OPTIMUS' TOP FIVE REASONS TO WRITE

OPTIMUS'

TOP FIVE REASONS

TO WRITE

by Linda Robertson

 

**I may have

purposely misunderstood

this week's topic

just a little.

 

 

1

You there.

Yes, you.

You have a story to tell.

 

 

2

You have something

to say through that story

that the world needs to hear.

 

3 

You know how

to grab people's attention.

 

4

Just setting up how that 

amazing scene in your head

might actually happen 

spawned a whole novel.

 

5

You are a mutha-fuckin'

unstoppable semi-load of

creative Hellfire mixed

with a savage strain of pixie dust

aiming to rain bad-assery down on the

entertainment-deprived masses.

 

The Poor Pessimist's Guide to Not Writing

I'm not much good at being a pessimist.

Seriously. It's not that I'm a rose-colored glasses person (actually, maybe I am...), but I'm blessed to have optimistic body chemistry. Happy is my default emotional state. In college, I was a peer counselor, which involved pretty intensive training over ten weeks, with a full Saturday devoted to particular topics. For suicide, we were all assigned to think about what in our own selves would drive us to contemplate doing that. It dovetailed with an acting class assignment to perform a solo scene without words. So I created a scene of a woman committing suicide with pills. (I used pine nuts and the flavor of those still reminds me of that sense of despair I created.) It was incredibly difficult for me to get to that place.

As I recall, my acting teacher thought I didn't quite manage. LOL! Of course, there are a number of reasons I'm a writer, not an actress.

ANYWAY. This week's topic in the bordello is The Pessimist's Top 5 Reasons to Never Write. As a failed pessimist, here's my stab at it.

1.  The persistent fear that the next book will be the one that sucks
   
   I can't shake this one. Is it just me? I'm forever worrying that the book I'm writing will be terrible. I also fret that ones that are out are actually terrible - no matter the praise - and that people aren't telling me the truth. I'm not like this about anything else in my life.
   
2. The daily dread that I won't make wordcount
   
   This one is rich. Every day I start writing with the fear that I won't hit my planned number of words. Sometimes I procrastinate on starting, because I'm afraid the words won't flow. Crazy.
   
3.  I could make money more easily in other ways
   
   Right? Making money as a writer is not easy. It takes a long time and is never a sure thing. And, if I think too much about making money, that gets in the way of the story. I still make much more money at my day job and it's not nearly as difficult. For example, I never worry that my next report to the EPA will be the one that sucks. :-)
   
4.  I'll never write a book as good as...
   
   [Insert name of much-loved book here]
   
5.  It gets in the way of my reading
   
   One of the sad truths of writing is it takes away from reading - both in time and pure enjoyment. It's difficult now to divorce my writer's brain when I'm reading and I'm much pickier about books now than I used to be. Alas. Also, the books really pile up these days (see last week's post.)

So, much like I associate suicidal despair with the taste of pine nuts, writing this now has me thinking about all of the craziness that comes with being a writer. I suspect the take-home message here is that not one of these things would exist if I didn't care so passionately and deeply about books and writing. That's what it comes down to for me. My day job is a job - one I enjoy and believe in
- but being a writer is... being alive. Which is why I write despite all of these neurotic fears.

Maybe, in some ways, I write BECAUSE of them. Next week will be the optimist's turn. Much more my natural habitat. :-)

Also...

I've been over at Harlequin Junkie, with an interview and giveaway. I asked readers to comment on what posts topics they like to see from authors. The answers are pretty illuminating! One thing a number of them mentioned is teasers from work in progress. Which I never do. So, I'm testing the theory and I challenge the other Word Whores to do so! Here's a little teaser from book 4 of The Twelve Kingdoms, THE PAGES OF THE MIND.

*******

The ladies oohed, put the last touches on her hair and the subtle makeup Ursula had agreed to, and bowed out to take their places in the hall. Ursula remained still for a moment longer, a somber expression on her face as she studied herself in the mirror, making me wonder what she saw there.

“Nervous?” Harlan asked her, before I could, which meant he earned the glare instead.

“I’m having a big piece of jewelry stuck on my head,” she retorted. “What’s to be nervous about?”

 

Four Great Books, One Not So Great - My Five

So many books, so little time. This year, I dissected books. In the midst of the stories I most enjoy, I spent a few minutes pausing to ask why I enjoyed them so much - how had the authors pulled me into the narrative? I did this both with fiction and with nonfiction - just to see how the tools and techniques differed - or even if they did differ. Here, in no particular order, are my five:

Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth – Alan Weisman  You recognize this name from his previous book The World Without Us, which was, at its heart, an optimistic book. Countdown is not exactly a happy, feel-good book, but it is fascinating and compelling. And the thing I think I admire most is this writer’s ability to convey difficult messages with writing so fluid, I got sucked right in. It never once crossed my mind to give up on this book. That’s worth studying.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success – Carol Dweck – This is the book that details research into the psychology of Fixed Mindset and Growth Mindset. I grew up in Fixed Mindset. I hate being wrong. Hates it with a white hot passion – even when I know, intellectually, that making mistakes is the only way to learn something. Someone with Growth mindset believes he or she can get smarter and smarter – that the brain is a muscle that with exercise only gets stronger and better. I’d read this because it promised to teach me how to change my mindset from Fixed to Growth. Still working on that. What? I like reading psychology. I get that it makes me a complete weirdo.

Rogue’s Paradise – Actually, I’m lucky enough to have read everything Jeffe published this year and it’s always a treat. Her characters and her stories always draw me right in. Studying her techniques, too, believe you me. But this trilogy, in particular, makes me happy. And I have secret hope that it won't remain a trilogy for long.

First Grave on the Right – Darynda Jones – yeah, I know I’m slow on the uptake. It’s just where this book happened to be in my TBR pile. In fact, this is my current holiday guilty pleasure read. No strings. No study. I just get to read for enjoyment. Except, while I am enjoying the book a lot – I think her take on someone seeing dead people and how and why that happens feels fresh – I’m also taking mental notes about how the author is constructing scenes and showing conflict and emotion. So, Ms. Jones? Sorry. I can’t seem to kick this morbid habit of peeling back the skin of a story like I’m some kind of deranged serial killer. Yes. This is me. Rubbing my hands in glee.

Unnamed novel by an unnamed author – I’m not naming the book or the author because this book would have been thrown across the room had it not been on my Kindle. Did not finish this book. I gave it ten chapters to throw me a bone, but it ended up being toss worthy itself. The heroine was just a great big ,closed off bundle of NOPE. She had not a single nice bone in her body as far as I could tell and the moment she stomped on the hero’s dreams, coldly rejecting them out of hand, I was done. Would have been had the reverse been true – had the hero crushed her dreams under heel, I’d have wanted to use the book as kindling, too. So why am I putting this book here? Knowing what annoys the crap out of me is hugely useful as a teaching tool. I’m taking notes and filing this book under HOW MAKE MARCELLA DETEST A CHARACTER. Also – in my opinion, the most interesting part of this story happened before this book starts. The scene choices made are also telling – in that I’m taking more notes about which scenes I would have chosen to write and none of them are the scenes this author actually wrote. A book that doesn’t work for me has a whole bunch to teach me. That’s why I included it. Will I finish the book? Oh hell no. Life is too short and there are way too many great books out there.