Sharon

Smart people

“Here are three traits I would report from a long trail of meeting and interviewing people who by any reckoning are very intelligent.

They all know it.
Virtually none of them (need to) say it.
They know what they don’t know. This to me is the most consistent marker of real intelligence. The more acute someone’s ability to perceive and assess, the more likely that person is to recognize his or her limits. . . . generally the cliche is true: the clearest mark of intelligence, even ‘genius,’ is awareness of one’s limits and ignorance.”

— James Mackenzie Fallows, American writer and journalist; from his article, “How Actual Smart People Talk About Themselves,”The Atlantic, January 6, 2018

I write slowly. When I worked for a newspaper I thought that would be a handicap, but I always had the story in mind so I didn’t have the problem. I wrote on the typewriter, which I had never done. So, here I am, at my age, still learning. The thing is I have not had an outline for any novel I’ve written, however, now I think the fact that I have the movie in my head is, for me, the equivalent of having an outline.

I’m using Scrivener and the bulletin board cards give me the closest thing to an outline that I have.

Another thing is that when I don’t have the story so that I can visualize, then I plod, struggle, come to a halt, until I can ‘see’ the action again.

Does that make me a plotter or pantster? Maybe a mix of both.

More Magic

I have read, and can no longer find, an article in which the writer posits that writers who really stand out are those who write something different or say it in a different way. For instance Faulkner wrote long sentences, sometimes a page in length, but the thing one remembers about Faulkner are stories that cut to the quick, characters who you can visualize like you do your best friend.

And you don’t just visualize them, you know how they think, or you believe you do. Good writing stays with you, like a good movie does. Good writing makes you think.

Richard Ford said he spent a year planning and studying for writing Independence Day. He did something right–he won a Pulitzer. But I think this all goes back to emotion and advice from several writers: Become the character and then write. It all sounds so easy…………

Meditation

I listened to a meditation blog today about prioritizing and how to choose to do the things that are important. The man talking said that one way to prioritize is to ask yourself ‘what would I do if this was my last day on earth’. That is a gloomy thought to me, but it has to be 1) faced, and /or 2) thought about, and/or 3) ignored. If I wrote as much as really great writers, I’d probably decide I needed to finish some great sentence or paragraph, but I think most folks would agree that they would get in touch with their children or siblings or parents if this was their last day. They would focus on someone they love, surely. And they would express their love.

Discussion Questions

I just added “Discussion Questions” to A Promise of Water. I’m glad I did. It helped me see that I covered some thoughtful points in the novel. For instance, do you think people in the west are more aware of the importance of potable water than you are?

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not prudish or preachy, but a good novel will stick with you a while, maybe make you think about something you hadn’t thought about before.

We don’t worry about good water where I now live. I’m sitting here surrounded by soaked ground (after a big rain) and good drinking water anytime I want it. However, some parts of the west are still in drought or very close to it. It’s one of those ‘count your blessings’ things. I’m fresh from an arid area so good water is a big blessing.

Didn’t mean to get too serious. I still believe in happy endings. I’m hoping some book clubs will appreciate the questions. We’ll see.

Maxx

I haven’t written about my dog Maxx yet. He is a Xoloitzcuintli. If you look the breed up on Wikipedia, you’ll see he’s called a Mexican hairless. Maxx has hair. Maxx is his own dog. Maxx has made me aware that, while I used to say “the best things in life are free.” Now, I really believe the best things in life are free—like my good health and the good health of Maxx.

A lot of people have dogs as pets. And a lot of books have been written about dogs . I’m fascinated by the way they seem to understand moods and health, both good and bad, of humans. Everything is fairly simple for Maxx. As long as he’s well fed, warm, and able to chase a ball, he is happy. He doesn’t require expensive gifts or expensive food. He does like staying with me. His breed is pretty much a one person dog, but that’s okay.

In my next book Nightingale (main character) has a mixed breed dog named Bandit. I wrote about him when Nightingale found him as a puppy. I’ve got to figure out his parents, but I’m thinking a Lab and a pit bull. I’m already fond of him and I think readers will be as well.

Magic

I’ve been reading other writers lately, and the first of the year seems to make people want to find out why they are writers. “What or who influenced you to want to write”, they ask. Influences? Please, there are too many to count. Neil Gaiman likened it to compost:

…you don’t even necessarily understand [when you’re young] where all your influences are coming from, or what they can mean, nor should you. They compost down anyway, good influences, no matter how old you are. It’s like when you put the scraps onto your compost heap: eggshells, and it’s half-eaten turnips, and it’s apple cores, and the like. A year later, it’s black mulch that you can grow stuff in. And influences, good ones, are that too. Trying to figure out what’s influenced you is as difficult as taking the black mulch, and saying this used to be half an apple.

I was a reader before I ever thought about being a writer. Reading took me to places of magic. (I read a lot of fairy tales.) But I also read Pilgrim’s Progress, Little Women, and Black Beauty. I think writing allows an author to escape and build the world they want. That is where the magic comes in. Writing can transport. No matter where you write or what you write, there is magic in putting words together, whether in your journal, or letter to a friend.

Yes, I still write letters. I remember my grandmother used to enjoy writing to her brother in Michigan, and she loved getting letters in return. She wrote letters of several pages, and receiving a letter in return meant she explained that her brother, Fred, had gone to Michigan to find work. Then came family history and when her brother and his family visited, the writing came to life. Definitely, magic.

Le Guin

Ursula LeGuin died on Jan 22. Commenting when people told her she was not old, she said:

“Encouragement by denial, however well-meaning, backfires. Fear is seldom wise and never kind. Who is it you’re cheering up, anyhow? Is it really the geezer? To tell me my old age doesn’t exist is to tell me I don’t exist. Erase my age, you erase my life–me.”

Progress in the Snow

I am snowed in. It has actually been fun except for the guilt I have that I’ve not kept posts up to date here. So today the snow is sticking around and more cold weather on the way. I’ve made some headway though (hooray).

A chapter almost done in the next work in progress. This next book will continue with Nightingale as the hero and last night I saw that the Rodriquez brothers are needed. I should clarify that the brothers are known for their tracking abilities. They came to life in the first Nightingale book which has not been published. This is a clue to myself that things are coming together. However, I needed to be sure that all was well so I consulted one of my favorite bloggers, K. M. Weiland, https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/ She has a fantastic blog about writing and says some of the secrets to good storytelling are:

Every piece must contribute to the plot;
Plot must contribute to the theme;
Stuff can’t happen just to have stuff happen;
Characters must change; and
Realistic cause and effect must arise from character motivation.

Perseverance

I’m on target to get some writing done everyday. To really be truthful that may constitute ten words or a thousand, but I’m trying to reestablish the habit of sitting down and writing. Writers like Steven King and Nora Roberts say they simply view writing as a job that they go to each day. Granted, it is a job they love, but one has to have the habit. I read that James Burke aims to get one page done a day. I’ve looked for the quote I thought I had read and can’t find it. I did, however, find that he tries to get 750 words a day. Reading about someone like Burke inspires me to keep plugging along.

“It was during this period I had to relearn the lesson I had learned at 20, when I worked on the offshore oil crew: you write it a day at a time and let God be the measure of its worth; you let the score take care of itself; and most important, you never lose faith in your vision. God might choose fools and people who glow with neurosis for his partners in creation, but he doesn’t make mistakes.” James Lee Burke in the New York Times

Author: Sharon