Posts Tagged ‘writing’
Whither Writing, or, How to Stop Getting in Your Own Way
Folks, I keep meaning to write this little bloglet about writing, and time keeps slipping away.
Why? Well, I’m still ensconced in my final edit of A LITTLE ELFY IN BIG TROUBLE. Were my hands a bit better — I’ve been dealing with a flare-up of my carpal tunnel syndrome for the past few months — it would’ve been done by now.
So I thought to myself today, “Why am I judging myself by other people’s standards?”
Writing is an individual pursuit. Anyone who writes knows this. We all have different styles of writing, different ways of writing, and different habits away from writing, all of which adds up to one thing: we are individuals, doing individual pursuits.
Before you say it…I know this is obvious. But sometimes, you must point out the obvious.
Especially when you tend to forget about it, as most of us do.
So here’s my thought: We are all individuals, right? So why do we try to judge our writing progress by anyone else’s standards?
I know, I know. There are some standards that seem irrefutable.
But if I try, say, to judge what I’m doing by what my friends are doing, I’m going to lose.
Then again, if they judge themselves by what I’m doing, they might lose, too. Especially as I don’t know what their standards are; only they do.
Look, folks. You have to judge yourself solely by what you do. And you have to allow yourself to be yourself: an individual voice doing individual things in an individual way.
That’s how you stop getting in your own way, as a writer or in life.
Think about it.
Seven Things You May Not Know About My Writing
A few days ago, author Aaron Lazar tagged me on Facebook with a new type of blog challenge: Name seven things people probably don’t know about your writing, and link back to him.
As Aaron gave his list on Facebook, I can’t link properly to his list. (I can only link to his webpage instead.) But I can write down seven things people may not know about my writing…and here they are.
- I’ve been a writer since age ten. My first story was about a girl who wanted to be a ballboy at Milwaukee County Stadium. (There was no such thing as a “ballgirl” in the 1980s.) She was prepubescent and looked like the guys; her parents and the team were in on the deception, and gave her a room all to herself to change in. She was OK until she started a friendship with one of the other ballboys…and then I didn’t know what to do, so I ended the story. (Hey, I was only ten.)
- I started writing poetry and science fiction stories when I was a teenager; I started writing fantasy in my twenties.
- True story: In my high school creative writing class, the teacher asked everyone to grade themselves. (We had to come up with a grade for ourselves, and defend it.) I was the only person to go in and say, “I deserve an A.” (And I got my A, too.)
- My first-ever short fiction was a SF story about characters from the “Star Trek” lower decks. (Yes, this was long before Star Trek: The Next Generation came out, much less the episode with the low-ranking officers.) I got a note back with my rejection, but as I was only 19, I didn’t know that meant I was doing something right. So I put my writing aside for a time.
- I started writing nonfiction again around age 27, and worked as an opinion and arts and entertainment reporter for the Parkside Ranger News (the student newspaper of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside).
- Later, I was the only non-journalism Master’s candidate to ever write regularly for the Daily Nebraskan. (This is the student newspaper of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. One of my regular “beats” was to let the arts and entertainment writers know what was available. Usually I wrote the stories myself, but occasionally someone else would be sent out to attend an opera or band performance.)
- The ELFY duology was not my first-ever attempt at a full-length fantasy. CHANGING FACES was my first attempt…but I couldn’t figure out how to end the story until I met my late husband Michael. And by that time, I’d started ELFY, so I put CHANGING FACES aside for a while.
Now for a few bonus facts:
- The first writers I remember reading in the SF&F genre were Poul Anderson (especially the Dominic Flandry series), Andre Norton, and Isaac Asimov.
- The comedic fantasy and SF writers I’ve enjoyed include Piers Anthony, Robert Asprin, Esther Friesner, Jody Lynn Nye, and Douglas Adams.
- My late husband Michael helped me come up with the Bilre language (used by the Elfys).
So how’s that for a few interesting factoids?
Now, as for some other writers to tag? How about Jason Cordova, Chris Nuttall, and Mrs. N.N.P. Light?
My Writing Adventure Continues (Slowly)
Just a quick update here, folks, as I’m in the process of trying to get a new story out to the Writers of the Future contest as their quarter ends at 11:59 PM PDT on 3/31/15 and my story is, at best, three-quarters finished.
Once that’s done, I hope to be able to blog about a few subjects near and dear to my heart, including baseball, my opposition to Indiana’s new “Religious Freedom and Restoration Act” which looks to me like anti-LGBT legislation (and thus needs to be either rescinded or amended, stat), and some discussion about words, their meanings, and whether or not some words should ever be off-limits (whether in baseball or in politics) because they’re considered overused, hackneyed, trite, and/or politically sensitive.
But for now, I’m alive, and I’m writing. Recovery is in process, and while it continues to be slow, I’ve been able to gain a little ground in regards to my final edit of A LITTLE ELFY IN BIG TROUBLE and with regards to this proposed story, which I fully intend to send to the WotF contest if I can only finish it…
Anyway, back to work.
Odds and Ends, April 2014 Version
Well, folks, as usual, I’ve been so busy the past week that I have barely had enough time to turn around.
Whenever I get this busy, I don’t blog much, I don’t do much other than what must be done first — editing, in this case, and glad to have the work — and everything else basically takes a backseat.
This is why I didn’t review anything last week at Shiny Book Review (SBR).
This is why I didn’t write a follow-up blog regarding the two elections that the Koch Brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity group threw a lot of money into . . . and it’s also why, despite the Milwaukee Brewers’ impressive sweep of the Boston Red Sox, I didn’t get back here to write about that, either.
That being said, here’s a few quick hits regarding the odds and ends I left open last week:
- The elections in Iron County, WI, and in Kenosha County for the Kenosha Unified School Board seemed to be largely unaffected by the huge amount of money Americans for Prosperity threw into the races. The folks in Iron County basically said in a number of televised interviews that they disliked interference from people who didn’t live in Iron County — so the money that AFP threw into the election seems to have gone by the boards. And the people in Kenosha County didn’t change their minds regarding their candidates, either . . . so it does appear, as my late friend Jeff Wilson once put it, that there is a monetary ceiling to an election where a group (or groups) can spend whatever they like, but after a certain point, people just tune out.
- The Brewers going into Boston and sweeping the Red Sox was completely unanticipated, at least by me. After only scoring four runs in three games and losing two out of three at home in the Brewers’ own opening series, it was particularly impressive that the Brewers could go into Boston, win all three games (including an 11th inning thriller), and actually have some clutch hits in games that mattered.
- What a shame that Wisconsin lost to Kentucky in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. I’m glad the Badgers did so well and got to the Final Four — that’s the one thing I got right in my NCAA bracket — but I wish they’d have had just one more game in them. (C’est la vie.)
- Normally after turning in a really big edit — as I did on Saturday morning — I’d take a few days off. Right now, I can’t, because I’m looking over my master file for AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE. There is a reason for that: The e-book will be up on Amazon and most other major dealers on April 15 — so if you’ve ever wanted to find out what the deal is with regards to my Elfyverse or my character Bruno the Elfy, now’s your chance to set your clocks.
Later in the week, I should have at least a bit of time to get a review or two in over at SBR, and I hope to be able to talk more about baseball, or politics, or maybe even the recent decision by the NLRB arbitrator in Chicago who ruled that Northwestern University’s football players should be able to form a union, as they are employees like any other (as that last really intrigues me, but I haven’t had enough time to do justice to the subject as of yet).
But for now, all I can do is please ask you to let people know that AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE is coming soon . . . and if you think anyone will be interested (or even if they aren’t), tell them that my late husband Michael B. Caffrey’s two stories of military science fiction about his excellent character Joey Maverick, a quiet and responsible man who is nonetheless every bit a hero, are available now at Amazon (here and here).
Even with my own novel coming out, it still matters a great deal to me that Michael’s stories find their audience, especially as, years ago, Michael had hundreds of people who said they wanted to buy them as soon as he was willing to put them out. (I don’t know where these people went, mind you. But maybe at least a few of them are still alive, and if so, perhaps they’ll discover the stories one of these years. Hope springs eternal, and all that.)
Guest Blog About Writing and Cross-Promotion Up at Murder By 4
Folks, as promised last week, I’m letting you know about my guest blog, which is up over at the prestigious writing website Murder By 4.
Here’s a small taste . . .
Writers often talk about effective cross-promotion, since we’re always trying to get the word out about our latest books and stories. Yet what does effective cross-promotion actually consist of? And why do some promotional activities seem to work better than others?
Go here to read the rest. (Enjoy!)
A Quick Saturday Update
Folks, I’ve been remiss this past week in getting some blogs up to be read, but there is a reason for that.
You see, I’ve been working on an anthology submission for the past week-plus. It has taken a lot of time, mostly because I was asked to substantially revise a story and I wasn’t quite sure how to do it despite the editor’s excellent notes.
This is why I didn’t review anything last week, it’s why I may not review anything this week, either (it depends on how fast I can do the remaining work, really), and it’s also why my blogging has been nonexistent since I posted my end-of-the-season take on the 2013 Milwaukee Brewers.
On the plus side, I have been able to play my instruments and will be playing next week’s concert with the UW-Parkside Community Band after all.
On the minus side, the Racine Concert Band (of which I’m a member) got exceptionally bad news in that Racine Mayor John Dickert’s budget has no money whatsoever for the band in it. There is still time to counter this, but the easiest thing to do if you’re a Racine resident and love the free summer concerts out at the Racine Zoo is to call both your alderman and Mayor Dickert and ask that the RCB be properly funded.
Anyway, this week has been taken up with writing and editing, which is why I haven’t written any blogs. But next week I should have more time, and thus should write at least a few blogs on various subjects — but personally, I’m hoping the federal government will have re-opened for business by then and that the debt ceiling crisis will have been averted even if it is a rather easy blog subject to write about.
Just Reviewed Susan Donovan’s romance “Not that Kind of Girl” at SBR
Folks, here’s the link to my new review:
As always, I had more thoughts than I could cram into any one review — some being irrelevant from a reviewing standpoint — so I’m going to elaborate on them here.
I really liked Susan Donovan’s writing style; it’s perky, blunt, and gets the job done without interfering with the narrative, which is a lot harder to do than it sounds. I also liked her take on the whole soulmate concept, with a matchmaker with a gift (that may be Divinely inspired) to bring two people together who normally wouldn’t give each other a second glance; this being the third in a series and me not having read the other two didn’t stop me from understanding what was going on at all.
All that being said, the way the two at the heart of this story, Roxie and Eli, make love just made me feel sad. Or want to throw things. (Or maybe both.) Because here you have two people who fall in love quickly and are right for one another, but the guy has to always prove he’s dominant at all times, never letting his guard down at all, never being playful, never enjoying the moment for what it is. And that does not ring true to me. Not at all.
Look. I’ve made no secret of it that I found my soulmate in my late husband Michael. The two of us, on the surface, would’ve been much like Roxie and Eli in that Roxie’s passions are all on the surface (me) and Eli’s calm, cool, collected and seems to hold all of himself in reserve unless it’s needed (Michael). Granted, this is at best a rough approximation — I’m leaving out Michael’s delightfully rude sense of humor here, or the fact that I’ve taught a lot of young kids music lessons so if I hadn’t learned a bit of patience now and again I’d have done them no good whatsoever — but I can see enough parallels here to want to discuss why the way these two in NOT THAT KIND OF GIRL don’t behave right in bed.
Simply put, I don’t think a guy who’s always that calm and controlled externally is going to be that way in bed. So I don’t see why someone would insist on behaving the “alpha male” at all times — there’s no need for that between two lovers who wear no masks and understand each other intimately in all senses — nor do I see how a love affair can proceed without some humor in the bedroom, especially as there’s plenty of humorous moments going on outside of it to make me believe the couple at hand does understand when something is funny. (And trust me; down deep, where it matters, the way we make love as human beings has to be about the most inefficient process there is. We may as well make fun of it, and ourselves, as we abandon ourselves to it. Otherwise, why bother with it at all?)
So Ms. Donovan did her job — the couple is realistic enough that I wanted to scream at Eli to knock it the Hell off, thank you — but the way that all happened just did not sit well. I realize some people have relationships like this — psychosexual behavior being what it is, some people must need that, right? — but Eli the dog whisperer had none of the other markers for this personality type. And Roxie — well, I can see why she’d want to get “permission” to be abandoned in bed (this is fairly common), but why would she put up with a guy who’s so damned humorless in the bedroom when she obviously has enough smarts to make a living at her man-hating Web site “I-Vomit-On-All-Men?”
So there you have it; a pleasant, funny beach read that has this one sour note in it. As a musician, I guess I can’t help it that this one sour note keeps drowning out the rest of the harmony and the melody, and as a writer/editor, I wonder why it is that someone didn’t ask Ms. Donovan to please put something in there that showed that to Eli, this was all a game, not to be taken seriously, rather than the dead serious “I am Mr. Macho Man at all times” Caveman nonsense.
Quick Note about MuseItUp Publishing
Some days, the best thing any writer can do is get up, peruse the writing boards, and congratulate people. Because when we do — as I did today at Forward Motion, the writer’s group I’ve belonged to for seven years — we often find links to new publishing houses we’ve somehow missed hearing about in the past.
Such is the case with MuseItUp Publishing, which is maybe a year old (if that much), but already has a good reputation in the SF, fantasy and romance communities due to the strength of its publisher, Lea Schizas, affectionately called a “force of nature” by her writers.
At any rate, after reading about them, I queried MuseItUp regarding ELFY because ELFY has paranormal elements; can’t guarantee they’ll want to see it, but trying is the first step toward getting an acceptance.
Note that I normally do not discuss which agents or publishers I’ve tried here at my blog, but in this case I thought I would as I know many writers with works in the science fiction/romance, fantasy/romance and flat-out romance categories. Not to mention straight-up SF, straight-up fantasy, etc.
This seems to be a reliable place with a solid reputation; they’re young, but growing, and they have the word of giving good quality feedback, which is why I have made an exception here.
Check them out at http://museituppublishing.com/musepub/
Barb Caffrey's Blog 