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Inspiring Quotes

Here are some random quotes on writing that have inspired or resonated with me lately.

Seth Godin on writing: “The process advice that makes sense to me is to write. Constantly. At length. Often. Don’t publish everything you write, but the more you write, the more you have to choose from.”

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” — Anaïs Nin

“I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.” — Jack London

“Listen, Hank,” he asked, “what makes a man a writer?” “well,” I said, “it’s simple, it’s either you get it down on paper or you jump off a bridge.” — Charles Bukowski

“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” — Oscar Wilde

“Given the choice between trivial material brilliantly told versus profound material badly told, an audience will always choose the trivial told brilliantly.”– Robert McKee

“At the end of a miserable day, instead of grieving my virtual nothing, I can always look at my loaded wastepaper basket and tell myself that if I failed, at least I took a few trees down with me.” — David Sedaris

“There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write.”– Terry Pratchett

I HAD to end with some funnies, folks. 🙂

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Soundtracks

Here’s the soundtrack to my current work-in-progress (WIP). It’s important to note that I don’t listen to these songs while I’m writing, but they’re in heavy rotation and a huge inspiration in between writing sessions.

In no particular order:

“Possum Kingdom” The Toadies

“Wide Awake” Katy Perry

“Follow Through” Gavin DeGraw

“Next to Me” Emeli Sande

“Night Swimming” REM

“Somewhere Only We Know” Keane

“Home” Phillip Phillips

Double shot! “Gone, Gone, Gone” Phillip Phillips

“I Will Wait” Mumford & Sons

“Ho Hey” The Lumineers

“I’ll Fix You” Coldplay (the version I love is on this segment from the HBO’s The Newsroom)

(For reference, here’s the soundtrack for What Happened in Granite Creek.)

I imagine I’ll be updating this list as the countdown IS ON. Home stretch, here I come!

Do you listen to music as you work? What’s in heavy rotation for you right now?

 

Finding the David

Hello, blog. How are you? It’s been a long, long time.

Oh, where have I been? What have I been up to? (Nosy, nosy, eh?)

OK, OK. Here’s the deal: I’ve been finding the David.

Say WHAT?

Allow me to me explain.

You see, the concept of “finding the David” goes like this: David — as in Michelangelo’s David — has always existed. It was simply Michelangelo’s job to find him in the marble.

Michelangelo was quoted as saying, “In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.”

I’ve always liked this concept, and I’ve shared it over the years with fellow scribes and students alike. It’s kinda cool to think that all of the “perfect” Davids — in my case, stories — are “out there” somewhere, floating around in the ether, just waiting to be coaxed down to earth where they’ll live a happy life thrilling and entertaining the masses. It gives me hope when I’m slogging through some of the messy parts, uncertain where I’m going.  I trust that the real story exists, is out there, and I’ll channel it, at some point.

That said, I’ve also discovered that sometimes a person (this writer, anyway) can be chasing after false Davids. You know, like the knock-offs being sold at a street corner in NYC, right next to the vendor selling cheap Prada handbags. That’s really where I’ve been for the last several months, chiseling away at the marble, uncovering what I thought was my David (otherwise known as novel #3).

Luckily, I caught on. At the end of April, I knew deep in my gut that I had to start over, and all because the story I was chiseling wasn’t the real David. It was some imposter, an imposter who had stuck around for a year. No amount of hammering and polishing could turn this sucker into my David.  So what did I do? I let it go, all 60,000 words of it, and started over. It was painful leading up to the decision. But I was fine once I made it, which proved to me it was indeed the RIGHT decision. And now the real David, the one for this story, is within my sights again.

OK, let’s take a deep breath and step away from this new-age sounding thing and talk specifics. Here are some of the questions people have been asking me:

Q: Didn’t it hurt a little bit, even after you ditched the 60,000 words?

A: Nope. Honest. It was the most liberating thing, and I never looked back.

Q: Not ever? You didn’t rescue any of those 60,000 words?

A: I was able to rescue some. I’d say 90 percent of what I’ve written is brand new and maybe 10 percent is stuff I brought over, but even that isn’t right, since I didn’t do a simple cut and paste. The words I brought over still needed work.

Q: Because?

A: Because in addition to starting from scratch, I also did the following:

  • I changed tenses. The current work in progress (WIP) is in past tense.
  • I lost some meandering story lines.
  • I gutted the entire structure.

Q: How many words are you up to now?

A: As of the writing of this blog post, I’m just over 50,000 words. So I’ve almost made up the entire amount I lost (I should hit that milestone the middle of next week).

Onward!

So what have you been up to this summer?

And the Big Bad Word Huffed and Puffed

One of my nieces emailed me a story she wrote for school. She included this caveat: “I am very proud of this work even though it can’t be considered ‘talented’ writing because I don’t use big words or complex sentences.”

I used to think like that. I know some writers who still do.

Here’s what I wrote back: “By the way, I don’t think a writer necessarily needs to use big words or complex sentences in order for his or her writing to be considered talented. The right words and the right sentence structure determine whether a story is working. Many of the ‘greats’ – from Hemingway to Cormac McCarthy – are known for their sparse language. I think your story works so well because each word has a purpose and each sentence propels the story forward…that’s the sign of talented writing!”

Question: How’s your vocabulary?

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So you want to be a writer…

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Definition of insanity – Haiku it!

Definition of Insanity

Waiting for a call
that never comes, my heart breaks.
I will write anyway.

Tell me, what do you do that’s insane? Haiku it in the comments!

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Get out of my dreams…

Had a recent dream where I was teaching (something I used to do) and one student — a girl who may or may not have looked like me — was lamenting the fact that she was having a hard time getting the story down on paper because she was worried it might be shit and she didn’t know where it was going.

“Just get it down,” I said. “You can’t revise what’s not there.”

Good advice.

For me.

For everyone.

I love how the subconscious works.

What do you dream about?

 

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Why Having Lots of Readers Matters to Me

I’ve been thinking about this blog post for a long time. I’m not sure how else to say it, so I’m just going to say it: I want readers. Lots of readers. I’m not afraid to admit this, but a fair question that people ask me — fellow artists in particular — is why. Why am I so hell bent on getting readers…why is it so important that I’m read?

Here’s my attempt to answer those questions, and I doubt any of what I’m about to write is an original thought. But it is how I feel.

For me, art is not complete until it’s shared. I write the novel. The novel is approaching art, but it’s not a complete piece of art — in my mind — until people read it. Why? Because the readers finish what I’ve started. They take the work to the next level: they interact with it, think about it, laugh at it, cry at it, hate it or love it, they (almost) complete it. I say “almost,” because I also believe a piece of artwork is never truly complete — never truly done — since there will always be (in theory) a new person to come along and interact with the artwork (a novel, in this case) in a fresh, new way. The art will never be 100 percent complete. But with each reader, with each new experience and insight, we get closer to achieving the 100 percent.

So having readers — lots and lots of readers — is important to me. The fact that lots of readers means more money is certainly a benefit, but I can honestly say this: if someone gave me a million dollars and said “live off of this and go write, but you can’t ever share your writing with other people,” I’d say no. It’s not about the money. It’s about creating art. To create art — in this case, a novel — you need a writer (me). But you also need readers. If there’s only me producing novels but no readers, it’s incomplete artwork. And that’s extremely unsatisfying to me.

I’m at my happiest when I’m writing. I can honestly say that. But when I’ve sent my novels out into the world and they’ve landed in the hands of readers who talk about them and think about them and share them with others? That’s the definition of nirvana.

I know not all writers (or artists) feel this way. And I respect that. Open to hearing other thoughts — agreement or disagreement — in the comments.

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Questions from Book Clubs – Part 3

I’ve been rounding up the questions I’ve gotten from recent book club visits and creating blog posts where I answer ’em. Here’s Part I. Here’s Part II. Below, is Part III.

Q: What are some of your favorite books and authors?

A: Favorite authors include Lionel Shriver, Jodi Picoult, Chris Bohjalian, Susan Orlean, Anne Lamott, David Sedaris, and Jo Ann Beard. Favorite books include The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult, We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery. My favorite essay is “The Fourth State of Matter” by Jo Ann Beard. Favorite authors from my youth include Judy Blume and Jack London. Favorite books from my youth include Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume, The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatly Snyder, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie, “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, and “The Veldt” by Raymond Bradbury. The last two are both short stories.

Q: How do you handle it when book club members don’t like your book?

A: Here’s how I set up book club visits: I always join the group — either in person or via phone — about half way through the meeting. That way, if members don’t like the book, they can talk about it freely without worrying about me sitting in and listening. It makes it more comfortable for everyone. Then, when I join the meeting/conversation, members can ask me questions — questions about the story, character development, my writing process, you name it. My time with clubs tends to be less about who loved or hated the book and more about the craft of writing, so it’s a win-win for all involved. Even if people don’t like the book, I find they’re usually still open to hearing how I developed the story, my process, etc. I haven’t encountered any impolite members yet — everyone has been awesome. 🙂

Q: Do you have any novels that you haven’t released?

A: Yup. In this blog post, I talk about the fact I’m not a novel virgin. In my 20s, I was working on a novel called Lily’s Legs. Lily, I think, was a thinly veiled version of myself, and I’m still not sure why her legs were so important that they warranted being in the title. That’s a dead book, and I hope it never sees the light of day, since I have no idea what it was about. In between Forgotten April and What Happened in Granite Creek, I started on another novel…but it just wasn’t coming together. I also wrote a few short stories, some of which were published and/or I published. After Granite Creek, I spent almost nine months working on what I thought would be my third book. It wasn’t happening, and I finally put it aside, but I may come back to it. I’m now working on book 3.5, as I call it, and I’m confident this will be my next release. Having fits and starts appears to be part of my process.

Q: Did you try to get traditionally published?

A: Yes. I queried various drafts of Forgotten April — long before it was called Forgotten April — to agents. I had requests for partial and full manuscripts. I received compliments and encouraging remarks from agents, but no offer for representation. I swore I’d never ever self-publish, but that all changed in the summer of 2010 when I had an epiphany. I’m still interested in traditional publishing if it makes sense for everyone involved. My goal is to write fiction full time and make a good living doing it. I’ll happily consider whatever gets me to that goal, be it self-pubbing only, traditional publishing, or a hybrid model (I feel the latter option is the most likely scenario at this point). But who knows? The publishing landscape has changed dramatically in the two years I’ve been self-pubbing. It will be interesting to see what happens during the next two years.

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Questions from Book Clubs – Part 2

A couple of  weeks ago, I shared the first installment in questions from book clubs. Here’s part two.

Q: When do you write?

A: For me, I try to hit a daily word count of 1000 words (seven days a week, including holidays). Do I stick to this schedule 100 percent? Nope. But I’d say 90 percent of the time I do, especially when I’m deep in a draft. As for when, I prefer early mornings, but that’s not always possible, so it comes down to whenever I can — that might mean afternoon or even late at night (last resort) just to get the words down and keep the rhythm going. The key is “butt in chair.” That’s the only way a novel gets written.

Q: How do you deal with negative reviews?

A: Margaritas and Law & Order SVU marathons. Only kidding. Mostly. Listen, negative reviews are all part of the game. They can sting, but the key is to avoid fixating on ’em. That’s the part some authors can’t get past and then said authors do something crazy like respond directly to a review, which almost never ends well. All books have bad reviews. Look up any favorite book on Amazon — be it a classic, a commercial best seller, a self-pubbed book, whatever. If it has a wide enough readership (and this is a key point), it will have some 2-star and 1-star reviews. I’m not the first person to say this, but reviews are written for readers, not authors. A review reflects one person’s opinion. Some writers say they don’t read their reviews. Right now, I still do. But I try not to get too hyped up over the good ones or too down over the bad ones. It’s hard at times, but overall, it works for me.

Q: How can we help you get the word out about your work?

A: My answers here are true for ALL authors, not just me. If you love a book, tell a friend. Tell many friends. Seriously, happy readers are a writer’s best form of advertisement. Consider writing a review. Tell a friend (do a status update on FB, for example). Send the author a note (we love hearing from readers). Tell a friend. Follow the author on social media. Add the author’s book(s) to your Goodreads shelves. Oh, and did I mention you should tell a friend? Yes. That. 🙂

Robyn Bradley, Writer

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