Way Back Wednesday: Are You Team E or Team T?

I had so much fun going through the archives last week, I thought I'd try it again, so I'm sharing another vintage post this week. 

Are you Team E or Team T?

When e-books first emerged onto the scene, many predicted they wouldn't last. No technology, no matter how wonderful, could replace the feel and smell of a beautiful, brand new book. E-books (E) might be a nice diversion, but they'd never overtake traditional (T) books.

To be honest, I was one of the skeptics, and, when it comes to certain books, I still am. I used to have rules -- non-fiction (e-book) vs. fiction (traditional book), books I'll end up donating (E) vs. books I want to keep (T), books I want to take to the beach or with me when I travel (E) vs. books that will stay home. I might dabble in e-books, but my heart belonged with Team T.

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Over time, the rules got blurry. Non-fiction books I wanted to use for teaching needed to have paper pages I could highlight and write on, as well as page through in class. Novels were sometimes more fun if I could hold them in my hand; curling up with a book was just more fun than curling up with a Kindle. But, on more than one occasion, price won out over format or impatience swayed my decision. Having the book I wanted to read in my hands right away meant siding with Team E over Team T.

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As an author, I feel strongly about making my books available in both formats because readers face many of the same dilemmas I do. Should I get a paperback I can get signed? Buy the e-book because it's 99¢ this week? Do I have a place to store something that will take up more space than a simple computer file?

In the end, as both author and reader, I've decided to go with a sentiment I've felt all along: the more books I have, the better.

And any format that makes that possible is fine with me.

Turning the Pages

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Now that my summer class is over, I've finally found the time to read for fun. With two so-so novels (which shall remain nameless here) under my belt, I found myself exploring what made them so-so, not stellar.

In both cases, the answer was the same: the protagonist annoyed me. She (in both cases) was okay, and the writing was good enough to keep me turning pages but, if someone asked me if I'd recommend either book, I'd do so with reservations.

Since characters are what drives me when I write, I wondered if there was a takeaway here. As it turned out, there were three: three things not to do with a female protagonist.

1. Don't make her bitchy. I apologize if my language offends, but that's the best word for some of the behavior displayed by one of the protagonists. Since she wasn't consistently so, and I bought that it was part of her professional identity, I accepted it and kept reading, but it kept me from caring about her, pulling for her or identifying with her. I had to ask myself if I'd've felt the same inability to pull for her if she'd been male...and the truth is, I don't know. I just know I'd liked to have seen her unpalatable behavior balanced with a little heart.
2. Don't outshine her with other female characters. In both books, which were written from multiple points of view, I liked the sidekicks better than the protagonist. A lot better. In fact, they were what kept me turning the pages. And, lest you think I only like nice girls, let me tell you that, in the second novel, the side kick was way saltier than the protagonist -- but I bought it because I knew enough about who she was to understand the motivation behind her behavior. In addition, she (the sidekick) was multi-faceted enough that when she did stuff that I didn't like, it was so well-connected to the big picture of her character that I was willing to cut her some slack and read on.
3. Don't leave the reader in the dark for too long. In the second novel, the rationale behind the protagonist's behavior remained mysterious for too long. She was moody, disconnected by choice and carrying a chip on her shoulder for far too long. If it hadn't been for the sidekick, I would have given up on the book and picked up another one. From a writing perspective, another problem with waiting too long for the why behind a character's behavior is that the reveal had better be huge by the time it arrives and it'd better be delivered in a believable and satisfying way. Spoiler alert: it wasn't.

And one more thing, kind of character-related: 

Don't stereotype the rest of the world in too shorthand a way. Minor characters don't need huge backstory, but they need enough personality to entertain us and enrich the protagonist's world. In the second book, the author did this well with a number of fun minor characters who helped build the world the protagonist inhabited. 

Lest you think I'm too picky (the thought has certainly crossed my mind), the purpose of this exercise wasn't simply to criticize. It was to notice.

Pexels via Pixabay

When I finished the books, I felt vaguely unsatisfied. As a writer, I wanted to know why I felt that way. Am I creating the same reaction in my readers? I can never know for sure, but, by analyzing what makes me react that way when I read, perhaps I can avoid making the same mistakes when I write.

My third summer book, picked up after much deliberation at Browseabout Books (my favorite indy bookstore) is Jodi Piccoult's Small Great Things. Why am I naming it while the others remain unidentified?

Because in ten pages, she grabbed me. I care about every single character, even the unlikeable ones (and there are some very unlikeable ones in this book). They're real. They're fleshed out. They're human.

And I can't wait to see what happens to them.

And that is the kind of writing I want to do.

Why Blog?

Photo: xandert via Morguefile

Last month, not long before my nine-year blogiversary, I attended Joel Friedlander and Joan Stewart's webinar, "How to Sell Books Using an Author Blog." Loaded with information, the webinar helped me generate a list of new directions to explore, as well as sparking ideas from a creative perspective.

But it also reminded me that it's not opportunities for promotion that have kept me typing out posts for nine years. Unlike a lot of writers who blog infrequently -- or not at all -- because they consider blogging a waste of good writing time, I find that creating and maintaining a blog benefits me as a writer in numerous ways. Here, in no particular order, are eight of them.

Blogging teaches self-discipline. There's very little that motivates a writer more than knowing someone is waiting to read his or her words. Creating a posting schedule and sticking to it keeps me writing regularly, even when life is busy and/or I don't feel like it.

Blogging teaches you to write efficiently. After nine years of blogging, I can hammer out a decent 750-word first draft of almost anything quickly and easily. Over time, sheer practice has made me a faster, better writer, not just with blog posts, but with drafts of chapters, articles and query letters as well.

Blogging chips away at perfectionism. When you know readers are expecting a post and the clock is ticking and you have other projects you want to work on, you learn to allocate a set amount of time to writing a post and to accept "good enough" as a standard. Posts should be error-free when it comes to basics like grammar and spelling, but when you're posting regularly, not every post has to be stellar. And if you decide you're disappointed with a post (or you find a typo after you've already put it out there), you can always go back and fix it.

Blogging helps you establish your voice both creatively and professionally. Posts are conversational and informal, which takes the pressure off, but at the same time, they're very, very public -- much like a book. Writing posts on a regular basis helps you find the line between sharing and oversharing and helps you put your thoughts into words that can be released for public consumption.

Blogging helps you connect with readers. Long before my novel released, I had "regular readers" thanks to my blog and social media. Sure, every blogger harbors the not-so-secret hope of being "discovered" by an editor or agent proffering a contract, but even if that never happens, you're still starting a conversation with an important audience: readers and book buyers.

Blogging improves your tech skills. If the mere mention of technology makes you cringe, you can begin with just the basics and expand from there. I started with a free template and for the first several years, posted text only. Over time, I've learned how to find free clip art and photos and integrate them (with credit!) into my posts, as well as adding gadgets and links and pages to my blog. Since it's your blog, you're in control of the learning curve. Not ready to venture to the next step? Take your time, and just keep posting.

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Blogging is a plank in your platform. As writers, we're always looking for ways to get our work seen, and a blog can be the perfect way to do just that. In addition to providing online writing samples for those people we hope will discover us, we attract the attention of search engines when we post regularly. This means that if we query someone, they can find us online -- kind of like building a resume. And if we point friends, family and potential readers in the direction of our blog, they can become fans as well.

Blogging is fun. Sure, there are days that I struggle to put something on the page, but most of the time, I genuinely enjoy coming up with posts, and I love it when someone comments favorably on something I've written, or when a reader finds one of my posts helpful.

Looking back, I can't believe I've been at this for nine years. But, when I see how much my writing has improved, I know that the benefits of blogging go far beyond promotional opportunities. Someday, someone with clout may discover me, but until then, I'm happy just to be discovered by readers.

Writers' Group Wednesday

My critique group meets tonight, which officially makes this my favorite Wednesday of the month We are single/married/parents/grandparents/young/young-at-heart, fiction/non-fiction/article/ novel/poetry writers. Some of us have been critiquing one another's work for twenty years or more; others have been with the group less than five. We're respectful in a no-holds-barred kind of way; that's the beauty of growing together as writers.

Lately, our group has been having trouble getting together. Life circumstances, family obligations and crazy schedules have gutted our last few meetings. I'm always sad when that happens. When we don't meet, I miss not just the perspectives on writing this group provides, but the people as well. We've entrusted one another with one of our most personal possessions -- our words on the page -- and along the way, relationships have grown up around those words.

In some ways, this group is like the small groups I ran for my elementary school students. There's a camaraderie and a level of trust that develops as a result of sharing time and talent, publishing contracts and rejection letters, births and deaths and retirements. And though confidentiality is not mandated, it is, in many cases, assumed -- both for the words on the page and the events of our lives. Together, we have centuries of experience as readers and writers, and these common bonds connect us.

Some critique groups are genre-specific: all poets, all screen writers, all novelists. This group is not. Most of us have at least one longer work-in-progress -- usually fiction, but sometimes non-fiction -- among our monthly submissions, but they vary widely. Sometimes, I feel a little out of my league, as I sit, pen in hand, reading works that are outside the realm of what I'd choose off a bookstore shelf. Consequently, I sometimes critique more as a reader than a writer, marking both the spots that sing and those that trigger dissonance.

I know beyond any doubt that I owe my publishing contracts to this group. The books may have my name on them, but without this group, those books would be sitting on my hard drive, rather than gracing bookstore shelves and catalog pages. Without this group, I'd have found the editing process leading up to publication much more heartbreaking because I wouldn't have learned that editing a book is like pruning a rosebush -- when it's done right, it makes the blooms more beautiful.

As writers, we sometimes struggle to decide which words are flowers and which ones are weeds. Though I've gotten much better at that over two decades of writing, sometimes I miss a few weeds, mistaking them for wildflowers. This group tells me which ones need to be yanked and which ones should be bulldozed so that the ones that remain have room to grow and tell their story.

We don't always agree when it comes to weeding one another's word gardens, but that's part of the beauty of the group. Writing is, after all, an art, requiring a combination of personal experience and collective wisdom.

In the end, the writer sits alone before a screen, deciding what to keep and what to excise. But one Wednesday a month, this writer is lucky enough to sit in a room with a group of people who love writing as much as she does.

Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday evening.

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