The Heroine's Journey

An author friend received a comment from a contest judge, “Cops don’t cry.” (There was a scene, in which her female cop heroine had an emotional moment,) this is a misconception. Cops do cry. It’s how they keep the demons at bay…

After that, the author considered rewriting the weak moment. I wanted her to keep it, because it's apart of the over all journey for the heroine. Not to shed a tear is a greater sign of weakness, than to suck it up.

As writers and readers, we love our strong, resourceful, independent, kick the butt of any bad guy who gets in her way, heroine. Buffy is a good example. And she is a good example of a individual with devastatingly, world crushing weaknesses. Those weaknesses gives her dimension and depth.

Her greatest weakness of course is Angel the Vampire, with a bunch of demons of his own, literally and figuratively.

As much as we love these impossibly strong heroines, we must allow them their moments in the dark places of the soul. It’s what makes them human to jump off the pages.


No, you don’t want them too stupid to live. But just give them a little dent in the armor, its moves the story forward, it keeps the pages turning. It adds interest, as they take the journey around corners, up and down hills, into deep dark valleys, only to come out the other side stronger.

I just finished a beautifully written book, The Witch of Cologne. The heroine was a midwife accused of witchcraft. Her captivity was hard to read, it was intense, but through it all, the heroine’s intelligence was her form of kick buttness. Another, I just started, The Religion. The heroine who in the first pages came across weak, but when she weaves a web of deception around a 16th century mercenary to get him to do what she wants, not once does she flinch, or bat a eye lash, I was impressed. Now there is a kick butt, woman. She earned my respect. So did the author, who by the way is male.

It’s just not the hero’s journey anymore. It’s the heroines too, even more so, in the world of kick butt women.

Different situations for women, also brings out a variety of interesting strengths and weaknesses. A well rounded character has to have their vulnerabilities, because we all do in life.

It’s just a part of the journey.

Can I really do this?

I wonder if I have what it takes to become a writer. I know I want it, but do I want it bad enough to make the sacrifices to achieve it? Are my writing dreams unachievable and hopeless?

Do I have the discipline to sit in that chair, to write; to tell my characters story. If I do write that story, will it be any good? Do I have the stomach to hear critiques of what I have put my soul into, not only from my friends, family, critique partners, contest judges but also agents and editors?

Today was one of those days as I sat down and compared my writing to others. Do I measure up? I haven’t written too much yet, haven’t even finished a book yet. I know I am not going to be Nora but do I have what it takes? What will others think of my writing, will it stink? Okay maybe it won’t stink and I have a lot to learn so now at this moment it may stink a little.

I am going to need a thick skin, determination and be willing to do lot of hard work. I am going to need the guts to accept the feed back and know when it will help and when to toss it out. Can I really do this? I don’t know that answer, but my heart tells me to keep at it, to keep trying. I am not a quitter, I may be negative at times but I will not give up. Every step in this journey will help me learn to build a thick skin and remember business is business and you shouldn’t take it personal.

Dreams are achievable, but in order for a dream to be achieved you have to go after it. Dreams don’t happen without a lot of hard work. I think it’s about time I really sat in that chair and started to climb that mountain towards my dream. So far I have only be walking in the valley not really making my dream a goal with measurable achievements that I need to hold myself accountable too.

Okay, so maybe I can do this, but it’s not going to happen overnight and I need to make a plan. It is going to take a lot of hard work and sacrifice. I could be as successful as Nora someday; and my first goal will be to complete my first manuscript and learn from it so I can write the second one. I will need to learn that it is okay to doubt yourself and have a few failures along the way, just as long as you never give up. Guess I will never really know if I can do this if I don’t try.

Lyn Emerson, Vice President
Black Diamonds RWA Chapter #206
www.BDRWA.com

Families and Writing

A laptop to produce your literary masterpiece: $1200.00
Membership to Romance Writers of America: $75.00
Support for your writing from your family: priceless

The biggest difference between writers who make it and those that don't is family support. I've heard horror stories of women struggling to balance home, work, and their dreams of writing, while getting zip from their families. Or worse, significant others who undermine their efforts to discover if they can do this, this dream.

If your family supports your writing, support them. Step away from the laptop from time to time. Make a nice meal, clean the house, take the kids to the park for an afternoon. You are not only writing for yourself, but for them. When they show some appreciation of your hard work, some them some appreciation too. Let them know they were wonderful to eat canned chili and hot dogs all week while you were on deadline. Now, give them a nice meal.

If your family understands what you're doing, and why, you are in the minority. Let them know how wonderful they are for helping you build your dream.

Support is definitely a two-way street. When the rugrats don't interrupt your writing hour and you find them getting along with no blood or damaged body parts, thank them. Next time they might give you an hour and a half. You never know, miracles can happen!

Jill James, president

Are You a "Pantser" or a Planner?

Probably second only to "what's your sign?" (asked on a bad date), the subject question is one that eventually haunts the lives of writers everywhere. Everyone from Gore Vidal to Al Gore has been asked the question and the answers, as you can imagine, range from the imaginative to the outright nutty.

What it means, in the simplest terms, is: are you one who sits at the computer and lets fly with the ideas, allowing your fertile brain to take you wherever it will until you have a story you are content with -- or do you sit down and carefully plan out your novel down to the most minute detail?

As a writer I confess I always felt a bit process-challenged, because -- after a few disastrous seat-of-the-pants stories (that's the "pantser" approach, get it?) that started with great energy and imagination and then stalled somewhere in a literary forest with no evident way out -- I found myself needing to plan right from the initial idea. In fact, I felt as if my plan might be a kind of crutch that I needed because I couldn't just sit and let fly.

I guess I finally became less self critical (always a good thing) when I came to RWA and realized that all plots are plans of one sort or another, and that having to write down a plan in some detail is part of the process. Just how detailed it all is depends only on the complexity of your work-in-progress. Like a lot of other writers, I have sat through plotting sessions at various RWA chapter meetings, learning an immense amount even as I had fun, and always admired those who seemed to be so naturally gifted at it. I felt burdened by a sense of guilt that I couldn't just let fly that way: I had to go home and think about it.

All I knew for certain was that I did not seem to have that same, effortless natural gift. I needed to write down all the steps on the road to my book's end in the kind of detail so that I always knew where I was and where I was going. Furthermore, I couldn't seem to function without such a plan. I was feeling like a kind of literary American-with-Disabilities because my plans always seemed to be so very detailed and extensive. What would begin as a fairly straightforward synopsis would end up being an extremely detailed map of who-did-what and when, where and how. And I didn't seem able to let go of the necessity of doing these detailed plans.

In short, I was not feeling good about myself as a writer. This is, of course, all too common a feeling among writers. One day, we write something, a part of a larger work, and we think -- "Damn! That's good." The next day, we reread what we wrote the day before and conclude it's the worst piece of trash the world has ever seen.

As I read craft books, however, I slowly came to the conclusion that perhaps I wasn't such a cripple after all. People whose work I very much admired were self-confessed Planners, and proud of it. One was Elizabeth George, she of the wonderfully complex Inspector Lynley mysteries, some of which have been dramatized on PBS-TV. Another was Jeffrey Deaver, whose main character, forensic detective Lincoln Rhyme, went to the big screen in "The Bone Collector," starring Denzel Washington. Please note that both of these writers write complex, multi dimensional characters and specialize in plots that twist and turn in a quite Gordian Knot fashion.

But the one that pushed me into a true realization that I was "OK" rather than "Not OK" (apologies to Wayne Dyer) was J.K. Rowling. I am a self confessed Harry Potter fan. I am not what you'd call a fanatic, but I am thoroughly enchanted (pun intended) by JKR's writing. She is a true literary wonder, and better people than I have likened her to both J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. When asked in an interview if she were a "pantser" or a planner, she said she was/is definitely a planner. In fact, she defined her planning as "meticulous."

Whew! Redeemed! Thought I. Now I don't want you to think I have the gall to put myself in the ranks with her or Deaver or George. Yes, I write science fiction and fantasy romance, and there are elements of mystery in my works. But I don't kid myself that I am in any league but a definitely junior one. And I don't expect to reach such stellar status as these three authors. But they pointed out to me that the process I engage in (I do have a tendency to write big and complex novels) is natural, even necessary, to the type of book that I write.

I am never going to write a spare, Hemingwayesque 50,000-word novel. My brain is just not wired that way. And that's OK. In fact, I have it on the best authority that it is OK. And I can't tell you what an enormous relief that is!

So, in the final analysis, the teentsy piece of wisdom I am trying to pass along to you this week is: if you are a planner -- or a "pantser" -- enjoy the process. In fact, revel in it. It's your process, after all.

Fear Falling

After two years of grieving for her husband, who had died of cancer, my friend, Sherry, decided it was time to come out of the dark and return to her first love, art.

A very talented photographer and artist she combined the two, in unique prints. She decided to take it a step further, to sell her work, having her first show and display in a sidewalk art sale.

She was a nervous wreck.

As I helped her set up. I watched her hands shake, as she fumbled over her display. When potential customers roamed by, she broke out into a sweat.

Drawing in a deep breath, she turned to me and said, “I feel so exposed. So very vulnerable. I’m hanging my heart out here for strangers to examine. I’m terrified. I need courage in large doses. I feel like I'm fear falling.”

Oh, how I know the feeling. Writing is not any different.

The first time I sent a full to an agent, who requested it, my hand shook as it poised over the send key. I had to shut my eyes, take deep breaths. It took long moments. I got up and walked up and down the hall, forced myself back in the chair to click, what I viewed as the most important click of the mouse in my life, as my heart turned into frolicking circus acrobats.

I clicked. My finger jumped up and down as it rattled with nerves. I felt sick when the confirmation of the e-mail came back.

I was there.

My first emotional response, I wanted it back.

When an artist, be it, writing or any other form of artistic endeavors puts their work out to the public, they expose the very essence of the soul.

As authors, our deepest feelings go down on paper. Some of it is lighter, others reaches into the depth of darkest part of our being to play in the devils chambers. No matter the writing, story, genre, or sex, it is the artist’s heart exposed. We’re on paper, either in emotional context or in the story, by way of the characters.

Those characters are often loved ones, or acquaintances never forgotten, to live on in print. My husband warns, "Its not wise to piss off a writer."

The trespasser could easily end up on paper for all to see in the most unfaltering way, forever.

Even entering a contest can be nerve racking. Wondering if the judges will like the story at all. Always fearing, some unknown person assigned a number will put too much personal opinion into the process. Or will the scores reflect the real value of the work? Which can also be dangerously close to heartache. One never knows. You have to have faith, and send it off, and wait as you hold a long breath.

As Sherry asked for courage, I knew she had it already, because she was there, shaking sweaty hands and all.

There are so many talented people out there, who don’t put forth their work publicly, or attempt to send it off to an agent or enter a contest. They hold back from the world often times incredible beauty out of fear of rejection.

Sadly, rejection is a big part of the process.

The agent who terrified me, rejected my work. The good thing, I got an encouraging rejection letter. One that complimented my effort, and offered sound advice. It was just what I needed to boost my lagging ego, giving me the drive to move ahead, improve where I could make my work better. Which in the end was what I really needed more then I wanted an agent.

Affirmation is invaluable.

Suddenly, I felt worthy of the artistic world of writing.

At the same time I got back my scores from the Golden Heart. They weren't great, but not too bad either. I drew in that deep breath and knew I could do this. I had a path to follow, and was hell bent on staying on it. Putting one foot in front of the other.

For Sherry, her first art show was a great success. She sold many of her prints, book marks, and cards. After seeing her display, a local store owner is now in discussions with her, about selling her work. And the art commission approached her about doing a show.

Just think if she had not taken the huge leap of faith, put her heart out there, and exposed her very soul. All those beautiful prints would be locked away in her camera, or on her computer, hidden away from the rest of us.

Writing is hard work. And it’s often times terrifying to take the leap of faith. Just close your eyes , listen to your heart pounding like a drum corp, put your toes over the edge, and slowly lean forward into a fear fall.

Lee

Kurt Vonnegut 1923-2007

I have a confession to make. I’ve never read Slaughterhouse 5. Yes, I know, beat me with a wet noodle. It wasn’t on my required reading list for high school English, although that didn’t always curtail my reading selections, in high school I was more into biographies, historicals, and the beginning of my life-long love affair with the romance.

Once out of school my reading grew more inclusive of romances with sporadic jaunts into the worlds of Koontz, King, and Saul. With a limited budget for reading materials I was very selective of where my book dollar went. Hence, the overabundance of romances. They were guaranteed keepers for my bookshelves.

As the literary greats are passing away I’m coming to the realization of what I’ve missed by limiting myself and not finishing college. Luckily, reading is something we can do until the day we die. Even with failing eyesight, readers have large print and cassette recorders for books for the Blind.

Each day is a new chance to discover the classics or rediscover them if you were lucky enough to find them during your early years. Delve into them and find out why they are classics. Why they will be read for decades after the passing of their authors.

Gotta run, tracking down Slaughterhouse 5.

What classic do you most remember? What classic do you wish you had read?

Of Perfectionism, Procrastination and Perdition...

I’ve been noodling all weekend with this blog entry. It’s my maiden voyage into this world, you see. And I want so very much to honor the work done by my fellow Diamonds that I think I have succeeded in giving myself an anxiety attack about it.

Sounds silly, I know, especially for someone who has been writing for years, who has spoken before crowds and even appeared on TV (in another life) – but there it is. Traumatized by the blank page. And burdened by super-high expectations and demands (all in my own head) that I be outstanding at this, even though I’ve never done it before, simply because I might disappoint those I respect and care about who will be reading this.

What to do, what to do? And then it hit me: talk about it to all of you. Now, this dithering might strike you as foolish, but you know – a blog is writing, after all. Perhaps I haven’t hesitated to pitch to agents and editors in the past, and succeeded at it. Perhaps I’ve had stories of mine published years ago. You can pile up the “perhapses” until they make a damned impressive mound. But in the last analysis, everyone who is in this business seriously will reach or has reached a clutch point, a moment of frozen inaction. For me, the Rubicon I was scared to cross – today -- was this.

When you get down to it, this isn’t any different, in its own way, from writing a manuscript, revising it to make it the best it can be, and then sending it out. The problem, wherever you encounter it, is really the same, though it appears to wear a different face. It’s those pesky expectations and demands. It’s being a perfectionist to the detriment of any possibility of success. It’s beating yourself up because you aren’t the indefatigable Nora Roberts. (I’d like to think she would laugh out loud at that notion; I hear she has a pretty good sense of humor.) It’s stalling on the launch of even something as minor as a blog entry because somewhere you were poisoned by the “it has to be perfect, or it isn’t worth doing.” Result? The dreaded blank page. Or screen, in this case.

Hockey great, Wayne Gretsky is credited with one of those stop-you-in-your-tracks statements that says it all in a few words – “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.” The obverse of that, of course, is that, even if you take one hundred shots, you will miss some of them. However, in this society, we have a tendency to immortalize those who succeed in big ways, shoving them onto pedestals too impossible for any of us “mere mortals” to scale. We forget that they all were where we are at some point in their lives. Roberts, like Gretsky, has taken scores of shots that missed. We just don’t hear about them. And once such individuals have reached that pinnacle of super success, the fact that not every shot they take now is the most superb act of grace they ever performed is pretty well disguised by the light of the halos that crown them. Halos we put there, by the way.

So, when it comes to our putting on our skates and taking up our hockey sticks to venture out onto the ice, we scare ourselves spitless with the specter of Mr. Gretsky, at al. We think nonsense like – “Oh, I’ll never be that good!” which quickly translates into “Maybe I’d better not go out there right now -- my skates aren’t the best -- I have lousy hand-eye coordination anyway – my friends will laugh at me, or worse, they’ll pity me for having pretended I could do this when it’s apparent I can’t.” And presto, we find other things to do, the most extreme being, in my view, to choose some form of house cleaning because we have terrified ourselves about that empty ice rink, or the blank page.

In the end, I decided, what is worse? Putting out something that can’t possibly qualify as “great” and may be only “passable”? Or leaving the page blank because I have created demons to torment myself, and thus cannot put anything out there at all? We won’t discuss the fact that, if I did that – ducked the task, I would have welched on a commitment, a responsibility, a trust with my fellow Diamond bloggers. No, let’s just focus on the fact that it is far more likely that if I succeeded in backing away from this page, I would find it that much easier to back away from the next task: revisions, editing, bouncing the mss. off my crit pals, prepping my query letter, entering that contest, pitching to the next agent or editor. And then the question I think I would have to ask myself is “Am I a writer, or am I only pretending?”

Well, I am actually pretty happy to say that, given that I have had something to write here, I have succeeded in defeating the demon for yet another day. Yes, he or one of his foul ilk will try to scare me into silence and non-performance tomorrow. But, and this is a very big “but,” at least right now I can say – “Today, I am a writer.”

Today, I have taken a shot. I’d like to think Mr. Gretsky would applaud.

--Juanita Salicrup