Tag: writing

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How To Be An Optimist

There’s a saying: We make plans; God laughs.

Whether or not you believe in God, truth of the matter is that we’re not in control of our lives. If you think you are, just wait. One day you’ll see what I’m talking about. Certainly we have to make plans and decisions to tackle day-to-day life, but occasionally the gods/stars/planets/marshmallows fall out of line and all goes astray. Marshmallows? Ok, who knows what has to align, but how you respond to unfortunate situations is what really matters.

It is possible that once or twice in mylifetime I might have been accused of being a pessimist. Only in the last few years (under the loving tutelage of my husband) have I learned how to turn limes into margaritas. In the past three years, we have spent about six months in Costa Rica. In the past few weeks, I have had several chances to whip up a pitcher of optimism.

Let me offer you a taste test:

1) If you hate tarantulas, but happen to find a fine example of one in your bathroom when you are home alone, killing it with a broom handle will give you an enormous sense of accomplishment.
2) If you have trouble digesting gluten, you will find that a caveman’s diet (meat and fruits and vegetables) is very healthy. Man lived like this for thousands of years–yes, without pizza or beer.
3) If you create anything (e.g., a novel) on a computer, and said computer gets stolen, you will learn the absolute necessity of backing up your work.
4) If said thieves steal ALL your electronics, but spare your life and limbs, you are one lucky sonofabitch.
5) Once said thieves have fractured your sense of goodness in the world, you will learn to be safer and smarter. In fact, you will learn to hire a security guard with a shotgun.
6) If you love, love, love to sit quietly in the morning, sipping amazingly delicious coffee while over looking the Pacific Ocean, but said security guard wants to tell you all about his life and his country-in Spanish–because he has spent the last 12 hours walking the perimeter of your villa while you watched David Letterman in subtitles and got eight refreshing hours of sleep, then you will learn that your guard might be the best Spanish teacher you will ever have.
7) If you wake up one morning to the smell of smoke from the wildfires approaching your villa, you will learn how the infrastructure of a country such as Costa Rica actually works: Do it yourself, and help your neighbors. What did you think the damn garden hoses were for anyway?
And lastly,
8 ) If you think that The Good Life involves a villa, an ocean, tropical weather, and tequila, you will learn that there’s no place like home. AND, all of the above can be excellent material for your next novel.

Adios, Costa Rica.

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How Badly Do You Want It?

I want you. I want you so bad. I want you. I want you so bad, it’s driving me mad, it’s driving me mad.

That’s how I feel right now about my Work In Progress.

Friends, family, work, TV, the internet, eating, sleeping, reading, blogging, cleaning out your closets… On any given day it’s easy to get distracted. Life holds not only Jungian hierarchies and obligations, but also the freedom to make poor choices, give in to poor time management skills, a million cracks in the sidewalks, and a few other things that can get in the way of our goals.

Generally speaking, everyone has time for what’s truly important to them, but some things are completely out of our control: Computer crashes, health problems, money problems, accidents, theft of one’s laptop… If you read my last post then you know that two weeks ago when my husband and I were in Costa Rica, we were robbed. They took not only our electronics, ALL of them, but also my eyeglasses and Rx sunglasses, four pair of shoes, jewelry, clothes, and most importantly, they stole two weeks of my life. That’s how long it has taken me to regroup, replace all my stuff (including my peace of mind), and get back to writing. The two most fortunate aspects of what we’ve been through are, one, we were not harmed physically, and, two, they did not steal my novel in progress.

My dear Twitter friend, Taylor Stevens—NYTBSA of The Informationist and The Innocent—and I agreed that a writer’s list of priorities are: 1) Life, 2) Work in progress, 3) Everything else. Los hombres malos did not get my novel because I was wise enough to back it up each day. (Note to others: since I was traveling, I actually emailed my novel to myself each night so that no matter what happened to my electronics, my novel would be safe. Google Docs would also work.)

What would have happened if I lost all 200 pages and all my notes and outlines and research? Would I have had it in me to start over, rewrite the entire work from memory, re-interview my experts? As much as I want this novel to be published (that would be more than anything in the world other than good health for me and my loved ones), I’m not sure if I could have garnered the strength and energy to recreate it. I would have been a pile of mush, I know that much. I would have been devastated. I would have tried, but I’m not sure if I would have felt capable of bringing it back to life, or if I would just have moved on. I do know I would not have given up writing all together.

This I know for sure: I am a writer; I will always write.

Fortunately, I am safe and I am back. I want this SO badly I must keep writing. So without further ado, please excuse me while I go apologize to my characters for abandoning them for the past two weeks, and see if I can’t write them in and out of a few more mini-dramas.

What about you? What’s the most important goal of your life? How badly do you want it? What would it take for you to be defeated? What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve your goal? Sure helps determine your priorities, doesn’t it?

Turns out orderly closets aren’t so important after all.

 

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Let’s hope the Mayans were wrong

It’s the end of the year as we know it. I haven’t been blogging much for a number of reasons—not the least of which is the holidays. (The other reasons involve whining, so I’ll skip those.)

A year ago, I posted a blog of all the books I’d read in 2010. This year I have goodreads.com. If you like to read and don’t already belong to goodreads, you will enjoy it. My page lists all the books I’ve read, all the books I’m currently reading and all the books I plan to read. There I review each book I’ve read.
In 2011, my goal was to read one book a week. I’ve read 43, and will finish one more in the next four days. So 44/52. Not bad. My goal for 2012 is to read LESS. Yes, less. Read less, read better. I resolve to take more notes, study well-written books, fill the pages with marginalia and notes. In 2012, I plan to read 26 acclaimed books and write one.
As an emerging writer, it’s imperative that I read books. But just reading them and hoping to become a best-selling author is like listening to the radio and assuming that you can become a pop star by immersion. I view reading as an enjoyable form of homework. In 2012, I will be more selective in what I read. Excellence in; excellence out.
My other goal is to listen better and interrupt less. (Ha! That will be harder than selling my novel.)
This is all assuming, obviously, that the Mayans (and REM) were wrong. I have big plans for the next 12 months. Wish me luck.

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Open Window Literary Magazine

Hello, peeps. It’s been a while… sorry (I’ve been writing!). But I’m back with great news to report.

An excerpt from my novel The Best Liar of All was selected for inclusion in the inaugural issue of Open Window Literary Magazine. Open Window is an online publication by the geniuses at LCCC in Laramie, Wyoming. Open Window launches on Tuesday, December 20th, 2011. The minute their site is up, I will link you to it.

A bit of background: The Best Liar of All is the story of 39-year old Brooklynite Daniel King. Danny’s company went bankrupt, then his girlfriend was murdered. As he’s trying to rebuild his life, the SEC tells him they “have a few questions”, then the man who allegedly killed Danny’s girlfriend threatens his life too. Danny quickly realizes he needs to disappear so he takes his dog (and a bag of cash—a cool quarter million dollars), and heads to his father’s hometown of Jackson, Wyoming, a place so small it must be safe. But what he learns when he gets there is that no one is who they seem to be. Danny must filter through “fifty-four years, four months” of fallacious history to find out who everyone truly is, including himself.

The excerpt that I submitted to Open Window is a flashback about Danny’s father as a teenager in Jackson, 1956. “Chuck” had a rough childhood, something he never told Danny about, never even told his own wife.

A big thanks to Lori Howe at Open Window, and everyone else on the selection committee. Unfortunately, I am unable to attend the launch party, but with any luck I’ll upload a reading of my short story to YouTube that they can watch, and can you too.

xox, Karolyn

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Aspirers vs. Emergers

If any readers of my blog are not yet aware of Kristen Lamb’s blog and book, We Are Not Alone: The Writer’s Guide To Social Media, here is a strong recommendation to make yourself aware.

Aspiring Writer: one who sits alone for hours, typing her bleeding heart through her keyboard onto a blank page while dreaming of her novel being displayed on the front table of her local Barnes and Noble, or better yet, the one on 5th Avenue.

Emerging Writer: one who sits alone for hours typing at her computer but has learned not to use words like “bleeding heart”; one who follows sage advice, creates a platform, interacts with professionals and constantly works to become a better writer.

At any stage of the writing game—and according to Paul Auster it just gets worse as one becomes more successful—it seems vital, despite JD Salinger’s approach, to maintain active and healthy communication with other people. Writers, readers, agents, publishers, friends, they all play a part in sanity. (That’s sanity, not insanity.) Kristen Lamb is a no-nonsense guide to getting one’s name out there and preventing the feeling of being a lone writer. (That is, a writer who’s alone, not the only writer in the world.)

One of my core values is persistence. Kristen’s blog post today is about luck vs. persistence. This ought to separate the “aspirers” from the “emergers.”

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Getting My Groove Back

Today I opened the files for my fourth novel for the first time in two months. It’s a little like reconnecting with old friends on Facebook. In other words, who the heck are these people and what the heck is going on in their lives?

For the past two months, I was finalizing (researching, rewriting and polishing) my third novel, Honorable Lies, which is now in Queryland with 13 agents. Well, I sent letters to 13 agents (because that number has always been lucky for me), but two have already said they are so proud of me, and pleased that I would give them the chance, but that they are unfortunately unable to represent my work. Hmmm. That’s okay, I only need one, and he/she is still out there.

You know the sage advice, “Write every day”? That’s so you don’t forget your own children characters. I had written 20,000 words of A Reasonable Price before I went back to finish up my last novel, and it’s going to take a while for me to remember exactly what these peoples’ demons and goals are. Fortunately, I have this novel outlined, start to finish, and I have copious notes to use as reference. This is the first time I’ve been so thorough on the outline, and I’m very glad to have all these notes to suck me right back into the tempest I have brewing in my hard drive. If you’re one who’s not able to write every day, this might be exactly the tack to take so you can re-immerse yourself at a moment’s notice.

Or maybe I’ll switch things up a bit now that I’m older and wiser. Either way, it’s good to be back.

 

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Van Gogh and Me

I recently blogged about Steve Jobs’ influence on my life. Now how about Vincent Van Gogh?

J.D. Salinger is famous for publishing four books, then disappearing for forty-some years. Can I do that? Or do I have to become famous first? Van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime, and that was to his brother. Hell, I could sell a hundred books to family members if that counts.

There’s a famous adage that everyone wants to have written a book, but few want to actually write it. Well I’m the opposite. I mean, sure I’d like to sell a novel, but I LOVE the writing part. Creating people and problems and scenes so vivid that you feel like you’re there with the characters—that’s my favorite part. In four years I’ve completed three novels, and my next is well underway. At this rate, I will fill my bookshelf in a couple more years. Who wants to slow down for the publishing process?

Full disclosure: Today I emailed several query letters to carefully chosen agents. I know the percentage of being chosen from a “slush pile” is about one in a million, but hey, I have 4 sons. What are the odds of that? Four of a kind is a pretty good hand. In any case, my novel Honorable Lies is complete, polished, and ready to go.

Now on to A Reasonable Price.

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Steve Jobs and Me

Let me start by saying I never met Steve Jobs; I wish I had, but that’s beside the point. Like millions of others, his life’s work has greatly influenced mine. I’d like to say that I would write books even if I had only pencil and paper, or only a typewriter. I might, but I’m not sure. But why Steve Jobs, in particular?

I didn’t become an Apple fanatic until 2007. Like so many others, my business ran on Windows products so I thought the conversion would be overwhelming. It wasn’t until I closed my art gallery and bought a laptop with the express idea of writing a novel (a fresh start) that I felt no barrier to switching products. I have been writing for four years now, yet I’m still not published. A good friend with a good heart recently asked me why I’m not published when so many other people are. I made a few self-effacing jokes and thought I’d let that comment die… and yet I can’t.

Malcolm Gladwell is famous for extolling the notion that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in any given field. Because I was not an English major in college (even though reading, writing and academia have been a major influence on my entire life), I believed that I needed to put in five years of writing before I could hope to be good enough to be published. Time will tell. But the death of Steve Jobs reinforces that fact. No one begins with perfection.

Looking back, the first Macintosh computer now looks like a dinosaur, a laughable relic. The iMac on which I now type is sleek, elegant and sophisticated—a masterpiece. Yet if Steve Jobs had never released the original Macintosh, this computer would not exist. Nor would the current iPhone, Nano, or iPad.

Why am I not yet published? Because I am not yet as good as Ann Patchett or Jonathan Franzen. I am hypercritical of my work and anxious for it to be better. I’m also kind of shy. Stretching out of my comfort zone to pitch a novel that isn’t as good as (insert any literary masterpiece here) stops me from sending out the quantity of query letters necessary to find the right agent to rep me. Instead, I finish a novel (I’ve completed three), send out a few queries, then immediately start on my next story knowing it will be better, it will be good. My standard of good enough is as high as Steve Jobs’ must have been, but it apparently didn’t hold him back and I cannot let it hold me back.

In 2005, Jobs gave a now-famous commencement address to the graduates of Stanford University. In that speech he said, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” I love writing. I am confident that I will be published, and thanks to Steve Jobs, I will no longer be shy about what I have created. My first published work will probably not be the great American novel; that’s okay. The important factor is where it will lead me.

With enough love, persistence and luck, maybe one day I will write a novel that is as delicious as an Apple.

 

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Calling All Writers:

One day I’m going to ask all of you to buy my book—when it’s published, of course.

For now, all I ask is this:

If you’re a writer, or ever hope to be, please check out the blog of wise author and writer Kristen Lamb. I read everyone of her blogs. She offers great advice, and seems to truly want every writer to become a published author.

Have you ever noticed the Twitter hashtag #myWANA? That’s all about her book, We Are Not Alone. For a profession that’s inherently solitary, Kristen Lamb has created a sense of community for us writers.

Many thanks to Kristen.

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Failure or Success: Which is Worse?

Fear of failure is a common phrase. But there are so many quotes about picking up, moving on, learning from, and becoming better people because of our failures, that I wonder why should we fear it? And why should it stop us from trying our best at something?

More sensible yet less talked about is fear of success. Success changes everything, not always for the better. Think of people who win the lottery only to go broke again, or actors who become movie stars and lose their privacy. Think of the winners of the Biggest Loser and the scrutiny they’re under to stay slim. Think of Mark Zuckerberg who now has 20 Billion things to worry about. Think of aspiring authors who like the quiet life of being a writer, then get shot out of a cannon into the public eye when their novels get published.
Then again, fame and money are so fleeting that maybe the real test is whether or not you can hold on for the brief flight.
Yes, that’s it: Success is like a bull riding.
Excuse me while I go look for my cowboy boots.