"My world--my rules." -Robyn Ford reminded me of this. Don't know if she got if from somewhere or made it up, but it is a great reminder for a fiction writer.
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The camping trip was not one that will go down in the record books--either as good or bad. We spent several hours on Sunday in a doctors office in Traverse City due to swimmer's ear, but other than that, it was a fairly uneventful trip. Oh, except I lost the keys to the camper the day before we left so we almost didn't go. However, I eventually found them in the cupboard with the potatoes. All I can figure is that I scooped them up with the bag of potatoes and dumped them both in the camper cupboard. Sigh. That's what happens when I get crazy trying to do fifty things at once. And really, I have to blame that on the book Breaking Dawn. It kept me up until 4 a.m. and then I still had to finish it on Tuesday when I was supposed to be packing.
Since I've been back, the dilemma has been what do I work on? Should I try to gather up the story threads to IFFY and continue pounding out that rough draft? Or, since that story has migrated so far away from me, should I let it go for now (I do have enough written that I won't LOSE it entirely) and work on getting Black Dragon revised so that I can get it out there again?
I had a long conversation with T. McDonald and she told me about this non-fiction class she had taken. The instructor encouraged the people to work on the piece that was "most marketable." Which, in my case, would be Black Dragon because that is the closest to being "finished." Which is defined as the closest to being able to be sent out to agents and editors.
And so. Today I will pull BD out, dust it off, and get revising. What I need to remember is that it is my fictional world. I can make it whatever I want. That may sound like a no-brainer to you, but I am so bound by reality. I need to make a big sign with "My world-my rules" and set it up on my desk so I remember it always. Reality is what you make it, after all. So I need to shake off the real world. Shake it off, girl, shake it off!
Since I've been back, the dilemma has been what do I work on? Should I try to gather up the story threads to IFFY and continue pounding out that rough draft? Or, since that story has migrated so far away from me, should I let it go for now (I do have enough written that I won't LOSE it entirely) and work on getting Black Dragon revised so that I can get it out there again?
I had a long conversation with T. McDonald and she told me about this non-fiction class she had taken. The instructor encouraged the people to work on the piece that was "most marketable." Which, in my case, would be Black Dragon because that is the closest to being "finished." Which is defined as the closest to being able to be sent out to agents and editors.
And so. Today I will pull BD out, dust it off, and get revising. What I need to remember is that it is my fictional world. I can make it whatever I want. That may sound like a no-brainer to you, but I am so bound by reality. I need to make a big sign with "My world-my rules" and set it up on my desk so I remember it always. Reality is what you make it, after all. So I need to shake off the real world. Shake it off, girl, shake it off!
3 comments:
Sarah,
Marketability. I once wrote a novella based on the idea of trying to write something I was certain could sell. It was full of sex and violence. It scared me. Or, I should say, I scared myself. I put it away and only a few people have ever seen it.
I like what you say about creating your own world, with it's own rules. One of the best things about writing. When I recently saw Jim Harrison, Thomas McGuane and Richard Ford they talked some about noticing the details in one's own world and how that enriches the work. There was also a question about the amount of articles each of them writes for many different kinds of magazines. I don't remember which of them gave this answer, but it was - "It's called 'making a living'." So there you go.
Talk soon. Join facebook! I'll sign you up as a friend!
Mike
Mike,
I don't know if I could write something solely based on marketability. I have to write what I am drawn to, passionate about. But, when deciding what of all the things I have going should I concentrate on--well, marketability is important.
I worked Friday on sending several things out. Sent 4 articles/stories/essays. Whatever you want to call them. Personal experience stories I guess you'd say. I've sent them out once or twice before, but never pursued publication any more than that. Tricia turned me on to a new source and what the heck? Might as well give it a try. It looked like a good fit, and all they needed was another surface polishing. So hey, I'm feeling pretty good about getting somethings out there again.
As far as the own world- own rules, sometimes I get so caught up in what REALLY happened that I can't think beyond that. I can't imagine. So it is a great thing to remind myself I'm writing fiction; I can make it whatever I want, even if it didn't really happen that way. Reality is only a diving board.
Facebook, huh? I don't know, is it another thing I'd have to keep changing, updating? I have a hard enough time making sure I keep the blog recent! I'll think about it.
I'm both looking forward to digging back into Black Dragon and not. Sometimes that is a scary place to be!
Sarah;
I agree; writing something just because it's marketable is not as rewarding as writing what really excites us. I often tell people I don't do "how to" or "where to" because I don't know how and I don't know where. The truth is I find writing and reading that stuff boring. However, I'm glad someone writes it because I do learn new things. With DVDs so easily produced, even that kind of writing is fading. It's so much easier to show.
But I am the only one that can express the way I feel, what I see or tell my story. What's rewarding and makes all the sweat worth it is when someone says, "Hey, I liked your piece. It really hit home with me."
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