To Start...Start

Recently, I’ve read many posts on social media that all equate to the same dilemma:

• Plotter, planner, or plotster?
• Should I edit as I go?
• Crit group or MFA?
• What writing software should I use to write my first-ever novel?

 

The answer to all of those questions—just start—is just that easy and just that hard.

 

I’m not saying that tools and strategies won’t help you revise, track, and organize your book—they will. Crit groups are great for constructive feedback as well as developing editorial skills to apply to your endeavors. MFAs will…not keep you from writing your book. Editing-as-you-go strategy isn’t efficient. It’s avoidance. 

 

No sheepskin, gang of ink-stained miscreants, or software will do the most important job for you.

 

WRITE THE BOOK

 

Don't have an outline? Get the story down. Don't have a story? Explore what sparked your imagination—a murder, a business betrayal, a cursed dragon in search of her prince—start writing who, what, where, when, and why. See what happens.

I started something like four novels without finishing a single one. Those attempts were attempts to recreate the stories that I loved but they were not my story. Then I heard Walter Mosley say, "Whatever you read, whatever you write, it's supposed to be fun."

What's fun? Start there?

None of the stories I attempted to write had been especially fun. None of it especially scared me. None of it mattered to me, either.

While pondering those issues a line sprang from the deep recesses of my thinky-thoughty thingy.

Roosevelt pulled himself deeper into the shadow of the dying oak. Husking-breath close, the murderous cop circled the tree, pistol first.  

That's it. That's all I had. A name, a scene, and a question: who's good, who's bad, who decides?

Oh, I would LOVE to tell you that the words flowed and I wrote like a runaway prairie fire and "the story practically wrote itself," and all those other pithy platitudes. The truth is it was fast, it was ugly, and much of it was ill-advised. 

The point is start writing and don't stop until you have a completed draft.

Rough, illogical, damn-near incoherent—get it down, “Once upon a time...” to “...something-something-ever-after.”

 

Is the book done? Can you trumpet your triumph from the ramparts? Certainly not. 

 

A couple of decades ago, Science Fiction visionary, Philip K. Dick spoke on a writing panel that included the following exchange with Judy-Lynn del Rey, the mother of modern Science Fiction (and patron of PKD’s work). Obvs, I paraphrase, (badly).

 

“On speed, [amphetamines] I can write 6000 good words a day,” —Philip K. Dick

 

“Well, not good words…” —Judy-Lynn del Rey

 

The point is once you’ve completed your story it isn’t “done.” That is good news! It’s not etched in stone. It’s not good. It’s not terrible. It is complete. 

 

It’s a completed draft and a draft is not ready for submission. It’s not ready for editing. It’s not even ready for a crit group. It is, however, EXACTLY what it has to be—a completed idea, indulgent voice, Swiss-cheese plot, atrocious grammar, bad breath and all.

 

The artistry, the real writing, is in the revisions. You may find that the middle is actually the beginning of the story. The (former beginning) is now a truncated flashback or a charming interlude between drug-fueled shootouts. You may end up with more endings than a “choose your own adventure” book. 

All neatly organized with that spiffy software that you now have a purpose for.

 

But you can’t get to that until the bones are laid down. Until the draft is completed—beginning, middle, and end—you don’t have a story. You have a name, or a scene, or an idea which will never be anything more than a passing whim without some ugly work put in.

The photo above is free for use by Tumisu on Pixabay.

Why I'm Leaving Wordpress and Bluehost

In 2020-ish I gifted myself a blog and website with the idea of maintaining a regular writing schedule. The idea of building a platform and maybe connecting with fellow scribblers also occurred to me. 

Mid-life what?

Some guys restore sports cars, others buy a boat. I started a blog. Laugh if you want, my ego-indulgence didn’t risk divorce. 

But honestly, if my Missus knew how much I paid to Wix (et al) to kickoff my little endeavor she would’ve dropped me like a bad habit. 

Aside from that, what’s the rub?

Everything I read touted Wix as easy to use, easy to clean. No special skills necessary, just pay a fee and build your website from a collection of templates and bolt-ons. Then pay another fee to register your domain. Then another fee for an SSL. Then another fee…

Honestly, the downside was more than fees—though the fees were painful. 

Blog content can be controversial but blogging platforms shouldn’t be

Wix is highly restrictive. You never own your website. So, you pay annually or “your” website goes down. Did I mention it is expensive? Customer service is next to nonexistent and as a result I could either use my domain for my blog or my website but never both.

Had enough? Ready to migrate your website away? Good luck! The stories of timeouts, corrupted download-data, and “we’ll create an archive that you can access later”—with “later” never actually defined in hours/days/weeks—are legendary. 

Still, within a year, I’d had my fill of never getting the website to “face” the blog—or much of anything else that I dropped too-much money on.

At first, Bluehost seemed like a better fit. With plans starting at $3.99/month, it was more economical. All too soon, however, incidental charges stack up and $3.99 starts to look like a bait-and-switch. 

Ultimately, Bluehost became just as eye-watering expensive as Wix. I ended up dropping well-north of three-bills a year with even less to show for it. 

Then there is WordPress…

What originally started as a community-friendly platform has turned into a Trumpian battle for control and profits. As closely as I understand it, (not at all close, btw) one of the founders is poaching WordPress clients through redirection. Further, he has stopped automatic updates. And while cease-and-desist letters are flying none of it gives creators a sense of wellbeing or security.

Oh, and you’re paying somebody for all this uncertainty. In my case over $80/year—on top of the whole hosting fees, domain fees, hungry-hungry-hippos fees, I can go on…

Readership/WriterWednesday

Of course it also comes down to readership and priorities. As previously stated the original idea was writing and connecting with other writers. My little blog served both purposes in aces. 

I made writer-friends like Michael Cook and Victoria Patton. I averaged a post every two weeks. My writing improved with some of my more juvenile impulses exorcised along the way.

Then, in 2022, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. Everything shifted for me. My little crime stories no longer matter so much. Neither did publication. Or, for that matter, connection. 

The focus of my blog shifted to frightening facts. From diagnosis to the best skin-care for radiation treatment to the post-surgery bra options, I chronicled my wife’s journey through the lowest point of her, of both our lives. 

Mostly, I wrote to process our fear and powerlessness in the face of such a deadly, daunting, disease.

Still, that $300-plus-yearly fee became harder-and-harder to justify. Then Fiona Quinn asked me if I’d be willing to contribute to her blog. 

Fiona writes romance thrillers, really good ones. I’ve read her blog for years. It is as well written as her books, (excellent, BTW). As a result her blog has a considerable audience. 

To my total surprise, Fiona gave me free-reign to write on whatever interested me. Writing tropes, comic books, Netflix—whatever I found interesting. It was a beautiful re-introduction to fiction. 

But wait, there’s more!

Best of all was the platform: Google’s Blogger. That’s where I saw, first-hand, how easy it could all be. Drag/drop, copy, and paste, post—easy-peasy. The platform is incredibly intuitive. Best of all, the price (free) is right for posting something that maybemaybemaybe three-dozen people (fingers crossed) will read.
 

Blogger isn’t perfect. Just ask Dennis Cooper who’s 14-plus-year blog was suddenly and inexplicably deleted. A number of other long-time creators will attest that Blogger isn’t perfect. 

It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just have to be. That’s all I need.

Sure, Blogger is declining. As is the medium as a whole. There are newer, hipper options.

The thing is, my stuff is hardly serious enough, (or consistent enough) for Substack or Beehive. My musings are meant to be conversant, not dissertations. 

Further, monetizing my take on tropes in crime fiction has never been my goal—or even feasible. I simply want a space to post without feeling like I’m being financially irresponsible. 

You know, like a neighborhood bar…where everybody knows your name. And there’s no door charge.

If you’re interested, you can find my take on our life with and after breast cancer at BoldlyBeyondBreastCancer. Likewise, if you’re curious about my views on crime fiction (and most other forms of fiction as well) you can find me at ThrillWriting.

I hope to see you at either/or/both.

The photo at the top belongs to the author.

Train Your Writer Mind Like an Algorithm

 

Fiona kindly allows me to share my musings (aimless ramblings?) on writing here. She’s a great scribble sibling and a true friend. And this outlet is one reason I still write at all.

See, on my blog, I record my wife Gaye’s breast cancer journey. In my day-life, I’m a jumped up accountant who doggy paddles against a 20-foot swell of imposter syndrome. Hour-to-hour, I often feel like I’m drowning or failing or simply failing to drown.

 

Yeah, I’m a “hoot” at parties.

 

Thing is, I didn’t realize until a couple of years ago that what I struggle with (mostly) is anxiety. There’s also a pronounced lack of coping skills. Oh, and a splash of immaturity.

NOTE: First/foremost none of this is intended as medical advice. After too many years of struggle I went to my doctor and got some help. I simply cannot recommend talking with your family physician highly enough.

I struggled before this diagnosis. Among other things, my anxiety often manifested in a short temper exacerbated by the previously mentioned dearth of coping skills and immaturity. Through counseling, I was introduced to Dr. David Burns’ The Feeling Good Handbook.

A comprehensive guide to adulting

Initially, I thought TFGH was kinda hokey. Who talks like that? How do I relate to this? But I take homework seriously and continued my reading. Then the messages began to seep through the granite-like substance that is my skull. 

The cornerstone of Cognitive Behavior Therapy, TFGH helps the reader through rational examination and thoughtful response exercise to build healthy strategies. Most importantly, Dr. Burns successfully proves-up the theory that your thoughts dictate your emotions and all-too often, behaviors. 

Yeah, yeah, the idea’s been around for well over 1800 years. I’m a little slow on the uptake. 

However, once I got it, (most of what we feel is due to what’s going on in the noggin’ NOT what’s going on outside the noggin’) my perspective shifted. Did life turn to gold, success, and ponies overnight? I’ll let you sus that one out. The point is, things did get better.

The most important “better” was my relationship with my wife. For the first time in years, I saw her as an ally and not an adversary. There isn’t an ounce of hyperbole when I say the book saved my marriage.

But then I saw life as beautiful experience instead of a dogged, never-ending challenge or torment. Work improved. I went back to school. Work REALLY improved.

As always, this broaches the eternal question, “The hell this has to do with writing?”

Honestly, more than you’d think. What didn't initially improve was my writing. I haven’t done a lot of fiction writing since Gaye’ diagnosis. Playing “cops and robbers and more robbers,” seems silly when your beloved faces cancer. 

Then there’s the day-to-day recovery—at the expense of actually living. 

It’s really easy to get invested in laundry, cleaning, and Walmart runs. “Oh, up early? That book can wait ‘cause there’s never gonna be a better time to get at that litterbox…” Then there’s that whole work-for-pay scam. 

They laugh at my gainful employment

“Objects at rest remain at rest…” Newton’s 1st Law

A writer must write. Failure to write carries some scary consequences. The least of which is the atrophy of imagination. That immediately leads to facing life, full-on with no buffer. I personally cannot do that. 

Zeno of Cyprus, also a "hoot" at parties.

Just as we must manage our thoughts and emotions, (or they will certainly manage us) we must manage our creativity. Especially when you haven't written in a while or you're empty-headed or even though you want/need to, just don’t wanna.

So, how-to?

Pinterest—bear with me—is a good guide. You look at/like/pin photos of cars and Pinterest shows you more cars. Same-same for cats, food, or comic book covers. 

The (evil) algorithm, be that anxiety, depression, etc., also notes what you seek and gives you more of it. Negative programming? No thoughts of kitties and Viennese chocolate cake for you. You get intrusive thoughts about your report deadlines, every stupid thing you ever said, and the last 16 arguments with your SO.  

Again, how do you change what it shows you?

For me it was nearly impossible to leap right back into cold-start creation. Instead, I started reading other peoples' work. Bardugo's Grishaverse, a Marvel Comics omnibus, J.L. Campbell's "Murder She Wrote." And there were sparks in the imagination box.

But not enough to charge into the oppressive blank page/screen. Instead, I opened the final (for now) draft of my manuscript (MS). The MS that was perfect something-something years ago. The MS that is ready for line-editing. THE MS that requires no further tinkering with tone or pace.

Funny thing, once I opened that file, I found some tonal and pacing anomalies. 

After a couple of weeks of yet-further revisions, I began to think of a short story that I plan to expand to novella. That was not as deliberate as it may read. It was cognitive redirection. 

Listening to (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais, by The Clash—and I immediately know where my protag should be from, geographically as well as culturally. An article on the vocational/trade training renaissance and voilà, my protag has some skills that mos def will impact the plot/goals/stakes. A gag in a sitcom? Well, you get the idea.

Positive-in, positive-out. Focus on what nurtures your spirit and fuels your dreams and you’ll see the stuff of dreams more often than a blank page, (screen, you know, whatevs).

NOTE: all the "Power of Positive Thinking," in the world will not treat your depression, anxiety, or PTSD.

Remember the “this is not medical advice” disclaimer above? Yeah, this is a guide for writers trying to resume their scribble game or find a new grove. This is not medical/mental health  advice of any kind.

Again, I needed help and I sought it out. If you’re struggling, reach out to your primary doctor. If you’re not there yet, maybe explore your employer’s EAP program. Failing all of that, NAMI helps connect people to resources. You can find out more here.

Key takeaways:

• Focus on the negative, all you’ll see is negative

• Focus on the positive and you'll see positive

• Take small steps and build on the results

• Nothing happens without work

• No “tip” is a replacement for professional help

Get well, stay well, keep creating.

I own none of the photos above. All are used for illustrative/educational purposes as covered by the Fair Use Doctrine.

Stick-Figures, Drawings, and Outlines

 

Pencils, pens, and paper have always been my favorite toys. I could (and did) take them everywhere I went. Not appropriate to roll Hot Wheels cars across the restaurant table? No Shogun Warrior robots allowed in class? No room for a Millennium Falcon on the tiny desk in my old man’s office behind the bar?

No problem, I’ll draw them.

But that’s not where I started. Like every other kid who puts pencil to paper to draw their favorite TV/movie/book character, I started with stick figures. My stick-cowboys had hats. The stick-horses had tails. The stick-spacemen had fishbowl helmets.

I forsworn drawing stick-spacewomen after getting into trouble for my first attempt. Different story, different time.

Stick-figure drawings were not simply rudimentary attempts at art, they were fast and allowed me to act out the story—to get to it.

Pantser

(noun)

A scribbler with NO idea what they are doing.

(see also: lost explorer)

I’m pretty sure that most writers start as pantsers for the same reason I drew stick-figures; to get to it. 

The writer seated at the keyboard/typewriter/notepad—flying by the seat of their pants, knocking the story out fast and free—is a compelling image. No notes, no outline, no doubts. Pansters love the freedom of writing in the direction inspiration carries them, listening to their characters and taking direction from, rather than direct them to, a plotted course, toward a plotline goal.

No plan. No outline. Just writer and medium and voilà! Completed book.

The hardest bit of writing always comes at the 30,000 word mark. Keep going. After 50,000 the hill slopes in your favour. —Matt Haig

Except a lot of writers, (self-included) don’t knock the story out. Rather, most flame out at 20K or 30K words, unsure where to go next. My first efforts didn’t make 15K words.

Upside, just as stick-figures are starting points for 98% of cartoonists and comic-book artists, the failed draft is where writers begin. Just as the artist is the one who disciplines themself to study and practice and develop, the writer is the one who tries again after the failed draft.

Plotter

(noun)

A scribbler with everything they need—neatly organized—to avoid actually writing the story.

(see also: yeah, yeah, I see the iceberg, just let me rearrange these deck chairs… )

What I learned from those failed books, (aside from which genre I should be writing) was that I needed a plan. It also helped that among the flashes of ideas I had for my codeine-addicted car thief was the opening and the ending.

Before you begin to write your novel, write a detailed outline and character backgrounds first. So many unpublished first (or second or 44th) novels begin halfway through the book because the writer spent the first 150 pages giving us the backstory instead of starting with THE STORY. —Melissa de la Cruz

My plan—calling it an outline would be delusional—was more a list of scenes I devised to get from A to B. A stick figure outline. Yet, as ~ahem~ slim as my plan was, it proved useful in ways I could never imagine.

As the quote above conveys, a lot (most?) new writers fall into the backstory trap. The plan allowed me to weigh scenes/turns as a sentence on a list. In more than one instance, I discarded a sentence on its face before committing hours to fleshing out a scene only to realize it didn’t work.

Most importantly, the plan kept me on point when work or school, (don’t ask) or cancer took me away from writing for weeks months. It gave me somewhere to begin and direction forward. I didn’t have to completely re-conceptualize my story. All I had to do was expand the next sentence into a scene.

And then the one after that and then the one after…

If you do enough planning before you start to write, there's no way you can have writer's block. I do a complete chapter by chapter outline. —R.L. Stine

PLEASE NOTE: I’ve never had writer’s block. Work-for-pay drudgery, the lack of a just/humane world—the fothermucking evening news—all give me MUCH to write about. However, I have been completely overwhelmed with doubt and indecision. Again, an outline can help with, “okay, this is the item on the list to write, so I’m writing this item on the list,” clarity.

All that said/typed, it is important to point out what an outline won’t do.

As much as NO amount of inspiration and good ideas will write your book, NO outline will write your book for you or even eliminate wrong turns or faulty logic, flat dialogue or flat characters.

I don't plot my books rigidly... A novel mustn't be a closed system—it's a quest. —Kurt Vonnegut

Which brings us to the trap of outlines. First, the outline can become an end to itself. What does that look like?

Oh, I can’t start my book, my outline isn’t finished...

Until my outline is perfect, neither is my book...

My draft is a mess, I need to throw it out and start over…with a new outline...

The book is the objective. Outlines, spreadsheets, vision-boards, spears/magic helmets, are all tools or gimmicks. It either serves the objective or it might as well be cat videos because if it doesn’t serve the objective, it’s a distraction.

Plantser

(noun)

A scribbler who doesn’t know whether they’re coming or going—but knows she’s gonna get there.

(see also: “winging it” is the plan… )

Obviously, there’s no sure-fire method that works for every writer. I mean there is that whole writing thingy to contend with.

Find what works for you. Maybe you don’t have a day gig, kids, household responsibilities—or you have all of that but you also have supreme focus, discipline, and the fortitude to ignore stacks of dishes as well as the partner’s disdainful expression that comes with. And if the latter is the case, yay-you! Go balls-to-the-wall pantser. Knock out that book in 6 weeks. Revisions in another 2-3 weeks. Stephen King ain’t got sh—tuff on you.

If, like the rest of us—work, school (don’t ask) and family are necessary parts of your life—you need a plan.

The plan need not be iron-clad. It cannot be perfect. That’s the job of your (final) draft. But it must exist or your book isn’t likely to. Ever.

Mostly, find your way. However you do it, just finish the damned book. We’re waiting over here to read it.

I own the image at the top. Who else would claim it? 

Fantastic Four First Steps and Why YOUR Story Matters

 

Those who have read my previous posts may recall that I’m a long-time comic book nerd. As, in “begged for a Spider-Man comic before I could even read,” comic-book nerd. With that established, it should come as a surprise to no one that I attended a showing of Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps on opening weekend. 

Marvel’s First Family, Jack Kirby's art/influence

The story of four individuals, (Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm)  forever changed by exposure to cosmic energy during a spaceflight, The Fantastic Four comic-book (here on, FF) debuted in 1967. The book represented an optimistic belief that humanity could think its way out of any challenge, The book also identified a key component to civil/societal advancement: family. 

Love at first sight.

It’s a great message but it wasn’t what first drew my attention to the title. Nine-year-old me was blown away by FF #200 and Doctor Doom, (with a passing resemblance to Darth Vader) going toe-to-toe with Reed Richards, (stretchy guy in blue). I had seen the title before as well as the old Hanna-Barberra cartoon series. But issue #200 was the one that caught my imagination. 

Exciting, with a scary villain. The action and resolution made sense. All rare things in comic book land. But there was something missing…

Her accomplishment, still has to praise husband ~sigh~

Invisible who?

Comic books have always been imperfect and FF was very much an imperfect title of its time. Nowhere was this more evident than Sue Storm’s Invisible Girl (more on that). 

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, gave Sue/IG short shrift. Much like other early Marvel heroines, The Wasp and Marvel Girl, The Invisible Girl was often written as the imperiled sidekick, or the imperiled weak-link, or imperiled romantic-interest.

Unfortunately, this (women as plot device) was par for the course at the time. And it remained that way for almost twenty years. When Sue stepped beyond the role of Reed Richards cheerleader or FF den mother, it was not through agency but through beauty. 

It was either Sue or dude in the toga

Sue did stop Galactus, (literally eats planets)...by turning Galactus’ love-struck herald, The Silver Surfer, against big G. When Namor, (the big-bad from Wakanda Forever) decides on war against the surface world, he first kidnaps Sue and then spends the next two decades trying to woo her. Dude really has odd ideas about courtship.

Sue, exercising her agency

But times change. Sales changes a lot more and much faster.

Disinclined to acquiesce to be imperiled 

The X-Men comic book predates the FF by about four years. Unlike Marvel’s First Family, the X-Men struggled, was even cancelled and ultimately resurrected to shaky results. Then a new writer took over. 

Chris Claremont had entirely different ideas about what comic books—and female characters—should be about. He punched up the female characters, gave them agency, (ideas, goals, fears, independent of men). As a result, in the course of about three years, The X-Men went from one of Marvel’s lowest-selling titles to the single most successful title in Marvel’s history.

And just in time, too

As cable television and video game consoles became more prevalent, (male) comic book readership declined. But female readership climbed. Women saved The X-Men and women saved comic books—especially as more women began to write comic books. 

Which brings us back to Sue Storm in the movie. Screen writer Kat Wood, (et al) wrote a fully realized woman. Here, Sue is introduced as a scientist. She negotiates a peace treaty with a subterranean nation. Even addresses the UN General Assembly. Yes, she loves her husband and her family but she is more than wife, sister, and mother. She is a thinker and a problem solver, a nurturing peacemaker, and a valiant fighter.

Like. A. BOSS.

Most importantly, Sue stands up to her husband as readily as she stands up to the villain. And by the time they get around to dealing with Galactus, Sue is good and over Reed and his sh—uper intellect driven, near-pathological anxiety. 

Sue takes charge of the battle plan and the unimaginable risk. And like the strongest heroes, she offers her very life for those she loves. For all that she loves.

This is why your story matters: perspective, experience, and imagination, beyond what has gone before. The damsel who saves herself, (Aria Stark in George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series) the boss baddie who saves herself and the guy, (Inej in Leigh Bardugo’s GrishaVerse) and the woman of courage and integrity who stands on her own intellect, (Gaal Dornick in David Goyer and Josh Friedman’s Foundation)—we all want, we all NEED, those stories. 

When you infuse the story with your dreams, fears, and insight, you give one of those 6 or 7 stories evolved life. Best of all, you give someone who needs that story a chance of seeing themselves in strength and light. That is what the best stories do. 

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a lot of fun whether you’re a fan of the comic books or not. I can’t wait to see it again. 

Check it out.

I own none of the photos above. All are used for instructional/educational purposes, as covered by the Fair Use Doctrine.