Yeah, but what have you done lately?
Posted By Kathleen David on October 4, 2007
Being a professional writer is a little bit like being a shark. You have to keep moving. Even thought you might have quite a wide fan base and written some really cool stuff, here in the publishing industry it is, “Well that’s neat. But what have you done lately?” Peter is an expert on keeping things moving. Not everything iron he has in the fire is shaped into a fine piece of writing. Some of the possibilities or potential gigs just vanish without explanation. Other gigs are DOA. Then there are a couple that we really hope turn into something because it would be good for his career and good for his family. He works in an industry where a phone call or an email can change your life either way.
Visual artists have the same condition. They have to continue to create to keep on top of the pile of artists that are breathing down their necks just waiting for the job that they have illustrating a comic or painting book covers or even Magic the Gathering Cards. You have to keep re-inventing yourself or at least challenging yourself. It can be rather nerve racking.
Recently I came to the conclusion that I don’t do realistic very well. My dolls are taking on their own “look”. I’ll never do pretty little fairies. My stuff has been called primitive (in a good way) and raw (again as a compliment). That seems to be my style and, while I will continue to work towards being able to make pretty little fairies, I plan to explore this sort of art that seems to come out of my head and onto the clay. I just need to find my niche and find my audience that I can sell my dolls to. And a lot of that is self-promotion, which I really stink at. I can promote other people but I have a hard time pushing myself on the market or in the market.
Writing is something I have enjoyed doing over the years. I have admitted before that I use to write a lot of fanfic. Some of it I showed to fellow fans and other pieces have languished on the hard drives of my former computers. Now I am working on some original stuff. Peter and I discuss a lot of ideas for stories. Some of them he has used in his work and some of it are things that I am suppose to get around to writing. Well I think I am going to start getting around to them. Or at least trying to outline them (which I hate doing with the fiery passion of a thousand suns). I know I can write and I know I can write well. So may be it is time for me to jump into the shark tank and start swimming.
I am grateful for quiet moments early in the morning when I have some time to think.
NaNoWriMo is coming up in a few weeks. You could take advantage of that as an excuse to devote some and energy to writing.
If you choose to pursue a writing career, there are several useful resources that can help you; but if you can get an established writer to mentor you– even in a small way– so much the better. There was one guy whom I believe lives in your neck of the woods that used to write Hulk and Supergirl and has written a novel or five. David something, I think his name is. Peterson? Something like that. Maybe you could get in touch with him.
Seriously, good luck with the writing. I’m sure PAD would make a very useful mentor/no-holds-barred critic/source of encouragement. Consider his advice/critique, but don’t necessarily let it overrule your own inner voice if you happen to disagree with a particular criticism.
As to outlining, who says you have to do that? And if you choose to go that route, who says you have to follow a rigid formula of 1. A. 1) a), etc. ? You could put together some loose plot points. Say, for example, you’re writing a book called “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Your loose outline might look like this:
“Huck Finn outline”
“–Huck and Tom do something mischevious. We establish that Huck is rambunctious and a bit of a rebel.”
“–As part of his rebellious nature, Huck decides to help the runaway slave, Jim, get to the north.”
“–Huck and Jim run into trouble on the river. Huck turns Jim in. Later feels guilty and rescues him. (Or maybe he bluffs his way through their predicament. Work on it. This is major turning point for Huck. Was he helping Jim escape on a lark, or is he, at heart, an abolitionist? Does he know for sure himself?)”
“–At one point, Huck impersonates a girl? Why? consider whether to keep this scene.”
That kind of thing. You know that Huck will arrive at a certain point along the river by the end of the book, but you can keep it loose as to what happens up to that point. Maybe you decide to have an impostor king show up– or maybe a duke– and your characters leave the river for a time. Not a problem. Nor is it necessarily a problem if the characters don’t return to the river, just so long as they get to their destination. Both the high and low roads lead to Scotland, to brutally maim a metaphor.
Again, there’s no requirement to outline. Sticking with the “Huck Finn” example, you could decide to write a story about a boy and an escaped slave making their way up the Mississippi River and just start writing, letting each character’s character (as in the type of person he or she is) determine his or her actions.
Also, don’t be afraid to let your ending change if in the process of writing the story a new ending seems more organic than what you had in mind when you started. Turns out Huck and Jim are really vampire/werewolf/zombie/cyberenetic aliens from another planet come to Earth to fight for truth, justice and a copy of “To Serve Man” in every home? Go for it. Let the story flow to its natural conclusion.
Again, good luck.
Rick
If you want to get your fairies and things out there to more folks have you looked into ETSY? Its a great,fairly new (but not so new that its not established)outlet for artists and crafts people to get their stuff out there and sold. They sell all sorts of stuff on there….from zines to felted pussycats!
I know i’d really love to see your stuff and maybe get a chance to buy something.
AS for the writing….i think the NaNoWriMo is a good idea to give yourself a sort of set time to work on something and see how you feel about doing that again:)
Bon chance in whatever you may do:)