Category Archives: Writing
The Usual Chaos
Last winter, as a blizzard approached, we planned to stay inside, all nice and cozy, and write. (See How to Write a Book During a Blizzard for details of that fiasco.) Now, as Hurricane Irene nears, we have once again resolved to spend our time writing. This time, we had plenty of warning. We have already gone shopping, the lawn furniture is safely inside, batteries have been purchased, cell phones and laptops charged. Nothing left to do but plot, edit and write. Right?
Well, first we have to check our email because we won’t be able to do that once we lose power. And we’d better take a look at our Facebook page, too. Oh, look a new friend! And a few people have liked our new book trailer. Wait! That’s not the new one. Yes, it is. No, it’s not! Hmm. Maybe you’re right. We’d better upload the new one. (Upload, upload, upload, why is it taking so long?!)
Now Twitter. A bunch of new followers. Better follow back. Some mentions. (TY, TY, TY). A retweet! (TY!). Need to tweet about the new trailer. Hey, that’s a good one! Retweet! And some hurricane info. Retweet that, too. Start scrolling. Interesting… Yada, yada, yada, Hey, that one’s cool! Hmmm, let’s click on that link… Look, some new tweets have come in! Oops! Have we really been on for an hour?
Enough! We’re supposed to be writing. But wait! We haven’t written a blog this week! Can’t we just skip one week? Just once? No! (Horrified look.) Think of something. (Silence.) Well? (More silence.) Well… Umm… (Extended silence.) Are you sure we couldn’t just skip… NO!!
So here we sit writing a blog about how hard it is to find time to write. (Or how easy it is to be distracted from writing. Take your pick.) And now that we’ve finished, we are going to work on our next book.
Right after we take a nap.
Connecticut Authors Trail
We are very excited to have been invited to participate in the 3rd annual Connecticut Authors Trail. We will be appearing at the Sprague Public Library in Baltic, Connecticut on July 21st at 6:30pm.
The Connecticut Authors Trail consists of a consortium of Libraries in Eastern Connecticut who are constantly amazed at the variety of genres and diverse styles of writing among the authors who live in or are associated with the Nutmeg State. Beginning July 12th, 2011 in Franklin and ending September 22, 2011 at the Mohegan Sun, local authors will showcase their books and share their stories. Please join us on the 3rd Annual CAT.
Passports are available free at participating libraries throughout the summer as a guide to the author events. Have your passport stamped at each author event for a chance to qualify for an exclusive pre-program Meet & Greet in the Cabaret Theatre at the Mohegan Sun on Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 6:00 pm. If you can’t make the Trail during the summer you are invited to meet many of the authors from the Trail on Thursday, September when the doors to The Cabaret Theatre open at 6:30 pm. Then stay and join us for a fun-filled evening starting 7:00 pm.
Criticism, Lampposts and Dogs
“Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamppost what it feels about dogs.” (John Osborne, British Playwright)
We saw this quote recently and it made us wonder; how do others handle the flood of comments and critiques that our social-networked world now makes possible? So we went hunting for answers. Turns out everyone from the Ancient Greeks to Shania Twain has an opinion about criticism:
1. Criticism comes easier than craftsmanship. ~ Zeuxis (400 BC), from Pliny the Elder, Natural History
2. Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing ~ Aristotle (384BC -322BC)
3. Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do. ~ Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
4. Court not the critic’s smile nor dread his frown ~ Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
5. It is easier to be critical than correct. ~ Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)
6. After all, one knows one’s weak points so well, that it’s rather bewildering to have the critics overlook them and invent others. ~ Edith Wharton (1862 -1937)
7. Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic. Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
8. People ask for criticism, but they only want praise. ~ W. Somerset Maugham (1874 – 1965)
9. Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots. ~ Frank Howard Clark (1888-1962)
10. We are not trying to entertain the critics. I’ll take my chances with the public. ~ Walt Disney (1901-1966)
11. Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger. ~ Franklin P. Jones (1908-1980)
12. Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae. ~ Kurt Vonnegut (1922 – 2007)
13. If you have no critics you’ll likely have no success. ~ Malcolm X (1925-1965)
14. Don’t criticize what you can’t understand. ~ Bob Dylan (1941-)
15. I find that the very things that I get criticized for, which is usually being different and just doing my own thing and just being original, is the very thing that’s making me successful. ~ Shania Twain (1965-)
Genre Busting
Every book has a genre, right? Or perhaps not. Trying to describe the particular genre of a book these days is not as cut and dried as some may think or even want it to be. When is a mystery not a mystery? When it’s suspense. But aren’t mysteries by definition, full of suspense? And what if a mystery novel also has a romance? Then it’s romantic suspense. Throw in something supernatural? Paranormal fiction. Add some magic and set it in the present day. Urban fantasy. But what do you call a book that has mystery, romance, and a little magic? A paranormal urban fantasy suspense novel? Sheesh! Labeling can be taken too far!
Many folks want books to fit neatly into one major category, and we understand readers’ desires to find books in genres that they love. But good stories often have details that fall outside “the genre”. We love tales that include a little mystery, a little romance, a little adventure. Unexpected elements add interest and depth to a story. And if that means the book doesn’t fit neatly into one genre, so what? Most things that happen in life don’t fit neatly under one subject heading. Why should our books?
Of course, we know books must be classified in some way or searching for something to read could become very much like Indiana Jones searching for the Lost Ark. What we are applauding are writers who stretch the boundaries and take their particular genres for rides down new roads. Sure this may befuddle the people who love tidy labels, but the rest of us get the fun of enjoying stories that challenge our expectations.
Our book, Time’s Edge, is basically labeled sci-fi/fantasy. One review claimed it was pure fantasy, while someone else praised the book for being great science fiction. One called it a sci-fi romance, another a sci-fi/fantasy adventure. But several readers realized the book didn’t fit neatly into one particular genre. A recent review on Amazon said “I enjoy reading mystery books, science fiction books, fantasy books, and good ol’ fashioned shoot ’em ups. This book literally had all of these in there somewhere, plus a healthy dose of romance and, dare I say, lust thrown in for good measure.” Now this is our kind of reviewer. He understands that the line between genres has become blurred and what’s even better, he doesn’t seem to mind.
Don’t Panic! And Other Great Quotes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
We often get asked who our favorite authors are. And we can name many, many wonderful writers whose books we love. However, we are both are huge fans of author Douglas Adams of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fame. So, although towel day has passed, we have decided to pay our own tribute to Adams and The Guide. Here are our ten favorite quotes from The Hitchhiker’s series.
1. I’d rather be happy than right any day.
2. I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don’t know the answer.
3. I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
4. Right planet, wrong universe.
5. Distance is incomprehensible and therefore meaningless.
6. The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.
7. “My doctor says I have a malformed public duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fibre,” Ford muttered to himself, “and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes.”
8. She was mostly immensely relieved to think that virtually everything that anybody had told ever told her was wrong.
9. A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
10. It is known that there is an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the product of a deranged imagination.
Any other Hitchhiker fans out there? What are your favorites quotes from the Guide?
Whither Goest Publishing?
There have been arguments all over the Web (and off it!) about the future of publishing. Some believe printed books are dead. Others think ebooks are a fad. (Yes, we actually heard someone say this.) It was inevitable that, as authors, we would get asked our opinions about this burning question. And our reply?
We don’t know.
That’s right, we have no idea what direction publishing is going to take. Are print books dead? We don’t think so. Are ebooks a fad? Nope. But do we have to choose one over the other? We aren’t so sure about that.
Let’s face it. Technology changes so quickly that discussing traditional formats vs. ebooks seems silly. Who knows what will be available ten years from now. And fifty years out is even more vague. We’ve read many of the predictions about publishing and are frankly amazed that so many seem so sure about something so nebulous.
Our first novel, Time’s Edge, is available in ebook and printed formats. Yes, the ebook is out-selling the paperback version, but we’re willing to bet price is the deciding factor. (The ebook is $3.99 and the paperback is $9.99.) Everyone loves a bargain.
We wish we could get into a space ship and time travel as the characters in our book do. However, we are stuck with today. And since that is all anyone has anyway, arguing about the direction the future is going to take seems unnecessary. If pressed on the subject, we’re willing to say that new ways of sharing information and emerging technologies are going to change the publishing field in ways no one is even considering.
It’s an interesting intellectual exercise. But that’s all it is. The important point is to stay current and to be open to new ideas and adaptable to new technologies. However, if any one does have a time-traveling space ship, let us know!
Never Moon an Editor
If you ever want a good laugh get a bunch of authors together to talk about rejection letters. Over the past few weeks we have encountered other authors at various functions and heard rejection stories so silly, we just have to share them.
One author related that an editor told her that the genre her book fell into was saturated. We giggled when we heard this. Did it mean the genre needed no more books? Was it simply too full? Did he honestly believe that no one anywhere, ever would buy another book in this genre? For that matter, we wondered just how full does a genre have to be before it is considered saturated? How many titles? And just who decides that a genre can hold no more?
And then there was the author who spoke on the phone to an editor who ripped the author’s book to pieces. It was too long, it was badly written, the plot was weak, it was simply the worst mystery story ever written. The author was puzzled. He had submitted a fantasy story.
Another author, who happened to be attending a book conference, was told during the course of the day by various editors that his book was too long, too short, too edgy, not edgy enough, too dark, too light, too slow, too fast-paced, not original enough, and (you guessed it), so different that it defied genres and would, in consequence, be too hard to sell. Apparently, that plain old genre known as “fiction” wasn’t good enough.
We, too, have had our share of silly rejections, but the best was the editor who read three pages of our book and encountered a description of a planet that had two moons. He immediately ceased reading and wrote us a letter stating that he NEVER published books with planets that had two moons. As soon as he saw the two moons, he knew he would dislike the rest of the story. To this day, we fondly relate this tale as the time an editor rejected us because we mooned him.
13 Pieces of Advice for Writers
A couple of blogs ago, we asked, “Why do writers write?”. During our search for the answer, we accumulated other bits of wisdom from authors past and present. Here’s a sampling of advice that falls under the “how-to-write” category.
1. There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein. ~Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith
2. I try to leave out the parts that people skip. ~Elmore Leonard
3. Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very;” your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be. ~Mark Twain
4. Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth
5. The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~Mark Twain
6. Be obscure clearly. ~E.B. White
7. …a writer is working when he’s staring out of the window. ~Burton Rascoe
8. The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes. ~Agatha Christie
9. Write your first draft with your heart. Re-write with your head. ~From the movie Finding Forrester
10. The best style is the style you don’t notice. ~Somerset Maugham
11. I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter. ~James Michener
12. Don’t get it right, just get it written. ~James Thurber
13. There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. ~W. Somerset Maugham
Why Do Writers Write? 16 Reasons.
We often get asked, “Why do you write?” The question seems simple but the answer isn’t. It made us curious about what other authors had to say on the subject.
1. Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted. ~Jules Renard
2. Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia. ~E.L. Doctorow
3. Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say. ~Sharon O’Brien
4. If I don’t write to empty my mind, I go mad. ~Lord Byron
5. The good writing of any age has always been the product of someone’s neurosis, and we’d have a mighty dull literature if all the writers that came along were a bunch of happy chuckleheads. ~William Styron
6. Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand. ~George Orwell
7. Books want to be born: I never make them. They come to me and insist on being written, and on being such and such. ~Samuel Butler
8. I want to write books that unlock the traffic jam in everybody’s head. ~John Updike
9. I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear. ~Joan Didion
10. My stories run up and bite me on the leg-I respond by writing down everything that goes on during the bite. When I finish, the idea lets go and runs off. ~Ray Bradbury
11. Writing is one of the few professions in which you can psychoanalyse yourself, get rid of hostilities and frustrations in public, and get paid for it. ~Octavia Butler
12. Writing is the supreme solace. ~W. Somerset Maugham
13. Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation. ~Graham Greene
14. The easy answer is that writing novels is a lot more fun than practicing law. ~
Jeffery Deaver
15. The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can’t help it. ~Leo Rosten
16. Why do writers write? Because it isn’t there. ~Thomas Berger
If anyone knows the answer to this age old question, let us know.
The Seven Stages of Writing
1. Inspiration. You have a great idea for a book. You love it. You know everyone else will love it, too. You can’t wait to start writing. You begin to make notes. On your brown lunch bag. On napkins. On little sticky notes.
2. Frenzy. You start writing. Every spare moment, you’re at the computer. The words are flowing so freely, you can’t type fast enough. You write anywhere, any time you can. On your brown lunch bag. On napkins. On little sticky notes.
3. Doubt. The plot isn’t turning out exactly the way you thought it would. (Where is that sticky note with the great plot twist…?) The characters are, perhaps, not quite right. Maybe the pacing is too slow? Perhaps the ending is a bit predictable? Perhaps… maybe…
4. Anger. Oh, crap. This plot problem is insurmountable. You can’t figure out how to end the chapter you are working on. You’re over your word count. Your characters just aren’t behaving. Your sticky notes are wadded into a giant sticky note ball. Banging your head on the desk doesn’t help.
5. Exhaustion. You feel this damn book will never be finished. You type grimly with fingers made of lead. Each word is drawn slowly and painfully from your beleaguered brain. You know you will never have another creative idea as long as you live. The sticky note ball is in the trash.
6. Acceptance. It’s done. You sigh with the relief of a mother who has just given birth. You even retrieve the sticky note ball from the trash and untangle the pages. After all, you never know. You drift off peacefully to sleep. And dream…
7. Déjà vu. See stage one.
J.M. Dattilo 