You ever have this happen? You're writing along, minding your own business. You get plot ideas that you work into the story, they fit great, maybe you tweak and then you set the thing aside for a day or two. You pick up the newspaper, you tune in to the tube, you read headlines on the internet. And there's your plot idea. No, several of them. How rude is that?
In my Work in Progress, I have a story about a guy in Los Angeles, California (by the name of Neal) getting out of a gang and becoming involved with musicians. This story has been in my head since at least the early 1980s. In January 2010, I hear about a former gangbanger in L.A. who is organizing bus tours of some of the roughest neighborhoods in order to show people that those areas are actually vibrant with life. Several months ago, I wrote a scene where Neal hauls the fictional mayor of L.A. into the barrios to show him pretty much the same thing. At that point in the story, Neal is already working with a charitable foundation aimed toward helping street people. In order to raise money for their various efforts, he has to bring sponsors into the streets to show them the potential the neighborhoods have.
Okay, Universe, I thought of it first. Get your own ideas.
Keep in mind, Neal is friends with a rock band. Their drummer, Sandy, co-founded the charity with Neal. In February 2010 I read that Jon Bon Jovi is visiting homeless shelters during his current tour because that's his social issue. Okay, now, hold it. I thought of that first too, back in the '80s when Jon was still struggling to keep the band together and didn't have time for a social conscience.
My band's keyboardist is Lennie Barrett, who drives a Maserati. Last week I stumbled across the name of a Maserati dealer in Texas: Barrett Motors.
One of these things at a time would be a little annoying, but really, I think I'm being abused. How can you fight the Universe?
Coming soon: observations triggered by reading "Self-editing for Fiction Writers" by Renni Browne and Dave King.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Research that doubles as hope
Wild Thing, by Ian Copeland
Simon & Schuster, 1995
Ever wonder what it would be like to have a spy in the family? Somebody who really travels around the world, cutting back-room deals with power brokers in Third World countries, helping topple regimes and setting up others, helping set up something like the CIA? Wouldn’t it be awesome to live like Bond?
Ian would tell you there are good and bad points to a life like that. His dad really was a spy. His dad really did help organize the CIA. Ian eventually became a top booking agent for bands like The Police (founded by his brother Stewart), but getting up there was hard, hard work. The book started out as just a research read for me, but I realized that it’s also very inspirational.
The book is described on the cover as “the backstage, on the road, in the studio, off the charts memoirs of Ian Copeland”. You wonder when you see a title like “Wild Thing” how much of an exaggeration it is, just to get your attention. This is no exaggeration. In the first couple of chapters, I completely forgot to pay attention to how he wrote.
There is so much crammed into this book I don’t even know how to hit the highlights, in a blog. Crossing country after country on a half-dead motorcycle with no money and one good friend! When Communism was still alive and well, this was taking your life in your hands.
I had a hard time taking Ian seriously at first. He says that his mother, before she married Ian’s dad, worked for British intelligence during World War II specializing in blowing up bridges so the Germans would be disrupted. She eventually became a highly respected archaeologist. She got so caught up in it that she maybe paid less attention to Ian and his siblings than was good for them. With his dad often away from home - which could be in Damascus, Cairo, Beirut or London - for months at a time, Ian, Miles and Stewart found creative, sometimes destructive, ways to occupy their time. Their sister seems to have stayed out of the family histrionics.
What started to make me like Ian was his admitting that sometimes, he just hated being told what to do by his father. Not having the slightest idea what to do with his life, at eighteen Ian joined the U.S. army, got sent to Vietnam and made sergeant by nineteen. That only impressed his father temporarily, because after his discharge, he couldn’t find work in London or America. Ian spent enough time in both places to be considered a Yank in Britain and a Brit in America. As you might expect, that seemed to have helped in some ways and hurt in others.
Ian talks about being tossed out of tube stations in the London area for vagrancy, not finding anything to eat, not having one cent in his pockets, and sometimes really being in a deep funk. His roller coaster of a life occasionally sat for a while at the top of a hill then caromed straight down and crashed, but somehow, sooner or later, he'd crawl back up.
I’ve never had to sleep on benches and I haven’t wondered how the hell I was going to find food. Sometimes opportunity found Ian, rather than the other way round, but a lot of his success was made or kept by sheer determination. For somebody with only a part-time job, no publishing credits and no "ins" in publishing, I have a long, hard road ahead if I want to make it there. But as Ian says, perseverance is everything. :) I see now what it means to "make your own luck."
Simon & Schuster, 1995
Ever wonder what it would be like to have a spy in the family? Somebody who really travels around the world, cutting back-room deals with power brokers in Third World countries, helping topple regimes and setting up others, helping set up something like the CIA? Wouldn’t it be awesome to live like Bond?
Ian would tell you there are good and bad points to a life like that. His dad really was a spy. His dad really did help organize the CIA. Ian eventually became a top booking agent for bands like The Police (founded by his brother Stewart), but getting up there was hard, hard work. The book started out as just a research read for me, but I realized that it’s also very inspirational.
The book is described on the cover as “the backstage, on the road, in the studio, off the charts memoirs of Ian Copeland”. You wonder when you see a title like “Wild Thing” how much of an exaggeration it is, just to get your attention. This is no exaggeration. In the first couple of chapters, I completely forgot to pay attention to how he wrote.
There is so much crammed into this book I don’t even know how to hit the highlights, in a blog. Crossing country after country on a half-dead motorcycle with no money and one good friend! When Communism was still alive and well, this was taking your life in your hands.
I had a hard time taking Ian seriously at first. He says that his mother, before she married Ian’s dad, worked for British intelligence during World War II specializing in blowing up bridges so the Germans would be disrupted. She eventually became a highly respected archaeologist. She got so caught up in it that she maybe paid less attention to Ian and his siblings than was good for them. With his dad often away from home - which could be in Damascus, Cairo, Beirut or London - for months at a time, Ian, Miles and Stewart found creative, sometimes destructive, ways to occupy their time. Their sister seems to have stayed out of the family histrionics.
What started to make me like Ian was his admitting that sometimes, he just hated being told what to do by his father. Not having the slightest idea what to do with his life, at eighteen Ian joined the U.S. army, got sent to Vietnam and made sergeant by nineteen. That only impressed his father temporarily, because after his discharge, he couldn’t find work in London or America. Ian spent enough time in both places to be considered a Yank in Britain and a Brit in America. As you might expect, that seemed to have helped in some ways and hurt in others.
Ian talks about being tossed out of tube stations in the London area for vagrancy, not finding anything to eat, not having one cent in his pockets, and sometimes really being in a deep funk. His roller coaster of a life occasionally sat for a while at the top of a hill then caromed straight down and crashed, but somehow, sooner or later, he'd crawl back up.
I’ve never had to sleep on benches and I haven’t wondered how the hell I was going to find food. Sometimes opportunity found Ian, rather than the other way round, but a lot of his success was made or kept by sheer determination. For somebody with only a part-time job, no publishing credits and no "ins" in publishing, I have a long, hard road ahead if I want to make it there. But as Ian says, perseverance is everything. :) I see now what it means to "make your own luck."
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Sound waves: a ramble on writing and music
Reading about how music is made and how writing is done got me thinking. That can be trouble, I know.
The whole process of writing a novel is so much like making a record. Some of it’s done spontaneously, some of it’s labored over. Some parts fall out of your fingers almost perfectly and you can feel that it shouldn’t be messed with. Other parts ooze out a tiny bit at a time and never feel right so you spend hours, days or weeks tinkering with it.
How something sounds influences what you do with it. You write something and run through it either in your head or out loud. If something sounds off, you try to isolate what and why. If something makes your point especially well, you may decide to emphasize it with an addition.
In order to continue with a piece of work you've set aside for a while, you have to re-familiarize yourself with it. But the more often you do that, the more objectivity you lose and the more you increase the odds that you'll just get sick of it before it's finished.
I suppose this is true for other forms of art. It's been brought home to me how alike people can be. Like in an event as vast as the Olympic games, when we produce art, we share so much while retaining what makes each of us unique. I am so glad I learned to write and read. I love seeing the ways people are connected yet separate.
Although, it would have been nice to win that gold medal in hockey, in Canada. . .
The whole process of writing a novel is so much like making a record. Some of it’s done spontaneously, some of it’s labored over. Some parts fall out of your fingers almost perfectly and you can feel that it shouldn’t be messed with. Other parts ooze out a tiny bit at a time and never feel right so you spend hours, days or weeks tinkering with it.
How something sounds influences what you do with it. You write something and run through it either in your head or out loud. If something sounds off, you try to isolate what and why. If something makes your point especially well, you may decide to emphasize it with an addition.
In order to continue with a piece of work you've set aside for a while, you have to re-familiarize yourself with it. But the more often you do that, the more objectivity you lose and the more you increase the odds that you'll just get sick of it before it's finished.
I suppose this is true for other forms of art. It's been brought home to me how alike people can be. Like in an event as vast as the Olympic games, when we produce art, we share so much while retaining what makes each of us unique. I am so glad I learned to write and read. I love seeing the ways people are connected yet separate.
Although, it would have been nice to win that gold medal in hockey, in Canada. . .
Monday, March 1, 2010
To crit or not to crit: the last bit
What can the critter learn from critting? If you read my previous posts, some things become clear:
You learn patience. In the process of trying to give constructive criticism, you learn to choose your words carefully, thinking through what you say and how you say it before you hit ‘send’.
I always read through my crit before sending. Did my intent come through clearly? If something seems vague, I do my best to clarify. I look for typos. What good is a crit if it doesn’t make sense and has avoidable mistakes? It doesn’t take long to double check.
Light bulbs go on. You realize some of the mistakes other writers make are things you do yourself. The advice you offer others may work for you. As you work on applying those suggestions to your own writing, you cut down on making goofups in the first place. And that’s the ultimate goal of joining a writing workshop anyway.
Other light bulbs go on. You see how other writers do things really well. You have access to the writer, for a change, and you can message the person to ask how they came up with a phrase. But please! Do not plagiarize anybody! Use the same technique but don’t open dozens of worm cans by plagiarizing.
You can message the writer to ask what sort of writing tools they use - online and hard copy.
A more selfish idea is that if you establish a good rapport with somebody through critting, and they sell something, they may be able to put in a good word for you. Please don’t let that become your primary motive, though. Speaking personally, as a writer I notice details, and I’m likely to notice if you’re only interested in what I might do for you. ‘Nuff said on that.
Why am I not an owl critter? Because owls eat unpleasant things. :)
You learn patience. In the process of trying to give constructive criticism, you learn to choose your words carefully, thinking through what you say and how you say it before you hit ‘send’.
I always read through my crit before sending. Did my intent come through clearly? If something seems vague, I do my best to clarify. I look for typos. What good is a crit if it doesn’t make sense and has avoidable mistakes? It doesn’t take long to double check.
Light bulbs go on. You realize some of the mistakes other writers make are things you do yourself. The advice you offer others may work for you. As you work on applying those suggestions to your own writing, you cut down on making goofups in the first place. And that’s the ultimate goal of joining a writing workshop anyway.
Other light bulbs go on. You see how other writers do things really well. You have access to the writer, for a change, and you can message the person to ask how they came up with a phrase. But please! Do not plagiarize anybody! Use the same technique but don’t open dozens of worm cans by plagiarizing.
You can message the writer to ask what sort of writing tools they use - online and hard copy.
A more selfish idea is that if you establish a good rapport with somebody through critting, and they sell something, they may be able to put in a good word for you. Please don’t let that become your primary motive, though. Speaking personally, as a writer I notice details, and I’m likely to notice if you’re only interested in what I might do for you. ‘Nuff said on that.
Why am I not an owl critter? Because owls eat unpleasant things. :)
Saturday, February 27, 2010
To crit or not to crit: chapter 3 of 4
Here we are, almost done. There are a few thoughts I have to include.
As you crit someone else's work, you may have to mention facts: pointing out where the writer breaks grammar rules, for example. Even here, it’s not necessary to leap off an ivory tower onto the poor writer. Say something like ‘I think you meant…’ or ‘In this context, the accepted standard is…’ When I can cite a source, such as my trusty Webster’s New World Dictionary and Thesaurus, Second Edition 2002, I list that. The writer knows I’m not pulling stuff out of the air and she/he can go check it out if they want. I’ve had critters cite examples from published fiction and that’s great. That gives me someplace specific to go if I want to get further into it.
If you crit in a newbie queue, please be extra careful. Those writers may not be new to writing or getting crits, but they’re new to the site. Don’t sour people on something you yourself find helpful by biting off their heads. Put in a few extra smileys, or ‘good job here’ comments. People who are in fact new to writing will probably have more weak things and just plain errors in their writing, so think about whether or not you want to tackle that before you start critting.
That said, try to crit an occasional newbie story. You were a newbie once too. You might gain a crit buddy.
It may be easier to just leap out of the water, mouth gaping, and bite off limbs. People who saw "Jaws" when it came out remember those teeth. But bunny rabbits get the positive attention.
The final chapter: So what's in it for me?
As you crit someone else's work, you may have to mention facts: pointing out where the writer breaks grammar rules, for example. Even here, it’s not necessary to leap off an ivory tower onto the poor writer. Say something like ‘I think you meant…’ or ‘In this context, the accepted standard is…’ When I can cite a source, such as my trusty Webster’s New World Dictionary and Thesaurus, Second Edition 2002, I list that. The writer knows I’m not pulling stuff out of the air and she/he can go check it out if they want. I’ve had critters cite examples from published fiction and that’s great. That gives me someplace specific to go if I want to get further into it.
If you crit in a newbie queue, please be extra careful. Those writers may not be new to writing or getting crits, but they’re new to the site. Don’t sour people on something you yourself find helpful by biting off their heads. Put in a few extra smileys, or ‘good job here’ comments. People who are in fact new to writing will probably have more weak things and just plain errors in their writing, so think about whether or not you want to tackle that before you start critting.
That said, try to crit an occasional newbie story. You were a newbie once too. You might gain a crit buddy.
It may be easier to just leap out of the water, mouth gaping, and bite off limbs. People who saw "Jaws" when it came out remember those teeth. But bunny rabbits get the positive attention.
The final chapter: So what's in it for me?
Hand waves
Hi to AJ, who came on board a couple days ago. I'm tickled that you decided to follow me. :)
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
To crit or not to crit: chapter 2 of 4
As I get into a crit, when I see things that could use improvement, I use phrases like ‘I think’, ‘in my opinion’ or ‘IMHO’, ‘maybe’. I use smiley faces too. This reiterates that I’m giving my opinions and cushions the hard news. Even people who say they have thick skin don’t deserve to be whacked upside the head. Writing is often personal and it can feel risky to put yourself out there for strangers to dissect.
How would you feel if somebody said "you shouldn’t be writing, you obviously don’t know how to do it." That’s what tends to come through when you turn into a shark.
I try to describe why I think a word or phrase could be improved. I include a suggestion when I can think of one. Most writers seem to appreciate a concrete example of something better.
Please don’t pad a crit with praise just to increase your word count and get full credit. The writer will probably see through that and may get pissed off enough to report you to the site administrator. If the story only calls for a short, good quality crit, be gracious enough to accept half-credit. The writer may ask you for a crit later because you were honest, and you could pick up credits then. Don’t let getting credits become your primary reason to crit. And that’s a whole ‘nother post ;)
When I feel something works exceptionally well, I usually say ‘Yay for you!’ or ‘great job here’. I include the exact phrase I liked and try to describe why I think it’s great. That way, the writer is better able to do it again, and that’s half the reason to crit: to help the other person. I try to keep my crits balanced. There is almost always something good to say in addition to pointing out what’s not so good.
Some people say to give the kind of crit that you’d like to receive. That’s fine as long as you’re not genuinely hoping for a pile of praise without any criticism at all.
I want to stress that: there is almost always something good to say.
If you can’t bring yourself to say that you liked the dialog for example, or even just the writer’s enthusiasm for the subject, maybe you shouldn’t send a crit. Or come back to it tomorrow after a rest. If you shape shift into a shark, the writer may report you to the moderator/administrator, you may get a warning or be kicked off the site, and writers may tell each other that you are really nasty.
If people talk about me, I’d rather they say ‘Owlie’s not bad, she gave me some options for the weak parts and let me know what I did right.’
The next chapter will be shorter!
How would you feel if somebody said "you shouldn’t be writing, you obviously don’t know how to do it." That’s what tends to come through when you turn into a shark.
I try to describe why I think a word or phrase could be improved. I include a suggestion when I can think of one. Most writers seem to appreciate a concrete example of something better.
Please don’t pad a crit with praise just to increase your word count and get full credit. The writer will probably see through that and may get pissed off enough to report you to the site administrator. If the story only calls for a short, good quality crit, be gracious enough to accept half-credit. The writer may ask you for a crit later because you were honest, and you could pick up credits then. Don’t let getting credits become your primary reason to crit. And that’s a whole ‘nother post ;)
When I feel something works exceptionally well, I usually say ‘Yay for you!’ or ‘great job here’. I include the exact phrase I liked and try to describe why I think it’s great. That way, the writer is better able to do it again, and that’s half the reason to crit: to help the other person. I try to keep my crits balanced. There is almost always something good to say in addition to pointing out what’s not so good.
Some people say to give the kind of crit that you’d like to receive. That’s fine as long as you’re not genuinely hoping for a pile of praise without any criticism at all.
I want to stress that: there is almost always something good to say.
If you can’t bring yourself to say that you liked the dialog for example, or even just the writer’s enthusiasm for the subject, maybe you shouldn’t send a crit. Or come back to it tomorrow after a rest. If you shape shift into a shark, the writer may report you to the moderator/administrator, you may get a warning or be kicked off the site, and writers may tell each other that you are really nasty.
If people talk about me, I’d rather they say ‘Owlie’s not bad, she gave me some options for the weak parts and let me know what I did right.’
The next chapter will be shorter!
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