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Keeping Perspective in a TunnelVision WorldBy Virginia Carmichael
Ah, writers. The image of the womanhuddled in the garret, hunched over her typewriter, fingers numb with cold,wicked stitch between the shoulder blades, and bleeding thoughts onto a pagefor our amusement is really quite attractive. Images of the Brontes, Elizabeth BarrettBrowning, and George Eliot all spring to mind. So romantic! So exotic! So, so passé.
In the modern world we’ve left thetypewriter and the cold garret behind (and thankfully the male pseudonym andthe tuberculosis). And with it goes a certain amount of the romantic image.It’s so tempting to encourage themystery that surrounds publication and claim that we don’t have to adhere tothe rules. (“Market my book? Why, it will sell itself! I’m not allowed to leavemy writer’s hut. “- my wishful thinking)
It’s a well-known fact that youhave to fight for writing time, but every now and then it can be used as anexcuse to avoid the unpleasantness of life. How do we keep our vision wide open,our hearts full, and our spirit generous when all we want to do is hide in ourwriter’s cave and press the back of our hand to our forehead?Well, there are moments of GRACE,like the day I received ‘the call’ and five minutes later changed not one, but two poopy diapers.The rest is up to us. Hard work ina profession that encourages obsessively narrow vision can make us greatwriters, or terrible human beings.
Social Media (or How Not to be Unfriended)
I’ve lost my fair share of facebook friends in the past few years. (The election is over… can I come out now?)But what used to be the pitfalls of e-mail, has now turned into the morass ofsocial media interaction. A year or so ago, I wrote a commentI thought was funny on a Seekers wall. Julie Lessman responded with somethinglike, “Virginia, dear, can you explain?” Of course it was misunderstandingcleared up in a millisecond, but I was struck by her grace, her charity.She could have brought out the verbalflame thrower and toasted me to a crisp.
It was a humbling moment for me.How many times had I jumped to my own defense (or on the offensive)? I resolved to remember to pause,clarify, and then- if
necessary- bring out the caps lock key.There’s also the point of nottrying to be too funny on facebook because there is NO ROOM FOR SUBTEXT. But weall knew that, right? Well, all of us except slow learners like myself.
Keep your friends close and your enemies…in the next county.
I know when I get a good dose ofthe writerly blahs, I need some friendly perspective. I’ve met wonderful peoplethrough Seekerville and facebook, and bless their hearts, they never fail togive me a good kick. Once I posted about hating myself because I lost my cameraand could never find ANYTHING and my brain was going and I should just give up.
Lots of friends posted how theyunderstood and I should take a break and treat myself or take a nap or… AndJulie Hilton Steele asked whether I was “having a breakdown” and did she “needto come down there and staple the camera to my hand”. Good friends know when to give acyber hug and when to give you a good kick. Julie and Mary Curry are mycritique partners and they’re ALL ABOUT the ‘ spoon full of sugar’ making the critgo down… but sometimes you just need someone to roll their eyes and tell you tostop whining. As for these guys….
Someone giving you grief? Love yourenemies, always. But don’t engage the crazies. Yourtime is valuable. Bad reviews, judging comments that are from the planet Mars,and picky readers who find your only mistake in 25 years? Thank them graciouslyand move on.
Don’t be precious (Or everyone hates a ‘know it all’.)Writers are encouraged to research
everything. Have a character driving acar in 1908? Well, better make sure women could have a license, you get thecolor and model right, and you’re not shifting more gears than were available. BecauseSOMEONE WILL KNOW.
(And yes, I know the hipster memeabove is misspelled. Not sure if that’s a double irony or just… stupidity.Never mock anyone. But if you must, make sure everything is spelled correctly.)That said, don’t be precious. Ihave a terrible habit of becoming completely submerged (not immersed, that’sfor dabblers) in my current project. When I was writing ‘Season of Joy’ (LoveInspired Nov 2012) I researchedhomeless shelters all over the US. My friend Stacey got to hear endless statistics of homeless and vulnerablepopulations- while we ate cookies and watched our kids play. How depressing. Itwas enough to make you give up all hope.She handled it like a champ. Andwhen she got tired of it all, she just waved a latte under my nose and I forgotfor a moment how people were GOING TO BED HUNGRY.
There is research, and there isinsanity. Knowledge is a powerful thing, but adding hope into the balance iswhat friends are for. That and vanilla lattes.Be sure to take a break every nowand then from your research, especially if it’s a tough subject like World WarII or the Holocaust or even a dysfunctional family. The best writers FEELDEEPLY for their characters, but that can be a double-edged sword. We want thespark of hope to shine through the toughest scenarios in our writing. Andconfidence in an eternal HEA is not something you can fake.
Don’t let your well run dry.Refresh your spirit with prayer, worship and good friends. Your story needs tobe told, but tunnel vision is a quick way to get writer burn-out.
It’s All About Balance (or learning tojuggle)
A few years ago my kids and I wentto a book signing in Walla Walla, WA, hoping to meet one of our favoriteauthors. New York Times bestseller Patrick Carman has written the Land of Elyonseries, Dark Eden, Floors, Trackers, Skeleton Creek, 39 Clues, 13 Days ToMidnight, on and on.Here’s an actual picture of himspeaking at a school. The numbers are usually in the hundreds, if notthousands.
Anyway,we came early, expecting a huge crush since it was the debut of a new YA andalso Hallowe’en night. Guess what? It was just me and my kids. Dressedup in weird costumes. They brought home made drawings of their favoritecharacters and all their books to sign. Yup, we already HAD his books, so Idon’t remember if we even bought any. So,NYT bestselling author (who I hear is down in LA working on a movie of DarkEden) could have been like this…
He could have blown off the little kids with a simplesignature and a wave. But he didn’t. He stayed, talked toeach one, asked about their drawings, what they liked about his books. He evenlet us take pictures of him wearing the Star Wars storm trooper mask my sonhad. He signed books, scraps of paper, and one well-loved stuffed Lion namedLeo. (Leo is still star struck. It was a highlight, meeting his favorite author!)
As for balance, a few weeks ago,Tina posted a link in the WE that quoted writing tips in Publisher’s Weekly fromone of my favorite authors.
“Be an unstoppable force. Write with an imaginary machete strapped to your thigh.This is not wishy-washy, polite, drinking-tea-with-your-pinkie-sticking-outstuff. It’s who you want to be, your most powerful self. Write your books.Finish them, then make them better. Find the way. No one will make this dreamcome true for you but you.”-- Laini Taylor
Preserve that miraculous sparkeager to burst onto the page. Nurture the desire to tell a good story. Protectat all costs your dream to become an author.But don’t get a big head. Don’t mail your book to everymember of your high school graduating class, with an inscription reminding themhow they were the popular ones and you ate your lunch hiding in the bathroom. (Notthat I would ever do that...)It’s all about balance. Spiritual,physical, emotional. As we start the Advent season andlook toward Christmas, it’s a great time to take that internal temperature.Where is our treasure? Our joy?
So, what do you do to keep fromgetting tunnel vision? (We can’t all spend our days like Ruthy does, surroundedby toddlers who think you’re perfect no matter how many books you sell.)Do you have favorite Bible promisesthat emphasize the eternal and not this fleeting present world? Do you dive infor a short time, and then emerge blinking into the sunlight? Do you havefriends keeping you humble and on track? Share with us your tricks tokeeping the spark alive and that tunnel vision away!
***********Virginia will be giving away one copy of her Love Inspired release, Season of Joy, to one luck commenter! Please let us know you'd like to be entered. And check the Weekend Edition to see if you're the winner.
Nothing too exciting. I have a Bachelor's degree in English, which means next to nothing when it comes to writing fiction. Still, I took a bunch of creative writing classes and really enjoyed them. Before that, I dabbled in short stories here and there, but wasn't ready to try and make a career out of it. I wrote one screenplay in 2001 that advanced to the second round at Austin (and I'm about ¼ of the way into its novelization). I've always been a voracious reader, and I got really serious after participating in NaNoWriMo in 2006. Since then, I've published a couple of short stories in e-zines and one non-fiction profile in a local magazine. But I'm really just a guy who loves to read fiction and tell a story from time to time.
Carol is sharing her BBQ Chicken cups. You can find Carol at her blog, carolmoncado.wordpress.com and be sure to join her Facebook Writing Group 1K1Hr.
First, as promised, a copy of My One Word- the book-ebook format. Which as someone pointed out is actually many words....hmm.
