Experience in Writing

Do you think a writer needs to have lived a lot of life to be a good writer?  I’ve been fortunate enough to spend a great deal of time with writers who have lived a lot of life, and those who are just starting out in their lives.  I can immediately see how their life experiences have impacted their writing topics and styles, but I can’t say for sure that the creations of one is better than the other.

This concept also gives me a lot of hope.  With so many new experiences lately, I really want to believe that my experiences won’t just help me to become a more well-rounded person, but also a better writer.  I don’t want to feel that life gets in the way of my writing, as much as I want to feel that life helps to make me into a better writer.

If I’m always writing, I certainly can’t be living my life.  There definitely needs to be enough time to go out and have new experiences, meet new people, and build relationships.  Otherwise, I think I’d just be living through my characters, which could make for more interesting characters, but wouldn’t make me a very happy person.

Dreams

I’ve been trying to stay motivated with my writing lately, especially when everything I read basically tells me that “you’ll never have more time to write than now.”  But, I’m not sure if that’s true.  Life is so crazy right now that I have to believe I will eventually have more time to write than now.

Someday, I imagine, I’ll sit in a coffee shop all day and just write.  Instead of writing feeling like something I do in stolen moments, it will have an important place in my daily life.  Now, I’m sure a lot of people feel this way, which is probably where the above saying came from, but I honestly believe I’ll achieve this dream of mine.

Until then, however, I am going to continue striving to make writing a part of my life, even if it falls to the background sometimes.  I’ll take pride in the one or two pages I get written each day, because at least it means I haven’t given up.  Even if my writing isn’t always at the level I want it to be at, and even if I spend half the time I have for writing re-reading what I wrote the day before, I’ll try to be proud of myself.

The Process

Sometimes I like to pretend my favorite authors are like superheroes, you know, somehow not quite human.  I go between wanting to know everything about them, and not wanting to know anything about them.  I sometimes even hesitate to look at their bio at the back of the book, worrying that knowing something about them might take away from their story.  It is an absolutely silly thing to think, I know it is, and yet, I feel like my favorite authors can only fall off the careful pedestal I’ve created for them.

This being said, I recently decided to research one of my beloved authors.  I was surprised to find how snarky she could be in her question and answer page, but I was also relieved to find that she seemed honest about herself and her experiences.  And most of all, I was shocked to find out that she only works with a rough outline for her books.  I thought with all the intricate details, she must map her books out entirely before writing them.  It seems though, she actually hates going into too much detail with her book outines in the beginning, because then she feels like she has already written her book.  She actually just spends a great deal of time editing and revising, I gathered.

This might not seem like a very significant bit of information, but it was a huge relief to me.  I write in a very similar style.  I create a character, and outline, and world information.  Then, I start writing.  Things often change as the story develops, but all of this actually leads to a need for a lot of editing and revising.  It is daunting to finish a book and still have so much work to do, but it eases my mind a great deal to know that a writer I admire so much also has such a daunting task, and creates such spectacular books through this process.

Where to Start

I’ve been trudging along, barely editing my book for the past few months.  Life, as always, seems to be getting in the way a lot, and when I finally have a chance to sit down and work on my book, it feels more like a job than it ever has before.  I know that’s what writing is, work, but it is also supposed to be work I enjoy.  Otherwise, why would I do it?  So, I have taken a bit of a break from my novel to play around with some other ideas and to read a little.

Reading is also usually a really pleasant way to pass my time, except that I’ve started reading some books written by an absolutely exceptional author who makes me feel motivated to write more.  The way she creates her world and her people is on a level that is awe-inspiring.  It makes me wonder how she created it all.  Did she spend months and months just mapping out her world and how it worked before ever putting pen to paper?  Or did she start writing a story and the world just came together for her?

The new idea I’ve been working on, that’s supposed to be my fun break from editing, now makes me pause.  I wonder if I should be mapping this world out carefully before writing, or just enjoying writing.

It’s all just a complicated mess where all roads lead right back to me not writing.  But, at least, in talking to my fellow writers, I’m not alone in my struggles to stay focused on my work.

Changing Your Perspective

Recently, I was watching a toddler.  He sat bored in his living room, looking at nothing in particular.  Then, suddenly, he bent down, planted his hands and feet on the ground, and stood on his head.  Seeing him staring upside down made me smile, but it made him laugh hysterically.  He sat like this for quite awhile, just laughing away.  His delight at his new perspective got me thinking about perspectives in writing and how important they are.

One of my favorite writing buddies was working on a story that was good, but something was missing.  Someone recommended writing from another character’s perspective as well, and everything in her story just seemed to click.  I also was recently working on a story.  I additionally wrote a story from a minor character’s point-of-view, and to my surprise, many people enjoyed this second story to the first.

Since that point, I also started reading a book written from multiple characters point-of-views.  In the past when I have read books written this way, there still seemed to be a dominating perspective.  In this book, however, there wasn’t.  Each character’s point-of-view was written as equally important.  Seeing this allowed me to really take a step back and look at my own characters.  I was able to really ask myself, “is this the best perspective for what I am trying to achieve?”  And to my surprise, just asking this question has really helped my writing.

Reality in Fiction

Realty isn’t so simple.  A lot of time is spent on making decisions, neither of which is clearly the “right” one.  Most of the time when someone opens one door, they close another, and there is a certain amount of regret when that door is closed.  Sometimes fiction makes choices far too easy.  There is always a right choice, and once it is made, the characters can live happily ever after.  This lack of reality can sometimes frustrate me.  But at the same time, if I wanted to read something realistic, I would simply read non-fiction.  The question of how much reality to incorporate in fiction is still very important though.  Fiction can’t be completely unrealistic; it needs elements of reality for us to connect with it.  I just feel fiction allows us to touch upon reality without having it banged over our heads.

I write mostly fantasy.  One of things I like best about fantasy is that characters are often placed against nearly impossible odds, but are given tools to fight those odds.  A skinny, little boy can hold incredible power, enough to combat even the most frightening enemy.  Whereas sometimes in our world, no matter how big or small someone is, impossible odds are often crushing.  This means, I guess, that I love happy endings.  I wish they happened more in real life, but I certainly happily anticipate them in the books I read.  I would feel really disappointed to read a book without a happy ending, but I also don’t want the happy ending to come too easily.

So how do you find the right balance between a fantasy world with a happy ending and reality?  In truth, I’m still not entirely sure.  I guess I just feel that if I read the book and believe the characters struggles, the book has enough reality for me.  What about for you?  How do you know when you’ve found the right balance?

World Building

World building is probably one of the biggest challenges I face.  In my mind, the world is as clear and real as my own, but as I write, world building somehow gets forgotten.  Instead, I focus on my characters and plot, filling in the world, even when it doesn’t come across in my pages.  It isn’t that world building is all that difficult, it is that my mind fills in the world, and I often forget that my readers aren’t inside my mind.

So how am I going to fix this problem?  Well, first, I’ve decided that I need to spend more time reading my book in large chunks, versus chapter by chapter, and noticing whether the little details in my head actually reach the page.  Second, I am going to write a list of the things that make my world really unique and make sure that those things have actually been written and described.  In this way, hopefully, I will really improve my world building skills.

Well, wish me luck!  I feel like every week I try to improve on a different aspect of my writing, which logically means one day my writing will be flawless… right?

Unfinished Books

In the past few months, I’ve stopped reading two novels, less than halfway through reading them.  These books were both well-rated on GoodReads and were books I’d heard good things about.  But from the moment I picked them up, I struggled with poor writing quality and boring plots.  This got me wondering whether putting a book down before finishing it is a good thing or not.

Sometimes it’s true that a book or a movie can be amazing, but might start out a little slow, so should we finish every book we start?  Or is there a certain point where we’ve been given all the warnings, and we’re choosing to simply continue wasting our time.

I never used to stop reading books partway through, but since my reading time has become more and more precious, I’ve become far more protective of this time.  If I get past the first five chapters or so, and I’m still not enjoying the book, I feel a strange resentment towards the author for the time I’ve already invested into reading the book, and I put it down.

Now, this isn’t to say that every book I’ve ever put down has been a terrible book.  Not every person is right for every other person, and every book is certainly not right for every person, so I really shouldn’t feel any animosity towards a writer if I didn’t enjoy their book.  And, this also brings me back to the question I’ve been considering, could these books be amazing, and I’ve missed out terribly by putting them down?

What do you think?  Do you ever stop reading a book partway through, and if so, do you ever wonder whether you missed out on something amazing?

Editing Requires Motivation

Lately, I’ve been having trouble focusing on just one thing.  I think, mainly, because I am avoiding my book.  You see, I just recently “finished” the first book in my new series, but as pointed out by some of my group members, there are a couple of big things I need to fix.  These things will require a great deal of patience, and a great deal of editing.

I know it needs to be done, but I’m struggling with doing it.  This is because during Nano I also started on the second book in my series, which is still at that glorious beginning stage when everything is just about writing and creating, not about editing.  I’ve also started working on a couple of short stories.  They were exercises in trying new and different writing styles, and I feel they are valuable projects, if nothing else, to expand my writing abilities.  All of this, however, gets me back to my main issue: I think I might be avoiding my first book.

My first book needs work, as most first drafts do.  I need to sit down with it for a few hours at a time and read it from beginning to end, working out any inconsistencies, timeline issues, character motivations, and even making certain that the relationships work.  This is the part of editing I really don’t enjoy.  I don’t mind combing through a book for grammatical issues, but it is adding these essential things, in just the right amounts, that tends to stress me out.

I know there are probably more organized, less time consuming, ways to go about editing a novel, but this seems to be the only way that works for me… if only I don’t avoid the mountain of work awaiting me.

How Should a Book End?

Recently, I finished the first book in a trilogy.  I loved reading this book.  It was exciting, the characters were interesting, and I never knew quite what to expect.  But then, I got to the end.  It was disappointing to say the least.  I’ve always believed that if a reader dives into an author’s world and gets caught up in an imaginary world, the reader is owed something for this trust.  I feel like by the end of the book, even if it is a series, the reader should discover the answers to at least one of the secrets that have kept them reading.  This book, however, simply ended as if it was the end of a chapter, not the end of the book.

My husband asked me if I enjoyed the book, since I seemed so disappointed.  I told him that I had, but I felt a little gypped by the author.  I’ve already ordered the next book in the series, so I still definitely enjoyed the book, but this whole experience got me wondering about how a book should end.  Do you think there needs to be some kind of epiphany on the part of the reader by the end of the book?  Do you feel the reader deserves to get some of their questions answered?

I’m constantly expanding and changing the way I see books, so my current belief may eventually change as I am exposed to more and more books, but for now, I feel a reader deserves a little more than to be led on, without being given any answers in exchange for their time.