My Write Away
Jun 14th, 2014 by Kimberly
You never know what you’ll find on writing websites. This week, Brenda Drake put out a challenge on hers to all of her readers, to explain how and why we write what we do. I can resist a challenge when I want to, but I decided to accept this one. The questions come up all the time, from readers and at writers’ conferences. I should know them like my own name, but honestly? I’m curious what I’ll say. Let’s find out.
1. What are you working on?
Right now, I’m writing a mystery called No Accounting for Destiny. Yes, still. It’s a new genre for me, and I’m learning as I go. The through-line of a mystery flows differently than my usual contemporary romance/women’s fiction. Two writing weekends this summer should help.
2. How does your writing differ from others in its genre?
Hmm. I concentrate the most on my characters, how they grow and relate to each other. I like to make people laugh, but the heart of my writing lies in dealing with the mistakes we make, and how we cope. I love finding strength and beauty in people who think they’re ordinary. Is that different from everyone else? I don’t know.
Mostly, I think my stuff is different because I wrote it, and the other people in my genre didn’t.
3. Why do I write what I do?
I like to look for the remarkable things in ordinary life. My story brain works like a microscope. Turn a microscope on an entire pond, and you won’t see anything worthy of note. But give it one drop of pond water, and it will show you a whole world going on at the cellular level that you never knew existed. I’m like that. I can create a whole world, given time, but I prefer to stay in this one and focus on how you get to that one precious moment.
Oddly enough, fantasy works its way into my short stories more than my novels. Maybe I’m just weird. I’m okay with that.
4. How does my writing process work?
Lately, slowly! But that’s normal for me. I’m a writing tortoise. Fortunately, I keep at my slow work, and eventually I get where I want to go. A little bit each day works better for me than trying to crank out a lot at once. It’s taken me a long time to realize that writing isn’t a race. In the final analysis, it won’t matter how many books I’ve written, not to me or anyone else. It will matter whether the ones I’ve written are worth reading.
***
While pondering these questions, I came across a quote on a site called The Girl God:
Come my child and give me all that you are.
I am not afraid of your strength and darkness, of your fear and pain.
Give me your tears. They will be my rushing rivers and roaring oceans.
Give me your rage. It will erupt into my molten volcanoes and rolling thunder.
Give me your tired spirit. I will lay it to rest in my soft meadows.
Give me your hopes and dreams. I will plant a field of sunflowers and arch rainbows in the sky.
You are not too much for me. My arms and heart welcome your true fullness.
There is room in my world for all of you, all that you are.
I will cradle you in the boughs of my ancient redwoods and the valleys of my gentle rolling hills.
My soft winds will sing you lullabies and soothe your burdened heart.
Release your deep pain. You are not alone and you have never been alone.
-Linda Reuther, from Homecoming
This is a call from the Divine, particularly the feminine aspect of the Divine, but it spoke to me about me writing. I write what I do because that’s how I’m wired, but this is why I write. Stories are where I can be all of myself. It’s okay if I cry about a situation I’ve never been in. The stories won’t call me melodramatic. It’s all right if I have to take a break because I’m laughing too hard at something I wrote myself. The story doesn’t think I’m full of myself. It’s all about the tale I’m telling. If I can dream it, it can be.
Sometimes that’s inspiring, and other times it’s scary, because I can dream a lot of stuff, but that’s all part of the magic.
Now, my fellow writers – TAG! You’re it. What are your answers to the questions?
Kimberly writes some stories just to make the characters in her head shut up and she would have said that, but as an answer, it lacked poetry.
Surprised that you have given it so much thought. I don’t think I could be that capable of actually coming up with a process. Glad it works for you!!!
Thanks, Irene! It was an interesting exercise to think about the process. In some cases the answers surprised me!
I love this sentence, “I love finding strength and beauty in people who think they’re ordinary. ” Have you seen Jim Carrey’s commencement address? He talks about feeling he needed to do something bigger than himself…until a wise man told him that is a myth we all buy into b/c there isn’t anything bigger than yourself. I took it to mean living our ordinary, beautiful life is enough-if only we could stop & appreciate it and not spend time searching for more. Love you, Kim!
It’s so nice to have people who get me like you do, Holly! I love that idea, that we do big things by living our “ordinary” lives. Love you too, my friend!