Thoughts on writing

You can read blogs, essays and whole books on writing, from the craft to the inspiration of ideas, but it will never write the story for you. That task is as individual as our fingerprints. Writing is a craft that you learn by doing. You begin with an idea, whether it is a simple or complex story. But it doesn't make you a writer unless it consumes you until the need to see it realized forces your hands to the metaphoric pen. That task is often laborious and can’t be completed unless that story in your head takes on its own life.

When you consider that in today’s market, a best seller is seldom a book everyone has read. What a reader wants from a book is as different as the fingerprints on that story. The books that tell you how to write, offer tried and true formula’s that have worked in the most recent market. I try to follow the rule of the first five pages. Bring in the reader and hook them in the first five pages. But that was not the way books were written for the last few centuries. It is a manifestation of our action movie, instant gratification mentality. As times and publishing changes, so do the advice on how to grab the attention of the editor. And as Samhain says, it's all in the story. The first five pages don't mean squat if the story anchored to it doesn't pull you into that world.

Hey, don’t get me wrong, I have succumbed to that need to be sucked into the story quickly through action or a character that is so quirky and interesting that I want to read on to see if it can be maintained throughout the book. But, it’s not a two hour movie, (much as I’d love to see my book turned into one.) When I read a book, I want it to give me many hours of enjoyment. In fact I have become disgusted with paying out hard cover prices for short books. But that is a personal preference. If it’s not at least 85,000 words… well let’s move on.

When I was at the RT convention, I listened to a large group of authors discussing a best selling writer and praising her books. But the constant theme was that her books just keep getting better and better. Her earlier books were good, but they improved as she grew as a writer.

As a writer who has her first novel coming out in 2008, I feel presumptuous discussing writing as if it were something I have already mastered. I have not, nor do I expect to be able to ever say that I have. But there is a point at which you have to just put it all out there. The story that crawled out of your head and onto paper must be a story that you believe the reader will enjoy, and it is a story that you are willing to take criticism and high brow rude comments over. Putting it out there means having to be willing to chisel and rewrite until you find that shiny jewel that started out in your head. And I keep in mind that we have very different taste in our jewelry, as well as our reading. You have to believe in your story and that you can bring hours of enjoyment to the reader.

One of the docs that I worked with used to make the comment right before he was ready to write a prescription for a patient that he was “writing a potion to cure their ails.” (He’s a Kentucky boy). Writing is a potion that will cast a spell over that reader. It takes them away from their ailments and routine and places them somewhere that you have created. That is magic. The writers that have made magic come alive for me are many. I can’t imagine that they did not learn to cast their spells without working very hard in the process.

So, I will continue to read the blogs, essays and books on writing, but mostly I will write those stories that are vying for their turn on paper. I will send my secret positive statements about having a massive audience of readers who will love my books out into the universe. But I’ll also send up a prayer that I am bringing someone hours of enjoyment that they might not have known except through what I write. I also don't want to be judged for the rest of my life on the first book published. I want to be judged on the tenth or twentieth book.

My web page blog is about life, my life. It is my POV about what I see and do, and writing is an important portion of my life. I love to read, but I love to write even more, they both can improve the quality of my personal world. As I go through this process of being published I hope to share the interesting bits, or at least the bits that seem interesting to me. But, I also hesitate blogging about writing. I can tell you my thoughts and angst with great gusto, but I place a disclaimer here and now that I am no expert, and I am often told that I am FOS (full of ----.) However, that doesn't mean I don't have days when I want to talk about writing, personal insights, a plot point or realizing a character to their full potential (and unlike the real world I can make that happen with a few chapters.)

I suppose my question to all writers, whether they are published or trying very hard to be published is when do you get good enough to write with authority about writing? Does listening to our epiphanies and lessons learned help you, or is it just helping you learn more about me as a person?

Rhianna Samuels

Rhiannasamuels.com