The 4 Attributes of a writer

Patience, perseverance, enthusiasm and a firm determination to reach the goal are necessary not just for writers, but for success in any field. For writers patience is needed in abundance: as from the time a story is conceived in our minds to the time the final manuscript is ready to journey to the various publishing houses and editors, it can be anything from a few months to several years.

Its patience that sees us plough through draft after draft, rewrite and revise until our fingers become numb, chisel every extra word and polish until the manuscript sparkles. 

Perseverance is what sees writers seek publishing year after year even after the rejections pile up. We know deep down that it’s just a matter of time before we write that breakthrough story/novel that will propel our manuscripts to the top of the pile and make people in position notice us.  

            

We just cannot sustain a writing life without enthusiasm for our stories, characters and plots. Even when we would rather catch up with all our other activities, enjoy the freedom that other people have, we greet the errant muse with enthusiasm when he drops in unexpectedly at the ungodly hour of 3.a.m, when the rest of the world is safely ensconced in their snug blankets. Better an untimely muse than no muse!

Its enthusiasm that sees us working at our laptops to add more words to our ever growing story. Enthusiasm sustains us during those times when criticism stalks us at every step. We know that writing is our passion and as long as there are some people who like what we have written, we will be enthusiastic enough to write more for them.

What finally sees us arrive safely at the top of the summit (read bag a publishing contract) is a firm determination to reach the goal. Determination is what I consider inner strength, where we want to see our stories reach out to people and make a difference in their lives.

 What really helps is visualizing our goals: seeing us holding our published books in our hands strengthens our resolve to make our dreams come true.

Do these four traits constantly surround you? What else motivates you to keep typing when the rejection slips pile up and criticism and rejection walk toward us? Have these four traits deserted you at any time? What have you done then? How have you got them back?      

Scribblers or God’s of our Universe

I always feel that we writers can be called Gods of our writing universe. Have you ever thought that we writers get to play God with our literary characters. We hold the strings of their destinies in our hands. 

We have the power to breathe life into characters and bring them to life with the stroke of a pen, or, with the tap of a few keys. We are privy to all their secrets. We also have the means of ridding them of their problems quickly, or tormenting  them for several chapters or even killing them.

In our writing universe we can do everything that we cannot do in the real world. Would we create problems in someone’s life like we do with relish in our protagonist’s life? I don’t think so. Do you think any of us can be accused of manipulating people in real life, in the way we manipulate all our characters? God forbid. None of us have a single mean bone in our bodies.

When we write, we become meanies. We shove aside our guilt conscious, and trouble and torture our characters mercilessly. The more we torture them, the higher the stakes rise. To make our characters believable we add heavy doses of problems in their lives. We try to create realistic worlds, create believable protagonists, add loathable antagonists, generously add conflicts of all kinds, and finally resolve it to universal appeal.

Deep down quite a few of our characters reflect our secret desires and passions. Even the not so nice ones. Can you believe it, I am actually jotting down ways I can make my protagonist get into more trouble. I am ensuring that there is trouble brewing in every chapter.    

                

Are we writers closet control freaks? Is that one of the main appeals of writing? To be in complete control of every aspect of our character’s life?  Or, do we love to create new worlds, new situations and new people? What aspect of writing appeals to you all the most? Do you like playing God with your characters? I would love to know.

Have you ever fallen in love with your Main Character?

I can confidently say that I am in love with all the characters I have created: Leo the  brave lion who goes in pursuit of his dream, Bunny the grumpy baby rabbit who hates his name, Nina the notorious prankster and Rahul the wimp who becomes a Soreiquil (a human with a piece of a Zespirit’s soul inside him). As writers its but natural that we fall in love with all the characters we have created.

All the above characters I have created have been for the Middle Grade readers (ages 9 to 14 years). But Devon (the half-blood devil) one of the protagonists of my half-blood angel and devil YA book, is my first brush with an older hero.

Though I am still in the first draft mode (courtesy the virus) which derailed me by a few days and played havoc with my mind, I am currently in the process of getting to know Devon. I am not sure whether I have deliberately or sub-consciously given Devon all the traits (both physical and emotional) that I find appealing in a boy/man.

There are certain qualities that I just flip for: strength of character, loyalty, honesty, sense of humour, the ability to chase one’s dreams until they are fulfilled, the guts to stand for one’s rights and the need for justice and a desire to protect the honour of a lady. Throw in good looks and a body to die for and you will have me swooning like a teenager.

Devon, my protagonist has all these qualities in abundance. Though he is a cynical guy, who does not believe in love, he cherishes friendships and is always quick to return favours. As I am wading deeper and deeper into the story, I feel a certain bias towards Devon more than Annabell, the half-blood angel pitted against him. It will be with a heavy heart that I will put Devon into trouble and pile problems into his life.

Have you ever felt that strong a love or connection with a character you have created? I hope my falling in love with my male protagonist will not jeopardize his journey in my book. I hope I will be able to do justice to him and not make things easy for him because of my affection for him. Any tips for me about distancing myself from my main characters?

Several ways to create unusual plot lines

Someone told me that there are just five types of plots: a love story, the battle of good versus evil, a revenge saga, a quest and a journey into the unknown, and almost all the stories ever written fall heavily into one of these types. When we ponder the above statement, we can definitely agree. Almost every story we have read embraces one of these plot lines.

Some stories flirt with just a single plot line while others hug more than a few in a single story. The more plot types the better the reader interest.

I feel there are certain motifs or patterns that tend to recur in one form or another throughout world literature. Below, I have listed a number of the most identifiable ones.

The Battle with the Monster.

The Quest.

The Voyage and the Return Home.

The Hero hidden as the Monster.

The Divided Self.

The Engagement with the Dark Power

The Fatal Flaw.

The Journey from Rags to Riches.

The Voyage to the Underworld.

The Battle between Good and Evil.

A Love Story.

The Revenge Drama.

Adventure Stories.

Weakling turned into Superhero.

The Chase.

Entry into a New World.

Encounter with a Strange Creature.

One  Man Against Society.

One Apart

The hallmark of a good story teller is when  more than one of the plot types are incorporated into a single story in a seamless way. So far I don’t think I have consciously done that. I have always relied heavily on one kind of a plot. Many writers combine several types of plots and create a new plot or play upon a plot line by giving it a modern twist.

 Can you think of more plot patterns? What kind of a plot pattern does your book fall into? Do any stories with several plot lines come to your mind? How do you tackle your own plots? We would love to hear your views.

Guest Post with Writer Shelley Souza

Today's guest post is by a writing friend of mine, who I met online. Shelley  Souza and I met on Face Book’s closed Group for writers called Warrior Chat. Shelley is ever ready to help other writers hone their craft and write the best story they can write, with her insightful advice and tips. 

BIO- Shelley Souza received a Master of Fine Arts in directing from U.C. Irvine and spent over two decades developing and staging new plays by established and emerging playwrights. She authored hundreds of articles on new technology (which she loves) and ghostwrote four non-fiction books for clients of an independent publisher. She is a member of the Authors Guild and SCBWI

Shelley’s Guest Post

I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I decided to be a writer when I was around seven and for a while believed I wanted to write plays. As it turned out, I did go into theatre but as a director. One thing I learned in theatre is that act breaks are artificial. They allow for scenery changes and for the audience to go to the bathroom. The present trend of applying this artificial construct to novel writing seriously messed with my head as a writer! For a long time I could not visualize constructing a plot to fit the three-act structure, no matter how many books on the method I read. Eventually, I managed to get something to click but it didn’t help me to figure out the story. Because the three-act structure is concerned with more artificial constructs that also belong to plays: an inciting incident, a first plot twist, a second plot twist, a climax, a reversal, and so on. I was about to throw in the towel on novel writing when I became unwell.

During my illness I didn’t have the energy to read or to write. What little strength I had was spent on watching clips of J.K. Rowling. Two things stood out: her belief in her ability to tell a story and her belief in the story she was telling (Harry Potter). I began to question my reason for writing the story I was working on and discovered I didn’t really believe in it, the way J.K. Rowling was speaking of belief. I started asking myself why, when I was a child, I never tired of opening a new book. What I discovered was surprising beyond belief.

I put aside the story I had been working on—even though many writer friends and my writing coach at the time loved the main character—and began working on a story I would have loved when I was young and that I would love to read today. It meant abandoning everything I had been told a story should contain (and not contain). It meant trusting myself in a way I never had. Trusting what I already knew about myself: I was a reader and a writer. Therefore, everything I needed to know about story was already inside me. I didn’t need anyone else’s rules to tell me how to write my story.

For the first time in my life as a writer, every day, I wake up and I am excited to write. Not my story, I’m not yet close to writing the narrative, but the internal logical of the characters and their reason for being in this story and not another.

The best distinction I read recently (by an amazon reviewer of a Harry Potter film) was this: “plot is what happens to the characters; story is what happens AS A RESULT OF the characters.” I’m a story, not a plot, writer. What kind of writer are you?

Shelley's Tumblr Blog- http://shelleysouza.tumblr.com/ 

Thank you, Shelley, for generously sharing with us what you have learned in your writing journey.

Getting the Writer Noticed Before the Book is Published

I have already done a post on giving our books visibility,  refer to post  Effective Marketing Strategy to Give  Books Visibility. But there are a lot of writers who are unpublished. This post will cover the points on giving a writer visibility, though I prefer to call them aspiring authors rather than struggling writers.

 As writers there are many ways we can ensure that atleast some people are familiar with our names before our books are published.

                                           

    1.  In India most writers take the newspaper route: we (including me) start our writing careers by  contributing to newspapers and magazines that accept freelancers. This is one of the best ways to get visibility: contributing regular features, articles  and short stories ensures that we write often, our regular bylines make many people familiar with our names and ofcourse  when a cheque arrives in the mail it’s a wonderful feeling and seeing our work in print is sheer joy. All the newspapers and magazines accept email submissions. I have noticed  that few regular contributors have ended up with columns.

2.      Participating in short  story, poetry, haiku and flash fiction competitions is a    

      wonderful  way to get noticed. Even if the writer does not win the top prizes, 

      but gets just a special mention or  comes in the top ten, editors,   

      publishers and agents  take notice. I have seen several writers who win

      prizes, bag  book deals from publishers. Nowadays there are several online

      writing  competitions  that one can join without worrying about postal

      issues. Many don’t even have an entry fee and one can submit from any part

      of the world.

 3.  Starting a Blog is  one of the best ways of expressing oneself and building

      relationships  with other writers and learning and sharing knowledge, all

      from the comfort of our homes. I have read that many editors and agents  
     ( in India we don't  have agents) search for an  online presence for the writers
      whose manuscript lands in their  inbox. And of course it’s an amazing platform
      and hones our writing skills.

4.  Building a Website is one of the best thing writers and authors can do.

     Though I have been toying with that idea I am not sure I will go for that right

      now. Writers can even put up samples of their previously published
      work for editors, agents and publishers to go through. But, don't ever make the
      mistake of  putting anything from unpublished books or stories. As once its
      read  no one will be interested in publishing it. Both the blog and the website
      looks good in the Writer/Author bio.

5.  Almost all publishers bring out anthologies where several writers (yes even

     unpublished writers are invited) and authors are  asked to contribute a story:

     sometimes based on a theme. If the publisher is big then this turns out to be a

     prestigious thing to mention in the bio. I have been a part of several Penguin

     Anthologies. Many times writers  contributing in anthologies  are offered      

     book deals or commissioned to write on different  topics by  publishers.

6.  Contributing articles in prestigious Journals that have a reputation in the 

     literary world is a wonderful way to get noticed. Such mentions in our bios   

     do make the agent and editor sit up  and take notice. To write a book takes a

      long time, so if in the interim a few publishing credits roll out it’s a good thing.

Do you think its important  for writers to get noticed even before their books are published? What are all the things you are doing to get yourself visibility? What do you all  think writers should do to get noticed. Please share. It will be of great help to everyone.

The Lonely Life of an Indian Writer

I am sometimes envious, sometimes jealous of all my writing friends abroad, especially the American ones as I am more in contact with them. No offence meant writing friends, you guys have been amazing, generous and have accepted me whole heartedly in your fold.

Why am I  envious of them? Let me tell  you all a small secret. In my last post ‘How Much Criticism to Take?’ I have written about Critique Groups, Beta Readers, and Agents. I have learnt about these from all my blogging friends. I had no prior information about any of these except agents.

In India as far as I know none of us (writers ) belong to any Critique Group who meet regularly. We are bereft of the insights offered by members of a Critique Group( people who are traveling the same road as us). The first time I heard about a Critique Group was from my  mentor and writing friend Lia Keyes. She asked me during a late night chat if I belonged to any such group. Until then I was not even aware of it.

Well, as for Beta Readers, I had not heard of them until Robyn Campbell mentioned them during one of our frequent chats. If you ask me who gets to read my manuscript first, I would say no one. The first person to read it is the editor of the publishing house I send the manuscript to. If my manuscript sucks then it’s the editor who tells me that.

I don’t think any of my writing friends in India belong to any society for writers. Another writing friend Elizabeth Varadan has been constantly urging me to join SCBWI. I beg forgiveness for being ignorant about this society that has jumpstarted the careers of several writers. It was Elizabeth who sent me the contact number of the Indian chapter of this society! I had no clue about this society’s presence in India, so did the other writers I spoke to.

As we send our manuscripts directly to publishing houses in India due to lack of agents, I have learnt a lot about them from my writing friends abroad. Lia Keyes and Birgitte Necessary have generously volunteered to Critique my work ( synopsis).

From the moment I have started blogging, the stony path of the writing life has become less lonely and more pleasant. I have picked several sweet companions along the way: Anne, Jody, Lydia, and Victoria who leave such encouraging comments that I am inspired to blog more frequently. I have shamelessly lapped up all that they have generously shared in their blogs. From time management to synopsis writing. From contests to agent information. I am waiting to share all this information with my writing friends in India.

My non writing friends in India too have been extremely generous and supportive: Anitha, Pallavi, Heera, Bharathi, Padma and Pradeep constantly urge me to give my best.

Love and hugs to each and every one of you who has supported me.

Thanks to all of you wonderful friends, we(writers) have decided to start our own Critique Group in Bangalore. As of now its all in the discussion stage. Let’s hope people join.

Are you grateful to someone who has walked alongside you in your writing journey? Who has eased the loneliness? Is there someone you want to thank?

Scribblers, or Gods of our Universe?!

Are we just Scribblers (penning stories) or, are we Gods of our Universe. As writers we get to play God with our literary characters. We become something akin to their Destiny Makers. We have the ability to bring them to throbbing life, or kill them with one stroke of a pen, or, with the click of few keys. We have the means of ridding them of their problems quickly, or tormenting them for several chapters.

In the literary world we can do everything that we cannot do in our real world. Would we create problems in someone’s life like we do with relish in our protagonist’s life? God forbid. No. Never. Would we ever be accused of manipulating people in real life, in the way we manipulate all our characters? Again the answer would be no. But when we write we keep aside our guilt conscious, and trouble and torture our characters mercilessly. At times with glee. The more problems we add in their lives the more believable the character becomes. A case of the Written Life emulating the Real Life.

As scribblers we give full rein to all our fantasies, create make believe worlds, people the world with believable protagonists, add loathable antagonists, generously add conflicts of all kinds, and finally resolve it to universal appeal.

As writers we have complete control of the destinies of each and every character we create, not just the main. We set the stage for the entry and exit of all the people who have initially resided in our imaginations. In real life more often than not we are helpless.

Have you noticed that the lack of influence we have over the people in our lives: family; parents, spouse, siblings, children, and friends doesn’t trouble us during writing? Our characters unlike our family and friends cannot call us interfering busybodies or control freaks when we meddle with their lives. Writing is the only time we are in complete control (provided the muse is co-operating, and distractions that deter us from writing are at bay, and we get uninterrupted writing time).

In our literary worlds characters are created with impunity, they are shown the door unceremoniously, flying on the wings of imagination our characters indulge in activities that we would never dare to do! Deep down most of our characters reflect our secret desires and passions. Sometimes I think even the not so nice ones.

Our characters are puppets that we manipulate to put on a wonderful performance that will leave the readers asking for more.

Are we writers closet control freaks? Is that one of the main appeals of writing? To be in complete control of every aspect of our character’s life? Or, do we love to create new worlds, new situations and new people? What aspect of writing appeals to you all the most? I would love to know.

My Mentor and Writing Friend/s

One of the most generous women I have ever come across, after my spiritual master Amma and my mother, is Lia Keyes. She's a British fantasy writer now living in California, but that's not all. She's also the founder of Scribblerati, the social network for writers and illustrators, and the host of #Scribechat, the weekly chat for writers on Twitter.

I had the pleasure of befriending Lia when I joined the fan page of Scribblerati on Facebook. One thing led to another and Lia and I settled into a close friendship cemented by our love of the written word. We often discuss my WIP during our late nights chats when our time zones coincide. I am not sure whether Lia has adopted me as her protégé, or, whether I have adopted her as my mentor.

Lia has always been quick to rush to my help: whether it's to help me set up a blog to get global exposure, give me tips on blogging and blogging etiquette, sending me links that are every writer’s dream, or urging me to search for an agent.

Not just me, I have seen that Lia is absolutely selfless when it comes to promoting other writers and illustrators. Every member of Scribblerati is welcomed with a personalized message that shows that Lia has taken the trouble to read the author or illustrator’s bio.

At times I have struggled and my frustration has built up when I have been unable to manage time efficiently. Several times I have sacrificed things that I had earlier yearned for, with the excuse that there is no time. I have been curt and abrupt with family and close friends at their encroachment on my writing time. But Lia has always been Ms Sunshine, ever ready to help with the reasoning that a writer’s life is hard enough, so it’s nice to share knowledge gained.

Blogging, hosting #Scribechat, administrating Scribblerati (both the original site and the official fan page on FB) as well as working on her work-in-progress, A Warning To The Curious, this amazing lady has so many balls in the air, yet she still manages to find time to guide and advise writers all over the world.

Lady, do you have a Time Turner? Does your day have 48 hours? Are there two of you to accomplish everything?

The journey of a writer is difficult: more often uphill than anything else, the path is paved with thorns and boulders, and in this scenario having generous writing friends is a huge blessing. Their words of wisdom and encouragement are like an oasis in a desert.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Lia, and my other two long distance writing friends, or, should I say cyber friends, or, better still Blogging Buddies: Elizabeth Varadan and Robyn Campbell. Both these charming ladies are following Lia’s footsteps, trying to ease my writing journey and hasten my destination.

Has there been someone in your writing journey who has tried to smooth the rough path for you? Who has understood your emotional turbulences created by problems with Work in Progress? I would love to know.

Join Scribblerati @ http://liakeyes.ning.com/
Read Lia's Blog @ http://www.liakeyes.com/