Writing, Writer & The Writer's Life

I've done a lot of articles for this blog and offered a lot of links to helpful writing sites. for the new and aspiring as well as the established writer.

Today I think I'm going to kick back and just discuss some of the less 'nuts and bolts' of writing and talk a little about what it's like to be a writer.

Of course there's a lot of writing out there and a lot depends on what kind of writing you do.  I lean to advice for the fiction writer mostly as I am mostly a fiction writer. But, I recently participated in a conversation where one faction was telling a writer that she could consider her writing only a hobby and not to think about trying to make a living from it.  Now, I suspect they were thinking of and talking about writing fiction and I can see the thought process in that direction. However if we don't pursue our dreams, life can seem a dull place.

So, I say, if writing fiction is what you want to do, what you passionately love doing - then go for it.

Will you have to have other jobs to support you along the way?  Probably; almost assuredly.

Will it be hard work?  You better believe it.

Will you have to dedicated part of your precious writing time to promoting the book once it's published?  No doubt about it.

Is it worth it?  That depends on how much you passionately want it.

It is a jungle out there for the fiction writer, no doubt about it. 

However, you can also hone your skills at writing and earn money doing  types of writing in addition to your fiction.  You can prepare yourself for technical writing, journalism, grant writing, writing for newsletters, magazines, online, copywriting and more. If you stop to think, there isn't hardly an area in every day life that doesn't involve writing.

*Who wrote the script for the TV commercial?
*Who wrote the text for the promotional letter you got in today's mail?
*Who wrote the detailed instruction manual that comes with the new item you bought?
*Who wrote the articles for the magazine you read  (and all the hundreds of them you may not read?
*Who wrote the material that got the local college, foundation or non-profit their grant?
*Who came up with the cute text in the greeting card?
*Who writes the many non-fiction books out there?

Well, you get it.  It goes on and on.  I left out writing scripts for movies and TV because those are very tough markets to break into as well though of course if it's your passion, reach for it.

It's never been easy for the fiction writer. 

There are a  handful who do very, very well, who could finance a small country with their earnings.

Then there are many who vary from 'get along' to 'pleasant income' and that's not a bad place to be. 

Then, unfortunately there is a whole pool of 'never make it' who write, maybe publish, maybe even self-publish and promote, but just never get off the ground. Maybe it's not even because they're not talented and skilled, but rather for some reason what they write just doesn't seem to strike a chord. For whatever reason there's no 'lift-off'.

For them, perhaps it does become only a hobby, something they share with friends and relatives. Perhaps they resign themselves to just putting it out there for others to enjoy and not making any money from it.  Unfortunately that last one is a double-edged sword.  I'm not saying you shouldn't do that if that's what you want. But, the more folks who treat their fiction writing as a hobby and put it out there free, the harder it is for writers attempting to make it their profession as it drives down the value of their writing.

And if you become one of the 'rocketing' writers, great, you won't have a whole lot to worry about.

However, if you're in that middle pool there are things you need to consider.

Where are you going to get health insurance? There are some writer's organizations who offer it at reduced rates once you're published and of course there's the possibility of a life-partner who works a 'day job' and carries the insurance for you both. Sadly, even a minor illness can mean bankruptcy in this country. That's where we are.

What if you have a dry spell?  There's no 'unemployment' for a fiction writer who's between books or royalty checks or who just can't get that new idea finished.

Can you put money back against a possible rainy day? For example, what if there's a family emergency and you become a temporary care-giver and can't write at all for six months or a year?

And what about vacations? Can you take time out of your writing to just relax? When you're a freelance writer, not writing means a gap of no pay.  You're self-employed so you need to plan for these things.

But what most self employed people who run a business such as a small store or service provided don't have to think about is the freelance writer is dependent entirely upon his or her own brain and ideas to make a living.

If there is discord in life, if there is tragedy or just a bump in the road, the average self-employed person with that small shop can still show up and go through the motions, selling things or whatever is needed.  It's a show up, do work kind of thing and while it may take some creativity, in most situations there's a bit of 'float' time before a crash might be imminent.

As a freelance writer, a disaster could well be more wide-spread in the ripples it causes as the writer's brain could well go into melt-down dealing with a huge emotional wrench. That means no writing and no writing means no income - maybe further down the line, but it will be felt.

A lot of the reasons above are why many writers keep day jobs, whether part or full time, long after they publish and sometimes for the life of their writing careers. It's something to consider.

Of course a lot of the above can be off-set by that gushing fan letter the writer receives or the really nice royalty check that shows up at the end of a reporting period.

There's a lot to think about in being a freelance writer of any type. Or, sometimes, nothing to think about because it's your passion and you're determined to write and work out the details as you go along.

 

Did I give you something to think about?  I hope so. Feel free to post your thoughts below. 

3 Writing Rules to Fracture Considerably

For writers these days there are so many rules and ideas, how-tos and do-nots coming at them that they forget they're there to just write.

So I think it's time to ponder a couple of the biggies. 

The first is "Show, don't tell".  Really?  Do you always 'show' everyone everything or do you tell as well? I mean in the real world, who gets up from a grog-inducing night's sleep, looks at him or herself in the mirror and does a critique of him or herself noting scars and other physical traits in the mirror? Okay, maybe, sometimes, something could catch your attention when gazing in the mirror other than the toothbrush in your hand, the fact that you got your mascara on a bit thick, or that cold sore coming up on your lip.

But SHOW, always, simply isn't real. And, because it isn't really real the writer ends up manufacturing an entirely artificial series of 'facts', 'woven' into the story. There's nothing wrong with ignoring the 'rule' of "Show, Don't Tell," and simply stating your character is five and a half feet tall with a killer scar over his right eyebrow. Really, it’s okay.

I mean, come on, have you been asked to show someone a story or is it that we, as writers, are asked to tell our readers a story? If you read too many rules and attempt to follow them all you can lose your readers not to mention making yourself a little nuts, tying yourself in knots, trying to figure out how to follow all those rules.

Those folks out there thirsting for a great story don't care about show or tell.  They just want a great read from an excellent writer and that means they need something that catches them by the eyeballs and won't let go. That means you need to combine showing and telling, hone your writing until it's crisp and engaging.

Yes, you must produce good writing despite all the rules.

Yes, there are many times when you, the writer, 'show' the action or exchange between characters. And yes, you want to avoid long explanatory narratives. That's where crisp and engaging comes in. It's your responsibility as writer to know when to use which and to do it with clarity and in such a way that it draws the reader into the story.

There’s another favorite no-no that many writers have thrown at them from a variety of sources and that is “don’t start your story with the weather”.  Really?  I mean never? What if it’s central to the story? What if it sets the mood you’re looking for?

If the weather is what your book needs to begin with, then begin writing with the weather. Geez. I mean author Alistair MacLean did it all the time. Just because Snoopy, the star of Peanuts, began all his novels with “it was a dark and stormy night” doesn’t mean it’s always a joke. In fact it doesn’t mean anything at all. Be a good writer. Do what’s good for your story and don’t be afraid of it.

All right here’s another. How about Suspense is always created by this, that, or another, in a story. Meaning you can pinpoint exactly what will cause suspense and one rule is that you can’t have suspense without creating sympathetic characters. More and more writers are taking chances and breaking this rule. Think about it. You’ve probably read something recently in which there is no sympathetic character to be found in the entire book. You can pinpoint bad guys, and worse guys. Which one of those to you want to sympathize with? What can create suspense is the asking of a question and the artful way the writer makes people wait for the answer. We humans want answers. We always want answers. So, you better have that answer, but meanwhile your reader sticks around, reading, because he or she is fascinated, digging for that answer. It seems like we’re all hard-wired for that answer seeking.

These are just a few of the rules that need to be brought into question. Basically I write with a general idea of where I’m going and a lot of ongoing notes as I progress, but I pretty much don’t know the answer to my question at the beginning and go forward scene by scene throwing in complications as I go. 

I can’t help it. I like to be surprised by the ending too.

So, in conclusion? Read about the ‘rules’, know about the ‘rules’, but don’t let them corner your writing. Take chances and explore.

The Writer's Life - What to Do With Horrible Reviews

Somewhere out there somebody hates you - not just your writing, but it's personal - you.

At least that's the way it comes across.

After you put your heart and soul and lots of work into writing a book, gotten it published either by a major or minor house or self published, the worst (as you see it) has happened. Your writing received a truly horrible review. One so horrible and vicious that it feels very personal and it really, really hurts.

One so bad that to take the sting out you want to retaliate.

My advice? Don't.

The fact a writer (or an actor or any public figure for that matter) must face is that someday, somebody, somewhere is going to think your work is the absolute worse.

Sorry, it's going to happen. And that person, delightful soul that he or she is, is going to say it very loudly and very publicly -- you're a bad writer, your writing stinks, you, as a writer stink..

Look, I have my suspicions that pretty much every writer that was ever born has a deep dark secret - that his or her writing really isn't any good. In fact, that his or her writing is really, really bad, just as accused.

So, don't read the reviews.

Really, don't.

Well, you could make an exception for a 4 or 5 star review if you really need a little something to pump you up. But do not, I repeat, do not read the other reviews.

One nasty review can have you fuming for a day or longer or even paralyze you to the point of not writing. That bad review of your writing can have a strong impact. It can cause you to change yourself just because you read it. To please one single slimeball having a bad life, who went out of their way to trash you and your writing you might change yourself.  If you do you're an idiot.

Sorry, blunt, but well, you are.

Look, you've chosen to be a writer.  You've chosen to take risks. It would be nice if life were all lollipops and roses and people were nice to each other all the time, but unfortunately that isn't the truth. There are the jerks mentioned above and there are also the run of the mill 'reviewers' who may not be out to get you (or, well, they might) and give what is in their opinion an 'honest review' that just happens to shred your work. Don't read those; simply not worth the angst.

The risk you take being a writer exposes you and you can take a hit.

Too bad.

Get over it.

Move on. 

Don't read any more.

Think about your fans, the people who really, really like your writing. Those are the people you need to please, to encourage to come back and read again. Those are the ones you write to, not the big negative.

The hits are out there, they're going to happen. If you can't handle them perhaps you need to chose another direction for your writing career. You could do commercial writing or newsletters or grants and not risk 'bad reviews' or 'poison emails'.

So you can avoid reading the reviews of your writing, but what about the one who really makes it personal and sends you that nasty Email that trashes everything you've ever written?

You don't have to read that either. When you get spam in your in box you know it after a few words, right? Same applies here. When you recognize an attach on you and your writing, don't read it. You might want to make a folder to keep these tucked away so you have an email address to back track just in case (that's another whole ball of wax and another article for another day). Call it something like "jerks", "idiots" or whatever suits your fancy and chuck it into that folder as soon as you know you  have a bad one. It's their problem not yours. Think of them spewing on each other in the tight confines of that little folder and not on you and what you write. Don't read it, and really (I mean really) don't answer it. You  might put a block on that particular address as well.

So what's the message here?  Protect the fire in your gut that drives you to write, improve your writing always - with your actual fans in mind - and avoid the negative; it has power to harm you only if  you let it.

Face it. As a writer you are dependent on yourself. Not everyone will like everything you write. Enjoy about half the wonderful things people say about you and what you've written (I say half because they're not always right either!) and dump the negative altogether.

New Book For Writers - Out Of Thin Air Updated and Revised

It's big news - after weeks of work, revising text, adding great new web links of free stuff for writers and other sites of interest and help for writers I've launched a new version of Out Of Thin Air. Come checkout the Kindle edition!