Let's Call It Cheating

First we had one after another journalist making up stories.

Then came James Frey.

Now we have Kaavya Viswanathan at Harvard, who has admitted to plagerising parts of her novel from two of another writer.

What is going on?  If you can’t write a story or memoir or novel by yourself then perhaps you’re in the wrong career.  Writing should be an internal process that is original.

Original:

1. Preceding all others in time; first.
2. Not derived from something else; fresh and unusual: an original play, not an adaptation.
3. Productive of new things or new ideas; inventive: an original mind.

Is that so hard to understand?

The mind boggles.

Quote

"Anything we fully do is an alone journey...you are alone when you write a book."

Natalie Goldberg

Advance The Story

I had a three day week again.  Monday, Wednesday, Thursday.  Going to the movies today. I can do my Friday movies as long as I want because….well, you know why.  Nobody is waiting for me to deliver a manuscript.

My lastest book comes out at the end of June.  I only have one gig so far.

Anyway, what I started doing this week was to get it down and to stop thinking of other things.  Nevermind the same two words in a paragraph.  The justs, reallys, verys, and onlys can come out later.  Advance the story.  This is all I have to think about at this stage.  The rest can come in the rewrite and the rewrite after that before it goes to my agent.  I can’t imagine what she’ll think about this novel.  I know she’ll be surprised as I”ve never written anything like this.  But will she like it? I can’t worry about that now.  Advance the story.

Keep moving.  Push ahead.  Advance the story.  This can apply to any kind of book.  It certainly applies to crime novels.  That isn’t to say forget about character.  Never for me. But I can fix that in the rewirte and the rewrite after that.

Advance the story.

Writing Again

I went back to the novel on Monday.  It was a good day.  I zipped along.  Tuesday wasn’t as good, but I got down what I needed to.  I have to remind myself that I’m going to rewrite and not to worry that I have the same word in consecutive sentences.  No, not I, the or and.

Which reminds me.  I picked up a crime novel in the store the other day and glanced at the first page.  There were five “justs” on that one page.  I use my search tool to get out just, very and really.  Yes, there’s a place for them once in awhile.  And I don’t mind them in dialogue, depending on who’s speaking.

Back to my writing on Tuesday.  I finished the chapter I started the day before.  And I knew where I was going next.  I still do.  But I didn’t write today.  Life interfered.

I plan to write tomorrow.  I would rather sit and read Sarah Waters’ book, but I’m not going to indulge myself.  Even though no one is waiting for the novel I’m writing I still have to apply some of my discipline on my daily schedule or I’d never do any work.

I’m going to go read that book now.

Quote

"The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible."

Vladimir Nabokov

Just Can't

I know I’m the first one to say that you have to sit in front of your computer (or whatever you use) for three hours a day no matter what happens.

Well, I’m not.

I don’t feel like writing.  I know, it has nothing to do with feeling like it.  But I don’t want to and I’m not going to.  I started.  Yesterday one paragraph.  Today two lines.

I’m not depressed.  Still, I feel sad.  You’d think I’d be happy today after getting that good review from PW yesterday.  Not.

I’d like to eat 4 or 5 Krispy Kremes.  Or a pint of  Ben & Jerry's Everything but…  It’s been a long time between pints.

So, more time to read.  I wish I knew why I feel so anti-writing.  I guess I’d better take off the rest of the week to think about it.

PW Review

I got my first review for Too Darn Hot today.  At least I think it’s my first.  There’s always Kirkus.  Usually that comes first.  But this review is a bit early this year, so who knows?

Is it good?  Yes.  I’m very pleased.  I just looked at this blog at this time last year and I was still writing the first draft.  One of my characters had done something I hadn’t expected.

I knew last week that this PW review was coming and then I kept forgetting about it.  This is new for me.  Last year I didn’t know when it was coming so I can’t compare.  I can only compare to early and middle days of being a published writer.  I’d be very anxious and then if it was bad I’d go to bed for the day.  Or week.

God, I’m glad I’ve grown older and maybe wiser.

A Hundred Pages

Yesterday my First Reader read the 100 pages I’ve done.  I got a resounding yes.  FR is very honest and would never steer me wrong.  I’m more than pleased about this.  I almost can’t believe I did it.  Especially using the method I did.

I’m taking a week away from it.  I have to do some reading and since I have no deadline I can do what I want.

I need to think about where I’m going next and how to get there.  I’m heading into Act Two now which is always the hardest.  Of course I’m thinking about the three act play.  That’s the way it used to be.  The well-made play had three acts.  I don’t know when it changed to two. 

No more picking titles out of the wooden box. I have my cast and I have their goals.  I even have a few tricks up my sleeve.  But I don’t know everything nor would I want to.  I read yesterday that neither Elmore Leonard nor Donald Westlake knows the end of a novel when he starts.  That made me feel great because, those of you who have been reading this blog from the beginning, know that I have no idea either.  Believe me, I’m not comparing myself to either of these men.  But it’s nice to know I’m not insane.

Last year when I was having trouble with Too Darn Hot a lot of writers talked about writing outlines and how they couldn’t do a book without one.  I’m just the opposite.  I’d rather do almost anything rather than write an outline or a synopsis.  So it was terrific to read that about two heavyweights in the crime writing business.

 

Quote

The kind of story a writer ends up telling is the result of the kind of person the writer is.

Chris Van Allsburg

First Reader

Last week ended up being okay and I thought I could finish rewriting the last part today.  I’d be caught up and could start new tomorrow with chapter 10.  The best laid plans, etc. I don’t usually say anything personal that isn’t connected with writing, but I have to.  I have a very sick cat and I’m waiting for the Vet to call.  Then I’ll have to take him about 45 min. away.  So I couldn’t write today.

I’ve been nervous about catching up with myself.  What if I don’t know where to go when I finish what I have?  Now that I’ve made important changes, shaping the book entirely, I should know what to do.  That doesn’t mean I will. 

I’m thinking about letting my first reader take a look at these 100 pages.  I don’t usually do that unless I’m giving that 100 pages to my agent.  Since I decided not to show my agent this book until I’m finished, should I give the first 100 to first reader?  I’ll have to think about this.

Hope I can finish up tomorrow.  Then I’ll read it and make my decision.

Books and Books and Books

I’ve had some news that makes me sick.  Yes, it has to do with publishing.  I’m not going in to it because there’s no point.  It would come out like gossip.  But it reinforces how this business has changed.

Yesterday I was totally discouraged about what I was writing.  Today I liked it.  Still, somewhere I know that I won’t sell it.  I don’t think I’ve ever written with that underlying knowledge since my first book.  It’s strange to be back in that position.

The world of print is overwhelming me.  I have the research books, new books from the library and the books that are coming in for the First Best P.I.  Also a book that I agreed to blurb.  And besides that I’m supposed to have a life.  I think the life has to go on hold.

Last Week

I rewrote the first four chapters this past week.  I think it makes everything better and is setting up what I want to do.  So why am I depressed?

I’m not sure.  I think I’m not staying in the moment, let alone the day.  I think about what will happen when I catch up to what I’ve already written and have to go forward.  I think about the fact that at this stage in my career I’m writing a book on spec.  I shouldn’t be thinking of either of those things.  It doesn’t help.

I am engaged in this book and find myself making notes as I read or watch TV or cook or whatever I’m doing.  But I’m not used to writing this way….knowing I’m not going to show it to my agent when I have 100 pages.  I have to write the whole thing before I show it to her.  This is my choice and I have to remember that.

I’m not whining! 

There is a new interview with me on Girl Detective.  See, there are some good things and some bad things going on.  The interview is a good thing.

Tomorrow I’ll continue rewriting.

Here I Go Again

Started writing today.  Or rewriting, I guess.  First chapter is finished for now.  I have it going in the right direction.  Other than that I have no idea if it’s good or not.  I’m not going to worry about that now.  I have to keep on going forward, making changes, shaping it.  Good or not can’t matter.

 

An Amazing Discovery

On Feb. 20th I ended my post saying I was going to read what I had written so far.  I didn’t do that.  I don’t know why.  Instead I continued to bluff my way through this novel.  That didn’t work.

On Feb. 24th I said I was going to read some books that might help me. So yesterday I sat down with some of the books that I’d ordered and received and my manuscript.  I thought, why not read it first.  So I did.

Part way through I realized that the key to what I wanted to write was a throwaway line in Chapter One.  I went back and looked at it again.  Yes.  This could work.  I went on and read the rest. 

I’d been right.  The small bit in the first chapter was what I’d been searching for.  I couldn’t believe it.  I can’t believe it.

Two things. 1. I’m still going to read some of these books.  I’ve already started that. 2. It’s not exactly what I thought I was going to write but it’s in the same vein.  And I like it better than what I’d started out to do.

I can’t say how excited I am by this discovery.  It means I have a lot of changes to make to what I’ve written so far.  Also a lot of inserts.  But that’s just fine.

I still don’t know how it ends, but I don’t want to know that.  This isn’t a whodunnit but it will come to an end and things will need to be sorted out, characters attended to, loose ends tied up.

I don’t think I’ll pick the chapter titles out of the box anymore.  But I might.  I’ll have to see how it goes.  Lots of work before the next chapter.  I probably won’t start writing until next week because I want to read some of the material I’ve collected.  I could move ahead now as the books I got don’t exactly apply to what I’m going to do.  But there are things I can learn, things I already learned about one of the character’s profession.

I find it completely amazing that I had it all the time and didn’t know it.  Will miracles never cease?

A Rotten Horrible Week

Nothing got better.  I continue to not know what I’m doing.  It’s frustrating and demoralizing.  I can’t get a real handle on this thing.

What I have to do is read a few books on the subject.  I’ve ordered some and hope they come soon.  Not fiction.  In other words, I have to take a course, a class. My own.  I’ve done this before.  When I was getting ready to write Donato & Daughter I read a lot of true cop books.  It was very helpful.  I couldn’t point to any part of the novel now and say “this is what I learned from blank blank” but the studying of the cop books gave me an understanding, familiarity and confidence that I hadn’t had.

Before I wrote my first P.I. I read all the P.I. books I could.  This time they were novels.

So, I’m going to try this method again.  It’s one thing to not know where you’re going in a form you know how to write.  Another to not know where you’re going with a form you don’t know how to write.

I hate having to stop to do this.  It gets me all off schedule.  But there’s no schedule to be on if you don’t know what the hell you’re doing.  So if I’m going to give this book a chance to see the light of day, I have to go to school for about a week or two.

Good thing no one is waiting for this one.

 

 

What could I have been thinking?

I can’t write a book of this type.  Who do I think I am?  Just because I can write and I can get published doesn’t mean I can write this kind of novel.  I love reading them.  But that’s probably where it ends. 

Can I write a literary novel?  No.

A romance? No.

Science Fiction? No.

Fantasy?  No.

Historical (before 1900?) No.

Of course I don’t want to write any of those.  Still, just because I want to write what I’m slinging on the page doesn’t mean I can do it justice. 

I’m going to read what I have so far and if it isn’t completely awful I’ll continue to not know how to do what I’m doing.  If ya get my drift.

This Week's Work

I had a pretty good three day week.  Pieces and people are connecting now. 

Yesterday I was knocking it out and a friend called who was in trouble.  It was the kind of call I couldn’t not take.  The call lasted an hour.  When I turned back to my screen I realized I couldn’t go on.  My energy and my focus were gone.  Mostly my focus.

Today I picked up where I’d left off.  I was slow getting into it.  The energy I’d had the day before wasn’t there.  Not because of the phone call, but because it was a different day.  Eventually I was able to complete the scene and it wasn’t bad. When I finished I wondered if I’d not been interrupted yesterday, would I have written the same thing?  I’ll never know but I don’t think I would have.

It’s a new concept to me.  On different days we may write different things about the same material.  I never thought about it before.  Maybe I would’ve written something better yesterday.  Maybe worse.  But I’m sure it would’ve been different even though I wouldn’ve used the same people.  That’s not even true.  When I finished the scene I’d been working on before the phone call I put in a break and started on a new character and scene.  Would I have gone to that place, that person yesterday?

On the other hand, perhaps it was a good thing I was interrupted yesterday because what I wrote then might have taken me in a whole different direction that wouldn’t really advance the story or even be necessary.

This is what I think.  You have to wear blinders and earplugs and keep your eyes and mind on what you’re writing.  Let nothing interrupt you.

Tomorrow I’m going to the movies.

 

Update On TDH and How The Other One Is Going!

Yesterday my new publicity person at my publisher called me to introduce herself.  She was very bubbly and full of life.  I liked her.  My experience has been that this is the way publicity people are and should be.  The person I had on TDFH wasn’t like that at all. Perhaps that’s why she never got me a single signing, interview or reading.  But the new one sounds very gung ho about all those things.  It picked me up very nicely.  All of this is five months away but I know how quickly time goes.

Now the other thing.  The novel.  And, yes, it seems to be shaping up that way. I now have 60 pages.  Every one a gem.  Not.  Today the title pulled out of the box was Out of the Past.  Perfect for the direction I was going in.  As you can imagine from that title it could open many doors.  Probably does even if you’re reading this.

The first part of the chapter doesn’t reflect that title, but the second half, which I’ll write next week…Tuesday not Monday as Monday is a special day for me that I always celebrate…will definitely be influenced.  It’s amazing how the title gave me a whole connection of characters I hadn’t imagined before.

So today I don’t hate it.  I love it.  I think it’s funny and interesting and just exactly what I’d like to read.  But it hasn’t been easy getting here.  After my last mash note about it earlier in the week, I had some lousy days…one where I went from hate to love and back to hate all in the same writing session.  And you’ll read my complaints and hatred again.  Nice having one thing in your life you can count on.

I knew yesterday when I finished the chapter that I’d be all right today.  I didn’t know precisely where I’d be going because the pick of the title hadn’t happened.  Still, I felt it wouldn’t matter.  I got lucky.

I’m reading more than ever.  It’s almost a frenetic type of reading.  I don’t want to do much else.  The books I’m reading aren’t wiping out my own characters.  They’re helping.  I can’t explain that.

No movies today.  What’s to see?  Harrison Ford?  No thanks.  My celebration on Monday usually includes a movie, but I can’t think what I could stand to see.  I’ve seen all the good ones.  Maybe I’ll have to come up with a different kind of celebration.

But for now…excuse me while I go read.

 

Quote

"Writing is like crime. The page is about what you can get away with. We break and enter, transgress, autopsy the living and dead, rob, exchange identities, lie, confess, steal. The arts of writing and successful crime are the same. Opportunity. Robbery. Seizure. Con. Misdirection. Theft. Fiction is a form of fraud, the most elegant, exquisite and complicated forms of creative fraud."

Kate Braverman

 

What A Difference A Week Makes

I hate it. I don’t want to write it anymore.  It stinks.