Character 'involvement' is her key

“I want to wake up one morning and know how to write page one, or page 10, or page 250. But I never seem to know how to do it. Every book is different and takes a different structure, style, process, etc. And relearning how to write is where the insanity comes from.” – Sarah MacLean

Born on this date in 1978, MacLean is a New York Times bestselling author of both  young adult and romance novel.  Since breaking onto the national scene in 2009, all 12 of her novels (to date) have been on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.

A two-time winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Historical Romance, MacLean also has made a name for herself on social media (Facebook and Twitter) and as a regular columnist for The Washington Post, writing a monthly romance novel review column since early 2014.  Her most recent bestseller, published this past summer, is Wicked and the Wallflower.

              She calls her writing style one of a "benevolent deity.” 

“For the most part, my characters don't talk to me. I like to lord over them . . . and, for the most part, my characters go along with it. I write intense character sketches and long, play-like conversations between me and them, but they stay out of the book writing itself.”

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That 'Stick-to-it-iveness' Factor

“Rejection is not a reason to give up.  Sometimes you'll do something that you really like and no one else does. You'll feel terrible, but you've just got to press on and keep trying. If you like doing it and keep working at it, then someday you will succeed.” – Norman Bridwell

Bridwell, born in Indiana in 1928, is a great example.  The artist-author of the phenomenally successful Clifford the Big Red Dog series was told he had no artistic talent and his stories were too schmaltzy.  His first book, simply named Clifford the Big Red Dog, was rejected by the first 9 publishers he submitted it to.  But, instead of throwing in the towel, he tried a 10^th and the rest is history. 

“Clifford,” by the way, was supposed to be called “Tiny,” but Bridwell’s wife Norma said that name was “stupid.”  She liked the name Clifford, and as any writer knows,  listen to your spouse or partner.   As for Clifford’s friend Emily Elizabeth, that was a no-brainer.  It was the name of their daughter, to whom Norman had been conveying his Clifford story in the first place.

                                   His “poorly drawn; schmaltzy storied” book (just some of his rejecters’ words) became the anchor of a writing empire with 40-some titles printed in 65 countries and selling more than 130 million copies, plus an animated television series still loved by children everywhere. 

Clifford actually embodies his creator, a gentle man with a sense of humor who wanted to share values he hoped children would embrace – kindness, compassion, helpfulness, gratitude and, of course,  “stick-to-it-iveness.”   

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Creating a 'Poetic' life

“Breathe-in experience, breathe-out poetry.” – Muriel Rukeyser

Born on this date in 1915 and raised in New York City, Rukeyser started writing poetry while still in high school but didn’t write it seriously until 1935.  That year her first book, Theory of Flight was published by the “Yale Younger Poets Series,“ selected personally by poet laureate Stephen Vincent Benét, who wrote the book’s introduction.  

 

         In her lifetime Rukeyser, who also became a leading political activist, wrote 25 books, 18 of them books of poetry.  She died in 1980.  For Saturday’s Poem, here is,

                 Reading Time: 1 Minutes 26 Seconds

The fear of poetry is the
fear: mystery and fury of a midnight street
of windows whose low voluptuous voice
issues, and after that there is not peace.

The round waiting moment in the
theatre : curtain rises, dies into the ceiling
and here is played the scene with the mother
bandaging a revealed son's head. The bandage is torn off.
Curtain goes down. And here is the moment of proof.

That climax when the brain acknowledges the world,
all values extended into the blood awake.
Moment of proof. And as they say Brancusi did,
building his bird to extend through soaring air,
as Kafka planned stories that draw to eternity
through time extended. And the climax strikes.

Love touches so, that months after the look of
blue stare of love, the footbeat on the heart
is translated into the pure cry of birds
following air-cries, or poems, the new scene.
Moment of proof. That strikes long after act.

They fear it. They turn away, hand up, palm out
fending off moment of proof, the straight look, poem.
The prolonged wound-consciousness after the bullet's
shot.
The prolonged love after the look is dead,
the yellow joy after the song of the sun.

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A beacon for writers with a dream

“The world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again . . .  Books became her friends and there was one for every mood.” ― Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Born on this date in 1896, Smith never “officially” went beyond 8^th grade in her formal education, but because of her innate ability to tell a great story, she was able to convince the University of Michigan to let her “sit in” on writing classes, giving her the background to ultimately become one of America’s all-time best-selling authors. 

Smith quickly found that she was among the most “listened to” students in those college classes, because she literally spoke with a different voice, a voice from life experiences. She lived life intensely and cared passionately about matters that others could only guess at, and her professors recognized this. Ultimately she was rewarded with the Avery Hopwood Award, the most prestigious writing prize bestowed by the University.

In 1928, Smith started submitting her work to area newspapers and the N.E.A. Syndicate, selling some 50 articles to the Syndicate and places like the Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, and the Herald Tribune.  For this work she made $176.75 – “And I thought I was on top of the world,” she later recalled.   

                                              A dozen years later, the success of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn earned her some $300 thousand in just 2 years – and that was before movie rights, which led to an Academy Award winning movie in 1945.   Between then and 1963, she wrote three more best sellers, including Joy in the Morning, another top-grossing book and movie.   She remains today as a beacon for all writers who both have a dream and the “can do” spirit to make it a reality.

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More than 'just a story'

“Stories are really important to people and can really change the way they understand, and even live, their lives. As such, I don't agree much with people who say, 'Calm down, it's just a story.’” – Tim Pratt

  

Born on this date in 1968, Pratt is a Senior Editor at Locus Magazine and primarily a writer of science fiction and fantasy – both short stories novels.  He won the prestigious Hugo Award in the “Best Short Story” category for his tale “Impossible Dreams” and has authored of 19 novels and 4 short story collections.   He's been a frequent finalist for most major awards in the SciFi-Fantasy categories.  His most recent novel (written as T.A. Pratt) is 2017’s Closing Doors, although it’s rumored a new one is nearing completion.   

                           A native of North Carolina, where he studied English at Appalachian State University, Pratt currently makes his home in northern California.    A frequent presenter at Writer’s conferences and workshops, Pratt said he “loves” researching for his books and stories, and tries to immerse himself into whatever era or area he’s writing about by reading works done about that place and time.

“When I was working on a Victorian-era novel,” he said, “to get in the mood, I read several historical novels set in approximately the same period and place, and (found that I) really enjoyed the detective novels of John Dickson Carr.”

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Creating readers for life

“Librarians and romance writers accomplish one mission better than anyone, including English teachers: we create readers for life - and what could be more fulfilling than that?” – Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Phillips, born in Ohio on this date in 1948, is credited by many who are “in the know” as being the creator of the sports romance genre (I have to admit I didn’t really know that there was such a genre), and she also has been called the “Queen of Romantic Comedy.”

The only five-time winner of the Romance Writers of America Favorite Book of the Year Award, she was inducted into the Romance Writers Hall of Fame in 2001 and was a recipient of the Romance Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.  That having been said, she said she’s not even close to being “done” with her writing and continues to turn out popular, award-winning books on a regular basis, including the best-selling Chicago Stars series.  The latest in that group is First Star I See Tonight.  

                              “I write about the men you want to read about but don't necessarily want to be married to,” she said when asked about who she likes to select for her protagonists.  As for her mantra as a writer, it's simple:  “Because life’s too short to read depressing books.”

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Creating the illusion of 'aliveness'

“The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head. There is the illusion of aliveness.” – Tim O’Brien

I’ve always felt a kinship with O’Brien, and not only as writers.  We are nearly the same age; both Midwesterners (although today he lives in Texas and I in Colorado); and both U.S. Army Infantry veterans – although there’s little doubt that his experiences, particularly in the Vietnam War, were much more intense than my own.

  

A key attribute to O'Brien's work is his relationship between fiction and reality.  While it is fiction, his work contains many details from his real-life experiences, a common literary technique.  But his approach brings the writing to life in a way that blurs the lines between fact and fiction.

 

Writers of historical fiction often must “imagine” themselves in the place and time they are writing so that they can, in turn, put together the story that will not only be based on real events, but also will provide a good tale.  If you want to see it done in a masterful way, read O’Brien, especially his award-winning The Things They Carried.  

                         O’Brien, who recently turned 72, said he doesn’t think of himself as a war writer but rather a writer who wrote about war.  “When writing, I'm not thinking about war, even if I'm writing about it,” he said.   “I'm thinking about sentences, rhythm and story. So the focus, when I'm working, even if it's on a story that takes place at war, is not on bombs or bullets. It's on the story.”

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