Gifts for Writers

Writers are the easiest people on earth to buy gifts for. First, there is the fabulously overpriced Levenger's catalog - the catalog alone makes a great gift. Pens and journals are good gifts. When I turned 50, my husband gave me a Mont Blanc pen. It is one of those things that I hope every writer gets in their lifetime. Notecards are also good gifts - we like to say thank you with style.

Books are probably the best gifts. There are books about writing. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is a must for writers. Annie Dillard's The Writing Life is good. Natalie Goldberg has written many excellent books. William Zinsser's classic, On Writing Well is excellent. Then there are reference books, such as The Chicago Manual of Style and Strunk and White's, The Elements of Style. There are also books about creativity, such as Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. Then there are fun books about writing, such as i never metaphor i didn't like by Mardy Grothe.

Then there are books that breathe life into us. Books that aren't about writing. Books that are so good that when we are reading them they inspire us to write even more. Sometimes a book is so magnificently written it makes us never want to write again, but we do anyway.

May you get the gifts you want and may you write the words you are meant to...

It All Counts

It seems that successful writers all have one thing in common - they write a lot. The other thing they seem to have in common is that they read. Larry L. King wrote, "Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts." I've heard many writers speaking about the importance of reading. What I like about this is that it all counts. If I am reading, I am being writerly.

What is a Real Writer and How Do They Find Time to Write?

Do real writers stop writing for Thanksgiving? Do they write in the margins of their lives, stopping between stuffing the turkey and making the pies, scribbling on paper towels? Or do they do what I do, yearn for quiet, a desk and a comfortable chair while simultaneously being grateful for the presence of people and the bountiful feast.

Last week my husband and I landed in Albuquerque for Thanksgiving with my mother and family. Lugging my computer and assignments, I fully expected to write. While at the airport, I posted to both of my blogs and I figured I'd work on my book and a couple of articles in the late night or wee morning. Hah! My mother was hospitalized the day after Thanksgiving. In the end it all worked out well for my mother but my writing took a back seat.I wondered how Susan Sontag wrote about her cancer; her son wrote about her dying process; May Sarton wrote about her stroke and Jill Bolte Taylor wrote about her cerebral hemmorhage. Did they keep diaries or do they have better memories than I do?

Nora Roberts wrote, "It is easier to fix a bad page than a blank one." Oh to have a bad page to fix...

Finding Our Voices

Finding an authentic voice is one of the writing fundamentals that I hear repeatedly -  so much so that I'd be foolish to ignore it. I am not sure what my authentic voice is, but I know what it isn't. When I ignore my heart, I am not in my real voice. When I moralize or write with expectations, I am likely to be off-putting. I am most likely to discover my voice by uncovering it. It's a top-down process of taking off layers, rather than by starting with bare bones and adding dressing. My final project is usually simpler and smaller than my first draft. Blaise Pascal wrote, "If I had more time, I'd have written a shorter letter." Sometimes I wonder how short I could make something if I had all the time in the world.

Priorities

Sometimes finding time to write is just a matter of priorities. For instance, I am happy to give up cleaning the house in order to write. However, some things come before writing, like eating for instance. Isaac Asimov wrote, "If my doctor told me I only had six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster." Although I appreciate the sentiment, that is not how I'd spend my last six minutes. I think I'd go outside and breathe the luscious air, even if it was raining. However, writing is enough of a priority that I get up before 6 a.m. to do it. I guess we all have our quirks.

In Praise of Criticism

"To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." - Elbert Hubbard

Last night was open read at this month's meeting of Sierra Writers. An open read is the chance for writers to hear their work critiqued in a safe, anonymous venue. There were a few new faces along with some excellent writing. However, it was the quality of the critiquing that stood out.

Good criticism is what keeps me from making a fool out of myself. I think I am a mediocre writer. However, I am a good, undefended listener, willing to take criticism. This transformative process turns my words into something better than I could have done on my own.

I collect good critics like some collect jewels. I think critics are worth more.

Lost Ideas

Sylvia Plath wrote, "Nothing stinks like a pile of unpublished writing." Actually, I believe there is something that is worse - a good writing idea that is lost. The other day I had a fantastic writing idea and I was going to blog it, and for the life of me I can't recall what it was. I thought if I waited long enough, it would return. Alas, it hasn't. Trying to remember a lost idea seems to interfere with new ideas. So, I will make this short, keeping my mind clear and my head out of the oven. Ed's cooking dinner tonight, thank goodness.

On another note: I have chosen a literary agent, signed the contract, and am revising the proposal. Life is good.

About the Book

Since I am not trying to create any mystery or suspense, I figure I better disclose the subject of my manuscript. To me, the book is a helpless infant, but to others, it may not mean much, so I just don't get specific with it. It's sort of like talking about our children or pets. We think they are interesting, but others may not.

The book is about hepatitis C treatment. It's a guide to inform and help patients through treatment. It tells them how to prepare for it and, using a step-by-step, daily format, gives patients a motivational message coupled with concrete tools and tips for dealing with side effects.

Thomas Berger wrote, "Why do writers write? Because it isn't there." Although there are other books that cover hepatitis C in a general way, there isn't anything that walks patients through treatment. I waited for someone else to write this book and when none did, I took up my pen. Actually, I took up my keyboard.

Quotes from my Mother

My mother always asks me how my book is coming along. I panic, thinking I should have it done by now. I know she is just showing interest, like asking how my family is. Sometimes it feels like this book is similar to adult children who still reside at home. What's this book still doing in the nest? In my defense, I haven't been writing it for very long. It just seems that way because I was thinking about it for a long time. I suppose thinking about having a baby doesn't mean that you are pregnant longer than 9 months. So really, I haven't been working on the manuscript that long.

I told my mother I started a writer's blog. She said, "Better to have a writer's blog than writer's block." I told her I'd like to use that. She reminded me to quote her.

Fetal Development

Although I have mentioned that I am writing a book, I really don't like talking about it much. It's like talking about an embryo before it has developed into a being that can be felt in the belly. Well, I have had my quickening--a couple of agents have expressed interest in representing me. I will make my formal decision next week, but I have made a tentative one now. The fetus is not only moving, she is tugging at my heart.

I will talk more about my book later (I promise). There are two other things I want to mention. First, how much your support means to me, especially for those who made the effort to become a follower. Also, I love the comments. Your words make this blog seem so much better to me. I don't feel like I am ranting in the dark.

Second, I want to say that the lesson I most value from this experience is that I have learned not to take rejection personally. I get this because I learned that not risking is worse than rejection. Many great writers have been rejected more than I have been, and have gone on to write more than I will ever write. I walk in the shadow of their courage and I give thanks for their bravery and perseverance.

Life's Punctuations

When asked how he spent his day writing, Oscar Wilde replied, "I spent the morning putting in a comma and in the afternoon taking out the comma." Yesterday was a day of punctuations. Instead of wordsmithing, I played comma cop. Basically, I reorganized the research for my book, making punctuation and font changes so that when I cut and paste, there is consistency. Although it wasn't much fun, it left me with a feeling of being a bit more organized.

Writing mirrors life. Just as in life there are activities we'd rather not be doing, such as filling out tax returns and getting colonoscopies, they have to be done. These activities are part of being alive. It's the same with writing. Proofreading and changing the ink in the printer are part of writing. And unless you are e e cummings, punctuations are part of the package.

A Writing Axiom

"The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair." - Mary Heaton Vorse

After telling someone I was a writer, he asked, "Are you one of those annoyingly disciplined writers who gets up early and writes for hours every day?" I assured him that I am not. However, I would love to be. I strive for this more than just about any other goal I've aimed for. I have settled into a bit of a routine, and for the most part, I stick to it. I stumbled upon this by trial and error. It started like this: I kept telling people that I was writing a book. The problem was the talking and thinking about it began to exceed the reality of it. I felt like a fraud. The only way I could stop being a fraud was to actually write with more discipline. Strangely enough, the book grew. Thus I discovered another axiom of writing - when you write a lot, the words add up.

Another Writing Rule

 It is very tempting to use blogging as a dump site. I just composed a whiner and then deleted it. That sort of stuff belongs in a journal or the trash can. Thornton Wilder said, "An incinerator is a writer's best friend."

The Golden Rule of Writing

Writing rules are still on my mind, particularly rule # 1, which is "Write. Write regularly and write a lot. Aimee Bender's law is that she writes every day for two hours. When asked how she gets herself to do this she responded,"You don't understand. It's the law." Here are what other writers have said about writing:

• "The first thing you have to know about writing is that it is something you must do every day." Walter Mosley,This Year You Write Your Novel, O Magazine, August 2007
• "This is the practice school of writing. Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it...You practice whether you want to or not. You just do it." Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones
• "A thousand words a day--or two hours of revision--five days a week for the rest of your life." Carolyn See, Making a Literary Life
• "You learn to write by writing." William Zinsser, On Writing Well
• "(Writers) write with everything they have, daily if possible, and for the rest of their lives." Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
• "I can fix a bad page, but I can't fix a blank one." Nora Roberts, J.D. Robb
• "If you want to be a writer-stop talking about and sit down and write!" Jackie Collins
• "Get to work. Your work is to keep cranking the flywheel that turns the gears that spin the belt in the engine of belief that keeps you and your desk in midair." Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
  

The Rules of Writing - #1 and #2

Robert Benchley said, "The biggest obstacle to professional writing is the necessity for changing a typewriter ribbon." Mr. Benchley died in 1945, but had he been alive, I am sure he would have sympathized with me the past 2 days while I dealt with an uncooperative computer. This leads me to a rule of writing - always back up one's work. I am diligent about this, making weekly copies of my most important documents. Living in the Sierra foothills, one never knows when a fire will force an evacuation, so I back-up my computer on a thumb drive. However, I did not back-up my monthly newsletter article for the November issue and for awhile I thought I'd be rewriting it. But all ended well.

Maybe backing up one's work is not the most important rule of writing, but it certainly is a sanity-saver. I believe the most important rule is to write and to write a lot. If you don't practice this, then you have nothing to back-up. So, if you want to be writer, write a lot. If you want to be a sane writer, back-up your work regularly.

A Writing Admission

This morning I woke up with the intention of erasing yesterday's post. It is embarrassing to admit that I do not write merely to write. I write hoping to enter into an relationship with a reader. It makes sense to compare writing to the proverbial tree in the forest. If it falls and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Edna Ferber said, "Only amateurs say that they write for their own amusement. Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth. Writing may be interesting, absorbing, exhilarating, racking, relieving. But amusing? Never!" Thank you Edna, thank you Lizz (my first follower) and thank you readers.

Why, Oh Why?

You may be wondering why I am blogging? It really comes down to platform building. This is one of those business buzz words which means this: before a publisher will consider my manuscript, I have to prove that I have an audience. Blogging is one of the recommended platform builders.

However, although I know a few people have read my previous posts (my husband, for instance), no one has officially signed up as a follower. When I open my blog page, the phrase "There are no followers yet. Be the first" taunts me. I feel like the kid in gym class who isn't going to get picked for the field hockey team. So, I am pleading with one of you, please rescue me.

Romance is Hard Work

I courted writing. Much like everyone I dated, writing had a honeymoon phase. Sooner or later, the novelty wore off and I faced reality. Writing a book has been the harshest reality so far. The writing part is relatively easy compared to the unromantic parts. Doing the research, writing a proposal, building a platform - these are roughly equivalent to living with someone for a long time and realizing that it takes effort, commitment, and tenacity. My husband and I have been married since 1981 and together since 1978. I have just started to date the manuscript I am working on. It snores and doesn't put the seat back down on the toilet, but I am sticking with it.

A Blog Begins Now

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I wonder if I have taken leave of my senses. Although I am a writer, I am not a loyal email or Facebook corresponder. Once I received one of those 20 questions chain emails, meant to foster deeper friendships by posing ridiculous questions. It asked, "What is your favorite color, hobby, etc. One question was, "Which of your friends is most likely NOT to respond to this email?" The friend who sent it has known me since first grade. She wrote in my name. I completed the questionnaire out of spite. The truth is, she was right. I don't read chain letters or frivolous emails unless I am trapped with nothing else to do. I only read a few blogs. I just don't have that kind of time, especially now that I am writing a book.

The book is why I am blogging. I'll talk about the book on another day. For now, blogging is a path toward accountability. This blog represents my commitment. It is my stake in the ground. I am announcing to the ether that I am writing a book. There is no room for hesitancy or aborted intentions.

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back; ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issue from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and assistance which no one could have dreamt would have come his way. - adapted from the Scottish Himalayan Expedition by W.H. Murray

What are your dreams? Is hesitancy holding you back? What are you beginning now?