Writer’s Life
After the End, Begin
I finally came up with the perfect first line for the book I am writing. Why is this news? Because I have already written the entire book.
First lines, to me, are vital. Coming from a short-fiction background, I think first lines and first paragraphs are invaluable tools. They are the writer’s promise to the reader. They set the tone, hint at the kind of story that is about to follow, and hopefully start off the writer-reader dance without stepping on anyone’s toes.
I love it when the perfect first line falls off my fingertips. But when the deadline’s tight and the most important thing for me to do is Get Words On The Page, I don’t worry if I’ve nailed the first line or not. I try out maybe three or four first lines and just go with the one that is close to what I want. I know I will change it or replace it later, after the book is finished.
Of all the skills I learned from writing short fiction, I find myself relying on three things heavily when I write novels:
1. Being unafraid to edit, brutally.
2. Being unafraid to mess with an idea until I find a little-used take on it.
3. Being unafraid to revise, rework, or re-genre a story, and still keep the core idea, characters, and emotions intact.
Basically, short fiction taught me to be cool with edits, love revisions, and be open to messing with my ideas. It taught me to risk and gamble and not fear loss.
When someone told me that I needed to learn how to write short fiction because it would teach me how to write a novel, I thought they meant it would give me the world-building, outlining, plotting, pacing and composition skills that would be vital to novel writing. Nope. What it gave me was a sense of confidence in the face of change.
Very few writers publish the raw first draft of their novels. I actually don’t know any writers who do that, but hey, maybe someone does. Most writers go over their work at least once to catch inconsistencies, echoed phrases, or just to spiff it up a bit. Some writers do this line-by-line during the first draft process, others do it as a second-pass revision process. Some writers have beta readers, critique groups, editors, and copy editors who point out the confusing bits or sections that could use a little more attention.
We all go over our work at least once. We all change it. We all know it takes a certain amount of effort to make changes (some changes take more effort or time than others). Why not go toward those changes (and that effort) confidently? After all, if we don’t like the revision, we can go back to the previous version of the work. There is no loss here, there is only change. And through change we often gain improvement.
So when I finished the very raw, very rough draft of my book, I found myself back at the beginning, staring at the even rougher first sentence. However, now that I had the whole book on paper, I knew exactly what kind of promise I wanted to make to the reader. I knew the tone the book needed to hint at, the rhythm of the dance the reader and I would be taking together. Once I had finished the book, I knew where to begin.
And so I did.
Crazy Monkeybrain Crack Dust, AKA, Writer’s Ideas
Well, hello. It’s Wednesday again. First, two announcements!
Yes, this is espresso and Bailey’s in a mug that says “I am going to hex your face off.” After I Tweeted that picture, I was snowed-under with queries about where to buy said mug. I got mine in 2006 from a CafePress shop (the shop’s owner was “lalejandra2″) that has now gone under. At least, I can’t find it. Which led to me putting a version of the mug up in my own shop, with no markup. (Because I feel incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of a profit, however tiny, from it.) It goes without saying that if I find the original seller, I’ll change the links and direct everyone there. But I’ve dug and dug, and can’t find her.
Announcement #2 is kind of vague. Remember that zombie-hunting cowboy trunk novel I was working on? The one I was just delighted with, and was sure would never sell? Well…paint me lilac and call me Conrad, it sold. I can’t give any details, but I can say that I’m sort of…bowled over.
Now that’s taken care of, let’s talk about ideas. (WARNING: I am foulmouthed today. Read at your own risk.)
THE DAMES DISPATCH January 2012
Welcome to our first
Dame News Day!
A Short Collection of Dame Tidbits and Happenings
If you like this post and would like to see us do a monthly or quarterly update, please let us know in the comments. Oh, and if you have ideas for things you’d like us to include in the news, we’d love to hear that too!
RECENTLY FINISHED
Keri Arthur: I’ve just finished the copy edits on DARKNESS DEVOURS, the 3rd Dark Angels book.
Jenna Black: I’ve just finished writing the first draft of REPLICA, my next YA novel.
Rinda Elliott: I’ve just finished writing the proposal for new project.
Jackie Kessler: I’ve recently finished writing the Sekrit Project, which I can’t say any more about. But I hope I can soon!
Karen Mahoney: I’ve just finished the first draft of THE STONE DEMON (3rd and final book of THE IRON WITCH trilogy).
Devon Monk: I just finished revisions on TIN SWIFT, book two in my steampunk series, and the really, really, oh-so-rough draft of MAGIC FOR A PRICE.
Lilith Saintcrow: I just recently finished writing a zombie-killing cowboy trunk novel.
Rachel Vincent: I’ve just finished page proofs on BEFORE I WAKE, the sixth Soul Screamers novel.
ON THE DESK NOW
Toni Andrews: I’m currently writing a long-awaited book to follow up on the Mercy Hollings series.
Keri Arthur: I’m currently reworking an old project called WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE. It’s a little different from my usual stuff–more humorous, and features elves, trolls, ogres, dwarves and sirens.
Rinda Elliott: I’m currently writing CATALYST, the 3rd novella in The Kithran Regenesis series for Samhain.
Jackie Kessler: I’m currently writing BREATH, which is due March 31. (Gulp.)
Karen Mahoney: I have 3 weeks left to revise FALLING TO ASH (first book in my YA vampire thriller about Moth).
Devon Monk: I’m currently polishing the draft of the ninth Allie Beckstrom book: MAGIC FOR A PRICE.
Lilith Saintcrow: I’m currently writing the second Bannon & Clare book, THE RED PLAGUE AFFAIR.
Rachel Vincent: I’m currently writing OATH BOUND, the third and final book in the Unbound trilogy.
UP NEXT
Keri Arthur: DARKNESS DEVOURS, the 3rd Dark Angels book, comes out in July.
Jenna Black: My book DEADLY DESCENDANT is out in less than 3 months (April 24)
Rinda Elliott: My novella, REPLICANT, is out in March-hopefully. (See snippet of REPLICANT below)
Jackie Kessler: My book LOSS is out in 7 weeks, and I’m not at all terrified. I’m also lying. 
(See snippet of LOSS below) I’m doing a LOSS blog tour in March. Will be giving away LOSS cover posters!
Karen Mahoney: THE WOOD QUEEN (Iron Witch book 2) is released… this month! It sort of snuck up on me. 2nd Feb in the UK and 8th Februay in the US. Look out for giveaways around the interwebs – keep an eye on my personal blog for links to those. I’ll be doing a biggie at The Book Smugglers very soon.
Devon Monk: MAGIC WITHOUT MERCY, book 8 in the Allie Beckstrom series, comes out April 3rd.
Lilith Saintcrow: THE BANDIT KING, the sequel to THE HEDGEWITCH QUEEN comes out June 1st.
Rachel Vincent: SHADOW BOUND is four months from release, and I’ll be posting a sizable excerpt this month!
READING
Keri Arthur: I’m currently listening to the audio book of Matthew Reilly’s SCARECROW AND THE ARMY OF THIEVES (and loving every mad minute of it)
Jenna Black: I’m reading # 3 of my 8 RITA books (i.e., books I am judging for RWA’s RITA contest); I’d tell you the title, but then I’d have to kill you.
Rinda Elliott: I am reading PRINCE OF AIR AND DARKNESS by Jenna Black.
Jackie Kessler: I’m reading an ARC of Heather Brewer’s SOULBOUND, the first book in the Legacy of Tril. Fabulous!
Karen Mahoney: I have just started reading VANISHED by Kat Richardson. It’s the 4th in her Greywalker series (I’m two or three books behind) and I’m loving it already – in this one Harper Blaine goes to London!
Devon Monk: I’m reading an annotated collection of fairytales by Hans Christian Anderson, some Grimm tales, and also THE WHITE ROAD by Lynn Flewelling.
Lilith Saintcrow: I’m reading a lot about Victorian London and Jack the Ripper, as well as about bubonic plague and epidemics.
Rachel Vincent: I just finished reading: CATCHING FIRE and MOCKING JAY by Suzanne Collins.
WATCHING
Keri Arthur: I just ordered the second season of JUSTIFIED from Amazon US and SHERLOCK season 2 from Amazon UK and I’m anxiously waiting the arrival of both!
Jenna Black: I’m watching JUSTIFIED and DEADWOOD, because I’m on a Timonthy Olyphant kick.
Rinda Elliott: I’m watching LOST GIRL, SHAMELESS, and HOUSE OF LIES.
Jackie Kessler: I recently watched the UK version of BEING HUMAN. John Mitchell makes Angelus look like a pansy.
Karen Mahoney: I’m currently watching THE VAMPIRE DIARIES; it’s the third series and I am still really enjoying it. There was no episode last week, though. Boo! I’m also looking forward to the return of THE WALKING DEAD.
Devon Monk: I’ve caught up on all the HAVEN episodes (love!) and am watching DOWNTON ABBEY, BEING HUMAN (UK), and ARCHER.
Lilith Saintcrow: I haven’t had a chance to watch a movie in a very long time, but when I get one, I plan on watching COWBOYS & ALIENS.
LIFE AND OTHER DELIGHTS
Toni Andrews: I am teaching an online class in deep Point of View.
Jenna Black: I’m learning a new Argentine Tango routine for my dance studio’s spring showcase and just finished knitting a pair of wildly colorful striped socks for my husband.
Rinda Elliott: Unfortunately, a lot of my attention lately has been aimed toward recovering from a health issue. But I expect I’ll be at full speed ahead soon!
Jackie Kessler: I’m competing in two tae kwon do tournaments, because I’m training to be a superhero. (Superheroes, apparently, need ice packs. A lot.)
Karen Mahoney: To seal my total geekiness, I just signed up to attend the London Super Comic Con at the end of February – Stan Lee is the guest of honour! Excelsior!
Devon Monk: I’m three weeks into the Couch to 5K running program (or the sweating and swearing program, as I call it), and am finishing off a few knitted gifts I had hoped to have done *months* ago.
Lilith Saintcrow: I’m still running and climbing, and doing a bunch of housecleaning and purging. Spring is right around the corner, plus we’ve had some changes in our household recently, so it’s a good time to get things spruced up.
SNIPPETS
REPLICANT
by Dani Worth*
I wondered if they’d clued in to who I was now. It’s not like I’d kept my life as a Tracker hidden and specializing in hunting down Replicants had given me a reputation I’d earned righteously. Replicants were an alien species that could change form as long as they had the race’s DNA and the form was humanoid.
Taking a couple of steps away, I focused on the foot-tall black and yellow painted squares of the side paths. They held sensors that beeped when hover dollies got too close. I breathed in the fake air and remembered that this wasn’t a homecoming for me, this was a takedown.
“Damn, Jarana, it’s good to see you. And it’s nice of you to raise the temperature of this supply station with that outfit of yours.” Egan winked.
A frown pulled Lux’s dark eyebrows together. “She looks like the Sadistic Mistress of the Clan Ladybug.”
*aka: Rinda Elliott
LOSS
by Jackie Morse Kessler
…At the edge of the park, he sees a white horse. Not a merry-go-round horse, either, but a real live horse, about a million feet tall and so white that it’s like staring at the sun…
Billy blinked and the memory vanished, but the horse remained. Not his horse, no—that horse, the nightmare horse, the one that came with the Ice-Cream Man, was a blinding white, and the one dappled in moonlight outside his house was, if anything, leached of color. It made Billy think of the plant hanging in the kitchen: amid the lush emerald leaves were scattered bits of pale green, the color leaning toward off-white. The horse was the color of those dying leaves.
“Come on,” Death said, approaching the monstrous horse.
Billy’s feet refused to work. He opened his mouth to shout, but his voice died somewhere along the way. He watched Death pull himself atop the horse in an easy motion, watched him adjust the saddle bag that absolutely hadn’t been there a moment ago—for that matter, the saddle hadn’t been there a moment ago—but all Billy could do was stare, horrified, at the pale horse.
“Plenty of room,” Death said cheerfully.
Billy’s voice had betrayed him, but he could still turn his head. He did so, slowly, emphatically if silently saying, No, nuh uh, absolutely not.
The horse grinned at him. He knew that was crazy, because horses don’t grin, but he would have sworn on his life that the thing was actually grinning at him.
“Is there a problem?” asked Death.
Oh yeah. There was a gigantic horse with glowing red eyes and looking like it had maybe drowned standing right there in front of his house. There was a problem, all right.
“It’s my steed,” Death said fondly, giving the creature a pat on its thick neck. “It won’t harm you.”
Billy shook his head once more, and managed to take a step back. The door was flush against his back.
Now Death was gazing at him like he had the word LOSER written on his forehead. In a soft, cold voice, Death said, “What frightens thee, William Ballard?”
Billy thought once more of the Ice-Cream Man’s giant horse, screamingly white and yet somehow dirty, just like the Ice-Cream Man himself, and he heard the Ice-Cream Man tell him that he’s got something to show Billy…
No!
Shuddering, he looked away. No, he wasn’t thinking about the man in white. He wasn’t. That was a nightmare and nothing more.
“Even nightmares have elements of truth,” Death murmured.
Billy shivered again, and this time his voice didn’t fail him as he faced the Pale Rider. “I’m not riding a horse.”
It was a pivotal moment: Billy Ballard, the most bullied kid in school, had chosen to stand his ground. It wasn’t because he thought he could win. He’d reached his breaking point. Death could kill him, and that didn’t matter. There was no way that Billy was getting on that horse. Period.
Silence echoed as Death stared at him, considered him. Judged him. At last, the Pale Rider grinned. “No worries,” he said. “We’ll go the pop culture route instead.”
The horse snorted.
“Don’t be grumpy,” Death chided.
The pale steed snorted again, and then it wasn’t a horse at all but a yellow car, its engine already running. It looked like the love child of a Volkswagen Beetle and a Delorean. Death, in the driver’s seat, leaned his blond head out the window and said, “Well?”
Billy, stunned, said, “Your horse is a Transformer.”
“Technically, a transmogrifier. But hey, whatever floats your boat. Get in.”
Billy got in, pausing only to take in the name on the vanity plate. As he fastened his seat belt—which was purely habitual, because really, was he going to die when Death was driving?—he asked, “Um. What’s ‘Mortis Prime’?”
Death smiled, sighed, and said, “Dude, you’ve got to read the classics.” And with that, he hit the gas.
The Joy of Books!
By Dame Toni
I don’t have television.
That’s not to say I don’t have a television–as it happens, I have two. I just don’t currently have a way to watch them.
Since those darned publishers expect me to actually write the book before they pay me for it, and I still have a hundred or so pages to go, I find myself with what is euphemistically called “a temporary cash flow issue.” So, I am doing without a few things that are not absolutely necessary. And, in my house, when it comes down to a choice between premium cable and premium cat food, Simon and Sandy outvote me two to one.
I figured, “How bad could it be?” I turned off the cable.
I know many authors who claim not even to own a television, or to watch it so rarely that they are completely unaware of what’s on. But when you start a discussion about the effective use of morally ambiguous characters, sexual tension or sparkling dialog, they will happily jump in with examples from Breaking Bad, Castle and Harry’s Law.
I admit it – I love television. I’m from the first generation whose mothers gratefully used the TV as a pacifier. I found an old, grainy picture of me, circa 1960, propped in a walker in front of one of those tiny-tube-in-a-huge-box models, with the only light in the room coming from the television and its reflection on my face. My rapt expression is just short of hypnosis. Maybe not short.
But, until the last year or so, it was something I watched when it was convenient. I would rather be out and about and, if that meant I missed an episode of my favorite show, so what? With a couple of exceptions, I could not have told you which show was on which night. Then, something happened. I started looking forward to Thursday so that I could see (my fiancé) Simon Baker on The Mentalist. I planned Sunday evenings around The Walking Dead.
I got a real wake-up call when a question on a consumer survey asked me how many hours a week I spent watching television, and I really sat down to figure it out. I had a hard time making myself check the accurate box, even knowing the anonymous results counters would not know who I was, or give a fig if they did.
So I felt kind of virtuous about turning off the cable. It would be good for me. I’d have more time to read. I’d have more time to write.
And, after a period of adjustment, it worked.
Not so much for the writing–the number of hours I write a day has never been influenced by television. If I’m on a roll, I don’t stop for Grey’s Anatomy. If I’m not on a roll, I’ll take any excuse, up to and including cleaning the cat box, to stop.
As for the reading…total success. I am working my way through the NINE novels I agreed to judge for the Rita Awards and have finally made it past the sixth installment of The Wheel of Time (I had to start over at the beginning to avoid confusion. I mean, just how many characters can one series have?).
I am apparently the last Urban Fantasy author in the world who had not read The Hunger Games, and now I know why everyone is so excited about the upcoming movie.
I throw out magazines AFTER actually reading them. That backed-up stack of my friends’ books that I haven’t had time for no longer seems like the impossible dream.
Once my advance check comes, will I turn the cable back on? Probably. Oh, who I am kidding—DEFINITELY. But I don’t plan on ever having to check that embarrassing box on the consumer surveys again!
Writing Blocks, Fear & Resistance
Dame Kaz
Let’s talk about Writer’s Block.
It’s not a comfortable subject for writers – published or otherwise – because to not be able to write, for whatever reason, is so full of negative emotions as to feel agonising. Which sounds totally dramatic, but sometimes the worst case of ‘block’ really is that painful to those who suffer. Guilt, shame, self-hatred… all the biggies are there, and I’m sure a whole lot more. *shudders*
(On a very important side note here, no matter what your beliefs/theories are surrounding ‘Writer’s Block,’ there will always be someone who disagrees. Which is fine! Life is all about people having different views and different experiences. It would be pretty boring if it was any other way. However, it is the World’s Most Annoying and Hurtful Thing(tm) to make yourself vulnerable and to tell someone that you feel ‘blocked’ on your latest project, only to have that person breezily tell you, “There’s no such thing as writer’s block! I never get blocked. I don’t have time for it!” This is insensitive, and sometimes even damaging.)
I can only talk about my own experience and my own belief’s around the phenomenon known as ‘Writer’s Block’. If you, personally, believe in the power of something external to you that stops you from being able to write each and every time you face the blank page (or a stalled project), I am not saying any of the following to disrespect or devalue your own experience or definition of the much-used term. But for me, we aren’t talking about something mystical or outside of ourselves. My feelings around this complex subject – and my recent struggles with a form of ‘it’ – have led me to fully embrace the notion that writer’s block should always be written with a small ‘w’ and a small ‘b’. When we give those two little words Capital Letters of Doom, it seems more scary than it really should be. And certainly more significant.
So, in Kaz’s ever humble opinion (no laughing at the back, there!), what is writer’s block?
Basically, it’s something that comes from within you that stops you from writing. The part about it coming from inside you personally is crucial. If we turn it into something alien and external, then it’s far too easy to think: “Oh well, that means it’s out of my hands. There is nothing I can possibly do and will therefore have to simply watch reruns of The Vampire Diaries until my writing returns to me!” Which is not true – the part about not being able to do anything about it, I mean. Also, writing doesn’t ‘go’ anywhere. Not the way I see it, anyway. It’s still there, right inside you – you just have to dig around a bit in order to find it again.
What you can do, even if you can’t write, is try to figure out why you think you can’t write. Because, believe me, even when you truly believe you can’t do the work, you actually can. You can pick up a pen and write words. Any old words will do. They might not be very good words (they probably won’t be, to begin with), but there isn’t a mysterious power freezing you in place and physically stopping you from writing something down (a sentence! Just one little sentence…). Or typing a line. Writing the words: “Chapter One.” If you really were blocked, this should be impossible… right? Especially if you’re capital-B-Blocked.
If only writing was always this pink...
But, still. You feel as though you can’t write. I’ve been there. (Oh, how I’ve been there… very recently.) So first try to figure out why you can’t write:
Are you bored with your project?
Uninspired?
Worried that you’re repeating what’s already been done a million times before?
Did you go wrong somewhere, in an earlier chapter, and now you’ve ground to a halt?
Do you have to feed the kids and help with homework before you can write, and then when you finally get half an hour to yourself… you feel half-dead and hopeless?
Are you just too tired?
Too distracted?
Too lazy?
Too hungry?
All of these things – and many, many more – could be, and probably are, at the root of your stuckness. Steven Pressfield, in his famous book The War of Art spends most of its pages talking about Resistance (note the capital-R). And, you know, he’s not wrong. Most of our blocks and stuck places around our creative work do stem from us simply resisting the work. But it’s in the knowing WHY that I think is important. Because, once we know that, we might be able to fix it – maybe even fix it easily.
Sometimes, we get stuck because we introduced a character too early in our novel; started the story in the wrong place entirely; or maybe because we’re writing in the wrong POV. We might not know our world well enough and need to do more brainstorming and research, or any number of other practical, concrete reasons. These are mostly things we can address and fix, sometimes with the help of others.
But quite often it’s a more emotional and psychological problem holding us back, and that all boils down to one thing:
FEAR
But, guess what? Writing is scary. Making yourself vulnerable on the page, letting others read your words and judge your dreams… putting yourself out there is just damn hard. And then the Fear Monkey sits on your shoulder and whispers in your ear, and that’s pretty much the end of that. At least for one day (and if you only lose a single day’s work to the Fear Monkey, believe me, you can consider yourself lucky).
Beware the Fear Monkey!
As cute as it is, you really don’t need that little monkey around. Most of the time, when I’m writing, I actally feel like that baby monkey, wanting my mum to give me a hug and tell me that everything is going to be okay. (What? Don’t mock my pain… 
) But, even though she’s on the end of the phone and is very good with TLC-on-demand (that should be a new TV channel!), when we finally face our writing – our creative work – we’re on our own. Writing is a party of one. Um… unless we’re collaborating. Heh. We have to figure out the fear at the heart of our particular ‘stuck place,’ and then get to work on kicking its ass! And the best way to do that is to put your own ass in the chair and continue to write through the block, no matter how painful and no matter how much crap you end up throwing away later on.
That’s what I did, and I ended up throwing out a lot. A lot of hard work and hard-earned words. But I finally figured out what was at the root of my individual fear – on this occasion – and managed to put the Fear Monkey back in its box. For now.
I hope you can too…
P.S. One of the best books on the subject that I’ve ever read is, sadly, currently out of print: On Writer’s Block: A New Approach to Creativity by Victoria Nelson. I do recommend it if you can find a copy. Nelson spends a lot of time talking about how taking a break from writing is often a natural and normal thing, although of course professional deadlines do change our ability to put her wisdom into practice!
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Images © Dreamstime.com
