Sendak Link and Writer Traits

I just read this article in the NY Times, Concerns Beyond Just Where the Wild Things Are, and it made me happy. Perhaps it made me happy because I chose to see elements of myself in the description. I only wish I could claim to have some of Sendak’s talent and success instead of just his anxiety and insecurity.

Do you think there are certain psychological traits that writers share? (Aside from that we all like words and know how to use them.) Are writers in general a bit crazy or is it just a few us? And, out of curiosity, old men can be very cute and even charming (I think the article says delightful) as curmudgeons… Can women?

Muses and Slogging Through

I love that moment of energy when you know what to write. That feeling that there are muses and that we are just the writing instrument. Sometimes after I have a moment like that, I almost wonder if I read what I wrote somewhere else. (ofcourse I haven’t) But it came so easily. If all writing were only like that.

Right now, I am currently writing a history book about a war that unfortunately is not history. I am finding it difficult to write. My muse is yawning and that instrument feeling is discordant and out of tune. Almost like nails on a chalkboard.

Chris Lynch once gave a lecture called Inspiration, Muses, and Other Pieces of Useless Crockery. Lynch’s point was that you have to do the work of writing. That writing doesn’t always flow but you have to write anyway. He even suggested (when you were stuck) writing the last word you wrote over and over again because eventually you would get bored and write something else.

On the other hand, Before Chris gave his lecture, he asked Brock Cole if he believed in inspiration and Brock said, “absolutely.” (Chris said that almost ended his lecture before it started.)

So what are your thoughts on muses and inspiration and how do you force yourself to write when muse and inspiration are nowhere to be found?

Life and Death and Writing

Last week, I unfortunately had to write my father-in-law’s obituary. It is not the first obituary I have written. I’ve written my father’s, my aunt’s, and my grandmother’s. They are always hard to write because of the loss. But if you can step outside of the pain, they are also an interesting thing to think about—how do you sum up a life in a limited number lines. Remember, it costs about $10.00 for each line of 30-35 characters (at least in Minneapolis).

In some ways, an obituary is like a good story. It is about character. What elements made that person who he or she was. And what do you choose to highlight? What do you want people to remember? What do you want people to know that they might not have?

My teenage daughter asked if people actually read the obituaries; “I mean, when they don’t know that someone is going to be listed,” she said. I told her it was a little like facebook. Instead of finding out what so and so is doing; it’s finding out that so and so has died. But after her question, I started inquiring among friends and it is interesting how many people do read the obituaries.

Someone said they liked to read the long ones until they got boring and then they would go on to the next one. A few people said they always read the obits of those who died young. One said they wanted to know what caused it. “I usually guess cancer,” she told me. Someone else said they also liked to check out the ages of the very old–those who lived past 100. “I look at them and think oh the poor dear.”

I think we are always aware of our own mortality and so there is something interesting about death. Life and death, joy and sorrow they are ultimately tied together.

So do you read the obituaries? If and when you do, what draws you to read more deeply? What do you look for? And out of curiosity how many of your favorite books have a main character who dies?

The Artist

“We really write to understand
More about ourselves
And if we’re lucky maybe then
We touch someone else.”
           –Jerry Jeff Walker

I was listening to Jerry Jeff sing this song about a singer who stopped his singing and writing. In the song, he wonders if the artist-friend had enough of the “rip-offs and the jive” or if he lost the will to write. There is another stanza:

“It seems to be much more than art
When the art you sell is you
Be careful how you play the game
Or else the game plays you”

Rules vs. Guidelines and the Challenge of Blogging

The challenge to being a good blogger is blogging even when you aren’t feeling up to it or finding time even when time is scarce. The challenge for many good writers in any medium is exactly the same. As my advisor, Brock Cole used to tell me regularly, Butt in Chair, Mara. Butt in Chair.

At any rate, here is a thought for today. As always, I’m looking for comments. 

I don’t believe there are a lot of rules for for writing, but I do believe there are a lot of good guidelines. Understanding the guidelines is what I call craft. Knowing when to bend and when to break those guidelines is what I call genuis. If a writer breaks writing guidelines by accident or because he or she doesn’t know or understand them, the writer looks foolish and the writing bad. However, when a writer breaks those guidelines with understanding and with purpose, then he or she looks brilliant.

Anyone want to offer examples of this? Or have writing rules they think should never be broken?

To Agent or Not to Agent

I apologize for using agent as a verb, but the questions of whether to get or not to get an agent and (if you answered yes, I want one of those) how to get an agent is a topic that often comes up in conversations about publishing. What are the advantages of having an agent? Do I really want to give up 15% or more of the small amount I make? What do they do? How do they do it? Can I do it for myself? How do I find one?

I have been told that it is as hard (perhaps harder) to find an agent as it is to find an editor to publish your book. There are more editors than agents. For editors, agents act as first readers. They save them time by weeding out the schlock. Agents also know which editors like what and what the different publishing houses are looking for. In essence, they do the research of where your book would fit for you. They also negotiate the contracts. Some agents claim that their negotiations make the author more money and therefore pay for their fee.

Some authors/writers prefer to handle their own negotiations. (There are literary attorneys that can help with this.) These authors/writers don’t want to give up their money or the control. At least in children’s literature, there are still ways to approach publishing houses without agents. (Even when the size of slush piles have caused a publishing house to refuse unsolicited manuscripts, editors speaking at writing conferences usually will accept manuscripts from the participants after the conference for a period of time.)

What do you think? Do you have an agent? Do you like your agent? Do you publish without an agent?

We can talk about finding agents in another post. In the meantime, I will do some research, so I welcome comments about this too.

Best,

Mara

On Word Counts

A few months ago, I got a manuscript back from Enslow for revisions. It had been months since I turned it in and mentally I was far away from the project.

For the most part, the comments were positive, but my editor told me (in red pen) that he wanted chapter three expanded into two chapters and my last two chapters condensed into one.

I have to admit, I have a bit of an issue with my editor’s red pen. His writing isn’t that neat and it sort of feels like he is yelling at me. I become petulant and complain a lot. Fortunately, he can’t hear me.

However, adding to the text made sense. It took a while, but I expanded my chapter 3, broke it into two, and answered my editors questions throughout the manuscript.

It was the condensing that hurt. These curriculum books have very specific word counts. When I had finished expanding, I needed to cut more than 4,000 words–about a fifth of the book. Ouch.

To cut, I had to look very carefully at what was necessary. What did I think was really important. I had to cut large sections and then more large sections. Then, I line edited and cut more large sections.

I guess it was like cutting down a roster for an Olympic team (an appropriate metaphor since the Olympics start tonight.) The first cuts weren’t that hard, but the last ones were painful. I had grown fond of the players (writing) and thought they added something to the team (text), but in the end they weren’t needed.

I still wish I could have about 500 words back. Word counts feel a bit artificial and I hated cutting that last player. But the red pen was right, and I have to admit, the book is better.

Perhaps there is something good, important even, about being forced to cut and make tough decisions about your writing.

Thoughts?

Best,

Mara

Cool Links

As a part of my intro into blogging and more specifically the concept of Web 2.0, I was given this video link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g  It’s worth watching if you are interested in Web 2.0.

Also, editorial anonymous is running a pitch clinic. A few weeks ago, EA ran a contest for pitches (good and funny/bad) Now she has taken the time to analyze them so others can learn from them.

Best,

Mara

Internal Vs. External Rewards

Recently, I was talking with a friend about internal vs. external rewards. The conversation came up when we were talking about why I pay my daughter for good grades and also why I think there is a “right” amount–not too much so that her grades become about the money and getting less than an A would be devastating, but enough so that there is a worthwhile, tangible appreciation of her work.

In psychology, (I was a psych major) we learned that internal reward was inversely related to external reward. For example, if payment is too high, people will work for the money but often feel less intrinsic value. If payment is too low, people may feel good about their work but often feel under appreciated. People were usually happiest when there was a balance between internal and external rewards.

This seems relevant in the discussion of writing (internal reward) and getting published (external reward). It is hard to make money as writer and often writers need to take writing jobs. Liken it to a painter being hired to paint a portrait. Jackie Woodson wrote a book for the PBS series Ghost-Writer. At times, Lousie Hawes seemed almost apologetic for writing Sweet Valley High books, but they paid for her kid’s college and the kids who read them loved them. Other writers have worked for newspapers or in advertising, etc.

I agree with Trent’s comment that the writing can suffer if a writer writes solely with getting published in mind–if he or she tries to write what he or she thinks someone else may like or to a trend that is not what’s in his or her heart. However, if you are trying to make ends meet as writer, what kind of writing gigs would you consider or have you taken? Do you think it is better to have a job unrelated to writing so that your writing is keyed to what you want to write and you don’t come home thinking I’ve written things all day now I just want to watch TV? Or is it better to be in a writing career and take writing related jobs because all writing is practice?

Let me know your experiences with different types of writing gigs? How have outside writing projects helped your writing or writing career? How have they hindered it? What kind of writing gigs are out there for people interested in more externally rewarding pursuits?

And as an aside, which external reward is more important to you from getting published: recognition or income?

Best,

Mara

Taming the Mean Voice

In a lecture at Vermont College, Carolyn Coman (award-winning author) once talked about her “mean voice”; it was the voice in her head that said mean things such as, what you are writing sucks or it will never get published, etc. She also noted that her mean voice was smart. She knew this because when she proved the voice wrong, the voice was able to adapt and come up with a new mean thought. For example, You will never get published, changed to You’ll never get published again. It is hard to imagine someone of Carolyn’s writing caliber having a mean voice inside her head, (She doesn’t have a mean bone inside her body) but perhaps it is inherent in writers–we tend to spend a lot of time alone with our thoughts.

Recently, my mom watched a TV special with a psychiatrist who studies brain (SPECT) imagery. He said that “negative thoughts inflamed brain areas often involved with depression and anxiety.” And that we needed to “kill” the Automatic Negative Thoughts (“ANTs”). He even talked about different types of ANTs: mind-reading (thinking someone else is thinking something bad), fortune telling (thinking bad things will happen), Thinking in absolutes (always, never), guilt, shoulds, etc. You can read one of his articles about optimizing your brain here.

My dad, a psychologist, talked a lot about a person’s power to change their perspective (i.e. Edison’s view that he didn’t fail with every unsuccessful attempt at making a light bulb, rather he had discovered another way not to make a light bulb. One more attempt down in a pursuit he believed would ultimately be successful. An optimistic and positive belief.) Or in writing, that we should focus on each success, the fact that we have completed a manuscript or taken the steps to send it out, etc.

Carolyn Coman also told us how she tamed her mean voice. She made a deal with it: The mean voice had to be quiet for an hour or some amount of time while she wrote, but after she was done, it could say whatever it wanted. The interesting thing was that after she wrote, the voice rarely had anything mean to say.

How do you tame your mean voice?

Best,

Mara