What Kind of Writer Are You: Optimist or Pessimist?

"However great a man's natural talent may be, 

the art of writing cannot be learned all at once." 

~ Jean Jacques Rousseau

There are two responses to this quote...

It Energizes You
When you read Rousseau's quote, there's a loud "YES" rising up from your gut because it validates the writing journey you travel. You know you haven't arrived, but there's still a chance of arriving at your writerly destination.
You, my friend, are a writerly optimist.

It Depresses the Boogie-Woogie Out of You
On the flip side, this quote can knock the air out of some writers. Why? Because some writers (most often those new to the game) want instant publication. They want to know and master all the writing rules right now, and when that doesn't happen, they're frustrated.
This is an example of a writerly pessimist.

Where do you pitch your tent? Can you tell I'm in the energizer bunny camp? 

Character Creation

Yeah, I know. Boring title today. But I didn't want this post to get lost in the shuffle because I think it will be very useful to you.

This week (after I finish critting a buddy of mine's manuscript) I'll set sail on a new manuscript sea. Translation: I need to get to know my new main characters. How exactly does a writer do that? It's not like I can pop over to an imaginary house and visit with the imaginary people. Well, I suppose I could, but it's sure tough to write in a strait jacket. 

So...what's a writer to do? Get to know those character with pen and ink, of course, or via keyboard as the case may be. Here is a sample of a worksheet that I'll fill out for each of my main characters. Feel free to use it next time you create new characters.

Character’s Name

Physical

Age:

Eye Color:                               Hair/Style: 

Basic Body type: 

Scent:

Distinguishing marks: 

Daily Life

Relationships (family, friends, enemies, past or present):

Who was his/her first love?

Job (is he/she good at it? Does he/she like it?):

Dress Style:

Religion/Spiritual Beliefs:

Favorite Pastime:

Favorite Foods:

Habits:

GOAL

Overall Story Goal (What he/she wants):

MOTIVATION

What does she stand to lose? (Why he/she wants it)

CONFLICT

What stands in her way? (This is the big but)

General Temperament:

How Others View This Character:

Opinion of Him/Herself (what kind of character does he/she think he is/what kind of character does he want to be? What keeps him from it, in his opinion):

Flaw (strongest negative personality trait):

By the end of the story, how does this change?

Strength (strongest positive personality trait):

Hates

Loves

Fears (what is your character afraid of? What keeps him/her up at night?)

Dream (if you asked about his/her greatest dream, what would your character tell you?)

Secret from the past

Why will readers like or dislike this character?

Ticking time bomb for this character

Climax/Big Black Moment

	INTERNAL Emotional	EXTERNAL Physical	SPIRITUAL
GOAL What they Want
MOTIVATION Why they Want it
CONFLICT What stands in their Way

You'll notice I spent a fair amount on GMC. Why? Because that's the backbone of your story. Make those items strong and believable, and your tale will ring true in your reader's mind and heart...not to mention a publisher's!

Hitting the Send Button

Yep...and you get to witness it.

Lay vs Lie

Did this dog lay down or lie down? Does anyone else in the world have trouble figuring that one out? 

When to use lay instead of lie, or vise-versa, is a sharp thorn in my writerly side. My misuse of this word is a pain in the behind for my critiquers as well. So this post is actually more for me than my readers, but maybe it will benefit you as well.

The thing that's so tricky about lay and lie is that the past tense of lay is laid, and past tense of lie is lay. Whoever came up with that brilliant idea ought to be boiled in oil.

For all the language geeks out there, here's the technical mechanics of how to use each word...

LAY 
This is a transitive verb, meaning it requires a subject and one or more direct objects.

LIE
This is an intransitive verb, meaning it does NOT need an object.

And just in case that opens up the ol' what's-an-object can of worms:

OBJECT
An object in grammar is part of a sentence and often part of the predicate. It donates somebody or something involved in the subject.

Basically, lay needs an object. Lie doesn't. Let's give this a whirl in present tense, which is the easiest. You LAY something down. People LIE down by themselves.
You lie down on the couch.
You lay the book down on the table. (the book is the direct object)

Easy peasy. It's that stinker of a past tense that throws me over a cliff. Here's a handy dandy little chart that I intend to print out and have tattooed on the back of my hand...

PRESENT TENSE      PAST TENSE             PAST PARTICIPLE

                                                                        (when you’d normally add ‘ed’)

Lie                               Lay                                          Lain

Lay                              Laid                                         Laid

That helpful? How about this...
Lay, laid, laid, laying means to place (for instance, he lays a book on the table).
Lie, lay, lain, lying means to be in the horizontal position (it doesn't require an object).

Or how about this...
Try the "rest/place" test. Substitute a form of lie or lay with a form of rest or place. If a form of rest makes more sense, use a form of lie. If a form of place makes more sense, use a form of lay.
Rest (rested, resting) = lie (lay, lain, lying)
Place (placed, placing) = lay (laid, laid, laying)

So, what about that dog? The dog lies on the ground. And after this mind-twisting post, I think I'll go take a nap as well.

Go For It

Chew on this quote from Seth Godin for awhile...

"I think it comes down to one or the other:  How little can I get away with?  vs  How much can I do?"

Not only does this apply to a successful life, but to becoming a successful writer as well. Don't be afraid to tackle a big writing project. Think of it as a challenge. How large can you write in the respect of playing with words in new ways? What kind of writerly boundaries can you stretch? 

That's what will make your writing stand out from the others.

In the words of Seth Godin once again...Go. Make something happen.

Top 3 Qualities in an Agent

Why is everything in life so uncertain? Just when you think you've got a good thing going...BAM! It's gone.

"For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." James 4:14

I suppose you're wondering what in the world this has to do with writing. Today I am lamenting the sad news that my agent extraordinaire, Barbara Scott, has resigned from WordServe Literary. Don't panic. It's not that I'm agentless, since they'll simply move me to a different agent within the agency. But doggone it...I'll sure miss her. 

Which made me stop and wonder why. I've had 2 agents before and I didn't particularly miss them. What was it about Barbara Scott that made her such a great agent?

The Top 3 Marks of Good Literary Agent
(from a writer's perspective)

Encouraging
If your agent isn't at the top of your cheerleading squad, you should rethink who you've signed with. An agent should believe not only in whatever project you're working on, but most importantly, should believe in you as a person.

Communicative
A good agent should keep you in the loop. You should know where your manuscript has been sent, who's looking at it, and their response/feedback, even if it's a simple "No."

Available
You're writing the last of your magnum opus. It's 10:00 p.m. and you're struggling so pathetically that even your cat is looking at you sideways. This is where a great agent won't mind a call. Note: I didn't say it was 2:00 a.m. and you've awakened them every night for the past week and a half. The point is that a great agent welcomes your plea for hand-holding when you are in dire straits. 

I'm hoping my new agent will be Agent Extraordinaire Take 2. Nah. I hate it when people name their pets the same name and slap a number after the end. I'll come up with a new title after I get to know her a bit, and then I'll introduce her to you, my faithful readers.

Acceptable Authorly Stalking

When choosing new characters for the next manuscript (which is the stage I'm currently in), writers use all kinds of different inspiration for their next hero & heroine...

• People on Pinterest
• Movie stars
• Characters from other books
• Someone in a magazine

But for my next book, Moore's Maiden, I'm not inspired by any of these. I've got some real-life inspiration who is staying at my house this week. Meet Jennifer Arocha who, in the fertile valley of my mind, is becoming my new heroine Johanna Langley. Yes, she's even more beautiful in person. If dreams come true, my future publisher will do a photo shoot and use her for the cover art.

Okay, back to reality. 

If and when you choose a living/breathing person as one of your new characters, don't go all creepy-stalker on them. Let them know ahead of time, so that when you are watching their mannerisms, you don't freak out your subject. More often than not, they'll be honored that you've chosen them to be the model for your new character.

Even if you're not currently in the picking-new-characters stage, if you see an interesting and/or beautiful face, start a file and keep it there (either on-line or physical). Next time you are crafting a fresh story, you'll have a head-start.