People like to tell me what horror stories to write about. They say, “Oh, you should write about __________because THAT would be a great story.” (The same folks usually add something like, “I could write it, of course, but I have zero patience for sitting at the keyboard and typing all night.” Sigh… As if writing is nothing but typing. I think this happens because writer is one of those professions that everybody believes they can do; and nobody believes it more than the people who’ve never attempted it. Those of us who’ve fought with a story and battled demons – the character’s and our own – to put one on the page know first-hand how hard it is. But that’s a different post.) As I was saying, it’s important to note that the _________ usually has some elements of a horror story; but it almost always lacks the one core ingredient that any horror story worth sits upon. For example:

 “Oh! You’re a writer? I’ve got a great story for you! One time at band camp, okay, me and this other kid, we went on a midnight hike to look for this park ranger’s ghost! We really did! So get this, okay, me and this other kid were out there in the woods and we heard all this rustling. It was something in the brush, you know? We thought, okay, probably an animal. Then we saw… (pauses for dramatic effect) The Shadow! It was a full moon – you’ll need to put that in, by the way – and the shadow where the all the noise was coming from wore a park ranger’s hat. It was him! It was the Park Ranger’s Ghost! You can write it if you want. Of course, I’ll need you to split all the royalties you earn…”

Or, at one of the cafes I use as a satellite office:

 “So you’re a writer, huh? Is that why you’re always scribbling in your notebook? You should think about getting a blog, maybe putting some of your stuff online, and you really should write about this place because there’s a ghost here. I’m not kidding. One night while I was locking up I heard him in the bathroom! I thought it was a customer, you know, so I just waited and then the door swung open and, get this there was nobody there! Serious, dude, the bathroom was empty. Anyway, you should write about that. It’d be a great story.”

By the way, these are both real suggestions. I swear on Ghastly’s head.

Could these suggestions be written as art? You bet. A talented writer can make art out of a grocery list. Could they inspire stories? Most definitely. The Park Ranger’s Ghost could be a lot of fun. But as they stand now, do you get the idea that these great stories are missing something? Yes – and it’s the core element of what a story is:

CONFLICT

And that’s this week’s topic. Part II heads your way tomorrow. I’m out of the writing lair this week, so my response time to comments may be delayed. I’ll check as often as I can. Be sure to catch up on the scary story, Sinister while you’re here and, as always, watch out for goblins…

Get a Writer’s Life

Welcome back. In the first part of this article, I suggested that writing every day isn’t enough to make you a writer. I say this because there’s a big difference between a stack of typed pages and a story. You can work in a way that grows your skills or in a way that squanders your time and raises your frustration level. Don’t get me wrong; writing anything is better than not writing. But the real challenge is in making your daily writing sessions productive and getting the most out of them.

Think of it this way, if you set out to learn the guitar you would never sit down with your instrument, pluck on the strings and call yourself a guitar player. You’d learn chords, some basic strumming patterns and scale patterns. You’d learn the names of the notes and a little music theory and how it all comes together to create music. In other words, you’d do some homework and acquire a few skills before you dared call yourself a musician. Writing is the same kind of endeavor and you need a few tools in your arsenal.

It’s more than having a handle on where the commas go. It’s about knowing what a story is and how to move one along. It’s about knowing when to describe something in extravagant details and when not to. It’s having a sense of character and an ear for dialogue and a thousand other intangibles. The good news is that you can acquire all of these tools and sharpen them as you bring your stories to life. The first step, however, is to figure out where you’re at in your development as a professional writer.

Are you a new writer still finding your voice? Or have you been at it long enough that you know how to twist a phrase? Some of us have a natural talent for prose. Every sentence we write reads beautifully! (I’m not one of them. Never was.) Maybe some of your skills are very advanced and others are lagging. It doesn’t matter where you are as long as you’re aware of it and keep it in mind while you write.

Many of the writing gurus have tips and techniques for gaining the skills you need. These tactics allegedly give writers the ability to show instead of tell, write thoughtful dialogue and create memorable settings. I think those exercises are a waste of time, to tell you the truth. At the end of each exercise you have nothing but a completed exercise. You can acquire the same skills by writing a story and at the end of your toil you have something to publish. What I’m getting at is this: know where your current skills are and use the stories you write to improve them.

On that note, I’m sure that you have a lot of stories to tell. I’m also certain that you’re only going to live a certain amount of time. That said, there’s no way you’ll have time to write every single story that comes into your head. So you owe it to your muse, the characters you love and your writing-self to make sure your daily writing hours take you toward finishing your stories. Furthermore, it’s especially productive to spend your writing hours on your novel or other most important story. You’ll have an easier go of this if you have a map.

One way of creating a map for your story is by deliberate story-planning. Yes, I’m talking about structure. No, I’m not saying you should outline every single aspect of your story before you write it – unless you want to. Nor am I saying you should abandon all of your instincts and never write by the seat of your pants – unless you want to. I’m saying that quite often you can make the most of your limited writing time by planning your story ahead of time in accordance with professional story telling principles.

Story planning is nothing more than looking at your story from a 30,000 foot perspective. It gives you the ability to see what happen at certain points in the plot, how those events impact the characters and theme and, most important, how it all comes together in an amazing ending. Story planning is NOT following a formula or selling out. It’s writing with a roadmap that makes going from the opening scene to resolution much easier. Believe me, it’s also much more fun to write when you know what going to happen next and that it’s adds up to a killer story.

I don’t mind telling you that accepting the roadmap of story structure resuscitated my writing career. My dream of becoming a writer was on serious life support and the simple act of embracing structure got me off oxygen and back in the game. I seriously wish I’d listened to my writing-mentors – who preached plot-points and mid-points as if it were religion – long ago! I’ll also confess that I still write by the seat of my pants sometimes. Let’s face it; writing without thought can be exhilarating. It’s magical and mysterious and it’s probably what got many of us hooked on words in the first place. Sometimes, free-style writing is also the best way to discover a character’s flaws or deep seated emotional needs. You can learn a lot about a character and her story by diving in and writing.

So, both seat-of-the-pants writing and story-planning have a place in every writer’s life. You can make the most of your writing time by understanding the difference as well as where you’re at as a writer. Then, use that knowledge as a basis for where you want to go while you transform your ideas into publishable works. All it takes is awareness, some thought and intentional action. Make sense? Hope so. Let me know in the comments.

If you’re new here, please dive in to my scary story, Sinister and let me know what you think. I practice what I preach and walk-the-walk – and I want you along for the ride. See you in the shadows. LL

I hope your 2012 is going well. As you know, this is the year to:

Get a Writer’s Life

…And most of us know that making this writing-dream come true involves some fanatical dedication. It’s true, I believe, that success is the result of choices made every day. So the decision to write every day is a no-brainer. We have to do it. The internet is full of writing advice that encourages us to do just. In fact, it’s sometimes presented that sitting down and slinging together 750, 1,000 or some other magical number of words will somehow make us writers. That’s not the case, I’m afraid, and we’ll get into that in Writing Every Day, Part II. For now, let’s talk about instilling a realistic writing habit and making word-play a big part of day-to-day life.

First of all, give yourself a break. Writing every day isn’t as easy as it sounds. Most of us work jobs. We owe it to our employers and coworkers to give our jobs our all. We also have families and friends and we must not only honor our commitments to them but value our time together. So accept that writing every day is going to be a challenge and that you’ll have to plan and reserve certain hours for your writing.

Second, stop thinking of your writing-time as typing one word after another at your keyboard. The time you spend thinking about a new idea, understanding its core conflict and the needs, wants and desires of its characters is, in fact, writing-time. You’re better off spending a week coming up with two or three killer ideas than churning out five pages a day that you’ll never use. You can accomplish this with a tape recorder while on a good walk or in the gym. You can write by hand while in the doctor’s office. In other words, you don’t have to be chained to your desk every day. What you do have to do is stick to your writing commitment and invest those minutes wisely.

Third, eat well and hydrate. Desk jobs take their toll on your body. Sustained creative work, like any task of prolonged mental concentration, saps your mental abilities. Because of this, you need a high-performance lifestyle. It begins with diet and hydration. Eat lean meats and make sure you have vegetables on your plate. Snack on fruit instead of junk. If it’s bright and colorful, eat more of it. At the same time, consume lots of clear fluids (not Vodka). Remember, every system in your body relies on water to function. Water helps your body absorb the vitamins and nutrients it needs to maintain not only mental and physical performance, but creativity. If you’re running on empty calories and or dehydrated, your creativity will suffer.

Fourth, make sure your writing-time is both fun and fulfilling. Understand that human being take action for two reasons:

1. To avoid pain
2. To gain pleasure

If your writing sessions feel like you’re the star of a horror story, you’re probably not going to look forward to them. It’s the way we’re hardwired. So you must find personal ways to make the experience something that gives you pleasure. This is difficult because writing is extremely hard work. Sometimes you end up with a headache instead of a story. It’s okay to have bad days. My experience has been that a series of bad days usually means that a major breakthrough is on the immediate horizon. So barrel through the bad times and remain focused on the parts of writing that bring you personal satisfaction.

What is it about writing that brings you the most joy? Is it the fact that you’re able to create an imaginary person and bring her to life using nothing more than words? Is it finding your way to a spectacular plot-point that you know readers will love? Maybe you’ve already got some work out there and it’s the money. Maybe it’s what you learn about yourself while exploring another person’s psyche. In any case, you should identify it, embrace it and work towards more of it. Remember, you can do all of this. You can be a writer.

Stay tuned for Writing Every Day, Part II in which we make your writing hours the most productive they’ve ever been.

All for now, I’ve got a horror story that’s screaming for attention. Write well and don’t forget to check under your beds. LL