Well Matched

Creative people often partner to do their best work. One reason Maribeth and I felt God leading us toward marriage was to facilitate our writing together, and that has proven true. We’re well-matched in the work we do together.

We have a two-day prayer retreat at Brown County State Park every January. There our year begins by praying, both separately and together, and discussing ideas for the future. We’ve learned that the fireplace at Abe Martin Inn is a delightful place to reflect and talk, and the thin off-season crowd doesn’t distract us.

Maribeth and I are attentive observers, but we observe different things as we travel. Our mealtime conversations often begin with, “Did you notice…?”

We married late in life, so we bring a lifetime of separate experiences to our writing. However, we lived through the same period of American history, so when one of us starts humming a 1950s ad slogan, the other begins singing the words.

We grew up in different denominations, so we have separate perspectives on theology. We both graduated from seminary. One of us earned a master’s degree and the other a doctorate (guess which one).

These differences and similarities play into our writing. Before I write a short story, I’ll make a list of a half-dozen or so ideas, then ask Maribeth which one she would most like to read. Before we prepare a series of sermons, each of us will make a list of Scripture texts and topics, then discuss their relative merits in light of the congregation’s needs.

Sometimes we divide responsibilities for the writing itself. Perhaps each of us will take a section of the outline. Each of us may write an illustration for the piece. Or one of us may write the opening while the other writes the close. Most often, though, one partner writes the piece in its entirety.

Then comes the heavy lifting. The writer asks the partner to read and critique the first draft. Editing begins. We discuss the edits—it’s usually quite a spirited discussion!—and more editing follows. Only when we’re both satisfied have we reached the final version.

Who’s your writing partner? Perhaps you assume that writing must be a solitary pursuit, but your spouse, another ACFW member, or an online friend may become a valued creative companion. This kind of relationship often begins with a critique partner, someone familiar with your genre whose judgment you respect. A research partner could also improve the quality and speed of your work. 

I liken it to playing tennis. If you have a partner whose skills and experience are well matched to your own, you'll win more often than you could playing alone.

Joe Allison writes both fiction and nonfiction, and has been a member of the Indiana chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers since 2010. His most recent book is Hard Times (Warner Press: 2019). He lives in Anderson, IN, with his wife Maribeth.

 

 

 

Say It, Don't Spray It

by Rachael Phillips

Playground culture in my childhood corner of the world taught me numerous new words and phrases. I learned to say “ain’t and “crik” (as in “the crik don’t rise”). We cursed each other with cooties. Talkative schoolmates with overactive salivary glands or tissueless sneezes were ordered to “say it, don’t spray it!”

 

The last memory induces me to towel off with disinfectant wipes. However, weighty literary observations can be salvaged even from such barbarisms.

I refer to the manner in which we writers assign actions, or "beats" to characters during dialogue. We do this for valid reasons: a) to inform readers of who is speaking without using the dreaded tag “she said.” b) to make readers aware of the setting and the characters’ relationship to it; c) to build emotion, especially tension, as characters act out inner thoughts and feelings; and, most important, d) to make editors happy.

They will not be happy, however, if we overuse certain expressions, spraying readers with repeated hydrant blasts of “her cheeks heated,” “he raised his eyebrows,” “she stared,” “he glared,” and “the corners of her mouth turned down.” (Do mouths have corners?)

On the other hand, writers may work too hard to avoid the mundane and instead, pelt readers with action. Upon reading a scene, including my own, I sometimes wonder if the characters would benefit from large doses of medication. They pace, sit, rise, turn, weep, babble, wheeze, sneeze and snort within the first three sentences.

Extreme efforts to produce original work may also prove self-defeating, as in “Rosalinda’s pink smile decayed into a slimy sneer.” (Eww. We need more wipes.)     

“He said” sounds positively elegant, right? It is—and so are beats, blended smoothly and sparingly into sections of dialogue. Some spoken lines may not even require identification. A carefully crafted conversation’s content will often point out who is saying/doing what without a sloppy spray of language that makes the reader want to duck.

Any say-it-don’t-spray-it advice you would care to offer? (And, by the way, has anyone ever discovered a cure for cooties?)

Murder and Manuscripts

Source: Wikimedia Commons

"Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it — whole-heartedly — and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings."  

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch

~~~

You've slaved over your manuscript. You love every word. It's like a precious infant that you've given birth to after years of hard work and attention. You've spent lunch hours, and evening TV watching time creating a masterpiece.

And now your critique group wants to cut your favorite parts.

And it hurts.

That's okay. It's supposed to. When we first start out, as in any effort, it's painful. Athletes don't become gold medalists without pain. Great writers don't, either. I promise, as you gain more experience as a writer, as you keep writing and keep writing and keep writing, you're gonna write some unworthy stuff. If that weren't true we wouldn't need critique partners, agents, or editors.  And because you're going to write unworthy stuff (and even experienced writers do), some of your darlings will end up slashed, rejected and murdered. Suck it up. It's good for you. You will learn from it.

The best advice I ever heard about "killing our darlings" is from Stephen King's book On Writing. He puts his manuscripts in a drawer for months before going back to them for edits. That way, he isn't as emotionally involved with them. And while that manuscript sits, he starts the next one.

When you start a new manuscript, it becomes your passion. That other manuscript, aging in the drawer, becomes just another project you want to get right. At least that's how it works for me.

Recently, I went back to a manuscript that I'd written and completed almost two years ago. I 'd been struggling with how to rewrite the first chapter. It simply wasn't right. So I put it away, got started on other projects, and got it out again last week. Within minutes I easily cut most of the first three chapters. I couldn't see how to do that before because I was too close to it. Now, it's just something that needs to get done, and hopefully, what I've changed will make it more worthy for someone to consider it.

When it comes to writing, we have to be willing to "murder our darlings." (However, don't forget to pray and ask God what to leave in and what to take out. That makes the decision even easier.)

The thing to remember about sitting manuscripts is that God's timing is perfect. He knows who is going to pick up your book/story on what exact day at what exact time. We have to rest in His perfect plan and time for releasing our words to those who need to hear them. Letting our manuscript age in the drawer could be part of God's plan for releasing it at the proper time and place. Never forget that God's purpose will prevail, no matter how many words you write.

What makes us think we can get ahead of God? Silly humans. Timing is up to God. When we write with that it mind, it makes the waiting easier.

 "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass...Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not..."

Psalm 37: 5&7a

 Karla Akins is a pastor's wife, mother of five, grandma to five beautiful little girls and author of O Canada! Her Story and represented by Hartline Literary Agency. She lives in North Manchester with her husband, twin teenage boys with autism, and three rambunctious dogs. Her favorite color is purple, favorite hobby is book-hoarding, and favorite food group is cupcakes.

How Writing the First Draft of a Novel is Like the Trimesters of Pregnancy

We writers tend to view our work-in-progress as our baby.


 photo credit: Andrew Mason {Flickr Creative Commons}

Perhaps it's because our stories are precious to us, or perhaps it's simply because writing the first draft of a novel is indeed like the trimesters of pregnancy--exhausting work that takes time. As I anticipate the arrival of baby number three, I'm beginning to appreciate the time it takes to write a {good} novel. I'm seeing the process with a fresh perspective. Everything beautiful takes time {a luxury I have in this season of my writing life). I cannot rush the process, just as I cannot will my baby to grow his heart, lungs, eyes, and ears in one day. I need to experience the three trimesters in order to see my story to fruition.

Trimester One: A Tiny Seed

Trimester one is all about a story idea and the exhausting work that follows. It's the seed that's planted in my head during a morning walk--the one that speaks louder than all the others, and it's the one I pursue. 

The first few weeks are filled with elation. I love the characters, the setting, the growing plot, and I envision a beautiful ending. However, soon I realize the amount of research and work needed to accomplish my goal. It's tiring work, and some days, I'm crawling. But overall, the work is exhilarating. I'm writing a novel!

During these months, my story develops it's vital organs--an roughly sketched plot, characters, setting, and a moral premise.

Trimester Two: A Growing Story 

Trimester two is all about growth. It's during these months my story begins to develop and change as I type out my daily word count goal.  My characters take on new shapes and forms. I discover more about them, and they speak to me now. I'm feeling their movements, hearing their heartbeat, and witnessing them hijack my pages. My manuscript looks much different from when I started.

Soon my plot takes on a different twist than I expected {it's a boy, not a girl}, and I'm taking the turn. However, my manuscript is now far from neat and tidy. In fact, it looks much different from when I started, and now that it has changed direction, there's more work to do.  

Overall, during this time, I'm feeling great. The story has some major holes, but it's moving forward, and I'm getting closer to finishing the first draft.

Trimester Three: The Birth of a Novel

Trimester three is the completion of the first draft. These months are grueling, and those last few thousand words seem impossible. Nothing fits right. Questions fill my mind. What was this story about again? And why is it taking so long to finish? Why did I think this was a good idea?

Since it's my first draft, I press forward, following all the twists and turns, listening to the characters, pounding keys in the moonlight. And soon it's the moment I've dreamed about.  I type a writer's two most glorious words in the English language--the end. Though the labor is difficult, I give birth to a novel, and it's exquisite. It's my baby, after all. 

And now the real {editing} work begins. 

Do you refer to your work as your baby? Can you relate to any of these trimesters?

Melanie N. Brasher is a full time mama of two boys and wife to an incredible husband who understands her bicultural background. She moonlights as a fiction and freelance writer, crafting stories and articles toward justice and change. She's a member of American Christian Fiction writers and a contributing blogger for Ungrind. Though she's an aspiring author, she'll never quit her day job.