Rebecca E. Neely's Blog, page 39
December 13, 2014
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December 12, 2014
Messy Is Half the Fun by Rebecca E. Neely
I like messy – during the creative process that is. It’s taken me some time to realize it, more to admit it, and even longer to embrace it, but now that I have, I’m basking in it.Maybe it’s because I’m an accountant turned writer, and the left side of my brain always wants to duke it out for control over my right. All I know, is, having gone through the process of writing a book, selling it, editing it, and polishing it for publication, I think I’m a little wiser.
My first book, A Mighty Good Man, came out last month - a contemporary romance with a punch of suspense. Long before that, I’ve been hard at work on another story – a paranormal romance. I’m rolling up my sleeves and getting my hands dirty, roughing out scenes, writing things out of order, brain storming ideas and characters, and keeping all that free rein chaos under control with the aid of Scrivener.
The result? What I believe to be insight and depth I’d otherwise not have found.
The message? It doesn’t have to be perfect, not the first time, not the second time. Ah! Sweet liberty. Will it be perfect the last time? You betcha. Or as close to as I can make it. But to get there, it has to be not perfect. For now.
Ironically, giving myself over to the creative process, and giving up some control, has actually enabled me to be more organized. Who’d have thunk it?
I think my father would be proud. He was a true artist, gifted in painting, drawing and woodworking. After he passed, I found among his things an artist’s palette with globs of dried up paint, mixed, dabbled, and blended. The color, the textures, the random spatters, its edges dog eared, spoke to me – this was one of his paths to creativity, and in my eyes, a true work in progress.
I’ve since framed that palette. It inspires me, and reminds me when I want to force things into neat rows and columns that my father had a lot of fun on his creative journey. My stories are a work in progress, and dare I say, so is life.
Messy is half the fun!
A MIGHTY GOOD MAN ‘Hank’ Jerry, a down and out writer, and Jack Darcy, a former gang leader, team up to write his story for mutual gain and end up falling for each other.
Only problem is, they’ve both got something to hide that could blow up in their faces, and with time running out and gang enforcers closing in, will the trust they’ve forged survive the ultimate test? Get it on Amazon!
December 5, 2014
Outlining--The Best of Both Worlds
The first book I wrote, and sold (there’s two ‘starter’ books under my bed) I created an outline – sort of. But when I started writing my second book, it threw me for a bit of a loop. It’s a paranormal romance, and my first foray into
world building. Before I knew it, I didn’t know which end was up.
Some sharp advice from my editor and an online search for help led me to K.M.
Weiland’s book, Outlining your Novel-Map Your Way to Success.
I devoured the book in two days, absorbing every detail. Not only is the book
a boon for sage advice and ideas, it helped me realize I was not alone. I
realized I wasn’t the only writer, whose story, sans outline, was, as Weiland
puts it, a “rambling, wandering, bloated mess.”
While working on this story, I’ve taken a step back, perhaps, but I also know
I’ve taken two forward. I’ve no doubt I’ll make more missteps along the way (and
don’t they yield some of the best discoveries?) But I now have a working outline
that I can refer to when I get stuck and I don’t have to spend an hour searching
for something. I work a day job, so it’s faster and easier for me to get back
into my story. And, what seemed at first to be counter intuitive to creativity,
is actually enabling me to be more creative: I can be as sloppy as I
want, within my framework, and still stay on track. I can pants within my plot –
the best of both worlds.
Weiland also includes short interviews with about a dozen authors, asking
them their opinions and methods regarding outlines. Very enlightening!
Perhaps most valuable is the premise that the outline serves you, not the
other way around. The outline is a tool, and it’s flexible. It’s not an
exercise in futility, designed only to resurrect grade school nightmares of
Roman numeral hell.
I’d love to hear from you! Outline or no outline? Are you somewhere in
between? What organizational methods have brought you success?
I’ll leave you with this quote, from Thomas Berger, author of Little
Big Man:
“Beginners sometimes ask me how a novel is written, the answer to which is:
Any way at all. One knows only when it is finished, and then if one is at all
serious, he will never do it the same way again.”
Change, here’s looking at you!
Diners, Introductions and Debuts
Welcome! By way of introduction, I thought I’d share a little bit about myself, by sharing with you some background about the setting in my debut novella, A MIGHTY GOOD MAN—a contemporary romance with a punch of suspense. A lot of the action takes place in a fictional, cool, retro Mom and Pop diner
joint, Mighty Ricky’s, named for its signature sandwich. Okay, I have a thing
for diners—I haunt the one located conveniently within walking distance from
where I live, I love Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, a.k.a. Triple D, on the Food
Network, and anytime I travel, they’re always at the top of my list.
I’ve come by that love honestly.
I grew up in my family’s restaurant business, an actual, cool, Mom and Pop
style diner. Only at the time, it wasn’t yet retro! In true 1970s fashion, it
sported lots of brown and Crayola orange, from the countertops to the paneled
walls, to the vinyl covered booths. Design crimes and all, it’s a place that’s
part of my soul, and though long gone, lives on graciously in my memory, and
now, I’m thrilled to say, in my novella.
What a privilege to grow up in such a place! From the time I was about ten,
my brother and I worked alongside my parents, aunt and uncle, cousins and the
help, making, on a large scale, tantalizing, from scratch fare, such as
spaghetti sauce, (you have to use pork bones), wedding soup, and bread stuffing.
Lots of Saturdays, starting at 7am, we did heavy prep, mixing up ingredients in
Rubbermaid tubs; pounds of butter, ground meat, celery, onions. We cooked in
cast iron and stainless steel cauldrons half my height, stirred with wooden
paddles that could’ve doubled as oars. I learned how to work the grill, make
salads, and turn last night’s chicken special into today’s soup du jour.
And that was just the food.
The people who worked there were larger than life too, and also live on,
fondly, in my memory. Cooks, waitresses, busboys, dishwashers; men, women,
young, old, and in between—they ran the gamut from high school student to
retiree, from vagabond to workhorse. Some came and never left, some worked one
shift and never bothered to return—characters, all of them.
I remember hanging out at the counter with my Dad for hours, while he drank
coffee and talked with customers. I would sit, fascinated, by the adult
conversation, and the things I heard, and shouldn’t have heard. A unique and
well-rounded education was mine for the taking on topics as varied as the
economy, the local steel mill, sports, hunting, the president, politics, family,
and religion. Regulars inhabited the space, claiming it as their own; they made
it a hub in the community, not just as a place to eat great food, but as a place
to connect, to complain, to celebrate, and to come together.
The food, the people, the work, the experience—it was delicious, joyous,
exhilarating, exhausting, crazy, colorful, strange, and maddening, but above
all, unique; so much so, we would often laugh and say we could write a book.
Well, I did.
A MIGHTY GOOD MAN, available now from Soul Mate Publishing
