Jan Christensen's Blog, page 9

F-BOMBS AND EROTICA AND WHY I DON’T GO THERE

Here’s the first scenario:

You’re writing about a crusty old codger who swears like a sailor. You mentioned this, but you don’t actually show him doing it. And in one place, you know he’d probably use an f-bomb, but you leave it out.

What do you think reader reaction will be? Here are two I can think of, one probable, the other improbable:

Well, f**k, he should have used the word f**k right there. It would be authentic. It would be the way this guy would speak. I’m throwing this book across the room and never reading anything else by this author.
Reader doesn’t even notice, or if it dawns on her/him, she/he shrugs and keeps on reading.

Which do you think is more likely?

Next you’ve come up with a really hot sex scene, and you put it in, then have second thoughts and delete it, just doing what the old romantic movies did, closing the door behind the lovers and leaving it to the imagination. Reader reaction might be:

 Well, s**t, I wanted a sex scene here. I want every detail. What are these two characters really doing behind that door? I’m throwing this book across the room and never reading anything else by this author.
Reader thinks about what those two might be doing behind those doors for a while, then goes back to reading your book.
Reader is so interested in what’s going to happen next in the story, he/she quickly turns the page and keeps reading.
 Reader sighs with relief. She either doesn’t like to read sex scenes or is so bored by them that she skips over them. She thinks it’s like describing a person eating a meal, bite by bite. She continues reading happily.

Again, which do you think is more likely? If the story is compelling enough, and I hope it is, I doubt very many, if any, readers would stop reading if there was not a “bad” word or a sex scene where they might expect one.

But, even if the story is compelling, you risk losing readers if there are explicit sex scenes and “bad” language.

Which would you rather have happen? I leave it to you.

That said, there is a big market for erotica. If that’s your bag and you write it, I think that’s fine. I’ll even read it if it’s good enough. But I think writers are taking a big chance if they throw it into a book that is not marketed as erotica. Noir and hardboiled might also get a pass with very “bad” language. But, believe me, it’s not even necessary then. Not many of  the classic noir and hardboiled stories had either. And I’ve written some noir (published) that didn’t have any. So, it can be done.

Many thanks to Anne R. Allen’s blog post for getting me to think about this and expand on what she wrote:

http://annerallen.blogspot.com/2013/11/sex-sells-right-maybe-not-why-you-might.html

THE IMPORTANCE OF TO-DO LISTS

The importance of to-do lists cannot be over-stated. Almost everyone who uses them gets more done than those who don’t. Sure, a few people can keep everything in their heads without a problem. Most of us need some help remembering, especially lists.  Studies have shown that people who are disorganized are anxious. Making a list of to-dos, and using a planner, calendar or spreadsheet for expenses can help calm the anxiety.

However, be very careful with that to-do list. Here are several ideas I’ve come across during my study of this subject:

Go ahead, make the list. Then choose either the three or up to six most important things on it. Write them down on another list, and put away your longer one. Concentrate on getting those three to six things done before tackling anything else. This does not work for long-term projects, however. Most people cannot write a whole novel using this idea.

In that case, break your six larger projects down into smaller chunks. For the novel, your to-do list says to work for a certain about of time or word count every day. Then you go on to the next item.

If the next item of importance can be finished, after doing your hour or so on the broken-down project, finish item two.

Maybe item three or four is also a project that will need to be spread out over several days. Again, plan to devote a certain amount of time to it, then get to the other things.

Another way to do a list is to break down your life into sections: Family, work, health, finances/family business, spirituality, leisure. Or pick your life priorities, and put them in order of importance. Then plan to devote a certain amount of time every day to each one. In this case, you’ll probably have to again break down your work priorities into order of importance and amount of time to spend on each every day during working hours. Notice the coincidence of my listing six life priorities. The other day I read about picking three things from your to-do list every day to concentrate one. Today, I read about picking six items. I’ve seen the other idea of life priorities over the years.

I’m thinking for work, you might want to have three major project priorities, and three smaller ones that can be done quickly.

I suggest fooling with your to-do list or lists (could be one for work and one for personal) until you find a system that makes you the least anxious and least likely to procrastinate.

That will end up being your own, personal system.Then, you can do the happy dance.[image error]

WRITING DESCRIPTIONS

I admit, I don’t enjoy writing descriptions, and I don’t think I do them well. So I made it a mission to find out all I could about it. It’s hard when you’re not a visual person. I remember more things by hearing about them (conversations, lectures) than I do about seeing/reading about them. So, it’s difficult to translate what I should be seeing, but often am not, into descriptions that will allow others to “see” what I’m trying to describe. Ironically, most of what I’ve learned about doing descriptions is by reading(!) descriptions, not actually paying much attention to things I see.

But description can create a sense of immediacy, a feeling in the reader that she is right there inside the story. One thing I learned just a couple of years ago was to describe things through your character’s eyes. This makes a whole lot of sense. One character will be like me—won’t notice the décor or what people are wearing. Another character will notice every single detail. So, whatever your strengths or weaknesses, you can put them into your characters, and have your readers nodding their heads. They are either themselves like those characters or know people who are.

So, besides that one terrific tip, here are a few more:

Use details that are interesting, even entertaining. “Evan bumbled across the living room, knocking over the Venus statue and breaking a leg—Venus’s leg, that is. Poor Venus.” Here we get two descriptive clues in one sentence. Evan is clumsy, and the living room is probably rather formal.

Use description to show characterization. “Stephanie watched Evan bumble across the living room and knock over the Venus statue. She slapped her hand across her mouth to prevent the giggles from erupting when the statue’s leg hit Mrs. Jamison in her formidable bosom.” Here we learn four descriptive clues in just two sentences. Evan is clumsy, Stephanie is easily amused, the room is formal, and Mrs. Jamison is probably a large woman.

Most of the points you use should come into the story later. In other words, Evan’s clumsiness could play a crucial role later on, as could poor Venus, Stephanie’s propensity to giggle at the wrong time, and Mrs. Jamison’s bosom. Well, maybe not. If the description is compelling enough, it can stand on its own.

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I searched on the Creative Commons clip art section for “describe” and this popped up. The creator put in the description: “how to describe – it’s a fish maybe?!” Now I’m trying to think about how I would describe this to someone who has never seen a fish before, or to someone who has seen a fish, but never seen a fish like this before.

I try to aim for no more than three sentences of description in one place. It’s better to intersperse them as you write about other things. I saw a tip about writing down all the things you can think of about the character, setting or item, then pick the three most interesting to mention.

I’ve also seen it suggested that you not use more than three senses to describe anything. It will overload the reader’s senses and probably distract from the story. Unless you’re going for comedy.

Use description to heighten tension. Intersperse dialogue with descriptions of reactions of the people present. This is especially effective at the end of a story.

To wrap it up: Try to appeal to both the emotions and to the senses. Put down what people are feeling and what they’re thinking.  When you decide it’s necessary, show two or three things they are seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling.

Bonus tips:

A member of the Short Mystery Fiction Society mentioned that reading travel books was a good way to learn how to describe places.

Following on that, I’ve also read that studying famous plays or screenplays can teach us how to write better dialogue.

Any tips you have I’ve missed? I’d love to read them in the comments because I can use all the help I can get.

HOW NOT TO MAKE YOUR LIFE HARDER

Just some random thoughts about things we do that waste our time and energy.

Never move. It takes at least six months to get resettled, I learned from our many moves. Oh, well, if the reason is good enough, go ahead, but you’ve been warned.
Never, ever change your email address. Remember moving taking so long? Part of that is getting everyone on board with your new physical address. When you change your email addy, all hell breaks loose, and it will take you at least six months to recover. See a pattern here?
Never buy stuff you don’t need or love. ’Nuff said.
The more children, pets, or spouses you add to your life, the more complicated it will become. Just sayin’.
The more activities you decide to be in, the less time you’ll have for other activities. Sit down with yourself and have a good conversation about how many things you’ll take on outside of your family and work life. This includes volunteering, exercising, and activities like bring-your-own-wine to a painting class or bowling.
Have a place for everything, and put things in their places when you’re finished using them. Your future self will thank you, and maybe even some family members. Time wasted looking for things can never be regained.
Social media can be a huge time suck. Be picky. Both about how many social media you get involved in and how much time you spend on them. Do not allow yourself to be interrupted when working by phone calls, text messages, or the lure of Facebook or Twitter. Especially when driving! You’re smarter than that.
Plan one or two days a week to do errands and shop. Make lists, be systematic in your route, and stay off the phone until you get home again. Your nerves will thank you.

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Source: http://abt.cm/1cgkfm5\

What have I missed. I know it’s something or some things. Please let me know in the comments!

 

NaNoWriMo

What is NaNoWriMo, besides hard to key into your computer? Each year, for the last fourteen years, thousands of people pledged to write a novel—50,000 words, at least—in the month of November, which is National Novel Writing Month.

Here’s what the site has to say about the whole thing:

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 p.m. on November 30. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel.

It’s a pretty simple premise. Just write 1,667 words per day, each day, for a month. At the end of the month, you’ll have a novel, or something approximately like one.

NaNoWriMo is also a (totally optional) fundraiser for the purpose of promoting writing around the world.

Sound like fun? I’ve never participated, but I’m considering it for next year (other, more urgent stuff to do this November). Even if participants don’t get 50,000 words by the end of November, they will all probably have a lot more written than they usually would.

I see several other advantages, especially for people who have writer’s block a lot. This forces you to sit down every day (or you’ll get way behind really quick) and write. Something; anything. You might try outlining for the first time to see if it helps you write a book faster. You join a community of people who are urging each other on. There will be famous authors giving pep talks, and coaches on Twitter. Check out the website for more info:

http://nanowrimo.org/ [image error]

 Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month

Who’s in? Let me know in the comments if you are, and if so why you’re doing it. And if you’re not, why not?

CREATIVITY AND TIME MANAGEMENT

Not many people have an old-fashioned wife anymore. I’m talking about the one who managed the household without any help from a spouse and who was also totally supportive of that spouse’s work, to the determent, often, of her own creativity and desires.

Not only that, but the world of communication has gone crazy. We are plugged in to everyone and everything. If we allow it, there are constant interruptions from phones, email, regular mail, other people, pets, and the lure of electronic entertainment on televisions and computers/tablets.

So the creative person has to struggle to manage it all. Without a plan, and without some basic organizational skills, we will either go nuts or just never finish anything we’ve started. Or at least it will take us twice as long and be twice as stressful as it has to be.

The basic life plan for a creative is to find the best time of day for work and make it sacrosanct. That means no interruptions from anything, unless there’s “fire or blood.” (I don’t know who said that first, but I love it.)

This means the creative is in a room with the door shut and without access to phone, email, the internet or any other potential interruptions because they are either turned off or the person has enormous willpower when in the zone.

The creative has to have a regular life, of course, both for mental health and to feed the creative mind. It won’t produce in a vacuum. Therefore, it’s also best to figure out just how much time can be devoted each day to creative endeavors, and unless there’s fire or blood, do so.

To further this goal, the creative also should set up systems so that tools are at hand and no time is lost in setting up. Best to clear everything up at the end of the session to be ready for the next day.

So, set a minimum amount of time at a certain time of day and have a place where you won’t be interrupted. When done for the day, do everything needed to get a good start the next day. For example, if you’re a writer, do a quick spell check, back up your work, write a few notes about what you did that day and/or want to do the next, put in a little research. A painter, it should go without saying, needs to clean brushes, take care of the medium she’s using, etc. A crafter should put tools and supplies away for easy access the next day, and clean up any mess. And so on.

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Put away that knife!

I know some people say they can live in chaos and create. They are probably in the genius class. Since most of us (me included) are not, it helps tremendously to be organized. Actually, even the genius would probably benefit, as well.

Do you have a set time of day and a place where you do your creative work? If you do, please share in the comments.

IN THE BEGINNING

Starting a new story can be exciting, exhilarating, scary, and daunting. And there’s all kinds of advice out there about doing it. But my advice is to never, ever worry about where you start, especially if you’re a beginning writer. Just get the engine going and write! When you edit, you may find you haven’t started in the best place, that it may be further into the story or earlier.  That’s when you consider these points about where the finished piece will start.

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It’s usually much better to start with more than one character, instead of one character musing, thinking, especially in bed. Unless you can show the character’s mood instead of telling the reader about it. In other words, the single character has to do something physical–throw something, for example. Or be attacked by someone or something in that bed.

Some famous writers have started a great story or novel with the weather. They’re usually men, who love to discuss the weather ad nauseam, I’ve noticed. I wouldn’t recommend this, especially in today’s world. Unless it’s clear to the reader that the weather plays a huge part in the story. Even then, I’d be more inclined to write about the main character instead.

Another ho-hum way to start is with a description of something. Anything. Person, place or thing. There’s no reference yet. The best descriptions are usually done from your characters’ points of view. Therefore, you need to introduce the character, then tell us what he or she is thinking about when looking at what you want to describe.

Background is often necessary, but it’s a lot more interesting when seeded into the story as it unfolds instead of thrown in a big lump at the reader. This is frequently called an “info dump” by critiquers. Pretty descriptive.

If I were a beginning writer, I would avoid any story that needs a prologue. Personally, I’m fine with prologues, and sometimes use them. But many agents and editors hate them. The agents and editors also often claim that readers hate them, too. I think this might be because editors and agents have seen a lot of very bad prologues. But by the time actual readers read a book, if there is a prologue, it’s been polished and most readers will like it and not object. All that said, avoid them if you can. Again, it’s usually best to take bits and pieces from the prologue and stick them into the on-going story.

As for how to start instead of how not to, here’s a good article from Writer’s Digest about that, including some great and famous first lines:

http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/famous-first-lines-learn-how-to-start-a-novel

PAPER COMMAND CENTER

One idea for corralling paper clutter is a “paper command center.” Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? After I first saw the phrase, I decided to research it. Apparently most who talk about it mean a set of files on the work surface where you handle household paperwork. Maybe five or six files—one for each family member, one labeled “to file,” one for bills, one for medical and whatever else the person using the command center finds useful.

This means you have two sets of files: This small one near where you work, and another one, probably with the same labels, somewhere else.[image error]

This makes no sense to me. I would never have more than two pieces of paper, if that, in each file folder in this command center.

Here’s why. When I get the mail, I throw out the junk, start a pile for filing, and either handle right away what’s come in or put it in my inbox for later. I infrequently have more than two or three pieces of paper in my inbox. Before leaving my desk, I file the  daily mail that needs filing and check the inbox and handle anything there, and I’m done. This rarely, rarely takes me more than about twenty minutes (usually a lot less) after dinner.

Okay, I admit, I don’t get bills in the mail. Ours are all paid automatically, except for one credit card, and that’s because I pay it off every month, so using automatic bill pay wouldn’t work. But if I had bills, they would either be paid right away, or put in the in-box and paid once a week or twice a month, or monthly. I might make a file folder for them to put in my inbox, but I wouldn’t have a file folder for anything else in there.

I have a small envelop-sized filer for receipts—they’re filed by month.

When I come home from the doctor’s office, shopping, or whatever and have some paperwork in my purse, I simply file it away during my evening stint at the desk.

I don’t have children’s stuff from school to contend with anymore, but if I did, I’d go through what they bring home each day, either file it, put it on the fridge (art work), or handle any forms that need filling out and stick them right back in the backpack. Or make a note on a calendar or planner if it’s about an upcoming event. This could also wait for after dinner and shouldn’t add more than five or ten minutes to the whole enterprise.

Before you have two of anything, ask yourself, will it save me time? In this case, in my opinion, it won’t.

BLACKOUT

Who is she? Battered and bruised, she first becomes aware of her total loss of memory while walking on a dark, lonely road. Before she arrives in an unfamiliar town called Valleyview, she makes up a name–Alice Strong–and claims she’s eighteen. Her injuries heal and she accepts a job at the local nursing home. During her first day of work, a patient passes away, posed as if ready for burial. Alice can’t understand why the death of an old woman she doesn’t know hits her so hard. When a second resident dies in the same position, the director of nurses, Betty Cranston, is positive residents are being murdered. She fears for her paralyzed mother. And she suspects Alice.

Alice must remember her past to help prove her innocence. When she remembers this wasn’t her first blackout, dread holds her back because what she does recall might all disappear a third time. Can she piece her puzzle together before the killer strikes again? Should she even try?

WRITER’S BLOCK, WAYS TO DEAL

Writer’s block, the bane of a writer’s life. The only way to overcome it is to just write something down. Don’t think about whether it’s good or bad, wonderful or horrible, just write it. You can fix it later, but don’t even think about that now.

You can’t edit what you haven’t written. You do have thoughts in your head. They maybe buried deep, but they’re there. Let them out.

First a don’t, then a lot of dos:

Don’t self-censor when writing the first draft. At this point you don’t know what’s good or bad, and you also don’t know exactly where the story will take you and what your characters are going to do, even if you are a plotter. Just go with it.
Do lower your standards. You don’t have to find the perfect word right now—you can do that when you edit. Get the thought down. First drafts have no standards. Anything goes.
Do keep a notebook handy when you’re writing, and if you think of something that needs to go in later or earlier, just jot it done quickly, and continue on with what you were doing. You can go back during your next session and put those things in. Or you can refer to it later to jog your memory about something you thought would be good later on.
Do start anywhere in the narrative, wherever the mood strikes. You can put it in the right spot later on. You can use a program like Scrivener to help you.
Do ask yourself what could happen next. List at least five things. Pick the strangest/funniest/most unexpected.
Do ask yourself what-if. What-if the main character did such and such? What if so-and-so arrived unexpectedly. What if a bomb went off?
If all else fails, ask for help from a writing buddy or someone else you know who often has good ideas.

Here are some famous writers who had writer’s block: Leo Tolstoy, Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield, Joseph Conrad, and Ernest Hemingway.

Anyone have other ideas that have helped you out of a writer’s block?