7 Questions to Ask When Finding Your Genre

Early Spring for a Writer Doesn't Always Mean You're in Full Bloom! (Had to get my photo of my crocus in here somewhere...)

 It's not always easy to know where to begin when a person starts writing. Most start off writing what they like to read, but then, get stuck in the process, realizing that they are missing something. 

And it's true that just because you love reading historical romances, maybe your voice, your time that it takes to research a time period or just you, writing in the historical genre, doesn't click. Plenty of authors have come to this place, and at least one author I know was getting rejected miserably in romantic suspense so much, it was by accident that she discovered her voice in romantic comedy. (And went on to be a New York Times Bestseller.)

So, what can you do to find that sweet spot where you write best? Here are some questions to think and pray about so you can perhaps get there faster. Or if you're being rejected over and over, do consider these questions--before quitting or hiring someone to work over your manuscripts.

•  What are you passionate about?
• What gives you energy and motivates you?
• What shows up over and over in your stories--or in the stories you love to read?(What is the true thread in your writing?)
• What is important to you creatively? (Educate, scare, entertain, enlighten, explore...)
• Do you have a personal cause or agenda that defines you? (Already established a platform?)
• What stories did you love as a child? (And if you've read any of the When I Was Just a Kid interviews that I do, you'll often see a thread that connects the child with the writer she grows up to be. Be sure to email me if you'd like to be featured in a When I Was Just a Kid interview. I have one planned soon, but will start taking more soon.)
• What genre truly is best for your writing style and for your interests?

I've struggled over some of these very things and have come to some surprising answers, and still am discovering some. Maybe these will help you, or maybe you have a few other questions to ask that we could learn from in our journeys. 


Crystal Laine Miller

Carving Out a Writing Life with Your Soul's Passions

This week has been a difficult one for me in that I'm learning to focus all of these things about myself into my own writing. I'm still working on other authors' work, but finally, I'm pulling those things from my life, so I can go where I want to, as I develop my own writing career further.

A writer and co-author friend of mine told me I had to do a couple things:
1. Answer this question: If you were taking a trip on a plane, and had to choose one book or author, what would the book be? (Wow. That is a very difficult question for me. Also, she said to exclude the Bible as this is an essential book to all Christians.)
  
2. List all of your favorite books (of all time.) Number them from favorite (number 1) to least favorite of the favorites. (ha) Go with your first instinct and don't agonize over it. (Boy, does she know me, or what?)

I have to admit to you right now--I have maybe a thousand books.(First step: Admit your illness.) I am not kidding you. I did give hundreds of books to a church library and also quite a few to schools. (I'm a book reviewer since 1998.) This was not easy for me. One of the books I let go of was instantly the pastor's favorite, and since he is also a dean of students at a local Christian university, he is influencing a whole community there with this book. (I may have to buy that book because I did love it, too. Drat.) My therapist, (I mean, my friend,) tells me I have to distill from my life, and my collection of books, the things that are in common with all of them--those threads of passion.

At first I looked at these books and thought, "These books are about as different as Cajun food is from baby's pabulum--A through Z! Ack, I'm a mess! (There are people who agree with this--about me being a mess.) But then, the thick smoke started to dissipate, and common threads appeared--strong, clear and bright--and they ran through my entire soul. I saw them and it was amazing to me. And what I saw, I liked. I liked it in the books I loved, and I liked it about me. I thought that I was all over the map with my favorites and my habits, but I'm not, really. Not only did I have a false view of myself and beat myself up for having those loves, I had no confidence to embrace those true things in myself. I did not give myself permission to love stuff that was uniquely mine. It's no good, I told myself. In coming to this realization, I even began to appreciate what other people liked, or had interest in, and to appreciate their loves and passions. That was them. This was me. And sometimes I share a lot more with people than I thought possible--certain loves or appreciation. It's sweet.

I think wrapped up in this exercise of my soul's passions is a realization that I must bring these threads into my life every day to be whom God intended for me to be. If I do this, I will discover the happiness that is in my life, even on a bad or sad day. We rob ourselves of joy if we do not keep these threads running in our daily lives.

Ok, so what? you say to me. How does this apply to me? Here are the threads to keep running constantly in your life (and mine) that I have discovered:  

1. Have a sense of curiosity and feed it. 
2. Keep inspired. 
3. Help someone else. 
4. Do something you are good at. 
5. Read. (Easy!)
6. Don't watch so much. Do something. 
7. Love what you do, and if you're not loving it, find a way to get rid of it.(This is only in what you do. Just say no.) 
8. Exercise. (Your body, mind/creativity and spirit.) 
9. Face up to your fear(s). Meet them head on and stare them down. Call in back up in the face off (I think God is big enough for that role for me, but it's ok to have friends in the trenches with you.) 
10. Believe in what God already knows about you--and embrace it. It is what is true. 
11. Stay close to your family, friends and those people who are positive to you. (Limit the poisonous relationships or set boundaries.) 
12. Follow your heart whenever it is something good--don't follow your temptations, evil or unethical, immoral impulses. Discern which is which!

Hope these things help you as much as they are helping me in learning to be happy with living in my own skin. As a writer I have stories to tell and I want to tell them my way. After all of this time to find that I'm OK to be who I am is a great freedom.

Suggested reading:

1. Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives by Richard Swenson

2. Make a Name for Yourself: Eight Steps Every Woman Needs to Create a Personal Brand Strategy for Success by Robin Fisher Roffer (I know, I know, for women. Guys, suggest a book for you in the comments?)

3. 9 Things You Simply Must Do to Succeed in Love and Life: A Psychologist Probes the Mystery of Why Some Lives Really Work and Others Don't by Dr. Henry Cloud

4. Boundaries: When To Say Yes, How to Say No by Dr. Henry Cloud and John Townsend

What are some of your greatest obstacles in carving out your writing life?(And if you say "my day job" I'm going to argue with you.)

Crystal Laine Miller is a...
Freelance Christian writer and editor who enjoys motorcycles, golf, trapshooting, music,the outdoors with dogs thrown in between the pages she reads, edits and writes. She's also rescued a few cats in her day. Married to an ER doc, they have four sons. Life is always on the edge with grit and joy combined.

Learn Writing from the Experts...for Free!

Newer writers face two uphill challenges: not only must they learn the ins and outs of today’s publishing world, but they must learn how to produce publishable manuscripts. Mastering one of these without the other might well prove fruitless.
          Multiple resources teach how to format manuscripts and how to approach editors or literary agents with book proposals. In a sense, this is basic, objective information that you simply tweak to conform for each agent's or editor’s preferences. But how does any budding writer grow more skillful at the actual craft of writing for publication? After all, any moderately educated human can peck words into a document, but a much smaller group understands how to shape words into articles, short stories, devotionals, or books that publishers will buy and that readers will read.
          Standard advice includes attending writing classes at a local college, attending conferences, subscribing to writers’ magazines, and joining a critique group. However, what if you live on limited income? What if you simply can’t find fellow writers in your community?  
          One simple technique may exist right on your bookshelf. Even without signing up for a writing course, you can learn from expert authors for free. Choose a book or a magazine article that represents your favorite genre. Now, starting at page one, sit at your computer and begin copying those words into a blank Word document. But don’t type mindlessly. As you keyboard those already-published words, temporarily “become” that author. Notice the clever way that “your” words arouse curiosity in the reader. See how the author you’re emulating finds more interesting verbs than the threadbare “has/have,” “was/were,” “went,” etc. Feel what it’s like to record descriptions replete with mood-evoking details, ominous sounds, tell-tale odors, possibly even the taste and feel of objects. Pay attention to how that author employs punctuation marks.
          Of course, your goal isn’t to become a second-class copy of some famous author. However, by allowing a professional writer’s words to flow through your eyes, through your brain, and through your fingertips, you should gain a feel for the difference between good, salable material and the hum-drum copy that anybody can churn out.
          Once, I visited a writers’ group held in a public library’s downstairs meeting room. “My problem,” lamented one woman, “is that I goofed off in high school and never learned to write well.” What a pitiful excuse. Above her head waited a library crammed with thousands of excellent examples to explore. Yet, she closed her eyes and clung to excuses rather than taking active steps to learn.
          Serious writers don’t make excuses. They read, they learn, and they put into practice tricks of the trade gleaned from those farther down the road of publishing. If you have that creative writer spark inside you, can learn from studying the pros.
         Perhaps you as a writer have found other tricks that helped you to mature in your writing skills. If so, many colleagues would like to hear from you!

Rick Barry

Starting Your Story from the Title

Good Sunday to you! Today’s topic is one that continues various themes in several of my previous posts on how to spark your imagination, strengthen your creative muscle, and brew up a whirlwind of brainstorms.

Although I have several different writing exercises in my trusty writing toolbox (a box of never-ending ideas it seems), I really enjoy just coming up with a title that I think sounds “cool,” and then start writing a story from that point. If I see something during the week that forms a title in my mind, I keep a list on my iPhone as I think of them. Then, several times a week, I pick a title and start writing from that point. It’s possible I may have already put some thought into it back when I came up with the title, but usually very little. The point being that I do not create a title from a story idea, but create the story from the title I came up with.

During this exercise, what you write can either be a narrative outline - a description of what your story is about - or it can be the actual story. Don’t be afraid to stop and start, enter notes to yourself, or start something new as it pops into your imagination. The goal is to let it flow (be one with the keyboard). All of what you are writing is just the creative possibilities for a more collected, focused storyline. You are throwing out the seeds of creativity and seeing what grows.

If you REALLY want to stretch the brainstorm mechanics, come up with a title at the time you sit down to do this exercise and go from there. Case in point: This will be a real example - live as I am writing this blog entry. So, let’s see. Ah Ha! Let’s say, for example, that I just sat down (well I did) and came up with the title “Not My Reflection.” Boom! That’s it. That’s the title. Ready. Get set. Go! Where do I go from this point? Ok, title in place. Start typing…

“Not My Reflection” I see a middle-aged woman staring at her reflection in the mirror. “That’s not me,” she says. Her name is Lacy. She has tears running down her face. She is sad at the loss that she is feeling. It has been five weeks since she was told that her baby may or may not make it. It’s been touch and go. The doctors have been trying everything they know to bring this baby out into the world. Lacy and her husband already agreed on the name “Hope” for their daughter. They didn’t want to know the gender of the baby, but with the extent of the tests, there was no way to avoid it. Lacy and her husband pray that the Lord’s will be done, but they want the blessings of this baby in their lives...

Ok, back to my reality. This came from the first thirty seconds of my exercise. It came from the far realms of my imagination…I don’t know where…as I cannot think of anything in my life that resembles the chronicle of these events. As you can see, this is more about the story than the story itself. I came up with a story based on the title. But now, I have a story idea that I didn’t have before. Whether you write your story or write about your story, you will have new ideas.

There are many different variations of this exercise, but each one can offer you a new challenge every time. I find that listening to music helps this process, much like listening to music helps in your physical workout routine. Give it a try and report back and let us know how it went for you.

Not so serious...

Ahhh, an epiphany! Writing doesn't always have to be taken seriously, although we often tend to do so. The business warrants a healthy dose of studiousness, commitment, and concentration. Fiction can be a riot when we allow ourselves permission to just sit and write nonsense.
Since beginning to write fiction, I have been often bogged down in learning the craft. We writers love to say that, don't we? "Learnnnnninnnnngggg theeee Crafttttt" rolls wonderfully off our tongues, and sometimes we even mean it! There are other times though. Just sitting down and sometimes spilling out utter, absolutely could not happen, or maybe if...., destroy upon completion scenarios.
Why not? We don't have time? I am finding that these scenarios might contain a few sentences of value that can be extracted for later use. Even better, they loosen up the writing part of my mind. The part squished in between parenting, commitments, ministry, etc.
Let's remind ourselves to relax a bit, these seemingly random exercises offer mental rest. Freedom to escape for awhile from everyday life into a world that has no boundaries. When we come back, we carry on with perhaps a private smirk of remembrance. Let loose and see where the story goes.

ALLOW YOURSELF TO WRITE JUNK

“The first draft of everything is…”

A quote by Ernest Hemingway. How do you think his quote ended?

It wasn’t with the word “perfect.”

A few years ago, I sat down to write my first novel. I wrote the first chapter, and then sent it out to my newfound online critique group through ACFW. I received it back, basically painted in red.

Disappointed in myself, I scratched the whole first chapter and started over. I let my husband read it. I watched his face as he read every line. He didn’t look too enthusiastic about the chapter. I can’t remember exactly what he said after he finished judging my work, but it wasn’t, “Great work honey! It’s perfect!” His remarks were something opposite, but ended with “Don’t give up.” Encouraging, right?

Disappointed in myself again, I scratched the first chapter and started over. I was getting no where fast, and losing my creativity in the process. Afraid to type a word on the page, like playing the Operation game, I couldn’t come up with one perfect word.

I couldn’t keep sending my critique group a first chapter, so I had to do something. I finally realized that a junky chapter was better than no chapter. From then on, after receiving my critiqued chapters in red, I wouldn’t allow myself to start over.

I researched online, to help guide me through that first draft so that I wouldn’t be writing one novel for ten years. The best information I found was through Randy Ingermanson’s “Snowflake Method.”

His method gave me a step-by-step process to get me past the first chapter. The great thing about the Snowflake Method is that it works for seat-of-the-pants writers (like me) and for those writers who like to outline everything first.

To see a summary of how the Snowflake works, go online to: http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php.

I can’t write what Hemingway’s quote ended with, but it was a synonym of “junk.”

So, if you’re struggling with that first draft:

Take that creative mind God gave you, get Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method, and finish your beautiful work of art.

Get Physical

It’s January, which means it’s time to make new resolutions. Here’s mine: I’m going to get physical. That’s right. I’m going to get physical with my writing because according to Natalie Goldberg, writers have good figures and I want one!


Natalie Goldberg’s book, Writing Down the Bones, was recommended years ago by a writing buddy and it’s been my friend ever since. It’s one of those books I keep close by so I can reach for it when my writing tastes like stale bread. I smell its’ pages, pick a chapter (they’re all short) and focus on the lesson of that chapter. Reading this book has never failed to plunge my soul deeper into the minds of my characters so I feel, hear, smell and see their thoughts.

In Natalie’s chapter, “Writers Have Good Figures,” she says, “What people don’t realize is that writing is physical. It has to do with sight, smell, taste, feeling, with everything being alive and activated.”

I’ve heard many writing teachers recommend to get the story down first without stopping and then go back to edit the entire piece, bit by bit.

Here’s what Natalie says, “By not stopping you’ll physically break through your mental resistances and cut through the concept that writing is just about ideas and thinking. You are physically engaged with the pen, and your hand, connected to your arm, is pouring out the record of your senses. There is no separation between the mind and body; therefore, you can break through the mind barriers to writing through the physical act of writing, just as you can believe with your mind that that your hand won’t stop at the wood, so you can break a board in karate.”

Now I get it. If I stop every few sentences to add a comma, admire a phrase or add an action verb how can I stay focused on telling the story? Those interruptions will slow down the flow and diminish the energy which in turn will make my readers, well, I won’t have any readers.

This isn’t easy for me. I’m one of the worst offenders. I stop all the time to reread my work and chop, chop, chop before the story is finished. Heck, I cheat in my work out routine, too. I stop before the pain, fudge my repetitions and drool over the bag of chips in the pantry. But this year my goal is to let my writing energy flow without interruptions and hopefully I won’t feel the pain in making my daily quota and, when I succeed, I’m going to taste those chips in the pantry.

Natalie says that no matter how fat, thin, or flabby, writers have good figures because they’re always working out. “They are in tune, toned up, in rhythm with the hills, the highway, and can go for long stretches and many miles of paper. They move with grace in and out of many worlds.”

I believe her. I’m working toward that good figure right now. I’m headed for the hills swaying in rhythm to Jim Brickman’s song, “Devotion.” As I plod along to another world my fingers aren’t going to stop until I get there. So, the next time you see me, will you compliment me on my good writing figure?
Michelle Weidenbenner