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As Natural As Breathing
Did you know that on average humans breathe 20 times per minute? That means, in any given hour you breathe 1,200 times, and in a whole day 28,800 times. Do you ever stop and think or worry about it? Well, yes, probably if you stopped you would begin to worry!
For many, writing is as natural as breathing. Just think. Every single day you automatically take around 28,800 breaths. Imagine your output if you wrote as automatically as you breathe. For those for whom writing is an easy and natural progression to be taken advantage of at every opportunity available, you have my awe and admiration. For anyone like me, who struggles to take that “breath” to make or find the time to work on a current work in progress, maybe this is for you.
Over the years I’ve found my writing brain is like a muscle. Kind of like a lung I suppose. Every now and then it gets congested, sluggish and slow to motivate into effective action. When that happens, my world around me mirrors how I’m feeling. I know I have to exercise that muscle, get it into action and make it limber and supple. It’s going to hurt, I know it. It is going to drive me out of my comfort zone, I know that too. But even better than that, it is going to make me feel better and write more. Well, I could get used to that!
So what do I have to do? Write, you say? Well yes, but I have this monster on my shoulder, called procrastination. I’m sure you all know it, and know it intimately. There is always something else that needs my attention. Always. And you know what? None of those things go away. Will they destroy the world as you know it if you don’t get to them straight away? Honestly? In most cases – no. If they are that impactful you will have planned to do something about it. Not breathing is impactful, so therefore, is not writing to a writer.
We have to learn to make the most of every opportunity, every minute – each and every snatched hour for our writing. Make time to write and be disciplined with yourself about what you do with your writing time. If the muse has deserted you for warmer climes then do some research, brush up on your grammar or check out what competitions are due to close soon, until he or she returns. Okay, it may be hard to break those old habits (and aren’t the bad ones the easiest to form?) but think of the rewards. Think of your potential for success whether it be simply for your own satisfaction, or whether it be for a competition you are targeting, or a full manuscript for submission to a publishing house. Give yourself the opportunity “breathe” some life into your writing, until it becomes as natural to you as what you do 20 times per minute, 1,200 times per hour, 28,800 times per day, and more than 10 million times per year and about 700 million times in a lifetime.
And remember Benjamin Disraeli’s saying “Action may not always bring happiness: but there is no happiness without action.”
Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?
“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo d Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein.” --H. Jackson Brown
I can offer you all the incentive in the world, but if you don’t want something enough for yourself and if the motivation doesn’t come from within you, you won’t get where you say you want to be. So, are you your own worst enemy? Let’s see…
Do you always focus on what you haven’t done? Or what is not right?
To often we allow ourselves to become paralysed by our own brilliance. The dissenters amongst you will be eschewing the fact that you even are brilliant. It seems to be a sad fact that so few people can see what they do right in their day to day life, work and writing. Focussing on what isn’t going right is a sure fire way of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. But I doubt that any of us are fulfilled by the experience.
You can retrain yourself to focus on what is going right. What you do well. Teach yourself to notice, and appreciate, all the things, no matter how trivial, which are working well and keep a track of them. Record these small (and large) successes in a notebook and carry it with you. Update it and read it often. You might have managed to get the washing on the line before you left for work today. Granted, that isn’t a writing goal, but it is something that went right. And it sure beats ironing the wrinkles out of something that has been sitting in the washing machine all day before getting out on the line, doesn’t it? You may have nutted out a problem with your plot of your current book, or had a brilliant idea to up the conflict in the book you’ve just had rejected but still believe in your heart of hearts that it deserves a home at a publishing house somewhere. Every one of those ‘eureka’ moments is a success. Seize them, use them, and learn by them and above all record them so you can pat yourself on the back for your achievement.
What drives you? Fear of Failure? Or Fear of Success?
Having enjoyed the debut album of Jazz star Norah Jones I was stunned to read on a news site that she was so apprehensive about success that when album sales reached one million she requested her record company cease selling her album! Can you believe it? This is fear of success in big capital letters! Thankfully, the record company didn’t listen and the album went on to sell over six million copies and was subsequently nominated for a Grammy Award.
Think what this scenario does for you. Do you allow fear of success to trap you into mediocrity? Does fear of success prevent you from reaching your goals? Do you really understand what your goals are, and how achieving them will change (or not change) your life? Have you asked yourself how much you really want it? Honestly? Ask yourself what the worst thing is that could happen? Think about your response carefully then push it aside. Very often the future is out of our control and learning to let go of what is holding us back can be one of the hardest and cruellest lessons in our lives. For lack of any other mantra, use the Serenity Prayer (God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can and the Wisdom to know the difference.) say it, mean it and then record all the things in your life that you cannot change, the things you want the strength to change and accept that whatever is the guiding power in your life will control your future.
Weigh it up. Is the pain of regret going to be worse than the pain of discipline? Basically, what hurts more, getting what you want, or not getting it?
Do you believe you have no self-worth?
Have you forgotten all the things you have achieved in your life? Or do you lack simple pride in your successes. Many of us are brought up not to be ‘prideful’ and not to draw attention to our successes, achievements, awards etc. Why shouldn’t you be proud? Why can’t you accept a compliment? Isn’t it your right when you’ve worked hard for what you’ve achieved? Of course it is.
Learn to acknowledge the things you do right in your world. Take pride and share them. I love the adage, ‘A problem shared is halved, but happiness shared is doubled’. Do everyone a favour and share your achievements and know that you did well. If you’ve entered or finalled in a competition, tell your family and friends. If you’ve written your first page in months, shout it from the rooftops. Don’t hide your light. Let everyone bask in it.
Are you constantly comparing yourself to others, and finding you don’t measure up?
This has often been one of my biggest problems, but from time to time I make myself pull out and examine the self-doubts and self-sabotage that I indulge in, and open myself to help from my peers. From my own experience, comparing myself to someone I admire and wish to emulate didn’t motivate me any more than reading a good book. What it did do is leave me stagnant because I felt that I would never be good enough. Never make that grade.
Comparing yourself to others is probably the best way to lose YOU. And why would you want to do that? Each of us is an individual. Each of us brings something different through skill, perspective, life experience and sheer being to others. If you must compare yourself to someone else, look at the things in which you are similar, rather than the things that set you apart and then sit down and find a string of complimentary, positive (and true!) adjectives that describe YOU. Keep them handy and when you find yourself comparing yourself in a less than favourable light with someone else, pull that list out and remind yourself how great you are. Harness that greatness and use it to drive you to reach your true potential.
“What I adore is supreme professionalism. I’m bored by writers who can write only when it’s raining.” --Noel Coward
The Power of Opening Well
How often, when you're browsing books in a store, do you open to Chapter 1 and read the first line, or first few lines? And, how often does that introduction to the book in your hand make you either put that book back on the shelf or, more importantly, want to read on.
Openings are an incredibly powerful tool. Used well, you will hook your reader and take them on your character's journey with a willingness that will make them a fan for life. So what makes a good opening in a story? We have two very strong tools at our disposal-narrative and dialogue. Knowing what is going to work best for your book is important. You want your opening to be so strong a hook that your reader wants to (a) buy the book, and (b) keep on reading it.
Let's look at narrative. Whenever I'm asked for my most memorable story beginning, there is one that leaps to the forefront of my mind.
He needed a woman. Bad.
-Linda Howard's "MacKenzie's Mountain"
Five simple words that communicate so much. Notice how Ms Howard has used the word 'needed' rather than 'wanted.' It conveys a completely different tone to the character and in those five succinct words Ms Howard has told us that our character point of view is male and, very likely, lonely. He 'needs' a woman. It's more than sheer want or something that cold be taken care of simply and easily. It's a driven need. Sure, she could have started the book with "He was horny" or "It'd been a while since he had some," but neither option quite brings the reader the same message and would very likely turn a lot of readers away.
Your openings are the key to your story. Used well they will set the tone of what is to come and give an intriguing insight into where in life your characters are at this vital opening point. Take a look at this example:
When those in society talked about Lord and Lady Hammond, there was one conclusion about the viscount
and his wife no one bothered to dispute: They couldn't stand each other.
-Laura Lee Guhrke's "The Marriage Bed"
Two sentences this time, more words, certainly. But the clever use of those words tells us almost immediately that this story is riddled with conflict from the get go. Questions are raised immediately, e.g. Why can Lord and Lady Hammond not stand each other? What drove them to that point where as a titled society couple they remain apart? How will they overcome this estrangement? Also, the language used indicates we're reading in a different place in time to our general every day world. Would this opening sentence have had as much impact if it had said "Everyone, who was anyone, knew Lord and Lady Hammond hated each other." Same message but vastly different delivery.
Who wouldn't want to read on when opening a book with this example:
Sophie Dempsey didn't like Temptation even before the Garveys smashed into her '86 Civic, broke her sister's sunglasses,
and confirmed all her worst suspicions about people from small towns who drove beige Cadillacs.
-Jenny Crusie's "Welcome to Temptation"
This sentence gives us so much. We know who our main character is, Sophie Dempsey, we know she's just had an accident; we know she's probably from a big city and has very strongly felt preconceived notions about small town residents. Most importantly, we also know she didn't like where she was going to be before all these things happened to her. So why is she there? What made her leave what we imagine is probably her comfortable life, to come to a small town she already didn't like and didn't want to be in. Why does she feel that way about small towns in the first place?
Whenever I read that opening line I smile. Smiling usually means I'm happy about something and happy is good, right? Does that opening line give me, the reader, a promise that I'm probably going to smile quite a bit more as I read this story? Well, yes, for me it does, and because I like to be entertained when I read I'm certainly going to read on.
And then there's dialogue. Dialogue can often give a sense of immediacy that narrative sometimes lacks. It brings you straight into the action and can give you information with a short punchy delivery. Take this example of using dialogue to draw your reader straight into the crux of the story:
"You are an evil little girl!" the old man bellowed.
Eight-year-old Grace Merridew stood braced against the corner of the room. Her grandfather's tirade pounded her with spittle-flecked waves of hatred.
"You'll dwell in misery and filth, alone and unloved, and when you die, even the worms will disdain your corrupt flesh!"
"I will too be loved," Grace muttered defiantly. "My mama promised."
-Anne Gracie's "The Perfect Kiss"
I don't know about you but when I read that first line my emotions were engaged and every one of my maternal instincts rose to the fore and those instincts sharpened as I read on. That poor Grace is loathed by her grandfather is abundantly clear in this opening, but that Grace has courage and backbone, even at the tender age of eight years old, is equally so. I couldn't wait to read further to see how she survived both this altercation with her very unpleasant relative and into adulthood and, most importantly, whether she finds the love she so determinedly believes is her right.
In my upcoming Rogue Diamonds trilogy I've used dialogue as the opening in the first two stories. Here's the opening for my Aus/NZ March 2009 release with Desire:
"Marry me, I'll make it worth your while."
What the hell was she doing here? Amira Forsythe-more frequently known as the Forsythe Princess-was as out of place
here in the Ashurst Collegiate Chapel men's room as she was in his life, period.
-Yvonne Lindsay's "Convenient Marriage, Inconvenient Husband"
Our heroine wants something very badly, marriage, so she just comes straight out with the demand after following our hero into a men's room. It takes a certain amount of guts, or desperation, or both, for a woman to do this and raises plenty of those pesky 'why' questions.
And this, from my Aus/NZ April 2009 Desire:
"You were comfort sex. Nothing more."
At least that was all she'd ever let him be. Blair maintained eye contact with Draco Sandrelli and prayed he'd leave
before she did something stupid-like faint or throw up all over his highly polished handmade boots.
-Yvonne Lindsay's "Secret Baby, Public Affair"
I wanted to make it clear to my readers that our heroine was making a stand against a man who threw her equilibrium totally off kilter, and I wanted to hint at what was to come by showing some infirmity as well.
So, how do you decide what is going to serve the opening of your story best. Narrative? Or Dialogue? Basically a lot of that comes down to you and your voice and, in particular, your characters' voices and the point of change in their lives that brings your reader to them. Ask yourself whether it'll serve your story best if you use description (and even internal dialogue) or the immediacy of conversation. Does narrative impart the flavour of your story and set both scene and tone, as in Jenny Crusie's opening for "Welcome to Temptation," or would dialogue bring your reader directly into emotional and physical recognition with your characters as in Anne Gracie's "The Perfect Kiss."
Think about what you do best. Where do your critique partners and/or reader/judges of competition entries give you the most positive feedback? Choose what sparkles for you as a writer and the rest will follow. In my current work in progress, due for release in December 2009, I opened the first chapter with narrative, albeit in the point of view of my heroine, but my editor and senior editor both felt opening with dialogue (in fact a scene at the beginning of Chapter 2) would 'add more oomph to start here and then give the reader the first meeting scene between h/H with a sense of ulterior motives/darker angles.' In retrospect, I totally agreed with them. The story has far more strength with their suggestions and, while it's created some rewriting I hadn't anticipated, the changes actually set the story on a far more definite track, making it easier for me to write it overall especially once I let go of what I'd written already and embraced the new stronger opening, and its direction, fully.
Think about books you've read recently whose openings have made a positive impact on you and compare them with those that didn't. Reread those opening lines and even have a go at rewriting the ones that perhaps didn't resonate as well with you as a reader. Ask yourself how you could do it better-how you could give that opening more punch, more seat-of-your pants excitement, more throat-gripping intrigue or, just simply, MORE-and make your opening the most powerful it can possibly be.
