What We Write About When We Write

What we write about when we write.

Please, please take the time to read this wonderful article (click the link above). It explores the agony of creation, the search for the perfect telling of the story, the revisiting of person, place and thing for the sake of getting it right.

Once I concluded my reading of it, I was revived to write. I realized that the wall I am hitting in my work is simply a part of the greater process. Now I embrace the wall, wrapping my arms around it, pressing my chest against its coolness, smelling the stale scents trapped in the paint. By entangling my essence with what stops my writing, I change both the obstacle and my response to it.

Positioning Yourself in Your Market

A few days ago I read a great quote from a financial web site that has great relevance for writers who intend to sell their work in the open market. If you plan to be commercial, then spend a few minutes thinking how these words apply to you.

Rick Rule, founder and CEO of Global Resource Investments said:

The trick is not to be right all the time; it’s to be right more often than you’re wrong. And to position yourself ahead of trends that are unstoppable, then to wait for the market to come to you.

To me the perfect example of positioning is the Harry Potter series. The interest in things supernatural or fantastic started snowballing with author Anne Rice’s series about the vampire Lestat. The stories of Harry Potter and the associated witches and warlocks populating his adventures were positioned to surf the trend.

Positioning doesn’t discount the need for writing a good tale. Rather it suggests ways to determine which tales to tell to achieve commercial success.

Outstanding Resource: How to Plot

Author Timothy Hallinan introduces a new book, written by TWENTY-ONE different crime storytellers, sharing how they plot their stories. The book is called MAKING STORY: TWENTY-ONE WRITERS ON HOW THEY PLOT.

Read more about the book, and comments by readers, here:

http://www.timothyhallinan.com/blog/

Quote from Stadler Style

We cannot create a risk simply for shock value, just so that we can say that we have taken risks. We would probably end up having fickle characters and ridiculous plot lines.

A Date to Write — Update

In case anyone from the old Dream Station: I Want To Be a Writer blog has moved with me from Blogger.com to the WordPress world, then this is an update. If you are new to my raves, rants, and musings, then ignore the word “update” in the title.

To recap, I belong to a local writers’ group, which formed a few months ago to support the writing habit of its members. One benefit of membership is a semi-monthly date to write at the local library. Members gather in a quiet room for up to three hours of uninterrupted write time. It is an imposed discipline for those who find it hard to make time to write.

Since I am one of those persons, I love my dates to write. I have attended three sessions, averaging 750 words per session. That is good output for me.

Last Friday was the most recent  date. I produced 800 words. So my output is on the rise. I went to the session not sure where my scene was going. Nevertheless I made myself behave as a professional, ignored my doubts, and got to work. The result speaks for itself.

Since the industry standard is 80,000 words for a murder mystery, I need the equivalent of 100 dates to get the book finished. It’s a tactic that works for me.