Fiction Writing

If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you. ~ Oscar Wilde

It has been one heck of a week. First, we had a plumbing problem, resulting in a huge flood. Then the printer died. Then there were problems with family members. In between, bills mounted up, and I got sick and couldn’t write a thing.

Actually, it was a fine week. I just thought I’d try my hand at fiction for a change. (April Fool’s)

On another note, I am going to take a break from this blog. I committed to a 30-day Health Activist’s Blog Challenge. (no joke), and I want to concentrate my efforts there. Not sure when I will restart this blog. Thank you blog readers, especially those who left comments. May your words flow well.

Six-word Memoir Reduction

computer crashed

no words

no joy

I can reduce this whole memoir to one word: hell

Priorities

Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least. ~ Goethe

After being gone for two and a half weeks, I am chomping at the proverbial bit to get back to writing. However, there are bills to be paid, mail to be answered, and the fitness program that needs to be resumed. Health and sanity are as much of writing as stringing words and thoughts together.

Underneath these priorities, an ancient, familiar song calls to me, like the mermaids and sirens in The Odyssey. “Do this, do that. Get organized. Complete this task. Do just one more thing. You can write tomorrow.” If I heed this song, I will drown, and my stories with it.

Vacation Writing

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. ~ Ben Franklin

I am taking Ben Franklin’s advice to heart. I am on vacation, which is worth writing about, but certainly not worth reading about, and that is all I have to say this week.

Grammar

Grammar: The difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit. ~ Author Unknown (sent to me via YourCards.com)

How many times have I spelled grammar as grammer, or misspelled misspell as mispell? (I had to override my spell check feature to misspell mispell. And horrors of all horrors, sometimes my mistakes end up in print.

There is something visceral about my reaction when I make a grammar mistake—perhaps forged by years of corrections by parents and teachers. Me: “I am going to bring this book to Linda.” My mother:“No, you are going to take this book to Linda.” We didn’t have the “whatever” response yet—the only option was to learn proper English, which I did willingly.

Now, I see how people chastise themselves when they make a mistake. Some might be more prone to apologize around me, assuming that since I am a writer, I must know how to spell and construct a sentence. Little do they know…

Reviewing the Review

A critic can only review the book he has read, not the one which the writer wrote. ~ Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

I have been waiting for Library Journal’s review of my book (click here to read review). Reader reviews have been fabulous; so have those from my family. (Family members have this funny tendency to say, “It is so well written,” as if they are surprised that I can actually write.)

However, to have a review from a journal is a big deal, and now I have one. It is a good review, EXCEPT there was a glaring inaccuracy. It stood in space for nearly a day, this mistake for everyone to see. However, the reviewer fixed it and in the end, all was well.

Why does this stuff disturb me? It comes down to two issues: 1) wanting readers to get the facts, and 2) how I look if the facts are wrong. The bottom line is I can’t do much about it, so best not to dwell on it. The other thing I can do is be sure I have my facts straight when I review someone else’s work.

Here’s the really amazing part—because of the mistake, I garnered extra publicity. The review had to be sent twice and I got to Tweet and Facebook it twice. Who would have thought that a mistake like this would be a blessing?

 

Bogged and Blogged Down

Writing is no trouble: you just jot down ideas as they occur to you. The jotting is simplicity itself—it is the occurring that is difficult. ~ Stephen Leacock

I have blog bog – feeling bogged down by marketing the book rather than working on my next. I am a bit wordless, like a bump on a log. Won’t flog myself for this; instead I’ll take the dog for a jog. Please forgive me, I can’t help being cheesy sometimes.

Elevator Pitch

The writer who loses his self-doubt, who gives way as he grows old to a sudden euphoria, to prolixity, should stop writing immediately: the time has come for him to lay aside his pen.

 ~ Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

This month’s Sierra Writers meeting featured Emma Santa, speaking on Speechcraft for Writers. It was a fabulous. Emma walked us through the steps to create an elevator pitch, a brief summary of what you have to offer. In this case, it would be my book, Free from Hepatitis C.

Here is what surprised me. Six years ago, I did an elevator pitch to a publisher in front of a group and I bombed. I joined Toastmasters to learn how to be a better public speaker so I could do stuff like this. I am not afraid to stand up in front of an audience, but at Sierra Writers, I was nervous.

Fear and self-doubt got in the way. Perhaps Colette is right, a bit of self-doubt may help us as writers. However, self-doubt does not belong in the elevator. Goodness gracious, we spend hours, days, months, and years writing. If I had reasonable doubt about writing Free from Hepatitis C, I would have quit long before it was finished.

So, here is my new pitch:

More people die in this country from hepatitis C than from HIV. Four million people have hepatitis C, most of them born between 1945 and 1965. However, 3 out of 4 people with this disease do not know they have it. Hepatitis C is curable, if it is diagnosed. My book, Free from Hepatitis C tells you everything you need to know from diagnosis to cure. I write with experience, as a recognized expert in the hepatitis C field and a person who has lived with this disease. My book shows you how to live free from hepatitis C.

Feedback appreciated…

P.S. Prolixity means wordy. A prolix elevator pitch is an oxymoron.

My Essential Writing Tools

Consistency of practice is the mark of a master. 

- George Leonard, “Mastery”

The tools I need to write are more than paper, pen, and computer. In order to put in a productive day of writing, I need a good night’s sleep, exercise, and meditation. It also helps to have a schedule, which helps me know when to write. For instance, on days that I have blocked out writing times, I know I will write. It is as if a switch goes on, telling me what to do.

It takes a lot of tools and effort to keep me propped up in front of a computer. However, if I skip meditation, exercise, or sleep, I am useless. These practices make me a more efficient writer, and they keep me alive. I write better, when I am alive.

P.S. It also helps to have a good book and some poetry. Reading can unlock the creative process.

Watering My Words

A poet is someone who stands outside in the rain hoping to be struck by lightning. ~ James Dickey

Everything needs a certain amount of rain, including my writing. This week it finally started to rain, and although all life in the Sierra Nevada foothills needed it, I especially did. Perhaps it was the change in the weather, or that deep human need for winter, or the dark, cozy nesting reaction I get when it is stormy, but whatever the reason, the rain unlocked the dry, infertile ground that kept the creative process inside.

Drop upon drop, the ground relented; words flowed out like hungry earthworms. Birds swooped down, adding color and song. Flowers bloomed, trees budded, and in the dark winter storm, I held the finest bouquet of prose. I gathered all I could, collecting words for future days, when the weather is sunny, and I am too impatient to sit inside.