The Fire Within

Penny asked a very good question on the last post. First let me offer apologies for being late on this blog. I had to do back-to-back out of town trips in March and of course caught a bad cold from it, plus had to finish revisions on two books, not to mention numerous other tasks. I'm slowly catching up to myself--I'm only a few days behind schedule now, very exciting!!

All that is relevant to my post here. Penny asked how you keep writing through times of personal stress and life-changing events. Some writers tell me it's easy to write when their lives are stressful, because writing is a therapeutic escape for them. For me, on the other hand, personal and family troubles tend to intrude on the creative process and make focusing difficult.

I write best when times are peaceful and even when I’m a little bit bored—my stories are sure to be more interesting than my own life!

But sometimes you need or want to write (in my case, I often have a tight schedule) when there are stressful or even traumatic happenings in your own life. What do you do?

That's when I look for what I call "The Fire." There is s place deep inside you that no one--not family, or friends, or spouse, or your mother--can ever touch. It is the essence of you. It's what gives you your strange, unusual, or meaningful dreams, what gives you inspriation. The Fire is what gets that book out of you, what makes that story yours and no one else's.

How do you find and touch that Fire? It's not easy (of course not!). What I do is sit down and write rather mindlessly. I don't try to be good. I do what I heard from another writer about ten years ago: Allow yourself to be bad.

Just put words down that get your characters from A to B. If nothing exciting is happening in one section of the story, skip to a section where it is interesting.

THE FIRST DRAFT OF YOUR STORY DOES NOT HAVE TO BE GOOD!

No one ever needs to see it. This is you telling the story of your heart, typing until 400 pages are filled. This story belongs to you and you alone, not to critiquers or editors or the rest of the world. No one can tell you it's wrong.

If you think it's crud, no matter, you have plenty of opportunity to fix it before you send it to an editor or a contest or even your critique partner. And who knows, you might not ever want to show this story to anyone! It's perfectly ok to write a novel just to write it, just for yourself--to test your boundaries, to let go in a world all your own, to try something new.

The business of publishing books and the art of writing books are two entirely different things--always remember that.

Back to The Fire:

While you are sitting there typing mindlessly (500 words a day or 5000 words a day, it doesn't matter), the Fire will happen. When you are least looking for it, suddenly there is a spark deep inside you from that place no one knows but you. You will feel it--the excitement, the flush, the sudden light-bulb coming on--you inside your story saying: This is what I mean! When that happens, just go with it. Write. Free flow. Let it happen.

I guarantee one of two things: The Fire will either produce your very best prose writing, or it will produce your very worst. That doesn't matter. If it's the best prose, cool. If it's the worst, you can fix it--what came out of you is the heart of the story; it doesn't matter if your sentences are clunky. Clunky sentences are easy to fix. Because even if you have to polish up the words, you've found the essence of the story and dragged it onto your canvas.

I hope this makes sense. I really does happen, even when you're sick of the story, bored with your characters, and upset about something in your personal life.

Train yourself to sit and write a set amount every day (500 words, 1000 words, five pages, whatever), no matter how you feel (upset, tired, bored, angry, etc.) It doesn't matter whether the writing your sessions produce is good or not--any little amount will move you forward to the end.

Don't wait for The Fire to write--just write. It's when you are loosened up and letting it happen that The Fire will come. There's nothing quite like it.

More on Finishing Plus Guest Blogger Bonnie Vanak

Adding to last week’s entry—

I hear people say they cannot get motivated to work on a project they’ve been working on for a while. If you dread your writing session or completely avoid it, it’s clear you don’t want to work on that particular project.

My advice in that case is to put it aside and start another story, one that’s been hammering away at you. If you’ve been beating a story to death and it’s just not right (you know when it’s right, it feels right), then you are probably better off abandoning it.

Other authors might smack me for giving such advice, but I say why punish yourself? Writing is a grueling job. You need to love your characters and love what you write or you’re not going to be able to do it. If you hate the story you’re working on, will you be willing to write twenty more just like it once you’re published?

Ask yourself: Are you writing the story because it sings to you and you can’t get it out of your head? Or because “everyone” says paranormal romance is the only thing selling?

I have news, publishers like to round out their lists with things other than the “hot” trend of the day. In fact, said trend might tank any moment; you never know.

Work on what you believe in, what you want, and what you need. I guarantee it’s much easier to sit down and write something you love than try to write what everyone says you are supposed to write.

Now, I want to turn to Bonnie Vanak, guest blogger, who has some great writing tips. Read on!!

Bonnie Vanak sprang onto the historical romance scene in 2002 with her first Egyptian-set historical, The Falcon and the Dove. Since then she's written five connected novels set in Victorian and Edwardian-era Egypt, will do a couple more in the series, plus has sold two contemporary paranormals to Harlequin Nocturne.

J: Bonnie, you work at a day job which also requires a lot of travel. How do you juggle writing with working and traveling?

B.V.: Good question. Right now I'm juggling very fast and frantically with my first Nocturne deadline and a trip to Guatemala. Are there any sexy Alpha werewolves in Guatemala? LOL!

Usually I take the laptop with me on my travels and try to write at night in the hotel after a day in the field. Writing romance gives me a much-needed break from writing about poverty. I love writing romance because it's an escape into my imagination, whereas the day job deals with the grinding reality of poverty.

J: Your historicals are rich with detail about Egypt in the nineteenth century. Can you offer readers advice on how to get started researching the historical (or any other) novel?

B.V. Thank you! I like to start with basic research first on the internet when I'm starting a book, then narrow down the research with books and periodicals. Pick out interesting facts and tidbits, and for more detailed information, you can get library books and periodicals.

If you can, choose a time period that works well with your characters. For example, The Sword & the Sheath is set in 1919 Egypt. I chose that time frame because it's the period of Egypt's first revolution against the British occupation and it was a perfect backdrop for my heroine, Fatima.

Just as everyday Egyptians rebelled against the British, Fatima rebels against Tarik's arrogant attitude that women cannot be warriors. I used the actual women's march against the British occupation. Organized by Hoda Sha'rawi, the historic march of upper class Egyptian women set the stage for Sha'rawi to pioneer the Egyptian feminist movement.

Just as Sha'rawi courageously challenges British authority, Fatima does the same within her own tribe.

J: You made your first sale unagented, and then acquired an agent. What did you like about being unagented and what do you like about being agented? What are the disadvantages of either route?

B.V. What I liked about being unagented was it forced me to learn more about the business. The disadvantage was I had so much I had to learn and I made mistakes a good agent would catch. I'm still learning.

Having a great agent, like I have now, can open doors you've never dreamed of before... but it takes a while to find the right one. The personalities have to mesh, and it has to be a right fit. I'd advise anyone looking for an agent to find an agent who is passionate about your writing, NOT just the story you submit. Because that story might get rejected in NY, but if the agent loves your writing style, the enthusiasm will be passed on when s/he pitches the book to editors.

I'd advise aspiring authors to go the agent route, but don't stay only on that particular path. Submit to agents and editors and enter contests to grab their attention. Finish the book and start another. The next book you write may be the one that seals the deal.

J: Thank you! and congratulations on your new release The Sword and the Sheath. Visit the very cool series MySpace page for information and the book trailer:

http://www.myspace.com/bonnievanak

and her blog at http://bonnievanakjournal.blogspot.com