meme along with me...
Mar. 25th, 2006 04:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ksmithHitching along for the "10 Things I've Learned While Writing Fiction" meme:
1. Brain is part of body. Ignore the wellness/maintenance of one's body at one's peril. Regular sleep. Healthy food. Exercise. Regular check-ups, if you're able. This gig is a series of marathons, not a single sprint. A groggy body doesn't do the brain any good.
2. Learn how you work best, and deal with it, because you are not going to change. If you try to force yourself into another mode, you will flame out. I'm a slow writer who can be tapped bone-dry by emotional upheavals. This means that unless I trip over Gabaldon-like fortune, I will need to have financial backup in place at all times. Not just 6 months living expenses, but a whole other way to pay the bills in case I can't write. Reality's a bitch, but so is bankruptcy.
3. Writing is not a hairshirt. Story speedbumps aside, sometimes things don't work for extended periods. Life blindsides. The well goes dry. Step back. There's a life out there that includes other things. Enjoy them for a while.
4. I will always have to deal with bigger/faster/stronger/better. I am not the best/richest/most famous writer in the world. Envy of the fortune of others often proves a dead end. However, it can also be used as a spur to get one's ass in gear. This is very case-by-case, but a little competitive boot up the bum isn't the worst thing. Take that as you will.
5. My subconscious knows my characters better than my conscious self. If I go off on the wrong track, I ignore their meepings at my peril.
6. There are few feelings better than the realization that what I thought were simple throwaways inserted over the course of a book actually tie together and converge remarkably with the overall story arc. Not only do I listen to my subconscious, I am in awe of it. I don't know how in hell it keeps it all straight.
7. The business side of the business is a good thing to know. As with my subconscious, I ignore it at my peril.
8. Non-writers often have No Clue. There's no reason why they should, but some are adamant about it. Short of confirming their conviction that I am indeed wealthier than I let on and am just doing the day job thing for giggles, there's not much I can do. In the long run, what they think they know doesn't matter.
9. I haven't had to kill all my darlings over the years. I think it's usually a 50:50 life/slaughter ratio. Just because I am enamored of it doesn't mean it's bad.
10. The idea of getting paid cash money to make up things still boggles me.
1. Brain is part of body. Ignore the wellness/maintenance of one's body at one's peril. Regular sleep. Healthy food. Exercise. Regular check-ups, if you're able. This gig is a series of marathons, not a single sprint. A groggy body doesn't do the brain any good.
2. Learn how you work best, and deal with it, because you are not going to change. If you try to force yourself into another mode, you will flame out. I'm a slow writer who can be tapped bone-dry by emotional upheavals. This means that unless I trip over Gabaldon-like fortune, I will need to have financial backup in place at all times. Not just 6 months living expenses, but a whole other way to pay the bills in case I can't write. Reality's a bitch, but so is bankruptcy.
3. Writing is not a hairshirt. Story speedbumps aside, sometimes things don't work for extended periods. Life blindsides. The well goes dry. Step back. There's a life out there that includes other things. Enjoy them for a while.
4. I will always have to deal with bigger/faster/stronger/better. I am not the best/richest/most famous writer in the world. Envy of the fortune of others often proves a dead end. However, it can also be used as a spur to get one's ass in gear. This is very case-by-case, but a little competitive boot up the bum isn't the worst thing. Take that as you will.
5. My subconscious knows my characters better than my conscious self. If I go off on the wrong track, I ignore their meepings at my peril.
6. There are few feelings better than the realization that what I thought were simple throwaways inserted over the course of a book actually tie together and converge remarkably with the overall story arc. Not only do I listen to my subconscious, I am in awe of it. I don't know how in hell it keeps it all straight.
7. The business side of the business is a good thing to know. As with my subconscious, I ignore it at my peril.
8. Non-writers often have No Clue. There's no reason why they should, but some are adamant about it. Short of confirming their conviction that I am indeed wealthier than I let on and am just doing the day job thing for giggles, there's not much I can do. In the long run, what they think they know doesn't matter.
9. I haven't had to kill all my darlings over the years. I think it's usually a 50:50 life/slaughter ratio. Just because I am enamored of it doesn't mean it's bad.
10. The idea of getting paid cash money to make up things still boggles me.
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Date: 2006-03-26 12:09 am (UTC)My agent called me at work about the book sale. My coworker was terrified I was going to quit and leave him all alone to support our building :-)
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Date: 2006-03-26 12:24 am (UTC)