Wednesday, March 29, 2006 Ten Things I've Learned About Writing This originally appeared in my personal blog, but response was so strong to it that I thought I'd post it over here as well. It's not so much about craft, technique or business, as it is about psychology and philosophy. But then, again, do you really need the eleventy-millionth person to tell you a bad agent is worse than no agent at all? Ten Things I've Learned About Writing 1. You can't wait for your muse. Your muse will peek in on you, notice you're doing laundry/re-ordering your spice drawer/vacuuming the cat and decide not to bother you. You have to plant yourself in the chair (or the shower, or the cafe, or wherever you normally do your planning) and summon her. 2. A good idea isn't good enough. Ideas are a dime a dozen. You have to put the effort in to turn the idea into a story, which can only happen by writing. 3. Your idea probably isn't as good as you think it is. Generally, your first instinct will be for something that's exactly like something else you read/saw/wrote. The human brain is designed for pattern recognition. Give it the first few hints -- dark, menacing aristocratic hero; heroine of good family fallen on hard times needing to make a marriage -- and the brain is going, "I know this one!" and trotting out the plot to a Jane Austen novel or a '70s gothic. 4. Sometimes, your idea is as good as you think it is. This is usually when you've matched patterns with underlying mythic structures, like Hades and Persephone or Beauty and the Beast, but the covering is new and different. So you resonate with the older story, but you tell a new story. Learn to recognize when this is the case, and then don't mess with it. 5. Story creation is a higher-order brain function. If you're tired, sick, or in pain, it's not going to happen. (At least, it doesn't happen for me -- YMMV.) You can edit, revise, or promote existing work, but you can't create, not until you're well again. So if you want to be a writer, you're obligated to get enough sleep, eat nutritious meals, and otherwise do all the health-maintenance stuff required to keep your brain performing. 6. Sometimes, you have to write anyway. If you can prop up enough of those previously mentioned pattern recognition bits, you can cobble together a story from what you already know, and then revise the heck out of it, rather than create it from scratch. But it takes about twice as long, and is three times as hard. The important thing is to get the job done. 7. Know what motivates you as a writer. Are you motivated by the shiny joys of starting a story and creating a world, or the sigh of relief when you can finally type "The End"? Do you want to do in-depth character analysis, lush and evocative worldbuilding, or intricate and complex plotting? Find the genre and format that fits what you want out of writing, and start there. 8. Play to your strengths, and learn to compensate for your weaknesses. It's been said that there are five skills that the perfect writer masters, and to be a success, you only need to perfect one and not completely stink at the other four. Of course, what those skills are, and what it takes to perfect them, are another discourse entirely. *grin* But get great at what you're good at, and get good at what you're bad at, and you'll do okay. 9. Read. A lot. In all different genres, as well as the one(s) you're writing in, and even some non-fiction. Remember what I said about pattern recognition? Well, this feeds your brain with all sorts of new and interesting patterns, and keeps you from becoming stale and derivative. Plus, you know, it's reading. And if you didn't like to read, why the heck did you want to become a writer? 10. Make friends with other writers. They're the only ones who are going to understand what you do and why you do it. If you don't want to spend your entire life being lonely and misunderstood, you need likeminded people to talk to, even if it's only electronically.  
Friday, March 03, 2006 As I finished the article, I realized the combined list of examples didn't leave many "acceptable" words or phrases for a writer to use. We can only employ the words cock, pussy, and the like so many times before they lose their effectiveness or turn into porn. I've read books where those words were copiously overused and I started rolling my eyes before I was halfway through the story. I'm reminded of the adolescent who just discovered dirty talk and every other word is a vulgar variant. Done for shock value, it quickly becomes tedious at best, redundant at worst. In my opinion, redundancy should be a writer's greatest fear, not the color of her prose. Shifting shades of lilac and lavender, orchid and plum would serve better than the dull repetition of certain words. The English language is rich with an abundance of descriptive words from its own Anglo-Saxon roots as well as the many, many languages from which it has borrowed. A writer shouldn't feel limited to use only a few choice words because it's the latest fad in writing romance. Explore the language and give them all a try. Even a cliché can sound fresh from a clever writer's pen or keyboard. I've seen erotic romance writers sneer at the mere mention of any and all euphemisms and disparage those writers who do use them. Just a reminder that cock and pussy are euphemisms, too! Lani Aames http://www.laniaames.com
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