Cliche Writing Question

/ Lisa / 2 Comments

I like Yahoo Answers/Books and Authors.  Not only is it fun to read the posted questions and what others have to say, but I also enjoy answering them.  Many are thought-provoking, like the one who asked how you know when your story is finished.  I posted before on that, because at first it seems like a no-brainer to a writer, until you try to explain it. 

Along the same lines is the question many writers receive: where do you get your ideas?  I have seen many people on Answers post either that very question, or a similar one where they post wanting others to give them ideas to write about.  My inclination is to laugh when I hear that question, and I know many authors have a stock answer but really, when I actually give the question some thought, I pause.

It’s not so much where the idea comes from, I think.  It’s not like there’s this secret pot I dip into and pull out something.  I think the question would be more accurate if it was phrased as, what triggers an idea.  For me, it’s another cliché writing question.  What if…

I’ll see an object, or hear a snippet of conversation, or watch an event unfold and think, ‘what if this happened’, or ‘that conversation would have been more interesting if she’d said this’, or ‘wow, he’s lucky that didn’t happen’, and an idea grows from that moment.  So for me, stories arrive from observing life around me and from wanting to twist those observations to make them into a story I’d want to read.  And I think that is true for most writers.  How many times have we told our family members a story about something that happened and found ourselves embellishing to make it funnier or more dramatic?  It’s the same principle.  My husband says he’ll listen to me telling a story and think, ‘I don’t remember that.’  Well, that’s part of being a writer isn’t it?  Creating, embellishing, twisting, combining, and daydreaming.

So like I said, a cliché question can still be interesting to pause and consider occasionally.  What are your thoughts on the mysterious source of imagination?

Plot Conundrum

/ Lisa / 4 Comments

I love mysteries, both writing and reading them.  I have a host of favorite authors including Elizabeth Peters, Dana Stabenow, Cornelia Read, Carol O’Connell, Sandi Ault, Karen Slaughter, Meg Gardner, etc.  But lately something’s been bothering me and I’m not sure how to handle it from both perspectives of reader and writer.  It’s that climatic moment near the end of the book where there’s a big dramatic event, usually endangering the life of the protagonist, and resulting in discovering and/or catching the antagonist.  This event is then followed by a slower paced conclusion that ties everything together.  Here’s my problem.  I’m getting bored with that climatic event.  Especially in series.  How scared should I get for the protagonist when I know a new book is coming out in a few months?  It’s obvious the character is going to survive, which kills the suspense for me.

Some authors deal with this in unique ways.  Elizabeth George was brave enough to kill off one of her main characters.  Others have the protagonist not survive to live happily ever after, and that character will lose someone or suffer something they then have to deal with in the next book.  Meg Gardner for instance has a main character in a wheel chair, which automatically makes me tense because he’s more vulnerable than your typical hero.  But the ending scene is still beginning to feel like a plot device.  I find I am reading these books because of the strongly written characters, who have become people I care about and want to spend time with rather than because of the plot.

It still begs the question.  How do you keep that climatic scene from eliciting a ho-hum response from the reader?  How do you avoid writing a formula and yet still stay in a genre you love?  I’m not sure that avoiding the whole ending scene would work, either, because then the plot would seem to fade away and I think as a reader I would feel let down even though I’m finding that ending scene to be the least interesting part of a book.  Maybe the solution is to not tie yourself as a writer into a series.  That would then free you up to do whatever you wanted with your characters and the reader won’t assume what the ending is going to be. 

So any thoughts on how to solve this or comments on what you do in your writing to avoid having what should be the most tense, fast paced scene of a book become an expected, boring formula?

Universal Editing

/ Lisa / 4 Comments

I read a blog today by a woman who just had her work edited. She was discouraged, felt like she was a horrible writer, and questioned whether to continue writing or not. This woman has a fantastic blog that I absolutely love reading, here on wordpress, called Intergalactic Writing Inc. This is a drawback of the internet because I wish I could reach out and give her a hug. What she experienced is not what editing is about.

She said she assumed some parts were good because there were no comments. There were only comments where things were ‘bad’. Oh, my blood pressure is rising. It is equally important to have the things that work (‘good’) pointed out, too. A good editor comments on what works, and explains why. We writers learn as much from those comments as we do from having problems pointed out. Second, an edit should never focus on negatives. Even when something doesn’t work, it doesn’t deserve negatives, it deserves suggestions, support, and work between the editor and the writer.

I always say a good edit leaves a writer enthusiastic and excited to jump back in and work. If I’ve been edited and the result leaves me discouraged or feeling like a failure as a writer, I feel that’s actually a failure of the partnership between the editor and the writer. Nothing infuriates me more than seeing a writer give up because of a negative edit. Especially when, more than likely, the negative edit is the opinion of only one person.

Edits should be respectful, positive, educational, and productive. They should not kill the love of words, the love of the writing craft, or the spirit of the writer. I’ve had my work edited by professional editors, where I paid a lot and writing friends where I paid nothing. Each and every one has taught me something. I guess I’m lucky I didn’t end up with an editor like this person did. If so, I’m not sure I’d be where I am on my writing path.

Okay, I’ll climb down from the box now before this turns into a rant. The point is well taken I’m sure. So what kind of editing results have you had? Have you been left raw and bleeding or uplifted and excited to be a writer?