6 Things I Learned Editing My Second Novel

1. Apostrophes

It was with the help of a friend of mine who served as my first editor that I learned the trick to apostrophes--another thing they don’t teach you in school.  

So here’s the trick; apostrophes can mean three things in modern English.  Most commonly known, they denote contractions--"He is" becomes "he’s," "they are" becomes "they’re," etc.  

Most commonly written (I assume), and least commonly understood (as I understand it), they’re used to show possession.  In the sentence, “That is Tommy’s house,” the ‘s on the word Tommy shows us that the house is his belonging.

Thirdly, apostrophes c’n be used to show th’t l’tters’re missin’, e’en when a word ain’t contracted!  It’s useful fer writin’ dialect, y’see.  

But never, NEVER, NEVER, is an apostrophe used on a plural s.  It may be used beside a plural s, as in, “the Joneses’ house,” but if there are two cats, you’d never write “the two cat’s.”  That is apostrophe abuse & the grammar police WILL find you, and they’ll take those two cats away from you FOREVER, so watch y’r back m’friend!

2. Fit the theme

I fucking love science, especially biology and quantum physics, but pretty much all science, science is amazing, shut up.  So when I was writing my second finished novel, The Koci, I dribbled in some science stuff because I was learning about fibrin and wound healing in bio and I was all like, “This is metal as FUUUUUUUUUUUCkkkkkkk.”  

And by “dribbled in” I mean I put in like one thing.  One paragraph, describing how, unbeknownst to the main character, his fibrin was at work healing his wounds while he slept.  To illustrate how ridiculous this was in hindsight, this was a story about people who shapeshifted into big cats living in closed-species societies that were pretty much constantly at war.  A species that hadn’t even reached a point where they could perform rudimentary autopsies.

Jeez, little Coates, get it together!

The point is, when you create a world, you need to keep things consistent with the time and theme; a teenager in the fourteen hundreds isn’t going to think about the atomic structure of the universe unless they’re a time traveler, and likewise, a modern doctor isn’t going to think about healing in holistic terms.  

You can pull off juxtaposed viewpoints and worldviews, especially if your theme has something to do with the differences or similarities between past and present, or societies which progress in different ways or at different rates--but in that case, you need to be consistent with your juxtapositions.  Don’t just throw shit in because it’s sick af; it has to fit the mood of your piece.

3. Conservation of detail

The law of conservation of detail essentially states that if it isn’t important, you don’t describe it, and that, relatedly, if it is described, it must carry some modicum of importance.  People don’t want to stick around for description of things they don’t care about if it serves no purpose.

This applies to events or even entire scenes or mini-arcs as well as descriptions, objects, or characters.  That sequence where those cat-people straight-up murder a pregnant catlady and rip her open to steal the babies inside her might be sick and twisted and very telling as to how that band of criminals operates and all, but if it has effect on the main character, it’s gotta go.  Same with that forbidden romance literally nobody but the two side characters involved in it know about, and the sequence where the main character goes for a long walk and describes the scenery in great detail for no good goddamn reason.

Detail is like a gas, and the right amount of any gas is required for the Earth to continue to function the way it does.  But when you get too much of any one gas, it throws off the natural balance and starts eating away at your story’s ozone.  Give a hoot gurl, don’t pollute ur fictional world.

4. No long character lists for no reason

WHEEEEEN i wrote The Koci, I knew every single catperson that was in The Army; I knew what their job was, I knew who they were related to, I knew what their secret activities were, I knew EVERYTHING about them all, and I. Had. A. LIST.

So for whatever reason (don’t lie Maggie, you know the reason, you thought you were being all cool ‘n’ shit) I decided it would be a great reason to have one of my characters fUCKIN LIST ALL HUNDRED AND FUCKIN TWELVE CATPEOPLE IN THE ARMY, replete with jobs and descriptions and relationships oh my god.

Yeah, in hindsight it’s pretty embarrassing.  This is another “conservation of detail” thing; it was an unnecessary infodump, and I’m glad my editor talked me out of it before I had the chance to embarrass myself.  

If you ever do feel the need to include a list of all your characters, make sure it’s necessary, and not just a huge pile of useless information.

5. Random events must immediately relevent

So for The Koci I had a plan for a future sequel that I planned to call The Strangers, which would be all about a few human survivors of a nuclear apocalypse floating to shore on the island that the Koci occupied.  As a foreshadowing type thing, I had a blast of light white out the sky and melt all the snow toward the end of the book, but because nothing else in the story plays into that event, it comes across as random and weird.

In fact, it makes no sense.  You might be able to pull something like this off in a second book of a series, since if people are invested enough to read the second they’ll probably stick around to find out what’s up in the third, but for a first novel, especially one where it’s all pretty self-contained, you’re going to want to skip that bit.  Save it for the next book, kemosabe.  

6. Fireflies are dead by the time winter comes you moron

My last scene had fireflies circling the main characters and then flying away.  But, as I said before, there was supposed to be snow on the ground; those fireflies would be deeeaaadddd.

Past me should have known better.  

Chapter Titles: Part 2, Naming

     On Friday I posted a blog about chapter numbering, with the promise that I would later bring you chapter naming.  Well never fear, my SpiderReaders, I am here to deliver on said promise!  Today's post is all about what kinds of chapter naming conventions you might use to your advantage.

1.  Before the Name

    Before you even name the chapter itself, ask yourself--is it even a chapter?  Or is it, perhaps, a Stave?  

     For those of you who don't recognize the reference right off the bat, one of the most famous classical English writers was a man by the name of Charles Dickens, and one of his most famous stories is a little number by the name of A Christmas Carol.  

     A Christmas Carol is divided into Staves instead of chapters, because a Stave is the song equivalent of a stanza (which is the poem equivalent of a paragraph) and Charles Dickens was a clever little shit back in the day.

     I ONE HUNDRED PERCENT approve of any efforts you may have to improve upon this model; do you want to have staves?  Verses?  A chorus?  Is your story modeled after a Greek Tragedy?  Why not have a fucking Stasima, Strophe and Anti-Strophe and all!  Does poetry feature heavily in your work?  Divide it into stanzas!  Does theatre feature heavily in your novel?  Divide it into Acts and Scenes!

     Or, if that seems too gimicky or just doesn't fit with your story?  Stick with chapters.  No one will fault you; chapters are the default for a reason.

2.  POV/Place Shifts

     One simple way to name chapters is as a way to announce POV shifts.  Neal Shusterman does this in his series Unwind by naming each chapter after whichever character's head we're in.  It's simple, it doesn't require much energy, and it automatically lets you know whose hands are on the wheel, so you're not fumbling around in the dark or left with POV whiplash.  As a writer, it can also help keep you from sliding into omniscient third person if you're trying to write in limited third.

     If you tend more toward omniscient third and dealing with a large cast, you can do this with groups, too--in my WIP Captive Stars, I use the name of the packs that the characters belong to, which narrows the focus of the chapter and keeps POV switch whiplash to a minimum.

     Or, if your POV is more stable (or less), you could name each chapter using the area in which it takes place (useful for travel stories) or the time/date.  Or you can combine the methods.

     Again; short, simple, straight-forward.

3.  Suit The Mood

     In a light-hearted book, or for light-hearted chapters, sometimes a play on words is in order; in one of my WIPs, I introduced the protagonist, Ben Desdon, in a chapter called "Ben There, Desdon That," because I'm a fucking loser and Ben is the kind of loveable dork-ass that would not only make that pun, but giggle uncontrollably all the while.

     Because I'm an unforgivable swarm of linguistic humor, I take advantage of every opportunity I can to make the chapter titles into jokes; I have lots of fun with it.

     But I'm just as eager to turn a poetic phrase when the chapter is more serious; "Of Mortal Concerns," for instance, is a great title name for a chapter concerning death, or if your books is about immortals, the literal concerns of mortals as compared to those of the Gods.  This technique is great for foreshadowing events to come without being heavy-handed, too.

     Basically, using witty one-liners or quick poetic quips as your chapter heading can help set the mood and get the audience into the mindset you want them in.

4.  Hyper-Descriptive

     And sometimes, much like a textbook chapter heading, you just want a chapter title that'll tell it how it is; Mark Twain was fond of this one, and used it in Tom Sawyer.  It lets the audience know what we're in for, and has the secondary use of letting kids who didn't read the assignment save the tiniest bit of face because at least they can check the chapter heading for a clue!

     This type of chapter heading has pretty much completely gone out of style, but it's an option if you wanted to revive it.  I think it could be of particular use in a first-person narrative, where the protagonist can be assumed to be the one writing the chapter names, or if the narrator is established to be heavily descriptive or overly technical in their writing.

     What's your favorite method for naming chapters?  Are you particularly attached to any one method, or does it depend on the project?  Are there any other methods you like the use?

A Few Notes on Details

     Recently, I published a post on using specificity in your writing.  On that same note, here are a few scattered notes about how specificity can hurt or help you.

1.  Rough Estimates

     Rough estimates are a natural part of life--you look out at a crowd and you say, "Oh, that looks like about two hundred people."  Unless you're some kind of magic, or actually have the sales numbers in front of you, there's pretty much no way you could ken that at a glance.  That doesn't stop some characters from managing it, but excluding those, estimates are a necessary part of life and of writing.

     There does come a point, though, where estimates become unrealistic.  It takes me out of the story, for example, when someone says something like, "four or five people walked down the street."  For me, that's an automatic, "Wait, what?"  Maybe if the person's view is obstructed, or they're going by a sense other than sight, or the POV character has a problem with processing numbers or something I can understand it, but if you have a clear view of the street, the difference between four and five people should be easily told at a glance by most.

     It's difficult to say when numbers can be given over to estimation, and it does depend on the person, but I would be much more likely, myself, to accept an estimation of "five or six" than "four or five," but probably wouldn't estimate until at least "seven or eight."

     Every character, author, and reader is different, but be careful when estimating that it's realistic for someone to be confused over the number of something.  If someone flashed a picture at me, then burned it and asked me to tell them how many things were in it, I'd have a much harder time telling four from five than if I was sitting in detention with a bunch of stationary students.  I'd also have a much harder time telling four from five if it were dots I was meant to be counting, or even dogs--our brains block out information they don't see as important, which is one of the reasons estimation is necessary in the first place, so the smaller something is (and the less personable or important), the more difficult it becomes to count.

2.  Brands

     My specific grievance here is more of a pet peeve, I guess (or rather, my mother's pet peeve, which I am here to voice on her behalf) concerning clothing in particular, but it could apply just as well to other types of brands.

     One of the things my mother often complains about with books is being bombarded with descriptions of clothing using brand names like "Armani" and "Gucci" and "Leviathan All Hail, All Hail Leviathan."

     Being working class tomboys by birth, and for the most part having lifestyle tastes which match our income, the term "Gucci handbag" means nothing to us; I have a picture in my head of a leather purse.  But you could say "Armani handbag" or "Prada handbag" or some made up company, and it won't change anything; a handbag is a handbag unless you tell me what it actually looks like.  My entire thought process when you start throwing brand names around is "Clothes are happening.  This character has money."

     Most books aren't written for working class women with no taste in clothing, of course--unlike my mother, I have simply become accustomed to this reality.  Still, there's a lesson to be learned here; when you include brand names, will your audience know what you're talking about?  And more importantly, does your character?

     If your character is a rich woman who's never so much as been inside a laundry room, is she really likely to know the difference between Tide and All?  Pinesol and Spic And Span?  If your character is a twelve-year-old girl who spends most of her time biking around town and antagonizing bullies, is she likely to know the difference between a Periwinkle diamond, a Kay diamond, and a rhinestone?

     When you use a Brand Name in your work, take a moment to think about these things.  If your narrator/POV character would know what it is, and your target audience would know what it is, great!  You're all set!  If your character/narrator know what it is but your audience wouldn't, then think about what it is you want to convey with the use of the brand name.

     If you just want to show that the character is rich and has expensive tastes, "Gucci handbag" might be the way to go, but if this handbag is important, or is supposed to tell us something about the character, maybe throw in an adjective or two.  If your character is mopping the floor with Pinesol, is it because she likes the smell?  Does it mean something to her?  And if your rebellious preteen finds a handful of diamonds, does it matter what brand they are?  Or does it matter more what they look like, and whether or not they're real?

Specificity In Writing

     Spe-ci-ficity!

     If you've ever taken an acting class, you've probably heard a spiel or two about how important specificity is in deciding your character's actions; the way you speak, how you interact with your surroundings, the way you pick up a pencil and scrawl your character's signature, can all provide a wealth of information about who the character is, what they want, where they come from, etc.  In acting it's necessary that the actor create these specificities for their character because scripts tend to be pretty bare-bones.

     But when writing a novel or short story (or even dialogue for a script), specificity is every bit as important.  In fact, when writing a novel or short story or poem, etc, specificity can be the difference between an okay story, and a GREAT story.

     Which sounds more compelling?

     a)  "He walked in with his gun and looked around.  There were some hand prints on the wall and some stuff on the floor.  It took him a while to realize the blood was fresh."

     OR

     b)  "He entered silently, scanning the room with gun at the ready.  It was bare, containing only exposed copper wiring coated in dust and a few metal chains.  Seven gluey red hand prints decorated the filthy yellow walls, and it was thirty full seconds before it hit him--the blood was fresh."

     The second paragraph is much more compelling, isn't it?  Yes, part of that has to do with style and suchlike, but without the specificity of detail, there wouldn't be much to stylize!

     The more specific you are when describing something, the more easily the audience can envision what you see.  And details can carry significant weight--the difference between thirty seconds and thirty-seven seconds, for example, is an ocean--thirty seconds is usually either timed out using a stopwatch, or used as shorthand for "roughly half a minute."

     Thirty-seven seconds, though--that says "this is the real time that had passed, and your narrator knows it for a FACT!"  Exact times exude confidence--exact details exude confidence, correctness, a feeling that we're being told how it is.  It makes the audience take notice, and feel like they can trust you, because obviously you know what you're talking about when you can tell us exactly what material the walls are made from and what country that hat was made in.

     Take a look at your work.  Look for places where the details have been hand-waved, "some" this, "roughly" that, etc.  Ask yourself if a generalization fits the passage best, or if it could benefit from a few more specifics.

     Hint:  The more important something is, the more detailed and specific you'll want it to be.  Unless of course you're writing a mystery and trying to lay down some red herrings....

How To Win NaNoWriMo in 15 Days

     Last year, I won NaNoWriMo with a couple days to spare, and I was pretty proud of myself.
     THIS year I won NaNoWriMo in HALF the allotted time, and I felt pretty darn great, I tell you what.  Unfortunately I didn't finish my novel in time (I'm too damn long-winded), but I walked away with a certificate and a smile and a good portion of a first draft for a story that I'm really into.
     Of course, if I kept the secrets to my success a secret, it wouldn't exactly behoove all of you writers out there, wondering how you can get not just your NaNo Novel, but ANY of your fast drafting on even faster, so I'm here to spill the beans and teach YOU how to blow the fishes out of the water with the power of your magic writey-downer abilitations.*
     Here's eight tactics YOU can use to win big fast!

*not a word.

  

1.  Cheat

     Okay, so not cheat, exactly, but sort of???
     See, what allowed me to win so quickly was the fact that on the first day of NaNo I was able to log 11,518 words.  No, it's not because I'm some sort of superhuman (I mean, I am totally some sort of superhuman, but that's not how I was able to write so much).  My secret?  I took NaNoPlotMo VERY seriously; I outlined like hell and scribbled down every note and spare thought I had, fleshing out the first half of my novel so vividly that half my job on day one was essentially copy-paste-expound-upon.
     This also meant that, for the first half of my novel at least, I had a clear idea about where I was going, who my players were, etc, so once I hit the ground I hit it rolling, fullspeed downhill with a fire on my ass.
     This is sort of cheating, yes, because all the WRITING is supposed to be done during November, but taking extensive notes is just an expected part of October for us NaNoers, and no one is looking over your shoulder raising their eyebrow at you for "thinking too much," so you do you and take as many notes as you want, comrade, it's your journey and can't no one tell you how to climb that mountain but you!
     (Also, no one can tell you not to write tons of run-ons in your first draft.  NO ONE.)

2.  Don't Look Back

    This is just one of those old classics of the NaNo experience, but still SUPER helpful.  Like, so helpful oh my God, I spent most of last year's NaNo just LEARNING this one, and it's helped in all my drafting since; don't go back and reread.
     It's tempting, I know!  But you must resist the urge.  Go back a chapter or maybe two if you need to at the start of the writing day, to try to kickstart your creativity, remember where you left, etc., but don't go any further back and do not, I repeat, DO NOT, I REPEAT AGAIN FOR FURTHER EMPHASIS, DO.  NOT.  EDIT.  
     I know those words are being real shitlords--they're screaming at you, begging you to come fix your mistakes, taunting you with your imperfections, but don't do it!  It will only slow you down, it could lessen your word count (which is all well and good during editing season, but not when you're drafting, ESPECIALLY not with NaNoWriMo), and you'll lose all your momentum.  Even if you're suffering from a block, you'd be better off getting up and going for a walk, or reading, or watching an hour of TV than risking a trip into the bog of edit hell.
     Don't even look back for details--if you forget a detail, make it up, you can always fix it in post.  And hey, who knows, maybe you'll like the new way better!
     Just, in general, if you can possibly help it, don't look back.  The time for looking back is not while your chainsaw is half-way through the lonely housewife's torso; the time for looking back doesn't come until the last grudge match has been settled and your bloody trail of carnage and slaughter finally matches the tale of woe and revenge set down in the notebook you made to look like that one from Deathnote.  That's when you bust out the bleach and start checking IDs.

3.  Don't worry about POV

     This year, I couldn't decide if I was writing from multiple third person limited or from third person omniscient.  Last year, during Camp NaNo I kept slipping into second person POV, too, and randomly switching tenses.
     This is pretty normal, we all do it to some degree, some more than others--our brain will just randomly switch gear and suddenly a third person story has six paragraphs of "I went to the store today" slapped in the middle.  Don't sweat it.
     This is another thing that can be fixed in post.  If you're not sure what POV you even want the story to be in, just write.  Write whatever comes to mind and deal with the aftermath later.
     That goes for tenses and shit, too.  Just don't worry; again, it can all be fixed in post.  Right now, the most important thing is to get that story out of your goddamn body before it has the chance to escape in a less palpable form, or takes hold of your brain and drives you MAD.

4.  Big casts help

     I'm not saying that big casts are the answer, or that they're right for your particular story, and I'm DEFINITELY not saying that every story needs to be an ensemble.
     What I AM saying is, I had a big cast this year (both years.  I'm a fan of large casts.  Sue me) and it really helped keep my juices flowing--I had a lot to work with, a lot of subplots to dive into, and any time I couldn't figure out what my MC's next move was, I could cut to some of the more minor characters and talk about a subplot for a chapter or two, which allowed me the time to let my MC ruminate on his options and decide what to do next--and, sometimes, for new characters to invent themselves.
     And of course, while writing my MC's scenes, I was able to work out what my side characters were doing, etc., etc., which makes for a good process most of the time.


5.  Set a big word count and follow that shit

     After my eleven thousand word victory I was like HELL FUCKING YES
     But I knew I had to keep working--I told myself that I would write at least three thousand words a day.  I didn't, of course, but I tried to; some days I went over, some days I went under, but because I was so far ahead, it wasn't any problem--even if you don't get off on the huge side of the bed the first morning of NaNoWriMo, exceeding the normal goal is a good thing to shoot for--maybe you write two thousand words a day instead of 1667, maybe three thousand, maybe five thousand!  Whatever you can handle, do that and do it consistently; that way if something happens and you're under one day, it's no big deal.  If you do it enough and for some reason you have to skip a day, again, you have some room under you, no big deal.
     BUUUUUTTTT.....

6.  Don't skip a day

     If you can help it, don't skip.  I know you have those pretty little days' worth of word credits saved up from all your SUPER DUPER WRITE-TASTICNESS, but do your best not to let them get to you.  If you take that day off, it's going to seriously screw with your momentum, which is what fast-drafting is all about.  You gotta go hard bro, 'cause in this game, there's no goin' home.  *Insert Murder Eyes*
     Plus, by skipping a day, your manuscript becomes a little less clear in your mind, details become a little more hazy--if you knew what you were going to do in the next scene, maybe you lose it, or lose part of it, and you risk the dreaded need to (DUN DUN DUUUUN) TURN BACK.  *LOUD MELODRAMATIC GASPING*

7.  Set up a routine that works for you

     I like to work in chunks of several hours at a time, when I can, so I try to get up early and write for a few solid hours before school, before I've expended my creative energy for the day, and then I do my best to squeeze in whatever extra time I can between classes--maybe you work best at night, though, or for fifteen minute intervals throughout the day; maybe the only time you can squeeze it in is while hastily shoveling bologna sandwiches into your chomping maw at the midday hour.
     Whatever works for you, set a time and try to stick to it--then grab whatever extra time you can get your grubby little hands on.  Try to set up a workstation if you can, leave your computer on sleep instead of off so it takes less time to boot up when you feel the desire for a pyre!

8.  Throw shit in there

     Obviously, you don't want to just slam a random thing down for the words, but don't censor or limit yourself.  Use those adverbs and adjectives you're not sure you'll need, you can cut 'em later!; write that introspective diatribe, you can change it later!; give a flashback that explains the entire character that you're pretty sure you'll end up using like four sentences from in the end; you can cut the rest of it later, but at least now you know, and this is a part of fast drafting that, as more of a pantser than a plotter, I love, because now I have all this information about my characters and their lives that I can use later, or not use at all, but at least I can write the character with all this shit in mind!
    And my wordcount is boosted, and no one got hurt**, and all is well.

**Except for all those people you murdered on number 2.

Dual-Household Children

     Many children with separated or divorced parents experience visitation.  Sometimes the visitation is set up as a a visit paid to the child's house by the non-custodial parent, and other times the children will visit the other parent's household for a set period of time.  The latter's the one this article is designed to get you thinking about.  Forgive the slightly scattered format.


     1.          How your character feels about the situation will depend on, like everything else, the characters and situation.  Do they like the secondary parent?  More than the primary?  Or do they hate them?  Do they hate both parents?  Is there anyone living with their secondary or primary parent that they might want to spend more/less time with?  Spend some time figuring out how your characters feel about everyone involved.  Write it down and keep it in mind as you go forward.

     2.          How frequent is the visitation?  If they only see their secondary parent a few times a year, then they might be excited to get away/spend time with Parent Number 2, or they may dread the Christmas visits that they're forced into since they barely know the person at the other end of the trip.

    Some parents are very strict about visitation, and it can cause major issues if the kids can't/won't make it, but others are fairly loosey-goosey.  If the two parents in question have different outlooks, it can cause a lot of conflict.  Maybe Mom thinks Dad should be spending more time with his children, but Dad has a crazy job and doesn't think it's a big deal if he only misses two weekends a month, or maybe Dad is trying to keep the kids on track with their extracurriculars but Mom would rather have them in her house than at practice.  If the visitation is court-mandated, things can get even more tense, and whether or not the children have a say in what goes on can lessen or increase the conflict exponentially.

     When the visits are more frequent, feelings about visits might be more inconsistent and dependent on the Mood of the Week.  My brother and I are supposed to visit my father biweekly, but it switches up sometimes as our weekends fill up with extracurricular activities, two weeks on, two weeks off, week on, week off, week on, three weeks off....  (our family, you might say, is full of loose geese.)

     Sometimes we look forward to going, sometimes we feel like it's a chore.  How things are going in our heads and on the calendar impact the feelings greatly; during the school year, it can feel like an opportunity to get homework done or like a draw FROM homework (they don't have internet, which makes certain projects difficult--though perhaps your character's visitation parent is the only one WITH internet, which could certainly be a reason to enjoy/tolerate going), and in the summer it can feel like time well-spent with family out by the grill, or it can seem like time I could be spending doing something with more lasting effects.

     3.          Parents who are separated can have a myriad of different relationships--there are the unhealthy he-said-she-said types, the hateful don't-listen-to-them types, the laid back it-just-didn't-work types, the exasperated we're-so-done-I-don't-even-care-anymore types, etc. etc.

     My own parents get along pretty well--better than they ever did while they were married--but there's still friction from time-to-time.  My father can get paranoid, and he's very susceptible to the suggestions of his live-in brother and mother (disclosure: my uncle is not the best person) so sometimes there are misunderstandings and hang-ups that leave my brother and I in the middle and angry.

     4.          But by no means does this have to be the dynamic between the parents in your book!  By all means, experiment, change things up!  I get a little tired of the very cut-and-dry "I hate/love this parent and love/hate this other parent."  A lot of the time it's a lot more complicated than that, and I think it's important to make that complication more evident.

     Try drawing from your own experiences, or the experiences of your friends or family members (your own children, if the shoe fits).  It's a pretty safe bet that some individual in your life is or has been in a dual-household situation.  Ask around!  Unless their experience is particularly painful, most people won't be too hesitant to talk about it.  Hell, you could ask me, or someone else on the internet.  It's worth a shot!


     If you have any thoughts, tips, advice, or input on the subject, let me know!  The more experiences shared, the better!

What Work Can Do For Your Writing

     Now, if you have the money or guts to decide to write full time, I'm in awe of your prowess/courage.  But you can definitely gain something from working, whether it's a paid job or career, or just physical labor done around the yard.

     One very important thing that a job can do is expose you to people--school does the same thing, students!--and if you listen with a writer's ear, it can teach you a lot about dialogue and help jump-start creativity.  I clean shop for a local computer store on weekdays, and I've learned a lot about what a dirty floor can indicate, how to read the mood of the room, not to mention the tidbits I've picked up listening to my supervisors chat and bs.  Anything can become a story, any skill or quirk could help flesh out a character, any small observation can lead your protagonist to the cracking of a code, and the observations you make in life are the difference between the Anyman's writing and your writing.  The flavor is in the seasonings, as they say.

     Work--particularly physical labor--can also give you a lot of time to think, to move stories around in your head, find new paths for characters to travel, etc. etc.  It's good to make time to just let the information flow, and if you work daily, or even just weekly, it gives you a set time for just that.  Even if your work is too heavy in conscious thought to allow you that time, something as simple as doing the dishes or pulling weeds can have the same effect.  Take a walk!  Walks are wonderful things, I recommend them to everyone.

     And of course, at some point I'm sure at least one of your characters will set to some kind of work, and the more personal experience you have with whatever they set to, the better.  Maybe they need to farm the land, and you have no idea what it feels like to farm the land--but you've spent hours in the heat of the day mid-summer raking leaves and planting flowers, and while it's not the same, some of the experiences--the sweat, the heat, the aches of labor--are a good place to start.  The places you've worked, the streets you've walked, the smell of your office, the sound of your coworkers' chitter-chatter in the background, the thrill of appreciation and the blow of insults placed upon your work--your experiences are invaluable, so take mental (or physical!) note of each and every one.

     The devil's in the details, but so are the angels.