My Writers' Circle: Highlighting Diane Krause

[Meet Diane Krause]  

Over the weekend, I met a new writer, Diane Krause, who is writing short stories (including period pieces from the 1920s) while working toward writing contemporary women's fiction about modern-day problems like global warming, drug addiction, and homelessness. She then plans to add a love interest.  She says of her stories, "Sometimes the love blooms, and sometimes, the woman doesn't get her man but is changed for the better by the relationship."  My favorite part of her plan is she also wants to write a story from the point of view of someone dealing with schizophrenia.  Since my brother is in an institution for that very mental illness, I, personally, am going to be following her writing career.  

When asked how she got into writing, she said, "I’m lucky as I grew up in a family who encouraged reading and writing.  Writing came easy to me throughout my schooling.  I started a daily journaling habit as a young mother. I continue today even though my kids are grown with families of their own.  Journaling keeps me grounded.  One day I decided to join The Institute of Writers Breaking into Print program.  There, I fell in love with fiction writing and never looked back.  For me, a day without writing is like a day with no sun."   A lot of writers feel the same, that writing makes their life worth living. 

She said what she liked about writing was "turning a blank page into a finished work."  She continued by saying, "First, I get into a writing zone and scribble a basic story.  Then, the writing turns real.  I go through every line trying to bring it closer to the vision in my head.  I like the editing process because that’s where you turn your work into a polished jem.  When it’s complete you’ve reached a goal."  This is what some of the other writers said they liked least, running into blank pages and dealing with polishing and editing.  This goes to show that every writer is different.  

The part she said she liked least is that "[i]t’s time consuming."  She said, "I view my writing as something I leave behind when I leave this world.  It’s not to get rich or famous, but to have my children say my mom wrote this.  The written word is my legacy.  The catch here is because I’ve placed pressure on putting out perfect pieces for my legacy, it takes me more hours than necessary to write a short story."  

Be watching for new material coming out soon by Diane Krause.  

My Writers' Circle: Highlighting Sarah Boucher

Last night, I kicked off a week of sharing with you about writers I've met.  I met Sarah Boucher when we were kids living across the street from each other in small town Utah.  In fact, she helped me figure out this whole blogging process.  She's grown up to be an amazing indie writer, spinning fairy tales into realistic and meaningful adaptations for young adults.  I truly love her books.

I told her I especially enjoy how she makes the tale possible without resorting to magic.  Sarah responded, "I don't write magic. If I did, I'd have to remember my own magic rules and would probably end up breaking them anyway."  She finds magic in reality, which was something I had never considered doing before.  I was wowed by her Becoming Beauty in which her Beauty is as ugly inside as the beast is outside.  They both have to find the beauty within.  I was also swept away by her adaptation of "12 Dancing Princesses," Midnight Sisters.  I love this more obscure tale to begin with, but the way she took us into the tale through the eyes of a gardener in love with the eldest sister, once again without literal magic, was nothing short of, well, magical.

She is so excited that her third book, Golden Gown, is approaching its launch.  It's an adaptation of "Rumpelstiltskin" and "The Shoemaker and the Elves." I'm excited to get my hands on it.   Here's what the blurb says about it:
Elyse has lost everything; her parents, her family home, and the village where she is loved and respected. Still grieving, she arrives in a new town where she must prove her skills as a seamstress. Overnight, she creates a gown stunning enough to catch the princess’s eye and win the community’s approval. With every eligible maiden clamoring for her designs, Elyse must do everything in her power to appease them. No one can ever know that in the moments when she doubts her abilities, a mysterious stranger with a talent for tailoring and a penchant for damsels in distress comes to her aid. If anyone ever discovers the truth, her reputation will be ruined.

I can't wait to find out how she found a way to weave these stories together without magic but with depth and charm.

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I had a delightful interview with her, akin to the one I had with Thomas.  I asked how she got into this work.  She said, “I've been writing stories since elementary school, when I crafted a tale about magic pants. I didn’t share my stories with many people until about 2010 or 2012 when I joined a writing group. Working collaboratively inspired me to make my stories better. One member, who was a published author, insisted that I submit Becoming Beauty for publishing. Until then, I never had plans to do so." Her statements highlight the power and importance of the writer's group, which I'm highlighting this week.   

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When I asked what she liked most about writing, she said, “I like the whole creation process. I get to take stories that people know, think they know, or don't know at all and make them into something entirely new. Being a part of this creative process is both cathartic and challenging." For her, the writing process, itself, is fun, especially with the idea in mind of sharing it with others.  

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I then asked, "What do you like least about writing?"  Sarah said, “Deadlines kill me! They’re as discouraging as they are motivating. My second least favorite thing about writing is that is you can never really get it perfect. I read professionally published books, and they have errors. In the end, you just breathe. You let your sweet, little, baby manuscript go and hope people can see past the nonsense.” My answer would have been fairly identical.  So many of us struggle with the eternal and fruitless effort of making writing perfect.  However, one day, we just have to share it the way it is.  

I highly recommend you seek out the wonderful books of my friend, Sarah Boucher.  Her writing will sweep you away and may give you ideas for your own writing.  Pick up a copy today.  

Making Connections: Writer Thomas Paxton

I've been blogging about writing in a more literary fashion.  Recently, I've also been updating you on things I've learned from the classes I've been taking.  A few weeks ago, I specifically addressed the idea of building a writer's circle, a group of writers who can support you as you support them.  Many of the ideas I've learned of late come from the Write Practice. The class I'm taking teaches about how to create an email and writer's web page, how to write and share a story, how to get it polished, how to build a writers' group, and how to actually get the piece published, and how to start to build a following that will embrace it.  This week, I learned a technique anyone can use to start building their writers' group, which is reaching out to writers you already know to learn more about them and to further your connections in the writing world.

I interviewed five writers about whom you've probably never heard, so you can gain insights into what is important to other writers, especially beginning writers, and so you can learn about what some up and coming writers are working on.  I will be sharing a bit about each of these writers over the course of this week in a very special set of blogs.  One of the things the course suggested we do was share information about our fellow writers just as they're sharing information about us.  That's what I'll be doing in these blogs.  

Thomas Paxton

One of my first interviews was with my nephew, Thomas Paxton, an ambitious novelist whose sci fi/fantasy series, ShadowFang, he compares to a combination of Harry Potter, "Avengers," and Game of Thrones.  It's dark fantasy about the human condition, about trauma and healing, about family, love, and so much more.  Those who have read book one, Crimson Nightfall, it have been swept up in the drama, passion, and humor of his labor of love.  He's right now preparing his first novel for an editor then will be working toward publication.  Here is the interview I had with him:

The Cover of Shadowfang Book 1: Crimson Knightfall

When I asked how Thomas got into writing, he answered what got him into writing was "the fascination of wanting to tell a story and play with fictional toys instead of real ones."  He also emphasized the importance of the human heart in telling a story.  Of his specific genre of horror-fantasy, he said, "I'm fixated on the idea that we live horror and don't realize it."  He sees horror as reflective of the human condition.  

When I asked what he liked most about writing, he said the following: "I like that it's therapeutic.  I can act like I'm not me and be in control of my life for once.  That brings me to writing.  It's arduous coming up with complex story ideas.  It's the one place and time of day with college, kids, and work that I can be myself but not me.  I'm becoming these fictional people in my head.  It brings me to writing in the first place.  I have too much fun wrecking people's worlds.  I'm upset my own world gets wrecked all the time.  It's masochistic therapy, being able to see fictional people picking themselves up after they got wrecked and wrecking them again." In other words, he likes the control he has over fantasy worlds, of his projection into these worlds and characters, and its therapeutic value. 

Thomas's logo for the series. 

When I asked him what he didn't like about writing, he said this: "I don't like the part where I stare at a blank page,and it doesn't write itself for me.  I can't have my computer do a Dumbledore pensieve and pull out DNA strands.  It's the difference between taking a picture and making a scene.  With a picture, it happens and is pretty.  With writing, you have to decide which words to keep after you vomited everywhere.  After you bled and vomited, you have to take a mop and clean it up."  I think we all can understand this.  

Many of us who are aspiring or even practicing writers can relate to Thomas's passion and struggles when it comes to writing.  Be on the look out for ShadowFang, coming soon to a shelf (and click) near you.  Also be watching over the next few days for more interviews with passionate writers.  

Real Tragedy

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I've been blogging about writing more literarily, no matter the genre.  They say write what you know. This advice is never so true as when you're writing about tragedy.  It's important to help the reader care about your character.  One way to do that is to show their heart, what they love and lose.  Jane Eyre is so moving because it starts with her heart, the pain that shaped her.  We love Harry Potter because we see his loss first thing and know something of his pain.  Hamlet tugs at our heartstrings because Shakespeare wastes no time in showing how he lost his father, and the whole play shows him struggling with how to deal with the murder.  Even in less literary works, authors excite sympathy early on, so the reader feels their pain.  We love Batman, Spiderman, and Superman--in part--because these stories begin in parental loss.  The problem comes when an author writes about a character's pain without any understanding the experience.  There's a loss or some other difficulty, which is not realistically handled or feels like it's intended to manipulate the reader without any impact on the character.  If you, as a writer, are going to feature characters dealing with trauma, you need to first seek to understand the effects such a tragedy would have in one's life.

I read a piece that started with child loss, yet this seemed to have no bearing on the rest of the book.  It was just there, like speed bump on the way to an unrelated story.  I've actually lost a child.  That doesn't mean I know what everyone goes through who does, but it does mean I know how much such a loss impacts every day of my life.  I know how much it weighs on the mind, at least, to me.  If the impact in the character's life is not at least that weighty, even if it doesn't  mirror my own in any way, it rings false.  It feels like the author is trivializing my loss.  It hurts, and I don't want to continue a book that treats me like that.

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The same is true of any loss.  If your character lost a parent, siblings, or another loved one, and yet they are totally emotionally disconnected from that loss, why start there?  A reader who has been orphaned or lost a family member will know that such an experience would likely rock a person's world.  If it doesn't, there must be a reason for it.  But unless there is a very compelling reason to feature loss with no emotional impact, it's probably not a good idea.  If the character is trying to avoid thinking about their pain, turns to alcohol or some other self-medicating substance, is working themselves to death to avoid dealing with loss, or is incapacitated by the pain, that can ring true to someone who has done the same or has seen someone else do the same.  It's a fine line, however, between feeling it and spending the whole book whining about it.  That, too, can turn off a reader.

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If you're writing about tragedy you don't understand, haven't researched on a personal and real level or haven't gone through yourself, it's probably a bad idea to go there.  It can do more harm than good.  However, if you're writing about trauma in a real way that somehow reflects lived experience and shows the character dealing with, reeling from, healing from that pain, you're writing a book that can make a real difference in someone's life.  Writing and reading about trauma, whether real or fictional, can help writers and readers heal from their pain.  The writer can share their real or metaphoric voyage from pain to wholeness, and the reader who is experiencing the same kind of pain can feel understood and experience hope for their own healing.  The key is to avoid trivializing someone else's trauma for the sake of a plot or character device.  There must be a sense of authenticity to it.

Look or think over the way you have written about or plan to write about trauma.  How much do you know about the experience of that trauma?  If none, educate yourself.  Find people who can share their experience.  It's not enough to just read the five stages of grief.  More and more experts and regular people have debunked it as unhelpful and untrue of lived experience.  Research, so you know what you're dealing with, or change the story.  Your readers will be thankful you did.