Trials, Tribulations & Triumphs

2009-10-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

The Hazards of Internet Research

“Information is not knowledge.” Albert Einstein

Yesterday, on one of the forums to which I belong, someone asked a question I thought I could answer. I knew the answer to the first part of the question, so I answered it. The second part, however, I wasn’t sure about, so I went to a source I thought to be knowledgeable on the subject. They sent a response, which I posted to the loop.

Someone else, far more informed than I on the topic, posted a response correcting mine. Curious, I went back to my source and asked more questions. Turns out my source found the answer they’d given me Wikipedia. And we all know how accurate Wikipedia is.

Why am I telling you how I embarrassed myself on a loop with over a thousand members? Because this incident reminded me of something very important to writers: the Internet is not always the best source of information, particularly if you’re getting that information from people. True, there are experts out there who are willing to give you answers in their particular field. But there are also many self-proclaimed “experts” who will present as fact something that might not be. And this doesn’t even take into consideration that on some topics, opinions vary widely.

Research is vital to what we do. Readers hate it when we get things wrong. I’m not telling you not to use the Internet for research. It’s our most convenient and powerful tool as writers. There’s a great deal of wonderful, accurate information out there. It’s our job to sort through it and properly vet any information, whether we use it in books or to answer questions on a loop.

We owe this to our readers, who expect a certain level of professionalism from us. I know when I find a glaring factual error in any novel I’m reading, it jerks me right out of the story and makes it hard for me to continue reading the book. If I can’t trust the author to get easily verified facts straight, why should I believe in the rest of the story?

2008-05-21T07:19:00.000-07:00

“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any.”
- Orson Scott Card

How true is this? How often is a story inspired in your head by a song you hear, a story you see on the news, or an experience someone tells you about?

People ask where I get ideas. The honest truth is that I don’t know. They just come to me, most often without conscious thought. Of course, it then requires some serious thought to create a plot that works, and all the other components of a successful story, but the ideas themselves can come from anywhere.

Until I started writing, I never realized why I paid attention to other people shopping in Wal Mart, or drivers of other cars at red lights until it hit me that I often use their descriptions to create characters. I use accents, colloquialisms, mannerisms, and even modes of dress I see in everyone around me to create the people who populate my fictional worlds.

It’s something unique to writers, I think - this ability to observe, listen and take in details, then spin them into a compelling story. The vast majority of the world simply blasts by everything they pass, never stopping to look, to pay attention, to what’s going on around them. They miss so much. Makes me rather sad for them.

Life is a drama. It can provide all the story ideas you could ever need. So don’t ignore that niggling little idea that popped into your head when you’re standing in line at the checkout counter. It could be the next NY Times bestseller!

Happy Writing!
Su

2008-01-30T09:10:00.000-08:00

Today’s Quote:
"Creative people are committed to risk. The creative person always walks two steps into the darkness. Everyone can see in the light...the real heroes delve in the dark."-Albert Einstein

I suppose creativity of any kind involves risk, especially for those bold enough to put their work out there for others to see. Which also means putting it out there for others to not only enjoy, but to criticize as well.

I’ve been fortunate so far. The rejections I’ve had haven’t been nasty, and the reviews for my books (so far, fingers crossed…) were all very good. Even Romantic Times magazine loved my first novel, Snowbound, and gave it four stars out of four and a half. Not bad for a first try.

However, I often feel as if I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, if you know what I mean. Last week, it did. I’d entered a contest for the first time. I didn’t really expect to win, but neither did I expect to come away from it with some of the comments I received on my manuscript.

In all honesty, some of the judges had excellent points. Their comments were precise and insightful. I appreciate that. But I’m still trying to figure out how one of them read the same fifteen pages as the other, considering her comment was that my hero was a pedophile.

Hello? Undercover agent, making a mental note that underage girls were being served in a certain bar. Yes, he noted how they were dressed, but he wasn’t lusting after them, for God’s sake. How, exactly, does that make the hero a pedophile? I’m still scratching my head over that one.

A friend of mine recently had a similar issue. A critique partner actually wrote “Psycho!” as a comment on her manuscript. First, the writer had no idea whether this person meant her as the author or the character…and second, I ask you – HOW IS THAT HELPFUL? How is a comment like that going to help the writer improve her craft?

In any case, it helps to remember that in our business, the critiques you receive are very subjective, whether they come from a judge, an editor, or a friend. Was I ticked when I read that? Of course. Am I going to let one anonymous person’s interpretation stop me from writing?

Not only no, but…well, you get the idea. We, as writers, can’t allow the highly subjective opinions of other people to affect our creative process. What one person loves, another will hate, and that’s just the nature of the beast. So, we suck it up, take what works for us, and move on. Enjoy the misery for a few moments. Wallow in it if you want, but don’t dwell on it for long, or it’ll suck the joy right out of your work. After you’ve ranted and raved and cursed the offender to the seventh level of hell, put on your big girl panties and deal with it. Discard it. Heck, write it on a piece of paper, wad it up and throw it away. Burn it. However you wish to handle it, eliminate that negativity from your mind.

And move on.

Write the best book you can. And then revise it and make it better.

Best,
Su

2008-01-30T09:04:00.000-08:00

Okay, I’m going to give this blogging thing a go. Maybe it’ll at least give me something productive to do when I’m not writing. Or maybe it’ll give me an excuse not to write…

I suppose if I can think of 100K words to put in a novel, I can try to come up with something interesting to say here.

Stick around.

Best,
Su