The Essential Writer: Writing as if Life Depends on It

Meet writer Linda Merlino, awarded the Connecticut Press Club Runner-Up for Best Fiction of 2009 for her novel Belly of the Whale. Linda is a real working writer, as in a writer who has two novels under her belt and a third under way but still juggles other work, family and, well, life.

Now crafting her most demanding novel ever, Linda knows the less romantic side of writing and the importance of what used to be called the "perspiration" side of inspiration.

LM: Writing my third book in 10 years does not exactly make me prolific — persistent, maybe, but not prolific. The third manuscript should be a piece of cake, as the cliché goes; but, no, cake it ain’t.

AA: What's involved in writing this book, and what role does daily discipline play?

LM: For one thing, the discipline needed chafes my inner free spirit; a five a.m. start is the key, but not always achievable.

AA: Most of us write, and — meaning we work at other jobs and write, too. What's a good day in the writer's life like for you?

LM: When I am in a rhythm, it clicks — rise at five, dog, yoga, write, work, home, dog, dinner, write, sleep. Throw in, or throw out, the following: fending off life’s surprises, also life’s responsibilities and oh, yes, having a life.

AA: Where does your inspiration come from?

LM: My inspirational thought: Nothing to do but write, write as if my life depended on it.

Visit Linda at Linda Merlino

Strength in Numbers: What Happens When Writers Collaborate

Meet Emmy winner Susie Bedsow Horgan — with a background in drama on Broadway, in Los Angeles and in daytime TV as a writer and producer, Susie was on the writing team of One Life to Live, and was executive producer as well.

Now a life coach whose niche is “designing the next act of your life,” as well as a writer venturing into screenwriting, Susie knows what real collaboration is.

AMA: I'd love to get your take on writing in collaboration—what was it like writing for a daily TV show?

SBH: I think collaborative writing is one of the most exciting ways to write. For years when I worked in soaps, collaboration was a big part of our writing process. First of all, it's always so thrilling to hear other's great ideas; that in itself sparks your own creativity in ways that sitting in front the blank screen can't. Also, its fun to exchange ideas and then to have those ideas greeted with enthusiasm and support. I spent many happy hours sitting around the writers' table with my colleagues hammering out stories and episodes. We'd laugh as we wrestled with the knotty problems unique to daytime television. The experience bonded us, and we are all still friends.

AMA: What about the collaborative writing you do today—what form does it take, and how does it energize you?

SBH: I find that being in a writers workshop also does the same thing. Sharing your writing with other writers who are supportive, as well as knowledgeable and talented, spurs one on to work harder, go deeper and be truer to one's own voice. In addition, I continue to collaborate with a number of different people on different projects. The connection with another creative being is always energizing, exciting and very productive. I love the combination of writing on my own and writing with others as well.

Visit Susie Bedsow Horgan at Get a Life With Susie

Quite a Character: Making Them Memorable

Here's the latest in a series of dialogues between writers — this time with short story writer and novelist Connie Keller of A Merry Heart.

CK: Something in your postcard sparked thoughts about place/setting. I've read to treat place as a character. I understand what's meant by that, but I wasn't sure how to translate it to the page for a murder mystery without slowing the pace. And, of course, I want those place/setting phrases to serve a double function within the novel to create layering.

Then it occurred to me that one way to create place and develop character is to use the different responses of the characters to place so as to define it and create contrast between characters. For example, my main character, who's new to the South, finds it confining and claustrophobic. Another character finds the heat empowering—it fuels her.

AA: You can show the response of two characters to where they live through an occasion where they are naturally together, and through dialogue and scene show how they react to where they are and each other. One obvious way to deal with setting is weather, but there are lots of nuances to southern living, especially for a transplant. Even more interesting is the prospect of a role reversal, if it's organic, where the transplant finds the weather empowering (sick of the cold) and the native finds it a downer (looking for change). The same could occur with other aspects of southern living. The transplant thinks everybody's cordial; the native finds them superficial.

CK: Yes, I think if we really want to show place as a character and still develop our characters that's the way to go. Then place becomes as contradictory and complex as a character. And we can use it to show growth and change in characters as their relationships change. I did a bit of this in the novel (in a subtle way), and I'm really excited to do more and be a bit bolder about it.

As I was thinking about editing this novel and working on the sense of place, I read something by Flannery O'Connor. She has very little pure "place" writing. There are a few "red clay soil" phrases, but not many. Mostly, she establishes a sense of place by character attitudes and writing Southern idiom, which I wouldn't attempt. But there are other techniques, like characterization, I can use to create place. Or even through action and plot. For example, what would a Southerner do/say when a "bad guy" is murdered? That gives me an opportunity to combine plot/dialogue/place (even characterization) all in one sentence.

Show or Tell: How Do You Know?

It's amazing how a simple conversation can spark a line of thought. That happened with friend, writer and multiple Hemingway style award-winner Jack Schmidt. He posed a writing question we all consider: Is it always better to show than tell?

The usual answer, that showing is better, is a point made so often it has lost its meaning. For clarification, here are two examples:

• Stabler stared at the money on the desk. It was clear from his bemused expression there was some interest. [not bad]
• Stabler gaped at the stack of twenties, then wiped his mouth. He looked at me. "What do you want me to do?" [better]

Generally, showing is better because the writer uses detail and more precise language, rendering him or her invisible and making the reader's experience more satisfying. Think of classes where the instructor used the inductive approach instead of lecturing for an hour. As in the above example, showing works best in setting scenes, creating dialogue and moving the plot along through the characters' eyes, preferably all at once.

But one great point made in a recent post is that in writing, rules are made to be broken. Telling usually works better than showing when the writer must convey a lot of information (e.g., back story) in a short amount of space. This can be done through devices like flashback, but sometimes it's best to just say Cal Jones was in prison instead of showing him there.

Ultimately, the test question is: Which technique serves the story best at that particular point?

Let me know how "show versus tell" works for you.

What’s in a Name: “Call Me Ishmael”

Can you imagine Herman Melville's Moby-Dick starting with the line, "Call me Steve?" A dear writing pal and I were talking on the phone last night during our monthly long-distance writing group, and she mentioned something quite profound. She was telling me how hard it is for her to come up with character names: "Then I found this name that when I put it into the story, I said, 'Yeah, that's it.' Then I knew who my character was." Of course, my friend knew who the character was—we were discussing the protagonist, and the first draft of the story is done. But when my friend put that particular name into the story, she not only had the satisfaction of a name that matched the character, but a character who matched the name and whom she now understood in a way she hadn't before. That kind of insight will make editing draft two a lot easier. It also gives readers an immediate sense of the person, or place, they're reading about. After all, a rose by any other name might smell as sweet, but it somehow seems better as a "rose" than "cabbage."

As promised in the New Year, we're sharing links and resources. So, here's the link that helped my friend select a great name for her main character:

Writing World (Names)

If you have a trusted writing site, including your own, to share, send it to Adele Annesi. To put today's musing into action, check out the writing tip at the top of the list, and let me know how it goes.

Want to Keep Writing? Try Editing

It's January, the weather is bad or about to get bad, or worse. Your toe hurts, the cat's rubbed on everything you've just vacuumed, your in-laws are moving closer and closer and closer … You feel as much like writing as getting a root canal. But the quote for this month is right on target. Writing can drive you to distraction, yet it can be a great encouragement. One way to get back into it is to edit something. Not your entire novel, at least not in one sitting, but a scene or short story. If you haven't written in a while or if you haven't written yet today, your first thought will probably be a list of reasons not to. The best thing to do is shut your mind off, like I have to when I consider exercise. Go pull out the piece like you'd pull out your cell or your remote. Don't give it a second thought. Just get the piece up on the laptop or out of the drawer, open it and read. Pretend it's someone else's. Get out your pen or mouse and chip away, one word at a time. That's it. Well, what are you waiting for?

Have We Met? When Characters Are Strangers

I recently read the draft of a novel where two-thirds of the way through, the characters were still unformed and unfamiliar. If I didn't know them, and I'd been trying to, how would other people? In this case, the characters were weak for two main reasons: They hadn't interacted enough, and they hadn't been put to the test—a lethal combination. Fictional characters are like everyone else; if they're never challenged, they don't grow. If they don't grow, they blend with the crowd.

Fortunately, there are several ways to address this problem.

Give the character(s) a past, one that's plausible. Give the main character a unique characteristic, not flying or the ability to see through things, necessarily, but a particular gift, interest or aptitude. Then frustrate that plan. Further raise the stakes by making it seem the dream is dead. For a realistic result, ask yourself what in the characters' past would cause problems now. Consider what ability or gift the character has that he/she would love to use, especially now, but can't. Consider a realistic way this desire could be frustrated. One good reason for doing all this is described well by stakes guru and literary agent Donald Maass in Writing the Breakout Novel: "By risking what we most desire a novelist can show us how we are."

Happy New Year!

Jumpstart Your Story: Change Your Approach

I tend to scavenge writing magazines and pull the articles that are worthwhile, separating them into "read now" and "read later" piles. The rest I chuck. I came across an article by author John Dufresne in "The Literary Life" column of Poets &; Writers' January/February issue. He has this great tip: "When you're writing, don't ask [yourself] what happens next, ask what happened next, and then see it and write down what did." Something about putting the question in the past tense boosts confidence that the question can be answered, and that it already has been.

To put today's musing into action, check out the writing tip below, and let me know how it goes.

Blessings at Christmas and always!