Not Taking The Easy Way Out, Part I

I recently gave a challenge to one of my students and myself…”Let’s write a book that will sell,” I said.

You may think, “Well, duh,” but the truth is most of us first-time book writers don’t stop to think whether our book will sell or not, we simply write the book that’s burning inside us. We attend writers conferences and read blogs by editors that tell us to “write the book of our passion,” so we think we are doing just that by writing that burning book.

After writing a few books of my passion that might sell AFTER I’m published but will be a hard FIRST sell, I took a new look at what I was doing and why I was doing it.

1. Why do we write the books of our passion? Is it because we are passionate about the subject? Is it because we are passionate about the meaning behind the story? Is it because we are passionate about our characters? Is it because we’ve been told that’s what we need to do?

Now, ask yourself if there are other subjects, meanings, characters that you might ALSO be passionate about. I suspect there are.


What I have discovered is that I can take a good subject and characters and the deeper meaning will come through naturally. It’s not so much because of the subject matter, it’s because of who I am as a writer. My passions and beliefs will always come through in some way in any story I write. There is no need for me to hammer it in.

2. What kind of books do you like to read? What genre? Are you writing in that genre?


If you are not writing the kind of books you like to read, ask yourself why. I like to read supernatural suspense, but that wasn’t what I was writing. When I asked myself why, I discovered it was mainly because I was chicken. I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. So, I was trying to take the easy way out by writing something that was more up my alley. Also, since I mainly write in the Christian market I was trying to avoid a genre that isn’t as well accepted in that market.

I read an average of four books a week (some of them are books on tape), and a lot of them are supernatural suspense, so why on earth didn’t I think I could write that genre?

As far as not selling well in the Christian market…I have long suspected that any great book will make it through the channels. And isn’t it easier to write the GREAT book if you are writing the genre you most love?

Good question.

So, in trying to take the easy way out, I found myself having to work harder and do a lot of fixing and not getting very much return for all my hard work. Doesn’t sound like such an easy way after all, does it? But I don’t regret all that hard work, because it grew me as a writer and I may yet do something with all those first efforts.

So, now I’ve chosen the genre I like to read…supernatural suspense. And I’ve chosen some characters and a setting that I think will be interesting to others (keeping that secret for now). The plus is that I’m quite familiar with the culture and setting of my characters, so that cuts out a bit of research and also gives me an edge as someone with some kind of authority to write about these characters and setting. That will look nice in my proposal.


Now, I’ve placed myself way ahead of the game in writing a book that will sell:

1. I’ve chosen a genre that works and that I’m familiar with.
2. I’ve chosen an interesting setting and culture.
3. I’ve chosen interesting characters.

This is just the beginning of getting ready to write a book that will sell, but I think it’s enough to think about today. My next post will cover the next step.

1. In looking at the three things above, don’t worry if you’ve chosen an interesting setting and/or culture that you know little about. You can cover that with good research and interviews.

2. If you are concerned whether you have the skills to write your favorite genre, then head to some of your favorite author’s blogs, pick up some good reference books, and take some classes. This is a skill you can learn. And, of course, one of the best things is to read a lot of books in your chosen genre. See what works and what doesn’t.

3. Choosing interesting characters is a bit more difficult. I’ve discovered that writers choose their characters in many different ways. I see my characters in my mind long before I write them down. I don’t make character charts first, instead, I learn about my character and fill out the chart as I go, referencing it as needed. This is an “intuitive” way of working and is how I’ve discovered most character-driven novels are written…at least, that’s how my favorite authors write.



I’ve also discovered that some of my students who fill out long character charts, give their characters jobs and backgrounds that don’t work with the character after the story moves along. I end up being the one to tell them that they have their character doing something they would never do. Ha!

If you have trouble with choosing characters at this point, don’t worry too much about it. My next post will give you more insight on how to SEE your characters more clearly.

Until then, have fun thinking of a genre, setting and culture that would be a fun write that others would like to read about.

Most of you seldom leave comments, but I would love to hear from you regarding how this process goes for you or if you have a different way of developing characters. We’re all in this together. Different methods work for different writers and sometimes a combination of several suddenly clicks.

Regarding the photos…

As usual my photos have nothing to do with what I’m writing about. They are simply a slice of my forest life. Today’s grouping shows the saga of a poor rose. My squirrel had some nerve to eat that thing right in front of me!

The Noticer, book review

I loved this little book!

The Noticer tells the story of broken people in the small town of Orange Beach, Alabama and of their meeting with a man named Jones who teaches each of them how to view life from a new perspective.

He explains that he has been given a gift of noticing things that others miss. "Your time on this earth is a gift to be used wisely," he says. "Don't squander your words or your thoughts. Consider even the simplest action you take, for your lives matter beyond measure…and they matter forever."

The mystery of Jones kept me turning pages but I also kept a highlighter handy to mark the many treasures of wisdom scattered throughout the book. Here are just a few:

“…a person could lose everything, chasing nothing.” Pg 49

“It’s time to stop letting your history control your destiny.” Pg 51

“Worry is focus! But it is focus on the wrong things.” Pg 56

“Many of life’s treasures remain hidden from us simply because we never search for them.” Pg 83

Through this delightful story I learned how to better love some of my friends; how to change a small area of my life to make things easier for others and myself, and gained hope that my life still has value.

There’s a wonderful reader’s guide in the back of the book. I rarely use these, but this one is awesome. It left me with a new regard for the life I yet have to live and for the people who cross my path.

The Noticer is a great book, and I will recommend it to many, but I will also give a bit of caution. For many people, it could be quite frustrating to live out this kind of life without the power of the Holy Spirit. And for those who are able to do it on their own, they face the danger of thinking they may have earned something from God.

While reading this book, it’s a good idea to keep in mind that salvation is a free gift. We cannot earn it. None of us deserve it. But for those who accept it, taking on the perspectives found in The Noticer is a good way of showing their thanks and gratitude to God.

Art Conference Coming Soon!

I can't believe it's almost time for the best art conference ever!

If you are anywhere near or can take a plane, train, or any kind of transportation to get here, you really don't want to miss this.

Check it out at

Masterpiece Christian Artist Conference.

Hope to see you there!

Weathering The Impossible Storm

Good Morning!

Photos this morning are what it looks like at my house right now. The house is mine. One of the mailboxes is mine. The grandkids and snowman are mine. The red barn and horse belong to the neighbors. Photos have nothing at all to do with what I’m talking about, but thought you would enjoy them.



Things look really bad in the publishing industry right now, but instead of feeling discouraged, I’m actually encouraged. The reason? Because it’s when things look impossible that God usually does a major work in my life.

Here are a few cases in point:

1. I traveled to China while the bloody demonstrations were happening in 1989. All of my family tried to talk me out of it, because of the perceived danger. It turned out to be an amazingly fruitful trip and I returned home safe.



2. Just days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, I boarded a plane and flew into LAX. My car wouldn’t run and I had no other way to make the ACT I Writing For Hollywood seminar. Didn’t want to miss it because of the awesome opportunity of being accepted. I was the only one out of ten that braved the air travel to get there. I’m still applying the lessons I learned through that Malibu Conference and I returned home safe.

3. I traveled to Israel days after a major bombing took place in the area I was going to work in missions. Again, my family tried to talk me out of it, and again, amazing things took place and I returned home safe.

4. This year, a devastating fire took out 2200 acres of wilderness where my husband and I work for a local outfitter. Within a week of the trails being opened, we loaded up our camping equipment and rode our mules through miles of blackened and smoldering destruction. We were told it would be a worthless trip, but we discovered an oasis that had been completely untouched. We camped there and enjoyed one of our best trips and we returned home safe.




These are just four instances…the number of grace…I could relate many more.

We are all facing an incredibly hard economic future, but I have good news! I’m a little ahead of most of you on this. At the beginning of 2008 we received news that our house payment was going up $250 a month! We didn’t even know we had a flexible loan. It was fixed for only a certain number of years. Rats. And we were already living at the edge of our income. Okay, already, we can handle this. We’ll just be more careful.

Then a new company took over my husband’s business and wouldn’t allow overtime. Okay, that hurt. That took away $250 a month. Now we were down $500 a month.



Next, the gas prices went up and we live a long way from my husband’s work. He drives a diesel, because it used to be cheaper to do so. Not any more. The cost for gas rose to a soaring $500 a month.

Nearly a thousand bucks more a month going out than coming in. Yikes! And we live in a small manufactured house, so if we lost our house, I figured it would mean living in our wall tent, but at least we had that.



First I panicked and cried a lot. Didn’t call creditors, because I didn’t know what I would say to them. Finally a friend told me to call. I did, and the mortgage person told me that they were planning to foreclose on us in two days. Two Days! Goodness!

A year has now passed and we are still in our home. Why? Because of several steps.

I will be sharing those steps with you over the next few weeks. Today, I want to begin by simply giving you a bit of hope to carry you through the Impossible Storm.




This year has been the very best for me in my writing and art business! And that, when others were doing worse. I even had a brand new magazine get hold of me to write for them. Wow! And I’m looking at the new year as one of great possibilities. Sure. Things are bad, but it’s a good time for us creative people to put our creative talents to work. For instance, is there a way to self-publish a book that you can get out to a niche market that will help you to make a bit of money and will help others at the same time? Or how about an E-book?

This is a good time to stretch our imaginations! What knowledge do you have that will help others? Can you portray that in your writing or art?

Think about that, and I’ll talk with you again in a couple of days about how important hope is in this process of weathering the Impossible Storm.

Thankful for Life!

With Thanksgiving only two days away, I could think of all kinds of things to be thankful for, but tonight something happened that made me realize what a precious and wonderful gift is life itself!

I just returned home traveling from Chiloquin across the backroads that run through Crater Lake National Park. Snow lined the road, but the pavement was clear and I forgot to slow down. Nobody travels that road this late and at this time of year. A fact I had forgotten when I decided to take that route in the first place.

Without any warning whatsoever, my Ford Explorer started spinning like crazy. Don't know how many times I went full circle, but my steering wheel kept pace. Then the car started that crazy rock thing . . . up on two wheels . . . then up on the other two . . . all while it continued to spin.

I was returning from an Old Testament Survey class, so thoughts of God were quickly on my mind. "Oh Lord," I cried. "Oh Lord. Help me. Help me."

And I knew it was over. My tires simply couldn't grab hold on the solid sheet of ice covering the pavement. I barely missed the ditch on the mountain side, trees passed way too close, then the car turned and I started sliding backward over the edge of the cliff bordering Annie Springs. If you've ever visited Crater Lake, you know just how steep that cliff is! It's pure pumice with nothing to break a fall.

"Oh Lord," I cried one more time. And the strangest thing happened. The engine died, the steering wheel locked and the brake worked simultaneously. I'm not even sure if that is possible. Everything is power on my car. Usually nothing works when the engine dies. But the brake found no purchase. "God?" It was more a question than a plea. And suddenly the car stopped. As if a giant hand just held it there. I sat there with the car turned 180 degrees from the direction I had started. My head hurt, my foot was banged up, but I was alive! And no air bag to deal with either.

I slowly eased the car back toward Chiloquin until I could turn around, thinking all the time that if I had gone over or even in the ditch, no one would have found me until the next morning . . . and maybe not even then. I passed no other cars coming or going. Freezing temperatures, ice and snow. I've taken enough wilderness survival classes to know a lot of people don't survive a night under those conditions.

I'm so grateful for God's hand on my life. My times are in His hands. At the very least I could have been in the hospital this Thanksgiving, but He was gracious in spite of my certainly not deserving it. How could I have forgotten to slow down?

I had plenty of time to think about the incident on my thirty-miles-an-hour rest of the trip home. If I had gone over. If I had ended up in the hospital . . . or even with the Lord. That too would have been in His hands and part of His faithfulness. Yet I would have found it harder to accept.

I don't know the why of it. Why God allows some things and not others. But I'm grateful to be alive. And I plan to seek God for what He wants me to do with my time . . . how He wants me to redeem it.

And I won't be traveling that road again on my winter Chiloquin trips!

So, what are you thankful for?

A Quick Word

Can't believe I've let so much time pass once again. Where does it go? Good things happening though and I plan to let you know about them soon. For now, I'm getting ready to teach at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference in May. Check it out here. This is one of my favorite conferences. The scenery is one that stops me in my tracks every time I step outside; the atmosphere is caring and spiritual; the classes are supberb; and there are more opportunities for networking than just about anywhere else. Hope you can join us there. I'll post some photos in future blog entries. Be looking for them!



For those of you trying to purchase Totally Honest Tax Tips For Writers, I've redone the button, so it should work, if not, e-mail me

here

and I'll be happy to take a check by mail.

Enjoy the Son!

Ready to take flight?

Goodness! We're already well into 2008.

Did it sneak up on you? Did it pass without fanfare?

Not for me. January first hit like a slap in the face. Was it really possible an entire year passed without me accomplishing my major goals?

Not only was it possible, it was absolutely true. I was planning to rework Skookum, but never did. I was planning to finish a proposal that never came about. What about the articles I planned? Hmmmmmm.

So, I took a step back, went before the Lord, asked for and received His forgiveness, then I asked for new direction.

New direction?

Simple.

Finish what I started.

Simple? Did I really say that?

Sounds simple, but without God’s direction, I’ll never take flight.

A friend sent me a verse from The Message version of the Bible. It’s found in 2 Corinthians 8:10-20

So here is what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart's been in the right place all along. You've got what it takes to finish it up, go to it. Once the commitment is clean, you do what you can and not what you can't. The heart regulates the hands.

Wow!

I’m beginning to feel like I might actually get to a lift off.


But feeling is not the same as doing. So, I went back to prayer and the Lord gave me a silly dream that helped me with some tools to get going.

The dream was about two guys who were starting out on a round-the-world trip. They had invented a new machine that looked a bit like a torpedo. It could fly some and float some, so they began by being shot out of a canon-type contraption and their first goal was to try to grab a flag hanging from a crane on their way by. They grabbed the flag and stopped to celebrate.

I couldn’t believe it! They were only minutes into a round-the-world trip that would take them months or years and they stopped to celebrate.

That’s when I woke up.

Sandy, you need to make attainable goals.

With those words resounding in my mind, I knew my silly dream was from the Lord. It’s okay to have big goals, but I need smaller goals along the way--things that will give me a sense of accomplishment on my way to the Big One. And I need to take time to celebrate the fulfillment of each of those goals.

So here’s what I’m doing to dive deeper into 2008:


(1) I’m making the prayer thing a daily habit. Oh, I pray to God all the time, but I now see a need to begin each day with a prayer for direction instead of hitting the floor running.

(2) I’m making a list of things I hope to accomplish in a day. I’m not a major list maker, so mine is pretty simple. I just write the date down at the top of a sheet of paper, then I mark things off as I go. The next day, I look at what I didn’t finish and move those things to another sheet of paper OR I simply put the new date at the top along with yesterday’s date and start marking things off again. I’ve actually accomplished a few things by doing this. Hooray! And yes, I take time to celebrate and thank God for the joy of accomplishment.

With these simple changes I’m already well into my revisions on Skookum, have completed a couple of unfinished goals from last year, and am finally back up on my blog.
Ahhhhhhh, It feels soooooo good.

On January first I looked at 2007 as a year of unfinished projects, but now I see 2008 as a year of new beginnings.

How do you see it? Perhaps you, too, need to make a few changes in your approach, or maybe you had a good year and you simply need to keep doing what you’ve been doing. Either way, I’m praying for a good year for all of us . . . a year when we will enjoy the process God has given us no matter what happens along the way.