The Writer’s Nest

My sister Quinn inspired this post. She was teasing me about a typo; I had meant to say “next paragraph” but what I actually wrote was “nest paragraph”, which she said made her think of nests of words, which in turn caused my contemplation of the writer’s nest.

I believe where you write is very important. Writing, like all art, is creative. And to be creative one must feel comfortable and inspired. This is different for every person. The trick is discovering what works best for you.

For me it’s a combination of a truckload of inspirational items, a pretty environment, and tidy surroundings. Of course, one person’s “tidy” may be another’s “cluttered”: I’m sure my desk would not be seen as neat by a persnickety writer. My definition of tidy is an absence of trash or dirt; I must be able to look out across the downstairs and see a sense of order. My office is in a corner of the living room, which means that entire space also must be kept up to my writer’s nest standards, which is probably a good thing.

“Pretty” to me means artistic. I’m a painter, so I need to have my area arranged in a pleasing manner; a recognizable color scheme, lights draped over silk trees just so, knick knacks displayed so that my gaze travels over them in a restful manner. Again, this is my “pretty”…someone else might say OMG, I could never work with all of those ceramic elves staring at me.

Finally, my writer’s nest must be inspirational. For me that translates into the correct music playing, (I match the music to the plot’s mood), framed book covers, and most importantly, photos of loved ones and the trinkets they have given me.

I do write when I’m traveling, but it isn’t the same…I just can’t get as much done. Perhaps for some authors composing on the run IS their place of comfort, but it isn’t mine. I line my nest with pretty items and records of my accomplishments, but mostly I feather it with tokens of love and affection. Beautiful things and success are great, but knowing I’m loved is even more so.

And ultimately, that’s what inspires me, because on some level isn’t every story about love?

Whew. I’d better switch my music before I dissolve completely into maudlin goo. :-)

One More Review

I’m away from home so I have more time to read, so here’s one more book review.

I read Prospero’s Children by Jan Siegel because I thought it had mermaids in it. I love mermaids. Not the Disney kind. The sort I admire are real mermaids: wild, capricious, raw fish eating, dangerous creatures. Not long ago I found a painting of a real mermaid in an antique shop (thanks Mar). She (the mermaid not my friend Mar although she could do the come hither thing if she wanted to) is laying languorously on a beach with a tray of fish bones. And two glasses of wine. Two. There is no one else there. Anymore. You get the idea. So this book intrigued me, and the mermaids did not disappoint…they even had poisonous spines! And the explanation of how mermaids came to be was unique and very well done. I just wish there had been more, because the story really wasn’t about them.

But that’s OK, because the book was fabulous. Ms. Siegle weaves an atmosphere of miasma better than anyone I’ve read in a long time; the teenage angst was represented here as almost alien…that one actually changes into something else, something alien, something not quite human on the way to adulthood. Very much like the mermaid.

I also love how well this author represents a very famous city which I will not name for those who do want to read it…part of the surprise. And the way she wraps the beginning into the ending was extremely well done. And the setting…ah. Just the way I like ‘em, full, magical, dreamy, and absolutely swept me away.

There are more in this series and I will be reading them. Sigh. I do love when I find a new author.

Book Review

I’m often surprised at what people want. I don’t think this is a bad thing…surprises are good. Keeps me on my toes. My latest heh? was this: people have asked me to review the books that I’ve listed on my blog as ones I’m reading. I suppose that’s no great mystery; people might want to know my opinion, which I never thought about when I plopped the books down in my blog.

I hesitated for a couple of reasons. One, the way I choose books is completely haphazard; my reading materials arrive via friends and family, by a good review, and OK, because of nice cover artwork. (I choose wine that way too sometimes but don’t tell anyone.) So there’s that. I may be missing some really good books, even better than the ones I review since how I obtain them is in no way methodical.

The second reason I shy away from stating my opinion is because it is just that… my opinion. And so what I say is of course colored by what I like, and add to that, I am not a professional reviewer, editor, or publisher.

The third and most important reason for my reluctance is my general abhorrence to be overly critical. This is just me…I know some people like to pick apart what’s wrong or what they don’t like, compare negatively what they read to other books, or believe they are helping folks improve. That’s cool.

But I don’t. For one thing, I think being critical is much like swearing; if you do it all the time no one notices. I rarely do, so when I make a strong statement I have people’s attention. I also would rather focus on the good rather than the bad; there are enough people who are quite happy to blast others so I will let them do that.

Saying all of that, since I myself get ideas of books to try from others, I will note my thoughts about the stories I’m reading. And since more than one person has asked this of me, I’m glad to do it. I also like the idea of promoting other writers. If I believe it’s really really bad I will say so, but mostly you will see what I think the author did well…and where I wanted more, which is not the same as criticism, in my humble opinion.

OK, so starting at the first one I listed, Angel of Darkness by Charles De Lint. Let me state before I go further that this man is one of my favorite authors and that I don’t believe it would be possible for him to write a bad book. He is THE urban fantasy writer, and I think one could make a case that he created the sub genre. This particular book is fabulous; a bit spookier than his usual fare. If you haven’t tried De Lint, I whole-heartedly recommend him. He does anthologies of short stories too, also good. Look for ones with the crow girls.

The next book in the list is Lord John and the Hand of Devils by Diana Gabaldon. Ms. Gabaldon is the author of the Outlander series, a wonderful set of books recommended to me by a friend (thanks Candy). These historical fiction stories transport you to the beginnings of our nation with a dose of passion and excitement…hard to do, I think, with historical stuff. Lord John and the Hand of Devils is a collection of short stories based around the character of Lord John seen in the Outlander books; a gay man struggling with his orientation in a time when he would not have been accepted for who he was. This angst combined with Lord John’s wit, intellect, and penchant for nosing out trouble makes for a delightful read.

I admit to resisting the Twilight books by Stephanie Meyer, partly because everyone was reading them. Why that should be bad was silly of me…I love Harry Potter, after all. But I think there was more to it. I knew it was about a teen romance and…sparkly vampires? However, a friend lent me the first book, (thanks Sandy), and I started it. And could NOT put it down. The lush, sensual setting, the longing between Edward and Belle, the fast paced action kept me up at night wanting to finish. I will be reading the others in this series. What I would have liked to know more about is the vampire world; all we know in this book is a bit about the different kinds of vampires, how one becomes a vampire, and some of their traits. I wanted more more more. Are there kings and queens? Vampire cities? What are their customs? Where did the first vampire come from? Have they always been with us? Do they have plans for the future, or do they just exist? To be fair, maybe the author explores that in the next book…I hope so. What she’s created is unique and riveting. Wow.

The book I just finished, The Passionate Witch by Thorne Smith, I came to in an unusual way; my husband Gary found it in an antique store. He picked it up because of the girly drawing on the cover and the same sort of illustrations…we both are very fond of pin up art. So the book was lying around and one day I flipped through it. I noted the author was the same person who wrote Topper, which I love. This story was hilarious. It starred a kind of a Walter Middy-like man, except this guy deserves what happens to him because he is pompous. The book is funny, but underneath runs a current of his view of the futility of life. Nice contrast. There is also a whiff of women as either dumb or manipulative, probably because of the era rather than the author’s view, but if you can get by that the book is worth reading.

So that’s it for now…I’m always reading something so this will be a regular feature.

Familiar Paths

I think most writers have heard the advice to write what you know. When I was first starting to write I translated that into using familiar surroundings, such as James Herriot’s English country side of his youth or Charles de Lint’s hip small town based on one he lived in. Although very different in style and content, both of these authors transport you somewhere else, in part because the setting is so real. Other writers add this realism as a part of their profession or hobbies; ex-policeman authors write very good crime scenes because they know what goes on in that world.

So what did that mean for me? I’m a Midwest gal, I was a psychologist in corporate America, I dance, paint, hike, garden, and I love fashion. If you read my books you can find bits of those scattered throughout my settings and characters. And it does work; I know what a dance studio looks like, I understand how corporate America functions, and don’t get me started on makeup.

But what I also discovered is familiarity can encompass some other things. For example, I am good at light rhyming verse; a rather useless but fun talent, kinda like being proficient at Trivial Pursuit. However...I do enjoy composing couplets and such and they are always in my head. I can’t tell you how often I managed boring meetings by composing poems and haiku. Since my favorite genre is young adult fiction, I realized that used judicially, I could incorporate my weird little skill into stories. And so in many of my books you will find rhyming verses, usually in the context of a spell. Here’s one from my novel Hagitha’s Chronicles:

Wrinkles, zits, or skin of crepe
Fat that makes my clothes not drape
Spots and moles and cellulite
Eyes and teeth that aren’t quite bright

A younger witch I’ll never be
Goodness no, don’t want to be
I like the wisdom that I have
Just need a little Witchy suave

In your own writing then, do consider using what you know; that odd, uncomfortable, or what you may think of as ordinary background will add a dose of realism to the most far out story. Remember that J.K. Rowling based Hogwarts on English boarding schools. Also, don’t be afraid to use hidden or even silly talents to spice up your stories. You could never get a job writing limericks, but say, wouldn’t a limerick spouting reluctant astronaut be fun? Ooooh.

You’d better not send me out there
I only signed up on a dare
I’m best at my desk
And to you I confess
I’ve got blasters and rockets to spare.

My friends call me hair trigger Dean
To off worlders I’m often quite mean
They’d do something wrong
Hum an alien song
And I’d cause inter-galactical scenes.

What’s My Line

I had a fellow writer ask me how I get so much done; he was bemoaning that many days he did not feel like writing, and how lucky I was to have so much inspiration.

I had to consider that for awhile. I do feel fortunate that I have stories running all the time. I love thinking about my stories, painting my stories, and researching my story ideas.

I also don’t mind writing them down, but that is work. I positively detest doing the editing. However, all three activities are part of writing. I never have to force myself to come up with story ideas or run them around in my head. It is hard some days though, to write them down. When I start a new novel I know generally where it’s going, but not the specifics. I have times when I get stuck. And like I said, to edit I have to really force the fingers to go.

But I make myself. When I decided writing was going to be my career I treated it as such. When I worked in corporate America I got up every day and went into work; some days I didn’t feel like it, physically or mentally, but I did it anyway. I do the same for writing.

If I’m truly stuck, I have a couple of tricks I use. I might tell myself if I can just get my character to the next place she needs to be I can stop. Most times when I start writing I keep going. Coffee is also a good motivator. :-) If I’m flat out devoid of ideas, there are other things I can do to forward my career; I can check my novels and stories that are at publishers and see how much longer I have to wait, I can send out a rejected story to someone else, I can research new markets, I can write in this blog.

That’s not why I’m writing today, though. Really.

The point is, some days I can write a whole chapter, some days I can’t, but every work day I do something to further my career. If being a published author is your job, that’s what you do, inspiration or not. You don’t want to ping-pong the other way and never leave your seat, but making yourself do something even if you don’t feel like it make you a…writer.

Characters

When I see the word “character” I think of two things: the characters in books, and meeting a “character” in real life, which conjures up a host of images for me: the nutty lady I met when we adopted our cat, the before mentioned vampiresque executives, or the creepy gas attendant I saw last week.

Characters are the meat of any story, even though I adore settings. I love to see a unique world built before my eyes. I can drown in it. And perhaps that is the best choice of words, because no matter how good the setting is, if the people in that world are bland, boring, or you don’t care about them, the best setting in the world can’t save the book.

People have asked me where I get ideas for the people in my books. Fans have said mine are very real. I think that’s because my characters many times start from a person I’ve met…often they are a blend of a couple, usually exaggerated, and sometimes I will gather bits of conversations and expand. And of course, there is always a bit of me in every one of my protagonists; I think this is true of any author.

Two things I’ve discovered that is important to keep in mind, one is don’t ever make the person TOO much like the real life model. Even though the likelihood is nil, you don’t want your mom reading a story and saying, dear…was this ME? Not good. The second thing I learned was that even odd people have personalities. And personalities are usually somewhat stable. Even unpredictable people are predictable in their unpredictability, if that makes sense.

So how to accomplish a certain stableness in my characters? Since my education is in psychology, I use the MBTI system of identifying personality. It’s one of many, I happen to like this one because it easy to understand and it allows for flexibility. Here is a good website if you’re interested in finding out more:

http://www.myersbriggs.org/

Here’s an example to how it would work. Say I “type” my main character as a ISTJ. That means usually she’s inwardly focused, has a matter-of-fact attitude, tends to stuff feelings and is uncomfortable with emotional outbreaks, and leads an ordered life. She may break away from this now and then, but if all of a sudden she starts hugging everyone and is late to every appointment, then I haven’t been true to her.

I had a good lesson in this in one of my early books. My protagonist had to make the choice between leaving her home forever with her man, or staying in a world she knew he could never survive in. I couldn’t bear to have to leave her family, so I had her whimp out and stay; NOT what I had established as who she was. My sister called me on this immediately; my heroine would NEVER do that. So I fixed it, and it read much better …it felt “real’ again.

In essence then, grab all the weird people you want and throw them into your stories, but do make sure they have an identifiable personality beyond the showy quirks. If you don’t, you’ll have a host of Pinocchoes; characters that try to be human but will never become real to your readers.

Spriggan