Assuming makes an ass out of you and me.

Last week, I got an email from someone who'd found my name through an SCBWI web page, and wanted to invite me to join a writing group, and stated that one of their requirements was: "We specifically want members who are interested in promoting a Christian world view via children's literature. The writing does NOT need to be explicitly religious or spiritual, but we want members who can commit to this purpose."

I have to admit that I was more than a little taken aback by this. Set aside, for a moment, the question of whether or not children's literature should espouse a particular religious world view, and consider the blind audacity of emailing someone of whom you know nothing about and inviting them to join your religious group.

She found my name on a list of children's writers; she knew absolutely nothing more about me. And yet, her first assumption was that I was Christian. It doesn't matter whether I am or I am not; what matters is that, as a member of the majority, she automatically assumed I was too. I can hardly imagine a Jewish person making the same assumption, let alone a Muslim or a Hindu or a Buddhist.

I will tell you that I was sorely tempted to mess with her and write back that I couldn't join her group because I was Muslim or Hindu or something else, but I decided against it and just responded that I didn't think I would fit in with their group. (In so doing, I too was making assumptions, that they weren't "my" kind of Christians, that they'd be offended by the use of magic in my stories, or that they'd try to dissuade me from writing about sex or using swear words should the need arise.)

It got me thinking a lot about the assumptions we all make in daily life. As a white, middle class female, I know I make a lot of assumptions based on my own status and privilege, and it worries me. I would rather take an active role in educating myself and draw my own conclusions about my bias than have it pointed out to me by an unhappy reviewer many years down the line.

Ignorance is a frightening prospect, especially for those of us who like to consider ourselves well educated. But the first step is recognizing it, and the second is choosing to educate ourselves and move away from ignorance toward understanding.

"Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies" sounds good right about now.

Almost 35,000 words into my first draft and I'm realizing MAJOR problems. *sigh* I wish I were one of those amazing people who can plot in their heads, write a first draft, and have everything come out crystal clear at the end.

Clearly, however, I am not.

I've been working with Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake Method of plotting, and it's been hugely helpful — in getting me to see the enormous, gaping holes in my plot. I'm not talking about logistical fallacies and events that don't make sense. I'm talking about literal holes in the plot — as in, there isn't one.

The other thing I'm noticing is that my main character isn't doing a whole lot. I mean, she is, she's running around like a crazy person, but she's having things done to her and then reacting to them. Nothing that's taken place so far has been her decision. Which is a problem.

I'm also realizing that I've got a shit-ton of sub plots going on. Maybe more than the book can handle. Maybe more than I can handle! I've got to get a handle on them.

And turn my reactive MC into an action hero.

Still not going to rewrite, though it is practically KILLING me not to. I'm just going to make whatever changes I need to starting on page 137 and move forward. We'll fix it in post, as we used to say in film school.

Under-The-Bed Books

I'm at the point in NaNo when I'm behind, I'm bored with my own story (never a good sign) and I'm pretty much convinced that I'm the worst writer ever.

So I dug out some of my inspirational books to try to get back on track. Here's what's resonating with me today.

Writing a book is exactly like love. You don't hold back. You give it everything you have. If it doesn't work out, you're heartbroken, but you move forward and start again anyway. You have to.

You don't hold some of yourself in reserve. It's all or nothing. There are no guarantees. If one book doesn't work out, you figure out why. How can you do things differently next time? If you hold back from the book, it won't fully reveal itself. You write each book, utterly and completely giving yourself to it. Some will end up under the bed. And some just might end up brilliant.

Heather Sellers, Chapter After Chapter

So, I'm giving myself permission to suck. This might be a learning book. It might be an under-the-bed book. But I'll never know if I don't finish it.

Wonder of Wonders

Last night, I wrote the climax scene of my novel in my head as I was lying in bed. This morning, I typed it up.

I've never done that before!

Also, more than a week ago, I wrote the last page of the book. This is so weird. I actually feel like maybe I know where I'm going!

OK, I have a new favorite toy, and it's called Wordle!

I pasted in the text of the first few chapters of my novel and got this masterpiece:



Very cool.

Thoughts and Books

It's becoming increasingly apparent to me that I don't write when I'm unhappy. I don't do much of anything I'm "supposed" to do (exercise, eat right), but it seems particularly hard to force writing.

This past week has been something of an unhappy week for me, for various reasons. I turned to journaling to help me through it, but I didn't do much of any writing on my project.

And maybe that's OK. It seems worse to force it. It seems like it would only make me feel worse to write crap, and have to deal with the subsequent self-doubt that would emerge. I'm much better at dealing with crap when I'm feeling generally positive about the rest of my life.

~*~

On a lighter note, I finished "The Secret Life of Sparrow Delaney" last week, and quite enjoyed it. It was a library read, and not something I would normally have picked up, but I am trying to broaden my horizons.

Now I'm working on "Specials" and man — why didn't I pick this up sooner? It's everything I love about scify, and well written to boot. So yay for that.

About This Endeavor

The only way to fail is to quit; everything else is just a setback.

I am a struggling writer and recently, I realized that's really the only kind of writer there is. From best-selling authors to those of us just trying to put pen to paper every day, roughly 98% of us struggle with it at one point or another. The thing that distinguishes us as writers, as opposed to just people who want to or like to write, is that we keep at it.

We keep writing.

No matter what.

I'm learning to let go of my preconceived notions, learning to stop holding myself to some false standard, some self-imposed deadline, some made-up notion of what a writer really is.

A writer writes. Which is, quite frankly, a lot harder than it sounds.

About Me
I write in Denver, Colorado. To pay the bills, I write and edit official travel guides for various cities. In the dark of the night and the secret corners of my free time, I write. I'm working on a young adult fantasy novel of undecided name, indeterminate length, and fluctuating subject matter.

But that doesn't matter. What matters is that I keep writing.

Keep writing.

Keep writing.

Hope you'll join me and do the same.