Does the Author's Trauma Belong to Them?

First and foremost: personal trauma is not something to be taken lightly. Feelings are valid and real people experience real things and that needs to be treated with respect.

Now…does that trauma belong to your characters, tho?

Have you ever read something fictional and known that the author is unpacking some serious shit?Realistically, unless you work on rough manuscripts, this is a no. (Editors and Agents are the people who get to help you figure out where those boundaries are and how close you actually want to keep the reader.)

Many people use writing as an escape or way to process. There is a lot of relief and healing that can come from getting your trauma and/or feelings out on the page. But that isn’t, when discussing fiction, what usually ends up on the page.

We want to write the words good, and we want to write the words good so the reader will care. But it is crucial to leave room for the reader in this space. There are infinite ways to pump up your voice and narrative style…but your readers gravitate to characters they can see themselves in. They need to resonate, feel real, and want. When dealing with trauma, that isn’t offered the luxury of a fictional world to breathe in, want is hard to articulate.

Unreliable narrators are one of my personal favorites when reading about characters who have suffered and survived, but is there room for my processing? Did the author fill that character up with their own therapy to the point that the reader doesn’t have any where to fill in the blank spaces? This is not something that needs to be stressed over for the first draft or so…get it out, then refine it.

I attended a book event recently for Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey. One of the most compelling questions that was asked was what motivated the author to make specific choices regarding their character's past and related trauma. They were frank about how certain elements of the story drew from their personal experiences and others didn't. But each was approached from her character’s lens and not their personal one…what would your character do…not what would you do…

Build a Foundation

When embarking on a project, things don't always go as planned. I have reached and, hopefully overcome, the first of these speed bumps. Chapter one, yes chapter one, wasn't working right. A kind and intuitive read and critique group offered me criticism that both identified what was wrong and shed some light on what was off about it. But what happens when the foundation of something is unstable? Well, I was paralyzed. Unable to move past the first few sentences of chapter three was a huge hit to my ego. I've written this before. I know what happens next. I know who I want these characters to be.

Instinctually, I knew that my foundation was broken, so I talked about. I talked to writer friend about what I wanted to have happen in chapter 3, but didn't have a clear set-up for. She offered priceless advice…move the action up! I forget sometimes that the first chapter has so much work to do. Another friend told me that the first chapter will get revised and rewritten more than any other…make it count. Those moments of action, hints of conflict, drops of foreshadowing that make it more fun to write also make it more fun to read. Just because setting details, character details, plot details, and world building details need to be included doesn't mean they can't be subtle and artfully woven into the action. This is hard work…don't let anyone tell you otherwise. But if you get the chance to read it out loud to people who don't inherently love you…you will be a better writer for it! And if you need help finding those people, I can help.

Empty Cup

There are rare times where I can force myself to write. Right now is not one of those times.

Have you ever felt driven to tell a story but struggle to find the way to tell it? It is in this space that I have lived for the last week. A week…not a long time…sure, but it is those 7 days of lost storytelling that I struggle with.

I spoke to a friend (and mentor) about this, about the time I started to feel the lull come on. She told me to fill my cup. I have heard this many times regarding my mental health but rarely with “creative” endeavors. I embraced reading, ferociously. It was easy to glide through 200 plus pages a day and loved every page of it.

And…you know what I found? Answers.

I found answers to questions I had been asking myself. I found paths out from the corner I was trapped in. I found large swaths of land I hadn’t even considered surveying before.

This is not true for all writers, but I cannot write from an empty cup.

If you find yourself stuck in a place where there is no way out…find that book, television show, or movie you love and shamelessly indulge. Your brain will thank you with kernels and bread crumbs you can follow to find your way out.

Back on Track

All writers ebb and flow through their craft. I am currently working on rewriting a NaNo manuscript originally written in 2013. This is a project to say the least. I have spent years away from this piece, but it has never left my mind. A few years ago, at a writer’s conference, I had a revelation: the protagonist needs a huge shift. I decided to age her up by at least 10 years. Without any real indication of what other changes will need to be made…I’m digging in.

So…what do you do when a book needs a complete rewrite? Well, I’m starting one chapter at a time. Outlining the actual plot points and examining the perspective of the protagonist and how everyone else functions in their own right and to aid her character growth.

By deciding to scrap (for now) a prologue written in 2015, I know a bit more about how the world works from writing it. But will need to inject those world building pieces because that depth is crucial in fantasy novels.

Stay tuned for other revelations that come from completely pulling apart my first ever novel!

What Do You Think You Wrote?

I've written a novel. I've edited a novel. These are different crafts. I have learned that the best tool for an editor is the writer's knowledge. 

I asked a writer, for a project I'm working on, what they thought they wrote. What I got from the first pass...was not what he thought he wrote.

As a writer, be open to the fact that your editor can't read your mind (it is better that way). They don't know what you thought, or want, to write. 

The moments it took me to read through the short decription I received from such a simple question, clarified everything that I had read.

I was immediately able to see what the writer was trying to do. I became excited  (and jotted down pages of notes) on how to advise a loosening here, a tightening there. 

Bringing the threads of a story together takes time and teamwork. But what is going on in that authors brain...one of the most valuable piece of any story because it is never all on the page in the first, second, even third draft. 

NaNoWriMo

This month, I give up my self-editing side and jump in the deep end. You can too.

Force the self-doubt out and write. Write. Write. Write.

Now is the time!

Join me on this journey and if you want a helping hand on January 1st (December is for writing detox and Assassin's Creed Origins). Check that contact page and let me know. We can get through the editing stage together!

Be Confident

I was working on a piece recently and quickly spiraled into my own self-doubt.  When working on a creative project it is easy to fall into the "who am I to tell this story" hole or "who am I to step in and tell someone how to tell this story" hole.

There is ego to consider on both sides. When you believe in something real and then dedicate time, energy, and sleepless nights to it, there is ego. That is okay and that is ideal. If there is no ego involved there is nothing pushing you to finish or work on a project. You have to believe in yourself enough to take on the task of putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. If there was no ego, there would be no piece. Those characters, lands, tales, and spirits stay cloistered in the cave that is YOUR brain. But, capital "E," Ego can be what cripples a project in the time of revision.

For most of us we need some check of that Ego. When working to make a piece the best it can be it is crucial to check the Ego at the door. But that is necessary for the editor, too. Editors must work with pieces that have, clearly, had their heart and soul borrowed, if not stolen for a time, from their creator. It is a daunting task to tell that creator that you think it would be better with cuts or development of characters quickly passed by in the initial draft. The last decision, for most of us, hopefully, falls in the hands of the author. As an editor, this can hurt. As a writer, this can easily inflate the ego. Checks and balances must be accommodated for and that fine line can easily be crossed when working with the wrong editor.

Control

Control. We all fight with it, in some fashion or another, everyday. This doesn't change when you decide to be a writer or editor. Creative freedom is one of the beautiful parts about embracing the arts in your life. You can approach a project with as much, or little, control as you feel like. But what happens when you create something beautiful and insightful without any reigns? If you want to keep it in a drawer and only share it with your closest friends who may or may not pick it up....nothing happens. That piece will stay in that drawer..

Wait, you want to take that work out of the drawer? You wrote a piece and kept your characters on a loose leash and now they want to leave the drawer you stuffed them in? Awesome! This is an amazing feeling. And, yes, by amazing I mean terrifying, thrilling, intimidating, inspiring, and illuminating. This is where the control comes in. How do you take the work out of the drawer with out losing control of your characters' leashes?

Or, perhaps, you are blessed with the control and discipline that others lack. Good for you! Do you tell your characters what to say and where to go? There is no straying from the established path. That manuscript has never been in a drawer. It has been on your desktop with pages and pages being added daily. But now it is time to take it into the next phase. It is time to make sure there aren't any typos, misplaced commas, or incorrectly correctly spelled words. This is just good protocol. It is probably easier to find an editor for the disciplined piece that only needs a fine tuning, but do these pieces exist? I'm not sure they do.

Control is a matter of perspective. Control is a matter of preference. It is critical to find an editing partner that can work in the realm of control that is needed for the piece. Each manuscript is different. Each manuscript needs a different kind of care and control. If you are looking for an editor, talk to different ones, tell them how you control your characters, tell them how controlled you want the finished manuscript to be. There is a fine balance between out of control writing and out of control characters written with intention. Make sure your editor understands that AND is flexible enough to work with you on it.

Control can be hard to balance with creative freedom, editors are here to help.