Guest author Steven Barnes: You Are the Axe

Steven Barnes is a NY Times bestselling novelist, life coach, television writer and blogger. You can learn more about his life, work, and teaching, or request a free coaching session at: www.diamondhour.com. His new THE HERO'S JOURNEY: Life Mastery in the 21st Century course for high-energy creative living is available at: www.realherosjourney.com



One of the hardest things to teach a new writer is that we are always our own primary audience. That sales or awards or anything else are entirely secondary to being honest to YOU.

Fine words. Lofty concept. The natural question to ask it: How do I do this and simultaneously build a career?

First, you must develop a set of theories about how human beings operate, what the world is, how we can best live together. What is love? What is worth dying for? How much freedom shall we sacrifice for security, or vice versa?

These questions have plagued philosophers, psychologists, and politicians for generations. I have my own answers to each of these. Some of them are clear, and solid. Others are more flexible and less dogmatic (my dabbling in politics is notoriously likely to be more philosophical than historical in basis.) But still, you must be prepared to defend your positions, because in essence, that is what a story is: a conversation setting out part of your beliefs about the structure of the universe and the nature of humanity.

An example: in my Outer Limits episode "A Stitch In Time" there is a moment when a woman has the opportunity to travel back in time and kill the man who raped her. Executives at the company wanted me to have her walk away, realizing that if she changed her own past in such a fashion, many other women would suffer. I stared at them, and said "It's easy for us to say that. We're all guys." And indeed, there wasn't a woman in the room. "Go home and ask your wives about that one."

I rarely push back hard against television and film folks (after all, they control the checkbook!), but this was a matter of principle. I've dealt with rape victims for decades, and I haven't met one who wouldn't move heaven and earth to go back and change that part of their past. This ties in intimately with my beliefs about the most basic motivations in the human spirit: survival, and a healthy sexual expression. We'll do almost anything to live without fear and dysfunction in these arenas.

Well, the next day those executives returned, looking pretty darned sheepish. To a woman, their wives had agreed with me. They shot it my way. The episode won an Emmy.

I knew what I believed, and what I stood for, and believed that any change in the script to match apparent "story needs" would be dishonest, demeaning, and damaging to the work. All that was required at that point was the courage of my convictions.

I tell my students often: "I'm not asking you to accept my values and beliefs. I want you to develop YOURS. To be prepared to die defending them, because ultimately that is what life is, a daily expression of your deepest values."

Abraham Lincoln supposedly said that if he had four hours to cut down a tree, he'd spend three and a half of them sharpening his axe. It is vital to remember that in the matter of your life, your career, YOU are the axe. Without an accurate perception of humanity, you cannot create characters who live and breathe. Without a constantly maturing and evolving philosophy of life, you cannot understand the interactions of plot and characterization that make good fiction. Without the ability to, in the words of samurai Musashi Miyamoto, "See those things that cannot be seen," you will never match the flow of poetic language and imagery to the subtext of your work. The best you will be able to do is imitate the work of better artists, and that, as a wine connoisseur once said, is as the second pressing of the grape.

The world needs artists. And if you go deeply enough into yourself, the specific transforms into the universal. And those who can touch us, give us perspective on our lives, help us understand the world as it is, not as we hallucinate it to be, will always find an audience. Your career will take care of itself if you first take care of YOUR self. Success belongs to those with the energy, courage and creative flow to grasp it. Begin with yourself.

You are the axe.

If you're interested in a completely free downloadable writing course, I'm offering one at www.diamondhour.com. Come on over!

Steven Barnes

Why Fiction Writers Should Read Nonfiction

In my last post here at Novel Spaces, I argued that fiction writers would benefit from reading about world history, biography, psychology, religion and mythology, technology, grammar, and many other areas of nonfiction. Today, I talk about four areas in which a writer can improve by reading nonfiction.

Mechanics

The most obvious area is mechanics. Most agents and editors stop reading if the first page or two of a manuscript contains spelling and grammar errors, is printed on perfumed pink paper, or describes scenery or backstory. A writer who reads books about writing and studies up on grammar and proper manuscript formatting can avoid basic pitfalls.

Believability

Simple errors of fact can throw readers out of a story and ruin its believability. I’ve read stories in which small colonies on isolated planets have technology that requires deep social infrastructure, wide-ranging trade networks, and workers with specialized skills; stories in which pre-1492 Europeans eat foods native to the New World; and stories in which the demographics of a human society were ludicrously out of whack. Much speculative fiction written before about 1970 is impossible to take seriously because it assumes women are less intelligent, less ambitious, less creative, less varied, and less everything else than men.

A basic knowledge of social, biological, and physical sciences would help a writer avoid such errors. One need not struggle through dull textbooks; magazines such as National Geographic, Psychology Today, and The Smithsonian and children’s books such as those in the Eyewitness Books series can give a writer a good grasp of the nature of people, animals, the Earth, and the universe.

Breadth and Depth

What traits do all humans share? Scientists may argue, but spiritual beliefs, death rituals, music and dancing, tool-making and -decorating, storytelling, social hierarchy, ceremonies to mark important events, standards for proper and improper emotional expression and sexual behavior, and self-decoration are probably among the universals.

Yet how often do we see most of these in speculative fiction. For example, in most societies, spiritual beliefs are essential, and sacred and secular are integrated. Yet religion is absent or a minor element in much speculative fiction. Similarly, furniture and tools are often utilitarian, and the arts often play little or no role in people’s lives. Why do some authors serve up this watery gruel, when most societies are more like minestrone or a robust gumbo? Is the writer unconsciously or lazily using life as depicted on TV as a model? Or—what I fear is more likely—is the writer ignorant both of human universals and of the dizzying diversity of ways in which different societies express them?

A writer who is well read in nonfiction is better equipped to create a fully realized world. Instead of opening a can of soup, the writer will cook a roux until it is golden, sauté an array of ingredients to bring out their flavors, add a long-cooked broth and fresh herbs, and simmer it all until the flavors deepen and meld.

Originality

Originality in writing is an offshoot of its depth and breadth because details make the difference. Many fantasies are set in a stock preindustrial world with a European landscape and a mannered society with a many-leveled hierarchy topped by a monarch. A writer who reads widely can leap free of these stale tropes. Dozens or hundreds of civilizations have risen and fallen in a variety of climates and latitudes. What if you set your story in a jungle? Or African-like steppes? Or the sub-Arctic? What if the society was based on that of the Mayans or the Egyptians or the Hittites or the Javans? What if the political system was a republic or a confederation of villages? Just one tweak on the Tolkienesque opens up new possibilities for characters and sets them new challenges.

I've been abstract, too abstract for my own tastes. So in my next Novel Spaces post, on February 20, I’ll get down to the nitty gritty and talk about a real example: the many topics I read about to write Like Mayflies in a Stream.


Thanks for dropping by.

—Shauna Roberts

Playing It Safe? Not!

It's been a while since I've posted Pynk-style on Novel Spaces, but in honor of my new release that comes out in 45 days, on March 23rd, I thought I'd touch on the subject of the book, which is sex addiction. The title is SEXAHOLICS. There's been a lot of buzz about sex addiction lately - there's a reality show, and tons of celebrity gossip about who is and who isn't addicted. Addictions, be it food, shopping, gambling, alcohol, love, sex, whatever, are very real and can ruin or end folks' lives and the lives of those whose paths they cross.

SEXAHOLICS was a challenge to write - to create four, three-dimensional women with very different backgrounds and lives, who are lust addicts, or sex drunks as I call them, was not an easy task, but I asked for it. It was my bright idea. As writers, the same rules that apply to crafting a story apply no matter what the genre. I put my heart and soul into this novel, and for those who enjoy erotica, it is my desire that this title brings an understanding of what it's like to live with a sex addiction illness. The 12-Steps for Sexaholics Anonymous members include a belief in a power greater than themselves. One Sexaholics Anonymous executive told me you can't recover without faith. Call it what you want, but whatever your religion is or isn't, you must believe in a higher power, or else recovery will allude you and you'll continue to fall of the sobriety wagon.

I look forward to the discussions about addictions in general, mainly as it relates to today’s current events. I posted the question on my FaceBook page recently, "Do you think Tiger Woods is really a sex addict, or is he in a sex rehab clinic (allegedly) for publicity reasons so he'll look like he's healed." Some say if every person who cheated on a spouse was in the public eye, they'd be sending a whole lot of people to rehab for sex, but because Tiger is in a fishbowl, the answer is to get him fixed, when he's no more addicted than any other "married player."

What's your opinion on it? Do you think Tiger's alleged addiction diagnosis is legitimate (and I know this would just be speculation), or did he simply get carried away with his busty bevy of opportunities. I'd love to hear your opinions.

I'm no expert on the subject, but one thing writing does is it requires you to do your research in developing your characters, and the result is that we become much more informed about the world around us, far beyond our own safe little box. And one thing we can't be as writers, whether penning women's fiction, horror, urban, romance, Christian fiction, or erotica . . . is safe when it comes to crafting our works.

Smooches,

xoxo

Reading Your Book – Again and Again (and Again)

I turned in my revised manuscript over the weekend. Hopefully, it will be in galley format when it boomerangs back to me again.

After the initial thrill and huge sense of accomplishment at seeing galleys of my books, the dread factor sets in.

As writers, we know our books inside out at that point. Shout out a page number, and we can tell you exactly what’s on it.

How do you give a story you can almost recite by heart a good final read?

I’ve tried just sitting down and simply reading it, but my memory overrides my eyes and I don’t pick up on errors like I should. Also, (boring childhood background alert!) I started kindergarten reading on a high school level. I was dumb as hell in math so I didn’t skip grades. However, I was placed in all kinds of special reading classes – including speed-reading. So I learned at a young age to read from the center of a sentence outwards instead of from left to right. It’s ingrained now, and I have to force my eyes to read from left to right.

Anyhoo, I give my galleys two error-catching reads.

The first time, I use an index card to block out everything except the line I’m reading. I slowly move through the manuscript with the index card taking it line by line. It keeps me focused on the one line and prevents my eyes from wandering ahead.

The second read is aloud, still using the index card line by line.

I’m always interested in how other writers do things. How do y’all read your galleys?


www.phyllisbourne.com

Taking your goals seriously

Last September I set a personal writing goal of 500 words every weekday and 1000 on weekends. (Okay, I said 200 and 600 publicly, but that was only because I was worried I wouldn't hit 500/1000 and didn't want to set myself up for failure.) However, even though I had a goal, I did not keep track of whether or not I was hitting my target each day. This was stupid. I was sabotaging myself and my efforts to get back on track as a professional writer. Not just because I wasn't holding myself accountable, but because by giving myself permission to not keep track I was telling myself the goal was not that important. If you do not take your goals as a writer -- do not take yourself as a writer -- seriously you will always be someone who wanted to be a writer. Or in my case, someone who was once a writer.

Not surprisingly, while not holding myself to my word count goals, I did not produce as many stories as I had intended. Something had to change.

So beginning January 1, I posted my daily word count on my Live Journal. This has perhaps made my journal a little more dull than usual, but it has definitely made me accountable. It shouldn't need to be said, but the key to accountability is honesty. There were three days in January when I didn't write anything, and I have to admit that on those days I was tempted to "forget" to post my no-word count. But I figure I'm in a staring contest with my own career as a writer, and I'm not going to be the one to blink.

How did I do in January? Better than I'd expected going in. My worst days were of course the zeros, and I also had a couple of days that came in around 200; on twenty of those thirty-one days I wrote fewer than 1000 words. But I also had five uninterrupted hours one Sunday to produce 4900 good words; very close to one thousand words an hour. In total I wrote 32,750 words in January -- call it an average of 1000 words a day.

But producing words means nothing if those words are not the building blocks of a finished product. It might be more meaningful to say that in January I produced two short stories (a 12,900-word science fiction tale that took two weeks and a 2600-word mystery written in a single sitting); four articles of various lengths; two Novel Spaces columns; and the first 9,000 words of a novella that will probably run in the neighborhood of 30,000 words when finished. The completed works have all been submitted to markets.

Goals have to be meaningful and they have to be taken seriously if you are to succeed as a writer.
What are your personal writing goals? And what are you doing to hold yourself accountable?

Thievery is the new black

A couple of weeks ago, I ran across a news special on CNBC about the business side of the (cover your eyes, Mom) porn industry. Porn is big business. I was shocked by some of the statistics, such as a porn movie being made every 39 minutes in America. Not watched, but made. Once taboo, porn has made it into the mainstream, and like every other entertainment industry it’s been hit hard by both the rough patch in the economy and…wait for it…internet piracy.

That’s right. Internet piracy is taking much of the pleasure out of the business of pleasure. The news special drew parallels between what’s happening with porn and what happened with the music industry, but anyone in publishing knows we have our own problems with internet piracy, too.

Here’s my question: When did stealing become the norm?

The Washington Post did a recent article on internet piracy and the publishing industry, and what was most disheartening to me were some of the comments posted by people who felt there was nothing wrong with downloading free books. There are tons of eBay sellers who are selling hundreds of books. I hope I never experience a knife to the gut, but it certainly cannot feel worse than seeing something you slaved over being given away.

With the internet and the emergence of so many new delivery mediums, stealing music, movies, porn and even romance novels has become all too easy.

But just because it’s easy, it doesn’t make it right.

Reading and Writing

I think that one of the best things I ever did as a mom was to teach each of my children to read at a young age. Now, don’t get me wrong: they weren’t little one- or two-year-old phenoms running around reading encyclopedias at one or two years old. But by Kindergarten, they’d passed basic phonics and sight words and were on to simple sentences. And, as I’ve mentioned in a blog before, they all love to read. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.

So, it’s only fitting that I’d be just as disturbed by the rampant illiteracy plaguing our communities. (Visit this site for a few interesting statistics: Interesting literacy statistics)

A few years ago, the nonprofit I was working with (you know, the day job), started an early childhood initiative. It was in those early strategic meetings that I learned stats like children who are behind in school at third grade almost never catch up. That in our modern cutting-edge-obsessed culture, there are those who can’t complete a job application – in store or online – because they’re rudimentary reading skills are too poor.

And, let’s face it. I don’t care how kids shorthand text messages or bastardize the words on their social networking pages. They need to know how to spell those words “for real” if they expect to survive in tomorrow’s brave new world. Apparently they disagree, though. My son showed me one of his Facebook friends’ latest fan page, something to the effect of, “I hate it when you text to somebody old and they make you spell out the whole word.”

Sigh.

Reading has to be more than an “I told you so” or “Because it’s good for you” admonition on our part. As grownups, specifically writers, I think we owe it to those who can’t (or simply won’t) read, to educate and inspire. From a purely selfish perspective, we may be fueling our own fan base at some point.

So, the moral of my blog is a suggestion at best. Latch on to a kid and teach him/her to read. Prepare them for a life filled with word problems, subtitles and great novels. Or find an adult who feels utterly lost, but with enough conviction to know that they need to do better. Support their steps by getting them past the reading levels they’ve yet to conquer.

Detroit Public Schools has launched a reading initiative inviting community members to mentor students. There are myriad literacy organizations desperate for eager volunteers to spend a few hours of week doing what they love – reading, and letting someone else in on the fun. Or find a way to help improve the issue through a method of your own – blogging, hosting an event, lobbying your elected officials, etc.

Here are a couple of starting links. For more, head to your favorite search engine and try words like literacy, tutor, volunteer followed by your city. The people you help will remember you (even if you’re a fuzzy subconscious blur), but more importantly – despite the hurdles you might have to surmount – you’ll feel fuzzy, too. Warm and fuzzy.

Stefanie

www.stefanieworth.com

Romance Writers of America and Literacy

Volunteer Match

National Literacy Coalition

All About Adolescent Literacy

Children’s activities for International Literacy Day (Sept. 8, 2010) from Crayola

International Reading Association