Writers, do you have a plan for 2015? Here are some ideas to get you going!

In addition to beginning a new year, I've begun a new chapter in my journey as a writer. I'm a published novelist now. I have a book to market and sell. I have readers asking for the sequel. I have a plethora of other, independent writing projects waiting to be completed.

All of that is good stuff.

None of that is going to get done without a plan.

So for the last couple of weeks, I've been doing a lot of thinking (and praying!) about how and what to plan for my writing in 2015, and I thought that sharing some of what I've been discovering and/or pondering might be helpful or encouraging to you all as well.

As they say, failing to plan is planning to fail. And I know, I know, we artsy writer types aren't too fond of planning, preferring instead to "let the spirit move," "wait for inspiration to strike," or find some other excuse of the like to use. Because yes, those are excuses.
Now, before you get all up in arms and start insisting that a writer can't possibly write without inspiration, let me explain what I mean.
In the first place, don't worry, I'm a writer too and I know perfectly well that it is truly impossible to write without inspiration. That is a fact.
But the idea that somehow sitting around and waiting long enough will lure inspiration to us, to pounce on us from behind, is a myth. Sometimes we have to go out and hunt inspiration down. It's completely doable. It's fun. And more importantly, it works--especially when you have a plan.

1. The first thing you have to do is set a clear, simple goal. The "clear and simple" part is key.

"To figure out and coordinate the long-term, overall theme of my writing as seen collectively through the individual themes of my unique projects and use that connecting theme to discover, develop, and market my personal brand as an author" is NOT a simple or clear goal. Try to break that down into a doable step-by-step process that includes goal dates. Not happenin'.

On the other hand,
"Finish the first draft of my novel" and "Write new short stories" are clear, simple goals, goals that are doable and step-by-step break-downable.

2. Know why your goals are important.

"Publisher X is accepting query letters through _____ date, but they require that the writer have a completed manuscript when they submit."
"Publishing new, high-quality short stories frequently will help keep my name and writing fresh in the minds of readers who may one day want to buy my novel."
"Writing new material while editing a large project will help keep my creativity active."
"Practice makes perfect."
"I need to finish what I start and see my writing projects through to the end."

These are all good, clear, concise reasons, and there are plenty more. Figure out what yours are.

3. Be specific with your goals.

"Finish the first draft of my novel by the end of June."
"Write twelve short stories this year."
"Write (that story, the one you have the idea for but haven't done anything with) by _____ date."

Those are specific, and setting a date can be a great way to keep yourself from getting lazy and indifferent.

4. Be reasonable, and know your own limitations.

Remember a few months ago when I decided to attempt NaNoWriMo while going through the final stages of publishing Song of the Wren-Falcon? That was NOT a reasonable goal.
Attempting to finish editing the second draft of one novel while writing the first draft of another while submitting a short story a week to magazines and anthologies while holding down a day job is not a reasonable goal (unless you're SuperWriter, in which case please email me about writing some guest posts for The Writer's Lair in your spare time).
Don't try to be SuperWriter, but at the same time, don't be too easy on yourself. A goal that is too easy to meet, or a deadline that is too far away can make it very tempting to get lazy and start down the slippery slope of procrastination.

5. Don't freak when life happens.

A loved one ends up in the hospital for an extended period of time.
One of your family members comes home with (insert contagious ailment) and unleashes an epidemic on your household.
(Insert natural disaster of choice.)
You discover that you aren't actually SuperWriter after all, and you've set an unreasonable goal for yourself.
The septic tank backs up into your basement.

It's life. It happens. No one reasonable is going to fault you if it takes you away from writing for a while. It doesn't make you any less dedicated, or any less a writer. It just means that you're a human and you have your priorities straight.

6. Follow through.

Plan some kind of reward for yourself when you achieve your goal. It doesn't have to be huge or outlandish; it can be as simple as taking a day trip with your family to someplace fun, spending an entire day reading in your pajamas, or treating yourself to frozen custard. Just make it something you enjoy and can look forward to.
Get an accountability partner. Another writer is preferable since you can return the favor by keeping them accountable and encouraging them to achieve their own goals, but really it can be anyone. Your mom, your best friend, your spouse, anyone. Ask them to ask you periodically whether you've been spending time working on your goals, whether you're focusing on the projects you should be focusing on.

7. Don't forget that writing is fun.

Seriously, I can't stress how important this is. I love every aspect of writing--seriously, every single aspect of it. It's what I do for fun; it's how I unwind; it's how I have adventures; it's how I express the truths that matter to me. But if I'm not careful, I can get so bogged down in goals that writing loses its enjoyability. Remember why you like writing. Treat yourself to writing something fun. Pick a random writing prompt off of Pinterest and go with it for an afternoon. Throw your favorite character into some ridiculous situation and help them figure their way out of it.

Remind yourself that you're doing this because you love it.

~*~*~*~*~

What are your writing goals this year? What is your plan for achieving them? What aspects of organizing your writing do you struggle with?
Any advice or tips you've learned that you want to share?

Also, be sure to stick around for my next post on how to actually go about hunting down inspiration when it seems a bit elusive!

Interview at The Dreaming Hobbit

Hey, all! Just thought I'd let you know that my dear friend and fellow spec-fic writer Emily Tjaden has been gracious enough to interview me about my writing in general and Song of the Wren-Falcon in particular.
Click Here to visit her blog, The Dreaming Hobbit, and read the interview!

The Case for Good Taste in Children's Books

This post is a reprint from the July/August 2013 issue of Imprimis, a speech digest publication of Hillsdale College. The article was adapted from a speech delivered on March 12, 2013, by Meghan Cox Gurdon, Children’s book reviewer for The Wall Street Journal. I don’t usually do reprints as blog posts, but this was just so stellar that I couldn’t resist. In my opinion, every writer should read this. It’s that good.

**Warning** This article does contain some very mature content related to very dark and, in some cases, graphic and obscene subject matter, which I have reprinted uncut. I assure you, I would not do so if I didn’t believe the point it makes is worth it. Any of my readers under eighteen may want to let their parents preview the post. You won’t hurt my feelings if you choose to skip this one, I promise.

~Mary

…

“The Case for Good Taste in Children’s Books”

By Meghan Cox Gurdon

On June 4, 2011, the number one trending topic on Twitter was the Anthony Weiner scandal. I happen to remember that, because the number two topic on Twitter that day—almost as frenzied, though a lot less humorous—had to do with an outrageous, intolerable attack on Young Adult literature… by me. Entitled “Darkness Too Visible,” my article discussed the increasingly dark current that runs through books classified as YA, for Young Adults—books aimed at readers between 12 and 18 years of age—a subset that has, in the four decades since Young Adult became a distinct category in fiction, become increasingly more lurid, grotesque, profane, sexual, and ugly.

Books show us the world, and in that sense, too many books for adolescents act like funhouse mirrors, reflecting hideously distorted portrayals of life. Those of us who have grown up understand that the teen years can be fraught and turbulent—and for some kids, very unhappy—but at the same time we know that in the arc of human life, these years are brief. Today, too many novels for teenagers are long on the turbulence and short on a sense of perspective. Nor does it help that the narrative style that dominates Young Adult books is the first person tense—“I, I, I,” and “now, now, now.” Writers use this device to create a feeling of urgency, to show solidarity with the reader and to make the reader feel that he or she is occupying the persona of the narrator. The trouble is that the first person present tense also erects a kind of verbal presin, keeping young readers in the turmoil of the moment just as their hormones tend to do. This narrative style reinforces the blinkers teenagers often seem to be wearing, rather than drawing them out and into the open. The late critic Hilton Kramer was seated once at a dinner next to film director Woody Allen. Allen asked him if he felt embarrassed when he met people socially whom he’d savaged in print. “No,” Kramer said, “they’re the ones who made the bad art. I just described it.” As the story goes, Allen fell gloomily silent, having once made a film that had received the Kramer treatment.

I don’t presume to have a nose as sensitive as Hilton Kramer’s—but I do know that criticism is pointless if it’s only boosterism. To evaluate anything, including children’s books, is to engage in the faculty of judgment, which requires that great bugbear of the politically correct “discrimination.” Thus, in responding to my article, YA book writers Judy Blume and Libba Bray charged that I was giving comfort to book-banners, and Publisher’s Weekly warned of a “danger” that my arguments “encourage a culture of fear around YA literature.” But I do not, in fact, with to ban any books or frighten any authors. What I do wish is that people in the book business would exercise better taste; that adult authors would not simply validate every spasm of the teen experience; and that our culture was not marching toward ever-greater explicitness in depictions of sex and violence.

Books for children and teenagers are written, packaged, and sold by adults. It follows from this that the emotional depictions they contain come to young people with a kind of adult imprimatur. As a school librarian in Idaho wrote to her colleagues in my defense: “You are naïve if you think young people can read a dark and violent book that sits on the library shelves and not believe that that behavior must be condoned by the adults in their school lives.”

What kind of books are we talking about? Let me give you three examples—but with a warning that some of what you’re about to hear is not appropriate for younger listeners.

A teenaged boy is kidnapped, drugged, and nearly raped by a male captor. After escaping, he comes across a pair of weird glasses that transport him to a world of almost impossible cruelty. Moments later, he finds himself facing a wall of horrors, “covered with impaled heads and other dripping, black-rot body parts: hands, heart, feet, penises. Where the f— was this?”

That’s from Andrew Smith’s 2010 Young Adult novel, The Marbury Lens.

A girl struggles with self-hatred and self-injury. She cuts herself with razors secretly, but her secret gets out when she’s the victim of a sadistic sexual prank. Kids at school jeer at her, calling her “cutterslut.” In response, “she had sliced her arms to ribbons, but the badness remained, staining her insides like cancer. She had gouged her belly until it was a mess of meat and blood, but she still couldn’t breathe.”

That’s from Jackie Morse Kessler’s 2011 Young Adult novel, Rage.

I won’t read you the most offensive excerpts from my third example, which consist of explicit and obscene descriptions by a 17-year-old female narrator of sexual petting, of oral sex, and of rushing to a bathroom to defecate following a breakup. Yet School Library Journal praised Daria Sandowsky’s 2008 Young Adult novel, Anatomy of a Boyfriend, for dealing “in modern terms with the real issues of discovering sex for the first time.” And Random House, its publisher, gushed about the narrator’s “heartbreakingly honest voice” as she recounts the “exquisite ups and dramatic downs of teenage love and heartbreak.”

The book industry, broadly speaking, says: Kids have a right to read whatever they want. And if you follow the argument through it becomes: Adults should not discriminate between good and bad books or stand as gatekeepers, deciding what young people should read. In other words, the faculty of judgment and taste that we apply in every other area of life involving children should somehow vaporize when it comes in contact with the printed word.

I appeared on National Public Radio to discuss these issues with the Young Adult book author Lauren Myracle, who has been hailed as a person “on the front lines in the fight for freedom of expression”—as if any controversy over whether a book is appropriate for children turns on the question of the author’s freedom to express herself. Myracle made clear that she doesn’t believe there should be any line between adult literature and literature for young people. In saying this, she was echoing the view that prevails in many progressive circles—that young people should encounter material that jolts them out of their comfort zone; that the world is a tough place; and that there’s no point shielding children from reality. I took the less progressive, less secular view that parents should take a more interventionist approach, steering their children away from books about sex and horror and degradation, and towards books that make aesthetic and moral claims.

Now, although it may seem that our culture is split between Left and Right on the question of permissiveness regarding our children’s reading material, in fact there is not so much division on the core issue as might appear. Secular progressives, despite their reaction to my article, have their own list of books they think young people shouldn’t read—for instance, books they claim are tinged with racism or jingoism or that depict traditional gender roles. Regarding the latter, you would not believe the extent to which children’s picture books today go out f the way to show father in an apron and mother tinkering with machinery. It’s pretty funny. But my larger point here is that the self-proclaimed anti-book-banners on the Left agree that books influence children and prefer some books to others.

Indeed, in the early years of the Cold War, many left-wing creative people in America gravitated toward children’s literature. Philip Nel, a professor at Kansas State University, has written that Red-hunters, “seeing children’s books as a field dominated by women… deemed it less important and so did not watch it closely.” Among the authors I am referring to are Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and Ruth Krauss, author of the 1952 classic A Hole is to Dig, illustrated by a young Maurice Sendak. Krauss was quite open in her belief that children’s literature was an excellent means of putting left-wing ideas into young minds. Or so she hoped.

When I was a little girl I read The Cat in the Hat, and I took from it an understanding of the sanctity of private property—it outraged me when the Cat and Thing One and Thing Two rampaged through the children’s house while their mother was away. Dr. Seuss was probably not intending to inculcate capitalist ideas—quite the contrary. But it happened in my case, and the point is instructive.

A recent study conducted at Virginia Tech found that college women who read “chick lit”—light novels that deal with the angst of being a modern woman—reported feeling more insecure about themselves and their bodies after reading novels in which the heroines feel insecure about themselves and their bodies. Similarly, federal researchers were puzzled for years be a seeming paradox when it came to educating children about the dangers of drugs and tobacco. There seemed to be a correlation between anti-drug and anti-tobacco programs in elementary and middle schools and subsequent drug and tobacco use at those schools. It turned out that at the same time children were learning that drugs and tobacco were bad, they were taking in the meta-message that adults expected them to use drugs and tobacco.

Which is why good taste matters so much when it comes to books for children and young adults. Books tell children what to expect, what life is, what culture is, how we are expected to behave—what the spectrum is. Books don’t just cater to tastes. They form tastes. They create norms—and as the examples above show, the norms young people take away are not necessarily the norms adults intend. This is why I am skeptical of the social utility of so-called “problem novels”—books that have a troubled main character, such as a girl with a father who started raping her when she was a toddler and anonymously provides her with knives when she is a teenager hoping that she will cut herself to death. (This scenario is from Cheryl Rainfield’s 2010 Yong Adult novel, Scars, which School Library Journal hailed as “one heck of a good book.”)

The argument in favor of such books is that they validate the real and terrible experiences of teenagers who have been abused, addicted, or raped—among other things. The problem is that the very act of detailing these pathologies, not just in one book but in many, normalizes them. And teenagers are all about identifying norms and adhering to them.

In journalist Emily Bazelon’s recent book about bullying, she describes how schools are using a method called “social norming” to discourage drinking and driving. “The idea,” she writes, “is that students often overestimate how much other kids drink and drive, and when they find out that it’s less prevalent than they think—outlier behavior rather than the norm—they’re less likely to do it themselves.” The same goes for bullying: “When kids understand that cruelty isn’t the norm,” Bazelon says, “they’re less likely to be cruel themselves.”

Now isn’t that interesting?

Ok, you say, but books for kids have always been dark. What about Hansel and Gretel? What about the scene in Beowulf where the monster sneaks into the Danish camp and starts eating people?

Beowulf is admittedly gruesome in parts—and fairy tales are often scary. Yet we approach them at a kind of arm’s length, almost as allegory. In the case of Beowulf, furthermore, children reading it—or having it read to them—are absorbing the rhythms of one of mankind’s great heroic epics, one that explicitly reminds us that our talents come from God and that we act under God’s eye and guidance. Even with the gore, Beowulf won’t make a child callous. It will help to civilize them.

English philosopher Roger Scruton has written at length about what he calls the modern “flight from beauty,” which he sees in every aspect of our contemporary culture. “It is not merely,” he writes, “that artists, directors, musicians, and others connected with the arts”—here we might include authors of Young Adult literature—“are in a flight from beauty…There is a desire to spoil beauty…For beauty makes a claim on us; it is a call to renounce our narcissism and look with reverence on the world.”

We can go to the Palazzo Borghese in Rome and stand before Caravaggio’s painting of David with the head of Goliath, and though we are looking at horror we are not seeing ugliness. The light that plays across David’s face and chest, and that slants across Goliath’s half-open eyes and mouth, transforms the scene into something beautiful. The problem with the darker offerings in Young Adult literature is that they lack this transforming and uplifting quality. They take difficult subjects and wallow in them in a gluttonous way; they show an orgiastic lack of restrain that is the mark of bad taste.

Young Adult book author Sherman Alexie wrote a rebuttal to my article entitled, “Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood.” In it, he asks how I could honestly believe that a sexually explicit Young Adult novel might traumatize a teenaged mother. “Does she believe that a YA novel about murder and rape will somehow shock a teenager whose life has been damaged by murder and rape? Does she believe a dystopian novel will frighten a kid who already lives in hell?”

Well of course I don’t. But I also don’t believe that the vast majority of 12-to-18-year-olds are living in hell. And as for those who are, does it really serve them to give them more torment and sulfur in the stories they read?

The body of children’s literature is a little like the Library of Babel in the Jorge Luis Borges story—shelf after shelf of books, many almost gibberish, but a rare few filled with wisdom and beauty and answers to important questions. These are the books that have lasted because generation after generation has seen in them something transcendent, and has passed them on. Maria Tatar, who teaches children’s literature at Harvard, describes books like The Chronicles of Narnia, The Wind in the Willows, The Jungle Books, and Pinocchio as “setting minds into motion, renewing sense, and almost rewiring brains.”

Or as William Wordsworth wrote: “What we have loved/others will love, and we will teach them how.”

The good news is that just like the lousy books of the past, the lousy books of the present will blow away like chaff. The bad news is that they will leave their mark. As in so many aspects of culture, the damage they do can’t easily be measured. It is more a thing to be felt—a coarseness, an emptiness, a sorrow.

“Beauty is vanishing from our world because we live as if it does not matter.” That’s Roger Scruton again. But he doesn’t want us to despair. He also writes:

It is one mark of rational beings that they do not live only—or even at all—in the present. They have the freedom to despise the world that surround them and live in another way. The art, literature, and music of our civilization remind them of this, and also point to the path that lies always before them: the path out of desecration towards the sacred and the sacrificial.

Let me close with Saint Paul the Apostle in Philippians 4:8:

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

And let us think about these words when we go shopping for books for our children.

***

Reprinted by permission from Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College.

Journaling, Day 29 of NaNoWriMo

Total Word Count So Far: 40,003

Yes, still behind, but catching up. All I have to do is write 10K words in two days... with one of those days being Friday, my busiest day of the week... okay, so maybe I am in trouble. But I'm not going down without a fight, so we'll see what happens.
At present my story is in complete disarray and I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen next or how it's going to end. My main character Thaddeus is currently out of commission and being nursed back to health by his wife after suffering from some pretty severe smoke inhalation. (We burned down the textile factory after we broke into it. In our defense, it was an accident.) Since he's supposed to be the main character, that leaves the story in a bit of a lurch, especially when one considers the fact that Reuben Clark, the boy Thaddeus and Fu-han are supposed to be protecting, is still missing after being kidnapped by James Wells, who we thought was a good guy but wasn't. So, Thaddeus' current state leaves Fu-han to rescue Reuben with the help of Jen Qiao, the woman who has the connection to his past that neither of them want to tell anyone about.
I'm hoping maybe they'll use the opportunity to work out some of their issues... I just hope they do it in English, since the only words I know in Chinese are their names. I suppose we'll just have to see.
So on that note, I'm off to write.

Oh - but before I forget - today is C.S. Lewis' birthday! If you're like me and woefully behind on NaNo, you probably don't have much time to spend the day celebrating the life of the man I consider one of Christianity's most influential writers (and who is my personal all-time favorite writer). But, I am going to make time today for a nice big cup of Irish Breakfast Tea and re-read a few of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes, since I feel I would be remiss if I did nothing at all to celebrate. I'm currently reading That Hideous Strength, the third book in his Space Trilogy, for the first time too, so maybe I'll take time out from writing to read a chapter or so.

How about you? How has the life and/or work of C.S. Lewis influenced you? Do you have a favorite work or quote of his?

Share it in the comments box! And for those of you frantically struggling to catch up on and finish your NaNo... don't give up!

The Character Costume Challenge

As I mentioned yesterday, Gillian Adams has issued a challenge to writers and readers: the Character Costume Challenge. You can read the full details here. And, since my Scottish ancestry forbids ignoring a challenge ; ) I have accepted. (Actually, my ancestry had nothing to do with it. The truth is, it was just too cool to pass up!) I was torn between two of my characters, though, so I decided to dress and take pictures as both of them.

First up is Celeste Harper, from my WIP, Empathia's Hope.

Celeste lives on the surface of Eclectia - a highly unstable, volcanic planet in the 94 Ceti system. Having lost both parents to the planet's hostile conditions, Celeste supports herself and her younger sister Celia by excavating artifacts from a city that was buried by a volcano over a century before, and then selling the artifacts on the black market.

Harsh conditions require a lot of protective gear - goggles, a mask, the works. Blowing ash and dust aren't pleasant to breathe or get in your eyes. The seasons are a bite to deal with too - there are only two, winter and summer, but they cycle every five days so you're never able to adjust fully to either one, and both are extreme. So you're either miserably hot or miserably cold. No happy medium.

Celeste tends to have a very cynical outlook on the world, since she's convinced herself there's nothing better than what she has to hope for. It's up to her sister and an archaeologist named Robin to convince her otherwise.

Next up: Ann Morgan, from my 2012 NaNoWriMo project, The Sword Masters of St. George's Academy.

Ann is a bright, brainy young lady who lives with her parents and siblings in Victorian-era London. (Yes, London - as I stand in front of an American flag in the bookcase. *sighs* Oh well.) She works as a watchmaker's assistant in his shop not far from her home, and loves learning about the art and science of watchmaking. She also loves experimenting with different clockwork and metalwork projects of her own... including a derringer that she made for herself and carries everywhere.

Ann is the daughter of my main character, Thaddeus Morgan, who is a master swordsman and teaches fencing at St. George's Academy - one of the finest schools in London. Thaddeus has taught Ann to use swords, knives, and firearms in self-defense, and she loves it. (Sadly, I don't have a derringer, so I had to use my great-grandpa's revolver for the picture instead.) She always has a gun and a dagger with her.

And of course, like all good home-schooled kids, she loves a good book. : )

Mom and I had a lot of fun 'steampunking' a corner of our living room for this picture.

 

Well, that about wraps it up for my end of the Character Costume Challenge. Special thanks to my mom for taking all the pictures, serving as wardrobe adviser, set adviser, etc. And of course a special thanks to Gillian Adams for inventing the Character Costume Challenge in the first place!

I'll be spending a lot more time with Ann Morgan starting tomorrow - November 1st, the first day of NaNoWriMo! You can track my progress at my NaNo profile, or follow my progress here at the Lair. I'll be journaling NaNo here just as I've done the last two years.

And if you'd like more pictures of characters, settings, weapons, and inspirations and ideas from The Sword Masters of St. George's Academy, well, you're in luck! I've set up an entire board on my Pinterest page dedicated to nothing but NaNoWriMo 2012. Click Here to check it out!

Last Day to Enter the Giveaway! (and other news)

That's right, today is the last day to enter the Writer's Lair Dictionary Day Giveaway. (I should have come up with something shorter to call it.) You have until Midnight tonight to get your entry in for a chance to win the Flip Dictionary. If you haven't already read the rules for entering, Click Here. The lucky winner will be announced tomorrow, so stay tuned!

In other news, Elizabeth Kaiser, author of The Jeweler's Apprentice, has done me the great honor of interviewing me on her blog, E. Kaiser Writes. We had a ton of fun putting the interview together over the weekend, and she's asked some great writing-related questions that were both fun and challenging to answer. So if you've ever wondered what kind of character I most enjoy writing, or what I consider my biggest writing fault to be, hop over to E. Kaiser Writes and read the interview!

And lastly, for those of you who have been diligently following The Lost Scribes and reading Falls the Shadow, chances are you've read the final chapter already. (My fellow Lost Scribes and I have received multiple threats of grievous bodily harm, and have been informed by several friends that they are no longer speaking to us as a result of that chapter.)
Now it's time, and the Epilogue of Falls the Shadow is here. The same voice that gave you your first glimpse of Shandor Rei in the Prologue is ready to close the tale... and you won't want to miss it. Click Here to read the final words of Falls the Shadow.

And of course, tomorrow is Dictionary Day, so be sure to pop in for the announcement of the winner of the Dictionary Day drawing! That's something else you won't want to miss! ; )

Rethinking the Concept of Platform as Christian Writers

Writers, ever feel overwhelmed or confused or just plain lost when it comes to trying to build that mystical 'Platform' the experts are always telling us we need? Me too.

Yesterday I started reading a book called The Narnian: the Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis, by Alan Jacobs. I'm only on Chapter 2, but so far it's amazing and I suspect you'll be hearing much more about it before I'm finished.
But while I was still reading the Introduction, something jumped out at me and really made me stop and think. The author, Jacobs, was talking about the "mixed bag" of material that C.S. Lewis wrote - science fiction, fantasy, literary history, literary criticism, apologetics, and theology.
For any author today - being hounded from every side by 'experts' to stick with a single theme and build a solid platform on that theme and whatever you do, don't step outside that theme - a repertoire like Lewis' looks like a big no-no.
But, as both Jacobs and Lewis point out, throughout all of Lewis' work "there is a guiding thread" (Lewis' words, quoted by Jacobs). That guiding thread is, at least in part, Lewis' desire to simply do what needs to be done and say what needs to be said. He became a novelist because no one wrote what he wanted to read, so he did it himself. He wrote a defense of John Milton's poetry simply because he cared about Milton's poetry. He defended and argued for and promoted Christianity because he was convinced of its truthfulness. He simply said what he felt God wanted him to say. Every time I read something by C.S. Lewis, whether for the first time or the fiftieth, I find connections to his other works - whether it's finding a connection between Mere Christianity and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or between The Silver Chair and a deep Biblical truth, that 'guiding thread' is everywhere.

What can we take away from this? Writers, I'm guessing most of you wouldn't want to face the challenge of trying to create a platform, according to today's guidelines, that encompassed all of C.S. Lewis' work to the experts' satisfaction. It would be murder! According to today's guidelines, Lewis didn't really have a platform. All he had was that guiding thread, that need to say what God had given him to say. When his message could be said best through a theological treatise, a theological treatise was what he wrote. When his message could be said best through a children's fantasy story, a children's fantasy story was what he wrote.
Writers, I know what the 'experts' say. I've heard it too. Platform, platform, platform. But what if our concept of platform became less about the genre/sub-genre/story-type we write, and more about just saying what God has given us to say in whatever way is best to say it?
Interestingly enough, literary agent and expert Rachelle Gardner has a post on her blog today that expresses a very similar idea. Click Here to read it. She encourages writers to write what they know - not just about experiences or circumstances they're familiar with, but about truths they know in their hearts. Isn't that what Christian writers are supposed to be doing anyway? Maybe God is trying to tell this generation of writers something.
Man-made rules and molds and cookie cutters were made to be broken (or stabbed by a spiky shoe). Let's not let them scare us into trying to confine our work inside a pre-made box. Instead, let's start looking for that guiding thread.

Do you struggle with the concept of platform as a writer? Do you know what your guiding thread is? How do you approach this issue? Feel free to share in the comments box.

5 Things Writers Live in Fear of...

... but don't have to.

In spite of the fact that we spend our days battling fire-breathing dragons, fending off hordes of evil vermin, rooting out spies and traitors, and embarking on impossible quests doomed to almost certain failure, all without a moment's hesitation, we writers do have our own set of fears to face - fears so deep and dark and ominous that at times they can leave us almost paralyzed.
Some of these fears are well-founded. Others, not so much. But we still live and suffer with them. So my goal for this post is to talk about some of the things that make us otherwise stalwart writers turn pale and trembly and, hopefully, put a few of those unfounded fears to rest. Here goes. (The list is arranged in no particular order, by the way.)

Fear #1. Rejection Letters  This is probably the single biggest fear of new writers (and possibly some not-so-new-ones as well). Waiting for the first one is the worst. Many writers (myself among them) have the idea that that first rejection letter will somehow crush all their hopes and dreams, brand them as a failure, humiliate them beyond recovery, and possibly even send them into deep mourning.
The Truth:  Writers, sometimes we write things that simply aren't up to par. It happens, and there's no shame in that. Listen to the radio or watch the news regularly, and it won't be long before you hear about some product being recalled because of factory defects - from companies with entire teams of designers, engineers, supervisors, and product testers who are supposed to prevent things like that happening! You're doing this on your own. It happens.
Sometimes the publisher simply doesn't need what you've written right now. Say you submit a fantasy short story to a magazine; you have no way of knowing that the editor just received 50 fantasy short story submissions last week and has already got plenty to keep him well-stocked for the rest of the year. Your story might be great... he just doesn't need it right now.
You're not branded. A little embarrassed, maybe. Branded as a failure, no. About a year after receiving my first rejection letter from an online magazine, I went on to receive my first acceptance letter - from the very same magazine. Just because an editor rejects a piece of your work doesn't mean he or she is rejecting you as a writer.

Fear #2. A Stolen Manuscript  Many writers are absolutely terrified by the thought of doing all the hard work and pouring their soul into a manuscript, only to have it stolen and published by someone else. Some writers are afraid that another writer will steal their work; others are afraid of submitting their work to a publishing house, worried that the publisher will steal their work.
The Truth: Ask yourself what another writer would stand to gain by stealing your novel and submitting it to a publisher under their own name. Unless your name is Ted Dekker or Beverly Lewis, there's no guarantee the novel will be accepted. Even if your name is Ted Dekker or Beverly Lewis, your name is your strongest selling tool. Someone submitting Ted Dekker's newest manuscript under the name Francis Anderson still isn't guaranteed the attention the same manuscript would get if it had Ted Dekker's name attached. If someone wants to make a dishonest fortune off of you, they can make way more money by spending 20 minutes online and stealing your identity than they could trying to publish your manuscript.
A publisher has way too much at stake to steal your manuscript. Even if they think it's fabulous, destined to become a hot best seller, it's in their best interest to deal honestly with you, the writer. Publishers are in business to make money. Stealing a manuscript isn't going to get them far in that department. No writer is going to sit quietly by and let their book be stolen and sold out from under them. It won't be long before the internet is abuzz with the news; the authorities and lawyers will be brought in; no writer will ever entrust that publishing house with their work again. By the time the dust settles, that publisher has lost way more money than they ever could have gained with a pilfered novel.

Fear #3. A Stolen Idea  What if someone hears your story idea, steals it, uses it to write a novel, and sends it to the publisher before you do?
The Truth: The human imagination is an amazing thing, in that multiple people can be prescribed identical story guidelines, and the resulting stories will be nothing alike. My friend LoriAnn once held a writing contest on her blog to demonstrate that very principle. She gave the readers the first line of a story, the last line of a story, and a set of elements and phrases the story had to contain. It was remarkable to see the variety in the submissions.
So even if someone does hear your story idea and use it for themselves, it isn't going to end up the same - unless of course you gave them a detailed, point-by-point outline of the entire thing. Which, of course, is entirely preventable. Just keep your detailed plot outlines to yourself! Save it for when the book is published and let your audience read it for themselves.

Fear #4. Losing Years of Work  If your computer crashes, or gets fried in a lightning storm, or your house burns down, what will become of your writing?
The Truth:  Be afraid. Be very afraid. ; ) Just kidding. While this fear is actually very legitimate (I have lost work to both a computer crash and a lightning storm on separate occasions) this situation is entirely preventable, and there are a host of safeguards you can set in place to indulge your paranoia to your heart's content. In this case, paranoia is a good thing because it leads to preparedness.
My personal strategy consists of backing my laptop up onto two separate 2GB flash drives. One of the flash drives stays at the house, the other comes with me everywhere I go. That way, if the house burns down while I'm gone, one flash drive is still safe with me. Conversely, if I fall in the river and destroy one, the other is still safe at home. Occasionally I'll email a piece of my work to a friend or to my parents' computer for additional security, and there are tons of online backup services available for very little cost. Having a hard copy printed out is never a bad idea either. That way if the electricity goes out or the internet crashes, you still haven't lost everything. In my opinion, you can't be too careful when it comes to protecting your work. On one occasion my friend Heather even ran back into a building with a tornado bearing down on her to rescue the disc she had stored her writing on. There should be some kind of writer's medal or award for dedication like that. : )

Fear #5. Running out of Ideas  As a writer, your ideas are the life of your calling. What happens if you run out?
The Truth: If from this moment forward I never had another story idea, I would still have enough to keep me busy well into my sixties, possibly longer. That's not an exaggeration. I've already resigned myself to the fact that I will be leaving many unwritten story ideas behind me when I die.
Now, I'm sure not everyone is the same way. Still, let me ask you this: Did you become a writer because you just thought it sounded like something fun to do, so you sat and waited for an idea to come? Or, did you become a writer because you had something inside you that just had to be written and wouldn't let you have any peace until you wrote it? I'm guessing it was the latter. You write because it's just in you to write. Your brain is designed to concoct these things. It's just the way you're wired. You can't help it.
Yes, even the most highly creative person goes through dry spells, when the creative juices just won't flow. I've had plenty of those spells, and to this day they still scare me a little bit. But they don't last forever. Sooner or later something will spark a story idea or inspire a perfect line of poetry, and you'll be off again.

In Conclusion: You may not struggle with all (or any) of these fears, and that's awesome. But I know I did for a long time, and having someone lay them out in the open for me would have been a relief and a blessing. I hope this post can be that blessing for someone else.

What do you fear as a writer? Is there something you used to fear that you've since gotten over?

Interview with Sarah Holman of Homeschool Authors

 Ladies and gentlemen, I'm honored to have a special guest here at the Lair with me today. Sarah Holman, in addition to being a Christian, homeschooled writer, is also the founder of Homeschool Authors, a blog dedicated to featuring and promoting - you guessed it - homeschooled authors and their books. She has most graciously consented to an interview, so please make her feel welcome!
_________________________________

Hello, Sarah, and welcome to the Writer’s Lair! Could you start off by telling us a bit about yourself?

Thank you for having me! I am a Christ Follower first and foremost.  Following Christ has led me to some wonderful and exciting places in my 22 years on this earth and I try to share some of my adventures on my blog (http://destinyofone.blogspot.com/). I have two amazing parents, six awesome siblings, and two adorable nieces.

Writing is my passion. I spend many hours every week in front of my computer writing and editing books.  Currently I have two book published with the third one to be published soon.

When not writing I can be found at my job at my Representatives office, reading, chatting with friends, and hanging out with my siblings.

What gave you the idea to start Homeschool Authors, and how did you get started?

Remember how I said that God has led me on many adventures?  Well Homeschool Authors was a God inspired idea.  As a self-published writer, I am always looking for ways to market my book.  One day I did a search, trying to find a list of books by homeschool authors to put me book on.  I couldn’t find such a list, so I did what every good homeschooler would do in that situation, I did it myself.

I already knew about six or seven authors so I put them on the list.  After that I started asking the authors I knew if they would be willing to do an interview.  I was amazed at how quickly the list grew and how many authors were eager to be interviewed.

What was the biggest challenge you faced?

Finding the time to keep up with the demand.  I get between five and ten e-mails a week for Homeschool authors all of which I have to respond to.  I am so pleased with how many authors want to be interviewed, have their books reviewed, and the be added to the list.  However, at times it can be overwhelming.

What is the most rewarding moment you’ve had as a result of starting Homeschool Authors?

You asking for an interview? *Wink* Seriously, I think the most rewarding part has been to connect with the writers.  I have met so many wonderful men and women through e-mails, each of them with stories to tell.  Their enthusiasm for Homeschool Authors, and bursting desire to tell stories is both rewarding inspiring to me.  Their appreciation and friendship are all the reward I need

The book standard requirements at Homeschool Authors are pretty high (and there’s NOTHING wrong with that!). Is it ever difficult to find books that come up to par?

My personal reading standards are very high and sometimes it does feel like I can’t find a book.  However, through Homeschool authors, I have found some wonderful authors (Elisabeth Allen, Molly Evangeline and Rachel Coker, just to name a few) that also have high standards in their books.

One thing I do understand though is that different people have different likes and dislikes.  Although I don’t like fantasy and dark books, I don’t think they are evil so I list those. I think that if people with high standards would look harder for good books and connect with others that share their standards; they would be surprised at how many good books they would find.

There seems to be a strong sense of community and support among homeschooled authors. What are your thoughts on the reason(s) behind that?

Isn’t amazing?  I have had some people buy my book just because I was a fellow homeschool author.  I think that it is because homeschoolers have a sense of community wherever they find themselves.

I have been to many political conventions and every time I have met homeschool students and graduates.  We may have many differences and we may not be great friends, but we will stick together because we have something in common.

The last few years have seen a big influx of homeschooled writers into the literary world. What do you think the reasons behind this are?

The number one reason is that there are more homeschoolers.  Homeschooling is not only becoming more accepted, but as more and more homeschoolers graduate, they are shining a good light on homeschoolers in general.  Publishers are finding that homeschoolers have a lot of talent and have an eager community of readers waiting.

I think another reason is that self-publishing is easier and not as frowned upon as it used to be.  Many homeschool authors can test their literary wings by publishing a book.  It costs them nothing, so they have nothing to lose, except for their pride if it fails.

Also, homeschoolers tend to have higher/different standards then non-homeschoolers. Many Homeschoolers start writing because they see a need and want to fill it.

Do you have any thoughts on the future of this trend?

I hope it continues!  I not only hope we get more homeschool authors.  I hope we start forming communities like Homeschool Authors to help each other get better.

Writing and publishing both come with a lot of challenges, and the literary world can be a tough place for anyone to break into. Do you think there is a unique set of challenges facing homeschooled writers, or are the struggles pretty much the same across the board?

 I think homeschoolers actually have an advantage; an eager homeschool community.  If we can get the word out about sites like homeschool authors, and about the authors themselves, I think that they will go far.  The biggest obstacle to homeschool authors doing well is the same as any author, getting the word out.  Anyone can help overcome this! Your readers can buy homeschool authored books and post reviews, tell their friends, host interviews and giveaways, anything they can think of to get word out. 

What advice would you give a homeschooled writer who was just getting started?

Get a team of readers/editors to help you and be ready to accept criticism.  I know it can be hard, especially at first but it helps make your book better. People say my books keep getting better, and I tell them it is because I listen to those around me. Don’t have any friends willing to read your book?  Get plugged into the online writing community.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Authors; published or not published I urge you to join the Homeschool Authors Yahoo! Group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homeschoolauthors/).

For readers; support homeschool authors by buying their books and leaving feedback on sites like Amazon and Goodreads.

Bloggers; help us spread the word by adding the Homeschool Authors button to your blog.

Thanks so much for taking time to share with us, Sarah. You have a great ministry going at Homeschool Authors, and I hope to see it continuing to thrive!

Thank you for having me Mary!  I look forward to the day I can add your name and books to the Homeschool Authors list.

_____________________________________

I'm looking forward to that too, Sarah!

You can learn more and join the growing community of homsechooled authors by becoming a follower of the Homeschool Authors blog.