Lilith Saintcrow

Crossposted to the Deadline Dames, where there was RT madness all last week! Go check it out!

It’s Friday again! And I’m home. Which means a Friday writing post, right? Except I got nothin’. My brain is dry and bare as old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard. My wordcount has shot up now that I’m not scraping the bottom of the barrel for emotional energy, and the current novels are in shoving matches over every spare neuron they can find. So this week I’m going to serve up three random things about writing. Your mileage may vary, of course, all standard disclaimers apply.

Ready to get random? Let’s dig in.

* Know the rules–and when to break them. Language has rules. That’s what stops it from being meaningless grunting. People agree on those rules so we can communicate clearly to each other. Communicating clearly is a writer’s job. So keep brushing up on your knowledge of your language.

I keep four dictionaries and three thesauri (of differing sizes), two visual dictionaries, the Transitive Vampire, the Well-Tempered Sentence, the Writer’s Reference, Eats, Shoots, & Leaves, a Bartlett’s Familiar, the AP stylebook, the Little, Brown handbook, three Strunk & White’s, and several baby name books on my reference bookshelf. (I should also have a Chicago Manual of Style, I just haven’t picked one up yet.) I refer to them all. I still frequently make mistakes. (Thank God for copyeditors.) When I come across a word I don’t know, I spend the time to look it up. I love AWAD. I flat-out love language and the arcane rules of grammar.

Words are your tools. But most of the joy in writing comes from breaking rules effectively or using words and language in fresh ways. Without a thorough understanding of the rules, you absolutely cannot break them effectively. It ends up looking like an uneducated mess. Even the most talented writer in the world absolutely NEEDS to keep studying language and refreshing their memory or finding out new things.

So, get curious about language. Look up the rules and get to know them, buy them a drink and take them out for dinner. Then when it’s time, you can slip your hand up the skirt of language and produce something wonderful.

* Want to get good enough to be published? Write every day. Haven’t I learned my lesson? I always get flak when I post this. But I keep saying it, because I believe it’s important. No day is too busy that you can’t find ten or fifteen minutes to write. Plus, getting into the habit of doing it every day will help on those days when you Don’t Wanna Butya Hafta. It also makes the point, to yourself and to others, that writing is important. I won’t go through the entire list of why I give this advice and why I think it’s critical. I’ll let Sean Ferrell make the most important point here.

I write every day. Especially when I don’t feel like it. Especially when it’s not working. I can always choose to not use something that I wrote and that I realize later is the wrong tone, doesn’t fit, contradicts other parts. I can’t decide to use something that isn’t written. I can’t use something that is still in my head. Better to have something come out half right than have all of it perfectly in my skull. (Sean Ferrell)

You can’t revise what doesn’t exist. ‘Nuff said.

* Realize someone is not going to like it, no matter what. An agent might not like your submission. After you get an agent a publisher may not like the piece. After a publisher likes it an editor might not like it unless you revise x, y, and z. After the editor’s happy a Reader might not like it; even if a Reader likes it a reviewer may pan it. Someone, somewhere, is going to be unhappy with your book/short story/poem/song/painting/grocery list/whatever.

Deal with it.

Look, you can print out negative reviews and give them funerals or bonfires in the back yard. Pile up your rejection slips and swear at them as foully as you like, make a voodoo doll just for rejections. You can stamp and scream all you want in the privacy of your home. But in public (and the Internet is public, folks) DO NOT ENGAGE. Don’t bitch about how an agent/publisher/editor/reader/reviewer/fellow writer doesn’t get your geeeeeeeenius. Don’t sockpuppet Amazon reviews or get involved in Internet slapfests. It is not worth it. You end up rolling around in sh!t with a pig; you’ll get dirty and perhaps catch a filthy disease, while the pig will still be grunting and happy. It’s not worth it.

Instead, spend your time writing. Let every rejection, bad review, hard edit, or misunderstanding be an invitation do do better. Anything else is a waste of your time. (This is partly why I don’t respond to reviews, positive or negative, ever.)

Besides, the time you spend keening and moaning or engaging in Internet slapfests is time you could spend writing and getting better. That is the real point of this game, not level-pegging with someone who has decided they don’t like your work. You will not be able to convince someone to like you with pleading or threats, you will always come off looking like the asshole. Don’t do it.

And that, my dears, is a random Friday three. It’s all stuff I’ve said before, but it bears repeating. Now I’ve got to get that werwulf’s teeth out of the supermarket manager’s throat. I suppose I should add that: enjoy your work. Write what makes your socks roll up and down. Write, in other words, what you love.

Why else would we do this, anyway?

Over and out.

I really don’t have much to report today. Yesterday was the first rock-climbing class (not mine, mine got rescheduled) and it looks like the kids are going to love it. I also visited the dentist yesterday. Big fun. They act like I’m a big baby when I insist on the nitrous, but I don’t care. It’s stressful enough enduring fillings; why suffer if I don’t have to?

Today I got the outline of the first of a pair of hip tattoos. I was kind of dreading it, but actually the hip isn’t that bad. My back was loads worse, especially around my ribs. Ouch! But the hip was ticklish-painful in a couple places, otherwise not so bad. Yes, I will probably have a couple pictures when everything heals up. I just hate looking at pictures of freshly-done tats; they look so raw. Plus, I’m pretty pale and I flush very easily (you wouldn’t think it, but I do blush at the drop of a hat) and it always looks worse on me, especially since I only get black-and-white work done.

Last but not least, I finished the zero draft of a teaser for Angel Town, the last (planned) Kismet book. I’m giving it a day to rest, polishing tomorrow, then sneaking it in under the wire for inclusion in Heaven’s Spite. Now I can turn my attention to the Selene & Nikolai short, which I planned the skeleton for yesterday. I will post more about where and how the short will appear (it will be in a print anthology if everything works out all right) as soon as we have definitive answers.

Whenever I do a short story, I usually do at least two or three “false starts” before I find the real story. Then I bang my head against the first few scenes of the real story, and finally in exasperation do a sort of halfass outline of the rest, scene by scene and planning for each scene to be 1-1.5K. Then I let the thing rest for a day, and suddenly when I go back to it everything spills out in a rush like it was just waiting for me to show up. I’ve learned not to agonize over this process too much. The false starts are frustrating, but they sometimes provide a base for other things, so I just stick them in the graveyard and be done with them.

And…that’s all the news that’s fit to print. I’m going to go back to my coffee and poking at the short story now. After that beast is zero-drafted I have a first pass on the fourth Dru book to perform, and the end of May should see me with nothing on my slate but proof pages and Angel Town.

Ahhh, that sounds like heaven. Catch you later.

PS: I am still ruminating on my next laptop possibly being a Mac. Feel free to go comment, answer questions, give me the benefit of your thinking.

Linkspam, because I’m deep in it today. I’ve got the White Stripes on loud and like spice, BOOK MUST FLOW!

* So those deep meandering conversations about Life, the Universe, and Everything? They can actually help make you happier. I think I need to call my friends and get a couple bottles of wine.

* Oh, Luc Besson, you complete me. Lady adventurers and steampunk dragons? I’M SO THERE.

* Here, find out where earthquakes are happening.

* As I have often told my kids, the separate compartment for dessert in one’s stomach is AWESOME. (This is usually right before I’m called “best mum EVER!” for about five minutes, or however long the ice cream lasts…)

Happy Tuesday, everyone. Gotta run.

*dives back into showdown*

IN the three-things-make-a-post category, because I have no time:

* Listening to Cake while I run actually fixes a lot of problems. Specifically, a mix of Fashion Nugget and Comfort Eagle gets me through a half-hour of running and knocks plot bits loose inside my head. Who’d've thought it? Their renditions of I Will Survive and Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town are particularly toothsome.

* PZ Myers knocks it out of the park again, with Bring Me The Heads Of Penn And Teller. Here’s the nut for me:

…President Obama got elected because he avoided offending people with religious sensibilities and has only said that the US is a secular nation with religious liberty. Again, what that means is that the government is out of the god business (or should be, ideally), and individual Americans get to worship or not worship as they want. It’s really not hard to understand, unless of course, you make a living by stirring up people’s outrage by pretending not to understand. (Pharyngula)

It’s the “pretending not to understand” part that has me nodding vigorously. It’s what Slacktivist has been blogging about lately.

* I got a haircut yesterday. My hairdresser buddy MakeMe said I’d be rocking the Elvira look shortly. I informed her I do not have a Goth powermullet. We both cracked up.

…maybe you just had to be there.

That’s it. I’ve got to go. This book needs some secondary plot lines woven in.

Over and out.

The day when I want to retreat into lit crit is the day I know I’m on the mend. (About damn time too.) And when a random Simone Weil quote makes me want to read the Barthes I’ve been saving for a rainy day, not only am I on the mend but I am back to my regularly-scheduled insanity.

So today is a day of gentleness, if I can manage it. Claws in, paws padded, tone gentle, walk soft.

So, in lieu of a real post, here’s some links.

Start out with part I of Kaigou’s “Dear (Not Just) Urban Fantasy Author.” Kaigou covers a lot of ground, from the very simple fact that everything costs money to what it means for a character to grow up in an abusive household. You can concurrently or consecutively read RachelManija’s posts on PTSD. If you want to write characters dealing with violence, the effects of violence or abuse, these are really great resources. (Check out Rachel’s book: IndieBound or Barnes & Noble.)

If you’re not reading Pharyngula, why? PZ Myers is sharp, smart, and takes absolutely no prisoners.

For another side of the die, I can’t recommend Slacktivist enough. Not only is he reading Left Behind so I don’t have to, but he’s one of the few people of faith I think actually tries to live by the ethical code he says he believes in.

For the lighter side, there’s Kate Beaton, whose historical cartoon strips are pure awesomeness. I should also mention the Comics Curmudgeon. I’ve also grown kind of addicted to LOLCelebs, in a sort of “look, there’s a trainwreck I’m not a part of!” way.

I used to watch Jerry Springer in my mid-20s for the same reason. After about ten minutes of the Springer show, I felt pretty good abut my life, no matter how bad it got. I suppose that makes me a horrible person. And hat tip to Alt3Sparky for pointing me at Texts From Last Night. (Warning: SO NOT SAFE FOR WORK. Trust me.) It’s the same dynamic.

And just to round all of this out, I should note that today I am alternating between listening to Judy Henske, Jandek, and whatever Lady Gaga I can scrounge up on Youtube.

Apparently I am very confused. And now you can be too.

No, really. You can thank me later.