Tag Archive for: writing

An Hour in the Life of a Writer

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By Kimberly Jayne

I’ve just had an incredible idea. Instead of my characters discussing whether an old prophecy is true, my protagonist is going to give them proof! Oh wow, this is so good. No, not good. Phenomenal!

Fingers poised over the keyboard, imagining the firestorm about to ignite. Bwaa-ah-ah! [rubs hands] 

They’re not going to see this coming. Head is exploding with visions of giddy readers whisking through pages to see what happens next.

Where to start. The sanctuary? Yeah yeah, that’s a great setting. Creepy, dark, ominous. Who’s in the scene? The entire coterie? Or a private meeting? This is “big splash” time—the mob it is.

Only I can write this scene! [cracks knuckles]

Must get coffee to fuel the next hour of writerly genius. Happy dance like nobody’s watching.

Ooof! Ottoman! I meant to do that.

Barista machinations. Stretch left, then right while staring off, dreaming of Viking River Cruise. And lunch.

Oy. Forgot to do dishes. You know how you love a spotless kitchen, princess. Bet you’re done by the time the fragrant black nectar of the gods is ready.

Winning! Coffeemaker is dribbling with all the vigor of an eyedropper.

D’oh! Buzzer. Go change the load. Bet you can beat feet back here before the jug-o-joy is yours for the slurping. Hurry, before wrinkles set in.

Oh, jeez, the poor cat is starving. Ate her morning portion already. She deserves a treat. Heeeere, kitty kitty. Where are you? Oh, sorry, did I wake you? Give mama a hug. Look what I got for you.

Did I just rub my eyes? Must wash out so baby blues don’t look like puffer fishes.

Yikes! Girlfriend, drag a brush through that hair. What the hell? Marionette lines?

Coffee is probably cold by now.

Yup. Nuke event #1. World’s most annoying microwave beeper.

[Sip] Tongue fry!

Creamer for cooling? That creamer has sugar. Like, 7 grams. But it’s almond cream. Caramel. Your favorite. Look how bloated you are already. You need to get to the gym. Later. Or next week. Is it March already? How long has this stuff been in here anyway? [sniff, shrug] Just a splash. Oops. That was way more than 7 grams.

Ouch! What was that? I should sweep one day soon.

Butt in chair, butt in chair, butt in chair.

Yes, ma’am! Fingers psyched to move like lightning in World’s Most Creative Writing Session.

[slurp] Yum. No guilt now.

Where was I? Headed to the sanctuary? Yeah yeah. Making them do something epic…

Oops! Eagle eye has spotted a typo. Hmm, should that be a gerund? Oh, there’s another one. Is that an appositive? Now, there’s a good sentence for ya. Is it lay or lie?

Oh yeah. Sanctuary. Lotsa people. Prophecy revealed.

[slurp]

Nuke event #2.

[bouncy cell ring]

Hey there! Oh, yeah yeah, writing like a banshee. What’s your last hour of writing been like?

________________ 
Kimberly Jayne writes in multiple genres including humor, romantic comedy, suspense, erotica, and dark fantasy. Her latest foray into a dark fantasy released in episodes is as much an adventure as the writing itself. You can check her out on Amazon. 


In addition to writing for the Stiletto Gang on the first Monday of the month, you can find her blogging about the writer’s life at ReadKimberly and on her usually irreverent sister blog, Fragrant Liar, where she prattles candidly about life as a reluctant midlifer in these modern times.

Writing for Real(ism)

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by Bethany Maines
My brother and his wife recently sent out some new baby
pictures and an update on how  they’re
doing.  With the baby at 10 weeks old
they are getting approximately 5-7 hours of sleep and they declared it “luxurious”.  Oh, I remember those days! If you read my
post on Mom’s vs. Navy Seals “Hell What Now?” you know that I’m sympathetic to
the trials of sleep deprivation.  But now
that I’m a bit more on the other side (next stop – terrible two’s!), I’m
intrigued by the idea of how I can apply this knowledge to my characters.
Writers are told to add physical characteristics to their
characters and bring realism to the fictional world.  And I think all writers enjoy building a
character dossier – eyes, hair, height, tattoos.  But I think until I had my child it didn’t
occur to me to build in the psychological effects of physical changes and
stresses.  When one gains weight, there
are changes such as bumping into things you didn’t used to (I swear I didn’t whack
my baby belly with the car door more than 8 or 12 times).  With weight loss people can find themselves
turning sideways to go through doorways that fit them just fine.  And what about memory and focus problems that
come with hormonal changes, sleep deprivation, or trauma? And as if these very
physical realities weren’t enough, I think I should be asking not only “How
does my character deal with this physical limitation or stress?” But also “What
does my character feel about their reaction?” 

Now I just have to figure out how to write all that around a
dead body,  3 – 10 suspects, and a three
act structure and I’m sure I’ll have a best seller on my hands.
Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie
Mae Mysteries, Tales from the City of
Destiny and An Unseen Current.
 You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video
or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

A Villain’s Voice

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by Jennae Phillippe

For my inaugural blog on The Stiletto Gang, I wanted to make a good first impression. And then I found out on the day I was going to post my first ever Stiletto blog that I had read the instructions wrong (mixing up AM and PM in the time I was supposed to post) and that I had already messed things up.

So much for good impressions.
I’m going to go ahead and blame this on the fact that lately I have been writing a lot of villains. 
In fact, I have been writing them in first person, which means I have been spending a lot of time trying to sound, well, horrible. And it has been surprisingly easy. 
See, here’s the thing —  your classic villain has really simple wants and desires. There really isn’t too much to complicate wanting to take over the world, or on a smaller scale, take all the power. They have a very clear idea of where they are in the universe — they are the ones who get what they want (or should, and will go to any lengths to do so). Heroes often have to be coaxed into action through some sort of inciting incident, but a villain is very self motivated. 
Your typical bad guy has it all planned out and knows exactly what they want to do next. In fact, taking advice from a writing teacher from undergrad, I often think of stories from the villain’s perspective first, since they usually have the more elaborate plans than the heroes do. After all, they are the ones that take the actions that the heroes have to respond to.
Finally, villains get to be, well, funny. And mean. This is where sometimes I feel like maybe I am a horrible person, because getting into the head space of a terrible person and letting all that pent up anger and frustration out just feels so…good. 
There is a reason why many actors say that playing bad guys is more fun. It’s cathartic to get in touch with your own dark side. The more evil the villain, the easier it is to slide into that space for me, to contemplate a world where my character is at the center of it and doesn’t have to think about anyone else. There is no grey area, only clear black and white, a necessary oversimplification that lets my character feel free to to the horrible things he or she does. I believe it was Jeremy Irons who said that the trick to playing bad guys is that they never actually think of themselves as bad — they are always the heroes in their own stories. They are just heroes with most, if not all, the moral ambiguity stripped away. 
As much fun as it can be to slip inside the head of a true bad guy, the best part about writing villains is that eventually I get to make sure they get what they deserve. Maybe that is where the true catharsis comes in, finding a way to create some small measure of justice in a fictional world, when so often it seems to be lacking in the real world. So, here’s to all the great villains: may they get what they have coming to them. 

Equal Rights for Positives

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by Bethany Maines

A funny thing happens when you read your own reviews – you start
thinking about them. 
I’m about a month away from completing the manuscript for Glossed Cause, the fourth book in the
Carrie Mae Mystery Series, and I made the mistake of checking out a few of the
reviews on High-Caliber
Concealer (CM #3).  I knew it was
a bad idea.  It’s always a bad idea.  What happens when I get to a bad one,
hmmm?  It’s not like I can look the
reviewer up, knock on their door and explain how monumentally wrong they
are.  But you think, “I’ll just look at
the good ones.  Just one.  I can stop there.”
You know this a total lie, right? Reviews are like Pringles
for the eyes.  Like I can stop with just
one.  I open up Amazon, I’m looking and…
then I read this: “If you enjoy reading about
Stephanie Plum, you’ll love Nicki! Maines is getting better with each book.”

And I thought, “Hell, yeah!”
<insert fist pump here>

Just one?  But I have popped – I cannot stop. I should
read more! 

Eventually, of course, I got
to one with a complaint. I’d spent too much time on Nikki’s personal life. Gah!
But, but, but… Glossed Cause is about
her FATHER (among other things).  What do
I dooooooo????

Now I’m stuck staring at the screen, half way through the
book, trying to figure out if I should turn the ship or stay the course.  “Stay the course!” my internal editor
yells.  But it’s hard to hear over the
crashing waves of doubt. 
I was complaining a negative comment on another project to
my husband he said, “Well, I think it was awesome and my vote counts more.”  <insert lightbulb going on here>

Why do the negatives get more votes?  Shouldn’t the positives get equal
rights?  Here’s what I and anyone else
who is stuck in this trap are going to do: 
We’re going to go back, we’re going to read the first positive review,
and we’re going to believe that one.  Because
Maines really is getting better with
every book.

There’s a Double Meaning in That

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by Bethany Maines

In Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice and Benedick, the worst of rivals,
are set up by their friends to fall in love. 
So that by Act 2, Scene 3, when Beatrice says, “Against my will I am
sent to bid you come into dinner,”  Benedick
believes that Beatrice is madly in love with him, while Beatrice believes him to be an ass.  After she exits, he says in all smugness, “Ha!
Against my will I am sent to bid you come
in to dinner. There’s a double meaning in that.”
Someone I know once asked an
English teacher how he knew the author intended the symbolism the teacher was
accusing him of.  The teacher replied, “It
doesn’t matter.”  As an author this makes
me want to poke him in the eye just a little bit.  But in the end he’s right; stories mean something
to a reader independent of the writer’s intentions.  Each reader brings their own experiences to a
book and a writer can’t predict them.  So
how can an author prevent his readers from pulling a Benedick and seeing double
meanings where none are intended? 
It’s a very secret and advanced
technique called (wait for it): educated guessing.  And good beta readers.  As an author I try to learn about other
points of view, so that I can write stronger more realistic characters and then
I rely on my writers group to read through a piece and throw up flags around
text that might unintentionally carry a subtext that’s either offensive or
poorly thought out.  It’s hard to think
that something I’ve written could be construed as offensive, because after all,
I am I and I’m awesome and I have only the best of intentions.  But we all have prejudices or periodically spout
unexamined notions that have been fed to us by society. 

An easy example is “pink is only
for girls”.  This statement is both
observationally false (been to the mall lately?), and historically inaccurate (pink
used to be a boys color). Color is a product of light bouncing off a
surface or being absorbed (we see the portion of the spectrum bounced back);
any deeper meaning has been assigned to a color by humanity. So unless my
character is a sexist and I need him or her to say total nonsense about gender
roles, I probably shouldn’t write that and a good beta reader should flag it as
a problem.  With any luck I can keep the
unintentional double meanings to a minimum.  I don’t want to be a Benedick.
Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie
Mae Mysteries, Tales from the City of
Destiny and An Unseen Current.
 You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video
or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Everybody Rotate

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by Bethany Maines

It’s almost time to change the art in my office.  I’ve had the same art since I moved in five
years ago and it’s now covered in layers of other art.   It’s time to relocate, re-shuffle and change
up.  Maybe you are not one of the people
who feels that deep need to redecorate periodically, but I happen to have it in
my genes.  Returning home to find my
mother peeling wallpaper was cause for eyerolling, but not surprise.  It works both ways though.  On more than one occasion in my teen years I
decided to re-arrange my bedroom after midnight.  My mother never once questioned these
decisions.  Because she fully understands
that sometimes life would just be better if the furniture were NOT where it is
right now. 
These are also good occasions for spring cleaning and
decluttering.  Someone once said that
clutter items are just decisions you didn’t make.  If you had decided where that item needed to
go, it wouldn’t be lingering there on the desk or kitchen table.  Although, I suspect that the person who
originated that idea never had children. 
Because the garbage can is not lingering on top my desk; it’s hiding
from my toddler.
The problem with decluttering art, is that I’m either
removing my own work or the work of an artist I admire.  It’s unfortunate, but apparently, I cannot
have ALL the art, ALL the time.  I’m not
a Getty.  I don’t get to have my own
museum.  This makes me infinitely sad.  My perfect house would probably look like a
library mated with the Guggenheim and married the Orsay.  Unfortunately my current house looks more
like the product of a library and a 1910 bungalow who married a carpenter in
the 1950’s. Which means we have books in piles and art in piles and we had to
remove the weird scalloped molding over the sink when we moved in.

So some art will have to go back in the closet and some new
pieces will have to get matted for display. 
And then, maybe, I can get back to writing.  
Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie
Mae Mysteries, Tales from the City of
Destiny and An Unseen Current.
 You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video
or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Judo-Write!

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by Bethany Maines

I was thinking this morning about how much writing is like
karate.  Actually, to be perfectly
honest, everything is like karate. You’re laughing right now.  I can hear it all the way through the
internet. (Although, that might be the photo.)
While teaching karate I occasionally make such lofty
statements, and my students laugh too. They refer to those as their “sensei-ism
of the day.” The philosophy of karate is to bring the body and the mind into
harmony and to learn to be aware of not only what the body is doing, but what
it is not doing.  The problem with that
kind of talk is that it sounds like a lot of wishy-washy, new age gibberish to
a lot of people. But if we think about it in an applied way, we can see that it
makes sense. Simply putting your body through a work out (though beneficial) is
not as effective as practicing with intention, awareness, and a plan for future.
Writing is the same way. Some writing, any writing is better
than no writing in the same way that taking the stairs is better than
absolutely no exercise for the rest of the day. But it isn’t an actual work
out. If you simply type some crap up without any thought about plot
development, theme, or structure you end up with a mish-mash of nonsense that
only your relatives will want to read.
When you practice writing with the goal of keeping to one
point of view or developing theme through word choice you become aware of those
techniques in other writers and in your own writing. These exercises aren’t rules
being forced down my throat; that is me choosing to pursue a goal as an
exercise. And this philosophy can expand to any other pursuit.

So, dear readers, your sensei-ism of the day is: whatever
your passion, practice it with intention and perseverance.  And life is like karate. Now go have an crane
stance-ing, waxing on, awesome type of day.
Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie
Mae Mysteries, Tales from the City of
Destiny and An Unseen Current.
 You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video
or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Water and Writing by Debra H. Goldstein

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Water and Writing by Debra H. Goldstein

Why do I write better when I can sit and stare at a beach or lake? What is it about the twinkle of the sun reflecting off water that immediately slows my breathing and empties my mind of worrisome demanding thoughts? Why does a storm’s swirling whitecaps or a boat’s wake sometimes disturb me while at other times energize me?

I don’t know.

I’m writing this from a patio staring at the bay during the last moments of a trip to San Diego. My handwriting is all over the page because other than occasionally glancing down to see where my pen is striking, my eyes are glued to the view. I note a few umbrellas stuck in the sand, tied paddleboats and kayaks bobbing from a pier waiting to be rented, and an occasional cyclist or walker dotting the beach, but mostly I look to where the water and horizon blend.

There are ripples reflecting constant motion, but unlike the ocean side, there are no waves. Light

shimmers across the surface except in dark pockets near the shoreline. Rocks below the surface? Packed sand?

The water is like my writing style. Parts are dazzling, bright, sparkling and wonderful while others
deep and dark. When I look at these competing parts of the water, I marvel at its completeness. And, like the water, I realize the highs and lows of writing are what make me whole.

Not all of writing is perfect. Far from it. The techniques and word choices are often lacking, but the combination of them creates something new every moment.

Being near water energizes and nourishes me – as does my writing. I can’t live without either. Can you?

The 4 Question Interview

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Today Bethany Maines uses her blog space to interview first time novelist J.M. Phillippe about her debut novel Perfect Likeness.


Bethany Maines, a native of Tacoma WA, is the author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, and Tales From the City of Destiny. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found chasing after her daughter, or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video
or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

J.M. Phillippe has lived in the deserts of California, the suburbs of Seattle, and the mad rush of New York City.  She worked as a freelance journalist before earning a masters’ in social work.  She works as a family therapist in Brooklyn, New York and spends her free-time decorating her tiny apartment to her cat Oscar Wilde’s liking, drinking cider at her favorite British-style pub, and training to be the next Karate Kid, one wax-on at a time.  You can follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

Q1: J.M. Phillippe tells us a little about your book!

A1: My book is about a woman who is not super happy with her everyday life, so she creates a fantasy version of herself and goes off on adventures in her head. But then one day, the fantasy version of herself becomes real — and begins to haunt her. I really wanted to tap into the feeling a lot of people have of not feeling like who they are and the life they live is “good enough.” What would happen if that little voice in your head stepped out of your head and started talking to you as an actual being?

Q2: As a mystery / adventure writer I was intrigued because I felt that the core of Perfect Likeness was Ally’s unraveling the mystery of what was wrong with her, but the book isn’t a traditional mystery. Have you ever written mysteries or were you inspired by mystery novels?
A2: I love mystery novels and have been reading them since I was a kid. My aunt gave me a complete set of Agatha Christie books and that’s what really started it for me. I particularly like mysteries with strong characters and dark themes, like the Dashiell Hammet books or Elmore Leonard books. But I also love a good sense of humor with my mystery like the Janet Evanovich books. I think ultimately every book has a question it poses, and tries to answer, and there is an element of mystery in more books than people realize. Even the Harry Potter series — every book has a different mystery to solve, but it’s not seen as a “mystery series.” But you also can’t beat a classic “whodunit”.

Q3: What is your number one tip for writing?
A3:The number one tip I can give other writers is to not listen to any voice in — or outside — your head telling you that you’re not good enough, or what you are writing is not good enough. Embrace the drafting process and get something completed before you judge it — and then revise, revise, revise.

Q4: What are book are you working on next?
A4: I am actually working on a sort of zombie story, which is very different than Perfect Likeness, although I’m interested in exploring many of the same themes. It’s called “Infected” and is about a woman who is attacked — and doesn’t get away. I’m really enjoying writing the action scenes.

Me Time

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by Bethany Maines

The problem with releasing books on a schedule is that now
I’m writing on a schedule. But you know, not actually. Because actually writing
would require me to solve the plot problem that I’m stuck at, stop this
blogging nonsense and get back to writing the novel, for work to stop coming
along like a freight train, and for my family to stop wanting to see me. Except
for the plot issue, none of that seems likely to happen.  How do you write when life is full of
time constraints?
I have one author/mom friend who stole an hour to go write
at the library only to discover it was closed and instead of going home again,
she sat in the parking lot and sucked their wi-fi and worked on her
laptop.  And I’m typing this from
the couch as I woke up an hour early to sneak time to write before the wee
monster (aka the lawn ornament aka Salazar the Destroyer aka Zoe) wakes up.
Writing was so much easier when I was single and living in my parents upstairs.
I would sneak down, get food, and retreat to my computer to make up an excitingworld about a girl who becomes a spy when she can’t find a job in her chosen field.  Not that anyone ever had
that daydream.  Ahem.  Moving on. 

My point is, I may be a happier, more well-rounded
individual with family and what not, but all those pleasant mental-health
balancing things suck up time (with little adorable faces). Now writing is
something that I have to fight for. 
It’s a new and somewhat uncomfortable position to be in, because writing
was always something that I did for me. But now “me things” are taking up time
where family and friends and work things also need time. It’s hard to find the
right mix and it’s almost impossible to keep everyone happy.  But I still keep trying because I think
that me things are what make me who I am. 
Now if only me could come up with a solution to that stupid plot
problem…
Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, Tales from the City of Destiny and An Unseen Current.  You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video
or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.