Friends have asked me recently about my writing approach. I don’t use a formula, but a process that seems natural to me. Of course this is for writing stories, long or short, but doesn’t apply to poetry or essays as much.
First, I find a conflict that interests me. Usually the main characters are determined by the nature of the conflict. I write down as much as I know about the characters. In the beginning, I know their central issues and usually their talents and follies, but I get to know them better as I write. I keep track of names of ALL characters, (if I name a servant, I record that name at the front so I can refer to her later and not have to search.) I record birth dates and genealogies as they become relevant to the story.
Most of my writing is done while I’m doing dishes, cooking, baking, driving or waiting to fall asleep at night. I imagine the scenes, the dialog, the events etc and watch it act out in my mind. As ideas come, I’ll find connections and motives that will move toward the resolutions. Sometimes I’ll quickly write a key word or two so that I retrieve it when I sit down at the computer, but not always. Usually it’s vivid enough in my mind that I don’t need a reminder.
I allow the story to change as I go. I always know the conflict from the beginning, but I rarely end up with the resolution I had in mind at the beginning.
As I wrote “The Masterpiece” (a manuscript that I will market once That Thy Days May Be Long has been published) (I want it published as historical fiction, not Christian fiction so that it reaches a bigger audience,) I knew that something important needed to impact the main character. It had to be hard enough that he was motivated to make the “mighty change” he needed to make to resolve his problem. I decided what the tragedy would be and was working cheerfully along. One night, as I imagined the next scene I would write, I realized that the story would be ten times stronger if a different tragedy occurred. I was heartbroken. As I wrote the new tragic scenes, I bawled and bawled. But I couldn’t go back, knowing that I owed it to Daniel Feinstein (the main character) to give him enough pain that his eventual forgiveness would make a new man. I have rewritten and edited the manuscript about 5 times in the polishing process and I STILL bawl like a baby. I guess part of it is guilt for what I did to these “people” that I love, and part is plain old grief, since I can’t undo the deed! But it transforms the book from a good book to a “masterpiece” and I just have to live with it. You’ll have to wait for it to be published and see what I’m talking about.
Once the story is finished, it give it time for the leavening to work. I let it sit for a few months or weeks, (depending on the length of the project) and then I go back. I can see what is trite, what is overdone, what is weak, unclear, boring etc. I go through and mop up the debris and add or subtract scenes to strengthen weak areas or characters. I like to give it a couple weeks to sit after this process, longer if possible and then I go back and do a plain edit. I try to improve the diction, structure and grammar.
Next, I give it to a reader for a response. This is usually my daughter Tricia and/or my Mom. (Tricia has a Masters in Literacy and my mother has a dual Bachelors degree in English and Education) They find errors, grammar mistakes, misspellings (usually homonyms) and suggest word or phrase changes. Tricia is bold enough to suggest additional scenes to better motivate or resolve problems too. I go through and respond to all their suggestions and lastly will run a spell and grammar check on the computer twice. I’ll do specific searches for the different spellings of ‘there’ they’re and their’, its and it’s, whose and who’s, and other punctuation mistakes I know I am prone to. Then I format it according to the instructions from whomever I will send it to first or default to the guidelines on Terry Burns (literary agent’s) site.
You may be tempted to conclude that only the first two steps of writing and rewriting are the writing process, but the better it is edited and rewritten in the third, fourth and fifth stages, the better it reads and I consider this part essential too. Most self published books I’ve read have skipped this arduous process and it is obvious. Sadly, errors persist even after all that work, so I’m merely trying to minimize that issue.
I’m interested to hear how others approach the writing process. Feel free to respond!
I am pleased to say that I am in the elite group that read the Arizona illegal immigration law. This makes me a better expert than many of our vocal politicians, who still have not taken the time to read the 15 pages of plain English.
If I were a law abiding Arizonan, I’d stand up and cheer for this law regardless of my race. It’s careful not to tread on the natural rights of anybody, but especially not legal residents. Most of it is geared to freeing law enforcement to do their job effectively. It does NOT create new definitions of law breakers. It does NOT add authority for initial stops by authorities. It merely gives them the ability to follow through when they see indication that those they stopped are illegally here. It does add punishment for those that hire known illegals. The fines for all related violations go to help with costs associated with illegal immigration. It’s a good law! We need to push a similar law through in every state. It will be good for any state that passes one like it.
I also think there will be unintended consequences to this whole issue. When the Feds don’t do their job, they leave it to the states and anything the states do independently of the Feds weakens the “United” part of “United States.” California and Arizona are already volleying insults and boycotts. If this continues to escalate, it will redefine the national relationships between states and between states and the Federal Government. Right now, with confidence in the Federal Govt in the toilet, but them wanting to raise taxes endlessly, this could be the match that ignites huge changes.
I hope this can be properly settled with the government withdrawing money for studying pig stink and other such “stimulus” projects and retarget that cash to protection of citizens. We can hope, we can send a note to our own state officials and we MUST pray!
I read in the news that Phoenix has decided to boycott San Diego. I say, three cheers for Phoenix. I’m disgusted by so many cities saying that they want to punish a state for taking action to enforce the laws of the land. It’s time that these heavy-handed city councils received a pinch as a result of their underhanded, unhelpful and politically irresponsible boycotts.
These are the issues. The Constitution of the United States is a document that states which duties will belong to the federal government and which duties will belong to the states. Securing the borders and protecting the citizens from invasion is part of the duty, set forth by the supreme law of the Constitution, as belonging to the Federal Government. But the Feds are not fulfilling their responsibility as determined by law.
Mexico, on the other hand, is in the throes of terrible drug battles. Hundreds of people have been killed in border towns as drug distributing organizations fight over turf. . .across the border! There are millions and millions of American dollars at stake for these dreadful products. Central American cartels want them in our marketplace and ostensibly we don’t.
Another aspect of these border town fights is the big business of smuggling illegal immigrants across the border. Latinos find a transporter, called a coyote, who agrees to get them into the United States. Coyotes get HUGE money for their services. They are extremely cruel, inhumane and evil people. Most coyotes are affiliated with the drug cartels and force their clients to carry drugs on their backs as they hike into the major cities. They supply only enough water for an ideal crossing, but if they start to run out, they take it away from their clients to use for themselves, leaving them to die in the deserts. Their fees often represent the life savings of the illegal immigrant. Immigrants take the gamble for several reasons. If they work with a drug cartel on the other side of the border, there’s a lot more money in dealing drugs on the side where people have more money to spend. Some come because they’d rather steal from rich people than poor people. Law enforcement in AZ cite statistics that a little more than a third of the illegal immigrants already here, already have a criminal record. That means they’ve been convicted of a felony in the past.
Of course, some come to work the fields and follow the crops, or to find work in a more prosperous situation than they are likely to find in Central America. These are welcomed here, but green cards are very expensive in Central America. The US doesn’t charge much, but other nations do.
Criminals, whether they’ve already been convicted or not, don’t want to fill out forms describing their destination, employer, planned employment, anticipated address anyway. If they can afford to come, they’ll do it illegally.
Arizona was destined to lose tourism if it DIDN’T do something about the crime. It isn’t because they hate Latinos, they don’t. Law enforcement has determined that in AZ, the majority of crime is committed by illegals. The Federal government has laws in place, but does not enforce them. Did San Diego, and Los Angles and San Francisco and Chicago think that Arizona should wait until all tourism was scared away and the citizens living in constant danger of being robbed, kidnapped, burglarized or knifed before they tried to stop it? Are those boycotting cities hoping that tourists will stay away from Phoenix and come to their cities instead? Is boycotting merely a tourism promotion tool?
I note that the major cities in California probably have strong incentives in addition to garnering more tourism. If Arizona secures their border, then there is far more pressure on the California border. Illegals will stream faster into California cities instead of Arizona’s cities. California and Arizona are both already staggering under the cost of educating, feeding, protecting, medicating, and controlling crime among illegal immigrants. California is bankrupt. They can’t afford for Arizona to send more illegals their way. They’ll be forced to take some sort of unpopular action and that timing doesn’t suit their liberal politicians one bit.
I was delighted to read that Arizonans are finally retaliating against bullying from other states. San Diego is saying(cough cough) that its decision to boycott was a symbolic gesture (ahem), more than intended (cough)to impact Arizona in a real way. I’m sure that’s true. How many San Diego citizens want to leave their temperate oceanfront to go vacation in a place where the devil has air conditioning? But honey, words have consequences. If you don’t want to be taken seriously, why’d you sign up to be on the city council? Did the San Diego city council not know where Arizonans go for a break from the heat? The funny thing is that San Diego is now whining about the lost Arizona tourists. The current cost is at 2 million so far. Ouch!
Lets all boycott all the heavy handed cities that are boycotting Arizona. If you can plan a nice trip to the Grand Canyon, this is the year to do it! Arizona needs the tourism dollars and those boycotting cities need to be punished for being so disingenuous.
My incredible Credibility Suit
May 12, 2010I have a magic suit. It’s gray with a pleated edge at the bottom of the skirt. The long sleeved jacket is shaped and makes me look like I weigh. . .well, anyway, it’s flattering. I know it’s a magic suit because I have never worn it without someone telling me they like it. Once a black lady in a wheelchair in the grocery store said, “That’s the best looking suit I’ve ever seen.” Today, as I exited the OKC temple, a lady was going in. She turned as we passed and said, “Great Suit.”
I like my suit even better because I only paid $14.00 for it at Ross. I did have to take the jacket in a few inches to get it right in the waist. It’s made of 100% polyester and comes out of the washer and dryer looking brand new. I have named it my Credibility Suit. I look inCredible in my Credibility Suit.
When my friend, Marianne Silver called me a couple months ago and asked me to speak at the Stillwater Relief Society Women’s Conference, on “Symbols of Light in the Scripture”, I knew immediately that I would wear my Credibility Suit. My topic was so exciting to me that I might have worn a flour sack just as well, but I’d be double-strength in my Suit.
I bought a new shirt to wear under it, but decided to wear the old one on the day of Conference. I took 10 minutes consulting my husband about which jewelry would be best. It couldn’t be too loud, or people might pay more attention to that than my subject. It couldn’t be too subtle or it might not support my credibility. I found a necklace with just the right elements of color and size.
My daughter, Tricia, her friend and I drove to Stillwater. It was almost time. Marianne was introducing me. I glanced down before I stood up.
There was toothpaste dripped down the front of my Credibility Suit. My mind went back to the time a bird pooped on my nose and down the front of my shirt just as I went into my high school. “How does this happen?” I wondered.
But then I got a miracle. The toothpaste didn’t disappear, but as I spoke, I didn’t need my Credibility Suit. All the preparation, all the insight and inspiration I had received came pouring out. I moved from point to point with the grace of a ballerina and the audience moved with me. I could see the pleasant tears of inspiration starting in their eyes. They loved the truth! They loved the scriptures! The windows of heaven were open and the Lord poured out a blessing that there was not room enough to receive!
“How is it done, Lord?” I marveled.
As I rushed out afterward to get to the afternoon sessions of the Writer’s Conference ninety miles south, I saw a friend in the hall. “I’m sorry I missed your workshop,”she said. “But wow, that’s a great-looking suit.”