.”

Technique #3:  Get them involved.  Most recently I invited my children to help me name characters in my book.  After explaining to my son that Pokemon names were not available back in the Regency era we settled on something we could all live with.  When I need kid dialogue, I call one of my children over and ask them for input.  I let them tell me things they think I should write about and I write it down.  Someday, I’ll have a mom addicted to Pokemon in one my books (my son’s happiest fantasy).

Again, your husband knows the game.  He knows when you are going to use what he suggests and when you won’t.  Laughing hysterically at my husband’s idea that my historical hero and heroine have an "Odd Couple" type relationship probably gave him a clue.  I’ve learned since then not to ask for advice on conflict after 11:00 p.m.

Try asking your husband to read your book for accuracy from a male POV.   It worked for me.   My husband likes to read my stories.  Maybe yours would too.  Make him part of the writing process for you.  After he recuperated from the backlash of making changes in my manuscript without my permission, Tom and I developed a great working relationship.   For those of you who are wondering, he was only in traction a few weeks.  He's my first reader for every story and I really value his opinion. 

Writing with small children and marvelous husband around takes persistence, a willingness to write in chaos, and a sense of humor.  Like my mom always said, you’ll either laugh or scream.  I’m choosing to laugh…and write.

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Writing Rocky Road in a Vanilla World

Tell me...do you just love Rocky Road ice cream...or hate it?  I mean, either that combination of marshmallows, nuts, and creamy chocolate makes your mouth water or ... it doesn't.  Maybe you don't like marshmallows in your ice cream.  Or perhaps you are allergic to walnuts.  Or, shockingly, you might *not like chocolate*. 

There are just a lot more people out there that like Vanilla ice cream.  I know this because I used to work for Baskin and Robbins and the flavor we had to replace the most often was plain vanilla.   If you don't believe me, a trip to your local grocery store will illustrate my point.  With the plethora of flavors available, what is the one flavor found in every single brand of ice cream?  Vanilla. 

So, how in the world does this relate to writing you may ask?  Well, it struck me the other day that there are a lot of Vanilla books out there and some Rocky Road as well.  The Vanilla books appeal to a wider range of readers, but does that mean that those written with the improbably mixed textures of Rocky Road are bad? 

I'm hoping not, because you see...I write Rocky Road.  In the vast majority of the contests I've entered with my work, I've gotten consistency judges.  Why?  Because one judge *loves* my Rocky Road and another finds the walnuts incongruous with the story, or the marshmallows are just too soft, or the chocolate seems out of place...you get my drift. 

As I’ve recently just sold to Harlequin Mills & Boon.  It will be several months before I see my books hit the shelves and discover if readers will enjoy my work.   It isn't always easy to write Rocky Road in a world where Vanilla gets more shelf space, but it is necessary. 

I'd hate to go to the grocery store and find they were out of Vanilla ice cream because I love it, but I'd be just as disappointed to show up in the freezer section and find that Vanilla was the only flavor they carried.

I'm going to keep writing Rocky Road because in my heart of hearts I know I just can't leave out the walnuts.  Yes, they're going to irritate some people.  But I'm hoping they touch others in the same way my favorite authors touch me.

Keep writing and if you take risks with the ingredients, don't despair when you get some negative feedback along the way.  That's just the way it goes when you write Rocky Road.

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Agent Safari

I've always wanted to go to Africa , to explore the hot savannah.  To see an elephant in the wild, even if it is only from the air in a small plane that shudders with the slightest wind turbulence.  But, alas, such a trip is a long time away ... if ever.

That’s all right.  I’ve got a much more dangerous one planned...I’m going on an agent safari.  And I’m prepared.  I’ve got my gear on and my machete sharpened. 

I started by slipping into a nice crisp set of camo clothes.  You know the ones that make me blend in with the environment?  (You might know these garments as good grammar in my query letter and manuscript, properly formatted materials and the everneedful SASE.)  Yep.  Got 'em.

I’m sporting the most hi-tech pair of mini-binoculars, made of lightweight but unbreakable titanium with lenses that have the power of a small telescope so I don’t miss the nuances of the land, the first sighting of my prey...umm...agent.  (You’re undoubtedly familiar with this piece of equipment...it’s the email list where we discuss the romance industry and get more current info than ANY book, magazine or newsletter could provide.)

Ah...and that trusty machete that slices through the brush (otherwise known as the slush pile)?  I've sharpened the blade with one recommendation from a friend and another submission to an agent who has shown interest in my work in the past.  I'm hoping the razor edge on my query letter will cut right through that slush, excuse me brush, with the other four agents queried.

Let's see...got my pith helmet on?  Yep.  Low flying rejection projectiles aren't going to knock me down!

Hmm...what about provisions?  While on safari, I will be relying on my secret stash of chocolate by my computer.  So, I'd say provisions are covered.

And the game?  Well, the agents of course.  Six queried today.  I've been following the trail with the tracking tenacity of a Zulu hunter.  I read the sign.  I tasted the wind.  I laid my ear to the ground and I know my prey, I mean agents. <g>

They rep my kind of romance.  They truly *are* open to new authors.  They've got solid reputations in the industry.  And if all goes well on this safari...one of them will come out of the brush and find the bait in my trap irresistible.

Well...I'm off to wait in the bush, hidden in the child-tall grasses of the surrounding Savannah to see if my bait gets any nibbles.

Safari is a lot more fun than just a regular old agent hunt...you ought to try it some time.  But don't forget the pith helmet!

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