"Going There" in Fiction (aka What Bradley Cooper Taught Me About Writing)

Research for my latest WIP has taken me deep into the psyche and world of famous actors. It started with uncovering celebrity norms and exploring experiences with fame. But the deeper I got, the more I got sidetracked by actors discussing the breakdown of story, emotion, and character development.


You might be surprised to learn how many famous actors commonly considered garden variety comedians or just "pretty faces" have undertaken years of acting training. And make no mistake, these people take that education very seriously.


The actors I researched all discussed the process of really inhabiting a character. I couldn't get over the correlation between an actor's and a writer's process. Things like:


- Knowing or creating backstory.

- Understanding what a character wants in any given scene.

- Being responsive to the stimulus offered by other characters, rather than just waiting for their turn to speak or move.


Sound familiar?


Regardless of the approach they took, a dozen different actors raised the same issue: Until they stopped judging themselves and gave themselves (and other people) the freedom to see them get it wrong, they weren't capable of their best work.


The thing that really dropped my jaw, though, was when I heard Bradley Cooper talk about how his Basic Techniques professor at The Actor's Studio in New York, created for him "the place I feel safest in the world... In my whole life, I never really felt relaxed until I worked with her." All because she encouraged him to get real and let go - and promised no judgement of the result.


Then I heard Ralph Fiennes talk about being given the freedom to fail.


Edward Norton talked at length about needing to be able to do it wrong, to find out what was right.


The list goes on.


I started to see that all of us creative, story-teller types share this hang up with being seen to fail. But these guys who were at the top of their games had all observed one thing:


Other people can help you learn that you need to fail sometimes in order to win. But no one else is inside your head. Until you stop judging yourself, put your pride aside and let yourself admit to being wrong sometimes, there will always be a part of you holding back. Your work won't completely "Go There" because you're working out of a basis of fear, instead of "What happens if I try this....?"


So today I want to challenge myself (and you) to ask if you're strong enough to get it wrong, then keep going until you get it right. Because I have a hunch the key to being the best writers we can be starts there.


Your Turn: In what ways do you hold back in your writing out of fear? What would help you gain the courage to Go There?

Re: Why I'm AWOL

In the next few days my son has his last day at kindergarten, first
day at school, two parties, a church orientation, and lots and lots of
SUGAR...

See you next week. I hope.

PS - I'm reading Stephen King's "On Writing" and it's Ah. Maze. Ing.

A STWL FAVORITE: Where Do You Sit on the Writing Scale?

I wrote this post a little over a year ago and it's proven to be one of my most popular - and one I get a lot of queries about. I'm reposting to reignite the conversation, because I think it's a useful one to have...

My CV reads like a patchwork quilt of careers. (I'm told this is common in creative, right-brained types).  But buried among the list that includes Recruitment Consultant, Project Manager, Marketing and Government Assistant, is one job I ended up doing twice:  Trainer.

Turns out I'm good at teaching people how to do their jobs.

I tell you that, only because it's the context in which I was taught the following learning scale - and it's something you probably need to know.

It looks like this...

...and it's going to tell you how far you'll get as a writer:

UNCONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCE:  You Don't Know What You Don't Know

(Or, "As far as I know, I know everything!")

This is where every writer starts. Whether or not you're naturally gifted, the first time you embark on telling a story in words you're incompetent. Accept it.

Roadblock Attitude: "I know enough to do what I want to do... why should I put the effort into learning the craft?"

The entire point of "Unconscious Incompetence" is that you don't know what you don't know. And if you aren't willing to learn, you'll never know it. 

I'm beginning to see many writers never move beyond this point.  Unwilling to learn, they don't recognize they're just plain incompetent.  They never achieve, and never understand why.


CONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCE: You Know You Don't Know Enough

(Or "This is Harder Than I Thought!")

Conscious Incompetence is just that: the learner has learned enough to realize they're incompetent.

Roadblock Attitude: "Just because it's always been done that way, doesn't mean that's the way I should do it." 

1.  As a writer, you aren't only competing with yourself for success.  There are people out there who do this professionally already.  They've already been through the learning curve.  Their stuff is already 'great'.  When your talented-but-unrefined work goes up against theirs it always loses.  Learn the rules first, then you'll know how to break them.

2.  There's no doubt some people can learn 'on the job', but in the overall picture of your career it will take longer to succeed.  Consider the time used up front as your investment in your own future!


CONSCIOUS COMPETENCE:  You Know What to Do... But It's Work.

(Or "Why Is This Still Hard?")

My former agent once said writers who were just getting a grasp on the craft reminded her of one of those American Idol contestants. You know the ones: They listen to the judges, take the advice - and work so hard to get it right that everything comes out robotic.

Roadblock Attitude: I'll never be good at this.

Never fear, eventually what's in the head sifts down into the soul.  That's when American Idol contestants sing like canaries and writers paint pictures with words that leave people gasping.  It's because they've reached...


UNCONSCIOUS COMPETENCE:  Oh, That's Right - This Used to be Work.

(Or "What do you mean, that's amazing?")

The whole point of learning the craft, listening to those more experienced, and emulating those who've been successful is that one day it just happens... Without even thinking about it, you sit down to write a first draft and it comes out great.  (Or at least, a version of 'good' that is much, much closer to 'great' than most can achieve). 

There are no roadblocks, except those you raise for yourself, becuase you're there. You're good. And you don't even have to think about it.

That's why Stephen King can put out a book a year.  That's why Diana Gabaldon can cross-genres.   That's why I want to be like them:  Because I know if I'm patient and hard working... one day it won't be work anymore.


SO, WHAT'S MY POINT? 

This:  Most aspiring authors are in the first two groups.  It's unavoidable.  I suspect there are certain things we can't learn until we're under contract and working with an editor. But if you imagine each of those boxes in a graded scale... well, you can also imagine where most of the 'aspiring' are sitting when they turn into 'author'. 

Just some food for thought.

Your Turn: Where do you think you sit on the scale?  Are you doing anything to move further along?

What Watching Game of Thrones Taught Me About Beginnings

This blog was originally a guest-post I did at Brianna's Soloski's
blog: http://girlseeksplace.wordpress.com. It went up while I was on
vacation last month.

A few months back, when Game of Thrones first appeared on television,
I heard a lot of good things - about the show and about the books.
Although I knew nothing of the actual plot, I was excited to get a
glimpse into this apparently extraordinary world. So I sat down
eagerly to watch the first episode with the understanding I was about
to embark on a tale of medieval-esque fantasy and political intrigue.

Imagine my surprise then, when the show opened with a gory
dismembering of a dozen bodies, the murder of two men, and apparently
undead people.

I scoffed "Huh, zombies. Been there," and turned the show off because
it wasn't anything like what I'd expected. I was irritated and
disappointed, surprised so many people raved about it. Wasn't this
technically "horror"?

Then a few weeks later a close writer friend began watching the show
online at the same time another close writer friend started reading
the books. At one point they both raved to me for a solid hour about
how much I would love this story.

"But," I said, "I tried to watch it. It was just a gory, freakish
bunch of zombie-types tearing men apart."

They both screamed "NO!" and jumped into simultaneous and heated
explanations about how I'd gotten the wrong impression. They worked on
me for weeks until I finally agreed to persevere with a single
episode. And of course, they were right. I loved it.

But the thing they didn't know was that, to me, the opening sequence
had completely misrepresented the story.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I now understand the importance of those
scenes. But taken in isolation they give a very different impression
of the story than, say, the next scene - which introduces a very
unique (in my opinion) family and set of "fantasy" circumstances.

While there's no doubt the opening scenes gave a foretaste of
something we're headed toward, to this uninitiated mind they were
confusing - and seemed to tell a totally different story.

I'm disappointed that if my friends hadn't known me so well, I never
would have discovered this world that I adore. (I plan to buy all the
books. ALL THE BOOKS).

But this isn't a blog post about my taste in fantasy. Or whether The
White Walkers were appropriately introduced.

This situation got me thinking about something I think we writers are
often prone towards:
Writing to "grab", rather than working to serve the story.

The problem with this approach is that if it doesn't appeal to your
primary audience, you'll grab the wrong people - and they'll drop your
story halfway through when they realize the opening was a dupe.

There's no doubt the beginning of a story needs to draw the reader in.
But this experience brought home to me how important it is to be true
to your whole story, not just the most shocking part. That initial
taste of your book builds an expectation in your reader of what's to
come.

So, give me a true taste, friends. Don't open with dessert at the
beginning of a steak meal. Mold my expectations of what's to come with
depth and trust your writing and your story to draw me in. Don't take
the shock and awe approach unless it's starting as you mean to
go on. Then no-one will have to combat the wrong impressions on your behalf.

(Though, in the event they do, pray you've got readers as loyal as my
friends to fight for you!)

Your Turn: Have you ever started a story, only to find it wasn't
anything like you expected? Was that experience good or bad.

Writers: Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?

We writers are a creative lot. We like it that way. But if you talk to non-creative types, you'll often hear the word "creative" used as a euphamism for "emotional", "idiosyncratic", "erratic", or even (occasionally) "unreasonable".

I know this because I used to work with a guru in advertising who explained to me what he'd learned after thirty years dealing with "talent":

"Aimee," he said, "soothing the artist is something you have to work into everything - your timeline, your budget, your deliverables. Because artists need to have their ruffled feathers unruffled. A lot. And if it's your project, it's your job to make sure they have what they need."

At first I thought he just meant performing artists - you know, actors, models, celebrities. But when I said that, he laughed.

"I have to spend time talking the designers through the client feedback. I have to find a way to tell the photographer he didn't quite catch what I was looking for. I have to go through edits with the scriptwriter..." And he continued.

Then he really dropped a bomb on me:

"...And sometimes I have to talk you down from shooting yourself in the foot."

He took a quiet sip of his coffee while I coughed and spluttered on mine.

"Me?!"

He nodded. His smile was gentle, but serious.

"You're an artist at heart," he said, which in the context, flattered and offended me in the same breath.

He then went on to, very gently and diplomatically, give me a few examples of how I tended to show my dramatic side and get in the way of my own success. Things like:

- Getting defensive in the face of critique or criticism.
- Telling myself I could dismiss feedback from any client (or co-worker) if they didn't communicate it nicely.
- Calling, emailing or otherwise reacting while I was emotional rather than letting myself cool off first.
- Getting precious about my ideas or projects, rather than considering whether someone else's idea might improve on, or even exceed my own.
- Spending more time coming up with ideas than I spent delivering on them (which included being reluctant to commit to an idea - often coming up with new ideas after we'd already settled on an approach).

He told me how these things made other people reluctant to discuss my work - which meant my work wasn't as good as it could be. Because the adage is true: two heads really are better than one. And I was knocking any skull that came within cooee of mine.

Given my artistic sensitivity, you can imagine the internal struggle I had during that conversation. Discussing my flaws kicked my head and heart into exactly the tendencies he was describing! How did I argue the point without sounding defensive, or precious? How did I explain the extenuating circumstances without seeming to dismiss his kindly-intended advice?

In the end I just kind of spluttered and frowned and simmered. Because how was I supposed to answer the accusations without being seen to "react emotionally"?

And the worst part? He kept smiling at me like he knew exactly what was going on in my head. It was infuriating!

At the end, he patted my arm and gave me a bunch of compliments which I thought were just lip service, intended to make me feel better. I was so wound up, I just gave a kind of "Yeah, yeah" response.

He frowned for the first time and said "See? You artists are so busy getting upset about the problems, you don't let yourself take the good when it comes."

My first thought: "Seriously? You're dissing my ability to take a compliment too?"

My boss told me he wanted to have coffee at the same time the next week, and he didn't want me to approach him to discuss the conversation before then.

I almost swallowed my tongue.

But here's what happened:

After a couple days not talking about it, I was able to admit to myself that he was right about a lot of it. There were a couple points that still tanned my hide though, and man, was I going to give him an earful about those when we talked...

A couple days after that I felt calmer. Maybe I'd just point out the errors carefully...

By the time we spoke again I'd realized just how right he was. I'd recalled situations throughout my life that demonstrated the very patterns he'd described. And I realized those "extenuating circumstances" were really just my emotions. When I didn't feel good about something, I saw that as an excuse to react or dismiss.

In short, I knew he was right, and I told him so.

He smiled, then reminded me about the compliments he'd offered. "I was right about those too," he said.

For the first time in my life I asked a person's advice without waiting for their opinion to match my own. I really listened while he shared coping mechanisms, mitigation strategies and the pearl of wisdom "sometimes you just have to suck it up and let someone else think they're right when they aren't."

And he was right.

I'm sharing this with you because I've recently watched two or three situations where writers have hurt each other because of these exact kinds of problems. I wish I could transport them to that cafe, and to my old boss, and let them see the truth.

Because in the end, the emotional energy we expend on being precious, or angry, or dismissive would be so much better spent in the writing... Wouldn't it? And since most people don't understand "Artists" as completely as my old boss, sometimes the most important lesson of all is the last one.

Suck it up, my friends. Suck it up.

Your Turn: Have you ever been your own worst enemy? What do you do to try and avoid it again in future?

Character Currency - Writing Motivations That Read Real

I'd like to thank my almost-five-year-old for crystalizing this lesson
for me. (Thanks, son. I'll make you an ice cream).

If you're anything like me you've read a bunch of character / plot
development advice. At some point in any book or blog series you'll
hit the inevitable "make your motivations believable". And, if you're
anything like me, you go "Well, duh." I mean, who sets out to write
unbelievable characters or plotlines?

But, if you're anything like me, you'll also have hit a point
somewhere in your story that you know you're stretching for
credibility... or a crit partner will have identified something they
just didn't buy.

So, how do you make sure your character motivations (which have a
tendency to drive plot) are realistic?

One word: Currency.

Currency is the thing that has value to a character - and it will be
different for every character in your book. But by determining what
each character's currency is, you'll always have something to fall
back on when you find yourself at a point in your story where you know
where you need to go but have trouble figuring out how to get there.

If you want to get a character from one place to another, or one
emotional state to another, use their currency.

For example: In my current WIP there are two main characters. One's
currency is secrecy. She knows things she believes could be
detrimental to the person she loves most. So if I want to move her, I
need to threaten her with loss of her secrets, or reward her with
retaining them.

The other main character's currency is value in the eyes of her peers.
Nothing means more to her than proving she's loveable. If I want to
give her a legitimate reason to move or change, all I need to do is
give her hope of winning friends, or threaten the loss of the few
friends she has.

Can you see how that would work?

Consider your villain. Their currency is most likely something that
harms the protagonist. If you need to corner them, find a way to make
them believe putting themselves in place for defeat will actually do
the opposite.

I hope I've explained this clearly enough. Feel free to ask questions
in the comments!

Your Turn: If you are stuck with a way to move your character or
story, tell us what you think their currency is. Maybe we can help!

Using Ambiguity - The Difference Between Tension and Mistrust

I had a somewhat humbling experience recently. I critiqued an amazing
story for a fabulous writer with loads more talent than me. (That
wasn't the humbling part. I'm used to that, ha!).

One of the notes I gave in the critique centered around some ambiguity
in the motivations of a supporting character. Even as the story
finished, I was never quite sure whether this character was good or
bad.

"I don't want the reader to know for sure whether he's good or not,"
the author later said.

"The problem isn't the ambiguity itself," said I. "The problem is that
I can't tell whether you're doing it on purpose."

And that's where I got served a big ol' slice of humble pie, because
it was as if my words echoed back at me across a year or two.

You see, one of the main characters in my first book is similiarly
ambiguous. And a few years back a very knowledgeable agent took the
time to read my full manuscript. Her generous rejection letter
included extensive notes about that character.

She told me I needed to be clear with my intention for him. That if I
didn't show the reader the ambiguity was purposeful, I would lose the
reader's trust.

I thought she just didn't get what was I was trying to do. When, in
fact, I didn't realize just what golden advice I was receiving.

Now I know what she meant: You can have all the ambiguity you want.
You can write reversals and twists to your hearts content. BUT, in
every instance where we're waiting to find out what to make of a
character, make sure the reader knows you kept it uncertain on
purpose. Because if they aren't sure, the story becomes at best
frustrating, and at worst, downright unreadable.

Here's the litmus test:
GOOD: The reader is saying things like "What is up with that guy?" Or
"I have a bad feeling about this."

BAD: The reader is saying "I just wasn't sure what to make of that
guy," or, "I kept waiting to see what he would do, but it was just
confusing."

Why? Because you want the reader's mind consumed with questions about
the story - not questions about whether they've correctly understood
the story. The former keeps them turning pages. The latter has them
going back to reread - if they have the patience.

So how do you make sure the reader knows the ambiguity is intentional?

One approach is to have other POV characters recognize the same
disquiet as the reader. If another character observes tension
regarding the ambiguous character's trustworthiness, then the reader
knows they're on the right track.

A little trickier, but perhaps more effective, would be the use of
body language in the ambiguous character. It takes real skill to imply
a character is hiding something, but if you can pull it off your
reader will be riveted, waiting for the big reveal.

Regardless of how you do it, the important thing is to make sure your
reader is drawn deeper into the story by what you're doing, rather
than being thrown out of it to figure out what they think is going on.

If they don't trust YOU to tell them the truth, they'll be measuring
your motives, rather than flipping pages to figure out your
character's.

Your Turn: I know there are more ways to skin this cat. So tell me
about a book you've read where the author used ambiguity to great
effect. Can you identify what techniques they used to show you there
was more to come?

A Crisis of Confidence

You know what I'm talking about...
It's the day when you look at another author's achievement, or your
recent rejection, or... well, just anything really, and you're certain
you'll absolutely, positively NEVER be a success. Never get that
contract, or achieve those sales, or make that list. It's the day the
dark monster of doubt clamps himself on your back and sinks his teeth
into your resolve.

It can be a really lonely experience if you don't have some solid
writer friends around you. With the best of intentions, non-Writers -
we'll call them "Wuggles" - can, with the best of intentions, add to
your sense of failure, or fear of obscurity.

So today all I want to tell you is that you aren't alone. I wrestled
the doubt demon for hours this morning. But, thank the lord, I was
armed with all those quotes, anecdotes, and "advice to writers" blots
I've read. I realized that when you boil it all down, they all say one
thing:

The only difference between failure and success is perserverence. Keep
writing. Keep learning. Most important, keep trying.

One day your dreams will come true. And hopefully, so will mine.

HELP! Every Writer's Nightmare

Today I lost my laptop for at least six weeks. Please join me in a
moment of silence, to mourn the loss of my creative fountain...

Okay, so this is my first attempt (a dress rehearsal, if you will) of
blogging via email. Did it work? Do I look okay in this? Have I grown
a third nose? Your comments regarding the viability / noticeability of
posting this way (especially any that can make me smile through the
tears) are most welcome.

Help me, friends. I need to remember there are more beautiful things
on the face of this earth than the rapidly-filling page in my MS Word
doc....

*Sob*

Your Questions for an Independent Publisher?

I've had my eye drawn to the independent publishing market recently - and by that, I mean the smaller, independent presses, e-book prints, etc. These publishers will offer little or no advance, but neither will they charge you - they're investing in your book.

It's an aspect of publishing I don't know a lot about, so I've been exploring.

A very generous and recently successful independent publisher has agreed to take our questions. Yes, that's right. You can submit any questions you might have in the comments of this post (or email me if blogger is blocking you) and I'll pass them on to the publisher who has agreed to visit Seeking the Write Life with the answers.

Huzzah!

Here's the questions I've come up with - what are yours?

1. Does going independent in today's market essentially mean going solely digital?

2. Do independent publishers have access / distribution to bookstore chains?

3. Has the YA market embraced e-books yet? (I get that kids are big on gadgets, but at this point most of them can't afford to buy e-readers for themselves. My perception is it's the adult genres that are really taking off in the e-book markets... am I wrong?)

4. It appears that in many cases a writer still needs an agent to get in the door with any worthwhile independent publisher - yet many agents say the deals with indie's are too small to make it worth their while, so... how does an author gain an indie's attention otherwise?

5. Are we naive to respect the 'we're not accepting unsolicited submissions' guidelines? Do many authors ignore and throw themselves on the slushpile anyway, thereby getting a foot in the back door?

Your Turn: What questions do you have for an independent publisher? (Just in case it's relevant, please note the genre your question is about).