Writers Anonymous
"Hi. My name is Erica, and I make dumb writing mistakes."
Response, "Hi, Erica!"
"Now let me share my story."
There is a risk, with a blog, of disintegrating into pontification. However, by focusing on writing, I firmly aim to share honestly about the journey and the craft. The most talented writer I know is unpubbed--and likely to remain so for his own complex, personal reasons. So by virtue of being pubbed and some of you being unpubbed . . . well, that doesn't mean anything. We're all in this together, right?
To that end, I wanted to periodically share my dumb mistakes. Maybe you have made these dumb mistakes. Maybe you have avoided them. Maybe by my sharing said dumb mistakes, you can sidestep them altogether.
Dumb mistake #1: Thinking because you're so damn brilliant you'll remember everything.
Yup.
I admit it. I have a near-photographic memory, skipped grades in school, won an academic scholarship to a fancy university with real ivy growing up the walls (or at least dogwood trees on campus, I think) . . . was the typical brainiac. Said brain has gotten me where I am in life. It has also shortcutted me considerably. I.e., as long as I attended a lecture in college and LISTENED to it, I didn't have to study for exams. Lucky that way. I learn by listening, others are visual learners, others have to take copious notes.
So it only made sense that since these books are MY novels, and MY characters, and MY inventions, that I wouldn't have to write too much down. I don't outline, and hell, of COURSE I'll remember everything, like if my heroine is left-handed, blue-eyed, and likes FIVE jumbo green olives in her martinis (because I do, so of COURSE I'll remember THAT), and hates men who wear corduroy for some reason.
But, in fact, I have learned the very hard way that I don't remember these details at all. Most especially, I don't when it's a series and I am a full year into it, writing book 3 and now can't remember the eye color of ANY of my key characters.
So why is that?
Well, I think it's the process of creation. By being a writer, let's say on page 100 of book 1, you decide to toss in a little detail. For instance, in BLOOD SON, my wip, the hero is a full six inches and change taller than my heroine. But SUPPOSE on page 182, I mention she is five feet six. NOW, I must remember, by domino effect, that he is HOW TALL? But didn't I somewhere ELSE say he was six foot one? You get the idea.
I am doomed to forget little details.
I REALLY, really, really, REALLY! learned my lesson during INVISIBLE GIRL. My editor advised me, during editing, that she thought I should add a dateline to each chapter, because the book veers between the 1970s and the present day and many years in between to span the Vietnam War, our covert involvement in Laos, Hell's Kitchen (before it became trendy), and so on. Great idea. I don't want the reader to have to work too hard in an already multi-layered, multi-cultural complex romantic suspense book. One problem. The time between when I turned it in and when I got my edit back was about FOUR MONTHS. And in that time, I got dumber, I guess, because now it wasn't so easy to connect all the dots. It was a nightmare of epic proportions that gave me nightmares and sent me for the martini shaker.
So . . . join with me now. Write down some notes. Index cards. Something. Details, so you don't have to scramble and you don't get it wrong.
Dumb Mistake #1.
Discuss.
Response, "Hi, Erica!"
"Now let me share my story."
There is a risk, with a blog, of disintegrating into pontification. However, by focusing on writing, I firmly aim to share honestly about the journey and the craft. The most talented writer I know is unpubbed--and likely to remain so for his own complex, personal reasons. So by virtue of being pubbed and some of you being unpubbed . . . well, that doesn't mean anything. We're all in this together, right?
To that end, I wanted to periodically share my dumb mistakes. Maybe you have made these dumb mistakes. Maybe you have avoided them. Maybe by my sharing said dumb mistakes, you can sidestep them altogether.
Dumb mistake #1: Thinking because you're so damn brilliant you'll remember everything.
Yup.
I admit it. I have a near-photographic memory, skipped grades in school, won an academic scholarship to a fancy university with real ivy growing up the walls (or at least dogwood trees on campus, I think) . . . was the typical brainiac. Said brain has gotten me where I am in life. It has also shortcutted me considerably. I.e., as long as I attended a lecture in college and LISTENED to it, I didn't have to study for exams. Lucky that way. I learn by listening, others are visual learners, others have to take copious notes.
So it only made sense that since these books are MY novels, and MY characters, and MY inventions, that I wouldn't have to write too much down. I don't outline, and hell, of COURSE I'll remember everything, like if my heroine is left-handed, blue-eyed, and likes FIVE jumbo green olives in her martinis (because I do, so of COURSE I'll remember THAT), and hates men who wear corduroy for some reason.
But, in fact, I have learned the very hard way that I don't remember these details at all. Most especially, I don't when it's a series and I am a full year into it, writing book 3 and now can't remember the eye color of ANY of my key characters.
So why is that?
Well, I think it's the process of creation. By being a writer, let's say on page 100 of book 1, you decide to toss in a little detail. For instance, in BLOOD SON, my wip, the hero is a full six inches and change taller than my heroine. But SUPPOSE on page 182, I mention she is five feet six. NOW, I must remember, by domino effect, that he is HOW TALL? But didn't I somewhere ELSE say he was six foot one? You get the idea.
I am doomed to forget little details.
I REALLY, really, really, REALLY! learned my lesson during INVISIBLE GIRL. My editor advised me, during editing, that she thought I should add a dateline to each chapter, because the book veers between the 1970s and the present day and many years in between to span the Vietnam War, our covert involvement in Laos, Hell's Kitchen (before it became trendy), and so on. Great idea. I don't want the reader to have to work too hard in an already multi-layered, multi-cultural complex romantic suspense book. One problem. The time between when I turned it in and when I got my edit back was about FOUR MONTHS. And in that time, I got dumber, I guess, because now it wasn't so easy to connect all the dots. It was a nightmare of epic proportions that gave me nightmares and sent me for the martini shaker.
So . . . join with me now. Write down some notes. Index cards. Something. Details, so you don't have to scramble and you don't get it wrong.
Dumb Mistake #1.
Discuss.
posted by Erica Orloff at 8:58 PM
19 Comments:
I write down everything. When I started Logan Wolf series I wrote down descriptions and usually had pictures of actors and actress as characters. I know everything about most of my characters from favorite color, scars and where they are to the color of their car.
I leave nothing to my memory because I don't trust me.
la:
I have a friend, author Vicki Hinze, who also uses the "actor/actress/model" technique. When we did the It Girls series a while back for Bombshell, I used it with her so each of the six authors involved would all know what the other authors' characters looked like. It was very successful as a technique. I don't tend to use it in my own writing, I think because I rarely picture a specific actor or actress, but more like a composite, as in "Ava, in The Roofer, looks a little like Jennifer Connolly"--not "she IS Jennifer Connolly." However, I do need to write down a lot more. A LOT more. I think I have always trusted my memory, but over 350 pages, it's easy to let something slip.
E
I don't use the actor/actress/model technique either. Doesn't work for me.
Not to mention, well, they don't always look that great, you know what I mean? Sometimes they are just regular people.
Here's the strange thing: I've a near photographic memory, but it doesn't extend to my writing. I couldn't recite passages of what I wrote if you pointed a gun at me, much less remember what X or Y's eye color is. I could, however, recite to you the Periodic Table.
milady:
Funny . . . I know the first line of my favorites of my books. The Roofer ("My first instinct was to look at the corpse") is my all-time fave. I know the first line of Diary of a Blues Goddess ("I live in a house with a dead prostitute"). I know "Blood spatter was artfully arranged" from my first Billie Quinn book. But beyond that, usually if I pick up a copy of one of my books months later, I can read it as if a stranger wrote it! LOL!
E
I also have a habit of not writing down anything. Mostly if anything pops into my head, I leap onto the comp and try to put it into my work in procress at that moment while it's fresh.
But I have to start writing stuff down. Seeing how while working on hopefull book #1, I have a plot/idea for a second book that has NOTHING to do with the first book, except that they are in the same genre.
Nikkie:
If all goes well and you sell your book, it will take over a year . . . copyediting, developmental editing, galleys, proofs until it's in print . . . sometimes the distance is good--you start to see things that you missed or that you can improve, but then you also have that length of time in which you can have forgotten things.
E
Hi, Erica!
The first step toward recovery is admitting that you have a problem. :)
We all want to write compelling fiction, and the best way to start is to know our characters. I'm a strong believer in the character-driven story. I think plots are finite, characters infinite. So, yes, write it all down, all the physical details as well as the hopes, dreams, fears etc. How does this character respond to stress, to life/death situations? When is her birthday? What did she REALLY want for Christmas when she was eight? All the little details, though they might not show up in the final product, add to the dimensions of a character and therefore add to the drama of the story. Know 'em, love 'em, BE 'em. Then, if we're lucky, our readers will too.
Hi Jude:
Well, yes, I have a problem. :-)
Your questions are used by a lot of authors. For some reason, I have a mental arc of the character's life, but I couldn't tell you any of my characters' birthdays--and I am not sure why. Not that the birthday question itself is so important, but yeah, I really don't psychoanalyze them or get those details all the time. Sometimes I think it's because I am a "Method" writer. I.e., like a Method actor, I inhabit them, so I AM them as I write. Weird, but maybe that's it. I'm them so I don't have to ask how I deal with stress because if stress comes up in the plot--as it always does, I write from the gut and react then.
Hmmm. Definite food for thought. Welcome back, btw.
E
Erica:
Since, as you know, I think your writing is awesome, I would have to say, "If it ain't broke don't fix it." My previous post was mostly a reminder to myself and other newbies who might be having problems with characterization. For those of us still trying to find our way, writing out profiles might be one method of dealing with it. Every writer is different and, of course, there's no right or wrong way to approach fiction.
Whatever works. That's my motto.
Hi Erica, so great that you pointed out how important attention to detail is. As an avid reader it amazes me (and drives me crazy) when authors seem to forget who their own characters are. I wasn't as inclined to notice it before I began writing myself, but now...its unbeleivable how often it leaps out and bites me. The very first thing I wrote, I DID know the characters intimately, a year and 3 wips later as I begin working through it with a critique partner, they are not nearly as clear in my mind. Index cards. Definitely. Like you, I have the tendency to 'become' the characters, but when you have several things on the go, there are only so many split personalities you can assume.
Always something to be learned here.
Off to check out your 'myspace'
BTW, I am only anonymous because I am a relative newbie and have no blog/site/space. Yet, but it is in the works and hopefully you'll soon visit me ;0)
Elaine
Hi Elaine:
nice to "see" you here! Hope the writing is going well.
You know, another point with this whole issue . . . we start books, usually so enthused and excited. But you can't possibly maintain that level of enthusiasm over months or a year. So it's natrual some of the things that seem so vivid when you start might fade a little.
E
Erica, I am the exact opposite as you. I have no memory at all. No short-term, no long term. It's a wonder I ever got through school! I need to write everything down. I always say to people that if it's not written down, it's not real to me. I even go so far to say that if it's not in my Blackberry, (said event) is not really happening. How obnoxious is that?! ;-)
La Burton -- I'm same as you. I don't trust me either. I too "cast" my characters! I do it more to inspire me, as opposed to try to remember their physical details, but that's a good idea too.
karm:
That's one reason I love this blog--so many different techniques come to light. As I like to remind people--there is no right or wrong way to write a book . . . what works for Writer A may not for Writer B. It's just good to be open to trying things.
And LOL about the Blackberry. I laughed out loud.
E
I'm a lot like you Karmela, no memory at all. Nothing is worse than when someone says, "hey, remember that time..." And I reply, "uh, no?" My other problem is I'm too lazy to write things down. I really need to. I like the notecard idea. It helps that I model my characters after people though, I have a hard time visualizing made-up people in my head. Thus I need men like Johnny Depp and Gerard Butler to, uh, inspire me. :-)
Great post Erica!
Lisa:
Oh, that Gerard Butler. Sigh! :-)
I actually model some of my characters on this long-ago crush. I asked a friend what became of him (he knows him) and was told he is balding and fat. So I like sticking with the old memory! LOL! Not that there's anything wrong with balding and fat . . . but when that guy was 22 . . . sigh.
E
Damnit. I'm going to finally get that membership to the Y I've been talking about getting, and I'm calling that guy down in Orlando who does the really good hair transplants...
Screw it. I'll just take the money and buy a Harley instead. You can get away with being fat and bald if you have a Harley, right?
At least I don't need Viagra. Yet. :(
Jude:
Since I have already posted your handsome picture on my blog, you can just zip it. We all know you are the GOOD kind of bald. No comb-over--just that rock star bald kind of look.
And yes, men on Harleys can get away with a lot. Sadly, in this materialistic universe, so can men with hefty bank accounts. I mean, LOOK at the man Anna Nicole Smith married. And really, Michael Douglas may be kind of handsome in a smarmy way, but he looks downright creepy next to Catherine Zeta Jones.
E
I feel better now. Thanks. :)
Can I still get the Hog? I promise I won't ride it or anything incredibly dangerous like that. I just want to lean against it with my arms folded, wrap-around Ray Bans gleaming in the sun, half a dozen chicks drooling in the background...
Midlife crisis here I come!
Seriously, though, I visited a friend over the weekend (a guy I've known since we were eleven), who recently bought a Harley. He took me to the HD store in Coco Beach, trying to get me to take the plunge. So far, I've resisted the midlife crisis thing (I drive a Toyota Corolla, for chrissake), but I can definitely see the attraction in doing one last crazy thing...
Anyway, like I said, I've known this guy since we were eleven, and we had some pretty wild times together when we were teenagers. Now we sit around and drink beer and talk about the Glory Days (reference to The Boss just for you, dear Erica). You know, we play "Remember when...." I can remember those days like they were yesterday, and some of that stuff ends up in my fiction (Ah. You were wondering how any of this could possibly be on topic). So, I can remember my past quite well. Don't ask me what I did a week ago, though. That's why, when working on a novel, I have to write down time lines, draw maps, create character sketches etc. My short term memory sucks. One thing I haven't tried yet, but might, is writing journals in the voices of my characters. I think it might be an interesting way to bring them to life. Has anybody out there tried this?
I've been kind of blocked recently, so I'm trying all sorts of things. I think sitting around drinking green bottle and talking story with my friend might have helped, actually. I'm thinking about writing a SUMMER OF '42 kind of thing, only I'll call it AUTUMN OF '73... Or something.
Jude:
Sure, get the Hog, but they don't call them donor machines for nothin'--and you're a NURSE for God's sake, you should know that. ;-)
I used to ride with a dear old friend. Man, those were wonderful days.
ANYHOO, no, never tried the journal thing. But I do sometimes just get together with my writers' group, maybe bring a short amount of pages (less than ten) and use the rest of my allotted time to just hang with them and talk about my issues with my book. Sort of like visiting the Book Shrink or something. Helpful.
E
Post a Comment
<< Home